© 2001 Meredith J. Sprunger
© 2001 The Christian Fellowship of Students of The Urantia Book
The most important achievement of human experience is the mastery of our minds through the leading of the indwelling Spirit. This mastery is the key human factor in the initiation and development of our immortal soul. The Midwayers call attention to the importance of mind mastery by mentioning Jesus’ progressive mastery of his human mind in his 24th, 26th, 29th and 30th years. This is the highest good and culminating achievement of human existence.
There are three basic types of reality: matter, mind, and spirit. The material mind functions through the electrochemical activity of the brain and neural system, but is not merely electro-chemical energy. Just as a television picture and its sound is a different quality of phenomena than mere electrical energy, so the electro-chemical activity of the brain gives birth to a new quality of reality by virtue of its ability to tap into and utilize aspects of the cosmic mind stemming from the Infinite Spirit. The human mind is a quality of energy (consciousness) that mediates between the material energy below and the morontia-spirit energy above. Mind activity makes it possible for us to have a unitary experience of matter, mind, and spirit.
Consciousness is a very complex phenomena composed of many factors such as thoughts, concepts, emotions, will, motivation, values, and ideals. Personality is associated with the human mind that forms a unique pattern of identity and arrangement of energies that make for individuality and is a gift of the Universal Father. Mind is creative and functions uniquely in each individual. It basically controls matter and eventually fashions the qualities of the human body and physical mechanisms. The mind, in turn, is shaped, with the consent of the human will, by Spirit. Wherever the Spirit-mind functions, it fashions physical and character counterparts.
Mind (consciousness) is the reality, the cosmic instrument, in which we live and about the only thing that is subject to our will. It is the energy (power) mechanism that enables us to shape our thoughts, attitudes, emotions, values, actions, and character. What mind is striving to be like determines our destiny. What we accept in our consciousness is determinative. Fantasy has consequences. Contemplating, accepting, and promoting thoughts, attitudes, emotions, and pleasures allow these thoughts to shape the quality of our minds and our destiny. Unhealthy or unwanted thoughts can be mastered and eradicated by a whole hearted will decision to replace them by contemplating the joy of intimate fellowship with the indwelling Spirit of God. The quality of our decisions in cooperation with our Thought Adjuster creates our immortal soul, our morontia self.
Our entire personality functions as a holistic unit. The mind, the Thought Adjuster, the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit, and the soul are involved in our consciousness. Knowledge is the product of the perceiving mind aided by the discipline of the scientific method. Truth and wisdom are the acquirement of the seasoned experience of the morontia soul. This is why truth is always a living, dynamic experience. When we try to translate this experience into speech or writing it tends to become static knowledge that loses much of its potential.
The most creative objective in human experience is to master our minds under the guidance of the indwelling Spirit. Metaphors can be helpful in visualizing this transformation process. The Spirit is the architect, the mind is the builder, character is the edifice. Stated a little differently, “Mind is your ship, the Adjuster is your pilot, the human will is captain.” (UB 111:1.9) Only the spiritualized intellect can discern true values. As we discipline our mind and control our thoughts with the guidance of the Spirit, our consciousness becomes naturally attuned to the fruits of the spirit. This self-mastery gradually delivers us from negative control struggles and the slavery of self-denial as we spontaneously are motivated to actualize the fruits of the spirit: “loving service, unselfish devotion, courageous loyalty, sincere fairness, enlightened honesty, undying hope, confiding trust, merciful ministry, unfailing goodness, forgiving tolerance, and enduring peace.” (UB 193:2.2)
This growth is largely the result of the dominance of the soul. The soul actually functions as the mid-mind, between the lower material mind and the higher cosmic mind, and brings inner peace, joy, and the freedom of the spirit as the dominant atmosphere of our consciousness. As we mature spiritually we live more and more in our soul-mind that transcends the struggle between the “flesh and the spirit.”
We achieve the mastery of our minds primarily through two basic life styles: (1) constant loving fellowship with our Thought Adjuster, the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit, and our Seraphic Guardians; and (2) dedication to a life of service, a sense of calling.
Worship is the most creative activity of human beings which serves to mold the foundation and quality of consciousness. It establishes the subliminal spirit-reality awareness that is always with us as we go about our daily activities. This constant fellowship with the indwelling Spirit of God progressively shifts the mind from animal motivation to divine aspiration. Through will dedication it establishes perfection of purpose and opens the neural pathways of superconscious spiritual wisdom. This divine fellowship creates foundation attitudes and gradually transfers personal identity from the material mind to the soul-mind.
Mind mastery grows in effectiveness when worship is coordinated with service. Service, a sense of calling, establishes the substance and direction of our lives. As we “lose” ourselves in service, we are delivered from crippling preoccupation with self and discover the spiritual liberation of joy that culminates in happiness. Service is the modus operandi of mind mastery — the operational process through which we achieve the mind qualities of courageous character directed by truth, beauty, and goodness.
Sometimes it is helpful to observe how people have mastered their minds through a sense of calling to service. Waris Dirie, in Desert Flower (William Morrow, 1998), tells the story of her amazing odyssey from a goatherd’s hut in Somalia to becoming one of the world’s most famous fashion models. This courageous woman tells of the painful genital mutilation she endured in her childhood in the hope of putting an end to this brutal and demeaning tradition. She believes that her mission in life is to be a special ambassador to speak against this crime. She says, “My faith tells me God has work for me to do and this is my mission.” A sense of mission along with faith that God is undergirding and directing one’s service is a powerful aid in mastering one’s mind and shaping one’s life.
Harvard professor Jerome Groopman, in The Measure of Our Days (Viking Penguin, 1997), tells about the remarkable dedication of Dan Berger, a Hungarian Jew, to discovering the cure for blood diseases. Dan was accepted for a fellowship in the blood-disease department at Harvard’s Deaconess Hospital. After a year of clinical training, he joined the lab team that was working to genetically alter blood cells and make them resistant to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Dr. Dan Berger was a severe hemophiliac who had contacted AIDS from contaminated clotting factor concentrates that had saved his life. He went on working not telling Dr. Groopman, his mentor, about his condition until his health had seriously deteriorated. One day Dan told Dr. Groopman, “I’m not as religious as you, Jerry. But lately I find myself quietly offering thanks to have my life as it is, to work in the world we do.”
Dr. Berger determined that he and his sense of mission would control his life, not his disease. He lost his battle in 1996. And Dr. Groopman remarked, “His spirit, like the light from a distant star, continues to illuminate my life, long after its source was extinguished.” Fellowship with God and a dedication to service are creative aids in helping us master our minds. As we fashion our minds and increasingly find our identity with our soul-mind, we shape our spiritual destiny.