The God Note

Let's explore what it means to really begin. I'll share what The God Note means to me, how you can find it anywhere, and how we will intensify our relationship with it in this course. You are very welcome here.

The mind tends to focus on what's wrong, what could go wrong, or what could be better. And in this way, we selectively ignore the miracle of the present moment. Here, I share my personal inspiration for the God Note as an example of remembering the gift of the present moment.

Let's consider the vehicle of your life. You're coming from somewhere and on the way somewhere else. And then, there is something that's always here. Movement and stillness are not separate. Stillness and movement. 1 and 2.

In each 4th session, we will come to a stop. There is no rush. The balance of life is made of stopping and starting. Exhale and inhale. Here we are at Stop 1. Let's get out of the car, stretch, and take in the view before we move again.

Let's explore the meaning of "Here I Am." As I use it, it is a reminder. A memory. Oh yeah, here I am. I couldn't possibly be anywhere else, even though the mind chronically believes that I could be. When I genuinely remember, Here I Am, the quality of my consciousness completely changes.

Let's move into the second half of this refrain, from Here I Am to I Am Here. First, I remember, Here I Am. And then I allow who I am to be here. I am. Here. When who I am is here, there is no space for self-consciousness. I have become no longer self-conscious. Rather, I am a conscious self. Here I Am.

Simply remember. This is all you must do. Simply remember Here I Am, and your clenched sense of separateness transforms into relaxed connection, like a tight fist opening up. Remember. Remember. Remember. Put yourself back together.

Let's come back down to a stop. The sailboat arrives on land. Before we enter this land, we feel the conflicting pull forward and backward. The pull forward calls you into something unknown. The pull backward keeps you in the already known. Which pull do you follow?

Now we enter the Land of Infinite Wisdom. This is a wild place, maybe even scary to the adult mind. The mind that becomes attached to being the expert. In the Land of Infinite Wisdom, we are always beginners. Let's see what we find here.

I'll share a bit about the rule I gave myself in this course. Creative constraint allows for creative growth. The creative constraint here was not to use any quotes or references. And now, I will go ahead and break the rule just this one time.

The main reason for my speaking here is not to fill your mind, but to empty it. It's like a Tibetan singing bowl. The bowl cannot be played in the way it was intended when it is full. In order to be played, it must first be empty.

Let's come back down to a stop before we start again. Stop 3. Here, let's expand the idea of the bowl to the one you use to eat. Everything is food. In this session, we encourage each other to consume good food through all the sense doors.

I recently heard someone say, "My treasure's in heaven." Here, we make an adjustment to that statement and consider the treasure that is already here and has always been here. What treasure do you find when you become genuinely present?

You could consider consciousness as existing on one of two planes: the horizontal and the vertical. The horizontal consists of past and future, a linear path from there to there. The vertical axis is only ever here. And here, we go vertical, down into the Cave of the Heart.

If you already know it, it is not the God I'm referring to. This God is the complete unknown, at least in terms of intellectual knowledge. There is a different kind of knowing. You might call it felt knowledge. And the feeling is always brand new.

There is no rush down here in the Cave of the Heart. At Stop 4, I thought it might be a good opportunity to share with you my process while creating these sessions. It is hard work, and so very fulfilling. Said differently, it is "heart work."

Look for the self in the Cave of the Heart, and what do you find? Down here, we meet a few characters. One of them will prove to be our guide over the next several sessions. Meet your Deepest Self. What would you ask them?

We learn more about the Deepest Self. Mine has a name. To give something a name is a form of manifestation. It makes it more real. To give the Deepest Self a name is to make it more real in your life. If yours had a name, what is it or what would it be?

In this session, Gōji allows me to ask him three questions, but on one condition. The questions must be ones I really want to ask, not the ones I think I should ask. So what are the questions you really want to ask?

Let's settle back down to a stop before asking our first question. Here, I consider what would be the unreal questions, and I realize I already know the answers. Then I stumbled upon my first real question accidentally.

In this session, we ask Gōji our first question. And then he describes what can be called "the real and the unreal." All beings are born of the real one, but find themselves pursuing the unreal. And the stretching between the two feels like pain. When the two come together, something amazing happens.

Gōji continues his description of the real and the unreal as the two poles of Oneness. These are strange, circular poles. The Real is at the center, and the unreal an infinite number of individual points along the circumference.

Gōji further explains the circular poles of oneness and emphasizes that the unreal is not worse than the Real. In fact, there is no Real without the unreal. Not 1 and not 2. 1 and 2. This is the meaning of non-duality.

At stop 6, let's imagine ourselves as individual waves resting back into the ocean before we arise again. This is a good example of the Real and the unreal: waves and the ocean. We also explore the idea of individual waves of action.

I share a recent experience from my everyday life about listening to my inner voice. When you listen to the Deepest Self, you might just find yourself later on saying, "Thank God I did that." Here's some encouragement to follow this internal knowing.

Now, something unexpected happens when I ask my second question. There is a complete shift of energy in the presence of Gōji, and I'm curious to know what your experience of this change is like. We all include the full spectrum of energy.

The answer to a question like "How are you?" can come from one of two places, the real or the unreal. In this session, I attempt to answer from the real. When you slow down and consider a real answer, how do you respond? How are you right now in this moment?

In this session, I take a different approach to the third question, which triggers another transformation of Gōji's energy. And this transformation reveals our next step, the final and deepest level of the cave.

Following the final transformation of Gōji, a new space is revealed in the very heart of the cave. This is the Meditation Room. We find instructions on the door to this room, and prepare ourselves to enter.

The first instruction on the door of the meditation room stated the following: Meditation is the practice of being who you are. Let's explore what this means. You cannot practice being who you are. But you can practice the cessation of being who you are not.

The second instruction went as follows: "The highest form of meditation is non-meditation." As in art, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. The final level meditation is to stop trying to meditate. Then you are truly being who you are.

Here we explore what I call The Spiritual Problem. I seek connection while remaining attached to my separateness. The way to unravel this problem is to sit for long enough in non-meditation. Then we will have no choice but to feel the way in which everything is connected.

Here we expand upon the vision of the frozen waterfall. As a function of our presence, the vision changes. And we find ourselves suddenly shifting from the micro to the macro. From the smallest central point inside you out to the center of the universe.

Now, out here in space, a symbol begins to form in the sky. A circle of light made of many individual lines extending out from a single center point. The Real at the center and the unreal out on the circumference. And we are pulled in toward the gravity at the center of the symbol.

Now, a black dot emerges in the center of the symbol, and I realize this is the I of God. We are pulled closer into the center, and as we move, we are purified by its energy. Separateness melts into oneness.

Here I present a challenge to us both. Can we really just be here with the sound of the singing bowl? I encourage you to try this until you stay present with the sound for the full duration without thinking about anything.

The I of God is revealed to be a black hole at the center of the universe. This is the most powerful gravitational force, and I fear total loss of self in God. But something familiar calls me back to Earth.

Let's explore the Spiritual Problem a bit more deeply. This problem is rooted in the false assumption that we are separate. We hold on to our separateness, and thus we hold on to our suffering. And that's okay. The self can exist between the ego and God when there is enough gravity in both directions.

After I offer the singing bowl, the I of God closes momentarily. Then the I reopens, and we experience ourselves returning to Earth in the form of water. This leads to a reunion of the self back in a familiar space.

We were shot back to Earth like an arrow from the I of God. And here we reawaken in the meditation room, but now in a new way. The combination of self, God, and the ego, in harmonious union. And grateful for the gravity of the ego.

Here I've decided to interrupt the story and share a confession. I share this simply because it feels honest, and what is honest has been my guide throughout the creation process. To share a confession can make you feel just a bit lighter.

Now, we have one last encounter before we make our way back to the surface. Gōji is no longer here in the way they were before. But the firekeeper is still down here. In this session, we realize the firekeeper's identity.

Together, we reenter the elevators and make our way back to the shore of this Land of Infinite Wisdom, where we witness endless waves in the ocean. Then, back into the sailboat. Moving at God Speed. Focusing a bit more on direction than destination.

Here we arrive at the last stop, and we find something waiting for us in the car. One last chance to drive back home together. One last chance to sit in non-meditation. And then, there is the invitation to begin again. You can come back here anytime.