Monday 26 May 2014

ZERO AND INFINITY



  


I felt like expressing my thoughts on this concept of equating zero to infinity.. To me, zero is embedded in infinity.It is the primordial source of infinity.


Now,we can equate zero to nothingness , right ? zero means just nothing.Non-existent..And infinity would generally mean a quantity just too large, endless as we can't put an end to it ( for example,the numbers after the decimal in the value of pi (3.142)... is infinite .Simple ) .

However, we often think nothingness to be some defect.We view it negatively.Which in my opinion,is not right.. We conclude something to be nothing when our experience about it is beyond the truth.For instance,there was a time when people simply concluded air to be nothingness.Now,we have concluded that the air surrounding us is in fact,rich in microorganisms,particles, pollen and so many other things,invisible to the naked eye... We generally conclude air being nothing earlier because it was beyond our understanding.. Whatever we do not fully know,we assume it to be nothing.We make incomplete decisions.. We look at a fruit from the outside and assume it to be good,because our eyes only perceive the superficial good appearance of the fruit.But this idea changes when we find a worm or maggot once we slice the fruit.. So when the fruit was unsliced,the state of the worm is nothingness - it is Non-existent in our understanding or experience.

Now,what I would like to point out is the idea of ZERO, ( 0 ) is Brahman/ Supreme Godhead. And the idea of infinity is all the manifestations of the five elements that we see and experience..From the vast universe to an inert rock by the street, all are composed of the five elements ( Water,fire,ether,earth,wind ).. Even our body is just the play of these five elements aren't they ?..

The interesting thing I note here is , in the Mantra - Namah Sivaya,this mantra denotes the five elements. Na , Ma ,Si ,Va ,Ya.. each of these represents one of the 5 elements.. And the idea of Shivalinga is the unexpressable form of the supreme godhead or Shiva to SHaivites..It has no beginning or end.. ( the shiva linga has no beginning or end.. it is just ellipsoid - no structure to distinguish a head from the toe ) .

And in fact, Shiva does mean ' Nothing' ! To me , it is simply described as nothing because it is beyond our understanding ! It is an insult to define Shiva with something as it would not wholly represent Shiva..



SHIVA LINGA. Image courtesy : http://www.godandguru.com/puja/shivlinga.html

So infinite is just the many many expressions of the supreme Reality- or simply put as zero in mathematical terms.We know that when we multiply a non-zero number with another non-zero number,we get a larger number in quantity- which draws its value farther from zero and nearer to the infinity.For example , when we multiply 2 by 3 , we get 6. 2 and 3 are closer to zero in the mathematical number sequence but not 6.Hence we can say 6 is a larger value - thus closer to the infinite.. ( infinite being an extremely large number... so extreme that we can't express it )

So what I understand here is that, when we concentrate on multifolding the expressions of the God- we drive ourselves further from God.Here, God is zero and the expressions of God are all the non-zero number.. being it anyting ..eg. 6,5,1000, 3.4 . -45. etc.. whatever..

The expressions of God often delude us into illusions.. we chase after materialsitic possessions which are bound to perish one day.. like our body.. Our body, I would say is like a non-zero number,is bound to perish one day... and become ash.. The holy vibhooti is a great reminder for this , isnt it ? our body is bound to be burnt to ashes one day. Although they are the expressions of God,we do not bother seeing God .. Just like how our body, every cell of it is vibrant with the existence of God,we fail to see God as it is..We see it with illusions..such that this body is truly existent and permanent.

This is why I believe great masters have told us to treat every being as an embodiment of God..THis just means we have to direct our attention to the permanent Paramaatma/ God which is alive in these creations ( birds,beasts,humans),instead of seeing the body as the primary source of a creation.

Also, I see that all forms starts from zero and ends from zero...
This zero is the source that allows all other non-zero numbers to be expressed..for if not, how could there be a relation between infinity and zero ? .Mathematically, it is such that when we talk of infinity,there must be zero and vice versa.Some say these two are extreme opposites of the pole and others say they are one and the same.To me,they are neither any of these.They are just beyond unity and diversity.Sometimes however,they seem to me as being just the same,different in expressions.I swing like a pendulum in this argument..

When I say all form starts from zero and ends in zero .. this is what i mean - from zero , if we keep adding the numbers, making them bigger... no matter how many trillions of digits we get,we realise we can still get going.. we accept that there is a state.. a final form of a numeral- which is beyond our understanding.. Known as infinite.. Now, remember that whatever beyond our understanding is termed as nothingness ? - which is zero...??..

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