© 2011 Horacio Gamboa
© 2011 Urantia Association of Spain
It is not easy at all to do a UB-based work on personality and its unification, when the revelators themselves tell us that personality is a mystery even to them; but since they tell us what diversity is, I am going to start this paper with the following quote from The Urantia Book:
“If this were a mechanistic universe, if the First Great Source and Center were only a force and not also a personality, if all creation were a vast aggregation of physical matter dominated by precise laws characterized by unvarying energy actions, then might perfection obtain, even despite the incompleteness of universe status. There would be no disagreement; there would be no friction. But in our evolving universe of relative perfection and imperfection we rejoice that disagreement and misunderstanding are possible, for thereby is evidenced the fact and the act of personality in the universe. And if our creation is an existence dominated by personality, then can you be assured of the possibilities of personality survival, advancement, and achievement; we can be confident of personality growth, experience, and adventure. What a glorious universe, in that it is personal and progressive, not merely mechanical or even passively perfect!” (UB 75:8.7)
Fantastic then that we have misunderstandings, friction and divergent points of view, since, as they explain to us, for these reasons the reality and actions of the personality in the universe become manifest. Therefore, we should not have the slightest qualms about giving our opinions and points of view, since we know very well that always, always, and for eternity, there will be personalities who will think totally and utterly different from us, and that is no reason to fights or discussions, but rather respect for the other, especially with this information that we have.
“Personality is a level of deified reality and ranges from the mortal and midwayer level of the higher mind activation of worship and wisdom up through the morontial and spiritual to the attainment of finality of personality status. That is the evolutionary ascent of mortal- and kindred-creature personality, but there are numerous other orders of universe personalities.” (UB 0:5.1)
Perfect to know that the personality, our personality, is a level of deified reality, and it is so because it comes directly from the Universal Father. What a responsibility to ourselves, and to our peers, to know and verify this great little detail. What a revelation! We see that it is from us, the mortal level, and from our first cousins, the intermediate beings, that from what we see, in them, in their minds, the adjutant spirits of adoration, on the 6th, and of wisdom on the 7th, also act. , and obviously that is how it should be since they are conceived here. First the primaries, with the arrival of the retinue of the 100 from Caligastia, with beings of the aboriginal race of Urantia, the Andonites, and then with the arrival of Adam and Eve and their son Adanson, and Ratta, his Nodite wife, the last pure descendant of the corporeal retinue, who reproduced the secondary midwayers. With the experiential achievements that we obtain here, we will first become morontia, with the achievements in morontia we will become spiritual and from there, to be finalists, the finality of the personality state. That will be our destiny. And so will that of our first cousins, although they are ages and ages away, since they will have to wait for both the planet and the local universe to come to light and life. Phew, how long until they begin their ascent to Paradise. Let’s not forget that they do not consider us permanent inhabitants of this planet, and in truth we are not. We are passing beings, nothing more.
“Reality is subject to universal expansion, personality to infinite diversification, and both are capable of well-nigh unlimited Deity co-ordination and eternal stabilization. While the metamorphic range of nonpersonal reality is definitely limited, we know of no limitations to the progressive evolution of personality realities.” (UB 0:5.2)
Wonderful point; we are subject to infinite diversification, and along with reality we are unlimitedly coordinated with Deity. And, the most beautiful thing about this point, the wonder, the marvelous: there are no limits to the progressive evolutions of the realities of the personality. We have no limits, we have nothing but great adventures and growth, if we dedicate our personality to doing the will of our Universal Father.
“On attained experiential levels all personality orders or values are associable and even cocreational. Even God and man can coexist in a unified personality, as is so exquisitely demonstrated in the present status of Christ Michael—Son of Man and Son of God.” (UB 0:5.3)
What do we have here? for neither more nor less than, through the achievements of experience, all the orders and values of the personality are associable, in our case with the gift of the Father, the Thought Adjusters, and with them we will co-create that new being in the one we will become when both coexist in the same personality, ours, and thus we will be a unified personality. But understanding this will bring us more study and, why not say it, more discernment. Let us not forget that we are evolving inward and upward, from man to God, and the Adjusters evolve outward and downward, from God to man, and the divine and man union will be finally and eternally, the son of man and the son of God. The example of this is Christ Michael. Let us not forget, furthermore, that for all the purposes of our lives, as long as we live in the local universe, He is our Father and the greatest example to follow.
“All subinfinite orders and phases of personality are associative attainables and are potentially cocreational. The prepersonal, the personal, and the superpersonal are all linked together by mutual potential of co-ordinate attainment, progressive achievement, and cocreational capacity. But never does the impersonal directly transmute to the personal. Personality is never spontaneous; it is the gift of the Paradise Father. Personality is superimposed upon energy, and it is associated only with living energy systems; identity can be associated with nonliving energy patterns.” (UB 0:5.4)
Here it becomes clearer. We, at this point in our lives, are going through the sub-infinite stage. We are associative, attainable, and potentially co-creative, along with our Adjusters, the prepersonal, and the superpersonal with the beings above us helping us achieve the Father’s goal, but who in turn are following the same goal. And, they definitely emphasize and clarify that personality is not spontaneous or anything similar to it: it is a gift from our Universal Father and should not be confused with identity. For example: our refrigerators have identity, our automobiles have identity, but never personality. Furthermore, despite what we are told that personality is associated only with living energy systems, in the case of animals they are living energy systems and do not possess personality, but do have identity. Living identity, but only identity. They have only 5 helpers in their minds, us 7.
“In the contemplation of Deity, the concept of personality must be divested of the idea of corporeality. A material body is not indispensable to personality in either man or God. The corporeality error is shown in both extremes of human philosophy. In materialism, since man loses his body at death, he ceases to exist as a personality; in pantheism, since God has no body, he is not, therefore, a person. The superhuman type of progressing personality functions in a union of mind and spirit.” (UB 1:5.12)
Moving forward on the subject, we know that the personality is superimposed on the energy, it can handle certain phases of energy, and it does so through the mind. And it is associated only with living energy systems, as it says in the point touched on above, but that is for existence on a planet, which is the case with us here. But at this other point they tell us that corporeality is not necessary for personality. A material body is not indispensable for the personality, neither in man nor in God, and at the end of the point they clarify that the superhuman type of personality, something that we will be reaching step by step in the mansion worlds, works in the union of the mind and spirit.
“Man does not achieve union with God as a drop of water might find unity with the ocean. Man attains divine union by progressive reciprocal spiritual communion, by personality intercourse with the personal God, by increasingly attaining the divine nature through wholehearted and intelligent conformity to the divine will. Such a sublime relationship can exist only between personalities.” (UB 1:7.2)
Here they give us a fantastic key to how, through spiritual communion, we are achieving a divine relationship with the personal God, and this can only exist between personalities and through an intelligent and sincere conformity with the divine will. An intelligent conformity, what do you think of this phrase? They do not ask us for conformity as we understand it here and in this state, as almost always when we have to settle for different situations in life, where we do it over and over again because there is no other solution. No, they ask us for intelligent compliance, because everything, absolutely everything that happens is for the better, and we are not in an unmanageable universe abandoned to its fate. No, here is law and order.
“Mind transmutes the values of spirit into the meanings of intellect; volition has power to bring the meanings of mind to fruit in both the material and spiritual domains. The Paradise ascent involves a relative and differential growth in spirit, mind, and energy. The personality is the unifier of these components of experiential individuality.” (UB 9:4.6)
Here we are definitely getting into the matter. The mind changes spiritual values into meanings of the intellect; the will has the power to make the meanings of the mind real to material and spiritual values; And, this little point is very important, the ascent to Paradise is a relative and differential growth of the spirit, the mind and the energy, and it is the personality, which brought me to this study, the unifier of those components of experiential individuality. Be careful then: growth, on the one hand, must be harmonious, we cannot be shot at to the detriment of the others, each one always maintaining their differences, and it will be the personality and in it where they must be unified.
“Some degree of moral affinity and spiritual harmony is essential to friendship between two persons; a loving personality can hardly reveal himself to a loveless person. Even to approach the knowing of a divine personality, all of man’s personality endowments must be wholly consecrated to the effort; halfhearted, partial devotion will be unavailing.” (UB 1:6.5)
This happens to all human beings on a daily basis. We do not connect with or step aside from those people who do not produce empathy, closeness, feelings of affinity, etc. But, we can understand each other and even more, live well with the personalities we feel from love. In order to get closer to whatever divine personality it is, one must absolutely consecrate oneself to that effort. The results of being partial will be fruitless; In other words, in order to contact the divine personalities we must concentrate and think very well about what we are doing.
“Do not permit the magnitude of God, his infinity, either to obscure or eclipse his personality. “He who planned the ear, shall he not hear? He who formed the eye, shall he not see?” The Universal Father is the acme of divine personality; he is the origin and destiny of personality throughout all creation. God is both infinite and personal; he is an infinite personality. The Father is truly a personality, notwithstanding that the infinity of his person places him forever beyond the full comprehension of material and finite beings.” (UB 1:5.1)
First of all the Father is a personality, he is the pinnacle of divine personality, the origin and destiny of personality throughout all creation. And this means that the personality that we have, or that we are, has its origin in Him, and after going through the evolution of the animal through the entire ascending race, up to His presence, there it will just be at its destination, or we will be in our destiny. A fantastic destination that awaits us, unbeatable, and a fantastic path of adventures and challenges that we have every day, world after world, systems and constellations to travel and experience. This has to call us to the greatest joy, that of being certain that things are like that, and not merely mechanical and uncontrolled as some human theories expose.
“Personality is not simply an attribute of God; it rather stands for the totality of the co-ordinated infinite nature and the unified divine will which is exhibited in eternity and universality of perfect expression. Personality, in the supreme sense, is the revelation of God to the universe of universes.” (UB 1:5.13)
From what we read in this last point, we can see that the personality, that of the Father, represents for us all his infinite coordinated nature and unified will that is exhibited in eternity. What an example, something difficult for us, especially from this point where we are. It is universally perfect expression, it is his revelation to the universes, and he can do it through his personality. And in what other way; none, since personal beings are distinguished by personality, and it is in this only way that we contact divinity, and through which we can understand each other, pray and adore our Father.
“. . . The Paradise ascent involves a relative and differential growth in spirit, mind, and energy. The personality is the unifier of these components of experiential individuality.” (UB 9:4.6)
In these three lines all this work is summarized, and the words to explain them are definitely unnecessary. But it is worth noting what comes out a little before this same page that will give us even more clarity: Energy is an object, (at our level, our body) the mind is meaning, (for us, it is in it where they pass us experiences, is where we have consciousness, intellect, etc.) and the spirit is value (in us, the Thought Adjusters) And, ultimately, the personality is the unifier of these components of experiential individuality. Therefore, it is the personality that must unify all the parts that make up our existence.
“Spirit is the basic personal reality in the universes, and personality is basic to all progressing experience with spiritual reality. Every phase of personality experience on every successive level of universe progression swarms with clues to the discovery of alluring personal realities. Man’s true destiny consists in the creation of new and spirit goals and then in responding to the cosmic allurements of such supernal goals of nonmaterial value.” (UB 12:9.1)
Here they make the importance of personality even clearer; it is the basic personal reality of the universes, and in turn is basic to all progressive experience with spiritual reality. All personal beings have personality, and we who have personality, in order to contact spiritual reality, with spiritual beings, will do so through personality. In the ascent, we will have clues to discover fascinating personal realities; this refers to fascinating spiritual beings endowed with personality. And finally they give us the key, like so many in this wonderful blue book, of our destiny, something that has never been known on this planet, to create new and spiritual goals and to respond to the cosmic attractions of such lofty goals of non-material value. !!! Wonderful !!! Of non-material value, that is why they also tell us several times that from now on, from here, we can begin to feel the morontia, let our Adjusters do their work, not put up obstacles such as fear, impatience, prejudice and Worst of all our flaws: anxiety. Around here, mastering these issues that dominate us so much, is that we will gradually achieve the necessary control to unify our personality.
Your sojourn on Edentia and its associated spheres will be chiefly occupied with the mastery of group ethics, the secret of pleasant and profitable interrelationship between the various universe and superuniverse orders of intelligent personalities.
On the mansion worlds you completed the unification of the evolving mortal personality; on the system capital you attained Jerusem citizenship and achieved the willingness to submit the self to the disciplines of group activities and co-ordinated undertakings; but now on the constellation training worlds you are to achieve the real socialization of your evolving morontia personality. This supernal cultural acquirement consists in learning how to: (Here are 7 points that I will not include, but they are all related to the topic. They can be seen in UB 43:8.3-4)
From what we see, it will only be in the capital of the constellation where we will begin to learn about group ethics. That is the secret of pleasant and beneficial relationships with others, and more, with universal and superuniversal intelligent personalities. Here we will be in full contact with beings from other universes, and we will have to work with them. (How ethics is lacking in our world, and how different society would be if this simple rule were applied) Here is a key point in the construction of this work: IN THE MANSION WORLDS YOU FINISHED UNIFYING THE EVOLVING HUMAN PERSONALITY. Apparently, it will be then and there where we will achieve the unification of the personality, where we complete the unification, since it is an arduous, hard and difficult work from this world. From our incomplete state, but step by step, slow as everything is in evolution, from this very moment we can start playing if it serves as a formula, mastering our constituent parts through our personality, leaving the guide to our Adjusters. Let us not forget that they are prepersonal, they do not have personality, and they come for ours after selecting us, and putting all our will to do the will of our Universal Father. In the capital of the system we achieve citizenship on Jerusem, and not least: we will achieve the desire to submit the self to the disciplines of group activities and coordinated enterprises. This seen from here is not easy, to submit the self, even more to have the desire to submit the self, here. It is very difficult unless it is something very pleasant; we humans are not very interested in subduing the self. And finally, and with the unified personality, with the desire to submit the self to different disciplines, we will achieve the true socialization of our personality. We will just be socialized beings, social and capable of living with millions of other beings from other worlds and universes. And these will be evolutionary achievements of each one.
“Selfhood of personality dignity, human or divine, immortal or potentially immortal, does not however originate in either spirit, mind, or matter; it is the bestowal of the Universal Father. Neither is the interaction of spirit, mind, and material gravity a prerequisite to the appearance of personality gravity. The Father’s circuit may embrace a mind-material being who is unresponsive to spirit gravity, or it may include a mind-spirit being who is unresponsive to material gravity. The operation of personality gravity is always a volitional act of the Universal Father.” (UB 9:6.4)
They make it more than clear to us that the individuality of immortal personal, human or divine dignity, or like ours, potentially immortal, originates from our Universal Father, it is his gift. Nor are mental and material gravity operative, requirements for personality gravity to appear, because said gravity is a circuit of Him. And they clarify it even more; the Father circuit may include a material-minded being, such as ourselves, who does not respond to spiritual gravity. Of this we have millions of examples in our current world, or a being with a spiritual mind that does not respond to material gravity. We do not see these types of beings. We know about them, for a reason we are agondonteros, we believe without seeing, but for now we just have to settle for our faith. We already know that spiritual gravity exists, which is of the Eternal Son; the mental gravity, which is of the Infinite Spirit and, as they make clear to us again here, the gravity of the personality is always a volitional act of the Universal Father.
¶ References
- Light and Life Magazine (all old issues): https://aue.urantia-association.org/numeros-antiguos-del-lyv/