Monday, January 30, 2006
Philosophy And Deity
Q: Philosophy And Deity
A: Philosophy is the love of wisdom: it seeks knowledge about all things from all sources. Unlike science it includes disciplines for theology, metaphysics, etc. It can reach conclusions sustained by logic without formal scientific proof.
The philosopher looks to both reason and information to support his conclusions. Many philosophers postulate, out of pure reason, that there must have been a reality before the beginning of time and space; that there must have been a first cause of everything material; and that nothing could exist--even time and space themselves--without some primal act of mindful creating. This produces a concept of Deity.
When the philosopher ponders the sheer orderliness and harmony of the universe as revealed by science, he reasons that superlative qualities of mind and vast quantities of power were necessary to create such a harmonious entity, and he attributes these to Deity. The unique characteristics and circumstances of the cosmos lead many philosophers to conclude that the material universe, with mankind in it, must have been mindfully created for a specific cosmic purpose. Logic, alone, does not reveal the function and objectives of creation; but mankind is seen as a significant clue to the puzzle, and Deity as its source.
Philosophy recognizes realities outside the province of science. The fact that science has not confirmed a proposition does not deter philosophy from recognizing its accuracy. Philosophers consider input from religion, and find some proposals of religionists as to the function and objectives of creation to be supported by logic. Even without the testimony of religionists, it is highly probable that most philosophers would conclude that there must be some form of Deity.Labels: Deity, information, philosophy, reason, science
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Do Science And Philosophy Conflict With Religion?
Q: Do Science And Philosophy Conflict With Religion?
A: Science is systematized knowledge derived from observation, study and experimentation. It is concerned with facts provable by systematic observation under established principles. By its nature it is limited to the material realm, and has no disciplines for the spiritual or supernatural realms.
Deity can be postulated by science both as an a Priori force and a first cause, but cannot be confirmed by science because the phenomenon cannot be quantified, qualified, reproduced, duplicated, measured or otherwise proved by scientific methodology. Deity is not a mathematical equation, a chemical formula or a physical law. Science is concerned only with matter, energy and life, and is limited by time and space. Science may trace the universe back to the "big bang" (the beginning of time), but it has no method of determining its cause, where the "banged" matter came from, how the laws governing the behavior of matter in time and space were devised, or why the whole thing happened in the first place. Even scientists recognize that there are realities beyond the province of science. For example, science understands much about the brain, an electro-chemical organism, but it cannot explain mind. It understands paint and color, but not art.
Many scientists accept a theory that Deity exists as a master planner, a first cause, and an over controller;; but they cannot prove it. It remains for philosophy and religion to prove the actuality of any truth or reality beyond the physical universe as revealed, or to be revealed, by the observations and laws of science; to confirm or deny the existence of Deity.Labels: Deity, philosophy, religion, science, truth
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Is There Such A Thing As Deity? If So, What Is It?
Q: Is There Such A Thing As Deity? If So, What Is It?
A: Man has long believed in a power higher than himself. This power is personalized as God. But personalization, itself, is a limitation. It omits the non-personal, pre-personal, sub-personal, super-personal, post-personal, etc. It is useful to find a word more all-inclusive than "God" to call this higher power. Such a word is "Deity." Deity is both all-inclusive and flexible: it contracts or expands to encompass the entire spectrum of quantities, qualities and values which one may ascribe to the "higher powers." People can agree that Deity exists without agreeing as to its characteristics.
Deity is used here in its broadest sense. Deity includes all those characteristics, both personal and impersonal, attributed to a higher power, regardless of name. Further definition is unnecessary.
The cosmos is "the universe considered as a harmonious and orderly system." Divinity is that unifying and co-ordinating quality which is characteristic of Deity which converts the universe into the cosmos. Divinity is seen as perfection, as completeness, as unity and as harmony between the creator and the created. Mankind glimpses divinity as justice, power and sovereignty, as love, mercy and ministry, and as truth, beauty and goodness. That which has the qualities of divinity is said to be divine. Deity is the source of all that is divine.
Deity is not a synonym for God. "God," as used here, focuses upon the Personal aspects of Deity, and upon the ability of mankind to relate to Deity in any fashion.Labels: Deity, God
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Wednesday, January 25, 2006
What are spiritual influences?
Q: What are spiritual influences?
A: That's a good question. The Urantia Book has a lot to tell us about spiritual influences and students of the book don't necessarily agree upon what it says so I can only give you my perception.
We're told that our world teems with spiritual influences – various orders of angels involved in myriad tasks and beings who are midway between material beings like ourselves and the angels whom we can't see. Our minds are also inhabited by a spiritual spark of God the Father ministering incessantly to help spiritualize our thoughts throughout this short life in the flesh. None of these influences however are perceived by our senses so it's as if we're alone and without their ministry, although that's not the case.
Some people (even believers in the Urantia revelation) like to believe that they're more spiritually sensitive than average and that they have special spiritual connections – that they can communicate with spirit beings or with the "dead" and can relay messages from them. The Urantia Book doesn't teach that this is so – what it does teach is that one should strive to be open to spiritual guidance but that on the whole we should learn to be the best material beings we know how to be and not become overly involved in psychic experiences – we're given this material life for a purpose that is of more value than is striving to be "more spiritual than material." We'll have the rest of eternity to be spiritual – we have now to be material.Labels: guardian angels, midwayers, spirtuality, The Urantia Book, Thought Adjuster
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Thursday, January 19, 2006
What does The Urantia Book say about pyschic abilities?
Q: What does The Urantia Book say about pyschic abilities?
A: As with some other terms, the use of the word "psychic" in The Urantia Book requires the student of the text to keep the term in context with the topic the book is presenting. When we think of pyschic we usually think of a sense or ability outside of the normal ones or a mystical experience. The Urantia Book speaks of seven psychic circles of spiritual and mental development which don't readily relate to the concept we usually entertain for psychic ability.
I believe that science has proven that all normal minded humans naturally have psychic ability to some degree and that some people have psychic ability more fully developed than others do, just as some people are more musically inclined than others are. There are classes one can take to help develop psychic ability. Still, The Urantia Book warns against over emphasis of or involvement in mystical practices as they tend to lead one away from the path of true spiritual development.
I've extracted several paragraphs from the text that may help explain what The Urantia Book teaches about psychic abilities.
Paper 91 Section 2 Para 2 Page 995 Line 43 Para 8
Both prayer and magic arose as a result of man's adjustive reactions to Urantian environment. But aside from this generalized relationship, they have little in common. Prayer has always indicated positive action by the praying ego; it has been always psychic and sometimes spiritual. Magic has usually signified an attempt to manipulate reality without affecting the ego of the manipulator, the practitioner of magic. Despite their independent origins, magic and prayer often have been interrelated in their later stages of development. Magic has sometimes ascended by goal elevation from formulas through rituals and incantations to the threshold of true prayer. Prayer has sometimes become so materialistic that it has degenerated into a pseudomagical technique of avoiding the expenditure of that effort which is requisite for the solution of Urantian problems.
Paper 100 Section 4 Para 2 Page 1097 Line 36 Para 7
Religious perplexities are inevitable; there can be no growth without psychic conflict and spiritual agitation. The organization of a philosophic standard of living entails considerable commotion in the philosophic realms of the mind. Loyalties are not exercised in behalf of the great, the good, the true, and the noble without a struggle. Effort is attendant upon clarification of spiritual vision and enhancement of cosmic insight. And the human intellect protests against being weaned from subsisting upon the nonspiritual energies of temporal existence. The slothful animal mind rebels at the effort required to wrestle with cosmic problem solving.
Paper 100 Section 5 Para 4 Page 1099 Line 11 Para 2
Most of the spectacular phenomena associated with so called religious conversions are entirely psychologic in nature, but now and then there do occur experiences which are also spiritual in origin. When the mental mobilization is absolutely total on any level of the psychic upreach toward spirit attainment, when there exists perfection of the human motivation of loyalties to the divine idea, then there very often occurs a sudden down grasp of the indwelling spirit to synchronize with the concentrated and consecrated purpose of the superconscious mind of the believing mortal. And it is such experiences of unified intellectual and spiritual phenomena that constitute the conversion which consists in factors over and above purely psychologic involvement.
Paper 100 Section 5 Para 6 Page 1099 Line 25 Para 4
If one is disposed to recognize a theoretical subconscious mind as a practical working hypothesis in the otherwise unified intellectual life, then, to be consistent, one should postulate a similar and corresponding realm of ascending intellectual activity as the superconscious level, the zone of immediate contact with the indwelling spirit entity, the Thought Adjuster. The great danger in all these psychic speculations is that visions and other so called mystic experiences, along with extraordinary dreams, may be regarded as divine communications to the human mind. In times past, divine beings have revealed themselves to certain God knowing persons, not because of their mystic trances or morbid visions, but in spite of all these phenomena.
Paper 100 Section 5 Para 10 Page 1100 Line 4 Para 1
The more healthful attitude of spiritual meditation is to be found in reflective worship and in the prayer of thanksgiving. The direct communion with one's Thought Adjuster, such as occurred in the later years of Jesus' life in the flesh, should not be confused with these so called mystical experiences. The factors which contribute to the initiation of mystic communion are indicative of the danger of such psychic states. The mystic status is favored by such things as: physical fatigue, fasting, psychic dissociation, profound aesthetic experiences, vivid sex impulses, fear, anxiety, rage, and wild dancing. Much of the material arising as a result of such preliminary preparation has its origin in the subconscious mind.
Paper 110 Section 4 Para 3 Page 1207 Line 13 Para 3
Certain abrupt presentations of thoughts, conclusions, and other pictures of mind are sometimes the direct or indirect work of the Adjuster; but far more often they are the sudden emergence into consciousness of ideas which have been grouping themselves together in the submerged mental levels, natural and everyday occurrences of normal and ordinary psychic function inherent in the circuits of the evolving animal mind. (In contrast with these subconscious emanations, the revelations of the Adjuster appear through the realms of the superconscious.)Labels: magic, meditation, prayer, psychics, The Urantia Book
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Wednesday, January 18, 2006
How does a person forgive a mother's wrong?
Q: How does a person forgive a mother's wrong (adultery)?
A: Perhaps it isn't up to you so much to forgive as it is to learn to accept the weaknesses or wrongs of another. God forgives; we must learn to let go and to accept things as they are.
Here are several paragraphs from The Urantia Book that may be of help to you – the links will take you into the text of the book.
God is inherently kind, naturally compassionate, and everlastingly merciful. And never is it necessary that any influence be brought to bear upon the Father to call forth his loving kindness. The creature's need is wholly sufficient to insure the full flow of the Father's tender mercies and his saving grace. Since God knows all about his children, it is easy for him to forgive. The better man understands his neighbor, the easier it will be to forgive him, even to love him. (2:4.2)
In all your praying be fair; do not expect God to show partiality, to love you more than his other children, your friends, neighbors, even enemies. But the prayer of the natural or evolved religions is not at first ethical, as it is in the later revealed religions. All praying, whether individual or communal, may be either egoistic or altruistic. That is, the prayer may be centered upon the self or upon others. When the prayer seeks nothing for the one who prays nor anything for his fellows, then such attitudes of the soul tend to the levels of true worship. Egoistic prayers involve confessions and petitions and often consist in requests for material favors. Prayer is somewhat more ethical when it deals with forgiveness and seeks wisdom for enhanced self control. (91:4.3)
A wise man is occupied with the search for truth, not in seeking for a mere living. To attain the perfection of Heaven is the goal of man. The superior man is given to self adjustment, and he is free from anxiety and fear. God is with you; have no doubt in your heart. Every good deed has its recompense. The superior man murmurs not against Heaven nor holds a grudge against men. What you do not like when done to yourself, do not to others. (131:9.4)
It has been said that if one TRULY repents, one will be forgiven. BUT, we often times make the same mistake, even though we know the things we do are wrong and ask forgiveness again. Are we forgiven as many times as needed? OR are we forgiven once. I cannot seem to reconcile that. How many chances do I have before I'm given up on?
Your concerns seem to be based upon your understanding of the judgmental and wrathful God portrayed in the Bible. Other religions see other facets of God and in The Urantia Book we learn of the God that Jesus came to disclose to the world, a loving heavenly Father.
We're not divine beings, we're human beings, the lowest rung on the ladder of free will creatures. As such, we're prone to learn by making mistakes - in fact, we're expected to make mistakes. And in making mistakes we're not condemned because of them - sin and error are simply part of the makeup of being human.
God forgives our errors and our sins as we acknowledge them and ask for forgiveness. God never gives up on you. Jesus mentions forgiving the wrongdoer seventy times and seven - not many of us would commit the same mistake that many times without acquiring the lesson behind it so you can expect that you have more chances than you will ever use up.
The real question you've asked though is how bad can you be yet still be assured of everlasting survival. The Urantia Book makes it clear that our eternal survival is assured so long as we have a flicker of faith, have some measure of desire to do God's will, and choose to survive of our own volition. Even very bad people here on earth can meet those requirements. Those choosing to live bad lives will have most unhappy life experiences here although ample opportunity is provided for making amends once we've passed beyond this life.
One other aspect of your question comes to mind: what you're seeing as mistakes may or may not actually be mistakes. Differing cultures around the world judge the same action in various ways so what may be perceived as a mistake in one could be perceived as perfectly natural in another. What you may want to do, rather than condemn yourself, is to attempt to see your actions from God's perspective before judging yourself.Labels: adultery, forgiveness, God, Jesus, prayer, survival, The Urantia Book
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Thursday, January 12, 2006
Surviving childhood abuse
Q: I am looking for information on how to deal with surviving childhood abuse
A: On a personal level, the only suggestion I can offer is that you simply learn to deal with it – the likelihood that anyone lives a full life and departs without having been afflicted in some manner is about zero so we all are faced with two choices in how to deal with our predicaments: either to ruminate on them or to get over them. In the end it's all up to you; no one can do much more than offer advice.
From Urantia Book teachings there are several quotes that may help you get a different perspective and they are:
5. Difficulties may challenge mediocrity and defeat the fearful, but they only stimulate the true children of the Most Highs.
8. Effort does not always produce joy, but there is no happiness without intelligent effort.
12. The greatest affliction of the cosmos is never to have been afflicted. Mortals only learn wisdom by experiencing tribulation.
16. You cannot perceive spiritual truth until you feelingly experience it, and many truths are not really felt except in adversity.
18. Impatience is a spirit poison; anger is like a stone hurled into a hornet's nest.
22. The evolving soul is not made divine by what it does, but by what it strives to do.
The Urantia Book has this to say about Jesus as a child:
Perhaps his most unusual and outstanding trait was his unwillingness to fight for his rights. Since he was such a well developed lad for his age, it seemed strange to his playfellows that he was disinclined to defend himself even from injustice or when subjected to personal abuse.
Jesus said:
Throughout the vicissitudes of life, remember always to love one another. Do not strive with men, even with unbelievers. Show mercy even to those who despitefully abuse you. Show yourselves to be loyal citizens, upright artisans, praiseworthy neighbors, devoted kinsmen, understanding parents, and sincere believers in the brotherhood of the Father's kingdom. And my spirit shall be upon you, now and even to the end of the world.
One final quote:
The uncertainties of life and the vicissitudes of existence do not in any manner contradict the concept of the universal sovereignty of God. All evolutionary creature life is beset by certain inevitabilities. Consider the following:
1. Is courage – strength of character – desirable? Then must man be reared in an environment which necessitates grappling with hardships and reacting to disappointments.
2. Is altruism – service of one's fellows – desirable? Then must life experience provide for encountering situations of social inequality.
3. Is hope – the grandeur of trust – desirable? Then human existence must constantly be confronted with insecurities and recurrent uncertainties.
4. Is faith – the supreme assertion of human thought – desirable? Then must the mind of man find itself in that troublesome predicament where it ever knows less than it can believe.
5. Is the love of truth and the willingness to go wherever it leads, desirable? Then must man grow up in a world where error is present and falsehood always possible.
6. Is idealism – the approaching concept of the divine – desirable? Then must man struggle in an environment of relative goodness and beauty, surroundings stimulative of the irrepressible reach for better things.
9. Is pleasure – the satisfaction of happiness – desirable? Then must man live in a world where the alternative of pain and the likelihood of suffering are ever present experiential possibilities.Labels: abuse, adversity, affliction, childhood, Jesus, love, The Urantia Book
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Tuesday, January 10, 2006
How do you know that God loves you?
Q: How do you know that God loves you?
A: First, I’d like to apologize for the length of time it’s taken to get an answer back to you — we usually like to have replies sent within a couple of days at least and this is an excellent question. You’ve asked how do you know so I’ll reply how I know by first referring to some quotes from The Urantia Book. Long ago when I first started to study this book I accepted its message as being valid and true to me and that is still the case so to me these words ring true. The links at the end of the quotes will take you into the book if you'd like to read more.
The Father's love follows us now and throughout the endless circle of the eternal ages. As you ponder the loving nature of God, there is only one reasonable and natural personality reaction thereto: You will increasingly love your Maker; you will yield to God an affection analogous to that given by a child to an earthly parent; for, as a father, a real father, a true father, loves his children, so the Universal Father loves and forever seeks the welfare of his created sons and daughters. (2:5.9)
Though many of the temple rituals very touchingly impressed his sense of the beautiful and the symbolic, he was always disappointed by the explanation of the real meanings of these ceremonies which his parents would offer in answer to his many searching inquiries. Jesus simply would not accept explanations of worship and religious devotion which involved belief in the wrath of God or the anger of the Almighty. In further discussion of these questions, after the conclusion of the temple visit, when his father became mildly insistent that he acknowledge acceptance of the orthodox Jewish beliefs, Jesus turned suddenly upon his parents and, looking appealingly into the eyes of his father, said: "My father, it cannot be true – the Father in heaven cannot so regard his erring children on earth. The heavenly Father cannot love his children less than you love me. And I well know, no matter what unwise thing I might do, you would never pour out wrath upon me nor vent anger against me. If you, my earthly father, possess such human reflections of the Divine, how much more must the heavenly Father be filled with goodness and overflowing with mercy. I refuse to believe that my Father in heaven loves me less than my father on earth." (125:0.6)
"John came preaching repentance to prepare you for the kingdom; now have I come proclaiming faith, the gift of God, as the price of entrance into the kingdom of heaven. If you would but believe that my Father loves you with an infinite love, then you are in the kingdom of God." (137:8.17)
"You well know that, while a kindhearted father loves his family as a whole, he so regards them as a group because of his strong affection for each individual member of that family. No longer must you approach the Father in heaven as a child of Israel but as a child of God. As a group, you are indeed the children of Israel, but as individuals, each one of you is a child of God. I have come, not to reveal the Father to the children of Israel, but rather to bring this knowledge of God and the revelation of his love and mercy to the individual believer as a genuine personal experience. The prophets have all taught you that Yahweh cares for his people, that God loves Israel. But I have come among you to proclaim a greater truth, one which many of the later prophets also grasped, that God loves you – every one of you – as individuals. All these generations have you had a national or racial religion; now have I come to give you a personal religion. (145:2.4)
"And now you should give ear to my words lest you again make the mistake of hearing my teaching with the mind while in your hearts you fail to comprehend the meaning. From the beginning of my sojourn as one of you, I taught you that my one purpose was to reveal my Father in heaven to his children on earth. I have lived the God revealing bestowal that you might experience the God knowing career. I have revealed God as your Father in heaven; I have revealed you as the sons of God on earth. It is a fact that God loves you, his sons. By faith in my word this fact becomes an eternal and living truth in your hearts. When, by living faith, you become divinely God conscious, you are then born of the spirit as children of light and life, even the eternal life wherewith you shall ascend the universe of universes and attain the experience of finding God the Father on Paradise. (193:0.3)
Putting the words of The Urantia Book aside there are many practical ways I know God loves me. First, I have the freedom to choose rightly or wrongly; the heavenly Father loves me enough to allow me to make my own mistakes. The heavenly Father loves me enough to have made me unique — I experience and react to the world around me in a different way from everyone else. I have firsthand experience that circumstances I would not have chosen for myself have nevertheless worked out for my good. I know that God’s ministers, the angels, have intervened and helped me when necessary. I live assured that God has a plan that is bigger than and extends far beyond this life — that God loves me enough to have made provision for my continued growth and experience when my life here is through. God loves me because of the inconsequential things that make life joyful — chocolate, butterflies, fireflies, tiger cubs, strawberries, ...
I imagine if I really got into it I could write for hours but I expect you know now why I know God loves me. How about you? What’s your list like? How do you know? or if you're not sure, why not.Labels: experience, God, guardian angels, Jesus, love, The Urantia Book
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What happens to a person who commits suicide?
A: What happens to a person who commits suicide?
B: God's plan is that we live a full, productive, and meaningful life here in the flesh. Suicide would be an individual's free will choice not to participate.
The Urantia Book's definition for suicide is "fleeing from the realities of mortal existence". Other than that there's no real discussion about the spiritual consequences of suicide in the book. My studies lead me to believe that suicide indicates not only a weakness of character but a high degree of selfishness and disregard for friends, relatives, and loved ones. The value of this one life in the flesh is emphasized continually throughout the book so to treat a precious opportunity with such disregard surely reaps consequences in the next life to come. Presumably a person arriving on the mansion worlds from a suicide doesn't encounter circumstances much different from those a person arriving because of natural death would but there will be more for them to learn in compensation for their weakness of character and lack of compassion.
Since our perspective of the meaning of life is so limited here it must be that no matter what difficult life situations we encounter it is important to meet them head on to the best of our ability.
The Urantia Book stresses that God the Father is forgiving - God gives second chances until they're no longer acknowledged by the recipient, until we decide we don't want another chance. I suspect then that the effects of suicide have a stronger effect upon the loved ones left behind than they do on the one who has departed.Labels: free will, God, life, suicide, The Urantia Book
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Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Is it ok for other people parents to judge you of your past if they are true Christian?
Q: Is it ok for other people or parents to judge you for your past if they are true Christian?
A: You're asking then, should Christians hold one another accountable for their behavior, probably based on the belief that when Jesus said "Judge not" he was saying that everyone should be allowed to do, say, act, any way they choose and no one should hold anyone else accountable because they will be judged in like manner. Does that make sense? and could anyone actually think Jesus would mean such a thing?
Wouldn't it make more sense if we assumed that Jesus meant not to judge or decide upon someone elses spiritual value? That I cannot presume that I'm better than someone else in a spiritual sense, or that I'm spiritually superior to another, or that my wants and needs are more important than those of someone elses? If, as Jesus has said, we're all God's children, then God is our heavenly Father, and if, as we've been told, God is no respecter of persons, then spiritually we're all equal, everyone is my equal brother or sister in God's eyes, I'm in no superior position to be spiritually critical of anyone -- that kind of judgment is left for God and the angels.
However, when it comes to our actions here on earth each one of us is compelled to continuously make judgments. That's why we've been given discerning minds, a sense of mercy, a sense of fairness and justice, a sense of compassion and of righteousness. These should all come into play as we weigh and judge the actions and deeds of one another and hold one another accountable for behaviors past and present, no matter what religion or lack of religion is professed. Just as society has the authority and obligation to judge its citizens and remove individual freedoms, or incarcerate, or even put to death those who won't live in compliance with social rules, so too do individuals have the right to make determinations of one another based on past performances and behaviors.
So yes, it is right that you're judged for your past. The only way to change the way others think of you is to prove that you should no longer be tied to a critical judgment and you do that through your present behavior, your thoughts and your deeds expressed over a period of time.
This is a good question and we have added it to our discussion board so that you might have the benefit of the thoughtful responses of our online Urantia Book reader community. You can visit this board and see these responses by clicking here: Judging one another and going to the forum titled "Questions & Answers."
May I also recommend that if you're not already signed up that you consider subscribing to the Quote of the Day. It's a free service that offers a daily quote from the incomparable teachings of The Urantia Book along with a beautiful and inspiring image, a great way to start one's day as well as to begin to understand the teachings of the book. To subscribe go to the upper right corner of our home page, click on Quote of the Day and follow the instructions.
Best wishes,
Larry Watkins
Truthbook.comLabels: Christian, God, Jesus, judgment, justice, Larry Watkins, mercy
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Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Will We Be Reunited With Loved Ones When We Pass On To Eternity.
Q: Will We Be Reunited With Loved Ones When We Pass On To Eternity?
A: The Urantia Book provides as complete and meaningful an explanation and description of our existence after we depart this world as any source you will find. It offers hope, assurance, the prospect of great adventure, and reuniting with our earthly loved ones.
Upon death the Thought Adjuster temporarily loses personality, but not identity; the human subject temporarily loses identity, but not personality; on the mansion worlds both reunite in eternal manifestation. Never does a departed Thought Adjuster return to earth as the being of former indwelling; never is personality manifested without the human will; and never does a dis-Adjustered human being after death manifest active identity or in any manner establish communication with the living beings of earth. Such dis-Adjustered souls are wholly and absolutely unconscious during the long or short sleep of death. There can be no exhibition of any sort of personality or ability to engage in communications with other personalities until after completion of survival. Those who go to the mansion worlds are not permitted to send messages back to their loved ones. It is the policy throughout the universes to forbid such communication during the period of a current dispensation. (112:3.4)
From the resurrection halls you proceed to the Melchizedek sector, where you are assigned permanent residence. Then you enter upon ten days of personal liberty. You are free to explore the immediate vicinity of your new home and to familiarize yourself with the program which lies immediately ahead. You also have time to gratify your desire to consult the registry and call upon your loved ones and other earth friends who may have preceded you to these worlds. At the end of your ten-day period of leisure you begin the second step in the Paradise journey, for the mansion worlds are actual training spheres, not merely detention planets. (47:3.6)
On our home page there are 9 boxes providing links to various sections of our site -- the box in the 3O'clock position is titled "There is Life After Death" and that will take you to a presentation of more of what The Urantia Book has to say on this topic.
May I recommend that if you're not already signed up that you consider subscribing to the Quote of the Day. It's a free service that offers a daily quote from the incomparable teachings of this marvelous book along with a beautiful and inspiring image, a great way to start one's day as well as to begin to understand the teachings of the book. To subscribe go to the upper right corner of our home page, click on Quote of the Day and follow the instructions.
Thank you for your question.
Larry Watkins
Truthbook.comLabels: death, Larry Watkins, life after death, loved ones, Mansion Worlds, The Urantia Book
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Xerpi
