"Live loyally today—grow—and tomorrow will attend to itself. The quickest way for a tadpole to become a frog is to live loyally each moment as a tadpole."
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Reincarnation
560 posts · 25 participants · started Jun 2, 2017, 2:41 PM
I’ve been working with webmaster to see if there’s been a technical error causing the missing posts.
All missing posts from this thread were trapped in the spam folder, but now they are released.
It would be swell if the mods could be more attentive…while this recurring issue gets attention and, hopefully, resolution. 6 days of posts lost in “Spam” cripples conversation and has bad results otherwise too.
Also, on the FORUM page, the most recent post/poster for Discussion is still wrong and very outdated. Also, the bio/profile pages do not lead to historical posts of the poster profiled as advertised and designed. The Forum site lacks mechanical function and integrity/stability/dependability IMO. This site needs some attention…please.
Thank you.
"Live loyally today—grow—and tomorrow will attend to itself. The quickest way for a tadpole to become a frog is to live loyally each moment as a tadpole."
Thank you Bradly for the recommended reading of Papers 85-87 – I plan to read them this weekend
No, I was NOT offended by you or anyone else – I have not had as much free time in the past 2 weeks or so, which is why I am only now responding again. I am glad I can count on you and Bonita to point out when my comments on this forum appear to conflict with TUB. I really strive to keep all the sources that I read as pure as they were originally presented – only in my mind (and in discussions with others) do I like to compare and contrast concepts, but I would NEVER want anyone to actually change original texts, as we know was done to the Bible both unintentionally and on purpose. That is similar to what is happening in modern times regarding the history of the U.S. in schools – it’s one thing to openly disagree with parts of history that were already recorded, and then carefully present alternative views to generate good discussions. BUT it is somewhat insidious to present alternative views of history as though they are absolute truth, even to the extent of hiding or completely denying history that has already been recorded. That is why the old expression that says “Those who ignore/deny history (especially the unpleasant parts) are doomed to repeat it” is still quite valid.I know you are aware that I also read other material at times, and what pleasantly surprised me recently was what I read an older Theosophy book called “Initiations Human and Solar”. Not only does the material somewhat parallel the more clarified concepts in TUB about the 7 Mansion Worlds for our souls to experience (and be tested per level/mansion world) after ending our physical existence on Earth, but also that same Theosophy book confirmed something that you, Bonita (and of course TUB) have stated from the beginning – that we only have ONE true physical life on Earth. That book further stated that after physical death we may at times truly think and feel that we are living new physical lives back on Earth, but in reality, that is NOT the truth! I get the impression that even the more modern concepts of reincarnation that I have read in the past 2 decades have simply been useful (but technically inaccurate) tools to help relatively uneducated masses (for thousands of years) to get a basic understanding of life now and life after we humans pass. But since TUB was written in book form and can be easily read (or parts of it re-read multiple times by people like me), there is no longer a good reason to promote reincarnation among relatively educated societies. Hence the reason I said in one of my earlier posts in this forum that TUB came at the most appropriate time in human history, when the masses of people globally had recently become relatively educated. Even the New Age movement is gradually moving away from reincarnation to promote simultaneous lifetimes, likely because leaders in that movement sense that ideas of reincarnation are soon going to expire, especially once science catches up to the kinds of ideas presented in TUB. But I also suspect that the concept of simultaneous lifetimes is closer to the truth presented in TUB concerning the Mansion Worlds (and beyond).
Less perfect knowledge must be replaced by more perfect knowledge, but we humans are often SO reluctant to that kind of change. I have seen a similar pattern expressed in the Conversations With God book series, where some concepts in Book 1 seem to be contradicted in Book 3, but a closer examination shows that series was written to GRADUALLY bring people to more perfect knowledge and wisdom. You can quickly jump from A to Z when presenting more perfect knowledge, but that likely won’t be accepted unless you gradually educate people step by step with more logical, more rational, more perfect knowledge. No sane math teacher would quickly move from teaching students Algebra 1 to teaching Calculus without gradually teaching the appropriate math courses that logically build upon each prior year of math. TUB may not be the equivalent of Calculus, but it is obviously a greater knowledge that is bringing us MUCH closer to even a greater knowledge – that’s why I keep recommending it to people I know and people I meet
Bye for now.Again, that same Theosophy book I mentioned in my last post seems to confirm yet another TUB truth – “decisions & the crisis relationship” (as it pertains to decisions we will make as a part of the tests we must pass to progress from each Mansion World to the next). That Theosophy book plainly indicates that each initiation involves us being tested with (personalized) crisis situations, which I had previously suspected was true about the Mansion Worlds (& had voiced my opinion about that in a prior post).
Wow! I noticed that there were posts on this forum that never made it to my personal email, though most of them did. I should explain to Bradly, Bonita & others that my personal beliefs have been in a constant state of revision/improvement ever since I realized my knowledge of many concepts that TUB contains/explains was greatly lacking. For several years, I had believed that reincarnation was real, but I only began to question my belief in reincarnation after reading parts of TUB that adamantly claims that is a false belief system. So recently, I have challenged myself to consider exactly how/why reincarnation is false, even beyond the few comments made in TUB regarding that topic. I have also been challenging myself to consider how/why the Urantia Book could be totally true on that same issue. And naturally to keep my thoughts as logical as I can, I want to simply bridge the gaps of my understanding. I couldn’t simply read & instantly accept that TUB was right, even if that proves to be the case.
Because of my realization after my first 20+years that I must have been mistaken about such seemingly foundational beliefs, I am now in the habit of carefully questioning & considering & testing various ideas, whether they are my personal, current beliefs or not. If you recall in a prior post, I do like to play “devil’s advocate” only for the purpose of testing ideas from multiple perspectives. So Bradly, you were sometimes mostly accurate but sometimes a little less accurate about my personal beliefs. But I don’t feel offended by that. And I greatly appreciate Bonita allowing me time to digest much of what I am learning from her, from Bradly, & others who occasionally contribute to this branch of the TUB forum.
Just so you all are aware, I finally found a satisfactory answer to the main question I have been researching in TUB & on this forum. But I found that answer in the last chapter of book 3 of the Conversations With God series, which in my opinion, does NOT in any way diminish the accuracy & value of TUB. If anything, it made TUB even more credible to me in some ways. But Bonita seems to have been right by suggesting that TUB does NOT overtly address the topic of simultaneous realities, which I needed to be properly addressed before I could begin to move well-beyond the belief in reincarnation. Yes Bradly, I am aware that you personally view some of my books in my collection as nonsense/false teachings – most people I know in life likely feel the same as you regarding books I have read in the past 15+ years. But you should realize that it doesn’t mean I fully believe all those books I have read, but they do stretch my mind to think outside the box, compared to what I used to believe, as does TUB. On top of that, I realize that the more I learn, the more I realize how little I really knew, which I very much related to how we often think our parents are relatively dumb while we are teenagers, but as we grow older (& hopefully wiser), we realize our parents were much more knowledgeable & wiser that we originally thought!:-)
Any, I finished the CWG book 3, so now I shall go back & read those TUB chapters that Bradly recently recommended. Bye for now.
Much thanks Bradly (& Bonita & others) – I now have read Papers 85 & 86, & will soon read 87, & will continue reading until I feel I have a good understanding of the history of religions on Urantia. You all have again made me realize that my reading only extracted quotes from TUB does not give me the full context of those quotes, which causes me sometimes to not easily follow the discussions on this forum. But that was partly my fault for asking for specific answers to my questions, when I should have routinely asked you all which Papers should I read to address my particular questions in their full context. At times, that is how you each have answered, for which I thank you. Bye for now.
One more thing – just a friendly observation from my personal experiences. When anyone on this forum mentions a source of information other than TUB, I know it is tempting to simply search for a brief summary of the source, but know that just like with TUB, reading anything apart from the original source can be very risky. For example, my initial online searches for TUB sometimes turned out to be very biased – and thus unfairly inaccurate – descriptions. One site said that Edgar Cayce was the “sleeping source” who channeled TUB. Another online source said TUB was actually based on the writings of some Catholic monk. Another online source said TUB was a hoax!
So you see, if I had ONLY judged TUB from those biased, non-original sources, then I would have MISjudged TUB before even reading it, & likely would NOT have read it for myself. Likewise, when I refer to other sources/books in this forum, PLEASE search for the ORIGINAL books/sources that I mention, NOT what others have said about them. Then, IF you take the time to at least skim read the ORIGINAL sources, then I will have greater respect for you if you still decide not to accept them as valid sources. To me, that is the most fair & honest way to do research (& thus have fair & honest discussions). Other visitors to this forum will also appreciate such quality interaction, not just me. Blessings to all of you.
Again, that same Theosophy book I mentioned in my last post seems to confirm yet another TUB truth – “decisions & the crisis relationship” (as it pertains to decisions we will make as a part of the tests we must pass to progress from each Mansion World to the next). That Theosophy book plainly indicates that each initiation involves us being tested with (personalized) crisis situations, which I had previously suspected was true about the Mansion Worlds (& had voiced my opinion about that in a prior post).
Michael…yes, the UB certainly concurs with the hammer and anvil and experiential wisdom acquired by the endless repetition of choice at the intersections of decision and relationship. The God Fragment and the Guardian Angels are very keen to guide each soul through great tests and conflicts for the forming and tempering of characters which exhibit loyalty and reality response which is reflexive and minds that are discerning and learned about not just determining right from wrong but more right from right and better from good and even best from the many better options available. Wisdom is a reflection of spiritization and experience.
It does not come easy or quickly. The forge begins its work here…and now. It does not ever cease. Its early work creates conflict requiring resolution and confusion that requires determination and uncertainty that requires trust and faith. The repercussions of choice, known as karma in some circles and the reaping of what is sown universally, has positive and negative outcome for our discernment. The causes of suffering and the cures for suffering must be discovered and mastered by each and every soul and being in time. Thus do we learn how better to choose and develop experiential wisdom.
We are taught that the range and effects and options of our freewill grows with our maturity, experience, and wisdom. The choice between right and wrong is narrow and fairly fixed and confined and really not so difficult to know, and the repercussions are limited by proximity to all errors. But as we mature in our freewill we discover how many more choices we must face in the perfecting of choice…when we get to the right choices there are so many!! Some are more right than others but still only experience can determine those. Wisdom never falters in its potential for greater realization and application! Even the Paradise Creator Sons, the perfect Sons of the Trinity, become Master Sons and grow in wisdom and power by experience!
Perfecting is not easy and the creators and Spirits do not choose that which is easy for us. It is said in the Papers that the greatest affliction of all is never to have suffered affliction…for how else does one gain wisdom and empathy and nobility?
100:4.1 (1097.5) Religious living is devoted living, and devoted living is creative living, original and spontaneous. New religious insights arise out of conflicts which initiate the choosing of new and better reaction habits in the place of older and inferior reaction patterns. New meanings only emerge amid conflict; and conflict persists only in the face of refusal to espouse the higher values connoted in superior meanings.
100:4.2 (1097.6) Religious perplexities are inevitable; there can be no growth without psychic conflict and spiritual agitation. The organization of a philosophic standard of living entails considerable commotion in the philosophic realms of the mind. Loyalties are not exercised in behalf of the great, the good, the true, and the noble without a struggle. Effort is attendant upon clarification of spiritual vision and enhancement of cosmic insight. And the human intellect protests against being weaned from subsisting upon the nonspiritual energies of temporal existence. The slothful animal mind rebels at the effort required to wrestle with cosmic problem solving.
100:5.2 (1098.5) The progression of religious growth leads from stagnation through conflict to co-ordination, from insecurity to undoubting faith, from confusion of cosmic consciousness to unification of personality, from the temporal objective to the eternal, from the bondage of fear to the liberty of divine sonship.
108:5.5 (1191.6) The Mystery Monitors are not thought helpers; they are thought adjusters. They labor with the material mind for the purpose of constructing, by adjustment and spiritualization, a new mind for the new worlds and the new name of your future career. Their mission chiefly concerns the future life, not this life. They are called heavenly helpers, not earthly helpers. They are not interested in making the mortal career easy; rather are they concerned in making your life reasonably difficult and rugged, so that decisions will be stimulated and multiplied. The presence of a great Thought Adjuster does not bestow ease of living and freedom from strenuous thinking, but such a divine gift should confer a sublime peace of mind and a superb tranquillity of spirit.
108:5.6 (1192.1) Your transient and ever-changing emotions of joy and sorrow are in the main purely human and material reactions to your internal psychic climate and to your external material environment. Do not, therefore, look to the Adjuster for selfish consolation and mortal comfort. It is the business of the Adjuster to prepare you for the eternal adventure, to assure your survival. It is not the mission of the Mystery Monitor to smooth your ruffled feelings or to minister to your injured pride; it is the preparation of your soul for the long ascending career that engages the attention and occupies the time of the Adjuster.
113:4.3 (1245.3) Seraphim function as teachers of men by guiding the footsteps of the human personality into paths of new and progressive experiences. To accept the guidance of a seraphim rarely means attaining a life of ease. In following this leading you are sure to encounter, and if you have the courage, to traverse, the rugged hills of moral choosing and spiritual progress.
Just to be clear – the source of one’s faith is to be celebrated…no matter its author or contents. It took many years and many readings for me to come to believe the claims of the authors of the Papers. You have misunderstood me if you think I belittle truth found in other places for I certainly have found truth in many different places myself and still do. Truth is where you find it.
We study the UB here. All beliefs, opinions, and other texts presented must be and are compared and contrasted WITH THE UB. This study method – comparative analysis – does not determine what is accurate or right or wrong. Not the point. The purpose is to determine similarities and contrasts or difference. That which conflicts or contradicts the UB is notable and relevant for study. So you have offered other works and personal wonderments…which have been compared to the UB. Some favorably and others not so much.
Believe what you will. Your beliefs are not subjects of my criticism or concern. But the UB says what it says and doesn’t say what it doesn’t. And that is what we study here .
The teacher always appears when the student is ready…always. One may be very surprised by who or what that teacher is. It is our faith that delivers the eternal adventure…not the source of our truths realized and not our knowledge…and not even epochal revelation. We must choose. And learn. And grow. That is all. Anyone can do it. Anyone at all!! Just to be clear.
Bradly
"Live loyally today—grow—and tomorrow will attend to itself. The quickest way for a tadpole to become a frog is to live loyally each moment as a tadpole."
Michael says above: ” Yes Bradly, I am aware that you personally view some of my books in my collection as nonsense/false teachings – most people I know in life likely feel the same as you regarding books I have read in the past 15+ years. But you should realize that it doesn’t mean I fully believe all those books I have read, but they do stretch my mind to think outside the box, compared to what I used to believe, as does TUB. ”
And: “Likewise, when I refer to other sources/books in this forum, PLEASE search for the ORIGINAL books/sources that I mention, NOT what others have said about them. Then, IF you take the time to at least skim read the ORIGINAL sources, then I will have greater respect for you if you still decide not to accept them as valid sources. To me, that is the most fair & honest way to do research (& thus have fair & honest discussions). Other visitors to this forum will also appreciate such quality interaction, not just me.”
Hmmmm….actually the quotes I provided on the Revelation of Ramala were from earnest adherents and students of the text – not critics or debunkers. A most unfair charge and inaccurate comparison Michael. I even provided a link to a devotee which included a link to the work itself. And I made no comment whatsoever about the work myself. I just highlighted the description which definitely contrasts its claimed source and content from the UB’s claims for itself. Did I criticize the Revelation of Ramala? Nope. I actually provided a connection to the work and a believer in the work, for any and all to peruse and consider it for themselves.
Again, I have made NO judgments about your library OR your beliefs. I only compare those to the UB as best as I can. The fact that there are differences, noted or otherwise, should not cause offence or suggest that I believe that it’s the UB or nothing!! Nothing could be more false! I thought you wanted to know the differences between these texts/teachings and the UB? You have directly solicited such comparison and analysis. You have not asked for anyone’s agreements or confirmations of your beliefs but have sought out an understanding of the UB’s teachings on various matters related, so far, to reincarnation and supposed/alleged “memories” of past lives, seeking anything in the Revelation that might support or explain such memories in mortals. The Revelation of Ramala does not agree with or confirm the UB’s teachings on the matter. Sorry. It is what it is.
Which is not to say you should not believe in reincarnation or the RofR and which is not to say the UB is accurate and everything which contradicts it is wrong. Never said it. Wouldn’t say it. No point to saying it. I am not here to convince anyone of anything….except perhaps that the UB says what it says and doesn’t say what it doesn’t and the authors wrote what they wrote with intention and purpose and meant what they wrote and wrote what they meant to write. It is written to be read literally. It is not allegory or metaphor or coded mystery or shrouded in riddles for priests to unravel and interpret for the student.
I personally have found it to be written in such a way that new meanings emerge with every reading as one learns to hear the many pieces in this orchestra and one learns to appreciate the rhythm and harmonies and intricacies of each note and tonal qualities in this symphony of fact and truth. Each paragraph is like a thread of color in a woven tapestry which takes time and patience to discover the texture and patterns and total vision of this masterful work. To listen to a short refrain or pull a thread from the tapestry delivers absolutely no truth or vision or understanding or appreciation of this work. It is the body and entirety of the Papers that deliver its power and its meaning and its value. But such a study takes time and effort. While the reward is great, the pearls of truth found in life do not drop from the sky like lemon drops from rainbow fairies!! Effort is rewarded…with the glory of truth discovered.
And as I said before….God delivers truth to mind both directly by personal revelation and epochal revelation and by many methods and means every day to all who seek it. Where you find your truth Michael is immaterial to me…and I am quite certain of your faith, which is all that is needed for the eternal adventure!! Or so the Urantia Papers teach us!!
100:4.2 (1097.6) Religious perplexities are inevitable; there can be no growth without psychic conflict and spiritual agitation. The organization of a philosophic standard of living entails considerable commotion in the philosophic realms of the mind. Loyalties are not exercised in behalf of the great, the good, the true, and the noble without a struggle. Effort is attendant upon clarification of spiritual vision and enhancement of cosmic insight. And the human intellect protests against being weaned from subsisting upon the nonspiritual energies of temporal existence. The slothful animal mind rebels at the effort required to wrestle with cosmic problem solving.
"Live loyally today—grow—and tomorrow will attend to itself. The quickest way for a tadpole to become a frog is to live loyally each moment as a tadpole."
Thank you for your clarifications, Bradly – and I apologize for misjudging your perspective on my personal library. I had not actually looked at the Ramala link – I had only noticed from the link itself that it was not the official website which contains free PDF downloads of the Ramala trilogy of books. But even so, my original point is valid about always consulting original sources when possible, for even devotees can potentially hype or exaggerate their source material, as may critics in the opposite direction.
From but regarding the first of your 2 replies, it seems that the UB really destroys the typical illusions that many people have (especially Christians) of heaven & hell. However, regarding typical Christian beliefs, I recall reading years ago how a few daring souls pointed out that the so-called fallen angel (who then became the devil) was originally supposed to test humans, & that temptation to do evil was a latter function of that same entity. So while the specifics may be mistaken, it does seem from the UB that those in the Spiritual Hierarchy (to use a Theosophy term) are absolutely going to test us – and the testing may never end! Wow – many have been (or will be) so surprised when they wake up in their resurrection chambers! So much for the concept of easy paradise after this life on Earth
I must say I am very much beginning to see what you mean Bradly the more I read the UB and quietly compare it with everything else I have read up to this point. The UB is amazingly refreshing (& challenging in a good way). I again recommended the UB to another person yesterday. The thing I keep running into is that most people I know are sadly not in the habit of traditional reading & studying – our culture is so obsessed with entertainment. However, I do sometimes find individuals whose curiosity have brought them to ask themselves (prior to reading the UB), “Isn’t there more to life & death than what mainstream sources have so far shared with us?!” Those are the kind of people who have been (or will be) thrilled to read the UB! Bye for now.
Point of clarification – the UB teaches that none of us are “tempted” by any other. Not fallen angels or devils or evil spirits and especially not God or any Divine source either. We are “tempted” by (or actually succumb to) immaturity, inexperience, self importance, the animal nature of our two inherent natures which includes slothfulness and self indulgence, materialism, and other choices which lead to suffering by their inherent repercussions.
We have a generous nature and a selfish nature. We choose which leads us forward into our choices. Each nature’s choices are causes of certain effects. One set of effects/results leads to fruits of the Spirit and happiness while the other leads to disappointment, strife, and suffering.
The Eastern focus on human suffering and its causes and cures recognizes this reality relationship of reaping what we sow by our motives, intentions, priorities, and choices at the intersections of decision .
3.5 (37.3) In any universe contest between actual levels of reality, the personality of the higher level will ultimately triumph over the personality of the lower level. This inevitable outcome of universe controversy is inherent in the fact that divinity of quality equals the degree of reality or actuality of any will creature. Undiluted evil, complete error, willful sin, and unmitigated iniquity are inherently and automatically suicidal. Such attitudes of cosmic unreality can survive in the universe only because of transient mercy-tolerance pending the action of the justice-determining and fairness-finding mechanisms of the universe tribunals of righteous adjudication.
34:6.9 In every mortal there exists a dual nature: the inheritance of animal tendencies and the high urge of spirit endowment. During the short life you live on Urantia, these two diverse and opposing urges can seldom be fully reconciled; they can hardly be harmonized and unified; but throughout your lifetime the combined Spirit ever ministers to assist you in subjecting the flesh more and more to the leading of the Spirit. Even though you must live your material life through, even though you cannot escape the body and its necessities, nonetheless, in purpose and ideals you are empowered increasingly to subject the animal nature to the mastery of the Spirit. There truly exists within you a conspiracy of spiritual forces, a confederation of divine powers, whose exclusive purpose is to effect your final deliverance from material bondage and finite handicaps.
The teachings of the UB are clear and redundant on the issue of “temptation” by celestials and/or Deity. Freewill is universe law. Temptation by another is a form of coercion and violation of freewill. Temptation is self created. It is a desire that is self important, self serving, self indulgent, and contrary to our personal moral code…or it would not be tempting.
156:5.3 (1738.2) On the evening of this same day Nathaniel asked Jesus: “Master, why do we pray that God will lead us not into temptation when we well know from your revelation of the Father that he never does such things?” Jesus answered Nathaniel:
156:5.4 (1738.3) “It is not strange that you ask such questions seeing that you are beginning to know the Father as I know him, and not as the early Hebrew prophets so dimly saw him. You well know how our forefathers were disposed to see God in almost everything that happened. They looked for the hand of God in all natural occurrences and in every unusual episode of human experience. They connected God with both good and evil. They thought he softened the heart of Moses and hardened the heart of Pharaoh. When man had a strong urge to do something, good or evil, he was in the habit of accounting for these unusual emotions by remarking: ‘The Lord spoke to me saying, do thus and so, or go here and there.’ Accordingly, since men so often and so violently ran into temptation, it became the habit of our forefathers to believe that God led them thither for testing, punishing, or strengthening. But you, indeed, now know better. You know that men are all too often led into temptation by the urge of their own selfishness and by the impulses of their animal natures. When you are in this way tempted, I admonish you that, while you recognize temptation honestly and sincerely for just what it is, you intelligently redirect the energies of spirit, mind, and body, which are seeking expression, into higher channels and toward more idealistic goals. In this way may you transform your temptations into the highest types of uplifting mortal ministry while you almost wholly avoid these wasteful and weakening conflicts between the animal and spiritual natures.
144:3.2 (1619.6) When James had finished speaking, Jesus said: “If, then, you still desire such a prayer, I would present the one which I taught my brothers and sisters in Nazareth”:
144:3.3 (1620.1) Our Father who is in heaven,
144:3.4 (1620.2) Hallowed be your name.
144:3.5 (1620.3) Your kingdom come; your will be done
144:3.6 (1620.4) On earth as it is in heaven.
144:3.7 (1620.5) Give us this day our bread for tomorrow;
144:3.8 (1620.6) Refresh our souls with the water of life.
144:3.9 (1620.7) And forgive us every one our debts *
144:3.10 (1620.8) As we also have forgiven our debtors.
144:3.11 (1620.9) Save us in temptation, deliver us from evil,
144:3.12 (1620.10) And increasingly make us perfect like yourself.
"Live loyally today—grow—and tomorrow will attend to itself. The quickest way for a tadpole to become a frog is to live loyally each moment as a tadpole."
G’day,
- « ….That none of us are “tempted” by any other. »Bradly
Right. As you explain Bradly, At each intersection «
temptation» choice is at stake, at issue.QUESTION:
Acknowledgement/complaisance/cooperation, on this platform could it be perceived as brotherhoodishhh? I mean to avoid/abstain/skip? I know I still expound it . Dread is the feeling I get when unbrotherhood seems to make his nest.L’appel à tous, the challenge here/now is to acknowledge and answer your point of view. PLEASE.
Thanks Bradly,
Thanks Michaël,
André
I’ve had another post disappear here…after a lengthy edit. It did post for awhile…and now is….poof!….gone in the wind.
Now it’s back!
Thanks!In considering the karmic results of choices – both good and bad – it is important to remember that the repercussions of choice are not material. The old “instant karma” of soon suffering by that we have imposed upon another is a humorous and just form of irony – when it happens and IF it happens. But such a result would suggest an agent or force of reciprocation and punishment which is simply not reality according to the UB and also according to the true meaning of karma by its adherents and believers either.
Karma and the harvest reaped of that which is sown is far more important and risky than any form of materialism or material outcomes. The fact is bad people who do bad things for bad reasons often benefit materially for their bad acts/choices. Some not only get away with selfish and barbarous behaviors but actually gain significant material advantage and rewards for their false liberties of self importance. And we know, according to the UB anyway, that there is no hell or eternal lake of fire for punishment and there is no damnation judgment day coming to fear. So then…why not lie, cheat, steal, envy, lust, covet, dominate, and measure life’s success by the material accumulations and advantages made possible by such self centered choices???
The reasons to choose true liberty and reject false liberty are profound in their effects on our very being and also upon the material life – although the material wealth of the material life is secondary to those who embrace true liberty and choose the spirit nature.
Karma and the law of reciprocity and the repercussions of freewill choice are determined less by our choices but by our motives and intentions and priorities in life. Our choices and the results of our choices are a reflection of WHO we are and our ideals and hopes and determine WHY we choose WHAT we choose. The ‘what’ is determined by the ‘why’ which expresses the ‘who’. Karma are those effects which determine WHO we are now and WHO we are becoming. Lying, cheating, stealing, dominating, and self importance all result in very specific and certain sets of effects!! Not material effects necessarily but certainly personal and character effects which create trends, directions, tendencies, trajectories, momentum, and mass which all combine and result in SUFFERING.
Such choices are not satisfying. Not spiritually or intellectually. Such choices deliver disappointment, frustration, loss, and do not deliver the satisfaction or thirst quenching relief that we hope. Such motives result in choices which prevent and terminate friendship and intimacy and bring us suspicion and distrust and also attract that and those who reflect the same standards of choice! That and those who are good and kind and generous give way to us to then shun us. We are taken advantage of by our own set of motives and intentions and suffer personally in many of the same ways as we impose upon others….regardless of the material benefits we may enjoy. Money does not buy true friends or love. But it is true friends and love that satisfy us most and bring happiness and enduring peace of mind.
Those with friends and love prosper personally….and spiritually. Those without do not…they suffer by the very lack of friends and love.
This is why, we are taught, that God measures our heart and our motives and intentions and sincerity, rather than our choices or results. Good motives do not equate to wise choices and good outcomes. Eventually they will based on an ever growing experiential wisdom. But in this life? And also the next…we will err and make mistakes in tactics, strategy, and timing. We will on occasion also succumb to self interest in our immaturity. Such mistakes are not damning…only delaying in our progress….and opportunities to discern the better WAY so that we might grow and mature and gain wisdom by such trials and errors.
But the more our choices are delivered by selfishness and self importance and dominance over others by our False Liberties, the more we will retreat from the Spirit and the voice within and the further from Divinity we take ourselves so that such choices become habits and reflexes of choice at every intersection of decision and relationship. The frequency and quantity of such bad choices due to bad motives and intentions has an accumulative and aggregate effect which makes it more and more difficult to change and repent and recover from. The less responsive we are to spirit gravity the less responsive we become. The Master said each decision/choice brings us closer to the Spirit or take us further away.
This is the arena of choice and karma. We should be very, very clear about why we choose what we choose. For why we choose what we choose determines what we choose. The more we choose well the more we are spiritized and our lives spiritualized and harmonized with reality and the closer the gravity circuits of mind, spirit, and personality will deliver to our Divine Source. The more we choose unwisely and selfishly the further from our Divine Source we get. Why we choose determines what we choose which determines our outcomes and our relationship to reality and the Source and Creator and Upholder of Reality. In one direction we gain purpose and meaning and value and relevancy but in the other we fade and become weak and unstable and irrelevant to reality.
Karma’s reward is happiness and eternal adventure and the fruits of the Spirit – but it’s penalty is personality depravation and distress and bitter disappointment and endless suffering. Interestingly….when you change direction for the better there are instant rewards within and when you change direction toward error, evil, and sin there are also instant penalties and suffering and distress. We know the difference. It is real. It is not material but it is further personal proof of the reality of the inner life and the Spirit within.
What is truly fascinating to consider about karma is this: it based on the inherency of certain laws and its outcomes are quite certain and are not personal but universal effects and the causes of effects as surely as physical gravity effects mass. The law of karma is not ‘administered’ by any agent but is, rather, unavoidable and uniformly in-action everywhere that freewill choice exists. Wisdom is gained by the same means – learning from the experience of personality reward or suffering or the effects of the cause of freewill choices and the amount/content of wisdom and love in those choices. Karma and wisdom or karma and suffering. Freewill is the cause of both effects. Both effects become causes. The more wisdom we have, the wiser our future choices. The more foolish and material and selfish we are the more foolish and self centered we become. This is a feedback loop by which we strengthen or we weaken by the motives and intentions of personal choice!!
Or so I understand the teachings……
111:1.3 (1216.4) Material mind is the arena in which human personalities live, are self-conscious, make decisions, choose God or forsake him, eternalize or destroy themselves.
111:1.4 (1216.5) Material evolution has provided you a life machine, your body; the Father himself has endowed you with the purest spirit reality known in the universe, your Thought Adjuster. But into your hands, subject to your own decisions, has been given mind, and it is by mind that you live or die. It is within this mind and with this mind that you make those moral decisions which enable you to achieve Adjusterlikeness, and that is Godlikeness.
111:1.6 (1217.1) Mind is the cosmic instrument on which the human will can play the discords of destruction, or upon which this same human will can bring forth the exquisite melodies of God identification and consequent eternal survival. The Adjuster bestowed upon man is, in the last analysis, impervious to evil and incapable of sin, but mortal mind can actually be twisted, distorted, and rendered evil and ugly by the sinful machinations of a perverse and self-seeking human will. Likewise can this mind be made noble, beautiful, true, and good—actually great—in accordance with the spirit-illuminated will of a God-knowing human being. *
100:1.8 (1095.3) Religious habits of thinking and acting are contributory to the economy of spiritual growth. One can develop religious predispositions toward favorable reaction to spiritual stimuli, a sort of conditioned spiritual reflex. Habits which favor religious growth embrace cultivated sensitivity to divine values, recognition of religious living in others, reflective meditation on cosmic meanings, worshipful problem solving, sharing one’s spiritual life with one’s fellows, avoidance of selfishness, refusal to presume on divine mercy, living as in the presence of God. The factors of religious growth may be intentional, but the growth itself is unvaryingly unconscious.
100:2.3 (1095.7) Religion can progress to that level of experience whereon it becomes an enlightened and wise technique of spiritual reaction to the universe. Such a glorified religion can function on three levels of human personality: the intellectual, the morontial, and the spiritual; upon the mind, in the evolving soul, and with the indwelling spirit.
100:2.4 (1096.1) Spirituality becomes at once the indicator of one’s nearness to God and the measure of one’s usefulness to fellow beings. Spirituality enhances the ability to discover beauty in things, recognize truth in meanings, and discover goodness in values. Spiritual development is determined by capacity therefor and is directly proportional to the elimination of the selfish qualities of love.
100:2.5 (1096.2) Actual spiritual status is the measure of Deity attainment, Adjuster attunement. The achievement of finality of spirituality is equivalent to the attainment of the maximum of reality, the maximum of Godlikeness. Eternal life is the endless quest for infinite values.
100:2.6 (1096.3) The goal of human self-realization should be spiritual, not material. The only realities worth striving for are divine, spiritual, and eternal. Mortal man is entitled to the enjoyment of physical pleasures and to the satisfaction of human affections; he is benefited by loyalty to human associations and temporal institutions; but these are not the eternal foundations upon which to build the immortal personality which must transcend space, vanquish time, and achieve the eternal destiny of divine perfection and finaliter service.
100:2.7 (1096.4) Jesus portrayed the profound surety of the God-knowing mortal when he said: “To a God-knowing kingdom believer, what does it matter if all things earthly crash?” Temporal securities are vulnerable, but spiritual sureties are impregnable. When the flood tides of human adversity, selfishness, cruelty, hate, malice, and jealousy beat about the mortal soul, you may rest in the assurance that there is one inner bastion, the citadel of the spirit, which is absolutely unassailable; at least this is true of every human being who has dedicated the keeping of his soul to the indwelling spirit of the eternal God.
100:2.8 (1096.5) After such spiritual attainment, whether secured by gradual growth or specific crisis, there occurs a new orientation of personality as well as the development of a new standard of values. Such spirit-born individuals are so remotivated in life that they can calmly stand by while their fondest ambitions perish and their keenest hopes crash; they positively know that such catastrophes are but the redirecting cataclysms which wreck one’s temporal creations preliminary to the rearing of the more noble and enduring realities of a new and more sublime level of universe attainment.
"Live loyally today—grow—and tomorrow will attend to itself. The quickest way for a tadpole to become a frog is to live loyally each moment as a tadpole."
Wow! Good posts, Bradly & Andre. Regarding the topic of temptation, what you shared from the UB & your subsequent conclusions make perfect sense! So, since temptations are only coming from within ourselves, then what are the tests (provided many others?!) that allow us to essentially graduate from each Mansion World to the next one? By the way, the biblical book of James seems to coincide very well with the UB comments on the nature of human temptation.
Now regarding your comments (Bradly) about karma & our choices, I think I truly the points you were trying to make both now & when you & Bonita were debating this same topic. Any person can have good motives, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that person is also wise. If Bonita is still quietly reading our posts, I would recommend reading the part in the book “Mere Christianity” by C. S. Lewis that dealt with this very topic in a very similar way that you Bradly expressed it in your last post. If I recall correctly, he essentially said that every choice we make either makes us a little more like an angel or a little more like a devil. He further said that after we leave this physical life, we will see much more clearly what our choices made us become. And if I recall the Swedenborg teachings correctly on this topic, he said much along similar lines to both the UB & what is mentioned in “Mere Christianity”. But as usual, the UB addresses that topic (& many other topics) in such precise/concise ways.
I hope Bonita realizes I am NOT necessarily disagreeing with all that she expressed in those posts in which she debated Bradly. I simply suggest that there is always value in seeing things from different perspectives. In addition, I really wonder if you both only THOUGHT you were on opposite sides of the same issue. Perhaps you were both basically correct in your assertions but actually explaining slightly different topics?! I say that I have noticed in recent years that too often my wife & I have argued over things, then later on I realized that either she or I slightly misinterpreted each other’s positions – that were NOT truly on opposite sides of the issues we had debated.
And sometimes the misunderstandings are simply because we THOUGHT we FULLY heard or read something from another person in a particular way that would tend to make us defensive. Believe me – I know from many personal experiences in life how easy it is to accidentally misinterpret something, even on this forum, but I try to quickly realize & admit any mistakes I may have made. I have only recently learned in life that I can learn much better from nearly anyone if I learn NOT to get so easily offended, but when I do get offended, I try to let it go as quickly as possible so I don’t hold & build grudges, which in the end, only hinder or hurt myself. I guess I just miss hearing from Bonita, but supposed if & when I touch upon certain topics, she will reply.
Just so you all know, a coworker recently gave me another book to read – to be returned when I finish, so that is partly why I haven’t been on this forum for a few days. It’s fiction but truly illustrates what could happen if this country were hit with an Elecro Magnetic Pulse – know that it would NOT be good for nearly all of us, though the Amish would not be terribly affected – at least not by the blast – only by the aftermath and by so many people scrounging for food & water. Bye for now.
I meant …tests provided BY others… Spell check messed up my word that time
…I think I KNOW the points you were trying to make… Maybe I should have replied earlier – not so close to bedtime where I may be making too many word errors?!
…I say that BECAUSE I have noticed…
Ok, I think I corrected the worst of my word errors in my last post. Goodnite.
I apologize – I just remembered this forum is international! So, the fictional book I am currently reading deals with the “what if” scenario of the United States receiving an EMP. Apparently, such a blast would destroy electrical networks on a large scale – so NOT good for ANY society or ANY country that values (& heavily relies upon) electicity. Ironically, this reminds me of that chapter in the UB regarding a Neighboring Planet on which humans (in one country) have learned the value of having every citizen cross-trained in farming, even college professors! Goodnite.
From Michael’s post above: “Regarding the topic of temptation, what you shared from the UB & your subsequent conclusions make perfect sense! So, since temptations are only coming from within ourselves, then what are the tests (provided many others?!) that allow us to essentially graduate from each Mansion World to the next one? By the way, the biblical book of James seems to coincide very well with the UB comments on the nature of human temptation.”
Tests? Hmmmmm…..
We are “guided” into certain situations and circumstances and encounters and incidences I think by the TA God Fragment and by the Guardian Angels that become doorways of opportunity and intersections of decision that are designed and hoped to provide us the means to make choices that lead to our discernment, to discover meanings, to witness repercussions and reciprocation and results of those choices and, thereby to learn and gain understanding and grow in wisdom. Such intersections are repeated and repeated, endlessly in life, to allow us to demonstrate growth in wisdom and skill and spiritization.
We progress through what the UB teaches are the 7 Psychic Circles of Progress which the God Fragment, Father Spirit within can measure and knows precisely our level of soul growth and spiritual progress and levels of maturity and wisdom and loyalty and dependabilty, etc. Nothing in mind or heart is hidden from God. God knows us…intimately and thoroughly and completely. The hammer and anvil are relentless in their forging and tempering of the souls of time for the eternal adventures to come!
I don’t think it entirely accurate to consider the countless intersections of choice as actual tests or any predetermined curriculum. We each progress quite individually and each aspect of our selfhood must be fully matured but those do not mature in unison or by any uniform standard or measure. We truly are quite unique, each of us. The 7 circles are, during this planetary mortal epoch, most often completed on the Mansion Worlds and result in fusion with the God Fragment.
Once we reach the Mansion Worlds and beyond, we are provided a more formalized education and curriculum which is still very flexible and responsive to our choice/priorities/experience and is personalized like we would understand as personal tutoring for example. The curriculum is adjusted to each person’s need and speed! Similarly to our material life, our progress is readily determined by the TA’s and other agents of Deity including celestials who can measure our progress in mota and loyalty and skill and knowledge. I don’t believe their are written exams….but such is certainly possible! Probably far more oral and demonstrative exams I think! And probably designed to demonstrate to the student the progress of the student! Tests are not truly needed for Deity to assess progress I do not think.
And I have always loved the Book of James.
47:10.7 (540.3) Mortal death is a technique of escape from the material life in the flesh; and the mansonia experience of progressive life through seven worlds of corrective training and cultural education represents the introduction of mortal survivors to the morontia career, the transition life which intervenes between the evolutionary material existence and the higher spirit attainment of the ascenders of time who are destined to achieve the portals of eternity.
48:5.6 (551.1) In the schools of the morontia life these teachers engage in individual, group, class, and mass teaching. On the mansion worlds such schools are organized in three general groups of one hundred divisions each: the schools of thinking, the schools of feeling, and the schools of doing. When you reach the constellation, there are added the schools of ethics, the schools of administration, and the schools of social adjustment. On the universe headquarters worlds you will enter the schools of philosophy, divinity, and pure spirituality.
48:5.7 (551.2) Those things which you might have learned on earth, but which you failed to learn, must be acquired under the tutelage of these faithful and patient teachers. There are no royal roads, short cuts, or easy paths to Paradise. Irrespective of the individual variations of the route, you master the lessons of one sphere before you proceed to another; at least this is true after you once leave the world of your nativity.
48:5.8 (551.3) One of the purposes of the morontia career is to effect the permanent eradication from the mortal survivors of such animal vestigial traits as procrastination, equivocation, insincerity, problem avoidance, unfairness, and ease seeking. The mansonia life early teaches the young morontia pupils that postponement is in no sense avoidance. After the life in the flesh, time is no longer available as a technique of dodging situations or of circumventing disagreeable obligations.
48:6.5 (552.3) On the mansion worlds the seraphic evangels will help you to choose wisely among the optional routes to Edentia, Salvington, Uversa, and Havona. If there are a number of equally advisable routes, these will be put before you, and you will be permitted to select the one that most appeals to you. These seraphim then make recommendations to the four and twenty advisers on Jerusem concerning that course which would be most advantageous for each ascending soul.
48:6.6 (552.4) You are not given unrestricted choice as to your future course; but you may choose within the limits of that which the transition ministers and their superiors wisely determine to be most suitable for your future spirit attainment. The spirit world is governed on the principle of respecting your freewill choice provided the course you may choose is not detrimental to you or injurious to your fellows.
48:8.1 (557.16) From the time of graduation from the mansion worlds to the attainment of spirit status in the superuniverse career, ascending mortals are denominated morontia progressors. Your passage through this wonderful borderland life will be an unforgettable experience, a charming memory. It is the evolutionary portal to spirit life and the eventual attainment of creature perfection by which ascenders achieve the goal of time—the finding of God on Paradise.
48:8.2 (557.17) There is a definite and divine purpose in all this morontia and subsequent spirit scheme of mortal progression, this elaborate universe training school for ascending creatures. It is the design of the Creators to afford the creatures of time a graduated opportunity to master the details of the operation and administration of the grand universe, and this long course of training is best carried forward by having the surviving mortal climb up gradually and by actual participation in every step of the ascent.
48:8.3 (558.1) The mortal-survival plan has a practical and serviceable objective; you are not the recipients of all this divine labor and painstaking training only that you may survive just to enjoy endless bliss and eternal ease. There is a goal of transcendent service concealed beyond the horizon of the present universe age. If the Gods designed merely to take you on one long and eternal joy excursion, they certainly would not so largely turn the whole universe into one vast and intricate practical training school, requisition a substantial part of the celestial creation as teachers and instructors, and then spend ages upon ages piloting you, one by one, through this gigantic universe school of experiential training. The furtherance of the scheme of mortal progression seems to be one of the chief businesses of the present organized universe, and the majority of innumerable orders of created intelligences are either directly or indirectly engaged in advancing some phase of this progressive perfection plan.
"Live loyally today—grow—and tomorrow will attend to itself. The quickest way for a tadpole to become a frog is to live loyally each moment as a tadpole."
Information about the 7 levels of personal progress. Very important and relevant information to the discussion, especially related to individualized growth experience and expression of progress.
110:6.3 (1209.3) The psychic circles are not exclusively intellectual, neither are they wholly morontial; they have to do with personality status, mind attainment, soul growth, and Adjuster attunement. The successful traversal of these levels demands the harmonious functioning of the entire personality, not merely of some one phase thereof. The growth of the parts does not equal the true maturation of the whole; the parts really grow in proportion to the expansion of the entire self—the whole self—material, intellectual, and spiritual.
110:6.4 (1209.4) When the development of the intellectual nature proceeds faster than that of the spiritual, such a situation renders communication with the Thought Adjuster both difficult and dangerous. Likewise, overspiritual development tends to produce a fanatical and perverted interpretation of the spirit leadings of the divine indweller. Lack of spiritual capacity makes it very difficult to transmit to such a material intellect the spiritual truths resident in the higher superconsciousness. It is to the mind of perfect poise, housed in a body of clean habits, stabilized neural energies, and balanced chemical function—when the physical, mental, and spiritual powers are in triune harmony of development—that a maximum of light and truth can be imparted with a minimum of temporal danger or risk to the real welfare of such a being. By such a balanced growth does man ascend the circles of planetary progression one by one, from the seventh to the first.
110:6.5 (1209.5) The Adjusters are always near you and of you, but rarely can they speak directly, as another being, to you. Circle by circle your intellectual decisions, moral choosings, and spiritual development add to the ability of the Adjuster to function in your mind; circle by circle you thereby ascend from the lower stages of Adjuster association and mind attunement, so that the Adjuster is increasingly enabled to register his picturizations of destiny with augmenting vividness and conviction upon the evolving consciousness of this God-seeking mind-soul.
110:6.6 (1210.1) Every decision you make either impedes or facilitates the function of the Adjuster; likewise do these very decisions determine your advancement in the circles of human achievement. It is true that the supremacy of a decision, its crisis relationship, has a great deal to do with its circle-making influence; nevertheless, numbers of decisions, frequent repetitions, persistent repetitions, are also essential to the habit-forming certainty of such reactions.
110:6.7 (1210.2) It is difficult precisely to define the seven levels of human progression, for the reason that these levels are personal; they are variable for each individual and are apparently determined by the growth capacity of each human being. The conquest of these levels of cosmic evolution is reflected in three ways:
110:6.8 (1210.3) 1. Adjuster attunement.The spiritizing mind nears the Adjuster presence proportional to circle attainment.
110:6.9 (1210.4) 2. Soul evolution. The emergence of the morontia soul indicates the extent and depth of circle mastery.
110:6.10 (1210.5) 3. Personality reality.The degree of selfhood reality is directly determined by circle conquest. Persons become more real as they ascend from the seventh to the first level of mortal existence.
110:6.11 (1210.6) As the circles are traversed, the child of material evolution is growing into the mature human of immortal potentiality. The shadowy reality of the embryonic nature of a seventh circler is giving way to the clearer manifestation of the emerging morontia nature of a local universe citizen.
110:6.16 (1211.1) Perhaps these psychic circles of mortal progression would be better denominated cosmic levels—actual meaning grasps and value realizations of progressive approach to the morontia consciousness of initial relationship of the evolutionary soul with the emerging Supreme Being. And it is this very relationship that makes it forever impossible fully to explain the significance of the cosmic circles to the material mind. These circle attainments are only relatively related to God-consciousness. A seventh or sixth circler can be almost as truly God-knowing—sonship conscious—as a second or first circler, but such lower circle beings are far less conscious of experiential relation to the Supreme Being, universe citizenship. The attainment of these cosmic circles will become a part of the ascenders’ experience on the mansion worlds if they fail of such achievement before natural death.
110:6.17 (1211.2) The motivation of faith makes experiential the full realization of man’s sonship with God, but action,completion of decisions, is essential to the evolutionary attainment of consciousness of progressive kinship with the cosmic actuality of the Supreme Being. Faith transmutes potentials to actuals in the spiritual world, but potentials become actuals in the finite realms of the Supreme only by and through the realization of choice-experience. But choosing to do the will of God joins spiritual faith to material decisions in personality action and thus supplies a divine and spiritual fulcrum for the more effective functioning of the human and material leverage of God-hunger. Such a wise co-ordination of material and spiritual forces greatly augments both cosmic realization of the Supreme and morontia comprehension of the Paradise Deities.
110:6.18 (1211.3) The mastery of the cosmic circles is related to the quantitative growth of the morontia soul, the comprehension of supreme meanings. But the qualitative status of this immortal soul is wholly dependent on the grasp of living faith upon the Paradise-potential fact-value that mortal man is a son of the eternal God. Therefore does a seventh circler go on to the mansion worlds to attain further quantitative realization of cosmic growth just as does a second or even a first circler.
110:6.19 (1211.4) There is only an indirect relation between cosmic-circle attainment and actual spiritual religious experience; such attainments are reciprocal and therefore mutually beneficial. Purely spiritual development may have little to do with planetary material prosperity, but circle attainment always augments the potential of human success and mortal achievement.
Me here: I posted information previously about the reflectivity circuit to dissuade the notion of mortal “psychic communication” with each other and argue against the notion that dreams or memories or thoughts by and from others, either nearby or far away, might provide a UB explanation for past-lives memories (which I believe are pure inventions of material mind – much like alien abduction ‘memories’ – and story telling).
But reflectivity does explain how Deity can assess and be quite certain of pilgrim’s progress and one’s experiential wisdom and spirituality and motives and intentions and priorities and integrity. Testing for progress is a very circumscribed and limited perspective of the process of progress I think.
7. Universe Reflectivity
9:7.1 (105.1) The Conjoint Actor is able to co-ordinate all levels of universe actuality in such manner as to make possible the simultaneous recognition of the mental, the material, and the spiritual. This is the phenomenon of universe reflectivity, that unique and inexplicable power to see, hear, sense, and know all things as they transpire throughout a superuniverse, and to focalize, by reflectivity, all this information and knowledge at any desired point. The action of reflectivityis shown in perfection on each of the headquarters worlds of the seven superuniverses. It is also operative throughout all sectors of the superuniverses and within the boundaries of the local universes. Reflectivity finally focalizes on Paradise.
9:7.2 (105.2) The phenomenon of reflectivity, as it is disclosed on the superuniverse headquarters worlds in the amazing performances of the reflective personalities there stationed, represents the most complex interassociation of all phases of existence to be found in all creation. Lines of spirit can be traced back to the Son, physical energy to Paradise, and mind to the Third Source; but in the extraordinary phenomenon of universe reflectivity there is a unique and exceptional unification of all three, so associated as to enable the universe rulers to know about remote conditions instantaneously, simultaneously with their occurrence.
3. The Reflective Spirits
17:3.1 (200.5) The forty-nine Reflective Spirits are of Trinity origin, but each of the seven creative episodes attendant upon their appearance was productive of a type of being in nature resembling the characteristics of the coancestral Master Spirit. Thus they variously reflect the natures and characters of the seven possible combinations of the association of the divinity characteristics of the Universal Father, the Eternal Son, and the Infinite Spirit. For this reason it is necessary to have seven of these Reflective Spirits on the headquarters of each superuniverse. One of each of the seven types is required in order to achieve the perfect reflection of all phases of every possible manifestation of the three Paradise Deities as such phenomena might occur in any part of the seven superuniverses. One of each type was accordingly assigned to service in each of the superuniverses. These groups of seven dissimilar Reflective Spirits maintain headquarters on the capitals of the superuniverses at the reflective focus of each realm, and this is not identical with the point of spiritual polarity.
17:3.2 (200.6) The Reflective Spirits have names, but these designations are not revealed on the worlds of space. They pertain to the nature and character of these beings and are a part of one of the seven universal mysteries of the secret spheres of Paradise.
17:3.3 (201.1) The attribute of reflectivity, the phenomenon of the mind levels of the Conjoint Actor, the Supreme Being, and the Master Spirits, is transmissible to all beings concerned in the working of this vast scheme of universal intelligence. And herein is a great mystery: Neither the Master Spirits nor the Paradise Deities, singly or collectively, disclose these powers of co-ordinate universal reflectivity just as they are manifested in these forty-nine liaison personalities of Majeston, and yet they are the creators of all these marvelously endowed beings. Divine heredity does sometimes disclose in the creature certain attributes which are not discernible in the Creator.
17:3.4 (201.2) The personnel of the reflectivity service, with the exception of Majeston and the Reflective Spirits, are all the creatures of the Infinite Spirit and his immediate associates and subordinates. The Reflective Spirits of each superuniverse are the creators of their Reflective Image Aids, their personal voices to the courts of the Ancients of Days.
17:3.5 (201.3) The Reflective Spirits are not merely transmitting agents; they are retentive personalities as well. Their offspring, the seconaphim, are also retentive or record personalities. Everything of true spiritual value is registered in duplicate, and one impression is preserved in the personal equipment of some member of one of the numerous orders of secoraphic personalities belonging to the vast staff of the Reflective Spirits.
17:3.6 (201.4) The formal records of the universes are passed up by and through the angelic recorders, but the true spiritual records are assembled by reflectivity and are preserved in the minds of suitable and appropriate personalities belonging to the family of the Infinite Spirit. These are the liverecords in contrast with the formal and dead records of the universe, and they are perfectly preserved in the living minds of the recording personalities of the Infinite Spirit.
17:3.7 (201.5) The reflectivity organization is also the news-gathering and the decree-disseminating mechanism of all creation. It is in constant operation in contrast with the periodic functioning of the various broadcast services.
17:3.8 (201.6) Everything of import transpiring on a local universe headquarters is inherently reflected to the capital of its superuniverse. And conversely, everything of local universe significance is reflected outward to the local universe capitals from the headquarters of their superuniverse. The reflectivity service from the universes of time up to the superuniverses is apparently automatic or self-operating, but it is not. It is all very personal and intelligent; its precision results from perfection of personality co-operation and therefore can hardly be attributed to the impersonal presence-performances of the Absolutes.
"Live loyally today—grow—and tomorrow will attend to itself. The quickest way for a tadpole to become a frog is to live loyally each moment as a tadpole."
