The future of the Kalachakra tradition

The eventual disintegration and disappearance of Buddhism is not unexpected within the Buddhist view of history. A number of sutras prophesy the decline of the Dharma and human life in general during the end of the current age, and predict the glorious coming of Maitreya Buddha in the distant future.

The Kalachakra tradition has a different vision of the future of the world.

It too depicts a steady degeneration of the world in conjunction with the disappearance of virtuous forms of religion. In the Kalachakra this period of decadance is synchronous with a steady increase of the powers of evil in the form of barbarians allied with demons.

However, unlike the Maitreya prophecies, the Kalachakra does not predict the total extinction of Buddhism, for it teaches that the Buddhadharma will be preserved in Shambhala out of the reach of the barbarians. When conditions finally reach their nadir at the very end of the current Kali age, a great war will erupt in which the army of Shambhala will do battle with the evil barbarians and demons.

Conditions south of the Shita River will continue to degenerate until the last Kalki, Raudra Chakri, ascends the lion throne of Shambhala. Raudra Chakri, “The Wrathful One with the Wheel,” will teach the Buddhadharma for almost fifty years, but then the impending conflict between good and evil will come to a head.

By that time the southern half of Jambudvipa, that which is south of the Shita River, will have come under the control of the barbarian overlord Krinmati. Centered in Dili (Delhi) in western India, Krinmati and his vassals will set their sights on the conquest of Shambhala.

When Raudra Chakri sees the wild barbarians preparing to attack, he will enter into an unwavering trance called “The Samadhi of the Supreme Horse.” While Raudra is absorbed in this trance, his vast army will gather. Raudra and his generals, Hanu- man and Rudra, will command an army of truly gigantic proportions.

It will have 90 million cavalry mounted on horses swift as the wind, four hundred thousand battle-intoxicated elephants, five hundred thousand golden chariots, and uncountable infantry, all brightly caparisoned.

Composed of six divisions, the army will be led by the ninety-six satraps of Shambhala. However, this war will involve more than mere earthly forces, for the demons will side with the barbarians, and Raudra Chakri will be assisted by the twelve great gods: Hari (Vishnu), Nairrti, Vayu, Yama, Agni, Shan- mukha (Skandha), Kubera, Shakra (Indra), Brahma, Rudra (Shiva), Samudra, and Ganesha.

The army of Shambhala will come out of Kalapa and travel south of the Shita River to India—there the great war will erupt. Kalki Raudra Chakri will strike down the barbarian overlord Krinmati, and Hanuman and Rudra will overcome the barbarian commanders.

Raudra Chakri’s skilled and heroic archers will defeat the barbarian infantry, the ninety-six satraps of Shambhala will conquer the barbarian captains, the horses of Shambhala will rout the barbarian cavalry, and the elephants of Shambhala will crush the barbarian elephants.

In particular, the twelve great gods will destroy the demonic deities of the barbarians, and the forces of evil will be completely eradicated. Having utterly destroyed the barbarians, Raudra Chakri and his divine entourage will return to Kalapa, the city on Mount Kailasha created by the gods.

Raudra Chakri’s achievement of complete dominion will mark the beginning of an Age of Perfection (Kritayuga). Human lifespan will increase, and people will abandon evil behavior and only cultivate virtue.

They will enjoy good ethics, sensual pleasure, wealth, and spiritual liberation. Grain will grow in the wild without cultivation, and trees will perpetually bear fruit. A special feature of this period is that during it a practitioner can achieve the highest siddhi through the Kalachakra with relative ease. Consequently, the earth will become populated with Vajrayana adepts; even those with lesser abilities will make great progress on the Mahayana path.

The great chakravartin Raudra Chakri will live to be a hundred years old. At the end of his reign he will appoint his elder son Brahma as the lord of Shambhala and his younger son Suresha as master of the lands south of the Shita River. Having done this, Raudra Chakri—last of the Kalkis, will return to the abode of bliss from which he came.

During the reigns of Brahma and his son Kashyapa, the average human lifespan will be nine hundred years. It will diminish during the subsequent reigns, and at the same time divisions based on caste will reappear. As a result of this disintegration, in accordance with the cycles of time, the various types of humans—royality, sages, and barbarians—will appear again, and, again, the chakra- vartin will appear to subdue and reunify them.

Having read the preceding brief account of the eschatological doctrines contained in the Kalachakra, it is worthwhile to remember that, like everything else in this intricate system, they operate on more than one level of meaning. The “Great War” and the Age of Perfection that follows it can be interpreted literally as external historical events predicted to occur in about four hundred years.

However, the Sri Kalacakra and the Vimalaprabha give another, allegorical interpretation of the same myth. Here we find the elements of the Kalachakra apocalypse identified with the forces of gnosis and nescience within the Kalachakra practitioner. When a yogi conquers ignorance by means of the method and wisdom actualized in the Kalachakra vajrayoga, then the inner devils, demons, and barbarians that make samsaric life miserable are destroyed, and the Age of Perfection of complete enlightenment is produced.

This is wholly in keeping with the fundamental structure of the Kalachakra system: the Outer Wheel of Time, i. e., the cosmos, is a reflection of the Inner Wheel of Time, i. e., a person’s soul or psychophysical constituents. These worlds form the basis that is purified by the Other Wheel of Time, the soteriological path of apotheosis produced by the generation and completion processes of the Kalachakra vajrayoga.�