Urantia Book Commentary and Articles

Summary Of The Presentation On Spiritual Healing
Mr. Henry Begemann
March 4, 1977

Spiritual Healing could be viewed as one factor of the vast process of supremacy, spirit dominance over mind and mind over matter, pattern caused to appear.

(See p. 1274, 6,4-7 and 1275, 7,5-9 - titles to be counted as paragraphs)

The ordination -- mandate, p. 1570, 4.1;

A. proclaim liberty to the spiritual captives
B. proclaim joy to those in the bondage of fear
C. heal the sick, in accordance with the will of my Father in heaven

p. 1590, 9.1-2 Jesus taught the twelve how to heal. What he taught is not communicated, only some clues:

p 1590, 9.2-4 "... the whole man..." p. 1591, 2 & 3: Diseases of the flesh, Troubled minds. (Giving clues for really interested students is an often practiced method of the authors of the Urantia Book).

The whole man:
1. the material energy system
2. the mindal energy system
3. the spirit energy system (different from the indwelling spirit)
4. personality
a. true personality, changeless
b. identity, (personality identifying itself with a living organism to get self-knowledge through experience).
On our level, and throughout the local universe-career the I, or ego, or self, is not yet centered in the spirit-energy system, but in the mind-energy-system.
5. The Thought Adjuster, the indwelling spirit, not yet really a part of man.
6. Soul, born of two parents, mind and Adjuster, the embryonic morontia-mind including a potential/actual new self, reborn man. (the Biblical concept of "the old man" and "the new man")

Relationship between "the whole man" and disease:
P484, 1.1 "The spirit is the architect, the mind is the builder, the body is the building."

A. The architect can be inactive or "captive;" The mind can be without director and in error; The body can exemplify and manifest the error of mind.
B. Purely physical disease. 57, 6 (...the mis-thinking) the collective mind influences nature and creature.

The healing-process indicated by ordination-mandate.

A. Liberty for the Spiritual Captives... The spiritual energy-system is non-active through the overpowering tendencies, convictions, and fears of the ego, that is centered in mind. Reversion of truth: matter dominates mind, (material) mind dominates spirit.

Living, experienced, TRUTH causes the mind-center, the self, to strive for spirit -- (real value) domination. Then the creative nature of spirit manifests itself. This is liberty -- sonship. Intellectual "truth" is insufficient for spiritual healing.

When the captain of the mind-ship listens to the advice of the pilot, he steers his ship free from the shoals, into the open sea of spirit. page 1217, 5.1

The liberated spiritual energy-system regenerates the mindal and material energy systems.

B. Joy for those in bondage of fear.... Fear is an attitude of the mind. Mind, lacking the creativity of the spiritual energy-system, is in bondage of its concepts of material reality. page 140, 2.2-4.

Mind, innately creative, thus creates fear images, which can become obsessions. Fear is a strong factor in the collective mind also. According to Jesus, the remedy for fear is joy. The BEAUTY of life is the basis and reason for joy. Life, as the Universal Father meant it for his children, is beautiful. When we experience the love of our Father, this love casts out fear, through the liberated creativity of the spiritual energy-system.

Experienced values create their channels of expression. Fear is a concomitant of illness. Jesus often began his treatment with "Be not afraid." Fear often expresses itself in the material body as some form of disease accordant with the special form of the fear. (Mind dominating matter).

Every Thought Adjuster brings with him an individual plan of life for his subject.

42, 8.4-7 "Happiness ensues from the recognition of truth because it can be acted out; it can be lived...."

C. "I send you forth ... to heal the sick in accordance with the will of my Father in Heaven."

Two meanings:
1. healing is in accordance with his will;
2. our healing work should be done in accordance with his will.

Both interpretations seem valid. What is the will of God? On the personal, spiritual level the Thought Adjuster is called the will of God. On the physical level, pattern is called the will of God. Mind (with the self-center) is confronted with mystery above and below. p. 1223, 6.2:

"Why do you not allow the Adjuster to strengthen you with Cosmic Power while you wrestle with the temporal difficulties of creature existence?"

On p. 3, 4.3 power is mentioned as a disclosure of divinity on impersonal levels. Conclusion: personality has not power. Power is not personal.

p. 10, 4.4: "That quality of ... personality by virtue of which pattern is caused to appear may be attributed to God - Deity ..., to the co-existence of personality and power."

Though personality has not power, there exists a relationship between personality and power. This relationship The Urantia Book mostly calls "Sonship with God."

page 2097, whole second par., is very enlightening for the "Sonship with - God" - consciousness. It is more than God-knowingness, more than embryonic soul-consciousness, more than the faith-experience of Sonship, it is the actual experience of the divine presence, "equivalent to the integration of the self with the universe, and on its highest levels of spiritual reality." It is actually participating in the process of Supremacy.

But physical healing not only implies dedication to doing the Father's will as expressed by the indwelling presence, it also requires recognition of the Father's will as pattern. We need an enlightened and unshakable faith and pattern is the basis for that.

Pattern, like personality, is an unfathomable mystery because the Universal Father is the source of both.

But there are some essential aspects of pattern which our book has revealed and which we should remember:

1. Pattern is perfect, absolutely or relatively, depending on the level on which it has been projected. Its gravity-debt has already been paid p.3, 3.4.

2. Pattern does not control energy, like gravity does. In this respect it more resembles love. Pattern is the GOODNESS of the Universal Father, who "fills all things." Pattern should be accepted in living faith. Pattern constitutes the validity-basis for the divine command: "Be ye perfect as I am perfect." In final analysis the Universal Father himself has paid the gravity-debt. More directly the Creator Sons and their subordinates have paid the gravity-debt for us by projecting pattern. The perfection of pattern is already here.

God's GOODNESS is not the same as God's mercy. God is good because he shares his perfection with us as the ever-present, perfect pattern, waiting to be activated. He is merciful because he knows that the realization of perfection is a process in time. Even the realization of relative perfection as manifested in healing is, in most cases, a process. Jesus' healings were instantaneous, because his faith was so much stronger and more enlightened than ours. As a Creator Son he was above time, but it is not clear if, or in how far he acted as Creator Son, when healing. Anyway, he taught his apostles how to heal.

Our healing mostly is the result of a faith struggle between the spiritual mind and the material mind. And this struggle can only be won through the help of the indwelling spirit, our Father-friend within.

A Divine Counselor summarizes it on p. 43, 5.4 as follows: "Health, sanity, and happiness are integrations of truth, beauty and goodness as they are blended in human experience. Such levels of efficient living come about through the unification of energy systems, idea systems, and spirit systems."

And on page 42, 8.4: "Happiness ensues from the recognition of truth because it can be acted out..."

Spiritual healing is a privilege, not a "must." It belongs in the category mentioned on page 1866.

Medical science has its place in evolution.

Labels: disease, fear, God, Gospel of Jesus, healing, Henry Begemann, Mind, pattern, spiritual healing, The Urantia Book, Thought Adjuster

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Friday, June 29, 2007

Fear And Growth

Helena Sprague
The Urantian Journal of Urantia Brotherhood
Winter, 1977

A major component of human development is fear, both the instinctive responses coming out of the dim ages of the struggle for physical survival, and the learned reactions of our cultural endowment, particularly psychosocial, intellectual, and sometimes spiritual. The URANTIA Book teachings about fear and growth are both profound and practical. They can be considered from four viewpoints.

First, fear is a universal experience of the creatures of time and space. There are racial variations: Adamic children are not so subject to fear as the children of evolution. Personal experience confirms the universality of fear; no one has been free of it. Simple scrutiny turns it up in all arenas of human activity, among them business, politics, economics, family, the arts, recreation, international relations. In some human behavior fear may be subtle. Take elitism, for instance: it is not popular to be "elitist"; most of us react negatively to this, yet I submit some would find the array of personalities in the universe- sovereigns and princes and staffs and workers elitist. There is a simple and complete difference between mortals and supermortals in reaction to a pyramidal organization chart: their response involves no fear.

Second, certain fears are destructive. Fear girds us for fight or flight (if we are healthy), and inherent in these is the considerable chance of poor decisions. "A false fear of sacredness has prevented religion from being safeguarded by common sense. Fear of the authority of the sacred writing of the past effectively prevents the honest souls of today from accepting the new light . . . " (*1768:6)

"The Jewish leaders were increasingly blinded by fear and prejudice.... When men shut off the appeal to the spirit that dwells within them there is little that can be done to modify their attitude." (*1672:6)

About our seraphic guardians: "The only emotion actuating you which is somewhat difficult for them to comprehend is the legacy of animal fear that bulks so large in the mental life of the average inhabitant of Urantia. The angels really find it hard to understand why you will so persistently allow your higher intellectual powers, even your religious faith, to be so dominated by fear, so thoroughly demoralized by the thoughtless panic of dread and anxiety." (*1243:3)

The third viewpoint is that fear is ultimately constructive. One of the inevitabilities asks, "Is hope-the grandeur of trust- desirable? Then human existence must constantly be confronted with insecurities and recurrent uncertainties." (*51:7)

Fear was the entering wedge into man's consciousness for the development of his spiritual nature. "Ghost fear was the fountainhead of all world religion." (*961:3)

A Brilliant Evening Star tells us that ghost fear led to recognition of higher types of spirits, later to dual spiritism, (good and bad spirits), then to supermortal forces that were consistent in behavior. He emphasizes that " . . . this was one of the most momentous discoveries of truth in the entire history of the evolution of religion and in the expansion of human philosophy." (*961:7)

The same Evening Star of Nebadon writes: "Primitive religion prepared the soil of the human mind, by the powerful and awesome force of false fear, for the bestowal of a bona fide spiritual force of supernatural origin, the Thought Adjuster. And the divine Adjusters have ever since labored to transmute God-fear into God-love." (*957:3)

Fourth, the antidote for fear is faith. "The feelings of insecurity arising from the fear of personality isolation in the universe should be antidoted by faith contemplation of the Father and the attempted realization of the Supreme." (*1616:5)

Dealing with our fears which are personal, often private, sometimes lonely experiences, requires effort, overt action. "The Thought Adjusters would like to change your feelings of fear to convictions of love and confidence; but they cannot mechanically and arbitrarily do such things; that is your task." (*1192:4)

Jesus' whole mission really related to faith; his revelation of God to man a gift to make man's faith more possible for spiritually immature beings; his revelation of man to God an inspiring example of practical ways confused humans might relate to Deity.

Jesus knew no fear; he was prudent, and though fearless, he was not willing to take unproductive risks. " . . . courage was the very heart of his teachings. 'Fear not' was his watchword . . . " (*1582:2)

For us to translate this directive into action, The URANTIA Book gives practical recommendations: ". . . forthwith, will this faith vanquish fear of men by the compelling presence of that new and all-dominating love of your fellows. " (* 1438: 1)

And, "In executing those decisions which deliver you from the fetters of fear, you literally supply the psychic fulcrum on which the Adjuster may subsequently apply a spiritual lever of uplifting and advancing illumination." (*1192:4)

All decisions can be evaluated by whether they are fear or faith inspired, because fear and faith are two fundamental techniques by which we deal with reality. Both are necessary for survival.

God is the greatest human experience. He is within us disclosing all that we can absorb, and the limit of this comprehension is contingent upon the quality of our faith, that quality which is measured by our desire to comprehend.

Our Universal Father gives us all that we have, all that we are and all that we may become. He asks of us growth toward perfection, growth to be nurtured by faith and actualized in the Supreme.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Service of The Urantia Book Fellowship

Labels: faith, fear, God, growth, Helena Sprague, Jesus, love, The Urantia Book

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Thursday, November 10, 2005

A Brief Reflection on Idealism

by
Chris M. Halvorson

Forward-looking people all over the world, since the dawn of humanity, have longed for peace in place of war, wisdom in place of ignorance, goodness in place of evil, and love in place of hate. This spiritual idealism, this irrepressible reach for better things, has long supplied the energy for human progress. In modern times, many conscientious individuals have increasingly pointed to Western civilization as the embodiment of science without idealism, politics without principles, wealth without work, pleasure without restraint, knowledge without character, power without conscience, and industry without morality. Although there is much truth in these identifications, it is incorrect to conclude that Western civilization is inherently evilâ€”or worse yet, to generally repudiate science, politics, wealth, pleasure, knowledge, power, and industry.

To avoid reaching these incorrect conclusions, one must hold on to a higher objectivity; one must differentiate the baby from the bath water; one must not become subject to the human tendency toward a quasi-religious zeal of belief. The antidote for a materialist who is devoid of spiritual outlook is not an idealist who excludes facts. Individuals who prefer optimistic illusions to reality can never become wise. Only those who face facts and adjust them to ideals can achieve wisdom. Wisdom embraces both the fact and the ideal. Avoid the temptation to label the expression of an ideologically inconvenient fact as the manifestation of a conspiracy. Beware of the historical sophistry of responding to unbridled materialism with untempered idealism.

Idealists must realize that hand in hand with their greater affinity to ideals is a lesser sense of practicalityâ€”just as materialists must recognize the reverse. Spirit and matter are not opposites or enemies, neither is one greater, or more real, than the other. Every person should strive to form a unity of ideals and facts in their consciousness; and, to the extent that this unity cannot be formed, spiritually minded and materially minded individuals must join together to complement each other. If nothing else, idealists should at least acknowledge that if it weren't for "less idealistic" people down through history, the idealists in each generation would have been exterminated by the baser orders of humanity.

The conscious or subconscious vulnerability felt by many idealists leads to fear, and fear corrupts idealism. Fear deadens the higher senses; it clouds the perception of goodness. When idealists don't rise above their fears, they progressively view the world through the eyes of fear; more and more they see only the error and the evil. Without a sure knowledge of the fact of goodness, and a certainty of the truth that goodness always surpasses evil, an idealist will feel a growing emptiness, which leads to despair and desperation. Hate will build, and violence will seem to be the only recourse against an apparently increasingly evil world. The idealist will become a nihilist, the personification of the very antithesis of spiritual ideals.

Labels: Chris Halvorson, fear, spiritual idealism, unity of ideals, Western civilization, wisdom

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