The Yoga Way - A Talk by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at the European Parliament in Brussels

Summary

Renowned spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar addressed the European Parliament in Brussels, emphasizing the pivotal role yoga plays in reducing stress and enhancing personal well-being. Through a casual and engaging dialogue, he articulated that yoga is not restricted by religion but is a universal practice that can help diminish societal conflicts and personal discord. Highlighting yoga as a means to achieve inner peace and happiness, he inspired the audience by linking the profound effects of yoga to everyday life challenges, advocating for a more harmonious and responsible world through its practice.

Highlights

• Sri Sri Ravi Shankar promotes yoga as a tool for stress reduction and personal well-being 🧘
• The talk emphasizes that yoga is universal and not confined to any religious boundaries 🌍
• Benefits of yoga include improved emotional resilience and the ability to handle life's challenges better 💪
• Insightful analogy of innocent babies exhibiting natural yoga highlights its innate nature in humans 👶
• Yoga goes beyond physical postures to enhance responsibility and harmonious living 🤗

Key Takeaways

• Yoga transcends religion, offering universal benefits to enhance peace and reduce stress 📿
• Through breathing and mindfulness, yoga improves emotional resilience and happiness 🌬️
• Practicing yoga naturally promotes harmony and reduces societal conflicts ✌️
• Even innocently smiling babies naturally exhibit yoga characteristics, emphasizing its innate nature 👶
• Yoga cultivates responsibility and nurtures qualities like caring and sharing 🤝

Overview

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar captivated the European Parliament in Brussels with his enlightening discourse on yoga's transformative power in everyday life. He passionately shared that stress, often synonymous with modern life, can be effectively managed through yoga's ancient practices. Throughout his talk, Sri Sri highlighted the universality of yoga, transcending religious and cultural differences and serving as a bridge to inner peace and collective harmony.

The talk delved into the multiple benefits of yoga, from enhancing emotional resilience to fostering an inclusive, prejudice-free society. Sri Sri noted the innate connection between humans and yoga by illustrating how babies naturally exhibit yoga behaviors, showcasing its unifying essence. He humorously debunked the notion of yoga being purely physical, instead presenting it as a profound spiritual journey towards happiness and self-awareness.

Sri Sri's message inspired both personal introspection and collective responsibility. By encouraging attendees to cultivate qualities like caring and sharing, he emphasized that yoga is not just a practice but a way of life. His words resonated with the audience, drawing connections between yoga and improved decision-making, heightened intuition, and ultimately, a stress-free, fulfilled life. Afro-European parliamentarians left the talk with rejuvenated spirits, ready to embrace yoga’s benefits for themselves and their constituencies alike.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Context In this chapter, the foundation is laid for the discussion by introducing the main themes, objectives, and context of the book. It sets the stage for the reader by providing background information and explaining the significance of the topics that will be explored in subsequent chapters.
• 00:30 - 05:00: Addressing Stress and Energy Management The chapter delves into the challenges faced by politicians and their associates, highlighting the intense stress they experience. It further explores issues such as political violence, terrorism, injustice, and the pressing humanitarian needs that add to the stress levels, affecting not just political figures but society at large. The discussion underscores the necessity of effective stress and energy management strategies to cope with these demands.
• 05:00 - 07:00: The Wealth of Yoga and Its Global Awakening In the chapter titled 'The Wealth of Yoga and Its Global Awakening', the discussion revolves around the philosophical teachings of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. The emphasis is on seeking answers not only to the substantial challenges faced globally but also on improving personal conduct. Shankar highlights the significance of incorporating spirituality, love, compassion, and enthusiasm into daily life. His vision is to cultivate a world devoid of stress and violence, and to this end, he offers practical tools, particularly focusing on the practice of breathing, to help individuals achieve peace and wellbeing.
• 07:00 - 10:30: The Influence of Yoga on Behavior and Communication Sri Sri Ravi Shankar reaches millions through his Art of Living courses and missions for peace, emphasizing yoga as the essential link between mind and body. The Indian subcontinent has long been a source of spiritual thinkers.
• 10:30 - 15:00: Yoga and Prejudice Reduction The chapter titled 'Yoga and Prejudice Reduction' explores the influential and inclusive philosophy associated with yoga and its potential in reducing prejudice. The speaker reminisces about meeting Sri five years ago, highlighting the significant impact and broad acceptance of Sri's teachings. The speaker reflects on experiencing the wide-reaching influence of these teachings during a major event held at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin in 2011, emphasizing the profound honor and inspiration derived from such experiences.
• 15:00 - 19:00: Yoga as a Skill and Its Non-Conflict with Belief Systems The chapter discusses how yoga is a skill that transcends religious boundaries, making it relevant to individuals regardless of their faith or lack thereof. It highlights the universal message of self-awareness and addressing life's major challenges. The chapter underscores the mass appeal of such messages, drawing more people than typical political events.
• 19:00 - 23:00: The Expansive Nature of Happiness and Emotional Control The chapter entitled 'The Expansive Nature of Happiness and Emotional Control' begins with an introduction in which Sri Ravi Shankar is warmly welcomed. The setting is within the European Parliament, indicating a formal and significant occasion. The opening remarks acknowledge the presence of dignitaries and other notable individuals. The speaker expresses gratitude and sets a tone of respect and honor. Moreover, the chapter hints at a metaphorical competition involving divine aspects, suggesting a deeper exploration into spiritual or philosophical themes related to happiness and emotional mastery. The presence of Sri Ravi Shankar, known for his teachings on spirituality and inner peace, establishes the expectation of insights into how happiness can be expansive and how emotions can be controlled or managed effectively.
• 23:00 - 28:30: Responsibility and Karma Yoga In this chapter titled 'Responsibility and Karma Yoga', the concept of stress is explored, describing it as a ubiquitous presence in life. The speaker discusses the reasons behind stress, specifically pointing to the common experience of having too much to do, too little time, and insufficient energy. This imbalance between demands and resources is identified as a core cause of stress. The chapter likely delves into how understanding and managing these factors can be addressed through the principles of Karma Yoga, which integrates responsibility and action without attachment to outcomes.
• 28:30 - 35:30: Discussion on the Nature of Yoga The chapter discusses the persistent issue of stress in modern life and explores the limited options available to mitigate it. It is acknowledged that reducing workload or increasing available time are not feasible solutions in today's world. Therefore, the focus shifts to enhancing one's internal energy levels as a means to better handle stress. By increasing energy within ourselves, we create a more effective way to manage and overcome stress despite the fixed constraints of time and workload.
• 35:30 - 45:30: Addressing Changes in Perspective and Compatibility of Yoga with Other Beliefs The chapter discusses how enthusiasm enables individuals to confront and manage challenges effectively. It highlights yoga's dual capacity: equipping practitioners with strategies for a stress-free and tension-free existence, while also identifying yoga as a significant cultural and spiritual asset. Yoga is portrayed as a great wealth of humankind, suggesting its broad applicability and inherent value across different beliefs and perspectives.

The Yoga Way - A Talk by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at the European Parliament in Brussels Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30
• 00:30 - 01:00 politicians and by extension and association their families and those that work with them and for them lead very stressful lives and many of us are dealing with problems of extreme political violence of terrorism and of injustice and humanitarian need and we're all
• 01:00 - 01:30 looking for answers and i suggest we're looking for answers not just about the great problems facing the world and mankind but also about how we should conduct our own lives better sri sri ravi shankar teaches the importance of spirituality of love compassion and enthusiasm he wants to create a world free of stress and violence and offers us tools to help accomplish this concentrating on breathing not just as
• 01:30 - 02:00 the stuff of life but as the essential link between mind and body sri sri reaches millions through his art of living courses around the world and through his humanitarian work and his missions for peace to pakistan and to iraq and to other places the indian subcontinent of course has been the source of great spiritual thinkers for millennia
• 02:00 - 02:30 and we understanding how very embracing and eclectic so much of that thinking has been i had the great pleasure of first meeting sri some five years ago when he came to this parliament the following year in 2011 i experienced the extent of his reach and the power of his message when i attended his great gathering at the olympic stadium in berlin he even gave me the honor of allowing me
• 02:30 - 03:00 to address the tens of thousands that were there somewhat more i have to say than attend many of the political events uh which i normally am addressing sri's message is not rooted in any one religion but is relevant to those of no religion and to all religions and today we're giving an hour or so of our time to hear of ways of coming to terms with ourselves and the great problems that we confront so
• 03:00 - 03:30 it is an enormous honor and pleasure to welcome sri ravi shankar to be with us today thank you very much honorable chairman of the house and the dignitaries and the deaths with friends his excellencies and members of this great european parliament if there is a competition for god today in the world
• 03:30 - 04:00 i would say that is stress stress has become almost synonymous to god it's so many present everywhere you can find stress now what really stresses too much to do too little time and no energy right you agree with me we have lot to do and we don't have much time in a short term we have to do a lot but there is not energy and this causes
• 04:00 - 04:30 stress now how to get rid of it either reduce the workload which doesn't appear to be a possibility these days increase the time which we cannot do anyway it's fixed unless you we go to another planet somewhere the all the only option we are left with is to increase the energy level within us so when we have enough energy and
• 04:30 - 05:00 enthusiasm we are able to face any challenges and handle any challenges this is one aspect of yoga way is to provide us tools and techniques to live a stress-free life tension free life on the other hand yoga is also the greatest wealth of humankind i would say
• 05:00 - 05:30 because what is wealth wealth is that that brings us comfort the purpose of wealth is to bring happiness and comfort isn't it if wealth doesn't succeed in achieving this goal of bringing comfort to human psyche human life i would call it wealth and yoga is wealth in that sense it brings absolute comfort
• 05:30 - 06:00 a violence free society disease free body confusion free mind inhibition free intellect trauma-free memory and a sorrow free soul is the birthright of every individual and the parliament's world over are striving to achieve this goal of human existence that's happiness
• 06:00 - 06:30 isn't it we all want happiness for our people and yoga is the way for that much needed happiness factor in life i'm glad today there is awakening people have recognized the importance of yoga world over yoga has become synonymous with
• 06:30 - 07:00 relaxation happy happiness or a creative mind even big companies in advertisement they put people sitting in a yoga position in meditation pose to depict the inner peace one has that's a very welcome move but one thing i would like to remind you whether we like it or not we're all born yogis you don't need a yoga teacher if you
• 07:00 - 07:30 observe a baby anywhere in the world from the age of three months to the age of three year the baby does all the yoga postures the breathing the the they sleep the way they smile everything is yoga baby is a yoga teacher and see the baby is yogi
• 07:30 - 08:00 and that's how baby is stress-free there is happiness you know a baby smiles 400 times a day and yoga purpose of yoga is to put a smile on you in spite of all the stress and tension or situations that we are putting in our day to day life
• 08:00 - 08:30 now the benefits of yoga are multi-fold there are many many benefits number one health benefits second is it changes the behavior of a person because behavior depends on the stress level in a person it creates a friendly disposition and a
• 08:30 - 09:00 very pleasant atmosphere on people you know in fact we convey a lot through our presence our vibes and yoga help to improve our wives you see what i'm saying see we convey more than words we convey through our presence our vibrations i would like to give you an example see you can notice this clear difference
• 09:00 - 09:30 when someone close to you tells you have a nice day and the air hostess greeting you have a nice day when you get off the plane air hostess great you have a nice day they really don't mean it but the same words when it comes to you from a kid or a kin or a very close friend it carries certain vibes so uh speaking in terms of quantum physics
• 09:30 - 10:00 we're all emitting vibes or wavelengths we often say our wavelengths don't match you know when communication breaks down this is what we we are used to saying our wavelengths don't match because our ability to communicate depends on our ability to receive communication from others here yoga helps us to have that clear
• 10:00 - 10:30 mind another issue that we face in society today is prejudice all type of prejudice prejudice with religion race gender class and educational status financial status all these different type of prejudice has clogged the mind of men and
• 10:30 - 11:00 that's how conflicts arise in society what we see all around us and yoga helps us to reach out and resolve this conflict created by prejudice so it spontaneously and naturally makes our mind free from tragedies coming to the other aspect of developing skills within oneself the profounder of yoga has said yoga
• 11:00 - 11:30 karma sukash in and gita shri lord krishna had said yoga is skill in action yoga is not just an exercise it is skillfully you can communicate and how skillfully you can act in any given situation this is again yoga and i don't think anyone here would say we don't want skills
• 11:30 - 12:00 anyone here would say we don't want innovation innovation intuition skills and better communication all these uh side effects of yoga i won't even say the main effects there are side effects of your these things come to us naturally having said that
• 12:00 - 12:30 this yoga conflict with any of our belief system i believe in a particular religion or particular philosophy or i follow a particular political thought line does it conflict i would say not at all as yoga always promotes harmony and diversity that encourages diversity
• 12:30 - 13:00 the word yoga itself means uniting uniting all diverse aspects of existence of life now whether someone is a businessman or a public figure a private individual you want peace you want smile you want
• 13:00 - 13:30 to smile you want to be happy and this happiness can only happen when we look into the root cause of it of unhappiness and unhappiness is because lack of vision stress tension so again european union have been talking quite a bit about also gdh i suppose from gdp we
• 13:30 - 14:00 are moving towards gdh you know gross domestic happiness and here is something that can aid that aid can be a very very useful tool you know a large percentage of this of our population today is suffering from depression
• 14:00 - 14:30 and just popping a prozac another antidepressant is not going to help the long run we need something that's so natural as natural as our breath that we can use and elevate our spirit and feel that much needed happiness the pursuit of happiness with everybody is after
• 14:30 - 15:00 when we are happy what is our experience what is our feeling i just want to ask you a question when you are happy what is that you feel have you noticed a sense of expansion within you suppose you're complimented or you're or you accomplish something you wanted to accomplish you find there is something in you expanding
• 15:00 - 15:30 at the same time when we face a failure or when someone insult us what happens in us there is something is the shrinks so yoga is putting our attention to this something in us that seem to be expanding when we are happy and crushing or contracting when we feel unhappy
• 15:30 - 16:00 often we feel helpless about our negative emotions because neither in school nor at home anyone teaches us how to handle our negative emotion right if you are upset you remain upset to wait for time to heal you yoga has the secret to turn this state of mind it makes you so independent empowers you to feel the way you want to feel at any
• 16:00 - 16:30 time instead of being a victim of your own feelings in our experience in teaching in prisons around the world with half a million people this is what we have found every culprit says he is a victim of something around see when we heal the victim in him the culprit disappears
• 16:30 - 17:00 and breath as simple as breath can do this job for us it just we need we just need to learn how to breathe in different rhythms different patterns and eliminate those traumas those strong impressions in the mind or the pain suffering we have been carrying in our heart
• 17:00 - 17:30 again the proponent of yoga patanjali said he announced stated the purpose of yoga he said hayam dukkham and agatha the purpose of yoga is to stop the misery before it comes so on many count this is very useful when a conflict is boiling somewhere ask people to breathe and sit together
• 17:30 - 18:00 and communicate better you can see can resolve the conflict right at the very root cause of it whether it's greed jealousy anger hatred or frustration all these negative emotions can be healed or reoriented through yoga and this is my experience
• 18:00 - 18:30 throughout the world having said this i would also say one more thing yoga also helps someone to take to be more responsible to take more responsibility in life this is called karma yogi karma yogi is one who takes responsibility we we all play many roles in our life
• 18:30 - 19:00 we have an option to play the role either as a yogi or as a non-yogi or one who is responsible and one who is not so responsible you can have a responsible teacher a teacher in a doctor with responsibility a businessman who has who cares who has responsibility caring and sharing and responsibility are the characters that yoga simply
• 19:00 - 19:30 nurtures inside of us we all have this inside us the entire population has but it needs nurturing and yoga is the one i would say is one of the best tool to nurture an individual to take responsibility good afternoon which are the qualities that um yoga can help you develop in order to become a more responsible person towards
• 19:30 - 20:00 yourself and the others yeah i i think i just explained that yoga can definitely make you more responsible because it creates more energy and enthusiasm in you you know when you don't like to take responsibilities when you are tired right and stressed if you if you have taken care of these two issues and you have enough enthusiasm and energy will definitely take more
• 20:00 - 20:30 responsibility and responsibility with the sense of lightness excellency i have never done yoga in my life and that's why i've just a very simple question what is yoga is it meditation is it a movement of the different postures of the body and if they are so what is the scientific linkages between those things and what happens inside which leads to such a dynamic effect in
• 20:30 - 21:00 the form of resolution of conflict and giving us peace of mind okay first i would like to refute your first statement you have never done yoga in your whole life you have done as a baby but you don't know it because not a single child on this planet has uh has come up without doing yoga as soon as we are born you know when we sleep as a babies if you see we put this
• 21:00 - 21:30 mudra it's called chin mudras sleeping in any part of the world you see how when babies are lying down they lift their legs first and then they go on their belly and try to lift the shoulders so they do the bow pose and then they try to hold the toe so uh asanas to some extent every child has done on this
• 21:30 - 22:00 planet and then coming to the breathing pattern the way we breathe is much different from the way baby breathes and baby has a stress-free mind a happy mind so all the signs of yoga are already there in a baby so we have all been yogi we are just going back to our roots and now yoga is seven eight folds
• 22:00 - 22:30 eight-fold yoga eight steps to it in one among that is exercise also certain postures physical postures but mainly maintaining the equinisty of in the mind in the center code you know samatham yoga yoga is equilibrium in mind mind what you can do with mindfulness
• 22:30 - 23:00 any action that you can do you're performing at the same time you are aware of it what you are doing what you are saying see science is a systematic logical understanding of what is in the sense yoga is a science that it is a systematic understanding of
• 23:00 - 23:30 the subject knowing what this is is science knowing who am i is spirituality but both are signs thank you sriji you've been teaching for many years may i ask you over all those years have you changed your mind on any aspect of your teaching do you think now you are a very different person to when you started
• 23:30 - 24:00 i would say uh if you ask me this a part of me is the same throughout i have not changed and if you ask me on the other count have your activities expanded i would say yes there are many challenges now i am ready to take many more challenges in that sense yes so the answer to this question would be yes and no i just like to be devil's advocate speaking as a christian as a catholic
• 24:00 - 24:30 what do you say to those particularly you know leaders of monotheistic religions uh senior clerics in my own religion in my own faith the catholics that say that yoga has its origins in hinduism and pantheism and therefore and also focused entirely on the physical aspects of the body can undermine christian prayer uh and therefore for for christians it's not necessarily the right approach to spirituality but just as a devil's
• 24:30 - 25:00 advocate how would you answer that from a say you're a devout christian whether that's compatible with the practice of yoga yeah i would say by eating chinese food we don't turn to become chinese and by when we can accept food from every part of the world we accept music from any part of the world listening to beth owen
• 25:00 - 25:30 doesn't make you it doesn't turn you into a german in the same way when we can accept food from every part of the world music from every part of the world technology from every part of the world why to single out wisdom or technology that can bring you enough peace without interfering your own faith or belief system this is my question because see telephone is universal and there are
• 25:30 - 26:00 certain laws yeah no doubt yoga has its root in hinduism actually hinduism itself is a way of life patanjali never says talks about so many gods or pantheism nothing patanjali simply says there are body mind breath this this life force attend to this so i would say we should welcome wisdom
• 26:00 - 26:30 irrespective of what its source are as long as it doesn't conflict with our traditions you know if we take just a little more time say about couple of hours couple of days two hours we can learn a lot of not many techniques related to our body mind complex simple things which would come in handy for us when we are facing a lot of stress and
• 26:30 - 27:00 when we have as decision makers when we have to make important decisions i would say just take the 10 minutes sit back relax just center yourself and you know you'll find something wonder happening inside of us inside our intuition gets triggered and intuition is something which never goes wrong if it goes wrong it's not intuition
• 27:00 - 27:30 thank you hmm you