2006-07-31-Urantia Returns to Spiritual Universe
Marin #101
Contents
• 1 Heading
o 1.1 Topic: Urantia Returns to the Spiritual Community of the Local Universe
o 1.2 Group: Marin TeaM
• 2 Facilitators
o 2.1 Teacher: Nebadonia
o 2.2 TR: JL
• 3 Session
o 3.1 Opening
o 3.2 Dialogue
o 3.3 Closing
Topic: Urantia Returns to the Spiritual Community of the Local Universe
Group: Marin TeaM
Facilitators
Teacher: Nebadonia
TR: JL
Session
Opening
Dear Mother Spirit and Michael, We thank You for Your lessons encouraging us to be more along the lines of independent thinkers and free spirits; and light-hearted to boot. We welcome Your assurance that we need to feel the effort involved in stretching within these endeavors–for we certainly do at times. You have let us know that through feeling this effort we can, in Your words, get a fine measure of the value of our projects, and this adds to the depth and weight of our souls. So we thank You for Your encouragement, Your insights, and Your assurances that accompany us through our days. Amen.
NEBADONIA: Good evening, My sons, this is Nebadonia, your spiritual mother–directly so; and I might remind you I am mother, too, to all the Ministering Spirits that delight so in helping you–your Guardian Angels, and including all the ranks of the Planetary Helpers here on Urantia.
Reconciliation (Urantia returns to the spiritual community of the Local Universe)
Imagine, if you will, being the mother of such a vast host of angels, as well as being a co-parent with Michael of the higher beings, the Bright Evening stars, the Melchizedeks, the Vorondadek and Lanondadeks Sons in the Constellations and the Systems. What a wonderful family we have here in our little niche of the Superuniverse—just over three million, eight hundred thousand inhabited evolutionary worlds.
Especially now that the spiritual quarantine of the rebellious worlds of Satania has been lifted, We invite you to feel Our welcome in returning to the fold, so to speak. Urantia is being certainly, step by step, reinstalled in the spiritual circuits of the Local Universe. So also, ever keep in mind My children, how very few planets have rebelled within this vast family, and how nearly unique is your planetary history.
Most of you who have read the Urantia book have intimated by now this was one of the main purposes for giving this revelation to mankind at this time. It awaited a gradual evolution of concepts and ideation in order to express even partially some larger truths within the revelation, and thoroughly, as best We could within your language, account for why your world is as it is. We hope you have received an enormous reassurance of Spirit’s more normal ways, not only of our Father throughout His vast creation, but also of Michael and I, your spiritual parents here in our Local Universe.
Michael mentioned last week that you can think of God’s will as Reality–with a capital R–the totality of creation, so long as you keep in mind that this will ever, throughout all eternity, be a transcendent encompassing for your soul. This is why Michael’s peace, and God’s presence, are the compensating factors that do surpass understanding. These you can know absolutely in a way you can never fully know the creation itself.
God’s will
Yet you must understand that not all aspects of what you experience are directly God’s will, but some only indirectly–insofar as He has endowed His children at all levels with freedom of will. Much of the suffering the human race on Urantia has experienced was due to some disastrous decisions of your System Sovereign and your Planetary Prince, as well as all the subordinate beings, the Angels and Primary Midwayers, who joined the rebellion. These decisions are obviously part of Reality written large. They are not God’s will insofar as what He would have His children do to live full, rewarding lives being responsible for how their actions might affect others.
So too the Supreme Being, the Soul of time and space, contains everything that has happened to all the personal beings out here, including all the pain and suffering. Keep in mind that God’s will, as well as God Himself, as well as His creation, is a transcendent reality that necessarily involves you in the adventure of discovering what it is. Michael mentioned how questioning yourself, especially of your certainties, is a very healthy way of reminding yourself that you don’t quite yet have a thorough grasp on everything that is.
In a teleconference last Thursday Michael introduced the notion of how thoroughgoing this self-questioning and, you might say, other-questioning should be. Not to repeat what He said, but since the transcript may not be out for a while, to recapitulate: your own Declaration of Independence states that a just government derives its authority from the consent of the governed; and this is true. We ask you to extend this principle to all human associations, not only to governmental organizations at whatever level—city, or state, or nation, but also to those social organizations of religionists, what you normally call religions.
Thinking(Becoming independent thinkers)
We ask you to think about and understand how all human organizations and institutions derive an inordinate power from the unconscious identification of their followers. While on one level you have the truism that all power resides in the people–that is its origin, it is also true that a great percentage of folks give this power away unconsciously and unintentionally, since doing so was never a conscious choice in their life.
Without a thoroughgoing questioning of yourself and the accidental cultural heritage you were born into–all the institutions that affect your life; without this conscious, thoroughgoing questioning there is no way you can withdraw, if you wish, this unconscious identification. As long as you automatically think of yourself as a Republican or Democrat; a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Buddhist—to name a few; a Northerner or Southerner; an American or a Englishman: as long as you so automatically identify yourself this way, to that very degree, My children, you endow various leaders of these organizations and institutions with an inordinate power. You are allowing them to act in your behalf without any well-thought-out feedback from you.
So yes, by all means, literally in ever which-way you can imagine, We encourage you to be independent thinkers. This is not only how you grow and change and become conscious of the cultural heritage you have grown up with, this is also, ironically–for how much these organizations resist your independence, this is what they need as well–to grow and to change, to keep up with and be appropriate to an evermore rapidly changing world.
So We ask you to accept this as part of your response-ability, your ability to respond adequately to the necessity of being your own person, as totally as you can imagine this now, as well as accepting you have this responsibility towards these various organizations or institutions with which you have been identifying. Do not worry, My children, this will not cause any kind of sudden collapse, even if almost everybody involved were to engage in this. In a way this is an ideal I’m painting for you, an ideal world in which the leaders of government, of religions, of different social organizations, are highly responsive to their members because the members are giving them this back-pressure, this feedback, this demand for responsibility. This is just one more facet of the more perfect world We would point you toward.
Here, My children, let Me caution you about a type of hubris that can creep into your thinking. Through your mass media you can look abroad at various conflicts happening about the world and overly-credit yourself with being relatively more free-thinking than what appear to be masses marching in total lockstep in other societies or cultures who do not enjoy such a benefit of a pluralistic society free to express such a wide spectrum of opinion. Rather, send them your love and your prayers, and just do your best in your own sphere of influence, right within yourself and without.
Serve your own institutions and organizations well by your emotional and intellectual detachment from them. If you stay open to the past, especially your own personal past, you needn’t fear that anything of value will be lost. Anything of true value cannot only withstand, but will actually invite scrutiny. Neither Michael nor I have ever, nor will We ever ask of you any kind of blind belief, nor acquiescence in any kind of dogma.
Rather We seek to invigorate you to challenge and test what We offer you. Merely entertain Our suggestions so the test is valid. From now on your intellectual and spiritual ears should prick up at even the merest suggestion, the slightest coercion, that you not question what someone tells you, for again ironically, you will be letting them down, as well as yourself, if you do.
Justice (Transparency in all social institutions)
You are well on your way in this. The concept of transparency in government and other social institutions is a wonderful one. A free press is rightly called the fourth estate of government, for only by giving full voice to the plurality inherent within a people can you tap into the creativity of each individual. We caution that a certain amount of apparent chaos is often an intermediate step to go through from a very rigidly controlled society to true democracy. But in evaluating this transitional cost, often measured in blood, We ask you to consider too the cost of trying to maintain any status quo, by force, in the face of the general, world-wide evolution. When you seek to evaluate the full cost of what you call totalitarian governments or rigid mono-theocracies, keep in mind what this autocracy does to a peoples’ soul. It is an invitation, even the demand for a whole people to stay in a stage of immaturity and accept the self-proclaimed benevolence of a paternalistic leader, without question.
So accept this lesson of Mine tonight, My children, as trying to flesh out your concepts of what a more ideal world and society would look like. Ultimately, as your Urantia book delights in pointing out the next several stages of planetary development, as a people become more and more mature, independent, and self-governing, much of what you know as governmental and religious institutions will slowly fade away, transitional scaffolding no longer necessary once a more glorious freedom, a truly response-able freedom, blazes out from each individual soul.
You have it within you, My children. Practice your stillness to find it, and then let it out. You will not be standing alone when you forsake your unconscious identifications. You’ll have more fully joined your spiritual family, and you will be even more able to feel Their and My love. If you have any comments or questions this evening, let them come from your heart.
Student: Mother, I’ve questioned myself and my life in the past and wound up very confused. I didn’t know which way to go, once I…lost certainty. Could You explain a little bit more about how to question, or what to question?
Inquiry (What to question, and how)
NEBADONIA: Yes, My son. Tonight I tried to express the whole process and what is involved at different steps, so as to prepare you for some seeming contradictions, one being that this uncertainty you feel is not necessarily, but can be, a move towards greater truth. It depends on where you are coming from. If for a long time you’ve identified with what you were simply raised with—a certain political party, a certain religion or church, certain social beliefs concerning race and sex, and if these were never questioned or examined consciously, We’ve talked often about how they influence you. Through the phenomenon of psychological projection you can even believe, with all your heart, that these are objective facts you are perceiving, that this religion is better than that, that one sex or race is superior.
So this is what We would have you question. You can start by imagining someone asking you: What are you–in terms of political affiliation, racial or sexual stereotyping, religion or membership in a certain church? And just extend this as much as you can worldwide to include different cultures. Think of your two major World Wars of the last century, fueled largely by sentiments of national and racial superiority. In the previous century your own nation’s bloody Civil War was also fueled by regional and racial prejudices and stereotypes.
As you slowly lose these unconscious identifications, My son, you will find your spiritual home base, and your own soul swelling forth consciously. You have had your own individual unique life. This is your possession, and the more you are open to the wonder of it, the less you need these other unconscious props to hold you up.
By all means, support whatever political party you want. Enjoy any church affiliation, and company, and companionship, and society that fills your heart. Just do so consciously. Does this at least begin to answer your question, My son?
Dialogue
Student: Yes, it does. When You were speaking I began to see that I was fearful of the chaos–not chaos, but fearful of the uncertainty that questioning my life left me with, and I was looking for a certainty that I was doing the right thing. I think that I was doing the right thing but I wasn’t… I don’t quite know how to express this last feeling.
I believe I was doing the right thing because, here I am!–sitting here listening to You, which not very many people are willing to do. It doesn’t elevate me above anybody else, it’s just: Here I am. And a lot of that chaos and uncertainty have gone away, a little bit because I was fearful, but more because I was running out of things to question.
What do I do with questioning a political party, or a church, a religious institution? How do I judge them, that they are not quite right, or not quite wrong? It seems to me I’m putting too much personal judgment on a particular institution, or even a person, and I’m not sure my judgment on a person is valid.
NEBADONIA: Well, good! (student chuckles) You’ve thoroughly understood Our lessons on not judging other individuals. As for organizations and institutions, just be open to all viewpoints. Be curious about all viewpoints. Be aware there are so many different viewpoints swarming like a cloud of angry bees around every issue. (Yes) It’s only by not—unconsciously–identifying with one particular point of view can you really, honestly entertain all the others. Fortunately it works both ways. By trying sincerely to understand all viewpoints, you become aware of your own, and its origin. And so you make your decision to, shall we say, back a particular candidate in a political race. At the same time try to give him and his party as much feedback–constructive critique as you can. Seek to make your leaders responsible to you.
(The difference between self-questioning and self-doubt)
Michael had an interesting and critical distinction last week about the difference between self-questioning and self-doubt—which is largely an unconscious kind of anxiety that casts a pall of uncertainty over your life… (Yes, I can identify with that) …yet you need to, rather than being afraid of it, courageously wade into it. In your stillness, let yourself feel it so your mind can articulate what it is. This is how you bring it into consciousness, so you can question the validity of it. It might be some hangover from years before, some previous pain you suffered; but that was then and this is now. This is the meaning of catharsis, of letting these doubts come into your mind so you can see what they are. This is opening to your own feelings to get to the root of their causes. This can happen in your stillness, especially when you use stillness as a way of questioning your habits.
Before you initiate some habit you know is bad for your health, sit down and take ten deep breaths, feel your heart beating—reconnect with your physical body, treasure and cherish it. See what this unhealthy habit is doing to it. Rather than, say, plopping down for a nightly routine of several hours of meaningless televised entertainment, sit down and just feel the push of that habit to fill the time, and resist it. See what that is. Wonder what you might do tonight, differently. Is there anything you’ve been letting slip-slide along for a while, that really needs your attention? If this seems to take some great effort, then feel it. This is your life. This is how you reestablish contact with it.
Trust Me, My son, the specific ideas will come to you if you give yourself the opportunity. Keep a notebook and jot things down. These are ways of reinvigorating yourself from the inside-out, starting in spirit, being articulated in your mind, suggesting activities for your body.
You just put your finger on it, My son, how you from time to time get the feeling of that thread—actually a steel cable when you get down to it—that has tied your life together, that has brought you to here. That steel cable of your soul is there to be discovered, cherished, and enjoyed. This is not ego; this not vainglory. This is just the truth of who and what you are. Can you feel that strong connection, My son?
Student: Could You say it again like that, please?
NEBADONIA: Can you feel that strong connection that got you to here?
Student: Yes, I can. And I’m constantly recognizing how amazing this life is—the possibilities inherent in it; when I stop to look, instead of just whizzing by. It’s very satisfying. I don’t know if I realize that steel cable yet; but if You ask, here I am.
NEBADONIA: It takes a while to feel the enormous power of spirit, especially for so many in your culture who can barely credit the reality of it at all. Here We come suggesting that spirit is the most fundamental reality, the origin of both the mental and the physical dimensions. As you say, you have to stop your whizzing by. You have to stop. As Michael said, it takes great courage to accept that stillness is one of the most important, necessary things you can do. There is nothing else happening somewhere else that is more important. But this too, My son, is something you have to earn, is it not?
Student: Yes, Mother, it is. Thank You.
Value (Something of value to earn)
NEBADONIA: And so we end facing the glory within the fact there is truly something of value to earn. Imagine what a hell there would be if there were not, if there were no way of measuring the value of things. (Yes) There is a way of crediting your steadfastness, your commitment to these Monday night evenings—the effort involved in the travel, the transcribing. It is valid to feel good about these contributions, without getting a swelled head.
Student: Thank You, Mother.
Closing
NEBADONIA: You’re welcome, My son. This brings us around to worship, to thanking our Father for setting things up this way, for giving us such freedom of opportunity, even the freedom to miss it…(both laugh)…or disregard it, or devalue it. Amazing freedom. (Life is amazing) It truly is, My son, and you have a feeling now of what soul is—the capturing of this living, moment by moment; the fact you are growing something for all eternity, and it is part of a Totality of all personal experience. You’re part of the Supreme Being, and your soul is vouchsafed by a fragment of God himself, as co-author. So be in My love, My son. Just be kind to yourself. Give yourself the opportunity to feel these things–in a way–on your own as well. Good evening.
