How to Thrive in the Age of Chaos

When we go for winter hikes in freezing temperature, knowing that unforeseen things may happen and that the cold can create dangerous situations, we prepare for it properly and adjust our clothing, food, travel plans, etc. Just like that, in our last talk we described how this is a difficult time period – Kali Yuga, the age of chaos and confusion.

And it is progressively getting more and more difficult. The four pillars of pious life – cleanliness, truthfulness, austerity and mercy – are basically gone and the main focus in the society now is a constant race for collecting more material things. People do not live very long, our physical and mental health is not so great, and we are increasingly frustrated. So how to prepare for kali yuga?

The Vedic literature gives an answer to this question by strongly recommending the process of chanting of the mantras – giving the best protection in the age of kali.

Highlights

• 0:00 Intro: You got to prepare, because you don’t know when things are going to change
• 6:37 Lessons from the catastrophic ultra marathon in China where 21 participants died as they were not prepared for the mountain weather: we should prepare for inevitable events in our life according to authority, not to our own whims or faulty teachings
• 11:07 The real meaning of the saying, “Live for today, live today as if it was your last day” is not to promote sense enjoyment, but to take it seriously and start finding shelter in that which (unlike this world) does not change
• 24:41 The process of spiritual life is different in the four yugas, as the consciousness of the people are different. Following the particular process of Kali Yuga, we prepare for “winter time” in life – as well as in our life after death. So what is the particular practice recommended in kali yuga?
• 47:57 A nice short story that reveals the natural attraction to the chanting of mantras and how it spreads
• 58:28 The four pillars of real religion leads to a properly functioning society. When these pillars gradually are removed, the chance for having a healthy & happy society also disappear.
• 1:01:59 Success should be measured in “How happy am I, am I peaceful, is my internal state stable, am I satisfied?” and not in “How much money do I have, how big a house do I have, am I having a successful career?”