Character of the Ages The Greek historian Hesiod tells us of the wonderful nature of the last Golden Age when peace and plenty abounded. Hopi myths tell us of cities on the bottom of the sea. Typically ancient peoples broke the great cycle into an ascending and descending phase, each with four periods. For example, the Vedic or Hindu culture tells us that when the Autumnal Equinox moves from Virgo to Ares we go through the ascending Kali, Dwapara, Treta, and Satya Yugas (the golden era) before slowly declining in reverse order as the equinox completes its journey. The Greeks and other early Mediterranean civilizations used like periods and labeled them the Iron, Bronze, Silver, and Golden Ages. More distant cultures such as the Maya or Hopi used still other names such as worlds or Suns, and labeled them fourth or fifth, to identify the recent epochs. A relatively modern proponent of the cyclical system was the Sanskrit Sage, Swami Sri Yukteswar, author of The Holy Science. He taught that the position of our solar system relative to another star now indicates we are in recent transition from the lowest material age, the Kali Yuga, into the electrical or atomic age, the Dwapara Yuga. In this period, it is said, we begin to see the world as more transparent as we move from an awareness of self as a physical body in a strictly physical universe, to an awareness that we are something more, living in a universe filled with subtle forces and energies. The technological discoveries of the laws of gravity, electricity and magnetism just in the last few hundred years give this idea credence — and the trend is accelerating. In the last century it has even been discovered that physical matter is not really solid at all. We have found it is made of molecules and these in turn are made of atoms, which are themselves constituted of 99.9% empty space. The little bit of matter that does exist in the heart of the proton and neutron, is now thought to be principally vibrating energy, at least according to the latest String Theory. Indeed, reality is looking more and more ethereal just as the hoary Vedas predict. Ages beyond the present are difficult to grasp because a lesser consciousness cannot behold a greater consciousness any more than a cup of water cannot hold the ocean. So we tend to extrapolate the past material view of things when envisioning the future, i.e., more gadgets and technology. But the Oriental teachings about cycles indicate this is just a passing phase. They say the real trend is towards a god-like state where the physical is but a manifestation of something from the netherworld. And so it seems when we read Greek mythology or pages of Vedic scripture. The Silver Age or Treta Yuga, the third age (from the bottom) is the Greek age of the demigods, or to the yogis of India, the age of divine magnetism and the mind. While this is a difficult concept to grasp, consider the story of Babel. Supposedly before Babel (pre 3100 BC in the last descending Treta Yuga) humanity spoke with one tongue and communed freely with nature. The Old Testament tells us mankind began to build towers and then languages were confused and people could no longer understand one another (Genisis 11:1-9). In the standard theory of history this story makes no sense, but in the cyclical model it has great meaning. It would have occurred around the time of the first tower buildings in ancient Mesopotamia, probably between 3000 BC and 3500 BC. This is precisely around the time (3100 BC) when according to Sri Yukteswar the world declined from the descending Treta Yuga into the descending Dwapara Yuga, a time when clairvoyance and telepathy were lost (see chart, below). We learn from Paramahansa Yogananda, another proponent of the yuga cycle and the famed author of Autobiography of a Yogi, that this time will come again in the year 4100 AD when we pass from the ascending Dwapara into the ascending Treta Yuga. He tells us at this time there will once again be a common knowledge of telepathy and clairvoyance. Perhaps then we will better understand the meaning of the ancient myths. The Treta Yuga is said to be the age of levitation, telepathy, a time of shamans and wizards of old, when tremendous physic and mental abilities were common, truly an age of the demigods. We have all heard stories about mythical powers of saints and sages who have these gifts. The majority of people dont take these reports seriously or realize that we too might have this same latent ability in a higher state of consciousness. Yet, this is exactly what the ancients told us. In fact, Christ was quoting the far more ancient scriptures of the Old Testament when in the depths of the last Dark Age he said, Is it not written that ye are gods, and he himself embodied this consciousness when he said, These things that I do ye shall do also. Chart by Laurie Pratt, published in East West Magazine in 1932. The zenith of the Golden Age last took place in 11,502BC. The pit of the last Dark Age was in 498AD. The final stage in the cycle of time is the Golden Age or Satya Yuga. It is considered the highest time on Earth. If the Treta or Silver Age is inconceivable to us today, then the Golden Age must sound like a myth or a dream. The Greeks called it the age of the gods and the myth and folklore of the Vedas and ancient Egypt hint that this was a time when gods literally walked the Earth and most of mankind lived in perfect harmony with nature and the heavens. While there now remains very little physical evidence of this long ago period, we do find that virtually every ancient megalithic construction prior to the year 1500 BC seems to be oriented towards some astronomical or cardinal point. Going back further there are signs that multiple structures may have been aligned to mirror constellations or the larger heavens. The Golden Age is said to be a time when we could perceive and communicate with astral or causal realms and directly know God without the intermediacy of any religion. Again, this sounds like little more than a fairy tale given our current state of consciousness, but it is a theme common to ancient peoples who spoke and wrote of the long lost higher ages.
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 04:26:22 +0000
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