(no subject)
In the Buddhist world, there is and acknowledgement of the practical impossibility of gaining total knowledge of the origin of the universe. A Mahayana text entitled The Flower Ornament Scripture contains a lengthy discussion of infinite world systems and the limits of human knowledge. A section called “The Incalculable” provides a string of calculations of extremely high numbers, culminating in terms such as “the incalculable,” “ the measureless,” “the boundless,” and “the incomparable.” The highest number is the “square untold,” which is said to be the function of the “unspeakable” multiplied by itself! A friend of mine told me that this number can be written as [10 to the 59th power]. The Flower Ornament goes on to apply these mind boggling numbers to the universe systems; it suggests that if “untold” worlds are reduced to atoms and each atom contains “untold” worlds, still the numbers of world systems will not be exhausted.
Similarly, in beautiful poetic verses, the text compares the intricate and profoundly interconnected reality of the world to an infinite net of gems called “Indra’s jeweled net,” which reaches out to infinite space. At each knot on the net is a crystal gem, which is connected to all the other gems and reflects in itself all the others. On such a net, no jewel is in the center or at the edge. Each and every jewel is at the center in that it reflects all the other jewels on the net. At the same time, it is at the edge in that it is itself reflected in all the other jewels. Given the profound interconnectedness of everything in the universe, it is not possible to have total knowledge of even a single atom unless one is omniscient. To know even one atom fully would imply knowledge of its relations to all other phenomenon in the infinite universe.
~From The Universe In A Single Atom by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, soon to be published by Morgan Road Books
Similarly, in beautiful poetic verses, the text compares the intricate and profoundly interconnected reality of the world to an infinite net of gems called “Indra’s jeweled net,” which reaches out to infinite space. At each knot on the net is a crystal gem, which is connected to all the other gems and reflects in itself all the others. On such a net, no jewel is in the center or at the edge. Each and every jewel is at the center in that it reflects all the other jewels on the net. At the same time, it is at the edge in that it is itself reflected in all the other jewels. Given the profound interconnectedness of everything in the universe, it is not possible to have total knowledge of even a single atom unless one is omniscient. To know even one atom fully would imply knowledge of its relations to all other phenomenon in the infinite universe.
~From The Universe In A Single Atom by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, soon to be published by Morgan Road Books