Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book

Q: It's all very confusing, the life after death part! Simplistically, what actually happens when we die?

A: Thanks so much for writing to us with this question about our life after death. Even with the revelatory information about the process that we have from The Urantia Book, it is understandable that there is some uncertainty. Death is still the "great unknown" in a lot of ways. Really, it is simply the "great adventure" that we all have yet to experience.

I suppose if this life here on Earth had been explained to you before you incarnated it would have seemed very confusing too, yet you gradually became aware of your surroundings, your mother and father's faces, eating and sleeping and eventually the greater world around you. It's a natural process and now it's all familiar and natural to you...

Each night when you go to sleep you surrender your consciousness with the expectation that when you awake it will be given back to you just like it was when you went to sleep... and sure enough! Wouldn't you expect that that's pretty much what will occur when you die?

You'll die, for whatever reasons, either peacefully or with struggle. You'll gradually awaken as a newly arrived soul to new surroundings that you'll become familiar with over time as you become aware of the greater world around you. Eventually you'll recall that you'd had a previous life in the flesh, and that your personality had survived that death and that you are now embarked upon a fantastic new adventure.

In any event, you will lose consciousness at death, just as in nightly sleep - but we know from Urantia Book teachings, that we will awaken again on the Mansion Worlds. It is our faith and our desire for survival that ensures our awakening, so try not to be overly concerned - just cultivate faith and trust in God's goodness.

At death, your Thought Adjuster takes leave of your mind, while your soul, your mind and your personality are taken by the angels and kept in perfect safety until your resurrection, which takes place when your soul is re-united with your Adjuster on the Mansion Worlds. You will be unconscious until that resurrection experience, and so it will be just like waking up here, only you'll have that consciousness of having survived the death experience.

And don't forget: Jesus provided the living proof that life continues after death through his resurrection... that we begin over there just as we left off over here. He was a human just as we are human. He rose from the dead, and so will you (except of course, you will awaken on the Mansion Worlds). Trust Jesus.

I hope that this reply has been of some help to you...for some inspiration, please see our flash movie called "After You Die" HERE

And you might also enjoy looking through our study on Life after Death HERE

Thanks again for writing to us.

Labels: consciousness, death, Jesus, life after death, Mansion Worlds, soul, The Urantia Book

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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

May I get some doubts cleared...?

Q: You cannot imagine the excitement I got when I had a cursory look at Urantia. May I get some doubts cleared?
Is there a hell?
Who goes to hell?
Say, a man who drinks a little too much but otherwise a gem of a man.... does he go to hell?
Some one who eats like there was no tomorrow........ what about him?

A: Thank you for your note to Truthbook.com. We're happy you've discovered The Urantia Book -- and yes, I think we can imagine the excitement you felt when you first discovered it. Each of us has had a very similar experience -- The Urantia Book is truly a remarkable, life altering and unique encounter.

You've asked several questions -- I can give you answers, but any answer I give will be short of what the revelation itself provides. In order for answers to be meaningful to you you have to come to the decision on your own that The Urantia Book is what it promotes itself as being -- an epochal revelation of spiritual truth to all the peoples of the world -- and that its message doesn't hinge on anyone else's opinion. That kind of realization can only occur by reading the book for oneself and not relying on the interpretation of others regarding its message, meanings, and value.

Jesus made it abundantly clear that God the Father is a loving heavenly Father -- no loving earthly father would torment his children if they erred so why would we presume that God would have less tolerance for us than our own father would? No, there is no place of torment and damnation such as hell -- that concept has come into play primarily by religions of authority as a method for influencing people that they must attend church or synagogue or temple.

No one goes to hell. It doesn't exist. You might wish to watch the video titled "After You Die" as well as the one titled "You Can Live Forever" which are found on our site under the "Urantia Book Video" link -- these videos, along with the others found there contain Urantia concepts in condensed form so you'll get an overview of the book's teachings. Also there's a "Life After Death" magazine on the site that explains what The Urantia Book has revealed about what happens when we die.

Doubts and questions are okay -- particularly when something so new and refreshing as the teachings of The Urantia Book are first encountered. I can't remove your doubts but you can have them answered by reading this book with an open and inquisitive mind. You don't have to approach it with an attitude of belief -- it will provide the information necessary in order for you to test your beliefs against the new and decide for yourself which is more meaningful, more true, more good.

Spend some time at our site -- there's a lot of information about The Urantia Book that will help you decide whether to invest the time and effort necessary to read the book for oneself. But no amount of about The Urantia Book can substitute for your own reading of its text. You may find it helpful to listen to the book being read aloud as you read along. You can do this by going here to begin your reading and click on the (((Listen))) link at the top of each Paper.

Thank you for your note and best wishes to you. You've made the discovery of a lifetime.

Labels: doubts, hell, life after death, The Urantia Book

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Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Is Heaven a planet?

Q: Is Heaven a planet?

A:Thanks for this interesting question...

Heaven is usually thought of as our final destination after we die, and it is the ideal of perfection where we will have no more sorrow, no more pain, and we will be with God.

The Urantia Book gives us a greatly enlarged revelation of the worlds on high - worlds that we will visit on our eternal voyage. Some of these, the authors tell us, are places that will truly fit humanity's ideas of what "heaven" is really like.

For example, we learn that:

Jerusem, the headquarters of your local system of Satania, has its seven worlds of transition culture, each of which is encircled by seven satellites, among which are the seven mansion worlds of morontia detention, man's first postmortal residence. As the term heaven has been used on Urantia, it has sometimes meant these seven mansion worlds, the first mansion world being denominated the first heaven, and so on to the seventh. Jerusem, the headquarters of your local system of Satania, has its seven worlds of transition culture, each of which is encircled by seven satellites, among which are the seven mansion worlds of morontia detention, man's first postmortal residence. As the term heaven has been used on Urantia, it has sometimes meant these seven mansion worlds, the first mansion world being denominated the first heaven, and so on to the seventh. (15:7.5)

...the system headquarters [of Jerusem] is truly the heaven visualized by the majority of twentieth-century religious believers. (46:0.1)

You should consider the statement about "heaven" and the "heaven of heavens." The heaven conceived by most of your prophets was the first of the mansion worlds of the local system. (48:6.12)

In this sense, then, "heaven" can surely be thought of as being an actual planet. These worlds referenced above are what is termed "architectural worlds," or, worlds "which are built according to plans and specifications for some special purpose," but they are planets nonetheless. Please click on any of the links above to open the quotes, so you can read more about "heaven."

I hope this answer has been helpful to you.

You also asked: Is sex (between husband and wife) allowed in a Christian life?

I don't want to assume anything, but this question is a surprise...can you be serious?

Of course sex is not only allowed, but encouraged in marriage - Christian or otherwise. How else can more souls be brought into the world? Sex is a good thing. Without it, neither of us would be here talking to each other...

Again, thanks for your questions...

Labels: heaven, Jerusem, life after death, Mansion Worlds, planets

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Sunday, August 09, 2009

Will You go to heaven????

Q: Will You go to heaven????

A: Personal belief and faith help define the mental personal realities we each live in but in order to be "real" they require a foundation based on the rock solidness of logical, objective reality. Most people give little thought and little introspection to logic or to objective reality, relying more on seat of the pants, what feels good, or just accepting what others believe for themselves. So, for example, while believing or having faith in the Easter Bunny or in Santa Clause may provide comfort for a believer, that doesn't make that belief "real."

Among all the other gifts God has given us, there's one that helps us overcome the tendency toward wishful thinking, helps us discern reality. If we're to make sense of this complicated and confusing life we need to rely on that gift; it's given to us for that purpose, and that gift is a logical mind... a mind that works to make order out of chaos and to sort fact from fiction, to give us real perspective.

Another gift from God is that of God reaching down to help draw us up toward him and one of the ways this is done is through revelation -- knowledge that's outside of evolutionary acquirement, knowledge that's true, beautiful, and good, knowledge that can be relied on.

Most who actually study the teachings of The Urantia Book eventually come to believe that its teachings are logical and grounded and they come to believe that it is what it claims to be, a divine revelation, that what it portrays is "real." So, based on those two beliefs it's not a difficult step to take to accept what The Urantia Book relates about heaven, which is much more complete and detailed than any other teaching one might encounter.

It's my firm conviction, based on years of study of The Urantia Book, which speaks to me in ways nothing else ever has, is that God is good, God loves me, God provides for me, God has a near infinite plan for my spiritual adventure and development, that this life is but the very first rung at the bottom of the ladder to paradise and eternity, and that when I die I do not disappear. Jesus, through his resurrection, made it evident that death is not an end but is just a transition. So yes, I am confident that when I die I will "go to heaven" although what that means entails much more than the common concept of "heaven."

How about you? Will you go to heaven? Have you checked out our more detailed study called "There is Life After Death" on our home page...

Do you have questions about what it says? Do the videos there give you pause to consider? Has this reply been of any benefit to you?

Thank you for your question and best wishes...

Labels: God, heaven, life after death, mind, The Urantia Book

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Sunday, June 07, 2009

Can the departed soul look back on us and see and feel how much we are thinking of him and missing him?

Q: I read your "There is Life after Death" and I have a practical question. Can the departed soul look back on us and see and feel how much we are thinking of him and missing him? And does the departed soul try to help us and comfort us...if so how? Or does the departed soul just keep going onward on his own individual journey oblivious of the people he left behind who love and miss him and cannot go on without him?

A: That's a good question with a difficult answer. If we answer "no" there's no looking back, then that destroys the hope and anticipation so many people carry with them about being comforted and loved by their departed loved ones and their devotion to the memories of those who have died. If we answer "yes" then we're ignoring what The Urantia Book teaches about life and life after death and promoting ghost belief and thoughts of spirit intervention into our daily lives.

The Urantia Book makes it clear that we're under the watchcare of angels; that's the job they're assigned and they fulfill their obligation fully, lovingly, and with compassion. The angels are also responsible for transporting the souls of the departed to the mansion worlds â€” there are no souls left wandering about earth, they're either placed in a spiritual slumber or they're taken to the mansion worlds which are both physically far away and mindally far removed.

It is possible however that mindal energies that were used by the departed are still active here on earth, at least for a while â€” that may account in some manner of the experiences people relate about connections with the departed. It is also possible that those starting out on their mansion world careers may wish to assure their loved ones that they're alive and well and such a desire may be carried back by angels to be delivered in such a way that it seems as though there's been contact. It's also possible that the departed are simply in a spiritual sleep state until other loved ones join them before they pass as a group to the mansion worlds. In any case it would still be within the realm of possibility that the angels of our supervision simply provide encouragement and comfort to us in the most meaningful of ways to ease our sorrow, grief, and burden.

So to be specific, we're not told that departed souls can look back and feel how much we are thinking and missing them. There will be meetings of loved ones on the mansion worlds, whether all are resurrected at the same time or whether there's a delay. It's true that the journey is an individual one but we always do it in concert with others and loved ones play an important part in everything we do.

I hope that reply brings you some comfort.

Labels: angels, life after death, Mansion Worlds, soul

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Friday, May 29, 2009

Are we reincarnated in the sense that Buddhists believe?

Q: Are we reincarnated in the sense that Buddhists believe?

A: In a word - no.

Here is a quote from The Urantia Book. This is taken from the life of Jesus:

There was, throughout all these regions, a lingering belief in reincarnation. The older Jewish teachers, together with Plato, Philo, and many of the Essenes, tolerated the theory that men may reap in one incarnation what they have sown in a previous existence; thus in one life they were believed to be expiating the sins committed in preceding lives. The Master found it difficult to make men believe that their souls had not had previous existences. p1811:5 (164:3.4)

Buddhism and Urantia Book teachings are similar in some ways, but not in regards to reincarnation. The closest The Urantia Book comes to Buddhism in the matters of life and death is the Buddhist teaching of Nirvana - final liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth, and the end of suffering.

The Urantia Book teaches that we will enjoy a true resurrection following our death, never to return to the Earth. In our new life on the Mansion Worlds, there will be no suffering, and we will be faced with the prospect of an "eternal adventure." True, we do enjoy successive lives - but never will we lose our personalities or our identities - and we always keep our memories. Our successive lives reflect our gradual transformation from a purely mortal being to a bonafide spirit, and our destiny lies in the worlds of Paradise and beyond...

Please take a few minutes and enjoy one of our flash movies which will help you to understand some Urantia Book teachings regarding what happens After You Die

There is a lot more information here about Life after Death as well

Thanks for this great question!

Labels: Buddhism, life after death, Mansion Worlds, Nirvana, reincarnation, The Urantia Book

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Friday, March 13, 2009

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.

Labels: ascension, eternal life, life after death, Mansion Worlds, mortals, The Urantia Book

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Wednesday, February 25, 2009

We had a dear friend pass away 5 days ago...Does he see us or hear us? Does he remember us?

Q: We had a dear friend pass away 5 days ago from cancer. He passed away suddenly. We had not talked to him since late December. He was going to do one more chemo treatment in December. He passed in the Hospital. He had not called His former spouse or us. We donâ€™t know details. He died at the hospital. He had been staying at his residence. Does he see us or hear us? Does he remember us?

A: I am so sorry to hear of your loss. It must be hard to realize that your friend is gone so suddenly. Death seems always to take us by surprise, doesn't it?...it sounds as if he may have isolated himself in his final weeks and months, and I am sure that that adds to your sense of loss. Please accept my condolences.

The good news is that you seem to believe that it is possible for your friend to still be "somewhere," and you are exactly right. He is embarking on the supreme adventure, and it could be that he is right now awakening to his new life after death.

The Urantia Book teaches us that "death is only the beginning of an endless career of adventure, an everlasting life of anticipation, an eternal voyage of discovery." I hope you can be cheered to imagine that this voyage has now started in earnest, and your friend is happy. Of course, this will be the privelege of all of us eventually - to pass from the death of the material body to a new life in the never-ending quest for God.

In the Urantia Book, we learn that our loved ones DO remember us, and their life in the flesh. As to whether he can see you, that is not possible, as his new residence is quite far away. But as you remember him, so does he remember you, and he'll be waiting to greet you and all of his other friends and family as they leave the planet, too, as a result of natural death. At that time you will most certainly see each other, so that is something that can give you great hope.

The Urantia Book contains a wealth of comforting material about the subject of Life after Death; Please feel free to visit HERE for much more information - you may especially like to see our videos "After You Die," and "You Can Live Forever," found on the same link.

Again, my sympathies are with you in this difficult time.

Labels: death, life after death, The Urantia Book

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Saturday, February 14, 2009

Will we know one another in heaven?

Q: Will we know one another in heaven?

A: Thank you for taking the time to write to us with this question. I think it is a concern that many of us have had. Some of the most beautiful and comforting parts of The Urantia Book are its teachings about life after death. And one of the sweetest is the teaching that we we will indeed, know one another in heaven. In fact, our relationships are the most important thing we do here on earth - so important, that they have eternal value.

"... much of your past life and its memories, having neither spiritual meaning nor morontia value, will perish with the material brain; much of material experience will pass away as onetime scaffolding which, having bridged you over to the morontia level, no longer serves a purpose in the universe. But personality and the relationships between personalities are never scaffolding; mortal memory of personality relationships has cosmic value and will persist. On the mansion worlds you will know and be known, and more, you will remember, and be remembered by, your onetime associates in the short but intriguing life on Urantia." p1235:4(112:5.22)

The "morontia level" is a level of existence which is between the purely physical, and the purely spiritual. It is a stage that we pass through after our life on earth is over. And the mansion worlds are our first stopping-place on our way to Paradise. The "Father's many mansions" that Jesus mentioned are these same worlds. I imagine that this experience will fulfill all of our dreams of Heaven.

Please click visit our study on Life After Death to find lots more information on this topic, including Quotes of the Day and flash movies...

Thanks for writing. I hope this has been helpful to you. Write back any time. Would you like to subscribe to our daily Quote of the Day service? Just go to our home page, click on Quote of the Day (in the middle) and then click subscribe.

Labels: life after death, memory, morontia, relationship, The Urantia Book

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Do we have to pay for the misdeeds and sufferings of our ancestors?

Q: I have a query. Do the departed souls affect us? If they are not happy do they cause us suffering? Do we have to pay for the misdeeds and sufferings of our ancestors? What does one do to bring peace to the departed souls? I do not understand that when we are good why we have to suffer for someone else's misdeeds and sins. Its unfair.

A: Thank you for your question to Truthbook.com. Yes, what you've related would be unfair if it were true. I know many people suffer from the burden they believe the departed have placed upon them. In some cultures people die because of their belief that those who've departed can influence them so profoundly, so it's not a problem to be dismissed lightly.

Our minds are powerful influences and can perform amazing things, some hard to believe. Having powerful minds and the free will to direct them however we choose is a birthright we all are endowed with. Some people are willing to turn over the control and function of their minds to others -- the others don't have the capacity to control a healthy mind without the willful consent of the person being controlled. So, yes, some people can and do suffer from someone else's misdeeds, but it is a choice they've made, perhaps unconsciously, to do.

The Urantia Book has the most complete and factual information about the birth of the soul, how it functions, what it does, where it and we go upon death, and what the life hereafter will be like. There's a short presentation on our site titled After You Die that should be of comfort to you and help answer your question. Briefly though, the answer to your question is no, departed souls do not physically or mentally affect us -- they leave earth and are involved in activity that's meaningful to their own development and are not involved in any further activity here on earth; they do not return. Energy patterns and mindal energy systems that had been part of that person's makeup while alive may still exist once the individual is gone -- sensitive people can tap into those energies or even those not so sensitive can as well if they choose to. It's a matter of free will choice whether one wants to indulge in these undertakings or not; they can as easily be dismissed and disregarded, whether they're real or not.

Do we pay for the misdeeds and sufferings of our ancestors? Only if we choose to aim our minds in those directions -- yes, some people do suffer from such perceived burdens, but again, it's their choice to do so, whether the choice has been made consciously or unconsciously; such choices can be reversed by refusing to entertain thoughts along those lines. Our Father in heaven does not burden his mortal children; we are not held accountable for another individual's actions -- it's only our own actions that matter. Just as the Father did not require an innocent sacrifice in order to appease wrath, neither does the Father require that we pay for the sins of others -- it's our choice if that's what we choose to do. Jesus has exhorted us to fear not; trust Jesus.

May I recommend that you spend time at our site to help you understand these answers better and 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, The Urantia 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.

Labels: Jesus, life after death, soul, suffering, the departed, The Urantia Book

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Monday, January 26, 2009

What is your belief about reincarnation and those intuitives/sensitives that promote past life readings?

A: Thank you for this timely and interesting question. The Urantia Book has the following to say about reincarnation:

The primitive doctrine of survival after death was not necessarily a belief in immortality. Beings who could not count over twenty could hardly conceive of infinity and eternity; they rather thought of recurring incarnations. href=" p953:4(86:4.5)

This idea of reincarnation originated in the observance of hereditary and trait resemblance of offspring to ancestors. The custom of naming children after grandparents and other ancestors was due to belief in reincarnation. Some later-day races believed that man died from three to seven times. p953:5(86:4.6)

The undue concentration on self led certainly to a fear of the nonevolutionary perpetuation of self in an endless round of successive incarnations as man, beast, or weeds. And of all the contaminating beliefs which could have become fastened upon what may have been an emerging monotheism, none was so stultifying as this belief in transmigrationâ€”the doctrine of the reincarnation of soulsâ€”which came from the Dravidian Deccan. This belief in the weary and monotonous round of repeated transmigrations robbed struggling mortals of their long-cherished hope of finding that deliverance and spiritual advancement in death which had been a part of the earlier Vedic faith.p1029:1(94:2.3)

The older Jewish teachers, together with Plato, Philo, and many of the Essenes, tolerated the theory that men may reap in one incarnation what they have sown in a previous existence; thus in one life they were believed to be expiating the sins committed in preceding lives. The Master found it difficult to make men believe that their souls had not had previous existences.p1811:5(164:3.4)

You can see from these quotes that reincarnation is not a belief that is fostered in the teachings of The Urantia Book, nor in the teachings of Jesus. However, it is a theory that many seeking souls adopt as a way of explaining survival of the self, as well as karma, the idea of reaping what we sow.

I was a believer in reincarnation at one point in my life, but I now much prefer the idea of "resurrection" of the immortal soul as presented in The Urantia Book:

On mansion world number one (or another in case of advanced status) you will resume your intellectual training and spiritual development at the exact level whereon they were interrupted by death. Between the time of planetary death or translation and resurrection on the mansion world, mortal man gains absolutely nothing aside from experiencing the fact of survival. You begin over there right where you leave off down here.p533:5(47:3.7)

This teaching relieves any fears I may have had about having to return to this planet over and over again as the result of some past sins - which to me, is a very depressing thought. Having to endure, all over again, a complete mortal life until I "get it right," seems terribly unappealing to me.

Given the sheer size and magnitude of the inhabited universe presented in The Urantia Book, it seems highly unlikely to me that we would be doomed to such a circular existence focused on only this little ball of dirt in space. Rather, we can look forward to resurrection on new worlds, with new challenges, and new opportunities for atoning for our shortcomings. The watchword of the universe is "progress." Personally, I see nothing progressive about reincarnation.

I am however, interested in the phenomena of the intuitives that you mention, and I notice that many people seem to gain a great deal of comfort from these "readings." I am sure that they believe in what they are doing, as well as do the people who seek them out, but to me, it is only a curiosity, and nowhere near reality. I don't consider it sinful or bad, just pointless. I know that good and sincere people can have a desire to know everything they can in order to help them through this present life we are living, but the surest way to handle life on a day-to-day basis is to stay present, ask God to guide you, and do the best you can with every situation that comes up in your life. From the Urantia Book:

Love of adventure, curiosity, and dread of monotonyâ€”these traits inherent in evolving human natureâ€”were not put there just to aggravate and annoy you during your short sojourn on earth, but rather to suggest to you that death is only the beginning of an endless career of adventure, an everlasting life of anticipation, an eternal voyage of discovery.p159:6(14:5.10)

Finally, as to the karmic idea, The Urantia Book has an interesting quote about reaping and sowing:

When you finish your earthly career, your body remains on this planet...You "sow a mortal body" in the grave; you "reap a morontia form" on the mansion worlds.p431:2(39:2.13)

(NB: "Morontia" is a term designating a stage of existence which is between material and spiritual - a transition state between being entirely mortal, and entirely spiritual: ed)

The Urantia Book teaches us that this new life vehicle will be a faithful reflection of the true inner person, so that the spiritual progress, or lack thereof, will be reflected in this new form. This is an intriguing concept, and to me, is a good reason continue to do all I can to progress spiritually right here and now...hey, I want to look good in my resurrected life!!!

I would like to invite you to take a look at our dedicated page called Life After Death. You'll find many things of interest there that will give you even more information about The Urantia Book's teachings on the subject of eternal life.

And if you have not done so, please susbscribe to Quote of the Day - a free service of Truthbook.com. You'll receive a daily quote from The Urantia Book to uplift and inspire you.

Labels: eternal life, intuitives, life after death, reincarnation, The Urantia Book

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Why do so many people feelingly experience re-incarnation as a spiritual reality?

A: Buddhists and Hindus experience reincarnation as a spiritual reality because it is an integral part to their view of the life and death cycle and most believers in any one particular religion tend to accept all the doctrines of that religion. Others accept reincarnation as valid because it seems to provide a logical answer to the age-old questions of why do some people seem to be blessed while others face lives of struggle. And still others accept reincarnation because they believe they've been given proof through past life regression, deja-vu, or psychic experiences that appear to point to its validity as a belief system.

Perhaps one of the main reasons people accept the theory of reincarnation is because deep down they realize that there's more to existence than this one short life can provide and because they have not been given another satisfying or more complete explanation of the breadth and scope of the adventure that awaits upon departure from this life in the flesh while a belief in reincarnation seems to answer that call.

As you may be aware, The Urantia Book makes it clear that this is the first and only physical experience required to cause the soul to be born and that from this point onward our existence will be one of increasing spiritual awareness and development. The Urantia Book describes in exquisite detail the universe career we embark upon after physical death, what we will experience as heaven and beyond. This ascension plan is so full and all-encompassing that what the theory of reincarnation offers pales and seems dull and tedious in its wake. So until the time comes that there's a more complete understanding of God's plan for us the theory of reincarnation will continue to hold a place in the beliefs of many.

Please see our web page dedicated to the study of Life After Death as taught in The Urantia Book.

Labels: Buddhism, Hinduism, life after death, reincarnation, spirituality, The Urantia Book

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Monday, December 08, 2008

As My Friend Lay Dying, I Felt Peace

Phil Smith describes sitting on the side of the road as his friend lay dying from the motor cycle accident. As he died, the teachings of the Urantia Book gave Phil peace and comfort about where his friend was going. Emotional, thoughtful, and moving story.

See also "After You Die"

Labels: death, life after death, peace, Phil Smith, The Urantia Book

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Friday, November 14, 2008

Ten years ago I had an abortion, and now regret it. Will I ever see my child?

10 years ago I had an abortion. I really regret what I did and I wonder what has happened to the soul of the child. How can I come to terms with what I did and will I meet my child after death?

I am so sorry...regret is a terrible thing to bear, and I can sympathise. I don't share your same experience, but I have wrestled with overwhelming regret, and it can be debilitating.

First of all, let me try to put your mind to rest regarding the fate of your child. According the the teachings of The Urantia Book, your child is safe. While your child was not old enough to have possessed a soul (and this is true of any child under the general age of five years), it does have a potential soul, and a potential identity. Your child is located at the probationary nursery , and is being lovingly cared for by the cherubim until such time as either of its parents arrive on the Mansion Worlds.

Here's a wonderful quote from The Urantia Book regarding your possible future experience with your child:

But irrespective of parental experience, mansion world parents who have growing children in the probation nursery are given every opportunity to collaborate with the morontia custodians of such children regarding their instruction and training. These parents are permitted to journey there for visits as often as four times a year. And it is one of the most touchingly beautiful scenes of all the ascending career to observe the mansion world parents embrace their material offspring on the occasions of their periodic pilgrimages to the finaliter world. While one or both parents may leave a mansion world ahead of the child, they are quite often contemporary for a season. p531:3

In any event, your child is not lost, so please try to take heart from this information. Our Father is not willing that any should perish, and knowing that, we have to trust that even unborn mortals are given the same opportunity for eternal life that all mortals enjoy. I like to think that there are special places in the nursery where the unborn are nurtured and grown in safety and love. That is my own imagining, since this specific circumstance is not covered in The Urantia Book, but I feel sure that some provision is made, so that eventually, he or she will be able to choose to advance...and that you will sometime be able to meet. There is nowhere in The Urantia Book that teaches otherwise.

And, just in case you have questions about your own survival, please see our featured page on Life After Death>

As for coming to terms with your actions, let me quote a favorite passage from The Urantia Book that has been of great solace to me:

Do not become discouraged by the discovery that you are human. Human nature may tend toward evil, but it is not inherently sinful. Be not downcast by your failure wholly to forget some of your regrettable experiences. The mistakes which you fail to forget in time will be forgotten in eternity. Lighten your burdens of soul by speedily acquiring a long-distance view of your destiny, a universe expansion of your career. p1739:3(156:5.8)

It is important that you learn to forgive yourself, and move forward. I am sure that, at the time, you did this for what may have seemed to be good and sufficient reasons. Ten years is a long time to carry this burden on your heart, and for your own well-being, you must release it. Maybe the knowledge that your child is not really lost will help you to do that.

Said Jesus: "My disciples must not only cease to do evil but learn to do well; you must not only be cleansed from all conscious sin, but you must refuse to harbor even the feelings of guilt. If you confess your sins, they are forgiven; therefore must you maintain a conscience void of offense." p1736:4(156:2.7)

So, you can see from this comforting passage from Jesus that the first step in your renewal is to confess your wrongdoing, which you likely have already done, and receive God's forgiveness for it. And one of the surest ways to receive that forgiveness is to practice the forgiveness of others in your life who may have wronged you.

Again, from The Urantia Book:

The Father in heaven has forgiven you even before you have thought to ask him, but such forgiveness is not available in your personal religious experience until such a time as you forgive your fellow men. God's forgiveness in fact is not conditioned upon your forgiving your fellows, but in experience it is exactly so conditioned. P1638,(146:2.4)

So, while you are already forgiven, you will actually experience the fullness of that forgiveness as you, in turn, forgive others.

Yours is not the first case that I have heard of where there is regret following this decision. I am adding your letter to our site (minus any identifying information, of course) in hopes that others may see your experience and think twice before making this life-changing choice.

Maybe you could look for an opportunity to personally minister to women who are facing this dilemma; in this way, you could see some real good come from your experience.

Labels: abortion, forgiveness, Jesus, life after death, probationary nursery, regret, The Urantia Book, unborn

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Friday, November 07, 2008

How can I help someone who is very angry at God?

Q: I have a friend who's husband is really, really angry at God for the terminal cancer that his brother-in-law is facing. His brother has two small children, and it seems so unfair to him. Do you have any insight as to how to address this - to give her (my friend) some words of wisdom that she might be able to help her husband with?

A: The most important thing I would tell someone who was angry at God for the illness and impending death of a loved is that everyone dies. There is nobody on earth that doesn't die sooner or later. This is a fact of our existence and to some degree the only variable is how we will die. There are some blessings involved in dying with an illness that allows everyone time to assimilate the reality of it, take care of business and say their goodbyes. It's much harder when someone dies accidentally and leaves many things undone. Even so, death happens to everyone and it will happen to this woman's husband too.

From God's point of view, death is not an end but a beginning and it helps to try to get people to look at it that way. Death is really just another birth in an endless cycle of life. The analogy of birth really helps me a lot. Before a person is born they have everything they need. They are in a warm and nurturing environment. Then suddenly the same environment that sustained their being is now totally rejecting them. It must be terribly traumatic. Soon they go from a very small closed environment, where everything is provided rather automatically, to a huge open environment where nothing is provided except when they cry. No wonder they cry so much. But think of the loving hands and warm smiling faces that greet new babies.

Emergence into the next world is no different. Perhaps your friend can get her husband to imagine the joy on the other side when a newly born soul arrives over there. Imagine the joy of reunion for those loved ones who have already passed over and the joy of God and the angels to welcome this beloved child to the shores of the next phase of their ongoing existence. Also, there is the indescribable personal joy of the one who dies but then makes the awesome discovery that there really is no death.

She can remind her husband that because God is the perfect loving parent he feels our pain and is afflicted with us, just as her husband would be afflicted by the pain of his own children.

Some human suffering is unavoidable. God does not dole out death and suffering, these things are brought about by life on the material worlds. However, trust in the goodness of God does give us the comfort and hope that gets us through these difficulties.

Also, comfort your friend with the simple reality that God understands why we humans get angry at him but truly experiences nothing but love for us. Anger does not exist in God. He knows that, compared to eternal viewpoints, human viewpoints are as limited as the vision of a new born baby. Her husband will come to peace in time, anger is part of a grieving process and most people move beyond it, sooner or later.

Please see our Life After Death page, where you'll find our e-magazine "There Is Life After Death," as well as flash movies about life after death, and other uplifting features that will help and inspire you and your friend.

Labels: anger, cancer, God, illness, life after death, suffering, The Urantia Book

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When I die and go to Heaven, how can I be happy when I realize that someone I love is not in Heaven with me?

Q: When I die and go to Heaven, how can I be happy when I realize that someone I love is not in Heaven with me?

A: Your question reminds me of a similar question I asked myself some 34 years ago when I was just 16 and studying the Bible with a group of religionists. While these folks did not believe in Hell, they did believe in Armageddon. Their doctrine was that at Armageddon, God would destroy everyone on earth who was not a part of their church.

At the time, I met a woman (whom I'd never seen before nor since) and I was talking to her about the teachings of this group. She told me something I never forgot. She said, "You have the ability to know the truth in your own heart. If something grinds against your own natural and logical beliefs don't except it as being true." I felt then that this made a great deal of sense, in fact it actually rang as truth to me, so I took it to heart.

Shortly after that, I went to study with the woman who was helping me learn the church's doctrines, which adherents of this church simply called "The Truth." I had been studying with her for about 6 months at the time. She told me, "My Dear, if you don't convert your parents to 'The Truth' God will have to kill them at Armageddon and it will be your fault."

Well, here was a perfect example of something posed as "truth" that most certainly did "grind against my own natural and logical beliefs." I unequivocally balked at her audacious statement, and replied, "Are you saying that God is going to kill my parents?!"

To which she replied, "Well, yes, he will have to dispose of anyone who is not in The Truth."

I thought for a moment and then said, "My parents are the most loving people I know. They are kind and loyal and trusting and sincere. They are truly good, even wonderful people and you say that God is going to kill people like them just because they don't belong to your religious group?"

Again, she vainly tried to explain to me how God would have no choice but to do such a thing.

I then told her, "You may think it would be Heaven to live forever on earth in peace, where the lion lays down with the lamb, etc., knowing that God had killed your loving parents. But that wouldn't be Heaven for me, that would be Hell."

At this point she was aghast, and she exclaimed, "Oh you can't feel that way!"

I simply said, "I'm sorry but I do feel that way and I can't study with you anymore."

I left her standing there with her mouth open. As I walked alone the twelve blocks to my house, I talked to God. I said, "God, you may just as harsh and unforgiving as they say you are. Perhaps you are willing to kill good people because they don't follow one religion or another and if you are that way, I'm sorry but I can't worship you." Then, after a moment's reflection I thought, "Somehow God, I just can't believe that you are that way.

But if you want me to know who you really are, you are going to have to reveal yourself to me because I'm not getting involved with anymore religions." I felt good in my heart about that declaration and I left it at that.

Four years later, during the worst crisis of my life, The Urantia Book came into my life. It claims to be a revelation of God to humankind. Well, I asked God to reveal himself so my mind was open to such a thing. Imagine my joy when I found the God that was so loving, so merciful, so just, so perfect that I joyfully worship him with every fiber of my being.

Here are three great quotes from that wonderful book that I hope will reassure you that God, our truly loving Heavenly Father, takes no delight in causing any harm to any of his children.

P.39 -(2:5.2) It is wrong to think of God as being coaxed into loving his children because of the sacrifices of his Sons or the intercession of his subordinate creatures, "for the Father himself loves you." It is in response to this paternal affection that God sends the marvelous Adjusters to indwell the minds of men. God's love is universal; "whosoever will may come." He would "have all men be saved by coming into the knowledge of the truth." He is "not willing that any should perish."

P.2017 -(188:4.8) When once you grasp the idea of God as a true and loving Father, the only concept which Jesus ever taught, you must forthwith, in all consistency, utterly abandon all those primitive notions about God as an offended monarch, a stern and all-powerful ruler whose chief delight is to detect his subjects in wrongdoing and to see that they are adequately punished, unless some being almost equal to himself should volunteer to suffer for them, to die as a substitute and in their stead. The whole idea of ransom and atonement is incompatible with the concept of God as it was taught and exemplified by Jesus of Nazareth. The infinite love of God is not secondary to anything in the divine nature.

P.60 -(4:5.4) The barbarous idea of appeasing an angry God, of propitiating an offended Lord, of winning the favor of Deity through sacrifices and penance and even by the shedding of blood, represents a religion wholly puerile and primitive, a philosophy unworthy of an enlightened age of science and truth. Such beliefs are utterly repulsive to the celestial beings and the divine rulers who serve and reign in the universes. It is an affront to God to believe, hold, or teach that innocent blood must be shed in order to win his favor or to divert the fictitious divine wrath.

I hope this helps.

And another view:

There would probably be no way in heaven that you could be happy if that were the case. I suspect that you are a Christian -- you may be interested to know that not all Christian sects promote a belief in hell. And, as you put it, if there were a hell wouldn't it seem contradictory for you to be happy in heaven?

The Urantia Book provides an exalted vision of God, that God is as Jesus saw him and described him, a loving heavenly Father even so much better than an earthly parent. And Jesus asked, if a loving earthly father would not exhibit wrath and retribution toward his own children why do we choose to believe that the heavenly Father of us all would treat us even worse than a human parent? That seems contradictory too, doesn't it?

If you've not already done so, may I recommend subscribing to our Quote of the Day. It offers daily inspirational and meaningful quotes from The Urantia Book along with a great picture. It's an easy way to become familiar with the teachings of this marvelous book.

And please, I invite you to take a look at our web page dedicated to the teachings of The Urantia Book regarding Life After Death

Labels: fear of God, God, hell, Jesus, life after death, mercy, The Urantia Book

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Friday, March 14, 2008

What is your belief about reincarnation and those intuitives/sensitives that promote past life readings?

Q: What is your belief about reincarnation and those intuitives/sensitives that promote past life readings?

A: Thank you for this timely and interesting question. The Urantia Book has the following to say about reincarnation:

p953:4((86:4.5)) The primitive doctrine of survival after death was not necessarily a belief in immortality. Beings who could not count over twenty could hardly conceive of infinity and eternity; they rather thought of recurring incarnations.

p953:5((86:4.6)) This idea of reincarnation originated in the observance of hereditary and trait resemblance of offspring to ancestors. The custom of naming children after grandparents and other ancestors was due to belief in reincarnation. Some later-day races believed that man died from three to seven times. .

p1029:1((94:2.3)) The undue concentration on self led certainly to a fear of the nonevolutionary perpetuation of self in an endless round of successive incarnations as man, beast, or weeds. And of all the contaminating beliefs which could have become fastened upon what may have been an emerging monotheism, none was so stultifying as this belief in transmigrationâ€”the doctrine of the reincarnation of soulsâ€”which came from the Dravidian Deccan. This belief in the weary and monotonous round of repeated transmigrations robbed struggling mortals of their long-cherished hope of finding that deliverance and spiritual advancement in death which had been a part of the earlier Vedic faith.

p1811:5((164:3.4)) The older Jewish teachers, together with Plato, Philo, and many of the Essenes, tolerated the theory that men may reap in one incarnation what they have sown in a previous existence; thus in one life they were believed to be expiating the sins committed in preceding lives. The Master found it difficult to make men believe that their souls had not had previous existences.

You can see from these quotes that reincarnation is not a belief that is fostered in the teachings of The Urantia Book, nor in the teachings of Jesus. However, it is a theory that many seeking souls adopt as a way of explaining survival of the self, as well as karma, the idea of reaping what we sow.

I was a believer in reincarnation at one point in my life, but I now much prefer the idea of "resurrection" of the immortal soul as presented in The Urantia Book:

p533:5((47:3.7)) On mansion world number one (or another in case of advanced status) you will resume your intellectual training and spiritual development at the exact level whereon they were interrupted by death. Between the time of planetary death or translation and resurrection on the mansion world, mortal man gains absolutely nothing aside from experiencing the fact of survival. You begin over there right where you leave off down here.

This teaching relieves any fears I may have had about having to return to this planet over and over again as the result of some past sins - which to me, is a very depressing thought. Having to endure, all over again, a complete mortal life until I "get it right," seems terribly unappealing to me.

Given the sheer size and magnitude of the inhabited universe presented in The Urantia Book, it seems highly unlikely to me that we would be doomed to such a circular existence focused on only this little ball of dirt in space. Rather, we can look forward to resurrection on new worlds, with new challenges, and new opportunities for atoning for our shortcomings. The watchword of the universe is "progress." Personally, I see nothing progressive about reincarnation.

I am however, interested in the phenomena of the intuitives that you mention, and I notice that many people seem to gain a great deal of comfort from these "readings." I am sure that they believe in what they are doing, as well as do the people who seek them out, but to me, it is only a curiosity, and nowhere near reality. I don't consider it sinful or bad, just misguided and pointless. From the Urantia Book:

p159:6((14:5.10)) Love of adventure, curiosity, and dread of monotonyâ€”these traits inherent in evolving human natureâ€”were not put there just to aggravate and annoy you during your short sojourn on earth, but rather to suggest to you that death is only the beginning of an endless career of adventure, an everlasting life of anticipation, an eternal voyage of discovery.

Finally, as to the karmic idea, The Urantia Book has an interesting quote about reaping and sowing:

p431:2((39:2.13)) When you finish your earthly career, your body remains on this planet...You "sow a mortal body" in the grave; you "reap a morontia form" on the mansion worlds.

(NB: "Morontia" is a term designating a stage of existence which is between material and spiritual - a transition state between being entirely mortal, and entirely spiritual - ed.)

The Urantia Book teaches us that this new life vehicle will be a faithful reflection of the true inner person, so that the spiritual progress, or lack thereof, will be reflected in this new form. This is an intriguing concept, and to me, is a good reason continue to do all I can to progress spiritually...hey, I want to look good in my new life!!!

I would like to invite you to take a look at our flash movies - in particular, "After You Die," which is a beautiful. three-minute presentation about this very subject of life after death, and what we can expect when we experience our resurrection.

And if you have not done so, please susbscribe to Quote of the Day, a free service of Truthbook.com. You'll receive a daily quote from The Urantia Book to uplift and inspire you.

Labels: karma, life after death, morontia, past-lives, reincarnation, resurrection, The Urantia Book

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Monday, March 03, 2008

A Few Questions

Q: Is God more like male or female? If neither, then is God like a universal being for all worlds?

A: Male and female are the two expressions of material beings, similar to positive and negative being the two expressions of electricity. It takes both for completeness. God is neither male nor female -- those terms apply to material beings and not spirit -- God is complete. And yes, there is one God for all of creation and that God has a presence within you. The only gift you can offer to God is your will to do God's will.

Q: What does this quote mean? "When the end of mortal life comes, hesitate not to forsake this body for a more fit and beautiful form and to awake in the realms of the Supreme and Immortal, where there is no fear, sorrow, hunger, thirst, or death. To know God is to cut the cords of death"

A: This quote comes from the section in The Urantia Book (131:4.7) describing the religious doctrines about God and his relations with us as they were expressed during Jesus' time and this quote is from the Hindu religion. It means that when one knows that a higher power exists in the universe than oneself that one has the opportunity to participate in eternity.

Q: Why are we not allowed to see God or Jesus?

A: The evidence of God is all around us -- which you can see any time you desire. But as material beings we're so far spiritually removed from the actual presence of God that we will have to wait until we've become pure spirit beings in the far distant future to stand before him. Until that time, you'll still be able to see the evidence of God's existence any time you desire.

Why can't you see Jesus? Like God, the evidence of Jesus is all around us and you can see or experience it any time you desire. Jesus doesn't live here now, except as the indwelling Spirit of Truth. Jesus is a spirit being but you can make contact with Jesus through prayer and through the desires of your mind.

Labels: God, Jesus, life after death, The Urantia Book

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Friday, July 13, 2007

Life After Death

Q: Is there life after death

A: Yes, what we're experiencing now is just the beginning, the springboard to something much more profound and meaningful. The Urantia Book has a lot of information about the purpose of this life and what existence is as we progress -- it gives an awe inspiring vision of our place in eternity.

If you'll go to our home page you'll see a block in the center part of the page titled "There is Life After Death" -- you might want to review that section to see if it answers your query. In addition, you might enjoy viewing our flash movie titled "After You Die," which gives an uplifting and comforting explanation of the life-to-death-to-life transition that we all will experience, and which is so extensively covered in The Urantia Book.

Feel free to ask more if you have other questions too. 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 the marvelous Urantia 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 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.Com

Labels: Larry Watkins, life after death

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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.com

Labels: death, Larry Watkins, life after death, loved ones, Mansion Worlds, The Urantia Book

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