-
Posts
-
My dear fellow readers and students of The Urantia Book,
Each year, ANZURA, the Australia and New Zealand Urantia Association, arranges a study day to provide an opportunity for readers to participate in a study group in their region and to read the same paper on the same day as other readers throughout the world.
This year we invite students of The Urantia Book wherever they might be on this planet, to join us on this special day, Saturday the 16th May, to study two closely related papers: Papers 160 and 161 – Rodan of Alexandria and Further Discussions with Rodan.
What an uplifting experience this could be in knowing that readers across the globe are coming together at the same time in a spirit of unity to focus their attention on the words of this earnest Greek philosopher and the responses of two of Jesus’ apostles, Nathaniel and Thomas.
For those of you who do not belong to or have access to a local study group, I will be conducting an on-line study group on this forum over the entire weekend (16th and 17th May) and I would warmly welcome you to participate as part of an online family of readers. I will progressively post sections of the papers throughout the weekend so that people living in different time zones throughout the world will have the opportunity to post their thoughts and engage in fruitful and friendly discussions together.
If you have any questions about the International Study Day, please feel free to respond to this thread. I will post more information to whet your appetites as we get closer to the date. I’m looking forward to sharing this occasion with you all!
Love,
Julian
“The more complex civilization becomes, the more difficult will become the art of living.” Rodan of Alexandria, P1772:4
I am really looking forward to facilitating the online International Study Day coming up on the 16th of May on this forum. If you are an isolated reader and would like to participate in a fascinating discussion of the philosophies of Rodan of Alexandria, then please feel free to tune in over the weekend of the 16th and 17th of May. Even if you regularly attend a study group but would still like to share with your brothers and sisters in other parts of the world, then you too are very welcome.
Why did the Midwayers devote two whole papers to this man’s views on life and his observations concerning the religion of the Master? Rodan eschewed mediocrity and conformism. He was passionate about “the disquieting and energy-requiring lure of the pursuit of the unexplored possibilities of the attainment of undiscovered goals of idealistic spiritual realities.” P.1773:1 Now that was a mouthful!
I am truly inspired by this earnest man’s heartfelt convictions and impassioned pleas. I hope you will join me in this feast of exploration into the art of living, the lures of maturity, and the religion of Jesus.
Love to all!
Julian
My dear fellow readers and students of The Urantia Book,
Only a few days to go before we begin this year’s International Study Day. I hope you will join me this coming weekend (16th and 17th May) as I facilitate the study of Papers 160 and 161. What a wellspring of wisdom these papers represent! As one reads the impassioned words of this devoted disciple of Jesus, it is impossible not to be impressed with his love of the Master’s gospel of balanced maturity and ideals. I am confident that you will gain renewed enthusiasm for life as you ponder Rodan’s deliberations on the art of living as well as Thomas’ and Nathaniel’s patient and reasoned responses to Rodan’s questions concerning the personality of God and the divine nature of Jesus.
I look forward to uniting with you this weekend as we participate in this worldwide study group.
Love to you all!
Julian
Dear Julian and all
like you said – confident to gain renewed enthusiasm for life ………..
isn’t it just such confidence that gives us the courage to persevere and trust in the Fathers guidance and promise to become what is our destiny.
Looking very much forward to sit with my Sydney Study Group friends to marvel at Rodan’s mind and be inspired anew. And in between, we surely visit you all at the forum, to say hi
and see how it goes!!cheers Rita
Dear Readers in Oz and around the world!
Thanks to Julian and the Aussie ANZURA team for fostering this in-depth look at a remarkable pair of papers.
Looking forward with enthusiasm and anticipation!
Nigel
Nigel – so lovely to read you……….we are endeavoring to immerse ourselves into those very bits you are talking about – as soon as we finished having morning tea. -Rita
On behalf of ANZURA, I would like to warmly welcome all my fellow students of The Urantia Book, my brothers and sisters scattered all over the globe, to this years INTERNATIONAL STUDY DAY 2015. I am writing from Tasmania in Australia where it is almost 11 o’clock in the morning. For most readers, the weekend hasn’t even started yet!
You have been invited to share in the study of Papers 160 and 161: Rodan of Alexandria and Further Discussions with Rodan. I will post a couple of sections at a time, starting this morning here in Australia, and then later this evening, followed by two more postings tomorrow (Sunday) at similar times. My role is to make personal comments about the excerpts and to pose questions for further consideration. I very much welcome your comments and would encourage you all to ask more questions that will keep the conversation going!
So here we go!!
Paper 160Rodan of Alexandria
ON SUNDAY morning, September 18, Andrew announced that no work would be planned for the coming week. All of the apostles, except Nathaniel and Thomas, went home to visit their families or to sojourn with friends. This week Jesus enjoyed a period of almost complete rest, but Nathaniel and Thomas were very busy with their discussions with a certain Greek philosopher from Alexandria named Rodan. This Greek had recently become a disciple of Jesus through the teaching of one of Abner’s associates who had conducted a mission at Alexandria. Rodan was now earnestly engaged in the task of harmonizing his philosophy of life with Jesus’ new religious teachings, and he had come to Magadan hoping that the Master would talk these problems over with him. He also desired to secure a firsthand and authoritative version of the gospel from either Jesus or one of his apostles. Though the Master declined to enter into such a conference with Rodan, he did receive him graciously and immediately directed that Nathaniel and Thomas should listen to all he had to say and tell him about the gospel in return.
1. Rodan’s Greek Philosophy
160:1.1Early Monday morning, Rodan began a series of ten addresses to Nathaniel, Thomas, and a group of some two dozen believers who chanced to be at Magadan. These talks, condensed, combined, and restated in modern phraseology, present the following thoughts for consideration:
160:1.2Human life consists in three great drives—urges, desires, and lures. Strong character, commanding personality, is only acquired by converting the natural urge of life into the social art of living, by transforming present desires into those higher longings which are capable of lasting attainment, while the commonplace lure of existence must be transferred from one’s conventional and established ideas to the higher realms of unexplored ideas and undiscovered ideals.
160:1.3The more complex civilization becomes, the more difficult will become the art of living. The more rapid the changes in social usage, the more complicated will become the task of character development. Every ten generations mankind must learn anew the art of living if progress is to continue. And if man becomes so ingenious that he more rapidly adds to the complexities of society, the art of living will need to be remastered in less time, perhaps every single generation. If the evolution of the art of living fails to keep pace with the technique of existence, humanity will quickly revert to the simple urge of living—the attainment of the satisfaction of present desires. Thus will humanity remain immature; society will fail in growing up to full maturity.
1,773Social maturity is equivalent to the degree to which man is willing to surrender the gratification of mere transient and present desires for the entertainment of those superior longings the striving for whose attainment affords the more abundant satisfactions of progressive advancement toward permanent goals. But the true badge of social maturity is the willingness of a people to surrender the right to live peaceably and contentedly under the ease-promoting standards of the lure of established beliefs and conventional ideas for the disquieting and energy-requiring lure of the pursuit of the unexplored possibilities of the attainment of undiscovered goals of idealistic spiritual realities.
160:1.5Animals respond nobly to the urge of life, but only man can attain the art of living, albeit the majority of mankind only experience the animal urge to live. Animals know only this blind and instinctive urge; man is capable of transcending this urge to natural function. Man may elect to live upon the high plane of intelligent art, even that of celestial joy and spiritual ecstasy. Animals make no inquiry into the purposes of life; therefore they never worry, neither do they commit suicide. Suicide among men testifies that such beings have emerged from the purely animal stage of existence, and to the further fact that the exploratory efforts of such human beings have failed to attain the artistic levels of mortal experience. Animals know not the meaning of life; man not only possesses capacity for the recognition of values and the comprehension of meanings, but he also is conscious of the meaning of meanings—he is self-conscious of insight.
160:1.6When men dare to forsake a life of natural craving for one of adventurous art and uncertain logic, they must expect to suffer the consequent hazards of emotional casualties—conflicts, unhappiness, and uncertainties—at least until the time of their attainment of some degree of intellectual and emotional maturity. Discouragement, worry, and indolence are positive evidence of moral immaturity. Human society is confronted with two problems: attainment of the maturity of the individual and attainment of the maturity of the race. The mature human being soon begins to look upon all other mortals with feelings of tenderness and with emotions of tolerance. Mature men view immature folks with the love and consideration that parents bear their children.
160:1.7Successful living is nothing more or less than the art of the mastery of dependable techniques for solving common problems. The first step in the solution of any problem is to locate the difficulty, to isolate the problem, and frankly to recognize its nature and gravity. The great mistake is that, when life problems excite our profound fears, we refuse to recognize them. Likewise, when the acknowledgment of our difficulties entails the reduction of our long-cherished conceit, the admission of envy, or the abandonment of deep-seated prejudices, the average person prefers to cling to the old illusions of safety and to the long-cherished false feelings of security. Only a brave person is willing honestly to admit, and fearlessly to face, what a sincere and logical mind discovers.
160:1.8The wise and effective solution of any problem demands that the mind shall be free from bias, passion, and all other purely personal prejudices which might interfere with the disinterested survey of the actual factors that go to make up the problem presenting itself for solution. The solution of life problems requires courage and sincerity. Only honest and brave individuals are able to follow valiantly through the perplexing and confusing maze of living to where the logic of a fearless mind may lead. And this emancipation of the mind and soul can never be effected without the driving power of an intelligent enthusiasm which borders on religious zeal. It requires the lure of a great ideal to drive man on in the pursuit of a goal which is beset with difficult material problems and manifold intellectual hazards.
1,774Even though you are effectively armed to meet the difficult situations of life, you can hardly expect success unless you are equipped with that wisdom of mind and charm of personality which enable you to win the hearty support and co-operation of your fellows. You cannot hope for a large measure of success in either secular or religious work unless you can learn how to persuade your fellows, to prevail with men. You simply must have tact and tolerance.
160:1.10But the greatest of all methods of problem solving I have learned from Jesus, your Master. I refer to that which he so consistently practices, and which he has so faithfully taught you, the isolation of worshipful meditation. In this habit of Jesus’ going off so frequently by himself to commune with the Father in heaven is to be found the technique, not only of gathering strength and wisdom for the ordinary conflicts of living, but also of appropriating the energy for the solution of the higher problems of a moral and spiritual nature. But even correct methods of solving problems will not compensate for inherent defects of personality or atone for the absence of the hunger and thirst for true righteousness.
160:1.11I am deeply impressed with the custom of Jesus in going apart by himself to engage in these seasons of solitary survey of the problems of living; to seek for new stores of wisdom and energy for meeting the manifold demands of social service; to quicken and deepen the supreme purpose of living by actually subjecting the total personality to the consciousness of contacting with divinity; to grasp for possession of new and better methods of adjusting oneself to the ever-changing situations of living existence; to effect those vital reconstructions and readjustments of one’s personal attitudes which are so essential to enhanced insight into everything worth while and real; and to do all of this with an eye single to the glory of God—to breathe in sincerity your Master’s favorite prayer, “Not my will, but yours, be done.”
160:1.12This worshipful practice of your Master brings that relaxation which renews the mind; that illumination which inspires the soul; that courage which enables one bravely to face one’s problems; that self-understanding which obliterates debilitating fear; and that consciousness of union with divinity which equips man with the assurance that enables him to dare to be Godlike. The relaxation of worship, or spiritual communion as practiced by the Master, relieves tension, removes conflicts, and mightily augments the total resources of the personality. And all this philosophy, plus the gospel of the kingdom, constitutes the new religion as I understand it.
160:1.13Prejudice blinds the soul to the recognition of truth, and prejudice can be removed only by the sincere devotion of the soul to the adoration of a cause that is all-embracing and all-inclusive of one’s fellow men. Prejudice is inseparably linked to selfishness. Prejudice can be eliminated only by the abandonment of self-seeking and by substituting therefor the quest of the satisfaction of the service of a cause that is not only greater than self, but one that is even greater than all humanity—the search for God, the attainment of divinity. The evidence of maturity of personality consists in the transformation of human desire so that it constantly seeks for the realization of those values which are highest and most divinely real.
160:1.14In a continually changing world, in the midst of an evolving social order, it is impossible to maintain settled and established goals of destiny. Stability of personality can be experienced only by those who have discovered and embraced the living God as the eternal goal of infinite attainment. And thus to transfer one’s goal from time to eternity, from earth to Paradise, from the human to the divine, requires that man shall become regenerated, converted, be born again; that he shall become the re-created child of the divine spirit; that he shall gain entrance into the brotherhood of the kingdom of heaven. All philosophies and religions which fall short of these ideals are immature. The philosophy which I teach, linked with the gospel which you preach, represents the new religion of maturity, the ideal of all future generations. And this is true because our ideal is final, infallible, eternal, universal, absolute, and infinite.
1,775My philosophy gave me the urge to search for the realities of true attainment, the goal of maturity. But my urge was impotent; my search lacked driving power; my quest suffered from the absence of certainty of directionization. And these deficiencies have been abundantly supplied by this new gospel of Jesus, with its enhancement of insights, elevation of ideals, and settledness of goals. Without doubts and misgivings I can now wholeheartedly enter upon the eternal venture.
Rodan is concerned with the “art of living”. How can we, as mere mortals, live a successful life? How can we manage the three very human drives that stir within us…..urges, desires, and lures?
He warns us that as civilization becomes more complex (and we surely qualify for that description) the art of living will become more difficult. “And if man becomes so ingenious that he more rapidly adds to the complexities of society, the art of living will need to be remastered in less time, perhaps every single generation.” It is just as if Rodan has been suddenly transported into the 21st century!!
I will pause here for a moment to allow anyone who has dropped in to have a say. Be back soon!
Hi Nigel and friends,
Vern, here responding to the lure of my mature friends.
William and I have been warmly welcomed and the whole Sydney gang rocked up a short while ago and soon we’ll settle down to study Rodan.
Vern
G’Day my brothers&sisters may the Father sustain us in our efforts to discern his will and add the courage and faith to follow that will.
Peace&Love
Praying for the forward momentum of Brotherhood on our world
160:1.7 [snipped] Only a brave person is willing honestly to admit, and fearlessly to face, what a sincere and logical mind discovers.
Thanks Julian! I highlighted this sentence of significance to me, as I ponder a book written by a fellow reader known to me whose book is about the Urantia Book and about Dr. Sadler The author says Dr. Sadler channeled the book. With an open mind, I seek to discover the author’s logic and evidence to arrive at such an astonishing conclusion! I’m reading it a second time to see if I missed something, but no case has been made that would stand up in court for the author’s assertions.
Yet, I am a willing reader. Willing to look into such speculations to see whether a shred of evidence exists in what the author presented.
No surprise that Jesus left behind Nathaniel and Thomas to listen to this extraordinary Greek! Said Rodan,
(1772.3, 160:1.2) Human life consists in three great drives — urges, desires, and lures. Strong character, commanding personality, is only acquired by converting the natural urge of life into the social art of living, by transforming present desires into those higher longings which are capable of lasting attainment, while the commonplace lure of existence must be transferred from one’s conventional and established ideas to the higher realms of unexplored ideas and undiscovered ideals.
Ahh, those old urges, desires, and lures. I well remember one realization flash while reading this (many years ago) — that my anxiety and anguish arose from my urges, desires, and lures all pulling in different directions.
And that once my urges became synchronized with my desires, and after both became compatible with the lures being dangled by benefactors, only then could that extraordinary peace and happiness fall naturally into place.
Essentially, I first had to relearn how to be an agreeable social animal, then a dependable human, and then, well then the real adventure, of being Adjuster’ed into true assurance and beauty and goodness, could begin.
How much of my change and growth began with Rodan’s words, I can’t say. But great that such a pair of papers were included in the UB.
Nigel
One could easily spend the whole day just looking at section 1. This man Rodan really had a keen grasp of human nature….the foibles of the human ego: “The great mistake is that, when life problems excite our profound fears, we refuse to recognize them. Likewise, when the acknowledgment of our difficulties entails the reduction of our long-cherished conceit, the admission of envy, or the abandonment of deep-seated prejudices, the average person prefers to cling to the old illusions of safety and to the long-cherished false feelings of security. Only a brave person is willing honestly to admit, and fearlessly to face, what a sincere and logical mind discovers.”
Thank you Mara for volunteering that example of a willingness to face what could turn out to be an uncomfortable truth. As a psychologist, I am often impressed with the courage of people who are able or are willing to confront their own fears and prejudices. Avoidance is our most common coping strategy!
After giving us his personal views, Rodan consistently draws our attention to the habits of the Master; he is mightily impressed!
But the greatest of all methods of problem solving I have learned from Jesus, your Master. I refer to that which he so consistently practices, and which he has so faithfully taught you, the isolation of worshipful meditation. In this habit of Jesus’ going off so frequently by himself to commune with the Father in heaven is to be found the technique, not only of gathering strength and wisdom for the ordinary conflicts of living, but also of appropriating the energy for the solution of the higher problems of a moral and spiritual nature.
I am deeply impressed with the custom of Jesus in going apart by himself to engage in these seasons of solitary survey of the problems of living; to seek for new stores of wisdom and energy for meeting the manifold demands of social service; to quicken and deepen the supreme purpose of living by actually subjecting the total personality to the consciousness of contacting with divinity; to grasp for possession of new and better methods of adjusting oneself to the ever-changing situations of living existence; to effect those vital reconstructions and readjustments of one’s personal attitudes which are so essential to enhanced insight into everything worth while and real; and to do all of this with an eye single to the glory of God—to breathe in sincerity your Master’s favorite prayer, “Not my will, but yours, be done.”
The “isolation of worshipful meditation”…..what is this?
The “isolation of worshipful meditation”…..what is this?
Environmentally/physically – away from other people, to the extent this is possible in this day and age. Away from the rush and hustle of one’s environment. For a period of time and for the purpose of worshipful meditation. Out-of doors if possible. A change of scenery, a quiet place, perhaps at night while everyone else sleeps.
Rodan brilliantly describes the myriad and profound benefits of worship of the divine as practised by the Master:
This worshipful practice of your Master brings that relaxation which renews the mind; that illumination which inspires the soul; that courage which enables one bravely to face one’s problems; that self-understanding which obliterates debilitating fear; and that consciousness of union with divinity which equips man with the assurance that enables him to dare to be Godlike. The relaxation of worship, or spiritual communion as practiced by the Master, relieves tension, removes conflicts, and mightily augments the total resources of the personality. And all this philosophy, plus the gospel of the kingdom, constitutes the new religion as I understand it.
Rodan introduces this new phrase…..”the new religion”…..”the new religion of maturity”….consisting of his philosophy of living combined with Jesus’ gospel of the kingdom. And he describes this new religion as “the ideal of all future generations”:
And thus to transfer one’s goal from time to eternity, from earth to Paradise, from the human to the divine, requires that man shall become regenerated, converted, be born again; that he shall become the re-created child of the divine spirit; that he shall gain entrance into the brotherhood of the kingdom of heaven. All philosophies and religions which fall short of these ideals are immature. The philosophy which I teach, linked with the gospel which you preach, represents the new religion of maturity, the ideal of all future generations. And this is true because our ideal is final, infallible, eternal, universal, absolute, and infinite.
Is this what the world is waiting for? Is this the change that Urantia is on the very edge of…..quivering?
A new and fuller revelation of the religion of Jesus is destined to conquer an empire of materialistic secularism and to overthrow a world sway of mechanistic naturalism. Urantia is now quivering on the very brink of one of its most amazing and enthralling epochs of social readjustment, moral quickening, and spiritual enlightenment. P.2082:7
Login to reply to this topic.
Not registered? Sign up here.