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Bradly wrote: Might we begin with the “tied together” essay? And then dive into a more detailed articulation of the many moving parts? Agreed there is so much to tie together….there are so many agents, influences, circuits to consider. To harmonize or unify them provides an important perspective.
Okay, will do. This will be a work in progress, that way we can all contribute to it. I hope that comments and questions will come with each new addition to this work. It really helps when people do that, you have no idea!
I think it best to begin with the concept of the evolution of dominance. The transfer of identity has to do with this law of cosmic evolution. Here’s the quote I’m going to begin with:
112:2.15 The purpose of cosmic evolution is to achieve unity of personality through increasing spirit dominance, volitional response to the teaching and leading of the Thought Adjuster. Personality, both human and superhuman, is characterized by an inherent cosmic quality which may be called “the evolution of dominance,” the expansion of the control of both itself and its environment.
When it comes to matters of dominance, the most important thing to remember is that personality is always in charge. Personality drives the car we call selfhood, and because personality is the driver, it determines how selfhood is held together and controlled. Personality chooses the direction of the car and works to keep the moving parts in balance so they function well. Unity of personality can be had on any cosmic level, including the material, but the purpose of evolution is to grow toward spirit dominance of all the parts. In fact, the innate drive of all reality is toward spirit dominance.
Note the difference between saying, “all reality is drawn toward the spirit level”and “all reality is driven toward spirit dominance”. If all reality is to become spiritual, then what happens to material and mind reality when that happens? Material and mind reality is here to stay, the goal is unity of all three levels of reality with spirit dominating the mind and the mind dominating the material level. There is an ascending hierarchy or priority for direction or orientation only. All three levels of reality evolve in the direction of spirit, and when they get there, the Supreme will emerge.
Personality is the pattern of control which unifies the parts of selfhood. Control has to do with volition, the power of personality. Simply stated, the parts of selfhood controlled and unified by personality are: 1.) the physical body; 2.) the mind and all its ministries; 3.) the soul and all its ministries. I mention the ministries because personality has the freedom to utilize them or not. All the parts of selfhood, including personality, have their own innate drive toward unity, each on their own level. And all except personality, evolve in the direction of spirit. Personality itself does not evolve, it never changes, but its identity does, it too evolves in the direction of spirit according to the power of personality volition. Identity evolution is the same as dominance evolution. The consequence of identity evolution is the birth and growth of the soul.
Some other relevant quotes:
0.6.12 In contrast to the aspect of the total, pattern discloses the individual aspect of energy and of personality. Personality or identity forms are patterns resultant from energy (physical, spiritual, or mindal) but are not inherent therein. That quality of energy or of personality by virtue of which pattern is caused to appear may be attributed to God — Deity — to Paradise force endowment, to the coexistence of personality and power.
106:2.1 As God the Sevenfold functionally co-ordinates finite evolution, so does the Supreme Being eventually synthesize destiny attainment. The Supreme Being is the deity culmination of grand universe evolution — physical evolution around a spirit nucleus and eventual dominance of the spirit nucleus over the encircling and whirling domains of physical evolution. And all of this takes place in accordance with the mandates of personality: Paradise personality in the highest sense, Creator personality in the universe sense, mortal personality in the human sense, Supreme personality in the culminating or experiential totaling sense.
111:1.9 Mind is your ship, the Adjuster is your pilot, the human will is captain. The master of the mortal vessel should have the wisdom to trust the divine pilot to guide the ascending soul into the morontia harbors of eternal survival. Only by selfishness, slothfulness, and sinfulness can the will of man reject the guidance of such a loving pilot and eventually wreck the mortal career upon the evil shoals of rejected mercy and upon the rocks of embraced sin. With your consent, this faithful pilot will safely carry you across the barriers of time and the handicaps of space to the very source of the divine mind and on beyond, even to the Paradise Father of Adjusters
112:0.7 Personality, while devoid of identity, can unify the identity of any living energy system.
112:0.15 Personality may survive mortal death with identity in the surviving soul. The Adjuster and the personality are changeless; the relationship between them (in the soul) is nothing but change, continuing evolution; and if this change (growth) ceased, the soul would cease.
112:1.18 In the human organism the summation of its parts constitutes selfhood — individuality — but such a process has nothing whatever to do with personality, which is the unifier of all these factors as related to cosmic realities.
112:2.1-5 It would be helpful in the study of selfhood to remember: 1. That physical systems are subordinate. 2. That intellectual systems are co-ordinate. 3. That personality is superordinate. 4. That the indwelling spiritual force is potentially directive.
116:5.15 The spirit struggles of time and space have to do with the evolution of spirit dominance over matter by the mediation of (personal) mind; the physical (nonpersonal) evolution of the universes has to do with bringing cosmic energy into harmony with the equilibrium concepts of mind subject to the overcontrol of spirit. The total evolution of the entire grand universe is a matter of the personality unification of the energy-controlling mind with the spirit-co-ordinated intellect and will be revealed in the full appearance of the almighty power of the Supreme.
116:6.2 This union of power and personality is expressive on deity levels in and as the Supreme. But the actual evolution of spirit dominance is a growth which is predicated on the freewill acts of the Creators and creatures of the grand universe.
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.
100:1.9 (1095.4) The unconscious nature of religious growth does not, however, signify that it is an activity functioning in the supposed subconscious realms of human intellect; rather does it signify creative activities in the superconscious levels of mortal mind. The experience of the realization of the reality of unconscious religious growth is the one positive proof of the functional existence of the superconsciousness.
(edited Thurs. a.m. 4/21)
Thanks Bonita!! I am excited to study this most important topic….how volition becomes reflex and results in growth, and growth recognition proves the function of the superconscious – a different proof source than the fruits of the spirit. I am just beginning to see the cloth and not just the threads woven in the cloth.
Definition of volition
1 : an act of making a choice or decision; also : a choice or decision made
2 : the power of choosing or determining : will
I suggest a review of the text by a key word search of “volition OR volitional” to gain appreciation for how all free will choices made in time and space which are spirit-led bring forth alignment with reality – and growth of the one and the Supreme thereby – or our free will choices are basically irrelevant to reality when not spirit led. This connection of will/volition to universe reality is very interesting in its effects on the “evolution of dominance”. The “economy of spiritual growth” in the quote above suggests we consider the term “economy”, which might be defined as a system of resource supply and demand – that which is demanded/needed is supplied according to resources available (infinite love) in a system that is mutually responsive.
Our volition/will that is reality aligned creates a corresponding reality response – when we choose/demand reality, reality responds/supplies. The more reality (spirit) is responded to by free will, the more spirit (reality) comes to dominate the one exercising such volition (free will). We are not conscious of the spiritual growth such volition brings at the time free will is exercised but we can compare today’s spirit dominance to the past and clearly witness our own growth by the differences witnessed in our responses to similar circumstances, situation, and relationship intersections in time. What once might have taken great thought, care, and willfulness to make a spirit dominated decision/choice by the “mediation of mind” eventually comes to become a “conditioned spiritual reflex” to spiritual stimuli (and every single intersection of situation, circumstance, and relationship choice IS faced with or contains a spiritual stimuli if we can discern it – we are led to choice-opportunities daily for the very purpose of learning to make all choices in “spirit mode” or by spiritual guidance – if we or our selfhood has matured sufficiently to be transferring the seat of our identity – or the seat of our dominance/loyalty/self-identity in making choices/decisions by the “mediation of mind” in all choices faced).
118:6.4 (1299.7) 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.
118:6.5 (1300.1) Volition on any level short of the absolute encounters limitations which are constitutive in the very personality exercising the power of choice. Man cannot choose beyond the range of that which is choosable. He cannot, for instance, choose to be other than a human being except that he can elect to become more than a man; he can choose to embark upon the voyage of universe ascension, but this is because the human choice and the divine will happen to be coincident upon this point. And what a son desires and the Father wills will certainly come to pass.
118:6.6 (1300.2) In the mortal life, paths of differential conduct are continually opening and closing, and during the times when choice is possible the human personality is constantly deciding between these many courses of action. Temporal volition is linked to time, and it must await the passing of time to find opportunity for expression. Spiritual volition has begun to taste liberation from the fetters of time, having achieved partial escape from time sequence, and that is because spiritual volition is self-identifying with the will of God.
118:6.7 (1300.3) Volition, the act of choosing, must function within the universe frame which has actualized in response to higher and prior choosing. The entire range of human will is strictly finite-limited except in one particular: When man chooses to find God and to be like him, such a choice is superfinite; only eternity can disclose whether this choice is also superabsonite.
Thanks so much for the input Bradly. You don’t know how much I appreciate it. I was thinking about what you wrote below and have a few comments.Bradly wrote: This connection of will/volition to universe reality is very interesting in its effects on the “evolution of dominance”. The “economy of spiritual growth” in the quote above suggests we consider the term “economy”, which might be defined as a system of resource supply and demand – that which is demanded/needed is supplied according to resources available (infinite love) in a system that is mutually responsive.I tend to think that the use of the word “economy” means the management of resources in general. We are given certain gifts to work with, and how we manage them makes a great deal of difference in our progress and growth. It’s like the parable of the talents. The quote about religious habits of thinking and acting is about how we use the gifts we are given. Notice that most of them involve the reality levels of duty and worship (of the three cosmic reflexes).Bradly wrote: Our volition/will that is reality aligned creates a corresponding reality response – when we choose/demand reality, reality responds/supplies. The more reality (spirit) is responded to by free will, the more spirit (reality) comes to dominate the one exercising such volition (free will).Yes, if our will and the pre-will of the Adjuster align, then we are doing the will of God, and that is living truth, which is a reality orientation toward spirit dominance. But there’s more to this. Choosing to do the will of God not only increases divinity attainment for the soul, but it also leaves behind a trail of actualized potential in the universe. Such decisions affect every other level of reality as well because the personality is engaging with reality both subjectively and objectively. Doing the will of God inevitably reorients the relationship between all three levels of reality, not just for the individual, but the entire universe. Don’t forget that doing the will of God repercusses in the Supreme. So, the evolution of dominance is not only about transferring identity, it is also about actualizing potentials.
196:3.20 Every time man makes a reflective moral choice, he immediately experiences a new divine invasion of his soul. Moral choosing constitutes religion as the motive of inner response to outer conditions. But such a real religion is not a purely subjective experience. It signifies the whole of the subjectivity of the individual engaged in a meaningful and intelligent response to total objectivity — the universe and its Maker.p1286:4 117:5.6 The progressing personality leaves a trail of actualized reality as it passes through the ascending levels of the universes. Be they mind, spirit, or energy, the growing creations of time and space are modified by the progression of personality through their domains. When man acts, the Supreme reacts, and this transaction constitutes the fact of progression.
Bradly wrote: We are not conscious of the spiritual growth such volition brings at the time free will is exercised but we can compare today’s spirit dominance to the past and clearly witness our own growth by the differences witnessed in our responses to similar circumstances, situation, and relationship intersections in time.Yes we can compare all we want, but I don’t think it’s the wisest thing to do. I honestly don’t remember how I thought, felt and reacted yesterday, let alone years ago. Personally, I don’t waste my time trying to figure out if I’m growing or not. I take it for granted and put all my effort into developing and refining those spiritual reflexes.
I think that growth reorients your entire experience with reality in such a way that you hardly notice, but others might. My ex-husband once told me that if I was the person I am today when we married, maybe it would have lasted. My reply was, “Since you are still the same person you were then, I don’t see how we would have married at all.” (My ex-husband has had no visible growth since I met him, but that’s another story; he’s an atheist.)My point is, I don’t think it’s possible to really become highly aware of your own growth, especially in specifics, but others can surely see it and recognize it. What you might notice in yourself is a different attitude toward life, a deeper appreciation of spiritual stimuli and perhaps a more wholehearted embrace of them. I think it’s a matter of quality of character, a greater recognition and deeper ability to interpret meanings and values within the various interactions encountered day to day while living on a higher level of reality. You might find yourself saying things like . . . “I hadn’t thought of it like that before.” Or, “Oh, I didn’t realize there was more to it than that.” Or, “Funny how I never recognized what a beautiful person she is until now.” . . . and other such awakenings.196:3.10 The human mind does not create real values; human experience does not yield universe insight. Concerning insight, the recognition of moral values and the discernment of spiritual meanings, all that the human mind can do is to discover, recognize, interpret, and choose.I like the “awakenings” concept….that’s how it is with me too. It’s not that I can analyze the amount of progress or even the quality so much as I realize my perspective and my response patterns are definitely different than before. Some might attribute this to simply being older but there’s more to it than that. Response patterns don’t change simply by getting older. Responses change only after perspective changes first. And I am certain that applied volition by different and spirit led motive, intention, and priority results in new responses to repeated, similar situations, circumstances, relationships – the intersections of choice and decision. My decision making process and result are different by a growing understanding of what reality really is and a growing desire and commitment to make decisions based on reality. I think this exemplifies what you said about “…a different attitude toward life, a deeper appreciation of spiritual stimuli and perhaps a more wholehearted embrace of them.”
One thing of interest is that such reality alignment also changes my relationship with the material aspects of living – there is more satisfaction and less anxiety within the inherent uncertainties of material living. I live with more anticipation of “what’s next” than I need to hold onto “what’s now”. Perhaps this is what you mean by “reality orientation” and “spirit dominance”? I feel more invigorated and in tune and in touch….even more adventurous than my old hippie days of truth seeking while immersed in self indulgence! I remain often perplexed but less and less by the same old things and I do now catch myself in the midst of a very positive reflex in what was once a complex trial of intellectual confusion or over reaction or procrastination or an effort of intentional will/volition application that “feels” far more natural and with far less “effort”. It also seems the mind poisons are more apparent in myself and others, and ever less attractive or tempting in my response patterns or motivation in choices. This has also resulted in more empathy for others and recognition that much lies beneath what others say and do but, at the same time, less and less false sympathy for those who suffer by their own hand and choices. Softer in some ways but firmer in others. Interesting.
But still…..just a tadpole….with so much yet to learn….and an eternity to learn it!! Thanks Bonita for the conversation and your help discovering meanings and making contextual connections to further clarify and extend my perspective. Very helpful indeed.
Bradly wrote: Thanks Bonita for the conversation and your help discovering meanings and making contextual connections to further clarify and extend my perspective.Thank you Bradly. This is a joint effort. Aren’t we helping each other discover meanings and make contextual connections? I think so. Anyway, I’ve been struggling to simplify the “essay” and I’ll tell you, I’m not finding it easy. Usually, when I write things I compile my ideas, outline them, research them, draft multiple times on each item of the outline and then refine, refine and refine. Since I’m not doing that now, I’m working without a net, and well, I’m not sure what I’m going to put out today is in its best condition. Hopefully you’ll point out any inconsistencies, errors and weak spots. So here goes:
The fact that there are differing levels of reality within the domain of selfhood creates a tension, the same cosmic tension created in the universes of time and space currently finding resolution through power-personality synthesis of the Supreme. Where material reality and spiritual reality are the farthest apart, mind reality has its most potent function. Mind reality exists between these two realities, the best position to harmonize them both. The process of harmonization, however, inevitably reveals contrasts between the two, which when discovered and recognized, require interpretation and decision making. This is where the many overlapping mind ministries come into play.
Mind discloses incoming data from both levels of reality. It also provides the means to analyze and interpret data in order to make decisions. The value of decisions is, in part, determined by what level of mind is doing the interpreting. Mechanistic decisions occur when interpretations are made on the lowest level of mind ministries. They function to maintain the status quo of material existence. The higher mind ministries are capable of providing a more integrated meaningful interpretation and thus are potentially of more value. The goal is progress in utilization of the higher mind ministries in the quest for divinity attainment, particularly worship and wisdom.
The tension between the material and spiritual levels of reality we know as our dual nature. It’s not so much that we have to choose one over the other, but that we learn how to unify what we recognize as reality so all parts of selfhood function properly and harmoniously. The material level cannot be ignored, nor can the spiritual level be ignored if there is to be balance. And obviously, if the personality is at all conscious, the mind level will not be ignored. But it certainly can be underutilized, meaning not using all its various ministries to their fullest.
Our dual nature requires that we develop self-control, control over all the parts of the self. Control can come from a mind that prefers the material level or the spiritual level, a mind with a mechanistic approach to reality, or a mind with a moral and increasingly co-creative approach to reality. It is possible for a personality to become unified around a material level of function and be quite content and balanced at that level, but not necessarily progressing. The spiritual level of our nature will always be striving for growth and progress. Progress is an innate feature of mind reality, it never ceases to progress. And since the spiritual level of the universe is the dominant level, the innate drawing power of growth and progress is always toward the spiritual.
One thing to remember is that, although the goal is to grow spiritually, we are also supposed to grow mentally, even as we become less material. The ministry of mind expands along with spiritual growth. It must expand because mind ministry provides the capacity for growth of spirit receptivity. But I’m not talking about pure intellect here, I’m talking about the capacity for reflective thinking and utilization of all the various ministries of material mind and soul mind.
Mind will always seek unity, and in so doing, it will readjust to the psychic level on which a personality is functioning. And as this progress ensues, the material becomes less and less dominant, yet still present, in a more controlled state. The higher the whole personality progresses in psychic, or cosmic growth, the more dominant spirit becomes, along with greater control, or power, over the various parts of the self (power-personality synthesis). Self-control, self-mastery, occurs with the evolution of dominance. When spirit is dominant, it becomes the master, the guiding light, over mind and matter.
Relevant Quotes:
3:5.13 Is unselfishness–the spirit of self-forgetfulness–desirable? Then must mortal man live face to face with the incessant clamoring of an inescapable self for recognition and honor. Man could not dynamically choose the divine life if there were no self-life to forsake. Man could never lay saving hold on righteousness if there were no potential evil to exalt and differentiate the good by contrast.
4:3.6 The infinite goodness of the Father is beyond the comprehension of the finite mind of time; hence must there always be afforded a contrast with comparative evil (not sin) for the effective exhibition of all phases of relative goodness. Perfection of divine goodness can be discerned by mortal imperfection of insight only because it stands in contrastive association with relative imperfection in the relationships of time and matter in the motions of space.
9.6.7 The greater the spirit-energy divergence, the greater the observable function of mind; the lesser the diversity of energy and spirit, the lesser the observable function of mind. Apparently, the maximum function of the cosmic mind is in the time universes of space. Here mind seems to function in a mid-zone between energy and spirit, but this is not true of the higher levels of mind; on Paradise, energy and spirit are essentially one.
16:6.9 But it is sad to record that so few persons on Urantia take delight in cultivating these qualities of courageous and independent cosmic thinking.
34:6.9 In every mortal there exists a dual nature: the inheritance of animal tendencies and the high urge of spirit endowment. During the short life you live on Urantia, these two diverse and opposing urges can seldom be fully reconciled; they can hardly be harmonized and unified; but throughout your lifetime the combined Spirit ever ministers to assist you in subjecting the flesh more and more to the leading of the Spirit. Even though you must live your material life through, even though you cannot escape the body and its necessities, nonetheless, in purpose and ideals you are empowered increasingly to subject the animal nature to the mastery of the Spirit. There truly exists within you a conspiracy of spiritual forces, a confederation of divine powers, whose exclusive purpose is to effect your final deliverance from material bondage and finite handicaps.
36:6.1 Life is both mechanistic and vitalistic — material and spiritual.
39:4.14 The keys of the kingdom of heaven are: sincerity, more sincerity, and more sincerity. All men have these keys. Men use them — advance in spirit status — by decisions, by more decisions, and by more decisions. The highest moral choice is the choice of the highest possible value, and always — in any sphere, in all of them — this is to choose to do the will of God. If man thus chooses, he is great, though he be the humblest citizen of Jerusem or even the least of mortals on Urantia.
42:11.1 In the evaluation and recognition of mind it should be remembered that the universe is neither mechanical nor magical; it is a creation of mind and a mechanism of law. But while in practical application the laws of nature operate in what seems to be the dual realms of the physical and the spiritual, in reality they are one.
42:12.1-8 Mind always reaches out towards: 1. Creation of material mechanisms. 2. Discovery of hidden mysteries. 3. Exploration of remote situations. 4. Formulation of mental systems. 5. Attainment of wisdom goals. 6. Achievement of spirit levels. 7. The accomplishment of divine destinies – supreme, ultimate, and absolute.
42:12.15 Mind universally dominates matter, even as it is in turn responsive to the ultimate overcontrol of spirit. And with mortal man, only that mind which freely submits itself to the spirit direction can hope to survive the mortal time-space existence as an immortal child of the eternal spirit world of the Supreme, the Ultimate, and the Absolute: the Infinite.
100:4.3 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.
100:4.4 In physical life the senses tell of the existence of things; mind discovers the reality of meanings; but the spiritual experience reveals to the individual the true values of life.
106:2.1 As God the Sevenfold functionally co-ordinates finite evolution, so does the Supreme Being eventually synthesize destiny attainment. The Supreme Being is the deity culmination of grand universe evolution – physical evolution around a spirit nucleus and eventual dominance of the spirit nucleus over the encircling and whirling domains of physical evolution. And all of this takes place in accordance with the mandates of personality: Paradise personality in the highest sense, Creator personality in the universe sense, mortal personality in the human sense, Supreme personality in the culminating or experiential totaling sense.
106:2.2 The concept of the Supreme must provide for the differential recognition of spirit person, evolutionary power, and power–personality synthesis — the unification of evolutionary power with, and its dominance by, spirit personality.
107:0.5 The Adjuster is our compensatory equalization of the enormous universe tension which is created by the distance of man’s removal from God and by the degree of his partiality in contrast with the universality of the eternal Father.
111:6.1 Many of the temporal troubles of mortal man grow out of his twofold relation to the cosmos. Man is a part of nature — he exists in nature — and yet he is able to transcend nature. Man is finite, but he is indwelt by a spark of infinity. Such a dual situation not only provides the potential for evil but also engenders many social and moral situations fraught with much uncertainty and not a little anxiety.
113:1.6 In the ministry to so-called normal beings, seraphic assignments are made in accordance with the human attainment of the circles of intellectuality and spirituality. You start out in your mind of mortal investment in the seventh circle and journey inward in the task of self-understanding, self-conquest, and self-mastery; and circle by circle you advance until (if natural death does not terminate your career and transfer your struggles to the mansion worlds) you reach the first or inner circle of relative contact and communion with the indwelling Adjuster.
116:5.14 In the final analysis, all energy responds to mind, and the physical controllers are the children of the mind God, who is the activator of Paradise pattern.
116:5.15 The spirit struggles of time and space have to do with the evolution of spirit dominance over matter by the mediation of (personal) mind; the physical (nonpersonal) evolution of the universes has to do with bringing cosmic energy into harmony with the equilibrium concepts of mind subject to the overcontrol of spirit. The total evolution of the entire grand universe is a matter of the personality unification of the energy-controlling mind with the spirit-co-ordinated intellect and will be revealed in the full appearance of the almighty power of the Supreme.
Bonita wrote:
“I’m working without a net, and well, I’m not sure what I’m going to put out today is in its best condition.”
“The fact that there are differing levels of reality within…”
Your description today of the purpose and adjustable nature of mind is the clearest I’ve seen!
Thanks, and well done
Nigel
Nigel Nunn wrote: Your description today of the purpose and adjustable nature of mind is the clearest I’ve seen!Garsh, that’s a real complement. Thank you. Although you’ve given me some confidence, I’m not all that secure in today’s thoughts on the subject. I keep rewriting them, but decided to stop and just put it out and let you guys rip it up. I’m struggling to focus on the big picture for Bradly, finding it all too easy to go down the side roads. The minimum feedback I would really like to get right now is if it is better to print the related quotes in their entirety, or just cite the reference numbers. The quotes do take a huge amount of space, but I’m under the impression that most folks like quotes and don’t like to be forced to look them up. Not sure which way to go with that. Anyway, here’s what I have today:
The evolution of dominance on a cosmic scale is also present in the microcosm of selfhood. In the worlds of time and space, physical reality is dominant except when personality is present, at which time spirit strives for mastery through the mediation of mind. Mind is the mechanism for conditioning evolution both on cosmic levels and on microcosmic levels of selfhood. Therefore, mind is the arena in which growth and progress take place. It is by mind that we live and die, since it is mind that humans have potential control over. As a mediator between the various aspects of reality, mind naturally strives for spirit dominance. Evidence of the beginning of mind evolution toward spirit dominance is the birth of the soul, a new personal expression of the unification of cosmic reality in the universe.
Spirit dominance of the mind is determined by the personality choosing to utilize all adjutant mind ministries as well as willingness to cooperate with spirit guidance. Entrance into the seventh psychic circle, and birth of the soul, is evidence that a personality has indeed chosen to utilize all seven of the adjutant mind ministries. Each of the adjutants represent an overlapping evolutionary appeal to mind, constantly drawing mind toward higher levels, while also maintaining integrity and balance of function. After reaching the third psychic circle, the adjutant influence on mind gradually diminishes. At some point in soul growth, primarily the two higher adjutants will dominate the mind along with a specific soul function developed to enhance its influence over them.
But until then, as human minds evolve toward spirit they are frequently faced with conflict between the two levels, physical and spiritual. The physical level calls attention to the self, to think first of the well being of the self, its physical survival and material happiness. The spiritual level calls attention to others first with a focus on eternal survival and the true happiness of service. These dual influences set up moral dilemmas that must be dealt with. Mind cannot tolerate unresolved conflicts, particularly the conflict between allegiance to the self (physical) or other-than-self (spiritual). Due to its own gravity, mind is most content when aligned with its spirit source.
The highest material mind ministries are the adjutants of worship and wisdom. These are the spirits which make an individual a functioning human personality. A functioning personality is one with not only self-consciousness, but consciousness of others. This level of consciousness creates moral tensions between self and other-than-self. Morality is a reality level of the cosmic mind. The morally conscious mind is the soil from which a soul is co-created. Recall that of the three elements of reality recognized by mind, duty is the second level. Duty is described as the domain of morals in the philosophic realm, or the realm of reasoning mind; it is a level of reality discrimination between right and wrong.
There are varying degrees of right and wrong, as we’ve seen in Jesus’ description of the six levels of the golden rule. All of those levels represent an evolution of dominance of mind toward spirit. Beginning with the level of the flesh: this is basically a mechanistic response to animal-type instincts where the moral delemmas encountered between the self and other-than-self are based on the material senses, a very self-centered attitude toward reality. It’s hard for me to believe that an individual who has entered the seventh psychic circle would consistently function on this level, but I suppose it is possible.
The level of feelings reveals evolution of emotion to include less of one’s own material senses, and more on another person’s. Feelings of sympathy and concern for others begin to creep into the psyche, which makes it less self-centered. I think that individuals who have entered the seventh psychic circle probably begin to recognize more and more that there are other people with feelings too, and begin to act upon it as evidence of increasing awareness of spirit dominance.
The golden rule level of mind is when it is more obvious that the cosmic reality response is functioning. Although still concerned mostly with the self, as self-respect, there is more evidence that ideals from the spiritual level have begun to influence judgement. Wisdom is beginning to provide leadership in such a way that soul levels of inspiration can begin to be ascertained.
The level of brotherly love denotes a mind willing to put the self aside in the interest of others. Here is the beginning of selflessness with increasing service, which are fruits of the spirit, proof of spirit influence on the mind. The reality reflex of duty has risen to a higher moral level of recognition because of budding spiritual, or soul influence.
The moral level is evidence of even deeper recognition of the cosmic reality reflex of duty because of a more acute ability to discern right from wrong from a philosophical point of view. A philosophical point of view requires that one observe oneself observing. It’s a level of moral consciousness heavily influenced by spiritual input from the soul level. The individual is beginning to recognize spiritual reality and integrate it into thought and behavior, placing less and less significance on the self and aligning more and more with spirit reality. Morality without this kind of spiritual insight is merely superanimal, existing just above the animal level of awareness of duty toward others.
The spiritual level is the soul level. The mind has integrated and coordinated all levels of reality responses, physical, mental and spiritual, into a unified expression of personality based upon actual experience with spirit, God-consciousness. At this level, the individual experiences God’s love first hand and realizes that it is the greatest thing in the world, the ideal of all relationships and the only way to treat other persons.
As you can see, this describes an evolution of spirit dominance in the mind of a personality. I don’t think it is too far from the type of growth one might expect in the psychic, or cosmic circles. The psychic circles are essential circles of mind evolution toward spirit dominance and self-mastery. They are circles of progressive and balanced association of spirit value and mind attainment which indicate soul growth, Adjuster attunement and a budding relationship with the Supreme.
Related Quotes:
0:5.8 Mind. The thinking, perceiving, and feeling mechanism of the human organism. The total conscious and unconscious experience. The intelligence associated with the emotional life reaching upward through worship and wisdom to the spirit level.
12:8.14 On Paradise the three energies, physical, mindal, and spiritual, are co-ordinate. In the evolutionary cosmos energy-matter is dominant except in personality, where spirit, through the mediation of mind, is striving for the mastery. Spirit is the fundamental reality of the personality experience of all creatures because God is spirit. Spirit is unchanging, and therefore, in all personality relations, it transcends both mind and matter, which are experiential variables of progressive attainment.
34:5.3 Mortal man first experiences the ministry of the Spirit in conjunction with mind when the purely animal mind of evolutionary creatures develops reception capacity for the adjutants of worship and of wisdom. This ministry of the sixth and seventh adjutants indicates mind evolution crossing the threshold of spiritual ministry. And immediately are such minds of worship- and wisdom-function included in the spiritual circuits of the Divine Minister.
36:5.1 It is the presence of the seven adjutant mind-spirits on the primitive worlds that conditions the course of organic evolution; that explains why evolution is purposeful and not accidental.
102:4.3 Man very early becomes conscious that he is not alone in the world or the universe. There develops a natural spontaneous self-consciousness of other-mindness in the environment of selfhood. Faith translates this natural experience into religion, the recognition of God as the reality — source, nature, and destiny — of other-mindness.
103:5.4 But man’s interpretation of these early conflicts between the ego-will and the other-than-self-will is not always dependable. Only a fairly well unified personality can arbitrate the multiform contentions of the ego cravings and the budding social consciousness. The self has rights as well as one’s neighbors. Neither has exclusive claims upon the attention and service of the individual. Failure to resolve this problem gives origin to the earliest type of human guilt feelings.
110:6.3 The psychic circles are not exclusively intellectual, neither are they wholly morontial; they have to do with personality status, mind attainment, soul growth, and Adjuster attunement. The successful traversal of these levels demands the harmonious functioning of the entire personality, not merely of some one phase thereof. The growth of the parts does not equal the true maturation of the whole; the parts really grow in proportion to the expansion of the entire self—the whole self—material, intellectual, and spiritual.
110:6.13 The seventh circle. This level is entered when human beings develop the powers of personal choice, individual decision, moral responsibility, and the capacity for the attainment of spiritual individuality. This signifies the united function of the seven adjutant mind-spirits under the direction of the spirit of wisdom, the encircuitment of the mortal creature in the influence of the Holy Spirit, and, on Urantia, the first functioning of the Spirit of Truth, together with the reception of a Thought Adjuster in the mortal mind. Entrance upon the seventh circle constitutes a mortal creature a truly potential citizen of the local universe.
110:6.20 From the seventh to the third circle there occurs increased and unified action of the seven adjutant mind-spirits in the task of weaning the mortal mind from its dependence on the realities of the material life mechanisms preparatory to increased introduction to morontia levels of experience. From the third circle onward the adjutant influence progressively diminishes.
111:1.2 There is a cosmic unity in the several mind levels of the universe of universes. Intellectual selves have their origin in the cosmic mind much as nebulae take origin in the cosmic energies of universe space. On the human (hence personal) level of intellectual selves the potential of spirit evolution becomes dominant, with the assent of the mortal mind, because of the spiritual endowments of the human personality together with the creative presence of an entity-point of absolute value in such human selves. But such a spirit dominance of the material mind is conditioned upon two experiences: This mind must have evolved up through the ministry of the seven adjutant mind-spirits, and the material (personal) self must choose to co-operate with the indwelling Adjuster in creating and fostering the morontia self, the evolutionary and potentially immortal soul.
111:1.4 Material evolution has provided you a life machine, your body; the Father himself has endowed you with the purest spirit reality known in the universe, your Thought Adjuster. But into your hands, subject to your own decisions, has been given mind, and it is by mind that you live or die. It is within this mind and with this mind that you make those moral decisions which enable you to achieve Adjusterlikeness, and that is Godlikeness.
111:3.4 The soul partakes of the qualities of both the human mind and the divine spirit but persistently evolves toward augmentation of spirit control and divine dominance through the fostering of a mind function whose meanings seek to co-ordinate with true spirit value.
116:6.1 In the evolutionary superuniverses energy-matter is dominant except in personality, where spirit through the mediation of mind is struggling for the mastery. The goal of the evolutionary universes is the subjugation of energy-matter by mind, the co-ordination of mind with spirit, and all of this by virtue of the creative and unifying presence of personality. Thus, in relation to personality, do physical systems become subordinate; mind systems, co-ordinate; and spirit systems, directive.
116:6.5 In a human being the mechanism of physical life is responsive, in part, to the dictates of (personal) mind. This very mind may, in turn, become dominated by the leadings of purposive spirit, and the result of such evolutionary development is the production of a new child of the Supreme, a new personal unification of the several kinds of cosmic reality.
130:4.9 Only in degree does man possess mind above the animal level aside from the higher and quasi-spiritual ministrations of intellect. Therefore animals (not having worship and wisdom) cannot experience superconsciousness, consciousness of consciousness.
133:7.10 A human mind, built up solely out of the consciousness of physical sensations, could never attain spiritual levels; this kind of material mind would be utterly lacking in a sense of moral values and would be without a guiding sense of spiritual dominance which is so essential to achieving harmonious personality unity in time, and which is inseparable from personality survival in eternity.
133:7.12 The human mind does not well stand the conflict of double allegiance. It is a severe strain on the soul to undergo the experience of an effort to serve both good and evil. The supremely happy and efficiently unified mind is the one wholly dedicated to the doing of the will of the Father in heaven. Unresolved conflicts destroy unity and may terminate in mind disruption. But the survival character of a soul is not fostered by attempting to secure peace of mind at any price, by the surrender of noble aspirations, and by the compromise of spiritual ideals; rather is such peace attained by the stalwart assertion of the triumph of that which is true, and this victory is achieved in the overcoming of evil with the potent force of good.
147:4.3-9 Let me now teach you concerning the differing levels of meaning attached to the interpretation of this rule of living, this admonition to `do to others that which you desire others to do to you’:
1. The level of the flesh. Such a purely selfish and lustful interpretation would be well exemplified by the supposition of your question.
2. The level of the feelings. This plane is one level higher than that of the flesh and implies that sympathy and pity would enhance one’s interpretation of this rule of living.
3. The level of mind. Now come into action the reason of mind and the intelligence of experience. Good judgment dictates that such a rule of living should be interpreted in consonance with the highest idealism embodied in the nobility of profound self-respect.
4. The level of brotherly love. Still higher is discovered the level of unselfish devotion to the welfare of one’s fellows. On this higher plane of wholehearted social service growing out of the consciousness of the fatherhood of God and the consequent recognition of the brotherhood of man, there is discovered a new and far more beautiful interpretation of this basic rule of life.
5. The moral level. And then when you attain true philosophic levels of interpretation, when you have real insight into the rightness and wrongness of things, when you perceive the eternal fitness of human relationships, you will begin to view such a problem of interpretation as you would imagine a high-minded, idealistic, wise, and impartial third person would so view and interpret such an injunction as applied to your personal problems of adjustment to your life situations.
6. The spiritual level. And then last, but greatest of all, we attain the level of spirit insight and spiritual interpretation which impels us to recognize in this rule of life the divine command to treat all men as we conceive God would treat them. That is the universe ideal of human relationships. And this is your attitude toward all such problems when your supreme desire is ever to do the Father’s will. I would, therefore, that you should do to all men that which you know I would do to them in like circumstances.
196:3.25 Morality is the essential pre-existent soil of personal God-consciousness, the personal realization of the Adjuster’s inner presence, but such morality is not the source of religious experience and the resultant spiritual insight. The moral nature is superanimal but subspiritual. Morality is equivalent to the recognition of duty, the realization of the existence of right and wrong. The moral zone intervenes between the animal and the human types of mind as morontia functions between the material and the spiritual spheres of personality attainment.
Dear loved ones,
- To harmonize or unify them provides an important perspective.
- but even more importantly, in its way, is to develop scholarship and formats of learning from AND teaching one another what the Papers say.
- lasting legacy …. Bradly # 20686
Dear Bradley, here is what ‘’ I found ‘’ concerning a mode of teaching one another in a way I was not aware and is so simple, it redefined my view on it.
All these celestial companionship are invariably mutual. As ascending mortals you not only derive benefit from these successive universe companions and such numerous orders of increasingly divine associates, but you also impart to each of these fraternal beings something from your own personality and experience which forever makes every one of them different and betterfor having been associated with an ascending mortal from the evolutionary worlds of time and space.27:3.4 (301.1)
I hope that comments and questions will come with each new addition to this work. Bonita # 20694
For sureeeeee ,here is my comments.
I feel like going to one of these Adamic’s schools. Whom perpetuates spiritual, morontial, and physical knowledges. And all done by the Spirituals Ministries, including brotherhood.
I appreciated the effort to popularize those epochal revelations.
You know, one of my reader friends often tickling my ears qualifying a lot of experiences done as ‘’morontials’’. Having a soul, whom is of morontial texture and knowing all spiritual consciousness is seated in superconsciousness whom is the soul. Mumbling about all of these, I’m embraced gradually the morontial state as I unconsciously travelling back and forth and through this thread, raised in me, standing consciously at its door.
I continue reading ….
Thanks Bonita,
Thanks Bradly,
…. good brotherhood stuffs.
Thank you Andre. I’m so glad you’re reading. It makes the effort worthwhile.
Since no one gave me feedback about the quotes, I’ve decided to do what I want, and that’s nothing . . . in regards to quotes that is. If anyone wants quotes, I have them on request.
In previous posts I explained that the levels of reality in the cosmos is replicated in the microcosmic environment of experiential selfhood. In this post I would like to concentrate on the microcosm we are most familiar with and try to begin to explain the dynamic interrelation between mind, matter, spirit and personality, particularly in regards to mind and soul. It’s a huge topic, so maybe not all of it today though.
Bradly had requested a discussion on what role gravity plays in transfer of identity, which is changing the dominanting decision making process of the mind from material to spiritual, which would be the soul. I think we all agree that decisions are made in the mind by the personality and when the opportunity arises, are acted upon. I think it is important to point out that decisions are made in the mind often long before they become actionable, but they still count. Decision making primarily affects attitude, and attitude determines reactions in the environment of selfhood. A righteous attitude will bring forth a gracious reaction in the form of spiritual fruit. I bring this point up because it has much to do with mind and spirit gravity as I will point out later.
Gravity can be loosely defined as a force of attraction. Each type of gravity attracts its own level of reality, and each level of reality has its own attractable feature. There are 4 types of universe gravity: physical, mindal, spiritual, and personal. Also, there are two general levels of gravity, absolute, or existential, and subabsolute, or experiential. The subabsolute gravity grasp of the Supreme is only partial and incomplete, the final gravity grasp is on Paradise. As experiential beings, mortal relationship to universe gravity is on a subabsolute level, with the eternal goal being the absolute level. Therefore, the physical substance we are made of remains at the local level of time and space on the material level, subject to material gravity. Mortal mind strives to respond to the level of the Supreme Mind, and our souls and spirits gravitate toward the Creator Son, the Master of Supremacy. But mortal personality is a part of deity reality and thus it gravitates directly to its deity source on Paradise. Personality is pattern and has paid all gravity debt, making it solely responsive to the direct volition of the Universal Father’s personality.
I should also point out that both spirit and mind gravity react to actuals rather than potentials. Various spirit and mind ministries reveal the source of potentials while the creature provides the actuals, or at least attempts to. This is what our earthly life is all about. Can we produce even a flicker of actual reality which will keep our lamps burning into the next life? With just a flicker of reality attunement, the Adjuster is able to make changes in the mind, thus providing more capacity of receptivity to his potentials, the perfect ideals he brings from Paradise. Thoughts that become spiritized by the Adjuster are thoughts ripe for the down grasp of spiritual gravity, and all of this occurs in the soul.
Another way to think about gravity grasp is the concept of quantity and quality. Physical gravity attracts quantity, or mass. Mind gravity attracts discernment of reality, known as the reality response reflexes. Spiritual gravity attracts quality, or values. It should also be noted that gravity and love seem to work together in the universe. Love is eternally out-going; gravity is eternally in-coming. It’s the great circle of universe reality. And this cycle in the cosmos of reaching out and pulling in is essentially the very same process occuring in the microcosm of selfhood, particularly seen in the psychic circles. God sends out his love, and with just a flicker of recognition of potential with the desire to become actual allows gravity to pull us closer to him. At the very core of this cycle is desire. We know that it is what the mind desires to comprehend, what it is striving to identify with and yearning to become that assures progress. The personality’s decision for God-hunger provides the psychic fulcrum which gives God the material to work with in order to feed the soul.
Desire, when expressed in the form of a prayer, activates spiritual gravity forces. Desire alone can activate mind gravity forces, but adding it to prayer, giving it spiritual direction, provides the impetus for the evolution of dominance of that desire, which is always be to become more Godlike. Prayer is a mighty mind opener. It begins with the spirit of worship, and when directionalized by wisdom to higher sources, opens the gateway to the soul, where the down grasp of the Holy Spirit acts as the mind gravity pull within the supermind where spiritual events occur. When it comes to soul growth, there is always a dynamic flow with the mortal reaching up and the divine reaching down. The mortal desiring reality, the divine supplying reality – mindal, spiritual and personal.
Awesome!!! Sorry to be so slow…but it’s been busy and….lots to digest and research already posted. I love the supporting text myself but would also utilize just the link or reference to text for my own study and research.
I really appreciate and am enjoying such clarification and unification of concepts. This is truly wonderful. When completed, I suggest a compilation be posted here: http://urantia-association.org/category/study-aids-and-resources/
Indeed, your ebook and any/all other works you’d be willing to archive here at the website would illuminate much for many. Thanks Bonita for sharing your insights and harmonization of the teachings in ways which, for me, always deliver greater understanding, appreciation, and utilization of the teachings.
Bradly
The “evolution of dominance” is the progressive transfer/transition of our personal identity from the material nature dominance we are born into to the spirit nature we are soul-born with sometime later by our first moral choice. And the growth of soul and spirit progress or maturity of mind are a response to the gravity circuits but such a response also establishes an even greater force (magnification?) of those gravity circuits by those volitional choices with survival qualities….and this ascendant ministry is different from or distinguishable from the Spirits of Father, Mother, and Son.
Could we say that these are harmonizing and balancing forces that are internal and personal to the each (TA, Holy Spirit, Spirit of Truth) in one set of ministry – and external and impersonal to the each and all as universal gravity forces that are “responsive to response” or the increasing “mass of self” acquired by the quantity + quality of decisions over time, and sincerity expressed by each ascender by their individual volition and gradual growth, also over time, into maturity and self mastery?
We are “led” into educational opportunities by angel and by TA which allow our free will choices to experience the results of choice according to each choice’s reality alignment…some decisions have meaning and value and others do not and the results verify the value or the lack thereof. As we do better and better in this repetitious process of choice, those choices change in complexity according to our success in choosing sincerely and wisely….and, at the same time, the forces of the gravity circuits increases in their effects upon our being.
This simply to verify my comprehension….so far.
Hi Bradly. Thanks for trying to understand my point of view. I’m obliged to you for the amount of respect you give my work, but I’m not sure it really deserves it. It’s just my interpretation of the world of TUB. Let me ask you a few questions to better understand what you wrote in your last post. I’m having difficulty following you.Bradly wrote:The “evolution of dominance” is the progressive transfer/transition of our personal identity from the material nature dominance we are born into to the spirit nature we are soul-born with sometime later by our first moral choice.Are you saying that the soul is born with a certain “nature”? And, how are defining personal identity?I tend to think of evolution of dominance as a gradual transference of the decision making powers of the personality from the lower level of mind to the higher level. All decisions are made in the conscious material mind we are born with, regardless of where we are in the process of identity transfer. The key is the mind ministries. We get to choose which mind ministries will influence our decision making. When we repeatedly choose the higher mind ministries, our decision making is moving toward greater spirit input. I’ve been trying to explain how the soul participates in this process by describing the gateway phenomenon. The gateway phenomenon requires utilization of the two highest adjutant mind ministries so the Holy Spirit can influence thinking. This is what they mean by “in the spirit,” or “born of the spirit.”166:3.8 Even the apostles were unable fully to comprehend his teaching as to the necessity for using spiritual force for the purpose of breaking through all material resistance and for surmounting every earthly obstacle which might chance to stand in the way of grasping the all-important spiritual values of the new life in the spirit as the liberated sons of God.159:3.7 Forewarn all believers regarding the fringe of conflict which must be traversed by all who pass from the life as it is lived in the flesh to the higher life as it is lived in the spirit. To those who live quite wholly within either realm, there is little conflict or confusion, but all are doomed to experience more or less uncertainty during the times of transition between the two levels of living. In entering the kingdom, you cannot escape its responsibilities or avoid its obligations, but remember: The gospel yoke is easy and the burden of truth is light.Geez Bradly, I hope you know that I’m being sincere when I say I don’t understand one word of this next sentence:Bradly wrote:And the growth of soul and spirit progress or maturity of mind are a response to the gravity circuits but such a response also establishes an even greater force (magnification?) of those gravity circuits by those volitional choices with survival qualities….Could you break this down for me? Gravity, in my view, is perceivable when you have an object that is reacting to it, be it a physical object, a mental idea or a spiritual value. Gravity is always there, and it’s essentially always the same but is perceived according to what it is relating to, be it mass and distance, moral dilemmas or truth, beauty and goodness. If ideas are real, and if you have discovered an idea that the universe wants to hold onto, then there is an attraction that takes place. Once your mind recognizes the attraction, your personality has the option to do something with it. Hold onto it, discard it, store it for later use, try to make sense of it and use it. It’s all part of the discover, recognize, interpret and choose experience. Can you recognize which way a thought is being pulled? It’s not choice that determines gravity, choice is what happens after the thinking mind perceives gravity and asks, “Do I want to go in that direction or not?” When the personality chooses the divine direction, it gets a new invasion of divinity in the soul.196:3.20 Every time man makes a reflective moral choice, he immediately experiences a new divine invasion of his soul. Moral choosing constitutes religion as the motive of inner response to outer conditions. But such a real religion is not a purely subjective experience. It signifies the whole of the subjectivity of the individual engaged in a meaningful and intelligent response to total objectivity–the universe and its Maker.
Bradly wrote: . . . and this ascendant ministry is different from or distinguishable from the Spirits of Father, Mother, and Son.Are you saying that personality gravity, mind gravity and spirit gravity are different ministries apart from the Adjuster, Holy Spirit and Spirit of Truth? If so, no. They are one and the same. They all work the same, but on different levels of reality. Do you recall the analogy of spirit gravity to the human neural network? It’s all the same absolute gravity, but when functioning on subabsolute levels, has differing destinations:7:3.4 The discriminative operation of the spirit-gravity circuit might possibly be compared to the functions of the neural circuits in the material human body: Sensations travel inward over the neural paths; some are detained and responded to by the lower automatic spinal centers; others pass on to the less automatic but habit-trained centers of the lower brain, while the most important and vital incoming messages flash by these subordinate centers and are immediately registered in the highest levels of human consciousness.
Bradly wrote: Could we say that these are harmonizing and balancing forces that are internal and personal to the each (TA, Holy Spirit, Spirit of Truth) in one set of ministry – and external and impersonal to the each and all as universal gravity forces that are “responsive to response” or the increasing “mass of self” acquired by the quantity + quality of decisions over time, and sincerity expressed by each ascender by their individual volition and gradual growth, also over time, into maturity and self mastery?The gravities are the same on the outside as they are on the inside. It’s the same gravity and it works the same everywhere, in your head or a star nebula in outer space. Also, only physical gravity is involved with mass. The “mass of self” would not be mass at all unless you’re talking about only one part of the self, the physical body. But selfhood is all the parts, the whole being. The more spiritual selfhood becomes, the less material it is. Material gravity is the antithesis of spiritual gravity; they work in opposite directions in the mind.
7:3.2 The mortal mind, for example, initiates its career as a material mechanism and is eventually mustered into the Corps of the Finality as a well-nigh perfected spirit existence, becoming progressively less subject to material gravity and correspondingly more responsive to the inward pulling urge of spirit gravity during this entire experience. The spirit-gravity circuit literally pulls the soul of man Paradiseward.12:8.5 As the mind of any personality in the universe becomes more spiritual – Godlike – it becomes less responsive to material gravity. Reality, measured by physical-gravity response, is the antithesis of reality as determined by quality of spirit content. Physical-gravity action is a quantitative determiner of nonspirit energy; spiritual-gravity action is the qualitative measure of the living energy of divinity.
Mass is quantity. Soul is quality. Mind responds to all reality by recognizing and discerning which gravity is functioning, and it’s the recognition and coordination process that is mind gravity. Personality uses mind in order to chose which gravity pull to identify with. If and when it chooses spiritual gravity, it becomes more real since spirit is dominant in the universe.
Bradly wrote: We are “led” into educational opportunities by angel and by TA which allow our free will choices to experience the results of choice according to each choice’s reality alignment…some decisions have meaning and value and others do not and the results verify the value or the lack thereof. As we do better and better in this repetitious process of choice, those choices change in complexity according to our success in choosing sincerely and wisely….and, at the same time, the forces of the gravity circuits increases in their effects upon our being.Free will choices don’t experience, personalities experience. Choices are made in the mind before acting upon them. Once they are acted upon, yes, it is possible to determine if the choice made in the mind was true and real or not. If the choice can be acted out, if it is satisfying, then it was a wise and true choice, a choice accepted by the universe as fitting into reality. If the choice doesn’t have a good fit, the mind will be conflicted and wondering why what seemed like such a good idea isn’t working out the way it was hoped. That’s an indication that maybe the personality chose the wrong mind interpretation, or never recognized the best option in the first place, the one most aligned with reality, the one with the light shining on it. That idea with the light shining on it is a spiritized thought. If you recognize it and start to head in its direction mentally, bingo, you’re allowing your mind to be pulled by spiritual gravity. Then the Spirit of Truth gets to work on it, translating it for you so you can see how it fits into the your microcosm of the universe if you choose to act upon it. And then, once you make that choice to act, you’re invaded by more spirit, which simply means that spirit gravity becomes all the more discernible (capacity for receptivity). It’s a mind invasion, but discernible by the higher mind, the one with spirit in it.
The more you move your thinking in that direction, the more you move the compass needle toward spirit, the more you are evolving your ability to identify spirit. This is how the transfer is made, slow and steady in the direction of spirit, but you have to sense that pull on your mind and change your attitude to stay aligned with it. The Adjuster is the attitude changer, he’s always lighting up thoughts to get your attention so your attitude adjusts in his direction. And its the attitude that really matters because the parts of selfhood readjust to line up with the core attitude of the individual. The process of becoming more divine, building a character for eternity in the soul, has to do with adopting divine attitudes toward reality.6:4.6 The indwelling Father fragment adjusts the human mind to progressively divine attitudes, whereupon such an ascending mind becomes increasingly responsive to the spiritual drawing power of the all-powerful spirit-gravity circuit of the Second Source and Center.
Hi Bradly. Thanks for trying to understand my point of view. I’m obliged to you for the amount of respect you give my work, but I’m not sure it really deserves it. It’s just my interpretation of the world of TUB. Let me ask you a few questions to better understand what you wrote in your last post. I’m having difficulty following you.
Bradly wrote: The “evolution of dominance” is the progressive transfer/transition of our personal identity from the material nature dominance we are born into to the spirit nature we are soul-born with sometime later by our first moral choice.
Bonita asks: Are you saying that the soul is born with a certain “nature”? And, how are defining personal identity?
I am “saying” that the soul is born “by” our spirit nature which responds to the highest adjutants as youth by our first moral choice. Such a choice is not yet dominant of course but it is this spirit nature-response expressed in volitional, free will choice that begins that realization of potential. The first step upon the pilgrim/ascender’s path and journey. I’d appreciate your perspective on “defining personal identity”….that’s “me”….but who is “me”? I am born a little animal whose “identity” appears to be a bio-unit of primal urges and responses related primarily to the physical or material world of sensory inputs and responses. But that “me” becomes increasingly aware of others and relationships that complicate my world of choice decisions and the differences between self needs/desires and others’ needs/desires….conflict appears in mind as to priority and the issues of right and wrong. When I first choose “others’ interest” over self interest, soul is born. Am I now a new “me” or the same me with spirit-response-identity?
Is the birth of soul the beginning of the gateway you describe and the evolution of spirit dominance? Does any of this change “who” me is or just the nature of who I am and am becoming by decisions, decisions and more decisions? I am always me and have always been me I think. What changes is my reaction or response patterns to stimuli and choices based on spiritual growth, experience, and growing wisdom in such choosing according to the “seat of identity”, which I also choose – who and what are most important at every intersection of choice. My material nature says I am most important but my spirit nature says love of others and God is most important. No matter which I choose, it is “me” making the choice. And this is where the study of personality begins to befuddle me…….the spirit changes me but it only makes “me” more real doesn’t it? More responsive to reality? More capable and effective in service? Where do personality and mind diverge regarding “me” and the seat of personal identity?Geez Bradly, I hope you know that I’m being sincere when I say I don’t understand one word of this next sentence:
Bradly wrote: And the growth of soul and spirit progress or maturity of mind are a response to the gravity circuits but such a response also establishes an even greater force (magnification?) of those gravity circuits by those volitional choices with survival qualities….
Your sincerity has never been doubted by me Bonita….but my articulations often leave much for improvement – no doubt!
Okay….I am attempting to confirm (or seek correction regarding) my understanding that as the evolution of dominance or the identity/identification shift occurs in mind and we grow in the spirit (circle progress) the force of attraction by the gravity circuits increases proportionately thereby – a “response” magnification or gravity effect. The more we respond to the spirit and align our selfhood with universe reality, then the ever greater and greater the “pull” to the source and center of reality by the gravity circuits.
I remain confused by your assertion that the gravity circuits are the same as the 3 great mind ministry spirits. It seems to me that the spirit within are distinct/different and in addition to the adjutant ministries and that the gravity circuits are, also, distinct and in addition to the mind ministries which lead us to the birth of soul and the growth of soul and that the gravity circuits have their greatest effects once the “evolution of dominance” begins. I have thought that this is related to being “born again”….which is more than moral choice or spirit response but is a conscious commitment to know God and to serve in love. Prior to this conscious choice of personal commitment, we have not yet truly chosen the seat of our identity….we have been responsive, yes – but specifically committed and declarative of purpose and priority – no, not yet…that’s a distinct change in reality alignment and the very purpose of being.
I appreciate the patience you give me (and always have) in my attempt to integrate these many concepts into a working perspective and philosophy of living. There is much to learn about how things work and are related/supported by all the spirits and forces designed to bring tadpoles to Paradise in this grand adventure of learning and growing and transcending the material nature to become true spirit beings in time to come. The knowledge of such details does not, in itself, actually add to the spiritization of anyone perhaps, but it is thrilling to know how important ascenders are in the purpose and plans of Deity and all creation itself. We matter. We belong. We contribute. We create. We are loved……
It’s all good Bonita….thanks for taking time to understand my perspective and helping me learn by this gift of epochal revelation.
A Forever Friend – Bradly
Hi Bradly. Thanks for explaining your post. I still have confusions, sorry to say.Bradly wrote: I am “saying” that the soul is born “by” our spirit nature which responds to the highest adjutants as youth by our first moral choice.You say that “the soul is born by our spirit nature”. If our spirit nature is our soul, how would that sentence make sense? It would be the same as saying “the soul is born by the soul.” Do you get what I’m saying? It’s not our spirit nature that gives birth to the soul, it’s the moral mind. The moral mind is not spiritual. It is subspiritual.
156:5.2 Your spirit nature — the jointly created soul — is a living growth, but the mind and morals of the individual are the soil from which these higher manifestations of human development and divine destiny must spring. The soil of the evolving soul is human and material, but the destiny of this combined creature of mind and spirit is spiritual and divine.”
196:3.25 The moral nature is superanimal but subspiritual.
Bradly wrote: I’d appreciate your perspective on “defining personal identity”The easiest way to explain identity is ego. Identity is your image of yourself and how it relates to the material world. When the identity is in the soul we don’t call it ego anymore (but you could). At that point, your image of yourself and how you relate to the morontia world will change. However, the personality will not change at all. Personality and identity are not the same thing. Identity is an attribute of the personality. Personality is an individualized pattern that organizes energies. When personality organizes material energies, identity is material. When personality chooses to organize morontia realities, identity is in the soul. That’s a real simplified explanation. Also, you should know that personality and character, or nature, are not the same thing. Personality never changes. It organizes energies the same way every time, consistently the same regardless of level you are functioning on. Character, however, is always changing and evolving. You start out with a material character inherited from your parents and grow a divine character, or nature, by choice, by identifying with the character of God.112:0.7 Personality, while devoid of identity, can unify the identity of any living energy system.6:8.1 Concerning identity, nature, and other attributes of personality, . . .42:12.9 Mind is always creative. The mind endowment of an individual animal, mortal, morontian, spirit ascender, or finality attainer is always competent to produce a suitable and serviceable body for the living creature identity. But the presence phenomenon of a personality or the pattern of an identity, as such, is not a manifestation of energy, either physical, mindal, or spiritual. The personality form is the pattern aspect of a living being; it connotes the arrangement of energies, and this, plus life and motion, is the mechanism of creature existence.140:4.7 Personality is basically changeless; that which changes — grows — is the moral character.Bradly wrote: When I first choose “others’ interest” over self interest, soul is born. Am I now a new “me” or the same me with spirit-response-identityYou’re not really new, you’re still Bradly, but now Bradly has a more mature and spiritually real character growing in the soul. And that’s the character you take with you to the mansion worlds. When we meet there, I will quite readily recognize that you are Bradly, but I will have to get to know your character, as that may have grown and changed since we last met. Get it?
Bradly wrote:Is the birth of soul the beginning of the gateway you describe and the evolution of spirit dominance? Does any of this change “who” me is or just the nature of who I am and am becoming by decisions, decisions and more decisions?The gateway comes first. The soul doesn’t come into existence until all seven adjutants make contact with the mind and the individual makes a moral choice to become more divine by doing something Godlike in character. (Don’t forget that this whole process is also called divinity attainment.) The gateway is opened by the spirit of wisdom when the individual sincerely chooses to engage in moral, reflective, worshipful thinking urged by the spirit of worship. It’s part of the material mind. Such activity is evidence of a conscious upward reach of the mind toward spirit. The Holy Spirit responds with a down reach. She pulls those thoughts up into the supermind (soul). Those are the same thoughts “lodged in the supermind” that the Adjuster works on spiritizing while we sleep. The gateway connects the human and divine levels of mind. It is accessed by the conscious material mind, but what goes on in the supermind is not conscious, at least initially.110:5.3 During the slumber season the Adjuster attempts to achieve only that which the will of the indwelt personality has previously fully approved by the decisions and choosings which were made during times of fully wakeful consciousness, and which have thereby become lodged in the realms of the supermind, the liaison domain of human and divine interrelationship.Bradly wrote:And this is where the study of personality begins to befuddle me…….the spirit changes me but it only makes “me” more real doesn’t it? More responsive to reality? More capable and effective in service? Where do personality and mind diverge regarding “me” and the seat of personal identity?Your personality changes its character by becoming more divine, by actually owning divine qualities. You borrow everything else, but your character is earned and owned. If you choose to get rid of it, the Adjuster holds onto it forever, since he helped create it. Of course, the more divine your character becomes the more real you become and the more useful you are to others and to the universe. This happens with soul growth and when the soul reaches a certain point in growth, it becomes conscious of the mind. At this point it can influence the material mind if the gateway stays open by the choice of the personality. (That’s how the personality chooses to transfer the seat of identity, by keeping the gateway open 24/7). When the personality chooses to keep the mind connected like that, it is growing or evolving dominance toward divinity.
56:10.12 Goodness is the mental recognition of the relative values of the diverse levels of divine perfection. The recognition of goodness implies a mind of moral status, a personal mind with ability to discriminate between good and evil. But the possession of goodness, greatness, is the measure of real divinity attainment.111:3.4 The soul becomes increasingly conscious of both the mind and the Adjuster as associated identities, proportional to its own evolutionary growth. The soulpartakes of the qualities of both the human mind and the divine spirit but persistently evolves toward augmentation of spirit control and divine dominance through the fostering of a mind function whose meanings seek to co-ordinate with true spirit value.Bradly wrote:The more we respond to the spirit and align our selfhood with universe reality, then the ever greater and greater the “pull” to the source and center of reality by the gravity circuits.No, I think gravity stays the same. What changes is recognition and response to gravity. When the reaction capacity increases, receptivity increases. In other words, the more acute your ability to recognize gravity, the more often you’ll allow yourself to be attracted to it and latch on. There are no augmentations of gravity, only increasing capacity for receptivity. You increase capacity by keeping that gateway open. What keeps the gateway open is a desire to be Godlike, or in other words, a desire to know and do the will of God. The more you sincerely want that, the more you’ll recognize it when it shows up and the more of it you’ll get. But you’re not getting gravity, you’re getting a divine character, aka soul. And although you are being pulled to Paradise as part of the ascension of your personality (since that is the source of personality), the choices you make to grow your character (an evolutionary acquirement) are really being pulled by gravity toward the Supreme. And when you leave Paradise as a finaliter, your experiences continue to contribute to the evolution of the Supreme.
Bradly wrote: I remain confused by your assertion that the gravity circuits are the same as the 3 great mind ministry spirits.I don’t think that’s what I said. First of all there are four gravity circuits: personality, material, mental and spiritual. Material gravity plays a role in producing the tension and conflict, which is part of a previous conversation. Also, I think it’s important to point out that gravity itself is a presence. Presence makes these gravities personal.
15:91 The universal circuits of Paradise do actually pervade the realms of the seven superuniverses. These presence circuits are: the personality gravity of the Universal Father, the spiritual gravity of the Eternal Son, the mind gravity of the Conjoint Actor, and the material gravity of the eternal Isle.The Adjuster uses personality gravity to draw personality. The Holy Spirit uses mind gravity to draw divine thoughts. The Spirit of Truth uses spirit gravity to draw spiritual values. These presence circuits of gravity are an integral part of the three spirits in our souls. It is a function of their divine power. It’s what attracts us to them.Bradly wrote: . . . the gravity circuits are, also, distinct and in addition to the mind ministries which lead us to the birth of soul and the growth of soul and that the gravity circuits have their greatest effects once the “evolution of dominance” begins.Well that certainly isn’t true when it comes to material gravity, but that’s another issue. All mind is responsive to mind gravity. Just like the neural network, mind gravity pulls different aspects of mind to different destinations. The mind ministries are living presence ministries, they have mind energy and the power of gravity that comes from the Universe Mother Spirit. The adjutants provide differential urges for forward evolution of both the material and mind levels. (Mind over matter).
0:6.8 Mind is a phenomenon connoting the presence-activity of living ministry in addition to varied energy systems; and this is true on all levels of intelligence. In personality, mind ever intervenes between spirit and matter; therefore is the universe illuminated by three kinds of light: material light, intellectual insight, and spirit luminosity.36:5.1 It is the presence of the seven adjutant mind-spirits on the primitive worlds that conditions the course of organic evolution; that explains why evolution is purposeful and not accidental. These adjutants represent that function of the mind ministry of the Infinite Spirit which is extended to the lower orders of intelligent life through the operations of a local universe Mother Spirit. The adjutants are the children of the Universe Mother Spirit and constitute her personal ministry to the material minds of the realms. Wherever and whenever such mind is manifest, these spirits are variously functioning.Sorry for the length of this. The quotes make it epic in size. Well anyway, I appreciate the chance to discuss these topics with someone, so thanks for everything Bradly. I think this is enough for now since I’m exhausted.Hi Bradly. Thanks for explaining your post. I still have confusions, sorry to say.
Bradly wrote: I am “saying” that the soul is born “by” our spirit nature which responds to the highest adjutants as youth by our first moral choice.
Bonita: You say that “the soul is born by our spirit nature”. If our spirit nature is our soul, how would that sentence make sense? It would be the same as saying “the soul is born by the soul.” Do you get what I’m saying? It’s not our spirit nature that gives birth to the soul, it’s the moral mind. The moral mind is not spiritual. It is subspiritual.
156:5.2 Your spirit nature — the jointly created soul — is a living growth, but the mind and morals of the individual are the soil from which these higher manifestations of human development and divine destiny must spring. The soil of the evolving soul is human and material, but the destiny of this combined creature of mind and spirit is spiritual and divine.”
Thanks Bonita…..as I understand it then, the gateway is the mind’s connection and response to the highest two Adjutants which eventually results in the first moral decision in mind which gives birth to the soul with mind and TA as the parents of this joint creation.
It would help me in this topic to consider what goes on prior to soul birth during infancy, toddling, and childhood related to personality and mind….character development. Watching children and grandchildren grow up, (especially grandchildren as I was so better prepared and cognizant of growth in children the second time around – I think I recall the UB saying that adult longevity which delivered the first grandparent generation was a major social/cultural/family progression in history and I can believe it!), it is obvious to see this “gateway” connection become established as we witness friendliness, kindness, generosity, empathy, etc. We are told that soul birth is by the first moral act/choice/decision….but I witness very “moral” choices before the age given as the common age of soul birth.
What’s going on there? or then?
Thanks also for the gravity details. I think I’m too hung up on the relationship of mass to physical gravity….or perhaps it is the same as well….the gravitational effect does not change but only the reaction/response increases resulting in the appearance (to me) that the “force” of the attracting gravity (non-physical forms) itself increases. Very helpful. As is the clarification that the gravity circuits are connective to the Spirit ministries…not the same but inherently connected in purpose and effect.
So, it is not a “mass” response to non-physical gravity circuits…but as we grow in the Spirit and progress through the circles, do you think there is a form of acceleration in progress as we grow and learn in experience and wisdom to actually be more responsive and progress through the evolution of dominance as pre-fusion ascenders? As we become more real and actualized by experience and wisdom development, how is progress affected thereby?
I’m so glad for the teaching that we may remain confident in the face of all confusions and uncertainties!! For this tadpole still has plenty of those…hahahaha!
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