18 - The 18th of the 28 Principles in The Urantia Book
the 18th of the 28 principles in the urantia book
The 18th of the
28 Principles in The Urantia Book
The Great Question Number Five
5. Is the love of truth and the willingness to go wherever it leads, desirable? Then must man grow up in a world where error is present and falsehood always possible.
The Great Goal of Hue-manimal Existence
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.
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.
Impatience vs. Patience
At the time of Michael of Nebadon's incarnation as Joshua Ben Joseph, there were the "enslaved" everywhere present.
Today, it is no different. Highly likely it is that uncivilized and barbaric hue-mans have always enslaved fellow children of God, right up to the present moment.
From what we know about the customs of many primitive tribes still in existence, today, the custom of "taking prisoners" and the "taking of women and children" from neighboring tribes may go all the way back to the children of Andon and Fonta.
- Was Lucifer impatient?
- Was "impatience" the "root cause" of Lucifer "murdering his own mind?"
54:4.4 Most of the liberties which Lucifer sought he already had; others he was to receive in the future. All these precious endowments were lost by giving way to impatience and yielding to a desire to possess what one craves now and to possess it in defiance of all obligation to respect the rights and liberties of all other beings composing the universe of universes. Ethical obligations are innate, divine, and universal.
- Is it possible that there is no "character deficiency" more evidently on display than "impatience?"
- Is it possible that "impatience" is the most deadly of all "character deficiencies?"
- Are you aware enough to observe when you are being impatient with other fellow children of God?
- Are you aware that your impatience is a "relationship killer?"
Let us look at another example of "impatience" in the incarnated lives of Adam and Eve.
74:8.14 The "golden age" is a myth, but Eden was a fact, and the Garden civilization was actually overthrown. Adam and Eve carried on in the Garden for one hundred and seventeen years when, through the impatience of Eve and the errors of judgment of Adam, they presumed to turn aside from the ordained way, speedily bringing disaster upon themselves and ruinous retardation upon the developmental progression of all Urantia.
One may wonder at the high level of civilization that all mortal children of God would have and still be enjoying today, had it not been for the impatience of these onetime spiritual rulers and leaders of the hue-man race.
With these crystal clear meanings in mind we come to the 18th of the 28 principles in The Urantia Book.
48:7.20 18. Impatience is a spirit poison; anger is like a stone hurled into a hornet’s nest.
Turning this Principle into a Personal "I am" Declaration
I am ever-momentarily patient in all relationships and interactions with my fellow children of God.
I am ever-momentarily patient in all relationships and interactions with my fellow children of God.
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.
For many great examples of "patience" we may ever turn to the life that Michael of Nebadon--Joshua Ben Joseph lived in the flesh.
130:5.3 One day when Ganid asked Jesus why he had not devoted himself to the work of a public teacher, he said: “My son, everything must await the coming of its time. You are born into the world, but no amount of anxiety and no manifestation of impatience will help you to grow up. You must, in all such matters, wait upon time. Time alone will ripen the green fruit upon the tree. Season follows season and sundown follows sunrise only with the passing of time. I am now on the way to Rome with you and your father, and that is sufficient for today. My tomorrow is wholly in the hands of my Father in heaven.” And then he told Ganid the story of Moses and the forty years of watchful waiting and continued preparation.130:5.4 One thing happened on a visit to Fair Havens which Ganid never forgot; the memory of this episode always caused him to wish he might do something to change the caste system of his native India. A drunken degenerate was attacking a slave girl on the public highway. When Jesus saw the plight of the girl, he rushed forward and drew the maiden away from the assault of the madman. While the frightened child clung to him, he held the infuriated man at a safe distance by his powerful extended right arm until the poor fellow had exhausted himself beating the air with his angry blows. Ganid felt a strong impulse to help Jesus handle the affair, but his father forbade him. Though they could not speak the girl's language, she could understand their act of mercy and gave token of her heartfelt appreciation as they all three escorted her home. This was probably as near a personal encounter with his fellows as Jesus ever had throughout his entire life in the flesh. But he had a difficult task that evening trying to explain to Ganid why he did not smite the drunken man. Ganid thought this man should have been struck at least as many times as he had struck the girl.
If Ganid had been in the place of Jesus in dealing with the man who had enslaved the girl and was beating her...we would readily observe the consequences of impatience--anger. And the man would undoubtedly have gotten a severe beating at Ganid's hands -- "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."
For Everything Under the Sun...there is a Season...
In every individual child of God's experience there is a time of
coming into being. No amount of impatience, anxiety and frustration-anger will help you to grow your morontial soul into maturity. In fact, impatience, anxiety and anger have just the opposite affect; these deadly "character deficiencies" retard the growth of the soul and may succeed in murdering one's own soul.
Perhaps, in the lives of the vast majority of the mortal children of God, "patience" is the great, if not the greatest of all principles of high mortal philosophy to master.
There are forty-three (43) references to the word "patience" in The Urantia Book. The last reference is the one with which to summarize.
192:2.8 Then Jesus turned to James, asking, “James, do you trust me.” And of course James replied, “Yes, Master, I trust you with all my heart.” Then said Jesus: “James, if you trust me more, you will be less impatient with your brethren. If you will trust me, it will help you to be kind to the brotherhood of believers. Learn to weigh the consequences of your sayings and your doings. Remember that the reaping is in accordance with the sowing. Pray for tranquillity of spirit and cultivate patience. These graces, with living faith, shall sustain you when the hour comes to drink the cup of sacrifice. But never be dismayed; when you are through on earth, you shall also come to be with me.”
Note that herein this passage, above, Jesus did not say to James that if he trusted him more, he would be "perfectly patient" with his brethren. Rather, he said "less impatient."
Then, he said "be kind to the brotherhood of believers." This implies that James, in his tendency to impatience, may have often that unkind words critical of his brethren. In fact, Jesus admonishes James to weigh the consequences of his sayings and doings.
Then Jesus states a universal law; what you sow so shall you reap.
Next, Jesus instructs James to "pray for tranquillity of spirit and cultivate patience." Today, we may understand this tranquility of spirit as "stilling the mind," meditation, in order to be at "inner peace." The mind that is still knows God.
Cultivating patience we may understand as the four (4) step process of...
- self-correction -- practicing the daily observation of and noting when we are being impatient with self and others. Then, choosing to exercise patience in the place of impatience.
- self-discipline and self-control -- the habitual practice of choosing to be patient in the place of impatience is the act and art of soul-consciously disciplining and controlling the mental thought-feeling reactions.
- self-direction -- is soul-direction back to the indwelling divine presence of the Thought Adjuster, who, when soul-consciously cooperating with the divine paradise spirit, he is able to super supportingly reinforce the decisions to replace "character deficiencies" with "true character virtues."
- self-mastery -- over time, these new habits of thinking-feeling and acting instead of reacting will lead to the personality unification of the physical, mental and spiritual powers, thereby achieving the supreme level of spirit domination over mind and matter.
The 18th principle is about self-discipline and self-control. And it takes experiential spiritual courage to self-correct, self-discipline and exercise self-control, and ever-momentarily self-direct back to alignment with Father's will, by giving our most honestly sincere cooperation to the spirit-leading of the indwelling divine spirit--the Thought Adjuster.
The 18th of the 28 principles in The Urantia Book correlates to the individual child of God vibrationally responding to the marshalling impulse of the fifth (5th) Adjutant Mind spirit of Counsel. The 18th principle is the second (2nd) of the set of principles 17 through 20, which are the generalized requirements to experientially master the third (3rd) psychic circle of experiential spiritual fraternalhood, also corresponding to the fifth (5th) planetary age and the third (3rd) Mansion Training World educational and socialization equivalency requirements.
Note: Any of the first sixteen (16) principles representing the generalized requirements for the mastery of the seventh, six, fifth and fourth psychic circles of experiential spiritual intuition, experiential spiritual understanding, experiential spiritual courage, and experiential spiritual knowledge, which were not mastered (after entrance in the third (3rd) psychic circle) will be carried over into the third for further experiential acquirement.
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."
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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.
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