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Actually the UB is very supportive of Buddhism and Taoism IMO. As I recall Buddhism is taught to be a very versatile and high religion, if godless, while very compatible with the Jesusonian Gospel and great latent potential for evolutionary religious progress.
One of the more important distinctions about our future as mortal ascenders is the reality fact that material and morontial levels ARE real and we never lose our ability to be and to act and to interact at every level of reality. The only such beings who can do so are humans or humanized celestials and midwayers. We become the ultimate multidimensional shape shifters in the universe of universes.
It is a myth I think that mortals have a home. Paradise is not our home. It is but another transformative portal which we traverse on the mortal’s eternal adventures of experience and growth. I think many celestials and Deity themselves have homes. We do not. Material reality is not an illusion that we enlighten our way out of or escape to experience the spirit life or the one between.
We are so unique and blessed in that regard. To think that guardian angels , adams and eves, and midwayers must be ‘humanized’ to share our mortal potential and style of adventure is quite exhilarating I think.
The UB teaches that Michael/Jesus did not walk with the ancient ones/gurus/masters before him in person. Neither did Big Mac (Machiventa Melchizedek), although his missionaries preceded those Masters with local temple schools in the centuries before the rise of Hinduism/Taoism/Buddhism/Confucionism/etc.. It is more and more obvious (J. Campbell’s Monomyth) that the entire world shares a single source for its religions, philosophies , culture, mythologies, traditions – 3 actually but all celestial and consistent- Dalamatia, the Garden, and Mel’s missionaries.
94:9.6 (1038.4) Buddhism is a living, growing religion today because it succeeds in conserving many of the highest moral values of its adherents. It promotes calmness and self-control, augments serenity and happiness, and does much to prevent sorrow and mourning. Those who believe this philosophy live better lives than many who do not.
94:12.2 (1040.6) Gradually the concept of God, as contrasted with the Absolute, began to appear in Buddhism. Its sources are back in the early days of this differentiation of the followers of the Lesser Road and the Greater Road. It was among the latter division of Buddhism that the dual conception of God and the Absolute finally matured. Step by step, century by century, the God concept has evolved until, with the teachings of Ryonin, Honen Shonin, and Shinran in Japan, this concept finally came to fruit in the belief in Amida Buddha.
94:12.3 (1041.1) Among these believers it is taught that the soul, upon experiencing death, may elect to enjoy a sojourn in Paradise prior to entering Nirvana, the ultimate of existence. It is proclaimed that this new salvation is attained by faith in the divine mercies and loving care of Amida, God of the Paradise in the west. In their philosophy, the Amidists hold to an Infinite Reality which is beyond all finite mortal comprehension; in their religion, they cling to faith in the all-merciful Amida, who so loves the world that he will not suffer one mortal who calls on his name in true faith and with a pure heart to fail in the attainment of the supernal happiness of Paradise.
94:12.4 (1041.2) The great strength of Buddhism is that its adherents are free to choose truth from all religions; such freedom of choice has seldom characterized a Urantian faith. In this respect the Shin sect of Japan has become one of the most progressive religious groups in the world; it has revived the ancient missionary spirit of Gautama’s followers and has begun to send teachers to other peoples. This willingness to appropriate truth from any and all sources is indeed a commendable tendency to appear among religious believers during the first half of the twentieth century after Christ.
94:12.5 (1041.3) Buddhism itself is undergoing a twentieth-century renaissance. Through contact with Christianity the social aspects of Buddhism have been greatly enhanced. The desire to learn has been rekindled in the hearts of the monk priests of the brotherhood, and the spread of education throughout this faith will be certainly provocative of new advances in religious evolution.
94:12.6 (1041.4) At the time of this writing, much of Asia rests its hope in Buddhism. Will this noble faith, that has so valiantly carried on through the dark ages of the past, once again receive the truth of expanded cosmic realities even as the disciples of the great teacher in India once listened to his proclamation of new truth? Will this ancient faith respond once more to the invigorating stimulus of the presentation of new concepts of God and the Absolute for which it has so long searched?
94:12.7 (1041.5) All Urantia is waiting for the proclamation of the ennobling message of Michael, unencumbered by the accumulated doctrines and dogmas of nineteen centuries of contact with the religions of evolutionary origin. The hour is striking for presenting to Buddhism, to Christianity, to Hinduism, even to the peoples of all faiths, not the gospel about Jesus, but the living, spiritual reality of the gospel of Jesus.
It is a myth I think that mortals have a home. Paradise is not our home. It is but another transformative portal which we traverse on the mortal’s eternal adventures of experience and growth. I think many celestials and Deity themselves have homes. We do not.
In case you didn’t know, Ascendington is our eventual permanent home.
13:2.1 These home worlds of the diverse orders of spiritual beings are tremendous and stupendous spheres, and they are equal to Paradise in their matchless beauty and superb glory. They are rendezvous worlds, reunion spheres, serving as permanent cosmic addresses. As finaliters you will be domiciled on Paradise, but Ascendington will be your home address at all times, even when you enter service in outer space. Through all eternity you will regard Ascendington as your home of sentimental memories and reminiscent recollections. When you become seventh-stage spirit beings, possibly you will give up your residential status on Paradise.
14:6.39 Paradise is the home, and Havona the workshop and playground, of the finaliters. And every God-knowing mortal craves to be a finaliter.
13:1.21 7. ASCENDINGTON. This unique world is the “bosom of the Father, Son, and Spirit,” the rendezvous of the ascendant creatures of space, the receiving sphere of the pilgrims of time who are passing through the Havona universe on their way to Paradise. Ascendington is the actual Paradise home of the ascendant souls of time and space until they attain Paradise status. You mortals will spend most of your Havona “vacations” on Ascendington. During your Havona life Ascendington will be to you what the reversion directors were during the local and superuniverse ascension. Here you will engage in thousands of activities which are beyond the grasp of mortal imagination. And as on every previous advance in the Godward ascent, your human self will here enter into new relationships with your divine self.
13:2.2 If outer universes are in the making, if they are to be inhabited by time creatures of ascension potential, then we infer that these children of the future will also be destined to look upon Ascendington as their Paradise home world.
Thanks….but it sounds more like a mail-forwarding address based on the Finaliter adventures in service to come in the Super Universes and the Outer Space Levels.
Good to have a place to hang one’s hat for a spell and catch a hot shower before hitting the road again!!
Hello – I have enjoyed reading several of the posts to the subject of Reincarnation. At the moment, I want to comment on something Bradly recently wrote, then comment on something Mrs Columbo recently wrote, then comment on 2 of Bonita’s quotes from the Urantia book, then offer some personal observations.
I agree with Bradley in that material and morontial levels ARE [both very likely] real, and I assume the Urantia book confirms that both are real. That is a simple yet important idea to consider, for ALL ideas have consequences, especially the longer we dwell upon them – some seen and some unforeseen. Atheists typically say that only material reality exists, while the idea of higher levels of reality is nonsense. On the other hand, some worldviews teach that only the higher realms are real, while the material level is unreal. But if we really believe that one or the other is unreal, we will eventually become careless/disrespectful toward people/places/things that pertain to the reality which we consider unreal. For an extreme example, if this mortal life is unreal, would that mean that murdering someone is also not real and thus has no consequences in the afterlife?! Likewise, if only this physical life is real, then murder ultimately has no lasting consequences for the murderer; and the fact of the murdered person had loved ones who were deeply affected is still only subjective, for their grief would end upon their deaths. So I agree with Bradly (and many others who have claimed) that we reap what we sow.
Regarding Mrs Columbo’s reference to Gary Renard’s books, I have read his first 2 books and very much liked them. We can’t go wrong by forgiving everyone for every way in which we believe/feel others have offended us. Not only does that positively affect our physical well-being – metaphysical teacher Louise Hay claims she healed herself from cancer by forgiving everyone – but also the Bible clearly indicates that we are forgiven ONLY if we truly forgive others. It’s also a clear sign of maturity if we can truly forgive others. However, his books promote A Course In Miracles, which does remind me of recycled Buddhism to some extent, which of course teaches that this material life is unreal.
Regarding Bonita’s reference to Section 94:2.3 and 94:2.4, I was very happy to read those quotes, which I had not seen until tonight. (I must admit that I have only read a fraction of the Urantia book, but I am very impressed by it so far, and I do believe it is a true revelation for a host of reasons, which I will discuss another time. Also, I have a BA in Print Journalism, so I like to carefully exam the written word more than the spoken word, and I’ve gotten pretty good at it.) If you look more closely at those 2 quotes, you will find that the Urantia book is NOT completely rejecting ALL aspects of reincarnation; what is rejected (in the context of these particular quotes) is the hopelessness stemming from the false ideas that the cycles of reincarnation are never-ending, as well as the false idea that the soul of a human would ever “transmigrate” into the bodies of any other species, such as animals/insects, plants/vegetables, or minerals. Edgar Cayce and others have confirmed that it would be illogical/impractical for humans souls to transmigrate into a “lower species” when the goal is to grow and learn what it means to become a fully-perfected human. The Urantia book presents a similar idea in this way: we humans are super-animals who are intended to become super-humans. In another part of the Urantia book, it indicates that what we humans experience is “not exactly true reincarnation”, and then it proceeds to give an example of a creature that DOES experience true reincarnation. The implication from that last Urantia reference is that we humans experience something that is related/similar to reincarnation but not exactly. It’s getting late for me, and I must sleep soon, but I will say that I was surprised to learn within the past year or so that the research of Emmanuel Swedenborg also fully agrees with the Urantia book regarding humans “not exactly” experiencing true reincarnation, and he went into great detail to explain what we humans actually experience after physical death, which fits very well with what is in the Urantia book! I will give more details another time if anyone is interested; otherwise, just google or youtube “Swedenborg and Reincarnation”. (I apologize for not giving the exact sections whenever I quote from (or paraphrase) the Urantia book, but I am confident that someone else more familiar with the Urantia book can find the exact sections that I refer to; I’m better at remembering the basic concepts whenever and whatever I read.)
Blessings until next time…
Welcome urantia4me!!
So glad you joined us. Best wishes in your reading.
As creative as human imagination and metaphysics might be, the UB presents a reality that is far more replete and logical but also even more mysterious and wondrous than anything written before I think. We do not recycle as regressive life or repeat the material human experience on the same rock over and over again but certainly we do traverse over 500 different worlds and phases of material to spirit progressive transformation on our journey of adventure in time to Paradise.
The enlightening and perfecting process is quite real!! Our life originates here but our birth here begins a continuum of learning and spiritization that may potentially be eternal. Our quest is experiential wisdom. We experience and express our relationship with God and God’s creation and the family of all life and beings in creation.
The truth , perhaps, is even stranger than the fictions of our beliefs and prejudices.
A little Zen this morning:
Things are not as they appear. And neither are they different. Ommm…
G’day everyone,
Salute Urantia4me,
Always interesting sharing personals point of view about philosophy, religions.
def. Reincarnation refers to the belief that an aspect of every human being (or all living beings in some cultures) continues to exist after death, this aspect may be the soul or mind or consciousness or something transcendent which is reborn in an interconnected cycle of existence.
Frankly, U4me, it’s a logical approach to examine physical, terrestrial, Urantian’s matter. And, interesting debate.
Down here, it is subject to a countless perception. Bradley DO verbalize and consciously circonspect all of it through his process of reflective reasoning.
me4U,
Ommm …. to all
Hello again everyone (especially to Andre – I apologize for not knowing how to get the accent mark to appear over the “e” in your name):
I agree with you, Andre – reincarnation is a fascinating subject, especially for those of us who are very curious about exploring the mysteries of life/reality. Whenever I share ideas/opinion, please know that I do NOT claim to have perfect knowledge on any subject; I simply like to exam things as honestly and as logically as I can, and I love discussions with others who share similar curiosities and approaches to discovering truths, even if they don’t necessarily agree with me. However, I am not so fond of people who are narrow-minded or closed-minded on any subject; it just makes more sense to learn as much as possible while alive on this Earth. And if something is true, then it should hold up to scrutiny, so in one sense, there is no need for some people to be so defensive when exchanging; in fact, we should welcome our ideas to be HONESTLY tested by others, which is unlike how the Pharisees questioned Jesus, simply trying to discredit him instead of testing his ideas for the purpose of learning. For me, I value cross-referencing as many varied sources as possible on any subject, especially controversial topics. You (Andre) seem like someone who shares my enthusiasm for learning – I will take time to read more of your writings within the Urantia forum, presenting comments and questions as I think of them, and hopefully others will benefit from our exchange of ideas! Most of the time, I will write on weekends, for I work on weekdays.
By the way, a belated happy birthday to Jesus, who according to the Urantia book, was born on August 21st in the year 7 BC at 12 Noon! I love the precise language used throughout the Urantia book – every word of every sentence matters, and is used as efficiently as possible – it’s amazing even for that reason alone, but there are many more reasons to consider the Urantia book as a “must-read” source of information!
Blessings to all of you,
Michael
Hello Bradly! Sorry I didn’t see your reply to my last post in this forum. In time, you will see that our ideas as NOT as different as you may be currently perceiving them to be; I blame myself for not expressing myself more clearly in my posts, for when I wrote that previous post, it was way past my normal bedtime! But I will gradually share other ideas on this subject, when I have more time to write. Before I get ready to go to work soon, let me say that I am aware that the Urantia book, the Bible and Swedenborg all agree that humans only get one lifetime on the surface of Earth. You may be surprised that I am seriously factoring that idea into my personal worldview, which is more like a buffet of ideas, not just one traditional worldview, but my main criteria is that the ideas must make sense to me and be logical in some reasonable form. That was the idea I originally began with, but there is SOME reasonable logic within what I have read about reincarnation. Thus, whenever I see to ideas that make sense in their own ways but seem to contradict each other – like destiny versus freewill – I also consider the possibility that my limited human perspectives are keeping me from seeing the (potential or likely) harmony that exists between them. That is why I recommended learning the basics ideas of Swedenborg regarding reincarnation; NOT for the purpose of changing what you currently believe, but simply to add to your overall knowledge. It’s the difference between reading one book on a particular topic versus reading 10 books on that same topic – educated, enhanced perceptions. I shall also read more of your posts on other topics as well, Bradly!
Best regards,
Michael
Thus, whenever I see to ideas that make sense in their own ways but seem to contradict each other – like destiny versus freewill – I also consider the possibility that my limited human perspectives are keeping me from seeing the (potential or likely) harmony that exists between them.
Yeah, I like that. I’ve always thought that if something doesn’t make sense to me that it might possibly be my own fault . . . hence the need to ask questions and do some detective work before jumping to conclusions, especially if the first conclusion that occurs to me is negative, dissenting or critical.
Personally I don’t see a contradiction between destiny and free will, but I can easily see where it can seem problematic.
Hi,
Couldn’t agreed more on your ways to approach persons and subjects Michaël.
Care have been taken from you setting the table, it’s always a good and factual consideration to bring to one’s mind this awareness.
“ no need for some people to be so defensive when exchanging; in fact, we should welcome our ideas to be HONESTLY tested by others.”
Looking forward Michael to feast what will be put on the table.
Warm regard,
André
Hello Bradly! Sorry I didn’t see your reply to my last post in this forum. In time, you will see that our ideas as NOT as different as you may be currently perceiving them to be; I blame myself for not expressing myself more clearly in my posts, for when I wrote that previous post, it was way past my normal bedtime! But I will gradually share other ideas on this subject, when I have more time to write. Before I get ready to go to work soon, let me say that I am aware that the Urantia book, the Bible and Swedenborg all agree that humans only get one lifetime on the surface of Earth. You may be surprised that I am seriously factoring that idea into my personal worldview, which is more like a buffet of ideas, not just one traditional worldview, but my main criteria is that the ideas must make sense to me and be logical in some reasonable form. That was the idea I originally began with, but there is SOME reasonable logic within what I have read about reincarnation. Thus, whenever I see to ideas that make sense in their own ways but seem to contradict each other – like destiny versus freewill – I also consider the possibility that my limited human perspectives are keeping me from seeing the (potential or likely) harmony that exists between them. That is why I recommended learning the basics ideas of Swedenborg regarding reincarnation; NOT for the purpose of changing what you currently believe, but simply to add to your overall knowledge. It’s the difference between reading one book on a particular topic versus reading 10 books on that same topic – educated, enhanced perceptions. I shall also read more of your posts on other topics as well, Bradly! Best regards, Michael
Michael- I would not be surprised by our mutual agreements on a good number of truths and reality perspective. I am unaware so far of any disagreement but surely there will be some differences in our experiential perspective. No worries.
There is, after all, only one reality if so many perspectives of it. And yet I think it is not so unusual for thinking people inspired by the Spirit within to share a view of life and the universe that is not dependent upon details so much as scope and scale.
To share a particular presentation of such details as we do here truly creates an interesting environment for study and contemplation as we share its contents.
The appeal to me of reincarnation was the accurate belief of mine that material death does not deliver some form of magical perfection for experiential beings. This Christian myth is so illogical and uninspiring. A progressive growth and enlightening experience seemed far more plausible.
Again…welcome.
Hello Bonita, Andre, and Bradly!
Let me try to reply to each of you within this one reply, offering ideas along the way…
I will get back to the subject of reincarnation, but I am wondering (Bonita) how you currently view the harmony between destiny and free will (or rather free choice, which I thought was the same thing until I recently read a good book called “The Revelation of Ramala” which explains how/why there is a significant difference). I’m also curious if the Urantia book makes a similar distinction between freewill and free choice. By the way, have all of you noticed how carefully/thoroughly the Urantia defines/explains words/ideas?! And how awesome that the Urantia book shows exactly which parts of the Bible are true/accurate, and which parts are not so true/accurate – and each time, the Urantia book make perfect sense, such as what happened after the baptism of Jesus – some big differences between the two books!
But (Bradly), I don’t totally dismiss the Bible, for as the Urantia book indicates, it too was a revelation when its various parts were originally being written. I fully realize the Bible is not nearly as pure as it once was, for even when people try to preserve original meanings and connotations, things are lost when translating from one language into another. That I’m certain is a current challenge for the Urantia Foundation as well. If you go with a literal word-for-word translation, you may lose the spirit of the message, and it will likely be quite an awkward reading. If you try to capture the spirit of the message in the most common languages today, you run the risk of losing original meanings of words. But with the Bible’s history, you also had various church leaders selectively choosing what would be included in the Bible. Thus, even the Bible refers to the book of Enoch within the “book” of Jude, the book of Enoch is NOT included in the standard Bibles.
(For all, including Andre)… as we seek truth and learn, we should appreciate how knowledge builds upon previous knowledge, and be aware that our gradually-increasing capabilities of understanding/grasping truth is taken into consideration by those more advanced beings who are revealing layers of truth to us in stages. Consider how we as individual humans gradually learn about basic astronomy, such as “the sun rising and the sun setting”. Adults say it that way to young children because that is all they can typically understand about astronomy at a young age. However, when we grow older and learn about astronomy in school, our teachers explain how the Earth revolves around the Sun, and not vice-versa; thus in reality, the Sun is not setting or rising. But when we first learn that, I don’t recall anyone claiming that adults lied to us about the sun “rising and setting”; likewise, I now choose to view the relationship between the Bible and the Urantia book in a similar way, with the Urantia book greatly explaining (and enhancing our understanding of) the Bible. Truth should ideally be revealed in stages that correspond to our gradually-increasing levels of understanding. Throughout much of modern human history, most people were uneducated and illiterate, orally passing along information for many generations; hence it was absolutely necessary to present truths often in the form of children stories, like the biblical story of Adam and Eve. But notice the time period when the Urantia book was provided by various advanced/celestial beings – science was firmly established worldwide, and many people globally had become relatively educated. And don’t be surprised if someday in the distant future that another revelation will be needed for humanity, but isn’t that a natural part of human evolution – a natural consequence of continual learning?!
By the way, one of the most impressive/intriguing things about the Urantia book is how it gives so much detail about what individuals were thinking when they made important decisions, like what Jesus contemplated shortly after his baptism, and like what Adam and Eve were thinking before and after they “fell from grace” by changing the original plans that they had agreed upon. And the Urantia book even gives the how and why it is known what Adam and Eve thought and felt – because the same being(s) who presented the Urantia papers on that topic was/were there (at that time in the presence of Adam and Eve)! As you can see, excitement about some topics causes me to take detours
Now about reincarnation, I did a google search for “Urantia” & “reincarnation” and one of the weblinks that showed up was from the Urantia Book Fellowship – something very good produced by Dean White. I was pleasantly surprised when I reached last paragraph of his comments on reincarnation… “After exploring some of these questions I am now more inclined to answer questions about reincarnation with a more positive statement about many lifetimes in an ascension plan similar to reincarnation, or with an affirmation that Urantia [book] does allow for experiences of previous lives. It certainly challenges us to search for enhanced perspective on all our conflicts.” That closely captures the overall point I was hoping to make in my prior posts, but here is an added thought from me – suppose metaphysical literature for the past 100 years has actually succeeded in explaining real processes from particular SIMPLE/GENERAL perspectives, while the Urantia book also succeeded in explaining real processes from it’s particular COMPLEX/SPECIFIC perspectives, the latter one not necessarily nullifying the former one – that is what I am currently considering about reincarnation, similar to how I view the relationship between the Bible and the Urantia book. And yet again, I would like to share some ideas that I have recently been thinking of after reading a book about Multiple Personality Disorder (which has since been renamed), regarding the relationship between the conscious human awareness (and the on-the-surface ego personality) and the subconscious awareness (and the below-the-surface ego personalities), and how that may be related to our perceptions of reincarnation, but it will take a while to explain my ideas in depth, and it is 3am my time, so to sleep I must soon go!
Good night and good day – until next time…Michael
I’m also curious if the Urantia book makes a similar distinction between freewill and free choice.
It describes the relativity of choice, but the freedom to choose within that relative range is incontrovertible.
118.6.4 All volition is relative. In the originating sense, only the Father-I AM possesses finality of volition; in the absolute sense, only the Father, the Son, and the Spirit exhibit the prerogatives of volition unconditioned by time and unlimited by space. Mortal man is endowed with free will, the power of choice, and though such choosing is not absolute, nevertheless, it is relatively final on the finite level and concerning the destiny of the choosing personality.
118.8.1 In the time-space creations, free will is hedged about with restraints, with limitations. Material-life evolution is first mechanical, then mind activated, and (after the bestowal of personality) it may become spirit directed. Organic evolution on the inhabited worlds is physically limited by the potentials of the original physical-life implantations of the Life Carriers.
118.9.2 Mechanisms produced by higher minds function to liberate their creative sources but to some degree unvaryingly limit the action of all subordinate intelligences. To the creatures of the universes this limitation becomes apparent as the mechanism of the universes. Man does not have unfettered free will; there are limits to his range of choice, but within the radius of this choice his will is relatively sovereign.
I too still admire the wisdom and historical record of fact and fable to be found in the Bible, including a very robust record of the Jesusonian Gospel. The UB teaches that some of the OT originates from ancient Egypt and even earlier.
It also makes the distinction between the UB and the Bible that the first is an Epochal Revelation gifted to mortals by celestials and the latter is a very human work and collection of inspired truths, fables founded in reality, and pure fictions of nationalism and cultural ego…very human indeed.
I have always enjoyed this unifying and harmonizing teaching too:
103:6.2 (1135.4) When man approaches the study and examination of his universe from the outside, he brings into being the various physical sciences; when he approaches the research of himself and the universe from the inside,he gives origin to theology and metaphysics. The later art of philosophy develops in an effort to harmonize the many discrepancies which are destined at first to appear between the findings and teachings of these two diametrically opposite avenues of approaching the universe of things and beings.
103:6.3 (1135.5) Religion has to do with the spiritual viewpoint, the awareness of the insideness of human experience. Man’s spiritual nature affords him the opportunity of turning the universe outside in. It is therefore true that, viewed exclusively from the insideness of personality experience, all creation appears to be spiritual in nature.
103:6.4 (1135.6) When man analytically inspects the universe through the material endowments of his physical senses and associated mind perception, the cosmos appears to be mechanical and energy-material. Such a technique of studying reality consists in turning the universe inside out.
103:6.5 (1135.7) A logical and consistent philosophic concept of the universe cannot be built up on the postulations of either materialism or spiritism, for both of these systems of thinking, when universally applied, are compelled to view the cosmos in distortion, the former contacting with a universe turned inside out, the latter realizing the nature of a universe turned outside in. Never, then, can either science or religion, in and of themselves, standing alone, hope to gain an adequate understanding of universal truths and relationships without the guidance of human philosophy and the illumination of divine revelation.
Thank you Bonita and Bradly – you both seem skillful in finding very relevant sections in the Urantia book for various topics, from what I have read in this forum thus far. I wish I was a speed reader, for I read at a pace that may take me well over a year to read the entire Urantia book; for now, I look in the Table of Contents and just read the sections that interest me – having the actual book is very nice. Today I read the section on the Seven Mansion Worlds and was totally impressed, and it put things (I have read and pondered from other sources) into perspective for me – such as reincarnation – and also influenced me to consider some things I had not thought of until today, which I will share with you now…
This chapter in the Urantia book seems to show the most complete picture of what happens after each of us physically dies. (By the way, have you all heard of that parable of the 3 blind men who each grabbed a different part of an elephant and thought that they each knew exactly what an elephant is like? One man grabbed the tail and said an elephant is like a rope. The 2nd man grabbed a leg and said an elephant is like a tree, and 3rd man grabbed the trunk and said an elephant is like a big snake. They all possessed real parts but misinterpreted each of their parts as the whole. In similar fashion, I realize that much of what I have learned over the years from church, from school, and from books on metaphysics is more like pieces of a bigger puzzle rather than the entire puzzle, but the Urantia book seems like a GIANT piece of the bigger puzzle – or possibly the whole puzzle – for those seeking answers to life’s biggest questions. But since I have told you that I like to cross-reference multiple sources, please consider these personal observations)…
To me, this section covering the Seven Mansion Worlds seems related to Edgar Cayce’s discussion on Planetary Sojourns. It also seems related to why the Ramala source (that I mentioned in a prior post) states that we humans cannot evolve beyond this solar system UNTIL we learn (after physical death, in the Astral realm) from our experiences gained on the 7 main planets in our solar system (as they exist within the Astral realm, since we are assuming we only live one lifetime in the physical 3D realm. Would it surprise you to hear that each planet in our solar system – maybe all planets in our universe are multi-dimensional beyond our 3D awareness – exists simultaneously in what we would call mutiple planes/dimensions?! Even the U.S. military recently declassified documents in which they admit that our Earth has both a 3D existence and a 4D existence, and that some of the ETs are visiting Earth in the physical 3rd dimension from Earth in the 4th dimension. If you don’t believe that, I will certainly understand your skepticism, but thinking in those terms may help to understand some additional ideas that I will eventually share with you, in addition to understanding ideas in the Urantia book. Likewise, each living human body possesses 7 main chakras that correspond to 7 subtle energy bodies that combine to form our composite soul bodies, though typically we do not sense the presence of those subtle bodies with our 5 senses. So now I will speculate that each time we “graduate” from a Mansion World, another corresponding part of our composite soul body (which corresponds to its respective Mansion World) “merges” with the next subtle energy body within our composite soul body. (In the case of our physical body, we simple leave that body to disintegrate – a different set of physics exists in the Astral dimension, which has 7 main levels.) Can you see why I was excited to read about the Seven Mansion Worlds in the Urantia book? It fits very well with what I had recently learned (in pieces) elsewhere!
Now I want to speculate why so many people for so much of Earth’s history have believed in reincarnation…traditional ideas of reincarnation MAY be a natural but misinterpreted side-effect of an individual consciousness attempting to distinguish itself from a group/collective consciousness. We already know from psychology that each person’s subconscious mind connects its individual conscious awareness to humanity’s collective consciousness. So theoretically, I could unconsciously assume the memories of experiences of ANY person in the past to be my own memories. But if that is true, then how can we know that our memories are truly our own? That makes me wonder if that is a partial reason why the Urantia book says we are assigned Thought Adjusters after our first moral choice, often around age 6. Age 6 also happens to be around the time when children who have demonstrated knowledge of the past lives of other people (as clearly proven in the brief TV series, “The Ghost Within My Child”, as well as some cases documented by Ian Stevenson – I think that was his name) seem to quickly forget about the past lives by age 7 or 8. Maybe Thought Adjusters limit how much our individual minds access humanity’s collective consciousness, partly for the purpose of letting only the skills and interests of particular persons from the past potentially influence us at a subconscious level in order to “guide” us (for proper development) without directly interfering with our freedom of choice?! (This paragraph was somewhat related to the ideas I had after reading a book about Multiple Personality Disorder.)
I will be curious to see what each of you (including Andre) thinks of what I have been pondering lately. I intend to soon read the next chapter called the Morontia Life, and then consider what else in my mind the Urantia book may shed light upon
I’m supposed to go out of town for the weekend, so starting on Friday, there may be 5 days or so that I won’t be able to check this forum for replies, but I hope to check it at least one more time before I leave. Hope everyone is doing well; if not, feel free to ask me for ideas, for I have read much (and tried much) regarding natural remedies and alternative medicine, and have access to medical books as well. But if anyone seeks relationship or financial advice, I’m probably not the best person to ask; I’ve learned much after 2 marriages, but not soon enough to save them. But after reading about the Seven Mansion Worlds, I think I know how part of my time in the afterlife will be spent!Blessings to all of you! Michael
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