When will the world end, and how can you get prepared?

I am making this lens for fun. It is not some university dissertation. If you find anything that needs to be corrected, please leave a comment. But it should all be correct!

Is the 'end of the world' really the end of the WORLD?

Or is it just the end of human life?

Interesting....

Also, when enviromentalists talk about 'saving the planet', are they really trying to say 'save us!'

Does everyone remember the millenium? Lots of people predicted that the world would end then. Fortunately for us, they were all wrong.

Lots of people were also panicking that 'The Millenium Bug' would end human life as we know it. When all technology would just... stop working. (Why? Because it was believed computers were only programmed to accept a date above 1999... stupid I know!)

So why did loads of people think the world would end at the beginning of the year 2000? Could it just have been the fact that it was a whole new millenium, and made people think 'Wow. That's significant'?

It was even predicted that the year 2000 would see alien invasions, global flooding, and even the 'return' of Jesus.

Some people also suggested that the year 2000 would see the shifting of the poles, which would cause many many global catastrophies. Even though there was no real scientific evidence for this, but just because it was something on a global scale!

The next major end of the world theory is predicted to be.... 2012. It's something to do with there being a mathematical beauty in the significance of this date, and all the planets lining up... or something. Quite interesting because it is so soon. More on this below!

Do you think we will see as many people going crazy about the year 2012 like they did for the year 2000? Will we have learned anything from the last time?

I would like to think so, but looking back in history... I doubt it.

Introducing... the religions!

Buddhists see life as a cycle. A cycle of death, and rebirth. A cycle of things being created, and things being destroyed. Everything is in a cycle. Nothing is permanent.

Buddhism doesn't say WHEN the world will end, but it does say how.

Here is what the Buddha himself said about how the world will end:

• Firstly, there will be no rain for ages. So long, in fact, that all plants and all animals will die out. Nothing living will remain. All life forms on earth will die.

• Secondly, a second sun will appear in the sky. Yep, a SECOND sun! This will cause streams and ponds to evaporate.

• Thirdly, a third sun will appear and evaporate large rivers.

• Fourthly, after a very long time indeed... a fourth sun will appear! This will cause large lakes to evaporate.

• Fifthly, after another very long time a fifth sun will appear and cause the oceans to disappear.

• Sixthly, after another long time, a sixth sun will appear. With no water left, what happens next? The sixth sun will cause the earth itself to heat up to really high temperatures, caucing volcanic eruptions all over the place.

• Seventhly, the last and final sun will appear and will make the earth so hot it will become just a big fiery flame. It will start to expand, and eventually....

...it will explode altogether!

And that is the end of the earth, according to The Buddha Siddhartha Gautama himself.

Pretty shocking stuff, I'm sure you agree.

This whole process is said to take hundreds of thousands of years, so even if you had enough bottled water to survive the lack of rain and water... you probably still wouldn't live to tell the tale.

An interesting thought is that the modern scientific view of the destruction of earth is that the sun will get hotter and hotter and earth will eventually just be cooked. This sounds a lot like the Buddha's idea of the earth slowly cooking!

An interesting thought is that the modern scientific view of the destruction of earth is that the sun will get hotter and hotter and earth will eventually just be cooked. This sounds a lot like the Buddha's idea of the earth slowly cooking!

Maybe they are the other 7 planets in our solar system, suffering the same fate as earth, heating up loads because of what our sun is doing. Heating up the other planets too, as well as earth, and one by one the planets closest to us are shining bright on the horizon.

That certainly adds another dimension to the Buddha's view on how the world will end!

The point the Buddha was making was that the world is impermanent, is fragile, and the only way to escape this physical life is... to follow the Eigthfold Path!

Yep. Become a Buddhist.

Like Buddhism, Hinduism sees life as repeating cycles.

So when they talk about the end of the world, they are also talking about the beginning of another. In the same way Winter leads into Spring, human life goes through cycles also.

The 4 stages are:

• Satya Yuga

• Treta Yuga

• Dvapara Yuga

• Kali Yuga

The stage we are currently in is... the last one. Kali Yuga.

1. Satya Yuga is the Golden Age. The best stage of the cycle. The one you would want to be in, if you could choose. People live to be about 4000 years old, and live close to the Gods. The Satya Yuga stage lasts for 1,728,000 years.

2. This then blends in to the Treta Yuga stage, as humans start to slip up a bit. We stop being so amazing, and our lifespan decreases to reflect that. The Treta Yuga stage lasts for 1,296,000 years.

3. This second stage then blends in to the Dvapara Yuga stage. In this stage, we are getting progressively worse. This stage lasts for 864,000 years. And the human lifespan is lowered to 1000 years, and we then blend into the last stage...

4. The Kali Yuga stage. This is the stage we are in right now. The stage where we all suck! People have moved (or are moving) away from religion, there is more disease, war, famine, hunger...

Then, after 432,000 years in the Kali Yuga stage, we quickly and suddenly snap back to the first stage, Satya Yuga (The Golden Age). There is no blending from one stage to the next this time. It is a sudden change.

And after every 1000 of these full cycles the earth is completely destroyed and recreated.

How's THAT for an end of the world story?!

Islam doesn't really give any specifics on when the end of the world will come, but it does give some clues on what to look for. And it is also suggested by many people that the time is approaching!

So how can a Muslim tell if the end of the world is coming?

Well, the main point being made is that there is a breakdown of almost everything we would consider moral, true, and just.

For example, some of the signs that the end is near are:

• 1. When trustworthy people become untrustworthy, and unstrustworthy people become trustworthy.

• 2. When lies prevail over truth.

• 3. When children are the cause of grief for their parents, instead of joy.

• 4. When women who have children are unhappy because of their children, and women without children are happy that they don't have children.

• 5. When violence and bloodshed become common.

And many more things, but you get the idea. The world will be generally terrible and evil place to live.

This is where it gets interesting...

Because even Jesus himself makes an appearance! Yep. Jesus features quite heavily in the Qu'ranic version of the end of the world.

(If you're confused as to why Jesus appears in Islam, you need to start thinking of the major religions as branches of the same tree, not as seperate trees. There is an awful lot linking them all together. More than you might think!)

So, firstly Imam Mahdi (the redeemer of Islam) will come to earth and will restore righteousness and change the world into a perfect and just Islamic society. And he will do this alongside Jesus.

But wait! Jesus isn't a Muslim!

As the story goes, when Jesus returns to earth he will urge all Christians to convert to Islam.

The Dajjal (the false prophet) will also come to earth and will pretend to be the real Jesus. And he will lead a great army against all Muslims. But Islam will prevail, and at the end of the battle only Muslims will survive.

And all will be well on earth and in heaven.

I find this story quite interesting because of how it also involves Christianity and Jesus. It is also quite an epic story, and would probably make quite a good movie. Also, the minor signs that the end is coming, like the 5 I listed above, are quite interesting too. What do you think? Do you find it interesting that there is a big mix with Christianity in this story?

Remember, Christianity is about 2000 years old and Islam is about 1600 years. And in Islam, Jesus, Moses and Abraham are viewed as a prophets.

And "Muhammad is not seen as the founder of a new religion but instead as a restorer of the original monotheistic faith as taught by Jesus, Moses and Abraham." Pretty interesting, don't you think?