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The Arenatransformation endured by ascendant personalitywe will come to see humanity—ourselves—ina new light, and be surprised. For what we willdiscover is that Human is part of a transitionaltechnique, used by the Universal Father to ziptogether two fragments of himself—Adjusterand Person. Given time and space and a masteruniverse age, this union emerges from itsabsonite womb as an “associable absolute”,and, as a Solitary Messenger puts it, sufficientfor “sub-infinite penetration” of the Father’sactualizing absolute domain. [p.1226:13]Looking aheadThis study begins with an exploration of Personality, thenconsiders Humanity and the role of Frames for Thought.With all this in place, we will be ready to consider atransition of personality, set in motion before the stage ofspace and time appeared. As our study of this transitionunfolds, we will come to see that the phenomenonof man really makes sense only on the largest—theAbsolute—stage.1. Personality“The concept of truth might possibly be entertainedapart from personality, the concept of beauty may existwithout personality, but the concept of divine goodnessis understandable only in relation to personality. Only aperson can love and be loved. Even beauty and truth wouldbe divorced from survival hope if they were not attributesof a personal God, a loving Father.” [p.31:3]The Urantia Papers imply that there is one thing, oneredeeming feature, that makes mortals interesting tothe original I AM Creator: we are personal. So what ispersonality? What does it mean to be personal? Whatrelationship does personality have to matter, mind andspirit? And how do all these relate to “reality”?Moral wisdom and scientific logic both claim insightinto these questions, but share little common ground. Overrecent centuries these distinct approaches to understandinghave forged those frames for thought employed byreligionists and secular scientists, yet neither has solvedthe mystery of personality, let alone reality. But in the“other and higher frame” of the Urantia Papers, bothpersonality and reality are abundantly described. We alsosee wisdom and logic to be complementary views, bothof which personalities require to successfully explorereality.Let’s first consider how personality and reality appearin a secular materialist view. To the materialist, realityconsists of energy evolving in space and through time.Physics shaped this energy into matter; chemistry turnedthis matter into life, which evolved mind and became man.Man then dreamt for himself a spirit world, and ever sincehas endured the valley of the shadow of death, troubled bynotions of identity, a persistent sense that “I am”. In thismaterialist frame, personality is reduced to little more thana novelty of complexified biology. Nevertheless, since thecurrent tools and meters of mankind measure only matter,for those researchers following the dictates of logic, thisWinter 2007materialist view seems a reasonable first guess.Especially when compared with prevailing tribaltales of vengeful gods.But the Urantia Papers offer another view, onewhich avoids the alchemy of turning matter intomind, and mind into spirit. Instead, they describereality as a configuration of four “absolutepresence” circuits, each with its distinct sourceand center. The source and center of materialreality, they call the Isle of Paradise. Anythingwhich responds to this central Isle, they defineto be material. The source and center of mind,they call the Infinite Spirit. That which respondsto this center, they define to be mind. The sourceand center of spirit, they call the Eternal Son; that whichresponds to the Son, they define to be spirit. Finallythere is the Universal Father; personality is defined tobe that which responds to Him. Personality is revealedto be a circuit so fundamental, and so precious, that theUniversal Father did not, or could not, delegate its care.In this other higher frame, one might even conclude thatthe domains of matter, mind and spirit serve to foster anabsolute home, a place for all persons in the family of theoriginal I AM.So we see that the Urantia Papers turn the materialistframe both upside down and inside out. They revealpersonality to be not only the motivational center of reality,but also a desired culmination. Instead of life and mindand man evolving from energy, blindly and by chance, thePapers reveal the material domain to be arranged by mindunder the control of spirit for the purposes of the I AMmotivator. And it is one of these purposes of the I AM thatis the center of our theme: if the Universal Father reallydid say to the Eternal Son, “Let us make mortal man in ourown image”, then for this venture to succeed they requirea place and a time, a finite womb and a universe age, fromwhich to give birth to such sons. This need ripples fromthe absolute, becomes a pre-echo in the absonite, and theMaster Architects respond. In the blink of an absolute eye,the Father has his family: trillions of persons, “associableabsolutes” [p.1226:13] made in his image, then enhancedby experience into near infinite variety.This is the transformation the Urantia Papers help toilluminate—the evolution of us. We are the personalitiesin transition, and our ascent as persons, from mortal toFinaliter and beyond, makes us able to endure, and freeto enjoy, our Father’s non-finite Paradise home. So, whatdoes this make man? When the poet asked this question,he may not have been ready for the answer.Reality CheckWith so many facets and phases of reality floating about,it’s time for a reality check. Note that we cannot observeor measure the relationships implied above; our bestlogic and deduction will not provide a proof. So howcan we judge whether such sources and relationships aretrue? Consider that problem of “seeing the forest for thetrees”: how can we ever hope to understand the nature ofthe universal forest, stuck as we are in one cell of a leafof a sapling?page 5

The ArenaAre such fundamental aspects of realitybeyond mortal capacity to discover? If so, thenthe Papers state that such things, eventually, maybe revealed. Such is the case with the UrantiaPapers, which describe themselves as the fifthrevelation of epochal significance to this world.But modern, skeptical humanity has learned thehard way to seek proof rather than apply faith.So what to do when faced with revelation? Howto proceed? How to integrate revelation into thecultures evolved by mankind? Are we to dismisslogic? Is the acceptance of revelation illogical?In Paper 103, one of Nebadon’s Melchizedeksputs it like this,“Faith most willingly carries reason along as far as reasoncan go and then goes on with wisdom to the full philosophiclimit; and then it dares to launch out upon the limitlessand never-ending universe journey in the sole company ofTRUTH.” [P.103:9:7, p.1141:5]Our world’s cultures are bumping against each other.Rigid tribal frames are reappearing, an attempt to forcecrude certainties and order upon confused lives andcurious children. Secular humanists suggest we “celebratelife” and enjoy our moment in the sun, since this is asgood as it gets. Astronomers peering through telescopes,and physicists peering through super-conducting supercolliding microscopes, gasp with awe at the unimaginedwonders they behold. All the while mothers bring babiesinto families, helping to create small teams of personslearning about life. Indeed, we are a world of baby persons,each yearning and learning and seeking that supremedelight love for one another.Yet too many of us see far too much of fear and deathand despair. How can this be? Who is responsible? Surelyno deity would ever make such a world? Such a state ofaffairs must make us wonder how the world should be, toponder the purpose of mankind, to ask again the question,“What is man?”. For our world, the time has come whenwe need to see as we are seen; for this some degreeof revelation was simply required. As a Melchizedekexplains,“Revelation is a technique whereby ages upon ages of timeare saved in the necessary work of sorting and sifting theerrors of evolution from the truths of spirit acquirement.”[P.101:5:1, p.1110:4]2. Humanity“Though the Eternal Son cannot personally participate inthe bestowal of the Thought Adjusters, he did sit in councilwith the Universal Father in the eternal past, approvingthe plan and pledging endless co-operation, when theFather, in projecting the bestowal of the Thought Adjusters,proposed to the Son, ‘Let us make mortal man in our ownimage.’ ” [p.78:3]Here is the non-time moment when the Universal Fatherand the Eternal Son make plans that involve us. Giventhe nature of Though Adjusters, these trinity partners arenot merely suggesting some associates, but requesting apage 6family. This is no small project. They proposeones like themselves, made with minimalconstraints; they envisage associable absolutes,but each drawn upon a blank page. And toamplify uniqueness, such sons should start ashuman, raised up from mud on the warm, wetworlds of space.Michael, man and GodThis process of bringing man to life, of initiatingthe Father’s ascending sons, became the challengeof the grand universe age. The Father’s CreatorSons, the Michaels, took on the job, and madethemselves the Supreme’s guarantee of success.Papers 32-56 describe how our particular Michael and hisConsort, the local universe Divine Minister, approachedthis task. From literally swinging the material of Nebadoninto place, to raising up their own family of administratorsons and ministering daughters, they prepared Nebadonto meet the request of the Universal Father.“And then, when such a universe has been so completelyorganized and so repletely manned, does the Creator Sonenter into the Father’s proposal to create mortal man intheir divine image.” [p.359:5]Now may begin the business of seeding life on theworlds of space; of teasing matter to become responsiveto mind; of aligning such animations with the sevenadjutants, that first down-grasp of ministry to ascendinglife. Now the Lanonandeks swing into action, initiatingorder and culture among the feisty tribes. Soon ascendersare graduating from the mansion worlds, seekingsatisfactions for their insatiable curiosity, and adventuresfor their irrepressible momentum. Before long, theseascending souls arrive at the Halls of Salvington, meetwith Michael, and ponder their next moves. Then likeproud parents at a graduation, Michael and his Consortbid farewell to another child they’ve fostered to firstbase, a baby spirit person now seeking its source andcenter—the I AM Father on paradise. As ages pass, andlight and life approach, this occasional launch becomesof flood, a torrent of trillions pouring out from the localuniverse domains, and streaming in to paradise. What aromance of planning and technique, of persistence andsuccess, of the power of the Father’s love to draw hishuman children home.HumanSo what then is man? What does the light of fifth epochalinsight reveal about the human condition? In this otherhigher frame, it appears that man is a technique for kickstarting our ascent. The human experience becomes thefirst in a series of cycles of embryonic assembly, free-willgrowth, and butterfly-like transformation. By these cyclesof expansion and ascent, the Universal Father unfurls thepotentials he folded within the union of those fragments ofhimself, Adjuster and Person. In the frame of the UrantiaPapers, man is a moment of opportunity; that momentin the womb of time and space when we can choose toengage a relationship which when consummated, makesus literally the sons of God:Winter 2007

The Arena“The Adjuster is an absolute essence of aninfinite being imprisoned within the mind of afinite creature which, depending on the choosingof such a mortal, can eventually consummate thistemporary union of God and man and veritablyactualize a new order of being for unendinguniverse service. The Adjuster is the divineuniverse reality which factualizes the truth thatGod is man’s Father.” [p.1176/7]Just when Urantia’s modern materialistsclaim to have a firm grasp on the nature ofman, the Revelators tell us things like this! Thesecular humanist, mapping the human fromgenetic components to embryo, to infant, childand adult, and thence to death, happily admits this is amost extraordinary sequence for physics and chemistryto produce; then his logic constrains him to conclude,“So what?”. But with a mere touch of faith we are freedfrom that stagnant frame, and offered a panoramic viewwithin which the phenomenon of man makes sense. Thesort of view enjoyed by Jesus, Melchizedek and Adam,and so sadly misunderstood by a handful of youngLanonandeks.TechniqueAre we left to wonder how this scheme of mortaltransformation works? What techniques do Michael andhis team employ, sufficient to transform mortals madefrom dust into first stage spirits, able to endure and enjoythe journey to Paradise? Part 2 of The Urantia Booklays out in detail the saga of how Michael is meeting hisfather’s request. Appropriately, this epic tale begins asadjutant motivation in the mind of our Local UniverseMother, the Divine Minister of Salvington:“It is the presence of the seven adjutant mind-spiritson the primitive worlds that conditions the course oforganic evolution;” [p.401:5]. “they are in fact a level ofconsciousness of the Divine Minister” [p.402:1]The seven adjutant circuits appear to be the targets atwhich the Life Carriers aim their efforts to evolve theirpatterns of planetary life. Technically, the human of anygiven world is that animal able to respond to the fullspectrum of adjutant motivation, those seven differentialurges animating transitory material life. The initial humancondition thus becomes an exercise where mortals strugglewith themselves, adjusting from being merely a responderto adjutant arousal,“In the mortal experience the human intellect resides in therhythmic pulsations of the adjutant mind-spirits and effectsits decisions within the arena produced by encircuitmentwithin this ministry.” [P.1286:5]to becoming a responsible ascender, hungeringand thirsting for the next level of the Divine Minister’sministry. Indeed, for progressive humans, the “adjutant”technique of motivation soon falls away, like trainingwheels once a child has learned to ride:From the seventh to the third circle there occurs increasedand unified action of the seven adjutant mind-spirits in theWinter 2007task of weaning the mortal mind from its dependenceon the realities of the material life mechanismspreparatory to increased introduction to morontialevels of experience. From the third circle onwardthe adjutant influence progressively diminishes.”[p.1211:5]But again, as with personality, spirit andmind, this scenario of adjutant arousal is currentlybeyond our capacity to measure or to prove. Sohow do we answer the materialist when, togetherwith the revelators he points out that,“In the inner experience of man, mind is joined tomatter. Such material-linked minds cannot survivemortal death.” [p.26:1]The dictates of logic have, slowly and without remorse,steered some to a secular humanism, a frame whitewashedwith notions of awe and respect, but purged of all hopefor personal survival beyond death: “from dust to dust”.But once again, we are free to exploit revelation to expandthis barren, narrow view:“But selfhood of survival value, selfhood that can transcendthe experience of death, is only evolved by establishing apotential transfer of the seat of the identity of the evolvingpersonality from the transient life vehicle—the materialbody—to the more enduring and immortal nature of themorontia soul and on beyond to those levels whereon thesoul becomes infused with, and eventually attains the statusof, spirit reality.” [p.1229:7]In the Urantia frame, the human experience of birth,life and death is seen to be the first in a series of cycles:of formation, evolution and transition. The material cycleenables transition to the morontial; the morontia regimeenables transition to the spiritual; and the grand universespiritual ascent enables transition beyond the finite. Whobut the Creators themselves could have foreseen suchpersons and such journeys, unfolding from mere humansand their unremarkable material lives?“Material mind is the arena in which human personalitieslive, are self-conscious, make decisions, choose God orforsake him, eternalize or destroy themselves.” [p.1216:4]AssessmentFor us, on this quarantined and confused world, “human”implies an adjutant-animated mortal striving for alignment,contact and fusion with an indwelling spirit monitor, theThought Adjuster.“Mind is the human soil from which the spirit Monitormust evolve the morontia soul with the co-operation of theindwelt personality.” [p.1216:2]This exercise of adjutant mastery and Adjusterattunement takes place in the “mind arena of choice”, thatprivate inner world, shaped by circumstance but furnishedby ourselves:“It is the creativity of the inner world that is most subjectto your direction because there your personality is solargely liberated from the fetters of the laws of antecedentcausation.” [p.1220:7]page 7

The ArenaBut if each of us is subject to the constructsand delusions of our private inner worlds, isthere any objective way for us, or those near us,to gauge our progress? Our fellows may see ourachievements, and suspect our unseen fruits;our motivations and potentials may be laid bareto the sight of our seraphim and administrators.But how are we to judge ourselves? Is there anysimple way for us to measure our success? Nearthe start of our journey, one sure way is to checkhow we relate with our fellows. When childishand primitive antagonisms give way to “feelingsof tenderness” and “emotions of tolerance”, weknow are improving. As we increasingly knowourselves, more deeply can we understand our fellows.This insight generates tolerance, this tolerance becomesfriendship, an

Th e Ar e n A Volume 14 No 3 AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND URANTIA ASSOCIATION Winter 2007 Registered Mark of URANTIA Foundation. Used pursuant to license. In this issue. UA