© 2020 Claude Flibotte
© 2020 French-speaking Association of Readers of the Urantia Book
| The Urantia Book In Esperanto | Le Lien Urantien — Issue 92 — December 2020 | Can We Still Hunt The Dinosaur In Satania? |
We are all blessed with the immense gift of personality. Although every individual on this planet is endowed with it, what do we really know about personality? In order to take a step further in understanding it, I suggest that you undertake with me a rereading of the beginning of booklet 112. This booklet is really very loaded with information and for those who know how to dwell on it seriously, a new light opens up to you in a spectacular way. Following a careful study of each paragraph, try to visualize what the Solitary Messenger was kind enough to reveal to us about what personality is. I have underlined the important words in the sentence for you. Do not read my interpretation straight away, but first form your own personal idea. Then, you will be able to join your discoveries to mine and thus take the next step towards the cosmic awareness of what your personality is and its possibilities. There you are, you are ready… Happy discovering!
Booklet 112
The survival of personality
THE evolutionary planets are the spheres of human origin, the initial worlds of the ascending mortal career. Urantia is your starting point; here you and your divine Thought Adjuster are joined in temporary union. You have been endowed with a perfect guide; therefore, if you will sincerely run the race of time and gain the final goal of faith, the reward of the ages shall be yours; you will be eternally united with your indwelling Adjuster. Then will begin your real life, the ascending life, to which your present mortal state is but the vestibule. Then will begin your exalted and progressive mission as finaliters in the eternity which stretches out before you. And throughout all of these successive ages and stages of evolutionary growth, there is one part of you that remains absolutely unaltered, and that is personality—permanence in the presence of change.
While it would be presumptuous to attempt the definition of personality, it may prove helpful to recount some of the things which are known about personality:
- Personality is that quality in reality which is bestowed by the Universal Father himself or by the Conjoint Actor, acting for the Father. (UB 112:0.1-3)
In this quotation the word “quality” denotes something that gives value. Therefore, personality possesses a power that qualifies it to act on all levels of existent or latent reality as described in the introduction to Paper 106. These are the following categories of reality as viewed from the perspective of us mortals: incomplete finite (the status of ascending mortals); maxima finite (the status of destined experiential creatures—finaliters); transcendental (superfinite level. Comprises the prefinite genesis of beginnings and the postfinite significance of apparently finite terminations or destinies. What does this mean? It means that the transcendental level includes knowledge of the causes of the beginning of finite reality as well as the significance of its apparent completion. Many elements of Paradise-Havona seem to belong to the transcendental order); ultimate (encompasses the meaning of the master universe and its completed destiny. As an example, we have Paradise-Havona, particularly the circuit of the Father’s worlds); coabsolute (this is the level of projection of creativity of the experientials beyond the master universe); absolute (this is the level involving the eternal presence of the 7 existential Absolutes. These are the existential and experiential realizations associated perhaps by the contact potential of the personality); infinity (this is the pre-existential and post-experiential level. The unqualified unity of infinity.)
Remember, we are still talking here about the personality’s ability to operate in all these different levels of reality. So how can we not be amazed, as a result of this realization, at the immense value of the personality, knowing that it comes from the Universal Father, the Cause of all, the Cause without cause!
- It may be bestowed upon any living energy system which includes mind or spirit. (UB 112:0.4)
In this quote it is said: that personality can be conferred on a living energy system. That is to say any living being endowed with an appropriate bodily form, with a mental circuit enabling it to find meaning in facts in order to extract spirit values from them. This description perfectly describes the status of mortal beings (see 112: 5.3 and 4). In the category of living beings endowed with a mind only, we find the chronoldeks and the frandalanks. They are a kind of living machine (see 29: 4.38). Do they have a personality, I doubt it? There are also beings who are purely spiritual. All the progeny of the Infinite Spirit, as are the different types of angels. By contrast, there are also non-living energy systems. As an example, we have the thirty energy phases of the energy system of the seven superuniverses ( UB 42:2.14 ).
- It is not wholly subject to the fetters of antecedent causation. It is relatively creative or cocreative. (UB 112:0.5)
I see in this quote two possibilities of interpretations located at the antipodes of each other. In the case of humans, although we come from the animal kingdom, our personality is not hindered by this individuality of modest origin. In the case of the Deities, the Universal Father is the antecedent cause of the Eternal Son. God frees himself from the absolutism of personality by the trinitization of the unqualified personality of the Original Son. The personality of the first Source-Center is thus the personality of Infinity and the father of all personalities (see 10.2). Being deified, the personality is always relatively creative or co-creative by its origin.
- When bestowed upon evolutionary material creatures, it causes spirit to strive for the mastery of energy-matter through the mediation of mind. (UB 112:0.6)
Spirit written with a lowercase “e” here refers to my understanding of the consciousness of being and interacting with one’s environment. If it were the Adjuster, the word spirit would take a capital “E”. I know, there are places in the book where the word spirit with a lowercase “e” does indeed designate the Adjuster! Thus, the capacity of the personality in man would be, with the help of his mental circuit, to master his material animal nature by recognizing the sensorially perceived facts of life, to extract mental meanings from them and ultimately to deduce spiritual values. Spirit is the fundamental reality of the personality experience, because God is spirit (UB 12:8.14).
- Personality, while devoid of identity, can unify the identity of any living energy system. (UB 112:0.7)
A clear distinction must be made between identity and personality. Human identity depends on the material body, the unstable balance of energies, and the intellect (see 112:2.20). Personality is that gift of the Father which functions to unify the various components of identity. Faith in addition to a certain degree of balance between the material, the intellect, and the spiritual being achieved, the temporal identity will be transferred into the potentially eternal soul.
- It discloses only qualitative response to the personality circuit in contradistinction to the three energies which show both qualitative and quantitative response to gravity. (UB 112:0.8)
Personality is only qualitatively responsive to the Father’s personality circuit for the simple reason that it is a quality, a value of spirit. It is only possible to qualify the success rate in the unification of identity. It is like love, we cannot quantify this feeling, but we can qualify it. As for the other three energies, material, mental and spiritual, the energy gravity circuit of the Paradise Island, the mind gravity circuit of the Infinite Spirit and the spiritual gravity circuit of the Eternal Son can be measured both quantitatively and qualitatively.
- Personality is changeless in the presence of change. (UB 112:0.9)
Just as the Universal Father and the law of God are invariant because perfect, the personality is invariant because it is deified.
- It can make a gift to God—dedication of the free will to the doing of the will of God. (UB 112:0.10)
The personality of man comes from God, it flows from the infinite personality of the Father. In his infinite love, the Father has also given his children the gift of free will. Any being with any sense should recognize that the foundation of reality is God and his creative plan based on altruistic love. Any unbalanced, narcissistic and proud individual who only cares about himself will condemn himself to unreality and possible non-existence.
- It is characterized by morality—awareness of relativity of relationship with other persons. It discerns conduct levels and choosingly discriminates between them. (UB 112:0.11)
Morality is relative, that is to say, it varies according to cultures and eras characterizing the history of humanity. Taking into account the customs, habits and rules governing what is good for the society of the time in question, the personality will make its choice among the levels of conduct to adopt for the good of all. The higher the spiritual level of society, the closer the choice of these personalities will come to the perfection to be achieved relative to the eras of light and life.
- Personality is unique, absolutely unique: It is unique in time and space; it is unique in eternity and on Paradise; it is unique when bestowed—there are no duplicates; it is unique during every moment of existence; it is unique in relation to God—he is no respecter of persons, but neither does he add them together, for they are nonaddable—they are associable but nontotalable. (UB 112:0.12)
Just as the personality of the Universal Father is unique, the personality granted to each creature, a gift from the Father, is also unique. It is unique in the way of becoming aware of the facts around us. It is unique in the way of finding meaning in them. It is unique in the experiential capacity to extract spiritual values from them. It is unique in the way of unifying all the constituent parts of identity. Above all, it is unique in the way of making decisions and acting day after day.
Why are personalities not addable? Personality is comparable to a quality added to the identity of an individual. In order to visualize the particularity of personality, let’s try to do it using an analogy. We are in a field covered with flowers of an identical red. Each of these flowers is slightly different, because they are all individuals in their own right. On the other hand, the color red is identical for all these flowers. It would be possible for us to add each of the flowers contained in this field, but impossible to do the same operation for the color. This color is unique and qualifies the individuality of each of these flowers. The same goes for individuals. We can add the individuals in a room by the number and the description of what they are. On the other hand, we could only note that each of these individuals is a person. As far as personality is concerned, it either exists or it does not.
- Personality responds directly to other-personality presence. (UB 112:0.13)
Let us ask ourselves the question of whether we have the same reaction to a tree, an insect, a bird, a cat, etc. There will certainly be an interest in these different forms of life, but no personal relationship. Now, you are in front of me, the possibility of establishing a relationship between us is not only palpable, but it is possible and desirable because an invisible bond of reciprocity exists between us.
- It is one thing which can be added to spirit, thus illustrating the primacy of the Father in relation to the Son. (Mind does not have to be added to spirit.) (UB 112:0.14)
In this quotation we have three distinct items: personality, implied by the word “element,” spirit, and mind. As we have seen before, personality is an element, to use the term used here, which adds a qualifier to identity. What does the revelator want us to understand by his statement that personality illustrates the primacy of the Father over the Son? The Universal Father presides over the realms of preenergy, prespirit, and personality (UB 9:1.4). We are speaking here of the static state of Deity. It is self-evident that the Son is of the Father. Prior to the hypothetical moment of the trinitization of the Son by the Father, the personality of God was existent. The Son is the manifestation of pure spirit energy, just as Paradise Island is the pure manifestation of material energy, thus exposing the two differentiations of energy. In short, the Father bestowed personality upon the Son, pure absolute spirit, and made him the absolute spirit person. The Universal Father, First Source Center, the Cause without cause, is at the origin of the Original Son, Second Source Center, having as its cause the Universal Father. This is what illustrates the primacy of the Father in relation to the Son. The Father is the giver of personality, the Son creating beings-other-than-personal (UB 9:3.2).
As for the mind we have this definition: The thinking, perceiving and feeling mechanism of the human organism (UB 0:5.8). Obviously, for a pure mind, a mind would be superfluous since: There is no need to add the mind to the pure mind, because the mind is by nature conscious and capable of identifying (UB 9:4.2).
- Personality may survive mortal death with identity in the surviving soul. The Adjuster and the personality are changeless; the relationship between them (in the soul) is nothing but change, continuing evolution; and if this change (growth) ceased, the soul would cease. (UB 112:0.15)
For the personality, the condition for continuing its existence in a conscious manner resides in the transfer of the material temporal identity of the human being into his soul of morontia nature. This is the result of the progressive relationship between the human mind and the Thought Adjuster. The nature of the human soul rests essentially in the actuality of this relationship. The nature of God and his project are perfect and invariant, therefore the nature of the personality and the Adjuster is also. On the other hand, the watchword of the universe being progress, if no change or evolution occurred in the soul of this individual, it would go against the project of the Father and would automatically become unviable. This progression of the soul can be summed up in the injunction to be perfect as the Father is perfect and in the action of doing the will of the Father.
- Personality is uniquely conscious of time, and this is something other than the time perception of mind or spirit. (UB 112:0.16)
We have seen previously that the personality comes from the personality of the Universal Father. The human personality is the shadow-image projected into space-time by the personality of the divine Creator (UB 1:6.1). The Father exists outside of time and space, he is the source of all realities. Although being outside of time and space, the Father is aware of event sequences. Since our personality comes from his, it is conceivable that it is not conditioned by time and space. This is what will allow us, in the distant future, to access the absonite level and even to approach the absolute level.
Personality is bestowed by the Universal Father upon his creatures as a potentially eternal endowment. Such a divine gift is designed to function on numerous levels and in successive universe situations ranging from the lowly finite to the highest absonite, even to the borders of the absolute. Personality thus performs on three cosmic planes or in three universe phases:
- Position status. Personality functions equally efficiently in the local universe, in the superuniverse, and in the central universe. (UB 112:1.1-2)
No matter where we find ourselves in the universe of universes, our personality will always be functional.
I remind you that our personality functions here below in conjunction with a material body. On the morontia worlds, it will function in accordance with 570 bodily changes throughout our journey through the local universe. 8 will take place in the system, 71 in the constellation, and 491 on the Salvington spheres (UB 48:1.5). Later, it will be associated with our spirit form in the superuniverse and in Havona. As a finaliter, it will find the conditions of its origin in its new status as a spirit being freed from time and space on Paradise where time and space do not exist (27.1). Do not forget, our personality is the shadow of the personality of the Father who exists without time and without space!
- Meaning status. Personality performs effectively on the levels of the finite, the absonite, and even as impinging upon the absolute. (UB 112:1.3)
This means that our personality will be able to assimilate and find meanings in all realities of existence. It finds meanings taking into account time and space on the finite level. It will find meanings in the transcendence of time and space on the absonite level. It will even find meanings in a partial awareness of the absolute, a state of mind without beginning, without end, without time and without space (UB 0:1.13).
- Value status. Personality can be experientially realized in the progressive realms of the material, the morontial, and the spiritual. (UB 112:1.4)
It is through our evolutionary experiences lived as much in materiality, morontiality and spirituality that we arrive, with the help of the ministry of the different celestial interveners, to observe facts, to identify meanings and to express values of spirit, encountered on these different stages of existence. From animal status, we progress towards the status of perfect spirit as finaliter of Paradise. From self-consciousness, we reach the consciousness of God.
Personality has a perfected range of cosmic dimensional performance. The dimensions of finite personality are three, and they are roughly functional as follows:
- Length represents direction and nature of progression—movement through space and according to time—evolution. (UB 112:1.5-6)
Our personality retains in this dimension of consciousness the experiential accomplishments making us, animals at the base, a constant temporal evolution resulting in perfect spirits, paradisiacal finaliters. The Father has the possibility of creating in different ways. He can use his divine fiat and immediately produce perfect beings. He can also trinitize as in the origin of the Original Son. He can externalize as in the appearance of transcendental beings. But for us, finite creatures, he created time and space so that we have the chance, through evolution, to participate fully in our own creation making us, very imperfect beings, perfect people.
- Vertical depth embraces the organismal drives and attitudes, the varying levels of self-realization and the general phenomenon of reaction to environment. (UB 112:1.7)
This dimension of personality refers directly to our response to the stimuli of the adjutant mind spirits as a material being, to the influence of the spiritual circuit of the Divine Minister, the Holy Spirit, to the ministry of angels, to the leadings of the Thought Adjuster, to the influence of the Spirit of Truth, and others. Our response to all these divine ministries, combined with our very individual way of reacting to our environment, ultimately results in a certain self-realization, more or less perfect, but always perfectible.
- Breadth embraces the domain of co-ordination, association, and selfhood organization. (UB 112:1.8)
This dimension of personality refers to our unique way of coordinating all the possibilities of our finite condition to make of oneself a progressive perfection according to the desire of our Father. This aspect also takes into account our way and the skill to associate different concepts in order to progressively approach the truth of existence. Finally, the breadth allows us to organize into a coherent whole all of our functions and acquired skills to achieve a balance and a maturity of strong and benevolent personality.
The type of personality bestowed upon Urantia mortals has a potentiality of seven dimensions of self-expression or person-realization. These dimensional phenomena are realizable as three on the finite level, three on the absonite level, and one on the absolute level. On subabsolute levels this seventh or totality dimension is experiencible as the fact of personality. This supreme dimension is an associable absolute and, while not infinite, is dimensionally potential for subinfinite penetration of the absolute. (UB 112:1.9)
We have just seen the three dimensions of personality at the finite level, namely: length, vertical depth and width and its accomplishments on this plane of existence. Now imagine these same three dimensions applied to super time and transcended space. New horizons still unsuspected await us. As for the seventh dimension, that concerning the absolute level, we will have become, with the status of finaliter, the supreme perfection of the finite level. In the experience of the ultimate, we will add a plus to this perfect experience of the finite level. This experiential perfection of man will find in Deity an association of complementarity with existential perfection. The subabsolute experiential perfection of the creature, the supreme-ultimate level, associated with the existential perfection of the Adjuster expressed through the personality, shadow-image of the personality of the Father, will allow us to approach the absolute level of existence of the Creator.
The finite dimensions of personality have to do with cosmic length, depth, and breadth. Length denotes meaning; depth signifies value; breadth embraces insight—the capacity to experience unchallengeable consciousness of cosmic reality. (UB 112:1.10)
Length = meaning. It is in the awareness of our origin, our potential, our life experiences spread across time and space that we arrive, through our mind, to identify meanings in the face of the observation of the facts of the universe and the creative plan of the Father.
Depth = value. Starting from the meanings conceived in our mind and subject to the spiritual influence which guides us upwards and inwards, the further step to be taken lies in the discovery and application of the values of the spirit. These values are the divine law and the will of God.
Breadth = clairvoyance. The practice of associating facts, meanings and values in a balanced mind enables man to see the world differently. To see the world differently is to see it as the Father sees it. Our cosmic consciousness expands more and more to finally embrace the universe of universes. Our spiritual perception constantly grows and tends more and more towards an active part in participation in the divine plan. Our will molds itself freely and joyfully to the will of the Father. Divine perfection becomes the goal of our quest.
On the morontia level all of these finite dimensions of the material level are greatly enhanced, and certain new dimensional values are realizable. All these enlarged dimensional experiences of the morontia level are marvelously articulated with the supreme or personality dimension through the influence of mota and also because of the contribution of morontia mathematics. (UB 112:1.11)
As mentioned in UB 48:7.1, the higher human philosophy is directly contiguous to the lower planes of the morontia mota. The fact of the survival of the personality, of the new horizon of eternity presenting itself to us, of our new mind linked to the cosmic mind gives us a fantastic possibility of expansion of our spiritual clairvoyance. As far as morontia mathematics is concerned, the material world is based on 100 elements which offer a host of possibilities. On the other hand, the morontia worlds, in addition to these same material elements, possess 100 forms of a unique organization of energy infinitely increasing tenfold the possibilities of creative expressions bringing us closer to the eternal realities of the life of the spirit (UB 48:1.3).
Much trouble experienced by mortals in their study of human personality could be avoided if the finite creature would remember that dimensional levels and spiritual levels are not co-ordinated in experiential personality realization. (UB 112:1.12)
There is a clear separation between the material, morontia, and spiritual levels. Usually a material being cannot transcend his materiality and live on another plane of existence (UB 48:0.2). For man, death or fusion with his Adjuster are the only means of passing from one level of existence to another. In human experience, these different levels of reality are not coordinated. However, we can have a glimpse of them in a sincere and full communion with the divine particle within us. The reality of our soul already makes us partially morontia beings.
Life is really a process which takes place between the organism (selfhood) and its environment. The personality imparts value of identity and meanings of continuity to this organismal-environmental association. Thus it will be recognized that the phenomenon of stimulus-response is not a mere mechanical process since the personality functions as a factor in the total situation. It is ever true that mechanisms are innately passive; organisms, inherently active. (UB 112:1.13)
The mortal constantly preoccupied with his interaction with his environment without any consideration for the values of the spirit condemns himself to a completely temporal and limited life. It is by the unifying action of the personality through mental research linking the material to the spiritual in the recognition of the values of the spirit that the identity of the mortal will be transferred into the morontia soul thus guaranteeing a chance of eternity. A machine remains a passive machine, it does not evolve. On the contrary, an organism such as a human being can choose to live at the animal level or rise on the basis of his humanity to the true heights of the spirit life.
Physical life is a process taking place not so much within the organism as between the organism and the environment. And every such process tends to create and establish organismal patterns of reaction to such an environment. And all such directive patterns are highly influential in goal choosing. (UB 112:1.14)
Suppose it were possible to place a human being in a null environment, that is, suspended in space with nothing tangible to provide him with a stimulus, could we deduce that he has a life? Apart from the fact that he could only think. Without interaction with a favorable environment, the action of living and experiencing cannot be a reality. It is the presence of the living material organism placed in an environment favorable to its development and stimulated by the influence of the adjutant mental spirits which progressively determines the ways of living, the guiding models, the desire to survive, the moral behaviors and the final search for a higher goal.
It is through the mediation of mind that the self and the environment establish meaningful contact. The ability and willingness of the organism to make such significant contacts with environment (response to a drive) represents the attitude of the whole personality. (UB 112:1.15)
Let’s take the example of our human being suspended in space, without a mental circuit to animate him, he would not be alive. He would only be an object. It is through the mind that the living organism establishes contact with its environment. For animals, this action comes down to surviving, adapting to the living environment and reproducing. For humans, truly living means transcending animal life and seeking in one’s personality and through one’s mind to connect the material world to the spiritual world to find a sense of truth, beauty and goodness.
Personality cannot very well perform in isolation. Man is innately a social creature; he is dominated by the craving of belongingness. It is literally true, “No man lives unto himself.” (UB 112:1.16)
As humans, we are all aware of this fact! Happiness, like love, cannot exist without being in a relationship. Our personality comes from the personality of the Universal Father. What was God’s first intention, hypothetically? It was to put himself in a relationship with another being equal to himself. This is how the Original Son appeared. So, how can we be surprised that our personality has only one real desire and one need at the start, that of being in a relationship with another personality!
But the concept of the personality as the meaning of the whole of the living and functioning creature means much more than the integration of relationships; it signifies the unification of all factors of reality as well as co-ordination of relationships. Relationships exist between two objects, but three or more objects eventuate a system, and such a system is much more than just an enlarged or complex relationship. This distinction is vital, for in a cosmic system the individual members are not connected with each other except in relation to the whole and through the individuality of the whole. (UB 112:1.17)
The relationship with your spouse is probably simpler than your relationship with your workplace, with the nation at large, with governmental or legal disputes, etc. All of these various types of relationships are managed, coordinated and unified through your personality. A single person can do a lot, but several people in any system can produce even more. The value of a personality association is equal to the square of the number of personalities in the equation (UB 133:5.6).
In the human organism the summation of its parts constitutes selfhood—individuality—but such a process has nothing whatever to do with personality, which is the unifier of all these factors as related to cosmic realities. (UB 112:1.18)
This quotation reminds us of another quotation which tells us that personality is the only unchanging reality in the ever-changing experience of a creature; and it unifies all other associated factors of individuality. Personality is the unique gift bestowed by the Universal Father upon the living and associated energies of matter, mind, and spirit, and which survives with the survival of the morontia soul (UB 0:5.11).
The Father being ONE, his personality of infinity unifies all types of realities. The human personality, issued from that of the Father, acts in the same way by unifying all the constituent factors of the identity of this individual. I repeat, the personality of man is the shadow-image of that of the Father (UB 1:6.1).
In aggregations parts are added; in systems parts are arranged. Systems are significant because of organization—positional values. In a good system all factors are in cosmic position. In a bad system something is either missing or displaced—deranged. In the human system it is the personality which unifies all activities and in turn imparts the qualities of identity and creativity. (UB 112:1.19)
Claude Flibotte
Sainte-Julie (Quebec)
| The Urantia Book In Esperanto | Le Lien Urantien — Issue 92 — December 2020 | Can We Still Hunt The Dinosaur In Satania? |