LIVE from NYPL: Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and John Sexton: Searching for Happiness

In the course of his work as a spiritual leader, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has touched the lives of millions of people around the world by introducing techniques that alleviate stress and anxiety through breath-based meditation. He has created trauma-relief programs for at-risk youth, war veterans, prisoners, and disaster survivors. Now, in a rare visit to New York, Sri Sri speaks about extraordinary benefits and results he has witnessed as a result of mindfulness.

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Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a global humanitarian, spiritual leader and peace envoy. Gurudev has been teaching breath-based meditation techniques for health and well-being for more than 40 years. His approach blends ancient Vedic wisdom with modern sensibility for a new paradigm of leadership and living a stress-free, violence-free society. More than 30,000 active teachers and over one million volunteers are engaged in building conscious and caring communities in a range of sectors across 156 countries. Standing for Gandhian values of non-violence, Gurudev has progressed peace in conflict stricken areas such as Sri Lanka, Iraq, Venezuela and Colombia.

John Sexton served as President of New York University from 2002 through 2015.  He is NYU’s Benjamin F. Butler Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus of the Law School. During his presidency, the University’s reach and stature grew tremendously, including the emergence of NYU as a global network university, with campuses in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai and 11 international academic centers; a merger with Polytechnic University, now the NYU Tandon School of Engineering; and the largest increase in the number of Arts and Science faculty in the University’s history. A Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, President Emeritus Sexton also serves on the board of the Institute of International Education and is past Chair of the American Council on Education. He received a BA in history, an MA in comparative religion, and a PhD in the history of American religion, all from Fordham University, and a JD magna cum laude from Harvard Law School.

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