Hare Krsna..
Recently, the news channels and print versions of the newspapers claim that the world is going to end in 2012 and even several scientists and researchers have claimed the same. They call it the 'Polar Shift' and mention that the 'kalyug' has come heavily.
Is this really true and when according to the scriptures will the world end ? Or has krsna said something about his creation ?
Can you please throw some light on this ?
Haribol
Saumil J
Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna,
Nityanandachandraji,
Yes, it is true that scientists are unable, at times, to solve contemporary murder mysteries, etc. But we must remember that fields of science like cosmology and astronomy are progressing by leaps and bounds. Scientists today CAN accurately predict what will happen millions of years in the future. Of course, it is quite possible, as you say, that the appearance of the Lord will bring tremendous, dynamc changes in the universe and will change the whole course of things.....
-AweStruckAwe
Science
Yes, science has made great strides.
Scientists , i feel , are those amazing beings that must make the Lord smile affectionately by their feats and discoveries about His creation. Driven to give something to mankind. Their accuracy is amazing too.
Its best when they have faith in Him, see Him in the centre of their work and are ever grateful for the gifts He has showered on them.
Even better when they join hands with the Vedas and redirect their work in line with the Vedic scriptures. Then they are giving 2 things to mankind :
1. science and
2. Faith/Love for Krishna backed up by science (for those who need the science).
Sure, they should not think that Universe is just matter, or a phenomenon. Its a phenomenon all right, for the most part .... that's because the Lord has a system and has perhaps put the system on auto-pilot, for the time-being (He has better things to do) . However, He can always make the exceptions.
Haribol.
The End? Most certainly!
Hare Krishna!!!I do not have much to add regarding the speculation that the world will end in 2012. However, science knows beyond all doubt that we are not going to be around forever.There is a mysterious force in the universe known as dark energy. Scientists know almost nothing about it. Dark energy makes up about 74% of the universe. As we know, the universe is not static. It is expanding each moment, becoming bigger, larger, huge. Moreover, the above-mentioned dark energy causes the rate of expansion of the universe to accelerate rapidly. In other words, the universe is expanding at ever-increasing speeds.This implies that in about 100 billion years, everything from atoms to galaxies will be simply torn apart by the devastating expansion of the universe. All matter will, therefore, be torn apart. Given the above conditions, do you think life will continue? Highly unlikely. :)Of course, we need not even wait for 100 billion years.In another 5 billion years, the sun will become a huge ball of fierce, mercilessly scorching heat called a "red giant". It will swallow up both Mercury and Venus. Its heat will be so unbearably scorching that life on earth will be impossible. Soon after, the solar system, consisting of all its remaining planets, will be dispersed. Whatever remains of the solar system will float away randomly into the vastness of space.Not quite conducive to our sustenance, eh? :)Of course, even before this, issues of increasing concern such as overpopulation, global warming, depletion of natural resources essential for life, destruction of the environment, war, etc. could, quite possibly, make conditions too harsh for our living on Earth.Thus science knows and we know too that we are not going to be around for ever. So what do we do about it?Well, friends, make the most of now!!!Now, THAT makes sense!Hare Krishna!!!-AweStruckAwe
Scientists are not able to
Scientists are not able to solve 10-20 year murder mysteries what to speak of foretelling what will happen to the universe millions of years in the future or what happened millions of years in the past. We must remember that the universe is not just dead matter, but it is organized matter acting under the instruction and direction of God, Krishna. Therefore it is organic and can change it course as it does so every 4 yugas when we transfer from Kali yuga back to Satya yuga. Also the appearance of the Lord upon the Earth on other planets has also a direct dynamic affect on the universe's situation.
I was in a bookshop yesterday
I was in a bookshop yesterday. Maybe it was because I had read this tghrad but I noticed there were books people had written about this. How popular is that. Although the covers and the titles gave the impression that the world was ending they all had much more positive things to say than that.
Suffice to say I won't be hiding in a cave at the beginning of 2012.
Better than this is the report that a new scientific experiment with the biggest particle accelerator ever made might turn the earth into a black hole and everything will be sucked into it. They will do the experiment very soon. Maybe I should hold off on my next mortgage payment just in case.
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Their is a really funny song
Their is a really funny song done by the devotees of Alachua called "Y2K". It is a spoof off of that song "Yesterday" it is really funny.
'you said chips wont go with two 00's you led me on'
y2k so I thought it would be judgement day
spent my credit limit all away
put a wood stove in my SUV
turned my house into a cannery
This must be a popular topic
I have seen it metioned at other forums
here's a bit from Sri Nandanandana dasa posting in a Yahoo Newsgroup AIVS ( American Institute of Vedic Studies)
Sri Nandanandana dasa is a disciple of Srila Prabhupada who's name is Stephen Knapp
"Namaste,
When I attended the "Spirituality Beyond Religion" Conference in Jaipur, India two years ago, there was one Mayan elder there who spoke about the Mayan calendar controversy. He said that the way the Westerners had calculated the 2012 suggestion that the world will end is highly inaccurate, by as much as 6 years, or even 12 years. And for those who feel the world will end at that time in 2012, he said that he hoped no one will be disappointed when nothing happens.
The Mayan calendar is divided into ages or periods of time cycles. The 2012 ending of the Mayan calendar, as the Mayan elder explained it, is not to mean that the world will end, but it merely was the last cycle for which they made any calculation. If the Westerners really wanted to know more about the Mayan Calendar, then why did they not have serious consultations with the Mayan elders, which most of those who comment on the Mayan Calendar never did. So how can we put so much dependence on it?
So his comments was most contrary to what most of us Westerners think we know of the Mayan Calendar. The point being, we should not worry so much about it, and the world will go on. However, there may indeed be certain cycles that are more positive, and other cycles in which different problems or even disasters may appear in. But that is a pattern that has been going on for hundreds of years.
Hari Om,
Stephen Knapp
www.stephen-knapp.com ________________________________________
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Not so easy
Actually I am a bit familiar with the Mayan calender which stops at 2012, since it is a big "New Age" topic and many books have been written on the subject. It is not considered the "end of the world" but the end of an era and beginning of a new one. At least that is my perspective. Like everything, "as many minds, as many ways" or opinions. I don't think there is anything conclusive, much speculation. Many claims. In a way if we really new it was the end of the world or our personal death date we would have a big impetus for our spiritual life. Our course being motivated by fear is the lowest level of motivation for spiritual practice and has been used to coerce people to follow Christianity. In any case we are doing to die any day, so we should make the best use of our life with a sense of urgency to love and serve Krishna and his devotees. We have to become convinced about the reality of Krishna, our nature as his eternal servants, and the poor prospect that the material world offers for our happiness due to being temporary and miserable.
Your friend in Krishna,
Karnamrita
I have heard of this 2012
I have heard of this 2012 business also.
It seems like every few years, some people insist that "The world is ending!" Recall the same thing happened around the year 2000.
I am confused by all of this but appreciate the informative posting on the actual length of the Kali Yuga. I consider this much more authoritative than the 2012 stuff I have heard. In the end I think we cannot know when this "world" (however we define that) will end or change. It is up to Krishna. Our job is to make every moment count because that is all we have.
Thankfully we have been given the Maha Mantra, stories and pictures of Krishna, and all these wonderful devotional practices. Regardless of when and how the material world will "end", I am sure these things will help us over the long term which goes beyond the material realm.
Silly people have been saying the world is going to end for
centuries. There is also no destruction at the end of the Kali Yuga but rather revitalization. After 1 Kalpa (1000 cycles of the four yugas) is there some partial devastation.
Reference: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.5.23 purport
When Kṛṣṇa appeared, He gave His orders, and when Kṛṣṇa Himself appeared as a devotee, as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He showed us the path by which to cross the ocean of Kali-yuga. That is the path of the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared, He ushered in the era for the sańkīrtana movement. It is also said that for ten thousand years this era will continue. This means that simply by accepting the sańkīrtana movement and chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, the fallen souls of this Kali-yuga will be delivered. After the Battle of Kurukṣetra, at which Bhagavad-gītā was spoken, Kali-yuga continues for 432,000 years, of which only 5,000 years have passed. Thus there is still a balance of 427,000 years to come. Of these 427,000 years, the 10,000 years of the sańkīrtana movement inaugurated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu 500 years ago provide the opportunity for the fallen souls of Kali-yuga to take to the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra and thus be delivered from the clutches of material existence and return home, back to Godhead.
Chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra is potent always, but it is especially potent in this age of Kali. Therefore Śukadeva Gosvāmī, while instructing Mahārāja Parīkṣit, stressed this chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.
kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann
asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ
kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya
mukta-sańgaḥ paraḿ vrajet
"My dear King, although Kali-yuga is full of faults, there is still one good quality about this age. It is that simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom." (Bhāg. 12.3.51) Those who have accepted the task of spreading the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness should take this opportunity to deliver people very easily from the clutches of material existence. Our duty, therefore, is to follow the instructions of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and preach the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement all over the world very sincerely. This is the best welfare activity for the peace and prosperity of human society.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's movement consists of spreading kṛṣṇa-sańkīrtana. Paraḿ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-sańkīrtanam: "All glories to the Śrī Kṛṣṇa sańkīrtana!" Why is it so glorious? This has also been explained by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam: [Cc. Antya 20.12] by the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, one's heart is cleansed. The whole difficulty is that in this age of Kali there is no sattva-guṇa and no clearance of the heart, and therefore people are making the mistake of identifying with their bodies. Even the big philosophers and scientists with whom we deal are practically all under the impression that they are their bodies. The other day we were discussing a prominent philosopher, Thomas Huxley, who was proud of being an Englishman. This means that he was in the bodily conception of life. Everywhere we find this same misunderstanding. As soon as one is in the bodily conception of life, one is nothing but an animal like a cat or a dog (sa eva go-kharaḥ [SB 10.84.13]). Thus the most dangerous of the dirty things within our hearts is this misidentification of the body as the self. Under the influence of this misunderstanding, one thinks, "I am this body. I am an Englishman. I am an Indian. I am an American. I am Hindu. I am Muslim." This misconception is the strongest impediment, and it must be removed. That is the instruction of Bhagavad-gītā and of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Indeed, Bhagavad-gītā begins with this instruction"
http://vedabase.net/sb/8/5/23/
The end
That is a song by the Doors, The End.
I understand that the Vedas say the present Kali Yuga started up about 5,000 ago and is 432,000 years long. So there is quite a while to go in human terms. How many more times will we come and go until then perhaps.
Without any more detail it is hard to make any more comment. We don't know what the media said or what the scientists said. It's a habit of mine that I try and not base my thinking on information received from television or newspapers. The media don't exist to give us information, and certainly not any truth. They exists to capture our attention which they sell to the highest bid from marketing organizations.
It's always a subject to interest to people. There are many groups who at various times have reported the end of the world in one way or another.
There is a recent group in Russia I think who have been holed up in a cave because the end of the world was coming. It didn't come yet and some of the people in there died and I think the others had to come out due to the dead bodies.
Some groups such as the Jehovah's Witnesses have repeatedly warned about the end of the world. Recently the seem to have changed their preaching strategy to exclude the end of the world stuff. Their most recent warning goes something like that then end of the world begins when the last soldier who fought in the first world war dies.
It would be an interesting book about all the people who said the end was nigh.
________________________________________
Visit the Food Channel @ Krishna.com
This from the Internet
Answers According to the Vedic Version:
Question: When is the Universal Destruction?
I have discussed about Kali Yuga as my daily discussion sharing your ultimate thought with my friends and one of my Muslim friend here who was listen very attentively had raised me a question that the entire universe will annihilated at the end 427,000 years or within that period?
Please enlighten me.
Your humble servant,
Jack
Answer: 155 Trillions Years from Now
The universe will not be destroyed at the end of the Kali Yuga, which will be happening in another 427,000 years. The universe will not be destroyed until Mahavishnu inhales, which will occur approximately 155 trillion years from now.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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Regular devastations
Although the universe exists for one breathe of Maha-Vishnu, there are regular times the universe is unmanifest, like during the night of Brahma etc.
Your friend in Krishna,
Karnamrita
~ ~
Hare Krishna
I just posted this here to back up what you have said.
http://connect.krishna.com/node/2712
your servant
Krishnali
Time
Hello Saumil,
The Vedas explain time as being like a vibration. like the vibration of a mantra being spoken by the supreme lord that creates and sustains all of the material and spritiual universe. Like the tone of a musical note has harmonic nodes - likewise time has harmonic nodes, like changes in color or sudden events.
It would make sense that something like a switch of magnetic poles would correspond with a yuga node - but who knows ?
I just keep my surf board by the door just in case!
Haribol