© 2023 Claude Flibotte
© 2023 Urantia Association of Quebec
Claude Flibotte
Sainte-Julie
Have you ever really thought about this magnificent mechanism that is the mind? However, we use it every day, considering it as a natural acquired means of thinking! Before my knowledge of the fifth epochal revelation, I admit that I had never thought about this question, and yet my mind had been very active since my birth. The revelators tell us in UB 0:5.8 that the mind of man is “the thinking, perceiving and feeling mechanism of the human organism.” So, since this is so, let us take this journey together into the discovery of the mind in all its manifestations with the help of the revelations contained in The Urantia Book.
¶ The pre-mind of the paradisiacal deities
In order to fully understand what mind is, we might begin by conceiving it from above and then follow its progression downward for use by all forms of creatures, including material forms. Our journey therefore begins at the absolute, eternal, existential level of the three paradise deities, the Universal Father, the Eternal Son, and the Infinite Spirit, and will end at the finite level of time and space, our level of existence where material mind dominates.
Before all reality, there is the Infinite ONE, otherwise called the philosophical hypothetical I AM. It is pure spirit, pure energy, endowed with a pre-mind at the origin of what will become the mind because the mind does not need the mind to be conscious, think, know and identify UB 9:4.2. The mind positions itself beyond the mind.
From this original I AM, Deity manifested in a dual and then a trinitarian manner (UB 0:3.1). Viewed from the personal standpoint, this Deity presented itself in the three persons of Paradise UB 0:3.22. As the Eternal Son and the Infinite Spirit are from the Father, both of these deities are also endowed with a premind. However, the premind of the Infinite Spirit is different from that of the Father and the Son since the fragmentations of the premind of the Spirit differ radically from those of the Father. This suggests that the premind of the Son is also different from that of the Father, for the term “similar” used in the following quotation does not mean totally identical. Furthermore, for the premental of the Spirit to differ from that of its “progenitors”, it was necessary for them to be dissimilar in order to engender additive and different qualities. This difference in the prementals of the paradisiacal deities probably has to do with their difference in the eternalization of their person in relation to the three groups of sacred worlds orbiting around Paradise (UB 13:0.2).
The mind of the Eternal Son is like that of the Father but unlike any other mind in the universe, and with the mind of the Father it is ancestor to the diverse and far-flung minds of the Conjoint Creator. The mind of the Father and the Son, that intellect which is ancestral to the absolute mind of the Third Source and Center, is perhaps best illustrated in the premind of a Thought Adjuster, for, though these Father fragments are entirely outside of the mind circuits of the Conjoint Actor, they have some form of premind; they know as they are known; they enjoy the equivalent of human thinking. (UB 6:6.3)
However, the Infinite Spirit, by virtue of having inherited the premind of both the Father and the Son, this Conjoint Actor benefits from “various and vast mental endowments” (UB 6:6.3) including the absolute mind. Since these three deities benefit from a premind, as a Source-Center, it is possible for the Father and the Spirit to fragment this Source in order to give themselves to their creatures (UB 30:1.101). It is otherwise with the Eternal Son, although a Second Source-Center, a fragmentation proves impossible since he is the absolute of personality (UB 56:9.5). This reveals to us that mind, spirit and personality are intimately related. We can also deduce that it is indeed the spirit of the Creator Son of a universe which allows the mortal to merge with his spirit and not the person of this Creator Son. This seems comparable to the Spirit of Truth of the Father/Son being bestowed upon the human races during the seventh bestowal of the Creator Son into his universe as did Michael of Nebadon. This fragmentation of the spirit of a Creator Son being undoubtedly made possible by their common origin being as much from the Universal Father as from the Eternal Son.
In short, how do we untangle all this? God being ONE in absolute and infinite unqualified deity, when revealed in three Paradise persons, the Universal Father (the God-idea) retained the personality of infinity by becoming the father of the Original Son (the God-expression) who inherited the absolute of personality. Hypothetically, the two united (spirit) opposite the Isle of Paradise (energy), and the Infinite Spirit (the God-action) appeared as well as the central universe of Havona. Since the Father is pure spirit, he can fragment his divine nature into Thought Adjusters, and since he holds the personality of infinity, he can bestow personality upon infinity. As for the Eternal Son, since he holds the absolute of personality, this absolute personalization constrains the Son in the impossibility of fragmenting himself like the Father, personality signifying person-spirit unification, which constituted the Father’s hindrance before his process of revelation. As for the Infinite Spirit, its nature of infinite spirit also makes it capable of fragmenting itself infinitely (UB 107:1.7). Thus, theoretically speaking, at the beginning, the Infinite and absolute volitional ONE found in this triple expression the means of freeing itself from inaction while reconstituting its original unity in the Paradise Trinity (UB 0:3.21-22).
We can also understand that the pre-mind of the three paradisiacal deities derives its existence as much from the spirit as from energy since the mind is a particular form of energy endowed with consciousness. We must remember that spirit and energy are one and the same reality in infinity. We can understand the mind as being a variant, an attenuation, of the spirit in order to connect what is above (the spirit) to what is below (energy-matter). This seems mysterious, but many divine realities are for us at this moment!
¶ The infinite mind of the Infinite Spirit
Having become aware of the particular premind of the three Paradise Deities, let us turn our attention to the various and vast mental endowments (UB 6:6.3) of the Infinite Spirit, and specifically to this section of its infinite mind.
It is interesting to note the nature of the infinite mind, for it is theoretically coordinated with the absolute of spirit and the absolute of energy, a different way of saying that this infinite mind derives from the premind of the Universal Father and that of the Eternal Son in the presence of the Isle of Paradise.
. . . Pure mind is subject only to the universal gravity grasp of the Conjoint Actor. Pure mind is close of kin to infinite mind, and infinite mind (the theoretical co-ordinate of the absolutes of spirit and energy) is apparently a law in itself. (UB 9:6.6)
This also means that the further one moves away from paradisiacal perfection, that is to say the more the divergence manifests itself between spirit and energy, as on the finite level of time and space, the more the necessity of the mind imposes itself.
Infinite mind ignores time, ultimate mind transcends time, cosmic mind is conditioned by time. And so with space: The Infinite Mind is independent of space, but as descent is made from the infinite to the adjutant levels of mind, intellect must increasingly reckon with the fact and limitations of space. (UB 9:4.4)
The universe of universes is one vast integrated mechanism which is absolutely controlled by one infinite mind. (UB 56:0.1)
Among the infinite possibilities of the infinite mind of the Infinite Spirit, an exceptional particularity of the Conjoint Actor and his descendants is the aptitude for reflectivity. It is a very particular and total technique of communication that the rulers of the universes use to be instantly in communication.
The phenomenon of reflectivity, as it is disclosed on the superuniverse headquarters worlds in the amazing performances of the reflective personalities there stationed, represents the most complex interassociation of all phases of existence to be found in all creation. Lines of spirit can be traced back to the Son, physical energy to Paradise, and mind to the Third Source; but in the extraordinary phenomenon of universe reflectivity there is a unique and exceptional unification of all three, so associated as to enable the universe rulers to know about remote conditions instantaneously, simultaneously with their occurrence. (UB 9:7.2)
Should we be surprised that this is so, since spirit, mind and energy are one and the same reality for God! The infinite mind of the Infinite Spirit makes it possible to transmit to his children, the seconaphim, the gift of using reflectivity in their universal tasks (UB 28:3.2).
A fact to note, the infinite mind ignores time and is independent of space. Knowing this, the idea of the actualization of God’s universal plan is present everywhere in the universe of universes. As for it, the ultimate mind transcends time, which makes it possible for absonite beings to act to bring forth in time what does not yet exist. Finally, the cosmic mind is conditioned by time, which obliges it to take into account the evolutionary condition of the finite level (UB 9:4.4).
¶ The cosmic mind
The infinite and universal mind of the Infinite Spirit appears in the seven superuniverses under the influence of the cosmic mind. It will then be manifested in different types of mind. From the material mind under the ministry of the adjutant mind-spirits to the magnificent mind of the universe executive heads, such as Gabriel of Nebadon, they are all unified under the supervision of the Seven Master Spirits, and co-ordinated with the Supreme Mind of the Supreme Being. All these types of minds are correlated and encompassed in the infinite mind of the Infinite Spirit (UB 56:2.3).
The first Deity-creating act of the Infinite Spirit, functioning apart from the Trinity but in some unrevealed association with the Father and the Son, personalized in the existence of the Seven Master Spirits of Paradise, the distributors of the Infinite Spirit to the universes. (UB 9:8.2)
The Infinite Mind being the function of the Infinite Spirit, the cosmic mind is the ministry bestowed by the Seven Master Spirits for the seven superuniverses under the seven combined aspects of the three Paradise Deities (UB 116:1.3).
The Seven Master Spirits are the full representation of the Infinite Spirit to the evolutionary universes. They represent the Third Source and Center in the relationships of energy, mind, and spirit. While they function as the co-ordinating heads of the universal administrative control of the Conjoint Actor, do not forget that they have their origin in the creative acts of the Paradise Deities. It is literally true that these Seven Spirits are the personalized physical power, cosmic mind, and spiritual presence of the triune Deity, “the Seven Spirits of God sent forth to all the universe.” (UB 16:4.1)
The purpose of the cosmic mind is to coordinate matter and spirit (UB 116:5.10). To get a fair idea of the life of creatures and the mind animating it, we must consider their origin as being well above their manifestations (UB 3:6.3). The Creator is well above his creatures. This is the reason why it appears so difficult for us to conceive of mental types beyond our material mind, and even this is partially known to us. It goes without saying that the infinite mind of the Infinite Spirit is and will always be inaccessible to us in its entirety, but the omnipresence of the cosmic mind allows us to have a partial idea of this infinite mind (UB 3:1.8). The infinite mind is absolute, but the cosmic mind is its subabsolute version for the benefit of all creatures UB 16:6.1.
I told you, a little earlier, that the spirit, the mind and the personality are intimately linked. Consider this, our capacity to attain the human personality is potential in the endowment of cosmic mind by its variant of the material mind. But, our capacity to attain the divine personality is inherent in our agreement with the Adjuster who indwells us (UB 5:6.6). It is by a wise use of our mind and the choices that we will make that will guarantee our survival. Beauty, goodness and truth are traits of divinity coordinated in the almost supreme levels of the cosmic mind (UB 8:2.8).
Concretely, what does the cosmic mind bring as an application to its users? In this mental circuit is included the scientific insight to recognize facts in order to extract meanings from them. Basic morality, although of human origin, takes on a completely different value when it is directed into the spiritual channels of the production of the fruits of the spirit (UB 16:6.9). A man, endowed with the cosmic mind, although in its manifestation of material mind and inhabited by an Adjuster, possesses the innate faculty of recognizing the reality of energy, the reality of his own mind and the reality of the spirit (UB 16:9.1). Thus equipped, this man has every chance of feeling moral discernment and approaching spiritual clairvoyance (UB 16:7.5).
Much more could be said about the cosmic mind, but for the sake of brevity, I believe the essential has been said! Otherwise, add that faith-clairvoyance, or spiritual intuition, is the endowment of the cosmic mind in association with the Thought Adjuster (UB 101:3.2).
¶ The morontia mind
The morontia mind is a manifestation of the cosmic mind to all living creatures on the morontia levels.
. . . Morontia mind functions differentially in response to the 570 levels of morontia life, disclosing increasing associative capacity with the cosmic mind on the higher levels of attainment. (UB 42:10.5)
To us, the morontia mind is the essence of the spiritual mind and the substance of the material mind (UB 12:8.7). The morontia mind means the substance and sum of the material mind in cooperation with the spiritual nature of the Adjuster’s premind. This intellect therefore implies a dual mind dominated by a single will (UB 110:2.6).
Our awakening on the mansion world consists in the taking possession of the human self of the encircuited morontia phase of the newly separated cosmic mind (UB 112:5.20). We are then endowed with the Nebadonian variant of the cosmic mind of the Master Spirit of Orvonton as modified and translated by the creative source of our local universe intellect, the Divine Minister (UB 112:6.4 and 6). The evolution of our morontia mind is now dependent upon its direct contact with the cosmic mind.
It is common to think that the existence of the human soul already marks the entry into the use of the morontial mind and for good reason! The mastery of the first psychic circle signals that one has reached premorontial mortal maturity, and that the influence of the adjutant spirits ends, because this human mind is more similar to the morontial intelligence of evolution, under the influence of the cosmic mind and the superadjutant endowment of the Divine Minister of her universe (UB 110:6.21) This state of affairs inaugurates the prespiritual or morontial career of progression in the local universe (UB 112:6.9). This marks a definite advance on the current average reached by the Urantians of our time.
¶ The material mind
This is how the revelators describe the fact of the Urantia human personality endowed with a material mind:
The Urantia type of human personality may be viewed as functioning in a physical mechanism consisting of the planetary modification of the Nebadon type of organism belonging to the electrochemical order of life activation and endowed with the Nebadon order of the Orvonton series of the cosmic mind of parental reproductive pattern. The bestowal of the divine gift of personality upon such a mind-endowed mortal mechanism confers the dignity of cosmic citizenship and enables such a mortal creature forthwith to become reactive to the constitutive recognition of the three basic mind realities of the cosmos:
The mathematical or logical recognition of the uniformity of physical causation.
The reasoned recognition of the obligation of moral conduct.
The faith-grasp of the fellowship worship of Deity, associated with the loving service of humanity. (UB 16:8.15-18)
Religious experience being essentially lived in spirit, it cannot be completely understood by the material mind and even less demonstrated as proof of its reality, however, all persons being born of the spirit can feel the truth of this relationship between them and the Father (UB 5:5.6). This relationship in spirit will be manifested by a sincere adoration of the Creator by a faith without the shadow of a doubt of its reality (UB 5:3.8). It is thus that this material mind in collaboration with its Adjuster will together create a potentially eternal soul (UB 30:1.99). It will be precisely thanks to this soul that man will use spiritual clairvoyance to discern the operations of spirit manifesting in him (UB 12:8.4).
In order to get an idea of what the material mind is, I propose an analogy with what we all know, a computer. In order for this computer to function, it must be powered by an electric current. This is what we will compare to the mental circuit provided by the Mother Spirit of our universe. On the other hand, a computer equipped with its operating system is useless if it is not provided with programs. These programs will allow us to write texts, calculate our budget, draw or paint, communicate, etc., in short, to be in relation with ourselves or others. These programs would be the function of the adjutant mind-spirits and their own ability to prepare the mind for a possible life of the spirit. This life of the spirit manifests itself when the adjutant of wisdom coordinates the six other spirits, thus giving access to his human subject to the spiritual circuit of the Divine Minister, the Holy Spirit. In fact, our material mind is the framework, the markers, with which man makes his choices which will determine his survival.
Material mind is the arena in which human personalities live, are self-conscious, make decisions, choose God or forsake him, eternalize or destroy themselves. (UB 111:1.3)
The finest example of the material mind at work and achieving the pinnacle possible for such a mind is found in the careful reading and meditation of the experience of Jesus of Nazareth, from his birth to his baptism, in The Urantia Book. Any human being following the example of such achievement of self-mastery and collaboration with the divinity within will surely attain the fusion, the eternal union between the human identity and the divinity of the Adjuster. The two are now one!
Our Creator Son warns humanity that without the influence of the cosmic mind and spirit constantly injecting spontaneity into the material universe, it would eventually become uniform and predetermined. Freedom or initiative is directly proportional to the degree of spiritual influence and control of the cosmic mind in the human experience to do the will of the Father (UB 195:6.15 and 16).
¶ The supreme mind
The Universal Father (the God-idea), the Eternal Son (the God-expression) and the Infinite Spirit (the God-action) express the perfection of reality first through the central existential universe of Havona, then through the universes in formation of the finite and the absonite through the infinite mind. It is this infinite mind that has conceived everything, built everything and continues to administer everything. In order to glimpse what the supreme mind is, what could be better than to let the revelators express themselves on this subject!
Mechanisms do not absolutely dominate the total creation; the universe of universes in toto is mind planned, mind made, and mind administered. But the divine mechanism of the universe of universes is altogether too perfect for the scientific methods of the finite mind of man to discern even a trace of the dominance of the infinite mind. For this creating, controlling, and upholding mind is neither material mind nor creature mind; it is spirit-mind functioning on and from creator levels of divine reality. (UB 42:11.2)
At present, this existential infinite mind is receiving additional power of supremacy through the actualization of the potentials in this infinite mind by the workings of God the Sevenfold through the Supreme Mind.
. . . The evolution of the Almighty power of Supremacy by diverse divinity synthesis in the evolving universes eventuated in a new power presence of Deity which co-ordinated with the spiritual person of the Supreme in Havona by means of the Supreme Mind, which concomitantly translated from the potential resident in the infinite mind of the Infinite Spirit to the active functional mind of the Supreme Being. (UB 56:6.2)
. . . the factualizing mind of the Supreme as a time-space experience in Majeston. (UB 0:3.14)
God the Supreme is the personalization of all universe experience, the focalization of all finite evolution, the maximation of all creature reality, the consummation of cosmic wisdom, the embodiment of the harmonious beauties of the galaxies of time, the truth of cosmic mind meanings, and the goodness of supreme spirit values. (UB 118:9.9)
¶ Mental models
After having taken a more or less exhaustive look at the different manifestations of the mind, we should ask ourselves this question: where do the Creative Daughters and the Creative Sons draw their models for the creation of their universe? The answer is found in the following quote:
On the worlds of Havona the Spirit and the Daughters of the Spirit find the mind patterns for all their groups of spiritual and material intelligences, and this central universe is the sometime destiny of those creatures which a Universe Mother Spirit jointly sponsors with an associated Creator Son. (UB 14:6.33)
Thus every mental model already exists in perfection in Havona, and during our stay on these worlds, we will discover with amazement the archetype of our own human mind. Precisely, on the subject of the human mind, the revelators tell us that there exists a series of types receptive to the spirit thanks to the mental models in relation to glandular chemistry. These glands, comparable to the pituitary body, differ in number. On some worlds, the human races have one of these glands, on other worlds, such as Urantia, we have two, while on still other worlds, they have three. The result is that natural imagination and spiritual receptivity are clearly influenced by this differential chemical endowment (UB 49:5.19).
The hypophysis or pituitary gland is an endocrine gland that secretes many hormones. Since the endocrinologists tell us that we have two of these glands, the other gland would possibly be the hypothalamus, but not being an endocrinologist, I will let the specialists discuss this question!