© 2008 William S. Sadler Jr.
© 2008 Association Francophone des Lecteurs du Livre d'Urantia
Translation of a recording by Bill Sadler by Chris and Nicole Ragetly (02.2003)
Okay, now let’s try to think intelligently. Distances do not exist on Heaven, because distance is a function of space. Let me help you with your semantics.
When you say you weigh 160 pounds, what are you really talking about? Are you talking about the mass of your body? In everyday practical language, yes. But what you are really describing is the action of Urantia gravity on that mass. The terms “pound” and “kilogram” are units of gravity action, because if you were in a different gravity field, you would weigh more or less.
How much would you weigh on Jupiter? About 500 kg, you couldn’t move. If you lived on the moon, you wouldn’t weigh 72 kg, you would weigh what? 25 kg, or something like that.
Well, distance is a function of space, like the term “pound” is a function of gravity. If you want a good math term that’s independent of gravity, it’s called the “poundbell.” It’s the unit of mass. But what we call a “pound,” is a function of gravity.
I don’t think there are distances in Heaven. What is in Heaven? The booklets mention the area of Heaven. And they specify that the area of Heaven is non-spatial, so it can be used in many ways that we cannot imagine. Our concept of size is no longer valid when we think of Heaven. Interestingly, the concept of proportion remains valid, they can give us the proportions of Heaven despite the absence of space. And they give us these proportions. If you take the East-West dimension of Heaven, then the North-South dimension is equal to 1 and 1/6th or seven-sixths, and the top-bottom dimension (the thickness) is equal to 1/10th.
Audience: East-west?
Yes, it’s East-West. And North-South is one plus one-sixth, it’s a little bigger. And very flat. So you get a basic pattern that determines the archetype of everything else. This ellipse of Paradise is reflected on all the concentric levels of space in the Master Universe. Everything has an elliptical shape. I like this formulation - we have a sense of proportion here again - They say that where the periphery of High Paradise is, it ends abruptly. Then they explain with circumlocution that Paradise is so enormous that its terminal angle is relatively indiscernible within any circumscribed area.
Please note the example of humility given by the authors of these booklets. This booklet, written by a Perfecter of Wisdom, says among other things: “…I depict the reality and truth of the Father’s nature and attributes with indisputable authority. I know whereof I speak.” (UB 1:7.9)
One of this Divine Counselor’s colleagues introduces the discussion about Lower Paradise like this: “As for Lower Paradise, we only know what is revealed to us: the personalities do not reside there.” I have a little more respect for authority when it admits its ignorance in certain areas. And the author of the booklet tells us something like this: “This is what we were told, we have never been there. This is second-hand information.”
Apparently, what happens in Lower Heaven is — as Fred Squires would say; “God lives upstairs, and the boiler room is in the basement.”
That’s a good way to think of it. It’s the boiler room of the universe of universes. And everything we know about it is in the outer activity zone. We don’t know anything about the central activity zone. It’s called “the zone of unknown and unrevealed Infinity.”
What do you say? And it’s surrounded by an unnamed area. They don’t even bother to name it; they just tell us it’s there.
About the third zone, we know a little bit about it. This third zone is a triconcentric arrangement. And the innermost secondary zone appears to be where the Paradise functions as a material governor. I think of Paradise as a material heart pumping out energy. The outer secondary zone is the central focus of the Unqualified Absolute.
Audience: Are you talking about Lower Paradise?
Yes, I am talking about the Lower Paradise, right. The outermost secondary zone is the central focus of the Unqualified Absolute. The force of pressure at the northern end of the Island is greater than anywhere else, and this gives us the basis for absolute direction.
Since Paradise is flat, we know what is up and what is down. And having greater pressure at one end of the Island, this can be defined as North. And all other directions follow.
We are used to thinking of space as representing nothing. It is not. It represents something. It exists in relation to something that is not space and which the booklets call intermediate space. Let me suggest a few ideas that will help you better understand the notion of space as they describe it. When water freezes, why doesn’t it contract as most things do when they freeze? Of course, if water contracted when it freezes, the oceans would freeze from the bottom up, and it would have been impossible to evolve life on this planet, because since water was frozen at the bottom of the ocean, it wouldn’t have a chance to melt, would it? The sun’s rays couldn’t penetrate. That’s very convenient when water expands as it freezes, isn’t it? How does water expand?
Let’s consider the nature of matter. Matter exists in space. And space also exists in matter. This table looks massive, doesn’t it? And yet it’s made of cells, which in turn are made of molecular chains, and these molecules are made of atoms. These atoms contain a nucleus surrounded by orbiting electrons. And the relative relationship of the electron and the nucleus is a lot like the planets in our solar system relative to the sun. Our solar system is mostly empty space, right?
Are you following me? An atom is mostly empty space. The way this table looks, as visualized by a physicist—I remember first reading this years ago, in Edington—is mostly empty space.
When we see it this way, we can easily understand why a spiritual being like a Lone Messenger moves freely through matter. This table is made mostly of empty space.
So we can say that space is a property of matter. Matter exists in space; space exists in matter. When water freezes, it holds a little more space, thus becoming less dense. There is less mass in a given volume. Are you following me? Density is just an expression of the relationship between mass and volume. More mass in a given volume—dense, like lead. Less mass in a given volume—less dense, like feathers, you know? Water is a space trap. And what it traps is real. It changes the physical properties of the material substance. Ice floats. Let’s see if we can catch water monkeying around with space in any direction. If you take water—to keep this experiment chemically pure, take 100 cc of distilled water. Put it in a graduated beaker, record the graduation, you have a given volume. Take some table salt, sodium chloride, measure its volume. Make a solution with the salt, pour it into the water. When you read the graduation on the beaker, the volume of the solution is less than the volume of the water added to that of the salt. It’s a bit like magic. But it happens. How to explain it? I offer the following solution: When water admits something into a solution, it gives up space, it gives up space, so as to have a volume less than the sum of the two. This is a very well-known physical fact.
You’ve all heard the statement: gravity decreases by the square of the distance traveled. Sound familiar? Well, let’s start over. Space is a positive reality in the universe, which acts on gravity in such a way that it decreases by the square of the distance traveled. This is a true statement.
Space is real. These papers introduce the concept of space in relation to the intermediate space, and they point out that space has the property of being a conductor of motion. I admit a physical thing. Whereas the intermediate space resists motion. If you had the means to travel—to be like Buck Rogers and take a spaceship—we fly out at right angles to the plane of the Milky Way, which is Orvonton. If we could travel long enough, we would begin to move out of space and find the intermediate space. How would we know this? Our ship would slow down. We would find ourselves faced with a condition of reality that resists motion. Let’s say we apply 100 units of energy and we get 100 units of velocity. And all of a sudden our velocity is decreased by 10 with the same application of energy. We then increase it by 1000 units of energy, and we get 100 units of velocity again. If we go a little deeper into the middle space I think our velocity will decrease again. We will then increase the application of energy to 10,000 units. No matter how much energy we apply, I think that as we go into the middle space we will encounter equal resistance to motion. Until finally, even with Buck Rogers’ most powerful spaceship, we will exhaust our energy. There would be no more energy to use. We will not be able to go any further into the middle space.
I don’t think you can bounce back to the space in between, because you encounter more and more powerful resistance to movement. Time is something we subtract. They emphasize the importance of relationships to time that don’t exist without movement in space, but time awareness allows it. There are three levels of time awareness: As the mind perceives it, as the spirit perceives it, and as the personality creates a unique awareness of time.
The only truly non-temporal place is the area of Paradise. Holy name! I can’t visualize it. I think the citizens of Paradise have a sequential concept, but it is a non-temporal sequence. They have an understanding of the origin of relationships, but they are not necessarily temporal, sequential, or the source of relationships.
There’s an interesting comment here about why you have to fall asleep when you finally enter Heaven. Before you could get there on a student visa. But when you get your citizen card, you have to make your official entry through the intermediate space zone. And that’s where you leave time as a creature, and enter eternity.
In the third paragraph on page 137 you have another interesting comment about spatial relationships: “The Unqualified Absolute permeates all space…The Deity Absolute may be universally present, but can hardly be present in space.”
The Deity Absolute is a spiritual reality. It may have a relationship with space, but it is not in space.
Bill Sadler