As One Golden Thread celebrates our 8th anniversary, on January 8th, we recant the mystical centuries-old origins of the number 108. As you will see below...Perfect Math.

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The sacred and mystical number 108 weaves through the universe, nature, science, non-dogmatic intention-based faiths, human body design, and modern day culture. Here are just a sampling, and if you wish to see for yourself, google wikipedia 108.

SCIENCE, TIME & SPACE

Astronomically, there are 27 constellations in our galaxy, and each one them has 4 directions, and 27 * 4 = 108. In other words, scientists say the number 108 covers the whole galaxy.

Distance between the earth and the moon = 108 times the moon’s diameter.

The distance between the earth and sun = 108 times the diameter of the sun.

The diameter of the sun = 108 times the diameter of the earth.

Mathematicians have called 108 “a number of the wholeness of existence” and “a natural number.”

Meditations: Some say there are 108 styles of meditation.

The Sanskrit alphabet contains 54 letters, each with a masculine and feminine, for a total of 108 letters.

Dance: There are 108 forms of dance in the Indian traditions.

First man in space: The first manned space flight lasted 108 minutes (April 12, 1961 by Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet cosmonaut).

Time: Some say there are 108 feelings, with 36 related to the past, 36 related to the present, and 36 related to the future.

Some say that 1 stands for higher self, 0 stands for emptiness or completeness in spiritual practice, and 8 stands for infinity or eternity.

1 plus 8 equals 9, and 9 represents completion, wholeness, a universal love.

EASTERN MODALITIES

The number’s significance is open to interpretation, but 108 has long been considered a sacred number in non-dogmatic Dharmic faiths, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and yoga. Traditionally, malas, or garlands of prayer beads, come as a string of 108 beads (plus one for the “guru bead,” around which the other 108 beads turn like the planets around the sun).

In Buddhism, when multiplying the 6 senses (smell, touch, taste, hearing, sight, and consciousness) by whether they are painful, pleasant or neutral (3), and then again by whether these are internally generated or externally occurring (2), and yet again by past, present and future (3), we get 108 feelings. 6 × 3 × 2 × 3 = 108. Wild.

Some Buddhists carve 108 small Buddhas on a walnut for good luck. Some ring a bell 108 times to celebrate a new year. There are said to be 108 virtues to cultivate and 108 defilements to avoid.

Chinese astrology says that there are 108 sacred stars.

In Japan, at the end of the year, a bell is chimed 108 times in Buddhist temples to finish the old year and welcome the new one. Each ring represents one of 108 earthly temptations (Bonnō) a person must overcome to achieve nirvana.

In the neo-Gnostic teachings of Samael Aun Weor, an individual has 108 chances (lifetimes) to eliminate his egos and transcend the material world before “devolving” and having the egos forcefully removed in the infradimensions.

Astrology: There are 12 constellations, and 9 arc segments called namshas or chandrakalas. 9 times 12 equals 108. Chandra is moon, and kalas are the divisions within a whole.

MARTIAL ARTS

Many East Asian martial arts trace their roots back to Buddhism, specifically, to the Buddhist Shaolin Temple. Because of their ties to Buddhism, 108 has become an important symbolic number in a number of martial arts styles.

According to Marma Adi and Ayurveda, there are 108 pressure points in the body, where consciousness and flesh intersect to give life to the living being.

The Chinese school of martial arts agrees with the South Indian school of martial arts on the principle of 108 pressure points.

BODY

Breath: Tantra estimates the average number of breaths per day at 21,600, of which 10,800 are solar energy, and 10,800 are lunar energy. Multiplying 108 by 100 is 10,800. Multiplying 2 x 10,800 equals 21,600.

Heart Chakra: The chakras are the intersections of energy lines, and there are said to be a total of 108 energy lines converging to form the heart chakra. One of them, sushumna leads to the crown chakra, and is said to be the path to Self-realization.

Ayurvedic yoga identifies 108 pressure points.

In sports

• An official Major League Baseball baseball has 108 stitches.
• In 2016, my childhood team the Chicago Cubs (MLB) won the World Series for the first time in 108 years, ending the longest championship drought in North American professional sports. The Cubs’ win came in the 10th inning with 8 runs (108).

Ps. And in the most random of places. Even on a white sand beach in tulum, the number 108 followed me, numbers painted on a boat. 23 + 5 + 66 + 14 = 108.

You can't write this sh*t.

The signs are everywhere…

Click here for the story of how it came to be the DNA, the source code, for One Golden Thread.