© 2012 Guy Viau, Marc Belleau, Diane Labrecque
© 2012 Urantia Association of Quebec
¶ Social evolution
or CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OF THE MASTERY OF THE FACTORS CONSTITUTING A CIVILIZATION
PART 2
IN OUR WORLD, THE DIFFERENT factors of civilizations mentioned in the first part of this article have not evolved in the usual order. Moreover, they have developed at varying and unequal speeds. Thus, science and technology have developed at a lightning speed for the last two centuries, and increasingly quickly in the last decades.
During the same period, other factors such as religion or philosophy have evolved very little, if at all.
Moreover, the order in which these factors evolved is not the right one. This is what we will examine now. This is the order in which a civilization should develop.
1 — Family life
The very first step in the evolution of a civilization is the emergence and development of family life. At the dawn of humanity, humans lived in bands or tribes. When the monogamous family—a man and a woman united for life—appeared, it was the beginning of society.
The Planetary Prince and his staff promote family life. Later, Adam and Eve provide the archetype. A man and a woman, absolutely equal, united for life and establishing a home; this is the ideal that serves as the basis of all society. It is stated in the UB that until equality of the sexes has been achieved on a world, it cannot be considered truly civilized.
On Urantia today there are still societies where even this basic evolution has not yet been achieved. And it is perilous to advance in other areas of civilization if the family level is not yet fully mastered; it can only lead to chaos. Thus, a society which treats women or children as inferior beings will not be able to equip itself with just and equitable laws and political institutions. Examples of this phenomenon abound around us.
2 — Civics
Once family life is mastered, a society must make each of its members a responsible citizen. This implies a high level of civic duty. It means citizens who place the collective well-being before their selfish satisfaction. Citizens who are engaged and take to heart the fate of the society in which they live.
In a society that promotes high family values, as described above, such a level of civic-mindedness is not difficult to achieve. Each member of the family receives an education based on the sense of sharing and mutual aid and understands the benefits for himself and for others. But in a society where the education of children is inadequate, because family life is not at the center of the scale of values, this is impossible to achieve.
The civic society I am describing here bears little resemblance to our world today, especially in Western societies, where selfishness and individualism are the order of the day. A society populated by selfish and individualistic people, but endowed with democratic institutions, can only lead to corruption and greed, to heads of state using power to serve themselves and not to serve society. If we look around us, we see that this is exactly where our Western societies are today. This is why it is not wise for a society to become democratic until it has reached a high level of development of the sense of civic duty.
On a normal world, the first two stages of social development—family life and civics—should have reached full development by the end of the Planetary Prince stage.
3 — Responsible government
The next step in the evolution of civilization is the advent of responsible government, that is, democracy or something equivalent. A society in which its members hold high ideals of social values and are willing to work for its success, without asking for anything in return, is ripe for democracy. Such a democracy is not held hostage by the lazy and the weak who seek to benefit from society without contributing anything to it. Living in a democracy is earned; it is not innate.
Again, we can immediately recognize several elements of our current society and understand where we have gone wrong. The problem that afflicts us at present is that we fail to live up to our democratic ideals, which are high, because we allow elements that are not ripe for democracy to hijack its goals and use them for selfish and opportunistic ends. And this is true because we embarked on the adventure of democracy before having fully mastered the preceding stages—family life and civic-mindedness.
4 — Science and technology
Scientific progress and technological innovations should not take place before democratic society has fully developed. Technological development in a non-democratic society can be extremely dangerous. Advanced technology in a politically and/or socially backward society leads to the emergence of Adolf Hitlers, Joseph Stalins and Osama bin Ladens. Only a progressive and truly democratic society should enjoy the benefits - and responsibilities - of advanced technological progress.
There is a school of thought that claims that economic progress (brought about by technology) will lead to the emergence of democracy. However, history proves that this is not the case. In the 19th century, countries such as Spain, Portugal, Austria or Russia benefited from the same technological advances as Western democracies and yet made no political progress; they all entered the 20th century with political regimes inherited from the Middle Ages. Closer to our time, the Middle East and China have also experienced strong economic progress, which has not translated into equivalent political development.
It is imperative that scientific and technological progress take place in a world that has fully mastered democracy. In the 20th century, remarkable technological progress occurred at lightning speed and in a world that was not politically mature. The result: two world wars in less than half a century, more than 63 million dead, more than all the other wars in human history combined! This is the terrible harvest of a materialism that has been given the technical means to be so destructive, without having the maturity to handle these same technical means responsibly.
Stages three and four are normally completed during the Adamic stage of planetary development.
5 — Arts and literature
Science and technology—used intelligently—lead humanity to a higher standard of living. After the struggle for quality of life comes the struggle for quality of thought. This is the age in which arts and letters flourish. Although our age—and previous centuries—have already produced great works of art, the climax of this age has not yet been reached. It is in an advanced cultural age that this climax can take place, at a time when the progress of science has almost freed humans from work.
It is not desirable for humans to enjoy these additional leisure activities until they have attained a certain cultural refinement. Otherwise, idleness, drunkenness, and debauchery would result. On the contrary, culturally mature individuals will use their free time to seek truth, cultivate beauty, and practice goodness. Leisure activities must contribute to individual development; otherwise, they are merely a waste of time. The stage of arts and letters belongs to the fourth planetary stage—the age of the Havonal Son.
6 — Thought, philosophy
The next element of a civilization to develop is philosophy. Philosophers are called to become the guides of tomorrow’s society, but to do this, the world will have to stop war, discrimination, prejudice and xenophobia once and for all. True philosophy cannot be tinged with political ideology or religious doctrine. It cannot be militant, but must be cosmic.
There is still a long way to go before we get there.
7 — Spirituality
Religion has existed since the dawn of time and has continued to evolve. During the primitive ages, religion consisted of a series of superstitions and taboos. Elements such as air, water, fire and earth were deified. Later, anthropomorphic gods appeared. Later still, with the help of revelation, religion gradually became a communion between the creature and its Creator.
It is in the advanced ages of civilization that the higher religion develops. The culmination of an advanced civilization makes both possible and necessary the emergence of a genuine religion based on the concept of a universal, infinite, and good God. Successive revelations serve to advance religion and to enlarge the concept of truth. Revelators cannot rush ahead and teach too advanced truths to a culture not yet ripe to receive them. The best example of this is the fate that befell Jesus. Jesus came to fulfill the bestowal mission which inaugurates the Fifth Planetary Stage on our world. But Urantia was not ready for this revelation. As a result, Jesus ended his days on a cross, the victim of cruel and barbaric treatment. This is not the way bestowal missions on a normal world end.
True religion cannot flourish on a world until it has dealt with its problems of discrimination, religious sects and dogmas, racial prejudice and xenophobia. In fact, on a normal world, the bestowal mission takes place when there is only one people, one race, one language and one universal religion. Physical and social defects have been virtually eliminated and it becomes easier to apply the golden rule—the one that Jesus taught.
¶ URANTIA DIFFICULTIES
The problem on Urantia is that, because we are behind the normal planetary schedule, we are trying to do everything at once. We are trying to establish democracy in a society that is heavily burdened by its defects and where family traditions are sometimes still primitive. We are expending energy creating works of art and philosophizing in a world still obsessed with racial hatred, religious dogma, and ideological fanaticism. We are trying to individually flourish and grow spiritually, while surrounded by mediocrity, materialism, and selfishness. And we are devoting so much energy to technological progress and economic prosperity that it becomes the center of our lives, to the detriment of everything else.
All this creates great confusion in the hearts of many humans today. To make the development of our civilization a little less chaotic and more orderly, we need to collectively set goals and clearly establish the steps to be taken to achieve them. These steps must be taken in the right order, if we are to reach our destination—the stage of light and life.
You have to learn to walk before you can run.
Guy Viau
Gatineau
¶ Worship
PART 1
CONTACT WITH THE ADJUSTER IS essential to our spiritual attainment. The Adjuster is the source of our growth; without him we cannot develop. It is therefore important to establish better communications with the indwelling presence of God in the light of the teachings of The Urantia Book.
Note: I would like to thank the author of the text “Meditation in the Urantia Book-Jesus style” by Peter Holley for having inspired me, through his article, all this questioning on the communion between the Adjuster and the human mind.
The great challenge to modern man is to establish better communications with the divine Monitor who indwells the human mind. Man’s greatest adventure in the flesh is his healthy and balanced effort to push the boundaries of self-consciousness through the vague realms of embryonic soul consciousness in a sincere effort to reach the border region of spirit consciousness—contact with the divine presence. [UB 196:3.34]
Excited by reading this quote, I had decided, at a certain time, to schedule in my schedule, 3 periods of half an hour per week of prayer and adoration. I would sit in a solitary and quiet place, I would close my eyes, I would empty my thoughts to worship God by expressing to him, in words, the love that I have for him as well as my various needs. This lasted three years then, gradually, I reduced the frequency of these meetings until stopping them completely. Why? Because I felt a sense of redundancy, a bit like when I went to mass. I felt trapped in a way of doing things where spontaneity and creativity were excluded. In reality, I had developed my own ritual and I was its prisoner. I came to the conclusion that my way of communing with my creator was compartmentalized, imprisoned in a ritual, modeled on a pattern inherited from the religions of authority and the “New Age” movements that I had heard about.
It was by redefining worship in light of the teachings of the Fifth Revelation that I was able to improve my way of communing with my Heavenly Father. The purpose of this text is to explore this definition. First, and before we get to our main topic, we will discuss a prerequisite to the reception of the Adjuster, the bestowal of the human mind. Second, we will locate the presence of the Adjuster in human consciousness. Third, we will explore four levels of manifestation of worship: veneration, understanding, action, and expression. Let us now address this stage preceding the coming of the Thought Adjuster, the reception of the human mind.
¶ The outpouring of the mind
Before a human being can receive his Thought Adjuster, he must first be prepared. This task is assigned to the local universe Mother Spirit. Indeed, we must be mind-endowed before we can receive the spiritual influences of the universe, such as the Thought Adjuster, the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit, or the guardian of destiny. Our very first contact with God is therefore through the seven adjutant mind spirits: intuition, understanding, courage, knowledge, counsel, worship, and wisdom. I will not dwell on these; I invite you instead to read Paper No. 36 of The Urantia Book. It is simply a matter of understanding that before one can communicate with the Adjuster, one must be mind-endowed, or, if you prefer, able to feel, know, understand, reflect, and experience. The human mind is different from the brain; They have different but complementary functions. To function, the mind uses the resources of our brain (memory, ability to perceive stimuli from outside, etc.). The latter is only the receiver allowing us to connect with the adjutant mental spirits. From the moment we are conceived, our brain begins to develop and becomes more and more able to respond to these ministers of thought, starting with the first, the Spirit of intuition. When we are able to respond to the seventh adjutant, the spirit of wisdom - in most normal human beings, this occurs around the age of five or six - the Mother Spirit of the Universe integrates us into her spiritual circuit: the Holy Spirit.
When mind is thus endowed with the ministry of the Holy Spirit, it possesses the capacity for (consciously or unconsciously) choosing the spiritual presence of the Universal Father—the Thought Adjuster. But it is not until a bestowal Son has liberated the Spirit of Truth for planetary ministry to all mortals that all normal minds are automatically prepared for the reception of the Thought Adjusters. The Spirit of Truth works as one with the presence of the spirit of the Divine Minister. This dual spirit liaison hovers over the worlds, seeking to teach truth and to spiritually enlighten the minds of men, to inspire the souls of the creatures of the ascending races, and to lead the peoples dwelling on the evolutionary planets ever towards their Paradise goal of divine destiny. (UB 34:5.4)
Endowed with mind and circuited in the Holy Spirit, the human being can now choose to be indwelt by a fragment of the heavenly Father, the Thought Adjuster. We will now attempt to understand whence the influence of our brilliant Adjusters emanates.
¶ Adjuster Location
Where the Thought Adjuster is located is a difficult question to answer. We are told in The Urantia Book that the Heavenly Father inhabits our thoughts, that he is a part of our consciousness. Because our consciousness is immaterial—not an organ of our brain—it is difficult to get a sense of. In order to get a somewhat clearer picture of where the influences of our Adjusters emanate, I propose a diagram of the components of human consciousness and their relationships. Isn’t it said that a picture is worth a thousand words? Although the theoretical framework that I am about to present to you is incomplete and quite imperfect, it will still allow us to think about and better understand the various components of human consciousness. We will refer to it throughout this text. Let us first read the following:
If one is disposed to recognize a theoretical subconscious mind as a practical working hypothesis in the otherwise unified intellectual life, then, to be consistent, one should postulate a similar and corresponding realm of ascending intellectual activity as the superconscious level, the zone of immediate contact with the indwelling spirit entity, the Thought Adjuster. (UB 100:5.6)
Let’s start with the easiest component to understand, our conscious mind. This is the area of consciousness that we are currently using. For example, we are aware of where we are right now, the temperature, the brightness, etc. This area of the mind allows us to think and make decisions. It’s a bit like our desk. We only keep in this area the things that we really need to accomplish the tasks we are focusing on.
Obviously, if we had to keep all the details of all the experiences of our entire life from its very beginning, our conscious mind (our work table) would be overwhelmed with information that is useless for the tasks at hand and this would prevent us from functioning well. We therefore need a place to store all the details of our human experience. The subconscious is that area of our mind where we have access to our experience. It is located below the conscious mind. Everything we have experienced since the beginning of our life is found in this area (we will not dwell on this dimension of human consciousness, because it is not the purpose of this article. Many writings have been published on the subconscious by Sigmund Freud, a pioneer of psychoanalysis; for more information, I invite you to do a search on the web). These two areas of our mind constitute what is called human consciousness.
In the preceding quotation it is stated that if we accept the idea of a theoretical subconscious mind, then to be consistent we should assume a similar realm of ascending intellectual activity, the area of superconsciousness. Here the term super means “above consciousness.” This is where the Adjuster and the associated soul are located; more on this later in the text. These three areas, the subconscious, the conscious mind, and the superconscious, constitute the whole of our intellectual life.
Let us now look at the relationships that exist between these different components of the human mind. As I said earlier, we live, in our conscious mind, experiences that will be stored in our subconscious. For example, when we lose a loved one, we experience our grief, and over time, we turn the page and stop thinking about it. This experience, even if it is no longer in our conscious mind, is found in our subconscious; we then become partially unconscious of it. This experience will become conscious again on the day of this person’s birthday or on the date of their death.
So it is with the area of superconsciousness. Although we are generally unconscious of it, the Adjuster attempts to communicate to us his guidelines for the proper progress of our personal growth. When we become conscious of these guidelines and, through the power given to us by the heavenly Father to choose his will, apply them in our daily lives, these experiences become acquisitions of our growing soul. But what exactly does our growing soul acquire? Let us leave the subject of our text for a few moments in order to explore this facet of the work which the Adjusters do for us.
It is out of love that the Father sends a part of himself to indwell the human mind in the form of the Thought Adjusters. These entities are the light of God accompanying and guiding all creatures of will, even those living in the darkness of an isolated sphere like Urantia. One of their responsibilities is to recreate us on the morontia (intermediate) plane for resurrection on the transition worlds.
These faithful custodians of the future career unfailingly duplicate every mental creation with a spiritual counterpart; they are thus slowly and surely re-creating you as you really are (only spiritually) for resurrection on the survival worlds. And all of these exquisite spirit re-creations are being preserved in the emerging reality of your evolving and immortal soul, your morontia self. (UB 108:6.5)
Every decision, every concept, every creation that the mind makes finds its spiritual counterpart in the human soul, that self that will survive the material life. All the details of existence that have any bearing on the next stage of life are of great interest to our Adjusters and will be transferred from this plane to the next. What exactly do the Adjusters recreate? Everything that has survival value in our minds. For example, we all have the same Heavenly Father, but our conceptions of Him vary from one individual to another. Our experiences, knowledge, and personality are unique, and so is our relationship with God and the intellectual concepts that pertain to them. These concepts will be transferred from the material to the spiritual plane by the Adjuster because they have survival value. Our general education, our knowledge of the world, the languages we are able to speak are other examples of what might be transferred. Indeed, if we are to continue our evolution in the first world of mansions, everything we have learned here must be saved in the human soul, otherwise it will be impossible for us to continue at the level where we stopped when death surprised us. Some experiences are not transferable. The ability to perform in electronic games, for example, probably has no resonance in the spiritual world.
Now let’s return to our diagram of human consciousness. We are missing one last element to complete it:
Human consciousness rests gently upon the underlying electrochemical mechanism (Figure 1, No. 8) and delicately touches the morontia-spiritual energy system (Figure 1, No. 3) which dominates it. During his mortal life, the human being is never completely conscious of either system, and therefore he must work in the mind of which he is conscious (Figure 1, No. 1). [UB 111:1.5]
Even though we are generally unaware of it, the subconscious influences our daily behaviors. I will give you an example. It has probably happened to you that you are introduced to someone (that you are seeing for the first time), and that you have a bad impression of this person. This happened to me recently. I asked myself why I had this attitude when I generally feel comfortable and open with strangers. By thinking about it, I ended up understanding that this person had attitudes that were similar to those of my brother with whom I currently have several difficult conflicts to resolve. My discomfort came from a link that had been created in my subconscious between this person that I was meeting for the first time and my brother with whom I have problems. Having become aware of this fact, I was able to change my attitude and show openness. This is how the subconscious influences our behavior without us being fully aware of it. It is through reflection that we can become aware of the contents of our subconscious mind, and the same is true for the area of superconsciousness (we will discuss this idea later in the text). Indeed, we are not always aware of the communications that are established between the Adjuster and the human mind, but this in no way invalidates the reality of this experience. Now that we can situate the presence of the Adjuster in our consciousness a little better, we can begin our reflection on worship. This is what I invite you to do in the next Réflectivité.
Marc Belleau
¶ Invitation to the presentation “Time and Space”
HELLO EVERYONE, PLEASE take note that an upcoming evening as part of the study group project will take place with Alain Neilsen and Chantale Chartier on Wednesday October 24, 2012.
The theme of their presentation will be on ‘Time and Space’ and all that it implies in our life of continuous progression.
I invite you to inform your contacts if you wish so that everyone is welcome to come and fraternize and progress together.
Looking forward to having everyone there,
Diane Labrecque
T: 514-277-2308
¶ STUDY GROUPS
THIS ACTIVITY ALLOWS MULTIPLE READERS OF DIFFERENT LEVELS OF UNDERSTANDING to share and study together the teachings of The Urantia Book. It promotes spiritual progress by allowing its participants to find practical applications to the teachings of The Urantia Book in their daily lives. This important practice helps to maintain a broad perspective on concepts of truth.
You wish to participate or form a study group; we will be happy to assist you. If you wish to have your study group appear in this list, contact the person in charge, via email association.urantia.quebec@gmail.com or at 450-565-3323.
Group: Découverte
Every Monday from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Laurentians Region Gaétan Charland and Line St-Pierre
Tel.: 450-565-3323
Group: Étoile du Soir
Every Wednesday from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Laurentides region
Carmen Charland
Tel.: 450-553-3601
Group: Le Pont
Every Thursday from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
South Shore of Montreal
Guy Vachon
Tel.: 450-465-7049
Group: Mauricie Readers
Every Monday from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Three Rivers Region
Madeleine Boisvert and
Tel: 819-376-8850
Roger Perigny
819-379-5768
Group: Veritas
Every Tuesday from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Montreal area, near the Church metro station
Lise and Pierre Routhier
Tel.: 514-761-2378
Sherbrooke Group
Every two weeks, Tuesday or Wednesday (to be confirmed)
From 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Helene Boisvenue or Denis Gravelle
Tel.: 819 569-6416
Group: The Ascendants
Every two weeks on Sunday from 13 h 00 to 3:30 p.m.
South Shore of Quebec
Guy LeBlanc
Tel: 418-835-1809
Group: The Agondontarians
Every two weeks on Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. North Shore of Quebec
Guy & Rolande L. Martin
Tel: 418-651-3851
Group: Les Débonnaires
Wednesdays from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Montreal region
Julien Audet
Tel: 514-315-9871
Group: Urantia Fraternity
Wednesdays from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Lanaudière region
Richard Landry & Gisèle Boisjoly
Tel: 450-589-6922
Group: Vers les Sommets
Friday from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Regions Ormstown & Valleyfield
Louise Sauve
Tel: 450-829-3631
Group: The United Urantia Family
Monday from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Montreal region
Mrs. Diane Labrecque
Tel: 514-277-2308
The Partners of the Supreme
Monday from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Quebec region
Richard Lachance
Tel: (418) 614-2520 or (418) 933-0244 (cell)
At Maisonia
Every two weeks on Monday from 7:15 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Quebec region
Gilles Bertrand & Louise Renaud
Tel: 418-871-4564
Group: Uni-Terre
Every Sunday from 9:00 a.m.
Lanaudière region
Eric Martel
Tel: 450-756-9387
Group: Laurantia
Every Sunday from 9:00 a.m.
Petite Nation region in Outaouais
Denise Charron & Jean-Claude Lafreniere
Tel: 819-983-2113
Group: The Precursors of Divine Reality
Every two weeks on Tuesday from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Laurentides region
Mrs. Johanne Séguin
Tel: 819-327-3237
Group: Sans Frontiére
Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 a.m.
Hawkesbury region
Yvon and Irene Belle-Isle
Tel: 613-632-5706
Group: from Outaouais
Sunday from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Ottawa Region
Maurice Migneault
Tel: 613-789-6833
Group: The Alphée Brothers
Sunday
Thetford Mines region
Sylvère Marcoux
Tel: 418-332-3560
Group: The South Shore Lighthouse
Every Monday from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
South Shore region of Montreal
Luciano Camellini and Dominique Marchessault
Disclaimer: Any interpretations, opinions, conclusions or artistic representations, stated or implied, are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of Urantia Association International or local and national level associations.