The End of the World-Argumentative Essays

There has been a rise in the number of natural calamities that have hit hard on us, including the most recent and constant ‘drought’. All the damages and destruction of property, not to mention the loss of lives raise questions as to why they happen now, why not later or before. Some people have been pushed to refer to the Bible for clues and confirmation that the world was said to end with such events like drought and floods. On the other hand, human beings are believed to be the chief cause of almost all our current disasters because of their actions. Illegal cutting down of trees and converting timber for furniture, low standard industries are emitting harmful smoke and other chemicals that affect the environment gives way to global warming. Now nature is fighting back and its wrath seems to be beyond man’s control.

The Mayan religion was obsessed with time, and its beliefs stated that the world had been created five times and destroyed four times. They came up with several calendar systems to compare and keep accurate track of weather change with different times. One of the calendars, tzolkin, was sacred and was placed at the center. It consisted of 260 days and worked on two circles; one of thirteen numbered days and the other of twenty. The two circles repeated themselves every 260 days. Another calendar, the tun, was a ceremonial one and consisted of 360 days and some five days believed to have a bad omen (Calleman, 2004).

The Mayas celebrated the K’atun, which was a special period of 20 years, equivalent to a decade in our time. Another calendar, the long count, is a record of the consecutive days that start every 5000 years. According to the Mayan religion, the current long count began approximately 3000 years ago and thus it about to end. One long count represents a single age and the gods create different creatures for every age, therefore the entire world will be wiped out at the end of the current long count to give space for the creatures of the next world. We are currently in the fourth and final age. Unfortunately, just like the preceding three ages, the current age has not fulfilled the gods’ mandate, and therefore we are waiting for our destruction because we also have not pleased them.

I-Ching Religion

The basic tenet of the I-Ching religion, from which all its teachings and practices are based, is the belief that life is characterized by constant and continuous change. This is affirmed from the portion of scripture that states that one ‘yin’ (moon) and one ‘yang’ (sun) is the way (Anthony, 2007). In essence, therefore, the entire universe and the changing of events therein emanate from sole but opposing force of the moon and the sun. Tai Chi, which is the other name for I-Ching means the beginning of all the earliest happenings or the Universe.

This is illustrated using a diagram, a circle with two portions; black and white, which are joined by a curved line meaning the two elements yin and yang are forced to be together to form one complete circle.

A lot of symbolism is attached to the diagram and it is used to explain the varying aspects of the world. The curve between the two illustrates a sense of equilibrium, “When the yin goes to the extreme, the yang is born. And when the yang goes to the extreme, the yin is born” (Anthony, 2007). If the curve moves to one side, the other potion becomes bigger, that means one dies, the smaller one, and the other is born. This implies that we are supposed to balance our lives, between what we love and what is good for others lest we all will perish. The changes noticed in the chart represents life changes, from good to bad, happy to sad, and how the alterations affect other people beside us.

Scientists have observed that disasters like hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and typhoons share some similar characteristics. First, they occur without warning and cause major destruction, way beyond human detection or prevention. Secondly, they have hit almost every corner of the world, which means there is a reason for their occurrence. The two phenomenons discussed also show that man has done many things on earth, especially bad, and the results of the actions are evident in the calamities that continue to bite us back. Moreover, if we are patient enough the situation could change, but if we forcefully try to fight nature, The Creator will prove us powerless before Him. The two observations should not be taken lightly because they have a deep meaning with the evidence they refer to. The world might come to an end after all.

Reference:

Anthony, C. K. The philosophy of the I Ching. Waikoloa, HI: Anthony Pub. Co. 2007.

Calleman, C. J. The Mayan calendar and the transformation of consciousness. Eden Prairie, MN: Bear. 2004.