By: BK Atam Prakash
Source: The Daily Guardian https://epaper.thedailyguardian.com/view/2284/the-daily-guardian/15
Dated: April 12th, 2025

Scientific theories about time and the evolution of human life, and religious concepts about the same have for long been subjects of debate. Evolutionary theory says life on earth originated billions of years ago and then evolved, as Charles Darwin theorized, by a process of natural selection. Prehistoric man is said to have evolved from apes and progressed from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age and Iron Age, in terms of the ability to extract metals from ores and manufacture implements from them. Extending this chronology to the present times we can say that humanity is now in the space age. 

Rapid advances in science and technology over the past century have transformed our lives, but at the same time, the challenges facing mankind have become more complex and varied, spurring humans to push the frontiers of science. However, nobody has a clear vision of where this ‘progress’ will lead eventually. There is just hope that science will find the answers to our problems and life will carry on.

Religious concepts of time speak of the creation of humanity by God and a gradual moral decline of humankind, culminating in an apocalypse or Last Judgment, after which different theological traditions speak of various scenarios for human souls. These scenarios, too, do not give a convincing or complete picture of what will eventually happen to life on Earth as we know it.

However, the spiritual concept of cyclic repetition of time is an exception. According to this concept, life is a drama taking place on the vast stage of the Earth, with souls as actors and the elements of nature too playing a role. This drama begins in the Golden Age, when human souls as well as nature are in their perfect state, ensuring a life of complete happiness. Not all souls are present in the world at this time, as each comes from the soul world to play its role in this drama at its own appointed time. Through the Golden Age and the subsequent Silver Age, the souls lose some of their spiritual power but are still free from sorrow. By the time the Copper Age begins, the souls forget the subtle truth of who they are, and start to identify themselves with their bodies. Since the body is perishable, body-consciousness brings with it fear of death, besides vices such as lust, anger, ego, greed, and attachment. The vices corrupt the souls, leading to wrong actions and consequent suffering. The negative energy now radiating from the souls affects the forces of nature, which start becoming violent. By the end of the Iron Age, when the wheel of time is about to complete a full circle, the souls are completely in the grip of vices and desperately searching for ways to escape sorrow. This is when God intervenes to salvage humanity. He reminds souls of who they really are, and how they can fill themselves with His powers and virtues simply by being aware that they are souls and remembering Him, the Supreme Father. Such remembrance of God is called Rajyoga. Regular practice of Rajyoga makes us naturally soul conscious – aware that we are souls, sentient points of light, the living beings expressing themselves through the physical medium of the body. The process of spiritual change initiated by God eventually restores souls and nature to their original, pure state. The Iron Age ends and a new Golden Age dawns, marking the start of a new cycle of time. 

This process of decay and renewal goes on eternally, with rejuvenation taking place at the end of each cycle of time by the intervention of God. The memory of this renewal and the liberation from sorrow it brings, is imprinted in human souls. That is why across cultures and religious traditions, souls call out to God for salvation. Deep in their hearts they know that God has granted it before, and trust that He will do so again as the wheel of time turns inexorably.

BK Atam Prakash is a Rajyoga teacher
at the Brahma Kumaris headquarters in Mount Abu, Rajasthan.