Postings
Human Body as Physical Mechanism
Reaching Upward
Click on Photo for information about it.
Our physical body is the most visible component of our being, but there is much more to us than meets the eye. Our physical body is constantly making demands on our consciousness; it is impossible to fully ignore its incessant calls. Because of this we have difficulty believing there is anything non-physical about us. However, the fact that our mind can explore our physical being is a hint that mind is somewhat beyond the physical; a purely physical entity could not comprehend self-examination. We look at our hand and understand its usefulness as a unit, we understand its purpose. And so our body has a purpose: to create and nurture a soul having the potential of existing into all future eternity.
We discuss a new way of considering the human body. The most common understanding of our physical self is that the body is all there is to our being. The Urantia Book presents a widely different description. The human body is a physical mechanism utilized by our indwelling spark of God (our Thought Adjuster) and our God given personality to produce and nurture our potentially eternal self: our soul. The growth of the soul comes about by means of our free will decisions; if they are in harmony with God’s will our soul grows, otherwise it stagnates. We are assisted by our guardian angels, the Spirit of Truth, the Adjutant Mind Spirits, and other spirit entities.
Body
Our total being has several components. The first of these is naturally our body which is the material or physical organism of man. The living electrochemical mechanism of animal nature and origin. (8.7)[1] Next is our mind which is discussed briefly in the next section. Then there is the spirit, the spark of God dwelling within each of us. Finally there is our soul which comes into being and grows by means of our spiritual free will decisions. During life in the flesh our soul is in an embryonic state. (744.8) But this not all; there is also our personality given to us by God. Each personality is unique; it defines us as a specific entity. The personality permeates all of our being and our actions; unifying everything we do. (1225.7)
Mortal man is a machine, a living mechanism; his roots are truly in the physical world of energy. Many human reactions are mechanical in nature; much of life is machinelike. But man, a mechanism, is much more than a machine; he is mind endowed and spirit indwelt…. (1301.7)
Our body is our physical reality but is not our total being. Our society has discounted spiritual reality for centuries at its peril; the time has come for citizens of Earth to realize we must base our existence on our Heavenly Father, His love and guidance.
On a material world you think of a body as having a spirit, but we regard the spirit as having a body. The material eyes are truly the windows of the spirit-born soul. The spirit is the architect, the mind is the builder, the body is the material building. (483.12)
Time to examine the builder.
Mind
It is in the mind where we make decisions, explore our surroundings, make plans, and choose to do God’s will (or otherwise). The nature of our mind defines who we are and who we wish to become. In the mind our free will choices have the greatest effect; it is here that our choice to seek eternal life by following the God-given guidance that each mortal receives has its beginning and is nurtured, resulting in a growing awareness of our Heavenly Father. In a way the mind acts as a bridge between our current physical existence and our future spirit experience.
This discussion is based mainly on “Mind Arena of Choice” starting at 1216.2.
Material mind is the arena in which human personalities live, are self-conscious, make decisions, choose God or forsake him, eternalize or destroy themselves. (1216.4)
Our mind is a precious resource, we would do well to exercise it and guide it into productive channels. Too often we pursue frivolous thoughts, excess gratification, or selfishness. Our mind is the gateway into a wider reality if we are sincerely seeking to find God and become more like Him by choosing to do His will at each opportunity.
Our entire life is lived primarily within our mind. We think, react, yearn, and plan within our mind. Also, when we interact with sisters and brothers we get a glimpse of what their mind is like by observing their speech and actions. Our mind is certainly the core of our consciousness; it is where we make decisions that may have a significant bearing on our possibility of life eternal.
And it is not so much what mind comprehends as what mind desires to comprehend that insures survival; it is not so much what mind is like as what mind is striving to be like that constitutes spirit identification. (1216.6)
In the final analysis, we become what we wish to become. Be careful what you wish for. If we are reaching out for God we have the possibility of actually communicating with the God fragment within, our personal Thought Adjuster; if instead we are reaching for something less, we attain something less. If we have life eternal as our goal there may be no end to our growth.
Mind is your ship, the Adjuster is your pilot, the human will is captain. The master of the mortal vessel should have the wisdom to trust the divine pilot to guide the ascending soul into the morontia harbors of eternal survival. (1217.4)
Our mind is the ship carrying our total being and is where we live, breathe, and have our awareness. The mortal will is the controlling factor where the mind gives orders to the rest of the ship. The captain of the ship must be aware of dangers and protect the ship from them. In troublous waters it is vital to have someone who knows the dangers and how to avoid them. Our Thought Adjuster is the best pilot available, but the captain (our mind, our free will choices) has to learn how to listen to and follow the guidance of the pilot. This knowing of God’s will grows as we get a feel of the process; the more we honestly follow His will, the easier it becomes the next time.
Unaided mind is impotent to influence anything material save its own physical mechanism, with which it is inescapably linked. (1222.4)
This opens the possibility of our mind having some influence over our physical mechanism; this topic is also discussed elsewhere in The Urantia Book. (1275.5) That is a topic for another day.
Physical Mechanism
A mechanism is a system of parts working together to form a collective unit. Therefore, a physical mechanism is something physical which contains many parts that all work together forming one unit; in this case our mortal body, our physical reality. It is truly remarkable how well our various components (generally) work together; the human body is a well-designed mechanism. The way all these parts work together makes it unthinkable it came into being by happenstance. We generally think of a machine when considering a mechanism but everything in our body does work together exactly like a mechanism.
For example: Adam lived for 530 years; he died of what might be termed old age. His physical mechanism simply wore out…. (852.4) His body, his physical mechanism, stopped working.
And again, when Machiventa Melchizedek was present on Earth with a physical body, he terminated his mission after ninety-four years because had he remained for any long period on earth, his physical mechanism would have gradually deteriorated. (1015.6) That is what happens to our bodies after a certain length of time; they wear out. The same thing happens to our mechanical mechanisms; our cars, trucks, and such wear out.
Considering our body as being a physical mechanism emphasizes that it is only a physical component of our being, it does not take into consideration our nonphysical mind, nor our indwelling spark of God, our Thought Adjuster; it also does not include our personality.
While we cannot say our body is insignificant, we certainly can say our physical mechanism is not all there is to anybody.
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All references are to The Urantia Book in the format page.paragraph for the one column edition. ↑
Thank You, Spring
Spring is Busting Out
This Easter season we give thanks for sisters and brothers following these postings; we briefly list and summarize the most popular blog postings and Talking Points pages on UBLightofTruth.com. We include a recent study of so-called near death experiences. There have been hits on the website from 22 different nations just this year. The most popular blog posting is from February 2021 and it still receives a lot of hits. This spring day we recognize there are indeed rays of hope signaling a better future for planet Earth; we give thanks.
Blog Postings
Interestingly, the two most popular blog postings are from February 2021. In first place is “Urantia: Caligastia’s Prison World” which has over five times as many hits as the second place entry; it continues to receive hits every month.
It examines why our fallen Planetary Prince Caligastia is allowed to remain on Earth even after being defeated by Jesus. The following three paragraphs are quoted from that blog.
We find no one specific reference detailing why Caligastia remains free to roam over Urantia; however, there are clear indications why this is the case. Caligastia deliberately introduced sin to our planet;[1] when this happens there are consequences both to the being who introduced the sin and those who received the sin, all mortal inhabitants of Urantia. These consequences need to be investigated and understood.
When rebellion is introduced into any system all those affected must choose between universe government and rebellion. Unlike mortals of 200,000 years ago, today we have widespread communication; practically speaking, most of us get the news and are aware of good things or bad things happening all around. Even those who are isolated from society or in a remote wilderness must make decisions based on what is best for the world they know. Each of us has to make that moral choice, declare where we stand between good and evil.
It is “creature free will” that determines when the replacement Planetary Prince will arrive on Urantia. We the inhabitants of Earth must decide where we stand, with Michael or with Lucifer and Caligastia. Only when this has taken place will the communication lines to the rest of creation open and our Vicegerent Planetary Prince, Machiventa Melchizedek, take over the government of our native sphere.
“Christian Nationalism;” is the second most popular posting and close behind it is “Living the Teachings” from September 2021.
Talking points
In “Talking Points” the most popular is “Death Becomes Graduation” which has over 50% more hits than the second most popular page. This topic is especially pertinent in these times of COVID and societal unease. Following is a summary of this page.
Death is not the end; it can be the gateway into our eternal future. Life eternal is freely given to everybody who asks for it. All we need do is to follow God’s guidance, of Truth} choose to do His will.
After physical death the memory of our earthly life resides with our internal spark of God (known as our Thought Adjuster or adjuster) while the soul is placed in the custody of our guardian angel. After the adjuster and the soul are reunited in the resurrection halls we will awaken ready to continue our journey toward Paradise and God.[2] At this point we will no longer be physical, but we are not yet true spirit beings.
There are three kinds of death. One is intellectual death, which happens when the brain is damaged so much that the mind cannot function. In this case the Thought Adjuster departs while the life energies of the body continue. Depending on the choice of the individual, the adjuster will later return for the resurrection of that individual after physical death. In any case the physical body may continue to function.[3] Our society calls this brain dead.
The second is physical death, where our physical apparatus, the body, ceases to function, and we depart this earthly sphere.
The final type of death is soul death, which is final. When the individual has made a final decision to deny God, reject eternal life and universe reality, then the adjuster departs never to return. This is the final death from which there can be no resurrection and it comes as a consequence of the individual totally rejecting our Heavenly Father, rejecting spiritual reality.[4] Soul death may come either before or after physical death. In either case there can be no resurrection.
Realizing this, death now becomes our valediction time when we graduate from this preschool we call Earth into a wider reality, even cosmic reality. To paraphrase the poet Robert Burns: “we will be from a world of woe relieved and arise renewed in heaven.”
A recent article gives the results of a study analyzing so-called near death experiences;[5] we will soon post a revised version of “Death Becomes Graduation” incorporating these findings. You will be notified when this is posted.
Recalled experiences surrounding death happen more frequently today because of improved medical technology. These experiences have a uniform theme which can be summarized as follows. (a) Separation from the body with an expanded sense of consciousness and an awareness of death. (b) There is travel to a destination. (c) A meaningful review of life. (d) Feeling of being “home.” (e) There is a return to life. These findings are in full agreement with teachings in The Urantia Book.
In the Talking Points pages “Consequences of Rebellion” is in second place, and “Epochal Revelations” is in third place.
National Distribution
While we cannot track individuals, we are able to identify the country of origin for visitors to this website. The number of countries represented in site visits shows The Urantia Book is truly a global phenomenon. So far this year (early April) the site has had hits from 22 countries. These nations are grouped as: North America 3, South America 1, Caribbean 2, Europe 7, Island Nations 2, Asia 3, and Africa 4. That is a nice representation of planet Earth.
SPRING!
In honor of the new season we recognize the growth of a new spring; trilliums and other flowers are in blossom, Goldfinches mostly have their summer colors, life is being renewed. We certainly know there are very bad things going on all over our planet, but the changes associated with spring declare there is hope for a better future for our sisters, brothers and native planet.
The Talking Points page “Rays of Hope’ lists some of the global reasons for hope; this page has been getting more hits recently.
We thank you for following this website and we look forward to hearing from each of you with comments or suggestions; keep in touch.
Ukraine: Global Failure
Warbling for Peace
Click on photo for information about it.
Current events on planet Earth cry out for peace; there are many problem areas, but foremost is the devastation being inflicted upon Ukraine by invading Russian forces. Given our present world order, probably not much can be done short of negotiation or a much wider war. To save our planet from destruction by this war or some future war, we need a peaceful solution to international armed aggression; we need some global apparatus to prevent such mindless destruction. We need Earth Federation.
Any global system where one nation feels able, even compelled, to invade another, bomb its buildings and murder men, women, and children needs to be radically revised. Our present world order has been built up gradually over time; it is merely a consequence of history. We must carefully design and implement a fair and equitable global system, one that promotes peace and brotherhood, before our native planet becomes uninhabitable because of manmade disasters.
Ukraine
News outlets bombard us with information about the war in Ukraine, there is no need to add to it here; for example, BBC has a page with the latest news from Ukraine.
The driving force for the invasion of Ukraine is that Vladimir Putin in Russia wants to recreate the Soviet Empire and Ukraine is the keystone of this enterprise. There is no telling how far he is willing to go in order to realize his goal and there appears to be no reasonable end game.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been able to do something that no other leader of a country under siege has been able to do in the history of warfare. Using video hookups he addressed 10 parliaments in two weeks including Canada, the United States, Israel, European Union, and Japan. His voice is a powerful plea for freedom; his speeches receive standing ovations everywhere.
That being said, naked aggression by Russia in Ukraine is not the problem; it is rather the symptom of a deeper problem.
Failure of National Sovereignty
War on Urantia will never end so long as nations cling to the illusive notions of unlimited national sovereignty. There are only two levels of relative sovereignty on an inhabited world: the spiritual free will of the individual mortal and the collective sovereignty of mankind as a whole. (1487.9)[1]
When we see photos of our native sphere from space we see no national boundaries, we see no arbitrary lines on the land. There is only one Earth, one people. Seeing photographs of our planet from space emphasizes the truth that the only valid forms of sovereignty are that of the individual mortal and that of the planet as a whole. Everything in between is invalid.
This war in Ukraine is proof positive of the failure of national sovereignty. Even if the fiction of national sovereignty were valid within the borders of a national entity, that would not give any nation permission to invade another sovereign nation unless actively provoked. In this case, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia has no legitimacy whatsoever.
You cannot prevent nations going to war as long as they remain infected with the delusional virus of national sovereignty. Internationalism is a step in the right direction. An international police force will prevent many minor wars, but it will not be effective in preventing major wars, conflicts between the great military governments of earth. (1489.1)
The United Nations is a good example of internationalism and it has had some effect on minimizing small wars, but it is powerless when a major nation such as Russia is involved. As long as nations are “infected with the delusional virus of national sovereignty” there will be wars. There is no getting around this truth: humankind would rather fight than seek peaceful solutions. We absolutely need peace seekers.
How many international bodies such as the League of Nations and the United Nations will it take before we realize they cannot be effective; now many global wars will be necessary to make our society realize war is not the answer to anything; war brings only pain, suffering and unnecessary death. (1490.3) We need Earth Federation.
Earth Federation
Another world war will teach the so-called sovereign nations to form some sort of federation, thus creating the machinery for preventing small wars, wars between the lesser nations. But global wars will go on until the government of mankind is created. Global sovereignty will prevent global wars — nothing else can. (Emphasis added) (1490.7)
There are examples where groups have surrendered sovereignty to a larger group. One is the United States of America; each state has surrendered their individual sovereignty to the national government. Each state has its own laws that are based on the national constitution while international relations are dealt with by the national government. Another example is Great Britain; England, Ireland and Scotland fought many wars before they united. It is vital for the future of Earth that such an arrangement be realized on a global scale.
There is a proposal for a government of all mankind, the Earth Federation. This effort has been growing for decades; the 15th Session of the Provisional World Parliament was held online last December; there is a Constitution for the Federation of Earth. This constitution has been approved and amended by the Parliament; it is a well thought out document detailing a parliamentary form of government for planet Earth.
“The principles at the heart of the Earth Federation Movement are the most fundamental principles of ethical and political thought…. The conceptual foundations of the Earth Constitution, upon which our work is based, involve only the most fundamental and universal of principles, principles necessary for coherent, integrated, and consistent thought regarding the human condition at the dawn of the 21st century.“[2]
The World Parliament has three houses: House of Peoples, House of Counselors, and House of Nations. Membership in the first is based on population (similar to our House of Representatives), the second is made up of scholars chosen by colleges and universities, while in the third each nation is represented equally (similar to our Senate).
Under Earth Federation, nations of Earth are grouped into five Continental Divisions.: one for the four major continents and Oceania, which includes the rest. The chief executive consists of five members, one from each Continental Division, who serve for five years. Each member is president for one year but all decisions must be unanimous. There will be no President of Earth.
The political sovereignty of representative mankind government will bring lasting peace on earth, and the spiritual brotherhood of man will forever insure good will among all men. And there is no other way whereby peace on earth and good will among men can be realized. (1491.7)
Bringing Earth Federation into full implementation will be a long, painful, and difficult process; there is however, no other way to realize PEACE ON EARTH.
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All references are to The Urantia Book, unless otherwise noted, in the format page.paragrah for the one column version. ↑
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http://worldparliament-gov.org/earth-federation/earth-federation-movement-foundational-principles/ Retrieved 3/28/22 ↑
Rule of Law vs Individual Liberty
If we were given a choice between living in a system governed by the rule of law or one having individual liberty, the choice is obvious: give me liberty! However, before jumping to conclusions we need to examine exactly what each system is really like. If we declare our allegiance prematurely we could be entering something radically different from what was promised. After some contemplation we realize the rule of law is preferable to life where everybody thinks they have total liberty when instead they have lawless anarchy. Total liberty for some means no liberty for others.
We examine a system promoting individual liberty; its characteristics and where it originated. These ideas were first proposed in a place far away two hundred thousand years ago. Next we investigate a system of regular laws tempered by mercy and love. This system is much older and was put in place by someone we know and love. Finally we look at present day fallout from these systems; some acts in our distant past have had a severe effect on current society.
Individual Liberty
Lucifer, Satan, Caligastia
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!” (Bible; Isaiah 14:12) This quotation is from the King James Version; Lucifer was translated out of most other versions.
The smallest unit of universe government is the local system. When complete each system will have about 1,000 inhabited planets; our system, Satania, currently has 619 inhabited planets. Two hundred thousand years go Lucifer was the system Sovereign in Satania. He had been in charge of the system government for a few hundred thousand years when he decided to rebel against universe authority. There was no external situation that needed to be changed; this rebellion arose entirely within Lucifer’s mind. (602.5)[1] His second in command, Satan, was won over to the rebellion.
The rebellion was announced with the Lucifer Manifesto which had three broad parts. (603.3-604.1) In the first item Lucifer declared God does not exist, and that natural forces were inherent in the universe. Next he stated that the local universe Creator Son who created the local universe did not have authority to rule, that the systems should be autonomous; no higher branches of government had authority in the local systems. His final declaration was that too much time was wasted on training ascendant mortals, beings like us who have passed from mortal life into beginning spirit life. We will be meticulously trained for an unrevealed eternal future career; Lucifer thought this effort was wasted.
Satan declared to the assembled citizens of the system capital that allegiance could be acknowledged only to the actual and present ruler, Lucifer, the “friend of men and angels” and the “God of liberty.” (604.3) This is the way demagogues always seek to gain power: by emotional appeals to the masses.
Satan went to the inhabited worlds to convince their Planetary Princes to join the rebellion. On 38 of the inhabited worlds the Planetary Prince joined the rebellion against universe authority. On our planet, known as Urantia on universe records, the Planetary Prince was Caligastia who also joined the rebellion. This calamity has had a severe effect on the history of each planet in rebellion. On our planet some civilization was gradually appearing, but upon the rebellion this was rapidly destroyed. (758.6-7)
Liberty is suicidal when divorced from material justice, intellectual fairness, social forbearance, moral duty, and spiritual values. Liberty is nonexistent apart from cosmic reality…. (613.6) True liberty must recognize the existence of our sisters and brothers; each is indwelt by a fragment of God, and each has equal standing before our creator. Recognizing cosmic reality means we recognize a creator behind the creation we observe and experience. Lucifer and his followers do not accept this, including his present day followers on Urantia.
Individual liberty is false liberty; attempting to implement it would result in a lawless anarchy with no laws and no liberty.
Rule of Law
Michael: Jesus
Our local universe was created by our Creator Son, Michael, and the Universe Mother Spirit. Together they created all life in this universe, including Lucifer himself. The system they set up involves laws tempered by mercy.
Even though he created this local universe, Michael had to earn the right to rule it on his own authority; this he did by incarnating seven times as one of his created beings. At the time of the Lucifer Rebellion this process had not been completed; he did not have authority to summarily end the rebellion. His last bestowal was as on our planet, Urantia, we know him as Jesus. After this bestowal was completed he became sovereign, yet he still treats the rebels with mercy and offers them rehabilitation.
Law is life itself and not the rules of its conduct. Evil is a transgression of law, not a violation of the rules of conduct pertaining to life, which is the law. Falsehood is not a matter of narration technique but something premeditated as a perversion of truth…. One can be technically right as to fact and everlastingly wrong in the truth. (555.1)
Those who proclaim individual liberty declare law must include their own personal liberty; however, recognizing cosmic reality means realizing LAW IS LIFE ITSELF. The moment we twist truth in the least amount we enter the realm of falsehood and evil. Recognizing our cosmic citizenship means realizing an obligation to sisters and brothers.
Mercy is simply justice tempered by that wisdom which grows out of perfection of knowledge and the full recognition of the natural weaknesses and environmental handicaps of finite creatures. (38.1) Heavenly Father knows us, knows our weaknesses, and tempers law with mercy accordingly.
An example of the difference between fact and truth is in the novel “Les Miserables” by Victor Hugo. The fact is that the main character, Jean Valjean, stole something and therefore he was a thief and went to prison. The truth is he stole a loaf of bread so his brother’s child could have something to eat. In this case justice was not tempered by mercy.
Current Implications
We explore our current situation by looking at an interesting quotation from The Urantia Book; each sentence is examined separately.
True liberty is the associate of genuine self-respect; false liberty is the consort of self-admiration. (614.1)
Self-admiration was probably at the root of the Lucifer rebellion. He was spiritually brilliant and he knew it; out of more than 700,000 Lanonandeks he was ranked at number 37. (601.1) In our global society there are many dictators and dictator wannabes; these self-admiring individuals have such a bloated opinion of themselves that they know they must exert themselves over their “lesser” citizens. Those who have true liberty respect themselves as well as their fellow citizens.
True liberty is the fruit of self-control; false liberty, the assumption of self-assertion. (614.1)
There is a world of difference between self-control and self-assertion. Demagogues are certainly self-assertive. The self-assertive individual will forcibly assert their views regardless of consequences, while the self-control individual knows limitations and works toward inclusion and teamwork.
Self-control leads to altruistic service; self-admiration tends towards the exploitation of others for the selfish aggrandizement of such a mistaken individual as is willing to sacrifice righteous attainment for the sake of possessing unjust power over his fellow beings. (614.1)
A large portion of current global society is aimed towards possessing unjust power over fellow human beings. Greed, selfishness, and materialism seem to rule the day; these are a direct result of Caligastia’s betrayal of his responsibility as ruler of Urantia. After the bestowal of Jesus, Caligastia was shorn of his title but he remains on Earth seeking to spread mischief.
The problems associated with human existence on Urantia are impossible of understanding without a knowledge of certain great epochs of the past, notably the occurrence and consequences of the planetary rebellion. Although this upheaval did not seriously interfere with the progress of organic evolution, it did markedly modify the course of social evolution and of spiritual development. The entire superphysical history of the planet was profoundly influenced by this devastating calamity. (754.1)
Consequences from the rebellion have certainly had an effect on our society. We have elected to high office an individual strong on self-admiration and self-assertion; voting districts are redrawn so votes from individuals with certain superficial characteristics are diluted. Our planet needs laws tempered with mercy, as well as leaders with self-control. Forward, not backward.
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Unless otherwise noted, all references are from The Urantia Book one column version in the format page.paragraph. ↑