Understanding Absolute Infinity - Part 2

• Understanding Absolute Infinity - Part 2: This section presents part two of Leo Gura's lecture on understanding absolute infinity. The focus is on the historical connections and discoveries associated with absolute infinity, particularly the work of Georg Cantor. Considered the father of set theory, Cantor was interested in infinity, exploring and comparing the sizes of different infinities. He discovered and proved that there are different sizes of infinity; for example, there are the same number of even numbers as whole natural numbers, the same number of rational numbers as whole and even numbers, and infinitely more real numbers than whole, rational, or even numbers. Despite the initial rejection and criticism of his work, Cantor's discoveries fundamentally changed the understanding of infinity in mathematics. His work shows that there are an infinite number of sizes of infinity representing a range of infinite sets. Cantor's exploration of infinity and set theory took over twenty years, and his findings are now an integral part of our understanding of mathematics and its representation of reality.
• Cantor's Diagonalization Argument: Cantor developed a famous argument known as the diagonalization argument. This involves comparing infinite sets by matching each element of one to another. If you can match up each element from one infinite set to another, then they have the same magnitude of infinity. If not, Cantor claimed that this proves there are different sizes of infinity.
• Cantor's religious beliefs and their impact: As a devout Orthodox Christian, Cantor deeply believed that he was penetrating the mind of God through his study of infinities. He named the infinity of all infinities the 'Absolute Infinite' and equated this concept with God. This connected with his mathematical findings that an infinite subset could be equal to its whole set, a concept he saw as echoing the divine presence within all elements of the universe.
• Rejection and mental health issues: Cantor's groundbreaking ideas were met with rejection from his peers in academia, leading to his ostracization. His religious contemporaries denounced him as a pantheist, causing deeply distressing personal conflict. Cantor's depression led to mental breakdowns and he spent his final years in an asylum.
• Integrating Enlightenment and Mathematic Understanding: Cantor's struggles could stem from a possible failure to integrate his direct insights or glimpses of enlightenment with Orthodox beliefs. An alternative view suggests Cantor reached an advanced level of conceptualizing absolute infinity, without achieving a direct experience of it. This intense focus on conceptualizing could lead to mental breakdown if not balanced with experiential understanding.
• Risk of Over Conceptualization: The dangers of over-conceptualizing absolute infinity without adequately balancing conceptual understanding with experiential understanding is demonstrated. This offers a valuable lesson to individuals pursuing deep understanding of aspects of reality through conceptual means to recognize the limits of this method. Failure to do so may result in mental instability.
• Famous Mathematicians and Depression: The story of Cantor follows the trend in which famous mathematicians, physicists, and authors become severely depressive or succumb to mental instability. This is posited to be due to their overindulgence in deep conceptualization without gaining direct experience or knowledge of meditation and self-inquiry as an alternative approach.
• Georg Cantor's understanding of Absolute Infinity: Georg Cantor, a mathematician, classified accessing infinity into three distinct categories. First, he talks about direct accessibility, which could be termed 'enlightenment'. Second, is that everything around us is infinite which reveals smaller infinities within the context of 'Absolute Infinity'. The third way to comprehend infinity is through abstract thoughts, as a form of mathematical formula or proof. Cantor didn't limit his understanding of infinity as a theoretical concept but portrayed that everything in the world can be divided into an infinite number of smaller infinities.
• Georg Cantor's Block with mainstream acceptance: Despite having revolutionary ideas, Cantor faced severe backlash from mainstream science and mathematics bodies. While fighting for his beliefs, he had to suffer mental breakdowns and was not able to experience the full depth of enlightenment he aimed to achieve. His ideas gained mainstream acceptance several decades posthumously, highlighting the danger and barriers of a paradigm shift.
• Giordano Bruno's Contribution to Infinity: Giordano Bruno (1550-1600 AD), a Dominican monk, mystic, and an avid believer in the works of Copernicus and Galileo, went beyond his contemporaries during the Scientific Revolution. He authored "The Infinite Universe and Worlds", where he proposed the existence of innumerable suns, with Earth-like planets orbiting them, teeming with life. He thoroughly believed in the concept of 'Absolute Infinity' pervading the universe.
• Giordano Bruno's struggle with orthodoxy: Given the heretical nature of his teachings for his time, Bruno faced severe consequences. Professionally ostracized by the Orthodox Church, he was accused of heresy and pantheism. His insistence on promoting his radical ideas led to him being burned at the stake by the Roman Inquisition in 1600 AD. Bruno's fate is testament to the dangers of challenging established paradigms.
• The Threat of Paradigm Locks: The fates of Georg Cantor and Giordano Bruno elucidate the challenges associated with defying established societal norms and paradigms. Their struggle for acceptance underlines the difficulties in making radical discoveries that extend beyond the prevalent mindset. The institutional, academic, and societal resistance they faced serves as an essential reminder of the importance of open-mindedness in deepening our understanding and self-actualization journey. However, being ahead of one's time can come with severe personal and professional consequences.
• Vitality of Direct Experience: Grasping the concept of 'Absolute Infinity' requires not just academic understanding but experiencing the truth directly. Leo Gura emphasizes that, while leading our exploration of deep reality and challenging current paradigms, one must be prepared to face societal backlash and personal struggles. He advises diverting focus from seeking external validation or arguments towards radical open-mindedness, turning inward, and making personal progress on the path of self-actualization. The ultimate goal is not to convince others but actually experiencing the truth for oneself.
• Deep Self-Actualization and Open-mindedness: In the process of deep self-actualization, it is paramount to exhibit extreme open-mindedness and embrace the unknown. This means forgoing pre-existing beliefs and misconceptions to fully appreciate and immerse in the discovery of new philosophical paradigms.
• Resistance to Absolute Infinity in the Mathematical Paradigm: When discussing absolute infinity with a credited mathematician, Leo Gura found the individual resistant to the idea of experiencing absolute infinity or understanding it as the identity of God, despite a thorough mathematical comprehension of absolute infinity. The mathematician's established paradigm formed a barrier to this realization.
• Concepts of Legacy Greek Thinkers: Aristotle, Anaxagoras, and Anaximander—prominent Greek philosophers—expressed an understanding of the concept of infinity, which aligns with the central argument in the lecture. Their insights encompass the idea of a continuous chain of limits stretching into infinity and a belief in infinitely larger and smaller entities.
• The Greek Concepts of RK and Apron: RK and Apron were used by Anaximander to refer to the source of creation. RK signifies the first principle of substance and the root of all reality, possessing divine attributes and housing all things. Apron symbolizes that which is limitless, infinite, and the underlying cause of all creation and destruction in the universe. These ideas resonate profoundly with the concept of non-duality and the existence of infinite worlds.
• Heraclitus and Non-duality: Heraclitus, an ancient enlightened Greek thinker, expressed notions of an omnipresent unity—essentially the one—and the paradox of naming it as God, which aligns with the concept of non-duality. His thoughts further reinforce the idea that all is happening within the mind of God, symbolizing pure consciousness which is not tied to any physical entity.
• Idealism vs. Realism: While deciphering the concept of God and the Divine Mind, it is crucial not to attach it to a physical body or space. Idealism refers to the state where the Divine Mind, or the mind of God, exists in nothingness and is not rooted in anything physical, while realism often misinterprets it to require a physical entity such as a brain. This necessitates a shift away from strictly scientific paradigms and encourages embracing direct experiences to grasp the concept of idealism.
• Absolute Infinity and Understanding God: Realizing the existence of infinite realities and possibilities is essential to understanding the divine and the meaning of God. Beyond mathematical conceptualization, this realization involves acknowledging and accepting the inherent vastness and limitless nature of existence as exhibited in the eternal self-generating and self-destroying cycle of realities. The importance of direct experience for this understanding is underlined, which inherently surpasses scientific limits for grasping absolute infinity.
• Dangers of Paradigm Locks and the Importance of Pursuit of Truth: Paying heed to historical philosophy aids in understanding patterns and avoiding mistakes committed throughout human history, such as intellectual confinement to one paradigm. The pursuit of truth and direct experience of absolute infinity necessitates going beyond societal normativity or traditional scientific paradigms. Even the process of shifting one’s limited perspective to realize oneself as the absolute transcends conventional reasoning and logic.
• Understanding Absolute Infinity with Rational Mind: Leo Gura elaborates that the concept of absolute infinity cannot be grasped by the rational finite mind, it requires a leap of consciousness to access the infinite state.
• Metaphors of Heraclitus: Gura explains Heraclitus's metaphors of circles, bows, and liars, emphasizing how these metaphors represent the paradoxical nature of absolute infinity, and the unity of existence and non-existence.
• God in Perspective: Gura explains how we perceive God, likening it to the aroma from a mix of spices in a fire. Though God, the formless, permeates all of existence, we focus on the sensory identities of worldly objects and overlook the pervasive essence of God.
• Pythagoras and Absolute Infinity: Discussing Pythagorean school, Gura draws a contrast between ancients Greeks' blending of mathematics and spirituality, and the modern scientific community's lack of holistic perspective. Pythagoreans believed discovering mathematical relationships was a means to understand the universe and God.
• Elucidating the Concept of 'The One': Gura refers to Plotinus' descriptions of "The One". He emphasizes the idea that no matter how large an idea of God one conceives, it is always understated, as God, being ever-growing, transcends all conception.
• Nature of Infinity according to Plotinus: Gura highlights Plotinus' depiction of the co-existence of multiplicity and unity in the infinite. He notes the need to recognize the limits of conceptualization to thoroughly understand this aspect of infinity.
• The "All" from the Kybalion: The teachings from Kybalion, attributed to the Hermetics, describe 'The All' as the source of beauty. While it existed just over a century ago, the text claims roots in ancient Greek and Egyptian teachings. In summary, the idea of absolute infinity transcends our common perception, requiring a different form of consciousness for truly understanding it.
• Concepts of Absolute Infinity from Various Sources: Chi ba Lien, a Buddhist text, discusses the concept of the absolute infinite, stating the infinite nature of the absolute in time and space, and its continuity without interruption. Meanwhile, the Hermetic teachings highlight the omnipresence of the infinite within everything and the Cabal Ian points out the law-like nature of the absolute infinite. The Law of One, a collection of channeled works, suggests that the universe exists based on infinite possibilities within an infinite creator, in what it calls an "eternal present."
• Leo Gura's Explanation of Absolute Infinity: Leo discusses the idea that reality endlessly explores its infinite possibilities. Every individual, in essence, contributes to this exploration. An infinite number of perspectives coexist within one unified whole, like videos within a video. Gura finds correlation in the Kabbalistic concept of the Alf, which symbolizes unity and holds all points in space within it.
• The Alf and Understanding Infinite Reality: Jorge Luis Borges's short story, The Alf, features a character experiencing the Alf, an object possessing the characteristics of the infinite absolute. The character perceives simultaneous happenings, envisioning aspects of the universe from varied angles without any distortion or confusion. The story portrays an experiential journey through the concept of absolute infinity.
• Georg Cantor's Experience with Absolute Infinity: Georg Cantor had an overwhelming encounter with absolute infinity, which led to a surge of intense emotions and pranic energy. This experience had such an impact that it led to visible changes to his physical body, such as peeling skin on his fingers and alterations to his fingerprints.
• Understanding Truth with a Capital T: Absolute truth transcends all human experience, belief, theory, and logic. It exceeds any constraints of language, imagination, brain, physics, and even death. This truth is both everything and nothing, the most fundamental thing, which is paradoxically not separate from the relative world.
• Grasping Absolute Infinity: While absolute infinity is beyond intellectual or philosophical understanding, it can still be grasped through a significant shift in perspective. This realization does not come through a method or process but requires one to understand that they are not separate from the absolute; they are the absolute. This recognition requires removing all limitations and constraints — a figurative death of the self and detachment from one's human ego.
• God's Deception and the Path to Realization: The concept of being a limited human being is what separates an individual from realizing themselves as God. From the individual's perspective, the process towards recognizing one's infinite nature necessitates a relinquishment of one's limited sense of self, which, from their perspective, equates to physical death. As such, the road to experiencing absolute infinity and unity requires inner death, signifying the absolute shedding of one's sense of separation.
• God limiting itself to experience richness: God, being absolute infinity, is without limitations. But to discover and explore, God needs to create limitations within itself. These limitations can interact with other limitations creating a sense of discovery. The journey is from limited to infinite and then back again, happening simultaneously.
• Experiencing absolute infinity requires physical death: To truly experience unity and the infinity of everything, a detachment from the belief of being a separate entity is required. A process of physical death must occur to realize infinity.
• Concept of absolute infinity challenges beliefs: The concept of absolute infinity challenges the notion of a separate self, one's belief about reality, self, and ego. Detaching from these notions is essential to become one with the absolute.
• Reality is a simultaneous existence, not time-bound: The reality of God has already happened and is existing simultaneously. It is humans' perspective that perceives time and unfolding of events.
• Desire for absolute truth is essential: To actualize and experience absolute infinity, a genuine desire to know the truth is necessary. This desire should prioritize the quest for truth over all distractions.
• Absolute infinity needs direct experience, not belief preaching: The cognition of absolute infinity should be sought for self-experience and not for preaching to others without actually understanding and experiencing it.
• Enlightenment requires radical open-mindedness: Enlightenment requires turning inward with radical open-mindedness and the wisdom to see the pursuit of truth as one's mission. Direct experiences of the truth will be more beneficial than depending on techniques or formulas.
• Beware of being lost in distractions: Distractions, including those of life - business, money, sex, raising kids, parties, etc., can divert the desire for the truth. This weakens the desire and prevents one from experiencing absolute infinity.
• Pursuit of truth over everything or ego distractions: The pursuit of truth should trump all other concerns, including those of the ego. The ability to turn inward rather than outward in self-actualization efforts is crucial.
• Emphasize self-experience: Despite all materials and teachings available, the ultimate measure is to experience the truth for oneself. Words or teachings should only serve as poetic expressions and personal perspectives.