Golden Age

What is the Golden Age?

The golden age is referred to in Tibetan as ‘Karpa Dzokden.’ ‘Karpa’ means eon or age, while ‘Dzokden’ is the Tibetan meaning “to be endowed with perfection or completeness.”  It represents the cycle of the phase of completion where the complete teachings of definitive meaning are widely available and practiced, leading to a dominance of wisdom, compassion, and realizations of Bodhicitta. This applies to all religions and traditions. Through the practice of Kalachakra Tantra and its teachings, people begin to understand the subtle and absolute meanings underlying their traditions until gradually the boundaries between belief systems dissolve.

This understanding is free of bias, ignorance, and self-cherishing and will result in perfect peace and harmony in our world on earth, where our society works to support each other in manifesting our ultimate truth. This means there is no more suffering. Instead, there is genuine love and compassion for one another. These qualities will also influence not only our minds, but as our minds manifest our world, it will transform our physical environment, leading to a more prosperous and bountiful earth.

It’s crucial to remember that the golden age is not the ultimate destination, but a significant part of the journey. It’s a journey that each of us, as spiritual practitioners, is actively involved in. Our role is to create Bodhicitta motivation and strengthen our resolve to liberate all sentient beings by realizing perfect and complete Buddhahood and to be reborn in the sublime Realm of Shambhala. But this is difficult, and we need to start practically. One thing we can all agree on practically is to make our world a better place for all beings. So by starting here, we are stepping onto the swift path to achieving the omniscient Buddha mind, enabling us to work tirelessly towards liberating all sentient beings from samsara. 

The Prophecy from the Kalachakra Tantra

The Golden Age prophecy can be linked directly back to the teachings of the Buddha. The Buddha indirectly referred to it in the ten definitive sutras and the essence of the ten sutras, but also more directly and profoundly in the Kalachakra Tantra. The Buddha transmitted this Tantra and its teachings while in meditation as the emanation of the Kalachakra Yidam in the Enlightened Mandala to the Shambhala Kalki King Suchandra and many other beings who were fortunate to have received it.

King Suchandra, an emanation of Vajrapani and a tenth-level bodhisattva, had recognized that the Kalachakra Tantra would have the power to transform Shambhala, which at the time was still a gross realm on earth,  into a pure realm. After receiving the Kalachakra teachings and empowerment from the Buddha, he began planting seeds to cultivate the practice and teachings of the Kalachakra Tantra to those in Shambhala. While at first only a small group of practitioners received and practiced this Tantra, over many years, this increased until it had flourished all through Shambhala, accelerating the karmic connections between individuals and communities to transform it into a sublime pure bodhisattva realm.

Hundreds of years later, the Shambhala Kalki and bodhisattva, King Aja, returned the Kalachakra Tantra to earth. It was said that he was moved to great compassion by the devotion displayed by Indian Siddha Kalachakrapada, who had gained awareness of the Kalachakra Tantra and desperately wanted to receive it. Kalki Aja appeared to Kalachakrapada in a dream and transmitted the teachings of the Kalachakra Tantra in a form that could be practiced on earth. Eventually, it spread from India to Tibet, where it is still practiced extensively through the unbroken lineage of the Jonangpas in  India, Tibet, though recently, it has now become available in the West.

Shambhala’s transformation into a Bodhisattva Realm is considered an inspiration for achieving a ‘golden age’ on earth that will result in higher rebirths as bodhisattvas in the sublime Realm of Shambhala. Because earth has a strong karmic connection to Shambhala due to the unbroken lineage of the Kalachakra Tantra directly from Shambhala and the Buddha himself, building upon this connection and cultivating the right causes and conditions will manifest a complete transformation of societies and individuals that will give rise to a golden age on earth.

According to the Kalachakra Tantra, these teachings will rejuvenate and flourish on earth at the arrival of the future 25th Kalki king of Shambhala, Raudra Chakri, who will help us tame our minds by smashing through our delusions and the root causes of our ignorance so that we may realize the absolute nature of reality. As this realization of reality arises in people’s minds, it will result in the birth of the golden age with peace, harmony, and prosperity in the world. According to the Kalachakra Tantra, when this golden age manifests, it will mark the start of a cycle that will last 21,600 years, which is one cycle. After that, it’s up to the people if they make the merit to make it beyond that.

Golden Age Now – Don’t wait 400 years for a better world

It is a mistake to fixate on the golden age arising at a single point in time or due to a particular event. One notion is that Kalki King Raudra Chakri will emerge in less than 400 years, bringing about the golden age. However, there are other interpretations of different times on when this will occur in both Tibetan and Sanskrit texts. 

Teachers will generally manifest when they recognise potential students are receptive to the teachings and will teach based on the differing capabilities of their students. Likewise, for the appearance of King Raudra Chakri, or any other bodhisattva who manifests to guide us, we must create the karmic causes and conditions with supreme bodhicitta motivation. This means training our minds with Dharma, studying and practicing the Kalachakra Tantra and Zhentong teachings on emptiness to make ourselves suitable vessels for receiving these precious teachings. The more we practice with excellent motivation to liberate all sentient beings, the more we cultivate buddha nature qualities within our own minds so that we may experience the golden age now.  

Help Create the Golden Age Now 

Look at your mind – it all starts with you

First and foremost we should train our minds with bodhicitta motivation so that we have excellent conduct. The Kalachakra Tantra, regarded as the ‘King of Tantras’, when practiced genuinely, regularly and sincerely with the right motivation can lead to profound personal transformation and genuine happiness. In order to practice, you will need to first receive an empowerment – signing up to the Dzokden mailing list at [XXX] will mean you will be notified of any upcoming empowerments.  

If you are still waiting to receive the Kalachakra empowerment, Khentrul Rinpoche has kindly created other means for people to cultivate golden age qualities and connect with the sublime realm of Shambhala. These are listed below under Learn more.   

Volunteer 

As a global organisation dedicated to making these teachings accessible to many, volunteering with us is a great way to put the teachings into practice by supporting Rinpoche in his vision to create the conditions of a golden age and strengthen our connection with Shambhala. 

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