Namaste. In our last episode we talked about infinite space. And what is space, really? Space is the complement of matter, it’s the reciprocal of objects. We talked about a bowl, and how the space inside the bowl and outside the bowl are identical, and also how the space inside and outside the bowl traces exactly the opposite of the shape of the bowl.

So space is the reciprocal of matter. And what is it about matter? [chuckles] Matter is always limited. Matter always has a beginning and an end, in space as well as time. And when we talk about space, it includes time. Because space has dimension, it has extent, measurement. So as soon as you have dimension, you have a possibility of motion, and motion of course makes it possible to change. Change is how we measure time. So there is no such thing as ‘just space’. There is space-time, and this is because of the possibility of space giving rise to measurement.

But there’s another thing about space that’s very important here. Matter is limited; it always has a beginning and an end, but space has no beginning or end. Unlimited space, infinite space means just that, no limits, no end to it. But since matter is always limited, that means there is much, much more space than there is matter. Even the whole cosmic manifestation, with all of its galaxies and whatever, is just a tiny, tiny little thing in the expanse of infinite space. So matter disappears in space, matter becomes inconsequential in space, matter compared to infinite space is infinitely small.

You see, the conception of infinite space is the first step in what Buddha calls the divine meditations, divya jhānas. Up until that point, our meditation is within the realm of form, and so it’s also limited. But meditation on space is not limited; it’s infinite. And it’s also a negation, a negation of matter. So this jhana or meditation on infinite space is our first contact with the infinite, the endless, the unlimited, the timeless, and now the Buddha is going to expand that. So let’s continue to read from the Sutta.

========== 

Dharmasār Video Series Index:

Four States of Consciousness Diagram:  

Dharmasār Complete Archive Library: https://archive.org/details/dharmasar-essence-of-dharma