To Infinity and Beyond

When you try to imagine infintiy, what comes to mind? I immediately visualise never-ending Space. But infinity is much more than that, it may be the answer to our never-ending questions.. May be ;-)

Bertrand Russell said very rightly: "If any philosopher had been asked for a definition of infinity, he might have produced some unintelligible rigmarole, but he would certainly not have been able to give a definition that had any meaning at all."

May be we have to re-phrase our question, rather then asking what is infinity we should ask what does infinity mean? How can infinity be applied to our every day living?


Douglas Adams points it with humor:

"It is known that there are an infinte number of worlds, simply because there is an infinite amount of space for them to be in. However, not every one of them is inhabited. Any finite number divided by infinity is as near nothing as makes no odds, so the average population of all the planets in the Universe can be said to be zero. From this it follows that the population of the whole Universe is also zero, and that any people you may meet from time to time are merely products of a deranged imagination."

Well the opinions may vary here.. To be or not be? Lets just accept the undebiable fact that we somehow think that we exist, hence lets look at the way infinity influences our world.

A very interesting point that Jean-Jacques Rousseau made is this:

"Falsehood has an infinity of combinations, but truth has only one mode of being." Is there anyone, who will deny this fact? Although, as I wrote in earlier posts, RIGHT and WRONG can vary from being to being, from perception to perception, however TRUTH undeniably has only one mode of being. Agree?


William Wordsworth further stated: "Suffering is permanent, obscure and dark, And shares the nature of infinity". This is very similar the Buddhist Teachings, which in my words has this underlying message:

.. for eons humas have been reborn.. suffering they choose, trapped like a mouse in a cage, walking the scroll wheel, over and over again. Yet they choose to come back, to do exactly what they have done before..


H. P Lovecraft sheds further light into this mystery: "We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far." May be it is right what Thomas More said: "By confronting us with irreducible mysteries that stretch our daily vision to include infinity, nature opens an inviting and guiding path toward a spiritual life." Somethings we can simply not describe by words, only with feeling with faith, with awareness can they be understood. "Our minds are finite, and yet even in these circumstances of finitude we are surrounded by possibilities that are infinite, and the purpose of life is to grasp as much as we can out of that infinitude" - Alfred North Whitehead

I would like to close this post with Swami Sivananda's quote: "Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in Eternal awareness or Pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity."

I can only encourage you to meditate. And I can promise you that it will bring calmness, and insight if practiced right. If you are confused and looking for a way out. Meditate and be here in the now. The answers will come to you effortlessly.

BE!

- mehtap