@ y not Sir/Madam (don’t know your name)
May the blessings of the Triple Gem be with you always !
I agree, infinity is really a mind boggling concept.
For instance, “pi” is an irrational number with unending string of digits. These digits go on forever !
So if you go on searching for your phone number in “pi” then you will SURELY GET IT SOMEWHERE down the line (if you search long enough) !
In fact, if you search long enough then you will find your phone number not only one time or two times but INFINITE NUMBER OF TIMES in “pi” !
For reference, please see – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjVpqiCvD4w
Also please see this – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem
Since samsara has no beginning and we all had infinite number of past lives, so it means that we all have been born as a human INFINITE NUMBER OF TIMES ! (and we should have heard Tilakhhana infinite number of times as well)
And among those infinite number of human births, there should be infinite number of “fortunate” births as well where we should have fulfilled the conditions of becoming a Sotapanna. So why didn’t we attain the Sotapanna stage back then ?
I know, if we arrive at the above conclusion then it will lead to a contradiction.
So that’s why I said in my previous post that we have to “assume” that if someone has attained the Sotapanna stage in this present life then it means that this is the FIRST TIME (among his infinite number of past lives as human) that he has fulfilled the conditions of becoming a Sotapanna !
And for someone who has yet not achieved the Sotapanna stage, we have to “assume” that he has NEVER fulfilled the conditions of becoming a Sotapanna in his infinite number of past lives as human !
I have wasted a lot of my time in thinking about infinity and other stuffs. Lord Buddha said that one can go mad if one continues to ponder over these questions.
So I think we should not waste our precious time (in this human life) and we should only focus on things which are relevant – understanding and realising Aniccha, Dukkha, Anatta and following the Noble 8-fold path. After all, our goal is to end all kinds of suffering by attaining Nibbana !
I wish you all the best !
MAY ALL BEINGS ACHIEVE NIBBANA !!!