Established in 1982, The Art of Living Foundation is an educational and humanitarian foundation, registered in the US as a tax-exempt and nonprofit organization. It is not a religious organization, but as one adhering to the basic spiritual principles of love, kindness and unconditional service to the world. It carries out numerous charitable, educational and humanitarian programs throughout the world on the basis of donations.

All the activities of the foundation are based on the saying of its founder teacher Sri Sri Ravishankar—"a truly religious person will be secular in nature. Secular means one who thinks all human beings are his or her own."

The Art of Living works in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the UN, and as such it has accredited representatives at the UN in New York, Geneva and Vienna. It also works in formal consultation with the World Health Organization (WHO).

DOLLAR-A-DAY PROGRAM
From 1985, the Art of Living started supporting the Dollar-a-Day service program, for rural children of India, which provides them with the basic amenities of life and much more. This innovative activity is pursued under Care for Children program where children learn, other than the traditional courses, the fine art of living, the skill of making friends, handling negative emotions and value of service to the fellow beings. The children are taught to take the studies as an enjoyable challenge, pick up the habit of hygienic living and most importantly, develop the skill of community living, a sense of belonging to each one of it.

THE 5H PROGRAM
One of its many commendable programs is the 5H Program, which focuses on—Home, Health, Hygiene, Harmony in Diversity and Human Values. It aims at bringing about a social transformation so that the complete potential of each individual is expressed. Sri Sri Ravishankar is the inspiration behind the program.

ART EXCEL
The Art Excel program is perhaps the most popular program, which offers courses for all round development of children and youth (8 to 21 years old). Through simple play-way techniques and awareness games the participants learn how to develop their personal potential and manage stress in their life. This highly admired program is currently offered in major Indian cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Calcutta, and in countries like Canada and the USA. The Art of Living program is working closely with UNICEF to make this program available to the world community at large.

PRISON SMART
Prison SMART is another laudable program providing training on stress management and rehabilitation for juvenile and adult prisoners, prisoners on parole and probation, victims of crime, at-risk youths, and even the law enforcement officers and probation staff. The Prison SMART Foundation Inc. that carries out these services was established in 1992. This unique foundation is the first of its kind in the USA and now has gained national recognition to offer services in the prisons and juvenile halls across the country. The foundation provides vision, resources and a committed corps of talented volunteers.

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR HUMAN VALUES
The International Association for Human Values is another nonprofit outfit of the Foundation, which works for cultivating and supporting basic human values in societies all over the world. The association boasts of a network of well-trained and motivated personnel to carry out its activities.

YOUTH TRAINING PROGRAM
The Youth Training Program (YTP) in India focuses on the education of the rural youth and encourages them to work for the betterment of their community. Arranging medical camps, distributing clothes to the poor, creating sanitation facilities and setting up local cooperative groups.

Working on the principles of love and essential human connectedness as delineated by their founder member, Sri Sri Ravishankar, the Art of Living tries to follow a holistic way of living coupled with humanitarian values. It teaches a wide variety of courses including a meditation course called sahaja samadhi, a natural and effortless meditative technique. It admits that all its self-development courses and programs are a form of yoga, which is nothing but a "union with the Self." The sudarshan kriya and other related techniques, propounded by the Foundation, are all based on the ancient yogic science of breathing, which explores the connection between mind, body, the emotions and rhythms of breath. Over a million people in more than 100 countries have taken Art of Living courses.

The Foundation has Vyakti Vikas Kendras all over India, to teach people how to revive love among themselves, improve their interpersonal interactions and to reach out to the world in a positive manner. Corporate courses are offered to executives and all, to enhance their efficiency and team spirit.

When Sri Sri Ravishankar addressed the August 2000 UN Millennium World Peace Committee of Religious and Spiritual Leaders, his speech was widely received as a path breaking one. The Art of Living, as the instrument of Guruji's ideals, promotes the idea of preventive diplomacy in the case of conflict situations in the global arena. An idea that was proposed to the UN in its 1995 World Social Summit.

Above all, the Foundation endeavors to drive home Sri Sri Ravishankar's message that—even though practices remain different, all great religious traditions share the same common goals and values, and mankind would do well to cut across these barriers and anomalies to connect with each other through love.