Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book

Q: How do you move on when surrounded by circumstances which reminds you of a past life?

A: Thanks for your note to Truthbook.com. We are always happy to try and assist our friends with their concerns, if we can...

Your question may have to do with either a kind of life which you led in your present life on this earth, and no longer lead - or, I am wondering if you are asking about a past life, as in reincarnation...?

Moving forward in a new kind of life, after renouncing a kind of life that we no longer wish to lead can be a challenge. And here, I am going to assume that you want to move forward in a spiritual, or moral sense. (I apologize if this is not correct.) When once we decide to adopt a better way of living, we are always faced with the remnants of the old life. It can take time to implement the new behaviors - to replace old habits with new and better ones. On this subject, Jesus teaches:

"Forewarn all believers regarding the fringe of conflict which must be traversed by all who pass from the life as it is lived in the flesh to the higher life as it is lived in the spirit. To those who live quite wholly within either realm, there is little conflict or confusion, but all are doomed to experience more or less uncertainty during the times of transition between the two levels of living. In entering the kingdom, you cannot escape its responsibilities or avoid its obligations, but remember: The gospel yoke is easy and the burden of truth is light." (159:3.7)

With determination and perseverance, the old patterns gradually fade, as we increasingly experience the joys and satisfactions of the newer and better ways. Success breeds success, and so one has to just keep reinforcing that success by living one's inner truth, and staying close to God. The circumstances of the old ways can be a hindrance at first - we can be surrounded by the reminders of the way we used to live; but in time, all of that will fade if we remain true to our desire to be better and do better. Don't lose faith. God will help you to overcome even the most difficult circumstances if you are sincere in your desires.

If your question is regarding your belief that you had a previous life in another reincarnation, I would have to advise you that your belief may need a revision. Reincarnation is a belief that many hold. I also had this belief at one time, but I no longer believe it to be true.

Jesus taught that reincarnation is not true. What IS true is that, rather than reincarnating on this planet again and again, we are resurrected into the new life of the Father's ascension plan after our death. In this new life, we do experience many "translations," rising ever higher, from mortal to spirit status, but the life that we experience here on earth is our one and only life in the flesh. It is the "vale of soul-making." Once we die here, we are never doomed to have to repeat the earthly life, but the soul that was created here is an entity of eternal value and will more forward. .

I find this teaching far more attractive and believable than reincarnation, which seems to me to be quite a dismal proposition, especially since our world is such a dark world, torn by rebellion and tainted by sin. The Father's plan provides an endless journey to true "enlightenment."

I hope that this reply has addressed your question. Please write back if it has not, or if you have any other questions. And thanks again for writing to us.

Labels: ascension scheme, change, God, Jesus, progress, reincarnation

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Monday, July 06, 2009

Who Am I, Really?

Q: Who Am I, Really?

A: That's a good question that would have a pretty imprecise answer were it not for the teachings of The Urantia Book - The Urantia Book is all about answering that very question. So the best response would be to tell you to read the book and to decide for yourself, but instead I'll provide a condensed version.

First, you are a unique personality - there's never been nor ever will be another you. That's because personality is a divine and unique gift from the Father, yours being but one facet of a nearly infinite whole. This unique and divine personality is now being expressed in human form as yourself, but what you believe to be your personality and what others see as you aren't that unique and divine entity, what's being observed and experienced is your character interpreted as you.

Your personality is changeless, but your character will change as it becomes more in tune with your personality. It will appear that you mature and grow and develop wisdom during this life; still, this is only the bottom rung on a ladder of progress stretching to eternity. Your personality is so rich in endowment that unfathomable time is required for your character to develop its full potential in expressing that true personality.

Here on earth, you are also a product of your environment and of both biological and cultural heredity. If your biological heredity is faulty it will be pretty difficult to overcome those shortcomings in this life but you'll be provided ample opportunity to do so in what's to come after this life is over. Environmental and cultural hereditary defects can be overcome by exercising your character and another God given attribute, free will. If you choose to let the circumstances of life dominate you then you will have hardly exercised your free will at all, exhibiting instead character weakness that needs to be strengthened. If you invoke your free will in overcoming hardship and privation to build a life of accomplishment and joy character growth will result.

Your character is the result of the choices and decisions you make; how you think about and treat yourself, other individuals and the world around you; honesty, loyalty, truthfulness, responsibility; your attitude toward life and your place in the cosmos.

So, you are nearly infinite potential being expressed through a developing finite character. You have the aid and guidance of unseen spirit forces to assist and you have the influence of the Holy Spirit and of the Spirit of Truth to help you with the challenging decisions life requires you to make. You're a tadpole striving to become a frog which will eventually transform into a prince as long as you keep the goal in mind and continually strive for God-likeness. God is the home to which we all yearn to return.

Please see our topical study on Personality for a lot more information about who you are.

Labels: character, God, Holy Spirit, personality, progress, Spirit of Truth, The Urantia Book

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Monday, April 27, 2009

Why is life running so fast?

Q: Why is life running so fast? please can you tell something comforting?

A: Why is life running so fast? I'm sure it would be more comforting to us all if the pace of life slowed down. There have been periods of hundreds of thousands of years in human history where there was little if any personal, cultural, or societal change and today we experience more of those changes in just one year than most of humanity ever experienced in a lifetime.

Perhaps these extracts from The Urantia Book will provide some clarity:

Nature is a resultant of two cosmic factors: first, the immutability, perfection, and rectitude of Paradise Deity, and second, the experimental plans, executive blunders, insurrectionary errors, incompleteness of development, and imperfection of wisdom of creatures, from the highest to the lowest. Nature therefore carries a uniform, unchanging, majestic, and marvelous thread of perfection from the circle of eternity; but on each planet, and in each individual life, this nature is modified, qualified, and perchance marred by the acts, the mistakes, and the disloyalties of creatures; and therefore must nature ever be of a changing mood, whimsical withal, though stable underneath. (4:2.3)

Human life is an endless change unified by the stability of the unchanging personality. (112:5.20 )

When men pray for providential intervention in the circumstances of life, many times the answer to their prayer is their own changed attitudes toward life. (118:10.21)

Remember that the order of progressive evolution is subjected to sudden and unexpected periodical changes in both the material and the spiritual worlds. (170:4.4)

In terms of material and spiritual progress we have a long way to go in order to enter that more enlightened age that's destined to evolve. The accelerated pace of change that we're experiencing is an indication that that evolution is underway and even at this rapid rate our arrival at that state of relative peace and calm will be far into the distant future. As the quote above indicates, prayer is the best action for helping us accept the circumstances of life and for finding happiness during our fast-paced and tumultuous lives.

Finally, here is another reference that may be of help to you, as well as an inspiration for weathering these changes of modern life- Religion and Social Reconstruction.

Among other things in this section, we learn that "Mankind is on the march toward a new and unrevealed planetary destiny."

Thank you for the question...

Labels: change, life, personality, prayer, progress, The Urantia Book

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