-
Posts
-
Jesus described the soul in the quotes below:
p1478:4 133:6.5 “The soul is the self-reflective, truth-discerning, and spirit-perceiving part of man which forever elevates the human being above the level of the animal world. Self-consciousness, in and of itself, is not the soul. Moral self-consciousness is true human self-realization and constitutes the foundation of the human soul, and the soul is that part of man which represents the potential survival value of human experience. Moral choice and spiritual attainment, the ability to know God and the urge to be like him, are the characteristics of the soul. The soul of man cannot exist apart from moral thinking and spiritual activity. A stagnant soul is a dying soul. But the soul of man is distinct from the divine spirit which dwells within the mind. The divine spirit arrives simultaneously with the first moral activity of the human mind, and that is the occasion of the birth of the soul.
p1478:5 133:6.6 “The saving or losing of a soul has to do with whether or not the moral consciousness attains survival status through eternal alliance with its associated immortal spirit endowment. Salvation is the spiritualization of the self-realization of the moral consciousness, which thereby becomes possessed of survival value. All forms of soul conflict consist in the lack of harmony between the moral, or spiritual, self-consciousness and the purely intellectual self-consciousness.
There are several important points in these quotes that deserve discussion. The self-consciousness, which is a feature of personality, and is not the soul. The moral self-consciousness, which is a feature of the relationships between personalities, and is not the soul. Jesus doesn’t actually say exactly what the soul is, but he describes its characteristics, which are: 1.) the ability to know God; and, 2.) the urge to be like God. The soul is essentially all about God.
Jesus also tells us what is necessary to maintain and evolve the soul: 1.) moral thinking; and 2.) spiritual activity. One is a moral thought, the other is acting on the thought after determining its spiritual value. This happens when the moral-consciousness realizes that human values can be reinterpreted from a higher vantage point. Rather than thinking materially, deep reflective moral thinking can actually translate a material moral problem into a more spiritual and divine understanding of how to act, perhaps a higher level of the golden rule, a more loving approach to living in the kingdom.
Then, he sums it all up with a way to insure the survival of the soul: “spiritualization of the self-realization of the moral consciousness”. There are three things there: 1.) spiritualization by the Adjuster; 2.) self-realization or personality attunement to reality (a personality relationship with the Adjuster); and, 3.) moral-consciousness, a material mind following the urge of the spirits of worship and wisdom to know and be like God (the Adjuster). It is all about God, which results in harmony, a lack of conflict in the soul, and the peace of the assurance of sonship and survivability.
I have a question: The soul was born and exists within the finite creation but is it a finite reality?
I have a question: The soul was born and exists within the finite creation but is it a finite reality?
Yes. 66:4:9 During the mortal life in the flesh the soul is of embryonic estate; it is born (resurrected) in the morontia life and experiences growth through the successive morontia worlds.
On Paradise and after the traversal of the central universe, one will attain Paradise perfection.
117:6:5 The morontia soul of an evolving mortal is really the son of the Adjuster action of the Universal Father and the child of the cosmic reaction of the Supreme Being, the Universal Mother. The mother influence dominates the human personality throughout the local universe childhood of the growing soul. The influence of the Deity parents becomes more equal after the Adjuster fusion and during the superuniverse career, but when the creatures of time begin the traversal of the central universe of eternity, the Father nature becomes increasingly manifest, attaining its height of finite manifestation upon the recognition of the Universal Father and the admission into the Corps of the Finality.nelsong wrote: I have a question: The soul was born and exists within the finite creation but is it a finite reality?Finite reality has s a beginning (0:1.11). Souls have beginnings, therefore they are finite. That is, unless you are Borg.
As has been just recently learned, Borg souls are pre-existent. They reside with the Borg Collective on Space Cube 666 in the Delta Quadrant of fluidic space. During the period of Borg dormancy a fourth section of the brainstem generates. This new brainstem region attaches to an injection tubule which receives a nanoprobe containing its soul. Now having a place to dwell, the soul begins to directionalize thought toward the Borg Collective Consciousness using the references hormone which activates the regeneration sequencer automatically replicating Borg circuitry resulting in a rebirth of the desire to consume technology and to assimilate all life forms. Any further questions?
nelsong wrote: The soul was born and exists within the finite creation but is it a finite reality?Bonita wrote: Finite reality has s a beginning (0:1.11). Souls have beginnings, therefore they are finite.Soul is a natal finite component of an ascender. It has a beginning. It grows. It’s called the evolving morontia soul and immortal soul. But it is not a standalone component of being. Our next order of existence is as morontia ascenders. We are faith-sons – potential ascenders.108:5:4 Your Adjuster is the potential of your new and next order of existence, the advance bestowal of your eternal sonship with God. By and with the consent of your will, the Adjuster has the power to subject the creature trends of the material mind to the transforming actions of the motivations and purposes of the emerging morontial soul.Always will we be dependent upon experience. Never will we be experiential and existential.106:9:8 3. The purpose of human existence, the fact that mankind is designed to evolve by the technique of experience and, therefore, must be inherently and constitutively dependent on experience. Only an Absolute can be both existential and experiential.Mara wrote: Always will we be dependent upon experience. Never will we be experiential and existential.I’m wondering about fusion. Isn’t fusion a synthesis of the existential and experiential? (107:2.7) I realize that doesn’t make a fused mortal Absolute though, so it must be a different level of reality. The whole ascension career involves the comprehension of the relationships between the existential and experiential levels of reality.
106:0.1 It is not enough that the ascending mortal should know something of the relations of Deity to the genesis and manifestations of cosmic reality; he should also comprehend something of the relationships existing between himself and the numerous levels of existential and experiential realities, of potential and actual realities. Man’s terrestrial orientation, his cosmic insight, and his spiritual directionization are all enhanced by a better comprehension of universe realities and their techniques of interassociation, integration, and unification.
Bonita wrote: I’m wondering about fusion. Isn’t fusion a synthesis of the existential and experiential? (107:2.7)The reference you cite is this one:101:6:6 With man, the eventual fusion and resultant oneness with the indwelling Adjuster — the personality synthesis of man and the essence of God — constitute him, in potential, a living part of the Supreme and insure for such a onetime mortal being the eternal birthright of the endless pursuit of finality of universe service for and with the Supreme.Our Paradise Father has given each of us a unique personality. He has given each a fragment of himself. The revelators ask this question:112:7:9 Has the triumphant Adjuster won personality by the magnificent service to humanity, or has the valiant human acquired immortality through sincere efforts to achieve Adjusterlikeness? It is neither; but they together have achieved the evolution of a member of one of the unique orders of the ascending personalities of the Supreme, one who will ever be found serviceable, faithful, and efficient, a candidate for further growth and development, ever ranging upward and never ceasing the supernal ascent until the seven circuits of Havona have been traversed and the onetime soul of earthly origin stands in worshipful recognition of the actual personality of the Father on Paradise.Upon fusion each becomes a member of one of the unique orders of ascending personalities. I hope you find this interesting:12:7:13 When once an Adjuster fuses with an ascending mortal, the number of that Adjuster is stricken from the records of the superuniverse. What happens on the records of Divinington, I do not know, but I surmise that the registry of that Adjuster is removed to the secret circles of the inner courts of Grandfanda, the acting head of the Corps of the Finality.Ascension is all about achievement, attainment and actual experience. Even Adjusters, prior to fusion acquire experience of necessity in the work they do, as denoted by the orders described to us: Virgin Adjusters, Advanced Adjusters, Supreme Adjusters and others.And of personality, changeless they say in the midst of change, we find this nugget:75:8:7 . . . . But in our evolving universe of relative perfection and imperfection we rejoice that disagreement and misunderstanding are possible, for thereby is evidenced the fact and the act of personality in the universe. And if our creation is an existence dominated by personality, then can you be assured of the possibilities of personality survival, advancement, and achievement; we can be confident of personality growth, experience, and adventure. What a glorious universe, in that it is personal and progressive, not merely mechanical or even passively perfect!Personality achieves, grows, experiences and survives.The existential idea is in the I AM. The mortal ascension plan seems to be entirely experiential with the grace of God.I think fluidic space has it backwards but at least they have a handle on their souls, more so than I do. :)
nelsong wrote:I think fluidic space has it backwards but at least they have a handle on their souls, more so than I do. :)Tongue-in-cheek nelsong?God cannot personally know imperfection as his own experience. (2:2:6) The ascendent experience of mortals is a progressive, gradual and inward climb to Paradise. Both the morontia scheme of mortal progression (starting with the birth of the soul) as well as the spirit scheme of mortal progression is experiential by actual participation in every step of the way.48:8:2 There is a definite and divine purpose in all this morontia and subsequent spirit scheme of mortal progression, this elaborate universe training school for ascending creatures. It is the design of the Creators to afford the creatures of time a graduated opportunity to master the details of the operation and administration of the grand universe, and this long course of training is best carried forward by having the surviving mortal climb up gradually and by actual participation in every step of the ascent.The point I was trying to make is that upon fusion the Adjuster translates from the existential level to the experiential level, meanwhile retaining ALL of his existential nature. This means that all of us, even before fusion, have an existential nucleus to our being which we have limited access to through the soul. Upon fusion we have open access to the existential level for eternity. Fused individuals are experiential-existential beings living an experiential existence. Adjusters, after fusion, are existential-experiential beings living an existential experience.
Souls grow in perfection, or divinity attainment, and even after fusion there are infinite opportunities for more experience which adds to the further fullness of one’s perfection potential or divinity status. There is always more.
107:4.7 Can you really realize the true significance of the Adjuster’s indwelling? Do you really fathom what it means to have an absolute fragment of the absolute and infinite Deity, the Universal Father, indwelling and fusing with your finite mortal natures? When mortal man fuses with an actual fragment of the existential Cause of the total cosmos, no limit can ever be placed upon the destiny of such an unprecedented and unimaginable partnership. In eternity, man will be discovering not only the infinity of the objective Deity but also the unending potentiality of the subjective fragment of this same God. Always will the Adjuster be revealing to the mortal personality the wonder of God, and never can this supernal revelation come to an end, for the Adjuster is of God and as God to mortal man.
56:9.9 Existential status in eternity implies existential self-consciousness of infinity, even though another eternity may be required to experience self-realization of the experiential potentialities inherent in an infinity eternity — an eternal infinity.
Bonita wrote: The point I was trying to make is . . . .Thanks for explicating your point. Here is a supporting reference from the part of the book about the different orders of Adjusters.107:2:7 6. Fused Adjusters — finaliters — those who have become one with the ascending creatures of the superuniverses, the eternity partners of the time ascenders of the Paradise Corps of the Finality. Thought Adjusters ordinarily become fused with the ascending mortals of time, and with such surviving mortals they are registered in and out of Ascendington; they follow the course of ascendant beings. Upon fusion with the ascending evolutionary soul, it appears that the Adjuster translates from the absolute existential level of the universe to the finite experiential level of functional association with an ascending personality. While retaining all of the character of the existential divine nature, a fused Adjuster becomes indissolubly linked with the ascending career of a surviving mortal.I am pointing out the fact that fusion and ascension are potentials by design and the design requires experience to achieve, according to God’s plans and purposes.Experience is critical for growth of the soul. We are told that it’s not so much what we learn from experience but that we have the actual “experience of living” (39:4.13). The “experience of living” is vital, which is why Michael incarnated. So, what is it about this “experience of living”? Why is it so important?
I guess no one is interested in this topic. Too bad I guess.
Jesus said that the supreme experience of living is to become acquainted with other people and to learn about them and their problems.(130:2.6) I think he said this because it provides the moral soil for decision making. If you avoid other people and their problems, you avoid opportunities for soul growth.
The “experience of living” is vital, which is why Michael incarnated.
Interesting point here: Do you think that Jesus learned (as in soul growth) from his experience of living on Urantia? Seems to me that it is not likely within the context of the above topic.
More likely he experienced the necessary experience of living while revealing his Father which in turn helped those who experienced personal relationship with him (as well as many generations that followed – impersonally – like you and I through this revelation) to have soul growth as part of the experience of living.
Do you think that Jesus learned (as in soul growth) from his experience of living on Urantia?
I’m not sure if I’m understanding your question. Jesus did have a soul (144:4.4; 150:7.1; 168:0.10; 173:1.6; 181:1.8; 182:3.2; 182:3.9; 188:3.4; 196:0.10). His soul was born during his fifth year when he received his Adjuster and it began to grow like any other soul (123:2.1). His soul evolved through the seven psychic circles which require decision making within the experience of living (129:4.1). When he completed those circles (134:8.4), he would have fused with his Adjuster; but instead, at his baptism his Adjuster departed to be personalized as its own person, without Jesus’ soul (129;4.2; 136:2.3). I believe Jesus’ soul stayed with him until mortal death, which is when he commended his spirit (soul) to his Father (188:3.4; 188:3.8) Jesus had to go through what an average Urantian citizen goes through on all levels of experience (127:5.4; 129:4.3; 129:4.5). Had he not done that, he would not have fulfilled his bestowal (20:6.6; 128:1.1; 128:7.6)).
Login to reply to this topic.
Not registered? Sign up here.