1 - The 1st of the 28 Principles in The Urantia Book

the first 4 of the 28 principles in the urantia book

The 1st of the 28 Principles 

in The Urantia Book 

The Great Question Number One

1. Is courage—strength of character—desirable? Then must man be reared in an environment which necessitates grappling with hardships and reacting to disappointments.

The Great Goal of Hue-man Attainment

It is to the mind of perfect poise, housed in a body of clean habits, stabilized neural energies, and balanced chemical function—when the physical, mental, and spiritual powers are in triune harmony of development—that a maximum of light and truth can be imparted with a minimum of temporal danger or risk to the real welfare of such a being. By such a balanced growth does man ascend the circles of planetary progression one by one, from the seventh to the first.

The Urantia Book 110:6.4  

On the Path to Understanding the "Mastery of Self"

It is accurate to say that "understanding" the 28 principles of "high mortal philosophy" found in Paper 48, The Morontia Life required the asking of many questions and not a small amount of meditative thinking on them.

As conscious beings--we observe--responding to our immediate environment with our five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

And the very reason we are able to observe, and learn from our observations, is because we are able to make contact with Adjutant mind.

Adjutant Mind...

Adjutant mind is the individualized mind-circuit(s) of the Holy Spirit of the Local Universe Mother Spirit which rests gently upon the electro-magnetic, electro-chemical energy-system below.

The reason that this electro-magnetic, electro-chemical energy-system -- the mortal hue-manimal body is an individualized mind-circuit is because each energy-system responds to the 7 Adjutant Mind-spirits in its own unique way.

The 7 Adjutant Mind-spirits of the Local Universe Mother Spirit provide the marshalling impulses to the hue-manimal neurological system. But the energy-system itself, composed of approximately 700 trillion cells are each one governed by inherent genetic responses; each cell is consciously responding in its own unique way to these Adjutant impulses.

What is Epigenetics?

Each cell responds to whatever and whichever signals it receives from its environment. It is both a receiver and a transmitter.

The Path of Taught and Learned Selfish Behavior...

When the hue-man child is born, taking his and her first breath of oxygen, the resultant medical, emotional, mental, other physical abuse, and Tell-LIES-Vision overt and subliminal mind-control programming, during the first seven years of life, more often than not dictate the life-path progression into adulthood. 

It is an all-too-universally common path of being taught to be clever without morality--the path of selfishly serving oneself at the expense of one's fellow children of God.

And it is out of this foundation--out of this system of false beLIEfs the cleverness of selfishly acting hue-man children of God build great empires of tyranny over the great masses of Father's mortal children on Urantia (Earth).

Every negative thought-emotion-construct is fear-rooted in "un-beLIEf," which does not even rise to the level of positive beLIEf, which would create a scaffolding bridge into the higher vibrational level of faith.

The Seven (7) Adjutant Mind Spirits

All seven of these Adjutant mind spirits are, in actuality, one spirit and one mind-circuit. The differential is in how the unique mortal individual responds to each of these Adjutant mind spirits. 

For example, not all hue-man children of our Paradise Father will respond to the spirit of intuition in the same way, although the vibrational light-frequency of the Adjutant Spirit of Intuition does not vary in frequency or intensity. And this holds true for each of the other six.

But each of the seven Adjutant mind spirits do marshal the hue-man neurological energy-system response along a successfully higher vibration path; each mind spirit is a higher vibrational frequency, although the the intensity is the same for all hue-man children of God, here, and on every evolutionary planet throughout our local universe of Nebadon.

The seven Adjutant mind spirits, in order of successively higher vibrational frequency are:

7. the spirit of intuition,

6. the spirit of understanding,

5. the spirit of courage,

4. the spirit of knowledge,

3. the spirit of counsel (fraternal unity),

2. the spirit of worship (cosmic insight into the reality of God),

1. the spirit of wisdom.

The Spirit of Intuition and The 1st of the 28 Principles in The Urantia Book

• How does the hue-manimal child of God experience contact with the Adjutant Mind Spirit of Intuition?

1. The spirit of intuition—

• quick perception, 
• the primitive physical and 
• inherent reflex instincts, 
• the directional and 
• other self-preservative endowments of all mind creations;
• the only one of the adjutants to function so largely in the lower orders of animal life and 
• the only one to make extensive functional contact with the nonteachable levels of mechanical mind.

In 1996, when I was made aware (by then spouse and indwelling spirit) I was attracting imbalanced and unteachable individuals to myself, I realized I was not following (not responding) to the impulses of the Spirit of Intuition. 

I then set about correcting that character deficiency within myself; I stopped attracting imbalanced and unteachable others to myself. I began to pay closer attention to my intuitive feelings about everything going on within me and in the external world.

The 1st of the 28 Principles

• What is the goal of the 28 principles found in Paper 48. - The Morontia Life? 

The 1st principle begins with defining what is not "true character." The 28th principle ends with a primary, but not all-inclusive definition of what "true character" IS.

The 1st principle states: 

48:7.3 1. A display of specialized skill does not signify possession of spiritual capacity. Cleverness is not a substitute for true character.

Turning this Principle into a Personal "I am" Declaration

I am a person of true character.

Always remember: it is not possible to grow into the "living spiritual value" contained within an intellectual principle typed onto a page; you must "internalize" the principle by converting it into a personal "I am" declaration of the person you desire to become. 

One does not have to look any further than the self to evaluate the truth in this principle.

But rather than focusing on "what are my specialized skills" and to what extent am I being "clever," focus on identifying your "character deficiencies."

When you are sincerely honest with yourself, you may readily identify these "character deficiencies." Some primary character deficiencies are:

• fear,
• falsely held beLIEfs,
• immature (selfish) behaviors toward others,
• anxiety,
• impatience,
• anger,
• hatred,
• murderous intent,
• envy,
• jealousy,
• conceit,
• pride,
• arrogance,
• controlling attitude,
• deceitful and manipulating,
• self-inflating,
• hoarding,
• material possessions and wealth accumulation to excess,
• power-seeking,
• presumptuousness (assuming you know something about someone or some thing or event, you have no direct experience with -- here say, anecdotal story-telling), and
• projecting all these false emotions and false beLIEfs onto fellow children of our Paradise Father.

ALL of these are properly understood as "character deficiencies." And ALL "character deficiencies" represent an opportunity for advancing soul growth by:

1. Self-correcting the character deficiency.
2. Developing superior habits of mind and body which lead to self-discipline, self-control and self-improvement.
3. Choosing to ever-momentarily direct oneself back to our Paradise Father's indwelling divine spirit--the Thought Adjuster.
4. The "I am that I am" personality's (pattern-reality) deliberate and decisive choosing (in sincerely honest and dedicated cooperation with the Thought Adjuster) to unify the physical, mental and spiritual powers with the personality into the morontia soul's "true character" manifestation inwardly and outwardly.

The 1st of the 28 principles in The Urantia Book corresponds directly to "self-correcting" one's own "character deficiencies."

How Do You Correct a "Character Deficiency?"

I will never say that the technique I have long used to correct my own "character deficiencies" (and still using) is the only effective way. However, it has been effective for me.

Turning "Character Deficiencies" into an "I am" Declarations

I taught myself, along my now 7 decades journey, to identify my character deficiencies and turn them into "I am" declarations. For example:

Identifying impatience as the lack of patience, I declared the following (examples):

• I am patient.
• I am patient with myself.
• I am patient with others (*replace others with specific names of persons to whom you react with impatience)
• I am slowing down my thought-feelings, by being slow-to-speak, thereby manifesting greater patience.

You can teach yourself to do this with any and ALL character deficiencies you identify within yourself.

By using this technique...you are slowly-but-surely replacing inferior (negative) habit-reaction patterns with superior (positive) habit-reaction patterns. This technique, like any other, only works because you work--investing effort and time into yourself through consistent daily practice.

You are "allowing" yourself to be "spirit-led" by cooperating with Father's indwelling divine spirit -- the Thought Adjuster; you are enlarging your capacity for spiritual growth -- the growth of your evolving morontia soul.

BeLIEf is every thought-emotion-scaffolding with which you choose to vibrate and create separation from God's indwelling divine spirit-presence.

Faith is continuous connection to Father's indwelling divine spirit-presence--the Thought Adjuster; this "knowing" connection is...

• ever "allowing,"
• ever "responding,"
• ever "trusting,"
  
• ever "sharing,"
• ever "healing,"
• ever "truth-declaring," and
• ever "true-character manifesting."

And through this "faith-trust" connection to the divine...you are thereby growing and manifesting the "true character of your soul" rather than a "mere display of specialized skills" and "substituting cleverness" for true character.

Pray for More Self-Mastery

Remember, even if prayer does not change God, it very often effects great and lasting changes in the one who prays in faith and confident expectation. Prayer has been the ancestor of much peace of mind, cheerfulness, calmness, courage, self-mastery, and fair-mindedness in the men and women of the evolving races. ~ The Urantia Book, (91:4.5)

Trust is the crucial test of will creatures. Trustworthiness is the true measure of self-mastery, character. ~ The Urantia Book, (28:6.13)

Circle Attainment and Self-Mastery

In the ministry to so-called normal beings, seraphic assignments are made in accordance with the human attainment of the circles of intellectuality and spirituality. You start out in your mind of mortal investment in the seventh circle and journey inward in the task of self-understanding, self-conquest, and self-mastery; and circle by circle you advance until (if natural death does not terminate your career and transfer your struggles to the mansion worlds) you reach the first or inner circle of relative contact and communion with the indwelling Adjuster. ~ The Urantia Book, (113:1.6)

The 1st of the 28 principles in The Urantia Book correlates to the individual child of God vibrationally responding to the marshalling impulse of the first (1st) Adjutant Mind spirit of Intuition. The 1st principle is one of the first four principles, which are the generalized requirements to experientially master the seventh psychic circle of spiritual intuition, also corresponding the 1st planetary age and the first Mansion Training World educational and socialization equivalency requirements.

The Great Goal of Hue-man Attainment

• I am the mind of perfect poise.
• I am housed in a body of clean habits, and clear and pure thinking.
• I am stabilized in neural energies.
• I am balanced in chemical function.
• I am ever-momentarily transferring all mortal experiential meanings and values into the unifying whole.
• I am ever-momentarily unifying the physical, mental, and spiritual powers with the "I am that I am" personality. 
• I am ever-momentarily giving you, my indwelling divine partner and Thought Controller, my most honest, sincere, and dedicated cooperation in attaining to "supremacy of spirit domination over mind and matter."

💗

Supplemental Reading

• What are the four cosmic dimensions of personality unification?

1. Body                            1. self-correction 

2. Mind                           2. self-discipline / self-control

3. Soul                             3. self-direction to spirit-leading,

4. Spirit                           4. self-mastery

Personality unity self-realizes supremacy of spirit domination over mind and matter.

What is your definition of religion?

How do you define 'your religion?'

How do you keep your religion...pure...?

Personal religion must be kept uncontaminated by:

1. maintaining a self-corrective philosophy of daily living.

2. maintaining non-involvement and impartiality with regard to all social, economic, and political alliances.

3. seeking out and maintaining creative, comforting, and love-expanding relations with one's fellow beings.

4. enhancing personal progress of spiritual insight and the appreciation of cosmic values.

5. prevention of fanaticism by the compensations of the scientific mental attitude.

What is a character deficiency?

What is self-correction of a character-deficiency?

What are the steps involved in correcting one's own character-deficiencies?

What replaces a character-deficiency?

Does a character-deficiency automatically disappear when one is exercising self-correction, self-control and self-direction?

1. Self-correction.

99:3.7 The great weakness of all this unrecognized and unconscious type of religious activity is that it is unable to profit from open religious criticism and thereby attain to profitable levels of self-correction. It is a fact that religion does not grow unless it is disciplined by constructive criticism, amplified by philosophy, purified by science, and nourished by loyal fellowship.

2. Self-control.

54:1.6 True liberty is the associate of genuine self-respect; false liberty is the consort of self-admiration. True liberty is the fruit of self-control; false liberty, the assumption of self-assertion. Self-control leads to altruistic service; self-admiration tends towards the exploitation of others for the selfish aggrandizement of such a mistaken individual as is willing to sacrifice righteous attainment for the sake of possessing unjust power over his fellow beings.

3. Self-direction.

36:5.8.  3. The spirit of courage—the fidelity endowment—in personal beings, the basis of character acquirement and the intellectual root of moral stamina and spiritual bravery. When enlightened by facts and inspired by truth, this becomes the secret of the urge of evolutionary ascension by the channels of intelligent and conscientious self-direction.

4. Supremacy of spirit domination over mind and matter.

109:3.2 ...comparatively few will elect to ascend the moral heights beyond the hills of self-mastery and character acquirement to attain the higher levels of emerging spirituality.

Next Article in This Series