© 1999 Henry Begemann
© 1999 Association Francophone des Lecteurs du Livre d'Urantia
| Le Lien Urantien — Issue 10 — Summer 1999 — Contents | Le Lien Urantien — Issue 10 — Summer 1999 | The Evolution of Fetishism and Idols “Sacred Books” |
Henry Begemann
The Urantian Journal of the Brotherhood
Spring 1979
The Urantia Book reveals that our personality is of such majestic grandeur that, unchanged, it can function even at the borders of the absolute! (UB 112:1.1) This same personality that we have now, does not develop to that unimaginable level, nor does it grow to that level. The personality remains unchanged.
To reconcile this heavenly truth with the reality we know, it seems inevitable to conclude that the personality does not know itself, or at least incompletely. And it takes ages and ages, and even more than time, for the personality to acquire this real self-knowledge and to reach that level of self-realization where it can truly be said: I am that I am. (To use capital letters here would be presumptuous.) Even the writers of The URANTIA Book are not sure that there is such a finality for a son of an Infinite Father.
Attaining true self-realization is “the secret of evolution.” The fulfillment of the Father’s plan is based on self-realization through experience, and this involves the process of identification. The majestic personality that knows no self is bestowed upon a living evolutionary organism which includes the mind, and is of animal origin.
For want of self-knowledge this primitive beginning of self-consciousness must necessarily take the form of identification with this organism. And without such an initial identification it would hardly be possible to live this life of action in, and reaction to, the environment.
We can observe this in a child; before the child is sufficiently developed to acquire moral capacity and thus be able to choose altruistic service, he has already developed a strong and well-unified egoistic nature (UB 103:2.10). This strong and well-unified nature seems to be a necessity as a good stronghold from which to begin acquiring self-knowledge on a higher level. "When the growing child fails in the unification of the personality, the altruistic impulse can become so overdeveloped as to create serious damage to the well-being of the self. A misguided conscience can become responsible for endless human conflict, worry, sorrow and misfortune (UB 103:3.1). Something of which parents and educators should be aware.
With the coming of the Thought Adjuster, a new phase in the identification process takes shape. Personality unification and moral capacity have been sufficiently acquired to add to the Thought Adjuster impulse and make altruistic decisions. This process of change has been very gradual so as not to disrupt the personality-unification. A mentally healthy child can without injury to himself venture into this expansion of the identification process. He discovers that the altruistic impulse is also part of his nature.
But a child cannot remain a child. Growth is a natural process, but although natural and unconscious, it needs to be encouraged, on the material as well as the intellectual and spiritual levels. The higher the level, the greater the need for this encouragement. On the spiritual level, the best way to do this is our dedicated pursuit of doing the Father’s will. The processes of growth are linked to the process of identification. Growth is unconscious, identification is more conscious. They influence each other. If for example identification with life on the material level and its duties is set aside, growth is arrested. People who grow are loyal people.
But even in the normal process of the child’s growth, the initially achieved unification of identity-personality is continually challenged by the discovery of new factors which may also be part of this mysterious and inexhaustible personality, in which everything already exists potentially, but not experientially.
Such factors, before being integrated into identity, often manifest as a feeling of lack of something in uncertainty and anxiety. As these new factors are integrated through experience, the center of identity, the seat of the “I”, moves upwards. Initially it was located in the material mind, now it begins to move to the intellectual mind, and it can move upwards, to the spiritual mind. This means that man recognizes values in the intellectual and spiritual realms. “Where your treasures are, there is your heart.” The ego gradually changes into “me.”
Identity is thus in a process of continual change. Life is in a way an expedition of discovery into the unknown, but fascinating, realm of personality, with its endless potentials. But this expedition most of the time crosses rough terrain. And progress very often does not follow a straight line either, it can even turn into regression. Mortal life is a short but relatively severe period of testing. However, the loving Father has given help and guidance. Besides the many spiritual influences around us, there is the fragment of the Father, the Mystery Monitor who dwells within us.
We might interpret this name in various ways: the Monitor who is a mystery in himself, the Monitor who enters into a mysterious relationship with a mortal mind; and in our context we might also say, the entity who leads us into the mystery of his own nature, into the mystery of the nature of our true personality and into their relationships.
In any case, this influence on identity is great. With its coming, the soul comes into existence, although in an embryonic state, I think we should not consider the soul as a change of the old identity, but as the creation of a new identity, in the sense that there are now two identities. It is a paradoxical situation, characterized by divergent needs and giving rise to conflicts in making a decision. What are the most valid, most real values? What is the most real identity?
Soul birth is not the equivalent of the new birth, the prerequisite for entry into the kingdom of heaven. The soul that comes into existence upon the arrival of the Thought Adjuster is not yet immortal. The soul can also die (UB 112:3.2). The new birth, being a spiritual phenomenon, can hardly be defined intellectually. But an essential factor in the new birth is conscious identification with the soul. “The personality of the mortal creature can become eternal by identifying with the indwelling spirit through the technique of choosing to do the will of the Father” (UB 118:1.2) Although this can sometimes come as a seemingly sudden breakthrough-achievement, most of the time it is a process.
And the process of identification, the upward movement of the seat or center of identity, continues its progress. On the morontia worlds the soul becomes the vehicle of life, even though the mind was on the material plane. “The mind is your ship, the Adjuster is your pilot, the human will is the captain” (UB 111:2.1). The soul is the seat of identity, both of the human personality and of the Thought Adjuster, who also takes part in his own personal way in the process of identification. I speculate that these soul identities gradually overlap until fusion is accomplished.
And then begins the long preparation for acquiring a spiritual vehicle. The seat of identity must be raised in the spirit-energy system. Mind, instead of being a spiritual mind, truly becomes a spirit-mind. When we leave the local universe, the body or form will no longer be provided, but the ascending spirit is able to project its own spiritual form.
When, then, will this process of identification cease? Will it continue when the universe age of the Ultimate succeeds the age of the Supreme? And after that? Will there ever be an end? We do not know and can only conjecture. But even to conjecture about this very remote and totally alien situation does not seem very profitable. In any case, a majestic career lies before us. The important thing to do now is to identify ourselves more and more with our soul. Growth is fostered by “sincerity, more sincerity, and more sincerity.” Identification is encouraged by “decisions, more decisions, and more decisions” (435.8). Identification with the soul means cooperation with the soul’s co-parent, our inner Father-Friend. The Mystery Monitor is the will of the Father. We cannot do the Father’s will without communicating with the Monitor, and we cannot communicate with the Monitor without doing the Father’s will. How can a child prosper if there is no communication between its parents? How can a soul prosper if there is no communication between its two parents, the mortal mind and the Adjuster? If we seek this communion honestly and sincerely in loving prayer and worship, we may not discern his voice, but if we are watchful we can certainly discover the results of such communion.
Henry Begemann, Wassenar, Netherlands.
(This study was discovered on the website of "The Urantia Book Fellowship)
Translated by C. and N. Ragetly.
| Le Lien Urantien — Issue 10 — Summer 1999 — Contents | Le Lien Urantien — Issue 10 — Summer 1999 | The Evolution of Fetishism and Idols “Sacred Books” |