Paper 12 — The Universe of Universes · SOURCE OR PARALLEL URANTIA PAPER 12 1. SPACE LEVELS OF...

WORK-IN-PROGRESS (MARCH 29, 2017) PARALLEL CHART FOR

Paper 12 — The Universe of Universes

© 2017 Matthew Block

Most endnotes and Urantia Book cross-references have been deleted to enhance readability.

Sources for Paper 12, in the order in which they appear

(1) Robert H. Baker, Ph.D., The Universe Unfolding: A Story of Man’s IncreasingComprehension of the Universe Around Him (Baltimore: The Williams & WilkinsCompany, 1932)

(2) H. A. Overstreet, The Enduring Quest: A Search for a Philosophy of Life (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1931)

(3) Rev. Josiah Strong, D.D., The New World-Religion (Garden City, New York: Doubleday,Page & Company, 1915)

Key

(a) Green indicates where a source author first appears, or where he/she reappears.

(b) Yellow highlights most parallelisms.

(c) Tan highlights parallelisms not occurring on the same row, or parallelisms separated byyellowed parallelisms.

(d) An underlined word or words indicates where the source and the UB writer pointedlydiffer from each other.

(e) Blue indicates UB-specific terminology and concepts. (What to highlight in this regard isdebatable. The highlights are tentative.)

Matthew Block29 March 2017

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SOURCE OR PARALLEL URANTIA PAPER 12

Work-in-progress Version 29 Mar. 2017© 2017 Matthew Block

PAPER 12 — THEU N I V E R S E O FUNIVERSES

12:0.1 The immensity of the far-flungcreation of the Universal Father is utterlybeyond the grasp of finite imagination;the enormousness of the master universestaggers the concept of even my order ofbeing. But the mortal mind can be taughtmuch about the plan and arrangement ofthe universes; you can know something oftheir physical organization and marvelousadministration; you may learn muchabout the various groups of intelligentbeings who inhabit the seven super-universes of time and the central universeof eternity.

12:0.2 In principle, that is, in eternalpotential, we conceive of materialcreation as being infinite because theUniversal Father is actually infinite, butas we study and observe the total materialcreation, we know that at any givenmoment in time it is limited, although toyour finite minds it is comparativelylimitless, virtually boundless.

12:0.3 We are convinced, from thestudy of physical law and from theobservation of the starry realms, that theinfinite Creator is not yet manifest infinality of cosmic expression, that muchof the cosmic potential of the Infinite isstill self-contained and unrevealed. Tocreated beings the master universe mightappear to be almost infinite, but it is farfrom finished; there are still physicallimits to the material creation, and theexperiential revelation of the eternalpurpose is still in progress.

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1. SPACE LEVELS OF THEMASTER UNIVERSE

12:1.1 The universe of universes is notan infinite plane, a boundless cube, nor alimitless circle; it certainly has dimen-sions. The laws of physical organizationand administration prove conclusivelythat the whole vast aggregation offorce-energy and matter-power functionsultimately as a space unit, as an organizedand co-ordinated whole. The observablebehavior of the material creationconstitutes evidence of a physicaluniverse of definite limits. The final proofof both a circular and delimited universeis afforded by the, to us, well-known factthat all forms of basic energy ever swingaround the curved path of the space levelsof the master universe in obedience to theincessant and absolute pull of Paradisegravity.

12:1.2 The successive space levels ofthe master universe constitute the majordivisions of pervaded space—totalcreation, organized and partiallyinhabited or yet to be organized andinhabited. If the master universe were nota series of elliptical space levels oflessened resistance to motion, alternatingwith zones of relative quiescence, weconceive that some of the cosmic energieswould be observed to shoot off on aninfinite range, off on a straight-line pathinto trackless space; but we never findforce, energy, or matter thus behaving;ever they whirl, always swinging onwardin the tracks of the great space circuits.

12:1.3 Proceeding outward fromParadise through the horizontal extensionof pervaded space, the master universe isexistent in six concentric ellipses, thespace levels encircling the central Isle:

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1. The Central Universe—Havona.

2. The Seven Superuniverses.

3. The First Outer Space Level.

4. The Second Outer Space Level.

5. The Third Outer Space Level.

6. The Fourth and Outermost SpaceLevel.

12:1.4 Havona, the central universe, isnot a time creation; it is an eternalexistence. This never-beginning, never-ending universe consists of one billionspheres of sublime perfection and issurrounded by the enormous dark gravitybodies. At the center of Havona is thestationary and absolutely stabilized Isle ofParadise, surrounded by its twenty-onesatellites. Owing to the enormousencircling masses of the dark gravitybodies about the fringe of the centraluniverse, the mass content of this centralcreation is far in excess of the totalknown mass of all seven sectors of thegrand universe.

12:1.5 The Paradise-Havona System,the eternal universe encircling the eternalIsle, constitutes the perfect and eternalnucleus of the master universe; all sevenof the superuniverses and all regions ofouter space revolve in established orbitsaround the gigantic central aggregation ofthe Paradise satellites and the Havonaspheres.

12:1.6 The Seven Superuniverses arenot primary physical organizations;nowhere do their boundaries divide anebular family, neither do they cross alocal universe, a prime creative unit.

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Each superuniverse is simply a geo-graphic space clustering of approximatelyone seventh of the organized and partiallyinhabited post-Havona creation, and eachis about equal in the number of localuniverses embraced and in the spaceencompassed. Nebadon, your localuniverse, is one of the newer creations inOrvonton, the seventh superuniverse.

12:1.7 The Grand Universe is thepresent organized and inhabited creation.It consists of the seven superuniverses,with an aggregate evolutionary potentialof around seven trillion inhabited planets,not to mention the eternal spheres of thecentral creation. But this tentativeestimate takes no account of architecturaladministrative spheres, neither does itinclude the outlying groups of unorgan-ized universes. The present ragged edgeof the grand universe, its uneven andunfinished periphery, together with thetremendously unsettled condition of thewhole astronomical plot, suggests to ourstar students that even the seven super-universes are, as yet, uncompleted. As wemove from within, from the divine centeroutward in any one direction, we do,eventually, come to the outer limits of theorganized and inhabited creation; wecome to the outer limits of the granduniverse. And it is near this outer border,in a far-off corner of such a magnificentcreation, that your local universe has itseventful existence.

12:1.8 The Outer Space Levels. Far outin space, at an enormous distance fromthe seven inhabited superuniverses, thereare assembling vast and unbelievablystupendous circuits of force andmaterializing energies.

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Between the energy circuits of the sevensuperuniverses and this gigantic outer beltof force activity, there is a space zone ofcomparative quiet, which varies in widthbut averages about four hundred thousandlight-years. These space zones are freefrom star dust—cosmic fog. Our studentsof these phenomena are in doubt as to theexact status of the space-forces existing inthis zone of relative quiet which encirclesthe seven superuniverses. But aboutone-half million light-years beyond theperiphery of the present grand universewe observe the beginnings of a zone of anunbelievable energy action whichincreases in volume and intensity for overtwenty-five million light-years. Thesetremendous wheels of energizing forcesare situated in the first outer space level,a continuous belt of cosmic activityencircling the whole of the known,organized, and inhabited creation.

12:1.9 Still greater activities are takingplace beyond these regions, for theUversa physicists have detected earlyevidence of force manifestations morethan fifty million light-years beyond theoutermost ranges of the phenomena in thefirst outer space level. These activitiesundoubtedly presage the organization ofthe material creations of the second outerspace level of the master universe.

12:1.10 The central universe is thecreation of eternity; the seven super-universes are the creations of time; thefour outer space levels are undoubtedlydestined to eventuate-evolve the ultimacyof creation.

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And there are those who maintain that theInfinite can never attain full expressionshort of infinity; and therefore do theypostulate an additional and unrevealedcreation beyond the fourth and outermostspace level, a possible ever-expanding,never-ending universe of infinity. Intheory we do not know how to limit eitherthe infinity of the Creator or the potentialinfinity of creation, but as it exists and isadministered, we regard the masteruniverse as having limitations, as beingdefinitely delimited and bounded on itsouter margins by open space.

2. THE DOMAINS OF THEUNQUALIFIED ABSOLUTE

12:2.1 When Urantia astronomers peerthrough their increasingly powerfultelescopes into the mysterious stretches ofouter space and there behold the amazingevolution of almost countless physicaluniverses, they should realize that theyare gazing upon the mighty outworking ofthe unsearchable plans of the Architectsof the Master Universe. True, we dopossess evidences which are suggestive ofthe presence of certain Paradisepersonality influences here and therethroughout the vast energy manifestationsnow characteristic of these outer regions,but from the larger viewpoint the spaceregions extending beyond the outerborders of the seven superuniverses aregenerally recognized as constituting thedomains of the Unqualified Absolute.

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II: BEYOND THE MILKY WAY (Baker123)

If our galactic system with itsassociated globular clusters and Magel-lanic Clouds were suddenly erased, thesky would become almost blank.... Of allthe celestial scenery only two objectswould remain, two faintly glowingpatches near the place where the squareof Pegasus stood—the “great nebula” inAndromeda and Messier 33 in Triangu-lum. These are the nearest of the externalspiral systems, and the only ones visibleto the naked eye (B 123).

12:2.2 Although the unaided humaneye can see only two or three nebulaeoutside the borders of the superuniverseof Orvonton,

Thirty million galaxies inhabit theregion of space around us which is opento inspection with present telescopes, aregion five hundred million light yearsacross (B 133).

your telescopes literally reveal millionsupon millions of these physical universesin process of formation.

Most of the starry realms visuallyexposed to the search of your present-daytelescopes are in Orvonton, but withphotographic technique the largertelescopes penetrate far beyond theborders of the grand universe into thedomains of outer space, where untolduniverses are in process of organization.And there are yet other millions ofuniverses beyond the range of yourpresent instruments.

12:2.3 In the not-distant future,

The projected 200-inch telescope willshow additional multitudes; it should infact bring into view more than 200million galaxies, if their distributioncontinues as we now observe it (B 133).

new telescopes will reveal to thewondering gaze of Urantian astronomersno less than 375 million new galaxies inthe remote stretches of outer space.

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At the same time these more powerfultelescopes will disclose that

To the galactic system proper we havealready added tentatively the MagellanicClouds; and we may presently find causefor annexing the Andromeda andTriangulum spirals and other neighboringsystems. Natural lines of cleavage willappear with a more complete under-standing of the motions of these systems(B 136).

many island universes formerly believedto be in outer space are really a part of thegalactic system of Orvonton.

The seven superuniverses are stillgrowing; the periphery of each isgradually expanding; new nebulae areconstantly being stabilized and organized;and some of the nebulae which Urantianastronomers regard as extragalactic areactually on the fringe of Orvonton and aretraveling along with us.

12:2.4 The Uversa star studentsobserve that the grand universe issurrounded by the ancestors of a series ofstarry and planetary clusters whichcompletely encircle the present inhabitedcreation as concentric rings of outeruniverses upon universes. The physicistsof Uversa calculate that the energy andmatter of these outer and unchartedregions already equal many times thetotal material mass and energy chargeembraced in all seven superuniverses. Weare informed that the metamorphosis ofcosmic force in these outer space levels isa function of the Paradise forceorganizers. We also know that theseforces are ancestral to those physicalenergies which at present activate thegrand universe. The Orvonton powerdirectors, however, have nothing to dowith these far-distant realms, neither arethe energy movements therein discerniblyconnected with the power circuits of theorganized and inhabited creations.

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12:2.5 We know very little of thesignificance of these tremendousphenomena of outer space. A greatercreation of the future is in process offormation. We can observe its immensity,we can discern its extent and sense itsmajestic dimensions, but otherwise weknow little more about these realms thando the astronomers of Urantia. As far aswe know, no material beings on the orderof humans, no angels or other spiritcreatures, exist in this outer ring ofnebulae, suns, and planets. This distantdomain is beyond the jurisdiction andadministration of the superuniversegovernments.

12:2.6 Throughout Orvonton it isbelieved that a new type of creation is inprocess, an order of universes destined tobecome the scene of the future activitiesof the assembling Corps of the Finality;and if our conjectures are correct, thenthe endless future may hold for all of youthe same enthralling spectacles that theendless past has held for your seniors andpredecessors.

3. UNIVERSAL GRAVITY

12:3.1 All forms of force-energy—material, mindal, or spiritual—are alikesubject to those grasps, those universalpresences, which we call gravity.Personality also is responsive togravity—to the Father’s exclusive circuit;but though this circuit is exclusive to theFather, he is not excluded from the othercircuits; the Universal Father is infiniteand acts over all four absolute-gravitycircuits in the master universe:

1. The Personality Gravity of theUniversal Father.

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2. The Spirit Gravity of the EternalSon.

3. The Mind Gravity of the ConjointActor.

4. The Cosmic Gravity of the Isle ofParadise.

12:3.2 These four circuits are notrelated to the nether Paradise forcecenter; they are neither force, energy, norpower circuits. They are absolutepresence circuits and like God areindependent of time and space.

12:3.3 In this connection it isinteresting to record certain observationsmade on Uversa during recentmillenniums by the corps of gravityresearchers. This expert group of workershas arrived at the following conclusionsregarding the different gravity systems ofthe master universe:

12:3.4 1. Physical Gravity. Havingformulated an estimate of the summationof the entire physical-gravity capacity ofthe grand universe, they have laboriouslyeffected a comparison of this finding withthe estimated total of absolute gravitypresence now operative. These calcul-ations indicate that the total gravity actionon the grand universe is a very small partof the estimated gravity pull of Paradise,computed on the basis of the gravityresponse of basic physical units ofuniverse matter. These investigators reachthe amazing conclusion that the centraluniverse and the surrounding sevensuperuniverses are at the present timemaking use of only about five per cent ofthe active functioning of the Paradiseabsolute-gravity grasp.

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In other words: At the present momentabout ninety-five per cent of the activecosmic-gravity action of the Isle ofParadise, computed on this totalitytheory, is engaged in controlling materialsystems beyond the borders of the presentorganized universes. These calculationsall refer to absolute gravity; linear gravityis an interactive phenomenon which canbe computed only by knowing the actualParadise gravity.

12:3.5 2. Spiritual Gravity. By thesame technique of comparative estimationand calculation these researchers haveexplored the present reaction capacity ofspirit gravity and, with the co-operationof Solitary Messengers and other spiritpersonalities, have arrived at thesummation of the active spirit gravity ofthe Second Source and Center. And it ismost instructive to note that they findabout the same value for the actual andfunctional presence of spirit gravity in thegrand universe that they postulate for thepresent total of active spirit gravity. Inother words: At the present timepractically the entire spirit gravity of theEternal Son, computed on this theory oftotality, is observable as functioning inthe grand universe. If these findings aredependable, we may conclude that theuniverses now evolving in outer space areat the present time wholly nonspiritual.And if this is true, it would satisfactorilyexplain why spirit-endowed beings are inpossession of little or no informationabout these vast energy manifestationsaside from knowing the fact of theirphysical existence.

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12:3.6 3. Mind Gravity. By these sameprinciples of comparative computationthese experts have attacked the problemof mind-gravity presence and response.The mind unit of estimation was arrivedat by averaging three material and threespiritual types of mentality, although thetype of mind found in the power directorsand their associates proved to be adisturbing factor in the effort to arrive ata basic unit for mind-gravity estimation.There was little to impede the estimationof the present capacity of the ThirdSource and Center for mind-gravityfunction in accordance with this theory oftotality. Although the findings in thisinstance are not so conclusive as in theestimates of physical and spirit gravity,they are, comparatively considered, veryinstructive, even intriguing. Theseinvestigators deduce that about eighty-five per cent of the mind-gravity responseto the intellectual drawing of the ConjointActor takes origin in the existing granduniverse. This would suggest the poss-ibility that mind activities are involved inconnection with the observable physicalactivities now in progress throughout therealms of outer space. While this estimateis probably far from accurate, it accords,in principle, with our belief that intel-ligent force organizers are at presentdirecting universe evolution in the spacelevels beyond the present outer limits ofthe grand universe. Whatever the natureof this postulated intelligence, it isapparently not spirit-gravity responsive.

12:3.7 But all these computations are atbest estimates based on assumed laws.We think they are fairly reliable. Even ifa few spirit beings were located in outerspace, their collective presence would notmarkedly influence calculations involvingsuch enormous measurements.

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VII: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THEPSYCHOLOGICAL EMERGENT(Overstreet 101)

The Reality of the Psychological (Overstreet 109)

[T]he psychological individual is asignificant form of reality. He is notlightly to be brushed aside. If indeed heseems to fall outside the computabilitiesof the mechanical world, there may be areason for that. He may be of an order ofreality not reducible to the limitedregularities of physical existence (O 109-10).

12:3.8 Personality Gravity isnoncomputable.

We recognize the circuit, but we cannotmeasure either qualitative or quantitativerealities responsive thereto.

4. SPACE AND MOTION

12:4.1 All units of cosmic energy are inprimary revolution, are engaged in theexecution of their mission, whileswinging around the universal orbit.

VII: BEYOND THE MILKY WAY(Baker 123)

The great galaxies and supergalaxiesare no more fixed in position than aretheir individual stars, or the planets thatwe may imagine revolving around theirstars. Everything in the physical universe,so far as we know, is in motion (B 136-37).

The universes of space and theircomponent systems and worlds are allrevolving spheres,

moving along the endless circuits of themaster universe space levels.

Absolutely nothing is stationary in all themaster universe except the very center ofHavona, the eternal Isle of Paradise, thecenter of gravity.

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12:4.2 The Unqualified Absolute isfunctionally limited to space, but we arenot so sure about the relation of thisAbsolute to motion. Is motion inherenttherein? We do not know. We know thatmotion is not inherent in space; even themotions of space are not innate. But weare not so sure about the relation of theUnqualified to motion. Who, or what, isreally responsible for the giganticactivities of force-energy transmutationsnow in progress out beyond the borders ofthe present seven superuniverses?Concerning the origin of motion we havethe following opinions:

12:4.3 1. We think the Conjoint Actorinitiates motion in space.

12:4.4 2. If the Conjoint Actorproduces the motions of space, we cannotprove it.

12:4.5 3. The Universal Absolute doesnot originate initial motion but doesequalize and control all of the tensionsoriginated by motion.

12:4.6 In outer space the forceorganizers are apparently responsible forthe production of the gigantic universewheels which are now in process ofstellar evolution, but their ability so tofunction must have been made possibleby some modification of the spacepresence of the Unqualified Absolute.

12:4.7 Space is, from the humanviewpoint, nothing—negative; it existsonly as related to something positive andnonspatial. Space is, however, real. Itcontains and conditions motion. It evenmoves. Space motions may be roughlyclassified as follows:

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[See 11:6, re space respiration.] 12:4.8 1. Primary motion—spacerespiration, the motion of space itself.

12:4.9 2. Secondary motion—thealternate directional swings of thesuccessive space levels.

12:4.10 3. Relative motions—relativein the sense that they are not evaluatedwith Paradise as a base point. Primaryand secondary motions are absolute,motion in relation to unmoving Paradise.

12:4.11 4. Compensatory or correlatingmovement designed to co-ordinate allother motions.

12:4.12 The present relationship ofyour sun and its associated planets, whiledisclosing many relative and absolutemotions in space, tends to convey theimpression to astronomic observers thatyou are comparatively stationary in space,and that the surrounding starry clustersand streams are engaged in outward flightat ever-increasing velocities as yourcalculations proceed outward in space.But such is not the case.

You fail to recognize

[Thus there are two possible explanations ofthe motions of the nebulae ... When we comparethe nebulae to the fragments of a burst shell, weimagine the nebulae to be moving through space.But when we compare them to straws floating in ariver, the river must be space itself; the nebulae arenot moving through space, but with space—theyare straws shewing us in what way the currents ofspace are flowing, and the law that speed isproportional to distance suggests that space isexpanding uniformly.

Probably the latter explanation is the best,because we now think that space is curved, andround, and finite in amount—rather like the surfaceof a balloon. Space is not to be compared to the airinside the balloon, but to the rubber which formsits surface (Sir James Jeans, Through Space &Time [1934], p. 215).]

the present outward and uniformexpansion of the physical creations of allpervaded space.

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Your own local creation (Nebadon)participates in this movement of universaloutward expansion.

[It thus requires a little over two billion

Urantia years to complete the entire

expansion-contraction cycle (11:6.5).]

The entire seven superuniversesparticipate in the two-billion-year cyclesof space respiration along with the outerregions of the master universe.

12:4.13 When the universes expand andcontract, the material masses in pervadedspace alternately move against and withthe pull of Paradise gravity. The workthat is done in moving the material energymass of creation is space work but notpower-energy work.

12:4.14 Although your spectroscopicestimations of astronomic velocities arefairly reliable when applied to the starryrealms belonging to your superuniverseand its associate superuniverses, suchreckonings with reference to the realms ofouter space are wholly unreliable.

The spectroscope informs us of therelative motion of a star or other celestialbody toward or away from the earth. Ifthe lines in the spectrum are displacedfrom their normal positions toward theviolet, the star is approaching;

Spectral lines are displaced from thenormal towards the violet by anapproaching star;

if they are displaced toward the red, it isreceding; and the amount of thedisplacement reveals the speed ofapproach or recession, in miles a second(B 137).

likewise these lines are displaced towardsthe red by a receding star.

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Many influences interpose to make itappear that

With respect to the galaxies the sun ismoving at a rate somewhat less than twohundred miles a second, a motion whichhas been interpreted as its share in therotation of the galactic system. Withallowance for this, Hubble and Humasonfind that the velocity of recession of theexternal systems increases at the rate ofabout a hundred miles a second

the recessional velocity of the externaluniverses increases at the rate of morethan one hundred miles a second

for every million light years increase indistance.

for every million light-years increase indistance.

By this method of reckoning, subsequentto the perfection of more powerfultelescopes, it will appear that

As the extreme, thus far, a member of agreat cluster of galaxies in Leo at thedistance of a hundred million light yearsexhibits a velocity of recession of 12,000miles a second (B 138-39).

these far-distant systems are in flightfrom this part of the universe at theunbelievable rate of more than thirtythousand miles a second.

But this apparent speed of recession is notreal; it results from numerous factors oferror embracing angles of observation andother time-space distortions.

12:4.15 But the greatest of all suchdistortions arises because the vastuniverses of outer space in the realmsnext to the domains of the sevensuperuniverses seem to be revolving in adirection opposite to that of the granduniverse. That is, these myriads ofnebulae and their accompanying suns andspheres are at the present time revolvingclockwise about the central creation. Theseven superuniverses revolve aboutParadise in a counterclockwise direction.

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It appears that the second outer universeof galaxies, like the seven superuniverses,revolves counterclockwise about Para-dise. And the astronomic observers ofUversa think they detect evidence ofrevolutionary movements in a third outerbelt of far-distant space which arebeginning to exhibit directional tenden-cies of a clockwise nature.

12:4.16 It is probable that thesealternate directions of successive spaceprocessions of the universes havesomething to do with the intramasteruniverse gravity technique of theUniversal Absolute, which consists of aco-ordination of forces and an equal-ization of space tensions.

IV: CLUSTERS OF STARS (Baker 62)

One of nature’s devices forcompensating gravitation, which by itselfmight reduce our complex system of starsto a single great lump, is to set thecelestial bodies in motion (B 71). Motion as well as space is a complement

or equilibrant of gravity.

5. SPACE AND TIME

12:5.1 Like space, time is a bestowal ofParadise, but not in the same sense, onlyindirectly. Time comes by virtue ofmotion and because mind is inherentlyaware of sequentiality. From a practicalviewpoint, motion is essential to time, butthere is no universal time unit based onmotion except in so far as the Paradise-Havona standard day is arbitrarily sorecognized. The totality of spacerespiration destroys its local value as atime source.

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12:5.2 Space is not infinite, eventhough it takes origin from Paradise; notabsolute, for it is pervaded by theUnqualified Absolute. We do not knowthe absolute limits of space, but we doknow that the absolute of time is eternity.

12:5.3 Time and space are inseparableonly in the time-space creations, theseven superuniverses. Nontemporal space(space without time) theoretically exists,but the only truly nontemporal place isParadise area. Nonspatial time (timewithout space) exists in mind of theParadise level of function.

12:5.4 The relatively motionlessmidspace zones impinging on Paradiseand separating pervaded from unpervadedspace are the transition zones from timeto eternity, hence the necessity ofParadise pilgrims becoming unconsciousduring this transit when it is to culminatein Paradise citizenship. Time-consciousvisitors can go to Paradise without thussleeping, but they remain creatures oftime.

[Note: I have found no source for 12:5.5-9, but the definitions of time here are similar, in some ways,to those of philosophers John Locke and HenriBergson. See chapter 14 of Locke’s An EssayConcerning Human Understanding (1690), andBergson’s various works in which he expounds hisconcept of duration.]

12:5.5 Relationships to time do notexist without motion in space, butconsciousness of time does. Sequentialitycan consciousize time even in the absenceof motion. Man’s mind is less time-boundthan space-bound because of the inherentnature of mind. Even during the days ofthe earth life in the flesh, though man’smind is rigidly space-bound, the creativehuman imagination is comparatively timefree. But time itself is not genetically aquality of mind.

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12:5.6 There are three different levelsof time cognizance:

12:5.7 1. Mind-perceived time—consciousness of sequence, motion, and asense of duration.

12:5.8 2. Spirit-perceived time—insightinto motion Godward and the awarenessof the motion of ascent to levels ofincreasing divinity.

12:5.9 3. Personality creates a uniquetime sense out of insight into Reality plusa consciousness of presence and anawareness of duration.

VI: MAN GOES HIS NEW WAY: THEHUMAN PROCESS OF ADVOLUTION(Overstreet 86)

The Advolutional Level of Evolution (Overstreet91)

12:5.10 Unspiritual animals know onlythe past and live in the present.

[Certain] needs, instead of beinginescapably compulsive, have about thema certain quality of voluntariness. Alsothey admit a new element—a more or lessclear previsioning of the future (O 91). Spir i t -indwel t man has powers of

prevision (insight);

I lay out a plan. I think ahead for a year,two years, let us say. I organize what I amto do. That organization in terms of thefuture, then, becomes a determiningfactor in my life (O 91).

he may visualize the future.

Only forward-looking and progressiveattitudes are personally real.

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Passing from a Static View of Life (Overstreet 98)

[The ethics in the older ages]—and theyare the ethics in which most of us havebeen trained—were chiefly static: theethics of obedience, decorum, safebehavior. One scarcely finds in the oldermoral codes an eager belief in rebellingfor a greater rightness’ sake, in takingthings intelligently in hand, in over-coming the irrelevancies and the self-frustrations of tradition and buildinganew through the power of wise thinking(O 99).

Static ethics and traditional morality arejust slightly superanimal.

Stoicism (Overstreet 96)

Stoicism is noble, perhaps, but itseems less than fully intelligent. May notthe unintelligence lie in the fact that thisendurance theory does not accept man onhis essentially human level? It reallyaccepts him on the animal level as a partof a system organized and ruled bypowers greater than himself (O 96-97).

Nor is stoicism a high order of self-realization.

Ethics and morals become truly humanwhen they are dynamic and progressive,alive with universe reality.

Inadequacy of the Physical Patterns (Overstreet100)

12:5.11 The human personality is notmerely a concomitant of time-and-spaceevents;

[contd] Apparently, then, we have herediscovered, on our human level, a highlysignificant process. Perhaps its greatestsignificance lies in the fact that itdiscloses a new kind of causality—causality by reference to the future (O100).

the human personality can also act as thecosmic cause of such events.

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6 . UNIVERSAL OVER-CONTROL

12:6.1 The universe is nonstatic.Stability is not the result of inertia butrather the product of balanced energies,co-operative minds, co-ordinated moron-tias, spirit overcontrol, and personalityunification. Stability is wholly and alwaysproportional to divinity.

12:6.2 In the physical control of themaster universe the Universal Fatherexercises priority and primacy throughthe Isle of Paradise; God is absolute in thespiritual administration of the cosmos inthe person of the Eternal Son. Concerningthe domains of mind, the Father and theSon function co-ordinately in theConjoint Actor.

12:6.3 The Third Source and Centerassists in the maintenance of theequilibrium and co-ordination of thecombined physical and spiritual energiesand organizations by the absoluteness ofhis grasp of the cosmic mind and by theexercise of his inherent and universalphysical- and spiritual-gravity com-plements. Whenever and wherever thereoccurs a liaison between the material andthe spiritual, such a mind phenomenon isan act of the Infinite Spirit. Mind alonecan interassociate the physical forces andenergies of the material level with thespiritual powers and beings of the spiritlevel.

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12:6.4 In all your contemplation ofuniversal phenomena, make certain thatyou take into consideration the inter-relation of physical, intellectual, andspiritual energies, and that due allowanceis made for the unexpected phenomenaattendant upon their unification bypersonality and for the unpredictablephenomena resulting from the actions andreactions of experiential Deity and theAbsolutes.

12:6.5 The universe is highlypredictable only in the quantitative orgravity-measurement sense; even theprimal physical forces are not responsiveto linear gravity, nor are the higher mindmeanings and true spirit values ofultimate universe realities.

[See 12:9.3, below.] Qualitatively, the universe is not highlypredictable as regards new associations offorces, either physical, mindal, orspiritual, although many suchcombinations of energies or forcesbecome partially predictable whensubjected to critical observation. Whenmatter, mind, and spirit are unified bycreature personality, we are unable fullyto predict the decisions of such a freewillbeing.

12:6.6 All phases of primordial force,nascent spirit, and other nonpersonalultimates appear to react in accordancewith certain relatively stable but unknownlaws and are characterized by a latitude ofperformance and an elasticity of responsewhich are often disconcerting whenencountered in the phenomena of acircumscribed and isolated situation.What is the explanation of this un-predictable freedom of reaction disclosedby these emerging universe actualities?

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These unknown, unfathomableunpredictables—whether pertaining to thebehavior of a primordial unit of force, thereaction of an unidentified level of mind,or the phenomenon of a vast preuniversein the making in the domains of outerspace—probably disclose the activities ofthe Ultimate and the presence-performances of the Absolutes, whichantedate the function of all universeCreators.

12:6.7 We do not really know, but wesurmise that such amazing versatility andsuch profound co-ordination signify thepresence and performance of theAbsolutes, and that such diversity ofresponse in the face of apparentlyuniform causation discloses the reactionof the Absolutes, not only to theimmediate and situational causation, butalso to all other related causationsthroughout the entire master universe.

12:6.8 Individuals have their guardiansof destiny; planets, systems, constel-lations, universes, and superuniverseseach have their respective rulers wholabor for the good of their domains.Havona and even the grand universe arewatched over by those intrusted with suchhigh responsibilities. But who fosters andcares for the fundamental needs of themaster universe as a whole, from Paradiseto the fourth and outermost space level?Existentially such overcare is probablyattributable to the Paradise Trinity, butfrom an experiential viewpoint theappearance of the post-Havona universesis dependent on:

1. The Absolutes in potential.

2. The Ultimate in direction.

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3. The Supreme in evolutionary co-ordination.

4. The Architects of the MasterUniverse in administration prior to theappearance of specific rulers.

12:6.13 The Unqualified Absolutepervades all space. We are not altogetherclear as to the exact status of the Deityand Universal Absolutes, but we knowthe latter functions wherever the Deityand Unqualified Absolutes function. TheDeity Absolute may be universallypresent but hardly space present. TheUltimate is, or sometime will be, spacepresent to the outer margins of the fourthspace level. We doubt that the Ultimatewill ever have a space presence beyondthe periphery of the master universe, butwithin this limit the Ultimate isprogressively integrating the creativeorganization of the potentials of the threeAbsolutes.

7. THE PART AND THEWHOLE

12:7.1 There is operative throughout alltime and space and with regard to allreality of whatever nature an inexorableand impersonal law which is equivalent tothe function of a cosmic providence.1

Mercy characterizes God’s attitude oflove for the individual; impartialitymotivates God’s attitude toward the total.The will of God does not necessarilyprevail in the part—the heart of any onepersonality—but his will does actuallyrule the whole, the universe of universes.

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I: GOD IN HIS WORLD (Strong 3)

II. GOD IN HUMAN LIFE (Strong 37)

12:7.2 In all his dealings with all hisbeings it is true that

God’s law, whether natural or moral, isabsolutely reasonable. It is founded in thenature of things and is as far removed aspossible from anything capricious,despotic, or dictatorial. There is nothingarbitrary in the laws of mathematics ...Equally free from anything arbitrary areall of God’s laws (S 42). the laws of God are not inherently

arbitrary.

[Indeed theology has unmistakably taught thearbitrariness of the divine will (S 42).]

To you, with your limited vision andfinite viewpoint, the acts of God mustoften appear to be dictatorial andarbitrary.

Natural laws, so called, are the eternalhabits of God (S 39).

The laws of God are merely the habits ofGod,

his way of repeatedly doing things; andhe ever does all things well.

You observe that

He does the same things every time, God does the same thing in the same way,repeatedly,

because he does the best things everytime (S 39).

simply because that is the best way to dothat particular thing in a givencircumstance;

and the best way is the right way, andtherefore does infinite wisdom alwaysorder it done in that precise and perfectmanner.

[See 4:2.] You should also remember that nature isnot the exclusive act of Deity; otherinfluences are present in thosephenomena which man calls nature.

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12:7.3 It is repugnant to the divinenature to suffer any sort of deteriorationor ever to permit the execution of anypurely personal act in an inferior way.

[Compare 3:2.7.] It should be made clear, however, that, if,in the divinity of any situation, in theextremity of any circumstance, in anycase where the course of supreme wisdommight indicate the demand for differentconduct—if the demands of perfectionmight for any reason dictate anothermethod of reaction, a better one, then andthere would the all-wise God function inthat better and more suitable way. Thatwould be the expression of a higher law,2

not the reversal of a lower law.

If a musician plays a sonata precisely thesame way again and again, we do notinfer that he is the slave either of theinstrument or of the composition, butrather the master of both (S 39).

12:7.4 God is not a habit-bound slaveto the chronicity of the repetition of hisown voluntary acts.

There is no conflict among the laws of theInfinite; they are all perfections of theinfallible nature; they are all theunquestioned acts expressive of faultlessdecisions. Law is the unchanging reactionof an infinite, perfect, and divine mind.The acts of God are all volitionalnotwithstanding this apparent sameness.

[God’s laws] are unvarying because theyexpress the will of him “with whom thereis no variableness, neither shadow ofturning (S 39).

In God there “is no variableness neithershadow of changing.”

But all this which can be truly said of theUniversal Father cannot be said withequal certainty of all his subordinateintelligences or of his evolutionarycreatures.

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12:7.5 Because God is changeless,therefore can you depend, in all ordinarycircumstances, on his doing the samething in the same identical and ordinaryway. God is the assurance of stability forall created things and beings.

[For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore yesons of Jacob are not consumed (Mal. 3:6).]

He is God; therefore he changes not.

12:7.6 And all this steadfastness ofconduct and uniformity of action ispersonal, conscious, and highly volition-al, for the great God is not a helplessslave to his own perfection and infinity.God is not a self-acting automatic force;he is not a slavish law-bound power. Godis neither a mathematical equation nor achemical formula. He is a freewill andprimal personality. He is the UniversalFather, a being surcharged with person-ality and the universal fount of allcreature personality.

12:7.7 The will of God does notuniformly prevail in the heart of theGod-seeking material mortal, but if thetime frame is enlarged beyond themoment to embrace the whole of the firstlife, then does God’s will becomeincreasingly discernible in the spirit fruitswhich are borne in the lives of thespirit-led children of God. And then, ifhuman life is further enlarged to includethe morontia experience, the divine will isobserved to shine brighter and brighter inthe spiritualizing acts of those creaturesof time who have begun to taste thedivine delights of experiencing therelationship of the personality of manwith the personality of the UniversalFather.

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12:7.8 The Fatherhood of God and thebrotherhood of man present the paradoxof the part and the whole on the level ofpersonality. God loves each individual asan individual child in the heavenlyfamily. Yet God thus loves everyindividual; he is no respecter of persons,and the universality of his love bringsinto being a relationship of the whole, theuniversal brotherhood.

12:7.9 The love of the Fatherabsolutely individualizes each personalityas a unique child of the Universal Father,a child without duplicate in infinity, awill creature irreplaceable in all eternity.The Father’s love glorifies each child ofGod, illuminating each member of thecelestial family, sharply silhouetting theunique nature of each personal beingagainst the impersonal levels that lieoutside the fraternal circuit of the Fatherof all. The love of God strikingly portraysthe transcendent value of each willcreature, unmistakably reveals the highvalue which the Universal Father hasplaced upon each and every one of hischildren from the highest creatorpersonality of Paradise status to thelowest personality of will dignity amongthe savage tribes of men in the dawn ofthe human species on some evolutionaryworld of time and space.

12:7.10 This very love of God for theindividual brings into being the divinefamily of all individuals, the universalbrotherhood of the freewill children ofthe Paradise Father. And this brother-hood, being universal, is a relationship ofthe whole. Brotherhood, when universal,discloses not the each relationship, butthe all relationship. Brotherhood is areality of the total and therefore disclosesqualities of the whole in contradistinctionto qualities of the part.

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12:7.11 Brotherhood constitutes a factof relationship between every personalityin universal existence. No person canescape the benefits or the penalties thatmay come as a result of relationship toother persons. The part profits or suffersin measure with the whole. The goodeffort of each man benefits all men; theerror or evil of each man augments thetribulation of all men. As moves the part,so moves the whole. As the progress ofthe whole, so the progress of the part. Therelative velocities of part and wholedetermine whether the part is retarded bythe inertia of the whole or is carriedforward by the momentum of the cosmicbrotherhood.

12:7.12 It is a mystery that God is ahighly personal self-conscious being withresidential headquarters, and at the sametime personally present in such a vastuniverse and personally in contact withsuch a well-nigh infinite number ofbeings. That such a phenomenon is amystery beyond human comprehensionshould not in the least lessen your faith.Do not allow the magnitude of theinfinity, the immensity of the eternity,and the grandeur and glory of thematchless character of God to overawe,stagger, or discourage you; for the Fatheris not very far from any one of you;

[Know ye not that ye are the temple of God,and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? (1 Cor.3:16)]

he dwells within you,

[For in him we live, and move, and have ourbeing; (Acts 17:28)]

and in him do we all literally move,actually live, and veritably have ourbeing.

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12:7.13 Even though the ParadiseFather functions through his divinecreators and his creature children, he alsoenjoys the most intimate inner contactwith you, so sublime, so highly personal,that it is even beyond my comprehen-sion—that mysterious communion of theFather fragment with the human soul andwith the mortal mind of its actualindwelling. Knowing what you do ofthese gifts of God, you therefore knowthat the Father is in intimate touch, notonly with his divine associates, but alsowith his evolutionary mortal children oftime. The Father indeed abides onParadise, but his divine presence alsodwells in the minds of men.

12:7.14 Even though the spirit of a Sonbe poured out upon all flesh, even thougha Son once dwelt with you in the likenessof mortal flesh, even though the seraphimpersonally guard and guide you, how canany of these divine beings of the Secondand Third Centers ever hope to come asnear to you or to understand you as fullyas the Father, who has given a part ofhimself to be in you, to be your real anddivine, even your eternal, self?

8. MATTER, MIND, ANDSPIRIT

12:8.1 “God is spirit,” but Paradise isnot. The material universe is always thearena wherein take place all spiritualactivities; spirit beings and spiritascenders live and work on physicalspheres of material reality.

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12:8.2 The bestowal of cosmic force,the domain of cosmic gravity, is thefunction of the Isle of Paradise. Alloriginal force-energy proceeds fromParadise, and the matter for the making ofuntold universes now circulates through-out the master universe in the form of asupergravity presence which constitutesthe force-charge of pervaded space.

12:8.3 Whatever the transformations offorce in the outlying universes, havinggone out from Paradise, it journeys onsubject to the never-ending, ever-present,unfailing pull of the eternal Isle,obediently and inherently swinging onforever around the eternal space paths ofthe universes. Physical energy is the onereality which is true and steadfast in itsobedience to universal law. Only in therealms of creature volition has there beendeviation from the divine paths and theoriginal plans. Power and energy are theuniversal evidences of the stability,constancy, and eternity of the central Isleof Paradise.

12:8.4 The bestowal of spirit and thespiritualization of personalities, thedomain of spiritual gravity, is the realmof the Eternal Son. And this spirit gravityof the Son, ever drawing all spiritualrealities to himself, is just as real andabsolute as is the all-powerful materialgrasp of the Isle of Paradise. Butmaterial-minded man is naturally morefamiliar with the material manifestationsof a physical nature than with the equallyreal and mighty operations of a spiritualnature which are discerned only by thespiritual insight of the soul.

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12:8.5 As the mind of any personalityin the universe becomes more spiritual—Godlike—it becomes less responsive tomaterial gravity. Reality, measured byphysical-gravity response, is the antithesisof reality as determined by quality ofspirit content. Physical-gravity action is aquantitative determiner of nonspiritenergy; spiritual-gravity action is thequalitative measure of the living energyof divinity.

12:8.6 What Paradise is to the physicalcreation, and what the Eternal Son is tothe spiritual universe, the Conjoint Actoris to the realms of mind—the intelligentuniverse of material, morontial, andspiritual beings and personalities.

12:8.7 The Conjoint Actor reacts toboth material and spiritual realities andtherefore inherently becomes theuniversal minister to all intelligent beings,beings who may represent a union of boththe material and spiritual phases ofcreation. The endowment of intelligence,the ministry to the material and thespiritual in the phenomenon of mind, isthe exclusive domain of the ConjointActor, who thus becomes the partner ofthe spiritual mind, the essence of themorontia mind, and the substance of thematerial mind of the evolutionarycreatures of time. And in the last analysisthe unifying possibilities of even humanmind, the ability to co-ordinate things,ideas, and values, is supermaterial.

[See 4:4.5 and 13:4.7, re the seven levels ofreality.]

12:8.8 Though it is hardly possible forthe mortal mind to comprehend the sevenlevels of relative cosmic reality, thehuman intellect should be able to graspmuch of the meaning of three functioninglevels of finite reality:

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12:8.9 1. Matter. Organized energywhich is subject to linear gravity exceptas it is modified by motion andconditioned by mind.

12:8.10 2. Mind. Organized conscious-ness which is not wholly subject tomaterial gravity, and which becomes trulyliberated when modified by spirit.

12:8.11 3. Spirit. The highest personalreality. True spirit is not subject tophysical gravity but eventually becomesthe motivating influence of all evolvingenergy systems of personality dignity.

12:8.12 The goal of existence of allpersonalities is spirit; material mani-festations are relative, and the cosmicmind intervenes between these universalopposites. The bestowal of mind and theministration of spirit are the work of theassociate persons of Deity, the InfiniteSpirit and the Eternal Son. Total Deityreality is not mind but spirit-mind—mind-spirit unified by personality.Nevertheless the absolutes of both thespirit and the thing converge in the personof the Universal Father.

12:8.13 On Paradise the three energies,physical, mindal, and spiritual, areco-ordinate. In the evolutionary cosmosenergy-matter is dominant except inpersonality, where spirit, through themediation of mind, is striving for themastery. Spirit is the fundamental realityof the personality experience of allcreatures because God is spirit. Spirit isunchanging, and therefore, in allpersonality relations, it transcends bothmind and matter, which are experientialvariables of progressive attainment.

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12:8.14 In cosmic evolution matterbecomes a philosophic shadow cast bymind in the presence of spirit luminosityof divine enlightenment, but this does notinvalidate the reality of matter-energy.Mind, matter, and spirit are equally real,but they are not of equal value topersonality in the attainment of divinity.Consciousness of divinity is a progressivespiritual experience.

12:8.15 The brighter the shining of thespiritualized personality (the Father in theuniverse, the fragment of potential spiritpersonality in the individual creature), thegreater the shadow cast by the interveningmind upon its material investment. Intime, man’s body is just as real as mind orspirit, but in death, both mind (identity)and spirit survive while the body doesnot. A cosmic reality can be nonexistentin personality experience.

[Note: Overstreet relates Plato’s story of theindividuals chained in a cave, watching shadowsmoving back and forth on the cave’s wall andunable to turn around and see the living figurescasting the shadows. “That was Plato’s account oflife: a self-deluding commerce with shadows”(Overstreet 174).]

And so your Greek figure of speech—thematerial as the shadow of the more realspirit substance—does have a philosophicsignificance.

9. PERSONAL REALITIES

12:9.1 Spirit is the basic personalreality in the universes, and personality isbasic to all progressing experience withspiritual reality. Every phase ofpersonality experience on everysuccessive level of universe progressionswarms with clues3 to the discovery ofalluring personal realities.

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VI: MAN GOES HIS OWN WAY: THEHUMAN PROCESS OF ADVOLUTION(Overstreet 86)

Inadequacy of the Physical Patterns (Overstreet100)

Somehow, in all this, the significantdestiny of man begins dimly to beseen—only dimly, indeed, for theultimate destiny is doubtless beyond us.

Man’s true destiny

But dimly we can see man, the curiousdreamer of dreams, casting his dreamsahead of him—

consists in the creation of new and spiritgoals

catching up to them—and again castingthem ahead (O 100).

and then in responding to the cosmicallurements of such supernal goals ofnonmaterial value.

II: A FALSE WAY OF THINKING: THEFALLACY OF ABSTRACTION(Overstreet 27)

How Do We Know an Individual? (Overstreet 32)

12:9.2 Love is the secret of beneficialassociation between personalities.

Here, for example is an individual,Richard Jones. You have just been intro-duced to him. A swift glance, and youhave made an estimate.... The judgmentyou make in this particular case is thatRichard Jones is a sulky person not worthknowing.

It happened, however, that RichardJones, that day, was suffering the pains ofthe damned. He had a toothache, and ashe was introduced there was a glum lookon his face that boded good to no one.[contd next pg.]

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Next week, you may meet him again andbe agreeably surprised to find the sameRichard Jones a delightfully genial,sympathetic, and altogether charmingcreature. If, however, you insist that, foryourself, a single contact with anindividual is enough, you may persist inholding to your initial judgment,believing that, all appearances to thecontrary, the real Richard Jones is a sulkyperson.

Obviously you come to know the realindividual only as you know him frommany points of view (O 32).

You cannot really know a person as theresult of a single contact.

Awarding a Double Prize (Overstreet 29)

An individual is listening to music.“Beautiful,” he says. “But,” we say, “doyou really know about music? Come intoour laboratory and we shall show you thevibrations you are now experiencing.Music is mathematical physics. Unlessone knows mathematical physics onecannot know music.” You cannot appreciatingly know music

through mathematical deduction,

even though music is a form ofmathematical rhythm.

If, now, the individual, being thusadmonished, accepts, he will have adifferent experience. He will see a wholerange of figures, each figure indicating atone’s vibrations. “But where is themusic?” he might ask (O 30).

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Is Exact Knowledge the Only Kind of Knowledge?(Overstreet 37)

If we take the meaning [of science] thatmost competent scientists hold, namely,that science is exact knowledge, or atleast aims at exact knowledge, and if werealize that exactness can be achievedonly when the matters in question arereduced to mathematical terms, it isobvious that to hold ourselves solely toscience would immeasurably impoverishour knowledge. It would be—followingEddington once more—like supposingthat the numbers attached to the names oftelephone subscribers

The number assigned to a telephonesubscriber

does not in any manner

gave an adequate account of eachsubscriber (O 38).

identify the personality of that subscriberor signify anything concerning hischaracter.

12:9.3 Mathematics, material science,is indispensable to the intelligentdiscussion of the material aspects of theuniverse, but such knowledge is notnecessarily a part of the higher realizationof truth or of the personal appreciation ofspiritual realities.

IV: THE DRAMA OF BIOLOGY: THEPUZZLE OF THE NEW (Overstreet 51)

A Third Alternative (Overstreet 58)

Not only in the realms of life but even inthe world of physical energy,

The basic idea [of emergent evolution] isthat in new combinations there issomething more than the additive result,or the mere sum (O 59).

the sum of two or more things is veryoften something more than, or somethingdifferent from, the predictable additiveconsequences of such unions.

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Let us illustrate. Hydrogen andoxygen brought together in the correctproportions, eventuate in a fluid calledwater. Water, however, is not simply thesum of hydrogen and oxygen. It issomething qualitatively new, somethingthat cannot be found by the mostsearching examination of the gas,hydrogen, nor of the gas, oxygen. Noamount of previous knowledge of theatomic structure of hydrogen and oxygencould, apparently, give a knowledge of

The entire science of mathematics, thewhole domain of philosophy, the highestphysics or chemistry, could not predict orknow that

this peculiar fluid that results fromcombining the two gases (O 59).

the union of two gaseous hydrogen atomswith one gaseous oxygen atom wouldresult in a new and qualitativelysuperadditive substance—liquid water.

The understanding knowledge of this onephysiochemical phenomenon should haveprevented the development of mater-ialistic philosophy and mechanisticcosmology.

[?]

12:9.4 Technical analysis does notreveal what a person or a thing can do.For example: Water is used effectively toextinguish fire. That water will put outfire is a fact of everyday experience, butno analysis of water could ever be madeto disclose such a property. Analysisdetermines that water is composed ofhydrogen and oxygen; a further study ofthese elements discloses that oxygen isthe real supporter of combustion and thathydrogen will itself freely burn.

12:9.5 Your religion is becoming realbecause it is emerging from the slavery offear and the bondage of superstition.Your philosophy struggles for eman-cipation from dogma and tradition.

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[Materialism was the view which reared this falsityof abstraction into a philosophy of life (O 39).]

Your science is engaged in the agelongcontest between truth and error while itfights for deliverance from the bondageof abstraction, the slavery of math-ematics, and the relative blindness ofmechanistic materialism.

VII: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THEPSYCHOLOGICAL EMERGENT: THENEXT AREA OF EXPLORATION(Overstreet 101)

Self-maintenance and Structural Configuration(Overstreet 106)

What is most characteristic of [theindividual] is that he is, as it were,nucleated. What I call my self is thecentral reality which I carry around.Everything that comes within myexperience moves, so to speak, aroundthat nucleus of selfhood (O 107). 12:9.6 Mortal man has a spirit nucleus.

The mind is a personal-energy systemexisting around a divine spirit nucleusand functioning in a material environ-ment.

Such a living relationship of personalmind and spirit constitutes the universepotential of eternal personality.

[Sometimes the nucleus breaks up, and wehave a multiple personality. When that happensthere is not a proper individual, but somethingweak, ineffective, and torn to pieces ... (O 107).]

Real trouble, lasting disappointment,serious defeat, or inescapable death cancome only after self-concepts presumefully to displace the governing power ofthe central spirit nucleus, therebydisrupting the cosmic scheme ofpersonality identity.

12:9.7 [Presented by a Perfector ofWisdom acting by authority of theAncients of Days.]

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1. See 4:1 and 118:2 re the function of providence.

2. See 3:2.7, 25:3.5 for “higher laws”.

3. Clues: O xii, 40, 78, 87, 98.

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