Difference between revisions of "2003-04-19-Perfection, Love of Self"

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Bob: Let us tend to them when we have completed the lesson today. Is that fine? (Yes.) Thank you. Other questions related to the [[perfection]] of God?
 
Bob: Let us tend to them when we have completed the lesson today. Is that fine? (Yes.) Thank you. Other questions related to the [[perfection]] of God?
  
Student: You said in the beginning, that we shouldn’t think in terms of “nothing is perfect,” that we are doing a disservice to ourselves, as well as to our understanding of God, when we suggest that perfection is not possible. I guess I have never really thought in terms that nothing can be perfect. I think of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowflakes snowflakes], for instance, and think of every single one of them as being [[perfection]]. Newborn babies, flowers—so much that we are [[surrounded]] by—[[beauty]]. While everything is different, it is all perfect in and of itself. The only things I think of as being imperfect are perhaps things that happen between people [[interacting]] with one another, often so imperfectly. There is nothing wrong with thinking in those terms of imperfection, is there?
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Student: You said in the beginning, that we shouldn’t think in terms of “nothing is perfect,” that we are doing a disservice to ourselves, as well as to our understanding of God, when we suggest that perfection is not possible. I guess I have never really thought in terms that nothing can be perfect. I think of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowflakes snowflakes], for instance, and think of every single one of them as being [[perfection]]. Newborn babies, flowers—so much that we are [[surrounded]] by—[[beauty]]. While everything is different, it is all perfect in and of itself. The only things I think of as being imperfect are perhaps things that happen between people [[interacting]] with one another, often so imperfectly. There is nothing wrong with thinking in those terms of imperfection, is there?
  
 
Bob: No, of course not. Babies are perfect; so are snowflakes. And you are very correct in determining that imperfection arises from the [[decisions]], the self-will [[decisions]] of [[individuals]], who do not know perfection. But for those who are conscious of the [[journey]], the attempt to become perfect becomes the ultimate chore, not as a [[competitive]] measurement of yourself against anyone else, but simply, it is your “work” to do. And that leads us into the second part of this lesson, which involves the [[love]] of God.
 
Bob: No, of course not. Babies are perfect; so are snowflakes. And you are very correct in determining that imperfection arises from the [[decisions]], the self-will [[decisions]] of [[individuals]], who do not know perfection. But for those who are conscious of the [[journey]], the attempt to become perfect becomes the ultimate chore, not as a [[competitive]] measurement of yourself against anyone else, but simply, it is your “work” to do. And that leads us into the second part of this lesson, which involves the [[love]] of God.

Latest revision as of 23:36, 12 December 2020

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Topic: Perfection, Love of Self

Group: N. Colorado TeaM

Facilitators

Teacher: Bob

TR: Daniel Raphael

Session

Opening

BOB: Good morning, this is Bob. (Group greetings) Welcome to the Denver Teaching Mission group. It is good to see that you are relaxed today; you seem to be very mellow, as you would say. Today we will begin another basic lesson; today’s lesson involves the “Perfection of God” and the “Love of God.” (Student: Two of my favorite subjects!) Ours as well.

As you recall, we have been here a long time, reconnoitering and preparing for the Teaching Mission and for the Correcting Time. It has been in mind through the administration of this local universe for many, many thousands of years. It is in fact, a part of your world history that you will find on Salvington, on the walls that depict the history of the local universe.

Lesson

One of the greatest, unfathomable concepts of all humankind, even mortals wherever they may be found on all developing worlds, is the lack of appreciation, even rudimentary understanding, of God and the nature of God. Even your religions today, many of which discuss the love of God, accept this love didactically; they accept it as a matter of principle involved in their texts, yet when we hear two or more people argue the characteristics of God, they oftentimes dismiss or look at the perfection of God as impossible. Yet perfection is fundamental to eternity; when you have arrived in Paradise and have gone through that wonderful moment, that eternal moment of the embrace with the Creator, you too will have received the “kiss,” so to speak, of perfection. Your long, long journey through many lifetimes in the local universe ascension scheme for yourself is a process of approaching perfection. In your finaliter stage, you recall that you will have one more step of attainment, to incorporate into your being, and this can and will only occur when this universe, the Grand Universe, has come into stability and itself is then in a state of perfection. We surmise that is so, at least. But until then, as finaliters, you will be nigh on to perfect. Quite an accomplishment!

Perfection is, in your estimation, impossible, for the imperfection of life, and the daily experience of living is shot through your whole being; there is no way of escaping this imperfection. And so, in your chrysalis stage as mortals on this world, you are going through an incubation, a process of “becoming more.” And so you must go through this process of imperfection, and then one day, you will look back at yourselves and appreciate the process of becoming more perfect. To say that nothing can be perfect is to nullify the central quality of your Creator –and that includes a belief system dependent upon the perfection of the Creator. We advise you to be careful with this kind of thinking; there are no threats, it is simply that it retards your progress in the universe, immensely. If there is no perfection, then why attempt this life as a journey into the afterlife? Although you are not eternal, the potential of an infinite life is yours, it is given to you—the given is that it is there as long as you strive to develop your potential to become perfect.

Perfection is fundamental to the sustenance/maintenance of the universe. And logically, were you to extend God’s perfection back to the moment of creation, you would realize that any flaw in God, any imperfection in God, would have realized itself in the development and evolution of the universe, and it would implode. It would have imploded long ago. And no, that would not herald the beginning of a new universe, with another “big bang.” There was only one “big bang,” and the universe will continue to expand evermore, always, and never implode, due to the perfection of the Creator, and all processes inherent in the creation.

On one hand, this is extremely simple, yet there is no way to prove it to you. You can only prove it to yourself through your observations of the universe —it’s length of duration and how it works. You may say, “Yes, but I see in the astral heavens, galaxies, whole galaxies, coming together, colliding—isn’t that destructive? Aren’t there destructive, terminal processes involved in the universe?” And the answer is, no. There are no terminal processes; there is only evolution and development. From your observations of the universe, and the collisions that occur, the eruptions that occur, there is still a balance, not imperfection, not the termination of a long-standing piece of art as a universe. It is still young; it is still becoming; it is still evolving; it is coming into balance. Were you to speak to the Architects of the Universe, those designers of the universe, who now help mold and shape the universe and help it move toward balance, you would know that this is all part of a large plan. Yes, collisions do occur; yes, whole galaxies get gobbled up in black holes, those dark bodies mentioned in the Urantia Book. This is a part of the balance. Eventually, all the “wheels of light” will come into balance; eventually, the whole universe, the Grand Universe, will be in balance. And we perceive, we surmise, we will then see the universe be on the brink of the Days of Light and Life, and this will inaugurate the opening of the outer space fields. Until then, you will see evidence of a universe that is developing. In many ways, the universe is still very young. You are going to witness the evolution of a whole universe, as it moves from imbalance to balance.

Let us take a small break to answer any questions you may have about this topic.

Dialogue

Student: I have one.

Student: I am just amazed that I had that thought in my head, “I sure would like to ask a question right now.”

Bob: The first question, please.

Student: You mentioned the opening of the outer space fields. Could you explain that a little more?

Bob: I would refer you to the Urantia Book, which speaks of these, the outer space fields, which are developing, which are now unoccupied. You will find fundamental answers to your questions there.

Student: I have a question, Bob. (Certainly.) You were mentioning the Celestial Architects, and I was wondering if they play a role in intervention in any way. For instance, if a planet within a local universe developed to the point where there were physical beings evolving to the point where they all had, or for the most part, had indwelling Thought Adjusters, and would a planet such as that, be allowed to collide, let us say, with some other celestial body that did not have life evolving on it, would it be allowed to become annihilated, or would there be intervention?

Bob: Strictly speaking, the answer is “no” because they would not be the ones who would be mindful of the situation and effect a different outcome; it would be more specifically, the Most Highs. And yes, there are plans in place for all inhabited planets that may become impaled in a star or collide with another planet.

Student: So there would be intervention?

Bob: Certainly. (Student: That’s my thought. Thank you.)

And why? Why would there be intervention? Does anyone have an answer?

Student: The first answer that comes to mind right now for me is, I’m struggling with my evolving “agondonterhood aptiva,” my ability to believe without seeing, as we all are on this planet, and that version of faith as an agondonter is so important from my perspective, to our evolution toward Paradise and the work that we will do, will depend a great deal on what we have managed to become on this planet, given the fact that we are able to believe without seeing. And so, I just can’t imagine a planet such as this, especially the home of our Creator Son’s final bestowal, being allowed to be annihilated. There are too many pieces of who we become as we evolve inward, that are contingent upon what we learn here.

Bob: So simply put it as the individual who is most important. Correct?

Student: The individual? (Yes.) Uh…yes. Unique.

Bob: That is the answer.

Student: Bob, I have a couple of questions from previous lessons that have arrived via the Internet.

Bob: Let us tend to them when we have completed the lesson today. Is that fine? (Yes.) Thank you. Other questions related to the perfection of God?

Student: You said in the beginning, that we shouldn’t think in terms of “nothing is perfect,” that we are doing a disservice to ourselves, as well as to our understanding of God, when we suggest that perfection is not possible. I guess I have never really thought in terms that nothing can be perfect. I think of snowflakes, for instance, and think of every single one of them as being perfection. Newborn babies, flowers—so much that we are surrounded by—beauty. While everything is different, it is all perfect in and of itself. The only things I think of as being imperfect are perhaps things that happen between people interacting with one another, often so imperfectly. There is nothing wrong with thinking in those terms of imperfection, is there?

Bob: No, of course not. Babies are perfect; so are snowflakes. And you are very correct in determining that imperfection arises from the decisions, the self-will decisions of individuals, who do not know perfection. But for those who are conscious of the journey, the attempt to become perfect becomes the ultimate chore, not as a competitive measurement of yourself against anyone else, but simply, it is your “work” to do. And that leads us into the second part of this lesson, which involves the love of God.

Your Creator is not an emotional being—so what is it about God that makes God loving? What is it that aids you to determine that God is loving? (Student: Our feelings.) Correct. Your feelings, your thoughts, your estimation of God. God does not know love; God is love! Yet God is not emotional; how can this be? 1) It is principally and almost totally determined by your own perceptions. God is not loving to those individuals who do not perceive the beneficence of the universe around them; they do not feel that God is loving because they do not enter into a physical relationship of dependence or independence, of support. The love of God emanates from its very being, its very nature. God is love. How can this be? As I said, it is solely dependent upon your interpretation.

Were you to see past the boundaries of time and of physical space, so that you were aware of more levels of consciousness and dimensions and states of being, if you were to see the morontial realm in its totality while you are still a mortal, you would have a better perspective of the total loving nature of God. All that is required for your sustenance, maintenance, development, and longevity, has been provided by the Creator. All that you need is available to you—and that is just on the “outer!” Were you to look inside, and really know the Divine Fragment that resides in you, you would see that the Creator is definitely loving. The love of God pervades the universe; the love of God emanates from its presence. And as the presence of the Creator inhabits those individuals with a fragment of its divine nature, there is God and there is Love.

Let us look at the other side of this: Where is NOT God? Where is NOT Love? Where are all the negative emotional states? Where do they exist? (Student: In unreality?) They exist in the self-willed decisions of selfish individuals, of immature individuals. So, you see, there is a purpose to your life, and that is to grow into love, to grow into perfection. Perfection and love are not synonymous, though they are very much related in the universe. As you become more perfect in your nature, you become more loving; as you become more loving, it becomes evident to all around you, to your guardian angel, to your Divine Fragment, and of course to your neighbors, to your friends, that you are loyal, you are compassionate, you are caring, you are forgiving—and this is just a very small list of positive qualities that you will find, that support the nature of loving.

Your journey is a journey of experience, of attaining perfection. But such a thought is really too profound to encompass or incorporate. It is much easier to attempt the process of becoming loving, rather than perfect, and in becoming loving you take on those attributes of a loving nature. Here is some homework for you: Write down all of the positive values that support having a loving nature. Write down all of those which you believe that you encompass fairly well—it doesn’t have to be right up there at 100%, but one that you are fairly consistent with. Write all of them down, the positive qualities of a loving nature. Then, make another list—list those negative values and qualities about yourself, which you desire to grow out of. Are you resentful? Are you spiteful? Are jealousy and envy too closely incorporated in your daily, moment-to-moment thinking? I would encourage you, I will help you to take one of those negative qualities and try to eliminate them. And what is the opposite of that negative quality? Yes, always loving, and being of a loving nature is always at the opposite of all negative ones, but which one is most closely related? And then work on that.

Now, this is where many teachers of a human nature become lacking—they tell you to become perfect, to overcome these [negative qualities], but they do not give you the tools to do that. You were raised as a blank slate. Were you raised in a loving household where there was forgiveness, where there is no envy or jealousy, no spite or resentment—it would be easy to overcome those. The tools are already there; you were given them by being raised in a loving, functional family. But perhaps you were raised where resentment and envy were dominant; you would have a real struggle to overcome those, because they were ingrained in your thinking, they were a part of your learning process, part of your indoctrination. So you will need to remind yourself not to be spiteful, but to be forgiving, supportive and fair. You may want to participate in a self-help group; you may want to read books on how to overcome these aspects—they are available.

Today, my assistance to you is to help you take on a loving nature, for a loving nature is a part of your morontial nature and your soul value and your soul survival-ship. The weight of your soul will not be increased until you become more loving. The very fundamental place where this begins is making decisions about what to think and what not to think. As we have said in lessons past, your growth as a soul and your development are based on moral and ethical decisions, decisions, decisions, plus service. You live on a material planet because that is the place where you can make decisions about the “outer.” Do you go to a lunchroom and join in with people who speak of resentment and hatred? The first decision was going to that table and sitting down and listening. A second decision was in deciding what to say. And the ultimate decision was the decision to think, to participate, to gravitate there. Yes, as you become more mature and you become more morontial in nature, it is what you think that decides what you say and what you do, and ultimately what you become. This is the level of evaluation for your growth—it is how you think and what you think. To take charge of your decisions, then, you much increase your awareness of your own thinking.

God, being all love and all loving in nature, is total consciousness, total awareness; and in perfection, there is not even a decision to make about whether to be that way or not, it is part of the eternal nature of God. If you have a dear friend you can speak to, confide in, ask them this question: “You have known me many years; you have seen me live my life. Have you seen me grow? And if so, how?” Now I pose this to you for several purposes:

1) Is to evaluate your growth, the positive qualities that you have taken on in your lifetime. Oftentimes, mortals are unaware of their own growth, until someone stops them and says, “My, you have really changed. You are such a wonderful person. I knew you when…” and they might recite some of your negative qualities in the past. It is important that you know that you have grown, that yes, you have evolved and have taken on more of a loving nature. And what does this do?

2) It furthers your help to grow, your own strength to grow, to continue on when you think that you are incapable of growing. And

3) It is important for you to develop your consciousness of yourself, your self-awareness, and most importantly, your self-appreciation. Many of you as you grow older, continue to denigrate yourself and belittle yourself for being such-and-such a way. Thought it is unfair as a pattern to say those things, at some times it may be appropriate if long-standing habits of a negative nature need to be addressed and overcome. Do not diminish the work of your Divine Fragment, the very essence of the loving nature of God invested in you, who is ever urging you to become greater than you are.

Your growth and ascendant journey reveals an even larger facet of the loving nature of God as evident in the very reasons for God’s habitation in you. As we have shared today, the obvious reasons for a Fragment of God being resident in your being is to assist you to grow into perfection. But what does that do for God? Think about that question. Let me lead you with a second question: How can God understand and know perfection completely, without knowing the processes of becoming perfect? The answer, my dear friends, is that your individual lives provide a wonderful environment for God to come to understand its loving nature and its perfection – through your efforts to become perfect. We are convinced that God, the Creator, desires to know more about its own nature. We speculate about the reasons why—you may too—but in the meantime, you get to enjoy the wonderful participation of a loving, generous, perfect God, who’s fragment indwells you and yearns to co-creatively develop your life with you, consciously, in a union for all times and all ages to come.

Now, do you have questions concerning the loving nature of God?

Student: Yeah, I do. It may seem like it is not the foundation of my question, but it really is. I can remember as a very young child in Sunday school, stamping my foot and arguing with my Sunday school teachers, telling them that I couldn’t believe in their God because their God was full of hate and vengeance, and my God was nothing but love, and I would not believe in their God, and I know that there were many times that my Sunday School teachers wished that I would stay home. I have always wondered throughout my life, why it is that seemingly horrible things could happen to me, and yet “I” was always okay, “I” was not damaged, if you will, like so many other people that I know who have had far less happen to them, have become frozen in time, and damaged—why wasn’t I? And so my question is, on this planet that we live on here, Urantia, is it possible that certain Father Fragments are more active at a younger age? I mean that, since my discovering the Urantia Book and having read it a number of times, that’s the only answer that I have been able to grab onto that, will explain my life and the things that have happened to me. The wonderful things have happened to me, that haven’t happened to other people, and my question is always, why? Why? Why me? I’m not any different or any more special than anybody else, so why? Can you answer that?

Bob: As your wisdom says, and our wisdom says as well, it is not so much what happens to you, but how you interpret what happens to you. And so for you, your base of understanding for interpreting what happens to you included awareness that harmful events and accidents that occurred in your life were only passing events – not anything that was there to cause a permanent redefinition of yourself. A deeper answer to your question is that the basis of your interpretations came from a deep, close association with your Divine Fragment. You were more accepting of the “voice of wisdom” you heard within yourself than others, plus, you had the benefit of early learning that supported a positive perspective in life.

Student: So that close relationship is possible, even as a young child?

Bob: Yes, of course. Why is it that in the early years, as the Urantia Book describes, that the individual becomes invested with a Divine Fragment, a Thought Adjuster as you call it? Often, Its work is far more influential in those early years than at almost any other time of a mortal’s life.

Student: Because they were able to make a moral decision.

Bob: Right. That is correct. And so the influence of the Divine Fragment begins then; and even before then your guardian angel has had an influence in your life. If you can, think back to occasions in your life that had you interpreted them differently, in more harsh and punitive terms, you may have become a different person than you are now. And that, perhaps, would have left you with an expectation that that is the way life is, and you have to meet it with a harsh and punitive perspective.

Student: Truly, and that was what my struggle was. Was why was I able to interpret things toward the light, rather than in a negative light?

Bob: Now it is not so important, the answer to your “why question,” but that you accept this and now engage this powerful union more fully. (Oh, my goodness!) Other questions?

Student: Yes, I recently had an experience of feeling God’s love in such a profound way, and yet I was at the same time aware that as profound and as massive as it felt, that I was, at the same time, intellectually sure that this was just a glimmer of God’s total love. And as you said earlier, those who do not interpret universe in a positive light don’t know anything of God’s love. My question is perhaps one more in the academic realm than anything else. To what minimal degree, are we humans capable of feeling and knowing God’s love…as we would say, 1% or 4% or 20% or 100%…I’m sure it is not attainable until we get to Paradise… um, is this even a question worth answering? It might be a secondary question that I’m needing…I guess I just want to know, on this planet and in our experience, how much is possible?

Bob: It is dependant upon the individual’s receptivity and their maturity.

Student: I am assuming the question really refers to those who have maximum receptivity, the Mother Theresa’s and whomever else you might lump with that, the Nelson Mandela’s or whomever, in our mortal eyes appear to be, perhaps …(mic. static)… the Dalai Lama who is receptive to that information?

Bob: It is not possible to answer your question in terms of percentages, as it is dependant upon the individual. If we say that an individual can receive 10% of God’s love and know it thoroughly, [more] then to another individual, that would be overwhelming and they would be in a state of dazed confusion.

Student: True. Let me ask another question—how much am I able—can you answer that? Perhaps that grows with experience and it ever expands.

Another student: Perhaps you’ve answered your own question.

Bob: Yes, you have answered your own question. Now, you should puzzle about that answer, should you not, that your ability to appreciate and know God’s love is infinite. And it is directly related to your ability to express the infinite potential in yourself. If you are expressing, on a regular basis, the negative emotional states, then you have a limited capacity to receive and understand and know that love. When I say, “receive it,” you all receive it, but whether you acknowledge it or not, is another matter. The ability to incorporate God’s love into your life is only as great as your ability to incorporate the qualities of loving into your own life, and to know that these loving qualities of living work; they are fundamental to living in a larger universe; they are fundamental to your longevity as a soul.

The degree of love that you receive and acknowledge and can incorporate will always exceed your ability to understand it. There is always a differential. Much as a master teacher teaches you to learn more about yourself, so too, your Divine Fragment expresses and showers you with more love than you can truly acknowledge and understand. When you awaken in the morning and you see the day and you say, “It’s a good day! I love this day,” you are beginning to understand that you are living in a state of loving. I would not estimate your ability to receive this love and understand it; I would not do that for anyone. I would encourage you to speak with your Divine Fragment and yearn for those positive, loving qualities to be expressed in your life, and to learn ways of overcoming the negative emotional states that you have in your life. The most earnest simple prayer is, “Help me to love more completely,” the chore of a lifetime, an effort for infinity. Only by doing that can you fully express the God that lives within you, and when you become of like mind with your Divine Fragment, to be of the mind of God, you will truly understand that loving is the way of the universe, that it is a benign place to live, and it is only in the interpretations that you give to events around you that color this loving state of being. No, we are not asking you to be naïve, and go into the heart of ghettos and shout this and try to teach this—but begin with who and where you are, and this is where you begin, and this is where you continue.

Student: How important is it, Bob, for us while we are involved in our physical lives, to learn to love ourselves, as unconditionally as we profess to be able to love others?

Bob: It is primary. To learn to love yourself is primary to your continuation; learning to love yourself is to appreciate your self as God does; it is not to look at all the flaws, but to look at all the perfection that is becoming. And those issues that need perfection are issues for honing, for growing through, for understanding, and for learning the opposite of.

Student: Well, I wasn’t really referring to the God-like attributes, if you will—all of those positive qualities I have, I certainly recognize and I appreciate, but it’s the physical part, it is the aging body, the weight gained—those kinds of things, that I have so much difficulty in accepting. And on our way over here today, I thought to myself, I think I need to join some kind of a group effort or something—you know, women trying to deal with accepting their aging bodies or something. And then I thought, well, I won’t have anything in common with them—they will all be thinking too old, and so, then I thought, well maybe I just need to let it go..(Bob: Lighten up.)...deal with it, accept that, and forget it.

Bob: This is a very good question, and it involves your identity. Who are you? Are you your body? Are you your years? Are you your wrinkles? Are you your weight? (Student: No, but it goes back to all of that, all of that imprinting that we get from the time in the womb, practically.) And what would you do with this imprinting then? (I’d like to unplug it!) Then do so. When you look in the mirror, do you say, “I am this body in front of me, that I see in the mirror.” If you are, then you are identifying with only the vehicle. You drove here today in a vehicle, did you not? Are you that vehicle? (No.) Then neither are you that body. (I understand all of that. My head understands most of it; it’s getting it down into the hard-wiring part that I have trouble with, sometimes.)

Student: If an Avatar can do it, why can’t you? (Yeah, right! Intellectually, I understand it all; it’s just getting it on an emotional level that I need to work on.)

Bob: Perhaps you need to be de-programmed and re-programmed. (Yes!) And who is responsible for that? (Me and my Father Fragment.) Correct. And how would you begin? (By asking him to help me.) That’s assumed. (Well then it’s just me, doing what he suggests.) How about beginning with listening to your own thinking? (Isn’t that the same thing, almost?) No. Becoming self-aware of your own thinking, and the decisions you make about your choices. For example, you look in the mirror and saying, “I’m fat!” Even before saying that, you have made decisions about who you are, what is preferential and what is not. As one of your humorous lines says, “What are the alternatives?” Would your worry bring on an early death? And make it so that you were not that body anymore? Perhaps you would not want to do that. (I don’t know that I worry that much!) So your living is important; living is a process, it is a gift for your soul growth; it is a gift for learning. Begin with your thinking. (My stinkin’-thinkin’, huh?) Correct. Your “stinkin’-thinkin’”.

Now I believe we are ready for the questions that were presented from outside the group.

Student: I’ll do my best to convey them. One of them has to do with someone who was reading the transcripts on the Internet, and wondered if everyone really does go to the mansion worlds? He felt that the text in the Urantia Book, didn’t exactly say that and he wanted some kind of a confirmation that it is either so or not so.

Bob: We can provide no further confirmation other than these and past assurances through the TRs and Teaching Mission transcripts. This is a new revelation; this is the illustrated, personalized form of the Urantia Book. The Urantia Book was and is a wonderful beginning, a grand reference for your life in a large universe, a cosmology to assist you to understand your place and position and status and progress in the universe. Yet it is not complete. That is why the Correcting Time includes the Teaching Mission as an adjunct to the Urantia Book revelation. The Fifth epochal Revelation includes more than simply a “book.” But providing validation for this on the outer, in the form of perhaps another book, would be in question. Therefore, the support of this logic is only from within itself—it is a closed circuit to your thinking—but to a larger revelation, a mind that can see the larger revelation and speak and know and hear, from the Spirit of Truth, the Christ Spirit, which is here, you will know what is true and what is not true. That is the validating, but improvable source for these questions and answers. Do you believe that in your estimation, this answers the question? (It seems like it should satisfy him.) Thank you.

Student: The second question is from someone who is familiar with the Padgett transmissions, (and I’m not,) and they say that not many mortals from Urantia have gone beyond the sixth mansion world, nor fused by their own choice, and he was wondering if this is true, and if so, what happens to them?

Bob: We have no answer for this question at this time. Our understanding and our awareness is that mortals progress; there is concurrence in many regards to the Urantia Book, in that individuals who are in a ready state of progress and development do arrive on the mansion worlds after three days. This is a new dispensation, which creates a new situation. Thank you. Other questions?

Student: I do, based on this question. I guess in my own thinking—I’m really not sure where it came from, the Urantia Book or otherwise, but I think that I have always believed that because this is such a basic foundational experience for us, and our first experience, and that we evolve eternally, but because this is our first life, if you will, and we are so bloody stupid, really, even though we think we are so smart—I mean it’s like we’re amoebas here, in regard to the whole scheme of things, I just cannot picture that God would not give everyone on this planet, regardless of the direction his or her life took, would not insist that they at least get to the first mansion world to get a little more understanding of God’s love and the whole scheme of things, before they would be allowed to be annihilated.

Bob: And your question is?

Student: My question is that that means everyone here, yes, does get to the mansion worlds.

Bob: That has been said before. (Okay.) In coming to understand your world and all that happens upon it, remember that you are given a new way of interpreting what occurs to you, [reference to the life of Jesus; ed.] It is through the loving nature and understanding of God’s perfection, perfection abiding in you, that your approach to your world is changed when you take on this loving nature. Not having a loving nature holds you back from this understanding and from your further growth. And your growth becomes more rapid as you understand the loving nature of the universe; that is different from the decisions of individuals to not be in alignment with that loving nature. That seems rather simple, but is one of the most basic understandings that you have to learn while you exist in this mortal body, captive on this material world.

Student: Bob, I have a question. (Yes) How can one feel so loved by God, and so tormented by the world?

Bob: That is your question? (Yes.) Because of the decisions God has made to build this world, create it, and because of the decisions of others, who have made this world a torment for you. This is also made beautiful by the decisions that you have made; it is also made a torment by the decisions you have made. The undoing of the torment is in taking on a more loving nature and living in a loving way. That may sound awfully romanticized, but in fact simply living life by making decisions of perfection, those qualities of living, which are exemplified in your spiritual heroes that you have mentioned today is a practical way of learning to live successfully in a large universe. Strive to take on these decisions, these ways of living and thinking, and you will find a world that is different.

Closing

Blessings to you all today, thank you for coming. We hope that you may be able to learn the lessons of loving more easily in your life, as it is difficult until you do. We understand this, and that is why there is so much help abiding by you and in you, and the awareness of that is becoming clearer. Good day. (Group: Thank you for coming.)