Life in an Infinite Universe

In the beginning, there were stories about the beginning. None of these stories seem to make much sense, but they are much easier to understand than the idea of there being no beginning. Equally disturbing is the idea of there being no end. It is difficult for a being with a definite life span to imagine infinite time and space. Man is like the frog in the well that could not imagine the sea. Life is wonderful, but every now and again we wonder if there is more to life, and there is. Trying to understand infinity or endless space and time is dangerous. The bigger things around us become, the smaller we become in comparison. Before long, contemplation on the infinite makes us so small that we start to disappear into insignificance. No matter how good, rich or wonderful we are, in the context of infinity, we are nothing. Being nothing is difficult for us to accept. In some extreme cases, people are so overwhelmed by their world and their insignificance that they actually try to zero themselves, through death. Paradoxically, for some others, the contemplation of the infinite is the key to spiritual enlightenment and a oneness with the universe or God. Irrespective of the faith, the process is the same, meditation on the infinite until the self dissolves into a blissful harmony with the universe or God. Mathematicians tell us that there is only one thing in an infinite universe that does not approach zero. That is the infinite universe itself. Any fraction where the numerator and the denominator are the same is equal to one. It follows then that anything short of a harmony with the universe is nothing and anything in harmony with the universe is everything. We hear of a few whom have reached a spiritual enlightenment. Are they the only ones who have reached a harmony with the universe? What of those who die? If we make the assumption that with death we lose, our consciousness, our breath to the wind and our flesh to an indiscernible elements of the universe then can we not also say that in death we regain a harmony with the universe? Similarly if we believe in God or enlightenment, then surely the process of death is a shedding of our attachment to our imperfect view of our world into a higher plane of harmony with all. It is ironic that those who are overwhelmed by the universe and physically try to nullify themselves through death, in fact escape the torture of insignificance and become one with all. They become one with the universe through their death.

A newborn baby has not yet learned to discern itself from the universe? A baby will stare at its own hand uncertain of line between itself, and elements of the universe. Gradually we teach the baby that it is independent of its stuffed toys, its friends and even its parents. We reinforce these lessons until they are contradicted in either spiritual enlightenment or death.

So where does that put you and I? We are no longer babies, we are not yet dead and the process of spiritual enlightenment seems almost impossible to achieve. Irrespective of the reality of our insignificance in infinite time and space, we want to live. We want to live to see tomorrow. Asked why we want to live to see tomorrow we invariably refer to our hopes and dreams for tomorrow. Although the past is just a memory and the future merely a dream, tomorrow brings the promise of change. We are not complete while there is this hope for tomorrow and a desire for change. Change is omnipresent. The infinite universe is constantly changing. Infinite time and space is, by definition, constantly changing, growing and spreading. Therein lies the formula for enlightenment. If our hopes for the future should aim for the infinite and we were to humble ourselves in the process, then in an infinite universe, the denominator and the numerator match and we approach a oneness with the universe or one. In our daily lives we would do well to understand the movement of the universe and not fight against it. For example, the universe tends towards decay, just as we decay with age. To fight against this trend is to be forever frustrated and self centered before being finally defeated. To flow with such change is to tap into the richness of life. Just as the universe does not dwell on a particular moment, so we also need to avoid attaching ourselves to a particular state of being. Instead we need to know how the universe flows through mapping the movement of nature and aligning ourselves with its flow. We need to become surfers of the universal waves of change. It then follows that the path to enlightenment is to understand nature and the flow of the universe and ride such change, rather than fight against it.

To understand such theories is interesting, but knowledge without action is vanity. The following simple meditation will assist in coming closer to nature.

Scientists have found DNA the key to living cell specialization. At first the DNA strand appears a long single line, but scientists have discovered a double helix structure. The two sides of the double helix spiral around each other but never touch. The sides are joined to each other by building blocks of four different chemicals, Adenine (A) thymine (T), cytosine (C) pairs and guanine (G). Imagine for a moment that you are one side of a DNA chain and the other side is your partner, relative or friend. Imagine that the four chemicals are replaced with the four qualities of Trust, Respect, Admiration and Dependence. Then you would have a model for your relationship with others, even your relationship with things. At a certain magnification your side is clearly seen as being independent, and yet from a slightly different viewpoint you are interwoven with the other to form a whole. With every interaction, every event, there is an opportunity to gain or break, Trust, Respect, Admiration or Dependence. These elements do not originate from one side of the chain but most be fostered on both sides. A long successful relationship enables the chain to grow and strengthen and to appear more as one structure. Short relationship, where the bond is weak or destroyed by some events, the two sides risk being ripped apart.

Coming closer to nature involves concentration on your side of the chain with those people and things around you. Trying it on a person close to you, ask yourself these questions, Can I trust that person not to do something willful to hurt me and can they trust me not to do the same? Does that person think himself or herself above me or not respect me and do I respect them? What is it about that person that I admire and aspire to and what is it about me that they admire? How do I depend on that person and how can they depend on me? Using this test, one can identify weaknesses in the relationship and take action to use events to repair the weak elements. Repairing and building the relationship chain involves communicating through events. To gain trust, admiration, respect and dependence often starts by giving it first. Practicing this technique will enable you to lose your selfishness, understand your interrelations and ride change and gain harmony with others. First practice the technique on people, then animals and plants and then on objects. The more skilled one becomes at developing mutual Trust, Respect, Admiration and Dependence, the more humble and compassionate one naturally becomes. The more humble and compassionate, the closer one becomes to a harmony with the universe. Some would recognize it for being the formula for love.

How can we understand the flow of the universe?

For those miserable few who lose this hope for tomorrow and gel their existence into an inescapable state, death is not far away. The old person who gives up, the teenager or business man who feels trapped, they convince themselves of their paralyzed entity in an infinite universe and zero themselves through death.