© 2014 Georges Michelson-Dupont
© 2014 French-speaking Association of Readers of the Urantia Book
STRATEGY AND PRACTICE
Georges Michelson-Dupont
georges.michelson-dupont@wanadoo.fr
¶ Introduction
The purpose of this presentation is to share with you the experience accumulated over the years to lead and make study groups and seminars attractive. It is largely based on the in-depth study and observation of the pedagogy of the revelators.
- First of all I will recall the mandate to reveal, entrusted to the revealers by the authorities of our universe.
- Then I will analyze their strategy and the key points of their teaching.
- I will continue this presentation by proposing an effective and attractive method for:
- Interact creatively between participants;
- Go beyond the simple meaning of words to broaden our mental framework;
- Bring concepts down to the level of personal experience.
- Finally, I will offer practical examples and make some recommendations to ensure that the study group is effective and captivating.
The revelators have demonstrated a great deal of knowledge of the workings of our minds in presenting revelation to us, expertise that we can use in study groups. In practice, the intensive study approach that I suggest is best suited to readers who have read The Urantia Book in its entirety. However, study groups can accommodate new readers who must first become familiar with the teachings. It then becomes necessary to adapt the method to the circumstances.
Why study The Urantia Book?
When you open The Urantia Book to study the fifth epochal revelation, you have an appointment with God and the spiritual forces who conspire to appropriate for you the reality of spiritual values and assist you in understanding the philosophy of the universe. This is not a flower of rhetoric, it is a reality of experience, can you really measure its importance? - The Urantia Papers. “These expositions, of which this paper is a part, constitute the latest presentation of truth to Urantia mortals.” (UB 92:4.9) Furthermore, a Melchizedek of Nebadon exhorts us to study the revelation in these words:
“IT IS not enough that the ascending mortal should know something of the relations of Deity to the genesis and manifestations of cosmic reality; he should also comprehend something of the relationships existing between himself and the numerous levels of existential and experiential realities, of potential and actual realities. Man’s terrestrial orientation, his cosmic insight, and his spiritual directionization are all enhanced by a better comprehension of universe realities and their techniques of interassociation, integration, and unification.” (UB 106:0.1)
The mandate to reveal. It is clearly identified and expressed in the second paragraph of the introduction by the Divine Counselor in these terms: “Expand cosmic consciousness and enhance spiritual perception”
This sentence introduces two concepts: “expanding cosmic consciousness” and “enhancing spiritual perception”. We will decipher the meaning of each a little further on, but already a Melchizedek of Nebadon describes this process as being a technique of evolution-revelation (UB 196:3.15)
Behind this concept lies an experiential reality: cooperation with the Thought Adjuster; the mind wholeheartedly seeking to do the will of God and the Thought Adjuster revealing the will of God and thus producing a dynamic of continuing mind expansion and spiritual enhancement.
Revelation teaches mortal man that, to start such a magnificent and intriguing adventure through space by means of the progression of time, he should begin by the organization of knowledge into idea-decisions; next, mandate wisdom to labor unremittingly at its noble task of transforming self-possessed ideas into increasingly practical but nonetheless supernal ideals, even those concepts which are so reasonable as ideas and so logical as ideals that the Adjuster dares so to combine and spiritize them as to render them available for such association in the finite mind as will constitute them the actual human complement thus made ready for the action of the Truth Spirit of the Sons, the time-space manifestations of Paradise truth—universal truth. The co-ordination of idea-decisions, logical ideals, and divine truth constitutes the possession of a righteous character, the prerequisite for mortal admission to the ever-expanding and increasingly spiritual realities of the morontia worlds. (UB 101:6.7)
Expanding cosmic consciousness: it is an intellectual process which is located in the sphere of the mind;
Enhance spiritual perception: this is personal, experiential and subject to the free will of the personality.
¶ Expanding Cosmic Consciousness
Self-consciousness consists in intellectual awareness of personality actuality; it includes the ability to recognize the reality of other personalities. It indicates capacity for individualized experience in and with cosmic realities, equivalating to the attainment of identity status in the personality relationships of the universe. Self-consciousness connotes recognition of the actuality of mind ministration and the realization of relative independence of creative and determinative free will. (UB 16:8.6)
Self-consciousness is therefore an intellectual phenomenon that allows an experience with cosmic realities that are projected as an image in the mental frame. It is also capable of establishing individualized relationships with other personalities. The more the mental frame, the arena of choice, is illuminated by truth, the more meaningful the choices between levels of values become.
¶ Cosmic consciousness
A real birth of cosmic consciousness takes place on mansonia number five. You are becoming universe minded. This is indeed a time of expanding horizons. It is beginning to dawn upon the enlarging minds of the ascending mortals that some stupendous and magnificent, some supernal and divine, destiny awaits all who complete the progressive Paradise ascension, which has been so laboriously but so joyfully and auspiciously begun. At about this point the average mortal ascender begins to manifest bona fide experiential enthusiasm for the Havona ascent. Study is becoming voluntary, unselfish service natural, and worship spontaneous. A real morontia character is budding; a real morontia creature is evolving. (UB 47:7.5)
In spirit, the education which ascending mortals begin to undertake on Maisonnia No. 5 resembles that which the revelators give to the students of The Urantia Book. They expand our horizons by giving us a description of a stupendous and magnificent destiny all the way to Paradise. We become enthusiastic about the prospect of progressing to Havona, we truly desire to study voluntarily and to serve our brothers and sisters unselfishly.
All this is happening here on Urantia and not on Maisonnia No. 5. One can legitimately wonder if we will go to Maisonnia No. 5 after having been repersonalized on Maisonnia No. 1 and having briefly crossed the other 4? What an adventure!
¶ Enhance spiritual perception
Revelation teaches mortal man that, to start such a magnificent and intriguing adventure through space by means of the progression of time, he should begin by the organization of knowledge into idea-decisions; next, mandate wisdom to labor unremittingly at its noble task of transforming self-possessed ideas into increasingly practical but nonetheless supernal ideals, even those concepts which are so reasonable as ideas and so logical as ideals that the Adjuster dares so to combine and spiritize them as to render them available for such association in the finite mind as will constitute them the actual human complement thus made ready for the action of the Truth Spirit of the Sons, the time-space manifestations of Paradise truth—universal truth. The co-ordination of idea-decisions, logical ideals, and divine truth constitutes the possession of a righteous character, the prerequisite for mortal admission to the ever-expanding and increasingly spiritual realities of the morontia worlds. (UB 101:6.7)
Jesus taught the appeal to the emotions as the technique of arresting and focusing the intellectual attention. He designated the mind thus aroused and quickened as the gateway to the soul, where there resides that spiritual nature of man which must recognize truth and respond to the spiritual appeal of the gospel in order to afford the permanent results of true character transformations. (UB 152:6.4)
And the Divine Counselor ends his introduction with: “But we know that a fragment of God dwells in the human mind and that the Spirit of Truth dwells with the human soul. Furthermore, we know that these spiritual forces conspire to enable material man to grasp the reality of spiritual values and to understand the philosophy of the meanings of the universe. But, with even greater certainty, we know that these spirits of the Divine Presence can help man to spiritually appropriate all truth contributing to enhancing the ever-progressing reality of personal religious experience — the consciousness of God” (0: Acknowledgments)
¶ A SUGGESTED STUDY PLAN
The order in which the fascicles were arranged and presented is not the result of chance but rather the result of deep reflection by the revelators. Although they do not tell us in a formal way where to begin, we can nevertheless deduce precise indications from some of their reflections.
I personally find touching and remarkable the respectful way they suggest without ever imposing, always calling on our reflection and encouraging us to improve our quality of thought and to speculate.
¶ Start with the Introduction
IN THE MINDS of the mortals of Urantia—that being the name of your world—there exists great confusion respecting the meaning of such terms as God, divinity, and deity. Human beings are still more confused and uncertain about the relationships of the divine personalities designated by these numerous appellations. Because of this conceptual poverty associated with so much ideational confusion, I have been directed to formulate this introductory statement in explanation of the meanings which should be attached to certain word symbols as they may be hereinafter used in those papers which the Orvonton corps of truth revealers have been authorized to translate into the English language of Urantia. (UB 0:0.1)
Indeed, observation shows that the apparent hermeticism of the language of the Urantia Book and the resulting ideational confusion put off many readers and become the most frequent cause of abandonment. It is therefore necessary to begin with a thorough study of the introduction assisted by an experienced reader who can provide affectionate and understanding support to the student or new reader. The study of the following papers will be much more interesting and will take on much more meaning. Aware of this, the Divine Counselor warns us that “Because of this poverty of concepts associated with so much confusion in ideation, I have been instructed to formulate this introductory statement to explain the meanings that should be attached to certain verbal symbols as they may be used in the continuation of the present papers that the corps of truth revealers of Orvonton has been authorized to translate into the English language of Urantia.” (UB 0:0.1)
In the Introduction, the Divine Counselor commits to:
- Clarify terminology.
- Expand the meaning of certain words.
- Introduce new terms when language is not sufficient.
- Remove ambiguities and confusion.
- Develop concepts and explain relationships.
¶ Follow the order of the booklets
It would not occur to us to listen to a symphony by starting anywhere other than at the beginning. The Urantia Book is a symphony and must be appreciated by starting at the beginning. As proof of this, we would like the following clarification provided by the Divine Counselor.
“Therefore, because of these and for still other reasons, do we employ the technique of approaching man and his planetary problems by embarkation on the time-space journey from the infinite, eternal, and divine Paradise Source and Center of all personality reality and all cosmic existence.” (UB 19:1.12)
This is how the revelators present the fascicles, starting with God, the central universe and the superuniverses (Fasc. 1 to 31) then continuing to the level of the local universe (Fasc. 32 to 56), then to the level of our planet and its history (Fasc. 57 to 114) and finally introducing our destiny (Fasc. 115 to 118).
This presentation is logical, coherent and progressive. It provides the student with increased intellectual understanding, strengthens faith and inspires the highest ideals.
The revelators provide us with the elements that will allow “the expansion of our cosmic consciousness and the enhancement of our spiritual perception”. It remains for us to undertake with enthusiasm and perseverance the in-depth study of the booklets. The fourth part, the life and teachings of Jesus, will inspire the mind and nourish the soul by a rereading of the gospel of Jesus and crown it all.
¶ THE STUDY GROUP
By going to a study group, you partake of the spiritual feast prepared by divine personalities and share it with human personalities; there is an abundance of heavenly food, lovingly and devotedly served by the various authors of The Urantia Book. Your Thought Adjuster and the Spirit of Truth can then spiritualize these intellectual gains for your inspiration.
¶ Definition
A Urantia Book study group is composed of people who wish to study in depth and share in an atmosphere of spiritual brotherhood the teachings in order to practice them in their daily lives. Generally they have already read the book in its entirety and have an idea of its contents.
The study group must take place in a place conducive to study and sharing, it must have a fixed meeting frequency. It is desirable that the schedule is always constant to avoid delays.
The length of the meeting varies but experience shows that a full day’s study is very productive, generally on a weekend day. However, other durations are possible such as a half-day, or even two or three hours.
The group should have a moderator, usually the host or hostess who is hosting, and a “teacher” or someone with a strong knowledge of the book whose role is to assist the participants in a spirit of loving service and to facilitate the sharing. He or she should ensure that the discussions do not “drift.”
It is essential to have a manager (this could be the teacher or an appointed secretary) in charge of administering the group and auditing newcomers to ensure their motivation to participate in the study group.
Finally, a “charter of good conduct” accepted by all must be available during the session. It is essential for the smooth running of the study group that everyone is self-disciplined in their interventions, in their behavior and in their remarks.
¶ Reason for being
Although religion is a personal experience, its fruits are social.
Solitary reading of the booklets is necessary but insufficient. Very quickly the desire to share “the pearl of great price” is born and the study group is the ideal place because it provides a private space with a friendly and studious atmosphere conducive to sharing. It is therefore easy to imagine the function of study groups and I will give at least six:
- The study group provides a special place where religionists can share their faith privately and discreetly and build a brotherhood of spirit. The progress of each benefits the entire group and the progress of the group benefits each.
- The study group provides a friendly and safe environment, conducive to welcoming new readers to study the content of the book.
- The study group breaks spiritual isolation, develops team spirit and provides an opportunity for selfless service to be expressed.
- The study group creates a dynamic of growth, of crossing ideas and ideals favorable to the training of teachers and leaders.
- The study group is an essential vector for the social and planetary dissemination of the teachings of The Urantia Book to the extent that they are attractive.
- The study group represents the next model of progressive religious socialization. The age-old sectarianism of evolutionary religions administered by a doctrinal clergy is replaced by a brotherhood built on the true revealed teachings of The Urantia Book affirming that each personality is a child of God, endowed with the capacity to perceive truth and experience spiritual values by himself and for himself.
¶ Facilitator — teacher
The term “teacher” in the context of this presentation is a person, “a big brother” who has a deep understanding of The Urantia Book and who wishes to assist the younger ones to appropriate its content without imposing his point of view (we will see in the next chapter “The strategy of the study group” how he can become a “midwife” of ideas). In no case is he a “master to think”, a “guru” or someone who declares himself as having the authority to teach or seeking personal gratification. His work is in no way remunerated. His motivation flows naturally from the fact that he has found God and that he ardently desires to serve his companions out of love.
“Religious desire is the hunger quest for divine reality. Religious experience is the realization of the consciousness of having found God. And when a human being does find God, there is experienced within the soul of that being such an indescribable restlessness of triumph in discovery that he is impelled to seek loving service-contact with his less illuminated fellows, not to disclose that he has found God, but rather to allow the overflow of the welling-up of eternal goodness within his own soul to refresh and ennoble his fellows. Real religion leads to increased social service.” (UB 102:3.4)
During the study, it is quite natural for the teacher to deliver his interpretation according to his understanding of this or that passage of the Urantia Book. But, this is not the right method because in doing so, the teacher interprets the author’s thought at the risk of imposing a partial, subjective, inaccurate or even erroneous point of view. In truth, all the clarifications, expansions of concepts and answers to the legitimate questions of the participants are found in the book itself and the right method consists, for the teacher, in looking for them and using them as “cross-references” that is to say paragraphs or passages providing clarification in the terminology, presenting an additional point of view, enhancing an ideal, or deepening this or that concept. This is precisely the technique remarkably used by the revelators to extend our cosmic consciousness and broaden our mental framework.
A well-chosen cross-reference in the context of a given sharing can really clarify, even profoundly enhance the spiritual perception of the participants. For example, in the sentence: “This magnificent and universal injunction to strive for the perfection of divinity is the first duty and should be the highest ambition of all creatures struggling in the creation of the God of perfection.” (UB 1:0.4) the term “duty” shocked some participants and I knew in advance that it would be a source of discussion. The Divine Counselor uses the term duty here to make us reflect on the responsibility that is ours to obey this injunction. By choosing to refer to Paper 117, Section 4 we have truly received from the Mighty Messenger a masterful, clear and significant response to our responsibility not only as a child of the Universal Father but also towards the members of God the Sevenfold.
Some participants experienced a very great spiritual emotion and this “duty” which had remained at the level of the intellect really rose to the spiritual level of sincere desire and recognition of personal responsibility.
This is the preparatory work that a teacher must do before the meeting. Let us always remember that it is the authors of The Urantia Book who “reveal” the higher truths by bringing their superhuman point of view and that consequently, it is their writings to which we must be exposed and not listen to a teacher’s interpretation, however good and relevant it may be. The other advantage of cross-referencing comes from the participants’ exposure to the teachings first-hand. They learn to “search” the book when they are isolated or at home.
¶ For who?
Many readers assume that one must have a great deal of education to approach the study of The Urantia Book. How wrong! Experience shows that by using a coherent study plan, a gentle and progressive method, aided by an experienced and dedicated teacher, within a friendly study group, the student must simply demonstrate motivation, determination and open-mindedness. Naturally we will assume that he has already found God: this is the first condition for any participation in a study group. However, we must recognize that not everyone is ready to embark with courage and discipline on such an exhilarating and transforming adventure. Nevertheless, it should be the ambition and goal of every study group to be able to offer this opportunity.
Let us simply remember that it is God himself, through his divine Fragment who reveals himself to his creatures of time to the extent that they desire with all their heart to know him, love him and do his will.
¶ THE METHOD
A methodical and serious approach to the teachings of The Urantia Book is essential for the growth of cosmic consciousness and the spiritual enhancement of the participants. However, even if the revelators work to correct erroneous notions, to gather and coordinate ideas otherwise known and to present new concepts, they do so in a language whose extreme linguistic precision and ideational correctness we do not always conceive. Thus, much of what is presented to us remains obscure because we have difficulty in grasping its conceptual contents.
We must therefore undertake real intellectual work of clarification, understanding and sharing and it is mainly in a study group that we can carry out this work with the help of an experienced teacher/reader.
The teacher must use a method that transforms the reader into a student, an actor in his discoveries and apply a strategy that provokes intellectual attraction, creates a dynamic of progression, stimulates reflection and arouses the desire to share. This is the difference between a reading group and a study group. The latter has a method, a strategy and a program.
To be effective, the meeting must be prepared in advance by the teacher.
He will therefore have to read and identify before the meeting the terms to be explained, the ideas to be explored in the text of the revelators and make a list of them. He will also have to choose his cross-references which will shed light in another way on the concepts presented by the authors.
Experience shows that this method is based on the following four principles or taxonomy:
- Questioning
- Sharing
- From concept to experience
- Cross-references
¶ The questioning
The purpose of questioning is to stimulate reflection.
- Questioning transforms the passive reader into an active seeker: “seek and you will find, ask and it will be given to you” is a universal law and the Thought Adjusters are the source of all truth.
- Questioning is non-invasive, non-coercive, non-interpretive and non-destructive. It does not force or control the human mind.
- Questioning opens cosmic consciousness to new universe realities.
- Questioning stimulates a friendly dynamic among participants and encourages the growth of spiritual fellowship.
- Questioning makes the researcher think and encourages him to find the solution that will satisfy him through personal effort. He appropriates it and becomes an acquisition that he can translate into an effective experience of great value, thus increasing confidence in his own judgment and his abilities to understand and live the teachings.
¶ What kind of questioning
Once again and discreetly the revelators bring to our attention precious indications through the words of the Melchizedek of Nebadon:
“Truth may be but relatively inspired, even though revelation is invariably a spiritual phenomenon. While statements with reference to cosmology are never inspired, such revelations are of immense value in that they at least transiently clarify knowledge by:”
1. The reduction of confusion by the authoritative elimination of error.
2. The co-ordination of known or about-to-be-known facts and observations.
3. The restoration of important bits of lost knowledge concerning epochal transactions in the distant past.
4. The supplying of information which will fill in vital missing gaps in otherwise earned knowledge.
5. Presenting cosmic data in such a manner as to illuminate the spiritual teachings contained in the accompanying revelation. (UB 101:4.5-10)
So here is the strategy they have put in place for the expansion of our
cosmic consciousness. These 5 points constitute a teaching taxonomy which will constitute a grid on which our questioning will be based.
When preparing the meeting, the teacher will be keen to research the questions that the participants will ask themselves while reading.
¶ Sharing
“Spiritual growth is mutually stimulated by intimate association with other religionists. Love supplies the soil for religious growth—an objective lure in the place of subjective gratification—yet it yields the supreme subjective satisfaction. And religion ennobles the commonplace drudgery of daily living.” (UB 100:0.2)
- The sharing of answers to questions provides an opportunity to listen to the views of other religionists and produces a greater appreciation of each other by inspiring goodwill and friendly, brotherly relations.
- The sharing of personal spiritual experience with other religionists, combined with the support of the Thought Adjuster, is a powerful spiritual lever and stimulates the growth of soul and ideals.
- Sharing personal interpretations increases the intellectual understanding of each participant.
- Sharing sustains the attention of the participants and increases their interest in the subject studied. Hours and hours of sharing thus pass without any fatigue being felt among the participants. In addition, the presence of the Thought Adjusters and the Spirit of Truth operates in the mental sphere to spiritualize these intellectual achievements into higher and higher ideals.
¶ From concept to experience
The expansion of cosmic consciousness (of concepts) is a purely intellectual process, it is the first part of the “mandate” of the revealers. Very often these high intellectual concepts lose their meaning because the participant does not connect them to the reality of his life. During discussions and sharing, the teacher will therefore be keen to “bring down” these concepts to the practical level of daily life.
To illustrate the approach, let’s take the following example: the “spiritualization of the mind”, a somewhat vague concept for many participants.
At first the teacher, through judicious questions, will lead the student to realize that this is a process of everyday life: the choice between the selfishness of animal tendencies and the altruism of his spiritual nature, the resolution of a tension between values of different levels. This is the secret of character formation.
Once the concept is related to one’s daily life, it becomes an experiential reality. The teacher will then endeavor to expand the concept from the personal level of experience to the universal level of meaning by discussing the implications and cosmic responsibility he now bears to his Thought Adjuster, for the growth of the sovereignty of Jesus in his local universe, for the superuniverse sovereignty of the Supreme Being, and for Supremacy in general. Finally, by giving this process a name, “The Supremacy.”
¶ Cross references
To illustrate a concept or otherwise illuminate a particular concept, it is sometimes necessary to refer to other paragraphs scattered throughout The Urantia Book. This is what I call the crossing of ideas. The English call this concept “cross-fertilizing” which is difficult to translate into French because in addition to the idea of crossing, it incorporates the notion of fertilization, that is to say the possibility of producing a third idea improved in relation to the two parent ideas.
In the inner experience of man, mind is joined to matter. Such material-linked minds cannot survive mortal death. The technique of survival is embraced in those adjustments of the human will and those transformations in the mortal mind whereby such a God-conscious intellect gradually becomes spirit taught and eventually spirit led. This evolution of the human mind from matter association to spirit union results in the transmutation of the potentially spirit phases of the mortal mind into the morontia realities of the immortal soul. Mortal mind subservient to matter is destined to become increasingly material and consequently to suffer eventual personality extinction; mind yielded to spirit is destined to become increasingly spiritual and ultimately to achieve oneness with the surviving and guiding divine spirit and in this way to attain survival and eternity of personality existence. (UB 1:3.7)
After reading the paragraph and listening to the participants’ comments, the teacher can begin to provide additional information on certain sentences that require additional clarification:
The expression “to make the adjustments of the human will” refers to the innate capacity of human free will to choose between good and relative evil. By referring to UB 16:6.4. the participant will find a further explanation of the mechanism of the cosmic mind in the personality. Then, by going a little further to section 8, paragraph 6 of the same booklet he will find the situations in which the free will of the personality is engaged.
The phrase “Transformations in the Mortal Mind” refers to the mind’s wholehearted willingness to be transformed by the Spirit that lives and inspires it. In UB 110:3.4 the Solitary Messenger explains how to better cooperate with the Adjuster, and in UB 111:1.3 He dissects the mental framework within which personality choices are made.
The expression “a transmutation of the potentially spiritual phases of the mortal mind into the morontia realities of the immortal soul” actually refers to the mechanism of transposition of the spiritual content of human actions by the Thought Adjuster. A luminous explanation of the process is developed in UB 108:5.5 and the teacher will have full latitude to refer to it.
¶ THE REUNION
¶ Preparation
We are therefore faced with our responsibilities and the in-depth study of The Urantia Book is not something to be taken lightly. As with any acquisition of knowledge, a certain discipline of study is necessary.
As we have seen, preparing the meeting is part of the strategy. The teacher must prepare the study framework. Thus, he identifies and prepares:
- Several questions stimulating discussion around the paragraphs which will be the subject of clarification based on the 5 questioning elements.
- Words that may pose a problem for understanding and make a list of them.
- Paragraphs that can be cross-referenced with others to shed light on the subject of the discussion.
- Concepts that must be explained in the light of experience.
- He also recommends that participants read the text to be studied in advance and ask questions in writing if necessary. Bringing a common dictionary is a good idea.
¶ Organization
A well-organized and administered study is based on assumed self-discipline and a set of rules accepted by all, available in writing at any time. In certain cases, and particularly with newcomers, it is recommended to read them tactfully before beginning.
The principle of in-depth study is the systematic reading, in turn, of each paragraph followed by a period of questions, discussions and sharing, led by the teacher, during which everyone has the opportunity to express themselves.
Then, the teacher leads the discussion using the questions he will have prepared based on the grid of 5 elements as well as the cross-references which will clarify, or even amplify, the humanization of the concepts. The interventions are not limited in time but the teacher will ensure that they do not drift. He will have to ensure that each participant has the opportunity to express himself without monopolizing the discussion.
With the support of the facilitator — teacher:
- The words are clarified,
- Ideas are discussed,
- The concepts are analyzed, enriched, and clarified by cross-references.
- They are then brought to the level of personal experience in order to expand cosmic consciousness and enhance the spiritual perception of group members.
¶ Progress
The study group begins with a few minutes of silence and meditation during which each participant can ask for help and support from the spiritual forces present for the study and sharing that will follow.
Optionally a participant can say a few words of appreciation and gratitude to Spirit on behalf of the group.
Then the group designates a moderator (generally the host) whose mission is to give the floor chronologically to those who wish to make comments during the reading of the paragraphs.
The teacher then invites the first participant to read the first paragraph and comment on it (i.e. to share their intuitive feelings rather than a mental interpretation). After reading, the teacher first lets the reader explain their understanding and provide their comments. This phase of the work is essential because it allows you to understand the other person’s problem and share different points of view. As far as possible, the teacher will invite everyone to express themselves, ensuring that they are not interrupted while ensuring that the conversation does not deviate.
Then, he asks questions with the aim of stimulating reflection, going beyond words, beginning the work of study and deepening. The cross-references are read, discussed and then come the answers to the questions.
In the order in which the participants are seated, the teacher takes turns giving the floor for reading and so on. A 15-minute break is planned in the morning and afternoon.
At the end of the discussion, it is good to recall how each participant experienced the meeting and if they want to share their intentions to put into practice.
¶ Some examples of questions and comments
- Reduce confusion by authoritatively eliminating errors. The following quote from the Bible contains an error. “It is through the Son that God created the universes, and it is to him that he has destined the ownership of all things.” It is authoritatively corrected by the following sentence: “. . . It is by the Sons of God that the universes were made, . . .”. (UB 1:0.1)
“The barbarous idea of appeasing an angry God, of propitiating an offended Lord, of winning the favor of Deity through sacrifices and penance and even by the shedding of blood, represents a religion wholly puerile and primitive, a philosophy unworthy of an enlightened age of science and truth. Such beliefs are utterly repulsive to the celestial beings and the divine rulers who serve and reign in the universes. It is an affront to God to believe, hold, or teach that innocent blood must be shed in order to win his favor or to divert the fictitious divine wrath.” (UB 4:5.4)
The Divine Counselor here denounces the Christian dogma of the death of Christ on the cross for the remission of the sins of men.
- Present cosmic data in a way that illuminates the spiritual teachings contained in the accompanying revelation.
The myriads of planetary systems were all made to be eventually inhabited by many different types of intelligent creatures, beings who could know God, receive the divine affection, and love him in return. The universe of universes is the work of God and the dwelling place of his diverse creatures. “God created the heavens and formed the earth; he established the universe and created this world not in vain; he formed it to be inhabited.” (UB 1:0.2)
The Divine Counselor unveils the transcendent purpose of the universe that science cannot formulate in order to place man in a context of cosmic brotherhood illuminating his personal and spiritual relationship with God, his Father and his loving creator.
¶ CONCUBSION
We have now reached the end of this presentation and I wanted to share with you a few years of experience acquired during preparations, participation and running of study groups and seminars.
I wanted to present to you an effective educational approach to make study groups a place where people come for pleasure to share, progress, inspire each other and build human brotherhood from now on.
In accordance with their obligations and the restrictions imposed by the authorities of the universe, the authors have collected, sorted, assembled, and coordinated more than 1000 human concepts which have served as the basis for the present epochal revelation in order to prepare our minds to receive new concepts and enhance our spiritual perception. In the form of 197 booklets, they have made the teachings of the revelation accessible to any person of good faith who seeks God.
The Revelation Commission delivered The Urantia Book ahead of its time with the aim of attracting truth seekers like us not only to raise our cosmic consciousness and enhance our spiritual perception but also to become living vectors for the propagation of the teachings. Are we apostles, disciples, actors or spectators of the fifth revelation? It is up to each of us to respond to this extraordinary adventure according to our commitment and in accordance with our ideals.
We who have received the teachings of The Urantia Book are actively involved in our communities of readers. It is our responsibility to promote the proliferation of attractive study groups around us, but the question remains how.
The image of human cells multiplying by division is inspiring. When a study group exceeds 12 participants, it may be time to form another one. Before the study group reaches “critical mass” teachers will have had time to practice and can join the new group being formed. Study groups are like sacks of grain: they must be opened for them to proliferate.
Ultimately, the study group is the true crucible in which the community of believers will grow and spread the gospel of Jesus: the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of men.
Thank you all.
Georges Michelson-Dupont
