Legends of the End: Prophecies of the End Times, Antichrist, Apocalypse, and Messiah from Eight Religious Traditions

by Charles Upton

Whether the world ends tomorrow or lasts for centuries, we all exist in a 'climate' of the End of Days. As Thomas Merton wrote, 'We live in an age of two superimposed that of secular anxieties and hopes, and that of revealed fulfillment. Sometimes the first is merely mistaken for the second, sometimes it results from complete denial and despair of the second.' The 'end of time' obviously relates to history, but—just as obviously—it cannot be contained within it. Legends of the End have always been with us; every spiritual tradition that has a story of the beginning of things must also have one of their final end—the end of the earth, of the universe, of time itself. And just as all such myths symbolize invisible realities, so every historical event is precisely an invisible reality made visible and tangible. This book takes a look at eight Legends of the Hindu, Buddhist, Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hopi, and Lakota. When these stories are placed side-by-side, great differences and startling similarities become apparent-similarities both in broad outlines and in minute details. In light of this traditional lore, the author begins and concludes with a penetrating spiritual meditation on the meaning of the End. Without a grasp of this meaning, to date the End is impossible. With such a grasp, even the most accurate dating is irrelevant, for to know the meaning of the End of Days is already to be beyond it. 'Charles Upton is a serious thinker from whom I have learned much. His writing merits close attention.'—Huston Smith, author of The World's Religions, etc.

Genres: Religion, Philosophy, Mythology, Conspiracy Theories

128 pages, Paperback

First published March 26, 2005

Reviews

[Kitap Yakıcı]

Fascinating, erudite, and challenging work on current events (i.e. the "End Times") from the perspective of the "Transcendent Unity of Religions," a viewpoint which runs counter (at least, according to Upton) to the "general Neo-Pagan cultural drift" of the contemporary United States. Some of Upton's insights into Buddhism and its role(s) in contemporary global society are worth sharing:

If the greatest strength and greatest weakness of traditional Christianity is in its exclusivism, the comparable strength and weakness of Buddhism, especially in the West, is in its ability to 'fit in'.... At its best, this represents a radical detachment from the norms of 'the world', allowing it too avoid all forms of dogmatic literalism and fundamentalism, and the marginalization such a stance often entails. At its worst, it indicates a capitulation to the collective egotism of this very 'world'. (p. 88)

The false ecumenism of Neo-Pagan, New Age culture is the seedbed for that 'world fusion spirituality' in which fragments of every spiritual tradition are promiscuously thrown together, to their mutual corruption. True ecumenism on the other hand—the outer expression of the 'esoteric ecumenism' of the Transcendent Unity of Religions, which understands the very uniqueness and particularity of the authentic religious traditions as the transcendent basis for their unity—is not a syncretistic amalgam or a diplomatic glossing-over of doctrinal differences, but a united front against a common enemy: that unholy alliance of scientism, magical materialism, idolatry of the psyche and postmodern nihilism which is headed, with all deliberate speed, toward the system of Antichrist. (p. 89)

The Tibetan Buddhists say: 'roll all blames into one.' In the process, the crimes of a cruel and mysterious fate become the fruits of karma, the consequences of the deliberate actions of sentient beings. The karma of all sentient beings becomes my own karma, the structure of my ego. And finally the crimes and sufferings of my ego become the inevitable shape of THE ego, void of all substance in the face of the Absolute. All are forgiven because no one is to blame but him—and 'he' is no one. (p. 112)

In my humble opinion, the central spiritual 'gesture' for apocalyptic times is the following:

When you find yourself in a state of fear or grief over the evil of the world, the degeneration of humanity and the ruin of the earth, know that this evil, ruin and degeneration are nothing but the mass resistance of the world to the impending advent of the Mahdi, the Tenth Avatar, the Messiah—and that the fear or grief you are presently experiencing are your way of participating in that resistance. Knowing this, simply stop resisting Him, and let the Messiah come. Stop trying to maintain the world in existence by the power of your ego; let it go. Let it end. Let your ego end. You've been fighting off the Messiah: cease hostilities now, 'resist not evil' (which is how your ego experiences Him), lay down your weapons, and let Him break through 'the clouds of heaven', the clouds of individual and collective egotism which have separated earth from its divine Source ever since the fall of man. (p.114)

[Maria]

Very interesting topic, but it is rather confusingly presented with the author's perspectives and opinions seamlessly folded into the content. It made it very hard to get an unbiased overview of the topic.