A young boy of 6 years, while walking with his parents on the streets of his hometown Vadodara, in India; came across a handicap beggar asking for alms. He insisted that his father give the beggar some money. This was the first time he had come across someone like that on the street and something, somewhere got stirred in that little boy. 

After giving some money to the beggar, as the boy walked a few steps, he wondered “What if I don’t come back on this road tomorrow? Who is going to take care of this man on the street tomorrow?” This thought stayed with him growing up. But soon grades, sports, competition and hormones took over; buried the thought and he forgot about that beggar.

Until one day, he experienced something out of this world. The Happiness program! Wherein he experienced a very powerful breathing and meditation technique that gave him the out-of-the-body experience. He experienced the PRESENCE of his master Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, even though his master was not physically present. It was a life changing moment for that young man of 19 now. The thought that was buried for so long, came alive and he got an ANSWER to his life long question of “who is going to take care of him tomorrow?”

He immediately got aligned with the vision of the founder of the world’s largest non-profit humanitarian organization, The Art of Living Foundation. He came to the U.S.A to pursue his MS in Artificial Intelligence and Telecommunication and graduated with a thesis in a short time span of 15 months. He took a job as a Telecommunications engineer in Dallas and started learning the art of balancing his life between outer success and inner peace through various workshops offered by the foundation. Soon he realized where he was truly happy – while doing selfless service. He decided that he wanted to do more service and reach out to a lot more people through his work. The engineering job offered good money but took a major part of his day, not leaving much time for what he really wanted to do.

Soon enough he got invited to a startup called, Shankara Inc., an Ayurveda based skincare company. He had no idea about skincare and very little about ayurveda and wondered why did the owners choose him. As he inquired further it got revealed that the company was guided by Sri Sri and is committed to giving 100% of net profits to humanitarian causes around the world; and reviving health in skincare. The incident of the beggar on the street and the thought he had since, came rushing back. He saw this as an opportunity of a lifetime – work and be able to help those in need that are far away. He immediately said YES to the opportunity and joined Shankara Inc. in April of 2002. Through Shankara, he now started providing health and wellness to people that appreciate it in life; while taking care of people that are less fortunate than them through various charitable organizations; all supported by the profits of the company.

After practicing the breathing techniques and meditation for many years, he went on to become a teacher of The Happiness Program and Sahaj Samadhi – Effortless Meditation technique. He has taught both these programs to thousands around the globe. 

He learned and practiced the science of Ayurveda from various masters in India. For the last 17 years he has trained over a thousand service providers on Ayurveda and it’s various healing modalities. Today he is one of the most sought after educator, trainer and speaker in the spa industry. He envisions Ayurveda to become one of the mainstream lifestyles and has initiated a couple of ventures leading up to that.

He is also a father of two beautiful daughters that keep him playful at heart always.

Balancing his inner and outer worlds skilfully, this Spiritualist, Visionary & Entrepreneur is Ashish Pandya.