Authors David Steinmetz and Joseph Selbie published “The Yugas” in 2011. This book is their synopsis of the eschatology of the Hindu Vedas.
The Yugas represent four times of human nature. Each yuga has its own era when a sufficient proportion of the population has the attributes of the yuga.
Kali Yuga
This is the lowest yuga. Most people are oppressed by the political elite. Laws are arbitrary. Human rights are low. There is little opportunity for average citizens to advance. They seem to accept their position in life.
Dwapara Yuga
This is the era of self interest. Conditions change such that many citizens can lead more fulfilling lives. Commerce and consumption become important. Life is much better than Kali Yuga. Logic and reason are enhanced.
Treta Yuga
This is when many people realize how connected we all really are — and work towards enhancing those connections. Many discover a higher purpose in life, which includes developing their “life force.” Many have acquired a sound intuition and know where to take their ideas.
Satya Yuga
In these times, many people develop further mental abilities. Communication by telepathy is more common. Seismic energy is harnessed. The authors speak of levitation in these times.
The Year 2022
According to this book, we are about 130 years into Dwapara Yuga. We are moving towards Treta Yuga, but it will take another 2,000 years to reach that transition. While we are advancing to a better state, the advancement is slow.
Steinmetz/Selbie say that trying to explain Treta Yuga and Satya Yuga to us today is like trying to explain the world of adults to a child. Yet the authors still try to explain.
The Cycles
As mentioned in the previous section, we are advancing to Treta Yuga. And when we reach that point, we will be moving towards Satya Yuga. This is a natural progression of humanity.
But the progress has its limits. When we reach the apex of Satya Yuga, we will start slowly losing our mental abilities. We move from “Ascending Satya Yuga” to “Descending Satya Yuga.” And then we descend back through Treta Yuga, Dwapara Yuga, and finally Kali Yuga. This cycle lasts about 24,000 years.
But rather than explain the next “descending Satya Yuga,” the book went backwards in time to about 11,000 BC, when the Earth already had civilizations of the Satya Yuga conditions. These civilizations were, according to the book, “lean on the environment,” which is why there is not much evidence of them today. The book then describes humanity’s fall as it moves from Satya to Treta to Dwapara to Kali.
Not my First Encounter with the Yugas
In 1985, I was taking karate as a hobby. I had an older classmate, Gordon Scott, at my level. We were often paired together, and we had a few interesting after-class discussions. He lent me two books: (1) “The Holy Science” from 1894 and (2) “Autobiography of a Yogi” from 1946. But these books made little sense to me. I gave them back, maybe 1/3 read.
“The Yugas” cites these two books in its early chapters, which brought back some memories of Gordon and karate. It seems “The Yugas” is an extension of the two earlier books, which are part of the teachings of the Hindu sect known as “Self-Realization Fellowship.”
But in 2022, I found the yuga concept rather intriguing. Why?
I have three reasons. First, I was a rather close-minded person back in 1985. Anything that that was too far outside my narrative of how the world worked or should work was not worthy of my attention. I got 1/3 through those books only because I liked Gordon. Second, the modern authors are probably better at explaining the yugas better than the earlier authors. Third, there has been a lot of science, history, and anthropology happen since 1946. Steinmetz/Selbie use a lot of “new” knowledge to better describe the teachings of the “The Holy Science.”
Logic and reasoning of the yugas
The authors use the building of the pyramids at Giza to help explain the yugas. But first, they frame this historical event in terms of popular science and anthropology. If it is true that humanity emerged from a stone-age, hunter-gatherer culture about 1,000 years before Giza, then is it really possible that the Egyptians somehow acquired the math, the science, and the construction techniques to build Giza during that millennium? And given that that Giza required many workers, how did the economy of Egypt find these extra resources to build Giza? Workers do require food and shelter. Stones require effort to cut, transport, and place. Giza was obviously a drain on this ancient economy, not a contributor.
These are very good questions, indeed. Steinmetz/Selbie answered these questions by using the philosophy of the yugas.
When Giza was built, humanity was moving from Treta Yuga to Dwapara Yuga. In other words, the world was descending to a lower condition. But at the time of Giza, the Treta Yuga Egyptians still had enough of the math, science, and construction techniques from their Satya Yuga era. And they probably had enough mental abilities to move all those big stones by levitation so the project did not take as much effort as today’s engineers would require.
The transition between Treta to Dwapara also showed the decline to a more materialistic mindset. The previous Satya and Treta eras had no ego to build such a big and essentially useless structure. So they didn’t. But in this yuga transition, the society somehow developed an ego. They built Giza simply because they could build Giza.
As Egypt descended further into Dwapara Yuga, it was losing its math, science, construction, and mental abilities. Pyramids built after Giza were smaller and not as well constructed.
Steinmetz/Selbie offer at least 20 examples like the building of Giza to explain how the yugas work. Everyone reading this book will be offended at least once.
Am I convinced?
Let’s just say that the philosophy of the yugas makes more sense to me than a lot of other popular philosophies being proffered.
I don’t think I’ll be joining the Self-Realization Fellowship anytime soon. But I sure admire their vision for the world. They are guided by rightful thinking and are inspired to move other people — and society-at-large — a little closer to the Treta Yuga destination. There is nothing wrong with this — even if the Treta Yuga never really happens.
Why you should read this book.
Steinmetz/Selbie provide an easy read into yuga logic and philosophy, using lots of modern science and anthropology to make their points. They will take you to philosophical places you have not been before. But they always explain their position — and do so very well.
If you have not encountered the yugas, the Self-Realization Fellowship, or Hinduism in general, “The Yugas” will be a test of how open your mind really is.
If you come to a place where you might be thinking “These yugas could be plausible — even though it will be long time to prove or disprove this concept,” then that is a sign of an open mind.
But if you easily dismiss these ideas, like I did in 1985, then you might not be as open-minded as you think you are.
You don’t have to agree with “The Yugas.” But you should listen to what others are thinking.
We all need to learn how to listen better — even to people with strange ideas. “The Yugas” is full of strange ideas. But well-thought-out strange ideas.
Test how open your mind really is by reading this book.
Published on Medium 2022
