According to Hindu mythology, there are 4 Yugas: Satyuga, Tretayuga, Dwaparyuga, and Kaliyuga. We are currently living in the Kaliyuga. Mahabharata took place in Dwaparyuga, and the Ramayana in Tretayuga. There are many stories of Satya Yuga, not with a specific hero, but with so many heroes.
In Satya Yuga, the centre of our life was the truth. Actions were guided by purity, and therefore, when we listen to the stories of Satya Yuga, even the slightest impurity of thoughts is not tolerated. People would perform tough penance whenever their purity was disturbed. Even if greed enters a corner of their heart in disguise, they will feel very bad about it. Since truth prevailed everywhere, the relationships were very fulfilling, and people lived their lives based on their passion. People lived meaningful lives since there were no manipulations and pretensions, and therefore their energy was not wasted on frivolous things.
Then came Treta Yuga. Treta means the third, and it also represents something in disguise. That's why Treta Yuga has many stories about Rakshasas in disguise. In Ramayana, Ravan stays in Lanka, and nobody is able to find Ravan's whereabouts. The story of Ramayana is about finding the whereabouts of Lanka and forming a bridge between the mainland and Lanka so that the army of Surgiva can reach there. Hanumana ji played a very significant part in the story. When we deviate from the truth, the first thing that happens to us is that we lose awareness. Our actions are driven by habit patterns that get formed over many lifetimes. These habit patterns are stored in our causal body in the form of samskars and may also be understood by analysing the horoscope of a person. These causal influences keep guiding our actions, and we can't bring a fundamental change to our lives unless we gain awareness of these samskars and work on them.
Dwapar means the second. Dwapar Yoga is the story of the Mahabharata and Krishna. The entire story of the Mahabharata is about greed, desires, ambitions, and jealousy. This operates in the domain of the mind. Mata Satyavati wants her Vansh to continue and becomes greedy and calls Ved Vyasa to impregnate her daughters-in-law. Bhishma is quite fixated on his self-image of being good and therefore takes a vow which will later become one of the biggest reasons to protect the Kauravas despite all their evils. Dhritarashtra compares himself with Vidura and gets jealous and full of an inferiority complex. Duryodhana compares himself with Yudhistira and becomes greedy and jealous. Karna wants to prove himself to be the greatest warrior, and that's why he is full of ambition. Even when the Pandavas decide to fight the battle, Arjuna is lost in thoughts of social validation. What will people say about his fighting the battle against his own elders and cousins? Then Krishna gives him the message of the Bhagavad Gita, saying that all beings have emerged from Him and will merge back into Him, and therefore the actions of every human being should be guided by truth and not beliefs or social narratives.
This is Kaliyuga. We live in a virtual world. We hardly know so many people in this world, and yet we have an image of these people in our minds based on their virtual presence. When I open Facebook, I notice that so many people have posted many different images and stories about themselves, and anybody who scrolls through those stories will form an impression about these people. However, the reality is that none of these impressions is true. The person who looks quite happy and enjoying his life on Facebook may be suffering from depression. The person who looks very rich may actually be under huge debt. The present-day world is all about image and profile management.
That's why spirituality is quite difficult in the present-day world. Spirituality simply means being aware of the spirit or truth and living a life centred around it. In the present era, the truth is clouded by three different layers of ignorance. The first, our Samskars accumulated over many lives. Second, the thoughts which our minds have created over a period of time about different persons and things. Third, the images and impressions which we have formed in the virtual world. In the present-day world, we are mostly on our mobile phones or laptops. Office work, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and so many other applications occupy a very significant portion of our day. We are constantly in the virtual world. Digital content creation is reaching a new peak every year. The website ( https://explodingtopics.com/blog/data-generated-per-day) tells us that the digital content creation is increasing at an exorbitant speed as follows:
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We have to cross the three layers of ignorance to reach the truth in this world. First, the layer of the virtual world. Second, the layer of thoughts, and third, the layer of our Samskars. Only then can we connect to reality. That's not easy. When we sit in meditation, most of the time, we constantly keep seeking our mobile. The clock is always ticking in our minds. Somebody would have sent a WhatsApp message. Some notice for a meeting or some urgency. That FOMO is immense. Even if we get past this hurdle, our minds are generally full of thoughts. Thoughts of the past and the future. We are constantly living in past memories and anxiety for the future. Even if we get past this hurdle, it is almost impossible to enter the world of Samskars and observe them in a witness mode. That's why spirituality in the true sense is a real challenge, and that's why the world is full of organisations that offer Virtual Spirituality. A feeling of practising spirituality, though mental projections and visualisations, which has nothing to do with spirituality. But in this world, which is so full of stress, tension, and anxiety, people feel relieved by these visualisations and imaginations, and the Babas make money and grow powerful. I wish all of us would understand the trap and undertake real observation and enquiry into the nature of truth, where we accept nothing less than the truth.
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