© 2005 Tamila Ragimova
© 2005 Urantia Association of Spain
The last hundred years of planet Earth’s existence were crucial for the development of the exact and natural sciences. This development drove enormous progress in modern technology. One hundred years is a very short period of time—practically the length of a human lifespan—but technologically, humanity has made quite significant progress. One hundred years ago, electricity was just entering our lives; it was the era of the dawn of automobiles, aviation, telephony, etc.; just a hundred years later, spaceflight, satellite communications, organ transplant surgery, the discovery of the human genome, animal cloning, and so on appeared.
Developments in quantum mechanics, relativistic physics, biology, genetics, and medicine have allowed us a greater understanding of the nature of our lives on Earth. But humankind remains plagued by the eternal questions: How did the universe come into being? Who are we human beings? What is the purpose of our lives?
With each scientific discovery, we are taking a small step forward in answering these questions, but we must be aware that the more we learn, the more we still have to discover.
Science doesn’t follow a straight path; what seems very clear, understandable, and mathematically justified to us today may be replaced tomorrow by another, bolder and more realistic idea.
We cannot forget that our world, ourselves, and our minds were made by “nature,” and now, simply with this mortal human mind, we try to understand the same nature, the emergence and evolution of plant, animal, and human life on Earth.
It seems that the human mind has no limits when it comes to learning, discovering different phenomena, explaining them, developing technology, and thus improving human life.
In recent years, astronomy has also undergone significant development. Thanks to the construction of large telescopes and the implementation of new “boomerang” cosmic experiments, important new discoveries have been made possible, which will advance cosmological theory in the future. In astronomy, no theory can be directly confirmed by a cosmic experiment.
In physics, there is a model for how the universe emerged called the Big Bang theory. This model is based on a crucial discovery made by astronomer Edwin Hubble in 1929. Hubble discovered that distant galaxies are moving away from us, meaning the universe is expanding (Fig. 1).
Edwin Hubble came to this conclusion by studying the radiation spectra of distant galaxies. The spectrum is redshifted, which, due to the Doppler effect, means that the source of radiation, the galaxy, is moving away from the observer, that is, Earth.
In 1922, a theoretical physicist, Alexander Friedmann, demonstrated mathematically that the universe cannot be static, that galaxies must be moving away from each other. In 1935, physicist Howard Robertson and mathematician Arthur Walker created models similar to Friedmann’s model in response to Edwin Hubble’s discovery of the expansion of the universe. These theories conclude that there must have been a beginning of time, when all the matter in the universe was packed together, with enormous density. At this beginning of time, a huge explosion of matter occurred, which is called the Big Bang.
The Big Bang theory is based on general relativistic physics and quantum mechanics. This theory predicts that space-time began at the Big Bang singularity and would progress toward a Big Crunch conclusion. The universe began with a huge explosion of matter, which is currently expanding and will eventually stop expanding. This is followed by the contraction of matter until a collapse, which is called the Big Crunch (Fig. 2). These theories do not explain the emergence of matter. There are many discussions and adjustments among physicists regarding the theoretical-mechanical model of the Big Bang. The question that arises is: Is it possible to use only relativistic quantum mechanical physics to describe the emergence and model of the real universe, or are other concepts still unknown to science missing to describe true cosmic reality?
The greatest of all human progress that occurred on Earth in the 20th century is the fifth revelation of our Universal Father and the celestial life described in The Urantia Book documents. The Urantia Book offers us a model of the Universe of Universes. This model is so complex that it could never be discovered on Earth by any scientific method, even the most advanced we have. The Urantia Book teaches us: “universe is neither mechanical nor magical; it is a creation of mind and a mechanism of law … The universe is mind planned, mind made, and mind administered. But the divine mechanism of the universe of universes is altogether too perfect for the scientific methods of the finite mind of man to discern even a trace of the dominance of the infinite mind. For this creating, controlling, and upholding mind is neither material mind nor creature mind; it is spirit-mind functioning on and from creator levels of divine reality.” (UB 42:11.1-2).
¶ The center of creation
“The immensity of the far-flung creation of the Universal Father is utterly beyond the grasp of finite imagination; the enormousness of the master universe staggers the concept of even my order of being,” writes a Perfector of Wisdom, “but it is possible to teach the mortal mind much concerning the plan and arrangement of universes….” “To created beings the master universe might appear to be almost infinite, but it is far from finished; there are still physical limits to the material creation, and the experiential revelation of the eternal purpose is still in progress” (UB 12:0.1-3).
“At the geographic center of all cosmos is the eternal Isle of Paradise, the abode of the Universal Father, the Eternal Son, and the Infinite Spirit. This central Isle is the most gigantic organized body of cosmic reality in all the master universe. Paradise is a material sphere as well as a spiritual abode” (UB 11:0.1). Paradise matter is entirely distinct from matter as we know it and bears the name of the Absolutum. All of the intelligent creation of the Universal Father resides in material abodes.
Paradise differs in shape from inhabited space bodies. Paradise is not spherical, but a flat ellipsoid, one-sixth as long in its north-south diameter as in its east-west diameter; the distance from the upper surface to the lower surface is one-tenth of the east-west diameter (Fig. 3).
1. The upper Paradise
2. The peripheral Paradise
3. The lower Paradise
D = d + d/6
h = 0.1 d
Matter - Absolutum
Pulsation cycle ≈ 109 years
Paradise is a gigantic, stationary island, but its dimensions are not revealed to us. The central island is the only stationary body in the entire cosmos. The directions of space are determined relative to Paradise: north, south, east, and west.
Paradise Island is essentially flat and is geographically divided into three areas of activity:
- The upper Paradise.
- The peripheral Paradise.
- The lower Paradise.
The literal substance of Paradise, the materia absolutum, is a homogeneous organization of space potency found nowhere else in the vast universe of universes. “This Paradise source material is neither dead nor alive; it is the original nonspiritual expression of the First Source and Center; it is Paradise, and Paradise is without duplicate.” (UB 11:2.9).
Paradise Island exists outside of time and space; time, as we understand it, is not a feature of existence on Paradise, although the inhabitants of the central Isle are fully aware of the timeless sequence of events. Space and time originate after Paradise; that is, Paradise is not spatial; therefore, its areas are absolute and therefore useful in many ways beyond the conception of the mortal mind.
Lower Paradise generates the space energy that underlies all universe matter. The lower zone of lower Paradise acts as a gigantic heart whose pulsations direct the currents of space energy to the outermost limits of physical space. All forms and phases of physical energy appear to be on circuits that travel throughout the universe and return by defined routes. For a little over a billion Urantia years (109 years), space energy flows out from this center, then for a similar period returns to lower Paradise, the space energy spreading throughout all occupied space. Paradise is surrounded by a perfect universe, which is called the Central Universe of Havona.
Paradise Island possesses a central gravity called absolute gravity. Beneath this gravity are all spatial bodies and universal energies. Absolute gravity operates in the elliptical circuits of different spatial levels of universal creation.
All cosmic realities and physical bodies move around Paradise in a great ellipse. Absolute gravity, or Paradise gravity, is unknown on earth. The gravity known on earth is called physical, linear, or local gravity. “Local or linear gravity pertains to the electrical stage of energy or matter; it operates within the central, super-, and outer universes, wherever suitable materialization has taken place.” (UB 11:8.3).
¶ Occupied and unoccupied space
The space that originates after Paradise is divided into two parts:
- Space occupied.
- Vacant space.
Occupied space lies horizontally with respect to Paradise in a north-south direction and is occupied by all material universes and space energies. Occupied space is divided into seven superuniverses, which in turn surround the Central Universe of Havona.
Unoccupied space is a vertical east-west space, unoccupied by the forces, energies, materials, powers, and presences that exist in occupied space (fig. 4). To try to imagine the volume profile of these spatial reserves, you could think of an hourglass or the Maltese cross (fig. 5).
Expanding occupied space
Compressing unoccupied space
Quiescent space
Occupied and unoccupied space are in a state of constant respiration. When the universes of the horizontal expanse of occupied space expand, the vertical unoccupied space (reservoir) contracts, and vice versa. The expansion-contraction cycles of space are approximately two billion years (2 x 109 years).
The pulsations in the center of lower Paradise, which regulate the outflow and inflow of spatial energy, are synchronized with the expansion-contraction cycles of space. Occupied space is now approaching the midpoint of the expansion phase, while unoccupied space is approaching the midpoint of the contraction phase. The extreme limits of both spatial extensions are now approximately equidistant from Paradise.
In Fig. 4 it can be seen that between the occupied and unoccupied spaces there is another quiescent space that separates them.
“Paradise is the actually motionless nucleus of the relatively quiescent zones existing between pervaded and unpervaded space. Geographically these zones appear to be a relative extension of Paradise, but there probably is some motion in them” (UB 11:7.2).
Physicist Edwin Hubble’s observations of the receding galaxies seem to be the respiration of space. Space bodies, the galaxies currently in space, are expanding due to the expansion of space.
¶ The spatial levels of the Master Universe
“The universe of universes is not an infinite plane, a boundless cube, nor a limitless circle; it certainly has dimensions. The laws of physical organization and administration prove conclusively that the whole vast aggregation of force-energy and matter-power functions ultimately as a space unit, as an organized and co-ordinated whole. The observable behavior of the material creation constitutes evidence of a physical universe of definite limits. The final proof of both a circular and delimited universe is afforded by the, to us, well-known fact that all forms of basic energy ever swing around the curved path of the space levels of the master universe in obedience to the incessant and absolute pull of Paradise gravity.” (UB 12:1.1).
The successive space levels of the master universe constitute the principal divisions of occupied space—total creation, organized and partially inhabited, or yet to be organized and inhabited in the future. The master universe is organized in a series of elliptical space levels, alternating with zones of relative rest. Energy and matter always revolve along the routes of the great elliptical space circuits.
Extending from Paradise through the horizontal expanse of occupied space, the Master Universe exists in six concentric ellipses, called space levels (Fig. 6). They surround Paradise Isle and are:
- The central universe - Havona
- The seven superuniverses
- The first level of outer space
- The second level of outer space
- The third level of outer space
- The fourth level of outer space
All six spatial levels, with their energies organized into matter or unorganized, perform a circular motion around Paradise. The motion of each level is opposite to that of the neighboring level.
The central universe of Havona revolves clockwise. The seven superuniverses revolve counterclockwise. The first level of outer space revolves clockwise, etc., as shown in Fig. 6.
From the periphery of Paradise to the inner borders of the seven superuniverses there are the following seven space conditions and motions: (fig. 7):
- The quiescent midspace zones impinging on Paradise.
- The clockwise processional of the three Paradise and the seven Havona circuits.
- The semiquiet space zone separating the Havona circuits from the dark gravity bodies of the central universe.
- The inner, counterclockwise-moving belt of the dark gravity bodies.
- The second unique space zone dividing the two space paths of the dark gravity bodies.
- The outer belt of dark gravity bodies, revolving clockwise around Paradise.
- A third space zone—a semiquiet zone—separating the outer belt of dark gravity bodies from the innermost circuits of the seven superuniverses. (UB 14:1.1-8)
It is very difficult for Earth-based astronomers to correctly determine the speed of retreat of distant galaxies, because they are in the outer 1st level, which is expanding and rotating in the opposite direction to the rotation of our superuniverse.
¶ The Central Universe Havona
The one billion (109) worlds of Havona are arranged in seven concentric circuits directly surrounding the three satellite circuits of Paradise (fig. 7).
There are over thirty-five million (35 x 106) worlds on the innermost circuit of Havona and over two hundred forty-five million (245 x 106) on the outermost. The number of worlds increases proportionately from the inner to the outer circuit, each containing (35 x 106) more worlds than the preceding circuit. The planetary circuits of Havona are not superimposed; and Havona revolves around the Stationary Isle of Paradise on a vast plane.
From a physical standpoint, the Havona circuits and the Paradise satellites constitute a single system; their separation responds to a recognition of functional and administrative segregation. The numerous dark masses surrounding the central universe Havona in two circles are entirely distinct from other space bodies. These dark gravity bodies neither reflect nor absorb light; they do not react to light as a physical energy; they so completely surround and envelop Havona as to hide it from the view of even the nearby inhabited universes of time and space. The inner belt of dark bodies rotates counterclockwise; the outer belt clockwise. These alternating directions of motion, combined with the extraordinary mass of the dark bodies, so effectively balance the gravity lines of Havona as to render the central universe a physically balanced and perfectly stabilized creation.
The inner belt of dark gravitational bodies has a tubular arrangement. The outer circle of dark gravitational bodies is arranged perpendicularly, being ten thousand times (104) higher than the inner circuit. The longitudinal diameter of the outer circuit of dark bodies (Fig. 8) is fifty thousand times (50 x 103) greater than its transverse diameter.
¶ The Seven Superuniverses
Outside the central universe of Havona exist the seven superuniverses of space and time, which are located on the first post-Havona space level. At the beginning of the materialization of the universe creation, the sevenfold scheme of superuniverse organization and government was formulated. The first post-Havona creation was divided into seven stupendous segments, which are called superuniverses. The architectural worlds of the superuniverse headquarters were designed and constructed (fig. 9). Paradise, the central universe of Havona, and the seven superuniverses are called the Grand Universe.
The present scheme of administration has existed from near eternity, and the rulers of these seven superuniverses are rightly called the Ancients of Days.
It is important to first have an adequate idea of the physical constitution and material organization of the superuniverse realms, in order to then understand their administration.
The seven superuniverses traverse a great ellipse, a gigantic elongated circle, moving counterclockwise under the absolute gravity of Paradise.
The present position of the seven superuniverses is shown in Fig. 9, a description of which is revealed on p. 165.
Our planet Earth-Urantia is located in the seventh superuniverse, which is called Orvonton. Each superuniverse contains 100,000 local universes. Our local universe is named Nebadon, after the Creator Son of the Universal Father, Michael of Nebadon, who created our universe.
Each superuniverse is divided approximately as shown in Table 1.
Table 1. SUPERUNIVERSE
| Unit | Number of Units | Inhabited Worlds |
|---|---|---|
| One system | 1,000 worlds (103) | |
| A constellation | 100 systems | 100,000 worlds (105) |
| One universe | 100 constellations | 10,000,000 worlds (107) |
| A minor sector | 100 universes | 1,000,000,000 worlds (109) |
| One major sector | 100 minor sectors | 100,000,000,000 worlds (1011) |
| One superuniverse | 10 major sectors | 1,000,000,000,000 worlds (1012) |
A system is the basic unit of the superuniverse, consisting of approximately one thousand inhabited or habitable worlds. Flaming suns, cold worlds, planets too close to hot suns, and other spheres unsuitable for creature habitation are not included in this group.
In the younger systems, the number of inhabited worlds is less than 1,000 because the system is still under construction. For example, our Satania system currently has only 619 inhabited planets, and another 200 planets are preparing for the beginning of life. The administrative status of Urantia is shown in Table 2.
¶ The Orvonton Superuniverse
Our planet Urantia belongs to the local system Satania, which has its headquarters on Jerusem. Satania belongs to the constellation of Norlatiadec with its capital Edentia. Norlatiadec is one of the 100 constellations that make up our local universe Nebadon, with its capital Salvington. Our minor sector is named Uminor the third and is made up of 100 local universes; its headquarters is called Ensa. The major sector is named Umajor the third.
fifth, with headquarters at Splanton. The ten major sectors form our Superuniverse, which bears the name Orvonton, with its capital Uversa.
Table 2. Position of Urantia
| Unit | Name | Unit Capital |
|---|---|---|
| System | Satania | Jerusem |
| Constellation | Norlatiadec | Edentia |
| Universe | Nebadon | Salvington |
| Minor sector | Umenor the third | Ensa |
| Greater Sector | Umayor the Fifth | Splanton |
| Superuniverse | Orvonton | Uversa |
Virtually all the star realms visible to the naked eye from Urantia belong to the seventh section of the Grand Universe, the superuniverse Orvonton. The vast Milky Way star system represents the central core of Orvonton, largely beyond the boundaries of our universe of Nebadon.
[…]
The center of rotation of our minor sector is located far away in the enormous and dense Sagittarius star cloud, around which our local universe revolves.
[…]
The Sagittarius sector and all other sectors and divisions of Orvonton are in rotation around Uversa, and some of the confusion of Urantian star observers arises out of the illusions and relative distortions produced by the following multiple revolutionary movements:
- The revolution of Urantia around its sun.
- The circuit of your solar system about the nucleus of the former Andronover nebula.
- The rotation of the Andronover stellar family and the associated clusters about the composite rotation-gravity center of the star cloud of Nebadon.
- The swing of the local star cloud of Nebadon and its associated creations around the Sagittarius center of their minor sector.
- The rotation of the one hundred minor sectors, including Sagittarius, about their major sector.
- The whirl of the ten major sectors, the so-called star drifts, about the Uversa headquarters of Orvonton.
- The movement of Orvonton and six associated superuniverses around Paradise and Havona, the counterclockwise processional of the superuniverse space level. (UB 15:3.1-14).
The capital of our Superuniverse, Uversa, must be located at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Since the Milky Way Galaxy is the nucleus of the Orvonton Superuniverse, the headquarters, by the rules of the Paradise architects, are constructed at the geographic center of the unit.
The movements of planets, systems, sectors, etc., are very complex and have diverse origins. The cosmic orbits of our planet and the solar system are determined by their physical creation. The absolute counterclockwise motion of Orvonton is determined by the architectural plans of the master universe.
But the intermediate movements are of compound origin, being derived partly from the movement of matter by physical laws, and partly produced by the intelligent action of the paradisiacal force organizers.
The local universes are in closer proximity as they approach Havona; the circuits are greater in number, and there is greater layer-upon-layer superposition. But farther from the eternal center, there are fewer and fewer systems, layers, circuits, and universes.
The entire creation of the Master Universe was accomplished in stages. The central universe of Havona is a perfect universe; it was created by the Universal Father and the Eternal Son in ancient times. There are no records of the creation of the central universe of Havona.
The seven superuniverses were planned by the Paradise architects and realized by the Creator Sons of the Universal Father, the Michaels. Each Creator Son constructs his joint local universe with the Creative Daughter of the Infinite Spirit.
All local universes of time and space are evolutionary and progressively develop in their physical, intellectual and spiritual formations.
All matter in the universes arises from the materialization of universal energy, which emanates from Nether Paradise and encompasses all occupied space. The process of energy materialization takes place in gigantic nebulae, which possess very high temperatures, pressures, and rotational speeds. The first particle to materialize from universal energy is called an ultimaton. An electron contains 100 ultimatons.
Our local universe, Nebadon, formed from the Andronover Nebula, which began to stabilize 875,000,000,000 years ago. Nebulae shed suns and other cosmic material. Our sun was born 6,000,000,000 years ago. Fig. 10 shows schematically how cosmic material is released from nebulae.
Our Satania system is on the periphery of the local universe, and Nebadon is now located near the borders of Orvonton with level I of outer space. It can be deduced that Jerusem is located in the astronomical constellation Orion. From Jerusem, the headquarters of Satania, to the physical center of Orvonton, which is the center of the Milky Way, there are more than 200,000 kilometers.
From Urantia, one can now observe the formations and materializations of the nebulae of outer space, developing in the same way that the local universes of our superuniverse Orvonton formed many years ago.
They don’t reveal the distance from Urantia Earth to our Jerusem system headquarters. It can simply be understood that the planet Urantia is very far from the center of all things, Paradise.
As can be deduced from the creation of the universes described in The Urantia Book, the mathematical calculations of the emergence of the universe, according to the Big Bang theory, are quite far from cosmic reality.
Mathematics, material science, is indispensable to the intelligent discussion of the material aspects of the universe, but such knowledge is not necessarily a part of the higher realization of truth or of the personal appreciation of spiritual realities. Not only in the realms of life but even in the world of physical energy, the sum of two or more things is very often something more than, or something different from, the predictable additive consequences of such unions. The entire science of mathematics, the whole domain of philosophy, the highest physics or chemistry, could not predict or know that the union of two gaseous hydrogen atoms with one gaseous oxygen atom would result in a new and qualitatively superadditive substance—liquid water.
The understanding knowledge of this one physiochemical phenomenon should have prevented the development of materialistic philosophy and mechanistic cosmology.
Your science is engaged in the agelong contest between truth and error while it fights for deliverance from the bondage of abstraction, the slavery of mathematics, and the relative blindness of mechanistic materialism. (UB 12:9.3-5).