Many indigenous people have predicted that the times we are living in will be very difficult. One of my favorites is from the Hopi:
MESSAGE FROM THE HOPI ELDERS
To my fellow swimmers:
There is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift, that there are those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold onto the shore.
They are being torn apart and will suffer greatly.
Know that the river has its destination.
We must let go of the shore, push off into the river, keep our heads above water.
At this time in our history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves,
For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.
The time of the lone wolf is over.
Gather yourselves. Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary.
All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
We are the ones we have been waiting for.
Another one comes from the Buddhist teacher Sakyong Mipham:
“Over a thousand years ago, Padmasambhava, the great teacher who brought Buddhism from India to Tibet, predicted that this particular dark age would be distinguished by our increasing cleverness. Our discursive minds would run rampant. We would create myriad ways to keep ourselves entertained, becoming experts in how to spend free time. We would use our intellect not for betterment but for hanging out in one form of distraction or another, constantly on holiday. Padmasambhava predicted that as we became more shrewd and clever, compassion would seem increasingly futile, and we would lose the knowledge of how to bring meaning to our lives. Our windhorse [basic goodness] would weaken. At the same time, the number of weapons, diseases, and starving people would grow. Our negative emotions would increase as our motivation to lead a meaningful life — a life of virtue — waned.” In the next paragraph he says “It is startling to see the eerie accuracy of these predictions.”
From Ruling Your World, pp44-45