The Absolute is Almost Infinite

Buddhas and bodhisattvas are not the same as God, as even these Buddhas are finite in lifespan.

Only the Absolute is infinite in Western terms. In Eastern terms, the Absolute is both infinite and finite.

Compared to humans, the Absolute is close to infinite in age yet is finite in the sense that it too has a very long age i.e. is older than the present universe as the universe as science knows it has been reborn an almost infinite number of times.

Thus it is true to say the Absolute is older than the current universe as it has been reborn countless times and there has been no primordial creation.

1000 Planets

"In 1961, University of California, Santa Cruz astronomer and astrophysicist Dr. Frank formulated the Drake equation. This controversial equation multiplies estimates together with the following conditions:

• Level of star formation that matches.
  
• The fraction of these stars surrounded by planets.
  
• Total world similar to Earth per-system planets.
  
• The fraction of planets where intelligent life evolved.
  
• The fraction of communicative planets possible.
  
• Age of the possible communicative civilizations.

The Drake equation is used to estimate that there are approximately 10,000 planets in the Milky Way galaxy containing intelligent life with the potential to communicate with Earth. Based on observations from the Hubble Space Telescope, there are at least 125 billion galaxies in the universe. It is estimated that at least ten percent of all stars have planetary systems similar to the sun, for example, there are 6.25 × 10^18 stars with orbiting planets in the universe. Even if we assume that only one out of a billion of these stars have planets supporting life, there will be some 6.25 × 10^9 (billion) life-supporting planetary systems in the universe." — Potential and Shortcomings for Life In the Universe, VIRGOEZ23 blog It appears that, according to astrophysicist Drake, only 6.25 billion planetary systems in our universe contain life. Given that 10% of them may be at our level of civilization, that gives us 625 million possible humanoid lifeforms, assuming that carbon-based life is the ideal. Closer to home, there are 10,000 planets with the potential for life. If ten percent of those planets have civilizations at our current level or greater, then we have one thousand potential candidates to home in on using our radio-telescopes and observatories in orbit around our Earth. Thus, it makes sense to concentrate our radio-telescopes on potential extraterrestrial life within 50 light-years of earth. My reasoning for that close a distance to Earth is that intelligent life will be able to return a message within each generation's lifetimes. Hopefully their message is as simple as the ones that NASA has sent out since the Voyager spacecraft was launched in the 1970s, as well as radio-telescope messages from the SETI project, which has gone into hiatus due to funding issues. See reference below for possible habitable planets.

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Reference:
Potential and Shortcomings for Life In the Universe (translated from Bahasa Melayu and Indonesian):
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=ms&tl=en&u=http://virgoez23.blogspot.ca/2013/04/potensi-dan-kelemahan-kehidupan-di-luar-planet-bumi.html&usg=ALkJrhi8sXsZe9Z0OqMRVKlM7eI3LjEONw

You might wish to change the translating language to Indonesian, as the blog's owner switches between Bahasa Melayu to Indonesian. As well, the translation is a best guess, and would need a native English speaker who understands the rules and syntax of their mother tongue.

List of habitable planets: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HabCat

On emptiness/Nothingness and Impermanence

Emptiness (nothingness) is the absence of inherent existence in all phenomena i.e. nothing lasts forever, yet all things have a finite existtence.

Thus "attachment is empty of non-attachment" means that both qualities do not last.

Emptiness affirms the impermanence of everything in the Buddhaverse, which includes the many Buddha worlds and also this world.

However, the phrase "nothing is real" is a false dogma. The truth is, "nothingness is True Reality" i.e.the affirmation of the Void as devoid of permanence.

Thus, an immortal soul is a sick parody of ego delusion, for even the ego has a limited lifespan. Contrary to Billy Graham's myths about the soul, it is a fiction according to Buddhism.

However, the soul is empty of existence i.e. the soul does not existence except to the exclusive Christian philosopher within the world of Christendom.

For the Buddhist, the universe is real, but true reality is empty of permanent existence i.e. reality has a finite life.

It only seems infinite when compared to the life of a human being.

Panentheism Revisited (poem)

Panentheism Revisited

I. First Truth

When one part of it hurts
The whole universe hurts.

Yet only rarely does humanity
realize the role of suffering
is to shape the human spirit wisely.

Always awake, enlightened, truly whole,
the whole universe is infinite
to this fool, yet is the source of life,
atom by atom, molecule by molecule.

II. True Joy

When one part of it rejoices
The whole universe rejoices.

Then, humanity may only feel joy
as spontaneous, the spark of freedom
to appreciate life as it is.

From the universe came the soul pristine,
the gift to seed in this mortal coil
at birth, only to be returned at death,
to the infinite, pristine and unchanged.

III. Illumination and Enlightenment

When one part of it illuminates
The whole universe is illuminated.

Here and there, wisdom slowly ebbs and flows
with the human tide on this grain of sand,
sometimes seeing the whole universe.

Through love and compassion, the wise support
with kindness their equals, the foolish,
sharing the wealth of the infinite,
securely complemented with prudence.

Panentheism Made Personal

Truly alive is
the whole universe.
When one part of it hurts,
the whole of it hurts
in sympathy.
When another of it rejoices,
the whole of it rejoices,
out of compassion.
When one part hungers,
another part offers itself
in sacrifice.
When the creatures thrive,
those creatures die.
When a goose loses a mate,
it dies of a broken heart.
The whole universe is alive.
While each creature in it
are unaware of the whole,
they are aware of each other.
Thus life is interconnected,
interdependent, as one.
It is as though the love
of the universe is expressed
through the life cycle
of birth, and death.
The living universe is
the infinite consciousness,
the God in all creation.
And each of us has our place
in the whole universe.