Maya is not neutral.

[7luminaries]

Originally Posted by ajay00

The Kali Yuga is the time where the guna or element of Tamas is at its peak. Tamas is considered a negative guna ( compared to the neutral rajas and positive sattva) and is accompanied by delusion, dullness,addiction,depression, helplesness, inactivity, apathy, brutality, ignorance,greed, confusion, attachment, heaviness.


https://www.yogabasics.com/learn/the-3-gunas-of-nature/


With increase in tamas, there is bound to be increase in destructiveness and conflicts. Natural disasters are also bound to increase as nature is uncomfortable with increasing tamas while it is neutral to rajas and favorable to sattva.


Increase in sattva through spiritual practices can bring about a harmonious environment reducing natural disasters and even crime rates as well.

According to the Prajapita Brahmakumaris, each Yuga or worldy cycle consists of five ages in a single cycle of 5000 years. In this cycle, the Sat Yuga or Golden Age emerges as the very first yuga and lasts for a period of 1250 years. The same goes for the other Yugas such as Treta Yuga, Dvapar Yuga, Kali Yuga. The fifth Age is the present Confluence Age which lasts for a hundred years and is considered to be a transition period between the Kali Yuga and Satya Yuga.


https://www.brahmakumaris.org/wisdom/wheel-of-life

Ajay hello and thanks for sharing. This is, to my mind, probably the most optimistic interpretation of the current Kali Yuga age...it's ended or is ending and we are in a short (100-year) transition period. One can only hope
Though I suppose the transition period noted may still include some major cataclysms and other zingers, LOL...as that remains wisely unspecified in your brief summary....

You also note below the cohesion and state of interbeing between humanity and the earth...which is a beautiful and wise concept. It reflects a holistic perspective on the importance of caring for the environment, and stresses how we will (ultimately) tend to reproduce or manifest all around us externally an environment which reflects the internal state of our being:

With the changing of seasons and the integrity of matter, the external form of the earth changes over time. The driving force behind this devolution is the human mind. The higher, pure consciousness manifests in a robust, verdant planet, while the lowest, impure consciousness produces a polluted, corroded state of existence. ~ Prajapita Brahmakumaris

On that note, I will post more below to further explore.
Namaste.

Peace & blessings
7L

[7luminaries]

On the subject of Maya and Kali Yuga...I found some bullet points on the attributes of the Kali Yuga age.
While some of these (unjust rulers) have not only been common to the modern era,
nonetheless most of those Kali Yuga traits having to do with personal morality and ethics are really only to be widely "fulfilled" (per individual behaviour occuring on any sort of wide societal scale & across many societies) in the most recent modern era.

What do folks think?
Per all our known recorded history, the recent modern era seems to qualify as the most KALI of the Kali Yugas to date (going by the 5k year cycles and looking at the below list).

But what does that mean in the Vedic texts? Does this particular Kali Yuga age have any special meaning or implications, now that so many of the attributes are so thoroughly fulfilled so widely and so broadly across so many societies across the globe?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali_Yuga

A discourse by Markandeya in the Mahabharata identifies some of the attributes of Kali Yuga.[20]

In relation to rulers, it lists:
Rulers will become unreasonable: they will levy taxes unfairly.
Rulers will no longer see it as their duty to promote spirituality, or to protect their subjects:
they will become a danger to the world.

In relation to humanity at large:
People will start migrating, seeking countries where wheat and barley form the staple food source.
"At the end of Kali-yuga, when there exist no topics on the subject of God, even at the residences of so-called saints and respectable gentlemen of the three higher varnas (guna or temperament) and when nothing is known of the techniques of sacrifice, even by word, at that time the Lord will appear as the supreme chastiser." (Srimad-Bhagavatam (2.7)
With regard to human relationships, Markandeya's discourse says:
Avarice and wrath will be common. Humans will openly display animosity towards each other. Ignorance of dharma will occur.
Religion, truthfulness, cleanliness, tolerance, mercy, physical strength and memory diminish with each passing day.
People will have thoughts of murder with no justification and will see nothing wrong in that.
Lust will be viewed as socially acceptable and sexual intercourse will be seen as the central requirement of life.
Sin will increase exponentially, while virtue will fade and cease to flourish.
People will become addicted to intoxicating drinks and drugs.
Gurus will no longer be respected and their students will attempt to injure them. Their teachings will be insulted, and followers of Kama will wrest control of the mind from all human beings.
All the human beings will declare themselves as gods or boon given by gods and make it as a business instead of teachings.
People will no longer get married and live with each other just for sexual pleasure.
Other general and environmental outcomes:
Weather and environment will degrade with time and frequent and unpredictable rainfalls will happen.
Earthquakes will be common.
Maximum age of humans will be 50 years by the end of Kali Yuga.
Many fake ideologies will spread throughout the world.
The powerful people will dominate the poor people.
Many diseases will spread.
At the end of Kali Yuga, lord Vishnu will take birth on earth to wipe out the sinners.
It is also scheduled that the Bhagavata Purana will be composed.

Namaste.

Peace & blessings
7L

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by 7luminaries

On the subject of Maya and Kali Yuga...I found some bullet points on the attributes of the Kali Yuga age.
While some of these (unjust rulers) have not only been common to the modern era,
nonetheless most of those Kali Yuga traits having to do with personal morality and ethics are really only to be widely "fulfilled" (per individual behaviour occuring on any sort of wide societal scale & across many societies) in the most recent modern era.

What do folks think?
Per all our known recorded history, the recent modern era seems to qualify as the most KALI of the Kali Yugas to date (going by the 5k year cycles and looking at the below list).

But what does that mean in the Vedic texts? Does this particular Kali Yuga age have any special meaning or implications, now that so many of the attributes are so thoroughly fulfilled so widely and so broadly across so many societies across the globe?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali_Yuga


Namaste.

Peace & blessings
7L

Namaste.

Firstly, it must be understood that the Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita, Puranas and Srimad Bhagavatam are NOT Vedic texts. They are Itihasas (historical documents).

The Vedas themselves do not mention the Yugas whatsoever, however they do mention Dharma, or what you call individual or personal ethics and morality...the whole religion is based upon and around Dharma which is why Hinduism to a Hindu is called Sanatana Dharma - the morality of the ancient ones.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Vedic_religion

Thus to answer your question in regards...

All of those things which have been attributed to the age of Kali Yuga are Adharma or "against Dharma" according to the traditional foundations of the Hindu religion itself.

What Rishi Markandeya did, was take the Vedic scriptural injunctions and invert them all to illustrate the difference between one who is walking on the path of Dharma vs one who is not and then apply that to the species as a whole.

The "bottom line" being of course, is that Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma) is a way of life based wholly and solely upon the Dharma, so one who is not acting in accordance with the Dharma as per the Vedas, cannot call themselves a Hindu and cannot expect to attain liberation within this birth.

It was duly noted and has come to pass that many will re-interpret and reinvent the scriptures according to an Adharmic or immoral agenda and justify that by saying "history must keep up with the times"....but if the "times" are based upon loose morals and questionable ethical principles, all of the ancient knowledge will be lost to mankind as the mistranslations for the justification of Adharma will become THE "source" and the original copies will become lost in the annals of antiquity.

Thus, there will not be one Hindu left on this planet who is actually a Hindu according to definition based on Dharma...because this is what generally happens whenever the prefix of "neo" gets added to anything, to keep up with the false paradigm humans have been weaned on since birth: "adapt or perish".

The main hallmark of Kali Yuga comes in the form of entitlement, instant gratification, proliferation of false information (fake news), incompetent leaders, disillusionment and apathy....

All of those things we are seeing with the rise of mass media which isn't going away any time soon.

The BEST "cataclysm" one could hope for, is that's burst of solar radiation will wipe out all of our technology...causing us to do stuff like going back to reading books, spending more time talking to each other in person, reverting to analogue devices and learning to grow our own veggies....that wouldn't be too bad.

Aum Namah Shivaya

[7luminaries]

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

Namaste.

Firstly, it must be understood that the Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita, Puranas and Srimad Bhagavatam are NOT Vedic texts. They are Itihasas (historical documents).

The Vedas themselves do not mention the Yugas whatsoever, however they do mention Dharma, or what you call individual or personal ethics and morality...the whole religion is based upon and around Dharma which is why Hinduism to a Hindu is called Sanatana Dharma - the morality of the ancient ones.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Vedic_religion

Shivani, namaste _/\_ back atcha and thank you for the information and clarification. That is very helpful...

Thus to answer your question in regards...

All of those things which have been attributed to the age of Kali Yuga are Adharma or "against Dharma" according to the traditional foundations of the Hindu religion itself.

What Rishi Markandeya did, was take the Vedic scriptural injunctions and invert them all to illustrate the difference between one who is walking on the path of Dharma vs one who is not and then apply that to the species as a whole.

The "bottom line" being of course, is that Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma) is a way of life based wholly and solely upon the Dharma, so one who is not acting in accordance with the Dharma as per the Vedas, cannot call themselves a Hindu and cannot expect to attain liberation within this birth.

That makes sense. Regarding spiritual progress in general, it seems the articulation of the Dharma has done humanity a great service...particularly in that it is very clear and proscriptive -- a very practical, down-to-earth consideration regarding what most of humanity need most of the time, regarding concrete guidance and guidelines.

As it seems very clear to me that those basic proscriptive guidelines also broadly apply to all humanity. (Last I checked, that covers everyone ) And that absent all or most of those, the individual and the society would always tend to fail to grow and thrive.

It was duly noted and has come to pass that many will re-interpret and reinvent the scriptures according to an Adharmic or immoral agenda and justify that by saying "history must keep up with the times"....but if the "times" are based upon loose morals and questionable ethical principles, all of the ancient knowledge will be lost to mankind as the mistranslations for the justification of Adharma will become THE "source" and the original copies will become lost in the annals of antiquity.

Thus, there will not be one Hindu left on this planet who is actually a Hindu according to definition based on Dharma...because this is what generally happens whenever the prefix of "neo" gets added to anything, to keep up with the false paradigm humans have been weaned on since birth: "adapt or perish".

The main hallmark of Kali Yuga comes in the form of entitlement, instant gratification, proliferation of false information (fake news), incompetent leaders, disillusionment and apathy....

All of those things we are seeing with the rise of mass media which isn't going away any time soon.

Very interesting how clearly they had foreseen it all. I'd say those Kali Yuga hallmarks have been around in the West for quite a while but have certainly been far more openly and egregiously promoted in the West for at least the last half century or more, per history. And social media and technology of the most recent decades have just added fuel to the raging fire.

The BEST "cataclysm" one could hope for, is that's burst of solar radiation will wipe out all of our technology...causing us to do stuff like going back to reading books, spending more time talking to each other in person, reverting to analogue devices and learning to grow our own veggies....that wouldn't be too bad.

Aum Namah Shivaya

LOL!!! Well, I agree that the silver lining you note amongst all the suffering would be a massive one, promoting a great good amongst us. It would help to heal the current state of humanity, one where so many of us no longer see other people as fully human. Where so many of us see others as 2-D, means to our ends, interchangeable, and replaceable. Like machines or animals.

As in the aftermath of some permanent cataclysm (at least into the foreseeable near future), IMO the one good thing is -- we'd almost immediately recover our sense of wonder and awe regarding the immense treasure we each are to one another. Perhaps a bit more wonder and awe for some than others (LOL), and that too is normal and all to the good. And we'd almost immediately (most of us) try to reach out and form the bonds of service and community and kindness that would be needed for our mutual survival...not too shabby, I agree.

Peace & blessings
7L

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by 7luminaries

Shivani, namaste _/\_ back atcha and thank you for the information and clarification. That is very helpful...

That makes sense. Regarding spiritual progress in general, it seems the articulation of the Dharma has done humanity a great service...particularly in that it is very clear and proscriptive -- a very practical, down-to-earth consideration regarding what most of humanity need most of the time, regarding concrete guidance and guidelines.

As it seems very clear to me that those basic proscriptive guidelines also broadly apply to all humanity. (Last I checked, that covers everyone ) And that absent all or most of those, the individual and the society would always tend to fail to grow and thrive.

Very interesting how clearly they had foreseen it all. I'd say those Kali Yuga hallmarks have been around in the West for quite a while but have certainly been far more openly and egregiously promoted in the West for at least the last half century or more, per history. And social media and technology of the most recent decades have just added fuel to the raging fire.

LOL!!! Well, I agree that the silver lining you note amongst all the suffering would be a massive one, promoting a great good amongst us. It would help to heal the current state of humanity, one where so many of us no longer see other people as fully human. Where so many of us see others as 2-D, means to our ends, interchangeable, and replaceable. Like machines or animals.

As in the aftermath of some permanent cataclysm (at least into the foreseeable near future), IMO the one good thing is -- we'd almost immediately recover our sense of wonder and awe regarding the immense treasure we each are to one another. Perhaps a bit more wonder and awe for some than others (LOL), and that too is normal and all to the good. And we'd almost immediately (most of us) try to reach out and form the bonds of service and community and kindness that would be needed for our mutual survival...not too shabby, I agree.

Peace & blessings
7L

I was just rereading my previous reply to you and my mind became stuck on one word... disillusionment.

So, many of us are just disillusioned with the illusion...how quaint.

It is oft said that the opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference and the cycles of human evolution are being compounded and compressed into much shorter timespans. It is a vortex of entropy which winds itself up tighter and tighter like water going down a sink hole...aka Timewave Zero.

Anything you could ever want or need has been invented for a price and available on Wish.com so it is very easy to take everything for granted...I mean, occasionally the Matrix slips up and we get a view of the mechanism behind it and I must admit that I love my gadgets too, but I also wouldn't care if I had to relive a1970's deja vu either...it was a much simpler and laid back time...the only menacing thing was Disco.

I am still waiting for technology to do many things...invent a refrigerated electric blanket to assist with my kundalini symptoms...stop YouTube buffering on my Android devices at regular intervals during "Paranormal Survivor"...one cannot have it all, can one?

Then there is this thing called "virtual reality"which, as an Advaita Vedantin, does my head in every time I consider the implications of the term. I mean, if reality is just an illusion, then virtual reality would be a virtual illusion therefore, logically, a virtual illusion would be an illusory reality....and then people will say "awesome" without understanding what awesome means.

How have we managed to get ourselves into this predicament?

Artificial Intelligence? That would be Artificial, Artificial Intelligence no?

Who am I? I am whoever I think that you think that I am...remind me not to watch those Vishen Lakhiani lectures straight after meditation because it just undoes everything I have managed NOT to do...

So there is only one way out...to wait for the "war on Consciousness" to be over so that I can put my name down for the first clinical trials of microdosing Psilocybin or LSD so that I can accept illusion as being relatively real according to perceptual indifference...just don't ask myself "who is observing the observer?" because either we were never meant to know such things, or it is just an empty question which is asked only for the sake of asking it as one fishes for red herrings.

So, is Maya biased? If your perception of Maya is biased, then Maya will be biased....or you can be like me and stare blankly into space for hours without entertaining a single thought until one thought fills immensity and breaks the peace: "well, this is as boring as f***... haven't I got something better to do than contemplate my navel?"

Love and best wishes to you.

Aum Namah Shivaya

[7luminaries]

Hahaha Shivani I have just now seen your response...I must have checked back too early & then got sidetracked on discussing timeline impacts and Mandela effects. I think mental meltdown tends to ensue when I put some things out there, so I don't always get a response, but these things are very mind-bendy...so it's all good.

I come back here to see what I have missed and I see your bit on disillusionment...LOL :tongue May I just say...erm...AGREED!!! Hahaha...

Particularly your bit below really resonated and I have more to say on that too...you know, I feel as though I do 90% of my "talking" here on SF. It's a sanity valve, eh?

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

So, many of us are just disillusioned with the illusion...how quaint.

It is oft said that the opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference and the cycles of human evolution are being compounded and compressed into much shorter timespans. It is a vortex of entropy which winds itself up tighter and tighter like water going down a sink hole...aka Timewave Zero.

Erm…yer. That. The opposite of love is apathy...hate is just good intentions or even positivity but repeatedly twisted, side-tracked, corrupted, or effed off.

Also...you nailed it that this is precisely what is so goddamn annoying about the current era. It's not even just that we are so far off the mark (of even basic decency and the most minimal of right alignment) in our social norms and standards which serve as the "guide" for social and personal standards of morality and ethics (and I use those terms very, very loosely).

No, it's not even that...as it would be more than ok if we simply recognised all the filth and rubbish we'd got up to as a society this last half century or so, and accepted that oh yer, we're deep in it and this is simply where we've been living, full stop. And once we'd owned that fully, maybe we could actually reflect on all that, buck up, and then own that, well yes it's certainly substandard and dehumanising to a great many -- and especially the weaker and more vulnerable amongst us. it wouldn't be so bad even to be still at the "hey this is where we're living and (defensively) yes, alright, we've got to own that...eventually" Because therein lies a measure of authenticity and ownership, and that in and of itself is something REAL.

It's really about this reflexive, self-righteous need to say what's rubbish is gold and what's spiritual gold and lifeblood is really not all that...here, have some rubbish instead -- who needs all that spiritual treasure and lifeblood of the soul? Instead, what you need is to forget about all that feeds your soul and just focus on satiating and gratifying all your urges -- or at least, they'll say, let ME satiate mine at your expense, eh?

This hostile, aggressive need in our Western culture to endless seek to repackage sh*te into shinola, as the old saying goes....IMO that is at the very heart of the real issue here. That and all the incumbent immaturity (loads boomers and gen xers certainly among the worst offenders b/c they've had a chance to supposedly grow up already). And all the extremely defensive & superweird layer of apathy that accompanies all that spiritual sloth & lack of ownership. Sometimes I'm like oh Fs sake...can we change the channel already? It's always the same content

In turn, this oh-so-delicate, superfragile balance of denial and self-aggrandisement (I'm all that) tends to induce nausea, loathing, and at worst, disillusionment in the rest of us who just cannot be *rsed to expend the energy on all the self-deception, individual and societal.

Peace & blessings
7L

[Priestess of Mahakala]

in fact "Kali Yuga" does NOT refer in any way, shape or form to the Goddess called Kali... MANY make that mistake!

The Goddess Kali is pronounced as Kah-lee.
Kali Yuga is pronounced as Kalli Yuga.

In this translation of the word Kali as in Kali Yuga, it means "discord".."discontent".."disagreement"..."argumen t"..."unrest"..."quarrel"....all of those words rolled into one.

....and now you all know just as much as I do about Kali Yuga.

Right you are!!! The demon Kali loves to play chess, dice and loves gold...in tamil ayyavazhi he is the sixth fragment of primordial evil Kroni...
Due to the dice game, the war in Mahabharata began and the demon was freed....sanskr. कलि and tamil கலி
Interesting manga...Yeah...
With the evolution of the game of dice, the languages ​​of the Indo-European family begin to divide and simplify in connection with mantric codes...
Although the English name of the demon is translated as "Kali", but in English it's also "Cali" and even "Gali"....
Google translation plays the role of a slot machine...!!! yeah...
Languages ​​of different nations and their combinations, like Varnamala Kali...
For example, there are a couple of suspicious cities and places: russian Kaliningrad கலினின்கிராட் (because of the surname Kalinin or Kalinka Malinka) , polish Kalisz கலிஸ், belarus Калінкавічы கலிங்கவிசி, columbian Cali கலி, mexican Mexicali and american California கலிபோர்னியா
Kalimantan island for some reason is translated in honor of the goddess Kali
காளிமந்தன்

I understand that "காளி" is the goddess Kali https://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE...AE%9C%E0%AF%88, ....... but கலி is demon Kali..
In Sanskrit काली Kālī and कलि Kāli.... according to shaktisangama tantra they have a strong connection with each other....
But a lot converges, in California there are a lot of slot machines and it is known for the gold rush...

[Priestess of Mahakala]

two forms of pronunciation:
Kali Pronunciation Sanskrit काली Kālī Goddess https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtmN_NPcOZM
long.....female...

Kali Pronunciation Sanskrit कलि kali https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcjQHwRSFlU
short....male

[kris]

Maya is an integral part of creation. It is why the world appears to us at it does. If one overcomes maya, he sees the world as it really his. It changes his relation to the world around him and thus it changes how he relates and interacts with the world. In short, maya conceals how we relate to each other.

http://kris10846902.tripod.com/

[MDBdivinity]

White zone Asia Pacific without huricane or cyclone amphan