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Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book: March 2009



Thursday, March 26, 2009

I read in FAQ that people go to the Mansion Worlds or "they go to sleep, to await a dispensational resurrection". What kind of living/life leads to on

Q: I read in FAQ that people go to the Mansion Worlds or "they go to sleep, to await a dispensational resurrection". What kind of living/life leads to one or the other?

A: Thanks for writing to us with this question. Here is a Urantia Book description of sleeping survivors - those who are awaiting dispensational resurrection:

Sleeping Survivors. All mortals of survival status, in the custody of personal guardians of destiny, pass through the portals of natural death and, on the third period, personalize on the mansion worlds. Those accredited beings who have, for any reason, been unable to attain that level of intelligence mastery and endowment of spirituality which would entitle them to personal guardians, cannot thus immediately and directly go to the mansion worlds. Such surviving souls must rest in unconscious sleep until the judgment day of a new epoch, a new dispensation, the coming of a Son of God to call the rolls of the age and adjudicate the realm, and this is the general practice throughout all Nebadon. It was said of Christ Michael that, when he ascended on high at the conclusion of his work on earth, "He led a great multitude of captives." And these captives were the sleeping survivors from the days of Adam to the day of the Master's resurrection on Urantia.p341:1(30:4.4)

As you can see, the key here is whether one has been entitled to a personal guardian. From The Urantia Book: "since the bestowal of Michael, they [personal guardians] are assigned in accordance with human intelligence, spirituality, and destiny. "

This attainment of a personal guardian has much to do with the seven cosmic circles of attainment. I suggest you give this a careful read.

Another Urantia Book passage on this subject:

Mortals of the individual orders of ascension. The individual progress of human beings is measured by their successive attainment and traversal (mastery) of the seven cosmic circles. These circles of mortal progression are levels of associated intellectual, social, spiritual, and cosmic-insight values. Starting out in the seventh circle, mortals strive for the first, and all who have attained the third immediately have personal guardians of destiny assigned to them. These mortals may be repersonalized in the morontia life independent of dispensational or other adjudications.p569:3(49:6.8)

These circles are a spiritual kind of benchmark by which human progress is measured. There are no precise definitions given - in fact only a few of these circles are described at all, but this following passage does shed some light on the subject, and offers clues as to the kind of behavior and attitude one should cultivate in order to successfully navigate them:

It is to the mind of perfect poise, housed in a body of clean habits, stabilized neural energies, and balanced chemical function—when the physical, mental, and spiritual powers are in triune harmony of development—that a maximum of light and truth can be imparted with a minimum of temporal danger or risk to the real welfare of such a being. By such a balanced growth does man ascend the circles of planetary progression one by one, from the seventh to the first. p1209:4(110:6.4)

It is not necessarily a bad thing to be a sleeping survivor - it could be that many of us will be in that group - it simply means that the growth needed for attaining that third circles was not attained before death. This could be due to any number of factors - some may be beyond one's control; nonetheless, all sleeping survivors are still counted among the saved, as they are resurrected in groups at the end of divine dispensations, such as that of Jesus, when he finally departed from Earth. They go on to progress in eternity just as do all others.

Thanks for this interesting question!

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Friday, March 20, 2009

Who is God the Supreme and God the Ultimate?

Q: If the Universal Father is the God of all creation, the First Source and Center, and perfect in all aspects then who is God the Supreme and God the Ultimate?

A: Our God is a wonderful administrator, as well as the Universal Father, God of all creation and "perfect in all aspects." He is the perfect Executive, among all of his other sterling attributes.

What makes a perfect executive? Well, good executives always delegate authority. The Universal Father has delegated authority in the persons of the Eternal Son and the Infinite Spirit, for starters, creating the perfect Trinity. It is a mystery, but this Trinity of the persons of God are, like him, eternally present, having had no beginning. A great mystery, but true nonetheless.

Together with the three persons of the Trinity, there are four other Deity manifestations -seven in all You have named God the Supreme, and God the Ultimate:

God the Supreme—the actualizing or evolving God of time and space. Personal Deity associatively realizing the time-space experiential achievement of creature-Creator identity. The Supreme Being is personally experiencing the achievement of Deity unity as the evolving and experiential God of the evolutionary creatures of time and space.p4:9(0:2.12)

It is through the Supreme that the First Source and Center experiences individuality and creation. God the Supreme allows the Universal Father to experience growth - the growth of the time-space creations. The Universal Father, in and of himself, is already perfect, as you pointed out. He has no need to experience growth, as he is perfect. Through the Supreme, he is able to escape that "limitation."

Having achieved existential Deity expression of himself in the Son and the Spirit, the Father is now achieving experiential expression on hitherto impersonal and unrevealed deity levels as God the Supreme, God the Ultimate, and God the Absolute; but these experiential Deities are not now fully existent; they are in process of actualization. p10:11 (0:7.4)

Finally:

Do not entertain the idea that, since the Universal Father has delegated so much of himself and his power to others, he is a silent or inactive member of the Deity partnership. Aside from personality domains and Adjuster bestowal, he is apparently the least active of the Paradise Deities in that he allows his Deity co-ordinates, his Sons, and numerous created intelligences to perform so much in the carrying out of his eternal purpose. He is the silent member of the creative trio only in that he never does aught which any of his co-ordinate or subordinate associates can do. p362:5(32:4.1)

So, to sum up: The Universal Father is, was and always will be. He had no beginning and he will have no end. His is primal force and power. The Son is the Father's divine Word, and the Spirit is eternal Action. All three are eternal, and have no beginning or end. The remaining Deity manifestations are experiential and evolutionary. They did have a beginning, but will have no end, as they eventually manifest their purposes in the Universe of Universes.

So, even though God is indeed, perfect in himself, he has created a situation where he is able to escape that perfection to such an extent that he can actually experience imperfection. Another way he does this is to bestow himself in the form of the Thought Adjusters, and so, he even experiences the day-to-day lives of even his lowliest creatures like you and me.

To me, it seems a brilliant plan - and who could expect any less of our great and good Spirit Father?

I hope this has been helpful to you. If you would like to pursue further study, nothing will take the place of actually reading The Urantia Book in its entirety; however, you can do spot-studies by using our search feature, which can help you to pinpoint words and phrases. And please feel free to sign up for Quote of the Day, our daily offering of the best of Urantia Book quotes sent to your inbox, free of charge. Go HERE , or just click on subscribe

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Since the Adam and Eve failure why not simply scrap the project and do it over?

Q: Since the Adam and Eve failure why not simply scrap the project and do it over? And as to the Calagastia upheaval why not simply send a new resident planetary prince in the old one's stead?

A: It's hard to answer for the decisions of the administrators of life development on this world; we have limited and short sighted vision while they understand the outworkings of events far beyond our understanding. So I'll have to guess.

By scrapping the project and doing it over I'm assuming you mean send Adam and Eve back to clean up after themselves. That does seem to be a possibility, although an unlikely one. It may be that more good will come from allowing us to work our own way through this predicament by ourselves, if possible. Also, having a highly advanced culture imposed on us from the outside now presents its own set of problems. I don't expect the vast majority of humanity would take kindly to being invaded by aliens and having their will imposed upon us. UB readers like the prospects... most everyone else would resist I imagine.

As for the Planetary Prince -- I believe Jesus fills that function for now and he some day will return, whether invisible or in person we don't know. It just doesn't look like we're in line for outside help beyond whatever's already being provided. It would be great if the plan had been carried out, if we had a visible and invisible 500,000 year old seat of planetary administration and a 38,000 year old Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve running worldly affairs but it looks like the life on this experimental world will continue to unfold along the lines of the predominantly material driven promptings of our own doing, leaving it up to ourselves to discover the spiritual underpinnings of reality.

Thank you for your question. Hope the answer was of some help.

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Friday, March 13, 2009

Are the teachings of Jesus practicable?

Q: Are the teachings of Jesus practicable?

A: Jesus' teachings are certainly practicable - even after 2000 years, the life and teachings of Jesus provide the best source of knowledge that any child of God needs to lead a successful spiritual life. Jesus was a Divine being, and yet he was also a true human who lived a normal life, just as we do. Even though we will not live life in exactly the same way, still, the life that Jesus lived and the teachings that he gave are ever fresh, ever relevant to any mortal who wishes to know how to live as a son or daughter of God. Jesus was, and is, truly one of us.

What are the teachings of Jesus? Jesus taught us that we are children of a loving God, and that as such we are all connected in one great family - we are all brothers and sisters because we share the same Father. Jesus taught that by faith, we become sharers with him in the Kingdom of Heaven, and we become true universe citizens.This truth of Jesus' teaching has not changed. We are still called to seek God through faith, to love God as our Father and to love one another - to serve one another, and to treat others with love and tolerance. Jesus lived as he taught, and so the study of his life is vital to an understanding of what it means to be a child of God

This is one of the greatest gifts that we receive when we read The Urantia Book - we are gifted with Jesus' entire life story - not just the few years of his public ministry that are in the Bible. We see his life as he lived it in his day and time, but in that life are to be found all of the kinds of challenges, joys and discoveries that all normal humans experience; not in exactly the same way, but human nature is not so different today than it was in his time. Emotions are the same - the search for truth, beauty and goodness is the same today as it was then, and the God that Jesus revealed through his life is still the same God - today and evermore.

From The Urantia Book:

To "follow Jesus" means to personally share his religious faith and to enter into the spirit of the Master's life of unselfish service for man. One of the most important things in human living is to find out what Jesus believed, to discover his ideals, and to strive for the achievement of his exalted life purpose. Of all human knowledge, that which is of greatest value is to know the religious life of Jesus and how he lived it. p2090:4(196:1.3)

And:

The nature of God can be studied in a revelation of supreme ideas, the divine character can be envisaged as a portrayal of supernal ideals, but the most enlightening and spiritually edifying of all revelations of the divine nature is to be found in the comprehension of the religious life of Jesus of Nazareth, both before and after his attainment of full consciousness of divinity.p33:2(2:0.2)

In Part IV of The Urantia Book is to be found this complete life story. I hope you will be inspired to read it, and through reading it, to be assured that in Jesus' life - both before and after his realization of his Divinity - is to be found solid guidance and wisdom for our 21st century lives.

Thank you for writing to us with this important question.

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What happens to the majority of humans after death?

Q: What happens to the majority of humans after death?

A: The Urantia Book has quite a lot of information regarding eternal life, e.g., what an ascension candidate is, what happens to us after we die, and what the eternal career has in store. Much time is spent in the discussion and revelation of the ascension plan for humans. Just as Jesus died a mortal death and resurrected in three days' time, so we, too, can anticipate resurrection - not here on earth, as in the case of Jesus, but in one of the Father's seven mansion worlds that Jesus told us about, and about which The Urantia Book devotes a great deal of its teachings

We are told that "Mortals are all animal-origin evolutionary beings of ascendant potential." (underline is mine) And as Adjuster-indwelt mortals, all of us here on Urantia have as our destiny the adventure of one day returning to the Father on Paradise.

The section titled The Ascending Mortals begins:

"The following narrative presents the universe career of an Adjuster-indwelt mortal. The Son- and Spirit-fused mortals share portions of this career, but we have elected to tell this story as it pertains to the Adjuster-fused mortals, for such a destiny may be anticipated by all of the human races of Urantia." (underline is mine)

I think it is safe to say that the majority of humans will follow this career. Of course, there are those who may not, but that remains an individual choice, and one which may not be able to be finally and rightly made until we have passed from death on this planet to the status of survivor.

As to the immediate experience of life after death, I would invite you to view our short and beautiful flash video called After You Die, which outlines in great detail the teachings of The Urantia Book about this fascinating subject.

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How did you get your information? That is, about Jesus, God, Yahweh , Melchizedek, etc.

Q: I am quite intrigued about your facts about Jesus. I have been searching for the life style of Jesus before he started his ministry. But I have a question: How did you get your information? That is, about Jesus, God, Yahweh , Melchizedek, etc.

A: Thank you for your note and we're glad to hear that you're intrigued by the material we offer about Jesus. May I suggest that the more you read and know and understand the life and teachings of Jesus the more real he will become and the stronger the connection you will experience. You can begin the story as it is related in The Urantia Book from our site HERE where you can also listen to the text as you read along.

To understand how this information has become available you have to have an understanding of The Urantia Book; the recounting of Jesus' life and teachings is but one of the four parts that comprise this masterful book, first printed in 1955. The purpose of the book is not only to lift Jesus' life and teachings up from the Christian dogma that has surrounded it for the past 2,000 years but also to place it in context with the most recent revelation of spiritual truth to our world, the Urantia revelation, which is sometimes described as a handbook for acquiring cosmic citizenry.

We have a number of study aids available on our site to help with understanding The Urantia Book -- if you'll view our home page at www.truthbook.com in the blue links section at the left side you'll see "Jesus and The Urantia Book," "Urantia Book Video," "Answers to Life's Toughest Questions," "How The Urantia Book Changed My Life," "Spiritual Studies," and "FAQ" -- each of these sections will each provide a wealth of information about the book and about some of the people who study it. As informative and interesting as these materials are however, nothing substitutes for reading the book for oneself and making a personal decision regarding its authenticity, truth content, and value.

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 from our site that offers a daily quote from the incomparable teachings of this marvelous book with an audio clip and 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 click on the Quote of the Day link on the left side of our home page and follow the instructions.

Best wishes in your search and please feel free to write any time.

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Thursday, March 05, 2009

I don't have anything against the Urantia Book but how do the authors know certain things that are not even mentioned in the Bible ...?

Q: I don't have anything against the Urantia Book but how do the authors know certain things that are not even mentioned in the Bible - such as Adam and Eve were not the first ones who lived in Earth, the presence of Prince Caligastia,etc..?

A: How the authors know these things is no mystery -- the authors live in a reality different from ours and information such as you've mentioned is readily available to them, much like someone living near the Library of Congress and having ready access to its more than 18 million books compared with someone having no internet or library connection living in a rural area. They know more because they have access to more. A large part of The Urantia Book is its revelatory nature - the authors reveal things that have been heretofore either unknown, or forgotten, or misunderstood. The subjects that you mentioned are part of that revealed knowledge. The stories of Adam and Eve, and the Planetary Prince put our history into a new, understandable, and Divine perspective - they help us to gain a new worldview of ourselves - our origins and our destiny.

Maybe the question you really wanted to ask is, why should I believe this information since it's not found elsewhere?

First, you shouldn't believe anything just because someone says you should believe it. You're in possession of a rational mind that can provide you with reality and truth responses and you're the only one responsible for your own beliefs. If something doesn't seem rational, doesn't seem real, doesn't seem true to you then either you should do more investigation or you should reject it. Second, perhaps 90% of what's contained within the pages of The Urantia Book is found at least in part in other published works; they may not be well known but then that's part of the purpose of The Urantia Book, to make them known, for them to be identified and to be studied. Furthemore, you are in possession of the Spirit of Truth - the literal representation of Jesus, who he promised he would leave with us when he left our earth. This is our sure and ever-present guide into all truth.

There's only one way to know if The Urantia Book is real and if it is true and that is to read it for yourself and to decide for yourself. Is it logical? Does it make sense? Does it exhibit truth, goodness, beauty? Does it give you hope and enhance your thinking and your living? Most importantly, does its teachings help you to become closer to God, and improve your relationship with him? If you find the answers to these questions being yes, then why be confused by anything less?

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 from our site that offers a daily quote from the incomparable teachings of this marvelous book with an audio clip and 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.

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The Urantia book often refrences "human beings". What does the term "human" encompass, inhabitants of Urantia, or all universal world inhabitants?

Q: The Urantia book often references "human beings". What does the term "human" encompass, inhabitants of Urantia, or all universal world inhabitants?

A: To be human is a condition of mind, having a connection with the sixth and seventh adjutant mind spirits. Paleontologists define human beings as having human skeletons; The Urantia Book indicates that there were human-like beings long before the first true humans evolved, before worship and wisdom appeared as mind endowments; that's what differentiates human beings from human-like animals.

All worlds with free will mortals ministered to by the seven adjutant mind spirits will be inhabited by human beings; when the revelators want to specifically refer to human life here on earth they refer to us as Urantians rather than generically as human beings.

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How can I continually do what is right and also please the lord?

Q: How can I continually do what is right and also please the lord? I always find myself doing what I do not want to do, and it's killing me. Please help me.

A: I understand what you're asking... how to do the right thing when the wrong thing is easier. There is no magic thought or deed that can force you to do right, because God has endowed you with free will which is the freedom to choose between good and bad, right and wrong -- you're just as free to choose either one. Since you want to do what is right then you are already able to discern what is good/bad or right/wrong and you're having difficulty making the choice to do the good thing. You're fortunate, because some people seem unable to discern which is which.

This is where character comes into play. Is your character strong or weak? If it's weak then you have to begin to strengthen it through making a series of simple/easy choices and stick with them; for example... no chocolate for the rest of the week; no smoking or drinking for the next 10 days, go to bed before 10pm this month, give 25 cents to every needy person you see for the next two weeks, no swearing for 5 days... these kinds of simple decisions will require you to concentrate on following through with your decision. As the simple decisions become easier to stick to then the more difficult ones will be come easier too.

If you already have a strong character and you're just not making good choices it's because you're lazy. To improve on that use a similar technique to the above but choose to do the kind of things that combat laziness. You may also have to make some choices regarding who your real friends and associates should be.

Basically, what you have to do is to strengthen your sense of morality, your integrity, your virtue. The only gift you have to give to God is your decision to do his will in your life.

Morality has its origin in self-consciousness. The physical environment entails the battle for existence; social surroundings necessitate ethical adjustments; moral situations require making choices in the highest realms of reason.

Limitations of intellect, curtailment of education, deprivation of culture, impoverishment of social status, even inferiority of the standards of morality resulting from the lack of educational, cultural, and social advantages, cannot invalidate the presence of the divine spirit in such unfortunate and handicapped but believing individuals.

Morality can never be advanced by law or by force. It is a personal and freewill matter and must be disseminated by the contagion of the contact of morally fragrant persons with those who are less morally responsive, but who are also in some measure desirous of doing the Father's will.

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Is there a copy of this book made for a teenager at a young adult’s level? Thank you for your help.

Q: Is there a copy of this book made for a teenager at a young adult’s level? Thank you for your help.

A: Thank you for your note. Many readers today began reading The Urantia Book as teenagers -- some quite young. There have been several "restatements" of The Urantia Book aimed at simplifying the concepts; that may or may not be a good idea since it is the usage of the language that is the revelation and not the facts the book contains -- any simplification will concentrate on facts. However, the MorningStar Foundation, does carry all of the Urantia related materials currently available and you might look there for something you think would be appropriate.

People of any age can read and appreciate much of what's contained in The Urantia Book...The Lucifer Rebellion, the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, Andon and Fonta, and all of Part IV.

A special bond can develop between parent and child as these stories are read aloud and the ideas presented there are discussed. Also, since the book is available in audio readers can play the audio as they read along, a great way to expand comprehension of the material.

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