© 2024 M. José Sánchez
© 2024 Urantia Association of Spain
We are celebrating an anniversary.
On Wednesday, October 12, 1955, the publication of the complete The Urantia Book became a reality. This publication coincided with the anniversary of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492. It was in those distant times, according to the members of the contact commission, that the midwayers of Urantia sent a formal petition to the rulers of the superuniverse, the Ancients of Days, requesting that a new revelation be imparted to our world, Urantia. They desired to include more information about Jesus than was contained in the four gospels of the New Testament. And it was not until the time of the Fifth Epochal Revelation (20th century) that the midwayers received the answer to their previous request: permission to include the fourth part of The Urantia Book_, which tells of_ the life and teachings of Jesus.
Now, in the year 2024 and in this month of October, we celebrate the 69th anniversary of its printing on paper.
The Urantia Book, its different parts, its wonderful concepts, its unparalleled approach to the figure of our beloved Jesus of Nazareth, is available to millions of readers. Either with physical books or online. Wonderful news in a world thirsty for good news.
The old, dusty, and cornered books have already had their moment of splendor, and now they rest on shelves, forgotten by readers. But The Urantia Book seeks to become something radically alive and adjusted to our personal circumstances. It is about knowing the Truth with our experience and not only with our intellectual assent in study group discussions, in forums, or in research. It is not only about sharing quotes from the book, but about acting believing that, every time we interact with another person, we are enjoying the encounter with the God who lives within us. A personal religion that tries to find the hidden treasure in the deepest part of our BEING: God himself, our friend and inseparable companion, our true Self. That would be the true and wonderful LIVING spirituality that The Urantia Book promotes.
A story says that they asked the Master: “What is spirituality?”
“Spirituality,” he responded, “is what manages to provide man with his inner transformation.”
“But if I apply the traditional methods that the Masters have transmitted to us, isn’t that spirituality?”
“It won’t be spirituality if it doesn’t fulfill that function for you. A blanket is no longer a blanket if it doesn’t keep you warm.”
“So spirituality changes?”
“People change, and so do their needs. So what was once spirituality is no longer so. What often passes for spirituality is nothing more than the written record of past methods.”
The Urantia Book exalts, precisely, this inner transformation from the very beginning of the book:
It is exceedingly difficult to present enlarged concepts and advanced truth, in our endeavor to expand cosmic consciousness and enhance spiritual perception, when we are restricted to the use of a circumscribed language of the realm. But our mandate admonishes us to make every effort to convey our meanings by using the word symbols of the English tongue. We have been instructed to introduce new terms only when the concept to be portrayed finds no terminology in English which can be employed to convey such a new concept partially or even with more or less distortion of meaning. (UB 0:0.2)
This crucial task formulated by the blue book at its beginning would not be possible if thousands of new, groundbreaking, expansive ideas were not fixed in a text. A text that can be reread hundreds of times, underlined, highlighted on paper. A text that is better understood every time it is read in silent dialogue, it is captured in greater nuances not glimpsed in the first reading.
This striking way of the Deity revealing its projects, not using people as messengers, but using an element of human technology such as books, doesn’t it catch your attention? An element that allows us intimate communication between the minds of those who have produced the different documents of The Urantia Book and human beings. It is amazing that this prodigious book allows this communication with very diverse celestial beings and also with less well-known terrestrial beings, such as intermediate beings. A mind/mind communication that shows us that we are ALL personal beings, we are all capable of establishing communication, we are all part of a great cosmic brotherhood.
The same book highlights this divine desire for communication, this effort to be revealed with a multitude of resources:
Our Father is not in hiding; he is not in arbitrary seclusion. He has mobilized the resources of divine wisdom in a never-ending effort to reveal himself to the children of his universal domains. There is an infinite grandeur and an inexpressible generosity connected with the majesty of his love which causes him to yearn for the association of every created being who can comprehend, love, or approach him; and it is, therefore, the limitations inherent in you, inseparable from your finite personality and material existence, that determine the time and place and circumstances in which you may achieve the goal of the journey of mortal ascension and stand in the presence of the Father at the center of all things. (UB 5:1.2)
The revelators know that this unusual communication will be possible not only because of the material in the book, but also because of the internal presence of a divine spark. Therein lies the key to understanding the text:
Although the approach to the Paradise presence of the Father must await your attainment of the highest finite levels of spirit progression, you should rejoice in the recognition of the ever-present possibility of immediate communion with the bestowal spirit of the Father so intimately associated with your inner soul and your spiritualizing self. (UB 5:1.3)
The text published 69 years ago is a door that, once opened, we realize that it is an instrument that leads us to discover that the most important thing of all is LOVE. A simple element, the book. An extraordinary lesson within, the personal encounter with the loving God of Jesus of Nazareth.
An encounter that is available to us on a daily basis, at the turn of the page, thus volatilizing the technocratic and neoliberal paradigm that now prevails on our planet.
What beauty there is in the everyday life of simplicity! Let us enjoy reading, let us enjoy this monthly newsletter, let us enjoy this amazing existence on a small planet: Urantia.
And for that reason, don’t miss the interesting works of this month.
We have highlighted these four works:
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Other beings (Santiago Rodríguez)
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The life and teachings of Jesus (Jesús Rodríguez)
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Key Dates in the History of The Urantia Book (UB Fellowship website)
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How to publicize The Urantia Book (Olga López).
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In the “Chronicle of the life of Jesus” space, very useful study material, we come to paper 159.
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In the Children’s Guide to The Urantia Book we talk about Jesus at 21 years old.
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Other books on spiritual growth: The Four Agreements (Don Miguel Ruiz)
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Recommended video: The evolution of AI (Urantia Philosophy channel)
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Navigating through life: Serenity
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My favorite paragraph is written this month by Rey Sotolongo.
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The Urantian questionnaire is answered by Ulises Pedrique.
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The October Urantia talk will be given by Jose Manuel Díaz, on the topic “Ethics and morals in the current technological paradigm”, specifically on October 27, in the Zoom room of the Urantia Association.
From this newsletter of the Urantia Spain Association we celebrate this anniversary, the 69th, and we want to encourage you to immerse yourself once again in reading The Urantia Book, to unite its reading with LIFE, with our lives. To look at reality with new and renewed eyes.
Anthony de Mello told this brief story:
When the Zen master attained enlightenment, he wrote the following to celebrate:
“Oh, wonderful wonder! I can cut wood and draw water from the well!”
¶ References
- Index of the magazine “Luz y Vida” of the Association of Spain
- This article from the magazine “Luz y Vida Online”