The world is not going to end in 2012

The reassuring voice dispelling fears of an apocalypse in that year brought a collective sigh of relief to the audience at the SMX convention center.
"We are going to see 2013, as good as 2012," declared international humanitarian leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

The spiritual head of the UN-affiliated The Art of Living Foundation gave this assurance not as a prophet but as a social activist who has taught people of different traditions and faiths the "art of living" through techniques that calm the mind and instill self-confidence.

It was a question begging to be asked amidst the anxiety generated by cataclysmic changes in the earth, fanned by a viral marketing hype for an upcoming disaster movie called "2012" directed by Roland Emmerich.

Forecasts of this cataclysmic or transformative event are based mainly on the fact that the Mayan calendar ends on Dec. 21 or 23, 2012, the so-called ancient Mayan calendar prophecy.

It is not a doomsday scenario but a new beginning in humanity's consciousness, explained Sri Sri, echoing what the modern-day Mayan elder, Guatemalan Chile Pixtun, has been saying about the prophecy.

"During this time, the planet and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and 2012 may mark the beginning of a new era," said the white-robed Indian teacher, a namesake of the popular Indian musician, called Sri Sri (meaning His Holiness) by his students.

"We are going to see a new consciousness developing, that of humanism," he told a small media group that he met before his public talk.

Unfounded fears

He recalled similar events in the past that stoked similar unfounded fears.

"Remember 1999, featuring the famous Nostradamus prediction? The second millennium came and the world is still existing."

"Remember the fall of communism? It took another 20 years to bring capitalism to collapse."

"Today, we live in a culture of caution and uncertainty of the times where banks can no longer be trusted. We live in a time when one's savings and livelihood can be wiped out overnight," he said.

He enjoined people to seek inner peace in the midst of a dynamic changing world, "to develop new attitudes and new ways of coping with the difficulties and hardships we are facing such as disasters, typhoons and flooding."

Ignorance creates problems

Saying that ignorance creates problems, Sri Sri travels to nearly 40 countries every year, committing to his role of "educating people, removing prejudice, teaching compassion."

Sri Sri was a Nobel Peace Prize nominee in 2008, in recognition of his work in peacemaking and conflict resolution in such areas as Iraq, Kashmir, Sri Lanka and Cameroon.

Before coming to Manila for his second visit, he was in Bangkok, Thailand, to speak at a Unesco conference about the need to eliminate a major social disease—depression—indicated by the growing incidence of suicides and drug abuse.

He said he was visiting Manila to see for himself the trauma relief efforts of AoL's Philippine volunteers on the victims of the recent twin calamities of "Ondoy" and "Pepeng."

Trauma relief

Local AoL volunteers have teamed up with the Red Cross to provide not only food but also trauma relief workshops, called the Breath, Water, Sound program, for thousands of people in the evacuation centers. The course consists of breathing exercises and sound meditation with lots of drinking water (for detoxification) to help manage stress.

Volunteer Denise Celdran has conducted the course for 12 street children that Childhope street teachers had gathered at the Museo Pambata. She remarked that the children don't have the judgmental intellect that too much education can sometimes bring.

"They are open and accepting and treat everything as fun and games," she said.

Every Saturday, for two to four months, the kids ranging in age from 7 to 13, learn breathing exercises and meditation in addition to regular schoolwork conducted by the Childhope street teacher. They are taught how to still the mind and feel safe within themselves.

The children were presented to Sri Sri during his public talk. The street teacher reported how they have shown a remarkable transformation, particularly in attention span and attitude.

Major social disease

Sri Sri considers depression a major social disease. "Conflict and stress steal human satisfaction, " he said.

His approach places sustainable development and social uplift side by side with value education.

Through programs that help people rid themselves of stress and inspire them to see the bigger meaning of life, Sri Sri has been successful in making violent aggressors calmer, happier and less prone to destructive emotions.

People who came to listen to his public talk, called "Let Love Win," did not hear a lot of words being said but were treated instead to two hours of destressing into music and positive affirmations.

It was long enough for Sri Sri to make his point: Why worry about 2012


Courtesy: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091108-234915/No-apocalypse-in-2012-says-guru