Of happiness, much to still learn

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  • #17905
    Vern
    Vern
    Participant

    Happiness is not far off!

    Happiness is indissolubly linked with spiritual progress, could it be that the majority of materially distracted individuals are fundamentally unhappy simply because they maintain a stubborn resistance to the font of joy?

    Life’s purpose is to unify the soul powers of personality by the dominance of love. Happiness arises from unification of physical, metal and spiritual systems.

    But the great problem of religious living consists in the task of unifying the soul powers of the personality by the dominance of LOVE. Health, mental efficiency, and happiness arise from the unification of physical systems, mind systems, and spirit systems. Of health and sanity man understands much, but of happiness he has truly realized very little. The highest happiness is indissolubly linked with spiritual progress. Spiritual growth yields lasting joy, peace which passes all understanding.  [Paper 100:4.3, page 1097:7]

    With good reason we are told “Happy are the peacemakers.”

    the beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount are based on “faith and love” and not on law — ethics and duty.

    Spiritual realities of faith and love are the source of personal happiness

    Jesus came that we have life and have it in abundance, he encourages us to share the good news with each other, confident that a joyous person will continue where once a less than happy person once was.

    “I send you forth to proclaim liberty to the spiritual captives, joy to those in the bondage of fear, and to heal the sick in accordance with the will of my Father in heaven. When you find my children in distress, speak encouragingly to them, saying:  [Paper 140:3.2, page 1570:3]

    Happy are the poor in spirit, the humble, for theirs are the treasures of the kingdom of heaven. [Paper 140:3.3, page 1570:4]

    Happy are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.  [Paper 140:3.4, page 1570:5]

    Happy are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.  [Paper 140:3.5, page 1570:6]

    Happy are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.  [Paper 140:3.6, page 1570:7]

    Happy are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Happy are they who weep, for they shall receive the spirit of rejoicing.  [Paper 140:3.8, page 1570:9]

    Happy are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.  [Paper 140:3.9, page 1570:10]

    Happy are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.  [Paper 140:3.10, page 1570:11]

    Happy are they who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Happy are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.  [Paper 140:3.11, page 1570:12]

    Truth is integral to happiness

    Being true to divine leading results in happiness, the peace that exceeds understanding. The peace found within is reflected without.

    All truth — material, philosophic, or spiritual — is both beautiful and good. All real beauty — material art or spiritual symmetry — is both true and good. All genuine goodness — whether personal morality, social equity, or divine ministry — is equally true and beautiful. Health, sanity, and happiness are integrations of truth, beauty, and goodness as they are blended in human experience. Such levels of efficient living come about through the unification of energy systems, idea systems, and spirit systems[Paper2:7.11, page 43:4]

    Acceptance of sonship with God puts a smile on Parent and child. All fathers delight in progress of their progeny.

     

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    #17908
    Andy
    Andy
    Participant

    Awesome, thank you Vern.

    The eternal God is our refuge.
    He is a faithful Creator.

    #17909
    Avatar
    Sabinatu
    Blocked

    TUB 103:9.6 – “Reason, Wisdom and Faith are man’s highest achievements.”

    Does any of the psychology that took over “religion” address the “highest achievement” of mental health that the religion they are studying says is their idea of the “highest achievement”?

    Meaning, are they interpreting the meta data of the presence of “reason, wisdom and faith” as the cause of certain actions and reactions in certain people to be only an artifact of ego, a maladjustment to enjoying the “happiness” that the material world offers?

    #17910
    Mara
    Mara
    Participant

    This reply has been reported for inappropriate content.

    ego

    . . . or perseveration – I’m not sure –  but the rant is repetitious, like a horse with a habit of getting the bit in its teeth. Complaining is tiresome.

    .

    How about something uplifting? Something ennobling, something to draw out the good fruits of the divine spirit within?  Something inspiring and helpful.  Something to take us forward and upward or inward as we share on this forum?  I think the happy person is one who is self-forgetful.  One who is looking for service opportunities.  One who knows the difference between that which cannot be changed, and that which can be changed.  That would be a good place to start.  And go from there.  I’m aiming for balance and maturity is what I am talking about.

     

    196:0:7  The all-consuming and indomitable spiritual faith of Jesus never became fanatical, for it never attempted to run away with his well-balanced intellectual judgments concerning the proportional values of practical and commonplace social, economic, and moral life situations. The Son of Man was a splendidly unified human personality; he was a perfectly endowed divine being; he was also magnificently co-ordinated as a combined human and divine being functioning on earth as a single personality. Always did the Master co-ordinate the faith of the soul with the wisdom-appraisals of seasoned experience. Personal faith, spiritual hope, and moral devotion were always correlated in a matchless religious unity of harmonious association with the keen realization of the reality and sacredness of all human loyalties — personal honor, family love, religious obligation, social duty, and economic necessity.
    .
    Faith, experience, practicality and a whole lot more.  Jesus was not a complainer.

     

     

    #17911
    Vern
    Vern
    Participant
    Sabinatu wrote:  Meaning, are they interpreting the meta data of the presence of “reason, wisdom and faith”…
    Sab, who can say with any accuracy what is happening inside the mind of another? Our task is to minimise distress in our fellows by our desire to do good to others. Help release those held “in the bondage of fear.”
    Vern wrote:  …proclaim liberty to the spiritual captives, joy to those in the bondage of fear, and to heal the sick in accordance with the will of my Father in heaven.
    #17914
    Vern
    Vern
    Participant

    Happy news is you are simply teaching friendship with God

    The world is filled with hungry souls who famish in the very presence of the bread of life; men die searching for the very God who lives within them. Men seek for the treasures of the kingdom with yearning hearts and weary feet when they are all within the immediate grasp of living faith. Faith is to religion what sails are to a ship; it is an addition of power, not an added burden of life. There is but one struggle for those who enter the kingdom, and that is to fight the good fight of faith. The believer has only one battle, and that is against doubt — unbelief. [Paper159:3.8, page 1766:4]

    Faith augments happiness

    When my children once become self-conscious of the assurance of the divine presence, such a faith will expand the mind, ennoble the soul, reinforce the personality, augment the happiness, deepen the spirit perception, and enhance the power to love and be loved.  [Paper159:3.12, page 1766:8]

    #17916
    Avatar
    Sabinatu
    Blocked

     

    If you need inspiration for your personal religion, Mara, and TUB is not enough for you, then check out the website – wakeup-world.com and please stop personally attacking me. Thanks.

    #17917
    Vern
    Vern
    Participant
    Mara wrote:  …the difference between that which cannot be changed, and that which can be changed.
    Hi Mara, that statement has guided many alcoholics back to a stable life and stands as a worthy inspiration to all.
    There are others,….. “discretion is the better part of valour,”…….. “engage brain before putting mouth into gear,”……… “look before you leap”………”I’d like to see you get ahead, you need one.” and lots like it. Well you remind us.
    To counter, one could say,……… “strike while the iron is hot”…….. “he who hesitates is lost”…….. and…….. “action speaks louder than words.”
    Then there are the ones mother taught us……..“if you can’t say something nice about someone, don’t say anything at all.”
    A well worn variant…….“all people are smart till they speak and remove all doubt.”………”not everyone has your brains, some people are smart.”…….. and ………..”an empty vessel makes the most noise.”
    ……………..” a squeaky wheel always needs oiling.”…………………..”you can please some of the people some of the time but you can’t please all the people all the time.”
    The Urantia Book has its own one……………“cleverness is no substitute for character.”
    The one that has resonated most with me lately is…………. “truth never suffers from honest enquiry.”
    The basis of free speech and democracy has this one…………..“I may not agree with what you say but I will defend unto death your right to say it.”
    In the 60s love generation, my generation, it was………………“be free, do what you want to do, be what you want to be, as long as you don’t hurt anybody.”
    All that ended in tears as………….. “the truth hurt too much.”
    Now life has taught us to……………. “take a good dose of concrete and harden up”……………..“build a bridge and get over it.”
    The Urantia Book has one for this situation……………“The greatest affliction of the cosmos is never to have been afflicted. Mortals only learn wisdom by experiencing tribulation.”
    And here we are full circle,………….“time has wounded all heels”………… and I sill remember…………“the three men I admire most, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, who caught the last train for the coast”……………that me and you, could be………… ” happy together.”
    We set off on a journey only to return to where we started……….to know that place for the first time……………..born again.
    “It’s not so much what happens to you that matters, rather what you do about it.”
    Yes, each of us can do more when self is left out.

    Self-importance not work importance exhausts immature creatures

    You will learn that you increase your burdens and decrease the likelihood of success by taking yourself too seriously. Nothing can take precedence over the work of your status sphere — this world or the next. Very important is the work of preparation for the next higher sphere, but nothing equals the importance of the work of the world in which you are actually living. But though the work is important, the self is not. When you feel important, you lose energy to the wear and tear of ego dignity so that there is little energy left to do the work. Self-importance, not work-importance, exhausts immature creatures; it is the self element that exhausts, not the effort to achieve. You can do important work if you do not become self-important; you can do several things as easily as one if you leave yourself out. Variety is restful; monotony is what wears and exhausts. Day after day is alike — just life or the alternative of death.  [Paper48:6.37, page 555:5]

    “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn, is to love and be loved in return.”

    This is the greatest happiness.

    #17920
    Mara
    Mara
    Participant

    There are others,…..

    I very much enjoyed your pithy aphorisms Vern.

    2:7:6  Happiness ensues from the recognition of truth because it can be acted out; it can be lived. Disappointment and sorrow attend upon error because, not being a reality, it cannot be realized in experience. Divine truth is best known by its spiritual flavor.

    .

    3:2:10  Thus it is that your detached, sectional, finite, gross, and highly materialistic viewpoint and the limitations inherent in the nature of your being constitute such a handicap that you are unable to see, comprehend, or know the wisdom and kindness of many of the divine acts which to you seem fraught with such crushing cruelty, and which seem to be characterized by such utter indifference to the comfort and welfare, to the planetary happiness and personal prosperity, of your fellow creatures. It is because of the limits of human vision, it is because of your circumscribed understanding and finite comprehension, that you misunderstand the motives, and pervert the purposes, of God. But many things occur on the evolutionary worlds which are not the personal doings of the Universal Father.
    .
    48:7:10  Effort does not always produce joy, but there is no happiness without intelligent effort.
    .
    Yammering about what’s wrong with things is fruitless.
    #17921
    Avatar
    Sabinatu
    Blocked

    I am re-posting the question I had, which ironically enough is being answered through the fruit of their action – LOL

    “TUB 103:9.6 – “Reason, Wisdom and Faith are man’s highest achievements.”

    Does any of the psychology that took over “religion” address the “highest achievement” of mental health that the religion they are studying says is their idea of the “highest achievement”?

    Meaning, are they interpreting the meta data of the presence of “reason, wisdom and faith” as the cause of certain actions and reactions in certain people to be only an artifact of ego, a maladjustment to enjoying the “happiness” that the material world offers?”

    If you are NOT interested in worshipful problem solving, can you just butt out.  There has been nothing but “revolution” this and “revolution” that and “change” here and “change” there and all of it has produced a critical mass of MAN MADE PROBLEMS that cannot be changed!?

    Found this from 1990 – before I ever heard of TUB:  http://www.urantiabook.org/archive/conftalk/worshipful-problem-solving.htm

    The following is not “problem solving”, imo, this is psychiatry gone over the line – shutting down cerebral cortex functions!  R U Kiddin’ me?  Is that something we are not going to be able to “change” – the ability of the depraved to use science for power over others?!  I am not yammering and complaining, I am here to remind people that EVERYONE has the right to defend their life – whatever it takes.  There are no chosen people who can do this to you:

    https://www.rt.com/uk/318881-magnets-brain-immigration-religion/

    Happy Halloweeny – the “walking dead” are indeed among us:

    3. The Phenomenon of Death

    112:3.1 (1229.8) Urantians generally recognize only one kind of death, the physical cessation of life energies; but concerning personality survival there are really three kinds:

    112:3.2 (1229.9) 1. Spiritual (soul) death. If and when mortal man has finally rejected survival, when he has been pronounced spiritually insolvent, morontially bankrupt, in the conjoint opinion of the Adjuster and the surviving seraphim, when such co-ordinate advice has been recorded on Uversa, and after the Censors and their reflective associates have verified these findings, thereupon do the rulers of Orvonton order the immediate release of the indwelling Monitor. But this release of the Adjuster in no way affects the duties of the personal or group seraphim concerned with that Adjuster-abandoned individual. This kind of death is final in its significance irrespective of the temporary continuation of the living energies of the physical and mind mechanisms. From the cosmic standpoint the mortal is already dead; the continuing life merely indicates the persistence of the material momentum of cosmic energies.

    112:3.3 (1230.1) 2. Intellectual (mind) death. When the vital circuits of higher adjutant ministry are disrupted through the aberrations of intellect or because of the partial destruction of the mechanism of the brain, and if these conditions pass a certain critical point of irreparability, the indwelling Adjuster is immediately released to depart for Divinington. On the universe records a mortal personality is considered to have met with death whenever the essential mind circuits of human will-action have been destroyed. And again, this is death, irrespective of the continuing function of the living mechanism of the physical body. The body minus the volitional mind is no longer human, but according to the prior choosing of the human will, the soul of such an individual may survive.

    112:3.4 (1230.2) 3. Physical (body and mind) death. When death overtakes a human being, the Adjuster remains in the citadel of the mind until it ceases to function as an intelligent mechanism, about the time that the measurable brain energies cease their rhythmic vital pulsations. Following this dissolution the Adjuster takes leave of the vanishing mind, just as unceremoniously as entry was made years before, and proceeds to Divinington by way of Uversa.

    112:3.5 (1230.3) After death the material body returns to the elemental world from which it was derived, but two nonmaterial factors of surviving personality persist: The pre-existent Thought Adjuster, with the memory transcription of the mortal career, proceeds to Divinington; and there also remains, in the custody of the destiny guardian, the immortal morontia soul of the deceased human. These phases and forms of soul, these once kinetic but now static formulas of identity, are essential to repersonalization on the morontia worlds; and it is the reunion of the Adjuster and the soul that reassembles the surviving personality, that reconsciousizes you at the time of the morontia awakening.

    112:3.6 (1230.4) For those who do not have personal seraphic guardians, the group custodians faithfully and efficiently perform the same service of identity safekeeping and personality resurrection. The seraphim are indispensable to the reassembly of personality.

    112:3.7 (1230.5) Upon death the Thought Adjuster temporarily loses personality, but not identity; the human subject temporarily loses identity, but not personality; on the mansion worlds both reunite in eternal manifestation. Never does a departed Thought Adjuster return to earth as the being of former indwelling; never is personality manifested without the human will; and never does a dis-Adjustered human being after death manifest active identity or in any manner establish communication with the living beings of earth. Such dis-Adjustered souls are wholly and absolutely unconscious during the long or short sleep of death. There can be no exhibition of any sort of personality or ability to engage in communications with other personalities until after completion of survival. Those who go to the mansion worlds are not permitted to send messages back to their loved ones. It is the policy throughout the universes to forbid such communication during the period of a current dispensation.

    #17922
    Bradly
    Bradly
    Participant

    100:1.8 (1095.3) Religious habits of thinking and acting are contributory to the economy of spiritual growth. One can develop religious predispositions toward favorable reaction to spiritual stimuli, a sort of conditioned spiritual reflex. Habits which favor religious growth embrace cultivated sensitivity to divine values, recognition of religious living in others, reflective meditation on cosmic meanings, worshipful problem solving, sharing one’s spiritual life with one’s fellows, avoidance of selfishness, refusal to presume on divine mercy, living as in the presence of God. The factors of religious growth may be intentional, but the growth itself is unvaryingly unconscious.

    I wonder Sab if you are suggesting that this Paper or this quote has something to do with secular issues of politics, economics, psychiatry, or social issues on a national or planetary scale?  It is my understanding this is an instruction on how to deal with the vicissitudes and edges of conflict on the personal and religionist’s level.  We are also taught that secular cures for its many maladies of any lasting value must come from the upliftment of the individual….as goes the parts, so goes the whole….not the other way around.  The quote above and the one below are presentations regarding the individual’s intersections with life’s circumstances, situations, and others – the challenge for each mortal in effectively dealing with daily life or so I think.  We are also told that happiness does not require material or secular success by the each or by the all, that the truly religious individual grows daily in happiness and in the skills to manage the material life.

    The UB is not a how to book for resolving national or planetary problems (and neither were the third or fourth epochal revelations) but, rather, how the individual may find comfort, peace, joy, and assurance in our mortal and material lives.  We are told who is in charge of the world and its progress and  that it is immature impatience that makes us dissatisfied, frustrated, angry, and blaming of what is actually a normal evolutionary process over great time spans on all worlds.  I appreciate your care and concerns for our world, but frankly do not agree on either that which you blame or that which you offer as any solution or ideal as I so far understand those.  The role of religion is the transformation of the religionist – then the religionist is better equipped for their own daily challenges and to act better as citizen to contribute to global upliftment by this slow evolutionary process.

    And I find your continued abuse of Mara quite grotesque and annoying….snide sarcasm does not portray you in any good way.  And neither does your twisting of text to suit your constant negativity regarding the state of our world.  This endless griping and complaining of all things and those you find objectionable contributes nothing to the illumination of either the problems nor the solutions IMO.  Just sayin’……….

    196:0:7 The all-consuming and indomitable spiritual faith of Jesus never became fanatical, for it never attempted to run away with his well-balanced intellectual judgments concerning the proportional values of practical and commonplace social, economic, and moral life situations…..

    Thanks Vern for all the great stuff you are serving us here.

    140:5.6 (1573.8) The faith and the love of these beatitudes strengthen moral character and create happiness. Fear and anger weaken character and destroy happiness. This momentous sermon started out upon the note of happiness.

    #17923
    Avatar
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    The UB is not a how to book for resolving national or planetary problems (and neither were the third or fourth epochal revelations) but, rather, how the individual may find comfort, peace, joy, and assurance in our mortal and material lives. We are told who is in charge of the world and its progress and that it is immature impatience that makes us dissatisfied, frustrated, angry, and blaming of what is actually a normal evolutionary process [?] over great time spans on all worlds [?]. I appreciate your care and concerns for our world, but frankly do not agree on either that which you blame or that which you offer as any solution or ideal as I so far understand those. The role of religion is the transformation of the religionist [?] – then the religionist is better equipped for their own daily challenges and to act better as citizen to contribute to global upliftment by this slow evolutionary process.

    Bradly, if the Urantia Book is not a “how to book” then why present the teachings of Jesus in such detail if not to instruct how Jesus lived and interacted with others, whereby to be able to love others as Jesus loved them?  You state that “we are told who is in charge” but if you also imply that we as humans with free-will need not do anything to help our brothers and sisters to become happier with our existence, then why do we have free-will in the first place?  Where your statement infers that we need do nothing about the inequalities of others who are less fortunate than you, or oppressed by others who have not become self-forgetful.  Then I ask, “what is actually a normal evolutionary process”? where when otherwise normal and sane individuals, loose their sanity and harm others and themselves?

    I resent your statement that “the role of religion is the transformation of the religionist” where it would seem that you need to readdress the definition of “religionist” in the Urantia Book, where I have presented just a few below:

    (1034.1) 94:6.6 His understanding of the eternal purpose of God was clear, for he said: “The Absolute Deity does not strive but is always victorious; he does not coerce mankind but always stands ready to respond to their true desires; the will of God is eternal in patience and eternal in the inevitability of its expression.” And of the true religionist he said, in expressing the truth that it is more blessed to give than to receive: “The good man seeks not to retain truth for himself but rather attempts to bestow these riches upon his fellows, for that is the realization of truth. The will of the Absolute God always benefits, never destroys; the purpose of the true believer is always to act but never to coerce.”

    (859.2) 77:3.8 The religious group were promptly voted down. The majority rejected the teaching that their ancestors had been guilty of rebellion; they resented such a racial stigma. Having disposed of one of the three angles to the dispute and failing to settle the other two by debate, they fell to fighting. The religionists, the noncombatants, fled to their homes in the south, while their fellows fought until well-nigh obliterated.

    (68.6) 5:5.3 The fact-seeking scientist conceives of God as the First Cause, a God of force. The emotional artist sees God as the ideal of beauty, a God of aesthetics. The reasoning philosopher is sometimes inclined to posit a God of universal unity, even a pantheistic Deity. The religionist of faith believes in a God who fosters survival, the Father in heaven, the God of love.

    112:3.3 (1230.1) 2. Intellectual (mind) death. When the vital circuits of higher adjutant ministry are disrupted through the aberrations of intellect or because of the partial destruction of the mechanism of the brain, and if these conditions pass a certain critical point of irreparability, the indwelling Adjuster is immediately released to depart for Divinington. On the universe records a mortal personality is considered to have met with death whenever the essential mind circuits of human will-action have been destroyed. And again, this is death, irrespective of the continuing function of the living mechanism of the physical body. The body minus the volitional mind is no longer human, but according to the prior choosing of the human will, the soul of such an individual may survive.

    Sabinatu, when re-reading the UB quote above, which you presented, I got the impression that what is being described in reference to “Intellectual (mind) death” is an individual who has become brainwashed in a manor of speaking, when “human will-action” has “been destroyed” in such a way as to no longer being able to choose for themselves.  Similar to advertising and suggestive selling or marketing, one is told that in order to be happy, one needs this or that, to make their life complete?  Once this occurs in the “mind circuits” they are “no longer human”, just puppets who function by the manipulation of the puppeteer.  I have seen and met quit a few of these type of individuals, and in most cases there is no longer any reasoning with them, but for what ever reason they seem happy?

     

     

    #17925
    Vern
    Vern
    Participant
    Bradly wrote:  …beatitudes strengthen moral character and create happiness.

    True Bradly, one of them happens to deal with happiness consequent to unjustified persecution.

    Vern wrote:  “Happy are they who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Happy are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.” [Paper 140:3.11, page 1570:12]
    Vern wrote:  …happiness arise from the unification of physical systems, mind systems, and spirit systems.
    Vern wrote:  …Health, sanity, and happiness are integrations of truth, beauty, and goodness as they are blended in human experience. Such levels of efficient living come about through the unification of energy systems, idea systems, and spirit systems. [Paper2:7.11, page 43:4]

    This goes to the question raised by Sabinatu.

    Sabinatu wrote:  Does any of the psychology that took over “religion” address the “highest achievement” of mental health that the religion they are studying says is their idea of the “highest achievement”?
    Sabinatu wrote:  Meaning, are they interpreting the meta data of the presence of “reason, wisdom and faith” as the cause of certain actions and reactions in certain people to be only an artifact of ego, a maladjustment to enjoying the “happiness” that the material world offers?”

    Bradly, in the interests of spiritual unity, knowing “truth never suffers from honest enquiry,” could it be possible you are having difficulty in perceiving the value of Sabinatu’s question as it applies to current social issues? Secular society represents a real challenge, in terms of human happiness, which is worth honestly appraising.

    Rodan gives great instruction regarding problem solving:
    1. locate the difficulty.
    2. isolate the problem.
    3. recognize its nature and gravity.
    4. fearlessly to face, what a sincere and logical mind discovers.
    Successful 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[Paper160:1.7,  1773:4]
    My take on the question Sabinatu raises is that because we live in a society where God is actively denied by a substantial number of people, many are living in a state of directionless unhappiness, clutching at illusory notions of happiness…..material possessions, power over others, gratification of self—pleasure seeking. This consideration locates and identifies the difficulty.
    Isolating the problem as selfishness, is relatively straightforward, however, reconizing its nature and gravity requires more thought.
    Thinking for others has ever been a way institutions exercise control, “trust us we know what’s best for you” is the foundation of parenthood after all. A good family  is the basis of a good society. In a good family the children are encouraged to grow to be independently thinking individuals, possessed of moral character immune to sophistry. Traditional religion has developed a comfort zone for timid souls to feel safe in, thus they compromise their own freedom of choosing to forge their own faith path, unwilling to take up the challenge of fearlessly going where truth leads them because in doing so they would abandon old and erroneous ways of rusted-on tradition. Hence, the security of contentment they experience is lukewarm, faith enough to generate a moderate smile, but not the depth of spiritual joy of personally discovered truth.
    #17928
    Avatar
    Sabinatu
    Blocked

    Hey, I’m happy that Vern and Midi are finding the consideration of psychology getting it all wrong worth a deeper look.

    This is the article that started me on the path to asking because I could not disagree more – not the relationship I had/have with Japanese citizens.  And all that discerning and evaluation , and none of it helped the author figure out why every 15 minutes, there is a suicide in Japan.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pico-iyer/disappearance-self-japan_b_8258678.html?utm_hp_ref=world

    TUB 103:9.6 – “Reason, Wisdom and Faith are man’s highest achievements.”

    @midi – I posted this link: https://www.rt.com/uk/318881-magnets-brain-immigration-religion/

    and carefully chose the passage:

    112:3.3 (1230.1) 2. Intellectual (mind) death. When the vital circuits of higher adjutant ministry are disrupted through the aberrations of intellect or because of the partial destruction of the mechanism of the brain, and if these conditions pass a certain critical point of irreparability, the indwelling Adjuster is immediately released to depart for Divinington. On the universe records a mortal personality is considered to have met with death whenever the essential mind circuits of human will-action have been destroyed. And again, this is death, irrespective of the continuing function of the living mechanism of the physical body. The body minus the volitional mind is no longer human, but according to the prior choosing of the human will, the soul of such an individual may survive.

    and you replied:

    Sabinatu, when re-reading the UB quote above, which you presented, I got the impression that what is being described in reference to “Intellectual (mind) death” is an individual who has become brainwashed in a manor of speaking, when “human will-action” has “been destroyed” in such a way as to no longer being able to choose for themselves.  Similar to advertising and suggestive selling or marketing, one is told that in order to be happy, one needs this or that, to make their life complete?  Once this occurs in the “mind circuits” they are “no longer human”, just puppets who function by the manipulation of the puppeteer.  I have seen and met quit a few of these type of individuals, and in most cases there is no longer any reasoning with them, but for what ever reason they seem happy?

    Yes, midi, not just brainwashed, “….disrupted through the aberrations of intellect….”

    but those “researchers”, and I use the term loosely, are CREATING a “partial destruction of the mechanism of the brain”

    for the sole purpose of videotaping the change in the subject to what THEY consider to be POLITICAL CORRECTNESS !!!!!

    Lock and load.

    Seriously.

    And then the latest in a LONG line of code-talkers (since 1991) who have been using TUB forums to “find the Universal Father” (AKA “unearned profit”)

    who always become the self-appointed judge, jury and executioner on TUB forums, jumps all over ME.  I do not believe I am being “persecuted” by that person because I am righteous.  Let’s not go there.  His behaviour is consistently exhibiting rank criminality.  There’s something very wrong with the emotional abuse he keeps hurtling to HIDE, what?  The criminality of “researchers” shutting down cerebral cortex activity?  If he does not believe that it is criminal, then why not offer himself up as a subject to see if he can let ONE of my posts go by, without the irrationally consistent, LYING ABOUT CHARACTER, psychobabble complete with TUB cut and pastes out of context verbal abuse, after HIS cerebral cortex is magnetized….

    look, if THAT is how you have to carry out the “will” of some rich guy supporting the upkeep of this site and translations and whatever else “administrative costs” there might be – real or otherwise – then I say time to show a little “faith” that WITHOUT that slavish sycophant’s bullying, TUB would survive and thrive.

    I consider the psychiatric experiment of “changing” a person over to an ideology by magnetizing a cerebral cortex area into a comatose state an ABUSE of “science” – enough to be a RELIGIOUS “emergency”.  Caesar playing God in the most outrageous and egregious manner with “Mind”.

    There is something very wrong with USA “minds”.  Nihilistic “psychology” seeing the signs and symptoms of “man’s greatest achievement” as a political IN-correctness?

    https://www.rt.com/op-edge/318768-american-psycho-zombies-drugs/

    “Emergency” is an interesting word search in TUB:

    7:4.5 (85.6) 2. The Bestowal Plan. The next universal plan is the great Father-revelation enterprise of the Eternal Son and his co-ordinate Sons. This is the proposal of the Eternal Son and consists of his bestowal of the Sons of God upon the evolutionary creations, there to personalize and factualize, to incarnate and make real, the love of the Father and the mercy of the Son to the creatures of all universes. Inherent in the bestowal plan, and as a provisional feature of this ministration of love, the Paradise Sons act as rehabilitators of that which misguided creature will has placed in spiritual jeopardy. Whenever and wherever there occurs a delay in the functioning of the attainment plan, if rebellion, perchance, should mar or complicate this enterprise, then do the emergency provisions of the bestowal plan become active forthwith. The Paradise Sons stand pledged and ready to function as retrievers, to go into the very realms of rebellion and there restore the spiritual status of the spheres. And such a heroic service a co-ordinate Creator Son did perform on Urantia in connection with his experiential bestowal career of sovereignty acquirement.

    A completely new layer to Jesus, as a “religionist”, for consideration.

    You can see why telling somebody that they are not behaving jesus-like enough to fill up ‘dem USA megachurch pews is, well, understandable because it is not as if the conductor of the event is jesus-like, either….it’s all “psychology”….

    #17932
    Bradly
    Bradly
    Participant

    Greetings Midi….just a point of clarification….the UB certainly IS a how-to book….it is only my opinion that the lessons are about how to progress in the spirit for the each and thereby empower us to work toward the social ideals presented in the patterns of planetary destiny described.  It is my understanding that the whole is changed best by the evolutionary force and process of the personal religious growth of the each.  And that those who find true happiness and that peace that passes all understanding naturally shine their light and work for the benefit of all others by such a life.  Also, I certainly agree that I and all others are obligated and compelled to work diligently in loving service.  Having full faith and confidence in the Most Highs and all others charged with our planetary development does not result in idleness or indifference for any religionist and believer.

    Sab – I certainly agree with you too that there’s lots of psycho babble going on………

    Vern – yes, I’m sure I am misunderstanding much.  Thanks for all you do.  ;-)

    101:2.1 (1105.5) The fact of religion consists wholly in the religious experience of rational and average human beings. And this is the only sense in which religion can ever be regarded as scientific or even psychological. The proof that revelation is revelation is this same fact of human experience: the fact that revelation does synthesize the apparently divergent sciences of nature and the theology of religion into a consistent and logical universe philosophy, a co-ordinated and unbroken explanation of both science and religion, thus creating a harmony of mind and satisfaction of spirit which answers in human experience those questionings of the mortal mind which craves to know how the Infinite works out his will and plans in matter, with minds, and on spirit.

    101:2.15 (1107.5) The realization of religion never has been, and never will be, dependent on great learning or clever logic. It is spiritual insight, and that is just the reason why some of the world’s greatest religious teachers, even the prophets, have sometimes possessed so little of the wisdom of the world. Religious faith is available alike to the learned and the unlearned.

    101:2.16 (1107.6) Religion must ever be its own critic and judge; it can never be observed, much less understood, from the outside. Your only assurance of a personal God consists in your own insight as to your belief in, and experience with, things spiritual. To all of your fellows who have had a similar experience, no argument about the personality or reality of God is necessary, while to all other men who are not thus sure of God no possible argument could ever be truly convincing.

    101:2.17 (1107.7) Psychology may indeed attempt to study the phenomena of religious reactions to the social environment, but never can it hope to penetrate to the real and inner motives and workings of religion. Only theology, the province of faith and the technique of revelation, can afford any sort of intelligent account of the nature and content of religious experience.

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