© 2015 Georges Michelson-Dupont
© 2015 French-speaking Association of Readers of the Urantia Book
| Consciousness — Self-Consciousness & God-Consciousness | Le Lien Urantien — Issue 72 — Winter 2015 | Interactive Study Group: Second Series |
THE very first meeting of Italian readers of The Urantia Book took place in Verona, the beautiful and historic city of Romeo and Juliet from Friday August 28 to Sunday August 30. This event was undertaken and organized by my long-time friend Danielle La Scala, an Italo-Swiss.
Of the eight Italians who had initially offered to come, 5 turned up and only 3 participated in the entire meeting. Memo Zago, the Italian translator of The Urantia Book, arrived on Saturday morning and another person did not come until Saturday afternoon. In addition to Danielle, my wife Marlène and myself, Antonio Shefer from the Netherlands, representing the Urantia Association International (UAI), as well as a Swiss reader from Lausanne and three French readers from the Marseille region were present, including the President of the French association.
Friday afternoon was spent getting to know each other in the hotel lounges and the evening ended with a good meal.
On Saturday morning Danielle presented the program of the meeting then as Trustee and on behalf of the Urantia Foundation, I delivered a few words of welcome. In turn the President of the French association affirmed the support of French-speaking readers for this initiative and Antonio Sheffer spoke briefly about the UAI.
Saturday morning was devoted to the study of Thought Adjusters. We all sat in a circle and after a few minutes of meditative silence, we began the introduction to Paper 107, each participant reading a paragraph in turn and commenting. This active and lively participation gave rise to much questioning and sharing among the participants, especially among the three Italian readers. The judicious choice of cross-references, taken in particular from the Introduction, Papers I and 108 brought much clarification to the minds of our Italian brothers. They were participating in a study group for the first time and it was a new and significant experience for them. After sharing lunch at the hotel restaurant, we met in the study room. After a few minutes of silence, we began to study the second subject of the day: “the plans of divine perfection” using the same principle of study and sharing. Again, there were many questions and comments followed by clarifications provided by cross-references. This dynamic, generated by truth seekers eager to know God, gave rise to a feeling of great brotherhood among us and we truly experienced the spiritual communion described in the introduction to booklet 100:
“The experience of a dynamic religious life transforms a mediocre individual into a personality endowed with idealistic power. Religion contributes to the progress of all by encouraging the progress of each individual, and the progress of each is increased by the accomplishment of all.”
The meeting ended with a few minutes of contemplation.
A quick tour of the old town of Verona had been organized, followed by an excellent dinner in a very fraternal atmosphere with lots of laughter and good humor. The Italians spoke some French which greatly facilitated the exchanges. We made plans for a) future meetings, b) creating study groups in Italy and c) finding other readers. Two Italians expressed the desire to come next summer to Recloses to participate in a six-day seminar.
The spiritualization of the mind had been discussed the day before and we devoted Sunday morning to clarifying this process described in paragraph 7 of section 3 of the first booklet: The Universal Father:
“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)
A fascinating two-hour shared discussion ensued on the meaning of “. . . the adjustments of the human will and the transformations in the mortal mind by which . . . must be made” and their implications for daily life, which clarified many vague ideas.
Around 11 o’clock everyone went to their room to prepare their luggage and we went to a typical Venetian trattoria where we tasted frutti di mare with good Italian pasta.
The results of this meeting are very positive and promising. Two of the three Italian participants are devoted readers and sincerely wish to get involved in forming study groups, organizing other meetings and arousing interest among Italians in reading Il Libro di Urantia. Memo Zago. no longer wishes to assume the role of contact person and Danielle has spontaneously offered to replace him.
We must thank Danielle for her initiative. She deserves a lot of credit because the organization was excellent and there is no doubt that the fruits will be numerous. “The act is ours, the consequences are God’s.” (UB 117:5.6)
Georges Michelson-Dupont
| Consciousness — Self-Consciousness & God-Consciousness | Le Lien Urantien — Issue 72 — Winter 2015 | Interactive Study Group: Second Series |