Introduction: Finite Paradox and the Need for Metaphor
If something is finite it means that it is limited in some way—in how far it can see, in how deeply it can comprehend, in how long it will live. As finite beings, we are only capable of viewing finite things contained within a three-dimensional space, or existing within a particular span of time, or vibrating within a specific frequency band. We can use instruments like computers, lenses, filters, antennas, etc. to translate parts of the universe undetectable by our natural senses into scales, frequencies, and models that we are able to grasp. However, even then, we are only getting a finite glance at a different finite piece of our infinite universe delivered to us via a device with limited capabilities.
Is there a limit to the universe, does it have an outer edge, and if so what do you think lies just beyond that edge? What do you suppose is the highest possible frequency of energy? What about the lowest? How small is the smallest particle, and how small would something just a little bit smaller than it have to be? What is the largest celestial body, and how large must it be in order for there to not be enough room in the universe for something larger than it to possibly exist?
We can only comprehend the finite, yet the idea of putting absolute fixed limits on the domain of our existence feels strange, even a bit unnerving. Since the birth of humanity humankind has pondered the concept of infinity, but how did such a concept even enter our finite minds in the first place? Is it simply a product of our Imagination?
If you say, “yes,” then take a moment to try to create something truly original with your imagination. It doesn’t need to be anything complicated, or something you can explain to anyone else, but it must be original and not just unique.
Even if you’re not a very imaginative person you can probably still conceive plenty of unique things. Like a creature with twenty-seven legs, sixty-one eyes, no ears, and ten mouths. It may be completely absurd, but it is unique. However, it is not original.
Something truly original must come from nothing you have ever experienced before. It cannot have arms, legs, eyes, etc. You can’t imagine it as something that is a combination of one thing and another thing, or that looks sort of like such-and-such with a little bit of so-and-so thrown in. To rely on any of the descriptors, sensations, or building blocks of the universe with which you are already familiar is to fail to imagine something truly original.
Do you still think you are up to the challenge?
If so, imagine if you can just one sound that you have never heard before that is in no way related to, or in any way a combination of, any sounds you are familiar with — a totally new frequency. Can you hear it? What does it sound like? What about a new color that is completely original and draws from no pigment or combination of pigments you have ever come across? Can you see it in your mind’s eye?
Now, what about infinity? You can imagine that, can’t you? You can’t comprehend it, of course, but you can imagine it.
Although you are not able to see how far eternity stretches, you do have a sense that it is out there.
But how can the finite have a sense of the infinite?
Is there a limit to the universe, does it have an outer edge, and if so what do you think lies just beyond that edge? What do you suppose is the highest possible frequency of energy? What about the lowest? How small is the smallest particle, and how small would something just a little bit smaller than it have to be? What is the largest celestial body, and how large must it be in order for there to not be enough room in the universe for something larger than it to possibly exist?
We can only comprehend the finite, yet the idea of putting absolute fixed limits on the domain of our existence feels strange, even a bit unnerving. Since the birth of humanity humankind has pondered the concept of infinity, but how did such a concept even enter our finite minds in the first place? Is it simply a product of our Imagination?
If you say, “yes,” then take a moment to try to create something truly original with your imagination. It doesn’t need to be anything complicated, or something you can explain to anyone else, but it must be original and not just unique.
Even if you’re not a very imaginative person you can probably still conceive plenty of unique things. Like a creature with twenty-seven legs, sixty-one eyes, no ears, and ten mouths. It may be completely absurd, but it is unique. However, it is not original.
Something truly original must come from nothing you have ever experienced before. It cannot have arms, legs, eyes, etc. You can’t imagine it as something that is a combination of one thing and another thing, or that looks sort of like such-and-such with a little bit of so-and-so thrown in. To rely on any of the descriptors, sensations, or building blocks of the universe with which you are already familiar is to fail to imagine something truly original.
Do you still think you are up to the challenge?
If so, imagine if you can just one sound that you have never heard before that is in no way related to, or in any way a combination of, any sounds you are familiar with — a totally new frequency. Can you hear it? What does it sound like? What about a new color that is completely original and draws from no pigment or combination of pigments you have ever come across? Can you see it in your mind’s eye?
Now, what about infinity? You can imagine that, can’t you? You can’t comprehend it, of course, but you can imagine it.
Although you are not able to see how far eternity stretches, you do have a sense that it is out there.
But how can the finite have a sense of the infinite?
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What comes first knowing or believing? Do you have to believe before you can know, or know before you can believe?
How can our destinies be determined by both fate and freewill?
Where does the individual end and the collective begin?
How are we able to speak so vividly about feelings of emptiness, nothingness, completeness, and perfection when no living human has ever been truly empty or left with nothing or experienced total completeness or perfection?
How do we know what silence is, though we’ve never actually been in the presence of it?
If you were to think long and hard on any of these questions you may be able to partially answer most or even all of them. But, if you were to then think even longer and even harder, you would come to realize that your answers were even less complete than you first believed.
Of course, this is to be expected. It is the paradox of finite beings living in an infinite universe trying to comprehend the eternal whole with our limited consciousness. It can’t be done in our present forms, but there are ways to greatly enhance our ability to comprehend many truths and receive the benefits that come with such comprehension.
Faith lies at the root of it, however, to be clear, it is not my “faith” or your “faith” that is being referred to here, but true Faith—an absolute state, a fixed conduit by which truth and wisdom are delivered from the infinite to the finite, like arteries branching out from the heart of the universe and spreading across all of creation.
If you balk at this assertion, then allow me to ask you again, what comes first knowing or believing? If you believe with any confidence that you know the order in which these two states enter your being, then allow me to say with greater confidence that you lack true knowledge and true belief—which is faith.
Only One truly knows because only One was there at the beginning, but One is Infinity and true belief is Infinite in its knowledge.
How can our destinies be determined by both fate and freewill?
Where does the individual end and the collective begin?
How are we able to speak so vividly about feelings of emptiness, nothingness, completeness, and perfection when no living human has ever been truly empty or left with nothing or experienced total completeness or perfection?
How do we know what silence is, though we’ve never actually been in the presence of it?
If you were to think long and hard on any of these questions you may be able to partially answer most or even all of them. But, if you were to then think even longer and even harder, you would come to realize that your answers were even less complete than you first believed.
Of course, this is to be expected. It is the paradox of finite beings living in an infinite universe trying to comprehend the eternal whole with our limited consciousness. It can’t be done in our present forms, but there are ways to greatly enhance our ability to comprehend many truths and receive the benefits that come with such comprehension.
Faith lies at the root of it, however, to be clear, it is not my “faith” or your “faith” that is being referred to here, but true Faith—an absolute state, a fixed conduit by which truth and wisdom are delivered from the infinite to the finite, like arteries branching out from the heart of the universe and spreading across all of creation.
If you balk at this assertion, then allow me to ask you again, what comes first knowing or believing? If you believe with any confidence that you know the order in which these two states enter your being, then allow me to say with greater confidence that you lack true knowledge and true belief—which is faith.
Only One truly knows because only One was there at the beginning, but One is Infinity and true belief is Infinite in its knowledge.
____________________
When coupled with an acceptance of the paradoxical relationship between knowledge and belief, metaphor becomes a powerful tool to allow us to comprehend the truths of the universe and the relationships between all things found therein much more deeply than rote memorization and observation alone ever will. Since the beginning, humankind has employed metaphors via illustrations, parables, and proverbs to make difficult concepts easier to understand. Even today, even in casual conversation, we use metaphors so frequently that oftentimes we don’t even think about it when we do it.
How do you suppose we are able to compare conscience to a compass, wisdom to bread, fire to love, as well as hate, and successfully derive intelligible truths from these comparisons?
Because One is Infinity and Infinity is One.
Truly, there is no limit to the comparisons we can draw between any two subjects—though some infinities are larger, or more closely related than others. The only limits are the ones found within our own minds, and these limits are directly determined by the degree to which we allow ourselves to be guided by wisdom or madness*—by the Source of All Knowledge and Truth, or by any wayward spirit which rejects the threefold harmony of eternal life.
*As discussed in volume one of Reflections Along The Way
How do you suppose we are able to compare conscience to a compass, wisdom to bread, fire to love, as well as hate, and successfully derive intelligible truths from these comparisons?
Because One is Infinity and Infinity is One.
Truly, there is no limit to the comparisons we can draw between any two subjects—though some infinities are larger, or more closely related than others. The only limits are the ones found within our own minds, and these limits are directly determined by the degree to which we allow ourselves to be guided by wisdom or madness*—by the Source of All Knowledge and Truth, or by any wayward spirit which rejects the threefold harmony of eternal life.
*As discussed in volume one of Reflections Along The Way