does consciousness depend on the brain

8/12/2019 Does Consciousness Depend on the Brain

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There was a bench seat on the right where my randfather sat -he had been deadseven years. I sat next to him. He asked me how I was and the family. I said I washappy and content and all my family were +ne.

He said he was worried about my son/ my son needed his mother, he was too young to

be left. I told rampi I didn't want to go back, I wanted to stay with him. %ut rampiinsisted I go back for my children's sake. I then asked him if he would come for mewhen my time came. He started to answer, $0es, I will be back in four' 11 then my wholebody seemed to )ump. I looked round and saw that I was back in the IT(.

I honestly believe in what happened, that there is life after death. fter my experienceI am not afraid of death as I was before my illness(,i

.he near-death experience described above is not rare( Hundreds o* si&i%ar cases --invo%vin+ peop%e reportin+ that whi%e serious%y i%% or in/ured they %e*t their bodies'observed the surroundin+ scene' entered a tunne%' e&er+ed in another wor%d where

they &eet deceased *riends or re%atives be*ore returnin+ to their bodies -- have beendocu&ented in severa% di0erent countries( .he case above is not even a particu%ar%yi&pressive one( )t 1rst +%ance' such cases see& to indicate that under %i*e-threatenin+circu&stances the conscious part o* us is capab%e o* detachin+ *ro& our physica%bodies' and &ay trave% to another wor%d( .he overwhe%&in+ &a/ority o* those whohave had such experiences are convinced o* the existence o* an a*ter%i*e(

However' there are those that disa+ree' and who ar+ue that such experiences si&p%ycannot be what they at 1rst see& to be( .he stron+est ar+u&ents a+ainst theexistence o* an a*ter%i*e are those that deny the possibi%ity o* consciousness existin+apart *ro& the bio%o+ica% brain(

.he $reek ato&ists were the 1rst to de1ne the sou% in ter&s o* &ateria% ato&s(Epicurus 2345-5#6 7C8 de1ned the sou% as 9a body o* 1ne partic%es (((&ost rese&b%in+breath with an ad&ixture o* heat(9 He stressed the co&p%ete dependence o* sou% onbody' so that when the body %oses breath and heat' the sou% is dispersed andextin+uished( .he o&an poet ;ucretius 2!!- second' that wine and

disease o* the body can a0ect the &ind> third' the &ind is disturbed when the body isstunned by a b%ow> and 1na%%y' i* the sou% is i&&orta%' why does it have no &e&ories o*its previous existence? Si&i%ar ar+u&ents' to the e0ect that the &ind is a *unction o*the brain' were taken up with +reater *orce nineteen centuries %ater' in the work o* &ensuch as .ho&as Hux%ey(

More recent%y' Cor%iss ;a&ont' *or&er president o* the )&erican Hu&anist )ssociation'has written one o* the &ost extensive state&ents o* the &ateria%ist positions in his
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book The Illusion of Immortality' the tit%e o* which speaks *or itse%*( He te%%s us in thepre*ace that he started out as a be%iever in a *uture %i*e' but does not +ive us thereasons why he he%d the be%ie* a+ainst which he reacted so stron+%y(

;a&ont ri+ht%y contends that the *unda&enta% issue is the re%ationship o* persona%ity to

body' and divides the various positions into two broad cate+ories: &onis&' whichasserts that body and persona%ity are bound to+ether and cannot exist apart> anddua%is&' which asserts that body and persona%ity are separab%e entities which &ayexist apart( ;a&ont is convinced that the *acts o* &odern science wei+h heavi%y in*avor o* &onis&' and o0ers the *o%%owin+ as scienti1c evidence that the &ind dependsupon the body:

in the evo%utionary process the versati%ity o* %ivin+ *or&s increases with thedeve%op&ent and co&p%exity o* their nervous syste&s

the &ind &atures and a+es with the +rowth and decay o* the body

a%coho%' ca0eine' and other dru+s can a0ect the &ind

destruction o* brain tissue by disease' or by a severe b%ow to the head' cani&pair nor&a% &enta% activity> the *unctions o* seein+' hearin+ and speech arecorre%ated with speci1c areas o* the brain(

thinkin+ and &e&ory depend upon the cortex o* the brain' and so 9it is di@cu%tbeyond &easure to understand how they cou%d survive a*ter the disso%ution'decay or destruction o* the %ivin+ brain in which they had their ori+ina% %ocus(9,ii

.hese considerations %ead ;a&ont to the conc%usion that the connection between &indand body 9is so exceedin+%y inti&ate that it beco&es inconceivab%e how one cou%d*unction without the other ((( &an is a uni1ed who%e o* &ind-body or persona%ity-bodyso c%ose%y and co&p%ete%y inte+rated that dividin+ hi& up into two separate and &oreor %ess independent parts beco&es i&per&issib%e and uninte%%i+ib%e(9,iii

;a&ont brieAy considers the 1ndin+s o* psychica% research' but contends that they donot a%ter the picture' because o* the possibi%ity o* other interpretations' such as *raudand te%epathy(,

In su&&ary' the various ar+u&ents a+ainst the possibi%ity o* surviva% are: the e0ects o*

a+e' disease' and dru+s on the &ind> the e0ect o* brain da&a+e on &enta% activity'and speci1ca%%y' the *act that %esions o* certain re+ions o* the brain e%i&inates ori&pairs particu%ar capacities> and the idea that &e&ories are stored in the brain andthere*ore cannot survive the destruction o* the brain( .he in*erence drawn *ro& theseobservations is that the corre%ation o* &enta% and physica% processes is so c%ose that itis inconceivab%e how the &ind cou%d exist apart *ro& the brain( Except *or the appea%so* the &odern writers to the ter&ino%o+y o* neuroscience' the ar+u&ents advanced in
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*avor o* the dependence o* the &enta% on the physica% are essentia%%y the sa&e asthose advanced by ;ucretius(

The Issues at Stake

.here are rea%%y two separate issues here: one is the logicalpossibi%ity o* surviva%' andthe other is the empirical possibi%ity( .he ar+u&ents o* the epipheno&ena%ists' theidentity theorists' and the behaviorists are %o+ica%%y inconsistent with the idea o*surviva%: ifconsciousness is &ere%y a use%ess by-product o* brain activity' or is identica%with brain activity' or does not rea%%y exist except as observed behavior' then obvious%ywhat we ca%% consciousness cannot survive the destruction o* the brain( However' aswe have seen ear%ier' there see&s to be co&pe%%in+ reasons *or re/ectin+ the 1rst o*these theories' and it is Buestionab%e i* the %atter two theories are at a%% consistent withobservation and introspection -- or *or that &atter' are anythin+ &ore than /ust si%%y(

I* however' we are wi%%in+ to ad&it the existence o* consciousness and not on%y as ause%ess by-product' then the post-&orte& existence o* consciousness is at %east a%o+ica% possibi%ity -- that is' there is no se%*-contradiction in the assertion thatconsciousness &ay exist in the absence o* a brain( .hen the Buestion beco&eswhether or not surviva% is an e&pirica% possibi%ity - that is' whether or not the idea o*surviva% is co&patib%e with the *acts and %aws o* nature as current%y understood(

Implicit Assumption Behind the Empirical Arguments Against the Possibility

of Survival

)%% the ar+u&ents &entioned above that are opposed to the e&pirica% possibi%ity o*surviva% are based upon a certain assu&ption o* the re%ationship between &ind andbody that usua%%y +oes unstated( =or instance' one o* the ar+u&ents &entioned ear%ierstarts with the observation that a severe b%ow to the head can cause the cessation o*consciousness> *ro& this it is conc%uded that consciousness is produced by a proper%y*unctionin+ brain' and so cannot exist in its absence(

However' this conc%usion is not based on the evidence a%one( .here is an i&p%icit'unstated assu&ption behind this ar+u&ent' and it is o*ten unconscious%y e&p%oyed(

.he hidden pre&ise behind this ar+u&ent can be i%%ustrated with the ana%o+y o*%istenin+ to &usic on a radio' s&ashin+ the radios receiver' and thereby conc%udin+that the radio was producing the &usic( .he i&p%icit assu&ption &ade in a%% thear+u&ents discussed above was that the re%ationship between brain activity andconsciousness was a%ways one o* cause to e0ect' and never that o* e2ect to cause( 7utthis assu&ption is not known to be true' and it is not the on%y conceivab%e oneconsistent with the observed *acts &entioned ear%ier( ust as consistent with theobserved *acts is the idea that the brains *unction is that o* an inter&ediary between


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&ind and body -- or in other words' that the brains *unction is that o* a two-wayreceiver-trans&itter -- so&eti&es *ro& body to &ind' and so&eti&es *ro& &ind tobody(

.he idea that the brain *unctions as an inter&ediary between &ind and body is an

ancient one( Hippocrates described the brain as 9the &essen+er to consciousness9 andas 9the interpreter *or consciousness(9 7ut' %ike the &ateria%ist theory' this ancientar+u&ent a%so has its &odern proponents -- &ost notab%y Schi%%er' 7er+son' and a&es(

=erdinand Schi%%er was an x*ord phi%osopher in "! when a book tit%ed 3iddles of the4phinxappeared which' accordin+ to the cover' was written by a 9.ro+%odyte9 2cave-dwe%%er8( .his tro+%odyte turned out to be Schi%%er' who in his book attacked theprevai%in+ &ateria%is& o* the %ate nineteenth without revea%in+ his na&e in order toavoid 9the barren honours o* a use%ess &artyrdo&(9 Schi%%er %ikened hi&se%* to the &anin P%atos 3epublicwho has +%i&psed the truth but 1nds that his *e%%ow cave-dwe%%erssi&p%y do not be%ieve his accounts' and so consider hi& ridicu%ous(

In his book Schi%%er proposes that 9&atter is ad&irab%y ca%cu%ated &achinery *orre+u%atin+' %i&itin+ and restrainin+ the consciousness which it encases(9 He ar+uesthat the si&p%er physica% structure o* 9%ower bein+s9 depresses their consciousness to a%ower point' and that the hi+her or+aniFationa% co&p%exity o* &an a%%ows a hi+her %eve%o* consciousness( In other words'

Matter is not whatproducesconsciousness but what limitsit and con1nes its intensitywithin certain %i&its ((( .his exp%anation ad&its the connection o* Matter andConsciousness' but contends that the course o* interpretation &ust proceed in thecontrary direction( .hus it wi%% 1t the *acts which Materia%is& re/ected as supernatura%

and thereby attains to an exp%anation which is u%ti&ate%y tenab%e instead o* one whichis u%ti&ate%y absurd( )nd it is an exp%anation the possibi%ity o* which no evidence in*avour o* Materia%is& can possib%y a0ect(,iv

)s *or the e0ects o* brain in/ury' Schi%%er ar+ues that an eBua%%y +ood exp%anation is tosay that the &ani*estation o* consciousness has been prevented by the in/ury' ratherthan extin+uished by it( Gith re+ard to &e&ory' he thinks that it is *or+et*u%ness ratherthan &e&ory that is in need o* a physica% exp%anation: pointin+ out the tota% reca%%experienced under hypnosis and 9the extraordinary &e&ories o* the drownin+ anddyin+ +enera%%y9' he ar+ues that we never rea%%y *or+et anythin+' but rather areprevented *ro& reca%%in+ it by the %i&itations o* the brain(

.he =rench phi%osopher Henri 7er+son he%d si&i%ar ideas to those o* Schi%%er' a%thou+h itis unc%ear i* he ever read 3iddles of the 4phinx( 7er+son atte&pted to reconci%ephysica% deter&inis& with the apparent *reedo& o* hu&an behavior by proposin+ atheory o* evo%ution whereby &atter is crossed by creative consciousness: &atter andconsciousness interact' with both bein+ e%e&enta% co&ponents o* the universe' neitherreducib%e to the other(
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)ccordin+ to 7er+son the brain cana%iFes and %i&its the &ind' restrictin+ its *ocus o*attention and exc%udin+ *actors irre%evant *or the or+anis&s surviva% and propa+ation(He assu&ed that &e&ories have an extra-cerebra% %ocation' but that &ost are nor&a%%yscreened out *or practica% purposes' and in support o* this' re*ers to near-deathexperiences in which the sub/ects entire %i*e histories Aashed be*ore their eyes( .he

brain is there*ore both 9the or+an o* attention to %i*e9 and an obstac%e to widerawareness( He specu%ates that i* the brain is a %i&itin+ obstac%e' 1%terin+ out *or&s o*consciousness not necessary *or the or+anis&s bio%o+ica% needs' then *reedo& *ro&the body &ay we%% resu%t in a &ore extended *or& o* consciousness' which continuesa%on+ its path o* creative evo%ution(

In "!" the )&erican psycho%o+ist and phi%osopher Gi%%ia& a&es de%ivered theIn+erso%% ;ecture( )t the start o* the %ecture he 1rst re&arks that 9Every one knows thatarrests o* brain deve%op&ent occasion i&beci%ity' that b%ows on the head abo%ish&e&ory or consciousness' and that brain-sti&u%ants and poisons chan+e the Bua%ity o*our ideas(9 He then &akes the point that &odern physio%o+ists 9have on%y shown this

+enera%%y ad&itted *act o* a dependence to be detai%ed and &inute9 in that 9the variousspecia% *or&s o* thinkin+ are *unctions o* specia% portions o* the brain(9

a&es then exp%ores the various possibi%ities *or the exact type o* *unctiona%dependence between the brain and consciousness( It is nor&a%%y thou+ht o* asproductive' in the sense that stea& is produced as a *unction o* the kett%e( 7ut this isnot the on%y *or& o* *unction that we 1nd in nature: we a%so have at %east two other*or&s o* *unctiona% dependence: the per&issive *unction' as *ound in the tri++er o* acrossbow> and the trans&issive *unction' as o* a %ens or a pris&( .he %ens or pris& donot produce the %i+ht but &ere%y trans&it it in a di0erent *or&( )s a&es writes'

4imilarly, the keys of an organ have only a transmissive function. They opensuccessively the various pipes and let the wind in the air1chest escape in various ways.The voices of the various pipes are constituted by the columns of air trembling as theyemerge. %ut the air is not engendered in the organ. The organ proper, as distinguishedfrom its air1chest, is only an apparatus for letting portions of it loose upon the world inthese peculiarly limited shapes.

My thesis now is this' that' when we think o* the %aw that thou+ht is a *unction o* thebrain' we are not reBuired to think o* productive *unction on%y> we are entit%ed a%so toconsider per&issive or trans&issive *unction( )nd this' the ordinary psychophysio%o+ist%eaves out o* his account(

a&es then raises an ob/ection to the trans&issive theory o* the body-&indre%ationship: yes' the trans&ission hypothesis &ay be a %o+ica% possibi%ity' but isnt it/ust unbrid%ed specu%ation? Isnt the production hypothesis si&p%er? Is it not &oreri+orous%y scienti1c to take the re%ationship between brain and &ind to be one o*production' not trans&ission?


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7ut as a&es points out' *ro& the standpoint o* strict%y e&pirica% science' theseob/ections carry no wei+ht whatsoever( Strict%y speakin+' the &ost we can everobserve is conco&itant variation between states o* the brain and states o* &ind --when brain activity chan+es in a certain way' then consciousness chan+es a%so( .hehypothesis o* production' or o* trans&ission' is so&ethin+ that we add to the

observations o* conco&itant variation in order to account *or it( ) scientist neverobserves states o* the brainproducingstates o* consciousness( Indeed' it is not evenc%ear what we cou%d possib%y &ean by observin+ such production(

)nd as *or the ob/ection that the trans&ission hypothesis is so&ehow *antastic' exact%ythe sa&e ob/ection can be raised a+ainst the production theory( In the case o* theproduction o* stea& by a kett%e we have an easi%y understood &ode% -- o* a%terations o*&o%ecu%ar &otion -- because the co&ponents that chan+e are physica%%y ho&o+enouswith each other( 7ut part o* the reason the &ind-body re%ationship has see&ed sopuFF%in+ *or so %on+ is because &enta% and physica% events see& so co&p%ete%y un%ikeeach other( .his radica% di0erence in their natures &akes it exceedin+%y di@cu%t to

conceptua%iFe the re%ationship between the two in ter&s o* anythin+ o* which we are*a&i%iar( It is part%y *or this reason that even thou+h it has been &ore than a centurysince a&es de%ivered his %ecture' in a%% that ti&e neither psycho%o+y nor physio%o+y hasbeen ab%e to produce any inte%%i+ib%e &ode% o* how bioche&ica% processes cou%dpossib%y be trans*or&ed into conscious experience(

It has been pointed out &any ti&es that there is no %o+ica% reBuire&ent that on%y 9%ikecan cause %ike9 -- or in other words' that on%y thin+s o* a si&i%ar nature can a0ect eachother( 7ut this consideration has not re&oved the &ystery *ro& the &ind-bodyre%ationship( )s a&es wrote' the production o* consciousness by the brain' i* it does in*act occur' is 9as *ar as our understandin+ +oes' as +reat a &irac%e as i* we said'

thou+ht is spontaneous%y +enerated' or created out o* nothin+(9

The theory of production is therefore not a )ot more simple or credible in itself than anyother conceivable theory. It is only a little more popular. ll that one need do,therefore, if the ordinary materialist should challenge one to explain how the brain canbe an organ for limiting and determining to a certain form a consciousness elsewhereproduced, is to ask him in turn to explain how it can be an organ for producingconsciousness out of whole cloth. 5or polemic purposes, the two theories are thusexactly on a par.

In short' a&es e%aborated %ines o* reasonin+ %aid out ear%ier by Schi%%er' and ar+ued that

the dependence o* consciousness on the brain *or the &anner o* its &ani*estation inthe &ateria% wor%d does not i&p%y that consciousness depends upon the brain *or itsexistence( )t the end o* his book The 6arieties of 3eligious !xperiencehe ad&its tobein+ i&pressed by the research o* Myers and other &e&bers o* the Society *orPsychica% esearch' and conc%udes that the issue o* surviva% is a case *or the testi&onyo* the *acts to sett%e(


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a&es wrote these works around the turn o* the nineteenth century' but since thenthese ar+u&ents have been endorsed and deve%oped by severa% &ore recentphi%osophers' neuro%o+ists' and psycho%o+ists' such as phi%osophers Curt Ducasse andDavid ;und' neuro%o+ist $ary SchwartF' and psycho%o+ist Cyri% 7urt( .he %attere%e+ant%y su&&ariFed the position set *orth ear%ier by Schi%%er' 7er+son' and a&es:

The brain is not an organ that generates consciousness, but rather an instrumentevolved to transmit and limit the processes of consciousness and of consciousattention so as to restrict them to those aspects of the material environment which atany moment are crucial for the terrestrial success of the individual. In that case suchphenomena as telepathy and clairvoyance would be merely instances in which some ofthe limitations were removed.,v

.he ar+u&ent in its essence is that the trans&ission and production hypotheses areeBua%%y co&patib%e with the *acts &ateria%is& tries to exp%ain -- such as the e0ects o*seni%ity' dru+s' and brain da&a+e on consciousness -- but that the hypothesis o*

trans&ission has the advanta+e o* providin+ a *ra&ework *or understandin+ otherpheno&ena that &ust re&ain utter%y inexp%icab%e by the hypothesis o* &ateria%is&(

Image by.on Haex' courtesy of 7reative 7ommons license.

;a&onts portraya% o* psychic research is extre&e%y super1cia%' and contains severa%*a%se and &is%eadin+ state&ents( =or an exce%%ent critiBue o* ;a&onts book' exposin+a &ass o* inconsistencies and non1se*uitur' see chapter III o* 7ritical !xamination ofthe %elief in a 8ife after &eath' by C(( Ducasse(

,i =enwick =enwick' !!#' pp( 5


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The end of the Kali Yuga in 2025: Unraveling the msteries of the

Yuga Ccle

B Bi!hu Dev "isra

About the author: Bibhu Dev Misra is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology and the IndianInstitute of Management and has been working as an Information Technology consultant for more than 14

years. e is also an inde!endent researcher and writer on to!ics related to ancient civili"ations# myths#

symbols# science and religion. is research has taken him to many !laces of historical interest across theglobe. is articles have a!!eared in different $ournals# maga"ines# and websites including the %ew Dawn#

&cience to &age# 'omsomath# (raham ancock )orum# *samskriti# +iew"one and others. e can be

contacted atbibhumisra,gmail.comand via his !ersonal blog: htt!:--bibhudev.blogs!ot.com

More articles by Bibhu Dev Misra:A Day and Night of Brahma: The Evidence from Fossil Records

The Oet Festival of Ancient Egyt: !as it been derived from the "agannatha Rathyatra of #uri$ %ndia&

Evolution by 'atastrohe: Does it indicate %ntelligent Designetra$ "ordan ( %s it an ancient )hiva Temle comle*&

The +ourney of "agannath from %ndia to Egyt

Part 1: nraveling the !uga "ycle Timeline

The ,uga 'ycle doctrine tells us that -e are no- living in the .ali ,uga/ the age of dar0ness$ -hen moral

virtue and mental caabilities reach their lo-est oint in the cycle1 The %ndian eic The Mahabharatadescribes the .ali ,uga as the eriod -hen the 23orld )oul4 is Blac0 in hue/ only one 5uarter of virtue

remains$ -hich slo-ly d-indles to 6ero at the end of the .ali ,uga1 Men turn to -ic0edness/ disease$

lethargy$ anger$ natural calamities$ anguish and fear of scarcity dominate1 #enance$ sacrifices and religious

observances fall into disuse1 All creatures degenerate1 'hange asses over all things$ -ithout e*cetion1

The .ali ,uga 7%ron Age8 -as receded by three others ,ugas: )atya or .rita ,uga 79olden Age8$ Treta ,uga

7)ilver Age8 and the D-aara ,uga 7Bron6e Age81 %n theMahabharata$ !anuman gives the follo-ing

descrition of the ,uga 'ycle to the #andava rince Bhima:

The .rita ,uga -as so named because there -as but one religion$ and all men -ere saintly: thereforethey -ere not re5uired to erform religious ceremonies; Men neither bought nor sold/ there -ere no

oor and no rich/ there -as no need to labour$ because all that men re5uired -as obtained by the
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o-er of -ill;The .rita ,uga -as -ithout disease/ there -as no lessening -ith the years/ there -as

no hatred$ or vanity$ or evil thought -hatsoever/ no sorro-$ no fear1 All man0ind could attain to

sureme blessedness1 The universal soul -as 3hite; the identification of self -ith the universal soul-as the -hole religion of the #erfect Age1 %n the Treta ,uga sacrifices began$ and the 3orld )oul

became Red/ virtue lessened a 5uarter1 Man0ind sought truth and erformed religious ceremonies/ they

obtained -hat they desired by giving and by doing1 %n the D-aara ,uga the asect of the 3orld )oul-as ,ello-: religion lessened one?@

And no- -e are living in the dar0 times of the .ali ,uga$ -hen goodness and virtue has all but disaeared

from the -orld1 But -hen did the .ali ,uga begin& And -hen does it end& %n site of the elaborate

theological frame-or0 -hich describes the characteristics of this age$ the start and end dates of the .ali ,ugaremain shrouded in mystery1 The oularly acceted date for the beginning of the .ali ,uga is ?C B'$

thirtyC@Lnfortunately$ ho-ever$ this simle statement -as misreresented by some of the early

commentators$ in their eagerness to find an astronomical rationale for the ?C B' date$ and it has

subse5uently been romulgated as a fact1
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The general understanding in ancient !indu astronomy -as that at the beginning of the !resent order of

things$ all the lanets commenced their movement together at of Aries/ and all the lanets return to the

same osition in the heavens$ at certain fi*ed intervals$ resulting in a universal con+unction1 The )urya)iddhanta states that this con+unction ta0es lace at the end of the (olden 2ge1 !o-ever$ there is also a

revailing belief in !indu astronomy that this con+unction ta0es lace at the beginning of a Day and Night of

Brahma$ comrising of a ? ,uga 'ycles1

)imilar information regarding the con+unction of lanets is also resent in the ancient 9ree0 te*ts1 %n theTimaeus$ #lato refers to a 2#erfect ,ear4 -hich elases at that moment -hen the sun$ moon and the lanets all

return to the same relative osition desite all their intervening reversals1>@This idea -as echoed by the rd

century Roman -riter 'ensorinus$ -ho said that the orbits of the sun$ moon and the five -andering lanetscomlete one 29reat ,ear of !eraclitus4$ -hen they are brought bac0 together at the same time to the same

sign -here once they -ere1>@This 29reat ,ear4 -hich is 0no-n by various other names ( 2#erfect ,ear4$

2#latonic ,ear4$ 2)ureme ,ear of Aristotle4 etc1 < -as variously reresented as being of ?C$ years7'icero8 or ?$I years 7!eraclitus8 duration1

There can be no doubt that the ?C B' date for the .ali ,uga -as not based on any information in the )urya)iddhanta or any other )ans0rit te*t1 The date virtually os out of no-here1 Before 'E$ this date -as not

mentioned in any )ans0rit te*t1 From -here$ then$ did Aryabhatta obtain this date& There seems to be noindication that Aryabhatta had comuted this date himself1 There is a single$ stray reference to this date in the

)ans0rit te*t2ryabhatiya#-here Aryabhatta mentions that the te*t -as comosed 3#55 years into the 0ali

uga# when he was 63 years old1 )ince the Aryabhatiya -as comosed in 'E$ the beginning of the .ali,uga can be traced bac0 to ?C B'1 The statement$ by itself$ does not reveal any information about the

astronomical basis on -hich the date -as calculated$ or -hether the calculation -as erformed by Aryabhatta

himself1 %t is ossible that this date -as adoted by Aryabhatta from some other source1 The vagueness

surrounding the origin of this date ma0es its validity highly susect1

The tas0 of figuring out this date from the ancient )ans0rit te*ts$ ho-ever$ is fraught -ith difficulties$ since anumber of inaccuracies have cret into the ,uga 'ycle information contained -ithin them1 As ointed out by

)ri ,u0tes-ar$ in many )ans0rit te*ts the ?C$ year duration of the ,uga 'ycle -as artificially inflated to anabnormally high value of $C$ years by introducing a multilication factor of 24$ -hich -as

reresented as the number of 2human years4 -hich constitutes a 2divine year41 !o-ever$ certain te*ts$ such as

theMahabharataand the7aws of Manu$ still retain the original value of the ,uga 'ycle as ?C$ years1

Many other ancient cultures ( the 'haldeans$ oroastrians and 9ree0s ( also believed in a ?C$ year 'ycleof the Ages1 The reno-ned )ans0rit scholar and nationalist leader of %ndia$ B191Tila0 had mentioned in his

boo0$ The 2rctic ome in the +edas 7?8$ that:

2The -riters of the #uranas$ many of -hich aear to have been -ritten during the first fe- centuries

of the 'hristian$ era$ -ere naturally un-illing to believe that the .ali ,uga had assed a-ay111Anattemt -as$ therefore$ made to e*tend the duration of the .ali ,uga by converting ? 7or ?C8

ordinary human years thereof into as many divine years$ a single divine year$ or a year of the gods$

being e5ual to human years;this solution of the difficulty -as universally adoted$ and a .ali of?C ordinary years -as at once changed$ by this ingenious artifice$ into a magnificent cycle of as

many divine$ or P ?C Q C$ ordinary years14>@
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,u0tes-ar also clarified in the boo0 The oly &cience 8194;# that a comlete ,uga 'ycle ta0es C$ years$

and is comrised of an ascending cycle of ?C$ years -hen virtue gradually increases and a descending

cycle of another ?C$ years$ in -hich virtue gradually decreases1 !ence$ after -e comlete a ?C$ yeardescending cycle from )atya ,uga


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follo-ing values are rovided in the )ans0rit te*ts for the duration of the ,ugas and their resective da-ns

and t-ilights1

Satya Yuga (Golden Age): years years da-n years t-ilight Q 4800 years

Treta Yuga (Silver Age): years years da-n years t-ilight Q 3600 years

Dwapara Yuga (ron!e Age): C years C years da-n C years t-ilight Q "400 years

#ali Yuga ($ron Age): ? years ? years da-n ? years t-ilight Q %"00 years

)ince so many inaccuracies have cret into the ,uga 'ycle doctrine$ as ointed out by ,u0tes-ar and Tila0$

-e also need to 5uestion the accuracy of the relative durations of the ,ugas mentioned in the )ans0rit te*ts1

Although the ,uga 'ycle is mentioned in the mythic accounts of around thirty ancient cultures$ as describedby 9iorgio de )antillana$ rofessor of the history of science at M%T$ in the boo0amlet>s Mill7?8$ -e find

very little information regarding the relative durations of the different ages -ithin this cycle1 This is 5uite

surrising1 Nearly all the accounts tell us that virtue and righteousness decreases as -e move from the 9olden

Age to the subse5uent ages1 )ome of them secifically mention that virtue decreases by a ?uarterin everyage1 !o-ever$ there aears to be scant mention of the durations of the ages themselves1If the duration of

each uga decreased from one uga to the ne@t# shouldn=t this im!ortant !oint also have been mentioned in

these accountsA

%n the fe- accounts -here the durations of the ,uga are secified$ -e find that each age in the ,uga 'ycle is

of the same duration1 For instance$ the oroastrians believe that the -orld lasts for ?C$ years$ -hich is

divided into four e5ual ages of $ years each1 A Me*ican source 0no-n as the 'ode@ ios7also referred to

as 'ode* GI and 'ode* =aticanus A8 states that each age lasts for I$ ?$ I? and C yearsresectively for a total of ?G$I? years1 3e can see that in this case also the duration of each age is nearly the

same1

Therefore$ the durations of the four ,ugas mentioned in the )ans0rit te*ts 7i1e1 I$ $ C$ and ?C

years8 deviate from the norm1 The duration of each ,uga$ in this se5uence$ decreases by ?C years from therevious one1 This is an arithmetic !rogression-hich is rarely$ if ever$ found in natural cycles1 This seemingly

unnatural se5uence raises the 5uestion -hether the ,uga durations -ere deliberately altered at some oint in

the ast$ in order to give the im!ression that the duration of each uga decreases in tandem with the decreasein virtue from one uga to the ne@t1 %t is imortant to note that the ratioKs of the durations of the four ,ugas in

this se5uence is ::C:?1 This gives the suerficial imression that the duration of each ,uga is reducing by a

5uarter from one to the ne*t1 But that is actually not the case1 They are decreasing by a fi*ed number of yearsi1e1 ?C years1

!ere is the most startling fact: T-o of the most famous astronomers of ancient %ndia$ Aryabhatta and #aulisa$both believed that the uga 'ycle is com!rised of ugas of e?ual durationS %n the ??thcentury$ the medieval

scholar Al


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2Further$ Brahmaguta says that 2Aryabhatta considers the four yugas as the four e5ual arts of the

caturyuga 8uga 'ycle;.Thus he differs from the doctrine of the boo0 &mriti$ +ust mentioned$ and he

-ho differs from us is an oonent41>I@

The fact that Aryabhatta believed the fouryugasto be of e5ual duration is e*tremely ertinentS Al


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another comle*ity -as introduced1 Each 2year4 of the ,uga 'ycle became a 2divine year4 comrised of

human years1 The ,uga 'ycle became inflated to $C$ years 7?C$U8 and the .ali ,uga became

e5ual to C$ years 7?$CU81 !umanity became consigned to an interminable duration of dar0ness1

The original ,uga 'ycle doctrine aears to have been very simle:2 uga 'ycle duration of 16#555 years#

with each uga lasting for 3#555 years.This cycle is encoded in the 2)atarsi 'alendar4 -hich has been usedin %ndia for thousands of years1 %t -as used e*tensively during the Maurya eriod in the thcentury B'$ and is

still in use in some arts of %ndia1 The term 2)atarsi4 refers to the 2)even Rishis4 or the 2)even )ages4reresenting the seven stars of the 9reat Bear constellation 7Lrsa Ma+or81 They are regarded as the

enlightened rishis -ho aear at the beginning of every ,uga to sread the la-s of civili6ation1 The )atarsi

'alendar used in %ndia had a cycle of C$G years/ it is said that the 9reat Bear constellation stays for ?years in each of the CG 2Na0shatras4 7lunar asterisms8 -hich adds u to a cycle of C$G years1>?@The C$G

year cycle -as also referred to as a 2)atarsi Era4 or a 2)atarsi ,uga41

#ig $: The %reat Bear constellation &Ursa "a'or( is clearl visi!le in the northern s) throughout

the ear* The seven prominent stars represent the +even +ages &+aptarshi(* The %reat Bear

constellation ,gures prominentl in the mtholog of man cultures*

%f the C$G year cycle of the )atarsi 'alendar reresents the actual duration of a ,uga$ then the remaining

years out of the total ,uga duration of $ years 7reresenting ?H?thof the ,uga duration8$automatically reresents the 2transitional eriod4$ before the 5ualities of the subse5uent ,uga are fully

manifested1 %n accordance -ith the current convention$ this intervening eriod can be bro0en u into t-osearate eriods of ? years each$ one occurring at the beginning of the ,uga$ 0no-n as &andhya7i1e1 da-n8$

and the other at its termination$ 0no-n as &andhyansa7i1e1 t-ilight81 The total duration of the ,uga 'ycle$e@cluding the transitional !eriods$ is e5ual to 7CGU8 i1e1 ?$I years$ -hich is same as the duration of the

29reat ,ear of !eraclitus4 in the !ellenic traditionS

%t is agreed by historians that the )atarsi 'alendar that -as in use during the Maurya eriod in the thcentury

B'$ started in G B'1 %n the boo0$ 2Traditions of the &even sisC$ Dr1"1E1 Mitchiner confirms this: 23e may
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conclude that the older and original version of the Era of the )even Rsis commenced -ith the )even Rsis in

.rtti0a in G B';This version -as in use in northern %ndia from at least the thcentury B'$ as -itnessed

by the statements of 9ree0 and Roman -riters/ it -as also the version used by =rddha 9arga$ at around thestart of the 'hristian era14>?@

%n fact$ the recorded choronology of %ndian 0ings goes bac0 further than G B' as documented by the9ree0 and Roman historians #liny and Arrian1 #liny states that$ 2From Father iber >Roman Bacchus or

9ree0 Dionysus@ to Ale*ander the 9reat 7d1 C B'8$ %ndians rec0on ? 0ings$ and they rec0on 7the time as8? years and months14>?@Arrian uts ? 0ings and C years bet-een Dionysus and )andro0ottos

7'handraguta Maurya8$ to -hose court a 9ree0 embassy -as sent in ? B'1 >?@Both indications add u to

a date of roughly c1GG B'$ -hich is a ? years rior to the beginning of the )atarsi 'alendar in G B'1

%t is obvious from the accounts of #liny and Arrian that they must have identified as!ecific kingin the %ndian

0ings list$ -ho corresonded to the 9ree0 Dionysus or Roman Bacchus$ and -hose reign had ended at around

c1GG B'1 3ho could that have been& According to the reno-ned scholar and Orientalist )ir 3illiam "ones$

Dionysus or Bacchus -as none other than the %ndian monarch Rama1 %n his essay 2n the (ods of (reece#

Italy and India4 7?GI8$ )ir 3illiam "ones 2deems Rama to be the same as the 9recian Dionysos$ -ho is saidto have con5uered %ndia -ith an army of satyrs$ commanded by #an/ and Rama -as also a mighty con5ueror$

and had an army of large mon0eys or satyrs$ commanded by Maruty 7!anuman8$ son of #avan1 Rama is alsofound$ in other oints$ to resemble the %ndian Bacchus14>?G@)ir 3illiam "ones also oints out that$ 2Merosis

said by the 9ree0s to have been a mountain of %ndia$ on -hich their Dionysus -as born$ and thatMeruis also

a mountain near the city of Naishada$ or Nysa$ called by the 9recian geograhers Dionysoolis$ anduniversally celebrated in the )ans0rit oems14>?I@

Both #liny and Arrian -ere a-are of these associations1 #liny had laced the Dionysian satyrs 2in the troical

mountains of %ndia4$ -hile 2-e learn from Arrian 7!ist1%nd1 ?I$ C?8 that the -orshi of Bacchus$ or

Dionysus$ -as common in %ndia and that his votaries observed a number of rites similar to those of 9reece;

On this account$ -hen Ale*ander entered %ndia$ the natives considered the 9ree0s as belonging to the samefamily -ith themselves/ and -hen the eole of Nysa sent the rincial erson of their city to solicit their

freedom of the 9recian con5ueror$ they con+ured him by the -ell?@

The identification of Dionysus -ith Rama rovides us -ith fresh ersectives1 According to the %ndian

tradition$ Rama had lived to-ards the end of the Treta ,uga 7)ilver Age8$ and the D-aara ,uga 7Bron6e Age8had started soon after his demise1 This imlies that the G B' date for the beginning of the )atarsi

'alendar$ -hich is a ? years after Dionysus i1e1 Rama$ indicates the beginning of the D-aara ,uga in the

descending cycle1

A later )atarsi 'alendar$ still in use in %ndia$ began from G B'1 But$ as Dr1 )ubhash .a0 oints out$ 2thene- count that goes bac0 to G B' -as started later to ma0e it as close to the start of the .ali era as

ossible4>C@1This modification can be easily identified$ since in G B'$ the 9reat Bear -ere in the

2Magha4 na0shatra 7lunar asterism8 as mentioned by =arahamihira inBrihat&amhita7Brs1 ?


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of C$G years before that brings us to G B'14>C?@)ince the D-aara ,uga immediately recedes the .ali

,uga$ -e are once again led to the conclusion that the )atarsi 'alendar -ith a start date of G B' -as

counting time from the D-aara ,uga1

#ig 2: The -ist of the 2. /a)shatras* The %reat Bear as in "agha in 10. BC and in 3shvini in

14. BC . BC

3e also 0no- that the )atarsi 'alendar used during the Mauryan eriod -as used for trac0ing the

genealogical records of the Mahabharata -ar 0ings1 )ince the Mahabharata describes events that transired inthe D-aara ,uga$ there cannot be any doubt that the )atarsi 'ycle beginning G B' mar0s the beginning

of the descending D-aara ,uga1 %f -e use this date as the anchor oint$ and the )atarsi 'alendar as the

basis for the ,uga 'ycle durations 7i1e1 ,uga duration of C$G years$ -ith transitional eriods of years8$then the entire timeline of the ,uga 'ycle gets unraveled:

#ig 1: Yuga Ccle Timeline*

This ,uga 'ycle timeline ta0es the beginning of the 9olden Age to ?CG B'$ more than ?$ years before

resent$ -hen the 9reat Bear -as in the 2)hravana4 na0shatra 7the 9reat Bear -ill advance by na0shtras inevery ,uga because of the year transitional eriod81 This agrees very -ell -ith the %ndian tradition$ since

theMahabharatamentions that in the ancient tradition the )hravana na0shatra -as given the first lace in the

Na0shatra cycle1 The timeline also indicates that the ascending .ali ,uga$ -hich is the current eoch in -hich-e are living$ -ill end in CC 'E1 The full manifestation of the ne*t ,uga ( the ascending D-aara ( -ill

ta0e lace in CC 'E$ after a transitional eriod of years1 The ascending D-aara ,uga -ill then be


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follo-ed by t-o more ,ugas: the ascending Treta ,uga and the ascending )atya ,uga$ -hich -ill comlete

the ?C$ year ascending cycle1 The )ans0rit te*tBrahmavaivarta /uranadescribes a dialogue bet-een

ord .rishna and the 9oddess 9anges1 !ere$ .rishna says that after $ years of .ali ,uga there -ill be ada-n of a ne- 9olden Age -hich -ill last for ?$ years 7Te*t $ 81 This can be immediately

understood in the conte*t of the ,uga 'ycle timeline described here1 3e are no- ending the .ali ,uga$ nearly

$G years since its beginning in G B'1 And the end of the .ali ,uga -ill be follo-ed by three more,ugas sanning $ years$ before the ascending cycle ends1

Part #: The archaeological and historical evidence

According to the ,uga 'ycle doctrine$ the transitional eriods bet-een ,ugas are alwaysassociated -ith a-orld-ide collase of civili6ations and severe environmental catastrohes$ -hich -ie out virtually every

trace of any human civili6ation1 The ne- civili6ation that emerges in the ne- ,uga is guided by a fe-

survivors of the cataclysm$ -ho carry -ith them the technical and siritual 0no-ledge of the revious eoch1Many ancient sources tell us of the enigmatic grou of 2)even )ages4 72)atarsi48 -ho are said to aear at

the beginning of every ,uga and romulgate the arts of civili6ation1 3e find them in myths from across the

-orld ( in )umeria$ %ndia$ #olynesia$ )outh America and North America1 They ossessed infinite -isdom ando-er$ could travel over land and -ater$ and too0 on various forms at -ill1 3ere they the survivors of the

revious ,uga or visitors from outer sace& Oinions differ on this oint$ but surely neither otion can be

discarded -ithout roer scrutiny1 %n any case$ the main oint is that the transitional eriods bet-een ,ugas

must necessarily correlate -ith the severe cataclysmic events that regularly imact our lanet$ as reflected inthe archeological records1 As -e shall see$ the ,uga 'ycle timeline roosed here correlates -ith these

catastrohic events -ith a stunning accuracy1 %n addition$ the transitional eriods can also be correlated -ith

dates recorded in various ancient calendars and traditions1

The first transitional eriod in the ?C$ year descending ,uga 'ycle is the year eriod at the end of the9olden Age from G B' ( G B'1 This is the time -hen the last %ce Age came to a sudden end/ the

climate became very -arm 5uite abrutly$ and several large mammalian secies such as the -oolly mammothbecame e*tinct1 A number of scientific studies sho- that a devastating global flood occurred at around B'1>CC@This is in accordance -ith many ancient traditions and legends1 %n the Timaeus# #lato tal0s of the

mythical island of Atlantis$ -hich -as s-allo-ed u by the sea in a 2single day and night of misfortune4 in

c1 B'1 This event has also been recorded in the flood myths of many ancient cultures$ -hich almostuniformly tal0 of enormous -alls of -ater that submerged the entire land to the highest mountain tos$

accomanied by heavy rain$ fireballs from the s0y$ intense cold and long eriods of dar0ness1 %n the %ndian

tradition$ this flood too0 lace at the end of the )atya ,uga 79olden Age81 The survivor of this great deluge-as Manu$ the rogenitor of man0ind$ -ho is laced at the head of the genealogy of %ndian 0ings1

3hat could have led to this sudden -orld-ide deluge& Archaeologist Bruce Masse of the os Alamos

National aboratory in Ne- Me*ico had e*amined a samle of ?G flood myths from different culturesaround the -orld and concluded that the environmental asects described in these events$ -hich is alsoconsistent -ith the archaeological and geohysical data$ could have only been reciitated by a destructive$

deeC@%n CI$ a team of Danish geologists from the Niels Bohr %nstitute

7NB%8 in 'oenhagen studied the ice core data from 9reenland$ and concluded that the ice age ended e*actly

in G B'1 Researcher "orgen #eder )teffensen said that$ 2in the transition from the ice age to our current-arm$ interglacial eriod the climate shift is so sudden that it is as if a button -as ressed4>C@1More

recently$ in C?C$ an international team of scientists concluded that the earth -as bombarded by a meteorite
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storm nearly ?C$ years ago$ -hich effectively ended the ice age$ and led to the end of a rehistoric

civili6ation and the e*tinction of many animal secies1>C@%t is interesting to note that the G B' date for

the sudden climate shift falls -ithin the year transitional eriod at the end of the 9olden Age from GB' ( G B'$ and as such$ it rovides the first imortant validation of the ,uga 'ycle timeline identified

here1

The year transitional eriod bet-een the Treta ,uga 7)ilver Age8 and the D-aara ,uga 7Bron6e Age8

from G B' ( G B' also coincides -ith a significant environmental event < the Black &ea 'atastro!he-hich has recently been dated to G B'1 The Blac0 )ea once used to be a fresh-ater la0e1 That is$ until the

Mediterranean )ea$ s-ollen -ith melted glacial -aters$ breached a natural dam$ and cut through the narro-

Boshorous )trait$ catastrohically flooding the Blac0 )ea1 This raised the -ater levels of the Blac0 )ea byseveral hundred feet$ flooded more than $ s5uare miles of land$ and significantly e*anded the Blac0

)ea shoreline 7by around V81>C@This event fundamentally changed the course of civili6ation in

)outheastern Euroe and -estern Anatolia1 9eologists Bill Ryan and 3alter #itman of amont


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#ig 5: The Blac) +ea catastrophe6 !efore and after* The ater from the "editerranean &3egean(

+ea6 cut through a narro %orge &no )non as the Bosphorous +trait(6 and plunged into the

Blac) +ea &hose ater level as 70 m !elo sea level( creating a gigantic aterfall* 8ver da

for to ears6 92 cu!ic )m of sea ater cut through the narro channel and plunged into the la)e

more than 200 times the ;o over /iagara #alls* +ource: /3+3

The transitional eriod bet-een the D-aara ,uga and .ali ,uga$ from G B' ( G B' -as againmar0ed by a series of environmental cataclysms$ -hose e*act nature remains a mystery1 %t is referred to ingeology as the F. kiloyear event$ and it is considered as one of the most intense aridification events during

the !olocene eriod1 %t occurred around B'$ ending the Neolithic )ubluvial and initiated the most

recent desiccation of the )ahara desert1 At the same time$ bet-een B' ( B'$ the coastal lains of

)umer e*erienced severe flooding$ -hich 2-as the local effect of a -orld-ide eisode of raid$ relativelyshortCI@This catastrohic flooding event led to the end

of the Lbaid eriod in Mesootemia$ and triggered a -orld-ide migration to river valleys1

This transitional eriod bet-een the ,ugas is recorded in many ancient calendars$ as -e find a clustering of

imortant dates around this eoch1 For a very long time$ there -as a revalent belief in the -estern -orld thatthe -orld -as created in B'1 This date comes to us from the genealogies of the ld Testament1 This date

is +ust CI years rior to the end of the D-aara and the beginning of the transitional eriod1 A )atarsi'alendar$ still in use in %ndia$ counted time in the .ali ,uga starting from G B'$ -hich coincides -ith the

beginning of the transitional eriod1 The year of -orld creation in the "e-ish religious calendar is G? B'$

-hich is in the middle of the transitional eriod1


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The famous Mahabharata 3ar of the %ndian subcontinent$ -hich too0 lace during the transitional eriod

bet-een ,ugas$ years rior to the beginning of the .ali ,uga$ can no- be dated to G?? B'1 The

Mahabharatamentions that the D-aara ,uga ended and the .ali ,uga started as soon as .rishna left this-orld/ and then the seas s-elled u and submerged the island


22/34


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#ig : The underater ruins of the fa!led cit of Dar)a6 o< the coast of estern =ndia6 at a depth

of $.0 feet !elo the 3ra!ian +ea*

+ource: The -ost Cit of Dvara)a > B +** ao

As er the ancient traditions$ the descending .ali ,uga$ -hich -as referred to by !esiod as the 2Age of

!eroes4$ came to an end -ith the battle fought on the lains of Troy1 The ,uga 'ycle timeline indicates thatthe year intervening eriod bet-een the descending and ascending .ali ,uga e*tended from G B' (

G B'/ and very interestingly$ this overlas -ith the year eriod from ?? B' to I B' -hich isreferred to by historians as the (reek Dark 2gesS The archaeological evidence sho-s that tremendousdestruction visited the 9ree0 isles at this time1 The great Mycenaean cities and alaces collased1 =illages and

to-ns -ere burnt$ destroyed and abandoned1 The oulation of the cities reduced drastically$ there -as

-idesread famine and eole lived in isolated$ small settlements1 )uch -as the magnitude of the cataclysmsthat ancient 9ree0s entirely forgot the art of -riting -hich they had to re


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Once again -e donKt 0no- -hat may have triggered this calamitous turn of events across the -orld1

!istorians seculate about a combination of catastrohic climatic events1 Egytian accounts tell us that$

2something in the air revented much sunlight from reaching the ground and also arrested global tree gro-thfor almost t-o full decades until ?? B'14>C@One roosed cause is the !e0la erution of the !e0la

volcano in %celand$ but the dating of that event remains in disute1 !o-ever$ since the descending and

ascending .ali ,uga are not so different in terms of their 5ualitative asects$ the level of devastation duringthis transitional eriod -as erhas not as severe as the revious one$ as a result of -hich some asects of

civili6ation survived1

3hen the ascending .ali ,uga began in G B'$ much of the 0no-ledge$ traditions and s0ills from the

descending .ali ,uga -ere lost1 %n 9reece$ the construction of monumental architecture ceased1 The cavalry-as relaced by foot soldiers. #ottery styles -ere simlified1 %n %ndia$ the use of )ans0rit as the means of

communication -as relaced by the language of the common masses ( #ali and #ra0rit1 .no-ledge of the

ancient scritures$ sciences and arts had been all but forgotten1 #ossibly in resonse to this grave social crisis$a number of hilosohers and rohets aeared at this time$ trying to re


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#ig .: The Transitional @eriods !eteen Yugas

This recurrent attern of devastation is clearly discernible in the archaeological records1 Every C$G years ourlanet is imacted by a series of cataclysmic events for a eriod of a fe- hundred years$ -hich brings about a

total or near total collase of civili6ations across the -orld1 %n all the cases$ ho-ever$ -e find that civili6ation

restarts immediately after the eriod of destruction1

%n recent years$ many indeendent historians and researchers have reali6ed that the concet of a ,uga 'ycle isa far better descritor of ancient history$ than the model of linear rogress favored by mainstream historians1

Egytologist "ohn Anthony 3est$ -hose seminal -or0 on the dating of the )hin* has -on him -orld-ide

acclaim$ mentions in his article 2'onsider the 0ali ugaCthat:

2)ince EgytXs Old .ingdom$ u until very recently;civili6ation has been going do-n$ not u/ simle

as that1 3e can follo- that degenerative rocess hysically in Egyt/ it is -ritten into the stones and itis unmista0able1 The same tale is told in the mythologies and legends of virtually all other societies

and civili6ations the -orld over111#rogress does not go in a straight line from rimitive ancestors tosmart old us -ith our bobblehead dolls and -eaons of mass destruction/ our traffic +ams and our

olluted seas$ s0ies and lands1 There is another$ and far more realistic$ -ay to vie- history1 #lato

tal0ed about a cycle of Ages: 9olden$ )ilver$ Bron6e and %ron 7or Dar08 Age/ a cycle$ a -ave form

does consciousness depend on the brain

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