The Living Universe - Duane Elgin [36]
The Mother Universe in Wisdom Traditions
Turning from science to spirituality, what do the wisdom traditions say about what lies beyond our universe? The idea of a superspace or Mother Universe whose transparent body extends into infinity and lives in eternity is found throughout the world’s major religions. The eminent scholar Joseph Campbell summarized a core theme in the world’s wisdom traditions, saying “There is a life pouring into the world, and it pours from an inexhaustible source.”5 All of the world’s religions attempt to speak, in their unique way, of the unspeakable ground out of which the visible world emerges at each moment.
Except for gender, the idea of a Mother Universe is very close to the Christian biblical description of God mentioned in the last chapter: “In him we live, and move, and have our being. . . . We are his offspring” (Acts 17:28). The Islamic tradition also points to a deeper, generative ground as the source of our continuing existence. Recall that the Koran says: “At any moment, if God wills, the entire creation could sink into non-being. . . . At any moment, if God wills, the mountains could disappear and become as clouds vanishing. . . . At any moment, if God wills, we could be as if we had never existed.”
In China, more than twenty centuries ago, the Taoist sage Lao-tzu described what is called the Mother Universe in this way:
There was something formless and perfect
before the universe was born.
It is serene. Empty.
Solitary. Unchanging.
Infinite. Eternally present.
It is the mother of the universe.
For lack of a better name,
I call it the Tao.6
Here is an evocative portion of what the Chinese monk, Shao, has written in describing the Mother Universe:7
If you say that It is small,
It embraces the entire universe.
If you say It is large,
It penetrates the realm of atoms.
Call It one; It bears all qualities.
Call It many; Its body is all void.
Say It arises; It has no body and no form.
Say It becomes extinct; It glows for all eternity.
Call It empty; It has thousands of functions.
Say It exists; It is silent without shape.
Call It high; It is level without form.
Call It low; nothing is equal to It.
Recall from Chapter 3 that, in the Hindu tradition, Brahman is the supreme cosmic spirit and beyond the grasp of human senses, intelligence, and imagination: “Wise, intelligent, encompassing, self-existent, it organizes objects throughout eternity.” Hindu cosmology views the all-pervading energy-consciousness of Brahman as the source and creator of multiple universes—an idea that is close to modern scientific thought. Hindus believe there are innumerable cosmic eggs, each of which is able to grow into a universe. Countless universes float like bubbles in an infinite ocean. This boundless ocean can be viewed as the Mother Universe.
The revered Persian poet and mystic Rumi spoke of the Mother Universe this way:
The source is within you,
And this whole world is springing up from it.
The source is full,
And its waters are ever-flowing.
Do not grieve, drink your fill.
Don’t think it will ever run dry, this endless ocean.8
From Japan and the Zen tradition we have this appreciation of the generative ground from the monk Yung-chia:
Like the empty sky it has no boundaries,
Yet it is right HERE, ever serene and clear.
When you seek to attain it, you cannot see it.
You cannot take hold of it,
But neither can you lose it.9
From Zen Buddhism and the Lankavatara Sutra:
One Nature, perfect and pervading, circulates in all natures,
One Reality, all-comprehensive, contains within itself all realities. . . .
The Inner Light is beyond praise and blame;
Like space it knows no boundaries,
Yet it is even here, within us, ever retaining its serenity and fullness.10
Because our universe is constructed from and sustained within the life force of the Mother Universe, her presence is complete.