PREPARED by:
Editorial Staff of the Invisible Fellowship Magazine
PO Box 19135
Boulder, CO 80308

The Urantia Book, Channeling and the Teaching Mission

This publication is distributed by The Invisible Fellowship Magazine for educational purposes. It is not to be sold. Thank you to Tom Choquette who made this presentation and distribution possible.

The editorial staff of the Invisible Fellowship Magazine consists of: Carol Hay, Joan Batson Mullins and Larry Mullins Please send comments to:
The Invisible Fellowship,
PO Box 19135,
BOULDER, CO 80308

A message of importance from the editorial staff of the Invisible Fellowship . . .

DURING THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS, an activity has surfaced in Urantia Book reading circles that is known as "The Teaching Mission". Participants claim to receive channeled messages from unseen "spiritual beings".

These channelers call themselves "Transmitter-Receivers" and they profess to represent a new, invisible planetary government. They insist that they are given special information and guidance. But the most serious assertion they put forth is that their material is an extension of the Fifth Epochal Revelation -- The Urantia Book. Thus they justify taking over Urantia Book study groups and "updating" The Urantia Book with their channeled "messages" from "celestial" personalities.

The proponents of "The Teaching Mission" and other channeling activities have been most aggressive in promoting themselves, and they have generally been allowed to pursue their agendas at will. In our opinion this is a critical situation that has too long gone unchallenged -- we believe channeling compromises the integrity and credibility of The Urantia Book before the world and affects the entire Urantia community. To avoid taking a stand against what we deem to be error is -- as Martin Luther King once said -- "to be an accomplice to it".

This special report was prepared to answer a long-standing need for a balanced, organized, and replete argument against channeling. Our love is not diminished for our brothers and sisters who choose to believe and support channeling. It is, rather, in the spirit of that love that we offer this information.

We hope that all readers carefully consider what The Urantia Book teaches about channeling activities. We also urge you to take a hard look at what is happening to the Fifth Epochal Revelation.

A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON CHANNELING IN THE URANTIA MOVEMENT
by Larry Mullins

In my twenty-five years or so of reading The Urantia Book I have known of three powerful attempts to control and manipulate the movement and to exploit the Fifth Epochal Revelation.

Each of these has been associated with "channeling", "special messages", and/or "exclusive" information. Each attempt has involved "favored" individuals -- such as self-proclaimed "reserve corps" members -- people who were generally egoistic, strong-willed and charismatic. Very rarely did leaders publicly challenge these usurpers or question their authority. The agendas of these aggressive personalities were sometimes even championed and supported by other leaders in the movement. The cumulative result of this general passiveness and appeasement has been disastrous to the mission of disseminating The Urantia Book and its teachings.

The first two instances were closely related attempts to control from within. In one case, after the death of Dr. William Sadler in 1969, a small nucleus of individuals in the Foundation and Brotherhood held sway over the entire movement for years. Policies of non-advertising and harsh control were justified by unspecified, or partially disclosed "messages" and "mandates". Following the death of one of the key members of the exclusive inner circle in 1982, a single individual sought control of the Revelation based upon his own "secret messages". The final outcome was a "World War III" scare that resulted in years of chaos, disrupted lives, and a fragmented movement.

After the war-fear crisis passed, a cult-like atmosphere existed at the Foundation. The last surviving member of the original control-nucleus maintained a policy of closed and secretive repression, demanding more and more acquiescence from the General Council of the Brotherhood. The years of avoidance and accommodation proved fatal to reconciliation: The Brotherhood (now the Fellowship) and the Foundation severed relations completely -- and as a result Urantia Books have virtually disappeared from bookstores and are difficult to obtain.

The Urantia movement is now faced with a third attempt to control and exploit the Revelation. In this instance, it is not someone in the "inner circle" who is presuming unique authority, the threat is from the outside Dozens of Urantia Book study groups have been taken over and supplanted by "channeling" sessions. Potential new readers are turned away by activities that are less than wholesome and appropriate. Some official representatives of the Fellowship foster channeling and are open advocates of the practice. A mass of material supporting channeling is being passed back and forth between readers. To paraphrase Shakespeare, many of us are being "won over with truthful trifles, to be betrayed in the deepest consequence". Since the early days of the movement, the General Council of the Brotherhood has been reluctant to take official stands on tough issues, fearing to be perceived as a "doctrinaire" body. The new Fellowship has continued this policy. Readers who look to the 36 General Councilors for decisive leadership are advised to "make up their own minds". But too often only one side of the "channeling" story is being presented. A fuller disclosure of what The Urantia Book teaches must be provided before informed decisions can be made. This booklet is designed to furnish this needed, more replete distillation of The Urantia Book's philosophy about "celestial guidance".

The Urantia Papers were not "channeled"

THE URANTIA PAPERS were materialized by means that have never been fully explained. Dr. William Sadler was very clear, however, that the manner in which the Papers were materialized in no way paralleled or was related to any form of marginal human consciousness. In other words, they were not channeled. Whatever the "Teaching Mission" and the various other channeling activities may be, they are not a continuation of the Fifth Epochal Revelation. Much of the channeling material is contrary to the broad philosophical fabric of The Urantia Book. The primary purpose of this publication is to establish that proposition by using quotes from The Urantia Book -- the Book speaks best for itself. Appendix One is provided to allow the reader to weigh the ideas of a secular team that investigates the use of channeling as a control tool by would-be gurus. In Appendix Two, you can read the perspective of Dr. Meredith J. Sprunger, an esteemed theologian who is the only living colleague and confidant of Dr. William Sadler. The final appendix was extracted from material that was edited and published by advocates of channeling. Though brief. these excerpts demonstrate that some of their own carefully prepared and showcased material should be repugnant to the common sense of any reader who is familiar with the exquisitely consistent and symmetrical philosophy of The Urantia Book.

The collection of Urantia Book quotes presented herewith was developed to support the premises and contentions on page eight of this special report. We have sought to be objective within the context of these premises. Many people may take exception to the conclusions we endeavor to support; but in doing so they are confronted with a formidable amount of Urantia Book philosophy that they must reconcile to their views; or simply ignore.

The most significant questions every devoted reader must confront is: Are channeling activities truly a continuation of the Fifth Epochal Revelation, or are they not? If they are not, should these activities -- even in the interest of being "brotherly" and avoiding confrontations -- continue to interfere with, and possibly confuse, those who desire to study the original teachings of The Urantia Book?

In the rich mythology surrounding the Urantia Papers, it has been written and stated that when the book was at last published in 1955, a final message was communicated to the original Forum -- and then the contact was severed and fell silent. This last message was said to be: "You are now on your own".

CLYDE BEDELL joined the original Forum in 1924, at the age of 26. In 1981, he wrote about the supposed "secret" information that the Foundation was then using for manipulative control of the readership.

"After being in the Sadler Forum and its successive or subsequent organizations since September of 1924 . . . I do not believe The Urantia Book will ever be superseded until some distant date from now, and then only by another Epochal Revelation, not by some anonymous spirits secretly passing little do's and don'ts to fallible human trustees. If the Revelators ever in the future cancel the 'you are now on your own' [message], it will not be to discredit the book and Jesus' instructions. Of that you may be certain".

I hasten to suggest a qualification to the alleged final message: "You are now on your own". As Meredith Sprunger points out in his commentaries in appendix two of this work, we have a direct line to the highest authority in the universe -- we have our Father Fragment within -- not to mention the Spirit of Truth, and the Holy Spirit. But we must make decisions with our human minds, and complete those decisions with appropriate actions.

This is a time for courageous human decisions-and a fresh measure of passionate commitment to the formidable mission at hand. This mission was valiantly set into motion nearly 2000 years ago, in an obscure province of the Roman Empire. Its completion has been touchingly entrusted to us, the ordinary mortals of the realm. This mission is eloquently redefined for the world in the pages of The Urantia Book. In my judgment, and in the judgment of the staff of The Invisible Fellowship Magazine, the time has come for believers in The Urantia Book to wholeheartedly be about the completion of that supreme and noble mission-the mission of Jesus of Nazareth, Christ Michael of Nebadon

The PREMISES and CONTENTIONS of this DOCUMENT

1. God has provided for our spiritual development through our moral decisions and no being in the universe is permitted to interfere or impinge upon that process.
2. "Of all human knowledge, that which is of greatest value is the religious life of Jesus and how he lived it."
3. Jesus, as a human on this planet, did not employ celestial personalities for "advice", he used only his Thought Adjuster, just as do other mortals of the realm. This was true up to his baptism, which is equivalent to the point at which a mortal would fuse.
4. The supreme, authentic "teaching mission" was set into motion by Jesus. The Creator Son was required to use "natural, ordinary and trying methods" to win the hearts of mortals, "as his earth children must subsequently follow".
5. The human being cannot discern "celestial messages" from the products of his or her own mental processes.
6. Contrary to the alleged channeling ", notably "Machiventa", who has been showcased by channelers as one of their higher quality "teachers", our great task in mortal life is to seek better attunement with our Thought Adjusters. ("Machiventa" claims the "teacher" will be even closer to the mortal than the Spirit (Father) Fragment!)
7. Channeling is likely a new form of "alter egoism", similar to that of primitive spiritist religions.
8. Midwayers, although never involved in spiritualism or mediumship, are always employed as guardians when authentic spiritual contacts are made with mortals. Channelers do not employ midwayers as part of their "communications" process.
9. The efforts of the "teaching mission" to bring about a premature world order under the control of "favored" mortals is not consistent with the gospel of the kingdom of heaven as taught by Jesus.

The Sovereignty and Responsibility of Human Will

[71] Having thus provided for the growth of the immortal soul and having liberated man's inner self from the fetters of absolute dependence on antecedent causation, the Father stands aside. Now, man having thus been liberated from the fetters of causation response, at least as pertains to eternal destiny, and provision having been made for the growth of the immortal self, the soul, it remains for man himself to will the creation or to inhibit the creation of this surviving and eternal self which is his for the choosing. No other being, force, creator, or agency in all the wide universe of universes can interfere to any degree with the absolute sovereignty of the mortal free will, as it operates within the realms of choice, regarding the eternal destiny of the personality of the choosing mortal. As pertains to eternal survival, God has decreed the sovereignty of the material and mortal will, and that decree is absolute.

Jesus used only his Thought Adjuster

[2090] Of all human knowledge, that which is of greatest value is to know the religious life of Jesus and how he lived it.

[1398] This year Jesus made great progress in the organization of his mind. Gradually he had brought his divine and human natures together, and he accomplished all this organization of intellect by the force of his own decisions and with only the aid of his indwelling Monitor, just such a Monitor as all normal mortals on all postbestowal-Son worlds have within their minds. So far, nothing supernatural had happened in this young man's career except the visit of a messenger, dispatched by his elder brother Immanuel who once appeared to him during the night at Jerusalem.

[2088] Jesus brought to God, as a man of the realm, the greatest of all offerings: the consecration and dedication of his own will to the majestic service of doing the divine will. . . The secret of his unparalleled religious life was this consciousness of the presence of God; and he attained it by intelligent prayer and sincere worship -- unbroken communion with God -- and not by leadings, voices, visions, or extraordinary religious practices.

[1407] He obtained knowledge, gained experience, and combined these into wisdom, just as do other mortals of the realm. Until after his baptism he availed himself of no supernatural power. He employed no agency not a part of his human endowment as a son of Joseph and Mary.

[1521] Jesus chose to establish the kingdom of heaven in the hearts of mankind by natural, ordinary, difficult, and trying methods, just such procedures as his earth children must subsequently follow in their work of enlarging and extending that heavenly kingdom. For well did the Son of Man know that it would be "through much tribulation that many of the children of all ages would enter into the kingdom".

[1808] Between these two celestial visitations, one in his thirteenth year and the other at his baptism, there occurred nothing supernatural or superhuman in the life of this incarnated Creator Son. Notwithstanding this, the babe of Bethlehem, the lad, youth, and man of Nazareth, was in reality the incarnated Creator of a universe; but he never once used aught of this power, nor did he utilize the guidance of celestial personalities, aside from that of his guardian seraphim, in the living of his human life up to the day of his baptism by John. And we who thus testify know whereof we speak.

[229] When a bestowal Son has mastered the experience of living the mortal life, when he has achieved perfection of attunement with his indwelling Adjuster, thereupon he begins that part of his planetary mission designed to illuminate the minds and to inspire the souls of his brethren in the flesh.

[1493] Jesus spent the last three weeks of August and the first three weeks of September on Mount Hermon. During these weeks he finished the mortal task of achieving the circles of mind-understanding and personality-control. Throughout this period of communion with his heavenly Father the indwelling Adjuster also completed the assigned services. The mortal goal of this earth creature was there attained. Only the final phase of mind and Adjuster attunement remained to be consummated.

[2084] Christianity has indeed done a great service for this world, but what is now most needed is Jesus. The world needs to see Jesus living again on earth in the experience of spirit-born mortals who effectively reveal the Master to all men . . . And when Jesus becomes thus lifted up, he will draw all men to himself. Jesus' disciples should be more than conquerors, even overflowing sources of inspiration and enhanced living to all men. Religion is only an exalted humanism until it is made divine by the discovery of the reality of the presence of God in personal experience.Additional Thought Adjuster quotes [also see pg. 32] [Compare to "Macheventa"9/23/92: "You will have someone much closer to you than your spirit fragment" and: "attunement to your teacher".] See Appendix Three.

[1207] The Thought Adjuster is engaged in a constant effort so to spiritualize your mind as to evolve your morontia soul; but you yourself are mostly unconscious of this inner ministry. You are quite incapable of distinguishing the product of your own material intellect from that of the conjoint activities of your soul and the Adjuster.

[1206] I cannot but observe that so many of you spend so much time and thought on mere trifles of living, while you almost wholly overlook the more essential realities of everlasting import, those very accomplishments which are concerned with the development of a more harmonious working agreement between you and your Adjusters. The great goal of human existence is to attune to the divinity of the indwelling Adjuster; the great achievement of mortal life is the attainment of a true and understanding consecration to the eternal aims of the divine spirit who waits and works within your mind. [Solitary Messenger]

[1207] Trust all matters of mind beyond the dead level of consciousness to the custody of the Adjusters. You are so devoid of courageous decisions and consecrated co-operation that your indwelling Adjusters find it next to impossible to communicate directly with the human mind. Even when they do find it possible to flash a gleam of new truth to the evolving mortal soul, this spiritual revelation often so blinds the creature as to precipitate a convulsion of fanaticism or to initiate some other intellectual upheaval which results disastrously. Many a new religion and strange "ism" has arisen from the aborted, imperfect, misunderstood, and garbled communications of the Thought Adjusters.

[1208] These are problems which will have to be solved through individual discrimination and personal decision. But a human being would do better to err in rejecting an Adjuster's expression through believing it to be a purely human experience than to blunder into exalting a reaction of the mortal mind to the sphere of divine dignity.

[24] The existence of God is utterly beyond all possibility of demonstration except for the contact between the God-consciousness of the human mind and the God-presence of the Thought Adjuster that indwells the mortal intellect and is bestowed upon man as the free gift of the Universal Father.

[1111] Throughout all religious experience, from its earliest inception on the material level up to the time of the attainment of full spirit status, the Adjuster is the secret of the personal realization of the reality of the existence of the Supreme; and this same Adjuster also holds the secrets of your faith in the transcendental attainment of the Ultimate. The experiential personality of evolving man, united to the Adjuster essence of the existential God, constitutes the potential completion of supreme existence and is inherently the basis for the superfinite eventuation of transcendental personality.

[1119] The indwelling Thought Adjuster unfailingly arouses in man's soul a true and searching hunger for perfection together with a far-reaching curiosity which can be adequately satisfied only by communion with God, the divine source of that Adjuster. The hungry soul of man refuses to be satisfied with anything less than the personal realization of the living God.

[2095] The exquisite and transcendent experience of loving and being loved is not just a psychic illusion because it is so purely subjective. The one truly divine and objective reality that is associated with mortal beings, the Thought Adjuster, functions to human observation apparently as an exclusively subjective phenomenon. Man's contact with the highest objective reality, God, is only through the purely subjective experience of knowing him, of worshiping him, of realizing sonship with him.

[1217] Mind is the cosmic instrument on which the human will can play the discords of destruction, or upon which this same human will can bring forth the exquisite melodies of God identification and consequent eternal survival. The Adjuster bestowed upon man is, in the last analysis, impervious to evil and incapable of sin, but mortal mind can actually be twisted, distorted, and rendered evil and ugly by the sinful machinations of a perverse and self-seeking human will. Likewise can this mind be made noble, beautiful, true, and good -- actually great -- in accordance with the spirit-illuminated will of a God-knowing human being.

[1207] Certain abrupt presentations of thoughts, conclusions, and other pictures of mind are sometimes the direct or indirect work of the Adjuster; but far more often they are the sudden emergence into consciousness of ideas which have been grouping themselves together in the submerged mental level, natural and everyday occurrences of normal and ordinary psychic function inherent in the circuits of the evolving animal mind. (In contrast with these subconscious emanations, the revelations of the Adjuster appear through the realms of the superconscious.)

[1096] Actual spiritual status is the measure of Deity attainment, Adjuster attunement. The achievement of finality of spirituality is equivalent to the attainment of the maximum of reality, the maximum of Godlikeness. Eternal life is the endless quest for infinite values.

[1099] In contrast with conversion-seeking, the better approach to the morontia zones of possible contact with the Thought Adjuster would be through living faith and sincere worship, wholehearted and unselfish prayer. Altogether too much of the uprush of the memories of the unconscious levels of the human mind has been mistaken for divine revelations and spirit leadings.

Jesus and personal responsibility

[1570] One by one they embraced Jesus, but no man said aught. A great silence pervaded the place while a host of celestial beings looked down upon this solemn and sacred scene -- the Creator of a universe placing the affairs of the divine brotherhood of man under the direction of human minds.

[1731] "I have called you out of the darkness of authority and the lethargy of tradition into the transcendent light of the realization of the possibility of making for yourselves the greatest discovery possible for the human soul to make -- the supernal experience of finding God for yourself, in yourself, and of yourself, and of doing all this as a fact in your own personal experience". [Jesus]

[1635] "How is it, then, that you would have me turn aside from my work for the gratification of the curious and for the satisfaction of those who seek for signs and wonders? . . . When men are attracted to us because of extraordinary manifestations, many of them come seeking not for truth and salvation but rather in quest of healing for their physical ailments and to secure deliverance from their material difficulties". [Jesus]

[1729] And for a long time there will live on earth those timid, fearful, and hesitant individuals who will prefer thus to secure their religious consolations, even though, in so casting their lot with the religions of authority, they compromise the sovereignty of personality, debase the dignity of self-respect, and utterly surrender the right to participate in that most thrilling and inspiring of all possible human experiences: the personal quest for truth, the exhilaration of facing the perils of intellectual discovery, the determination to explore the realities of personal religious experience, the supreme satisfaction of experiencing the personal triumph of the actual realization of the victory of spiritual faith over intellectual doubt as it is honestly won in the supreme adventure of all human existence -- man seeking God, for himself and as himself, and finding him.

[1705] In less than one month's time the enthusiastic and open followers of Jesus, who numbered more than fifty thousand in Galilee alone, shrank to less than five hundred. Jesus desired to give his apostles such an experience with the fickleness of popular acclaim that they would not be tempted to rely on such manifestations of transient religious hysteria after he should leave them alone in the work of the kingdom, but he was only partially successful in this effort.

Jesus and the "Way"

[1815] Said Jesus: "I have told you about myself and my Father many times, but you will not believe me . . . many of you believe not because you belong not to my fold. The teacher of truth attracts only those who hunger for the truth and who thirst for righteousness. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me".

[2089] Jesus most touchingly challenged his followers, not only to believe what he believed, but also to believe as he believed. This is the full significance of his one supreme requirement, "Follow me".

[1818] "The true shepherd gathers his flock into the fold for the night in times of danger. And when the morning has come, he enters into the fold by the door, and when he calls, the sheep know his voice. Every shepherd who gains entrance to the sheepfold by any other means than by the door is a thief and a robber. The true shepherd enters the fold after the porter has opened the door for him, and his sheep, knowing his voice, come out at his word; and when they that are his are thus brought forth, the true shepherd goes before them; he leads the way and the sheep follow him. His sheep follow him because they know his voice; they will not follow a stranger. They will flee from the stranger because they know not his voice. This multitude which is gathered about us here are like sheep without a shepherd, but when we speak to them, they know the shepherd's voice, and they follow after us; at least, those who hunger for truth and thirst for righteousness do. Some of you are not of my fold; you know not my voice, and you do not follow me. And because you are false shepherds, the sheep know not your voice and will not follow you". [Jesus]

[1819] "And now, lest some of you too easily comprehend this parable, I will declare that I am both the door to the Father's sheepfold and at the same time the true shepherd of my Father's flocks. Every shepherd who seeks to enter the fold without me shall fail, and the sheep will not hear his voice. I, with those who minister with me, am the door". [Jesus]

[1829] "I am the door, I am the new and living way, and whosoever wills may enter to embark upon the endless truth-search for eternal life". [Jesus]

[1808] "I have shown you the way; go forth to do your duty and be not weary in well doing. To you and to all who shall follow in your steps down through the ages, let me say: I always stand near, and my invitation-call is, and ever shall be, Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am true and loyal, and you shall find spiritual rest for your souls". [Jesus]

And they found the Master's words to be true when they put his promises to the test. And since that day countless thousands also have tested and proved the surety of these same promises.

The alter-ego

[996] Children, when first learning to make use of language, are prone to think out loud, to express their thoughts in words, even if no one is present to hear them. With the dawn of creative imagination they evince a tendency to converse with imaginary companions. In this way a budding ego seeks to hold communion with a fictitious alter ego. By this technique the child early learns to convert his monologue conversations into pseudo dialogues in which this alter ego makes replies to his verbal thinking and wish expression. Very much of an adult's thinking is mentally carried on in conversational form.

[996] The early and primitive form of prayer was much like the semimagical recitations of the present-day Toda tribe, prayers that were not addressed to anyone in particular. But such techniques of praying tend to evolve into the dialogue type of communication by the emergence of the idea of an alter ego. In time the alter-ego concept is exalted to a superior status of divine dignity, and prayer as an agency of religion has appeared. Through many phases and during long ages this primitive type of praying is destined to evolve before attaining the level of intelligent and truly ethical prayer.

[997] As it is conceived by successive generations of praying mortals, the alter ego evolves up through ghosts, fetishes, and spirits to polytheistic gods, and eventually to the One God, a divine being embodying the highest ideals and the loftiest aspirations of the praying ego.

[961] The early monospiritism ghost fear was gradually evolving into a dual spiritism, a new concept of the invisible control of earthy affairs.

[962] And now the simple ghost cult is followed by the practices of the more advanced and relatively complex spirit-ghost cult, the service and worship of the higher spirits as they evolved in man's primitive imagination. Religious ceremonial must keep pace with spirit evolution and progress. The expanded cult was but the art of self-maintenance practiced in relation to belief in supernatural beings, self-adjustment to spirit environment.

Midwayer activities

[Note: The "Teaching Mission transmissions" by-pass these guardians of the spirit realm; "transmissions" are not done in liaison with midwayers. Yet the job of midwayers is to patrol the spiritual realm of the planet, and they are always used as liaison in spirit-contacts with mortal beings.]

[864] Midwayers are the guardians, the sentinels, of the worlds of space. They perform the important duties of observers for all the numerous phenomena and types of communication which are of import to the supernatural beings of the realm. They patrol the invisible spirit realm of the planet.

[865] Contact personalities. In the contacts made with the mortal beings of the material worlds, such as with the subject through whom these communications were transmitted, the midway creatures are always employed. They are an essential factor in such liaisons of the spiritual and the material levels.

[865] Their chief work today is that of unperceived personal-liaison associates of those men and women who constitute the planetary reserve corps of destiny. It was the work of this secondary group, ably seconded by certain of the primary corps, that brought about the co-ordination of personalities and circumstances on Urantia which finally induced the planetary celestial supervisors to initiate those petitions that resulted in the granting of the mandates making possible the series of revelations of which this presentation is a part. But it should be made clear that the midway creatures are not involved in the sordid performances taking place under the general designation of "spiritualism". The midwayers at present on Urantia, all of whom are of honorable standing, are not connected with the phenomena of so-called "mediumship"; and they do not, ordinarily, permit humans to witness their sometimes necessary physical activities or other contacts with the material world, as they are perceived by human senses.

The trance-like state

[1099] Under no circumstances should the trancelike state of visionary consciousness be cultivated as a religious experience.

[1099-1100] The great danger in all these psychic speculations is that visions and other so-called mystic experiences, along with extraordinary dreams, may be regarded as divine communications to the human mind. In times past, divine beings have revealed themselves to certain God-knowing persons, not because of their mystic trances or morbid visions, but in spite of all these phenomena.

[1100] The characteristics of the mystical state are diffusion of consciousness with vivid islands of focal attention operating on a comparatively passive intellect. All of this gravitates consciousness toward the subconscious rather than in the direction of the zone of spiritual contact, the superconscious. Many mystics have carried their mental dissociation to the level of abnormal mental manifestations.

[1100] However favorable may have been the conditions for mystic phenomena, it should be clearly understood that Jesus of Nazareth never resorted to such methods for communion with the Paradise Father. Jesus had no subconscious delusions or superconscious illusions.Reincarnation

[Reincarnation is taught by the Sedona group of channelers, and creeps into the "transmissions" of the "Teaching Mission" channelers, notably Solona [1/13/93]. Also see page 24 of this document, excerpts from The Guru Papers. Reincarnation is repudiated in the teachings of The Urantia Book.]

[528] When, with the passing of time, the physical bodies of these unique creatures deteriorate from usage and age, their creators, in collaboration with Life Carriers, fabricate new bodies in which the old spornagia establish their residences. Spornagia are the only creatures in all the universe of Nebadon who experience this or any other sort of reincarnation. [Note: Spornagia are an advanced kind of animal without surviving souls. We encounter spornagia later in our universe careers.]

[1029] And of all the contaminating beliefs which could have been fastened upon what may have been an emerging monotheism, none was so stultifying as this belief in transmigration -- the doctrine of reincarnation of souls . . . This philosophically debilitating teaching was soon followed by the invention of the eternal escape from self by the submergence in the universal rest and peace of absolute union with Brahman . . . Mortal desire and human ambition were effectively ravished and virtually destroyed.

[l646] Jesus further explained to his apostles that the spirits of departed human beings do not come back to the world of their origin to communicate with their living fellows. Only after the passing of a dispensational age would it be possible for the advancing spirit of mortal man to return to earth and then only in exceptional cases as part of the spiritual administration of the planet.

The gospel of the kingdom

(NOTE: This formal discourse on the kingdom of heaven was presented by the Master near the end of his life in the flesh).

[1863] The Master on this occasion placed emphasis on the following five points as representing the cardinal features of the gospel of the kingdom:

1. The pre-eminence of the individual.
2. The will as the determining factor in man's experience.
3. Spiritual Fellowship with God the Father.
4. The supreme satisfactions of the loving service of man.
5. The transcendency of the spiritual over the material in human personality.

This world has never seriously or sincerely or honestly tried out these dynamic ideas and divine ideals of Jesus' doctrine of the kingdom of heaven. But you should not become discouraged by the apparently slow progress of the kingdom idea on Urantia . . . Neither should you make the fatal mistake, in looking for the age of manifestation of the kingdom, of failing to effect its establishment within your own souls.

APPENDIX ONE

SOME COMMENTS BY CONTROL-PSYCHOLOGYEXPERTS (Control psychologists study the phenomena of cults and fanatic group behavior)

The excerpt on the following several pages is taken from The GURU PAPERS: Masks of Authoritarian Power, by Dr. Diana Alstad and Joel Kramer, pp 121-125, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, CA, 1993.

NOTE: Dr. Alstad received her doctorate from Yale University in 1971. She taught in the humanities and initiated and taught the first Women's Studies course at Yale and Duke. Joel Kramer did post-graduate work in psychology and philosophy and was a resident teacher at Esalen Institute (1968-70). The author of The Passionate Mind, he is also an internationally acknowledged adept of physical and mental yoga. Dr. Alstad and Kramer have written and led seminars together since 1974.

EXCERPTS FROM: THE GURU PAPERS: Marks of Authoritarian Power, pp 121-125

On Channeling Disembodied Authorities

Channels, channeled writings, and the spirit entities that supposedly speak through them are part of a trend that includes giving credence to different kinds of otherworldly, non-material, or other-dimensional, super-human intelligences. These presumed entities all function in a similar way in that they make themselves manifest by talking to or through someone they choose, who then becomes their channel. Why the entity chooses a particular person remains mysterious, as is the process of channeling itself. Becoming a channel is also a new frontier of esoteric activity. Anyone who hears a voice inside that is not consciously willed can assume something external is doing the talking and thereby take on the identity of channel.

Turning to disembodied experts is not a surprising progression. In recent years, the godlike stature of many gurus evaporated in a mire of corruption, deceit, and abuse of power. In contrast, incorporeal entities seem free of corruption, as corruption makes little sense without a body to profit from its results. Also, these spirit authorities do not take their followers over in the total way that gurus do by demanding their prime emotional allegiance. This makes involvement with the teachings safer.

The assumption that the spirit and channel are separate entities means incongruities between the channel's behavior and the channeled words are not seen as significant or relevant. A channeled message can never be questioned or challenged because of the impurity of the messenger. "Spirits" are assumed to be pure, or at least the purveyors of pure truth, whereas their vessels for this truth are "only human" and do not need to claim or manifest infallibility or purity. Thus being a channel for otherworldly wisdom is less dangerous and confining than being its source, as with gurus. The channel can get drunk even if the "spirit" disapproves, while a guru would at least have to hide or justify the discrepancy between words and actions. The channel is not necessarily even supposed to be the entity's best student or exemplar, unlike those in the guru's inner circle.

Of course, many are exploring these hermetic realms out of an understandable curiosity. Some approach channeling as potentially useful information that emanates from the channel's unconscious, involving possibly some form of extra-sensory perception, or a particular kind of sensitivity or gift of insight. They are more concerned with how astute the information is than with the nature of its source, utilizing only what makes sense to them. In contrast, regarding a channel as merely a passive vehicle enabling a superior, otherworldly intelligence to expound makes it difficult not to be swayed by the channel's input.

Assumptions about Channeling

There is no way ultimately to prove to everyone's satisfaction where a given voice comes from. So, the most revealing and also resolvable questions on channeling involve what the voice is actually saying; the implications of what is said; and whether the voice is assumed to have a direct line to the truth, making it unchallengeable and therefore authoritarian. What mainly interests us are why people consult channels, and the assumptions made about the presumed entities and their channeled messages. Some who call themselves channels may be merely milking the gullible; but we assume that many who channel believe in what they are doing. It is only the latter who interest us. Those who believe an external intelligence is the source of the voice or writings make at least some of the following assumptions:

1. Being disembodied makes the entity a pure (or purer) voice of cosmic wisdom and spirituality.
2. The entity not only knows more, but can access information otherwise inaccessible, or at least exceedingly difficult to get on one's own.
3. The entity tells the truth.
4. People's well-being is the entity's basic interest.
5. The entity knows what's best for a given human or humans in general.
6. These entities would not be motivated by power or wrongly manipulate those who come to them. In short, they have no self-interest.
7. One is better off getting the information than not.
8. The fact that most channels put forth a similar message and share a similar worldview is sufficient proof that what they say must be for the most part true.

The thread running through these assumptions is that disembodied entities are reliable, trustworthy, benevolent authorities with a deeper understanding of the nature of things. Here channeling, like gurus, creates a context of privileged knowledge that essentially cannot be challenged.

Though therapists are also assumed to know more, good therapists are knowledgeable and careful around transference issues, meaning they are alert to the dangers of becoming an unconscious parental authority for their clients. They also know that even if they see something about a client they're fairly sure of, clients are far better off finding it out for themselves than being told. Channeled "spirits" (or the channels themselves) are also subject to transference, as are gurus. Imputing a different and higher order of existence to be the source of information makes such projections inevitable. (See "Gurus, Psychotherapy, and the Unconscious" for more on transference.)

Should one give disembodied entities any credence at all, the drama and excitement of a supposed spirit entering a mortal to reveal deep, hidden truths evokes a seductive, magical aura of seemingly ultimate cosmic portent. Wanting to believe that spirits have a direct line to the truth ties into a deep yearning for something truly pure one can trust. When values of purity have been implanted, it becomes difficult to trust oneself as one is never pure enough. So looking for someone or something more pure fits neatly into people's deepest "pure-itanical" conditioning, which instills self-mistrust. (See "Who Is in Control? The Authoritarian Roots of Addiction" on the nature of this conditioning.)

Hearing an inner voice or voices that seem to be coming from outside oneself is neither new nor historically unusual. When the voice urged doing something considered bad or hurtful, it was attributed to possession by evil spirits or the devil; when it voiced values of purity and selflessness, the spirit was assumed to be a messenger of the sacred. Attributing purity to another realm and to the information that supposedly comes from it is part of the age-old split between the sacred and secular created by renunciate religions. (See "The Power of Abstraction: The Sacred Word and the Evolution of Morality" on the origin and nature of this split.)

Channeling is an ancient phenomenon necessary for any revealed religion whose unchallengeable dictates have to come from God. God's wishes can only be known in three ways: either God has to speak through a person or assume a human form, or a person has to become godlike (the East's enlightenment paradigm). Thus many writings that are the foundation of traditional renunciate religions, such as the Koran and much of the Old Testament, were considered to be channeled from God by prophets and holy men. They contain the rules for staying in God's good graces. Most sacred texts from all religions are considered to be channeled (divinely revealed).

Eastern religious worldviews are more generous than Western ones in bestowing infallibility through mastery. It is then not surprising that most modern channels espouse a worldview containing elements of Eastern mysticism, usually including the Oneness perspective, with karma/rebirth presented as a given. Not insignificantly, the alignment with Eastern tradition is used as validation. There are other enticing messages: "If you only knew enough, you would see you are perfect". All limits are in the mind and can be transcended". These temporarily empowering beliefs are very seductive. What is channeled largely accentuates the positive: beauty, transcending fear, loving yourself, and intimations of immortality within an unlimited universe of plenty. Many channels, either directly or indirectly, put forth the appealing notion that "You create your own reality". What this means, or is taken to mean, is that if you do it right you can create anything; conversely, everything negative that occurs you have really chosen in order to learn a needed lesson. To make this belief work, a theory of karma/rebirth is necessary, for without past lives and karma, it would be hard to explain why one "chose" the particular painful lessons one needed to learn, and why one needed to learn them. ("Do You Create Your Own Reality?" describes this New Age adaptation of karma.)

APPENDIX TWO

SOME COMMENTS BY DR. MEREDITH J. SPRUNGER

Dr. Meredith J. Sprunger is a minister in the Church of Christ and a college professor, now retired from pastoral and teaching responsibilities. For many years Dr. Sprunger was active as a counselor and psychological consultant, holding a Private Practice Certificate in Psychology in the state of Indiana. He has served congregations in the Midwest, and taught at Elmhurst College and the Indiana Institute of Technology, functioning as head of the Department of Psychology, Chairman of the Division of Liberal Arts, and as President.

In the Urantia movement Dr. Sprunger has served as a Field Representative, Chairman of the Education and Fraternal Relations Committee, and as President of the Urantia Brotherhood.

He is founder and Director of the Christian Fellowship for Readers of The Urantia Book, a trustee in the Jesusonian Foundation, and the editor of The Spiritual Fellowship Journal.

CHANNELING and the URANTIA MOVEMENT Meredith J. Sprunger (Published 3/28/92)

Psychic or paranormal psychological phenomena variously referred to as extrasensory perception, channeling, spiritualism, mediumship, and activities of marginal consciousness have been rather common throughout human history. Many years ago I made a study of these paranormal communications and found they varied in quality as widely as the capabilities of the human mind. Some of the psychic communications studied present verifiable factual knowledge for which scientists find no reasonable empirical explanation. The great bulk of this material, however, is demonstrably inaccurate and unreliable.

Since the publication of The Urantia Book, there have been many claims by book readers of" special" channeling information or guidance. Some even claim The Urantia Book came through a channeling process, although the authors of the book deny the spiritual authenticity of channeling-mediumship psychic phenomena (pp. 685, 1640). Dr. William S. Sadler, leader of the group receiving the Urantia Papers, after listing every conceivable form of psychic phenomena (marginal consciousness), unequivocally declared: "The technique of the reception of The Urantia Book in English in no way parallels or impinges upon any of the phenomena of the marginal consciousness".

Basic Error in Evaluation

The basic error in evaluating knowledge -- especially psychic communication and revelation -- is to look for verification in its source, author, claim or "authority". There is a natural human desire for superior, unearned knowledge; we yearn for surety, a "hot line" to higher guidance. This is the source of fundamentalism, literalist, dogmatic thinking. Claim or authority, however, is never a criterion of truth. The only road to truth is through earned, evolutionary experience. We should always evaluate information by its content, not its claim or supposed source. In our earned experience we have the highest resources to guide and verify our judgment: the Spirit of God (Thought Adjuster), the Spirit of Truth, and the Holy Spirit. Our judgments must also always be tested by personal experience, the experience of others, and time.

When measured by these earned, experiential standards over time, the value of channeled communication does not rate very high. We should not, however, allow fear or prejudice to prevent us from honestly examining the content of information received through channeling. We should be open to carefully evaluating all types of knowledge.

A Specific Case

Recently I examined recordings of "The Teachings of Ham" channeled to the Salt Lake Study Group. I found the quality generally good. They are of the quality I would expect from a creative, intelligent student of The Urantia Book. While, in my judgment, they are not in the same league with The Urantia Book, they are basically constructive and insightful.

There are a number of limitations to the above generalizations. I find no empirical-experiential evidence for the claim that the Lucifer Rebellion has been adjudicated and that the system circuits are being opened. I question the truth of the claim of giving people their "spiritual" names. The authors of The Urantia Book tell us that we are given a new name only after fusion with our Thought Adjuster (p. 538). I further question the wisdom of this practice. Why is Rebecca more spiritual than Jan, Joshua more spiritual than Thern, or Martha more spiritual than Kathy? This is the kind of technique used for controlling people through "special" or "secret" knowledge. Many cults use such practices.

Ham discourages a member of the study group from taking an eight week summer course because he will miss these channeling sessions. Even the higher ranking authors of The Urantia Book do not use this style of manipulative control. Why would the Vicegerent Planetary Prince single out the Salt Lake Study Group for special attention as they were told? And through this special attention Ham tells them "You are . . . under . . . my . . . direction". Group leadership and direction are common practices, but I see in this kind of atmosphere the danger of acquiescing to uncritical manipulation.

Ham tells the group the spiritual center of the planet is Manitoba, Canada. This differs from the Chicago contact information designating it as at the Grizzly Giant in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias in Yosemite National Park. When Ham is asked about Norsen, he identifies him as a teacher, which is markedly different that the Chicago contact information telling that Norsen is the new "take charge" planetary supervisor.

One wonders why people feel a need for channeling guidance, which, historically, does not have a good track record, when they have direct personal contact with much higher sources of truth: their Thought Adjuster, the Spirit of Truth, and the Holy Spirit? It seems to me that the study of The Urantia Book would be superior to preoccupation with this quality of channeling information. I further see a danger in the possibility of giving the channeler undue respect as an authority figure which might by-pass higher spiritual guidance. When this happens, cults are formed with susceptibility to manipulative control.

The Bottom Line

The content of Ham's teachings is basically constructive and is no doubt helpful to some people. There are also those who have not summoned the courage and confidence to initiate outreach work who will do so when encouraged by channeling messages. At best, such channeling activity can be a supplement to Urantia Book study, guidance, and individual initiative; at worst it could be a substitute for it. We should always critically evaluate the quality of any kind of guidance.

FURTHER COMMENTS on CHANNELING (PUBLISHED 9/6/93)

During the last several months I have received a number of papers promoting or explaining channeling and the "teaching mission". Some of them are "off the wall" and ludicrous, containing veiled threats to join in with them or face rejection of salvation, while others are well written and on the surface appear to say all of the right things. All of them attempt to ride the coat tails of The Urantia Book

It might be helpful to some who are still perplexed about this phenomena to add a few summary statements to my paper "Channeling and the Urantia Movement" (3/28/92) for consideration.

1. Psychic, esoteric, or paranormal psychological phenomena is rather common throughout human history. In the field of religion, such things as "speaking in tongues" (glossolalia), seeing visions, getting "special" or "higher" instructions through spiritualistic or psychic channels tends to occur in periods where people are stimulated spiritually without having concrete social-organizational channels to express these motivations in service or outreach activities. Historically, these psychic activities have not had a very good track record.
2. Currently there is an attempt to explain and justify this phenomena by claiming that the Lucifer Rebellion has been adjudicated and the system circuits are opened. To give the "teaching mission" further prestige, they claim these instructions are a continuation of the Fifth Epochal Revelation.

   Both of these claims, in my judgment, are without foundation. My guess is that the adjudication of the Lucifer Rebellion will be communicated to our planet in a more significant way than channeling messages! Claiming that these channeling messages -- or even our own autorevelation -- is a continuation of the Fifth Epochal Revelation is to toy with "delusions of grandeur". This is different than God's historic way of bringing epochal revelation to our world. Epochal revelation has always come in specific, concrete, objective form -- in persons or a book -- not in subjective messages of various quality from numerous "teachers". The content of these messages, in my judgment, is not in the same league with The Urantia Book but what I might expect from an intelligent student of the book. Some of these messages are not even up to this quality.

3. The best apologetics for the "teaching mission" do say things that, in the main, are harmonious with the wisdom of The Urantia Book but neglect a key spiritual insight. Preoccupation with "intermediaries" or dependence on their direction tends to sidetrack the basic purpose of spiritual growth: God-consciousness, learning to grapple with tough problems through our own decisions and experience, and outgoing service. We have the greatest teachers available to human beings -- Thought Adjusters, the Spirit of Truth, and the Holy Spirit. We have ample opportunity to learn through personal decisions and experience, and we have service potentials to fully occupy our lives.

   Although it is unintended, I can think of no more subtle way to disrupt unity in the Urantia movement and divert attention away from a dynamic outreach program to bring the Fifth Epochal Revelation to our world than the preoccupation with channeling and other psychic activities.

4. I know that many people have been helped by these channeling "teachers". Some of them are close friends. All of us probably have conscious or latent desire for a 'higher' spiritual mentor. As material beings we appreciate "tangible" personal relationships. So I understand the attraction of" special teachers" and share these observations, not to denigrate those who may disagree with them, but to clarify differences in perception, and with the hope that in spite of differences, we may unite in bringing the Filth Epochal Revelation to our world.

From a letter to Larry Mullins in answer to inquiries about channeling and drug use, 11/11/93:

"Historically, there is a connection between psychoactive drugs and assumed 'divine messages'. Down through the ages various groups and individuals have used consciousness altering drugs as a means to initiate what participants regarded as 'spiritual' experiences. Often these substances were viewed as 'sacraments'.

"It is surprising and disturbing to see how intelligent contemporary people in the face of all this historic evidence of deception can be deluded by the same psychoactive drug experiences. The authors of The Urantia Book point out the danger of such artificially induced, mind-distorting experiences. We are led Godward by our highest thoughts, not by our emotions, psychoactive drugs, or mystic states. But one can be sure there will always be those who will repeat the mistakes of our ancestors!"

APPENDIX THREE

Excerpts from "Channeled" Material

These were taken from showcased material that was prepared for publication. Those who prepared and edited these "teachings" either personally lacked the knowledge that they contradicted The Urantia Book, did not care, or claimed The Urantia Book has been altered.

"MACHIVENTA" Material "channeled". 9/23/92 This material was widely disseminated to demonstrate the high "quality" of this "transmitter receiver's" teachings.. The document is titled "WELMEK".

"MACHIVENTA": . . ".Haven't you all experienced times when you're searching for words and cannot find them? You will have someone who is much closer to you than your spirit fragment who will be able to serve and help you in this way". (pg. 7)

NOTE: SEE PAGE 1190 of The Urantia Book: "Apart from possible co-ordination with other Deity fragments [Thought Adjusters] the Adjusters are quite alone in their sphere of activity in the mortal mind . . . the Father has certainly reserved for himself the right to be present In the minds and souls of his evolving creatures to the end that he may draw all creature creation to himself ..." and [1177] "The Adjuster is man's infallible cosmic compass, always and unerringly pointing the soul Godward."

"MACHIVENTA": "Stand up for yourself when the time is right as our Master did in the temple when he destroyed the money-changers and the animal sellers. This is fine". (pg. 13)

NOTE: SEE PAGE 1891 of The Urantia Book. Of course, the Master did not "destroy". anyone. Allowing for rhetorical excess, the purpose of the cleansing of the temple was not to stand up. for himself. Aside from this specific incident, The Urantia Book passage goes on to establish a broad principle. The principle of the temple cleansing applies to groups, not to individual relationships. (The statement by "Machiventa". was in reply to someone who was asking about a personal relationship problem.) In the spirit of the book, those who, in the name of being fair and open-minded, allow their study groups to be dominated by a few individuals with personal agendas should read the text on page 1891 with care:

[1891] The cleansing of the temple discloses the Master's attitude toward commercializing the practices of religion as well as his detestation of all forms of unfairness and profiteering at the expense of the poor and unlearned. This episode also demonstrates that Jesus did not look with approval upon the refusal to employ force to protect the majority of any given human group against the unfair and enslaving practices of unjust minorities who may be able to entrench themselves behind political, financial or ecclesiastical power. Shrewd, wicked, and designing men are not to be permitted to organize themselves for the exploitation and oppression of those who, because of their idealism, are not disposed to resort to force for self-protection or for the furtherance of their laudable life projects.

SLAGLE: "Welcome to Change"

From a large publication promoting various "channeled" material, this segment dated 2/25/92

SLAGLE: I asked how to better discern my Adjuster's guidance'.

"CELESTIAL TEACHER:" "That is the quest of the human: how to discern the human mind from the divine mind. This is your great challenge as it is of every other mortal on this planet". (pg. 2)

NOTE. SEE PAGE 1207 of The Urantia Book: "You are quite incapable of distinguishing the product of your own material intellect from that of the conjoint activities of your soul and adjuster . . . trust all matters of the mind beyond the dead level of consciousness to the custody of the Thought Adjusters". [1208] ~ A human being would be better to err in rejecting the Adjuster's expression through believing it to be purely a human experience than to blunder into exalting a reaction of the mortal mind to the sphere of divine dignity".

"PALADIN" "Channeled" 1/30/91

This is extracted from a large booklet produced in Sedona: The Salvington Circuit, Volume 1, No 1, May, 1993. This group declares The Urantia Book to be the first one tenth of the Fifth Epochal Revelation and their own material to be forming the remainder!

"The spiritual deficiencies of twentieth century Urantia are such that these rebellious starseed have remained on the seventh, sixth, fifth and fourth psychic circles for countless centuries without advancing to a higher circle". (Pg. 10)

NOTE: Putting aside the question of mortal reincarnation, which The Urantia Book refutes, one must wonder how Urantia's twentieth century deficiencies have caused problems for countless centuries. Paladin, one of the centerpiece "celestial personalities" of the Sedona collection of "teachers", manages the difficult task of contradicting himself within the same sentence.

The Salvington Circuit denigrates the integrity of The Urantia Book by insisting that Dr. Sadler altered the text to exclude reincarnation and astrology. [Page 20]: "William Sadler Sr. was vehemently against the idea of reincarnation . . . He was also vehemently against astrology . .".. Paladin states that when information in the papers declared these beliefs to be true: "He then began a systematic degradation of these papers.".. One of the articles in The Salvington Circuit is titled: Ascension Astrology, and was a "channeled" work of Paladin.

Others who have had pet beliefs, such as the dead returning to earth to communicate with humans, have also insisted that Sadler must have altered the original Urantia Papers, since the Papers refute their own ideas. Clyde Bedell, who was in the Forum from 1924 until it was disbanded with the publication of The Urantia Book, told me that Dr. Sadler held his responsibility as to the integrity of the Papers as a sacred trust. Alteration would have required the collusion of at least five Individuals, each of whom was sworn to protect the text inviolate.

Channelers pick and choose material from The Urantia Book at will; they use the Revelation when it suits them and claim it was "altered". or is "out of date" if it does not. Other beliefs are possible, of course. But should they not stand upon their own integrity and quality, and not upon the shoulders of the Fifth Epochal Revelation?

Selected quotes from the Thought Adjuster Papers

[1176]: Although the Universal Father is personally resident on Paradise, at the very center of the universes, he is also present on the worlds of space in the minds of his countless children of time, for he indwells them as Mystery Monitors...

[1177]: The Adjuster is man's infallible cosmic compass, always and unerringly pointing the soul Godward.

[1187]: There are no intermediaries or other intervening authorities or powers functioning between the divine Adjusters and their human subjects; God and man are directly related.

[1190]: Apart from possible co-ordination with other Deity fragments the Adjusters are quite alone in their sphere of activity in the mortal mind . . . the Father has certainly reserved to himself the unchallengeable right to be present in the minds and souls of his evolving creatures to the end that he may so act as to draw all creature creation to himself, coordinately with the spiritual gravity of the Paradise Sons. Said your Paradise Bestowal Son when yet on Urantia: "I, if I am lifted up, will draw all men."

[1206] The great goal of human existence is to attune to the divinity of the indwelling Adjuster; the great achievement of mortal life is the attainment of a true understanding consecration to the eternal aims of the divine spirit who waits and works within your mind.

[1209]: 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 welfare of such a [mortal] being. By such a balanced growth does man ascend the circles of planetary progression one by one, from the seventh to the first.