Eastern Parallels
“As the third largest religion in the world, with approximately 1 billion adherents…of whom 890 million live in India”… Hinduism is “considered to be the oldest living religious tradition in the world.” www.wikipedia.com
“No single creed or doctrine binds Hindus together. Intellectually there is complete freedom of belief, and one can be monotheistic, polytheistic or atheistic… According to Hindu beliefs, Brahman is the principle and source of the universe. This divine intelligence pervades all beings, including the individual soul. Thus the many Hindu deities are manifestations of the one Brahman.” www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001469.html
The Hindi trinity of Brahman is the creator (Brahma), the preserver (Vishnu), and destroyer (Shiva) of the universe.” www.beliefnet.com/story/80/story_8047.html
The Cyclic End Times “Hindu eschatology is based on the concept of four cyclic ages known as yugas, progressing from the Krita yuga through the Kali yuga. As the ages progress, the state of humanity digresses from a state of perfection and ultimate truth, to an age of darkness and absolute evil.” www.doomsdayguide.org/hindu_prophecy.htm
“We live in the Kali Yug – in a world infested with impurities and vices. People possessing genial virtues are diminishing day by day. Floods and famine, war and crime, deceit and duplicity characterize this age… Due to our preoccupation with our physical bodies and our lower selves, and because of our emphasis on the pursuit of gross materialism, this age has been termed the ‘Age of Darkness’ – an age when we have lost touch with our inner selves, an age of profound ignorance!... The present Kali Yug is the most degenerated of the Hindu epochs.” www.hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/aa01201c.htm
“Dharma becomes very weak in the Kali Age. People commit sin in mind, speech, and actions…. People become poorer in vigor and luster…. [detailed prophecies of each level of deterioration of humanity] ….. Thus in the Kali Age humankind will be utterly destroyed. …Apocalypse for the Hindu is the natural ending of the world in the fourth age, the Kali Age. This referes (sic) to one of a series of apocalypses, each of which marks the end of one cycle and the beginning of another creation.” www.crystalinks.com/hindu2.html
A Hindu Messiah? “When humanity has become so engulfed in iniquity at the end of the Kali yuga, Vishnu incarnates himself as Kalki, the apocalyptic figure whose goal is to destroy all humans that have devoted themselves to sin and save those that have remained righteous for the purpose of repopulation." www.doomsdayguide.org/hindu_prophecy.htm
"The central figure in the (creation) story is Vishnu, the preserver God, into whose self the world is absorbed before being born again. Vishnu has already saved humanity on a number of occasions, symbolically appearing as a savior in many different forms. It is said that He will appear again soon, as Kalki, a white horse, destined to destroy the present world and to take humanity to a different, higher plane." www.crystalinks.com/hindu2.html
“It is predicted that at the end of the Kali Yug, Vishnu shall destroy the universe and all the physical body would undergo a great transformation. After such dissolution, Lord Brahma would recreate the universe and mankind will become ‘Beings of Truth’ once again… And because the process of creation is cyclical and never ending, it ‘begins to end and ends to begin.’” www.hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/aa012101c.htm
Ascension Through Practice. “Hinduism is based on the concept of reincarnation, in which all living beings…are caught in a cosmic cycle of becoming and perishing. Life is determined by the law of karma – one is reborn to a higher level of existence based on moral behavior in a previous phase of existence.” www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001469.html
“Death is therefore not a great calamity, not an end of all, but a natural process in the existence of soul as a separate entity, by which it reassembles its resources, adjusts its course and returns again to the earth to continue its journey.” www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_death.asp
“The Hindu believes that every soul is a circle whose circumference is nowhere, but whose center is located in the body and that death means the change of this center from body to body. Nor is the soul bound by the conditions of matter. In its very essence it is free, unbounded, holy, pure, and perfect. But somehow or other it finds itself tied down to matter, and thinks of itself as matter.” www.hinduism.co.za/hinduism1.htm
“Hinduism believes unquestionably that the world is an illusion or maya. Attachment with it is the cause of birth and death. When a person overcomes this illusion through detachment and withdrawal of senses he will become qualified for self-realization.” www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism.asp
"Therefore, the “ultimate goal of Hindu religious life is to obtain freedom from the cycle of birth and death, or union with God. This union is achieved through true knowledge (jnana), devotion (bhakti), or right work (karma). Purity, self-control, truthfulness, non-violence, and compassion toward all forms of life are the necessary prerequisites for any spiritual path in Hinduism… You have to free yourself by your own effort. No savior can help you achieve God realization without your personal effort.” - The Genius of India by Guy Sorman as quoted in www.hinduwisdom.info/intriduction_to_hinduism.htm
Heaven and Hell. “According to Hinduism, liberation does not mean dying and going to heaven. Heavenly life is as desirable or undesirable as earthly life because in the ultimate sense, heavenly life is also limited and transient, though compared to earthly life may be longer and more intense.” www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_enlighten.asp
“The purpose of heavens and hell: In the ultimate sense, the purpose of these worlds is neither to punish or reward the souls, but to remind them of the true purpose of their existence.” The “difference between heaven and hell is immaterial because both are a part of the great illusion that characterizes the whole creation.” In both cases, the soul “learns important lessons and goes back to earth to continue its play.” Thus, “the purpose of heavens and hells is to impart an attitude of wisdom and detachment to the souls.” www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_death.asp
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