For us to move forward in our journey of discovery about how the universe emerged, we now need to take a detour and begin exploring something that is not often consciously investigated or even associated with creation theory in any traditional way. It’s not just a small detour either, it's more like a complete ‘about face’ from the direction we have been travelling so far. What I would like you to do now is to stop reading when indicated and have a ‘look’ at yourself to get a sense of your own reality.

Now, by this I am not asking you to rush off and find a mirror to study the reflection of your physical form. Neither am I asking that you start thinking about who you are, what you do or like to do, or anything of that nature. Perhaps more importantly, I do not want you to start contemplating what I might mean, or try to remember anything specifically about what you have read or believe your true reality to be. What I would like you to do is to simply cease reading, close your eyes, and look into yourself for a moment to see what it feels like to be ‘you’. Please do this now.

Now, what I have just asked you to do might seem like quite an unrelated and unscientific thing to do. But it is imperative that you do this exercise if you are genuinely interested in continuing on this journey of discovery about you and your relationship to the Universe. Was it possible for you to get a sense of what it feels like to be you?

Of course it was. You are a sentient being, and most people can say what or how they are feeling, and report back with an answer along the lines of, ‘I feel good, bad, sad, excited, disturbed, calm, etc’. There is no limit to the words a person might choose to describe how they are feeling at any particular moment. But no matter what you have identified as the feeling or sensation you are experiencing right now, what is of more importance is how you have achieved it. What did you have to do so that you could answer the question about how you are feeling? I am going to let you ponder that for a while before I give the answer. See if you come up with the same answer that I am about to give. The question, once again, is, ‘What is it that you have to do so that you can express what you are feeling in this moment?’

Ok, the answer is this: you have discovered what you are feeling by consciously putting your attention within yourself to get a reading on what is going on inside of you. You have formulated words to describe the feeling, and are then able to express these words if, and when, required.

Of course, it is sometimes very challenging for us to find the exact words that describe the feelings and sensations that are going on within us, and some people are better at doing this than others. Also, what you are feeling now will always vary, and will also differ from what another person feels in the same moment. But the way in which you must look with your attention to see what is there is the same for everyone, all the time. This is a universal fact, or truth.

The point I want to make here is about attention. Attention is a powerful attribute or faculty that we have as human beings, an attribute that is grossly overlooked as the tool of creativity and manifestation that it is. The generally accepted definition of the word ‘attention’ suggests a focus or concentration of (your) energy, and it is you that has the power and choice about where you direct it.

For example, it is your attention right now that allows you the experience of reading these words. You have chosen to give this matter your attention and have consequently become engaged in the narrative and the journey. Thus, you are having an entirely unique experience that is determined by the way you interpret this information, which in turn has a psychological and emotional―perhaps even physical―effect on you. The nature of your experience will differ from that of anyone else reading this, but the only reason you are having your experience is because you are giving this matter your attention.

The fact that attention is something that you alone can direct, points us to the greater reality of the ‘you’ from whom this directing comes. If you trace attention back in this way, you cannot help but arrive at the fact that it comes from you―the ‘I’ or ‘me’ that you refer to all day long as what you experience yourself to be. This might seem fairly obvious or perhaps a little uninteresting on the face of it, but the question that arises from it is, ‘What is this thing called me?’, that is, ‘Who or what exactly am I?’

Of course, a question of this nature is not uninteresting at all. It is perhaps the ultimate question anyone might ever ask themselves in a lifetime. Since the appearance of ourselves as thinking human beings, collectively we have always wanted to know the truth of who or what we are. And the seeking of an answer to this question could be seen, quite rightly, to be a spiritual quest.

So, here in the midst of an otherwise scientific discussion, we have now suddenly ended up talking about the personal and the spiritual. But is this really surprising? What we are as human beings is a creation of this Universe that we are endeavouring to understand. Ultimately it is unavoidable that the experience of being human be incorporated into our endeavour to understand, and that a bridge be made that links the spiritual with the scientific as one comprehensive, understandable whole. The quest for a correct and complete Theory of Everything―by its very definition―must be something that can do this.

For us to pull our attention back from the matter at hand―our daily lives, our involvement in it, our attachment to it, and the mental activity and emotional demands that it generates within us―is for us to begin coming back to the essence of who or what we really are, back to the essential nature of our being. It is to enter the place where we feel and experience the true reality of our lives.

But this is not a theoretical idea I am describing here, or a concept to think about, debate, consider, and believe in or not. What I am describing is a completely practical, do-able, and highly valuable exercise. For you to explore it a little more now will be of great benefit not only in understanding the remainder of this work, but in your life in general. Put the book down for a few more minutes and close your eyes. Withdraw from your senses and go within. Relax. Place your attention on your breathing. Breathe slowly. Follow the breath, in and out, and as you do, become aware of what is going on inside you. Look for the sensation within any and every part of your body. Just feel whatever is going on inside of you. If you can, identify specifically what feels good inside of you. What feels easy. And right. After a while―preferably when you have found some space, ease, or peace within you―come back to your senses and reconnect with what is happening around you from this deeper place of connection within.

Of course, the exercise I have just invited you to do―or guided you in― is essentially what meditation is, and for those of you who have explored practices of this nature, you will recognise this immediately. For those who have not, this is a great starting point. But as many meditators know, or will discover, you can spend an extraordinary amount of time mastering the skill of pulling back from the senses to come home to your being. It’s a very simple thing to do in fact, but what is difficult is to move beyond the relentless movement and demands of your own restlessness and mind chatter. What lies behind all that activity is a deep, still place that is your natural state of being.

In the next section we make a connection never made before to reveal vital information about the source of creativity in the Universe.