Almost as far back as I can remember I have heard that the end times are near. It seems like a steady stream of “prophets” have made the claim throughout my life, but the times have come and gone. Twice in recent times, more people than usual were taken by the claim. For the New Year’s Eve ceremony ushering in the year 2000 I rented a large hall with all the amenities expecting a large gathering, yet about a third appeared, the rest were too scared. Some had acquired an electrical generator, stocked up on food, water, and such, and hunkered down for the darkness to arrive. At sunrise, we gathered in front of the altar for prayers and blessings and rose up to enjoy the day.

Then again, in 2012, the same thing happened. People thought the Mayan calendar was ending, and therefore, the world was ending, but the calendar does not end because it is circular, and the world did not end. At sunrise, we gathered in front of the altar for prayers and blessings and rose up to enjoy the day.

Through people’s negligence and greed, the earth is slowly becoming a more inhospitable. The rivers, lakes, and oceans are polluted, the air contains toxic particles, the weather is becoming extreme, and food is declining in nutrition. In the last fifty years, people’s morals have declined immensely, and today, morality is turned around. People are quick to anger and fight and have a wide assortment of very dangerous weapons on hand, some with the ability to decimate the earth, so yes, the time is dangerous.

The earth could become uninhabitable for humans, but life will go on. The world is not going to end any time soon, and the universe is growing. The Manvatara or day of Brahma is the period between the birth of the universe and its dissolution. It has ten ages and each lasts 4.32 billion earth years, so 43.2 billion earth years. Scientists currently estimate the universe to be about 14 billion years old and expanding, so there is lots of time to enjoy. The teaching of Brahma is to enjoy life upon the earth and be kind to others, do not take away the breath or the sunshine from any creature of the land, water, or air. Here is a mantra from the Veda to part the cloud.

There is no end to the region of vastness as it proceeds to the beginning. A day of Brahma is the period between the birth of the universe and its dissolution. To begin, the dust gathers into dense worlds in the universe, and as the clouds part the sun appears with light, brilliant as a particle or spread out.