The Yugas
Many subtle energy holistic healing arts such as reflexology, acupuncture, yoga etc., can be traced back thousands of years. Acupuncture is known to have been practiced in China for at least 5000 years - a frozen body, thousands of years old, found in the Swiss alps showed evidence of acupoint markings (perhaps they were marked on the body so that the person could self-treat). The hieroglyphics in Egyptian tombs illustrate reflexology treatment and yoga postures. If these arts were practiced many thousands of years ago (and in the some parts of the east in the intervening time), why is it that they only seem to have reached western shores in the last hundred years.
It is commonly thought that as one goes back in time society becomes increasingly primitive. At the same time popular legends refer to ancient highly advanced civilizations such as ancient Egypt, Lemuria and Atlantis (I often wondered if the Atlantic ocean derived it's name from Atlantis). Irish legends refer to Tir na nOg, a land westwards, where the people remained youthful for many hundreds of years. Could this be a reference to Atlantis which is said to have developed rejuvenation techniques through the power of crystals. In the Old Testament Bible Methusaleh and others lived many hundreds of years. And how did they carry those huge stones to build the Egyptian pyramids? Did they possess some method of neutralizing the effects of gravity, making the stones lighter? How was the megalithic tomb at Newgrange constructed in precise alignment so that the rays of the sun penetrate the inner chamber at dawn on the winter solstice? It seems that although we have developed technologically, in ancient times they had knowledge of things that are as yet beyond our comprehension.
India has the only known civilization that goes through history. It's origin cannot be traced. According to the ancient rishis or seers of India time evolves in 24,000 year cycles (other ancient civilizations also had this concept) with an ascending arc of 12,000 years in which civilization evolves to a zenith, followed by a descending arc of 12,000 years in which it slowly declines into ignorance, followed by another ascending arc and so on. Each 12,000 year period is said to be divided into four ages or yugas. The lowest age is called Kali yuga or the dark age. It is 1,200 years in duration and is a material age of ignorance in which man's intellect cannot comprehend anything beyond gross matter. In this age humankind is preoccupied with survival needs. People have to use every waking moment and all their energy just to survive, just to make a living. Only a tiny few of the priviledged classes have time to spend in higher pursuits. The main causes of diseases are due to external factors such as lack of proper food and shelter and because of lack of proper hygiene people are vulnerable to plagues and other diseases. There is constant war and turmoil in every land. Life is cheap and cruel, and killing is sometimes a spectator sport, as in ancient Rome. People think the earth is flat and enemies are often those who hold different religious beliefs.
500 AD is said to have been the end of a descending Kali yuga and the beginning of an ascending Kali yuga. 1700 AD heralded the beginning of the second age Dwapara yuga, an age of electrical and atomic energy development, of radio, tv, supersonic travel, the internet, and other space annihilators. This age is 2400 years in duration and in it man's intellect begins to comprehend the finer forces in matter.
This then is the gateway through which the ancient healing arts have been able to reemerge, the knowledge of the subtle energies that animate our physical forms and how they can be stimulated to promote healing. Whereas the diseases in Kali yuga were primarily caused by external factors, in this age internal factors are the main cause of illness. Emotional and psycholgical problems, stress, unbalanced living, addictions, are now among the main obstacles to be overcome in the search for health. In our ever more complex world the search for meaning and what is it all about becomes ever more urgent.
In this turbulent, uncertain time a new conciousness is trying to be born, but as yet the conciousness of Kali yuga, of self-interest, predominates. This time of transition will eventually give way to a period of unpralleled progress according to Paramahansa Yogananda (a great Indian master who came to America in 1920), but not before many central institutions in our society crumble, as we have already begun to witness both spiritually and materially. I believe that it is also an age in which concepts of religion based on dogmatic belief systems and external rituals will more and more be replaced by experiential practices such as meditation, and where people will undertake responsibility for their own internal change and unfolding, as is already happening, so that society will gradually change on a cellular level. This, I believe, is where the natural healing practices have an important role. One of the best descriptions I have read of the function of acupuncture is "to help a person walk the Tao", and this is what holistic therapies can do because they can help the transformative process and help change the way people feel. It also has to be said that the walking can only be done by the individual.
The next age is called Treta yuga. It is 3600 years in length and will be an age of time annihilators in which knowledge of telepathic communication will be widespread.
It is said that in this age, man will have knowledge of the entire physical cosmos. The human intellect will be able to grasp the attributes of magnetism which are beyond our comprehsion at this stage of our evolution. Rays, it is predicted, will be the main form of healing and the human body will able to regenerate limbs, as can now only be done by certain animals. One imagines also that there will be less need for healing as society will have become so evolved. "Beam me up Scotty" doesn't seem like too much of a stretch for this distant age.
In the highest age, Satya yuga, the conciusness of civilization will be highly evolved and spirituallity will predominate. Humankind will be able to not only grasp the nature of creation and existence but will be able to perceive Divinity and work in cooperation with It. Many people will live in a state of cosmic conciousness and the human brain will be developed to it's full potential. This is called the Golden age and is 4800 years in duration. Even in this age some aspects of human nature never seem to change in that there always seems to be some bad guy lurking somewhere, hoping to take over the planet at the first opportunity. That seems to be the nature of God's "lila" or play.
Then begins the descending arc with another Satya yuga of 4800 years, followed by Treta yuga, Dwapara yuga and Kali yuga...
For further reading see:
Astrological World Cycles by Tara Mata (Laurie Pratt) ISBN 978-0-6151-8500-2. Available at Amazon.
Lost Star of Myth and Time by Walter Cruttenden ISBN 0-9767631-1-7 Publ. by St. Lynn's Press. See also www.loststarbook.com.
The Holy Science by Sri Yukteswar available at www.yogananda-srf.org
Initiation by Elisabeth Haich