For those of us who love the Hindu Dharma, a world without it may seem intolerable, even unthinkable. After all, it is the Sanatana Dharma, the "Eternal Path" radiating Truth to all seekers in all lands through all times, right? Well, it may seem harsh to say so out loud, but not everyone wants Hinduism to thrive. There are forces working to utterly destroy its light-giving mysticism. What if these forces prevail? What if no one has the strength, intelligence or willingness to protect and preserve it? Could it wither and die as did the Greek, Hawaiian and American Indian faiths? Consider this extrapolation of contemporary, real-world events – a chilling chronology compiled in the year 2050:
April, 1990: World population growth drops precipitously except in Islamic nations, where birth control is outlawed. A 1988 synthesis of advanced fertility drugs engineered by a brilliant Muslim biochemist fuels an unheard-of 3.8% birth rate.
November, 1997: Despite formidable opposition, the U.S. President and his media-smart Cabinet – all fundamentalist Christians – succeed in getting both houses of Congress and 44 states to pass a 27th Amendment to the Constitution. The amendment "fine-tunes" the First Amendment's establishment of religion clause, effectively making Christianity the nation's official faith ("one nation under Christ") and allowing Biblical readings, creation science and prayer in all public schools. Minorities are assured of "undiminished protection of freedom of religion" while the Speaker of the House boldly proclaims on national TV, "This nation was not founded on Buddha or Moses." Jewish politicians resign in protest Christians quarrel over doctrinal guidelines for implementation.
August, 2013: The Great Famine and AIDS Epidemic decimates many small nations in Africa, which are quickly colonized by Muslims from overcrowded areas. Disarmament grows more complex with the deployment of U.S./European Space Guardian I and pioneering PsyChem (psychochemical) weapons systems.
January, 2018: The world is stunned by a non-violent Islamic take-over of the USSR, where Russian Muslim tribals had become the majority just 10 years earlier. Islamic universities, fearing the West's overwhelming technological advantages, synthesize a complete human food, using the classified formula to raise prosperity in dense Muslim nations while other countries continue to suffer tragic grain shortages. So-called Media Messiahs dominate Sensory Vision programming. Hindu ashrams and organizations spread quietly to all comers of the earth as more men and women seek a tolerant, non-dual, here-and-now path of higher consciousness, eschewing Hell-Fire-And-Damnation appeals which grow more strident each day. However, Hindu leaders fear backlash from other faiths and fail to consolidate this grassroots growth.
April, 2022: Christian/Western nations struggle to resist the growing hegemony of Muslims who have proven to be formidable missionaries. Christians demand that the UN limit conversions of youth and poorer populations to Islam which promises higher quality of life and certainty of Salvation. Both sides know God is on their side. The salvation of the world and every soul in it is thought to be at stake. Using the considerable power of pooled technological/communications/information systems, Christian nations dominate information flow and effectively eliminate all languages (and their related cultures) except English, Arabic and Hindi.
October, 2023: In a world almost equally divided between Christians, Muslims and Hindus, the second annual Nine-Month World Symposium is called to ask the neutral Hindus to arbitrate growing international tensions. The effort fails. Reason: Liberal and Smarta factions of the Hindu delegation successfully argue for the adoption of a Universal Faith which will incorporate the essential doctrines of world religions. Four hundred Hindu swamis and leaders publicly repudiate "all isms including Hinduism," yet they adopt the "Christlam" hybrid, hoping to lead the world away from "spiritual suicide." Drawn away from traditional values by their swamis and gurus, hundreds of millions of Hindus are swiftly absorbed into Muslim and Christian communities which denounced all efforts to reconcile doctrinal differences or accept the legitimacy of other paths.
August, 2027: Diminished Hindu populations in India gives way to election of an Islamic government which swiftly implements the Council of Islamic Ideology and Sharia or Muslim judicial law. Every single holy Hindu, Jain and Sikh shrine and temple – reduced to museums two decades earlier when the esoteric meanings of worship were lost – is razed or replaced by a mosque.
June, 2029 All unofficial Christian and Muslim denominations are outlawed – their scriptures and seminaries destroyed. Only Baptists and Shiites survive the purge. Global Anti-Proselytization Covenants make it a capital offense to promote either of the two religions to members of the other. Tens of thousands are imprisoned and worse for speaking of the Prophet in Christian Brazil or the Savior in the Islamic Republic of China. Moderate Hindu organizations call for "One World/One God," but withdraw and dwindle when their meek voice is ignored.
March, 2031: The Cross is planted on the surface of Mars by a resident Mexican astronaut Three months later a gold-leafed casket containing the Koran is the first earth object to touch down on Pluto. Research unlocking startling extra-sensory functions of the human mind are branded "demonic" and abandoned.
December, 2034: In a world left with two giant opponents, the balance of power shifts toward Islam when engineers in Kuala Lumpur master space-based solar power stations just as fossel fuels reserves near depletion.
March, 2042: Artificial Intelligence/Robotic advances in Christian Japan – coupled with space mining of rare metals and Genetic Learning breakthroughs – shift the economic and psychological advantages back to the West.
October, 2047: Three hundred mystics, obviously Hindu, are found living in remote Nepalese caves where rare scriptures and images have been preserved in violation of international treaties. It is the last stronghold of Hindu Dharma; the destiny of its members is never made public.
December, 2050: As world population levels out at 13.5 billion, the Cross and Crescent Crusades continue. There is no sign of tensions easing. Humankind has lost a thousand treasures, perhaps foremost are peace of mind, the love that man once had for man and the compassion which allowed each soul to follow its own path. Precious scriptures are gone: the Upanishads, the Dhammapada, Tao Te Ching, Adi Granth, Torah and more. No one knows of and therefore no one misses the riches long ago branded heretical and now lost forever mysticism, yoga, Hindu art, architecture and music, doctrines of karma and reincarnation, kindly masters of God-Realization, subtle insights into Satchidananda, tantric teachings, Ayurvedic medicine, kundalini meditations, vegetarianism, Sanskrit, Tamil, Gujarati, Hindi, Telegu and Urdu, God as both Form and Formless, as the Atma within man, the Self of himself. Every force which sought the destruction of the oldest religion on the planet rejoices in a world without Hinduism.
Article copyright Himalayan Academy.