Published: Tuesday, Jan 17, 2012, 8:00 IST
Article from Daily News & Analysis
The general understanding of evolution presents human development as linear. The thinking goes that man evolved from an uncivilized, barbaric being and over a long period of time, gradually became more civilized and cultured. This is a shortsighted conclusion. If you go back to early human civilizations, you will find there were very intelligent people living then.
Long ago, time was seen as a wheel or circle rather than linear. A circle means you always come back to the same point. From the Dark Age you come back to the Golden Age. The shift from Old Age to New Age is a shift from prestige to self-esteem. Look back at the past few decades; the values were different. People were more inclined to show off or very much concerned about what other people thought about them. As the New Age begins, values are shifting.
New Age people talk in terms of angels and consciousness, with more emphasis on values, on love and on meditation. If someone spoke on love a few decades ago, people would have thought it was something unscientific. The previous age was more head oriented.
People view ancient times as barbaric, but today look at the toys children use. Do they look more refined, civilized? Look at the movies and television, do they show signs of refinement? We are coming back into a “New Age” because time has come to its darkest point. You cannot go any further down. This age has come to the end of barbarism; it cannot go any further down. At the bottom of a wheel, the only direction you can go is up.
This is exactly what the ancient rishis, sages and saints did thousands and thousands of years ago. You can find these records in Ayurveda, in yoga and many other literatures which contain the same principles, of what is now being called New Age thinking, in a more profound and methodical way.
The best position is to combine the ancient and the new and adapt them to the modern day life and current situations. What knowledge from ancient ages offers us today is a map on which we can do our own research. Everyone has to walk the path and the ancient knowledge can give us guidance. The knowledge will be like lampposts, showing the way from time to time.
Article from Daily News & Analysis
