900 lines
52 KiB
Plaintext
900 lines
52 KiB
Plaintext
Urantia Book Paper 12 The Universe Of Universes
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SPIRITWEB ORG, PROMOTING SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS ON THE INTERNET.
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Subjects Archive The Urantia Book Urantia Book PART I: The Central and Super
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Universes : The Universal Father The Nature Of God The Attributes Of God God's
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Relation To The Universe God's Relation To The Individual The Eternal Son
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Relation Of The Eternal Son To The Universe The Infinite Spirit Relation Of The
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Infinite Spirit To The Universe The Paradise Trinity The Eternal Isle Of
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Paradise The Universe Of Universes The Sacred Spheres Of Paradise The Central
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And Divine Universe The Seven Superuniverses The Seven Master Spirits The Seven
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Supreme Spirit Groups The Supreme Trinity Personalities The Co-ordinate
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Trinity-origin Beings The Paradise Sons Of God The Paradise Creator Sons The
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Trinitized Sons Of God The Solitary Messengers Higher Personalities Of The
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Infinite Spirit The Messenger Hosts Of Space Ministering Spirits Of The Central
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Universe Ministry Of The Primary Supernaphim Ministering Spirits Of The
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Superuniverses The Universe Power Directors Personalities Of The Grand Universe
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The Corps Of The Finality
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Paper 12 The Universe Of Universes
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Introduction
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THE immensity of the far-flung creation of the Universal Father is utterly
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beyond the grasp of finite imagination; the enormousness of the master universe
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staggers the concept of even my order of being. But the mortal mind can be
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taught much about the plan and arrangement of the universes; you can know
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something of their physical organization and marvelous administration; you may
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learn much about the various groups of intelligent beings who inhabit the seven
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superuniverses of time and the central universe of eternity.
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In principle, that is, in eternal potential, we conceive of material creation
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as being infinite because the Universal Father is actually infinite, but as we
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study and observe the total material creation, we know that at any given moment
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in time it is limited, although to your finite minds it is comparatively
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limitless, virtually boundless.
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We are convinced, from the study of physical law and from the observation of
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the starry realms, that the infinite Creator is not yet manifest in finality of
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cosmic expression, that much of the cosmic potential of the Infinite is still
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self-contained and unrevealed. To created beings the master universe might
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appear to be almost infinite, but it is far from finished; there are still
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physical limits to the material creation, and the experiential revelation of
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the eternal purpose is still in progress.
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1. SPACE LEVELS OF THE MASTER UNIVERSE
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The universe of universes is not an infinite plane, a boundless cube, nor a
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limitless circle; it certainly has dimensions. The laws of physical
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organization and administration prove conclusively that the whole vast
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aggregation of force-energy and matter-power functions ultimately as a space
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unit, as an organized and co-ordinated whole. The observable behavior of the
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material creation constitutes evidence of a physical universe of definite
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limits. The final proof of both a circular and delimited universe is afforded
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by the, to us, well-known fact that all forms of basic energy ever swing around
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the curved path of the space levels of the master universe in obedience to the
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incessant and absolute pull of Paradise gravity.
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The successive space levels of the master universe constitute the major
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divisions of pervaded space--total creation, organized and partially inhabited
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or yet to be organized and inhabited. If the master universe were not a series
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of elliptical space levels of lessened resistance to motion, alternating with
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zones of relative quiescence, we conceive that some of the cosmic energies
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would be observed to shoot off on an infinite range, off on a straight-line
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path into trackless
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top of page - 129
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space; but we never find force, energy, or matter thus behaving; ever they
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whirl, always swinging onward in the tracks of the great space circuits.
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Proceeding outward from Paradise through the horizontal extension of pervaded
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space, the master universe is existent in six concentric ellipses, the space
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levels encircling the central Isle:
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1. The Central Universe--Havona.
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2. The Seven Superuniverses.
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3. The First Outer Space Level.
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4. The Second Outer Space Level.
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5. The Third Outer Space Level.
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6. The Fourth and Outermost Space Level.
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Havona, the central universe, is not a time creation; it is an eternal
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existence. This never-beginning, never-ending universe consists of one billion
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spheres of sublime perfection and is surrounded by the enormous dark gravity
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bodies. At the center of Havona is the stationary and absolutely stabilized
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Isle of Paradise, surrounded by its twenty-one satellites. Owing to the
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enormous encircling masses of the dark gravity bodies about the fringe of the
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central universe, the mass content of this central creation is far in excess of
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the total known mass of all seven sectors of the grand universe.
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The Paradise-Havona System, the eternal universe encircling the eternal Isle,
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constitutes the perfect and eternal nucleus of the master universe; all seven
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of the superuniverses and all regions of outer space revolve in established
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orbits around the gigantic central aggregation of the Paradise satellites and
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the Havona spheres.
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The Seven Superuniverses are not primary physical organizations; nowhere do
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their boundaries divide a nebular family, neither do they cross a local
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universe, a prime creative unit. Each superuniverse is simply a geographic
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space clustering of approximately one seventh of the organized and partially
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inhabited post-Havona creation, and each is about equal in the number of local
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universes embraced and in the space encompassed. Nebadon, your local universe,
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is one of the newer creations in Orvonton, the seventh superuniverse.
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The Grand Universe is the present organized and inhabited creation. It consists
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of the seven superuniverses, with an aggregate evolutionary potential of around
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seven trillion inhabited planets, not to mention the eternal spheres of the
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central creation. But this tentative estimate takes no account of architectural
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administrative spheres, neither does it include the outlying groups of
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unorganized universes. The present ragged edge of the grand universe, its
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uneven and unfinished periphery, together with the tremendously unsettled
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condition of the whole astronomical plot, suggests to our star students that
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even the seven super-universes are, as yet, uncompleted. As we move from
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within, from the divine center outward in any one direction, we do, eventually,
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come to the outer limits of the organized and inhabited creation; we come to
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the outer limits of the grand universe. And it is near this outer border, in a
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far-off corner of such a magnificent creation, that your local universe has its
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eventful existence.
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The Outer Space Levels. Far out in space, at an enormous distance from the
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seven inhabited superuniverses, there are assembling vast and unbelievably
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top of page - 130
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stupendous circuits of force and materializing energies. Between the energy
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circuits of the seven superuniverses and this gigantic outer belt of force
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activity, there is a space zone of comparative quiet, which varies in width but
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averages about four hundred thousand light-years. These space zones are free
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from star dust--cosmic fog. Our students of these phenomena are in doubt as to
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the exact status of the space-forces existing in this zone of relative quiet
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which encircles the seven superuniverses. But about one-half million
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light-years beyond the periphery of the present grand universe we observe the
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beginnings of a zone of an unbelievable energy action which increases in volume
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and intensity for over twenty-five million light-years. These tremendous wheels
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of energizing forces are situated in the first outer space level, a continuous
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belt of cosmic activity encircling the whole of the known, organized, and
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inhabited creation.
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Still greater activities are taking place beyond these regions, for the Uversa
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physicists have detected early evidence of force manifestations more than fifty
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million light-years beyond the outermost ranges of the phenomena in the first
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outer space level. These activities undoubtedly presage the organization of the
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material creations of the second outer space level of the master universe.
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The central universe is the creation of eternity; the seven superuniverses are
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the creations of time; the four outer space levels are undoubtedly destined to
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eventuate-evolve the ultimacy of creation. And there are those who maintain
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that the Infinite can never attain full expression short of infinity; and
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therefore do they postulate an additional and unrevealed creation beyond the
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fourth and outermost space level, a possible ever-expanding, never-ending
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universe of infinity. In theory we do not know how to limit either the infinity
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of the Creator or the potential infinity of creation, but as it exists and is
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administered, we regard the master universe as having limitations, as being
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definitely delimited and bounded on its outer margins by open space.
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2. THE DOMAINS OF THE UNQUALIFIED ABSOLUTE
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When Urantia astronomers peer through their increasingly powerful telescopes
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into the mysterious stretches of outer space and there behold the amazing
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evolution of almost countless physical universes, they should realize that they
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are gazing upon the mighty outworking of the unsearchable plans of the
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Architects of the Master Universe. True, we do possess evidences which are
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suggestive of the presence of certain Paradise personality influences here and
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there throughout the vast energy manifestations now characteristic of these
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outer regions, but from the larger viewpoint the space regions extending beyond
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the outer borders of the seven superuniverses are generally recognized as
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constituting the domains of the Unqualified Absolute.
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Although the unaided human eye can see only two or three nebulae outside the
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borders of the superuniverse of Orvonton, your telescopes literally reveal
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millions upon millions of these physical universes in process of formation.
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Most of the starry realms visually exposed to the search of your present-day
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telescopes are in Orvonton, but with photographic technique the larger
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telescopes penetrate far beyond the borders of the grand universe into the
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domains of outer space, where untold universes are in process of organization.
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And there are yet other millions of universes beyond the range of your present
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instruments.
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In the not-distant future, new telescopes will reveal to the wondering gaze of
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Urantian astronomers no less than 375 million new galaxies in the remote
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top of page - 131
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stretches of outer space. At the same time these more powerful telescopes will
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disclose that many island universes formerly believed to be in outer space are
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really a part of the galactic system of Orvonton. The seven superuniverses are
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still growing; the periphery of each is gradually expanding; new nebulae are
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constantly being stabilized and organized; and some of the nebulae which
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Urantian astronomers regard as extragalactic are actually on the fringe of
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Orvonton and are traveling along with us.
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The Uversa star students observe that the grand universe is surrounded by the
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ancestors of a series of starry and planetary clusters which completely
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encircle the present inhabited creation as concentric rings of outer universes
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upon universes. The physicists of Uversa calculate that the energy and matter
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of these outer and uncharted regions already equal many times the total
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material mass and energy charge embraced in all seven superuniverses. We are
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informed that the metamorphosis of cosmic force in these outer space levels is
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a function of the Paradise force organizers. We also know that these forces are
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ancestral to those physical energies which at present activate the grand
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universe. The Orvonton power directors, however, have nothing to do with these
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far-distant realms, neither are the energy movements therein discernibly
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connected with the power circuits of the organized and inhabited creations.
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We know very little of the significance of these tremendous phenomena of outer
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space. A greater creation of the future is in process of formation. We can
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observe its immensity, we can discern its extent and sense its majestic
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dimensions, but otherwise we know little more about these realms than do the
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astronomers of Urantia. As far as we know, no material beings on the order of
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humans, no angels or other spirit creatures, exist in this outer ring of
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nebulae, suns, and planets. This distant domain is beyond the jurisdiction and
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administration of the superuniverse governments.
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Throughout Orvonton it is believed that a new type of creation is in process,
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an order of universes destined to become the scene of the future activities of
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the assembling Corps of the Finality; and if our conjectures are correct, then
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the endless future may hold for all of you the same enthralling spectacles that
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the endless past has held for your seniors and predecessors.
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3. UNIVERSAL GRAVITY
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All forms of force-energy--material, mindal, or spiritual--are alike subject to
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those grasps, those universal presences, which we call gravity. Personality
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also is responsive to gravity--to the Father's exclusive circuit; but though
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this circuit is exclusive to the Father, he is not excluded from the other
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circuits; the Universal Father is infinite and acts over all four
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absolute-gravity circuits in the master universe:
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1. The Personality Gravity of the Universal Father.
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2. The Spirit Gravity of the Eternal Son.
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3. The Mind Gravity of the Conjoint Actor.
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4. The Cosmic Gravity of the Isle of Paradise.
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These four circuits are not related to the nether Paradise force center; they
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are neither force, energy, nor power circuits. They are absolute presence
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circuits and like God are independent of time and space.
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top of page - 132
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In this connection it is interesting to record certain observations made on
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Uversa during recent millenniums by the corps of gravity researchers. This
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expert group of workers has arrived at the following conclusions regarding the
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different gravity systems of the master universe:
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1. Physical Gravity. Having formulated an estimate of the summation of the
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entire physical-gravity capacity of the grand universe, they have laboriously
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effected a comparison of this finding with the estimated total of absolute
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gravity presence now operative. These calculations indicate that the total
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gravity action on the grand universe is a very small part of the estimated
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gravity pull of Paradise, computed on the basis of the gravity response of
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basic physical units of universe matter. These investigators reach the amazing
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conclusion that the central universe and the surrounding seven superuniverses
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are at the present time making use of only about five per cent of the active
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functioning of the Paradise absolute-gravity grasp. In other words: At the
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present moment about ninety-five per cent of the active cosmic-gravity action
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of the Isle of Paradise, computed on this totality theory, is engaged in
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controlling material systems beyond the borders of the present organized
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universes. These calculations all refer to absolute gravity; linear gravity is
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an interactive phenomenon which can be computed only by knowing the actual
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Paradise gravity.
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2. Spiritual Gravity. By the same technique of comparative estimation and
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calculation these researchers have explored the present reaction capacity of
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spirit gravity and, with the co-operation of Solitary Messengers and other
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spirit personalities, have arrived at the summation of the active spirit
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gravity of the Second Source and Center. And it is most instructive to note
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that they find about the same value for the actual and functional presence of
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spirit gravity in the grand universe that they postulate for the present total
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of active spirit gravity. In other words: At the present time practically the
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entire spirit gravity of the Eternal Son, computed on this theory of totality,
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is observable as functioning in the grand universe. If these findings are
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dependable, we may conclude that the universes now evolving in outer space are
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at the present time wholly nonspiritual. And if this is true, it would
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satisfactorily explain why spirit-endowed beings are in possession of little or
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no information about these vast energy manifestations aside from knowing the
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fact of their physical existence.
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3. Mind Gravity. By these same principles of comparative computation these
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experts have attacked the problem of mind-gravity presence and response. The
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mind unit of estimation was arrived at by averaging three material and three
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spiritual types of mentality, although the type of mind found in the power
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directors and their associates proved to be a disturbing factor in the effort
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to arrive at a basic unit for mind-gravity estimation. There was little to
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impede the estimation of the present capacity of the Third Source and Center
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for mind-gravity function in accordance with this theory of totality. Although
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the findings in this instance are not so conclusive as in the estimates of
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physical and spirit gravity, they are, comparatively considered, very
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instructive, even intriguing. These investigators deduce that about eighty-five
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per cent of the mind-gravity response to the intellectual drawing of the
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Conjoint Actor takes origin in the existing grand universe. This would suggest
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the possibility that mind activities are involved in connection with the
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observable physical activities now in progress throughout the realms of outer
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space. While this estimate is probably far from accurate, it accords, in
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principle, with our belief that intelligent force organizers
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top of page - 133
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are at present directing universe evolution in the space levels beyond the
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present outer limits of the grand universe. Whatever the nature of this
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postulated intelligence, it is apparently not spirit-gravity responsive.
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But all these computations are at best estimates based on assumed laws. We
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think they are fairly reliable. Even if a few spirit beings were located in
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outer space, their collective presence would not markedly influence
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calculations involving such enormous measurements.
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Personality Gravity is noncomputable. We recognize the circuit, but we cannot
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measure either qualitative or quantitative realities responsive thereto.
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4. SPACE AND MOTION
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All units of cosmic energy are in primary revolution, are engaged in the
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execution of their mission, while swinging around the universal orbit. The
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universes of space and their component systems and worlds are all revolving
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spheres, moving along the endless circuits of the master universe space levels.
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Absolutely nothing is stationary in all the master universe except the very
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center of Havona, the eternal Isle of Paradise, the center of gravity.
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The Unqualified Absolute is functionally limited to space, but we are not so
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sure about the relation of this Absolute to motion. Is motion inherent therein?
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We do not know. We know that motion is not inherent in space; even the motions
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of space are not innate. But we are not so sure about the relation of the
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Unqualified to motion. Who, or what, is really responsible for the gigantic
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activities of force-energy transmutations now in progress out beyond the
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borders of the present seven superuniverses? Concerning the origin of motion we
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have the following opinions:
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1. We think the Conjoint Actor initiates motion in space.
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2. If the Conjoint Actor produces the motions of space, we cannot prove it.
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3. The Universal Absolute does not originate initial motion but does equalize
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and control all of the tensions originated by motion.
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In outer space the force organizers are apparently responsible for the
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production of the gigantic universe wheels which are now in process of stellar
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evolution, but their ability so to function must have been made possible by
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some modification of the space presence of the Unqualified Absolute.
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Space is, from the human viewpoint, nothing--negative; it exists only as
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related to something positive and nonspatial. Space is, however, real. It
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contains and conditions motion. It even moves. Space motions may be roughly
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classified as follows:
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1. Primary motion--space respiration, the motion of space itself.
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2. Secondary motion--the alternate directional swings of the successive space
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levels.
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3. Relative motions--relative in the sense that they are not evaluated with
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Paradise as a base point. Primary and secondary motions are absolute, motion in
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relation to unmoving Paradise.
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4. Compensatory or correlating movement designed to co-ordinate all other
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motions.
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top of page - 134
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The present relationship of your sun and its associated planets, while
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disclosing many relative and absolute motions in space, tends to convey the
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impression to astronomic observers that you are comparatively stationary in
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space, and that the surrounding starry clusters and streams are engaged in
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outward flight at ever-increasing velocities as your calculations proceed
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outward in space. But such is not the case. You fail to recognize the present
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outward and uniform expansion of the physical creations of all pervaded space.
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Your own local creation (Nebadon) participates in this movement of universal
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outward expansion. The entire seven superuniverses participate in the
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two-billion-year cycles of space respiration along with the outer regions of
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the master universe.
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When the universes expand and contract, the material masses in pervaded space
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alternately move against and with the pull of Paradise gravity. The work that
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is done in moving the material energy mass of creation is space work but not
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power-energy work.
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Although your spectroscopic estimations of astronomic velocities are fairly
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reliable when applied to the starry realms belonging to your superuniverse and
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its associate superuniverses, such reckonings with reference to the realms of
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outer space are wholly unreliable. Spectral lines are displaced from the normal
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towards the violet by an approaching star; likewise these lines are displaced
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towards the red by a receding star. Many influences interpose to make it appear
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that the recessional velocity of the external universes increases at the rate
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of more than one hundred miles a second for every million light-years increase
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in distance. By this method of reckoning, subsequent to the perfection of more
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powerful telescopes, it will appear that these far-distant systems are in
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flight from this part of the universe at the unbelievable rate of more than
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thirty thousand miles a second. But this apparent speed of recession is not
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real; it results from numerous factors of error embracing angles of observation
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and other time-space distortions.
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But the greatest of all such distortions arises because the vast universes of
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outer space in the realms next to the domains of the seven superuniverses seem
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to be revolving in a direction opposite to that of the grand universe. That is,
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these myriads of nebulae and their accompanying suns and spheres are at the
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present time revolving clockwise about the central creation. The seven
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superuniverses revolve about Paradise in a counterclockwise direction. It
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appears that the second outer universe of galaxies, like the seven
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superuniverses, revolves counterclockwise about Paradise. And the astronomic
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observers of Uversa think they detect evidence of revolutionary movements in a
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third outer belt of far-distant space which are beginning to exhibit
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directional tendencies of a clockwise nature.
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It is probable that these alternate directions of successive space processions
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of the universes have something to do with the intramaster universe gravity
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technique of the Universal Absolute, which consists of a co-ordination of
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forces and an equalization of space tensions. Motion as well as space is a
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complement or equilibrant of gravity.
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5. SPACE AND TIME
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Like space, time is a bestowal of Paradise, but not in the same sense, only
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indirectly. Time comes by virtue of motion and because mind is inherently aware
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of sequentiality. From a practical viewpoint, motion is essential to time, but
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there is no universal time unit based on motion except in so far as the
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Paradise-Havona
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top of page - 135
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standard day is arbitrarily so recognized. The totality of space respiration
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destroys its local value as a time source.
|
|
|
|
Space is not infinite, even though it takes origin from Paradise; not absolute,
|
|
for it is pervaded by the Unqualified Absolute. We do not know the absolute
|
|
limits of space, but we do know that the absolute of time is eternity.
|
|
|
|
Time and space are inseparable only in the time-space creations, the seven
|
|
superuniverses. Nontemporal space (space without time) theoretically exists,
|
|
but the only truly nontemporal place is Paradise area. Nonspatial time (time
|
|
without space) exists in mind of the Paradise level of function.
|
|
|
|
The relatively motionless midspace zones impinging on Paradise and separating
|
|
pervaded from unpervaded space are the transition zones from time to eternity,
|
|
hence the necessity of Paradise pilgrims becoming unconscious during this
|
|
transit when it is to culminate in Paradise citizenship. Time-conscious
|
|
visitors can go to Paradise without thus sleeping, but they remain creatures of
|
|
time.
|
|
|
|
Relationships to time do not exist without motion in space, but consciousness
|
|
of time does. Sequentiality can consciousize time even in the absence of
|
|
motion. Man's mind is less time-bound than space-bound because of the inherent
|
|
nature of mind. Even during the days of the earth life in the flesh, though
|
|
man's mind is rigidly space-bound, the creative human imagination is
|
|
comparatively time free. But time itself is not genetically a quality of mind.
|
|
|
|
There are three different levels of time cognizance:
|
|
|
|
1. Mind-perceived time--consciousness of sequence, motion, and a sense of
|
|
duration.
|
|
|
|
2. Spirit-perceived time--insight into motion Godward and the awareness of the
|
|
motion of ascent to levels of increasing divinity.
|
|
|
|
3. Personality creates a unique time sense out of insight into Reality plus a
|
|
consciousness of presence and an awareness of duration.
|
|
|
|
Unspiritual animals know only the past and live in the present. Spirit-indwelt
|
|
man has powers of prevision (insight); he may visualize the future. Only
|
|
forward-looking and progressive attitudes are personally real. Static ethics
|
|
and traditional morality are just slightly superanimal. Nor is stoicism a high
|
|
order of self-realization. Ethics and morals become truly human when they are
|
|
dynamic and progressive, alive with universe reality.
|
|
|
|
The human personality is not merely a concomitant of time-and-space events; the
|
|
human personality can also act as the cosmic cause of such events.
|
|
|
|
6. UNIVERSAL OVERCONTROL
|
|
|
|
The universe is nonstatic. Stability is not the result of inertia but rather
|
|
the product of balanced energies, co-operative minds, co-ordinated morontias,
|
|
spirit overcontrol, and personality unification. Stability is wholly and always
|
|
proportional to divinity.
|
|
|
|
In the physical control of the master universe the Universal Father exercises
|
|
priority and primacy through the Isle of Paradise; God is absolute in the
|
|
spiritual administration of the cosmos in the person of the Eternal Son.
|
|
Concerning the domains of mind, the Father and the Son function co-ordinately
|
|
in the Conjoint Actor.
|
|
|
|
top of page - 136
|
|
|
|
The Third Source and Center assists in the maintenance of the equilibrium and
|
|
co-ordination of the combined physical and spiritual energies and organizations
|
|
by the absoluteness of his grasp of the cosmic mind and by the exercise of his
|
|
inherent and universal physical- and spiritual-gravity complements. Whenever
|
|
and wherever there occurs a liaison between the material and the spiritual,
|
|
such a mind phenomenon is an act of the Infinite Spirit. Mind alone can
|
|
interassociate the physical forces and energies of the material level with the
|
|
spiritual powers and beings of the spirit level.
|
|
|
|
In all your contemplation of universal phenomena, make certain that you take
|
|
into consideration the interrelation of physical, intellectual, and spiritual
|
|
energies, and that due allowance is made for the unexpected phenomena attendant
|
|
upon their unification by personality and for the unpredictable phenomena
|
|
resulting from the actions and reactions of experiential Deity and the
|
|
Absolutes.
|
|
|
|
The universe is highly predictable only in the quantitative or
|
|
gravity-measurement sense; even the primal physical forces are not responsive
|
|
to linear gravity, nor are the higher mind meanings and true spirit values of
|
|
ultimate universe realities. Qualitatively, the universe is not highly
|
|
predictable as regards new associations of forces, either physical, mindal, or
|
|
spiritual, although many such combinations of energies or forces become
|
|
partially predictable when subjected to critical observation. When matter,
|
|
mind, and spirit are unified by creature personality, we are unable fully to
|
|
predict the decisions of such a freewill being.
|
|
|
|
All phases of primordial force, nascent spirit, and other nonpersonal ultimates
|
|
appear to react in accordance with certain relatively stable but unknown laws
|
|
and are characterized by a latitude of performance and an elasticity of
|
|
response which are often disconcerting when encountered in the phenomena of a
|
|
circumscribed and isolated situation. What is the explanation of this
|
|
unpredictable freedom of reaction disclosed by these emerging universe
|
|
actualities? These unknown, unfathomable unpredictables--whether pertaining to
|
|
the behavior of a primordial unit of force, the reaction of an unidentified
|
|
level of mind, or the phenomenon of a vast preuniverse in the making in the
|
|
domains of outer space--probably disclose the activities of the Ultimate and
|
|
the presence-performances of the Absolutes, which antedate the function of all
|
|
universe Creators.
|
|
|
|
We do not really know, but we surmise that such amazing versatility and such
|
|
profound co-ordination signify the presence and performance of the Absolutes,
|
|
and that such diversity of response in the face of apparently uniform causation
|
|
discloses the reaction of the Absolutes, not only to the immediate and
|
|
situational causation, but also to all other related causations throughout the
|
|
entire master universe.
|
|
|
|
Individuals have their guardians of destiny; planets, systems, constellations,
|
|
universes, and superuniverses each have their respective rulers who labor for
|
|
the good of their domains. Havona and even the grand universe are watched over
|
|
by those intrusted with such high responsibilities. But who fosters and cares
|
|
for the fundamental needs of the master universe as a whole, from Paradise to
|
|
the fourth and outermost space level? Existentially such overcare is probably
|
|
attributable to the Paradise Trinity, but from an experiential viewpoint the
|
|
appearance of the post-Havona universes is dependent on:
|
|
|
|
1. The Absolutes in potential.
|
|
|
|
2. The Ultimate in direction.
|
|
|
|
top of page - 137
|
|
|
|
3. The Supreme in evolutionary co-ordination.
|
|
|
|
4. The Architects of the Master Universe in administration prior to the
|
|
appearance of specific rulers.
|
|
|
|
The Unqualified Absolute pervades all space. We are not altogether clear as to
|
|
the exact status of the Deity and Universal Absolutes, but we know the latter
|
|
functions wherever the Deity and Unqualified Absolutes function. The Deity
|
|
Absolute may be universally present but hardly space present. The Ultimate is,
|
|
or sometime will be, space present to the outer margins of the fourth space
|
|
level. We doubt that the Ultimate will ever have a space presence beyond the
|
|
periphery of the master universe, but within this limit the Ultimate is
|
|
progressively integrating the creative organization of the potentials of the
|
|
three Absolutes.
|
|
|
|
7. THE PART AND THE WHOLE
|
|
|
|
There is operative throughout all time and space and with regard to all reality
|
|
of whatever nature an inexorable and impersonal law which is equivalent to the
|
|
function of a cosmic providence. Mercy characterizes God's attitude of love for
|
|
the individual; impartiality motivates God's attitude toward the total. The
|
|
will of God does not necessarily prevail in the part--the heart of any one
|
|
personality--but his will does actually rule the whole, the universe of
|
|
universes.
|
|
|
|
In all his dealings with all his beings it is true that the laws of God are not
|
|
inherently arbitrary. To you, with your limited vision and finite viewpoint,
|
|
the acts of God must often appear to be dictatorial and arbitrary. The laws of
|
|
God are merely the habits of God, his way of repeatedly doing things; and he
|
|
ever does all things well. You observe that God does the same thing in the same
|
|
way, repeatedly, simply because that is the best way to do that particular
|
|
thing in a given circumstance; and the best way is the right way, and therefore
|
|
does infinite wisdom always order it done in that precise and perfect manner.
|
|
You should also remember that nature is not the exclusive act of Deity; other
|
|
influences are present in those phenomena which man calls nature.
|
|
|
|
It is repugnant to the divine nature to suffer any sort of deterioration or
|
|
ever to permit the execution of any purely personal act in an inferior way. It
|
|
should be made clear, however, that, if, in the divinity of any situation, in
|
|
the extremity of any circumstance, in any case where the course of supreme
|
|
wisdom might indicate the demand for different conduct--if the demands of
|
|
perfection might for any reason dictate another method of reaction, a better
|
|
one, then and there would the all-wise God function in that better and more
|
|
suitable way. That would be the expression of a higher law, not the reversal of
|
|
a lower law.
|
|
|
|
God is not a habit-bound slave to the chronicity of the repetition of his own
|
|
voluntary acts. There is no conflict among the laws of the Infinite; they are
|
|
all perfections of the infallible nature; they are all the unquestioned acts
|
|
expressive of faultless decisions. Law is the unchanging reaction of an
|
|
infinite, perfect, and divine mind. The acts of God are all volitional
|
|
notwithstanding this apparent sameness. In God there "is no variableness
|
|
neither shadow of changing." But all this which can be truly said of the
|
|
Universal Father cannot be said with equal certainty of all his subordinate
|
|
intelligences or of his evolutionary creatures.
|
|
|
|
Because God is changeless, therefore can you depend, in all ordinary
|
|
circumstances, on his doing the same thing in the same identical and ordinary
|
|
way. God
|
|
|
|
top of page - 138
|
|
|
|
is the assurance of stability for all created things and beings. He is God;
|
|
therefore he changes not.
|
|
|
|
And all this steadfastness of conduct and uniformity of action is personal,
|
|
conscious, and highly volitional, for the great God is not a helpless slave to
|
|
his own perfection and infinity. God is not a self-acting automatic force; he
|
|
is not a slavish law-bound power. God is neither a mathematical equation nor a
|
|
chemical formula. He is a freewill and primal personality. He is the Universal
|
|
Father, a being surcharged with personality and the universal fount of all
|
|
creature personality.
|
|
|
|
The will of God does not uniformly prevail in the heart of the God-seeking
|
|
material mortal, but if the time frame is enlarged beyond the moment to embrace
|
|
the whole of the first life, then does God's will become increasingly
|
|
discernible in the spirit fruits which are borne in the lives of the spirit-led
|
|
children of God. And then, if human life is further enlarged to include the
|
|
morontia experience, the divine will is observed to shine brighter and brighter
|
|
in the spiritualizing acts of those creatures of time who have begun to taste
|
|
the divine delights of experiencing the relationship of the personality of man
|
|
with the personality of the Universal Father.
|
|
|
|
The Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man present the paradox of the
|
|
part and the whole on the level of personality. God loves each individual as an
|
|
individual child in the heavenly family. Yet God thus loves every individual;
|
|
he is no respecter of persons, and the universality of his love brings into
|
|
being a relationship of the whole, the universal brotherhood.
|
|
|
|
The love of the Father absolutely individualizes each personality as a unique
|
|
child of the Universal Father, a child without duplicate in infinity, a will
|
|
creature irreplaceable in all eternity. The Father's love glorifies each child
|
|
of God, illuminating each member of the celestial family, sharply silhouetting
|
|
the unique nature of each personal being against the impersonal levels that lie
|
|
outside the fraternal circuit of the Father of all. The love of God strikingly
|
|
portrays the transcendent value of each will creature, unmistakably reveals the
|
|
high value which the Universal Father has placed upon each and every one of his
|
|
children from the highest creator personality of Paradise status to the lowest
|
|
personality of will dignity among the savage tribes of men in the dawn of the
|
|
human species on some evolutionary world of time and space.
|
|
|
|
This very love of God for the individual brings into being the divine family of
|
|
all individuals, the universal brotherhood of the freewill children of the
|
|
Paradise Father. And this brotherhood, being universal, is a relationship of
|
|
the whole. Brotherhood, when universal, discloses not the each relationship,
|
|
but the all relationship. Brotherhood is a reality of the total and therefore
|
|
discloses qualities of the whole in contradistinction to qualities of the part.
|
|
|
|
Brotherhood constitutes a fact of relationship between every personality in
|
|
universal existence. No person can escape the benefits or the penalties that
|
|
may come as a result of relationship to other persons. The part profits or
|
|
suffers in measure with the whole. The good effort of each man benefits all
|
|
men; the error or evil of each man augments the tribulation of all men. As
|
|
moves the part, so moves the whole. As the progress of the whole, so the
|
|
progress of the part. The relative velocities of part and whole determine
|
|
whether the part is retarded by the inertia of the whole or is carried forward
|
|
by the momentum of the cosmic brotherhood.
|
|
|
|
top of page - 139
|
|
|
|
It is a mystery that God is a highly personal self-conscious being with
|
|
residential headquarters, and at the same time personally present in such a
|
|
vast universe and personally in contact with such a well-nigh infinite number
|
|
of beings. That such a phenomenon is a mystery beyond human comprehension
|
|
should not in the least lessen your faith. Do not allow the magnitude of the
|
|
infinity, the immensity of the eternity, and the grandeur and glory of the
|
|
matchless character of God to overawe, stagger, or discourage you; for the
|
|
Father is not very far from any one of you; he dwells within you, and in him do
|
|
we all literally move, actually live, and veritably have our being.
|
|
|
|
Even though the Paradise Father functions through his divine creators and his
|
|
creature children, he also enjoys the most intimate inner contact with you, so
|
|
sublime, so highly personal, that it is even beyond my comprehension--that
|
|
mysterious communion of the Father fragment with the human soul and with the
|
|
mortal mind of its actual indwelling. Knowing what you do of these gifts of
|
|
God, you therefore know that the Father is in intimate touch, not only with his
|
|
divine associates, but also with his evolutionary mortal children of time. The
|
|
Father indeed abides on Paradise, but his divine presence also dwells in the
|
|
minds of men.
|
|
|
|
Even though the spirit of a Son be poured out upon all flesh, even though a Son
|
|
once dwelt with you in the likeness of mortal flesh, even though the seraphim
|
|
personally guard and guide you, how can any of these divine beings of the
|
|
Second and Third Centers ever hope to come as near to you or to understand you
|
|
as fully as the Father, who has given a part of himself to be in you, to be
|
|
your real and divine, even your eternal, self?
|
|
|
|
8. MATTER, MIND, AND SPIRIT
|
|
|
|
"God is spirit," but Paradise is not. The material universe is always the arena
|
|
wherein take place all spiritual activities; spirit beings and spirit ascenders
|
|
live and work on physical spheres of material reality.
|
|
|
|
The bestowal of cosmic force, the domain of cosmic gravity, is the function of
|
|
the Isle of Paradise. All original force-energy proceeds from Paradise, and the
|
|
matter for the making of untold universes now circulates throughout the master
|
|
universe in the form of a supergravity presence which constitutes the
|
|
force-charge of pervaded space.
|
|
|
|
Whatever the transformations of force in the outlying universes, having gone
|
|
out from Paradise, it journeys on subject to the never-ending, ever-present,
|
|
unfailing pull of the eternal Isle, obediently and inherently swinging on
|
|
forever around the eternal space paths of the universes. Physical energy is the
|
|
one reality which is true and steadfast in its obedience to universal law. Only
|
|
in the realms of creature volition has there been deviation from the divine
|
|
paths and the original plans. Power and energy are the universal evidences of
|
|
the stability, constancy, and eternity of the central Isle of Paradise.
|
|
|
|
The bestowal of spirit and the spiritualization of personalities, the domain of
|
|
spiritual gravity, is the realm of the Eternal Son. And this spirit gravity of
|
|
the Son, ever drawing all spiritual realities to himself, is just as real and
|
|
absolute as is the all-powerful material grasp of the Isle of Paradise. But
|
|
material-minded man is naturally more familiar with the material manifestations
|
|
of a physical
|
|
|
|
top of page - 140
|
|
|
|
nature than with the equally real and mighty operations of a spiritual nature
|
|
which are discerned only by the spiritual insight of the soul.
|
|
|
|
As the mind of any personality in the universe becomes more
|
|
spiritual--Godlike--it becomes less responsive to material gravity. Reality,
|
|
measured by physical-gravity response, is the antithesis of reality as
|
|
determined by quality of spirit content. Physical-gravity action is a
|
|
quantitative determiner of nonspirit energy; spiritual-gravity action is the
|
|
qualitative measure of the living energy of divinity.
|
|
|
|
What Paradise is to the physical creation, and what the Eternal Son is to the
|
|
spiritual universe, the Conjoint Actor is to the realms of mind--the
|
|
intelligent universe of material, morontial, and spiritual beings and
|
|
personalities.
|
|
|
|
The Conjoint Actor reacts to both material and spiritual realities and
|
|
therefore inherently becomes the universal minister to all intelligent beings,
|
|
beings who may represent a union of both the material and spiritual phases of
|
|
creation. The endowment of intelligence, the ministry to the material and the
|
|
spiritual in the phenomenon of mind, is the exclusive domain of the Conjoint
|
|
Actor, who thus becomes the partner of the spiritual mind, the essence of the
|
|
morontia mind, and the substance of the material mind of the evolutionary
|
|
creatures of time.
|
|
|
|
Mind is the technique whereby spirit realities become experiential to creature
|
|
personalities. And in the last analysis the unifying possibilities of even
|
|
human mind, the ability to co-ordinate things, ideas, and values, is
|
|
supermaterial.
|
|
|
|
Though it is hardly possible for the mortal mind to comprehend the seven levels
|
|
of relative cosmic reality, the human intellect should be able to grasp much of
|
|
the meaning of three functioning levels of finite reality:
|
|
|
|
1. Matter. Organized energy which is subject to linear gravity except as it is
|
|
modified by motion and conditioned by mind.
|
|
|
|
2. Mind. Organized consciousness which is not wholly subject to material
|
|
gravity, and which becomes truly liberated when modified by spirit.
|
|
|
|
3. Spirit. The highest personal reality. True spirit is not subject to physical
|
|
gravity but eventually becomes the motivating influence of all evolving energy
|
|
systems of personality dignity.
|
|
|
|
The goal of existence of all personalities is spirit; material manifestations
|
|
are relative, and the cosmic mind intervenes between these universal opposites.
|
|
The bestowal of mind and the ministration of spirit are the work of the
|
|
associate persons of Deity, the Infinite Spirit and the Eternal Son. Total
|
|
Deity reality is not mind but spirit-mind--mind-spirit unified by personality.
|
|
Nevertheless the absolutes of both the spirit and the thing converge in the
|
|
person of the Universal Father.
|
|
|
|
On Paradise the three energies, physical, mindal, and spiritual, are
|
|
co-ordinate. In the evolutionary cosmos energy-matter is dominant except in
|
|
personality, where spirit, through the mediation of mind, is striving for the
|
|
mastery. Spirit is the fundamental reality of the personality experience of all
|
|
creatures because God is spirit. Spirit is unchanging, and therefore, in all
|
|
personality relations, it transcends both mind and matter, which are
|
|
experiential variables of progressive attainment.
|
|
|
|
In cosmic evolution matter becomes a philosophic shadow cast by mind in the
|
|
presence of spirit luminosity of divine enlightenment, but this does not
|
|
invalidate
|
|
|
|
top of page - 141
|
|
|
|
the reality of matter-energy. Mind, matter, and spirit are equally real, but
|
|
they are not of equal value to personality in the attainment of divinity.
|
|
Consciousness of divinity is a progressive spiritual experience.
|
|
|
|
The brighter the shining of the spiritualized personality (the Father in the
|
|
universe, the fragment of potential spirit personality in the individual
|
|
creature), the greater the shadow cast by the intervening mind upon its
|
|
material investment. In time, man's body is just as real as mind or spirit, but
|
|
in death, both mind (identity) and spirit survive while the body does not. A
|
|
cosmic reality can be nonexistent in personality experience. And so your Greek
|
|
figure of speech--the material as the shadow of the more real spirit
|
|
substance--does have a philosophic significance.
|
|
|
|
9. PERSONAL REALITIES
|
|
|
|
Spirit is the basic personal reality in the universes, and personality is basic
|
|
to all progressing experience with spiritual reality. Every phase of
|
|
personality experience on every successive level of universe progression swarms
|
|
with clues to the discovery of alluring personal realities. Man's true destiny
|
|
consists in the creation of new and spirit goals and then in responding to the
|
|
cosmic allurements of such supernal goals of nonmaterial value.
|
|
|
|
Love is the secret of beneficial association between personalities. You cannot
|
|
really know a person as the result of a single contact. You cannot
|
|
appreciatingly know music through mathematical deduction, even though music is
|
|
a form of mathematical rhythm. The number assigned to a telephone subscriber
|
|
does not in any manner identify the personality of that subscriber or signify
|
|
anything concerning his character.
|
|
|
|
Mathematics, material science, is indispensable to the intelligent discussion
|
|
of the material aspects of the universe, but such knowledge is not necessarily
|
|
a part of the higher realization of truth or of the personal appreciation of
|
|
spiritual realities. Not only in the realms of life but even in the world of
|
|
physical energy, the sum of two or more things is very often something more
|
|
than, or something different from, the predictable additive consequences of
|
|
such unions. The entire science of mathematics, the whole domain of philosophy,
|
|
the highest physics or chemistry, could not predict or know that the union of
|
|
two gaseous hydrogen atoms with one gaseous oxygen atom would result in a new
|
|
and qualitatively superadditive substance--liquid water. The understanding
|
|
knowledge of this one physiochemical phenomenon should have prevented the
|
|
development of materialistic philosophy and mechanistic cosmology.
|
|
|
|
Technical analysis does not reveal what a person or a thing can do. For
|
|
example: Water is used effectively to extinguish fire. That water will put out
|
|
fire is a fact of everyday experience, but no analysis of water could ever be
|
|
made to disclose such a property. Analysis determines that water is composed of
|
|
hydrogen and oxygen; a further study of these elements discloses that oxygen is
|
|
the real supporter of combustion and that hydrogen will itself freely burn.
|
|
|
|
Your religion is becoming real because it is emerging from the slavery of fear
|
|
and the bondage of superstition. Your philosophy struggles for emancipation
|
|
from dogma and tradition. Your science is engaged in the agelong contest
|
|
between truth and error while it fights for deliverance from the bondage of
|
|
abstraction, the slavery of mathematics, and the relative blindness of
|
|
mechanistic materialism.
|
|
|
|
top of page - 142
|
|
|
|
Mortal man has a spirit nucleus. The mind is a personal-energy system existing
|
|
around a divine spirit nucleus and functioning in a material environment. Such
|
|
a living relationship of personal mind and spirit constitutes the universe
|
|
potential of eternal personality. Real trouble, lasting disappointment, serious
|
|
defeat, or inescapable death can come only after self-concepts presume fully to
|
|
displace the governing power of the central spirit nucleus, thereby disrupting
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the cosmic scheme of personality identity.
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[Presented by a Perfector of Wisdom acting by authority of the Ancients of
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Days.]
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top of page - 143
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Subjects Archive The Urantia Book Urantia Book PART I: The Central and Super
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Universes : The Universal Father The Nature Of God The Attributes Of God God's
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Relation To The Universe God's Relation To The Individual The Eternal Son
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Relation Of The Eternal Son To The Universe The Infinite Spirit Relation Of The
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Infinite Spirit To The Universe The Paradise Trinity The Eternal Isle Of
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Paradise The Universe Of Universes The Sacred Spheres Of Paradise The Central
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And Divine Universe The Seven Superuniverses The Seven Master Spirits The Seven
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Supreme Spirit Groups The Supreme Trinity Personalities The Co-ordinate
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Trinity-origin Beings The Paradise Sons Of God The Paradise Creator Sons The
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Trinitized Sons Of God The Solitary Messengers Higher Personalities Of The
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Infinite Spirit The Messenger Hosts Of Space Ministering Spirits Of The Central
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Universe Ministry Of The Primary Supernaphim Ministering Spirits Of The
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Superuniverses The Universe Power Directors Personalities Of The Grand Universe
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The Corps Of The Finality
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//
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