Here is an image of the visible universe.
The universe is approximately 14 billion light years in diameter. A light year is a measure of distance: it is the distance that light travels in a single year. Light travels at 182,232 miles per second, and in one year it travels about 6 trillion miles. The distance from one end of the universe to the other is 81 trillion billion miles. That's a lot of space! To get an idea how far that is, the next time you are outside, look up in the direction of the sun. The sun is about 93 million miles away from earth, and it takes light from the sun only about 8 minutes to travel to earth.
In the middle of this image, in blue lettering, is the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies, of which our own galaxy is a part. The universe contains approximately 10 million superclusters. To understand what a supercluster of galaxies is, here is an image:
Our galaxy is just one of thousands that lie within 100 million light years. The Milky Way lies within the Local Group, which is marked in blue in the middle of the image.
There are approximately 7 trillion dwarf galaxies and 350 billion large galaxies in the universe, for a total of 7 trillion 350 billion galaxies. The number of stars in the universe is approximately 30 billion trillion.
Where is the center of the universe? Well, since the universe is expanding it is impossible to tell. If the universe is finite and closed, and if you traveled in a straight line, you would wind up back where you started! That's because the universe has no boundary. Let's say you had a very small universe of only 48 stars, like so:
When you exited on one side you would enter back on the other side, so you would never know if you reached the "end" or not. Scientists who study such things call this geometry a three-torus. A three-torus is a boundary-less figure.
Interestingly, the galaxies in our universe are not randomly spaced. The galaxies in the universe tend to collect into vast sheets and superclusters of galaxies surrounding large voids giving the universe a cellular appearance. Here is what a 2 dimensional slice of the universe looks like. You can see that the arrangement of galaxies is not random.
Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, looks like this:
It is a spiral galaxy with four "arms." Our solar system is in the Orion arm of the Milky Way.
Astronomers estimate that the Milky Way galaxy has between 200 billion and 400 billion stars. It is approximately 90,000 light years in diameter (from end to end)
How many of the universe's stars have planets? And how many of those planets have intelligent life? Well, that is speculation of course, because our deepest deep space probe, Voyager 1, has traveled less than 15 billion miles from the sun! However, if our solar system is not unique, it is possible that there are trillions of habitable planets that could have evolved intelligent life within the last 14 billion years.
Evolution uses the method of trial and error to constantly improve; there is a fascinating video on TED (which I have included in the Wake Up Call section) that shows how the methodology of trial and error can efficiently improve any system in a very short period of time. Science has shown us that the universe itself is orderly and it operates using scientific laws; and this implies some kind of intelligence. Intelligence is impossible for something non-living; therefore, the universe must contain life. Earth-like planets themselves are living entities. And who knows, the gas giants beyond Mars may have intelligent life of a form completely unknown to us.
I have been including a lot of information about ETs in the Wake Up Call section because the planet earth is about to experience an awakening of consciousness. The little box which represents our parochial belief systems are about to be widened considerably during the next several years, and we are going to discover that there is a big, wide universe out there filled with intelligent life.
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All information and images taken from Richard Powell's excellent astronomy website,
http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com
(From the Interview With Spirit show, 6/29/2011)
What should we talk about on the show this week? I am feeling uninspired right now, but the show must go on!
That is interesting; the phrase, "the show must go on." Who is the show for, and why must it go on? Perhaps you say this because, as entertainers, it is your job to keep the audience enthralled. When the audience is interested, it is focused on your presentation exclusively, and not on anything else.
The more you can get the audience to focus on your presentation, the more popular it will be. This is precisely what happens in the process of manifestation: you have a desire, you have clearly envisioned it, and your focus is upon it.
But here is the question we want to ask you: is the audience manifesting the play, or does the play draw the audience? The answer is that both sides are necessary in order for the presentation to occur.
You see, this is very important because those who try to apply the law of attraction to draw wealth or material objects to them are usually doing so only from one viewpoint. "I want money!" you say, and so you be and do the things that will get you to your goal. But the goal itself also has a viewpoint, just like the audience watching the play.
From the viewpoint of the performers, they are attracting the customers, but the customers know that if they do not show up, the play will fold.
When you try to manifest something, you are actually putting on a show. You are staging a play for the benefit of the universe. The clearer you see your intended audience, the stronger and more focused is your intent, and the smoother is your path to the goal. Many people who try to manifest only see their side, and not the universe's side! You need both to create a cohesive vibrational package. It's like playing a game. One team competes against the other side to win the game. Each is stuck in their own point of view. But what if you controlled both sides? What if you could direct the players in any way you wanted? Well, then you would be able to predict the outcome.
The universe is itself an enthusiastic audience, in the sense that it is immediately responsive to your desires. It gives you back what you put out. So in that sense you DO control both sides of the manifestation game. But it is up to you to recognize and utilize the resources that the universe sends you.
How does this relate to the fellow who is trying to manifest more money, for example?
Well, the idea is to broaden your vision to include not just yourself, but the universe as well. There is a saying, "with harm to none and for the good of all." Focus on just yourself does not broaden your vision enough to include those who may be necessary to help you manifest what you want. That is why the most successful persons (and the most successful games) are inclusive. Remember that the universe is attractive; like attracts like, and focus only on yourself and how you will benefit may not broaden the vibrational spectrum wide enough to enable success. Inclusiveness automatically implies harmony and cooperation. The more cooperation there is in an endeavor, the more inclusive it is, the more creative energy gets infused into the project, and the easier it is to reach the goal. Popularity is just a sign of inclusiveness, and a measure of the amount of cooperation resident in the undertaking.
The point is that if you want something, clearly state your goal and be willing to broaden your scope of acceptable activities. Don't reject the responses you get, even if they appear negative at first! Inclusion is the key to success.
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Ken wants to know if there are any new developments in the stage play called "planet earth."
Last week we talked about how the various dimensional realities exists seamlessly within the All. We told you that you are always moving within different dimensions, often so subtly that you aren’t even aware of it. The structure of the universe is not visible or accessible within the Body Reality. All science can do is to describe events; scientific laws are little more than summaries of something much deeper; like Cliff Notes of a complex Shakespearean play. However, science is capable of broadening its horizons. It can do so by accepting the idea that the five human senses are subsets of a broader consciousness.
The body itself is a creation of consciousness; a vehicle to experience a severely truncated portion of the complete vibrational spectrum. But here is the good news: the body itself, being a programmed information system, can evolve along with consciousness! Therefore, it is possible to have an enhanced earthly experience while still in the physical body. This is what the Ascension movement is really all about. Some want to simply escape physical reality, but that happens naturally at death. So why abandon this amazing gameboard you have all created? Why not enhance the gameboard, improve the game, and have a lot more fun? That is what the evolution of consciousness is all about, because the "physical" is just a vibrational interpretation.
Solidity, or reality, changes as you change your expectations. When you decide differently you place different programming within your individual bodies and energy fields, and within the earth's body and energy fields as well. The physical body, in other words, is solid only because your consciousness resonates to a specific set of frequencies. We know that this statement is scientifically absurd, but remember that science itself is trapped within the Body Reality.
If you could broaden your awareness, you would see yourselves as a magnificent sphere of gorgeous multi-colored light that is constantly changing. The body itself is just a complex set of vibrational interactions, surrounded by programmable information fields, and contained within a magnificent sphere of light. Light is itself information. When light combines, it creates interference patterns within itself. These information patterns form nodes and their interaction creates a kind of vibrational play. The dynamic interaction of these strands and nodes of light are capable of carrying an infinite amount of information. Enough information so that each of your individual spheres of light has as much information as an entire universe. That is how powerful you are. That is how you are able to move through dimensional realities and experience each one perfectly. You are also -- get ready for this -- ultimately capable of creating universes. Each of you is like a mini-Dreamworks studio: capable of creating the most fantastic vibrational productions!
You are all God. We are God.
This is the consistent message of earthly Masters throughout history.
On earth, human beings are simply experiencing a dimensional reality that has been designed to box you in to the Body Reality. Within the Body Reality, you no longer have the awareness of this information. But your layer is just one layer within the infinite Photoshop image of the All.
We have talked a lot in these messages about the evolution of human consciousness, but this is mainly Ken's idea. We see every layer of reality as valuable and magnificent, for it is just a gameboard to allow consciousness to experience in a different way. You will hear this idea stated over and over in spiritual messages. But it is impossible for you to understand this idea while still within the Body Reality. You experience suffering and pain and say, "why would any sane person want to experience this?" Well, that is why we sometimes say that you are all spiritual warriors. You wanted this experience, that's why you came to earth. And you wanted it because in Native State, you feel so great all the time that you can only imagine what it would like to experience pain or misery or heartbreak.
Gameboards (dimensional realities) have been created simply to allow an immortal spirit to experience a variety of emotions and situations. So all is well. There is not now, nor has there ever been or will be, a crisis. Crises are things you come to places like earth to experience.
They are all very sophisticated, manufactured experiences. Do you get it? Consciousness = well being, that's the simple formula. When you have a painful life experience it's because you placed yourself here to potentially have one. Your life can be as sad or as happy as you'd like, even on earth!
Perhaps next week we will talk a little more about these various dimensional realities, and try to explain them a little better to Ken's rather practical and skeptical mind. Until then, remember that love is the fundamental vibration of the universe, the OM, and that all endings are happy endings.
