Dark Age?

I appreciated the Sadhana of Mahamudra in a number of ways whenever it was recited at programs, but always struggled with its invocation of "the Dark Age." I understand that this comes out of the Indian view of cyclical kalpas, and it is not because I don't see the times we live in as unprecedentedly dangerous. The invention of nuclear weapons alone made for a qualitatively different world. Add to the ever-present -- and in the future, alas, ever-increasing -- risk of their being used again the manifold catastrophes which climate change will more and more be ushering in, and the likelihood of future pandemics, and the power of AI to create all kinds of chaos and destruction, and the terribly corrosive effect the internet and social media have had on attention spans, discernment, and decency, and it is clear we find ourselves in uncharted, deep, waters.

At the same time I've always found this term to be unnecessary and unhelpful. It solidifies. It constructs a kind of metaphysical dimension that then can't be argued with. It dooms us, it seems to me. "Self-fulfilling" prophecies are a real thing.

I much prefer the Dalai Lama's answer, when he is asked about the human future. He has always said that he is optimistic. Is this naive? My feeling is that even if he didn't really believe it but was saying it as a "skillful means," it is valuable to try and see things this way. In many respects we do create our own world, and if enough of us are sufficiently determined to save it, to preserve sanity and civility and love for all life, then we can do it.

So let's not of course ever downplay any of the challenges, not at all, but at the same time let's resist that sense of helplessness and despair which it seems the internet -- which is where most people live most of their lives at this point, alas -- fosters all too much. Because in truth "the Dark Age" is only a concept in the end. That's it. When we wake up each day we don't wake to a "Dark Age" -- not unless we filter our experience and our world through that notion. 

It's not enough of course; we then have to strive to nurture awakeness, live our lives in virtue, try and care for all beings -- a challenge renewed in every moment without fail. But I think we're hampering ourselves when we layer that big heavy assumption on top of day-to-day experience. What is there, is there. We have no choice but to work with it all. In a number of ways it is dark (lower-case d) for sure. At the same time, the vast, global connectedness we inhabit at this point means that wisdom and compassion, inspiration and cheerfulness too can travel far and quickly. Personally, I find I need to resist, as much as possible, doom-prophesying voices. We can accomplish much more than we tend to imagine.