© 1978 Robert Buselli
© 1978 The Urantia Book Fellowship (formerly Urantia Brotherhood)
When I approached the three papers in The URANTIA Book on the Supreme, I was confused with the numerous ways the authors referred to the Supreme. There was the Supreme Being, God the Supreme, and the Almighty Supreme. There was also a reference to the Supreme Mind. I was aware the Supreme was God operating in time and space — a finite deity; but prior to these three papers I believed that the Supreme Being, God the Supreme, and the Almighty Supreme were interchangeable terms used in the same way The URANTIA Book refers to Thought Adjusters as Mystery Monitors, Father fragments, indwelling spirits, etc. Why then were there three separate papers? Suddenly I realized that each term used in reference to the Supreme means something definite and slightly different from each of the other terms.
To help me understand the Supreme Being, I started to draw a correlation between the human mortal, who possesses distinct elements in its nature, and those elements which constitute the Supreme Being.
As human beings, we are composed of matter, mind, spirit, soul, and personality. The Supreme Being likewise has component members consisting of God the Supreme, the Almighty Supreme, and the Supreme Mind.
Just as we have a body, the physical aspect of our existence, so does the Almighty Supreme function as the organizer of the physical aspect of the Supreme Being. “The Almighty Supreme is evolving as the overcontroller of the physical power of the grand universe.” (UB 116:5.11) “The vast universe is not without those coordinating centers of magnificent overcontrol which might be compared to the delicate chemical-control system of the human mechanism.” (UB 116:7.1)
We possess a mind, and this endowment of intelligence is bestowed by the Infinite Spirit. Although we know little of the Supreme Mind, we know that the Supreme Mind that functions within the Supreme Being also has its origin in the Infinite Spirit. There is an important function of the Supreme Mind which will be discussed further in this narrative.
The URANTIA Book points out the spirit which dwells in our minds, the Thought Adjuster, is divine and is immortal. Likewise, God the Supreme is the spirit nucleus of the Supreme Being. “What the Trinity is to God the Supreme, the Adjuster is to evolving man.” (UB 117:3.10)
This little analogy to man helped me to understand the Supreme Being and his component members. I can relate the function of the Almighty Supreme in gaining control of the physical aspects of the grand universe to my own attempts to develop spiritually and intellectually in the framework of a physical body. I can also compare my spirit endowment, the Adjuster, to God the Supreme. And I am able to do this through the function of mind, just as the Supreme Being uses Supreme Mind to correlate facts, meanings, and values of universe significance.
But there were two other elements which needed clarification for me — soul and personality. We have a soul which grows as a result of our free will decisions in conjunction with the activity of our Adjuster. Our soul is neither material nor spiritual, but it is destined to become immortal. The only correlation to the Supreme Being mentioned in The URANTIA Book is “He is the oversoul of the grand universe…” (UB 117:1.1) This “free will” or volition is bestowed upon our finite existence by the Universal Father, while God the Supreme is the highest finite manifestation of the volitional expression of the Father as well as being the spiritual unification functioning in the Supreme Being.
We also have “personality” which is neither body, mind, spirit, nor the soul, but is a personal gift of the Universal Father to the associated energies of matter, mind, and spirit and survives within the soul, In The URANTIA Book, “The term God always denotes personality.” (UB 0:2.10) Therefore, the personality of the Supreme Being is inherent in God the Supreme who derives his personality from the Paradise Trinity.
In God the Supreme, spirit and personality are synonymous. Spirit and personality are two separate entities in our finite existence, but they are destined to become as one at the point of Adjuster fusion.
So, we have three circles of Supremacy: the growing power of the Almighty Supreme, the spirit personality of God the Supreme, and the Supreme Mind who holds together the power and personality attributes of Supremacy. The Supreme Mind functions as a mediator between the Almighty Supreme and God the Supreme on the finite level of reality just as the Universal Absolute is the mediator between the Unqualified Absolute and Deity Absolute on the infinite level of reality. And when these three circles come together and unite as one, we will witness the sovereignty of the Supreme Being, at the time when all seven superuniverses are settled in light and life.
The Supreme Being is finite and is an experiential Deity much in the same manner as man is an experiential creature. As man grows, so does the Supreme. Once we are able to impinge the circles of our existences upon the corresponding circles of Supremacy, we are on our way to achieving eternal destiny and at the same time assisting the Supreme in achieving destiny on deity levels.
“And so, as we strive for self-expression, the Supreme is striving in us, and with us, for deity expression. As we find the Father, so has the Supreme again found the Paradise Creator of all things. As we master the problems of self-realization, so is the God of experience achieving almighty supremacy in the universes of time and space.” (UB 117:4.6)
—Robert F. Buselli
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania