{"product_id":"time-space-persons-and-mind-what-is-our-place-in-the-universe-june-19th-7-30pm-9-00pm","title":"Time, Space, Persons and Mind - What is our place in the universe? | June 19th 7:30pm-9:00pm","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWe are persons, or people, who possess minds but how do we connect to or relate to time and space? Where do we fit in within the vast expanse of the universe?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTo understand this, we must first know a little about Buddhist cosmology. This system of viewing the universe in Buddhism is quite different from current scientific theory and contains ideas that would be difficult to accept if interpreted too literally or concretely.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHowever, if we bear in mind the purpose of this cosmology, namely that it allows us to see the entire universe as a pure land the initial strangeness of this system will soon disappear.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBuddha taught that there are countless world systems in the universe; some are like our own while others are vastly different. Our own world system is composed of four ‘continents’ arranged in the cardinal directions, and we live in the southern continent. At the centre of this world system stands a vast, four-sided mountain. This is Mount Meru.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWe need an open mind and not reject this view of the universe with a large mountain and four continents simply because it does not appear that way to us. The way the world appears depends upon the mind that is viewing it, and Buddha described the world in many different ways depending upon the karma of the people he was addressing.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tara International Kadampa Retreat Centre","offers":[{"title":"In-person \/ Member","offer_id":55559543980417,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"In-person \/ Non-member","offer_id":55559544013185,"sku":null,"price":7.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0689\/3604\/0742\/files\/Screenshot2026-04-22at12.15.18.png?v=1776856531","url":"https:\/\/taraikrc.org\/products\/time-space-persons-and-mind-what-is-our-place-in-the-universe-june-19th-7-30pm-9-00pm","provider":"Tara International Kadampa Retreat Centre","version":"1.0","type":"link"}