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About VVKI

Vyakti Vikas Kendra India (VVKI) is the registered public charitable trust under the aegis of The Art of Living, constituted to promote spiritual, educational, cultural, and social development projects for the benefit of the public. VVKI drives several service initiatives and projects for The Art of Living, including social, environmental, community development, and competency enhancement across the country.

VVKI comprises departments - Social Projects, GyanKshetra (Temple of Knowledge), Dharma Sthambha Yojana (DSY) and Corporate Programs and Government Programs.

In the social projects vertical, the team focuses on Water Conservation, Afforestation, Natural Farming, Education, Skill Development, Waste Management, Women Empowerment, Gaudhan, and Rural Development.

The River Rejuvenation Projects Team ties up with the Government and collaborates with other stakeholders, including the rural population, to restore river water and groundwater in vast spans of land that are dry for various reasons. By providing natural and scientific solutions, the department ensures adequate quantities of water, leading to farmers being self-sufficient, engaging in natural farming, afforestation, and agroforestry.

The Afforestation Department is on a mission to make a difference on Planet Earth by reviving green cover. This is achieved by planting trees in various locations such as government-owned lands, dry forests lands, nurseries, and around recharge structures and river basins. These efforts aim to conserve water, prevent soil erosion, mitigate climate change and reinstate ecological equilibrium.

VVKI is deeply committed to nurturing our environment and actively engage in various areas to achieve this goal. Some of our key initiatives focus on providing natural farming training to farmers, recycling organic waste into compost, organizing cleanliness drives and harnessing the potential of cow dung to create organic bricks and paint.

The Natural Farming initiatives rekindle ancestral agricultural wisdom, which was the foundation of ancient times. Farmers, previously dependent on chemicals, are now trained in utilising cow dung, indigenous seeds, mixed cropping, and other natural farming methods. This transition conserves water, enhances yields, and enriches the nutritional content of the produce.

The Art of Living runs schools in Tribal and Rural areas to improve literacy and create employment opportunities. Spread out in the bordering villages between Jharkhand and West Bengal; these schools provide value-based education emphasizing hygiene, culture preservation, non-violence, technology, and environment friendliness. Vocational skills and innovative programs for teachers and children to inculcate responsibility are also imparted.

The Social Projects

The Social Projects department includes projects that empower village women, develop basic employment skills for rural youth and install renewable energy units like solar technology through corporate sponsorship as part of their CSR activities.

As part of the Rural Development initiatives, cleanliness drives, sanitation, establishing Adarsh Gao and Good Governance are undertaken including providing employment opportunities through skills training and many other ways to uplift the living conditions.

Gyankshetras

Gyankshetras are established across India at such locations where people are introduced to spirituality, nurture human values, inculcate self-discipline and become healthy and well-rounded personalities. Devotees and course participants get together to meditate, attend courses and knowledge sessions, do weekly follow-ups, and attend Satsang. The volunteers initiate many community service projects from these centers of joy, peace and wellness by enrolling more people on this path.

Dharma Sthambha Yojana (DSY)

Dharma Sthambha Yojana (DSY) unit connects the various social service projects described above of VVKI with thousands of socially aware individuals who wish to contribute a small part of their earnings for the betterment of the community. Thus, DSY effectively channels the monetary contributions impacting, empowering our people, society and country.

The Government Programs

The Government Programs Department caters to employees across various levels in the Central, State governments, Public sectors, Armed and Police Forces, and Training Institutes. The programs are structured considering the needs and daily challenges the working professionals face in these sectors. The programs incorporate practical, simple, effective and ancient techniques to make an impact at the personal and professional levels.

Corporate Programs

Corporate Programs have unique programs addressed to employees in large, medium and small enterprises through Leadership, Teambuilding and Change Management workshops. These combine personal development processes, advanced leadership techniques and powerful breathing tools to help individuals excel personally and professionally. These programs also enhance leadership, decision-making, communication, intuition, innovation, and people management skills of professionals of VVKI’s several clients in the private sector.

Our Vision

Vyakti Vikas Kendra India (VVKI) envisions a sweeping social transformation in India through The Art of Living programmes and diverse service initiatives. We aim to empower individuals, families, and entire communities, enabling them to realise their full human potential. Our goal is to create a stress-free India, inspiring urban and rural dwellers to become catalysts for change; combating poverty, alleviating suffering, and conquering disease, one village at a time.

Our Mission

  • To empower individuals to find inner peace through impactful Art of Living Programme that transcend boundaries.
  • To inspire these individuals to become agents of positive change within society by fostering a spirit of service.
  • To establish a comprehensive framework for nationwide development efforts, encompassing a wide spectrum of service activities.
  • To enable individuals to catalyze transformation on a larger scale, making a lasting impact on communities and beyond.
JalTara Founder

Our Founder

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has united people of different races, traditions, economic and social status, and nationalities. This community, spanning 180 countries, has created a one-world spiritual family.

Gurudev's message is simple:
"Love and wisdom can prevail over hatred and violence." This message is not just a slogan, but through The Art of Living has been and continues to be translated into action and results.

Awards / Accolades

  • "Padam Vibhushan", Highest Annual Civilian Award, India
  • Highest Civilian Award, Orden De La Democracia Simon Bolivar, Bogota, Colombia
  • Global Humanitarian Award - American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, USA
  • Bharat Kirtimaan Alankaran 2022, World Book of Records
  • Saint of Modern India - Suryadatta National Lifetime Achievement Award 2022
  • Order of the Pole Star, the Highest Civilian Awards
  • Honorary Order of the Yellow Star (Ridder), Highest Civilian Award, Suriname Highest Civilian Award from the Goverments of Mongolia, Paraguay, Colombia and Suriname
  • Honored by the City of Tampa, Florida, USA by declaring June 18, 2015 as "A Day of Happiness"
  • Humanitarian Award from the Municipality of Lima, Peru 25 Honorary Doctorates by Universities Across the World
  • 27 Cities have been declared as Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Days in the US & Canada
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Biography

Biography

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a humanitarian leader, spiritual teacher, and an ambassador of peace. His vision of a stress-free, violence-free society has united millions of people around the world through service projects and programs offered by The Art of Living.

The beginning

Born in 1956 in Southern India, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was a gifted child. By the age of four, he was able to recite parts of the Bhagavad Gita, an ancient Sanskrit scripture and was often found in deep meditation. Gurudev’s first teacher, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, had a long association with Mahatma Gandhi. By the age of seventeen in 1973, Gurudev had graduated with degrees in, both, Vedic literature, and physics.

Founding The Art of Living and the International Association of Human Values

Gurudev founded The Art of Living as an international, non-profit, educational and humanitarian organization. Its educational and self-development programs offer powerful tools and accounts to eliminate stress and foster a sense of well-being. Appealing not only to a specific population, these practices have proven effective globally and at all levels of society. The Art of Living programs are currently offered in 180 countries. In 1997, Gurudev co-founded the International Association for Human Values (IAHV), a sister organization of The Art of Living. The IAHV coordinates sustainable development projects, nurtures human values and initiates conflict resolution.

Inspiring service and globalizing wisdom

A noted humanitarian leader, Gurudev’s programs have provided assistance to people from a wide range of backgrounds – victims of natural disasters, survivors of terror attacks and war, children from marginalized populations, and communities in conflict, among others. The strength of his message has inspired a wave of service based on spirituality through a huge body of volunteers, who are driving these projects forward in critical areas around the globe.

As a spiritual teacher, Gurudev has rekindled the traditions of yoga and meditation and offered them in a form that is relevant to the 21st century. Beyond reviving ancient wisdom, Gurudev has created new techniques for personal, and social transformation. These include the Sudarshan Kriya which has helped millions of people to find relief from stress and discover inner reservoirs of energy and inner silence in daily life.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

A Figure of Peace

As an ambassador of peace, Gurudev has played a key role in conflict resolution around the world as he shares his vision of non-violence at public forums and gatherings worldwide for free. Regarded as a neutral figure with a sole agenda of peace, he represents hope to people in conflict. He has received particular credit for bringing opposing parties to the negotiating table in Colombia, Iraq, the Ivory Coast, Kashmir, and Bihar. Through his initiatives and speeches, Gurudev has consistently emphasized the need for reinforcing human values and recognizing that we belong to a one world family. Fostering interfaith harmony and calling for multi-cultural education as the remedy for fanaticism are significant parts of his efforts to achieve sustainable peace.

Gurudev has touched the lives of millions around the world through a reawakening of human values and service. Going beyond race, nationality, and religion, Gurudev has rekindled the message of a one world family, which is free from stress, and violence.

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