Eternity and Infinity
“…eternal life is the realization that the present is the only reality, and that past and future can be distinguished from it in a conventional sense alone. The moment is the “door of heaven”…”[1] Alan Watts
The terms eternity and infinity are sometimes used synonymously. They represent concepts that are beyond quantification, and both are often utilized in misleading and inaccurate contexts. Perhaps the most egregious use of eternity is perpetuated by some Christian teachers in their presentation of eternal life. In its biblical and traditional uses, eternal life does not imply living forever in time, as is often taught, nor does itmean an unending extension of life-as-we-know-it. Likewise, infinity does not describe an ever-shrinking or ever-enlarging phenomenon of something as much as it exposes a limitation in our ability to comprehend.
Infinity is a mathematical concept used to describe progressions for which we can perceive no beginning or end. For example, there are no smallest or largest numbers, meaning there is no beginning or end of numbers. The possibilities are infinite, even between 0 and 1. The smallest number cannot be one because ½ is smaller. One-half cannot be the smallest number because ¼ is smaller yet, and so on. The same is true for large numbers – adding 1 to any large number makes it larger. Infinity cannot be described in terms of smallest or largest, or in beginning or end. Rather, infinity is imagined as one long, unbroken string of whatever that can only be defined in relation to other whatevers. In other words, there is no firm mathematical definition of small, large, young, or old. There is only smaller, larger, younger, or older. Mathematics is a useful tool to describe aspects of the reality we experience as physical beings, but its usefulness decreases the farther one strays from the familiar ranges of physical existence. We use terms like infinity and eternity to name concepts that do not yield to common verbiage, just as spirit is used in theological discussions for that which cannot be directly and measurably experienced or defined.
Eternity is typically associated with time that does not end. What we experience as the passage of time is the unfolding of aspects of Life’s story in a way in which we can categorize and participate. What we experience as physical reality results from the limitingor compressing of aspects of a much larger story that, at least from our perspective, has no beginning or end. Our lives on earth are a continuation of countless earthly lives preceding ours, just as they are part of the continuing story that has yet to unfold. Life’s larger story is evidenced through written and oral histories, as well as through DNA, social movements, and structures created in response to that larger story. We cannot trace our personal or collective history to a beginning, before which no human life existed, except in the mythical or non-specific ways. Nor can we project a time in which human life will end, because as long as there is life on earth, the human story will continue to be an integral part of the overarching story, regardless of whether humans always populate the planet. The point is that our individual lives are eternal in that they are enduring and integral parts of a larger life that has no beginning or end. Our life-stories exist within the larger story.
In its biblical and historical usage, eternity refers more to a depth of experience than to a perpetuation of or permanence in time. Eternity is not about a future state but a deeper, more present awareness of the only state that exists, which is the present. Nothing is real except for that to which we are aware in the present moment, including what we call the past and future. Our typical view of time is of a horizontal continuum stretching in unbroken, eternal fashion from left, or past, to right, or future. Eternity, however, does not exist along such a line. Rather, eternity runs perpendicular to that line, which is also where the larger story abides. The entry-point to eternity opens from the present moment. To use language that cannot accurately describe the phenomena, eternity runs perpendicular to the three-dimensional journey in time we imagine ourselves traversing. That reality, it seems to me, is the eternity referred to by sacred texts. Eternity is not a never-ending journey to the right on the timeline, but a step out of our time and space limitations and into the depths of the experiences we otherwise and unconsciously skim over. Entering eternity is consciously awakening to our place within the larger story. Eternity is immediately and always inclusive of all aspects of reality occurring at all points along what we consider creation’s timeline; not a sequence of separate events (as we experience them), but a unified and unbroken revelation of the larger Life-story that eternally holds our life-story.
This is the 27thin a series of Life Notes on Time, and Eternity. The opinions expressed are mine. To engage with me or to explore contemplative spiritual direction, contact me at ghildenbrand@sunflower.com.
[1] Alan Watts, The Wisdom of Insecurity, Pantheon Books, 1951, p. 143.
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