© 2008 Guy de Viron, Dominique Ronfet, Johanna Beukers, Gaétan Charland, Henry Begemann, Eileen Caddy, Daniel Courvoisier, Yolanda Silva Solano
© 2008 French-speaking Association of Readers of the Urantia Book
¶ Summary
| Text | Author | |
|---|---|---|
| Editorial | “Between people of Lu” | G. de Viron |
| Prelude | The President’s Note | D. Ronfet |
| Meditation | Time | Johanna Beukers |
| The Agenda | The IR, AFLUB and AUI + News | |
| The guest | The President of the UAI | Gaétan Charland |
| Study | Spring: Study of the Future | Henry Begemann |
| Testimonial | “altruistic” | Alfred s/Net |
| Poetic touch | How beautiful you have made the earth! | Daniel Cœurvoisier |
| Scoop | A good neighborhood | Scientific Gazette |
| Reflection | The intelligence of the heart | Collective |
| Meditation | Words of Life | Eileen Caddy |
| Discovery | Messenger molecules | Yolanda Silva Solano |
| The Word | The 7 Keys to Success | Jude Zefara Colorado |
| At the market | The Spirit of God in you is strong | Unity |
| Humor | 1 minute on happiness | Anthony de Mello |
| Little Corner of | Brother Dominique | D. Ronfet |
| Illustrations (4) | Viro |
¶ Imprint
Le Lien Urantien is the journal of the French-speaking Association of Readers of the Urantia Book. This association is a member of the UAI, the Urantia Association International.
| Head office | rue du Temple 1, F-13012 Marseille, +33 (0)4 91 27 13 20 |
| afflu@urantia.fr | |
| Site | www.urantia.fr/afflu.htm |
| Publication Director | Dominique Ronfet |
| Editor in Chief | Guy de Viron |
| Reading Committee | Jean Royer, Chris Ragetly |
| Printing help | Jean Annet |
| Subscription | €20 per year (quarterly publication 4 issues) |
| Legal deposit | December 1997 — ISSN 1285-1116 |
| Print run | 125 copies © 1955 URANTIA Foundation |
All rights reserved. Materials from The Urantia Book are used with permission.
Any artistic representation, interpretation, opinion or conclusion implied or asserted is (are) that of its author and does not necessarily represent the views of URANTIA Foundation or its affiliates.
¶ Edito: “Between people of Lu”
To begin this new literary “stroll” between people from Lu, we will be pleasantly accompanied by our guest of the day: Gaétan Charland!
Indeed, he does us the kindness of being one of us through a few lines. Already known to some, he has the merit of being a very friendly and dynamic personality, putting into practice the teaching of the UB; enough to inaugurate this new guest column, called to continue over the next issues! Welcome among us Gaétan!
And from Chile, Yolanda will accompany us with her discovery on genetic messages! This text having been translated, it is not the easiest to read but we get used to it! Even here, scientists suspect that the laws of physics are no longer all-powerful. Thus, on the ants’ side, astonishing observations, at the very least disturbing and all things considered… delightful!
For regular readers, here is a slightly longer text that would have been incongruous to split. It is a translation that our friend Chris offers us, taken from the journal “The Foundation Brotherhood”.
Thanks to all those who encouraged and supported me in the new presentation of the Link. As a nod, here are some illustrations signed under the pseudonym of “viro”, my artist name.
For the rest, I suggest you continue the theme started in the previous Link. Happy reading to all.
Yours faithfully.
Guy
¶ News 1: Translation project
Many of us have already appreciated the French version of Marvin Gawryn’s “Chemin des Cimes” published by AFFU, and we can now rejoice in the fact that a distinguished translator from AFLUB is undertaking a new and promising translation; it is an Anglo-Saxon study concerning the psychological spiritual domain. Its author: Meredith J. Sprunger, American. Bravo for this bold undertaking because the subject seems complex and the vocabulary specific. All our encouragement goes with him for this grandiose task!
¶ Prelude: The President’s Note
With this autumn return, everyone has already returned to their daily obligations, sunny memories are fading away.
Some had received holiday homework.
This was the case for Guy, our editor, who worked on a richer, more creative, more open, in short more spiritual and always more beautiful Link.
Finally we hope you like it.
This was also the case for our Parisian IR Robert, who is offering us a seminar for the weekend of November 21-23 in a hotel on the outskirts of Paris.
In short, AFLUB is careful…not to fall asleep!
Happy reading to all, I hope on the 21st or on our
Dominique Ronfet
¶ Meditation: Time
I would like to share a few moments with you to meditate on the word “time”. And I would like to quote a few sentences from a book by Eckhart Tolle entitled: “The Power of Now”.
“What we consider the past is the memory of a former present moment stored in the mind. When we remember the past, we revive a memory. The future is an imagined present, a projection of the mind.
When the future comes, it is in the form of the present."
Many of us cherish in our memories, with great care, pleasant events from the past, but also, unfortunately, suffering and painful moments.
But, according to Tolle, traveling through our life with our suffering is a great mistake. Because — “The body of suffering is the shadow of the ego.”
- “Spiritual masters of all traditions have always made the present moment the key to accessing the spiritual dimension.”
- "The very essence of ZEN philosophy is to advance on the razor blade that is the present, to be so totally and completely present that no suffering, nothing that is not you in essence, can survive in you. Time being thus absent, all your problems dissolve.
Suffering needs time: it cannot survive in the present.
“Only a person who lets go (of the past) has spiritual power.”
"As we learn to witness our thoughts and emotions, which is an essential part of being present, we might be surprised to notice for the first time the ‘background interference’ of ordinary consciousness.
We would also be surprised to note the rarity of moments - if not their total absence - when we feel truly good.
In our thoughts we will see a lot of resistance in the form of judgment, dissatisfaction and mental projections. These all take us away from the present.”
“Being free from time means psychologically no longer needing the past to assume our identity nor the future to live our fullness.”
“For many people it is hard to believe that it is possible to live in a state free from all negativity. And yet this state of liberation is the one that all spiritual teachings speak of. It is the promise of salvation, not in some illusory future, but right here and now.”
| Readers Group | Upcoming Meetings/Gatherings |
|---|---|
| Paris/Ile de France | every 1st Saturday of the month, Hôtel Normandy, (13.09.08 at 2:00 p.m.) AFLUB Salon, 7 rue de I Echelle 75001 PARIS |
| Vaucluse | Once a month, at each other’s homes. Next meeting on Saturday 20/09 at Patrick Morelli’s |
| Var | Once a month Next meeting on Saturday 13/09 at Eriksen Tor |
| Midi-Pyrénées | Contact: Paul Hortal, Cité Micho |
| Alsace Lorraine | Contact: Pascal Coulombe |
| French-speaking Switzerland | 1 Thursday evening per month at A. Cornu or R/L Perroud Next meeting: Thursday 11.09 at Ariane Cornu’s |
| ABUB | Contact: Jean Annet |
| Brittany | Every 15 days: Tuesday and Saturday afternoon Henk Mylanus THEME weekends or weeks on demand in Fr, An and NL |
| AIU | April 2009, Malaga Project 2011, Marseille |
| AFFUB | November 21-23, 2008, Paris (until Sunday 23 after the meal) Theme: Jesus, the Man |
¶ News 2: Michael’s birthday
For the second time, some participants from two departments of the PACA region met in the afternoon at Elliane Grivet’s to commemorate Michael’s birthday. The study began around 3 p.m. on booklet 6 — § 4, the Eternal Son: “Attributes of the Eternal Son” Then, Chris Ragetly had prepared a development on the different ways of understanding the Kingdom: Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom, UB 170:3.6 and, as good studious students, we ended our study with the Supreme Being in the three phases of evolutionary reality, UB 22:7.11. In the evening we all met at the table and after having made a toast to honor this exceptional event of the birth of a Creator Son, who had chosen, among more than ten million, an insignificant planet like Urantia. As a great hostess, Éliane had prepared for us, with the kindness that characterizes her, a succulent meal composed of calamari Armoricaine, a typical Provençal delicacy. As for the starters, wine, cheeses and desserts, all the guests demonstrated a real sharing by each bringing something. It is a pity that we were not as numerous as in previous years, however, the audience was of high quality. It was a very good meeting in fraternity and sharing and I hope that this initiative will continue for a long time to come. Once again, a big thank you on behalf of all, for the effort and work that Éliane was willing to put in to welcome us all into her home. Fraternally to all.
¶ The Guest: The President of the UAI
Dear readers of the Link,
It was in 1979 that thanks to the French translation of the Urantia Book by Jacques Weiss, I discovered The Urantia Book. I still remember my astonishment and my reaction when I was able to read the first pages of the third volume of the Urantia Cosmogony. Since that time, my life has changed enormously and for the better without, however, making me a paragon of virtue; I still have a lot of progress to make before leaving this world and I am constantly working on it.
It took me several years, eight years in fact, before I took concrete action to become involved in the reformation of my Being and to serve in various ways in the activities related to The Urantia Book. I can well understand that others might take as much time as I did to consciously work on their spiritual growth and become involved in service to others.
¶ The Study: Spring: A Study of the Future by Henry Begemann
Wassenaar, Netherlands, “The URANTIAN Journal”, “The URANTIA Brotherhood”, Summer 1988 While searching among the different religions in the Netherlands, Henry Begemann found The Urantia Book just as he was retiring from a career in insurance. Realizing its importance, he immediately began translating the book into Dutch. His dedication inspired him to facilitate the organization of study groups as the European representative of Urantia Foundation. He served on the General Council within the Brotherhood before his death in 1990.
Because readers of The Urantia Book are certainly interested in the subject of prophecy, it would seem timely and useful to study more fully what our book has to say about the near future.
The most significant things Jesus said about this can be found in the 2nd chapter of Paper 176, where he says: “…The state of things which you now look down upon is coming to an end, but that end will constitute a new beginning, from which the gospel of the kingdom will spread throughout the world and salvation will be extended to all peoples. When the kingdom has reached its full maturity, be assured that the Father in heaven will not fail to bring you an enlarged revelation of the truth…” UB 176:2.3
CRM
¶ “Altuist” Testimony
At the world level, 2 renowned Spanish tenors: Placido Domingo (from Madrid) and José Carreras (Catalan).
Friends for many years, they later had some virulent political discussions (given the deep divergence between the Madrilenians and the Catalans) leading to a deep and hateful enmity towards each other to the point of asking their respective impresarios to refuse any contract of representation at an evening at which the other would be present. In short, the rupture was total.
Shortly after, José Carreras was seriously affected by a fulminating leukemia. Given the heavy treatments required, he was no longer able to perform on stage. In addition, having to change his blood frequently in the USA, his finances became non-existent and he sank into poverty. To continue his treatment, he had to appeal to a foundation recently created to help victims of this type of cancer. Thanks to this welcome help, he was able to continue his treatment and finally be cured of this disease.
He then decided to find out more about this foundation that had saved his life. It was then that he discovered that this foundation had been anonymously created by Placido Domingo with the main purpose of helping him. The reason for the latter’s discretion was motivated by the desire not to put José Carreras in a humiliating position and not to gain any glory or profit from his action.
Carreras then waited for a gala by Domingo to, while Domingo was unaware, come in the middle of the performance on stage in front of the entire audience present at the gala, kneel before Placido Domingo to publicly thank him for saving his life.
Since then, they have become the best friends in the world and have performed together the most prestigious gala concerts in the world, including those of the three tenors with the late Pavarotti, which have allowed the sale of millions of albums. It is a beautiful authentic story that demonstrates, if need be, that there are not only negative vibrations on this earth, but also people capable of love and altruistic service.
Alfred s/Net
¶ Words of Life: Excerpt 01
Divine love is imperishable
and cannot be affected by conditions, situations,
or circumstances.
Love always remains the same.
Its action is exercised without fluctuating over time.
There is no point in talking about love.
It must be lived,
demonstrated,
expressed in life and in customs.
Love remains vain without actions.
Divine love knows no discrimination
nor separation
but it includes everything
and wraps each one.
Divine love is agape.
¶ Poetic touch: HOW BEAUTIFUL YOU MADE THE EARTH!
Land of tenderness
and beauty,
Warmer and tender
That one flesh,
Land of the sky
Sky of the earth,
You are the garment of fair children.
Daniel Courvoisier
¶ Discovery: A good neighbor softens the manners… of ants!
Science
A study conducted in Lausanne by Professor Laurent Keller demonstrates that the social environment sometimes prevails over genetic characteristics. This specialist has managed to demonstrate a predominance of the environment on the evolution of the behavior of ants. (University of Lausanne, July 17, 2008). One observation has become clear: genetic heritage does not make everything in the attitudes of these social insects. On the contrary, their environment can even have more influence. “This discovery should lead to a rethink of the way we do genetics. Today, we tend to completely isolate experimental subjects from their natural context. However, the social environment can affect the expression of certain genes.”
Calm the Regicides
What did he find exactly? That it was possible to evolve a population of so-called “monogynous” workers - that is, those that only accept one queen in the colony, systematically killing all the others - and make it tolerant of power sharing by several sovereigns (the queen can be threatened if she is not alone in the colony). The research team had already demonstrated that a single gene played the leading role in this difference in behavior. During this new experiment, the researchers found that it was enough to put 5 to 10% of these more “tolerant” ants in a “monarchist” population for all of them to support, after just a few days, several sovereigns. “The introduction of this minority of workers with a different genotype induces a modification in the expression of approximately 90 genes. Ultimately, this is what determines the change in the ants’ behavior.”
Applicable to humans
This research, which adds a brick to the incessant debate on the tension between the acquired and the innate, will not stop there. Its authors will further refine the search for genes that specifically create these effects. More generally, it will “complicate” the work of geneticists, who will have to take the environment more into account in their work. Even the study of human pathologies could adapt: “We know that there are genetic predispositions to certain disorders and that they do not materialize in all environments. A breach towards a new direction of research is now open,” concludes Laurent Keller.
The realization of the presence of God in us is a spiritual birth, a revelation of God in the human soul. It is the “gift of God.” We grasp in thought that God is the Giver of all blessings: life, love, health. Then we understand that God is not only the Benefactor, but the blessing itself; that He is life, health, love, in us. But this must be revealed to us by “my Father who is in heaven”; otherwise you cannot use it usefully either for yourself or for your neighbor. When this revelation of truth comes to the state of consciousness in a being, it is then spiritual understanding or the intelligence of the heart.
It is necessary, then, that in the depths of our souls we should be conscious of our union with the Father, that we should feel that the source of all wisdom, all health, and all joy is within us, and that this source is ready to spring forth at our call, whenever we need it. All the teachings of Jesus were intended to bring men to this consciousness of their union with the Father. He taught them to find the kingdom of love, of power, of life within themselves. When we are conscious of the Father within us, we have a power similar to that of the disciples of Jesus. The inner perception of this Presence which ever dwells within us reveals to each soul the fact that it is the Temple which shelters the Most High. This new birth, the consciousness of our spiritual faculties and possibilities, is an operation which takes place in the invisible and in silence.
This consciousness of God in the soul descends into an individual life only on condition of possessing it entirely. When it inhabits a being, the latter grasps new degrees of sublimity. He then lives in the present hour. Let us learn how to grasp the desired gift by persistently affirming that we already possess it. We will obtain the understanding or realization of God in the form of the gift sought. This is a step in the right direction: learning to grasp God by faith in order to obtain what we desire. The next step in this inner growth will be the abandonment of all selfish desire, having for its own sake only its own well-being. The soul must desire good in order to transmit it to others, knowing that when God (the Good) flows into it and through it to others, God will “heal it entirely.”
We gain spiritual understanding only when we proclaim, “I will arise and go to my Father.” We must direct our thoughts to the inner and real, knowing that we are not separate from God, and that God desires to manifest Himself in us forever, delivering us from all suffering and sin. As soon as we see the first glimmer, let us seize it and use it faithfully, earnestly, to help ourselves and others. Let us overcome doubt, and one day, in the fullness of God’s hour, as we affirm the words of truth, they will suddenly become bright, and will be to us the living word—the true light that enlightens every man who comes into the world. Light will then reign in our soul because “the word was made flesh”, that is to say we will be conscious in our body of a divine and new life, we will love our neighbor with a new and more divine love, we will have the power to accomplish all things.
It is a lightning from the Most High. “Behold, all things are become new!” Truly after inspiration, a man is not the same! With spiritual understanding, the very Spirit of Truth, who has come to dwell in you forever, takes hold of the deep things of God and reveals them to us. We no longer need to resort to teachers and healers. We know that the living light, the living word within us, will guide us into all truth. We then seek the revelation of the living Christ within us; knowing that only this divinity manifesting itself within us can make us great, powerful, and happy.
Every ardent desire is nevertheless for more good (or God); for every good is God. Faithfully serving our neighbor hastens for us the coming of that dawning day. God’s gifts are a reward in that they represent a step closer to the place where the fullness of God awaits us. And although spiritual understanding is in reality a “gift of God,” it comes to us more or less quickly according as we use the light we possess for others.
Too much introspection, so-called “spiritual seeking,” is more harmful than good. It is a kind of spiritual egoism, as paradoxical as it may seem.
Stagnation is death. A pond can only be pleasant and clean when the water flows and renews itself. It is our job to open the floodgates, and it is God who makes the current flow in and through us. Until we use for others what we have already received from God, the road to spiritual understanding will be long and tiring.
We progress when we use the light and knowledge we have for the service of others; we flourish in spiritual knowledge until the time of the fullness of time, which means when we have grown spiritually to the point where God sees that we are able to endure much; then we will receive the desire of our heart, an understanding heart.
Let us seek our Lord. Let us take hold of the light as it is revealed to you and use it for others. Let us experience for ourselves the truth of Isaiah’s prophecy: “Your light shall rise in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday; then your light shall break forth as the morning; and your healing shall spring forth speedily.”
Excerpt from Dr E. Caddy
¶ Discovery: Messenger molecules
Today, when everyone is complaining about everything, eyebrows are furrowed and morale is at its lowest because the skills that are asked of us in all walks of life are too high, we who have the privilege of knowing the teachings of Jesus and who strive to live them, we must be the modern apostles, by our joy of living, our spontaneous and sincere smile, we will sow the seeds of love everywhere, because “When man wishes to modify physical reality, whether it be himself or his environment, he succeeds to the extent that he has discovered the ways and means of controlling matter and directing energy. Without help, the mind is powerless to influence anything material, except its own physical mechanism to which it is ineluctably linked. But, by the intelligent use of the bodily mechanism, the mind can create other mechanisms, even energy relationships and living relationships, by means of which this mind can better and better control and even dominate its physical level in the universe. ”Science is the source of facts, and the mind cannot operate in the absence of facts. In the building of wisdom, facts are the building blocks held together by the cement of life experience." UB 111:6.6.
Yolanda Silva Solano - Chile
¶ The Word: The Seven Keys to Success
Develop and maintain a positive attitude
Believe in yourself
Making wise choices
Adopt positive habits
Setting and achieving goals
Use your imagination
Persevere
Judy Zerafa, Colorado
¶ Prayer: The Spirit of God in you is strong
Your good is here. Accept it!
Your joy is near. Seize it!
Your power is within you. Make it effective!
Your victory is now. Claim it!
Your freedom is real. Affirm it!
Your abundance is overflowing. Share it!
Your prosperity is wide. Receive it!
Your problem has meaning. Bless it!
Your spirit is divine. Free it!
Your love is great. Give it!
Your faith is powerful. Use it!
Your song is beautiful. Sing it!
Unity Prayer
¶ Humor: A minute of humor about happiness
"Happiness is permanent in you, it is your essence, your natural state, just as love is your essence. What makes you suffer is attachment to feelings, to things, to people.
No one can make you unhappy if you are able to understand the motive behind other people’s reactions.
The fact that upsets you is external to you. You are not master of it, any more than it is master of you. When you get angry and suffer, it is because you accept that it makes you unhappy.
But know this once and for all: if no one can make you happy, no one can make you unhappy either.
Happiness is one of your strengths and only you can develop it or leave it ineffective.
To be happy you have nothing to do, nothing to seek, but only to get rid of the false ideas and illusions that prevent you from seeing.
If you can awaken and remain vigilant, you can discover the riches and opportunities that are offered to you every day, recognize them and call them by name.
You try to achieve happiness by the means that society has taught you: satisfaction of the desires and needs that you create for yourself.
If something becomes difficult or uncomfortable for you, you escape. So you hide behind noise, consumption, illusions and your miseries, those that then make you ashamed.
We have been programmed to be happy or unhappy depending on which button we press, the praise button or the criticism button.
This is what disconcerts you and makes you swing from one extreme to the other without ever finding your balance."
Don’t forget to live Goethe and the tradition of spiritual exercises by Pierre Hablot/Albin Michel-Bibliothèque/Ideas
- Comment by Dominique Ronfet: In his quest for perfection of the present which, I have no doubt, characterizes every reader of the Fascicles, this book will rediscover, through the work of Goethe, the wisdom of the ancients who gave the present moment the value of eternity. “He who has lived his life complete each day possesses peace of mind.” Seneca “The moment is the only point of contact with reality, but it offers us all of reality.” (P. HABLOT page 86)
No thing is new to God, and no cosmic event ever comes as a surprise; he inhabits the circle of eternity. He is without beginning or end of days. To God there is no past, present, or future; all time is present at any given moment. He is the great and only I AM. (UB 2:1.5)
¶ Little Corner of: Brother Dominique
Good morning,
How to account for the living?
How can we talk about something, an event, a feeling, without missing its reality?
How to talk about reality? How to be real?
Well, you might say to me ‘he’s pushing it a bit far’, however:
It is impossible accurately to determine, simultaneously, the exact location and the velocity of a moving object; any attempt at measurement of either inevitably involves change in the other. The same sort of a paradox confronts mortal man when he undertakes the chemical analysis of protoplasm. The chemist can elucidate the chemistry of dead protoplasm, but he cannot discern either the physical organization or the dynamic performance of living protoplasm. Ever will the scientist come nearer and nearer the secrets of life, but never will he find them and for no other reason than that he must kill protoplasm in order to analyze it. Dead protoplasm weighs the same as living protoplasm, but it is not the same. (UB 65:6.1)
Are we not in this same paradox when we try to account for experience?
And is it not this magnificent synthesis that the Supreme attempts, and we are led to realize in ourselves?
Who knows?
Dominique Ronfet