The Universe has always existed. It does not have a beginning, and it won't have an end. I'm not talking about the 13.4B old Universe we live in. I'm talking about the Universe that came before it. The Universe is cyclical.
Its a nice idea. There'd be no ending or beginning to worry about. Everything would be self-contained.
But I don't believe that our universe is neither unique, neverending, or cyclical.
I believe that our universe is just one of many, that exists on a super-dimensional plane (or substrate - not sure what word to use), where 'universes' continously appear and disappear, like bubbles in boiling water.
Every one of these universes will have different sets of laws, or rather, the laws will be tweaked differently, depending on the exact conditions of how they form.
Most will not be valid. They will 'pop' or implode near instantaneously. Some will not have the right values for constants like gravity and speed of light.
But every once in a while, there will be a universe where the laws are just perfect for what we see in our universe. A place where stars and planets can form. Where the right elements appear, and life as we know it is possible.
OK, now where did this superdimensional plane come from, how was it formed? Or was it always there and always will be? That's what OP was saying I believe.
I like the thought experiment of exploring the entire universe with advanced space travel and finding no other life (statistically a zero chance if the universe isn’t anthropocentric).
But of course it’s unfortunately impossible to know due to space time limits.
