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Starting Course - Section 1
The Nature of Universe and You

Life

  This is a picture of the beginning of the universe!

Creation

The story of the beginning of the universe, according to science, is the big bang,

followed by the expansion of the universe, life beginning, evolution happening, and then,

you come into existence.

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But this is not the main story.

This is not the important story.                 

                 The universe as just a baby, 380,000 years old. Picture created by

         ESA Science & Technology - Cosmic microwave background seen by Planck

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Day

There are 

86,400

seconds in a day

Month

There are 

2,592,000

seconds in a 30-day month

Year

There are 

31,536,000

seconds in a year

I AM

I AM

Your Story

The story of the universe starts with you. 

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Since you are reading this right now, you exist.

That is the only thing in the universe,

the only piece of information which is 100% true.

You are the only undeniable fact in the universe.  

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The universe begins with your life.

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This idea seems simple because it is simple.

The whole universe exists only to you.

The whole universe exists only one person at a time.

You create the universe as much as the universe created you!

 

It all starts with you. Say to yourself quietly or out loud: “I am who am”.

If you know the Judeo-Christian tradition, the phrase may be familiar.

In the bible, when God is encountered, and asked to give a name,

the answer is generally translated as “I am who I am”.

 

The phrase belongs to you, as an individual.

It is the very basic, concrete foundation for all existence.

I have simplified it, to “I am who am” to capture the essence of you.

You are unique, as is every human who was, is, or will be.

You exist in the continuous moment we experience as the present.

 

To say to yourself, “I am who am” means that:

o every human heartbeat and breath,

o every footprint on earth,

o every stone tool, painting, picture, device, or artifact created,

o every thought, feeling, or human action taken,

o every word written or read,

o every crop grown, meal eaten, or nap taken,

o every known event in the history of the universe,

was known to only one person, living one life.

That one person is you.

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You are reading this, and that is all that exists in this moment which you are experiencing.

  • You are here now.

  • Sure, you are perceiving others around you, maybe,

    • or your mind is wondering to them or to things,

      • but that is still all within you; your mind, heart, and soul.

  • It is you who knows about the world outside of you,

    • and it is you who is aware of sharing it with other human beings. 

  • To understand the nature of the universe, you must understand you.

    • Outside of your perception of the universe, nothing exists.

  • This vast, beautiful, complex, amazing, mysterious universe exits within you!!!!!!

 

The Story of Life

 

Life is pretty simple and amazingly complex at the same time.

Here you are, reading the words I am writing.

These words come from somewhere within me,

and they are now becoming some part of you.

 

You and I are sharing across time and space.

We have this in common.

We are different in so many ways.

We are the same in so many ways.

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There is one thing we both have in common.

In this one way, we are exactly the same.

This similarity carries with it an objectivity, 

a factual basis,

a certainty,

like no other thing, thought, feeling, energy,

or other force or element of existence in the universe.

It is something you and I have in common with every other human who has, does or will live.

There is nothing like it anywhere in the universe,

at any other point in the past or future.

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I exist!

I can think and say that, right here, right now, and it is true,

absolutely true.

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You exist!

The same is true for you,

as you are reading these words and thinking your thoughts.

 

You can say, with absolute certainty:        I exist!

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You can think and say that, right here, right now, and it is true,

Absolutely, 100%, undeniably, indisputably, irrefutably, unquestionably true!

 

There is nothing quite like it in the universe, 

your knowledge that you exist.

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This fact that I exist, it is more than knowledge in the sense that we are accustomed to,

such as the facts, figures, formulas, theories, and evidence we study in school

or deal with in our everyday lives.

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Pause here for a moment and consider your own existence.

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It is a different kind of knowledge,

deeper than just a thought of something you believe to be true,

and more intense than any experience you have of the world around you.

 

It is a sense of being, a thought, an emotion, an awareness,

an experience of the internal being, you,

and the external universe, as you are experiencing it.

 

The external universe exists only as you experience it,

not as I experience it,

or as any other human being experiences it.

 

The external universe exists only to you,

as you experience it,

moment by moment.

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Activity

Imagine someone trying to understand your life. 

Is it possible for them to know all the things you have experienced in life?

How many moments have you experienced?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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                                                           Moments of Experience Chart    

  Age       Seconds     Age        Seconds     Age        Seconds     Age     Seconds        Age     Seconds

  11       346,896,000    21       662,256,000    31       977,616,000    41    1,292,976,000    51    1,608,336,000

  12       378,432,000    22       693,792,000    32    1,009,152,000    42    1,324,512,000    52    1,639,872,000

  13       409,968,000    23       725,328,000    33    1,040,688,000    43    1,356,048,000    53    1,671,408,000

  14       441,504,000    24       756,864,000    34    1,072,224,000    44    1,387,584,000    54    1,702,944,000

  15       473,040,000    25       788,400,000    35    1,103,760,000    45    1,419,120,000    55    1,734,480,000

  16       504,576,000    26       819,936,000    36    1,135,296,000    46    1,450,656,000    56    1,766,016,000

  17       536,112,000    27       851,472,000    37    1,166,832,000    47    1,482,192,000    57    1,797,552,000

  18       567,648,000    28       883,008,000    38    1,198,368,000    48    1,513,728,000    58    1,829,088,000

  19       599,184,000    29       914,544,000    39    1,229,904,000    49    1,545,264,000    59    1,860,624,000

  20       630,720,000    30       946,080,000    40    1,261,440,000    50    1,576,800,000    60    1,892,160,000

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Calculate how many moments you have lived.

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By the time you are in your early 30s 

you will have experienced over 1 billion moments in your life,

moments which are unique to you, and you alone. 

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Think for a moment about the person you have been closest to your entire life

or their entire life. 

 

Calculate how many moments they have lived.

What percentage of those moments have you experienced with them? 

 

You are incredibly special and unique.

Everyone is equally special and unique.

 

I exist!

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Say that to yourself.

“I exist.”

Or, as I like to say it, “I am”.

 

In any language,

or without a language,

without words,

it is still true.

 

“I am” represents the fact that I exists in the universe.

 

“I am” represents the fact that you exist in the universe.

 

“I am” represents the fact that the universe exists.

 

I do not exist in the past or future.

I exist in the continuous present moment.

As do you.

 

So, what is the big deal? Why is this so important?

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“I am” is the single most powerful thing in the universe.

It is a fact,

a force,

a thought,

a feeling,

a principle.

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It is you and me, all of us together and individually!

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“I am” is primary in science and society.

 

It is impossible to have any field of study or thought without “I am”.

There is no one to study the universe without “I am”.

In a very real sense, there is no knowledge of the universe,

nothing known, without “I am”.

 

Without “I am” there is no love,

no paintings, sculpture or buildings,

none of the things humans create,

no stories, poems, plays or movies

none of the ideas we share,

no past, present or future.

 

“I am” gives certainty to the universe.

 

In science, math, philosophy, religion, psychology,

and any field of knowledge, faith or emotion,

there is uncertainty.

 

The uncertainty of knowledge is a subject which,

as any good philosopher knows,

can be discussed to no end or resolution.

Or as those who are not into heavy philosophic discussions might put it, it can be discussed ad nauseum. 

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This is discussed further in other sections,

as well as some of the other courses on this website.

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The main point of this discussion is the fact that

“I am” cannot be disputed. It cannot be denied.

 

A person may try to challenge the existence of another person.

But I can never challenge my own existence.

You can never challenge your own existence.

 

The certainty and fact of “I am”

is the foundation of my life story,

and the foundation of your life story.

 

The certainty and fact of “I am”

is the foundational fact of the entire universe,

and all human knowledge and experience of the universe.

 

“I am” is the guiding principle of every human life and of all human life.

 

It is the starting point and ending point 

of every social, moral and scientific principle, theory or notion.

 

I can say to myself, as you can say to yourself, think to yourself and believe that:

 

“I am the center of the universe.”

and

“As the knower, I constitute the known universe.”

 

To constitute the universe,

that is a very powerful notion.

It will be the subject and the center point of this whole Learning Lesson.

 

To constitute the universe is a very strong way of saying:

 

“I create the universe.”

“You create the universe.”

“Together we create the universe.”

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How we create the universe

is incredibly important to our happiness in this existence.

 

You and I,

and every other human who has, does, or will exist,

all share this common way of existence.

 

We all have a common way of being,

which is very real,

and which is undeniable.

 

“I am” defines the existence of every human being,

and as such,

defines the existence of the universe!

 

Without my experience of the universe,

and without your experience of the universe,

there is a nothingness,

there is emptiness.

 

Humans are the universe,

aware of itself,

conscious of its own existence.

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You and I are not looking out on the universe,

we are the universe

looking in at itself!

 

In this sense

we are the universe

expressing “I am”,

expressing its own existence.

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Simplicity

 

Simply put:

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No human being can think or say

“I do not exist”

“I am not aware of the universe.”

 

Every experience of the universe is individual.

What we share with others

is experienced by each of them, individually.

 

You can say I create the universe and it is true.

I can say I create the universe and it is true.

This leads us to the next topic, other people.

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