Meditative Expression of the Infinity of
Space
The concept of the Infinity of
Space is one of the fundamental ideas of Buddhism and is based on
direct spiritual experience, achieved by the systematic exploration
of the mind in the process of meditation. It was known as one of
the four higher state of yoga experience before the advent of
Buddhism itself. The qualities of space or Akasa itself, is
associate with vibration radiation and movement, movement in the
sense that there is a 'non-existence’ of obstruction. We can
experience and explore visible space outwardly turning it into the
observation of external optical space and filling it with objects
of our sense perception. On the other hand, we can also turned it
in the opposite direction, regarding it as a projection or an
imperfect reflection of the inner experience and dived into the
center of our own being, into the depth of our consciousness, into
which the whole infinite world is contained.
Directedness and movement are
the characteristics of Buddhist space experience and can be found
in the religious ideas and meditative practice. A good example is
seen in the description of the four divine states of mind or the
four Brahma Viharas. This meditative practice need us to radiate
love, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity, first in one
direction, then in a second direction, likewise in a third and
fourth direction and also equally to the regions above and then
below us. We should embrace every sentient being everywhere in the
whole world with our love, compassion, sympathetic joy and
equanimity, with a deep unlimited mind that is purified from
ill-will and aversion. It is necessary to direct our fully
conscious mind and radiate unceasingly these divine states of mind
towards each of the six directions until the consciousness becomes
identified with the universe, filling out the entire infinity of
space and leaving no room for the ego to arise. This is a space
which is built up in our consciousness by movement and direction.
The external space here is nothing more than just a mere
reflection, limited by the finite qualities of our eyes, a physical
faculty of vision, a space filled with light resisting objects as
interpreted by our inner space consciousness
In the higher stages of
absorption meditation, the relationship between space and
consciousness can also be seen, where if the consciousness of the
infinity of space becomes the object of meditation, the experience
of infinity of consciousness will arise, after all things and
form-ideas are eliminated in the meditation of infinity of space .
Space here has two properties, that of Infinity and Nothingness,
i.e., non-materiality, these two properties are the expressions of
space experience. During an intuitive experience, consciousness
will identify itself with the object of meditation. If it is an
infinite one, the consciousness will also become infinite and
unlimited, and consciousness itself will then become aware of its
own boundlessness. In a similar way, the consciousness of emptiness
of the absence of all material or imagined ‘things’, of
Nothingness, becomes the object of the last stage of absorption.
This last stage consists of just an awareness of the emptiness of
consciousness called the state of ‘neither perception nor
non-perception’. The common denominator of all these states of
meditation is based on the concept and basic experience of space, a
progressive unification from our surface consciousness to the
oneness of our depth consciousness.
It is this profound space
experience of meditation that can eventually satisfy our urge for
the infinity, which denoted the complete absence of ‘thing-ness’
and limitation and which also symbolize the inexpressible. It is
also from this experience too, that the philosophical idea of
Sunyata drew its inspiration and on this basis does the concept of
Emptiness begin to be become more understandable.