Golden Age

What is the Golden Age?

The Golden Age is referred to in Tibetan as ‘Kalpa Dzokden.’ ‘Kalpa’ 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 predominance of wisdom, compassion, and realizations of Bodhichitta. This applies to all religions and wisdom traditions. Through the impact of the teachings of Kālachakra Tantra and its practices, 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 that there is no more suffering like we currently experience. Instead, there is genuine love and compassion for each other. These qualities will also influence not only our minds: as our minds manifest our world, it will eventually transform our physical environment, leading to a more prosperous and bountiful earth.

It’s crucial to remember that this second 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 generate Bodhichitta motivation and strengthen our resolve to liberate all sentient beings — by realizing perfect and complete Buddhahood in this lifetime or by being reborn in the sublime Realm of Śhambhala where we can complete the path swiftly. These are great aspirations on a long journey that are not without challenges, and we need to start in a practical way. One thing we can all agree on a practical level is to make our world a better place for all beings. So by starting here where we are, we are stepping onto the swift path to achieving the omniscient Buddha mind, enabling us to work tirelessly towards liberating all sentient beings from Saṃsāra. 

The Prophecy from the Kalachakra Tantra

The Golden Age prophecy is linked directly back to the teachings of the Buddha. The Buddha indirectly referred to it in the ten definitive sūtras and the ten essence sūtras, but also more directly and profoundly in the Kalachakra Tantra. The Buddha transmitted this tantra and its teachings while in meditative absorption as the Kalachakra Deity in the Enlightened Maṇḍala to the Shambhala Dharma King Suchandra and many other beings who were fortunate to have received it.

The Shambhala Dharma 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 generations, 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 bodhisattva Aja helped returning the Kalachakra Tantra to our earth. It was said that he was moved to great compassion by the devotion displayed by Indian Siddha Kālachakrapada, who had gained awareness of the Kalachakra Tantra and desperately wanted to receive it. Kalki Aja appeared to Kālachakrapada and transmitted the teachings of the Kalachakra Tantra in a form that could be practiced on our earth. Eventually, it spread from India to Tibet, where it is still practiced extensively through the unbroken lineage of the Jonangpas in Tibet, though recently, it has now become available in other Asian countries and in the West.

Shambhala’s transformation into a bodhisattva realm is considered an inspiration for achieving a second 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 Kālachakra 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 second Golden Age on our earth.

According to the Kalachakra Tantra, these teachings will rejuvenate and flourish on earth at the arrival of the future 25th Kalki king of Śhambhala, 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 a 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 — do not wait 400 years for a better world!

It is a mistake to fixate on the second 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 second Golden Age. However, there are other interpretations of different times on when this will occur in both Sanskrit and Tibetan 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 Kalki 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 the 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 the qualities of Buddha Nature qualities within our own minds so that we may experience the Golden Age as soon as possible.  

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 altruistic conduct. The Kalachakra Tantra — regarded as the ‘King of Tantras’ — when practiced genuinely and regularly with the right motivation, can lead to profound personal transformation and genuine happiness. In order to learn Kalachakra more in depth, you will need to first receive an empowerment (initiation). Signing up to the Dzokden mailing list means 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 second Golden Age and strengthen our connection with Shambhala. 

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