Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Bengaluru: Spiritual leader and founder of the Art of Living, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, on Sunday asserted that Rashtra Bhakti (patriotism) and Daiva Bhakti (devotion to God) were two sides of the same coin.
"They were separated all these years under the pretext of protecting secularism," Ravi Shankar said.
Delivering his address at the valedictory ceremony of the three-day Akhil Bharatiya Kala Sadhak Sangam-2024 that was organised under the aegis of the Karnataka wing of Sanskar Bharati here, Ravi Shankar said several generations of our country "lost their identity due to insecurities created by secularism."
“After independence, the sense of patriotism had been alienated from devotion to God. All these years, devotion to God was forced to be practised within the four walls of one’s house. But RSS worked relentlessly to bring Daiva Bhakti out of the closet and put it on the same pedestal as patriotism,” he said.
The spiritual leader said Daiva Bhakti had now come to the fore after the successful consecration ceremony of Lord Rama in Ayodhya on January 22.
Ravi Shankar said "several generations of our country developed a slave mentality" due to "insecurity built around secularism".
“Now, it is time for us to come out of this slave mentality. In the last 10 years, if anything has changed in our country, it is that Rashtra Bhakti and Daiva Bhakti are on the same pedestal,” he said.