Robert Thurman on Infinity ∞

One thing cannot be infinity.

Infinity is not one.

Infinity cannot be one.

There is no "one infinity."

Because infinity is not an entifiable thing

that can be then measured --

"Here's one and there's another."

Infinity is infinite.

Therefore it's never encompassable,

and therefore it defies one-ness,

infinity as well as multiplicity.

So we always think of "one infinity" --

but that's a mistake.


From a talk by Robert Thurman, Ph.D.
"Making the World We Want," Part 1 of 4.

A scholar of Tibetan Buddhism in the West,
he was the first Westerner to be ordained
as a Tibetan Buddhist monk.

Robert A. F. Thurman currently teaches
at Columbia University and holds the first
endowed chair in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist
Studies in America. He received ordinations
in 1964 and 1971 from the Dalai Lama.

He is a cofounder of Tibet House in New York
City, a cultural nonprofit organization
dedicated to preserving the endangered
civilization of Tibet.

He is the author of
"Essential Tibetan Buddhism," "Inner
Revolution: Life, Liberty, and Real
Happiness," and many other original books
and translations of sacred Tibetan Texts.

I transcribed the above text from a talk of his,
available from "Sounds True," 1(800)333-9185,
www.soundstrue.com