© 2005 Georges Michelson-Dupont
© 2005 Olga López, from translation
© 2005 Urantia Association of Spain
| The center of attention | Luz y Vida — No. 2 — September 2005 — Index | Meeting of May 14, 1999 in Dakar (Senegal), first part |
We had always wondered how the Muslim world would receive The Urantia Book and its teachings. Part of the answer we got on our trip to Dakar (Senegal).
A little over a year ago, we were contacted by a group of Urantia Book readers residing in Dakar. What was our surprise when we learned that some of its members had been reading the Book for more than 25 years. The Paris office of Urantia Foundation had some addresses for individual readers and individual buyers, but we were not aware of any groups. It was a group of more than 50 active readers dedicated to the study and dissemination of the teachings of The Urantia Book.
We decided to pay them a visit and left on May 15, 1999 for a 5-day trip. We were received at the Dakar airport by Moussa N’Diaye and his group and put up at the home of Moustapha, one of Moussa’s sons. We spent 4 days of brotherly happiness and exceptional spiritual relationships. We participate in study groups, hear poignant testimonies of spiritual rebirth from participants, and share moments of intense spiritual communion with them. The history of this group is quite exceptional. In 1975 Moussa, a true “seeker of the truth”, went to France to study and discovered The Urantia Book. He returned to Senegal and began to read it. He quickly realized its importance for his spiritual life and that of his fellow citizens and decided to study it. While teaching social psychology at the University of Dakar, he decided to devote his spare time to forming a spiritual research group with his children and students. He studied the method used by Jesus to teach, reflected in the way of presenting these teachings to the Senegalese soul, and perfected his technique. Thus, from 1978 to 1985, he limited himself to answering questions and quenching the spiritual thirst of his students without mentioning their sources. As a consequence of that, a group was formed, a certain reputation was achieved. Moussa taught other university students, religious, imams, and high-ranking officials. Here it is necessary to add that 80% of the Senegalese population is Muslim.
Beginning in 1985, Moussa began to reveal his sources and The Urantia Book became his bedside book. As they only have one copy, the students in the group copied entire documents and studied the concepts, training themselves to answer questions preparing the topics they presented to the group. There was real background work going on, and each student in turn became the educator training the newcomers. Thus, more than 500 people were brought into contact with the teachings of The Urantia Book.
It is necessary to emphasize here how intelligent this method is. The intellect of the individual is not prepared to receive higher teachings such as those of The Urantia Book. We see every day how difficult it is to present someone The Urantia Book at once, no matter how well-intentioned we are, without having previously “prepared the ground”, without having maintained friendly relations, without having established a climate of fraternal trust, without having had in-depth exchanges on topics such as spirituality and life after death, and without having spoken about the problems of the person before us. Jesus quenched the thirst of his interlocutor’s soul because he was deeply interested in his spiritual well-being. Through simple questions he probed the soul of his interlocutor, discovered his religious level and thus knew his real spiritual needs. Only then did he begin to teach.
Moussa knew. He knew that the Senegalese soul, of the Muslim religion, was thirsty for new truths, like all the souls of Urantia, but he also knew that the mind of the Senegalese, under the influence of the Muslim tradition, was not ready to suddenly receive some teachings. so high Thus he undertook the task of expanding the intellectual field of vision and increasing the understanding of this mind through a preparatory period of questions and answers. Later, once the individual was judged to be ready, they began to be taught the functioning of the Helping Spirits of the Mind. The presence in his mind of a divine portion, the Thought Adjuster, was then revealed to him, forever freeing him from the influence of clergy and tradition. Thus, he becomes the master of his destiny, responsible for his choices, and has gained eternal life through his faith if he so desires.
Put yourself in the place of a pious Muslim woman who is taught from her earliest childhood that only her husband can grant her “Paradise”, that she must conform to his will in everything to obtain it, and who learns that it is her faith and only his faith in God gives him eternal life. What a relief and what a release!
Jesus was interested in the individual and his teaching was directed to him. A recent survey commissioned by the Fellowship shows that more than 70% of readers surveyed had found The Urantia Book through a friend or acquaintance. It is evident that the most effective means of presenting the teachings of The Urantia Book is “person to person.” The Islamic world represents 700 million individuals on Urantia. Certain Muslim countries are very closed and fundamentalist, but conditions, especially political ones, can change quickly and transform fundamentalism into a more conciliatory attitude. Other countries like Senegal, more tolerant and progressive, represent an access road, a gateway to the teachings of The Urantia Book in the Muslim world, as long as we have a key.
Moussa’s technique is universal: it is that of Jesus. This can be adapted for each one of us depending on the circumstances, religious, social and cultural realities, but it invariably involves two phases: first, the intelligent, loving and non-invasive preparation of the human mind to receive the truths contained in these teachings; and second, its subsequent presentation. The Inner Adjuster, the Spirit of Truth and the associated angels will do the rest.
“. . . But we know that there dwells within the human mind a fragment of God, and that there sojourns with the human soul the Spirit of Truth; and we further know that these spirit forces conspire to enable material man to grasp the reality of spiritual values and to comprehend the philosophy of universe meanings. But even more certainly we know that these spirits of the Divine Presence are able to assist man in the spiritual appropriation of all truth contributory to the enhancement of the ever-progressing reality of personal religious experience—God-consciousness.” (UB 0:12.13)
We have been given this test on the condition that it is presented intelligently, with respect and love; The teachings of this book can be accepted by any religion, anywhere in the world, and free souls in darkness, captives of the slavery of traditions and beliefs.
Jesus laid great emphasis upon what he called the two truths of first import in the teachings of the kingdom, and they are: the attainment of salvation by faith, and faith alone, associated with the revolutionary teaching of the attainment of human liberty through the sincere recognition of truth, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (UB 141:7.6)
When I asked Fatou, a student at Moussa, what The Urantia Book had given her, she replied: “It has made me a better Muslim.”
I invite you to meditate on this answer.
| The center of attention | Luz y Vida — No. 2 — September 2005 — Index | Meeting of May 14, 1999 in Dakar (Senegal), first part |