Doomsday / Rapture / Qayamat

[Seshadri Sridharan]

Doomsday / Rapture / Qayamat 

Christians believe in Rapture. For them, this is a time when Jesus will appear and take his followers to heaven, leaving everyone else behind to be doomed - as the earth will be finally destroyed. This is what is meant by “rapture”. What many do not understand is the motive behind such outrageous prophecies.

In Islam, Qayamat (also spelled Qiyamah) refers to the Day of Resurrection and the final Day of Judgment. On that very day all the dead from the cemetery will rise from the grave etc. It is a fundamental tenet of faith where Allah will resurrect all human beings, judge them based on their beliefs and deeds, and determine their eternal fate in paradise (Jannah) or hellfire (Jahannam).

As Ananda Margiis, we do not give any value to these tall tales, but we should understand the mindset responsible for inventing such dogmas - as well as what effect this has on common citizens. In addition, we should know how outsiders are profiting from this "event".

Various religions & doomsday

Actually, Christians are not the only ones involved in this kind of Rapture dogma. As Baba points out in various discourses, numerous other religions and sects subscribe to the doomsday theory. Viprans in the form of religious thinkers and priests from various traditions have preached and continue to preach that the world will be destroyed.

So it is a similar mentality as the rapture but with a slightly different outlook. The Hindus do not believe that through their yajina they will rise up into the sky. Just they think that they will have averted disaster by saving the earth from destruction. And they will thereby continue to live on earth. So theirs is a safer proposal. Without having to rise up into the sky they can more easily declare victory.

In contrast, the Christians feel that during the Rapture they are on their way to heaven and that they will be leaving this earth. That is the central difference. Other than that, both exploit their followers to an outrageous degree. It is common for people from diverse regions to believe theories of this nature, but only certain radical Christians think that they will actually rise up magically into the sky without the use of a rocket ship.
Infusing fear complex to deceive

The key point why various preachers engage in this Rapture mania is very straightforward: Such preachers want an army of slaves, i.e. blind followers who hold on to their every word and order. And the best way to do this is through the infusion of a tremendous fear complex like Rapture.

What is Rapture: "If you do not obey my word, i.e. God's command, then you will not be one of the saved, rather you will be forced to suffer and meet your eternal destruction." That is their message. Actually such priests regularly terrorise their congregations on an individual level; this is an everyday occurrence. By not following church dogma or not giving large donations, then one will never reach heaven. And there are numerous ploys priests use on the individual level to control followers and acquire money.

And when they want to dupe large numbers of people on the mega-level, then they do big events like Rapture. Then they can make more money and get greater control. And even if the Rapture event does not come true - there is little lost. We should not overlook the fact the ever same priest - i.e. Harold Camping - who declared the 2011 Rapture also declared a Rapture day in 1994. Neither of them came true. But they made huge, huge money over these events. And there was supposed to be another rapture more recently - just a few years back. Here below is the newsclip: 

The world will cease to exist on April 23 [2018], according to a prediction that has some laughing, some yawning and yet others making preparations that could leave their lives in shambles. The warning about an upcoming Rapture, from numerologist David Meade, follows a long tradition of end-of-days predictions. (Courtesy of the NY Post)

And when the Rapture invariably does not happen - the only thing the organisers have to do is make-up some phony excuse and infuse massive fear into their followers by saying: "Rapture can happen at any moment - anytime - so beware."

Doomsday rapture or pralaya will never occur

Ananda Marga ideology says, "He is everyone’s shelter, everyone’s refuge. Thus, human beings are never helpless, neither individually nor collectively. Always remember that He is with every individual. Some philosophers, quoting the scriptures, say that a day of final doom will darken the Earth when the dead will rise from the grave. Others predict that a doomsday (pralayá in Saḿskrta – “pra” means “complete” and thus pralaya means “complete destruction”) will obliterate all forms of life. One should laugh at such illogical doctrines. According to Ánanda Márga philosophy, this doomsday or pralaya will never occur....the flow of creation will continue...There will never be a complete thermal death. of the universe. Thus, predictions of an imminent doomsday should be of no concern to you. It is nonsense; pralaya will never occur." (2)

The mentality of preachers

Baba describes the mentality of such rapture & doomsday preachers perfectly in the below citation.

Ananda Marga philosophy says, "Hypocrites’ dogma is embraced knowingly by those with vested interests, although most people follow dogma unknowingly. Ordinary people are told by their priests, “You should not do this or that because it is a sin and is forbidden by the scriptures. If you do not follow the path that we have suggested, your family will be ruined.” If rational people challenge these illogical ideas, a priest may retort that he had a dream in which the Divine Mother appeared before him and said many things to justify his position. This is all hypocrites’ dogma." (3)

Conclusion

Rapture, and similar types of doomsday theories, are dogmas infused by the priest class to exploit the masses. By this way those religious leaders gain money, name, and fame etc According to Ananda Marga philosophy, all such doomsday predictions are a hoax. Ananda Marga philosophy does not place an ounce of value in their bogus claims. Rather Ananda Martga teachings see through their smoke-screen and recognises that they are merely resorting to fear tactics for their own gain. Our duty is to preach the teachings of neo-humanism and bhagavad dharma so people can truly advance in the spiritual sphere and not get duped or lulled into jumping on the bandwagon of any sort of rapture or doomsday theory. 

In Him
Kamala
(Kristen Torringer)

Special Note: The Semitic religions -- Islam (Shia, Sunni), Christianity (Protestant, Catholic, and Mormons etc), and Judaism -- are just theologies. These religions don't have any philosophy per se. That's why in the intellectual realm they are operating from a deficit; they only have their dogmatic beliefs, not any intellectual analysis. In fact, intellectual discussions about their core values are not even allowed in these Semitic faiths. One is not allowed to question the foundational pillars of those religions like the Bible, Torah, and Quran (Koran); one must just blindly accept those religious canons. In contrast, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism have their own philosophy. That's why Baba discusses those religions in a more comprehensive and in-depth manner. Just having a theology - and no philosophical tenets that can be challenged and respectfully argued - that is forced on people is bogus. In that case, i.e. in the Semitic faiths, those religious propounders made grand declarations in the name of God because they had no other tool or strategy. Devoid of philosophy - or logic and reasoning - their entire modus operandi was grounded in making sweeping declarations in the name of God and making implied threats to those who refuse to follow. Sadguru Baba mocks such false proclamations. Baba indirectly says that those propounders were cowards because they did not have the courage to say “I say”, but instead proclaimed outlandish things in the name of God. This was the adopted strategy by those propounders of the various Semitic faiths, and that's why Sadguru Baba does not address those religions in an in-depth, comprehensive manner.


~ In-depth study ~

How Christian priests exploit

Ananda Marga philosophy states, “In places where, for whatever reason, intellectual clashes among the vipras were not very intense, their philosophy was very simple. They would say to the people directly, "I am the angel or incarnation of God. The things I have said are not the words of a human being but the words of God," or "I have received the divine revelation that you will eat this and not that, worship in this way and not that, and offer this to God. If you obey my commandments God will bless you and you will go to heaven; otherwise you will be burnt to death in the fire of hell." The people were fooled this easily.” (5)


Why people believe

How is it that such people in this modern era get duped by the Rapture dogma? In most cases, during their childhood they were indoctrinated into the Christian dogma and on those points their mind became inert. In other worldly spheres - with their job, house repairs, education, and food shopping - they can apply their logic and reasoning but not in the field of religion. On that subject their brain is frozen. They are unable to think - just they follow blindly. Such is the power of dogma. And it is for this reason that modern day people get captivated by the rapture dogma.

Religious dogma in the west

During rapture, a whole congregation of people will rise straight up into the sky. Normally when someone shoots straight up into the sky they are an astronaut on a rocket ship - such as the NASA shuttle etc. One could also be on a helicopter as that also rises directly upwards. But that is not what is going on here.

Welcome to Rapture!! The belief that all "true Christians" will be gathered together in the air to meet Christ at his return. Such is what some Christians believe. What a remarkable event as an entire mass of people defy gravity without the use of a single engine. Magically they will rise up into the sky - to the promised abode of heaven. Even more remarkable is how another section of society - confirmed atheists - have been making bundles of money off of this rapture mania.

The next question you may be asking yourself is how could all of this unfold in the west. After all, isn't the west very advanced in technology and material science? Isn't the west extremely literate? Then how could citizens of western, so-called advanced nations embrace such an event like "Rapture" that is cent-per-cent full of superstition and religious dogma.

Well, as Baba points out, the amount of worldly education or mundane knowledge or material wealth any community or society is not the defining point. What matters is the degree to which their system of education and psychic understanding is based on neo-humanism. Only in neo-humanism, combined with spiritual practice, can one overcome all dogmas and superstitions like Rapture. When one's mind is oblivious of the psycho-spiritual and spiritual realms - as is the case in materialistic societies - then even "educated" people will easily get duped by ploys and dogmas like Rapture.

No God can do like this

However, no God can do like this. No God that is all-powerful and all-loving will senselessly destroy and ruin his creation. Nor will any god favour some and hate others. That is the loophole and hypocrisy of such rapture beliefs. Such religious exploiters preach that their god is great and all-loving, and then in the next breath they attach all kinds of crude-negative actions to their god.

But who can accept such a personality as being God if that god abuses and harasses innocent and helpless beings. No all-loving god could also be so crude-minded and malicious. That is the main defect of their rapture and doomsday agendas.

How exploiters make easy money

Seeing all this, one group of confirmed atheists have come forward to make bundles of money off of the rapture program. Here's how they do it. In the west - and in particular in the US - where the rapture dogma is at its height, people love their pets. They are alienated from other human beings and pour all their heart's longing into their pet. Believers know that Christ has come only for them - not their pets. That means during rapture, when they get magically pulled up into the sky, then their pets remain on earth.

Confirmed atheists capitalise on the situation. Such atheists proclaim: "I am an atheist - I will be stuck here on earth after the rapture - so, my dear Christians, I will take care of your pets. After you make it up into the sky, I will be here on earth to ensure your beloved pet (dog or cat etc) is not left uncared for. Start paying me now - reserve your place - and I guarantee I will care for and feed your pet after the rapture for the next 10 years. Since I do not believe in Jesus I am bound to be here after the rapture. So put down your payment with me and invest in the welfare of your treasured pet."

Crooked psychology of rapture fear

The whole entire Rapture agenda is based on fear. Namely, if you do not follow the Christian doctrine then you will not rise up into the sky and not enter into heaven - rather you will be forced to remain on this heinous earth and finally rot in hell. That will be the awful plight of all non-believers and non-devout Christians. With this fear psychology - all done in the name of God - such Christian priests get their followers completely engrossed in the rapture movement. That is how they sell their event. Even more surprising is that this is going on during the age of science and reason.

In the past, such raptures were declared in: 1772, 1844, 1977, 1981, 1988, 1989, 1992,  1993, 1994, 2011, and 2018. As noted many of the dates have been declared in modern times.

And each time the leaders of the failed rapture were met with ridicule, teasing, critique and embarrassment by outsiders. Mostly they justified their stance by saying, "Jesus will be meeting us up in the sky, only we made a mistake in the calculation of the date." And then they promptly arranged a new date - and again all their followers became riled up into a frenzy all over again.

Neo-humanism needed

Now in this modern era where still people's intellects are being captured by religious dogma, the only way out is to propagate neo-humanism.

People must be made to understand that whenever their mind is not allowed to think beyond the confines of a particular boundary line, then that idea is dogma. For instance, in the rapture agenda, no one is allowed to think beyond the confines of the rapture model. No logic or reasoning is allowed. Just one is forced to follow the mandate of rapture blindly.

Our job is to calmly and rationally convince people not to worry about nor get caught up in or duped by any type of Rapture propaganda. We should encourage open and free debate on this matter and see the facts.

Side by side we must always remind everyone that Parama Purusa does not have any imperfection. He does not hate or curse anyone; He showers equal love upon all. He does not judge anyone based on whether they are a "believer" or not. He watches over all: the virtuous and the sinners, margiis and non-margiis. Parama Purusa loves all - in that case, all talks of doomsday and Rapture are nothing but a farce.

Christianity(dot) com says, "The most popularly taught view among Christian faiths is known as the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, or "Pre-Trib" theory. Those who accept this perspective believe the Rapture will happen just before the tribulation period, at the beginning of the seventieth week of Daniel. The Rapture will usher in the final seven years of this age. True followers of Jesus Christ will be transformed into their spiritual bodies in the Rapture and taken from the Earth to be in Heaven with God. Non-believers will be left behind to face severe tribulation as the antichrist prepares to take his place as the Beast half way through the seven year period. According to this view, non-believers will still come to accept Christ, in spite of the Church's absence during this time, however, these new Christians will endure extreme persecution, to the point of death by beheading." (http :// christianity. About. Com /od / faqhelpdesk/a/ whatisrapture.htm)