In that timeless moment when the multiverse erupted from a single point in non-space, when all that we see today was only pure energy; was there a remnant of thought and understanding there? Before the first neutrinos coalesced out of the flowing energy foam, before the first atoms began to bind together into first structures, and eons before the first differentiated points in this new space were formed; was there a compassionate Buddha-nature pervading that energy as it raced out to become all that there is?
The table that my laptop rests on as I write this, the mass that is the table, it was present there in that moment of the big bang. In fact, all that I am, was there in that moment too. The atoms, the elements that make my body, my skin, my hair and my heart, all of those atoms where nothing more than energy in that super-expanding ball of energy. This is a very hard idea to grasp. Of course the thing trying to grasp this idea was in the Big Bang too… my mind.
How is it that the electrical impulses that are the foundation of my consciousness were at one point rolling around the formless void of pre-space? In the moments before the multiverse became substantial, what was all of this energy? Was it really the size of a pin head? Super-compacted into this point of potentiality? Hard concepts to speak about without being mystical too.
I know that Hinduism teaches the universe is in an endless cycle of rebirth, even to the point that the universe itself collapses and is reborn anew. At the end of a Kali Yuga, the last stage of the universal timespan, the universe will chaotically devolve and then upon destruction be reborn, in effect restarting the clock. By the way, a Kali Yuga, which we are living in now, lasts 432,000 human years in traditional Vedic understanding and is known as the Iron Age. The qualities of this age are: the climate is one quarter virtue and three quarters sin and the human lifespan is 100 or 120 years. (Read more about the Hindu theory of time here: Hindu Theory of World Cycles)
But, getting back to my earlier thoughts about the nature of energy and mass again; it is believed in many schools of thoughts that intentions focus energy, that prayer is like focused laser of pure energy. So, and this is fun to think about, when we pray we are releasing actual energy back in to the universe. When I chant the Chenrezig practice with my friends I am sending out waves of energy into the universe. When my mother-in-law says the rosary she is doing the same. There is even a belief in Tibetan Buddhism that an entity can be generated by sheer meditation. I actually believe this could be so, given that we know that thought is the formalization of energy and that mass is energy at the basest level.
It is clear I am not a scientist, and if you have read my words before then you also know I am no monk, priest or philosopher; but that doesn’t keep me from day-dreaming.
Matt
I too have thought about the path the energy took which eventually made up my being from the beginnings of the universe. In exploring these thoughts, I envisioned that my entire mass came from the sun, and it has grown from an entity which is receiving energy from other sources and converting it. My rationale is this. If you took an item which converted energy into mass and placed it near an energy source, like the sun, it’s going to grow. That thing would become a planet. If a stable orbit were achieved, it would survive in balance. (If you fit the tectonic plates together, it forms a smaller sphere, so I think it’s getting bigger.) I also believe that there is design within this balance that is the product of a creative intelligence outside my own, or maybe I’m a part of it. I arrived at this conclusion based on observing the formation of my own thoughts and my coexistence here with other thoughtful beings. Maybe these thoughts are radiated and received by another entity somewhere which converts it into a more mature form. It’s far to complex, fragile, and wonderful to have blossomed from chaos or nothingness. I appreciate your thoughts here. Good reading.
Well I don’t really go in for the creative intelligence, universal mind or other name of a Creator God in charge of our destiny. But, I like the topic of science and Buddhism. Just saw Alan Wallace the other night. Video and pics on my site: http://the12stepbuddhist.com.
But I’d have to read a bunch of books on the subject to really offer an opinion. I have a couple of the Dalai Lama’s books on science here, and some of the Hawkings and other books on physics. At some point, I’ll dig into those and see if any of it makes sense.
In the meantime, it’s the study of Longchenpa for me. In that system, everything is ineffable basic space. That’s probably a good place to begin the inquiry.
-d
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-d