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Religion In Human Experience – Paper 100

235 posts · 9 participants · started Jan 7, 2018, 4:53 PM

  1. Yeah, I think spiritualization is the process of spiritual growth, and it would be unconscious. But I don’t know if the process of spiritization is conscious. I don’t think so, because it’s done by the Adjuster. But I do think we have to consciously choose the spiritized option whenever faced with a decision. Which means we’re supposed to learn how to discover and recognize the option deputized with the most spiritual power, the spiritized option. They describe that as spiritual insight, I think. Still working on it.

    Yes…it is all ‘unconscious’ but much of that is responsive in nature and much of that is far more intentional….and that’s the difference I meant….which may still be either confusing or simply wrong.  I think spiritization is something the TA can only do with our own intention and volition like being born again and it is something the TA does in-mind and in cooperation with soul…our being/self is being spiritized by our God Fragment.  And our spiritualization is our growing and personal inner response mechanism to the same problems and circumstances in new and wiser ways by the effects of spiritization?  Spiritization follows spiritualization of a responsive and reflexive sort as we are children (or primitives) by our intentional and volitional choosing of the spirit-identity which then changes and supercharges the results/effects of purposeful spiritualization?

    We respond to the adjutants.  Then we respond to the TA’s whisper.  Then we consciously choose spiritization (become born again by inviting the Spirit to dominate and guide us), and then our spiritualization takes on new forms and delivers greater and progressive results once we have volitionally chosen to transfer the seat of our identity as a personal priority?  The two terms are inherently linked….both are causes and both are effects….the response to the adjutants brings the TA and the whisper and the response to that whisper, when consciously chosen and purposefully listened and responded to accelerates and focuses further progress in the Circles.  Only so much Circle Progress can come prior to or without our conscious volitional choosing to intentionally respond to Spirit – further growth in the Spirit into the higher Circles and all progress related to actual fusion must be intentional.  Okay, head hurts and I’m obviously confused and confusing.  Still working on it.

    Bonita wrote: But I do see a difference between the words spiritize and spiritualize.

    I like to think the UB narrators attempt to adhere to standard dictionary meanings, except in those cases where they try to portray new concepts with new words.

    spiritize – to imbue with a spirit : to implant a spirit in.

    spiritualize – to elevate to a spiritual level: to make spiritual: to give a spiritual meaning to or understand in a spiritual sense.

    This indicates that spiritization is something done TO us while spiritualization is something done BY us…..?  (Funny, my spellcheck does not recognize the words spiritize, spiritized, or spiritization….my computer believes these to be misspelled non-words…and yet my online dictionaries give the above definitions….with very little data on origins.)

    Mark – really appreciated your comments on the other topic about specifically inviting the TA to minister to our mind….I do so upon every single nap and night’s sleep….acknowledge, permit, and request this ministry….once I’ve said my thankfuls and sent my love and best wishes prayers and attempt to EXZUDE my sense of belonging and contentment and wonder in God’s family of creation….Thanks, Prayers FOR Others, Wonder….and then my plea for the God Fragment to TRANSFORM.  Not sure how it’s all working out….it’s rather unconscious indeed….still a tadpole after all!

    Thanks everyone!   ;-)

    "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."

  2.  

    Gene wrote:So, the question I have is how do you do God’s will without becoming conscious of your soul?
    “Not certain about that but maybe this sort of awareness of the soul and doing Gods will is more like a super additive to our existing consciousness? A super consciousness sort of.”
    I can’t go with that exactly.  Yes the Adjuster lives in the superconscious, but that is the zone that overlaps the soul. It does not overlap the material mind.  They do tell us that we have to go through to the borderland of the soul in order to get to the superconscious. We’re also told that the Adjuster works on the idea/ideals that are consciously lodged in the supermind, which is another word for the soul. And that’s because the place where the superconscious overlaps the soul is the liaison domain of interrelationship.  So . . .  that tells me that if I want to engage in that interrelationship, I have to get to that liaison zone of the soul.
    I don’t think we ever become fully conscious of that zone, but what we become conscious of is a feeling of presence. There is someone living there.  We’re told we should increasingly be able to feel the presence of God which is a spiritual level of discernment that can be achieved only with spiritual eyes. Undoubtedly, this takes effort and time, probably a lot of time since we’re also told that if Jesus returns to this world, he would only be seen with spiritual eyes, and for that reason it will be far off in the future, since everyone will have to see him.
    I would say that if you feel the presence of God, you’re in the supermind or soul.
    Do I need to provide all the quotes?  Aren’t we all very familiar with them by now?
  3. . . . our being/self is being spiritized by our God Fragment.

    You might be right but I think that our God Fragment spiritualizes our selfhood and spiritizes our thoughts.  But don’t both of those things happen in the soul?  I think they do.

    Spiritization follows spiritualization of a responsive . . .

    Again, you may be right, but I see it the opposite way.  Spiritualization follows spiritization.  If spiritualization is an elevation to spirit levels, wouldn’t that happen after we’ve chosen to do something spiritual?  I think we recognize the spiritual option as one worthy of being chosen because it has been spiritized.  It glistens with spirit gravity attraction.

  4. I did say that spiritualization follows spiritization….but also precedes it….that which precedes is response to adjutant ministry while that which comes after spiritization is a result of the TA’s spiritization of mind/soul.

    How is soul born in children?  How does adjutant response occur in primitives?  Is this not a response to the adjutant spirits….spiritualization?

    Can one be spiritized prior to birth of soul?  I don’t think so.  No TA.  But one’s response to the adjutants is a spiritualizing process.   And once we dedicate our life to the Spirit within, additional spiritualization commences….with far more power and effect I think.

    The birth of soul and the road to fusion are far different in length and difficulty….the second requiring volitional cooperation and initiative I think.

    Hoping this turns toward the lessons on meanings and values in Paper 100.  Circle progress and progressive wisdom are built upon the discovery of both meanings and values…..our growing maturity and self mastery reflect progressive spiritualization.

    ;-)

    "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."

  5. How is soul born in children?  How does adjutant response occur in primitives?  Is this not a response to the adjutant spirits….spiritualization?

    No, I think it’s called evolution. The adjutants are the drivers of evolution. Response to the upper two adjutants results in the evolution of religion.  Spirit evolution is built on that, which is why I think the authors separated the two: religious growth and spiritual growth.

    36:5.16   The adjutant mind-spirits are in no manner directly related to the diverse and highly spiritual function of the spirit of the personal presence of the Divine Minister, the Holy Spirit of the inhabited worlds; but they are functionally antecedent to, and preparatory for, the appearance of this very spirit in evolutionary man. The adjutants afford the Universe Mother Spirit a varied contact with, and control over, the material living creatures of a local universe, but they do not repercuss in the Supreme Being when acting on prepersonality levels.

    36:5.1 It is the presence of the seven adjutant mind-spirits on the primitive worlds that conditions the course of organic evolution; that explains why evolution is purposeful and not accidental. These adjutants represent that function of the mind ministry of the Infinite Spirit which is extended to the lower orders of intelligent life through the operations of a local universe Mother Spirit. The adjutants are the children of the Universe Mother Spirit and constitute her personal ministry to the material minds of the realms. Wherever and whenever such mind is manifest, these spirits are variously functioning.

    I’m operating under the assumption that spiritization is something that comes only from the spirit level (Holy Spirit, Spirit of Truth, Adjuster who work as one).  Mind ministry operates within mind gravity, not spirit gravity.  The adjutants are mind ministry, not spirit ministry.  I think the upper two adjutants simply prepare the mind for spiritization.  I don’t think they actually spiritize or spiritualize it.

    Hoping this turns toward the lessons on meanings and values in Paper 100.

    Okay.  No problem.  There are many different levels of meanings from material to morontial to spiritual.  Meanings can evolve and grow with only material experience, but I think the meanings which contribute to spiritual growth have to do with values. Values can only evolve as a result of revealation because they have to do with truth. Truth is always a revelation.  Therefore it makes sense that revelation occurs in the morontia soul. The soul is the place in between the material and the spiritual, it is where higher meanings are discovered.  Those meanings require spiritization and action by the Spirit of Truth in order to bring those new meanings to life in the material world (aka fruits).

    180:5.3 Truth is a spiritual reality value experienced only by spirit-endowed beings who function upon supermaterial levels of universe consciousness, and who, after the realization of truth, permit its spirit of activation to live and reign within their souls.

    101:4.3  Truth is always a revelation: autorevelation when it emerges as a result of the work of the indwelling Adjuster; epochal revelation when it is presented by the function of some other celestial agency, group, or personality.

    101:2.8 Faith reveals God in the soul. Revelation, the substitute for morontia insight on an evolutionary world, enables man to see the same God in nature that faith exhibits in his soul. Thus does revelation successfully bridge the gulf between the material and the spiritual, even between the creature and the Creator, between man and God. 

  6. Thanks Bonita on the distinctions between Adjutant ministry and the Holy Spirit….and mind ministry and spirit ministry.  Important distinctions also between evolutionary religious growth and spiritual/soul growth.  I look forward to more discussion and text on truth and its relation to personal revelation and that to the discovery of meanings and values and how those change with one’s experiential maturity and spiritual progress.  So many related concepts to integrate!

    100:3.7 (1097.4) Man cannot cause growth, but he can supply favorable conditions. Growth is always unconscious, be it physical, intellectual, or spiritual. Love thus grows; it cannot be created, manufactured, or purchased; it must grow. Evolution is a cosmic technique of growth. Social growth cannot be secured by legislation, and moral growth is not had by improved administration. Man may manufacture a machine, but its real value must be derived from human culture and personal appreciation. Man’s sole contribution to growth is the mobilization of the total powers of his personality — living faith.

    4. Problems of Growth

    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.

    100:4.3 (1097.7) But the great problem of religious living consists in the task of unifying the soul powers of the personality by the dominance of love. Health, mental efficiency, and happiness arise from the unification of physical systems, mind systems, and spirit systems. Of health and sanity man understands much, but of happiness he has truly realized very little. The highest happiness is indissolubly linked with spiritual progress. Spiritual growth yields lasting joy, peace which passes all understanding.

    "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."

  7. I look forward to more discussion and text on truth and its relation to personal revelation and that to the discovery of meanings and values and how those change with one’s experiential maturity and spiritual progress.

    Well . . . isn’t truth living?  Isn’t growth proof of life?  It seems to me a person open to truth is a growing  person.  A person addicted to lies (falsehood and insincerity) is not growing but suffocating his/her own soul.  Souls can be killed.  The soul is not born perfect, it is always in a state of perfecting.  If it’s not perfecting it’s stalling out, dying.

     

  8. Yes Bonita…truth is living…itself….and the pursuit of truth can only happen in the living….decisions, decisions, and more decisions….brings each mind to the intersections of relationship and choice in which meaning and value (truth) may be found.  But only ARE found by an open and seeking and prayerful mind.  We are taught that ignorance (lack of knowledge) and prejudice (the love of and confidence in one’s current state of ignorance) are the greatest of obstacles to progress in the Spirit and experiential wisdom…both.  Or as you describe, prejudice is an addiction to falsehoods and insincerity!!

    We are taught it takes humility and courage to face the discovery of truth.  The text posted above tells us that trust and faith are required for the courage to face uncertainty, commotion, and transformation….transcending yesterday today and today tomorrow in experiential growth…”…conflict persists only in the face of refusal to espouse the higher values connoted in superior meanings.”

    "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."

  9. It’s weird to think of conflict as good, isn’t it?  Kids today are being taught the exact opposite, and it’s getting worse every day in my opinion.   Protecting kids from conflict, giving them safe zones with puppies and crayons, instead of teaching them how to really deal with conflict is one of our generation’s tragedies.

    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.

    Conflict  creates commotion in the philosophic realms of the mind.  Isn’t the philosophic realm of  mind the very place where the cosmic mind has its greatest function?  The philosophic realm of mind is between the material and spiritual realm; it even has its own cosmic reality reflex.  Kids shouldn’t be taught to run away and hide from this.

    (192.3) 16:6.7 2. Duty — the reality domain of morals in the philosophic realm, the arena of reason, the recognition of relative right and wrong. This is the judicial form of the cosmic discrimination.

     

  10. 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.

     

    One of my favorite sayings is:  If you’re not confused, you’re not paying attention!!!

    Too few of us are truly engaged in the “…organization of a philosophic standard of living…”.  We are either content with our current perspective or we are too distracted to even consider the importance and value of such an effort.  But for the sincere religionist who seeks to transfer the seat of identity and transform the tadpole of time to the frog of eternity, there is much TO DO!!  And the to-do list is being observant and discerning at the intersections of choice/decision to discover meanings and values at every opportunity.  Too many of us make the same choice at the same intersections of circumstance and situation so our circumstances and situations are always the same to us and are the choices/decisions made…it becomes mindless and circular reactions sequence without thought or purpose.

    We must learn to be intentional…and purposeful.  Reality is purposeful….unreality is not.

    133:5.8 (1477.3) There is unity in the cosmic universe if you could only discern its workings in actuality. The real universe is friendly to every child of the eternal God. The real problem is: How can the finite mind of man achieve a logical, true, and corresponding unity of thought? This universe-knowing state of mind can be had only by conceiving that the quantitative fact and the qualitative value have a common causation in the Paradise Father. Such a conception of reality yields a broader insight into the purposeful unity of universe phenomena; it even reveals a spiritual goal of progressive personality achievement. And this is a concept of unity which can sense the unchanging background of a living universe of continually changing impersonal relations and evolving personal relationships.

    "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."

  11. Reading ahead in Paper 102, I found:

    102:2.7 (1120.4) Evolutionary man does not naturally relish hard work. To keep pace in his life experience with the impelling demands and the compelling urges of a growing religious experience means incessant activity in spiritual growth, intellectual expansion, factual enlargement, and social service. There is no real religion apart from a highly active personality. Therefore do the more indolent of men often seek to escape the rigors of truly religious activities by a species of ingenious self-deception through resorting to a retreat to the false shelter of stereotyped religious doctrines and dogmas. But true religion is alive. Intellectual crystallization of religious concepts is the equivalent of spiritual death. You cannot conceive of religion without ideas, but when religion once becomes reduced only to an idea, it is no longer religion; it has become merely a species of human philosophy.

    102:2.8 (1121.1) Again, there are other types of unstable and poorly disciplined souls who would use the sentimental ideas of religion as an avenue of escape from the irritating demands of living. When certain vacillating and timid mortals attempt to escape from the incessant pressure of evolutionary life, religion, as they conceive it, seems to present the nearest refuge, the best avenue of escape. But it is the mission of religion to prepare man for bravely, even heroically, facing the vicissitudes of life. Religion is evolutionary man’s supreme endowment, the one thing which enables him to carry on and “endure as seeing Him who is invisible.” Mysticism, however, is often something of a retreat from life which is embraced by those humans who do not relish the more robust activities of living a religious life in the open arenas of human society and commerce. True religion must act. Conduct will be the result of religion when man actually has it, or rather when religion is permitted truly to possess the man. Never will religion be content with mere thinking or unacting feeling.

    102:2.9 (1121.2) We are not blind to the fact that religion often acts unwisely, even irreligiously, but it acts. Aberrations of religious conviction have led to bloody persecutions, but always and ever religion does something; it is dynamic!

    "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."

  12. And true religion is also the living experience of the loyalty of love. (92:7.5; 100:6.5) It is a mode of living and a wholehearted devotion to supreme values. (100:1.6; 100:6.1)

  13. And true religion is also the living experience of the loyalty of love. (92:7.5; 100:6.5) It is a mode of living and a wholehearted devotion to supreme values. (100:1.6; 100:6.1)

     

    “Jesus loved men so much…..” compares with…”…the beginnings of much that is fine and noble in the human race.”…and considering…”…if you could only know your fellows…”.

    I think this goes to the discussion of survival rates….we do not know or understand or empathize or love one another as mortals or we do not do so very well IMO.  We can’t really define religious experience in ourselves or others and yet we presume to judge and without love or understanding.  Thankfully, Jesus/Michael and our celestial friends and ministering spirits DO LOVE and understand all and each of us.

    To be sure, Religion In Human Experience has so many more layers and components to consider than I ever before thought possible or even relevant.  From hopes and ideals to expressions of faith that don’t appear to even be such but are reflex and response to the Spirit ministries within.   If only we know and learn to love others, the virus of love would infect the world….and US as religionists.

    The true values in life can only be discovered by love I think….it is what widens the lens of perspective.

    100:4.4 (1098.1) In physical life the senses tell of the existence of things; mind discovers the reality of meanings; but the spiritual experience reveals to the individual the true values of life. These high levels of human living are attained in the supreme love of God and in the unselfish love of man. If you love your fellow men, you must have discovered their values. Jesus loved men so much because he placed such a high value upon them. You can best discover values in your associates by discovering their motivation. If someone irritates you, causes feelings of resentment, you should sympathetically seek to discern his viewpoint, his reasons for such objectionable conduct. If once you understand your neighbor, you will become tolerant, and this tolerance will grow into friendship and ripen into love. *

    100:4.5 (1098.2) In the mind’s eye conjure up a picture of one of your primitive ancestors of cave-dwelling times — a short, misshapen, filthy, snarling hulk of a man standing, legs spread, club upraised, breathing hate and animosity as he looks fiercely just ahead. Such a picture hardly depicts the divine dignity of man. But allow us to enlarge the picture. In front of this animated human crouches a saber-toothed tiger. Behind him, a woman and two children. Immediately you recognize that such a picture stands for the beginnings of much that is fine and noble in the human race, but the man is the same in both pictures. Only, in the second sketch you are favored with a widened horizon. You therein discern the motivation of this evolving mortal. His attitude becomes praiseworthy because you understand him. If you could only fathom the motives of your associates, how much better you would understand them. If you could only know your fellows, you would eventually fall in love with them. *

    100:4.6 (1098.3) You cannot truly love your fellows by a mere act of the will. Love is only born of thoroughgoing understanding of your neighbor’s motives and sentiments. It is not so important to love all men today as it is that each day you learn to love one more human being. If each day or each week you achieve an understanding of one more of your fellows, and if this is the limit of your ability, then you are certainly socializing and truly spiritualizing your personality. Love is infectious, and when human devotion is intelligent and wise, love is more catching than hate. But only genuine and unselfish love is truly contagious. If each mortal could only become a focus of dynamic affection, this benign virus of love would soon pervade the sentimental emotion-stream of humanity to such an extent that all civilization would be encompassed by love, and that would be the realization of the brotherhood of man.

    "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."

  14. 100:4.4 (1098.1) In physical life the senses tell of the existence of things; mind discovers the reality of meanings; but the spiritual experience reveals to the individual the true values of life. These high levels of human living are attained in the supreme love of God and in the unselfish love of man. If you love your fellow men, you must have discovered their values. Jesus loved men so much because he placed such a high value upon them. You can best discover values in your associates by discovering their motivation. If someone irritates you, causes feelings of resentment, you should sympathetically seek to discern his viewpoint, his reasons for such objectionable conduct. If once you understand your neighbor, you will become tolerant, and this tolerance will grow into friendship and ripen into love.

    In this quote, and the others you posted Bradly, we’re told we are to go out of our way to understand one another. If someone irritates me, I’m supposed to try harder to understand them. And, if I’m irritating someone, I should try to make myself and my motives more understandable.  Why doesn’t this happen on this forum?  Why, when I try to understand another person’s motivation do they spit back, entrench, or run away?  Why when I try to explain my own motivation to someone who is irritated with me, am I so frequently attacked?  Never could figure this out.  It’s definitely not the love virus, I’ll tell ya that.

     

  15. 100:4.4 (1098.1) In physical life the senses tell of the existence of things; mind discovers the reality of meanings; but the spiritual experience reveals to the individual the true values of life. These high levels of human living are attained in the supreme love of God and in the unselfish love of man. If you love your fellow men, you must have discovered their values. Jesus loved men so much because he placed such a high value upon them. You can best discover values in your associates by discovering their motivation. If someone irritates you, causes feelings of resentment, you should sympathetically seek to discern his viewpoint, his reasons for such objectionable conduct. If once you understand your neighbor, you will become tolerant, and this tolerance will grow into friendship and ripen into love.

    In this quote, and the others you posted Bradly, we’re told we are to go out of our way to understand one another. If someone irritates me, I’m supposed to try harder to understand them. And, if I’m irritating someone, I should try to make myself and my motives more understandable. Why doesn’t this happen on this forum? Why, when I try to understand another person’s motivation do they spit back, entrench, or run away? Why when I try to explain my own motivation to someone who is irritated with me, am I so frequently attacked? Never could figure this out. It’s definitely not the love virus, I’ll tell ya that.

    It’s not too difficult to pick out someone’s need to be right as opposed to sharing and learning something.
    Organized religions happen for this reason.

  16. 100:4.6 (1098.3) You cannot truly love your fellows by a mere act of the will. Love is only born of thoroughgoing understanding of your neighbor’s motives and sentiments. It is not so important to love all men today as it is that each day you learn to love one more human being. If each day or each week you achieve an understanding of one more of your fellows, and if this is the limit of your ability, then you are certainly socializing and truly spiritualizing your personality. Love is infectious, and when human devotion is intelligent and wise, love is more catching than hate. But only genuine and unselfish love is truly contagious. If each mortal could only become a focus of dynamic affection, this benign virus of love would soon pervade the sentimental emotion-stream of humanity to such an extent that all civilization would be encompassed by love, and that would be the realization of the brotherhood of man.

    Notice the link above between true spiritualization of the individual and the realization of the brotherhood of man.  Our spiritization and spiritualization are expressed by our ability to understand and learn to love another human, and then another, and another….and not just those who appear lovely to us or with whom we agree….remember the barbarous caveman above….no, we are to learn to widen the angle of our own perspective….to remove the beams of unworthiness from our own eye….to humble ourselves while exalting the soul and light and destiny potential in others!!  We cannot love and cherish, like Jesus did/does, while judging and measuring another’s worth.  And if we cannot learn such perspective and such love and such humility….then are we growing in the Spirit?

    Can those who claim eternal destiny for ourselves while denying it for others, especially the vast majority of others, finding them as inferior to ourselves and lacking sufficient value to survive this life and world….can such ones be so certain of our/their own spiritual standing?  Are we not judged by how we serve and treat the least of God’s children?  And who are the least anyway?  A funny, truly humorous saying….for one must first judge someone as the least and then become humbled by the objective recognition and evaluation of that personal determination sufficiently to wash their feet and carry their burden and overlook their supposed transgressions to then serve them with love….an interesting paradoxical lesson in self examination and self importance I think.

    How we view our world’s situation and promise with the time unit perspective of past and future is similar to how we must view other individuals….their past and their potential destiny illuminate their motives and their circumstances in ways which soften our view and deliver tolerance and affection for the struggles of others.  Otherwise, we are but the barbarous caveman ourselves…but without the justifying woman and two children in the background….just self centered and self important primitives after all.

     

    41:10.5 (466.4) Urantia is comparatively isolated on the outskirts of Satania, your solar system, with one exception, being the farthest removed from Jerusem, while Satania itself is next to the outermost system of Norlatiadek, and this constellation is now traversing the outer fringe of Nebadon. You were truly among the least of all creation until Michael’s bestowal elevated your planet to a position of honor and great universe interest. Sometimes the last is first, while truly the least becomes greatest.

    176:3.5 (1917.1) “To every one who has, more shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him who has not, even that which he has shall be taken away. You cannot stand still in the affairs of the eternal kingdom. My Father requires all his children to grow in grace and in a knowledge of the truth. You who know these truths must yield the increase of the fruits of the spirit and manifest a growing devotion to the unselfish service of your fellow servants. And remember that, inasmuch as you minister to one of the least of my brethren, you have done this service to me.

    155:3.4 (1727.4) Increasingly they learned from Jesus to look upon human personalities in terms of their possibilities in time and in eternity. They learned that many souls can best be led to love the unseen God by being first taught to love their brethren whom they can see. And it was in this connection that new meaning became attached to the Master’s pronouncement concerning unselfish service for one’s fellows: “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of my brethren, you did it to me.”

    Me here:  What is the worth of a soul and its flicker of light within?  Since all or nearly all humans on Urantia give birth to soul and soul can of its own volition respond to the TA and worship God, then we might wish to consider the worth and the potential of every soul on Urantia I think.  Soul is not mind or body.  What are we judging when we determine the value of another I wonder?  Perhaps it is that we judge primarily ourselves in our measure of the value of others?  Is how we judge others – both individually and collectively – and their worthiness a true measure and determination of our own value TO others?  Just thinking out loud…..

    156:5.9 (1739.4) Make not the mistake of estimating the soul’s worth by the imperfections of the mind or by the appetites of the body. Judge not the soul nor evaluate its destiny by the standard of a single unfortunate human episode. Your spiritual destiny is conditioned only by your spiritual longings and purposes.

    "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."

  17. I’m drawn to the last sentence of your last quote, Bradly.

    Your spiritual destiny is conditioned only by your spiritual longings and purposes. (156:5.9)

    So how is it that I will face the Ancients of Days in regards to my own annihilation, (as recently claimed), if my spiritual longings and purposes are wholeheartedly to survive?

  18. What are we judging when we determine the value of another I wonder?  Perhaps it is that we judge primarily ourselves in our measure of the value of others?  Is how we judge others – both individually and collectively – and their worthiness a true measure and determination of our own value TO others?

    Another brilliant observation Bradly.  Justice is always a collective undertaking.  No single person can judge another person’s value.  Jesus puts the highest value on every single person, and since it’s his universe, no single person has the right to think otherwise.  Not even the angels dare to judge.

    (419.4) 38:2.4 Angels are superior to you in spiritual status, but they are not your judges or accusers. No matter what your faults, “the angels, although greater in power and might, bring no accusation against you.” Angels do not sit in judgment on mankind, neither should individual mortals prejudge their fellow creatures.

    In regards to salvation – who will survive and who will not – we’re told to take salvation for granted.  If I can take my own salvation for granted, then I have to take every other person’s salvation for granted too.

    188:4.9 Salvation should be taken for granted by those who believe in the fatherhood of God. The believer’s chief concern should not be the selfish desire for personal salvation but rather the unselfish urge to love and, therefore, serve one’s fellows even as Jesus loved and served mortal men.

  19. Me here: What is the worth of a soul and its flicker of light within? Since all or nearly all humans on Urantia give birth to soul and soul can of its own volition respond to the TA and worship God, then we might wish to consider the worth and the potential of every soul on Urantia I think. Soul is not mind or body. What are we judging when we determine the value of another I wonder? Perhaps it is that we judge primarily ourselves in our measure of the value of others? Is how we judge others – both individually and collectively – and their worthiness a true measure and determination of our own value TO others? Just thinking out loud…..

    You raise some very thoughtful questions, Bradly. Being morally self-conscious beings, we naturally make moral judgments about whether things and behaviors are good or not, including whether what others and ourselves do is good or not. But who among us can claim to know the true spiritual longings and purposes of another? Are the spiritual motivations in the hearts of others truly revealed by morally judging the words and behaviors of others? Isn’t it true that only God can judge the spiritual worth of every soul on Urantia? By both example and precept we are cautioned not to confuse our limited moral judgment of others with the final spiritual judgment of God. Jesus seeks to spiritually enlighten others; he does not spiritually judge others. That is a matter in which he defers to the rulers of Orvonton.

    You who would kill the Son of Man know not whence I came, who I am, or whither I go. You only judge by the appearances of the flesh; you do not perceive the realities of the spirit. I judge no man, not even my archenemy. (162:5.2)

    To the many proposals and counterproposals of the emissaries of Lucifer, Jesus only made reply: “May the will of my Paradise Father prevail, and you, my rebellious son, may the Ancients of Days judge you divinely. I am your Creator-father; I can hardly judge you justly, and my mercy you have already spurned. I commit you to the adjudication of the Judges of a greater universe.” (134:8.7)

    The nearest he came to making sociological pronouncements was to say, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” (140:8.12)

    5. They who would receive mercy must show mercy; judge not that you be not judged. With the spirit with which you judge others you also shall be judged. (146:2.6) 

    Let us follow the example of Jesus and choose not to attempt to spiritually judge others – either individually or collectively.

  20. Thanks to Bonita and George!!

    I recall the Lord’s prayer where Jesus taught us to pray for forgiveness AS we have forgiven others.

    We are to judge, to discern, to gain insight and wisdom….but this is situational and circumstantial….it is to find meaning and assess value at the intersections of choice and in the repercussions of those choices….it is for the purpose of learning….and religious growth and spiritualization of the mind and soul….to discover and express truth, beauty, and goodness in our loving service.

    How does one serve those judged inferior and unworthy in spirit?  We are taught that God knows the true inner motives and intentions while we can only judge the acts – often foolish, immature, inexperienced, unwise, and tainted by fear, doubts, and other material gravity responses – Jesus said “Make not the mistake of estimating the soul’s worth by the imperfections of the mind or by the appetites of the body…..”.  And in 100:4.6….”….Love is only born of thoroughgoing understanding of your neighbor’s motives and sentiments….”

    So….can we truly love others whom we also find lacking in spiritual value?  It appears from the text that in the finding of the lack in others we have really only discovered our own evil, immaturity, and questionable value!  Such judgements by a mind would seem to specifically identify one whose Religion In Human Experience is limited, blinded by a rather large beam, prideful, narrow minded, immature, and lacking love, hope, trust, and humility.

    As a child and since, the parables of the Good Shepherd and the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son have always inspired me to lay aside such judgements as to the worth and value….and the inner motives….of all others without considering all the variables of experience, lack of examples, horrific examples and experiences suffered and endured, the fears and anxieties, the burdens of the care for others, social prejudice and intolerances suffered….all of these and more that we do not and most often cannot know about others…and yet we are commanded to consider these and seek out the inner light and not judge others harshly (as in claiming 90-99% of other souls are damned to oblivion by their unworthiness for soul survival by our own harsh – or twisted mathematical – calculations).  Such claims are beyond evil/error in my opinion….it is the embrace of sinfulness to so judge an entire world and 7 billion souls unknown to us in such ways I think.

    Jesus says we treat Him as we treat the least of our fellows….Beware such judgements and behaviors and pride!

    Jesus said: 148:4.3 (1660.2) “Evil is the unconscious or unintended transgression of the divine law, the Father’s will. Evil is likewise the measure of the imperfectness of obedience to the Father’s will.

    and: 148:4.6 (1660.5) “By nature, before the rebirth of the spirit, mortal man is subject to inherent evil tendencies, but such natural imperfections of behavior are neither sin nor iniquity. Mortal man is just beginning his long ascent to the perfection of the Father in Paradise. To be imperfect or partial in natural endowment is not sinful. Man is indeed subject to evil, but he is in no sense the child of the evil one unless he has knowingly and deliberately chosen the paths of sin and the life of iniquity. Evil is inherent in the natural order of this world, but sin is an attitude of conscious rebellion which was brought to this world by those who fell from spiritual light into gross darkness.”

    I wonder who of us hopes to be judged and forgiven as we do now judge and forgive others?  Or will we learn to seek a greater understanding of and affection for all others to receive such grace and mercy for ourselves?  See 100:5.1 below related to “lost” and consider how many of us are so lost either by our confidence in religious authority or our rejections of such authorities.  “The world is filled with lost souls, NOT lost in the theologic sense but lost in the directional meaning, wandering about in confusion among the isms and cults of a frustrated philosophic era.”

    (Note:  for context related to this recent discussion of personal judgements regarding the value and survivability ratio of souls compared to those some UB readers evidently deem unworthy of and unlikely to survive mortal death to the Mansion World experience….you may wish to visit:

    https://urassoc.arko.nyc/forums/topic/200-million-mortal-ascenders-on-jerusem/  )

    For me, this is the most meaningful, valuable, and powerful purpose of the Revelation I have discovered….a philosophy of living, a perspective of myself, all others, our world, and God’s friendly universe from origins to destinies.  What a wonderful gift – this expanded and integrated view of reality.  What a source of hope and humility and trust and inclusion….what a wondrous portrayal to share with our brothers and sisters of the glorious reality in which we all abide…..especially when compared to the more common planetary and personal doom and gloom warnings and anxieties taught in the churches of my youth and still today….even some who have this Good News Revelation in hand….oh dear.

    Speaking of warnings, Section 5 of Paper 100 includes several warnings and dangers of Religion In Human Experience.

    5. Conversion and Mysticism

    100:5.1 (1098.4) The world is filled with lost souls, not lost in the theologic sense but lost in the directional meaning, wandering about in confusion among the isms and cults of a frustrated philosophic era. Too few have learned how to install a philosophy of living in the place of religious authority. (The symbols of socialized religion are not to be despised as channels of growth, albeit the river bed is not the river.)

    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.

    100:5.3 (1099.1) It should be made clear that professions of loyalty to the supreme ideals — the psychic, emotional, and spiritual awareness of God-consciousness — may be a natural and gradual growth or may sometimes be experienced at certain junctures, as in a crisis. The Apostle Paul experienced just such a sudden and spectacular conversion that eventful day on the Damascus road. Gautama Siddhartha had a similar experience the night he sat alone and sought to penetrate the mystery of final truth. Many others have had like experiences, and many true believers have progressed in the spirit without sudden conversion.

    :-)

    "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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