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The Jigsaw Puzzle of Eternity

My mission is to solve eternity's jigsaw puzzle. Yea, you heard me. It's not easy, and it's certainly not the same kind as the one you're familiar with. It's dynamic; its "flow" is not restricted to the dimensions of space and time.  Every time I think I have the puzzle in place, I realize that the "plane" has changed, and more often than not, I have to start all over. Generally though, I am able to find newer and bigger ways of making arrangements that seem to "fit" the puzzle better.
Some call this entropy*, the natural state of affairs of the universe we live in.



But why engage in such a quest in the first place?

Well, it may be that I have [or am?] a component of consciousness that is inherently driven to fulfill curiosity, and in the process, to expand my dimensions of thought. Akin to the universe expanding.

Or maybe I am in love with eternity.



In love with eternity??!!?? That sounds bizarre!

When I say love, I really mean 'love' that's expressed as loving-kindness, mudita, compassion, and equanimity**. These four vectors bring me closer to experiencing the entirety of "existence" without the constrictions of negativity; to reach the elysian ideal of Eternity and I becoming one.

I can see that you find it hard to conceptualize love this way. There are some that prefer to think of this non-dualistic*** philosophy as "The Go(o)d Horcrux" (thank you J.K.Rowling, for that term), where one's inner being resides in everyone/everything else's and vice versa. Hmmm...better huh?


Well anyway, in my desperation to find Eternity, I try to "time"stamp every movement of hers with my love. It turns out that the most efficient/delightful way to do this, is on a [temporarily] solved puzzle. I can sense her close proximity almost immediately after such an accomplishment, as she ruptures my jigsaw arrangement to change course.

So it comes down to this: I am constantly engaged in this pursuit, so I can continually feel her presence.



I know you're intrigued. You ache to know whether there is a pattern to the jigsaw. How have I been putting these pieces together anyway? How do they look right now? 

Being locked up in your universe, its only natural you ask.

I piece together all of matter, energy, consciousness/love in a unique, fluid, lattice-like frame. One example of such a configuration is expressed in the metaphor of Indra's Jeweled Net (IJN). IJN suggests that every jewel (that is, everything in the observable, unobservable, manifest, and unmanifest universe) is connected to, and reflected in every other jewel, so that even a tiny change in a single jewel can affect the whole network. The pieces I work with are however, not the only things that trigger change; the interconnections themselves are subject to constant reorder! I've heard that this is likely due to random(?) transformations in eternity's expressed state.



I can hear your thoughts. You wonder: Could [some of] these transformations involve moving the space-time frame itself  (without actually changing anything else in the "system") across (an)other unimaginable dimension(s)? 

That's a possibility worth considering! I know though, that you have figured out other parts of the story - for example, that changes related to eternity's expansion come from a latent energy that she is imbued with.  Dark energy****you call it.



...and what have I learned from this seemingly never-ending quest?

The biggest, most profound, and deeply impactful lesson of them all...that consciousness, love, change, and expansion, are the only constant, yet immeasurable terms needed to give meaning to eternity.....and perhaps..... the only terms needed to "solve" her mystery puzzle.

__________________________________________________________________
*Entropy (usual symbol S) is a measure of the number of specific ways in which a thermodynamic system may be arranged, commonly misunderstood as a measure of disorder. The entropy of a system only increases (towards maximum entropy).

**Loving-kindness, mudita (Sanskrit; when we can be happy for the joys other beings feel), compassion, and equanimity are the four Brahma-Viharas of Buddhism.

***Non-dualistic philosophy is known as 'advaita' philosophy in Hinduism.

****Dark energy is an unknown form of energy which permeates all of space and tends to accelerate the expansion of the universe.

Reference descriptions were sourced from Wikipedia, but other sites/forums were checked for accuracy. 

Comments

Anonymous said…
Interesting thoughts! Maybe we need to stop trying to solve the puzzle to really understand it.
Viji Bala said…
I have myself been intrigued by the thought of eternity!? Sometimes I think it beyond human perceptions to even try and understand. But that would mean accepting defeat even before the race begins. To me, the Hindu philosophy and belief of ‘advaita’ could hold the key.

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