Spend an exotic holiday in Asia


2012 -- The End?

I was talking to some friends the other daypalpable feeling that something big is about
who just returned to Florida. They have ato happen, and maybe this is the real basis
home down here as well as one inof our out of control anger, because what
Philadelphia, and when I asked why they camemight be about to happen could foster the
back so early, they said that they just hadgreatest  of  fears.
to  get  away  from  their  relatives!
A possibility exists that we know,
They went on to tell me about their daughterscollectively, intuitively, that our world is
tragic divorce, how they had to bail her outabout to change, a sudden, dramatic change
of the financial end of it and buy her condo,that would be above and beyond economics, or
and how all the kids and grandkids in theanything that we have ever experienced
family are going wild; uncontrollable theybefore. (Nature has a way of wiping out any
said, while their parents are makingsmugness that we foolishly develop when
unbelievable  amounts  of  money.things are going too good!) It is as if the
entire world is about to experience one of
Also, they said that they were abused at thethose life-altering tragedies that turns
airport and on the flight by two differentindividual's lives around, but this time it
people who were so impatient they physicallywill  turn  the  entire  world  around.
pushed the elderly couple aside; both on the
plane  and  in  the  baggage  area.If you type "2012" into your browser, you
will see that many diverse prophesies are
I have observed the same kind of ragepointing toward that date, including the
whenever Janet and I drive anywhere inBible and other sources that predict some
southwest Florida. (I heard that the eastsort of cataclysmic sun event. The Mayan
coast is even worse!) People routinely drivecalendar actually sets the precise date: Dec.
seventy miles an hour in 45 or 50 mph zones,21,  2012.
cutting in and out of traffic as if they are
on  the  NASCAR  circuit!Some say that 2012 will usher in a new
consciousness after the apocalyptic sun
And it seems to be getting worse. Americansevent, which is described by various prophets
are getting angry, very angry - you canas an orange fireball in the sky, a comet,
barely watch TV without seeing punditsgigantic sun flares. And perhaps what happens
screaming at each other about things theyduring the next five years will lead up to
discussed civilly not many years ago. Soit, or maybe it will happen suddenly. Who
what's  up  with  all  this  rage?knows, maybe the source of global warming
involves much more than merely humankind's
People are scared. Afraid that they won'tfollies!
have enough, and afraid that what they do
have will be taken away. Everybody is walkingAt any rate, it's a good time to begin
around bone tired all the time, we don't evenlooking inward. Regardless of what happens to
have enough time to sleep - too much to do,the world, what we develop inwardly cannot be
too little time. And we no longer have faithtaken  away.
that things will work out. We have lost our
confidence.As practicing Buddhists, we consider every
day to be our last. We understand that our
As the rest of the world catches up to us,personal world will most likely come to an
we, as a society, must face the possibilityend before the world does, but either way,
that we will no longer be the super power weit's the next world that we will have to deal
once were; those days may be long gone. Soon,with, based on whatever understanding we have
we could just be another country because ofdeveloped down here. Christians with faith in
the enormous amount of debt we have run up inGod, and Buddhists who live each moment, need
maintaining an unsustainable, wealthynot concern themselves with the end of the
lifestyle that was so far out of synch withworld.
the rest of the world. We have always been
able to grow out of this, but China and IndiaHowever, those that have their entire
might  change  all  of  that.existence grounded in the things of the world
could potentially have a lot to worry about!
Our great country is losing its prestige. AsThink about it; if we woke up some night and
a country, we have a very big national ego,found the sky a bright, reddish orange, and
and we get angry when things don't go ourthe temperature outside our homes about 150
way. We're worried that we cannot sustain ourdegrees, what would we do? The water would
current lifestyle in a shrinking world, andrun out, no food, bands of marauders looking
we are getting scared, and anger is a directfor water and anything to eat. We wouldn't be
result  of  fear.worrying  about  our  401k!
Soon, China will have the economic power ofThis kind of reality, where our families are
ten Japans, and will dwarf anything that weabout to lose their lives, is about as tough
can do. Already, most of our manufacturingas it gets, and unless we have taken time to
has gone overseas, just as Japan's has, andcontemplate death, our relationships, and the
what has happened economically to Japan overdeeper aspects of life, we could easily fall
the last ten years could happen here - noover  the  psychological  edge.
growth and a steady deflation set off by a
housing  and  a  stock  market  bubble.Some say that although many will live through
this upheaval, their lives will change
Japan has an aging population, as do we, anddramatically, living in small groups and
their growth rate has stopped; a trend thatbarely surviving. The economic and political
cannot be changed easily. Neither Japan norconcerns of today would be long forgotten, as
the United States can compete with the restpeople's lives more closely resemble the
of the world in manufacturing, and the thingswandering lifestyles of Christ or the Buddha.
that we can compete in, our technology and
our entrepreneurial talents, the rest of theWhen the chips are down like this, things get
world will soon learn how to do as well. Thereal, quickly, and spirituality naturally
Chinese and Asians are incredibly intelligentfloods our souls, as we survive together in
people, and diligent, too and there are lotsloving clans and groups. How else could
of  them!spirituality ever happen? It could never
happen  in  our  present  states  of  mind.
But if we can get by all of this without
nuking someone, or some such nonsense, as aIt takes an exceptional astuteness and
last gasp effort to reestablish ourawareness to practice austerities and
dominance, then, as we accept our new role indifficult observances when things are going
the world, we have a good chance of comingso good, but those that sacrifice now will be
out of this relatively intact. And maybe evenready, whether the calamity involves the
a better country for it - perhaps notentire  world  or  only  themselves.
financially, but psychologically and
spiritually.It's just a matter of time, and time goes by
quickly . . .
But then again . . . there is an almost



1 A B C D 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117