Many people are making predictions about the year 2012. Some say the end of the world is coming. Some say the planet will undergo a transformation or humanity will experience a change in consciousness. Still others say that whatever you believe will happen on December 21, 2012, is exactly what you will experience at that time in history.

Why all the talk about 2012? That's year on the Gregorian calendar when the Mayan calendar abruptly ends. Why the calendar stops — or restarts —on December 21, 2012 no one really knows, although lots of people have theories. However, the idea that humanity or the world at large is about to undergo some sort of transformation does not represent a new idea. For instance, the ancient Jewish mystics predict a change as well, but the world transformation they see coming doesn't happen for another 231 years. That said, it's already in its beginning stages.

The Jewish mystics, or Kabbalists say that according to the Jewish calendar, the world's spiritual evolution can be likened to the seven days of the week. They equate the year 6,000 to the end of the sixth work day of the cosmic week and predict that that year marks the time when the world will enter Shabbat HaGadol, or the Big Sabbath, when 1,000 years of sacred time and space begin.

Currently the Jewish calendar has us at the year 5769. The Kabbalists would say, therefore, that it's about 12:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon, a time when Jews begin preparing in earnest for the Sabbath, which starts at sundown on Friday evening.

So, what does that mean for us? It means we must now begin preparing for the approaching transformative era. And when it arrives, we will experience "The World to Come," a time likened to what other traditions have called "Heaven on Earth" or "Peace on Earth."

The Kabbalists were clear that we should prepare for the coming era by changing our consciousness from a selfish one to a selfless one. To help prepare for 2012 — or the Jewish year 6,000 — we want to develop a higher consciousness that wants to receive not for our own sake but for the sake of giving to others.

The fundamental idea behind this constitutes a spiritual one. We want to learn to reconnect with God by behaving "like" God. The Kabbalists say God created the world to give us Divine gifts. If we focus our attention on giving, we can become givers as well. This removes the separation we normally believe exists between us and God — between Giver and receiver. When that separation is removed, we feel connected to God, which generates an overwhelming sense of peace. Of course, we were created as receivers of God's goodness, so we still want to receive — we just want to do so with the intention of giving, or sharing, what we receive with others.

Change starts a little bit at a time. When we change our consciousness, it has a ripple affect on the world around us. If we begin preparing for the year 2012 or 6,000 now, who knows, maybe we will simply create the predicted change rather than that change happening to us. In either case, we are sure to improve our individual lives and make the world a better place to live.