Dear Rinpoche,
Here’s a follow up to the recent videos and teachings that Rinpoche has given us about the vastness of the universe. My dad sent me this email, which shows us the relative size of earth, compared to some of the other MUCH MUCH large stars and planets in the universe. We are not just a dot – we are invisible!
I thought Rinpoche might be interested to read this. Do scroll down and see the pictures, which scale all the planets against each other…
Love,
Paris
Have you ever wondered where we come from and how we came into being?
Have you wondered how awesome is the universe and what is eternity?
Do you ever think how we fit into the big picture or think how great we are (sometimes)?
See the comparisons below and I am sure your mouth will open as the world is revealed to your amazement! Just say ‘wow’ as you view each picture.
This is Really something to See !!! Please Look.
THIS is fascinating – it’s rather dazzling to see it presented this way.
I certainly thought this was enlightening. Beyond our sun, it’s a BIG universe.
Antares is the 15th brightest star in the sky. Now how big are you?
Now try to wrap your mind around this… This is a hubble telescope ultra deep field infrared view of countless ‘entire’ galaxies billions of light years away. It’s more than 1000 light years away.
This is a close-up one of the darkest regions of the photo above.
HUMBLING, ISN’T IT?
HOW BIG ARE YOU?
AND HOW BIG ARE THE THINGS THAT UPSET YOU TODAY?
AND HOW BIG IS YOUR GOD?
KEEP LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE.
AND DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF!
IT’S ALL UNDER CONTROL
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26 Comments
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Spot on! We, even collectively, are minuscule in the scale of our galaxy. Should we be the Antares, we are but a speck in the universe. And there is a lifespan to each of these galaxies. Hence we should really broaden our mind and expand our view. Let not hold on to petty rifts and trivial notions. It is a great reminder for us to reserve our limit energy and time for what matters in the end. Thank you for this sharing.
This is an amazing post to show us where we really at in reality. Our ego makes us think a lot about ourselves and make us be so huge that we tend to forget that we are actually just a speck in this universe. Our problems are being magnified into a huge disaster just because it has challenged our ego.
Our ego makes us think that we are the most important person in the world and everything else can be ignored. There is a saying in Chinese that says if one does not care for themselves, it is against the law of nature. But in Buddhism, it is our nature that we should care more about others instead of ourselves.
But looking at this article, we can see that we are just a dust particle in the universe and yet we make our problems so huge that the whole universe should know about it. This is how strong our ego are.
I have seen the video showing the planet size comparison, we are living in the earth planet, and the earth is so huge that until today, we still have not completely exploring the earth, there are still so many hidden/unknown areas. But when we compare the earth to the other planets, the earth is even smaller than a dot, we literally cannot see the dot that represent the earth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=octRYMsiLX0
This video in youtube showed that the biggest planet been discovered is VY Canis Majoris, and if we were to use our airplane to fly along the surface of this planet for 1 round, it will take 1100 years to complete it, and this is so far the biggest planet we have discovered in this universe. Imagine how many more planets that are much much much more bigger than this?
As comparing to this, the earth is just like a dust, and we human that lived in the earth, we are as big as nothing in this great universe, but a lot of times, we let our ego grow so huge that as if we are the greatest in this universe. We should learn to see how tiny we are, hence, we should also let our ego to be as small as possible, and learn to be kind, humble, caring and loving.
Reading this article made me wondered about how small I am as compared to the universe. Earth itself, is very small when compared to the immense scale of the universe. Astronomers estimate that there are around 100 billion galaxies in the universe. Well it does not matters as we may be small, that’s true. There’s more culture and nature on our earth alone that can be explored in a lifetime. Hence our problems, unhappiness , our egos or whatever we have or experienced, is nothing compared to the earth or universe. Letting is the best choice and think of the size of it. We are very fortunate to have met the Dharma in this life time. Life is precious , make full of it wisely, do learn and practice Dharma before time is out.
Thank you Rinpoche with folded hands.
This reminds me of a good friend who sent me this article and said “Dont sweat the small stuffs” when i was unhappy about something.? We are indeed extremely small in this universe and yet we have this delusion of we are the most important person in this world. Thank you Rinpoche and blog team for sharing this cool article????
This reminds me of a good friend who sent me this article and said “Dont sweat the small stuffs” when i was unhappy about something.? We are indeed extremely small in this universe. We are indeed a small speck in this universe and yet we have this delusion of we are the most important person in this world. Thank you Rinpoche and blog team for sharing this cool article????
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for sharing this interesting perspective of life. We are indeed a small speck in this universe and yet we have this delusion of we are the most important person in this world. Everything we do is to please ourselves or our own benefit and when we have a problem on our hands, we will make it like the biggest problem in the world as of the world is going to explode. This delusion is the root of our suffering. When we go beyond and break our own ego and start focusing out instead of in, we will find happiness. That’s the secret revealed by the Buddha.
Humbly,
Chris
We are indeed extremely small in this universe. We are already ants compared to earth. What are we to the sun? What is the Sun to Sirius? We are truly nothing. I do not understand why people have so huge egos when they themselves are small. There are probably aliens that can best those egoistic men in all ways and still have humility. Even men can best those egoistic people.
Looking at this generates a feeling of compassion… inside and outside of me. 🙂
How can life only exclusively exist only on planet Earth someone is bullshitting the planet and themselves. Plus the universe is endless in all directions so not logical to think life only exists on planet earth.
Now I feel even smaller than ever! Hehe
But that shouldn’t matter because there is always something bigger and better than us. We shouldn’t be so proud and think we are so great after all. It’s time to humble down.
It’s time to let go from holding on to our problems and thinking it’s such a big deal when it’s really not. It’s time to focus out and think about others.
As stated in Shantideva’s prayers,
For as long as space remains,
For as long as sentient beings remain,
Until then may I too remain
To dispel the miseries of the world.
We always think we are the center of the universe…..how foolish !
This article posted by Rinpoche really put us in the right perspective. we are just a tiny speck in the whole scheme of things.
Yeah, be happy !
Wow, that sure puts things into perspective.
It’s funny because when we have problems, we blow them out of proportion and make ourselves bigger than the galaxies (when in fact we’re just a small speck).
At the same time, the small speck that is our selves has the power to change the world, or at least the lives of those close to us.
So really, we have a choice about how we want to live our lives – be the small speck that’s blown up with self-importance, or the small speck that changes someone’s world.
The first choice, which Rinpoche is always advising us against, is the way we’ve been living so far. But like Rinpoche says, has it brought us happiness? If it hasn’t, why not try it a different way, the second way?
You know what would really suck? If all the stars in the Universe were hot hells! I wouldnt wanna end up on Antares. Anyways, i find amazing that we can see that wide open space above us all the time, and we can actually stare into the infinite with our tiny human eyes. If we wake up a bit we can see that everything is some sort of miracle, from the tiniest particle to the vastness of the Universe.
Absolutely, we’re but a speck of dust compared to the vast universe. Yet, many people act so proudly thinking they’re that great! Please meditate on this text:”When I consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moons and the stars, which thou hast ordained, what is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?” Psalm 8:3,4.Yes, we’re miniscule compared to the heavens but God still minds us.
I think this is so cool, every time I open it up to look at it. Isn’t it kind of freaky to think that if our whole planet just suddenly blew up, it wouldn’t even make a pip of a sound in this whole vast space.
Rinpoche gave us a really powerful meditation related to this. For example: to think of myself sitting in this house; then zoom out to a bird’s eye view of the neighbourhood; then the city; the country; the continent; the world; the galaxy etc etc the view gets wider and wider, as we get smaller and smaller and finally totally insignificant and invisible.
Sure is a big reminder of how small we really are, even though we make our egos the size of the planet. The harsh reality is nobody cares about our problems except us! So why create entire galaxies out of it when it’s barely perceptible on this incredible scale!
In conclusion, a super tweet from Rinpoche which is something really helpful to keep in mind all the times: Our planet is so tiny in the universe. We are even smaller. So why make our problems bigger than all the galaxies?
Like Rinpoche said, standing on top of a hill and looking at the expanse of the sky and horizon makes us feel so small, never mind figuring where we are when compared to the expanse of space in the universe. It’s awesome! Yet we make and allow our ego to be bigger than anything else. We are all guilty of that.
[…] here for more […]
Thank you Rinpoche. It puts a lot of things into perspective and to be reminded that the Lord Buddha had knowledge of the greater cosmos – as a series of universes coming into and going out of existence through the infinity of time. How big is the world of Samsara and how substantial and great is the Dharma to envelope even the endless series of galaxies cutting through the dimensions of time and planes. Indeed, how big and expansive is the knowledge of the Buddha. And how fortunate it is for us to have met the Dharma in our insignificant and invisible existence, and to have a Guru to help us learn and navigate out of this multi-dimensional existences that we cannot even imagine. Buddhas come back throught the expanse of time and space to give us this knowlege…and we worry whether our eggs will be poached right.
I love this post!
“how fortunate it is for us to have met the Dharma in our insignificant and invisible existence, and to have a Guru to help us learn and navigate out of this multi-dimensional existences that we cannot even imagine.” -Martin
You have created the causes to receive this blessing of receiving Dharma and to have a pure Guru, by your own blood, sweat, and tears, according to Lord Buddha. Why would you deny yourself the opportunity to practice Dharma for the rest of your life, as much as you possibly can? You created this opportunity. Use your own logic, do you think it is wise to waste an opportunity you toiled to create?
If you went to college for 8 years or more to be a doctor and then decided to work at McDonald’s for the rest of your life, is that a good idea?
My jaw dropped looking at the size of planet Earth in relation to the sun, let alone Antares!
I like how the email says, ‘NOW
HOW BIG ARE YOU?
AND HOW BIG ARE THE THINGS
THAT UPSET YOU TODAY?’
It’s not even worth mentioning how annoyed you are being stuck in a jam, when you look at the scale of our universe.
I’m surprised that when we were taught on the topic of the solar system in school, we weren’t taught beyond our 11 (or was it 10) planets. If I was shown the photos above when I was 8, my perspective on life would’ve been very different.
Having seen it now, I shall think twice and stop myself from being so petty about small things, like how my feet hurts from wearing a new pair of shoes!!
Wow.. i LOVE this… thank you…. this is what Rinpoche has been talking about for so long 🙂 we just need to put everything into perspective.. i wish this could be posted everywhere… but for now, I will put it on facebook!
Dear Rinpoche & Jamie,
Thank you for this wonderful post.
It blew my mind away, instantly!
This the BEST anger management tool, ever! haha
With Folded Hands
Siong Woan
I have been incredibly interested in Space since I was very little. I would take all the different fruit out of the basket and show people the way that all the different planets orbit the sun, which was usually the orange, if I remember correctly. I wish mankind would stop with the wars and then explore space forever…
Then, Imagine another species on a faraway planet that has achieved just that. We know higher beings exist. Now you have a case for UFO’s. The only question is how close are they to us? Well that’s my 2 cents on mankind’s future… not really any good Dharma in that post, sorry…
We are tiny!!!!
Those planets and suns are huge, but think of the gaps in between, now that really IS big!
We are all so small in the big scheme of things but every being is so precious and equaly important.
Very nice 🙂