Time. A man-made concept. Our measurement of Time is in reference to our Sun being at our Zenith. Time helps us organise our lives in a fair distribution of synchronisation across the globe, so that we may all experience the same relativity without drastic differences. Conversations, from micro- to macro-, are intrinsically understood more when we use references such as ‘yesterday’, ‘today’, and ‘tomorrow’. Time is de facto necessary for humanity to progress. Yet, this is where we stumble. Progress how? Under whose definition of ‘progress’ do we, as a human race, progress? Is our progression, whatever that aim may be, conditional or unconditional – does it depend on a limit? If so, is that limit man-made, or is it an external influence? No, are we the external ones? Is it Predestination? Is Time then truly necessary for progression? What does Kali Yuga think? If you know her, tell her I asked for her.
Hinduism and Buddhism has always been a spiritual fascination. Their touch transcends beyond our Earth and taps into the consciousness of the Universe, and bridge themselves between us and there. They only have one constraint: human consciousness whether that be in ignorance or a limitation in understanding. So time, as we know it under the Western thought, is not in a linear timeline based fashion. Rather, as a circle. Basically, time is you and you are time. What is a yuga? Dr Tigunait explains it as ‘distinct conjunctions in human culture and civilisation that characterise the collective consciousness as well as our individual experience.’ How many are there? Four conjunctions (yuga) in one complete cycle. These four conjunctions are then unequally split in length of time which will be calculated in tenths.
Satya Yuga – 4/10th (16/16 spirit power) = The Era of Truth (known as the Golden Age in Greek mythology). Peace. Tranquillity. This is Satya Yuga, where humans that live under this yuga are honest, virtuous, healthy, and loving. Abundance of resources, prosperity, and witnesses to a serene Mother Nature. Divine Will. Purity of idea and proximity of supreme thoughts is what dictates the works of mankind during this era for they are ruled by Gods and Gods alone. Goddess Dharma, depicted in the form of a bull, symbolises for morality, and it is only during this yuga that it stands on all four legs – this alone demonstrates the full force of morality that is prevalent where discrimination or injustice is non-existent since evil, jealousy, or greed are not possible emotions. This is because the four pillars of religion (truth, penance, charity, and religious sacrifice) are all complete and in full mechanism, and so knowledge, meditation and penance is what humans yearn for in this time. What must then be understood about this time is that mankind possess clarity. A clear and unobstructed vision of and for truth which in return breeds 100% pure consciousness that seeks for righteousness. The self of an individual is deeply connected with one another leading to a supreme blessedness through a connection with the universe. The next best thing to Heaven literally on Earth – Garden of Eden for example was during this yuga. Sounds luxurious doesn’t it? As you look around now, it is obvious that this Yuga is not forever. Sadly.
Treta Yuga – 3/10th (12/16 spirit power) = The Era of Intelligence (known as the Silver Age in Greek mythology). This is when mankind wanders into curiosity and then trespass into volatile territories searching for the unknown. This means low-scale challenges. Tensions. Rivalries. Leaders rising for dominance provoking anger against one another to safeguard the results of one’s curiosity. It is, then, no surprise that Goddess Dharma stands on three legs during this yuga, instead of four as in Satya Yuga. Morality has decreased amid humans. Consciousness reduced by 25% totalling pure consciousness at 75%. Although, humans have decreased spirituality they succeed in endeavours such as agriculture and mining. The recognition of death is still not an understanding here, rather the ‘spirit has left the body’ is as it was in Satya Yuga. Although, Mother Nature brings frequent climate change giving rise to deserts and vast oceans, it is here that humans truly get to experience and become aware of the full force of nature and thus the true face of the Universe. This could go either way as a challenge to know more through conscious rebellion towards purity of truth or as one that is ascending: purifying the intelligence of man by realising the superior principles of the Universe, Creator, Spirituality, and Truth. This yuga is still relatively the next best thing to Heaven on Earth since consciousness is at 75% regardless.
Dvapara Yuga – 2/10th (8/16 spirit power) = The Era of Doubt (know as the Bronze Age in Greek mythology). Goddess Dharma stands on two legs in this yuga where pure consciousness is at 50%. Mankind’s spiritual sync is fettered which in return affects consciousness. So when the spirit power dramatically decreases, it is to an extent where man no longer perceives oneself as a spirit but that as a mere body. Thus, the concept of physical death and its inevitable arrival comes to be the prevalent perception over the notion of spirit merely leaving the body. It is a common consensus that all other religions aside from Hinduism comes into the picture during this yuga. It makes sense since man cannot live without absolute peace when there exists more than one religion/faith. Although Hinduism is recognised now as a religion it was not then during the times of Satya and Treta Yuga. For two main reasons, one is that it needn’t to be identified as ‘a religion’ which otherwise suggests plurality of religions. Hinduism, or whatever it was known as then, existed solely without challenge. Second reason is that humans do not really have to ‘pray’, ‘worship’, or ‘ritualise’ their belief in Satya or Treta Yuga. While they acknowledge a higher supreme being, they did not feel inferior to it (or ignorant of it for that matter). Rather, they acknowledge that they are a part of that supreme being – this is the indication of 100% consciousness. So, the Era of Intelligence is led by curiosity consequently giving rise to the Era of Doubt where group identifications occur. This is how greed, lust, anger, and love for materialism prevails as a consequence to lowered consciousness. This yuga is the beginning of the next worst thing to Hell on Earth.
Kali Yuga – 1/10th (4/16 spirit power) = The Era of Immorality (known as the Iron Age in Greek mythology). Goddess Dharma stands on one leg. Man’s consciousness, knowledge and power is confined to gross matter and so importance is given to materialism with purity of consciousness having gone down to a mere 25%. Sanctity, not quality, of life has vastly diminished. Matrix of wars that are connected with one another influenced by indirect occurrences happen here. It is not as simple as ‘we will battle fairly’ which is itself some form of consciousness. Rather, wars here are strategical irrespective of code of conduct or fairness. Since mankind becomes so infatuated with materialistic possessions and values they become blind to the injustice and immoral ways that surrounds them whatever the reasons may be. Mankind here are ruled by themselves and themselves only. They choose the rules. Rules as far away from non-materialistic principles as possible which ultimately points to wealth as being the supreme indication of a person’s good birth. Superficiality and deceit are the predominant themes here. Mother Nature shows her wrath through merciless climate change. This time is the peak of mankind at its worst behaviour. The completion of Hell on Earth. However, upon completion towards the end of this yuga consciousness is ascending meaning moving away from materialism and towards spirituality (this will be explained further later).
Too much information to process? I know. To help, there exists various kinds of illustrations of the yuga cycles for you to perceive in a way that you can understand:
You can perceive the yuga cycless as a Sinus Wave where it involves both the descending and the ascending of consciousness. As the image shows, the Kali Yuga is located at the bottom with the smallest coverage (corresponding to its 1/10th length of time) where consciousness is at its lowest. At the top is the Satya Yuga with the highest coverage (corresponding to its 4/10th length of time) where consciousness is at its highest. Mankind will experience this cycle in two formats: 1) where consciousness becomes challenged, and 2) where consciousness becomes attained.
Here is another one with more detailed information.
Alternatively, you can perceive the yuga cycles as circular motion. The second image depicts an Ouroboros which is an ancient symbol of a serpent/dragon eating its own tail (snake now in our times). So, the cycle is continuous without change in its blueprint and repeats itself over and over again; up and down and up and then down again and so on.
- Brahma Kumaris Time Cycle
This illustration is controversial as the timing does not seem to correlate with historical global events such as the dinosaur saga. However, the timing aside, the rest of the illustration is useful in depicting the four yuga divisions and the introductions of Earth’s top religions.
Corresponding Opportunistic Scientific Explanations.
Matter. Energy. Effect.
You. Me. Trees. Air. And everything else on Earth both living and non-living are made up of matter. Matter is defined as that which has mass and takes up space. That is everything belonging to Earth. What is not matter is sound, time, microwaves, sunlight, heat, reflections, energy etc (ThoughtsCo). That brings us to energy. This is difficult to define satisfyingly as Cosmos explain, but obviously I am sure you know what I am talking about. How I see it is as the limbo between matter and effect. That middle part. This brings us to effect. An influence, determination, causation, change in situation that that matter was initially in. How does this link to the yuga cycles? There must be an explanation – however absurd it may be – for the changes that occur across the yuga cycles. Energy, where is it coming from?
Besides the light from our own Sun, we also receive light from the center of the galaxy, the galactic Sun. Much of the light of this greater Sun, however, is not in visible frequencies. Some astronomers have suspected a central galactic light, like that of a quasar, whose light may be obscured by dust or nebulae in the region of the galactic center. According to Vedic astrology, the light from this galactic source has a special influence upon Earth. It nourishes and sustains intelligence in human beings. This is not the materialistic intellect but true intelligence, the capacity to perceive the real or divine spirit in things and act according to the Divine Will.
– D. Frawley (1992), ‘The Astrology of Seers: A Comprehensive Guide to Vedic Astrology’.
The bright white centre is the Galactic Sun.
Are we always receiving this optimal energy from the Galactic Sun? No. The Universe is beautiful to extents beyond our knowledge, and on the same recognition it is also powerfully destructive:
This is a black hole. “A place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light cannot escape. The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying.” (NASA).
The Oort cloud (still a working theory): “A thick bubble of icy debris surrounding our solar system.” (NASA). Depending on how powerful any gravitational pull is debris, comets etc will, and has have before, be hurled towards Earth. Dinosaurs? Yes.
The Mother of all Theories – Our Sun’s Evil Companion Named ‘Nemesis’
The first image is an illustration of binary stars (this include the sun as suns are stars). A study was conducted by researchers from Harvard & California on Perseus, a gas-filled cloud home to stars which included suns. The results were that it was home to many stars that had been formed alongside its twin at birth. Binary stars may either stay together throughout the test of the Universe or separate. So what does this mean? That our Sun may also have a twin, or have had a twin. Why the curiosity? It matters because every 26 million years a mass extinction has been recorded to take place on Earth indicating a pattern. A pattern indicates a causation. What or who is that causation is the question. Could it be this twin Sun? (The Article).
Links to articles for you to read and make up your own mind on whether you perceive this theory as plausible or not:
- The Atlantic (2017) = https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/06/two-is-better-than-oh-wait/530676/
- Space (2017) = https://www.space.com/22538-nemesis-star.html
- Owlcation (2017) = https://owlcation.com/stem/Nemesis-Is-there-a-Second-Sun-in-the-Solar-System
- W. Cruttenden (2005), ‘Lost Star of Myth and Time’ = https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/114504.Lost_Star_of_Myth_and_Time
What does this all mean? These three identifications are a few out of many to illustrate that Earth’s consciousness fluctuates between high and low points dependent on whatever goes on in the solar system.
So basically, Satya Yuga corresponds to when Earth is receiving 100% light from both the Sun and the Galactic Sun (white light in the middle of our Milky Way Galaxy) without obstructions or external influences. Kali Yuga corresponds to when our Earth is receiving obstructed light instead. It is being said amongst Vedic astrologers that it is this light that determines human consciousness.
The length of the Yuga Cycles varies as different scholars adopt different interpretations, yet this is the widely accepted data:
We are in Kali Yuga now but on the ascending plane. We will, and are facing deterioration yet we do so with opportunities giving into consciousness. The Bhagavata Purana is Hinduism’s one of eight great histories widely acknowledged to have been written in South India by learned Brahmin scholars approximately 1800 B.C. (inconclusive). It contains ancient knowledge on atomic work, relativity of time, time travel, embryology, genetics, cloning etc. Canto 12 (chapter 12) is on the Age of Deterioration; Kali Yuga. It predicts symptoms and events that will occur during this yuga: diminishing of religions (12.2.1), political corruption for power (12.2.7), respect given upon wealth (12.2.5), men will stop taking care of their parents (12.3.42) etc. – Bhagavata.org
You may say that we are at the peak of our development as a species. That proliferation of technology advancement must mean we are on the right course – and we are. Our best asset as humans is our brains unmatched by any other creatures on Earth. Our ancestors have adopted countless times to ensure the survival of our species to a point where we are now in the position to even leave Earth and venture into space itself. Laws, political codes, social reforms, psychological understanding, medical revolutions cements our footprint on Earth more so than we have ever done in the past.
Yet, quality of life is not the same as sanctity of life. Both are two different understandings of what life is. You’re getting it now. The former is materialism based, and the latter is consciousness based. Why cannot we have both? We can but that is the issue – we do not restrict ourselves or sense the importance to balance the two. The imperative to attain mental power has almost vanished owing to our greed in pleasures that we can see, touch, and gain easily. Our mental power allows us to connect with humans around the world, or at the very least value their beings and accept them as amongst us. Now, although we have advanced greatly in human rights and formed international shields (U.N./E.U./SAARC/BRICS etc), we see rise in genocides, ethnic cleansings, civil wars, corporate takeover etc. That is the difference between sanctity of life and quality of life.
Nevertheless, remember. I said we are in the ascending part of the Yuga Cycle. We are in the process of attaining high consciousness. Here is an excerpt of D. Frawley’s article in Vedanet which explains this:
Harmonization with the Galactic Center
An important cosmic event is occurring now. The winter solstice is now at a point of conjunction with the galactic center. There is some doubt as to the exact location of this point. I would place it at 06º 40′ Sagittarius, or the middle of the nakshatra Mula. Depending upon the ayanamsha one uses, this conjunction may be occurring either right now or in the next few decades. The same event appears mirrored in the calendric calculations of the Maya, a culture that shared many practices with the Vedic people.
This indicates a harmonization of humanity with the Divine will as transmitted from the galactic center. The new spiritual thinking of today may be a result of this attunement process, which insists that we enter into a new ascending age of light and cast off the shadows of the dark ages of strife and dissention. Though some global shock and suffering must be endured, the outcome can only be ultimately for the good. We should have faith in the Divine will behind this process and not give in to the despair that the present state of the world must evoke in us. Though we may not be quickly ushered into an age of enlightenment, much positive growth will occur. A shift in history as significant as any to date will be experienced, with a movement from darkness to light and a new seeking of consciousness.
By the accounts of ancient thinkers like Plato, the flood that destroyed Atlantis and ended the Ice Age occurred about 9300 BCE (9000 years before Plato). This was when the summer solstice was in conjunction with the galactic center, a point completely opposite the one today. Such new cataclysms are possible in the coming century, particularly as we continue to disrupt and destroy our ecosystem. More reverence for the cosmic powers would be a good thing for our culture. We live under cosmic laws, which, having violated, we must suffer for. It was not just superstition that caused the ancients to tremble before God and beg his mercy. It was such experiences of global retribution that we may yet also see. Unless we learn to respect our planet, nature, other creatures and spiritual teachings, we as a species may have to undergo a great purification that will not be pleasant for anyone.
– Vedanet (June, 2017).
Links to read more on this topic:
– Selbie, J., & Steinmetz, D., (2011). ‘The Yugas: Key to Understanding Our Hidden Past, Emerging Present and Future Enlightenment’. (https://www.amazon.com/Yugas-Understanding-Emerging-Present-Enlightenment/dp/1565892534)
– Simpson, S., (2011). ‘Through Many Lives: A Tale of Time Travel Through the Yugas’. (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33991952-through-many-lives?from_search=true)
– Evola, J., (1995). ‘Revolt Against the Model World: Politics, Religion, and Social Order in the Kali Yuga’. (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Revolt-Against-Modern-World-Politics/dp/089281506X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505817943&sr=8-1&keywords=kali+yuga).
– Panigrahy, K. K., et al (2002). Ethnobiological Analysis From Myth to Science: IV. Kaliyuga – The Descending Human Ethical Environment. (http://www.krepublishers.com/02-Journals/JHE/JHE-13-0-000-000-2002-Web/JHE-13-4-257-02-Abst-PDF/JHE-13-4-263-02-Panigrahy-K-K/JHE-13-4-263-02-Panigrahy-K-K-Tt.pdf)
– Yukteswar, S., (1894 – republished 1949). ‘The Holy Science’. (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/928524.Holy_Science).
Quantum. 