Time and the Universe

Details about Kalachakra, its history and relation with the Dalai Lamas.

A comparison of the Kalachakra, Hindu and Chinese New Years as well as the Chinese and Kalachakra systems of seasons. Although the Tibetan element-animal assignment system may be reminiscent of the Chinese, yet on closer examination there are significant differences.

The Yoga school of Indian philosophy shares the basic assertions of the Samkhya system, such as concerning primal matter, the self and liberation, but adds to the system the supreme god Ishvara, equivalent to Shiva.

The Dalai Lama’s view of a 21st-century Buddhist means having fuller knowledge about modern education and modern science, while having full conviction about Buddha’s teachings about limitless altruism, bodhichitta and the view of dependent arising.

The Buddhist abhidharma and Kalachakra literatures provide two distinct presentations of cosmology, each for a different purpose.

For those who have the opportunity to receive the Kalachakra Initiation, it is important to take advantage of the opportunity to gain as much as possible from the experience by having knowledge of the Kalachakra practice and the background of the empowerment.

Learn about the distinct features of the Tibetan almanac such as the “arising from the vowels” system, special dates and combination and action periods.

The daily positions of the planets are calculated according to complex arithmetic formulas. The Tibetan mathematical model of the motion of the planets differs greatly from the Indian and Chinese ones.

Buddhism regards time as a nonstatic phenomenon, an interval on an individual mental continuum between the experiences of two sequential events.

Understanding the difference between affirmation phenomena, which are known simply by affirming the presence or existence of something, and negation phenomena, known by negating the presence or existence of something, enables us to understand nonstaticness and voidness.