Course Pages
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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.
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You are here now.
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Sure, you are perceiving others around you, maybe,
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or your mind is wondering to them or to things,
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but that is still all within you; your mind, heart, and soul.
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It is you who knows about the world outside of you,
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and it is you who is aware of sharing it with other human beings.
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To understand the nature of the universe, you must understand you.
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Outside of your perception of the universe, nothing exists.
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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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