What is spiritual brotherhood?

[Mara]

Vern wrote: Proclamation of the gospel is certain to transform the world int a better place, in these pioneering days of the 5th Epochal Revelation, the tasks are many and the members of the spiritual brotherhood few.

I can tell you are fired up and ready to go.  Thanks for your passion.  I feel it.  Do you want to continue on this thread the discussion of social brotherhood?  Anyone else have an opinion?  Thanks.

[Vern]

Mara wrote: Do you want to continue on this thread the discussion of social brotherhood?

Hello Mara thanks for asking. My preference is for you to initiate a new General Discussion topic on Social Brotherhood if the subject interests you also.

In the meantime, shown below, is the last of the particular quotes I wanted to share from the 22 I found in The Urantia Book on spiritual brotherhood.

This contribution on the significance of spiritual brotherhood is specifically addressed to the Christian church, encouraging rebirth in accepting the teachings of Jesus and allowing him to live anew in believer’s lives. Young people are not encumbered with the baggage of dead theology and are open to be moved by the spirit, more-so than many older parishioners who are, through caution and ritual of a lifetime, habitually resistant to spontaneous response to living truth.

If the Christian church would only dare to espouse the Master’s program, thousands of apparently indifferent youths would rush forward to enlist in such a spiritual undertaking, and they would not hesitate to go all the way through with this great adventure. ^{[Paper 195:10.10, page 2085:2]}

Going back to the initial motivator for unity among believers, …the visible church should refuse longer to handicap the progress of the invisible and spiritual brotherhood of the kingdom of God. For a house divided, cannot stand. I’m of the mind that there is being seen already, stirrings of renewal in the Christian church.

Christianity is seriously confronted with the doom embodied in one of its own slogans: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” The non-Christian world will hardly capitulate to a sect-divided Christendom. The living Jesus is the only hope of a possible unification of Christianity. The true church — the Jesus brotherhood — is invisible, spiritual, and is characterized by unity, not necessarily by uniformity. Uniformity is the earmark of the physical world of mechanistic nature. Spiritual unity is the fruit of faith union with the living Jesus. The visible church should refuse longer to handicap the progress of the invisible and spiritual brotherhood of the kingdom of God. And this brotherhood is destined to become a living organism in contrast to an institutionalized social organization. It may well utilize such social organizations, but it must not be supplanted by them. ^{[Paper195:10.11, page 2085:3]}

Seriously confronted today is the Christian church, which has achieved much as one of the greatest powers for good on earth. There are still alive these days, God-knowing men and God-knowing women too, of moral genius who are motivated by the Spirit of Truth to move the church to become that living organism it is destined to be. The spiritual brotherhood, be they Christian or faith-sons and faith-daughters at large, are armed with the fulcrum power of the Spirit of Truth as never before to transform the world for good.

But the Christianity of even the twentieth century must not be despised. It is the product of the combined moral genius of the God-knowing men of many races during many ages, and it has truly been one of the greatest powers for good on earth, and therefore no man should lightly regard it, notwithstanding its inherent and acquired defects. Christianity still contrives to move the minds of reflective men with mighty moral emotions. ^{[Paper195:10.12, page 2085:4]}

Jesus placed great emphasis on the need to proclaim a spiritual brotherhood of the sons of God.

Proclaim a spiritual brotherhood of the sons of God, not an outward kingdom of worldly power and material glory. ^{[Paper 163:4.4, page 1805:1]}

[André]

I was hoping to direct the conversation to a higher ground. Mara

I am impressed to read how kind you Mara, Vern and all other readers participate to incline conversations to a higher ground.

Strive to give room to God The Supreme to express Deity.

I read half of the pages concerning spiritual brotherhood, other topics on the forum and recognize trough many of your quotes from UB that it is not without many perspectives as many personalities we have to experiencing unity uniformity. I must admit how much I am happy for such uplifting behaviour. Uniformity pulling my leg to lower ground.
This spiritual pulsion to let via experiences The Supreme live with and through us express Deity is why I can’t and don’t want to listen to myself. Exactly what our Father/brother experiencing and express Deity when saying…. ”… Not my will but Your Will.”

Thanks you very much for your commitment towards yours T/A.

[Vern]

andre wrote:  …participate to incline conversations to a higher ground.

Hello andre greetings. Thank you for your kind words of support in response to the discourse and information shared on spiritual brotherhood, I’m delighted to know you have benefited from the learning process we have engaged with each other upon. People who post engage in sharing concepts, not only to gain a deeper understanding for themselves but to include all who visit to peruse the activity, and are curious to know more.

Each person is a brand new living revelation of truth, I’m hoping you will find many topics discussed on this Forum of interest and you will again be inspired to add your voice.

[Sabinatu]

^{195:5.2 (2075.5)} Truth often becomes confusing and even misleading when it is dismembered, segregated, isolated, and too much analyzed. Living truth teaches the truth seeker aright only when it is embraced in wholeness and as a living spiritual reality, not as a fact of material science or an inspiration of intervening art.

^{195:5.3 (2075.6)} Religion is the revelation to man of his divine and eternal destiny. Religion is a purely personal and spiritual experience and must forever be distinguished from man’s other high forms of thought, such as:

^{195:5.4 (2075.7)} 1. Man’s logical attitude toward the things of material reality.

^{195:5.5 (2075.8)} 2. Man’s aesthetic appreciation of beauty contrasted with ugliness.

^{195:5.6 (2075.9)} 3. Man’s ethical recognition of social obligations and political duty.

^{195:5.7 (2075.10)} 4. Even man’s sense of human morality is not, in and of itself, religious.

^{195:5.8 (2075.11)} Religion is designed to find those values in the universe which call forth faith, trust, and assurance; religion culminates in worship. Religion discovers for the soul those supreme values which are in contrast with the relative values discovered by the mind. Such superhuman insight can be had only through genuine religious experience.

^{195:5.9 (2075.12)} A lasting social system without a morality predicated on spiritual realities can no more be maintained than could the solar system without gravity.

[Vern]

Sabinatu wrote:  Truth often becomes confusing and even misleading when it is dismembered, segregated, isolated, and too much analyzed.

Sabinatu Thanks for sharing this.

The example we see in the divisions of Christianity is ample evidence of how truth can become victim to over analysis and become disconnected from the reason for it all. The things which unite are stronger than the things that divide. In seeking truth there is always the benefit of that essential quality of personality—unifier of all input. The means of maintaining a balanced outlook on life. People have varying gifts some are specialists and some are generalists. The specialist delves deep into a subject they love and thereby gains a certain type of knowledge, whereas the generalist is content to know in broader terms and that is sufficient to fulfil natural curiosity. In diversity there is unity, what a wonderful world it will be when we each learn the part that we play, and play it in harmony.

[Sabinatu]

^{195:5.9 (2075.12)} A lasting social system without a morality predicated on spiritual realities can no more be maintained than could the solar system without gravity.

@Vern – That one-liner arrested my attention.   And you got into the whole “truth” thing…TUB readers fill up their pints as best as they can.

No matter what role you play – specialist or generalist – if the foundation is not a “morality predicated on spiritual REALITIES”, it won’t last as a society in which you will have security in your “role”.

Maybe another thread on the benefits of self-forgetfulness and how that was the main reason Jesus was able to reveal God to man so perfectly?

Christians are not the only ones divided by sectarianism, btw. Only fair to mention that fact lest everyone else who is not Christian that is reading along has an attention deficit disorder moment triggered by the red herring/meat

[Vern]

Sabinatu wrote:  Maybe another thread on the benefits of self-forgetfulness…

Yes, good suggestion.

There are altruistic people motivated by service, who do so irrespective of reward, in giving they receive. There is a saying; “the hand that gives, gathers.”

Is altruism — service of one’s fellows — desirable? Then must life experience provide for encountering situations of social inequality. ^{[Paper 3:5.7, page 51:6]}

What springs to mind is a picture of children at play naturally mirthful as the laughter just bubbles up. When life is an experience to be enjoyed for the sake of it.

[Vern]

The happy and effective

person is motivated by

the love of right doing

 

[Sabinatu]

Uh, nope, still thinking about ^{195:5.9 (2075.12)} A lasting social system without a morality predicated on spiritual realities can no more be maintained than could the solar system without gravity.

 

Been looking through a telescope since about 4 years old….

 

It has become so inappropriate, all the cutie kitty and doggie internet picture dodges from uncomfortable topics…is that the new “doing right”?  The “morality predicated on spiritual realities?

[Vern]

Sabinatu wrote:  …morality predicated on spiritual realities?

Sabinatu before we head off and participate in a fresh topic I checked the section where that quote comes from—The Modern Problem.

Religion as it is presented, is the very reason for life itself, for it deals with personal destiny.

Religion is the revelation to man of his divine and eternal destiny. Religion is a purely personal and spiritual experience and must forever be distinguished from man’s other high forms of thought, such as:

1. Man’s logical attitude toward the things of material reality.

2. Man’s aesthetic appreciation of beauty contrasted with ugliness.

3. Man’s ethical recognition of social obligations and political duty.

4. Even man’s sense of human morality is not, in and of itself, religious. ^{[Paper195:5.3–7, page 2075:6–10]}

There is good reason why we are encouraged to be patient for there is danger in partial knowledge for we ever know less than we think we know—humility is ever the safest attitude for an imperfect mortal still gaining mastery over animal tendencies. This next paragraph comes after the one featuring the phrase “…morality predicated on spiritual realities…” 

Do not try to satisfy the curiosity or gratify all the latent adventure surging within the soul in one short life in the flesh. Be patient! be not tempted to indulge in a lawless plunge into cheap and sordid adventure. Harness your energies and bridle your passions; be calm while you await the majestic unfolding of an endless career of progressive adventure and thrilling discovery. ^{[Paper195:5.10, page 2076:1]}

When man and God go into partnership, great things can, and do, happen.

In confusion over man’s origin, do not lose sight of his eternal destiny. Forget not that Jesus loved even little children, and that he forever made clear the great worth of human personality. ^{[Paper195:5.11, page 2076:2]}

Breaking through the third psychic circle is a real spiritual achievement, a mark of self mastery.

When a mortal mind breaks through the inertia of animal legacy and attains the third circle of human intellectuality and acquired spirituality, a personal angel (in reality two) will henceforth be wholly and exclusively devoted to this ascending mortal. And thus these human souls, in addition to the ever-present and increasingly efficient indwelling Thought Adjusters, receive the undivided assistance of these personal guardians of destiny in all their efforts to finish the third circle, traverse the second, and attain the first. ^{[Paper113:1.8, page 1242:3]}

The Modern Problem is in many respects resulting from the blended heritage of the human race and the difficulty encountered by our spiritual helpers—Seraphim and Thought Adjuster—to gain our co-opertion.

The higher human races of Urantia are complexly admixed; they are a blend of many races and stocks of different origin. This composite nature renders it exceedingly difficult for the Monitors to work efficiently during life and adds definitely to the problems of both the Adjuster and the guardian seraphim after death. Not long since I was present on Salvington and heard a guardian of destiny present a formal statement in extenuation of the difficulties of ministering to her mortal subject. This seraphim said:

“Much of my difficulty was due to the unending conflict between the two natures of my subject: the urge of ambition opposed by animal indolence; the ideals of a superior people crossed by the instincts of an inferior race; the high purposes of a great mind antagonized by the urge of a primitive inheritance; the long-distance view of a far-seeing Monitor counteracted by the nearsightedness of a creature of time; the progressive plans of an ascending being modified by the desires and longings of a material nature; the flashes of universe intelligence cancelled by the chemical-energy mandates of the evolving race; the urge of angels opposed by the emotions of an animal; the training of an intellect annulled by the tendencies of instinct; the experience of the individual opposed by the accumulated propensities of the race; the aims of the best overshadowed by the drift of the worst; the flight of genius neutralized by the gravity of mediocrity; the progress of the good retarded by the inertia of the bad; the art of the beautiful besmirched by the presence of evil; the buoyancy of health neutralized by the debility of disease; the fountain of faith polluted by the poisons of fear; the spring of joy embittered by the waters of sorrow; the gladness of anticipation disillusioned by the bitterness of realization; the joys of living ever threatened by the sorrows of death. Such a life on such a planet! And yet, because of the ever-present help and urge of the Thought Adjuster, this soul did achieve a fair degree of happiness and success and has even now ascended to the judgment halls of mansonia.” ^{[Paper111:7.4–5, page 1223:6–7]}

Personally I can relate to quite a few of the conflicting tendencies mentioned by the seraphim. It is comforting to know that this person has continued on the ascension career and did achieve happiness and success despite the dual nature resulting from a mixed heritage.

Such a life on such a planet indeed.

 

[Sabinatu]

^{95:5.3 (2075.6)} “Religion is the revelation to man of his divine and eternal destiny. Religion is a purely personal and spiritual experience and must forever be distinguished from man’s other high forms of thought, such as:

^{195:5.4(2075.7)} 1. Man’s logical attitude toward the things of material reality.

^{195:5.5(2075.8)} 2. Man’s aesthetic appreciation of beauty contrasted with ugliness.

^{195:5.6(2075.9)} 3. Man’s ethical recognition of social obligations and political duty.

^{195:5.7(2075.10)} 4. Even man’s sense of human morality is not, in and of itself, religious.”

In answering the question, “What is spiritual brotherhood?”, maybe we have been using the higher forms of thinking that is NOT – and this is key to me – the REVEALED religion of our divine and eternal DESTINY.  For the past 900K years, when the “higher spiritual” Urantians kept asking the same question, God the Father kept raising our thinking with ANSWERS – AKA revealed religion.

The exact OPPOSITE personally happened for me – by following Jesus, I was protected from being “tempted to indulge in a lawless plunge into cheap and sordid adventure”…. it did not hurt the Romans, either, 2000 years ago, to have revealed religion speak to their “spiritual longings

^{195:0.2 (2069.2)} Although the tradition-bound and priest-ridden Hebrews, as a people, refused to accept either Jesus’ gospel of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man or Peter’s and Paul’s proclamation of the resurrection and ascension of Christ (subsequent Christianity), the rest of the Roman Empire was found to be receptive to the evolving Christian teachings. Western civilization was at this time intellectual, war weary, and thoroughly skeptical of all existing religions and universe philosophies. The peoples of the Western world, the beneficiaries of Greek culture, had a revered tradition of a great past. They could contemplate the inheritance of great accomplishments in philosophy, art, literature, and political progress. But with all these achievements they had no soul-satisfying religion. Their spiritual longings remained unsatisfied.”

I can live with some WISE impatience towards the animal instincts dominating the “social brotherhood” of Nihilists, Hedonists and Anarchists and their subsequent ridiculously successful material gains made by their heathen raging…I find it more than odd, that “patience” is being demanded by the same raging heathens towards any NORMAL DISTRIBUTION, via organized religion, of the revealed religion that soothes the savage beast, so to speak and has already provided so much proof – centuries worth – of metadata that it, indeed, does so for the “higher spiritual types”….

“^{110:4.5 (1207.5)} There exists a vast gulf between the human and the divine, between man and God. The Urantia races are so largely electrically and chemically controlled, so highly animallike in their common behavior, so emotional in their ordinary reactions, that it becomes exceedingly difficult for the Monitors to guide and direct them. You are so devoid of courageous decisions and consecrated co-operation that your indwelling Adjusters find it next to impossible to communicate directly with the human mind. Even when they do find it possible to flash a gleam of new truth to the evolving mortal soul, this spiritual revelation often so blinds the creature as to precipitate a convulsion of fanaticism or to initiate some other intellectual upheaval which results disastrously. Many a new religion and strange “ism” has arisen from the aborted, imperfect, misunderstood, and garbled communications of the Thought Adjusters.

^{110:4.6 (1207.6)} For many thousands of years, so the records of Jerusem show, in each generation there have lived fewer and fewer beings who could function safely with self-acting Adjusters. This is an alarming picture, and the supervising personalities of Satania look with favor upon the proposals of some of your more immediate planetary supervisors who advocate the inauguration of measures designed to foster and conserve the higher spiritual types of the Urantia races.”

The self-appointed gods and goddesses of internet censorship might not be getting it right in their presumption that they are eliminating dangerous conversations about religion because it is an era where religion MUST become a “private” affair….because my “Monitor” told me so….here are two “social” problems:

1. We have no privacy on the internet

2. Did they encourage everyone to clean out their “private” closets of animal spirits (as Wall Street calls them) so that they could use intellectual and economical brute force to stuff REVEALED religion into the “private” closet instead?

Having the TRUTH about humanity’s origin, purpose and destiny will soothe many a savage beast’s spiritual longings, globally.

Launching an avalanche of cutie kitty and doggy pictures to bury a conversation on the internet about the TRUTH in revealed religion is unacceptable for me as a USA citizen….

 

^{195:2.2 (2072.6)} Much of the early persecution of Christians in Rome was due solely to their unfortunate use of the term “kingdom” in their preaching. The Romans were tolerant of any and all religions but very resentful of anything that savored of political rivalry. And so, when these early persecutions, due so largely to misunderstanding, died out, the field for religious propaganda was wide open. The Roman was interested in political administration; he cared little for either art or religion, but he was unusually tolerant of both.

^{195:2.3 (2072.7)} Oriental law was stern and arbitrary; Greek law was fluid and artistic; Roman law was dignified and respect-breeding. Roman education bred an unheard-of and stolid loyalty. The early Romans were politically devoted and sublimely consecrated individuals. They were honest, zealous, and dedicated to their ideals, but without a religion worthy of the name. Small wonder that their Greek teachers were able to persuade them to accept Paul’s Christianity.

^{195:2.4 (2072.8)} And these Romans were a great people. They could govern the Occident because they did govern themselves. Such unparalleled honesty, devotion, and stalwart self-control was ideal soil for the reception and growth of Christianity.

 

 

 

[Mara]

Sabinatu wrote:  In answering the question, “What is spiritual brotherhood?”, maybe we have been using the higher forms of thinking that is NOT – and this is key to me – the REVEALED religion of our divine and eternal DESTINY.

About all we have to go on is what has been revealed to us by way of the 5 epochal revelations*, as rolled up in the 5th Epochal, which elucidates our origin, history and destiny in a manner that never before occurred in our history.  All are free to study the words, phrases, concepts, truths, facts and values on the pages and in the chapters of this book.  The network of communication about the book and its contents is digitized and available worldwide.  As I grow up I can intellectually understand more about our origin and our destiny.  Personally, I am not concerned about my destiny.  I.will be growing my history for a long time and I rarely think of the future, except as I squint and strain to figure things out in the present and in light of our historical past, as revealed in the book and relevant to, for example, “spiritual brotherhood”.  For me it’s a matter of piecing together discoveries from the book and sharing what I’ve found.  And it is also about asking questions about the material.

Sabinatu wrote I find it more than odd, that “patience” is being demanded by the same raging heathens towards any NORMAL DISTRIBUTION, via organized religion, of the revealed religion that soothes the savage beast, so to speak and has already provided so much proof – centuries worth – of metadata that it, indeed, does so for the “higher spiritual types”….

.

This statement is so obscure to me as to seem to be in some kind of code.  Our planetary supervisors and advisers know what’s best.  I don’t worry about conserving higher spiritual types.  Not in my job description.  Sorry things bother you.  Hope tomorrow is a better day.

.

.

* and all other sources of information, philosophy and religion on our world

[Sabinatu]

@Mara – I entered your last post to me at this site for analysis at this website https://watson-pi-demo.mybluemix.net/

and it helped me understand what you DO care about – “Your choices are driven by a desire for prestige”

Sorry I can’t help you with that.

[Vern]

Sabinatu wrote:  …asking the same question, God the Father kept raising our thinking with ANSWERS…

Ask and you shall receive, has ever been the Father’s attitude to his children. The question which immediately forms within my mind in response to this divine broadcast is, how wholehearted is my sonship?

Having just completed the Winter issue of the ANZURA Newsletter Arena, I was just perusing the section on “Mind Arena of Choice” and reflecting on the fact that mind is all we have to work with, it’s only a temporary system on loan to us while we are mortal, to eternalize or destroy ourselves.

Material mind is the arena in which human personalities live, are self-conscious, make decisions, choose God or forsake him, eternalize or destroy themselves. ^{[Paper111:1.3, page 1216:4]}

Now here’s the good news about this very constrained and specifically adapted mind, it can connect with the purest spirit reality known in the universe.  Minded personality is inherently creative, with moral power to transcend himself/herself by association, identification with pure spirit.

Material evolution has provided you a life machine, your body; the Father himself has endowed you with the purest spirit reality known in the universe, your Thought Adjuster. But into your hands, subject to your own decisions, has been given mind, and it is by mind that you live or die. It is within this mind and with this mind that you make those moral decisions which enable you to achieve Adjusterlikeness, and that is Godlikeness. ^{[Paper111:1.4, page 1216:5]}

It’s thanks to The Divine Minister we have the marvelous capacity to reason and make these life choices at all, beginning with those qualities of mind which we share with our animal cousins right up to the Spirit of Truth itself which in association with our own faith will guide us unerringly from here to Paradise. Today we are only taking the first tentative steps of co-operation with our Father and falter often as we fail to be love saturated souls as is our destiny. Wisdom comes from kindness to self and other selves with full knowledge, that it matters not so much what you are today but what you are becoming. It is not what …mind comprehends but what mind desires to comprehend that ensures survival. Spirit is active in this self making process all the way, despite awareness being largely within the realm of conscious temporal mind. Yearning for God is proof that God has already found you.

Mortal mind is a temporary intellect system loaned to human beings for use during a material lifetime, and as they use this mind, they are either accepting or rejecting the potential of eternal existence. Mind is about all you have of universe reality that is subject to your will, and the soul — the morontia self — will faithfully portray the harvest of the temporal decisions which the mortal self is making. Human consciousness rests gently upon the electrochemical mechanism below and delicately touches the spirit-morontia energy system above. Of neither of these two systems is the human being ever completely conscious in his mortal life; therefore must he work in mind, of which he is conscious. And it is not so much what mind comprehends as what mind desires to comprehend that insures survival; it is not so much what mind is like as what mind is striving to be like that constitutes spirit identification. It is not so much that man is conscious of God as that man yearns for God that results in universe ascension. What you are today is not so important as what you are becoming day by day and in eternity. ^{[Paper111:1.5, page 1216:6]}

Mind is responsive to thing, meaning, value which register within the soul on ascending levels of truth, beauty, goodness, integration within the experiential personality. The greater the spiritual identification the greater the inner beauty, conversely materialism diminishes beauty—is ugly.  When all is said and done, mind is your cosmic instrument to bring forth the exquisite melodies of God identification and consequent eternal survival. I believe this is so for all who seek friendship with men and angels.

Mind is the cosmic instrument on which the human will can play the discords of destruction, or upon which this same human will can bring forth the exquisite melodies of God identification and consequent eternal survival. The Adjuster bestowed upon man is, in the last analysis, impervious to evil and incapable of sin, but mortal mind can actually be twisted, distorted, and rendered evil and ugly by the sinful machinations of a perverse and self-seeking human will. Likewise can this mind be made noble, beautiful, true, and good — actually great — in accordance with the spirit-illuminated will of a God-knowing human being. ^{[Paper111:1.6, page 1217:1]}

between Creator and creature, man and God, there is an enormous gulf to bridge till they can meet in mutual personal recognition. Stability of personality results from responding to the lure of maturity and mastering the art of living by making decisions and learning from the consequences of those decisions. Success is dependent on trust in the process by which a gross mortal of animal origin can by choice sincerely made attain spirit identification—sonship with God—cosmic citizenship. A self made participant of the spiritual brotherhood.

Evolutionary mind is only fully stable and dependable when manifesting itself upon the two extremes of cosmic intellectuality — the wholly mechanized and the entirely spiritualized. Between the intellectual extremes of pure mechanical control and true spirit nature there intervenes that enormous group of evolving and ascending minds whose stability and tranquillity are dependent upon personality choice and spirit identification. ^{[Paper111:1.7, page 1217:2]}

Sabinatu I salute the spirit in you, may the Father lovingly guide you as he moves all who seek to do his will.

[Author]

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