© 2006 Antonio Moya, por la traducción y el resumen; Eduardo Altuzarra, por las ilustraciones
© 2006 Urantia Association of Spain
¶ PROLOGUE
This work is based entirely on The Urantia Book. It is a summary of William S. Sadler, Jr.'s work, A Study of the Master Universe. This study consists of 17 chapters and 27 appendices and can be found in full, in English, on The Urantia Book Fellowship website: http://urantiabook.org/studies/smu/index.html. For further information on Sadler’s work, we refer the reader to the aforementioned website.
“This story of the master universe is the story of creation and evolution.” (Bill Sadler)
The history of the universe can be studied from different points of view, including the following:
- a) The levels of activity of the Total Deity
- b) The ages of the universe
- c) the spatial levels of the universe
- d) the various thesis, antithesis and synthesis
- e) the nuclear universes and the cytoplasmic universes
Any of these studies would tell the same story, so we haven’t chosen any of them in particular, but rather tried to use them all at once, hoping we haven’t left anything out. The reader will judge for themselves.
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNIVERSE. The Urantia Book calls the union of the central universe and the 7 superuniverses the “grand universe.” And it calls the complex formed by the “grand universe” and the 4 levels of outer space the “master universe.”
The spatial levels of the universe. The universe is made up of 6 concentric and elliptical spatial levels, namely:
| — | — |
| 1) The Havona Space Level | The Central Universe |
| 2) The Space Level of the Superuniverses | The Seven Superuniverses |
| 3) The first level of outer space | The primary spatial level |
| 4) The second level of outer space | The secondary space level |
| 5) The third level of outer space | The tertiary space level |
| 6) The fourth level of outer space | The quaternary space level |
The Ages of the Universe. Each Age of the Universe is a vast period of time corresponding to the beginning and development of a new spatial level:
| — | — |
| 1) The First Age of the universe | Havona space level |
| 2) The Second Age of the Universe | Space level of the 7 superuniverses |
| 3) The Third Age of the Universe | Primary Space Level |
| 4) The Fourth Age of the Universe | Secondary Space Level |
| 5) The Fifth Age of the Universe | Tertiary Space Level |
| 6) The Sixth Age of the Universe | Quaternary Space Level |
¶ Spatial magnitudes of the master universe
We know that the seven superuniverses are much larger than the central universe. Havona contains one billion worlds, and the plans for the superuniverses call for seven trillion inhabited worlds. We don’t know the exact dimensions of Havona, but we do know that Orvonton (our superuniverse) is approximately half a million light-years across.
If we symbolize the size of the grand universe (Havona plus the seven superuniverses) and compare it to a tennis ball, the primary space level would be equal to a rather large living room, meaning that this first level is much larger than the entirety of presently organized and inhabited creation.
What comparison could we make between the primary and secondary spatial levels? We could express this by comparing our living room to a rather large city block. Imagine that city block as a cube, and then think of the living room as suspended in the center of the cube. This is how the primary spatial level would be embedded in the secondary spatial level.
And what about the tertiary spatial level? How big is it? Based on the scale we’ve used, we could symbolize it as a rather large city, or rather, as the cube of a large city. Imagine a cube measuring 52 kilometers on each side, and this will give you the relative size of the tertiary spatial level.
The Quaternary space level is by far the largest of all. To give you an idea, our Moon measures 3,476 kilometers in diameter, and our symbol for the Quaternary space level would be like a Moon but 5,150 kilometers in diameter.
Now, to get an idea of sizes, let’s start with the tennis ball. Let it float in the center of the large living room; suspend the living room in the center of the large city block; imagine the cubic city block floating in the center of the cubic city (52 kilometers on each side). And finally, float the cube of the large city in the center of our Moon.
Think of the tennis ball… and then think of the Moon.
¶ Temporal magnitudes of the master universe
We cannot measure universal eras in years. We would have to use figures so enormous that they would ultimately become meaningless. We need to find a suitable unit to measure these long periods of time, just as the light-year is used to measure astronomical distances. We could use the age of the Andronover Nebula (the nebula that gave rise to our Sun), estimated at one trillion years, as a suitable unit of time. We could express the length of universal eras in “Andronover Time Units” (ATU). This would tell us how many times longer the eras of the universe are than the Andronover age.
In terms of “UTA”, universal ages could be calculated as follows:
| — | — |
| The Second Age (the current era) | 50,000 UTAs |
| The Third Age (first level, outer space) | 5 million UTAs |
| The Fourth Age (second level of outer space) | 500 million UTAs |
| The Fifth Age (third level of outer space) | 50 billion UTAs |
| The Sixth Age (fourth level of outer space) | 5 trillion UTAs |
We have calculated that the Second Age of the universe may be three-quarters complete. If this is true, there is still a quarter of the current age left to unfold, which is more than 10,000 ATUs (more than 10,000 trillion years). We still have plenty of time to reach Paradise.
¶ ZERO ERA - PROLOGUE IN THE ETERNITY OF THE PAST
The First Age of the universe is the age of Havona, the central universe. The Urantia Book says that Havona began when the Infinite Spirit came into existence, but that both have existed since all eternity. Let us study, then, those previous acts of Deity that prepared the way for the master universe—and for Havona itself.
¶ Before the times of Havona
If the Infinite Spirit and the central universe are eternal, then it logically follows that:
- a) The Eternal Son and the Isle of Paradise are “more eternal” because both were already in existence when the Spirit and Havona appeared. And if the Son and Paradise are “more eternal,” then:
- b) The Universal Father is “even more eternal”, because he is the Father of the Son and, at the same time, the Origin of Paradise.
This line of reasoning allows us to think of at least three phases of development within eternity, namely: “eternal,” “more eternal,” and “even more eternal.” Let us assume that we start from the “oldest” of the three, and then move forward, step by step, to the First Age of the universe, the Age of Havona and objective reality.
¶ Exploring the eternity of the past
According to The Urantia Book in the Prologue (I. Deity and Divinity), Total Deity is acting on the following seven levels:
- Static.
- Potential.
- Associative.
- Creative.
- Evolutionary.
- Supreme.
- Last.
Let’s try to imagine God before He became the Father of the Eternal Son. This idea is a pre-Father concept of God (it’s not an objective reality, but it’s a valid concept). What was God like when He was all alone, before He made any plans to create anything?
1) Static Deity. At the center of the Zero Age, we find stillness, absolute stability. Nothing moves. In this state, God lives within himself; he has an interior, but no exterior, an inside, but no outside, an eternal present, but neither a past nor a future. He exists by himself. God is.
2) Potential Deity. Let us now take our first step from the depths of the Zero Age into objective reality. At this point, God plans to do something, and that “something” becomes a possibility, it becomes a potential. We now think of God after He has decided to express His will. Potentials have come into existence, and Deity has become Potential.
We’ll call the circle with a dot in the center Deity. It has separated from the other circle because God so decided. The other circle hasn’t moved; we’ll call it non-deity. It has no will; it can react, but it can’t initiate anything. When God separates from this non-deity circle, it changes whatever it moves, it modifies it. The circle that’s left behind hasn’t changed, it hasn’t moved, it hasn’t been modified.
Since all this happens at the absolute level, we’ll call the circle that’s left behind the Unmodified Absolute. It’s the Absolute that hasn’t changed, that hasn’t been modified. And the circle (with the dot) that has moved, that has changed, we’ll call the Modified Absolute.
These two Absolutes are like limitless reservoirs. They contain all of God’s plans for the future. If these plans relate to non-personal energies and materializations, God will draw them from the Unmodified Absolute, the reservoir from which all physical energies emerge that will organize into new material universes (nebulae, stars, and planets of space). If they relate to spirit, personal beings, and other beings, then He will draw them from the Modified Absolute, the reservoir from which all new beings and other spiritual and divine realities emerge.
3) Associative deity.
Since the two Absolutes come from the same Original (static) Reality, they are related to each other. When the One becomes Two, then we have One and the Other. The word “and” is also a reality, and it universally links the two Absolutes. Since this “linking” is universal, it has been called the “Universal Absolute.” The Universal Absolute links the other two like the central link in a chain of three.
¶ The pre-Father becomes Father
As we have thought of Him thus far, God is still the Absolute Person (the Modified Absolute). As the Absolute Person, He is imprisoned by all the limitations that come with absolute being. He fills all of Deity (the entire Modified Absolute). There is no Deity outside of Him. There is no “room” to act or maneuver. God then steps aside to make some “room.” What He does is separate Himself from all of Deity, just as He had earlier separated Himself from all of Reality when He separated the Modified Absolute from the Unmodified Absolute.
How does God do this? By separating himself from the Absolute Person. And when he does this, three things happen:
- God causes that Being to exist separate and apart from Him, and God thus becomes the cause and origin of the Absolute Person.
- If God is the “cause” and “origin” of something, and if that something is a person, then God is that person’s father. And if He can be the father of the Absolute Person, then He can be the father of all people, thus becoming the “Universal” Father.
- If God becomes the “father” of the Absolute Person, that makes this Absolute Person the Original Son of God, although it is customary to call this Son the “Eternal Son,” because all this happened in eternity.
At the same time, God the Father built the Absolute Machine (the Isle of Paradise). He apparently built it for the same reason we build machines: to do something (relatively) mechanical and repetitive. The Isle of Paradise is intended to be the center and controller of the physical universes. The Eternal Son is the spiritual center and controller of spiritual creation.
¶ Definition of the word “existential”
“Existential” is a word used in a special way in The Urantia Book. It means something eternal, without beginning or end. An existential being has complete knowledge before undergoing any experience. God is existential. Hence, the word “existential” is used as the opposite of “experiential.” The latter designates beings and things that have an origin. It also designates all beings that can grow through experience.
¶ Thesis, antithesis and synthesis
These three words are defined in the New Universal Encyclopedia as follows: “Dialectics (Hegel’s, 1770-1831) consists of three parts or moments: 1) the statement of a thesis, which claims to be true; 2) every finite, positive statement has its opposite or antithesis; 3) since both statements claim to be true, it is necessary to recognize that both statements, thesis and antithesis, are only partially true and that truth must be formulated at a higher level, which is their synthesis. The synthesis then becomes a new thesis, but at a higher level, and is in turn subjected to the dialectical process.”
Sadler indicates in his work that “Thesis” is a proposition, a statement, a presentation. “Antithesis” (which would be better understood if written “anti-thesis”) is something other than, contrasting with, and stimulating the “Thesis” (but not necessarily antagonistic to the “Thesis”). “Synthesis” is the reunion of the two into an enlarged and harmonious whole. It is a three-step process, and we will see it developed more than once in our study of the master universe.
¶ Thesis, antithesis and synthesis of Potential Reality
When God set aside the Modified Absolute from Total Infinity, this was the first expression of His will to act—His first thesis. What was left behind did not move or change, thus becoming the antithesis of what God had planned. The Modified Absolute seems to be God’s first potential thesis. The residual Absolute (the Unmodified Absolute) seems to be the first potential antithesis. When the two are united by the Universal Absolute, this constitutes the first synthesis.
¶ Thesis, antithesis (and not synthesis) of Manifested Reality
When God separated from the Absolute Person, becoming the Father of the Original Son, He simultaneously built the Absolute Machine (the Isle of Paradise). The Son is personal and spiritual, the manifested thesis of Deity. Paradise is neither personal nor spiritual; it is the manifested antithesis of the Son. Here we have a situation similar to that of the first two Absolutes; the main difference is that the Absolutes are potential, whereas the Son and Paradise are manifest.
We have already seen that God synthesized the two Absolutes into the Universal Absolute. Now we might expect Him to do the same with the Son and Paradise. But God is not mechanical, and the unforeseeable happened. If we had not been told, we would have expected God to synthesize the spiritual Son with the non-spiritual Paradise. This would have produced a balanced situation. The Manifested Ones (Eternal Son, Paradise, and Infinite Spirit) would have been synthesized as the Potentials (Modified Absolute, Unmodified Absolute, and Universal Absolute). But God as artist takes precedence over God as engineer. Therefore, He did not do it this way.
¶ Thesis after thesis of the Manifested Reality
God did not synthesize the Son and Paradise. What he did was unify Deified (manifested) Reality, beginning with himself and the Son. In thus uniting, the Father and Son gave birth to a Third Being who will forever be the perfect expression of the two. This is the origin of the Infinite Spirit. In a sense, it is a superposition of thesis upon thesis. If the Son is the manifested thesis of Deity, then the Father is the prethesis of Deity, and the Spirit appears as the joint thesis of manifested Deity. Their union (in the Trinity) expresses the undivided thesis of existential and manifested Deity.
When God thus unifies a portion of Manifested Reality (and excludes Paradise), He makes this association inclusive of Deity alone. He does not synthesize all of Manifested Reality, but limits this unification to the Manifested Reality that is Deity. God leaves Paradise out. Since Paradise is left out of this existential synthesis, it will present a problem for all of God’s later associates and subordinates with experiential status.
¶ THE DAWN OF ETERNITY - THE BEGINNING OF THE FIRST AGE
At the end of the Zero Age, let’s take stock of what we have:
- a) We have the three Absolutes of Potentiality (Modified, Unmodified and Universal, which are the infinite repositories containing all of God’s plans for the future)
- b) And we have the three Manifested Absolutes (the Universal Father, the Eternal Son and Paradise, that is, two existential Deities and a base of operations).
¶ A trinitization at the dawn of the First Age
What ends the Zero Age and begins the First Age? The act that initiates the Havona age (the First Age) is an act of trinitization by the two existential Deities. This act produces immediate changes in the inventory of Manifested Reality:
- a) The Father and the Son unite as Father-Son.
- b) The Infinite Spirit appears as his equal in Deity.
- c) The central universe of Havona makes its appearance.
- d) The Father, the Son and the Spirit unite as the Paradise Trinity.
¶ Inventory of Eternal Existential Realities
At the end of the Zero Age and at the dawn of the First Age, we have the Seven Absolutes of Infinity that we could classify as follows:
- a) The Original Absolute - God, the Universal Father.
- b) The Potential Absolutes - Modified, Unmodified and Universal.
- c) The Manifested Absolutes - the Son, Paradise and the Spirit.
And then there’s the central universe of Havona and the Paradise Trinity. All of these Realities are pre-creative, and each one is eternal.
¶ God escapes from infinity
Let’s go back to the beginning of eternity, when God separated what is Deity from what is not Deity. In doing so, he emerged from a situation in which he himself filled Total Reality (Infinity).
This is the story of a magnificent escape into freedom. God is so completely alone and so totally infinite that it is difficult for Him to do anything. He fills everything; there is nothing except God, and there is no room for anything except God. So He begins by making some room. He withdraws from a part of the Total Reality (Infinity) and leaves it unchanged—the Unchanged Absolute. The one who withdraws is the Changed Absolute (the Total Deity). Then He manages to separate Himself, as a person, from the Total Deity. He accomplishes this withdrawal by separating himself from the Absolute Person who becomes the Son, then by uniting with the Son to trinitize the Spirit, and finally by consummating the Divine union of the three in the Paradise Trinity. This Trinitarian union restores the original unity of the undivided Deity, just as it was before God became the Father of the Eternal Son. The Godhead remains undivided in the Trinity, although there are now Three Persons who are Deity.
The Paradise Trinity allows God to feel personally free from the limitations of absolute and infinite being, while retaining and maintaining the absolute unity of the Godhead.
¶ The Uniqueness of Havona
In the First Age, Havona was totally alone, an isolated universe, with only empty space outside of it. In that distant time, it had no external relationships, only within itself and within Paradise.
Havona is difficult to classify. It is neither finite, nor absonite, nor absolute. Beings exist in Havona, and things happen, on each of these functional levels. Havona actually contains something of everything. It is the “model universe” that God created, and it probably has the capacity to serve as a model creation for all the local universes, for the seven superuniverses, for the entire master universe, and for anything else that may develop beyond the master creation.
¶ THE DAWN OF TIME - THE BEGINNING OF THE SECOND ERA
What exactly brings the Havona Age to a close and the superuniverse Age to a close? It wasn’t a sudden event; it happened gradually. The twilight of the First Age gradually transformed into the dawn of the Second Age.
Long before the Second Age was an official reality, we suspect that the Architects of the Master Universe had their deputies, the Force Organizers, working on the space level of the superuniverses, organizing nebulae and initiating physical things, anticipating coming events.
The first truly post-eternal event was probably the creation of the Seven Master Spirits. These Spirits are not absolute beings, but represent Paradise Deity on all levels below the absolute: finite, absonite, and finite-absonite. These Master Spirits are not existential, they are experiential. They also express the seven possible combinations of the Three Persons of Deity, which is why the space level of the superuniverses was divided into seven parts.
At some point during this period, something else happened: God the Supreme appeared in Havona. Before the superuniverses were officially organized, the Supreme already resided in the central universe. Then, as now, He was uncontactable by creatures.
Around this time, the Trinity must have created the 21 Ancients of Days. Shortly thereafter, the headquarters worlds of the seven superuniverses were constructed, and the Ancients of Days probably departed Paradise to reside on their respective capitals.
At some later time, the Father and the Son must have begun the creation of the Creator Sons, and the infinite Spirit responded by begetting the complementary Creative Spirits. In due course, these Universe Sons and Spirits were commissioned to rule the older local universes. Now the Second Age is in full bloom. Soon the evolving mortals will appear on the worlds of space; and then will begin the long Paradise ascent of the time pilgrims in search of the Universal Father.
All these newly appeared beings have an experiential nature. They are not existential. And this is true from the level of mortal man to the levels of the Master Spirits and of God the Supreme.
¶ 4) Creative deity
At this point, Deity appears to be working on a new level of activity. In the Prologue, we saw that Deity began on the static level, progressed to the potential level, and worked on the associative level at the dawn of the First Age. One of the basic differences between the First and Second Ages is Deity’s entry into the fourth level of activity—the creative level. What does this mean? It means that Deity is now beginning to utilize the great reservoirs of latent reality—the potentials of the three Absolutes.
The creative process is actually a process of transformation; potentials are transformed into realities—something new comes into existence: whether a new personality, a new level of mental functioning, or the organization of a new nebula. All these “new realities” have to come from somewhere, and that “somewhere” is the three Absolutes of Potentiality.
¶ Sevenfold God
God the Sevenfold is Deity’s answer to the challenge of imperfection. This sevenfold association began to function at the time of the superuniverse organization. God the Sevenfold provides the living ladder of divine personalities that bridges the gap between man and the Universal Father:
- The Creator Sons
- The Ancients of Days
- The Master Spirits
- The Supreme Being
- The Infinite Spirit
- The Eternal Son
- The Universal Father
The various beings who collaborate in this Sevenfold Deity group work on the potential, associative, creative, and evolutionary levels of Deity activity in time and space.
The Corps of Supreme Creators (Creator Sons, Ancients of Days, and Master Spirits) is something new. They are creators who appear after the eternal Havona. Their work is to organize and perfect the seven superuniverses (with their 700,000 projected local universes). Each of the Master Spirits permeates one of the superuniverses, thus determining its unique nature. The Ancients of Days function in groups of three as direct rulers of the seven supercreations. The Creator Sons (and their associated Creative Spirits) organize the local universes and create (or evolve) the native living beings of those realms.
¶ Havona during the Second Age: The Perfection Thesis
In the Prologue, we studied the Havona of the First Age, a Havona that had a pre-creative existence, something that had no beginning. But when we consider Havona in relation to the superuniverses, it is a creation, it is the model universe of divine perfection.
Second Age Havona is the divine thesis of perfection—God’s challenge to the imperfection of the evolving universes. God has issued a challenging invitation to every creature: “Be perfect as I myself am perfect.” For all Creator Sons and Creative Spirits of the evolving local universes, Havona represents the challenge of a universe of divine perfection. Here is the challenge: Will these Universe Sons and Spirits be able to reproduce in their time-space domains, through experiential creation and evolution, the eternal perfection of the existential universe that is at the center of all things?
If Havona is a challenge to the imperfection of the superuniverses, the superuniverses (with all their needs) are no less so to Havona. When the First Age reaches the period of its “twilight” (which is also the “dawn” of the Second Age), change, for the first time, enters the unchanging Havona. New beings appear: the Circuit Spirits, the Power Centers, the Universal Censors, the secondary supernaphim… The Graduate Guides welcome Grandfanda, and many other changes must have taken place in the universe of divine perfection. In the Second Age, Havona remains pre-creative and eternal, but it also becomes creative and changing—and even evolutionary.
In the present age, the central, divine universe is the creative thesis of perfection. The superuniverses (which began as imperfect creations) are the great antithesis of Havona perfection.
¶ The challenge of imperfection
In the First Age of the universe, all is balanced, all is in order. The Havona spheres revolve in their established orbits around the motionless Isle of Paradise. Disharmony is unknown; disorder has never appeared. All creation follows an unchanging pattern of flawless perfection, age after age. And then, God enlarges this perfectly balanced and symmetrical creation. The organized universe expands outward, and suddenly there appear realms without settled physical development, realms of imperfect nature, realms where imperfect creatures will soon appear, realms where potential evil will all too often become actual evil, and even sin, because of the ignorant choices of imperfect creatures.
Stop and consider how astonishing and unprecedented these challenges would have been for the infallible beings of eternity. What was their first reaction to dissonance, these beings who had known nothing but harmony? How did they first regard disorder, these beings who knew nothing but the standard of flawless perfection? What was their reaction to potential evil, these beings who had always chosen good in the absence of any evil to serve as a foil? And what was their reaction when, for the first time in their experience, potential evil was transformed into actual evil by creaturely choice? And what a shock it must have been to them when evil, plus insincerity, “equaled” sin and even iniquity!
Suddenly, so to speak, we have an immense creation teeming with imperfect creatures; each of them has been endowed by God with the invaluable power of choice. Each can choose for or against their citizenship in the universe and their affiliation with God. Without this power of choice, without God’s gift of personhood, we would be little more than living machines.
Who, if not God, would have dared to unite the purest form of spirit with the humblest type of creature? Suddenly, so to speak, the existential perfection of eternity’s flawless creation is challenged by the appearance of perfection’s antithesis—the imperfect, evolving realms of time and space.
¶ 5) Evolutionary deity
The Supreme Being is an evolutionary, experiential Deity. He is slowly emerging as a result of the work of the Supreme Creators in the time-space realms, as a result of their collaboration with the Paradise Deities, and as a result of his own efforts to grow. The Supreme Being is not a passive recipient of all these efforts. He is personally active in doing something for his own growth and evolution. For example, he returns to the creative and associative levels (of Total Deity) to actualize the potentials of the Paradise Deities. We now note that Deity functions on the fifth level of activity, the evolutionary level.
The Supreme Being begins his journey at the dawn of the Second Age as a spirit person in Havona. Even the Supreme Creators themselves evolve. They participate in the growth process of the Second Age. This is particularly true of the Creator Sons and Creative Spirits, but it is probably also true of the entire Corps of Supreme Creators.
The big difference between creation and evolution is the factor of time. Creation takes place without the passage of time, in an instant. Evolution slows down the transformative process to the point where creatures can understand what is happening and can participate in it, playing a conscious part in their own growth.
This is the age in which finite experiences are possible. Other ages will bring experiences, but they will not be finite; they may be post-finite or super-finite, but they will certainly be distinct from the finite age. This is because the growth of the Supreme is limited to the Second Age, the present age.
The virtue of an empty vessel is that it can be filled (Lao Tzu). The virtue of imperfection is that it can be filled with the experience of consciously growing toward the perfect state. The imperfection of the space-time creations provides the possibility of this kind of growth. If the superuniverses had been created perfect, they would have been nothing more than an extension of the central creation.
¶ THE FIRST SYNTHESIS: SUPREME GOD
The event that culminates all finite growth is the final appearance of the Supreme Being as the experiential ruler of the perfected superuniverses. God the Father is infinite and will always remain a mystery to us, but God the Supreme is finite and therefore comprehensible to finite creatures.
At this point we encounter a new level of activity of the Total Deity. First we saw the static level, then the potential and associative levels, and then the creative and evolutionary levels. Now we can examine the sixth level—the supreme level.
¶ 6) Supreme Deity
The first three levels are pre-creative (static, potential, and associative). They might be compared to the levels on which Deity “unfolded” and prepared for the adventure of unfolding in time and space. The next two levels are outgoing (creative and evolutionary). On these levels, Deity is distributing itself to all creation; revealing itself to the universes; extending itself into the post-Havona realms; and associating with its creatures (through the Adjuster). The activities of Deity on these outgoing levels are perhaps best revealed in the ministry of God the Sevenfold.
Now on the sixth level, the Supreme level, we observe an “entrance”—a reunion of that which has been poured out upon all creation. The Supreme is the first great synthesis, the reunion of the thesis of perfection and the antithesis of imperfection.
¶ The synthesis at the level of existence of creatures
Could we now find an example of the synthesis of the perfected and the perfect at the creaturely levels?
This synthesis could take place between two creatures in the trinitizing union of a finaliter and a Havona native. Can the reader imagine anyone more opposite to a perfect Havona native than a dirty, disheveled caveman from some primitive planet? And yet that primitive human could be inhabited by an Adjuster, could thirst for perfection, could survive, ascend to Paradise, and be enrolled in the Corps of the Finality. And as a finaliter, he could unite with a Havona native in the adventure of trinitization. This would be a quite literal synthesis of the perfect and the perfected.
¶ The great universe finished
During the long period of Second Age evolutionary growth, each superuniverse has developed independently, influenced solely by one of the Master Spirits. The nature of each Master Spirit is unique. Since each Spirit permeates and dominates the environment of a single superuniverse, it follows that each superuniverse and its native beings are also unique. Each superuniverse tends to develop its own distinct culture, its own unique “civilization.”
With the emergence of the Supreme Being as ruler of all the superuniverses, the barriers that separated the supercreations during the Second Age will be eliminated. And then, for the first time, the seven can begin to function as a single unit, as an administrative and cultural whole.
¶ Divergence and convergence
This blending of the seven superuniverse cultures will provide a new stimulus for growth. This event is a good example of the principle of divergence and convergence. First, individual and distinct growth is encouraged through divergence, and then, in the fullness of time, all that has developed in relative isolation is reunited and consolidated.
This establishes an interesting parallel with what happens during the development of a normal inhabited world. First, evolutionary races are encouraged to diverge, to go their separate ways. Each race, thus isolated, tends to develop its own unique culture and civilization. Later in planetary development, all races and cultures intermingle with the Adamic peoples and the Edenic civilization.
¶ NUCLEAR UNIVERSES AND CYTOPLASMIC UNIVERSES
If the master universe could be compared to a growing organism, and it is in many ways, then we could imagine it having a nucleus surrounded by cytoplasm. In an egg, the yellow part (the yolk) is the nucleus, and the white part surrounding it (the white) is the cytoplasm.
In this study, we advance the theory that the master universe has more than one core. We believe it has two: one existential, and the other a combination of existential and experiential. Havona as the core is existential; the grand universe (the seven superuniverses plus Havona) as the core is existential-experiential.
¶ Havona, nucleus of the grand universe
The central creation appears to be the nucleus of the presently organized and inhabited creation, the grand universe. The Isle of Paradise does not appear to be a true nucleus, because it is not really a part of the master universe or any other universe. But Havona is a real part of the master creation; the Havona space level is the first space level of the master universe, and the Havona age is the First Age of the universe.
If Havona is truly a nuclear universe, then what special characteristics identify it as such? We suggest that the following qualities are the characteristics of a nuclear universe, and serve to identify it:
- a) Unique nature.- The nature of Havona is radically different from that of the superuniverses. Havona has its origin in eternity and is existentially perfect. The superuniverses have their origin in time, are imperfect, and will ultimately be experientially perfected.
- b) Appearance of a Deity.- The appearance of the eternal Havona is associated with the simultaneous appearance of a new Deity, the Infinite Spirit.
- c) Formation of a Trinity.- Havona appears at the same “time” as the Infinite Spirit, and the appearance of the Infinite Spirit makes it possible for the three Deities to unite in the Paradise Trinity.
- d) Transmissibility. - The hereditary characteristics of divine perfection are transmitted to the peripheral, or cytoplasmic, superuniverses by the Paradise-Havona creators and administrators serving in the time-space creations. The ministry of the Supreme Creators is a good example of this.
It seems quite obvious that Havona is the nucleus of the grand universe. This immediately raises another question: Is Havona also the nucleus of the master universe? Apparently not. We believe the grand universe is the nucleus of the master creation because its evolution will produce another series of events, analogous to those we have associated with Havona to identify it as the nuclear creation.
¶ The Grand Universe as the Core of the Master Universe
We put forward the suggestion that the grand universe is the second nuclear universe, functioning as the existential-experiential nucleus of the master universe. If this theory is valid, then it will be possible to compare the grand universe with the central universe in those characteristics that will identify it as a nuclear creation. We make this comparison with the seven superuniverses already established in light and life at the end of the present age, when the Supreme Being has appeared as a fully contactable Deity.
The perfected grand universe will reveal the following characteristics:
- a) Unique nature.- The nature of the perfected grand universe will be radically different from that of the universes of outer space. Nothing else in the master universe can be the same as the grand universe, for this is the space framework where the Supreme Being completes his experiential growth. The nature and growth potential of all subsequent creations will be postsupreme. They will be devoid of all finite experience.
- b) Appearance of a Deity.- The perfection of the grand universe is associated with the appearance of a new Deity, the Supreme Being.
- c) Formation of a Trinity. The final appearance of the Supreme Being will make possible the formation of the First Experiential Trinity (the Ultimate Trinity). This Trinity will be composed of the Architects of the Master Universe, the Supreme Creators, and the Supreme Being.
- d) Transmissibility.- The hereditary qualities of the grand universe—finite experience—will be transmitted to the cytoplasmic universes of outer space by the Supreme Being, by the First Experiential Trinity, and by a host of finaliters and other beings who will serve in those realms.
The events connected with the termination of the grand universe appear to be entirely analogous to those associated with the emergence of the central universe. We are therefore of the opinion that both are nuclear universes. Havona is the first nuclear universe, the core of the grand universe, and the grand universe is the second nuclear universe, the core of the master universe.
¶ The levels of outer space are cytoplasmic universes
If Havona is the first nucleus and the grand universe is the second, wouldn’t it be logical to deduce that the complete development of the primary space level will produce the third nuclear universe? We think not. And we will test the validity of this statement by applying the same criteria we used previously:
- a) Unique nature.- The four levels of outer space are not as radically different from one another as Havona is from all later creations, and as the grand universe is from the universes of outer space.
- b) Appearance of a Deity.- No new Deity appears when the development of the first level of outer space ends.
- c) Formation of a Trinity.- Without the appearance of a new experiential Deity, a new experiential Trinity cannot be formed.
- d) Transmissibility.- No Deity or Trinity appears to serve as a vehicle for transmitting hereditary characteristics; each of the four successive levels of outer space appears to be an extension of the previous one.
When we apply these criteria to the primary space level, it does not appear to associate with the grand universe to form a new nuclear creation. The same criteria can also be applied to the secondary and tertiary space levels, with the same negative conclusions. This study therefore maintains that the four levels of outer space are a single cytoplasmic unit relative to the grand universe that serves as their nucleus.
¶ THE FIRST CYCLE OF THESIS, ANTITHESIS AND SYNTHESIS
Let’s review the three steps of our study on the first synthesis:
- a) First Thesis.- We have studied Havona as a pre-creative existence, and then as the thesis of divine perfection. We have recognized that it is a nuclear universe. When did it become nuclear? When did it become a thesis, a challenge? For Havona to be a nucleus, it had to exist in relation to a cytoplasmic creation.
- b) First Antithesis.- The original imperfection of the superuniverses is certainly the antithesis of perfect Havona, and the superuniverses are cytoplasmic in relation to nuclear Havona. Their imperfection constitutes the counterchallenge of necessities confronting God the Sevenfold and all the personalities of the Paradise-Havona system who have descended into the time-space universes to assist imperfect creatures in ascending, in attaining the heights of evolutionary perfection.
- c) First Synthesis.- We have observed that the grand finished universe is the synthesis of the perfect and the perfected. This is demonstrated in the creatures when man fuses with his inner Adjuster and ascends to find God in Paradise; it is demonstrated at the level of the
Creator when God becomes man, as in the bestowals of the Paradise Sons; and is demonstrated at the level of Deity through the synthesis of the power and personality of all finite reality, leading to the final appearance of God the Supreme.
This is the first cycle: Havona as thesis, the superuniverses as antithesis, and the grand universe as synthesis. This is the first history of the master universe, the Finite History.
¶ Synthesis Transformation
The cycle of growth seems to end when the process of synthesis succeeds in reuniting those things that were originally so different from each other and so challenging for both parties. We must not forget that our own imperfection must be a great challenge (wanting to help us) for a being with divine perfection, just as their divine perfection is a great challenge (wanting to ascend) for each of us.
Reaching the goal always seems to set something new in motion. If the establishment of the superuniverses in light and life leads only to the appearance of the Supreme Being, and nothing more, then the grand universe could enter a static state of no growth at the end of the present age. But the appearance of the Supreme sets other events in motion.
The appearance of the Supreme completes the first synthesis. The formation of the First Experiential Trinity (the Ultimate Trinity) has the effect of transforming this first synthesis into the second thesis, which amounts to a new challenge. We believe that the transformation of an old synthesis is a basic principle flowing through the entire history of the growth of the master universe. An old synthesis becomes a new thesis. The old synthesis is personalized in the appearance of a new Deity. The new thesis is presented in the formation of a new Trinity.
¶ THE SECOND CYCLE OF THESIS, ANTITHESIS AND SYNTHESIS
Having formulated this new principle of the transformation of a synthesis into a new thesis, let us try to see what will happen when the second thesis appears on the spatial stage of the master universe:
- a) Second Thesis.- The grand universe, as the first synthesis, has achieved its destiny. As the second nuclear universe, it is the power base from which the second thesis will be projected. The First Experiential Trinity and the host of personalities it will mobilize will work outside the nuclear base of the grand universe, in the cytoplasmic creations of the four outer space levels.
- b) Second Antithesis.- The outer universes will undoubtedly be as different from the grand universe as the superuniverses were from Havona. The outer universes will be of a postsupreme nature and will therefore be entirely devoid of any capacity for finite experience.
- c) Second Synthesis.- If our deductions concerning the second thesis and the second antithesis are correct, logic leads us to expect that their mutual challenge will ultimately lead to a second synthesis, to the reunion of the outer cytoplasmic universes and the inner nuclear creations. But this possible synthesis will necessitate the complete growth and final development of the entire master universe. And this is a gigantic undertaking.
¶ THE NEW FACTORS THAT WILL APPEAR IN THE ABSONITE LEVEL
Here begins the second story of the master universe, Absonite History. This story is much longer than Finite History. If all of Finite History could be told in an hour, it would take us over 10,000 years to tell the Absonite History.
Finite History (the study of the Second Age of the universe) closed with the perfection of the seven superuniverses and the final appearance of the Supreme Being as experiential sovereign. This appearance of the Supreme on the stage of cosmic action produces a series of changes on the absonite level of existence:
a) The First Experiential Trinity. - This Trinity incorporates the original divinity endowment possessed by the Master Architects, the Supreme Creators, and the Supreme Being (1,428,040 personalities in all), but enriched and enlarged by their participation in the perfecting of the seven superuniverses. This Trinity is their union as Deities, not as personalities, and has the goal of the complete development of the entire master universe. Their success in this project will result in the appearance of the second experiential Deity—God the Ultimate.
b) The Corps of the Supreme Creators. - This Corps must be considered in two ways: as a unified Deity and as many personalities. As a unified Deity, it is a member of the Trinity Ultimate, but as persons it is also active in the post-Supreme ages of the master universe. These beings are the (creative) leaders of the immense host of Paradise-Havona personalities who responded to the first great experiential challenge at the dawn of the Second Age. These beings have become more than creators: they have experientially added creature nature to their creator nature.
For example, Michael of Nebadon is more than a Creator Son. His Paradise nature also incorporates the nature and character of a Melchizedek, a Lanonandek, an Adam, a seraphim, and all three levels of human evolutionary nature: spiritual, morontia, and material. Michael of Nebadon is an experiential creature as well as a divine creator, and he is only one of 700,000 equals.
c) The post-finite creatures. - These are the perfected and perfected personalities who will have participated in the growth of the Supreme. They include the finaliter mortals, their associates of the six nonmortal finaliter corps, and many nonfinaliter colleagues. All of these beings will also serve in the universes of outer space while engaged in the absonite quest for God the Father—the attempt to find God as Ultimate.
These new influences appearing on the absonite level will have a profound effect on the development of the outer universes as they introduce therein the ingredient of finite experience.
¶ The second nuclear universe
Deity always seems to work from a power base—a base from which divinity and sovereignty can extend. The Existential Trinity works from the power base of the Paradise-Havona system. Havona is the nuclear universe from which this Trinity extends its outward activities. The First Experiential Trinity will work from a similar power base, the second nuclear universe, the grand universe of existential-experiential status.
In the First Age, Havona was an isolated, self-sufficient universe. In the Second Age, it is a nuclear universe, its citizens extending outward into the cytoplasmic superuniverses. As the Third Age begins, the grand universe will mobilize to respond to the challenge of the new adventure—the Adventure of the Ultimate—on the outer space spheres. The transition from a completed synthesis to a new thesis is the transition from a passive state to an active state—from a temporal end to a new beginning. This difference is produced by the passage from the static state of having achieved destiny to the dynamic state of pursuing a destiny.
The new nuclear universe (the grand universe) will experience new kinds of growth because it will now be in relationship with the universes of outer space. In the First Age, the central creation was caught in the existential stasis of flawless perfection. How could there be any improvement on that which God had designed with divine perfection? And yet, in the Second Age, the pilgrims of time broke through the static stasis of existential perfection, carrying into Havona the dynamic expansion of experiential growth. This produced a breaking down of the old barriers; Havona transcended its former limits for growth, and it will break through them a second time when the first outer space inhabitant arrives in the central universe. This will also happen in the superuniverses. At the present time, the limit of their growth is the attainment of the state of light and life. The arrival of the inhabitants of outer space will change all this, and the once settled superuniverses will embark upon a new adventure of growth—a growth beyond the finite, beyond finite experience and finite limitations.
¶ Nuclear characteristics and cytoplasmic characteristics
The superuniverses perhaps best illustrate the difference between a nuclear creation and a cytoplasmic universe, for they have been both. During the Second Age, when the superuniverses were cytoplasmic in relation to Havona, they were domains of maximum creative activity. During that Age, what could compare, both on Paradise and on the billion worlds of Havona, with the profusion of creativity in the 700,000 local universes?—not to mention the outpouring of procreativity of the midsonites and the Material Sons in seven billion local systems, and of the human races on seven trillion inhabited worlds.
As the superuniverses cease to be cytoplasmic creations and become an integral part of a new nucleus, there must be a diminution of creativity (and perhaps procreativity) in the process of the gradual transition to a more settled and stabilized state, a stability somewhat comparable to that of the central universe.
This transition is best seen in the local universes. If the Creator Sons (and Creative Spirits) are to serve in outer space, then, when they depart, the local universes will cease to be areas of maximum creativity and will then become rather stable administrative units, no longer characterized by a great proliferation of new creatures.
Thus, a nuclear universe is a terrain characterized by (relative) stability, in contrast to a cytoplasmic universe, which is a terrain characterized by (relative) instability, which is inseparable from a high rate of growth and change. Cosmically speaking, a nucleus is mature, and cosmically speaking, a cytoplasm is not. A nuclear universe is a power base, a foundation from which outward expansion can begin. From a nuclear universe come the initiating creators, the common coordinates, and the cooperating subordinates who constitute the pioneering personnel of the new expansion toward the new creations of the new creative frontier.
Long ago, the descending beings of the Paradise-Havona system, from the Ancients of Days down to the supernaphim, responded to the exciting stimulus of the Adventure of the Supreme, to the actual experience of being tested and stimulated by the unknown, the vast, the inexplicable, and the unpredictable. Someday in the far future, the grand universe will pass through a similar experience, buzzing with anticipation as the First Experiential Trinity begins to marshal the powers and personalities of the second nuclear universe in preparation for the Adventure of the Ultimate. And all concerned will receive their commission as creators, organizers, and administrators of the outer space universes.
¶ Cytoplasmic needs expand nuclear functions
The four ages of the outer space levels are post-supreme, and during them the First Experiential Trinity will work to accomplish three objectives:
- Its own unification
- The Termination of the Master Universe
- The appearance of the Ultimate God
These four post-supreme ages will be the epochs of the great expansion of Paradise creative forces and agencies into the outer space spheres. Associated with these creative personalities will be all the experiential veterans of the Second Universe Age—the age of superuniverse evolution. This will be the first joint effort of the perfect and the perfected—of the inhabitants of Paradise-Havona and of all the veterans of the evolving superuniverses. This will be their joint adventure, the Adventure of the Latter, the organization of the outer space creations.
In the present universe age, creative personalities work with certain potentials (unrealized possibilities) that come from the three Absolutes. These potentials, being absolute, would be of little use to creators working on the finite level. This means that these absolute potentials must be modified in some way before they will be useful to finite creators. This is where the emerging experiential Deities play an important role.
Long before appearing, the Supreme and the Ultimate are active and working with these absolute potentials. The Ultimate (who is in direct contact with the absolute level) begins by organizing these absolute potentials so that they can react to creative action. Then the Supreme further modifies them so that they are suitable for use on the finite level. This is how creators can “create”; there must be something from which they create things and beings, and that “something” consists of the potentials that the Ultimate and the Supreme have prepared for use.
When the Second Age gives way to the Third, a major change will take place in the potential available for creation and growth. At the end of the present age, the Supreme will have completed his growth, and this potential (this capacity) for finite experience will have been completely exhausted. This particular potential is finite and, therefore, can be exhausted.
For example: Let’s imagine a Third Age Creative Spirit working on the first level of outer space. And compare it with a Second Age Creative Spirit working in one of the present-day local universes. The Spirit of the present age can create seraphim who have the capacity to grow (evolve) through finite experience. This Spirit works within and with the potentials of the growing Supreme. The Third Age Spirit will never be able to create seraphim like those in the present-day local universes. The raw material (potential) from which Second Age seraphim were created will no longer be available. A Third Age Creative Spirit will work with post-supreme potentials. Such potentials will possibly be absonite, but not finite. The children he creates will have a post-supreme nature, they will be post-finite beings, which means they will be forever devoid of finite experience – finite experience will be beyond their inherent capabilities.
What kind of beings will be born in these outer-space universes? It is impossible to speculate about them because they are beyond the scope of our experience. We can be certain that the inhabitants of outer space will be unlike the natives of Havona or any native beings of the superuniverses. Such beings are beyond our capacity to imagine. (We must have been unimaginable to the Havona natives until they encountered the first ascending pilgrim on the circuits of the central universe.) But we do know that there is one thing that will be absent from all outer-space domains, lacking in all their native beings—finite experience.
This lack is our opportunity. We are uniquely endowed with the quality that will be lacking in the creations of outer space. Through service in the outer universes, we will be freed from the limitations of growth we encounter in the present age. As we serve there to compensate for the total lack of finite experience, we will rise above our present limitations. This is exactly what happened to our Paradise and Havona ancestors when they came to the superuniverses that were so lacking in divine perfection, a perfection inherent in the nature of those ancestors.
¶ The Challenge of the Last Adventure
At the dawn of time, the citizens of the settled and established creations of eternity were challenged by God’s unfolding plan: the original imperfection of the seven superuniverses. And they responded to this challenge by embarking on the adventure—the Adventure of the Supreme—of confronting the uncertainties and unpredictability of the unorganized and unstable realms of the superuniverse space level.
At the same time, God challenged all creatures of imperfect nature with this great invitation: “Be perfect as I myself am perfect.”
Now, for the second time, God issues a challenge to all creation, this time to embark on the Adventure of the Ultimate. In His first challenge, God created a problem by taking away from the new superuniverses the quality of inherent and innate perfection. The problem He devised was the problem of perfecting the imperfect through finite growth and experience by means of evolution in time and space. In this second challenge, God has again taken something away; this time He has taken away the possibility of growth through finite experience. He has challenged all citizens of the grand universe to the task of compensating for this lack in the outer creations. This lack is our opportunity. Our mission will be to reveal the Supreme to the new creatures of the new universes of outer space.
The Papers tell us that we will be well equipped for this duty and service. We combine the Adjuster’s divinity endowment with the experiential wisdom hard-won during the evolutionary ascension to Paradise, plus long service in the developing superuniverses. Once again we will experience the sudden expansion of horizons as we begin to glimpse the immensity of the task before us.
¶ The stages of the appearance of the Last
The Ultimate is appearing as a result of the complete growth and development of creation over four ages and on four spatial levels. This means that the Ultimate is appearing in various distinct phases or stages, which is entirely different from the appearance of the Supreme, which takes place in a single phase, in a single universe age, and on a single spatial level.
All this suggests that there will be four stages in the unification of the First Experiential Trinity, and four stages in the appearance of God the Ultimate.
¶ THE SECOND SYNTHESIS: THE LAST GOD
Even though the master universe is so vast, it has limits. The ultimate level of outer space ends… somewhere. The master universe is of extraordinary size, and it will take an extraordinary amount of time to complete its development. But somewhere in the remote regions of outer space, there is an end, and expansive growth will eventually reach those very distant regions and finally come to an end.
¶ Unification of the First Experiential Trinity
The completion of the master universe is due to the efforts of the First Experiential Trinity to achieve Deity unification—to become a unified reality as the Paradise Trinity. With the completion of the master universe, this Experiential Trinity has achieved the final synthesis of power and personality and has become a fully unified reality.
The Paradise Trinity could have created an existential universe on the scale of the master creation—but to what end? It would have been nothing other than Havona again, but on a much grander scale. Such an enormous creation, with its inherent perfection, would have added nothing to the quality of manifested existential divinity, but merely more quantity. The Paradise Trinity did not do so. Havona was designed to be large enough to serve as a suitable model for all subsequent universes. This quantitative limitation on the part of the Paradise Trinity makes possible the emergence and collaboration of the First Experiential Trinity, by virtue of which the master universe is organized and established as an experiential creation—not as a duplicate of Havona, but as something new and different.
With the completion of the master universe and the unification of the First Experiential Trinity, the second synthesis becomes possible, namely, the unification of the grand nuclear universe with the outer cytoplasmic universes. This synthesis is reflected on the Deity levels through the final appearance of God the Ultimate, the experiential sovereign of the master creation.
¶ 7) Ultimate Deity
Having attained the Supreme, the Ultimate becomes the experiential pursuit of finaliters—and all other growing beings. From the standpoint of relative magnitudes of time, the Supreme can be attained fairly rapidly; the Ultimate requires much longer. If we could say that the superuniverses achieve perfection in an “eternal hour,” we estimate by comparison that the master universe would require “ten thousand eternal years.”
God the Ultimate is the second experiential Deity. The Ultimate symbolizes the Paradise Trinity for absonite beings. The Ultimate is not only quantitatively greater than the Supreme, but qualitatively more complex. Just as the Supreme is ubiquitous, the Ultimate is omnipresent. The Supreme is truly all-powerful, but the Ultimate is omnipotent. The Supreme’s reflectivity-consciousness contrasts with the Ultimate’s omniscience. Within the confines of the master universe, the Ultimate is truly omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient.
With the appearance of God the Ultimate, we have finally reached the culmination of the seventh level of activity of the Total Deity. This is the final creative level. We can recapitulate by saying that Deity exercises His activity on three pre-creative levels: static, potential, and associative. He then works on two outgoing levels of action: creative and evolutionary, which are followed by two incoming or consolidating levels: supreme and ultimate. The final synthesis of power (over energy-matter) and personality on these last two levels is achieved by the Supreme and the Ultimate.
The final appearance of the Ultimate marks the end of all experiential growth of an absonite nature. This must signify the beginning of a post-absonite (post-ultimate) growth. A post-ultimate growth of this kind must be super-ultimate, and the super-ultimate is absolute, or at least co-absolute or associable-absolute.
Now the superuniverses will break through the experiential barriers to growth for the second time. The first breakthrough occurred at the time of the appearance of the Supreme Being, when absonite growth superseded the finite limitations of the state of light and life. Now the second breakthrough occurs in connection with the final appearance of the Ultimate, when post-ultimate potentials supersede the experiential limitations of complete absonite growth. This will expose the inner universes to the unfathomable possibilities of co-absolute expansion.
What will a planet like Urantia be like in that distant epoch? Let us imagine a world long established in the final stage of light and life. Let us imagine that world in relation to a very primitive world. The two worlds are vastly different in terms of civilization and culture. We are of the opinion that a world like ours, in the post-ultimate era of development, will be more distant from a world in the final stage of light and life than the latter would be from a primitive planet of the cave-dwelling age. A post-ultimate inhabited world is simply beyond the reach of our imagination!
Thus, the entire master universe is on the verge of post-ultimate growth, and this development most likely concludes the history of creation. The Master Architects have fulfilled their mission as universe planners. They had fostered the development of the master creation through the supreme (finite) and ultimate (absonite) levels of growth. Now their plans have been consummated, they have become reality.
Our study of the master universe has concluded. But this is not the end of the story as far as growth is concerned. As we have already learned, the successful completion of a major synthesis has proven to be the beginning of the transformation of that accomplished synthesis into a new thesis.
¶ SUMMARY: The Seven Levels of Activity of the Total Deity
- A. PRE-CREATIVE LEVELS Since these levels are pre-creative, they are occupied by the existential Deity before the master universe is organized.
- THE STATIC LEVEL. Here, the Deity is calm and motionless. He has not yet made any plans. God exists by himself and is self-contained. God is!
- THE POTENTIAL LEVEL. Here God has begun to make plans, and these plans have become possibilities, potentials. Here we find the Absolutes of Potentiality.
- THE ASSOCIATIVE LEVEL.- Here God has unified the two Absolutes (Modified and Unmodified) into the Universal Absolute. He has also unified all Deity into the Paradise Trinity.
- B. SALIENT LEVELS We have called these levels “salient” because in them the Deity expands and distributes Himself. Here the Deity reveals Himself to creatures and identifies with them, associates with them.
4. THE CREATIVE LEVEL.- At this level, Deity begins to draw from the Absolutes of Potentiality to bring new things and new beings into existence. The first expression of creative Deity is God the Sevenfold.
5. THE EVOLUTIONARY LEVEL.- At this level, we find creativity linked to time, a creativity in which creatures themselves can participate. At this level, even the Deity evolves. - C. INCOMING LEVELS. These levels are called “incoming” because in them the Deity consolidates and unifies all that has happened. The first consolidation is effected in the finite levels, the second in the absonite levels.
6. THE SUPREME LEVEL.- This is the level of Deity in relation to the finite. At this level, Deity consolidates all finite activities and unifies them in the Supreme.
7. THE ULTIMATE LEVEL.- This is the level of the Deity in relation to the absonite. At this level, the Deity consolidates all absonite activities and unifies them in the Ultimate.
¶ THE LAST CREATIVE THESIS
Is there any possibility that this immense creation called the master universe could become a nucleus, a core of something much larger? Could cytoplasmic universes exist beyond the outer limits of the fourth level of outer space?
We have studied two nuclear universes: Havona as the nucleus of the grand universe, and the grand universe as the nucleus of the master universe. Now let us consider the possibility that the master creation is a nucleus, perhaps the third and final nucleus.
¶ The last nuclear universe
We have used four criteria to identify a nuclear creation:
- a) The nature of a nuclear universe is unique; it is not the same as the cytoplasmic creations that surround it.
- b) The termination of a nuclear universe is associated with the appearance of a new Deity.
- c) The termination of a nuclear universe is also associated with the formation of a new Trinity.
- d) The nucleus transmits its characteristics to the outer cytoplasmic creations through the activities of the new Trinity and the associated creators and administrators who come out of the nuclear universe to serve the new outer creations.
Now, let’s apply these same criteria to the master universe, to see whether or not it is a nuclear creation.
- a) Unique nature.- The master universe is radically different from any creation that may come later, because it is the spatial stage where the Ultimate grew and finally appeared. The nature of any creation that appears later will have to be post-ultimate.
- b) Appearance of a Deity.- The termination of the master universe is simultaneous with the final appearance of the Ultimate God.
- c) Formation of a Trinity.- The final appearance of the Ultimate makes it possible for the Second Experiential Trinity (the Absolute Trinity) to form.
- d) Transmissibility.- The Absolute Trinity has the capacity to mobilize the total resources of the master universe to transmit the finite and absonite experiential values and meanings to any possible exterior cytoplasmic creation that may develop in the future.
These comparisons seem to indicate that the master universe is not a final product, but rather a nuclear creation, and as such, it is similar to the grand universe and the central universe. The master universe appears to be the core of a realm that must be external to it and much larger in size.
¶ The Absolute Trinity
The completion of the third nuclear universe seems to establish the third (and final) creative thesis—God’s final challenge to all creation. This new challenge is realized through the emergence of a new Trinity, the Absolute Trinity. The corporate members of this Trinity are:
- a) The Supreme Being, the first experiential Deity.
- b) Ultimate God, the second experiential Deity.
- c) The Unrevealed Culminator of the Destiny of the Universe
This Trinity encompasses the sum total of all experiential attainments throughout the master universe, plus the additive unpredictability represented by the presence of the Culminator of Destiny. Let us evaluate the members of this Trinity, the Second Experiential Trinity.
a) The Supreme Being. - This experiential Deity enjoys a unique relationship with both experiential Trinities, since He is a member of both. We believe, however, that His relationship with these two Trinities occurs on different levels. Let us analyze why:
By the end of the Second Age, the Supreme had completed the synthesis between power (over energy-matter) and the personality of all finite beings. His development had exhausted all finite potentials. And he is a member of the First Experiential Trinity as the Deity of the finite totality.
By the end of the Sixth Age, the Supreme Being is more than a finite Deity. He has been personally developing and expanding on the absonite level throughout the long ages of the outer space universes. He has been doing this as Deity, participating in the Trinity Ultimate’s efforts to unify. By the end of the Sixth Age, the Supreme has undergone and completed all the absonite development that will characterize the four outer space levels.
If this reasoning is valid, then the Supreme Being, who is a member of the First Experiential Trinity, is a post-finite being. And the Supreme Being, who is a member of the Second Experiential Trinity, is a post-ultimate being. This is an interesting question, because that which is post-ultimate must be absolute—perhaps co-absolute, associate-absolute, or quasi-absolute—but not subabsolute.
b) God the Ultimate. - Like the Supreme, the Ultimate has also completed its development process, but in relation to the absonite totality. The final appearance of the Ultimate indicates that the possibilities for further growth at the absonite level have been exhausted. This means that the Ultimate, like the Supreme at this point, is “post-ultimate,” and as we have seen before, that which is post-ultimate cannot be sub-absolute.
c) The Culminator of the Destiny of the Universe. - This is the most mysterious being mentioned in the Documents. We know practically nothing about him, except that he is in charge of culminating destiny.
He must be preexistent both in the Supreme and in the Ultimate. He must occupy a position in the Second Experiential Trinity analogous to that which the Architects of the Master Universe occupy in the First—both being preexistent to the other two members.
It now seems evident why the Second Experiential Trinity is called the Absolute Trinity. Its members appear to be absolute, or at least we can be certain that they are post-ultimate. The sphere of action of this Trinity includes the entire master universe and appears to project into the space regions outside it. The activity of the First Experiential Trinity is of an ultimate type; that of the Second is of an absolute type.
The objectives of the First Experiential Trinity were threefold:
- a) Its own unification
- b) The termination of the master universe
- c) The appearance of the Last God
The goals of the Second Experiential Trinity also appear threefold:
- a) Its own unification
- b) The termination of creations outside the master universe
- c) The final appearance of the Absolute God
These goals seem limitless, and they must be very difficult to achieve. However, the Absolute Trinity is the post-ultimate outcome of the completion of the entire master universe, and the final challenge to the citizens of the post-ultimate age.
¶ The last mobilization
The idea of the possible mobilization of all the resources of the master universe is beyond all imagination. However, we suggest that something like this is destined to happen under the direction of the Second Experiential Trinity.
The first great mobilization took place at the “dawn of time,” when the citizens of eternity’s perfect creation received the challenge of the beginning of the imperfect superuniverses. It was the Adventure of the Supreme, the adventure on the superuniverse space level, the adventure of the Second Age.
The second mobilization came after the beginning of the Third Age, when all the resources of the grand universe were marshaled by the First Experiential Trinity to invade outer space. The Papers call this the Ultimate Adventure.
We now attempt to visualize the third mobilization—the mobilization of all the resources of the master universe from Havona to the fourth level of outer space. Visualizing this is beyond our capabilities, but we believe that the mustering of such resources will herald the proclamation of the final adventure, the Adventure of the Absolute.
¶ THE BEGINNING OF THE LAST ANTITHESIS
As we begin this study of the Last Antithesis, we find ourselves beyond the confines of the outermost space level, and beyond the epoch of the Sixth Age of the universe. There are no longer any Architects of the Master Universe to guide us to what lies beyond the master creation.
¶ The post-last era
We have observed that the ages of the universe differ quantitatively. They seem to become longer as we progress from the Second Age to the Sixth. Some of them also differ qualitatively. Now, in the post-ultimate age, we have reached a new age, which is qualitatively different from all previous ones. Let’s see how it differs from the post-supreme ages:
- The master universe has completed its development.
- The Supreme has completed its post-finite (absonite) development.
- The First Experiential Trinity has been fully unified.
- The Ultimate God has finally appeared.
- The Second Experiential Trinity has been formed as a factual reality.
- The potential for absonite growth has been exhausted.
- The absonite search for the Father as Ultimate is over.
The post-ultimate age also differs from the other universe ages in another way: it apparently has no end in time. Perhaps we should think of it as the Last Age. In this sense, it is like the First Age—both are eternal. The First Age has no beginning in time, although it ends in time. The Last Age has no end in time, although it begins in time.
The Post-Ultimate Ages. - An eternal age need not necessarily be a “gray blob” of monotonous, interminable, uninterrupted time—something that goes on and on and on. The Last Age is likely to have many epochs, each presenting successive goals that can actually be achieved. The seven Planetary Mortal Epochs are the major divisions in the history of an inhabited world. The seventh epoch is called “The Age of Light and Life”—and apparently it goes on and on. But when the Papers analyze this last epoch in detail, we discover that it is divided into seven stages—the seven stages of progressive advancement in the age of light and life. And it is possible that the seventh stage also has its subdivisions, that it is divided into seven substages of progressive growth, and so on.
This is how we visualize the post-ultimate era, a period of unfolding epochs, each with its beginning and end, its beginning and end.
¶ The adjustment to eternity
The Papers tell us that when ascending mortals pass (during the Second Age) through the final transit sleep between the inner circuit of Havona and the Isle of Paradise, they become the “sons of eternity.” They are no longer creatures of time. This seems a reasonable introduction to the quality of eternity, but it is hardly an adequate basis for understanding the quantity of eternity. We believe that the sense of the quantity of eternity must grow in the consciousness of mortals, ascenders, and finaliters as a slow evolutionary process.
Objective time (clock time) is one thing, and subjective time (time in our consciousness) is quite another. When a human being has lived forty years or more, they can look back at least thirty years into their past, with their memories and their feelings. This equips them to look forward the same amount of time—they have the “feeling” of a thirty-year future time period. This gives them a sixty-year time base with which to evaluate the passing present moment—thirty years back plus thirty years forward.
We have been informed that, among other things, the Adjuster gives us something called “the experience and memory of eternity past.” Let us examine an ascender who has just fused with his Adjuster. All this endless memory of eternity past is suddenly opened to his consciousness. What can he do with it? We believe that he will only be able to absorb what he has the capacity to absorb. In other words, how much can he comprehend? How much time have he consciously experienced? If he is on the mansion worlds and is a thousand years old, then he will be able to comprehend an additional 1,000 years of Adjuster experience and memory of eternity past. If he can do this, then he will be able to go back 2,000 years into the past. This will give him the sensation of the same amount of time into the future—2,000 years. He now has a time base of 4,000 years—2,000 years into the past plus 2,000 years into the future. But this ascender has only consciously lived 1,000 years. This means that his capacity to evaluate the present in terms of the combined past and future has grown at a rate four times the actual passage of time.
We begin to free ourselves from the limitations of time as we can associate the present moment with more things in the past and future. When we are a million years old, we will have a time base (an understanding of past-future) of four million years. When we are a trillion years old (when we are as old as the Andronover Nebula), we will have a time base of four trillion years. When we enter the post-ultimate era, we may be five trillion times older than Andronover, and we will have an understanding of time that is four times as great. This is the age we have calculated for the entire master universe—five trillion trillion years.
¶ Post-ultimate growth: transcending old limits
Experiential growth beyond the Ultimate level is a true break with all previous growth limits. This would also be the third time those growth limits have been transcended. Each of these episodes has happened because God has taken something away from preexisting conditions. Let’s reexamine the three instances in which God challenged the existing creation by establishing a new need in a new experiential realm:
a) Post-Havonian Needs. The first challenge God made to all creation was when He promulgated the superuniverses and took away their inherent perfection—when He set them forth as finite and imperfect creations. This was a challenge to Paradise and Havona and, at the same time, an opportunity for the perfect beings of the eternal realms to undertake the adventure of a new service in the imperfect superuniverses. In responding to this challenge, Havona rose above the limitations of its inherent perfection and added evolutionary growth and experience to its original, divine perfection.
b) Post-Supreme Needs. The second challenge God made to all creation was directed at the citizens of the grand universe when he opened the levels of outer space and took away from them the possibility of finite experience. In responding to this challenge, the inhabitants of the grand universe rose above the limitations of finite growth and began the progress of post-supreme growth—absonite growth.
c) Post-ultimate needs. The third and (perhaps) final challenge that God makes to all creation seems to be directed to the citizens of the completed master universe. We believe that God will challenge them with the prospect of an Infinite Cosmos—a realm from which He will have removed all possibility of finite and absonite growth and experience. If the citizens of the master universe can respond to this challenge, they will embark on the ultimate adventure, the Adventure of the Absolute, the attempt to compensate the native experiential beings of the final universe for their lack of capacity for finite and absonite experience. In responding to this challenge, the citizens of the master universe will undertake a growth of an absolute nature.
¶ The ability of the finaliters
What are the prospects for finaliters in the post-ultimate age, an age in which all finite and absonite growth will have ended? What are the possibilities for further growth? The question of “further growth” is truly breathtaking. After finite and absonite growth have ended, all relative growth will have ended. And when relative growth has ended, all that can remain is absolute growth.
We believe the outlook for finaliters is good. Finaliters have the potential for endless growth because:
- a) First of all, they have a personality with the capacity to express itself and grow at the finite level, at the absonite level, and to penetrate the absolute level – not to encompass this level, but to penetrate it and grow there.
- b) The Adjuster with whom they have fused brings to them an element of absoluteness. At the moment of fusion, this element of absoluteness is a potential quality that can hardly be expressed immediately, but which will surely be realized in the future.
Finaliters seem to have the capacity to achieve a qualitatively absolute, but not quantitatively infinite, destiny. We believe they are destined to encounter God as absolute, but never to know everything that God possesses as absolute—always more, and even more, but never everything.
¶ The concept of the Infinite Cosmos: the endless cytoplasm
If Havona is the nucleus of the grand universe, and if the grand universe is the nucleus of the cytoplasmic universes of the four outer space levels, then the master universe is the nucleus… of what? This study suggests that the master universe is the potential nucleus of a possible Infinite Cosmos—an endless cytoplasm, the ultimate antithesis.
The Infinite Cosmos would have to be the third and final antithesis. It must be different and distinct from everything that has appeared before it, from the circuits of Havona to the realms of the fourth space level. The central universe appears to be pre-creative, the master universe appears to be creative (and evolving), perhaps the final universe of infinity is super-creative.
We are certain that the supposedly endless cosmos will be experiential, but it will also be post-finite and post-absonite. Perhaps it will be existential-experiential. This is not a new concept, because we have been told that the Modified Absolute is both existential and experiential.
¶ THE IMPOSSIBLE SYNTHESIS
In our study, we have followed the history of the Master Universe from the “dawn of time” until after the end of the Sixth Age. We have seen the appearance of God the Supreme and God the Ultimate. Now it is time to ask: Why do these experiential Deities evolve and appear? And… Will there be a third?
¶ The Basis for Experiential Deities and Trinities
As usual, God’s decisions and plans are behind all these phenomena of experiential Deities and Trinities. These plans made their appearance entirely inevitable. Perhaps we can better understand the development of God’s plan by analyzing what actually happened.
1) The existential synthesis of potentials. - When God gives birth to the Absolutes, he synthesizes them into the Universal Absolute, so that in eternity they are one Absolute. This is an existential synthesis, not an experiential synthesis.
2) The Non-Synthesis of the Manifested. - When God brings forth the thesis of the Eternal Son, He also brings about the antithesis of the Son, the non-personal, non-spiritual Paradise. God does not synthesize these two absolute manifestations. He coordinates them by means of mind, but otherwise leaves them separate, a problem to be solved by the experiential Deities and Trinities who will appear later.
3) Thesis upon thesis.- Since the Original Son is the Absolute Person, He becomes the original thesis of Deity. God, as the Father of this Son, becomes the pre-thesis of Deity. God then unites with the Son to trinitize the Spirit, which thus becomes the joint thesis of Deity. All three are united in the Paradise Trinity, which becomes the undivided thesis of Deity. This is a superposition of thesis upon thesis, not the creation of a synthesis. It has the effect of completely unifying existential Deity and completely separating it from non-deity except that which is functionally coordinated by mind.
4) Sub-Absolute Reality. - With the appearance of Havona, God plans two new levels of reality, in addition to the absolute level on which everything is happening. These two new levels are the finite and the absonite, and they make three in all: finite, absonite, and absolute. In the First Age, and in Havona, these three levels are existential. Nothing of an experiential nature has yet appeared.
5) Experiential Reality. - At the dawn of time, God planned a new kind of reality, experiential reality. Thus began the Second Age of the universe. The Paradise Trinity had always pervaded all three levels of reality (finite, absonite, and absolute). Consequently, on each level there was a reflection of the Trinity’s presence. It seems reasonable to suppose that, with the creation of experiential reality, these reflections of the Trinity became the potentials of the three experiential Deities: on the finite level, the spirit person of God the Supreme; on the absonite level, God the Ultimate; and on the absolute level, the potential for an experiential person, God the Absolute.
- The Synthesis of Power and Personality. - These three experiential Deity potentials (Supreme, Ultimate, and Absolute) can only be personalized as manifested Deities by solving the problem God deliberately left unsolved: What is to be done with the Isle of Paradise? Or, how can all manifested reality be consolidated (synthesized) on the finite, absonite, and absolute levels? This problem can only be solved (apparently) by the process of synthesizing power and personality, which means uniting the total power (over energy-matter) on each level and coordinating (unifying) it with the spirit person of Deity by means of mind. In other words, mind conquers energy-matter and then subordinates itself to the direction of spirit by virtue of the personality power of choice.
- a) Synthesis on the finite level.- The perfection of the seven superuniverses is the task of God the Sevenfold (the Supreme Creators in association with the Paradise Deities). This perfection leads to the appearance of God the Supreme (a synthesis of power and personality on the finite level) and to the formation of the First Experiential Trinity (the Ultimate Trinity).
- b) Synthesis on the absonite level. - The perfection of the master universe is the task of the Ultimate Trinity. This perfection leads to the appearance of God the Ultimate (synthesis of power and personality on the absonite level) and to the formation of the Second Experiential Trinity (the Absolute Trinity).
- c) Synthesis at the absolute level. - The perfection of the infinite cosmos is the task of the Absolute Trinity. Such perfection (if it could be achieved) would lead to the appearance of the Absolute God.
¶ The barrier of infinity
The perfection of the grand universe and the master universe has been fully realized because each of these levels has limits—each of them has an “outside.” But at the last level (the final level), we find ourselves in a situation that has no limits. Where is the “outside” of an infinite cosmos?
The final synthesis of power and personality would necessitate the material completion of the Infinite Cosmos, the experiential exhaustion of the infinite potential of the Modified Absolute, and the total unification of these two infinite potentials (deified and non-deified).
The Absolute Trinity can begin this infinite project, it can continue it indefinitely, but it will never be able to finish it—it will never achieve unification. This means that the Absolute God will not be able to emerge from the infinite potential of the Modified Absolute. The personalization of the Absolute God depends on the unification of the Absolute Trinity, and the unification of this Trinity requires the exhaustion of all infinity. But, quantitatively, infinity cannot be exhausted. Therefore…
This appears to be the end of the history of the master universe. This gigantic experiential creation has the capacity to generate two experiential Deities and two experiential Trinities. But we have reached an impasse. The Absolute Trinity cannot be unified; consequently, God the Absolute cannot synthesize power and personality on the absolute level.
We are stuck before the Infinity Barrier.
¶ CONCLUSIONS
We have completed our study of the master universe and have seen the cycle of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis completed twice. And we have observed the beginning, but not the end, of the third cycle. We have learned something about the physical size of the master universe, and we have estimated the length of the universe ages in terms of time. But, as far as God’s purpose in the master creation, and the purpose of the master universe itself, are concerned, we have probably only scratched the surface of the mystery.
¶ The Purpose of the Master Universe
God projected Himself existentially, from Paradise and Havona, into eternity past. The master universe appears to be the basis, the foundation, from which God seems to attempt to project Himself experientially into eternity future.
From the creature standpoint, the master universe is our great home. It is the place where we were born, grew up, decided, ascended, found God, completed our finite destiny, and continued on to the attainments of the absonite levels. When we have attained the fullness of absonite destiny, we may have come of age. We will then likely be mature citizens of the master creation. We will have achieved a status that will entitle us to participate in the ultimate experiential adventure, the eternal adventure, the search for the Father as absolute. From a larger perspective, the career throughout the master universe is a career of preparation for the final challenge and the last adventure—the Adventure of the Absolute. The master universe is the breeding ground for the experiential children who will one day share in establishing the endless universe of infinity.
From the perspective of Deity, the master universe appears to have four purposes: the evolution of the two experiential Deities, and the emergence of the two experiential Trinities. Without the two experiential Deities, the two experiential Trinities could not be formed. And without the two experiential Trinities, the Trinity of Trinities could not be organized. The function of the master universe is to generate the Supreme Being and the Trinity Ultimate, as well as to bring forth God Ultimate and the Trinity Absolute. All of this will make possible the final reassociation of total Deity manifested in the
Trinity of Trinities existential-experiential.
What are the Final Limits? What is the Final Goal?
We cannot find answers to these questions within the limits of our study of the master universe. But we have decided that the Final Limits and the Final Goal are external to the vast master creation.
¶ Topics, principles and models
What themes, principles, and patterns have we discovered throughout our study? There are a number of them, which seem to run through the creative design of the master universe. Let’s take an inventory of our findings:
I. Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis. The principle of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis seems to characterize the entire history of the master universe, and even its antecedents. First, a proposition is stated, which is then contrasted with the formulation of a stimulating anti-proposition, and then they are unified for the benefit and expansion of both.
II. The Transformation of a Synthesis. We have observed that the appearance of a new Deity marks an important synthesis. This appearance sets in motion a chain of events that leads to the formation of a new Trinity. This new Trinity is the new thesis, a new challenge arising from the transformation of a previous thesis.
III. Nuclear Universes and Cytoplasmic Universes. All universes are not equal. Some are nuclear in relation to others that are exterior and cytoplasmic. We have noted that a nuclear universe is associated with the appearance of a new Deity and a new Trinity. Havona is the first nucleus in relation to the cytoplasmic superuniverses. The grand universe is the second nucleus in relation to the cytoplasmic exterior universes. The master universe is the third nucleus, the final nucleus, in relation to the cytoplasmic Infinite Cosmos.
IV. Cytoplasmic Needs Expand Nuclear Functions. Each new cytoplasmic creation suffers from the lack of something that is (or was) present in its nuclear universe. The superuniverses lack the perfection of Havona. The outer universes will lack finite experience. These cytoplasmic needs challenge the nuclear creation to extend its service and assistance. In responding to this challenge, the nuclear creation rises above the limits of growth it had previously attained.
V. Unification of Power and Personality. All experiential growth seems to involve the union of power (over energy-matter) and personality. This is true at the Deity level, in the evolution of the Supreme and the Ultimate. And it is also true on the creature levels, where the unification of power and personality seems to depend upon the subordination of mind (which dominates energy-matter) to spirit direction, by virtue of the free choice of the personal creature.
VI. Divergence and Convergence. Diversification of reality appears to be favored because it is a technique for avoiding the monotony of similarity. This is illustrated in the unique natures of the Seven Master Spirits, which causes each superuniverse to be also unique. After the appearance of the Supreme, there will be a convergence, a consolidation of the seven cultures of the supercreations. On the planetary level, each evolutionary race is encouraged to develop its own individual culture, and subsequently all these diverse cultures blend into the Adamic civilization. The complexity of this divergence may grow in the outer space creations. In the superuniverses, there are seven distinct environments and cultures. On the primary space level, there may be 49, and many more on succeeding space levels.
VII. Trinitization as a Way of Escape from Infinity. At the end of our study, we encountered the Infinity Barrier. This has brought about a standstill in the efforts of the Second Experiential Trinity to unify. In the Prologue, we noted that God escaped from the limitations inherent in His infinity by the technique of trinitization. In the Epilogue, we shall encounter a similar situation—but with one difference: God was “escaping” from infinity, and the experiential Deities are trying to “force their way in.”
¶ THE FINAL UNIVERSAL ERA
The unification of the Absolute Trinity is a never-ending project. It cannot be unified until it encompasses infinity. And until it is unified, the Absolute God cannot emerge from the potentials of the Modified Absolute.
The master universe is mobilizing as a nuclear universe, preparing for the development of the cytoplasmic zones exterior to itself, but no such cytoplasmic zones—space exterior to the master universe is empty. And it is doubtful that the Architects of the Master Universe have plans that extend beyond the perimeter of the master creation.
¶ Quality and quantity
Perhaps we can continue our study a little further if we distinguish between what is an absolute and pure quality, and what is a universal and infinite quantity. In this study, we would like to associate the word “absolute” with the concept of an undiminished quality, and the word “infinite” with the concept of an unlimited quantity.
With these distinctions made, we can study the question of ultimate destiny from a new angle. We suggest that an absolute destiny can be achieved if we recognize that the quality of an absolute value can be achieved sub-infinitely. A simple example: A human being could hardly breathe all the air on the planet, even in a lifetime. But this limitation on quantity does not mean that the person cannot breathe any air at all. In this situation, the limit on quantity has nothing to do with the act of breathing or the quality of the air breathed.
When the Father and the Son trinitized the Spirit and gave birth to Havona, they fully expressed the existential quality of divine perfection in the central creation. But the Deities did not infinitely express the quantity of this existential universe. Had they done so, all eternal space would have been filled with a universe of existential perfection. The Father and the Son chose to limit the quantity of creation in Havona; they limited it to one billion worlds and a circumscribed area of space. They fully expressed the quality of divine perfection, but they limited their work in the quantity expressed. They created a model universe that is pure in the quality of perfection but strictly subinfinite in quantity or size.
By thus limiting Havona, the Paradise Deities made possible all the later, experiential developments of the subsequent creations.
¶ Trinitization of the Experiential Deity
We have observed certain analogies between the First and Last Ages. At the dawn of the First Age, we had two existential Deities plus one base of operations. The Father and the Son united to trinitize the Infinite Spirit, and the repercussions of this act were the emergence of Havona and the formation of the Paradise Trinity.
We believe that cosmic history will repeat itself. At the dawn of the Last Age, we have two experiential Deities (the Supreme Being and God the Ultimate) and one base of operations (the master universe). What will these two experiential Deities do to usher in the Last Age? What occurred existentially at the dawn of the First Age will be repeated experientially at the beginning of the Last Age. We believe that the Final Age will begin when the Supreme and the Ultimate unite to trinitize their equal in Deity, God the Absolute. And we believe that the repercussions of this act will be the beginning of the Infinite Cosmos and the formation of the Trinity of Trinities.
The Father and the Son are existential and infinite Deities, so the result of their trinitizing union is existential and infinite—God the Spirit. The Supreme and the Ultimate are experiential and sub-infinite Deities, so the result of their trinitizing union will also be experiential and sub-infinite—an experiential and limited expression of the Absolute God.
We have established a parallel between the act of the Father-Son and the act of the Supreme-Ultimate. They appear to be similar, but they are not the same. They are analogous, but not homologous. The Father-Son, by trinitizing God the Spirit, is in the process of emerging from infinity. The Supreme-Ultimate, by trinitizing God the Absolute, is striving to enter infinity. What the Father and the Son achieve in the total sense of quality and quantity, the Supreme and the Ultimate can achieve only in the sense of quality. God the Absolute emerges as an absolute reality in terms of quality, but in terms of quantity and infinity, He is a sub-infinite manifestation of the Absolute.
¶ The Beginning of the Infinite Cosmos
We believe that the appearance of the Absolute God will be the most important event in the history of the universe since the appearance in eternity of the Infinite Spirit. The Infinite Spirit is the result of the first trinitization of Deity; the Absolute God will be the product of the final trinitization of Deity.
When the Infinite Spirit emerges into existence, it is personified as the creative corollary of the appearance of the eternal universe. We believe that the appearance of the Absolute God will also be accompanied by the appearance of the beginning of the infinite universe. The first creation is truly eternal; the last creation is potentially infinite. We hold that the Absolute God will appear at the same time as the materialization of the innermost realm of the Infinite Cosmos.
This universe will be unlike anything that has ever appeared before in the entire master creation. For the first time, the momentous plans of the Architects of the Master Universe will be transcended.
As for the size of this new region, we can only speculate. We assume that the size of the innermost region of the Infinite Cosmos will be related to the size of the master universe, just as the master universe is related to the grand universe. Put another way: if the master universe were a tennis ball, then the innermost region of the Infinite Cosmos would be something like the Moon. And this is only the innermost region—perhaps by far the smallest.
We have reason to speculate thus. In every past example, the nucleus of a new cytoplasm has been very small in comparison with the peripheral zone. Havona must be very small in comparison with the superuniverses. We have found that the grand universe is quite small in comparison with the master universe. Thus, when we view the master universe as the nucleus of an outer creation, we believe the same relationship will exist: the nuclear master universe will be small in comparison with the mere beginning of Cosmos Infinite.
¶ The Depths of the Final Age
The trinitization of God the Absolute and the mass penetration of personalities into the Infinite Cosmos open up an endless panorama of growth and progress beyond the confines of the master universe, into the ultimate expanse of the unlimited universe.
In an effort to make the Last Age and the Infinite Cosmos somewhat intelligible, we propose establishing three stages of progress in order to create a framework for thinking about the endless universe. Conceptually, it makes no difference whether there are three, seven, or a million stages. We chose three because it is the minimum number needed to present a concept of beginnings, intermediate stages, and destinies.
Stage number one. We identify the first stage of the Infinite Cosmos with the innermost zone, with that part of the endless universe that materializes as a repercussion of the appearance of the Absolute God.
Stage number two. We visualize the second stage of the Infinite Cosmos as an intermediate stage of development, a stage that will come after the concretization of the innermost zone. This intermediate stage of development may or may not have an end, a conclusion.
Stage number three. The final stage of the expansive growth of the endless cosmos may be a purely theoretical reflection. We associate this final stage with the final association of the Double Deity—the association of the Absolute and the Father-Infinite, the “completion” of the cycle of Reality.
¶ After the end of endings
What would happen if all potentials could manifest? This would mean the absolute end of all growth, all change, all adventure. This would imply a static experiential state, a state without change. It would mean a perpetual present—no tomorrow—with broad horizons and new worlds to discover.
God, in all his wisdom, has prevented all of this. God’s plans seem to foresee an ever-young and growing universe, a creation always on the brink of a new adventure, a cosmos that lives eternally in the fresh dawn of an endless spring.
We have attempted to follow the development of God’s plans throughout the ages of the universe and across the light-years of space, and we have come to certain conclusions. It appears that God is engaged in the eternal project of revealing himself to all his children and their children’s children, and of sharing his nature with them.
The final adventure, the Adventure of the Absolute, has no end. Nothing will ever stop us; we will never reach a stagnation, a final barrier to progress. The exploration of God’s infinity must be endless. We will encounter Him as the Absolute, but we can never know Him as the Infinite. Infinity is there before the First Source and after the Final Destination.
In one Paper it is said (UB 105:0.1) that all Reality can be symbolized by a great ellipse. It begins with an infinite and absolute Source and ever seeks a Destiny that is equally infinite and absolute. In the Prologue to this study we sought to understand that Source. In the Epilogue we find ourselves again pursuing that same Source—only now we use the word Destiny. In the beginning, and in the end, we sought the Source-Destiny of Reality. This must be the Infinite, that Being best known to us as God.
Translated from English by Antonio Moya. Illustrated by the translator (with invaluable artistic collaboration from Eduardo Altuzarra).
June 2006.