Why this desire for the end times?

It seems everywhere one looks there are discussions about the "end times" and the "Rapture."

Whether it is the Left Behind series, or the President of Iran or the Jewish organization Chabad, the discusion about and hope for this event seems quite real.

What a TRAGEDY! Why focus on such a short term horizon? I guess the easy answer is that each group is hoping, of course, that they "win."

While I enjoy moving about, even dancing between religous traditions (in particular Tibetan Buddhism, Judaism and Catholicism) and seeing them as various nodes within an infinite rhizome of spirit, I must admit that the Buddist version of time is the most helpful.

In Tibetan Buddhism -- there is no beginning and no end -- we have been around an infinitely long time -- time enough for every sentient being to have been our mother many, many times. With this huge horizon of time and yet an equally strong focus on the importance of this precious human life, one receives a healthy balanced perspective on time.

Here is a link to a a summary of the far more unhealthy views of the end of times from Judaism, Christianity and Islam.