Reading and study

Of The Urantia Book

Increase one’s responsibility

For the implementation

Of the Divine Plan for mankind.

Failure to accept

The responsibilities

Will produce study fatigue

And revolt from instruction. 

Only that which is

Brought into use in a life

Is of practical value

And retains its livingness. 

Sincerity is demanded.

The Urantia Book was written

To achieve group co-operation

And understanding

Not individual benefit.

Through sincere study,

Group interplay is established

Both on the physical

And ethereal levels. 

Individuals in the group

Become more closely

Linked together,

And as a group

Become more closely blended

In the unfolding Plan.

The authors of The Urantia Book

Are building and planning

For the future and for humanity. 

Individual growth

Is of no great significance. 

The formation and development

Of a band of pledged aspirants,

Trained to work together

And to respond in unison

To the teaching is vital.

Men may see

Only a tiny portion

Of the Divine Plan.

The authors

See the Plan as it unfolds

For a series of lives ahead.  

This is the reason

They are seeking men

Who can be taught

To work in group formation.

A group constitutes

An active unit

In the vast happenings

That lie ahead.

The same organizational grouping

Continues after death.

The teaching

Of The Urantia Book

Has not been provided

Simply to train individuals

Or to provide them

With opportunity. 

All life is opportunity,

And individual reaction

To opportunity

Is one of the factors

Which indicate soul growth. 

The training school

Of the world itself suffices

For individual advancement.

No one is required

To read The Urantia Book. 

Individuals are free

To avail themselves

Of the teaching

Or not.

Spiritual work must go forward

Because of the free choice

And self-initiated effort

Of  individuals.

But the effort to understand

The teaching

Carries its own reward.

The attempt to grasp

And comprehend the Soul

Whether cosmic, universal,

Planetary, or individual

Leads inevitably

To an unfolding

Of the mental apparatus

With a subsequent development

Of the brain cells. 

This unfolding

Eventually produces

A co-ordination

Of the thinking faculty

Ideas in Government

The main problem

Of government

Is the wise use of ideas. 

With religion and education

The power of ideas is felt

Through the written

And spoken word. 

In government,

The masses are swayed

By politicians -

Especially today,

In a world with ever faster

And more wide spread communication.

Ideas

Are instilled into

The public with wearying repetition

And without cessation.

Methods of proposed rule

By this or that group

Are blared forth,

To the public

Leaving them no time

For consideration,

Or clear thinking. 

Racial and religious

Antipathies

Are spread,

And personal opinions

And illusions find expression,

Bringing about the deception

Of the unthinking. 

Orators with an attractive appearance,

Good speechwriters,

And the backing of special interests,

Can voice people's grievances,

Juggle statistics, and get a following. 

Today,

There is no training given

In the process

Of contacting the world of patterns

And in the true interpretation of ideas.

Later, when the world sees its problem,

It will act with wisdom

By training its leaders

And statesmen with care.

These will be men and women

Of good will,

Of high mental caliber.

They will be free

From personal ambition

And selfishness,

Animated by love of humanity,

And a desire to help the world. 

Such men are spiritual men.

Functioning of the

World Plan

It is interesting

To see how the idea

Of the controlled

And beneficently applied power

Of those who work

With and through ideas

Have materialized

On the physical plane.

For example,

In Russia, in 1917,

Dissidents subverted the rule

And control of the aristocracy.

While the new Bolshevik dictators

Glorified work and the workers,

They drove

Some of the best elements 

Out of the country

By death or exile.

Yet behind all the mistakes

The cruelty,

And the rank materialism,

There lies the great ideal

Of communism -

The supply of the need of all;

The beauty of mutual service;

And the divinity of constructive work.

Germany had a dictatorship

Of racial superiority,

And attempted to deify a race. 

Without real understanding,

One race presumed

To dictate terms to other races.

Still, the ideal

Of the superman is a true ideal

And it needs upholding.

Temporarily,

It has been forgotten

That the superman

Is the goal for all men.

Asians, Nordics, Jews,

Gentiles, Africans

And all other world races

Are children

Of the same Father.

All are fed

From the same source of Life

And saved

By the same divine

Christ principle. 

The superman

Has been and will be found

Emerging out of the ranks

Of every people,

To find his way into the ranks

Of the spiritual.

In America,

The dictatorship

Of organized business

Seeks to regulate

And control every department

Of the economic life of the nation.

This corporate dictatorship

Cuts deep down,

Through the trained minds

In the government,

To the very roots

Of the nation's existence. 

That some minds

May regard this as an infringement

Upon the liberty

Of the subordinate citizen

Is of small importance

Compared to the gradually

Emerging synthesis

That aims subjectively

To eradicate greed

And end the exploitation

Of the many by the few. 

Great Britain

Which expanded

Through war and colonization

To encompass territories

On every continent

Established a dictatorship

Of empire

That outwardly

Resulted from commercial,

Political

And emigration motives.

The directors

Of these various national movements

Are seldom aware of the impulses

That lie behind their work.

They cannot explain

The ideals toward which

They are working,

Except in terms

Of human ambition

And power. 

While not understanding,

These leaders sense

The great ideas

Thrown into their minds

By the greater

Minds behind the scenes. 

Leaders respond

To the idea of general good,

Of human equality, of the superman,

Of universal trade requirements,

And of the distribution of wealth.

But because

There is no general knowledge

As to the source of the great concepts,

And no understanding

Of the inner Brotherhood

That is guiding humanity

Towards an outer Brotherhood,

The great principles of brotherhood

Are being widely distorted

And selfishly applied.

Debris of War

The animal kingdom

Has the quality

Of increasing

Instinctual function

Which, in its highest form,

Shows itself

As the domesticity

Of the more evolved animals

With their devotion to man. 

The animal evolution

Reveals a steady path

Towards understanding.

They gravitate

Towards the form of life

Which demonstrates

That which they desire. 

The influence

Of the fourth

Adjutant Mind Spirit,

Knowledge,

Pours through the human family

Into the animal kingdom.

Man’s task

Is leading the animal kingdom

Towards liberation

Into the human kingdom.

The vegetable kingdom

Is liberated through a different

Evolutionary process.

Lives in the

Vegetable kingdom

Pass via the bird kingdom

Into the angel evolution.

Wind and insects

Are the agents (pollinators)

Of the vegetable kingdom,

Just as man and water

Are the mediums

For the animal world. 

The secret of release

For the animal nature

Is hidden in the waters

Of  blood.

This fact is difficult

For man to understand

As man’s awareness

Is still primarily of the form

And not the quality of life. 

Through the discharge

Of blood

(Slaughter)

A liberation is coming

That will initiate

The life of the animal kingdom

Into new states

Of consciousness and of awareness. 

The whole problem

Of slaughter,

Whether in the animal

Or the human kingdom,

Originated in events

That occurred during 

Lucifer's rebellion,

The "war in heaven."

Until a man's consciousness

Is such that he can respond

To the planetary consciousness

Of the planetary prince,

The problem of pain,

Bloodshed,

War and of suffering,

Will remain. 

It will be solved

Only when man has changed

The initiating process

For the animals

From that of bloodshed

To that of domesticity

And of mutual love. 

When the mentality

Of the races

Is more developed,

Then man can

Settle all differences

By arbitration

And the right use of speech

Whether this refers

To the animal kingdom

Or to the animal bodies

In the human kingdom.

Forms and Soul

Every form

In manifestation

In any

Of the four kingdoms

(Mineral, vegetable,

Animal or human),

Does two things

Relative to soul.

First, each form

Appropriates as much

Of the over soul

Of the Supreme Being

As the capacity

Of the form permits. 

The form

Of every molecule

And every cell

Has soul,

But not to the same degree

As the form of an animal

Has soul. 

Similarly, an animal

Has soul,

But not to the degree

Of a human,

And so on up

The scale.

Secondly, through

The interaction

Between the indwelling soul

And the form,

Two things occur.

Sentiency (consciousness)

And quality (soul attributes)

Are expressed according

To the type of body

And its evolutionary status.

The soul

Thrusts the form body

Into activity. 

Forcing the form forward

Along the path

Of development. 

The human body,

Provides a field of experience

For the soul. 

Reciprocally, the body

Has the opportunity

To adjust itself

To the higher impulses

Of the soul. 

The soul is very skilled

In the technique

Of contacting

The form.

Contact is the goal

Of the soul

In any form.

The long

Upward and inward

Spiraling path from                            

Personality to Soul

To Spirit

(Fusion with the

Thought Adjuster)

Begins for man

In this world,

In the fourth kingdom

Of nature.

On the path

Of probation and evolution,

A man arrives at a knowledge

Of his individual soul. 

Later, on the path of discipleship,

He glimpses

The quality and purpose

Of his planetary life. 

He discovers himself

As a part of the Life

Of a Spirit Consciousness

That embodies

An aspect

Of the divine purpose and energy. 

After more growth,

Man discerns

The quality and purpose

Of the solar system. 

He sees his life and energy

As a part of that greater whole. 

The soul

Is each man’s ideal of intelligence. 

The characteristics

Of the soul’s intelligence

Are mind and mental awareness,

That provide the power

To discriminate,

And to choose or to reject,

With all of the implications

Conveyed in these terms. 

As long as a man identifies

Himself with forms,

This choice continues the heresy

Of separateness. 

The form nature romances

And deludes man. 

A man identifying himself

With form,

Considers himself

As an insatiable desire.

Man then identifies

With his appetites,

Good and bad. 

He considers himself

As one with his moods,

His feelings, and his longings,

Whether they stream out

In the direction of the material world

Or upward and inward

Toward the world of thought.

Man is torn

By a feeling of duality. 

Still later,

He identifies

With the mind body. 

Thoughts become so tangible that

He is swayed, turned

And influenced by them. 

The world of thought forms

Is added to the world of illusion. 

His arcing recovery

From devolution to evolution

Is nearly complete.

Now the personality

Of the soul

Makes its appearance. 

The man stands on the verge

Of the probationary path. 

He discovers the nature

Of the soul

And begins to shift his emphasis

From form

To the quality of the Life

That produced form. 

The identification of quality

With appearances

Grows steadily

Until the fusion of quality

And appearance

Is so perfect

That appearance

No longer veils the reality. 

The soul

Now dominates. 

Consciousness is identified

With the Creator Son's ray

And not with phenomenal appearance. 

In time,

The soul itself

Is superseded

By the Thought Adjuster,

And the Adjuster becomes,

In reality,

Embodied purpose.

World Planning

There is a plan

For world "progress."

The plan

Is an endeavor

Of the disciples

Of Earth's

Deposed Planetary Prince,

Caligastia.

It is unknown

If this plan

Formulated

In 1900

Has any sanction from

Michael's Constellation Fathers

(Who rule in the lives of men)

And the new

Acting Planetary Prince,

Machiventa Melchizedek.

The establishment

Of the world plan

Brought about augmented training

Such as scholarships at

Prestigious universities

For young men and women

Of intellectual promise

Who showed sensitivity

To direction from

The ethereal world.

The Plan has three segments:

Political, Religious, and Scientific.

The Political Plan

The objective

Of the political work

Is the development

Of an international consciousness

Through the demonstration

Of a need for economic synthesis.

As part of the work

Of relating the nations to each other,

Old political parties and trade relations

Have been deliberately wrecked

To show the necessity

Of establishing international

Dependence and interrelation.

Nations were forced to realize

That isolation, separativeness,

And the cultivation

Of national egotism

Should be dissolved.

National spirit colored by a sense

Of superiority,

By class hatreds

And racial antagonisms,

Have been shown

To constitute

Barriers to the true development

Of humanity.

Gradually,

People are being taught

That the longing to increase possessions

Is a deterrent to real expansion. 

Plans were laid

Whereby a Brotherhood of Nations,

Based on mutual need,

Mutual understanding,

And mutual helpfulness,

Would gradually come into being.

The establishment

Of a state of mind

Was the primary objective of the plan -

Not the establishment

Of some impossible Utopia.

The work

Is difficult.

Racial hatreds and national aspirations

Are strong,

And the ignorance of the masses

Is so great,

That all the resources

And power

Of the workers

Have been taxed

To make the needed impact

Upon the public consciousness. 

There has been

And there still remains,

Much to destroy

Before the nations

Are reduced to the point

Where they will become sensitive

To the new vision,

And able to recognize

Their need of each other.

The goal

Of the plan for science

Is to expand man's consciousness

And widen his horizon

So that a synthesis

Of the tangible

And the intangible worlds

Will take place. 

This will bring mankind

Into a new subjective realm.

These developments

Will be brought about primarily

By workers in the fields

Of education,

Science and psychology. 

Great things

Are imminent.

The entire Christian era

Has been preparing. 

To light

The hidden wonders

Of the universe,

And the unfolding

Of the latent powers in mankind. 

These powers

Will be extensions

Of many of the present senses

And will admit man

Into the world

That lies behind the veil

Of ignorance and matter.

There will be a pouring

Of light upon mankind

That will alter his conditions of living,

Change his outlook upon world affairs,

And inaugurate an age

That will be distinguished

By an aptitude

For group synthesis and cooperation,

And new mental powers.

Man’s mind

Will be able to turn outward

Into the world of manifested forms,

And inward

Into the world of synthesis,

Unity and spirit. 

Influence of

Mind Spirits in Humans 

Each one

Of the seven

Adjutant mind spirits

Sends forth its influence

Into all the inhabited worlds. 

Each seeks

Receptive capacity

For manifestation

Apart from the degree 

To which the others

May find reception

And opportunity for function. 

The Wisdom

Of Mind Spirit I

Emerges into manifestation

And culminates in will,                        

A destroyer

Of material forms.

Mind Spirit II, Worship,

Functioning magnetically,

Evokes love

Culminating in Worship.

Mind Spirit III, Counsel,

Leads to intelligence

Causing spiritually

Fruitful activity.

In the human family,

The first three mind spirits

Correspond

To the three aspects

Of the Thought Adjuster

(Will),

The soul

(Worship),

And personality

(Intelligence).

The Thought Adjuster

Is continuing life,

The sustaining force -

A Lord of persevering

And ceaseless devotion

In pursuit of

The salvation

Of a mortal son.

The Soul

Is a Lord

Of love and wisdom.

When the human

Has mastered

The physical, emotional,

And mental worlds

He becomes

A Personality,

With knowledge

Capable of intelligent

Spiritual activity. 

When man's

Personal vision

Is awakened

He shall know

The true meaning of  bliss. 

Joy is the

Fundamental note

Of creation.

Mind Spirit IV,

Knowledge,

Refines and perfects

Harmony

In all created forms.

The true purpose

Of the fourth

Mind Spirit

Does not emerge

Until the human soul

Is awakened

And consciousness is

Adequately recording 

Knowledge.

The fifth Mind Spirit,

Courage,

Works actively

On the plane

Of most

Immediate importance

To humanity,

The plane of the soul.

The Courage of

Mind Spirit V

Produces individualization. 

Individualization is the shifting

Of the evolving life

Into a new sphere of awareness

From the nature of animal

To the awareness of man.

The fifth mind spirit

Produces science. 

Initially, science

Is separative

In its approach

To divine manifestation.

Mind Spirit VI,

Understanding,

Embodies recognition. 

This enables

The religious man,

Who is predominantly emotional,

The capacity to see

The ideal reality

Lying behind forms.  

The emotionally induced ability

Of the religious person

Also leads

To separatism,

Initially.

Mind Spirit VII,

Intuition and Quick perception,

Embodies a curious quality

In man.

This spirit quality

Synchronizes the unification

Of the inner quality (soul)

And the outer concrete form.