samaya

 A better question would be: How will the world end AGAIN according to Hinduism?

Because according to Hinduism, our world HAS ended many many times.

And will do so again, many, MANY times.

Hands down, one of, if not THE most fascinating aspect of Hinduism, is the idea of the RE-OCCURRING cycle of creation.

Imagine this-

No-thingness.

Then.

The Big Bang

Out of “No-thing” comes -

Every-thing!

And this creation lasts for a VERY, VERY, VERY long time.

Then it begins to collapse on itself- and there is a period where this No-thing alone exists.

This lasts for a VERY, VERY, VERY long time.

And then…..

Another Big Bang.

And everyone and every-thing is.

Re-created.

And this cycle repeats over and over and over.

By the way. Sanatan Dharma (The Eternal Truth- aka Hinduism) has A LOT to say about that “No-thing” from which Every-thing springs. It calls it BRAHMAN- the Eternal Source of All that is.

The Hindu view of existence is based on two cycles that Bhrahman- the Supreme Source- goes through:

The primary cycle of Brahman is periods of rest and awakeness.

And during awakeness- a secondary cycle or occurrence happens:

Creation, Maintenance, and Destruction.

Then, a period of “rest" and then…Brahman awakes… and another “round” of

creation, maintenance, destruction.

And then “sleep”

and then…..

i.e. Eternal cycles of this.

Please note- this cycle only applies to the MATERIAL world.

Your soul and THE SUPREME itself are not destroyed.

Hinduism points out that your soul, just like God, is Eternal.

While these two cycles are at the core of Hinduism, what is not often mentioned is that within these cycles, many things will even repeat themselves.

One source of this idea can be found in Vaisthata’s Yoga.

There is a great sage named Kakbushunda or Kakbushundhi.

Another great sage, (I believes it was Vasistha himself) hears of Kakbushunda and thought, “Oh I must go meet this great sage.”

So he travels far and long, and eventually comes to the place where Kakbushunda is and greets him and says how he honored he is to meet Kakbushunda.

Kakbushunda smiles and says, “This is the 7th time we have met. The only difference is, I remember, and you do not.”

Kakbushunda goes on to explain the cycles of creation, saying that he is one of the few beings who has a special boon that allows him to remember previous cycles.

Most beings forget.

Kakbushunda then goes on to describe that he has witness the events of the Mahabhratta war (from which we get the Bhagavat Gita) 16 different times and the Ramayanna 11 different times.

Having different outcomes!

So, how will the world end, THIS TIME?

I am not sure if this is referred to in the scriptures… and assuming other causes don’t destroy it- it will be withdrawn into God, like everything…..

And, be created again!

The scholarly classification of this kind of idea is called “The Eternal Recurrence” or “Eternal Return.” Eternal return - Wikipedia.

The most famous Western Philosopher who taught this was Nietzsche.

Except he was a believer in STRICT determinism.

Like Sanatam Dharma, he believed EVERYTHING happened over and over

Unlike Hinduism, he believed it happened EXACTLY THE SAME, each time!

This view can be well summed up as:

“All of this has happened before,

and it will all happen again.”

This is of course a bit “dour”… as pointed out by another Western “Philosopher”:

The yogis, sages, Gurus and Scripture of Hinduism do not say everything happens the SAME way each time. but happen over and over, different outcomes happen.

As if all of this is not fascinating enough- creation itself is considered VASTER then VAST in Hindu Philosophy.

To get a sense of how vast creation is in The Hindu view, please see: Arthur Paul Burton's answer to In Hinduism, what would become of the cycle of rebirth if an apocalypse occurred, such as an all-out nuclear war that killed all life?

So, what to do with this information?

The Spiritual Teacher who Arthur respects the most, Bruno Groening said that “Life is a school.”

While he was not technically a Hindu teacher- his message was essentially Hindu- karma, rebirth and seeking spiritual liberation.

He said that life, especially a human life on this Earth in a body, was a PRECIOUS opportunity for learning, so we could move closer to Supreme goal- which he called: “full redemption,” “Salvation” or “entering fully into God.”

And with the above idea of the re-occurring cycle of creation… we really can see how this is true, how life is a school….

The lessons will keep repeating themselves till we learn them!

For more about Bruno Groening, please see: The Healing Stream or here on Quora: Bruno Groening

So I chooses to view life as a precious opportunity to learn and grow….

I considers the following to be the essence of the lessons:
Humility
Faith
Surrender
Communion with the Divine
And how to JOYFULLY Serve

Maybe the Leela (play of God) is for us each to complete our own personal “Groundhog Day?”

And so, I would like to ask you dear reader- are you sure this is the first time you have come to Quora, and read this answer to: “How will the world end according to Hinduism?”

And after asking you this, I begins to wonder….. how many times have I written this piece for Quora?