In this post, we discuss where the expansion of the universe occurs according to Buddha and compare it to the scientific view.
In the 1920s, Edwin Hubble was among the first to recognize that there is a universe of galaxies beyond the boundaries of our Milky Way. He helped astronomers see that we live in an expanding universe where the galaxies are moving away from one another, i.e., expanding. Furthermore, “on March 15, 1929, Hubble published his observation that the farthest galaxies are moving away faster than the closest ones.” In other words, the expansion of the universe is accelerating. By being the first to observe that the universe’s expansion is accelerating, Hubble occupies a “special place in the history of astronomy.”
As the image from NASA shows, scientists think the universe consists of two categories of dark and atomic slices. Furthermore, the dark realm comprises 71.4% dark energy and 24% dark matter. The remaining 4.6% belongs to the atomic slice.
According to NASA, “dark matter and dark energy are mysterious substances that affect and shape the cosmos, and scientists are still trying to figure them out.” Since Buddha never mentioned dark matter, we will not discuss it; instead, we will focus on dark energy because of its role in expanding the universe.
Dark energy is, “in physical cosmology and astronomy, an unknown form of energy that affects the universe on the largest scales. Its primary effect is to drive the accelerating expansion of the universe.”
However, from a Buddhist perspective, that the expansion of the universe occurs in the universe is highly improbable given its illusional nature. Buddha teaches that all the phenomena in the universe are just “mere projections of consciousness.” Certainly, while consciousness can project what is already there, it cannot expand the universe. Additionally, the illusional nature of the universe is verifiable, as the enlightenment experiences of the three people discussed in Posts 10 and 11 in the Verification Category can confirm. For sure, the expansion of the universe cannot be an illusion.
The discussion of what Buddha teaches about the expanding universe begins with Nirvana.
Nirvana (Chinese=涅槃), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “in Sanskrit, “extinction,” the earliest and most common term describing the soteriological goal of Buddhism.”
According to The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, there are debates about what exactly Nirvana extinct between and within both Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhists. Additionally, Buddhists in the West and the East also differ. So, we do not discuss the controversial aspect of Nirvana. Instead, we will let Buddha’s words guide us where the expansion of the cosmos occurs.
According to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Buddha says the following about Nirvana:
“There is that plane where there is neither earth, water, fire, nor air, neither the sphere of infinite space…nor the sphere of neither perception nor nonperception, neither this world nor another, nor both together, neither the sun nor the moon.“
Here, O monks, I say that there is no coming or going, no staying, no passing away or arising. It is not something fixed; it moves not on; it is not based on anything. This is indeed the end of suffering.”
By separating the “there” from the “here” of Nirvana, Buddha confirms that there are two levels of Nirvana, of which only one can be the “soteriological goal of Buddhism.”
A) The “There” of Nirvana
In Buddhism, earth, water, fire, and air are collectively known in Romanized Sanskrit as the mahabhuta (Chinese=四大), the four “great elements” that construct the physical world. Therefore, by saying that the “there” of Nirvana does not contain these four great elements, Buddha makes clear that our world, other worlds in the cosmos, and their various constituents, such as suns and moons, are absent from the “there” of Nirvana.
The Sphere of Infinite Space and the Sphere of Perception Nor Nonperception are, respectively, the first and last levels of the highest four of the twenty-eight celestial realms in Buddhism. The significance of the celestial realms is that they are the highest of the six destinies of rebirth in Buddhism, known in Romanized Sanskrit as gati.
Gati (Chinese=六趣), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “in Sanskrit and Pali, “destiny,” “destination,” or “bourne,” one of the five or six places in Samsara, where rebirth occurs.”
By excluding the highest destinies of rebirth from the “there” Nirvana, Buddha also excludes all the other lower six destinies. With Samsara absent from the “there” of Nirvana, Buddha indicates that it is the place for the enlightened.
Buddha’s description that the place for the enlightened is without the universe and the Six Destinies corresponds precisely to how Grandmaster Yong Jia (Chinese=永嘉大師) described his enlightened experiences, discussed earlier.
As mentioned then, Grandmaster YongJia is best known for two phrases in his Songs of Enlightenment (Chinese=證道歌). These two phrases are “While dreaming, the Six Destinies are obviously there, after enlightenment, everything is empty, including the Trichilicosm.” (Chinese=夢裏明明有六趣. 覺後空空無大千).
As explained at that time, “Dreaming” is similar to “deep sleep of unenlightenment. It contrasts the state of enlightenment when a person is said to be “awake.” “While dreaming, the Six Destinies are obviously there” refers to Grandmaster YongJia’s recognition that causality exists when unenlightened, “after enlightenment, everything is empty, including the Trichilicosm (Chinese=三千大千世界),” referred to Grandmaster YongJia’s understanding that everything in the “largest possible universe” vanishes upon his enlightenment.”
Indeed, Buddha’s description that the place for the enlightened is without the universe and the six destinies of rebirth match Grandmaster YongJia’s enlightenment experience precisely. While enlightenment is highly laudable and frees one from the endless cycles of karmic-induced birth and rebirth, it is not Buddha’s soteriological goal.
B) The “Here” of Nirvana
The description of the “here” of Nirvana as having “no coming or going; no staying, no passing away or arising” refers to the fact that the “here” of Nirvana is without Grahyagrahakavikalpa (Chinese=所取能取分別), defined as “the misconception that there is an inherent bifurcation between a perceiving subject (grahaka) and its perceived object (grahya).”
The significance of that statement is that it was the enlightenment experience of Bodhisattvas Avalokiteśvara, who liberated himself from his existential suffering by understanding the Emptiness of the Five Aggregates through achieving the Perfection of Wisdom. Indeed, after understanding the Emptiness of the Five Aggregates, Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara demonstrated his understanding that there is no Grahyagrahakavikalpa, defined as “the misconception that there is an inherent bifurcation between a perceiving subject (grahaka) and its perceived object (grahya),” by acknowledging, “There is no birth or death, no defilement or purity, no adding or subtracting (Chinese=不生不滅, 不垢不淨, 不增不減.”).
By recognizing that there is no Grahyagrahakavikalpa and achieving Perfection of Wisdom, Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara realized Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi (Chinese=阿搙多羅三藐三菩提), defined as “unsurpassed (anuttara), complete (samyak) and perfect enlightenment (sambodhi),” was on his way to becoming a Tathagata, like our historical Buddha, thus satisfying his soteriological goal.
In other words, the “here” of Nirvana satisfies Buddha’s soteriological goal.
While the “here” or “there” differ, their difference is in different levels of understanding the nature of reality; both are in the realm of enlightenment, the realm of Citta, the quiescent mentality of the Ultimate Reality.
However, what is the seemingly contradictory meaning that the “here” of Nirvana “is not something fixed; it moves not on” that requires the highest level of enlightenment to realize?
Let’s have science help us.
In this video lecture, A Universe From Nothing, Dr. Lawrence Krauss explained that Edwin Hubble discovered that the universe is expanding. When Hubble looked at the sky, he saw all the other galaxies moving away from him, indicating an expanding universe. At the same time, Hubble felt he was at the center of the universe, not moving while all other galaxies were moving away from him.
Dr. Krause then used a graphic presentation, starting about 9 minutes into the video, showing that this is true for any observer anywhere in the universe in any other galaxies. In other words, wherever an individual stands in the universe, the place he is standing on always feels like the center of the universe and “moving not on.” At the same time, however, he sees all other galaxies as “not something fixed” because they all move away from him. In other words, the description “not something fixed; it moves not on” describes what scientists call the expansion of the universe.
In other words, while science suggests that dark energy is where the universe expands, Buddha indicates that the driver of the expansion of the universe is the quiescent mentality of the Ultimate Reality.
In other words, Citta is the dark energy. Dark energy is “dark” to science because a quiescent mentality can only be perceived directly until enlightenment, as Adyashanti did. No matter how hard the scientific method tries, it cannot understand a quiescent mentality because it is limited to using inferentially connected word-based knowledge to understand the nature of reality.
However, by separating where the expansion of the universe occurs from the universe, Buddha solves a significant problem for scientists known as the Cosmological Constant Problem. Deemed “the largest discrepancy between theory and experiment in all of science and the worst theoretical prediction in the history of physics,” the Cosmological Constant Problem is probably unsolvable unless the realm with fluctuations is separated from one without. Buddha’s two-realm setup of reality provides that solution. We will discuss that in a future post.
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