Saturday, January 2, 2010

More on Kali Yuga

My previous post had a mention of Kalyug and I got two anonymous comments that made me want to write more on the subject. As Wikipedia states, Kali Yuga, age of (the male demon) Kali", or "age of vice"), is the last of the four stages that the world goes through as part of the cycle of yugas described in the Indian scriptures. People believe that we are now in the last stages of Kalyug ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­—2012 being the end of this age.

If you read about what is ascribed to in the Kali Yuga, one can certainly believe that we are living it now. This epoch related to moral decline can be no more true to our lives today than to any other time in history. There are conflicting theories, however, about the beginning of the yugas, the duration and such. The growing hysteria linked to the Mayan calendar closing a cycle of time on 21-12-2012 doesn’t take into account the fact that the Mayans merely state a consciousness change. Everything else is vague. There is nothing stating that the earth will stand still, or be destroyed; there is not even a hint of everyone suddenly becoming spiritual either. The theory doom with the end of Kali Yug is nothing but gibberish. The media wants to get its viewership base on an all time high and are using this avenue to engage people’s attention.

It is, nonetheless, possible for people to do some soul searching at the end of Kali Yug. The way matters stand today, with imminent violence around every corner, ambition taking people down a path to hell, anger and frustration building up within our souls, carnal cravings causing innocent victims eternal suffering...the list goes on. We’ve become inhuman instead of just being human. It’s time for a conscious change, and that, perhaps, will mark the dawn of a new era.

As for the prattle of idle tongues on the end of the world, give it no more thought. We will all live to see far beyond 2012. We can only hope and believe that the world will become a better place; we can look forward to treating people with respect. We can begin to value the earth that we live on. We can hope to respect ourselves.

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