Three Questions

Definitions:

"Yuga": an age of time
"Maha Yuga": 4,320,000 years
"One Day of Brahma" = 1,000 maha yugas = 4,320,000,000 years

[quoting]

From "The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita -- Explained by Paramhansa Yogananda"

(8:19) Again and again, O Arjuna! the same people throng back to earth to be reborn. The cycle of reincarnation ends for them only temporarily with the descent of Brahmas Night. It resumes again with the dawn of Brahma's Day.

How long does the "show" go on? This stanza provides a spine-stiffening, if not utterly dismaying, answer to those who tell themselves, "Everything will work itself out, in time." A Day of Brahma lasts -- judging from the evidence of modern science -- some billions of years. Many self-aware egos, appearing at the dawn of Brahma's Day, are still wandering in delusion at the fall of Brahma's Night. One cannot but pursue the question further: How many Days of Brahma do most souls, in fact, wander in darkness?

The answer is not circumscribed by time. It might be countless Days of Brahma! Yet the cosmic destiny of every soul is final liberation in God, "Eventually?" we quoted Yogananda above as saying, "-- eventually? Why not NOW?". When the soul finally escapes the great wheel of "destiny" (which is only a cycle of unceasing karmic return until karma itself ceases to enchain), one realizes that the time elapsed was non-existent! Time is an illusion: In eternity, it is not even a second.

A worrying question arises: Is personal spiritual progress also not linear, but cyclic like everything else? What this stanza of the Bhagavad Gita suggests is that any rising wave of good karma should be seized with a firm grasp. Don't waste the opportunity! For even though time doesn't exist, it certainly seems very real to us as we labor under its yoke! "Seize the day!" is an expression: this Day of Brahma; this yuga of Earth time; this season; this day; this very moment! Spiritual progress comes not with the passing of years, but with every moment of sincere effort. "The minutes," Yogananda said, "are more important than the years".

Live now in God! Now is the only time you will ever have, since tomorrow too will be only another "now" when it arrives. "Who cares what happens in five years?" was a question flung scornfully by a young woman at her questioner in a famous movie. Many people think similarly. "Oh, some 'future time'! Who cares what happens then? Now is the only time I'm concerned with." Unfortunately for this blithe way of thinking, that "future time", when it arrives at last will be very much "now" -- even if it happens in a future body. It is very unwise, -- not to say foolish -- ever to offend against karmic law.

Right action will give you good karma, which will bring you corresponding happiness. It will not, however, release you from the constant turning of the mill that grinds every delusion, in time to powder. The goal of the Gita is not to show you the way merely to a better life -- perhaps on Earth; perhaps in heaven. Rather, it is, as Yogananda quoted Krishna, to help you to "get away from My ocean of suffering and misery!".

One by one, and by no means in consequence of any mass societal or evolutionary step forward, every soul escapes from The Wheel at last, into the arms of Cosmic Wisdom. Be such a one, yourself!

The astonishing thing is that this step is really quite easy to take! It seems difficult when we look around us, and see how many there are who fail to make it. If we will look into our own hearts, however, instead of judging ourselves by the criterion of others' struggles, we must see that the job is not so difficult as it seems. It all hinges on two or three very simple thoughts:

First, do you prefer happiness to suffering?

Second, are you willing to do the work to find a happiness that won't change, in time, to suffering?

Third (and most important), are you willing to offer into the fire of wisdom -- which is the true perception of things as they are -- that pathetically little, insignificant "I"? Are you, in continuation of this final question, willing to say, "Thou, Lord, art the Doer. Thine is the importance. Thine is the prominence before others. Thine also is the blame for every 'sin' this little "I" has committed, which I hereby cast into Thy flames to be purified that its reality be destroyed forever"?

Now -- as a physician might say to a little child after giving it an injection -- was that so very difficult?

The path to God is easy! For one thing, life's tests would come anyway, apparently without any cosmic reason. For another, there is no alternative to it! And for a third, every step of the way is more rewarding, more joyful, and more utterly satisfying!

[end quoting]

Yes, one certainly can presume that one has all the time in the world to continue to play in the fields of illusion. But we are at a moment in "time" where those who are deeply attached to this game, this matrix of materiality, are at risk of being moved even further backwards in their development. Solar system, planetary system, humanity (those who have made the effort) and the three kingdoms below man are about to take a tremendous leap forward in their evolution. The time to "save up your treasure" is now, not tomorrow, not the next day.

Quit holding on to this world of alternating joys and sorrows. Release your fear of what appears to be the "unknown" and allow Spirit to guide you until your inner eyes grow accustomed to the new light. The journey to liberation is why we are here. Accustomed as we are to living as physical beings, it is time for us to take the next Step. So much awaits us. Let us walk without fear into the dawn of our promised destiny.

~ g