Changes

But for the most part you are a living [[combination]] of all of these [[simultaneously]], your [[personality]] identifying with a [[complex]], ever changing combination of all these [[factors]].  You’ve only to [[think]] how a severe toothache can [[radically]] [[change]] what you can [[concentrate]] on and the [[value]] you are giving these [[moments]] of pain because they seem to affect [[everything]].  Or on the [[contrary]], those of you with great inner [[discipline]] and [[soul]] can to a large [[degree]] not let such [[physical]] discomfort or [[pain]] of [[mental]] anguish disturb your [[spiritual]] [[awareness]] and [[realization]].  This [[reality]] your [[Urantia book]] freely acknowledges in the chapter--[https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_112 Personality Survival]--by [[immediately]] stating there’s no way [[personality]] can ever be exhaustively [[defined]] in [[words]] or [[concepts]], no matter how [[subtle]] they are.  A [[book]] can only list and offer some of the [[qualities]] and [[functions]] [[personality]] has.

But for the most part you are a living [[combination]] of all of these [[simultaneously]], your [[personality]] identifying with a [[complex]], ever changing combination of all these [[factors]].  You’ve only to [[think]] how a severe toothache can [[radically]] [[change]] what you can [[concentrate]] on and the [[value]] you are giving these [[moments]] of pain because they seem to affect [[everything]].  Or on the [[contrary]], those of you with great inner [[discipline]] and [[soul]] can to a large [[degree]] not let such [[physical]] discomfort or [[pain]] of [[mental]] anguish disturb your [[spiritual]] [[awareness]] and [[realization]].  This [[reality]] your [[Urantia book]] freely acknowledges in the chapter--[https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_112 Personality Survival]--by [[immediately]] stating there’s no way [[personality]] can ever be exhaustively [[defined]] in [[words]] or [[concepts]], no matter how [[subtle]] they are.  A [[book]] can only list and offer some of the [[qualities]] and [[functions]] [[personality]] has.

   

   

A [[Foundation|bedrock]] [[concept]] you can build on in referring to the [[creation]] as it exists and has existed, is that one primal division of [[cosmic]] [[reality]] is into its [[personal]] and [[impersonal]] aspects.  [[God]] is [[personality]] and your [[word]] God refers to those aspects of [[deity]] which are personalizable to you.  [[God]] is the [[quality]] of being a [[personal]] being, a [[quality]] of [[creative]] [[abilities]], in His case the ability to [[create]] other [[personalities]] and grant them a [[relative]] [[autonomy]] from Himself.  He is the [[origin]] of [[personality]] and it is distinguished from [[impersonal]] reality by this [[individual]] creativity: [[personal]] [[beings]] can even [[share]] [[Doing the will of God|His will]], and have [[individual]] [[intent]].  This distinction is most [[apparent]] [[compared]] to the inanimate part of [[impersonal]] [[reality]]--pure [[material]] and [[energy]][https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_42], but also in your own [[human]] [[experience]] with the lower forms of [[planetary]] life, all the way from a single-cell [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoeba amoeba] up to the most [[intelligent]] and highly [[developed]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primate primate].

A [[Foundation|bedrock]] [[concept]] you can build on in referring to the [[creation]] as it exists and has existed, is that one primal division of [[cosmic]] [[reality]] is into its [[personal]] and [[impersonal]] aspects.  [[God]] is [[personality]] and your [[word]] God refers to those aspects of [[deity]] which are personalizable to you.  [[God]] is the [[quality]] of being a [[personal]] being, a [[quality]] of [[creative]] [[abilities]], in His case the ability to [[create]] other [[personalities]] and grant them a [[relative]] [[autonomy]] from Himself.  He is the [[origin]] of [[personality]] and it is distinguished from [[impersonal]] reality by this [[individual]] creativity: [[personal]] [[beings]] can even [[share]] [[Doing the will of God|His will]], and have [[individual]] [[intent]].  This distinction is most [[apparent]] [[compared]] to the inanimate part of [[impersonal]] [[reality]]--pure [[material]] and [[energy]][https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_42], but also in your own [[human]] [[experience]] with the lower forms of [[planetary]] life, all the way from a single-cell [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoeba amoeba] up to the most [[intelligent]] and highly [[developed]] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primate primate].

   

   

[[Impersonal]] [[reality]] is not [[individually]] [[creative]].  It follows [[absolute]] [[natural law]]s of [[chemistry]] and [[physics]], living [[biology]], and even what you might call higher [[animal]] [[mind]].  [[Consider]] how the highest [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primate primates] with a fantastic [[associative]] [[ability]] are still not [[creative]] in the sense that a [[human being]] is.  They are still [[responding]] to [[stimulus]] no matter how [[complex]] and [[subtle]] it is.  They do not have truly [[creative]], [[wondering]] [[personalities]] and [[initiative]] such as you have.  [[Individual]] [[creativity]] or the lack of it is a prime [[difference]] between [[impersonal]] [[reality]] and [[unique]], discrete individual [[personal]] [[beings]], of which you’ve been informed [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_30 there are thousands of orders] in the [[cosmos]], the [[human being]], being just one.

[[Impersonal]] [[reality]] is not [[individually]] [[creative]].  It follows [[absolute]] [[natural law]]s of [[chemistry]] and [[physics]], living [[biology]], and even what you might call higher [[animal]] [[mind]].  [[Consider]] how the highest [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primate primates] with a fantastic [[associative]] [[ability]] are still not [[creative]] in the sense that a [[human being]] is.  They are still [[responding]] to [[stimulus]] no matter how [[complex]] and [[subtle]] it is.  They do not have truly [[creative]], [[wondering]] [[personalities]] and [[initiative]] such as you have.  [[Individual]] [[creativity]] or the lack of it is a prime [[difference]] between [[impersonal]] [[reality]] and [[unique]], discrete individual [[personal]] [[beings]], of which you’ve been informed [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_30 there are thousands of orders] in the [[cosmos]], the [[human being]], being just one.

   

   

This is the [[reality]] of [[personality]].  Each one, being created [[unique]] by [[God]], though similar to others of its order, still has something which is theirs alone to [[share]] as best they can with each other and with their [[the Father|Father]].  Michael and I gladly, [[humbly]] acknowledge and [[respect]] this [[ultimate]] [[connection]] between the [[Creator]] and each of His [[children]], and the [[love]] you have for each other.

This is the [[reality]] of [[personality]].  Each one, being created [[unique]] by [[God]], though similar to others of its order, still has something which is theirs alone to [[share]] as best they can with each other and with their [[the Father|Father]].  Michael and I gladly, [[humbly]] acknowledge and [[respect]] this [[ultimate]] [[connection]] between the [[Creator]] and each of His [[children]], and the [[love]] you have for each other.

The interesting [[thing]] I want to look at tonight is how this [[self-conscious]]-[[self]] is the seat of your [[decisions]], your decisiveness, what you call [[free will]]—that [[God]]-shared [[individual]] [[intention]] I mentioned earlier.  To get a better [[feeling]] of this, think of the times you had success, a [[temporal]] victory doing something, and how your [[creative]] [[imagination]] blossomed forth with a hundred other notions of all the things you [[thought]] you could do now.  You see yourself doing [[amazing]] [[things]].  This is your [[ego]].  It is also the [[feeling]]/[[reality]] you get when all of a sudden one of those projections fails miserably. [[Adjusting]], you feel deflated as if you had puffed yourself up with all those [[expectations]] that time has proven impossible to fulfill: the [[moment]] is gone.  Another [[person]] may deliberately try to hurt you with an insult, and you may feel that [[pain]] for days, but where?

The interesting [[thing]] I want to look at tonight is how this [[self-conscious]]-[[self]] is the seat of your [[decisions]], your decisiveness, what you call [[free will]]—that [[God]]-shared [[individual]] [[intention]] I mentioned earlier.  To get a better [[feeling]] of this, think of the times you had success, a [[temporal]] victory doing something, and how your [[creative]] [[imagination]] blossomed forth with a hundred other notions of all the things you [[thought]] you could do now.  You see yourself doing [[amazing]] [[things]].  This is your [[ego]].  It is also the [[feeling]]/[[reality]] you get when all of a sudden one of those projections fails miserably. [[Adjusting]], you feel deflated as if you had puffed yourself up with all those [[expectations]] that time has proven impossible to fulfill: the [[moment]] is gone.  Another [[person]] may deliberately try to hurt you with an insult, and you may feel that [[pain]] for days, but where?

   

   

This [[self-conscious]]-[[self]] of yours feels both [[glory]] and [[suffering]] and both are undoubtedly real because this self-construct—who you [[think]] and [[feel]] you are right now--has some [[cause]] and [[effect]] in your life.  Your [[ego]] is not a [[total]] [[illusion]] as [http://cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521397261 some philosophies] consider it to be.  It is the seat of your [[conscious]] [[decisions]]: they are all made in [[part]] within your [[ego]]’s notions of what is possible, especially when an ego-maniacal [[personality]] identifies [[totally]] with this self-made structure to the exclusion--or the [[ignorance]], or the ignoring--of [[soul]], within themselves and others.  Think too of the imagined [[assumptions]]—some correct, some not--you infer from your [[experiences]] to get a sense of [[possibilities]], [[alternatives]] with which to step off into another [[adventure]] of life and give them a try, and see the results.

This [[self-conscious]]-[[self]] of yours feels both [[glory]] and [[suffering]] and both are undoubtedly real because this self-construct—who you [[think]] and [[feel]] you are right now--has some [[cause]] and [[effect]] in your life.  Your [[ego]] is not a [[total]] [[illusion]] as [https://cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521397261 some philosophies] consider it to be.  It is the seat of your [[conscious]] [[decisions]]: they are all made in [[part]] within your [[ego]]’s notions of what is possible, especially when an ego-maniacal [[personality]] identifies [[totally]] with this self-made structure to the exclusion--or the [[ignorance]], or the ignoring--of [[soul]], within themselves and others.  Think too of the imagined [[assumptions]]—some correct, some not--you infer from your [[experiences]] to get a sense of [[possibilities]], [[alternatives]] with which to step off into another [[adventure]] of life and give them a try, and see the results.

   

   

Your [[ego]] is no [[pure]] [[illusion]] but a [[tool]] you use even if, [[ironically]], it is a tool your [[personality]] can be captured by.  A [[person]] can identify so much with this [[part]] of themselves, they can choose [[death]] rather than a diminution of what they [[consider]] to be their [[conscious]] [[free will]].  You have those [[famous]] [[words]] of your statesman: [http://www.history.org/almanack/life/politics/giveme.cfm Give me liberty or give me death].  People can give their lives for their loved ones with this sense of themselves and their [[dedication]].  So to a large [[degree]] this [[self-conscious]]-[[self]] of yours, my [[children]], is an [[experience]].  It is also a basis, another [[point of view]] for [[experience]].  It’s both what you create and what the world around you [[reflects]] as how they see you--and how you register that, or not.  A product of your own [[essential]] [[creativity]], your [[ego]] is also a basis for your [[projections]] that [[interpret]] what you [[perceive]].

Your [[ego]] is no [[pure]] [[illusion]] but a [[tool]] you use even if, [[ironically]], it is a tool your [[personality]] can be captured by.  A [[person]] can identify so much with this [[part]] of themselves, they can choose [[death]] rather than a diminution of what they [[consider]] to be their [[conscious]] [[free will]].  You have those [[famous]] [[words]] of your statesman: [https://www.history.org/almanack/life/politics/giveme.cfm Give me liberty or give me death].  People can give their lives for their loved ones with this sense of themselves and their [[dedication]].  So to a large [[degree]] this [[self-conscious]]-[[self]] of yours, my [[children]], is an [[experience]].  It is also a basis, another [[point of view]] for [[experience]].  It’s both what you create and what the world around you [[reflects]] as how they see you--and how you register that, or not.  A product of your own [[essential]] [[creativity]], your [[ego]] is also a basis for your [[projections]] that [[interpret]] what you [[perceive]].

   

   

One of the greatest [[illusions]] people can have is that they have [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatta totally eliminated or gotten rid of their ego], and now they are some kind of un-[[self-conscious]], [[purely]] [[spiritual]] [[personality]].  It’s equivalent to a claim they have [[totally]] [[Annihilation|eliminated]] all their [[subjectivity]] to arrive at some kind of purely [[objective]], [[fundamental]] [[reality]].  The saving [[grace]] is that this you--this [[ego]] you identify with—you are capable of [[growth]] and [[enlightenment]].  By [[tuning]] in to your [[soul]] and adding that [[experience]] to who and what you [[consider]] you are, you can be [[aware]] of [[spirit]], you can be [[aware]] of your own incessant [[co-creativity]].  You can be [[self-conscious]]ly [[aware]] of the [[fact]] that you are more than this [[temporal]] construct.  Your [[personality]] was created by [[God]], and your [[soul]], as we’ve said, is a [[transcendent]], enormous [[reality]] of your [[experiences]] you can only tap into and fully relive for a few precious [[pure]] minutes—so far.     

One of the greatest [[illusions]] people can have is that they have [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatta totally eliminated or gotten rid of their ego], and now they are some kind of un-[[self-conscious]], [[purely]] [[spiritual]] [[personality]].  It’s equivalent to a claim they have [[totally]] [[Annihilation|eliminated]] all their [[subjectivity]] to arrive at some kind of purely [[objective]], [[fundamental]] [[reality]].  The saving [[grace]] is that this you--this [[ego]] you identify with—you are capable of [[growth]] and [[enlightenment]].  By [[tuning]] in to your [[soul]] and adding that [[experience]] to who and what you [[consider]] you are, you can be [[aware]] of [[spirit]], you can be [[aware]] of your own incessant [[co-creativity]].  You can be [[self-conscious]]ly [[aware]] of the [[fact]] that you are more than this [[temporal]] construct.  Your [[personality]] was created by [[God]], and your [[soul]], as we’ve said, is a [[transcendent]], enormous [[reality]] of your [[experiences]] you can only tap into and fully relive for a few precious [[pure]] minutes—so far.     

You can [[self-conscious]]ly acknowledge [[spirit]] in [[prayer]] and [[meditation]] as [[appreciation]], as [[worship]].  You can identify as well with your deeper [[personality]] and the [[morontia]] [[reality]] of your [[soul]].  The [[realization]] that you are, with [[respect]] to your [[ego]], so limited by [[time and space]] and the often [[anxious]], ever-changing present [[moment]]: all of these [[realizations]], my [[children]], just because they are real, give you greater [[freedom]] to [[accept]] your own constant [[creativity]] and [[response-ability]].  You are more than a [[self-conscious]] [[self]] that can be blown up out of [[proportion]], or hurt by insults.  As you identify less and less with your [[ego]] while still being [[aware]] of it, you can more and more identify/[[recognize]] the [[encompassing]] of your larger [[self]].  You [[experience]] more and more of your [[soul]]’s [[participation]] too in your life as both [[cause]] and [[effect]].

You can [[self-conscious]]ly acknowledge [[spirit]] in [[prayer]] and [[meditation]] as [[appreciation]], as [[worship]].  You can identify as well with your deeper [[personality]] and the [[morontia]] [[reality]] of your [[soul]].  The [[realization]] that you are, with [[respect]] to your [[ego]], so limited by [[time and space]] and the often [[anxious]], ever-changing present [[moment]]: all of these [[realizations]], my [[children]], just because they are real, give you greater [[freedom]] to [[accept]] your own constant [[creativity]] and [[response-ability]].  You are more than a [[self-conscious]] [[self]] that can be blown up out of [[proportion]], or hurt by insults.  As you identify less and less with your [[ego]] while still being [[aware]] of it, you can more and more identify/[[recognize]] the [[encompassing]] of your larger [[self]].  You [[experience]] more and more of your [[soul]]’s [[participation]] too in your life as both [[cause]] and [[effect]].

So [[consider]] these [[things]], my [[children]], how [[God]], the [[origin]] of the [[human]] [[pattern]] of a living [[spiritual]] [[being]], put your [[freedom]] within the [[limitations]] of your [[consciousness]], along with how to grow that consciousness ever more beyond what it has ever been.  This is how you [[grow]] and come to ever greater [[experience]], so even as your present [[body]] and [[mind]] fade away, as they must--that too is in [[Ascension Career|The Plan]]--you identify more and more with this [[soulful]] [[character]] you’re [[earning]].  Then, my [[goodness]]!--what [[beauty]], what [[love]] there is, being able to [[perceive]] and [[appreciate]] this in others, for they are your true [[soul]]-[[wealth]].

So [[consider]] these [[things]], my [[children]], how [[God]], the [[origin]] of the [[human]] [[pattern]] of a living [[spiritual]] [[being]], put your [[freedom]] within the [[limitations]] of your [[consciousness]], along with how to grow that consciousness ever more beyond what it has ever been.  This is how you [[grow]] and come to ever greater [[experience]], so even as your present [[body]] and [[mind]] fade away, as they must--that too is in [[Ascension Career|The Plan]]--you identify more and more with this [[soulful]] [[character]] you’re [[earning]].  Then, my [[goodness]]!--what [[beauty]], what [[love]] there is, being able to [[perceive]] and [[appreciate]] this in others, for they are your true [[soul]]-[[wealth]].

   

   

They are your [[companions]] in this great [[adventure]] and by being this extra-ordinary [[self]] you are [[literally]] [[demonstrating]] what is possible.  People who live their lives not only with a great sense of themselves, but live their lives for other people--your [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saints saints], if you will--are those who continue to be the greatest [[gift]] to their fellows.

They are your [[companions]] in this great [[adventure]] and by being this extra-ordinary [[self]] you are [[literally]] [[demonstrating]] what is possible.  People who live their lives not only with a great sense of themselves, but live their lives for other people--your [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saints saints], if you will--are those who continue to be the greatest [[gift]] to their fellows.

   

   

We thank you, Father, for the [[original]] [[idea]]--(Mother Spirit [[chuckles]])--of such [[amazing]] [[creatures]], such creative [[beings]] of yours and ours.  These are Your [[children]]; these are our children.  But above all You have given them themselves and each other.  It is for this [[freedom]] we do thank You.  

We thank you, Father, for the [[original]] [[idea]]--(Mother Spirit [[chuckles]])--of such [[amazing]] [[creatures]], such creative [[beings]] of yours and ours.  These are Your [[children]]; these are our children.  But above all You have given them themselves and each other.  It is for this [[freedom]] we do thank You.  

Student:  I guess that’s what you mean by us being experiential beings.  That’s how we learn.  

Student:  I guess that’s what you mean by us being experiential beings.  That’s how we learn.  

NEBADONIA:  Yes, that’s what we’re doing out here.  We [[understand]] this as the deepest [[reason]] for the [[universe]] of all these [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_30 thousands of different orders] of experiencing [[personal]] [[beings]], all [[creative]], all [[acting]] and [[reacting]] with each [[other]].  It’s not just the [[physical]] [[universe]] your [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telescope telescopes] reveal, but these [[personal]] [[beings]] your [[Urantia book]] was designed to present.  It’s why it teaches about [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_39 angels], and [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_77 Midwayers], and [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_35#35:2._THE_MELCHIZEDEK_SONS Melchizedeks], not only because it’s true, but also to increase your [[wonderful]] [[spiritual]] [[blessing]] of [[humility]] of: Oh my [[goodness]]!—look at all that out there!--as well as all of this in here.

NEBADONIA:  Yes, that’s what we’re doing out here.  We [[understand]] this as the deepest [[reason]] for the [[universe]] of all these [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_30 thousands of different orders] of experiencing [[personal]] [[beings]], all [[creative]], all [[acting]] and [[reacting]] with each [[other]].  It’s not just the [[physical]] [[universe]] your [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telescope telescopes] reveal, but these [[personal]] [[beings]] your [[Urantia book]] was designed to present.  It’s why it teaches about [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_39 angels], and [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_77 Midwayers], and [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_35#35:2._THE_MELCHIZEDEK_SONS Melchizedeks], not only because it’s true, but also to increase your [[wonderful]] [[spiritual]] [[blessing]] of [[humility]] of: Oh my [[goodness]]!—look at all that out there!--as well as all of this in here.

   

   

Student:  It shows us a deeper, richer, more [[profound]] and expansive [[community]] that we’re a part of, of the whole [[cosmos]].  

Student:  It shows us a deeper, richer, more [[profound]] and expansive [[community]] that we’re a part of, of the whole [[cosmos]].