Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book

Q: If we humans on Urantia are evolutionally at "the bottom of the ladder," so to speak, where were we before this life? Were we just a drop in the pool of consciousness, waiting to be given a body?

A: Thank you so much for your thoughtful question. We love to hear from our visitors.

When you talk about whether "we" were a "drop in the pool of consciousness, waiting to be given a body," and ask "where were we before this life?" you are asking very deep questions.

When we think about our identities, we naturally go back to what makes us, us - and that is personality. It is what distinguishes us, one from another.

The Urantia Book is very clear on personality:

Personality. The personality of mortal man is neither body, mind, nor spirit; neither is it the soul. Personality is the one changeless reality in an otherwise ever-changing creature experience; and it unifies all other associated factors of individuality. The personality is the unique bestowal which the Universal Father makes upon the living and associated energies of matter, mind, and spirit, and which survives with the survival of the morontial soul. (0:5.11)

Since personality is a bestowal from the eternal Father, one might safely assume that "we" have eternally had potential in the personality of the Father, and this potential was established before the beginning of time itself. That potential was realized when our moms and dads joined to make the potential actual at our conception. The resulting person - that actuality of personality - became a physical expression of your aspect of the Father's personality when you were born - eternal and divine in potential. Actually, I guess one cannot say for certain exactly WHEN that personality is bestowed (at conception or at birth), only that it IS a certain bestowal at the pleasure of the Father.

It was - and is - God's prerogative to decide what aspect of himself that he bestows on which physical body that is conceived. There really is no "pre-existence;" I guess you you might say that all personality is pre-existent in the whole of the Father's personality. But that individual personality that belongs to you has no actuality, or "you-ness," ( for want of a better term) prior to its bestowal upon mortal flesh.

Among other thing, The Urantia Book acknowledges the "mystery" of personality, so the comprehension of these revelations concerning personality, while somewhat graspable by our human minds, still requires our faith and trust in God to settle our ideas of it. It is a fascinating subject...

Just for more information, you may be interested to visit our topical study on PERSONALITY, where Urantia Book teachings on this subject are pretty thoroughly explored.

Thanks again for this most interesting question; I hope that this answer is of help to you. Please write back any time!

Labels: consciousness, God, personality, pre-esistence, The Urantia Book

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Saturday, July 12, 2008

I Can't Find a Reason To Live. Why Am I Alive?

Q: I have heard that emptiness is the ultimate peak of consciousness. I feel a sort of emptiness in me. I can't find a reason to live. The only thing that is haunting my mind is why am I alive. I wanna die or wanna do something purposeful in life. Please guide.

A: This shouldnâ€™t be too difficult for you to correct â€” your basic assumption just needs some tweaking. The ultimate peak of consciousness is to be fully aware, open, loving, giving and not at all to be empty. Perhaps youâ€™re confusing emptiness with begin unattached to material things â€” material things wonâ€™t bring happiness. A fulfilling job that gives you the wherewithal to live comfortably and to enjoy the good things of life is a worthy goal where simply accumulating things is not.

You may not yet understand why youâ€™re here â€” getting a grasp on that is often a life-long pursuit â€” but any thinking person will easily recognize that there is a purpose to existence, that the scheme of things is too grand to be meaningless therefore the pursuit of meaning is a true spiritual adventure to be experienced now during this life.

With that in mind, dying prematurely will only subvert your purpose for being here now and will merely postpone your struggles, not remove them.

There is no better guide for living than to know and to understand the life Jesus led while here â€” thatâ€™s one of the great messages provided by The Urantia Book. Jesus came to the world for everyone, not just for Christians, and itâ€™s up to us to learn about him, who he was, why he came, what his message was â€” thatâ€™s hard to do when filtered through Christianity but is a wonderful, inspiring story when told as the angels tell us through the words in The Urantia Book. The life and teachings of Jesus in The Urantia Book gives Jesus to us before the Christian Church got ahold of him. So to get a good handle on your own life, where you are, why you are, where youâ€™re headed you owe it to yourself to read just this enthralling portion of the book. You can read the life and teachings of Jesus on-line from our site or from the book which can be ordered from Amazon. For the on-line version, take the left hand link "The Urantia Book" on our home page at www.truthbook.com and then the link "Urantia Book Introduction." Scroll clear to the bottom of the page and take the "Go to Part IV of the Urantia Book" link â€” you may want to skip Paper 120 which ties Part IV with the preceding 3 Parts and go right to Paper 121 to begin your reading. I think you'll soon find your spirits lifting and life beginning to look more promising to you.
____________________

I hope you will not mind a second answer to your searching question...Larry gave you some great advice, and I agree completely. Knowing the life of Jesus is the ideal place to find answers, as Jesus was our great teacher and the highest example of how to live and why to persevere, even when life is hard. He was the original Son of God, and he showed us how we can also live as sons of God, which we are, in truth. He is your spiritual brother and is with you always. Reading of his matchless life as a real human man, while also a true God, is endlessly inspiring. Even though his life was lived over 2000 years ago, his words ring clear and relevant to our present lives. Please follow this advice. Take advantage of our Truthbook.com site. We are here for YOU!

This emptiness you speak of is part of the human condition. It has been called "existential loneliness," among other things. Many people have experienced this, and so you must not feel as if you are alone, even though it does feel that way sometimes.

Why do we feel so lonely? We learn in The Urantia Book that this planet earth (Urantia) that we live on is a very disordered kind of world. We have been in spiritual isolation for a very long time, and because of this, we have to discover on our own the reality of the spiritual life. This discovery will change your life, as it puts all of the sorrows and hardships of our lives into a larger perspective, and gives us a solid, indestructible foundation from which to deal with everyday problems and moods of the mind.

You hold within yourself a "pilot light -" a spark of God himself. He has been inside you for a long time, and waits patiently for you to recognize his presence, so that he can share your life, your sorrows, your confusion - and your joys and spiritual victories, too. When you get quiet and ask for him, he will answer you in a "still, small voice." It is hard to hear this voice sometimes, but when you really desire it, you will hear. You are never alone, but God does not call attention to himself. He waits for you to turn to him, and then he can truly commune with you. Far from "emptiness," the consciousness of God is the highest consciousness that there is, and worth every effort to achieve.

Jesus came to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. He taught us that all you have to do to enter this holy kingdom is to believe that you are a son of God. Very simple. And after that, the best way to experience the joys of the Kingdom is to do something for someone else. Do some kind of service for another. This will take you out of your own problems, if even for a little while, and will help you to see what even a small kindness to another can do for your self-esteem and your own sense of self-worth. I am sure that you know someone right now in your life who could benefit from a service offered by you in love.

It is a difficult world we live in, and I know that sometimes, it is very discouraging to keep on, when we see so much emptiness - not only in ourselves, but in the world around us. The only thing that can fill that emptiness is God. Once you have found God within yourself, you will become energized once more, and will have a new reason to live. God intends that we live lives of joy and originality, and you have within you all that you need to make this a reality.

As Larry pointed out, you cannot escape the business of living and spiritual growth. Even if you leave the earth by your own hand, you will still have to make progress in the next world. It is just the way it is. We will always have to make progress, for "progress" is the watchword of the universe. When you decide to enter the Kingdom by faith now, you are making a great step towards improving your life - and the lives of all who will benefit from your love, understanding, tolerance, and brotherhood. And that is real, here-and-now progress...

As Jesus was fond of saying, "Fear not."
And he also said "the kingdom of Heaven is within you."
Open up your life, instead of ending it. The best is yet to be!!!

Labels: consciousness, God, Jesus, kingdom of heaven, loneliness, service, The Urantia Book

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