© 2012 F. Javier Santos, Carmelo Martínez, Eduardo Altuzarra, Juan J. López, Santiago Rodríguez
© 2012 Association Urantia from Spain
| The spiritual evolution of man for the achievement of mortal survival (first part) | Luz y Vida — No. 28 — March 2012 — Index | Convergences and Divergences: The Formation of the Solar System |
Participants:
I recently read a passage from the UB that has left me very puzzled, it is this:
“45,000,000 years ago the continental backbones were elevated in association with a very general sinking of the coast lines. Mammalian life was evolving rapidly. A small reptilian, egg-laying type of mammal flourished, and the ancestors of the later kangaroos roamed Australia. Soon there were small horses, fleet-footed rhinoceroses, tapirs with proboscises, primitive pigs, squirrels, lemurs, opossums, and several tribes of monkeylike animals. They were all small, primitive, and best suited to living among the forests of the mountain regions. A large ostrichlike land bird developed to a height of ten feet and laid an egg nine by thirteen inches. These were the ancestors of the later gigantic passenger birds that were so highly intelligent, and that onetime transported human beings through the air.” (UB 61:1.9)
I don’t quite know what to make of this passage. Humans riding on birds? This sounds a lot like Lord of the Rings, hehe. I swear that this passage has made me seriously think about the veracity of the book, because as far as I know nothing like it has ever been seen, a bird that can transport a person through the air, although there are legends of giant birds like the famous "Roc » or giant eagle which is what they use in Lord of the Rings, which echoes that legend, or the “Thunderbird”. I don’t know what you think about this giant bird what the book says
The UB refers on several occasions to certain large birds that were used to transport passengers. He ensures that they appear on many planets and describes them as very intelligent, even with the ability to pronounce some words (UB 52:1.5). Those on Urantia are called fandores and it seems that Adam and Eve used them to transport themselves around the Garden of Eden (UB 66:5.6, UB 74:3.4 and UB 74:4.4).
What I do not understand very well is that a detail that seems more or less picturesque to us can cast doubt on the veracity of the UB. Believing in the UB does not depend, to my knowledge, on a passage from Urantia history described in the UB, on a detail of our biological evolution, or on a “dubious” scientific claim according to our present science.
The great message of the UB is basically the same as that of Jesus of Nazareth (the fourth revelation): that we have a Father who loves us and that, therefore, we are brothers in spirit; but this time the message is expanded with a universal panorama undoubtedly destined for future generations and the times of the next age of our planet.
I don’t know about you, but I believe in UB because it describes experiences that I have also lived and live to a certain degree; because it fits those experiences in a universal context and in the plan of the Father; because it gives meaning to what I see happening and what happens to me. And because the only way for those who describe them to describe them as they do is that they have also lived them in all their depth; And if they have really experienced it like this, I know that they are not deceiving me, because their high level of progress and development in the spirit prevents them from doing so.
The UNIQUE proof of the veracity of the UB and its teachings is inside each one, and it is personal and non-transferable; and that’s what’s bad… and good. My conviction does not come from what I read in the UB but from what I experience, and that what I experience fully coincides with what I read.
Paco, I think the same as Carmelo. The veracity of The Urantia Book is found in oneself. You only get closer to reality by experience. Yourself… is what it is.
That the UB mentions the existence in ancient times of these enormous birds (fándores) did not surprise me because it confirmed what I already knew from other sources; There are numerous archaeological testimonies indicating that our ancestors navigated through the air. Although my memory fails me, I can cite for the moment two concrete ones:
Maori legends relate that the god Pourangahua flew on a magical bird. There are very old engravings showing the pilot on his “ship”, which they called “Te manunui a Ruakapanga” -literally: “the great bird of Ruakapanga”-; the New Zealand 3 pence postage stamp of the year 2007 shows the skeleton of the animal with its corresponding wings; I do not know if they have taken it from some fossil or have imagined it.
The famous and controversial “stones of the Ica desert” (Peru), which my friend Benítez described in great detail in his book Was there another humanity? also show scenes in which human beings can be clearly seen flying over the ground on their backs of some birds The most surprising thing about this case is that these beings are firing “shots” at dinosaurs: This anachronism is not justified by what archeology says or what UB narrates. Once again, the position of those of us who lean towards the reality of these enigmatic facts clash with that of the skeptics, who brand us as naive and who, undoubtedly, are loaded with good arguments.
Paco, in any case, The Lord of the Rings would be similar to UB, right? I believe that you, like many others, have already made the choice. The choice is made from within; the details and the superficial can be used as an excuse to endorse it… but it is just that, an excuse. The real choice is made on another level, don’t you think?
Thank you for your answers. Inside me I always leave a possibility that all this is nothing more than a collective paranoia for whatever reason. Understand that I always try to rationalize everything and look for the whys and what ifs…? And I like to document what each other thinks and, to be honest, at this time in my life I am very picky about details. For me, the UB is the greatest thing that has happened to me in many years of existence, that I know of and these things, I think are tests of faith.
My argument is as follows: «If there had ever been a bird capable of carrying a human being on its back, first, there would be legends, then evidence, fossils, etc… And finally, if human beings rode the they would have “domesticated” therefore, they would not have become extinct.
As I write these lines I have documented myself and it seems that 10,000 years ago a gigantic bird became extinct, a “Terratornid” with a 10-meter wingspan. There are so many things in this world that one no longer knows what to think…
| The spiritual evolution of man for the achievement of mortal survival (first part) | Luz y Vida — No. 28 — March 2012 — Index | Convergences and Divergences: The Formation of the Solar System |