© 1993 Tony Rudd, Ann Bendall, Ken Glasziou, Neil Francey
© 1993 ANZURA, Australia & New Zealand Urantia Association
2 Salisbury Crt, Glen Waverley, Victoria, AUSTRALIA, 3150.
¶ In This Issue…
SIX-0-SIX
PO BOX 616, Sunnybank, Queensland, AUSTRALLA 4109
Six-O-Six is a bi-monthly publication dedicated to the promotion of International goodwill and understanding among readers of The URANTIA Book.
- So they Say
- Articles
- How to Become More Jesus-like
- Ego
- What Jesus Did
- Divine Antidotes
- Crossword
- On Reflection
- A Quick Trip to Paradise
- When All is Said and Done
¶ Editor’s Notebook
With this issue, Six-O-Six completes fourteen years of continuous publication.
It also marks the time for change. In its current format, Six-O-Six will not continue.
The publication has, over the years, shifted ground while endeavouring to accommodate varied opinion into it’s central theme — generating goodwill and understanding among readers of The URANTIA Book.
However, the book is no longer viewed in the light of its teachings alone. Other religious and philosophical interests, debate on personal issues and legal and political argument on dissemination are seeking to dominate. This sounds a familiar story.
With its ‘narrow’ editorial policy, Six-O-Six has been accused by all special interest groups of having a hostile disposition towards them.
It is hoped that appropriate publications, as required, will now arise as a legacy. I will be happy to consider sending first editions of any new publications, postage paid, to the current readership of Six-O-Six. However I will not release the address list to anyone.
Thanks are due in abundance to many for their Six-O-Six creativity, but I shall nominate just a few for special effort: Delphius, David Glass, Ken Glasziou, Tony Rudd and my unfailing supportive family.
More importantly, I want to thank from the bottom of my heart, our small band of dedicated readers over the years. I constantly get feedback from people everywhere in appreciation of our efforts. I also get feedback about the quality image the newsletter has, and I am not making this change without considerable thought to its implications.
The future? I believe it is time for the teachings to filter to a wider audience. Nothing new in that. But currently our publications represent book readers talking to each other. That has been essential and still has relevance but it is not enough.
The general audience is not buying it. I further believe the 1990s will raise spiritual/moral issues into the midst of politics and the media. The demand for accountability is the secondary reason for this happening.
The primary reason is the people want it. We need it, we feel it inside, we live it.
As ‘living’ and ‘roles’ are being redefined, people seek inner resources for coping with the incredible change. There is recourse back to tradition and inner values and more discussion on religion and ethical matters can be expected.
Also, a life of meaning has to be found in our world of high unemployment. A career of personal development that in turn can enrich others needs to be part of a successful educational system. Vocational labels will have less cultural significance and the worth of the individual needs to be recognised.
But the most difficult task is to stay in touch and care at personal levels. This is a paradox in times of global communications. We must find ways for technology to draw us closer together.
With our need for stability to counterbalance change, we’ll want good local communities with a sense of mutual obligation. Spiritual interests can grow in a sensible environment. And the cynics in the public arenas will have difficulty ridiculing true experiences. A publication needs to contribute to this sense of community, of family. So following a timely recess, a new journal will be researched and complied in an endeavour to do this.
The teachings of The URANTIA Book will be contained within it but not by name. It will be for general readership.
I look forward to being in contact when this journal becomes a reality.
Neil Francey
¶ So They Say
Rupert Murdoch, Publisher
Gone are the days when a few newspaper publishers could sit down and agree to keep a whole nation ignorant.
Brooks Atkinson (1951)
We need Supermen to rule us — the job is so vast and the need for wise judgement is so urgent. But, alas, there are no supermen.
Lauchlan Chipman, Writer/Philosopher
While Rand’s objectivism has made zero impact on mainstream philosophy, it has spawned literally thousands of disciples, mainly outside universities.
In part this may reflect an appetite for philosophising in the wider community that most professional philosophers continue to neglect. More ominously, I fear, it reveals a craving for certainty in relation to fundamental questions which neither religious dogma nor political ideology any longer provide.
Philip Adams, Satirist
Here is the news. Scientists at the CSIRO have succeeded in isolating the religion virus. This dread contagion, more virulent than bubonic plague, has been decimating human populations for thousands of years. By lowering the healthy scepticism in the immune system, it allows fanaticism to eat into the brain. The ability to think for oneself is destroyed and there are increasing outbreaks of irrationality.
Delusions can follow, wherein the sufferer sees visions and hears voices. Inflamed emotions can lead to a wide range of antisocial activities. Although the virus has now been identified, progress on the vaccine will be retarded because of the need to experiment with humans.
‘Bulletin’ Magazine, September, 1993
World astronomy is buzzing with the news. The planet Jupiter is likely to be struck by a comet in the last week of July 1994, with an estimated release of energy equivalent to thousands of millions of tonnes of TNT. The effects should be visible on earth.
The material contained in this publication is of general comment only, and not advice on any particular matter. The publisher, authors and editors expressly disclaim all liability in respect of this information and of the consequences of any actions resulting therefrom. Interpretations and opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent those of Six-O-Six or Urantia Foundation. All quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from The URANTIA Book © 1955 and used by permission. This publication is copyright. With the exception of fair dealings under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without permission from the publisher.
¶ Articles
¶ How To Become More Jesus-Like
Tony Rudd, Melbourne
The 1993 URANTIA Book Readers’ Conference at the Gold Coast is over. As Neil has mentioned elsewhere in this special conference issue of Six-O-Six, it was a terrific gathering for all concerned. The theme ‘Welcome to the Shores of Paradise’ was defined in more practical terms as “sharing insights on how we envisage we can spiritually grow [by] better communication with the divine monitor that dwells within the human mind”.
Neil provided an excellent opportunity for individual readers to give short personal accounts of how they strive to do this, as he explains in the ‘On Reflection’ section in this issue. He also afforded a group-oriented opportunity for all participants to put in their views, with group leaders reporting back to the full gathering their group’s conclusions.
Each of the three days kicked off with a more formal presentation of ideas and concepts spurred by the theme. Neil on the first morning spoke about the concept of pattern on different levels as a conceptual framework to view our Paradise ascent. On Sunday morning, Ann Bendall gave a presentation on ego, and on the final morning, Ken Glasziou gave a summary of how the Master himself refined his contact with his thought adjuster (not a bad role model, eh?) The two last talks are covered elsewhere in this edition.
¶ The Risks Of Life
This is a poem which Terry Hovaghimlan read out at the Conference.
To laugh is to risk appearing a fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideals and dreams before a crowd
is to risk their love.
To love is to risk not to be loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.
But the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
For the one who risks nothing, does nothing,
has nothing and finally is nothing,
He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply
cannot learn, feel, grow or love.
Charged with this certitude he is a slave.
For he has forfeited freedom.
For only the one who risks is free.
¶ Ego
Ann Bendall, Nambour, Qld
Ego is a fascinating, heavily value-laden word in our culture. It is scen as a bad thing, a positively unhealthy thing, a thing to be stifled and suppressed. It has come to be identified with egotist (a conceited, boastful person; a self-interested person), rather than ego (one’s image of oneself).
In Western society, in particular, there are some decidedly unhealthy social rules which cause a lot folks to be labelled egotists. First of all we are to be winners. At the same time as being winners, we are not allowed to congratulate ourselves, for then we are boastful and have a bad ego. So we are to be smug in our egos, say: “Oh it really wasn’t that good” (when perhaps our Thought Adjuster regards it as positively brilliant work on its part) or say: “It was only luck”. Then everyone is happy. Those who regard themselves as failures do not have to feel that there might be something they could ask the winner about, or perhaps learn from, some belief that they might find benefit in discarding. And so continues stagnation of the social unit, plus heaps of self-deception. If pressure is placed too heavily on the winner to be self-effacing, for fear of being accused of self importance, there is a possibility of another screwed up ego in the making.
¶ What Jesus Did
Ken Glasziou, Maleny
(All emphases within quotes from The URANTIA Book have been added.)
Let’s start this quest for knowledge with first examining what Jesus was supposed to do, before we go on to consider what he actually did do, and how that affects us. We can find out what Jesus was supposed to do by referring to the beginning of Part 4 of The URANTIA Book.
“Michael had a double purpose in coming to our planet as Jesus of Nazareth. First, he was completing the required bestowal experiences…demanded of all Creator Sons before they can assume complete sovereignty of their created universe… Second, he was aspiring to the privilege of representing the maximum authority of the Paradise Trinity that can be exercised in the direct and personal administration of a local universe.” (UB 120:0.4)
In other words Michael was undertaking this mission in order to qualify as a Master Creator Son. Of importance to us humans is how these aims were to be achieved. To discover that, we have to go to the bestowal charge of Immanuel, the ambassador of the Paradise Trinity assigned to our universe of Nebadon, which included this statement:
¶ Divine Antidotes
Q: Did you know the Foundation isn’t going to print The URANTIA Book any longer?
A: Yep. Still 2097 pages. Same as always.
Bookshop customer:
I’d like a URANTIA Book for my friend.
Bookshop owner:
Sorry, mate, we don’t do exchanges.
Graffiti:
Prophet 1: Legalise telepathy!
Prophet 2: I knew you were going to say that.
There once was a person called
Pride Who read the Book far and wide.
But at the end of the day
He was filled with dismay
For he found there was nothing inside.
Q: What is the best system of book-keeping?
A: Never lend them.
Then there was the minister whose sermon entitled ‘It’s later than you think’ was a great success. The congregation kept looking at their watches.
Some of us have a Zen philosophy about the stock market — we start with $10000 — Zen we have $8000 — Zen we have $6000…
¶ Crosswords
by Audrey Morris, Tewantin, Queensland
Across
1. Petty King of Jericho’s first born 8. Renegade 9. Miler 10. Worse 11. Be 11a. Tumour 12. Eagle 13. Jealousy 16 . Satisfied 19. Watercouse 21. People 22. Engines 23. Temporal 24. Wise man of redmen — first mortal to secure personal guardian 25. Struggle
Down
2. Coloured 3. Decamp 4. Nautical 5. Religious sect 6. Natural home of plants and animals 7. Willed 13. Owner’s mark 14. Exploding mountain 17. Largest star in universe 18. Significant pause 19 . Stay longer (2) 20. Wasp
Note: The solution to this crossword appears overleaf on page 12.
Solution to September/October issue crossword
Across: 1. Hannah 7. Ellanora 8. Normal 9. Lowlands 10. Voyage 11. Nazareth 14. Damascus 18. Andite 19. Cataract 21. Uranus 22. Follower 23. Nestle
Down: 1. Hanavard 2. Numnah 3. Hellenic 4. Claw 5. Anna 6. Credit 13. Home isle 15. Avalon 16. Avails 16a. Saturn 17. Ideals 20. Adwa
¶ On Reflection
¶ A Quick Trip To Paradise
Neil Francey, Brisbane
The 1993 Australian Conference for readers of The URANTIA Book was indeed a journey to the shores of paradise. And it was entirely created by the participants.
The presentations, the humour, the talent and the fellowship were all generated by ourselves. It is amazing how so much can be contributed when UB friends get together. Rewards were derived by all but particularly newer readers who take in lots of ideas in a short time.
In Australia, conferences have had the tendency to inject an impetus into a readership area. It has assisted in generating interest and securing readership commitment. It should be noted that this refers to quality and not quantity.
It is also fair to say that as well as the relaxation and fun, there is a recognition of the responsibility — to ourselves and others. We are having a say in the evolutionary direction of Michael’s own planet.
We are setting a pattern, an arrangement of energies. It is a contribution in some small way helping progress this planet towards settling in Light and Life, which will be a resemblance, a shadow, to the Elcrnal Paradise, the ausolute of patterns.
The articles in this issue of Six-O Six give an indication of the scholarship and merit of the conference presentations. The recurring theme in presentations was the need for prayer, to take action in faith and to use the idea of Jesus as our guide. I’m sure we gained a quiet confidence and an inner peace as a result of our journey. May we continue our journey together.
Shut Not Your Doors
Shut not your doors to me proud libraries,
For that which was lacking on all your well-fill’d
shelves, yet needed most, I bring
Forth from the war emerging a book I have made,
The words of my book nothing the drift of it
every thing,
A book separate, not link’d with the rest nor felt by
the intellect,
But you ye untold latencies Will thrill to every page.Walt Whitman
Solution To Crossword On Page 11
Across: 1. Abiram 8. Apostate 9. Runner 10. Inferior 11. Am 11a. Wen 12. Erne 13. Envy 16. Sated 19. Wadi 21. Nation 22. Machines 23. Earthy 24. Rantowoc 25. Tussle
Down: 2. Bluemen 3. Runaway 4. Marine 5. Essenes 6. Habitat 7. Decreed 13. Earmark 14. Volcano 17. Antares 18. Epochal 19. Wait on 20. Insect
¶ When All Is Said And Done
“When man goes in partnership with God, great things may, and do, happen.” (UB 132:7.9)