Prophecy of a Golden Age - Ancient Prophecy of Hope

Ubiquitous in all the ancient sciences and traditions is the cyclic nature of reality. The cycles of the moon create a rhythm easily visible in nature. The cycles of the seasons give meaning and ritual to every civilization. The Vedas, the most ancient of all sciences, describes the four seasons of the universe; four ages, hundreds of thousands of years long, which cycle endlessly from brightly enlightened to brutishly dark. Kali Yuga (the Iron Age) is the darkest of these epochs. We are in Kali Yuga right now. Nonetheless, according to an ancient Vedic prophecy, a window of opportunity exists; to create a Golden age inside of this Iron Age.

Our rampant selfishness as a society in general is evidence of this Iron Age. We are a people who put the "I" before the "We." While self-identification is the chief characteristic of the Iron Age, selfless service will define the Golden Age.

Tit for tat is our motivation in the Iron Age; where the adage "What will I get out of this?" holds sway. The pleasure of doing service, for God and your fellow human, just for the sake of it, is the source of motivation in the Golden Age. Here, "Because it is the right thing to do," is the adage of a bright future. This creates a radically different platform for human relations. In the Golden Age relationships, are an opportunity for unconditional acts of kindness rather than a means of self-gratification.

In other important transformations of the Golden age, being God conscious replaces being self-conscious, and where as self-esteem or 'feeling good about you' is the prime directive of the Iron Age, humility and feeling good about your actions, are the hallmarks of the Golden Age. Self-preservation remains, but its purpose changes from preservation for its own sake, to preservation for the sake of helping others. Additionally, the notion that 'everyone is God' falters and the fact that God is in every body flourishes.

In the most powerful conversion of the Golden Age, the modern concept of so-called "self-love" dissipates in the face of God-love, a dynamic personal relationship between you and your Maker. An extraordinary new state of self arises from God-love, described as Atma-räma in the Vedic Texts. Atma-räma means to be spiritually self-satisfied. The Vedic texts abound with instructions and technologies for becoming spiritually self-satisfied. They are also replete with descriptions of the inevitable misery of materialistic longing.

A Powerful Technology reemerges

In the Vedas, we find Atma Yoga, an incredibly potent tool for transformation from materialistic longing to being spiritually self-satisfied. The spiritually self-satisfied individual is selfless, compassionate, and disposed to service. Therefore, Atma Yoga is a technology for the Golden Age.

Atma Yoga reengineers the Yogas of physical/mystical culture, Hatha, Kundalini, and Astanga (Raja) within the context of uncensored Vedic knowledge. Furthermore, Atma Yoga uses all the components of the physical Yogas; asana, pranayama, meditation, and mantras. It places them, however, in a far more powerful context. Atma Yoga cannot be classified as a physical or mystical practice; rather it is a transcendental technology. Although Atma Yoga is not new in itself (it was originally called ätma-samädhi-yoga in the Vedas) it is being presented to the modern world for the first time.

Most physical/mystical Yoga practices consider dissolution of the soul into pure energy as the highest level of attainment. However, according to the original science of Yoga, the soul remains an individual for eternity, living and enjoying in a state of full knowledge and bliss. Moreover, the highest possible goal described in the Vedas is to be in a state of boundless and spontaneous love.

According to the Vedas-which all authoritative Yoga texts rely on, authentic Yoga technologies are those that reestablish our true nature as spirit-souls. Accordingly,
Atma Yoga reestablishes Hatha, Kundalini, and Astanga as a technology with the power to lead you to your original nature. In this way, Atma Yoga precipitates Spiritual Activism. Spiritual Activism means to act out of your true, original nature. Not surprisingly, the Vedas describe your original nature as, "being in a constant state of spontaneous love."

Because the spirit-soul is in a constant state of love, pure spiritual activism is logically about love. In fact, another name for spiritual activism is devotional service. In the Vedas, Bhakti Yoga is the science of devotional service.

Axis of Transformative Power

Bhakti Yoga and Atma Yoga share many components, yet they retain different positions on the spiritual path. Bhakti Yoga is the ultimate path of total surrender all the way to the point of transcendental self-realization. Atma Yoga involves conquering the limitations of human nature by dint of powerful will and self-knowledge. Between the two paths lies Karma Yoga, the practical spiritualization of daily life. In Karma Yoga, the mundane is made sacred by a shift in purpose and intent, i.e. offering your daily activities to God instead of to your self.

What Atma, Karma, and Bhakti Yoga have in common and what this course will demonstrate is that at the foundation of a truly complete spiritual practice are the qualities of humility and tolerance. Humility and tolerance are the emotional heralds of the Golden Age. Atma Yoga like Bhakti teaches humility and tolerance.

Examples of humility and tolerance abound in our history of spiritual leaders; the best-known example is the carpenter's son. The essence of Yoga is to follow in that example. Humility and tolerance lead to service and sacrifice. Service and sacrifice are acts of love and compassion that have the power to free the soul and transform society.

Atma Yoga Teacher Training - 2 February 2003