How BWG Began
BWG – Breath Wisdom Grace is a global volunteer platform dedicated to spreading the wisdom of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji. Founded in 2013 by Yugendra Shreepati Bhonsle — an Art of Living teacher and Income Tax Inspector from India — it began as a single WhatsApp group sharing Gurudev's wisdom in English and Hindi. Today it reaches 125,000+ followers across 18 languages through WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, YouTube, and Zoom.
The journey began even earlier — on Orkut, through an initiative called Guruji Codes, one of the first online communities dedicated to Gurudev's teachings. From there came email wisdom delivery, a dedicated online blessings platform, and eventually the multi-language social media network that BWG is today. Originally known as Sri Sri Note, the platform was renamed BWG — Breath Wisdom Grace — to reflect its three core pillars.
Yugendra Shreepati Bhonsle
Yugendra is an Art of Living teacher who has spent over a decade building digital platforms that bring Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji's wisdom to the world. He created BWG's in-house technology, manages its volunteer network, and continues to build new initiatives in service of Gurudev's mission. Beyond BWG, he currently runs ShishyaBOT — a Telegram wisdom companion — and the in-house BWG Volunteer App. Over the years he has also created several initiatives in service of Gurudev and the Art of Living community, including AOL Links, Art of Living Universe, Art of Living Ashrams, an Online Blessings Platform, Guruji Codes (originally on Orkut, est. 2009), and an Email Wisdom Delivery system — each built with the same spirit of seva.
His personal website is iamyugendra.com.
70+ Volunteers. One Spirit of Seva.
BWG is powered by a team of 70+ Art of Living teachers and volunteers from across the world — India, Europe, the Americas, Southeast Asia, and beyond. Most team members have rarely met each other in person, yet they are bound by a shared intention: to serve Gurudev and ensure his wisdom reaches more people, in more languages, every single day.
The BWG team has met Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji both online and offline — a blessing that lies at the heart of everything the platform does.
"We work smart, not just hard. Technology is put to the best possible use — so that every volunteer can serve more joyfully and every seeker can find Gurudev's wisdom more easily."
18 Languages. Every Word Human.
Every translation at BWG — into Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Odia, Nepali, German, Dutch, Croatian, Macedonian, French, Persian, and Taiwanese — is done by a human. Our translators are Art of Living teachers and dedicated volunteers who bring not just linguistic skill but personal understanding of Gurudev's teachings to every word they translate.
BWG has made a deliberate choice to never use AI for translation. The depth, nuance, and grace in Gurudev's wisdom deserves human hands — and that is a standard held without compromise.
All 18 language translations are reviewed and delivered by Art of Living practitioners — never by artificial intelligence.
The BWG App — Technology in Service of Gurudev
To make seva seamless for the entire team, Yugendra built an in-house mobile app — not available to the public, but purpose-built for BWG volunteers. Every month, English wisdom quotes are entered into the app and automatically distributed to all translators worldwide. Translators complete their work directly within the app. Generated image content for all 21+ Instagram pages and social platforms is created and approved through the same system. Gurudev Moments photo uploads are monitored through it. WhatsApp reminders ensure no task is missed.
It is a complete seva management system, designed and built entirely in-house with one purpose: to make it easier for every BWG volunteer to serve Gurudev with joy, efficiency, and love.
Initiatives Built in Service of Gurudev
Beyond the core BWG platform, the team actively runs the following initiatives dedicated to spreading Gurudev's wisdom and serving the Art of Living community.
Breath. Wisdom. Grace.
BWG — Breath Wisdom Grace — reflects the three gifts that Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji offers the world. The breath techniques that transform the body. The wisdom that transforms the mind. The grace that transforms the heart. Formerly known as Sri Sri Note, the platform was renamed BWG to carry this deeper meaning into everything it does.