© 2024 Urantia Association of Spain
| Presentations from the 20th Urantia Book Readers' Meeting in Spain | Luz y Vida — July-August 2024 | Report on the Circle of Trust |
Date: June 27-30, 2024
Location: Hotel Zentral Mayoral (Toledo)
Topic: The Urantia Book versus the paradigm of the future
The XX Meeting of Spanish readers began on the afternoon of Thursday, June 27 at the Zentral Mayoral Hotel, located very close to the historic center of the beautiful city of Toledo. About 30 people attended from all corners of the country: Ávila, Barcelona, Burgos, Cáceres, Ciudad Real, Madrid, Málaga, Murcia, Navarra, Seville, Tarragona. We also had the presence of Antonio Schefer, from the Netherlands, president of the Congress committee of the Urantia Association International.
The Meeting officially started late Thursday afternoon, with a presentation by the president of the association, Jaime Marco, focused on the theme of the Meeting and what was intended with the scheduled activities. The program was reviewed and then there was a moderate and relaxed conversation session before dinner time.
Friday was the most “intense” day of the program. In the morning, before breakfast and the presentations, Fernando Carazo offered a session of breathing techniques that serve to quiet our mind as a preamble to meditation. In the morning, two workshops were offered, which followed this format:
- Presentation of the workshop facilitator, approximately 15 minutes long.
- Work in groups on questions proposed by the facilitator, in relation to the workshop topic.
- Sharing.
First, there was a workshop on the technological future and the challenges of modern society, facilitated by Olga López, in which after the presentation the attendees worked in groups to answer these questions:
- Is a more ethical and spiritually guided use of technologies such as those mentioned in the presentation possible? Would such use be feasible today?
- What can happen in the future if the uses of technology do not go hand in hand with ethics based on religion?
- When faced with improper use of technology, can not using it be an alternative (or even preferable)?
- What can we do, as readers of the book, to avoid the dangers of improper use of new technologies?
The second workshop was then held, which addressed ethics and morals and the challenges posed from this point of view during this third millennium. José Manuel Díaz was in charge of the presentation and subsequently facilitating the debate. Here, the attendees worked from these questions:
- What do you think is the greatest ethical challenge facing society today, and why?
- What values and moral behaviors would be desirable for “Urantians” (readers of the book) to live in the next 10-20 years?
- How can we overcome cultural, political and social barriers to implement ethical solutions to contemporary problems?
In the afternoon, we had the last two workshops: the third was led by Paula Requejo, whose presentation dealt with new interpersonal relationships and what the future may hold for us in this regard. At the end of her presentation, we worked in groups based on these questions:
- Taking as a reference the section UB 130:6 (The young man who was afraid), and as children of God by faith, what tools do we have to get out of social confusion, growing unwanted loneliness, social discrimination for being or acting different from what is established and the evils that mentally ill current human beings?
- From section UB 84:7 (The ideals of family life), how is the family seen, in light of The Urantia Book?
- According to section UB 180:5 (The Spirit of Truth), interpersonal relationships are at the base of the golden rule, but what is the process that must be followed so that “love others as yourself” does not remain a mere model of social behavior and reaches a true cosmic meaning?
As a final workshop, Eduardo Altuzarra discussed the guidance and knowledge needed to face future challenges and take advantage of the opportunities that will undoubtedly be presented to us. The Urantia Book is presented as a very valuable tool to better understand these challenges and how to face them. Finally, after his presentation, these were the questions that were worked on in the workshop:
- Are the new generations prepared to obtain knowledge and wisdom, within understanding and comprehension?
- Do you consider that science, philosophy and religion, under the protection of what is said in The Urantia Book, can be a subject to introduce into the current educational system, without naming the origin?
The following day, Saturday, the activities began with a meditation session given by María José Sánchez, a “heart coherence” meditation, based on research conducted by the Heartmath Institute on this vital organ. After breakfast, the documentary “The Social Dilemma” was screened, which explores the profound (and often alarming) impact of social media on modern society, and combines interviews with technology industry experts who have worked for large companies such as Google, Facebook and Twitter, along with a dramatization depicting a family with children of different ages and their use of social media. This was followed by an intense and lively hour-and-a-half-long debate on the topics addressed in the documentary.
In the afternoon, the group headed to the historic center of Toledo, where a guide was waiting for us to take us on a tour of the city that lasted two and a half hours. There we had the opportunity to learn many anecdotes and facts related to the history of the city and the coexistence of the three cultures (Christian, Muslim and Jewish).
Sunday morning began with a meditation, which in this case was led by Mariano Pérez. As has been usual in the last Meetings, after breakfast the assembly of members of the Urantia Association of Spain was held, in which a review was made of the projects carried out during the last twelve months, as well as those planned for the future. At the end, a vote was taken on the location of the next Meeting, which will probably be held in May, as was usual before the pandemic. Among the proposed cities, Zamora was chosen with a slight advantage over Valencia, which came in second place.
After several failed attempts, a Meeting was finally held in the beautiful city of Toledo, and the balance is very positive in all aspects: organization, hotel, quality of presentations and strengthening of relations between Spanish readers.
¶ References
- Index of the magazine “Luz y Vida” of the Association of Spain
- This article from the magazine “Luz y Vida Online”
| Presentations from the 20th Urantia Book Readers' Meeting in Spain | Luz y Vida — July-August 2024 | Report on the Circle of Trust |