Thats right.
You got it.

[edit on 30-6-2009 by AKNOWLEGE_ME]

Originally posted by Skyfloating

unspeakable outrageousness

Is there a special reason why you chose that wording - specifically those two words, from all the words to choose?
(I wish I could tell you why I am asking - because it is admittedly an odd question to ask - but I'd rather not. )

Anyway, this...

It teaches me that every grain of sand contains Infinity and that, for another perspective, an entire Universe has the size of a grain of sand. It teaches me that when I have a problem with one little thing, in that moment in time, I have a problem with everything and if I have love for one little thing, in that moment in time, I have love for everything.

... is as good a description of my own attitude towards - and within - infinity as I have ever read.

Very good post.









[edit on 6-10-2009 by Vanitas]

Musings on infinity/eternity, not necesssarily related:

1) The Tendai school of Buddhism, which tends to be rather dense and philosophical rather than "shut up and sit down" like Zen, talks about two dimensions of time: "horizontal time" and "vertical time." Horizontal time is the familiar progression of time in the world around us that can be seen like a "time line." Think of it as a road winding along the countryside. "Vertical time," in this metaphor, would be more like a clear blue sky above. The traveler on the road experiences ups and downs, a sense of change, various adventures, etc...but high above the clear blue sky is always there and never changes. Moreover, there is no clear "line" seperating the sky from the earth (except the surface of the earth itself). This this unchanging realm is not only "high above us" but surrounds us at every momemnt and sustains us as we breathe in the air, etc. Humanity thus simultaneously experiences both forms of time at each and every moment: both the finine and the infinite. I like that concept very much.


2) I also like the idea of "alephs" in matehematics. These are sets of infinite numbers that nevertheless differ from each other, despite both being infinite.

For example, imagine a theoretical universe where there were an infinite number of cubes. Now, each cube has 8 corners, right? So the total number of corners in this universe should be eight times greater than the total number of cubes. But how could this be if they are both infinite? It freaked out a lot of math people in the 1800s.

Gregor Cantor tried to solve the problem by designating different "infinities" with the symbol "aleph." For example, the number of cubes would be "aleph-1" infinity while the number of corners (a larger yet also infinite number) would be "aleph-2" infinity. Chew on that for a while, campers.

[edit on 10/6/09 by silent thunder]

Beauty. That's all there is to infinity to me. I'm part of a great flow, and nothing else. I see things around me, I take them as they come and I *look* at them. Not observe, but simply look. Without thinking about it, without creating a subjective experience out of it. And in that instant I can feel infinity, because when you don't think anything at all you can see the fleeting moment of one more anecdote in your life; and if you look at it the right way, the way it is and not the way you think it is... well, that moment that seems just another second that passed becomes a reality in itself and without speaking, tells you about infinity. Reality feels like infinity if we get out of ourselves and see the world as it is.
I'm a painter, and one of the first rules when you start learning how to draw is 'to draw what you see, not what you think you see'. I see beauty, and I've trained myself to see things the right way, because it's my job as a painter to destroy them in my mind and recreate another reality which is infinity in my own mind.

I don't think I made any sense. Sorry.

Originally posted by Aelur

I'm a painter, and one of the first rules when you start learning how to draw is 'to draw what you see, not what you think you see'. I see beauty, and I've trained myself to see things the right way, because it's my job as a painter to destroy them in my mind and recreate another reality which is infinity in my own mind.

I don't think I made any sense. Sorry.

No, that made perfect sense. Ever read the book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain?" It totally changed my idea of art. I never thought of myself as any good at drawing at all (and I still don't, really) but I gave it a try using the methods of this book and was amazed to see how I could improve this way.

Basically, the idea is that when most people try to draw, say, a tree, they think "tree" (verbal) and sketch out a kind of cartoon idea of a tree. But the book tells you to totally forget the name or verbal associations of the tree and just concentrate on the various lines, shades, etc. without worrying about what the thing "is" on a verbal level. A good exercise: take a simple line drawing (like one of picasso's line portaits, for example) and turn it upside-down. Copy the lines only without thinking "this is a leg, this is a foot," etc. Then when you turn it rightside-up, you'll be amazed at how much it looks like the original.

I always come back to this post and check it out, re-read it. I think I've finally come to a point where I can actually put my opinion on infinity into words, even though I still doubt it's understandable. I always thought of infinity as another state of mind, or being, or even just an opinion. Until recently I was lucid dreaming, and decided to find out what infinity really was. I read in a book Lucid Dreaming: A Gateway To The Inner Self that you could ask your dream to do something for you, and it will do it, afterall your in control. So I decided to say "show me infinity". At first nothing happened, but then I focused my energy on what I wanted, and shouted it. As I was shouting I closed my eyes, and when I opened them I became aware that my imagination made up infinity, my entire imagination, was in the state of a palm sized ball in my right hand. I became aware of my point of view, and infinity was imagination, I was able to shape this ball into anything I wanted. My mind, body, and emotion where infinitely shapeable tools for my soul to play with, to form into anything I wanted. I awoke and had a realization that infinity is within my imagination, everything, exists in my imagination...all I have to do is imagine. So, my relationship with infinity, is that I am a strand within infinity, a piece of one omnipotent and infinite being. and my imagination is an infinity within itself, as are my fingernails, the blades of grass outside on my lawn, and the grains of sand on the beach. I'm not sure if this makes sence to anyone else, the important thing is that it makes sence to me afterall.