The Dark Age and the Decline in the Buddha's Teachings

The dangers of impure Dharma and false spiritual guides

Written by: John Kalivana

Mahayanist@gmx.com
August/28/2009

Through ethical discipline, concentration, and wisdom

Achieve Nirvana, an undefiled state of peace and restraint
Ageless, deathless, inexhaustible
Free from earth, water, fire, wind, sun, and moon

What is the Dark Age?

No, the Dark Age here does not refer to a period of cultural decline that took place in
Western Europe. The Dark Age, also known as the ‘Kali Yuga’, is an age prophesized by
the Buddha in which humans will degenerate spiritually, and non-virtuous actions such
as greed, stealing, lying, and sexual misconduct will be on the rise. This prophecy is not
exclusive to the Buddha’s teachings, as the Dark Age is also mentioned in Hindu
scriptures, most likely attributed to enlightened beings that lived long before the
Buddha. If you Google the word ‘Kali Yuga’, you can find vast information about it, but
here are some of the prophecies regarding the Dark Age:

1. Wealth alone will be considered the sign of a man's good birth, proper behaviour
and fine qualities. And law and justice will be applied only on the basis of one's
power.
2. A person's spiritual position will be ascertained merely according to external
symbols, and on that same basis people will change from one spiritual order to
the next. A person's propriety will be seriously questioned if he does not earn a
good living. And one who is very clever at juggling words will be considered a
learned scholar.
3. As the earth thus becomes crowded with a corrupt population, whoever among
any of the social classes shows himself to be the strongest will gain political
power.
 4. Men and women will live together merely because of superficial attraction, and
success in business will depend on deceit. Womanliness and manliness will be
judged according to one's expertise in sex.
5. The citizens will suffer greatly from cold, wind, heat, rain and snow. They will be
further tormented by quarrels, hunger, thirst, disease and severe anxiety.
6. A person will be judged unholy if he or she does not have money, and hypocrisy
will be accepted as virtue.
7. A sacred place will be taken to consist of no more than a reservoir of water
located at a distance, and beauty will be thought to depend on one’s hairstyle.
Filling the belly will become the goal of life, and one who is audacious will be
accepted as truthful. He who can maintain a family will be regarded as an expert
man, and the principles of religion will be observed only for the sake of
reputation.
8. Lust will be viewed as being socially acceptable, and sexual intercourse will be
seen as the central requirement of life, with the result that even 13 to 16-year old
girls will get pregnant.
9. People will become addicted to intoxicating drinks and drugs.
10. Men will find their jobs stressful and will go to retreats to escape their work.

Do the above prophecies seem familiar? Yes, in our daily lives! (I find number ten
particularly funny) Both the Buddha’s teachings and the Hindu scriptures stress that we
are currently in the Dark Age. According to the Hindu calendar, we are 5500 years into
the Dark Age, and the Dark Age will last 432,000 years. What? 432,000 years??! This
may seem depressing, but there is nothing we can do about it, for we are born in the
Dark Age due to our past karma. Nevertheless, we should not waste our precious
human life and forsake spiritual practices even if we are living in the Dark Age. On the
contrary, dedicating our lives in pursuit of spiritual practises during the Dark Age
makes our lives even more meaningful and worthwhile!

The Decline in the Buddha’s Teachings

The Buddha’s teachings are known as ‘Dharma’, short for ‘Buddhadharma’. These
teachings, if practiced correctly under the guidance of skilled spiritual guides, can lead
us to the everlasting happiness known as Nirvana, or permanent liberation from cyclic
existence. From now on I shall refer to the Buddha’s teachings as Dharma.
According to the Buddha, his teachings which began 2500 years ago will gradually
decline until they finally disappear after 5000 years; so this means that we are half-way
into the decline, which is not a good sign. In fact, the initial decline of Buddhism in
India is what prompted the Venerable Atisha to spread Buddhism in Tibet so that
Buddhism may be preserved. Atisha was born in AD 982 as a prince in East Bengal,
India. From a young age, he renounced his worldly life, and studied and practised
Dharma intensely. Nowadays, hardly anyone practices Buddhism in India, the place of
its birth. As you can see today, Buddhism is more widely practised in countries such as
Tibet and Thailand than in India.
Unfortunately, the decline of Dharma is quite evident in today’s world, which is no
surprise, as this is the nature of the Dark Age. Just decades ago, the Chinese army’s
invasion of Tibet invited threats to the preservation of Dharma. The Chinese army
destroyed thousands of Buddhist temples in Tibet, and killed and imprisoned
thousands more Buddhist monks, many of whom are important lineage holders of the
Dharma. Since the time of the Buddha, the Dharma is passed from masters to disciples
through oral transmissions, which form chains of unbroken lineages. To break the
lineages is to bring about demise to the Dharma, which is exactly what the Chinese
army have done. In spite of this, do not generate contempt for Chinese people in
general, because it is the fault of the Chinese government, not the people.
The result of the aftermath of the Chinese invasion is that Dharma had spread to the
West, especially to countries such as the United States and Britain. Some people deem
this to be fortunate, but it is not so, which I will explain later on. The invasion forced the
Dalai Lama into exile, who now resides in Dharamsala, India. The invasion also forced
many Tibetan monks to escape to Western countries, where they continued to practice
and teach Dharma. Many of them wrote Dharma books in English, and taught Dharma
to Western students.

The Rise of Impure Dharma

The Buddha appeared in this world 2500 years ago to teach pure Dharma. At the time of
the Buddha, people were practising impure Dharma, which included meaningless
rituals and animal sacrifices that did not lead to enlightenment. One should understand
that the Buddha did not invent Dharma, but rather rediscovered it. Throughout the
ages, Dharma had been rediscovered and taught by enlightened beings, whom like the
Buddha, incarnated in this world to teach pure Dharma. Also throughout the ages, the
Dharma which was once pure, became impure, and eventually disappeared until the
next enlightened being, or Buddha, appears.
There is no question that Dharma is becoming impure. There are many examples of
people using the Buddha’s teachings for their personal gains. These people are teaching
little truths, which are derived from Dharma, and a whole lot of lies, which are made up
in order to manipulate others. A good example is Scientology, a well known cult.
Scientology teaches karma and reincarnation, concepts that are derived from Buddhism.
However, it also preaches the ridiculous story of Xenu, an alien ruler of the "Galactic
Confederacy." This seems like Star Trek mixed with a little dose of Buddhist concepts,
which is enough to brainwash unsuspecting people. What’s ironic is that the founder of
Scientology even went as far as to claim that he was a Buddha.
In this Dark Age, there are many authors who write books about impure Dharma. I
recently read a book that mixes stories of Atlantis with Buddhism as well as Hinduism.
When the author incorporates concepts of Buddhism and Vedanta into the book, the
book turns into a whirl of contradictions. I am very glad that I read the book on Scribd,
otherwise I would have wasted my money. The book may be an interesting read for
those who are not serious about spiritual practises, but if you are like me, a serious
seeker, you will feel infuriated after wasting your time on something so misleading.
Furthermore, the author claims the book to be authentic (non-fiction), even though it is
just a bunch of made-up stories.
Another thing that troubles me is how people view the practice of Tantra. The Tantric
path greatly enhances the speed which one attains full enlightenment, or Buddhahood.
With the practice of Tantra, it is possible to attain Buddhahood in just one lifetime.
However, this path is reserved for those with very high spiritual capacity, and those
with great compassion having the wish to become enlightened quickly in order to help
all sentient beings. If you do not meet these prerequisites, then the Tantric path is not
suitable for you. Whenever I look up the word ‘Tantra’ either on Scribd or Amazon, this
‘Tantric Sex Manual’ always shows up. What is this garbage? Have we reduced
ourselves to the level of animal instincts? Is sex all we ever desire and think about? The
Buddha said that sexual lust is the main obstacle that diverts one away from the path to
enlightenment. Yet these authors defamed the word of Tantra and reduced it to a form
of sexual practice.
In this Dark Age, Dharma is becoming widely commoditized. There are those who
teach Dharma in order to profit from it. These people usually distort the Dharma, and
claim the teachings as theirs, and try to sell them to unsuspecting seekers. A good
example is the ‘Transcendental Meditation’ technique developed by Maharishi Mahesh
Yogi. Hey, do not underestimate this technique. It even attracted members of the
Beatles. A good question that arises is: why name it ‘Transcendental’? Meditations have
been known and practised since ancient India. There is nothing supernatural or
transcendental about meditation. This is no doubt a marketing strategy, just like how
Microsoft named its mp3 player the ‘Zune’ (because they think it is an awesome name)
in order to trick consumers into buying it, even though it is ten time more inferior than
their competing product, and costs almost twice as much. People have spent thousands
of dollars purchasing these Transcendental Meditation books and tapes. Now I ask, do
they feel transcendental? I scanned and edited ‘The New Meditation Handbook’ and
uploaded the book on Scribd for free distribution. I promise you that the mediations in
this book are far superior than those so called Transcendental Meditations, for the book
contains actual meditations taught by the Buddha, unpolluted and pure, unlike that
transcendental mess.

The Rise of Impure Practices

Even if pure Dharma still exists today, there is still one problem: do we engage in the
practice of Dharma purely? There is no doubt that pure Dharma will exist in the form of
books, even until the end of the Dark Age. However, if no one practises Dharma, or if
one does, does not practice purely, then no profound spiritual realizations can be
attained, and enlightenment will be unachievable, even when Dharma texts are still
available. How does then one practise Dharma purely? To practise Dharma purely, you
must have an experienced spiritual guide. He or she will guide you along the path to
enlightenment, step by step. Since you cannot gain a more advanced spiritual
realization without first gaining a realization that is prerequisite to the more advanced
one, the spiritual realizations are to be gained sequentially. Once you attain all the
realizations, you become enlightened. Your spiritual guide will show you the proper
sequences, and if you make mistakes on the path, he or she will correct you so you do
not waste time with the trial and error method. This is why I mentioned earlier that the
spread of Buddhism to the West is not always beneficial. While there are many Dharma
books translated into English, without a qualified spiritual guide, no matter how much
time you spend in reading Dharma books, and no matter how many Dharma books you
read, you will not achieve enlightenment. There are very few qualified spiritual guides
in the world today, especially after the Chinese invasion of Tibet. In the past, before the
Chinese invasion, Westerners could travel to Tibet to receive teachings from Tibetan
Buddhists. Now we do not have the luxury to do so. Such is the nature of the Dark Age.

The Rise of False Spiritual Guides

False spiritual guides are very common in the world today, especially in India. They are
also highly demanded, because in this Dark Age, we have very few qualified spiritual
guides. Stricken by the dissatisfactions of this age, deep down in our heart, we yearn for
salvation. But because of the shortage of qualified spiritual guides, we take refuge in
false spiritual guides, whom we believe could satiate our spiritual hunger. These false
spiritual guides, after reading a few Dharma texts, and engaging in meditations on a
casual basis, boast to have achieved high spiritual realizations. Some even claim to have
achieved full enlightenment, or Buddhahood. Do not believe in those who made these
claims. It had been prophesized that a Buddha will not appear in this world until the
end of the Dark Age. If someone claims to be a Buddha, do not believe him!
 These false spiritual guides, after gaining knowledge of the Dharma through reading
Dharma texts, behave as if they are experienced in Dharma practices, even though they
have only read the texts. Ordinary beings impressed with their knowledge of Dharma
will fall under their spell, and very soon they will be under their control. These false
spiritual guides will abuse their power by taking monetary sums from their disciples,
and in some cases, sexually harassing their disciples. One who has understood the
teachings of the Buddha and have total conviction in the teachings will never resort to
such non-virtuous actions. The two important teachings are, 1) The infallible law of
karma and, 2) The law of impermanence. If these false spiritual guides truly understand
the law of karma, and have total conviction in it, they will not commit non-virtuous
actions that lead them to miserable rebirths in the future. Here are some stanzas to think
about:

If you fear suffering

And do not enjoy it
Do not commit sinful actions
Either in public or in private

Whether you have committed sinful actions

Or are committing them
You will not escape suffering
Even if you tried to run away

No matter where you stay, there is no place

That karma has not created
Neither in the sky nor in the ocean
Not even a place in the mountains

And:

When the past karma that caused

This life is spent
And you are connected with new karma
And led by the lord of death
Everyone turns back
Except for your virtue and sin
Nothing will follow you
Know this and act well
Likewise, one who understands and have total conviction in the law of impermanence
will not commit non-virtuous actions for the sake of wealth and pleasures in this life.

Atisha said:

Since you will definitely have to depart without the wealth you have
accumulated, do not accumulate negativity for the sake of wealth.

Also:

I will have to depart, leaving everything

But, not knowing this
I committed various sins
For the sake of friends and foes

And:

High status soon turns into servitude

Beauty quickly changes, like a flower in autumn
Wealth is soon lost, as if merely lent
Life quickly perishes, like lightning in the sky

Therefore, you can tell whether or not a spiritual guide is qualified by his
understanding and conviction in the Buddha’s teachings.

Conclusion

The Dark Age is marked by our declining spiritual activities and an increase in the non-
virtuous actions performed, as is evident in the today’s world. In the Dark Age, our
chances of attaining enlightenment are greatly reduced because of 1) The decline in the
Buddha’s teachings, 2) The rise of impure Dharma, 3) The rise of impure practice, and 4)
The rise of false spiritual guides. In order to achieve enlightenment, the four conditions
must be removed.

Recommendations

In the midst of the Dark Age, there is still hope. The Buddha’s teachings are declining,
but there is hope as long as the teachings do not disappear altogether. Although impure
Dharma are disseminating, there is hope because pure dharma still exists. It is true that
qualified spiritual guides are rare, but they can be found if one looks hard enough. And
the way to avoid false spiritual guides is to first gain knowledge of Dharma from
Dharma texts and evaluate whether or not the spiritual guide upholds the teachings of
the Buddha. Like you, I also do not have a spiritual guide, and depend on Dharma texts
for insights and knowledge. And like you, I aspire to one day find a qualified spiritual
guide in this life. We are all on the same boat, this boat we call cyclic existence.