Written by: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Look at ends and beginnings with enthusiasm and hope, and channel your energy to positive action, says SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR, founder, the Art of Living Foundation
You think you are a part of this world, but actually, the world is a part of you. Therefore, you cannot be at peace when the world around you is in turmoil. When mid-life crisis begins prematurely in teenage years, society is rattled by violence and drug abuse; humanism appears utopian; joy, love and compassion are confined to books and celluloid; corruption and crime come to be accepted as a way of life — these are warning signals for us to wake up and meet these challenges.

Young And Eager
Today, we see a catastrophic decline in human values all over the world. A young boy recently opened fire at little children in an elementary school in Newton, Connecticut, in the US. And in India, we are still reeling under the shock of the heinous attack and gang rape of a young girl by a group of men, leaving her in a critical state. The incident provoked youth to come out on the streets and demonstrate in large numbers, demanding justice. Youth need to exercise restraint and keep anti-social elements and vested political interests at bay. Protest is essential to bring awareness, but not beyond that.

We are witnessing a movement: awareness and enthusiasm among youth and their eagerness to create a better India by bringing about changes is gaining momentum; we should not allow this momentum to degrade into chaos and violence.

The need is to channel these energies constructively. We need to create an atmosphere of support and contribution rather than of blame and accusation.

While the authorities are certainly accountable for law and order, diffusing stress in the environment and taking steps to bring out human values in society becomes our responsibility as well; otherwise, people to whom this message has not reached might harm us or our loved ones out of their resentment. All of us should take out some time — at least a few hours in a week — to volunteer for a better India. If we have just a few people with this magnanimous outlook, who can take responsibility for others’ emotional well-being, society has a very realistic chance of being peaceful and harmonious to a large extent.

Remain Stress-free
There are little things we can all do to keep our environment stress-free. We need to develop the habit of sharing our joy with others. If you are happy, infect others with your happiness; don’t keep it to yourself. Any action done with this idea behind it is service and the best form of service is uplifting someone’s state of mind. Of course, we must be careful and sensitive so as not to upset anyone with our enthusiasm. When we decide to share what we have been given, the Divine showers more abundance on every one of us.

Being spiritual does not mean turning a blind eye to the world. On the contrary, as you learn more and more about yourself, you come to know more and more about the world as well and begin to infer things that are beyond the obvious. Somewhere within we all want to know who we are, why we are here and what the purpose of life is. Most people choose to push these questions aside as a waste of time. Being spiritual is about keeping this little fire of Self-inquiry alive and not extinguishing it; not giving up the pursuit. These questions serve as a compass and help you bring a sense of direction to your life.

Every end creates a sense of completion and relief and every new beginning brings with it a sense of hope and enthusiasm. Therefore there is celebration associated with both. The past has made you wiser, the future beckons you to act and it is in the present that you can plan and begin. Although bitter experiences of the past should not prevent you from taking risk and plunging into adventure, you should also not be foolish in repeating old mistakes. A few moments of reflection should become a daily routine to infuse inspiration, innovation and intuition, all of which are much needed for planning and action.

Create A New Beginning
As you pass through events one after the other, become aware that life is like a river. There may be stones on the path, but the river flows above or around them. No year passes by without a touch of joy or without posing challenges. You should plan to utilise every moment of joy to serve and see every challenge as opportunity for growth. The year 2012 has not brought on the end of the world, and the coming New Year, 2013, is most certainly the start of a new beginning.

Last Saturday, I have gone to an insurance office to surrender my policy. There a gentle man was discussing about some pension plan. Since he is going to retire soon, he wanted to do some pension plan to bear his expenses after retirement. He was just talking about his requirement – “I’m working as a Govt. employee. Since my retirement time is coming, my salary will be reduced to almost half. But expenditure will not reduce. Blah blah!!”. Then the insurance manager asked him about his job. He told that, he was working in income tax office. Than the insurance manager laughed & told him, “then no need to explain you about how to save your money from tax.” Then he told that, “I’m working in income tax department. That doesn’t mean that you said. People always think like this. That’s why I often tell about my profession to others.”

People have always this type of perception. If anyone is working in police department, that means, he has enough money (black money!). He has no problem in life. As my father is a police officer, I know about their problems.

• They don’t have any holidays throughout the year except their leaves.
• They may have 24 hours duty. They can be called to duty any time. It may be dinner time; it may be at 2 o’clock night.
• People come to home at evening. But they are standing at traffic signal in evening.
• They do their duty on rainy time by bringing umbrella in their hands.
• They are doing their duty in heavily cold & fug.

Who cares about them? People say, police always asking about money. I can categorise them in three types.

• No doubt, most of police men are like this. 
• Some police are asking for money with some situation. I’m not in favour of them, but I’m trying to say something about their situation. 
• There are also some good people in police department who never in favour of corruption in any condition.

The 1st & 3rd types are obvious. I’m talking about the 2nd type.

• Suppose a police officer is working in an outpost. He is supposed to give at least Rs 5000/month to IIC, Rs 15000/quarterly to Circle Inspector, Rs 20000/quarterly to DSP and more than Rs 20000 to SP. To survive in police department, he has to do this. Then should he give them from his own pocket? When he earn (!) this money allegedly, then he did some extra amount for his own pocket.
  
• Family members including wife encourage him to do the same.

Recently there as a gang rape case in New Delhi by 6 people. People protested at India Gate. The act 144 has been implemented on that place. Then tear gas, water & lathi charge implemented by police to control the situation. It is not their fault to implement the act 144. Govt has not taken any action. But police are blamed. More than 70 people injured. (And today I came to know that, one police men died on attack on him by public. But the controversial statements says, the guys who helped the police men to bring to hospital told that, no one attacked on him. He was died in cardiac arrest. Here politician played game with dead body of the police man claiming that, protesters has attacked on him & detained some protesters including some political party workers.) Here also police are blamed without any reason. If any misshapen will occurred with any public, then Govt will suspend 2-3 police men to satisfy the people. Here also police are blamed.

Here you can watch a beautiful video.

A student asks a teacher: What is love?

The teacher said: in order to answer your question, go to the paddy field and choose the biggest paddy and come back. But the rule is: you can go through them only once and cannot turn back to pick. The student went to the field, go through first row, he saw one big paddy,but he wonders.... may be there is a bigger one later. Then he saw another bigger one... but may be there is an even bigger one waiting for him Later, when he finished more than half of the paddy field, he start to realize that the paddy is not as big as the previous one he saw, he know he has missed the biggest one, and he regretted. So, he ended up went back to the teacher with empty hand. The teacher told him, this is love... you keep looking for a better one, but when later you realize, you have already miss the person.

The student asked: What is marriage then?

The teacher said: In order to answer your question, go to the corn field and choose the biggest corn and come back. But the rule is: you can go through them only once and cannot turn back to pick. The student went to the corn field, this time he is careful not to repeat the previous mistake, when he reach the middle of the field, he has picked one
medium corn that he feel satisfied, and came back to the teacher. The teacher told him, this time you bring back a corn.... you look for one that is just nice, and you have faith and believe this is the best one you get....

Karthika Purnima is a very special and auspicious day - the full moon of the month Karthika.

This full moon has a special significance for many different traditions, and is celebrated for many reasons... :)

Some of them being the following:

• It is considered the day that Vishnu or Narayana took avatara in the form of Matsya (the fish).
• It is considered the day that Shiva relieved the three worlds from the terror of Tripurasura (and it is thus considered as a day very dear to Shiva, after Shivaratri).
• It is called Deva Dipavali (the diwali of the Gods).
• Jains celebrate and worship Lord Mahavira on this day.
• It is considered the day Karthikeya took birth.
• It is also dedicated to the ancestors that have passed away (Pitris).
• Sikhs celebrate Guru Nanak's birthday.

Q: What happens in death?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You will just see the body out there. Once you come out of the body, you will see your whole life flashing like a movie in a few minutes, and you will only know how much love you gave and how much knowledge you received.

These will be the only two questions that will stand.

1. How much love you gave! Not how much love you received, and
2. How much knowledge you gained.

This question will come and you will say, 'I will do better in the next', and that is it. Then there is peace.

It is like, sometimes at night before sleeping you review what all work you have to do the next day. You say, 'This all has to be done tomorrow. Okay, I will do it', and then you to bed, isn't it!

Same thing happens after death. Then that intention of what you will do next life will bring the next body and the next birth to us. Then we choose our parents, the place, and everything else and then we come to this world.

So nothing to be worried about death!