Urantia Book Paper 106 Universe Levels Of Reality
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Paper 106 Universe Levels Of Reality
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Introduction
IT IS not enough that the ascending mortal should know something of the
relations of Deity to the genesis and manifestations of cosmic reality; he
should also comprehend something of the relationships existing between himself
and the numerous levels of existential and experiential realities, of potential
and actual realities. Man's terrestrial orientation, his cosmic insight, and
his spiritual directionization are all enhanced by a better comprehension of
universe realities and their techniques of interassociation, integration, and
unification.
The present grand universe and the emerging master universe are made up of many
forms and phases of reality which, in turn, are existent on several levels of
functional activity. These manifold existents and latents have been previously
suggested in these papers, and they are now grouped for conceptual convenience
in the following categories:
1. Incomplete finites. This is the present status of the ascending creatures of
the grand universe, the present status of Urantia mortals. This level embraces
creature existence from the planetary human up to, but not including, destiny
attainers. It pertains to universes from early physical beginnings up to, but
not including, settlement in light and life. This level constitutes the present
periphery of creative activity in time and space. It appears to be moving
outward from Paradise, for the closing of the present universe age, which will
witness the grand universe attainment of light and life, will also and surely
witness the appearance of some new order of developmental growth in the first
outer space level.
2. Maximum finites. This is the present status of all experiential creatures
who have attained destiny--destiny as revealed within the scope of the present
universe age. Even universes can attain to the maximum of status, both
spiritually and physically. But the term "maximum" is itself a relative
term--maximum in relation to what? And that which is maximum, seemingly final,
in the present universe age may be no more than a real beginning in terms of
the ages to come. Some phases of Havona appear to be on the maximum order.
3. Transcendentals. This superfinite level (antecedently) follows finite
progression. It implies the prefinite genesis of finite beginnings and the
postfinite significance of all apparent finite endings or destinies. Much of
Paradise-Havona appears to be on the transcendental order.
4. Ultimates. This level encompasses that which is of master universe
significance and impinges on the destiny level of the completed master
universe. Paradise-Havona (especially the circuit of the Father's worlds) is in
many respects of ultimate significance.
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5. Coabsolutes. This level implies the projection of experientials upon a
supermaster universe field of creative expression.
6. Absolutes. This level connotes the eternity presence of the seven
existential Absolutes. It may also involve some degree of associative
experiential attainment, but if so, we do not understand how, perhaps through
the contact potential of personality.
7. Infinity. This level is pre-existential and postexperiential. Unqualified
unity of infinity is a hypothetical reality before all beginnings and after all
destinies.
These levels of reality are convenient compromise symbolizations of the present
universe age and for the mortal perspective. There are a number of other ways
of looking at reality from other-than-mortal perspective and from the
standpoint of other universe ages. Thus it should be recognized that the
concepts herewith presented are entirely relative, relative in the sense of
being conditioned and limited by:
1. The limitations of mortal language.
2. The limitations of the mortal mind.
3. The limited development of the seven superuniverses.
4. Your ignorance of the six prime purposes of superuniverse development which
do not pertain to the mortal ascent to Paradise.
5. Your inability to grasp even a partial eternity viewpoint.
6. The impossibility of depicting cosmic evolution and destiny in relation to
all universe ages, not just in regard to the present age of the evolutionary
unfolding of the seven superuniverses.
7. The inability of any creature to grasp what is really meant by
pre-existentials or by postexperientials--that which lies before beginnings and
after destinies.
Reality growth is conditioned by the circumstances of the successive universe
ages. The central universe underwent no evolutionary change in the Havona age,
but in the present epochs of the superuniverse age it is undergoing certain
progressive changes induced by co-ordination with the evolutionary
superuniverses. The seven superuniverses, now evolving, will sometime attain
the settled status of light and life, will attain the growth limit for the
present universe age. But beyond doubt, the next age, the age of the first
outer space level, will release the superuniverses from the destiny limitations
of the present age. Repletion is continually being superimposed upon
completion.
These are some of the limitations which we encounter in attempting to present a
unified concept of the cosmic growth of things, meanings, and values and of
their synthesis on ever-ascending levels of reality.
1. PRIMARY ASSOCIATION OF FINITE FUNCTIONALS
The primary or spirit-origin phases of finite reality find immediate expression
on creature levels as perfect personalities and on universe levels as the
perfect Havona creation. Even experiential Deity is thus expressed in the
spirit
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person of God the Supreme in Havona. But the secondary, evolutionary,
time-and-matter-conditioned phases of the finite become cosmically integrated
only as a result of growth and attainment. Eventually all secondary or
perfecting finites are to attain a level equal to that of primary perfection,
but such destiny is subject to a time delay, a constitutive superuniverse
qualification which is not genetically found in the central creation. (We know
of the existence of tertiary finites, but the technique of their integration is
as yet unrevealed.)
This superuniverse time lag, this obstacle to perfection attainment, provides
for creature participation in evolutionary growth. It thus makes it possible
for the creature to enter into partnership with the Creator in the evolution of
that selfsame creature. And during these times of expanding growth the
incomplete is correlated with the perfect through the ministry of God the
Sevenfold.
God the Sevenfold signifies the recognition by Paradise Deity of the barriers
of time in the evolutionary universes of space. No matter how remote from
Paradise, how deep in space, a material survival personality may take origin,
God the Sevenfold will be found there present and engaged in the loving and
merciful ministry of truth, beauty, and goodness to such an incomplete,
struggling, and evolutionary creature. The divinity ministry of the Sevenfold
reaches inward through the Eternal Son to the Paradise Father and outward
through the Ancients of Days to the universe Fathers--the Creator Sons.
Man, being personal and ascending by spiritual progression, finds the personal
and spiritual divinity of the Sevenfold Deity; but there are other phases of
the Sevenfold which are not concerned with the progression of personality. The
divinity aspects of this Deity grouping are at present integrated in the
liaison between the Seven Master Spirits and the Conjoint Actor, but they are
destined to be eternally unified in the emerging personality of the Supreme
Being. The other phases of the Sevenfold Deity are variously integrated in the
present universe age, but all are likewise destined to be unified in the
Supreme. The Sevenfold, in all phases, is the source of the relative unity of
the functional reality of the present grand universe.
2. SECONDARY SUPREME FINITE INTEGRATION
As God the Sevenfold functionally co-ordinates finite evolution, so does the
Supreme Being eventually synthesize destiny attainment. The Supreme Being is
the deity culmination of grand universe evolution--physical evolution around a
spirit nucleus and eventual dominance of the spirit nucleus over the encircling
and whirling domains of physical evolution. And all of this takes place in
accordance with the mandates of personality: Paradise personality in the
highest sense, Creator personality in the universe sense, mortal personality in
the human sense, Supreme personality in the culminating or experiential
totaling sense.
The concept of the Supreme must provide for the differential recognition of
spirit person, evolutionary power, and power-personality synthesis--the
unification of evolutionary power with, and its dominance by, spirit
personality.
Spirit, in the last analysis, comes from Paradise through Havona. Energy-matter
seemingly evolves in the depths of space and is organized as power by the
children of the Infinite Spirit in conjunction with the Creator Sons of God.
And all of this is experiential; it is a transaction in time and space
involving a wide range of living beings including even Creator divinities and
evolutionary crea-
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tures. The power mastery of the Creator divinities in the grand universe slowly
expands to encompass the evolutionary settling and stabilizing of the
time-space creations, and this is the flowering of the experiential power of
God the Sevenfold. It encompasses the whole gamut of divinity attainment in
time and space from the Adjuster bestowals of the Universal Father to the life
bestowals of the Paradise Sons. This is earned power, demonstrated power,
experiential power; it stands in contrast to the eternity power, the
unfathomable power, the existential power of the Paradise Deities.
This experiential power arising out of the divinity achievements of God the
Sevenfold itself manifests the cohesive qualities of divinity by
synthesizing--totalizing--as the almighty power of the attained experiential
mastery of the evolving creations. And this almighty power in turn finds
spirit-personality cohesion on the pilot sphere of the outer belt of Havona
worlds in union with the spirit personality of the Havona presence of God the
Supreme. Thus does experiential Deity culminate the long evolutionary struggle
by investing the power product of time and space with the spirit presence and
divine personality resident in the central creation.
Thus does the Supreme Being eventually attain to the embrace of all of
everything evolving in time and space while investing these qualities with
spirit personality. Since creatures, even mortals, are personality participants
in this majestic transaction, so do they certainly attain the capacity to know
the Supreme and to perceive the Supreme as true children of such an
evolutionary Deity.
Michael of Nebadon is like the Paradise Father because he shares his Paradise
perfection; so will evolutionary mortals sometime attain to kinship with the
experiential Supreme, for they will truly share his evolutionary perfection.
God the Supreme is experiential; therefore is he completely experiencible. The
existential realities of the seven Absolutes are not perceivable by the
technique of experience; only the personality realities of the Father, Son, and
Spirit can be grasped by the personality of the finite creature in the
prayer-worship attitude.
Within the completed power-personality synthesis of the Supreme Being there
will be associated all of the absoluteness of the several triodities which
could be so associated, and this majestic personality of evolution will be
experientially attainable and understandable by all finite personalities. When
ascenders attain the postulated seventh stage of spirit existence, they will
therein experience the realization of a new meaning-value of the absoluteness
and infinity of the triodities as such is revealed on subabsolute levels in the
Supreme Being, who is experiencible. But the attainment of these stages of
maximum development will probably await the co-ordinate settling of the entire
grand universe in light and life.
3. TRANSCENDENTAL TERTIARY REALITY ASSOCIATION
The absonite architects eventuate the plan; the Supreme Creators bring it into
existence; the Supreme Being will consummate its fullness as it was time
created by the Supreme Creators, and as it was space forecast by the Master
Architects.
During the present universe age the administrative co-ordination of the master
universe is the function of the Architects of the Master Universe. But
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the appearance of the Almighty Supreme at the termination of the present
universe age will signify that the evolutionary finite has attained the first
stage of experiential destiny. This happening will certainly lead to the
completed function of the first experiential Trinity--the union of the Supreme
Creators, the Supreme Being, and the Architects of the Master Universe. This
Trinity is destined to effect the further evolutionary integration of the
master creation.
The Paradise Trinity is truly one of infinity, and no Trinity can possibly be
infinite that does not include this original Trinity. But the original Trinity
is an eventuality of the exclusive association of absolute Deities; subabsolute
beings had nothing to do with this primal association. The subsequently
appearing and experiential Trinities embrace the contributions of even creature
personalities. Certainly this is true of the Trinity Ultimate, wherein the very
presence of the Master Creator Sons among the Supreme Creator members thereof
betokens the concomitant presence of actual and bona fide creature experience
within this Trinity association.
The first experiential Trinity provides for group attainment of ultimate
eventualities. Group associations are enabled to anticipate, even to transcend,
individual capacities; and this is true even beyond the finite level. In the
ages to come, after the seven superuniverses have been settled in light and
life, the Corps of the Finality will doubtless be promulgating the purposes of
the Paradise Deities as they are dictated by the Trinity Ultimate, and as they
are power-personality unified in the Supreme Being.
Throughout all the gigantic universe developments of past and future eternity,
we detect the expansion of the comprehensible elements of the Universal Father.
As the I AM, we philosophically postulate his permeation of total infinity, but
no creature is able experientially to encompass such a postulate. As the
universes expand, and as gravity and love reach out into time-organizing space,
we are able to understand more and more of the First Source and Center. We
observe gravity action penetrating the space presence of the Unqualified
Absolute, and we detect spirit creatures evolving and expanding within the
divinity presence of the Deity Absolute while both cosmic and spirit evolution
are by mind and experience unifying on finite deity levels as the Supreme Being
and are co-ordinating on transcendental levels as the Trinity Ultimate.
4. ULTIMATE QUARTAN INTEGRATION
The Paradise Trinity certainly co-ordinates in the ultimate sense but functions
in this respect as a self-qualified absolute; the experiential Trinity Ultimate
co-ordinates the transcendental as a transcendental. In the eternal future this
experiential Trinity will, through augmenting unity, further activate the
eventuating presence of Ultimate Deity.
While the Trinity Ultimate is destined to co-ordinate the master creation, God
the Ultimate is the transcendental power-personalization of the
directionization of the entire master universe. The completed eventuation of
the Ultimate implies the completion of the master creation and connotes the
full emergence of this transcendental Deity.
What changes will be inaugurated by the full emergence of the Ultimate we do
not know. But as the Supreme is now spiritually and personally present in
Havona, so also is the Ultimate there present but in the absonite and super-
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personal sense. And you have been informed of the existence of the Qualified
Vicegerents of the Ultimate, though you have not been informed of their present
whereabouts or function.
But irrespective of the administrative repercussions attendant upon the
emergence of Ultimate Deity, the personal values of his transcendental divinity
will be experiencible by all personalities who have been participants in the
actualization of this Deity level. Transcendence of the finite can lead only to
ultimate attainment. God the Ultimate exists in transcendence of time and space
but is nonetheless subabsolute notwithstanding inherent capacity for functional
association with absolutes.
5. COABSOLUTE OR FIFTH-PHASE ASSOCIATION
The Ultimate is the apex of transcendental reality even as the Supreme is the
capstone of evolutionary-experiential reality. And the actual emergence of
these two experiential Deities lays the foundation for the second experiential
Trinity. This is the Trinity Absolute, the union of God the Supreme, God the
Ultimate, and the unrevealed Consummator of Universe Destiny. And this Trinity
has theoretical capacity to activate the Absolutes of potentiality--Deity,
Universal, and Unqualified. But the completed formation of this Trinity
Absolute could take place only after the completed evolution of the entire
master universe, from Havona to the fourth and outermost space level.
It should be made clear that these experiential Trinities are correlative, not
only of the personality qualities of experiential Divinity, but also of all the
other-than-personal qualities which characterize their attained Deity unity.
While this presentation deals primarily with the personal phases of the
unification of the cosmos, it is nonetheless true that the impersonal aspects
of the universe of universes are likewise destined to undergo unification as is
illustrated by the power-personality synthesis now going on in connection with
the evolution of the Supreme Being. The spirit-personal qualities of the
Supreme are inseparable from the power prerogatives of the Almighty, and both
are complemented by the unknown potential of Supreme mind. Neither can God the
Ultimate as a person be considered apart from the other-than-personal aspects
of Ultimate Deity. And on the absolute level the Deity and the Unqualified
Absolutes are inseparable and indistinguishable in the presence of the
Universal Absolute.
Trinities are, in and of themselves, not personal, but neither do they
contravene personality. Rather do they encompass it and correlate it, in a
collective sense, with impersonal functions. Trinities are, then, always deity
reality but never personality reality. The personality aspects of a trinity are
inherent in its individual members, and as individual persons they are not that
trinity. Only as a collective are they trinity; that is trinity. But always is
trinity inclusive of all encompassed deity; trinity is deity unity.
The three Absolutes--Deity, Universal, and Unqualified--are not trinity, for
all are not deity. Only the deified can become trinity; all other associations
are triunities or triodities.
6. ABSOLUTE OR SIXTH-PHASE INTEGRATION
The present potential of the master universe is hardly absolute, though it may
well be near-ultimate, and we deem it impossible to achieve the full revela-
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tion of absolute meaning-values within the scope of a subabsolute cosmos. We
therefore encounter considerable difficulty in attempting to conceive of a
total expression of the limitless possibilities of the three Absolutes or even
in attempting to visualize the experiential personalization of God the Absolute
on the now impersonal level of the Deity Absolute.
The space-stage of the master universe seems to be adequate for the
actualization of the Supreme Being, for the formation and full function of the
Trinity Ultimate, for the eventuation of God the Ultimate, and even for the
inception of the Trinity Absolute. But our concepts regarding the full function
of this second experiential Trinity seem to imply something beyond even the
wide-spreading master universe.
If we assume a cosmos-infinite--some illimitable cosmos on beyond the master
universe--and if we conceive that the final developments of the Absolute
Trinity will take place out on such a superultimate stage of action, then it
becomes possible to conjecture that the completed function of the Trinity
Absolute will achieve final expression in the creations of infinity and will
consummate the absolute actualization of all potentials. The integration and
association of ever-enlarging segments of reality will approach absoluteness of
status proportional to the inclusion of all reality within the segments thus
associated.
Stated otherwise: The Trinity Absolute, as its name implies, is really absolute
in total function. We do not know how an absolute function can achieve total
expression on a qualified, limited, or otherwise restricted basis. Hence we
must assume that any such totality function will be unconditioned (in
potential). And it would also appear that the unconditioned would also be
unlimited, at least from a qualitative standpoint, though we are not so sure
regarding quantitative relationships.
Of this, however, we are certain: While the existential Paradise Trinity is
infinite, and while the experiential Trinity Ultimate is subinfinite, the
Trinity Absolute is not so easy to classify. Though experiential in genesis and
constitution, it definitely impinges upon the existential Absolutes of
potentiality.
While it is hardly profitable for the human mind to seek to grasp such faraway
and superhuman concepts, we would suggest that the eternity action of the
Trinity Absolute may be thought of as culminating in some kind of
experientialization of the Absolutes of potentiality. This would appear to be a
reasonable conclusion with respect to the Universal Absolute, if not the
Unqualified Absolute; at least we know that the Universal Absolute is not only
static and potential but also associative in the total Deity sense of those
words. But in regard to the conceivable values of divinity and personality,
these conjectured happenings imply the personalization of the Deity Absolute
and the appearance of those superpersonal values and those ultrapersonal
meanings inherent in the personality completion of God the Absolute--the third
and last of the experiential Deities.
7. FINALITY OF DESTINY
Some of the difficulties in forming concepts of infinite reality integration
are inherent in the fact that all such ideas embrace something of the finality
of universal development, some kind of an experiential realization of all that
could ever be. And it is inconceivable that quantitative infinity could ever be
completely realized in finality. Always there must remain unexplored
possibilities in the
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three potential Absolutes which no quantity of experiential development could
ever exhaust. Eternity itself, though absolute, is not more than absolute.
Even a tentative concept of final integration is inseparable from the fruitions
of unqualified eternity and is, therefore, practically nonrealizable at any
conceivable future time.
Destiny is established by the volitional act of the Deities who constitute the
Paradise Trinity; destiny is established in the vastness of the three great
potentials whose absoluteness encompasses the possibilities of all future
development; destiny is probably consummated by the act of the Consummator of
Universe Destiny, and this act is probably involved with the Supreme and the
Ultimate in the Trinity Absolute. Any experiential destiny can be at least
partially comprehended by experiencing creatures; but a destiny which impinges
on infinite existentials is hardly comprehensible. Finality destiny is an
existential-experiential attainment which appears to involve the Deity
Absolute. But the Deity Absolute stands in eternity relationship with the
Unqualified Absolute by virtue of the Universal Absolute. And these three
Absolutes, experiential in possibility, are actually existential and more,
being limitless, timeless, spaceless, boundless, and measureless--truly
infinite.
The improbability of goal attainment does not, however, prevent philosophical
theorizing about such hypothetical destinies. The actualization of the Deity
Absolute as an attainable absolute God may be practically impossible of
realization; nevertheless, such a finality fruition remains a theoretical
possibility. The involvement of the Unqualified Absolute in some inconceivable
cosmos-infinite may be measurelessly remote in the futurity of endless
eternity, but such a hypothesis is nonetheless valid. Mortals, morontians,
spirits, finaliters, Transcendentalers, and others, together with the universes
themselves and all other phases of reality, certainly do have a potentially
final destiny that is absolute in value; but we doubt that any being or
universe will ever completely attain all of the aspects of such a destiny.
No matter how much you may grow in Father comprehension, your mind will always
be staggered by the unrevealed infinity of the Father-I AM, the unexplored
vastness of which will always remain unfathomable and incomprehensible
throughout all the cycles of eternity. No matter how much of God you may
attain, there will always remain much more of him, the existence of which you
will not even suspect. And we believe that this is just as true on
transcendental levels as it is in the domains of finite existence. The quest
for God is endless!
Such inability to attain God in a final sense should in no manner discourage
universe creatures; indeed, you can and do attain Deity levels of the
Sevenfold, the Supreme, and the Ultimate, which mean to you what the infinite
realization of God the Father means to the Eternal Son and to the Conjoint
Actor in their absolute status of eternity existence. Far from harassing the
creature, the infinity of God should be the supreme assurance that throughout
all endless futurity an ascending personality will have before him the
possibilities of personality development and Deity association which even
eternity will neither exhaust nor terminate.
To finite creatures of the grand universe the concept of the master universe
seems to be well-nigh infinite, but doubtless the absonite architects thereof
perceive its relatedness to future and unimagined developments within the un
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ending I AM. Even space itself is but an ultimate condition, a condition of
qualification within the relative absoluteness of the quiet zones of midspace.
At the inconceivably distant future eternity moment of the final completion of
the entire master universe, no doubt we will all look back upon its entire
history as only the beginning, simply the creation of certain finite and
transcendental foundations for even greater and more enthralling metamorphoses
in uncharted infinity. At such a future eternity moment the master universe
will still seem youthful; indeed, it will be always young in the face of the
limitless possibilities of never-ending eternity.
The improbability of infinite destiny attainment does not in the least prevent
the entertainment of ideas about such destiny, and we do not hesitate to say
that, if the three absolute potentials could ever become completely actualized,
it would be possible to conceive of the final integration of total reality.
This developmental realization is predicated on the completed actualization of
the Unqualified, Universal, and Deity Absolutes, the three potentialities whose
union constitutes the latency of the I AM, the suspended realities of eternity,
the abeyant possibilities of all futurity, and more.
Such eventualities are rather remote to say the least; nevertheless, in the
mechanisms, personalities, and associations of the three Trinities we believe
we detect the theoretical possibility of the reuniting of the seven absolute
phases of the Father-I AM. And this brings us face to face with the concept of
the threefold Trinity encompassing the Paradise Trinity of existential status
and the two subsequently appearing Trinities of experiential nature and origin.
8. THE TRINITY OF TRINITIES
The nature of the Trinity of Trinities is difficult to portray to the human
mind; it is the actual summation of the entirety of experiential infinity as
such is manifested in a theoretical infinity of eternity realization. In the
Trinity of Trinities the experiential infinite attains to identity with the
existential infinite, and both are as one in the pre-experiential,
pre-existential I AM. The Trinity of Trinities is the final expression of all
that is implied in the fifteen triunities and associated triodities. Finalities
are difficult for relative beings to comprehend, be they existential or
experiential; therefore must they always be presented as relativities.
The Trinity of Trinities exists in several phases. It contains possibilities,
probabilities, and inevitabilities that stagger the imaginations of beings far
above the human level. It has implications that are probably unsuspected by the
celestial philosophers, for its implications are in the triunities, and the
triunities are, in the last analysis, unfathomable.
There are a number of ways in which the Trinity of Trinities can be portrayed.
We elect to present the three-level concept, which is as follows:
1. The level of the three Trinities.
2. The level of experiential Deity.
3. The level of the I AM.
These are levels of increasing unification. Actually the Trinity of Trinities
is the first level, while the second and third levels are
unification-derivatives of the first.
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THE FIRST LEVEL: On this initial level of association it is believed that the
three Trinities function as perfectly synchronized, though distinct, groupings
of Deity personalities.
1. The Paradise Trinity, the association of the three Paradise Deities--Father,
Son, and Spirit. It should be remembered that the Paradise Trinity implies a
threefold function--an absolute function, a transcendental function (Trinity of
Ultimacy), and a finite function (Trinity of Supremacy). The Paradise Trinity
is any and all of these at any and all times.
2. The Ultimate Trinity. This is the deity association of the Supreme Creators,
God the Supreme, and the Architects of the Master Universe. While this is an
adequate presentation of the divinity aspects of this Trinity, it should be
recorded that there are other phases of this Trinity, which, however, appear to
be perfectly co-ordinating with the divinity aspects.
3. The Absolute Trinity. This is the grouping of God the Supreme, God the
Ultimate, and the Consummator of Universe Destiny in regard to all divinity
values. Certain other phases of this triune grouping have to do with
other-than-divinity values in the expanding cosmos. But these are unifying with
the divinity phases just as the power and the personality aspects of the
experiential Deities are now in process of experiential synthesis.
The association of these three Trinities in the Trinity of Trinities provides
for a possible unlimited integration of reality. This grouping contains causes,
intermediates, and finals; inceptors, realizers, and consummators; beginnings,
existences, and destinies. The Father-Son partnership has become Son-Spirit and
then Spirit-Supreme and on to Supreme-Ultimate and Ultimate-Absolute, even to
Absolute and Father-Infinite--the completion of the cycle of reality. Likewise,
in other phases not so immediately concerned with divinity and personality,
does the First Great Source and Center self-realize the limitlessness of
reality around the circle of eternity, from the absoluteness of self-existence,
through the endlessness of self-revelation, to the finality of
self-realization--from the absolute of existentials to the finality of
experientials.
THE SECOND LEVEL: The co-ordination of the three Trinities inevitably involves
the associative union of the experiential Deities, who are genetically
associated with these Trinities. The nature of this second level has been
sometimes presented as:
1. The Supreme. This is the deity consequence of the unity of the Paradise
Trinity in experiential liaison with the Creator-Creative children of the
Paradise Deities. The Supreme is the deity embodiment of the completion of the
first stage of finite evolution.
2. The Ultimate. This is the deity consequence of the eventuated unity of the
second Trinity, the transcendental and absonite personification of divinity.
The Ultimate consists in a variably regarded unity of many qualities, and the
human conception thereof would do well to include at least those phases of
ultimacy which are control directing, personally experiencible, and tensionally
unifying, but there are many other unrevealed aspects of the eventuated Deity.
While the Ultimate and the Supreme are comparable, they are not identical,
neither is the Ultimate merely an amplification of the Supreme.
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3. The Absolute. There are many theories held as to the character of the third
member of the second level of the Trinity of Trinities. God the Absolute is
undoubtedly involved in this association as the personality consequence of the
final function of the Trinity Absolute, yet the Deity Absolute is an
existential reality of eternity status.
The concept difficulty regarding this third member is inherent in the fact that
the presupposition of such a membership really implies just one Absolute.
Theoretically, if such an event could take place, we should witness the
experiential unification of the three Absolutes as one. And we are taught that,
in infinity and existentially, there is one Absolute. While it is least clear
as to who this third member can be, it is often postulated that such may
consist of the Deity, Universal, and Unqualified Absolutes in some form of
unimagined liaison and cosmic manifestation. Certainly, the Trinity of
Trinities could hardly attain to complete function short of the full
unification of the three Absolutes, and the three Absolutes can hardly be
unified short of the complete realization of all infinite potentials.
It will probably represent a minimum distortion of truth if the third member of
the Trinity of Trinities is conceived as the Universal Absolute, provided this
conception envisions the Universal not only as static and potential but also as
associative. But we still do not perceive the relationship to the creative and
evolutional aspects of the function of total Deity.
Though a completed concept of the Trinity of Trinities is difficult to form, a
qualified concept is not so difficult. If the second level of the Trinity of
Trinities is conceived as essentially personal, it becomes quite possible to
postulate the union of God the Supreme, God the Ultimate, and God the Absolute
as the personal repercussion of the union of the personal Trinities who are
ancestral to these experiential Deities. We venture the opinion that these
three experiential Deities will certainly unify on the second level as the
direct consequence of the growing unity of their ancestral and causative
Trinities who constitute the first level.
The first level consists of three Trinities; the second level exists as the
personality association of experiential-evolved, experiential-eventuated, and
experiential-existential Deity personalities. And regardless of any conceptual
difficulty in understanding the complete Trinity of Trinities, the personal
association of these three Deities on the second level has become manifest to
our own universe age in the phenomenon of the deitization of Majeston, who was
actualized on this second level by the Deity Absolute, acting through the
Ultimate and in response to the initial creative mandate of the Supreme Being.
THE THIRD LEVEL: In an unqualified hypothesis of the second level of the
Trinity of Trinities, there is embraced the correlation of every phase of every
kind of reality that is, or was, or could be in the entirety of infinity. The
Supreme Being is not only spirit but also mind and power and experience. The
Ultimate is all this and much more, while, in the conjoined concept of the
oneness of the Deity, Universal, and Unqualified Absolutes, there is included
the absolute finality of all reality realization.
In the union of the Supreme, Ultimate, and the complete Absolute, there could
occur the functional reassembly of those aspects of infinity which were
originally segmentalized by the I AM, and which resulted in the appearance of
the Seven
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Absolutes of Infinity. Though the universe philosophers deem this to be a most
remote probability, still, we often ask this question: If the second level of
the Trinity of Trinities could ever achieve trinity unity, what then would
transpire as a consequence of such deity unity? We do not know, but we are
confident that it would lead directly to the realization of the I AM as an
experiential attainable. From the standpoint of personal beings it could mean
that the unknowable I AM had become experiencible as the Father-Infinite. What
these absolute destinies might mean from a nonpersonal standpoint is another
matter and one which only eternity could possibly clarify. But as we view these
remote eventualities as personal creatures, we deduce that the final destiny of
all personalities is the final knowing of the Universal Father of these
selfsame personalities.
As we philosophically conceive of the I AM in past eternity, he is alone, there
is none beside him. Looking forward into future eternity, we do not see that
the I AM could possibly change as an existential, but we are inclined to
forecast a vast experiential difference. Such a concept of the I AM implies
full self-realization--it embraces that limitless galaxy of personalities who
have become volitional participants in the self-revelation of the I AM, and who
will remain eternally as absolute volitional parts of the totality of infinity,
final sons of the absolute Father.
9. EXISTENTIAL INFINITE UNIFICATION
In the concept of the Trinity of Trinities we postulate the possible
experiential unification of limitless reality, and we sometimes theorize that
all this may happen in the utter remoteness of far-distant eternity. But there
is nonetheless an actual and present unification of infinity in this very age
as in all past and future universe ages; such unification is existential in the
Paradise Trinity. Infinity unification as an experiential reality is
unthinkably remote, but an unqualified unity of infinity now dominates the
present moment of universe existence and unites the divergencies of all reality
with an existential majesty that is absolute.
When finite creatures attempt to conceive of infinite unification on the
finality levels of consummated eternity, they are face to face with intellect
limitations inherent in their finite existences. Time, space, and experience
constitute barriers to creature concept; and yet, without time, apart from
space, and except for experience, no creature could achieve even a limited
comprehension of universe reality. Without time sensitivity, no evolutionary
creature could possibly perceive the relations of sequence. Without space
perception, no creature could fathom the relations of simultaneity. Without
experience, no evolutionary creature could even exist; only the Seven Absolutes
of Infinity really transcend experience, and even these may be experiential in
certain phases.
Time, space, and experience are man's greatest aids to relative reality
perception and yet his most formidable obstacles to complete reality
perception. Mortals and many other universe creatures find it necessary to
think of potentials as being actualized in space and evolving to fruition in
time, but this entire process is a time-space phenomenon which does not
actually take place on Paradise and in eternity. On the absolute level there is
neither time nor space; all potentials may be there perceived as actuals.
The concept of the unification of all reality, be it in this or any other
universe age, is basically twofold: existential and experiential. Such a unity
is in process
top of page - 1174
of experiential realization in the Trinity of Trinities, but the degree of the
apparent actualization of this threefold Trinity is directly proportional to
the disappearance of the qualifications and imperfections of reality in the
cosmos. But total integration of reality is unqualifiedly and eternally and
existentially present in the Paradise Trinity, within which, at this very
universe moment, infinite reality is absolutely unified.
The paradox created by the experiential and the existential viewpoints is
inevitable and is predicated in part on the fact that the Paradise Trinity and
the Trinity of Trinities are each an eternity relationship which mortals can
only perceive as a time-space relativity. The human concept of the gradual
experiential actualization of the Trinity of Trinities--the time
viewpoint--must be supplemented by the additional postulate that this is
already a factualization--the eternity viewpoint. But how can these two
viewpoints be reconciled? To finite mortals we suggest the acceptance of the
truth that the Paradise Trinity is the existential unification of infinity, and
that the inability to detect the actual presence and completed manifestation of
the experiential Trinity of Trinities is in part due to reciprocal distortion
because of:
1. The limited human viewpoint, the inability to grasp the concept of
unqualified eternity.
2. The imperfect human status, the remoteness from the absolute level of
experientials.
3. The purpose of human existence, the fact that mankind is designed to evolve
by the technique of experience and, therefore, must be inherently and
constitutively dependent on experience. Only an Absolute can be both
existential and experiential.
The Universal Father in the Paradise Trinity is the I AM of the Trinity of
Trinities, and the failure to experience the Father as infinite is due to
finite limitations. The concept of the existential, solitary, pre-Trinity
nonattainable I AM and the postulate of the experiential post-Trinity of
Trinities and attainable I AM are one and the same hypothesis; no actual change
has taken place in the Infinite; all apparent developments are due to increased
capacities for reality reception and cosmic appreciation.
The I AM, in the final analysis, must exist before all existentials and after
all experientials. While these ideas may not clarify the paradoxes of eternity
and infinity in the human mind, they should at least stimulate such finite
intellects to grapple anew with these never-ending problems, problems which
will continue to intrigue you on Salvington and later as finaliters and on
throughout the unending future of your eternal careers in the wide-spreading
universes.
Sooner or later all universe personalities begin to realize that the final
quest of eternity is the endless exploration of infinity, the never-ending
voyage of discovery into the absoluteness of the First Source and Center.
Sooner or later we all become aware that all creature growth is proportional to
Father identification. We arrive at the understanding that living the will of
God is the eternal passport to the endless possibility of infinity itself.
Mortals will sometime realize that success in the quest of the Infinite is
directly proportional to the achievement of Fatherlikeness, and that in this
universe age the realities of the Father are revealed within the qualities of
divinity. And these qualities of divinity are
top of page - 1175
personally appropriated by universe creatures in the experience of living
divinely, and to live divinely means actually to live the will of God.
To material, evolutionary, finite creatures, a life predicated on the living of
the Father's will leads directly to the attainment of spirit supremacy in the
personality arena and brings such creatures one step nearer the comprehension
of the Father-Infinite. Such a Father life is one predicated on truth,
sensitive to beauty, and dominated by goodness. Such a God-knowing person is
inwardly illuminated by worship and outwardly devoted to the wholehearted
service of the universal brotherhood of all personalities, a service ministry
which is filled with mercy and motivated by love, while all these life
qualities are unified in the evolving personality on ever-ascending levels of
cosmic wisdom, self-realization, God-finding, and Father worship.
[Presented by a Melchizedek of Nebadon.]
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Subjects Archive The Urantia Book Urantia Book PART III: The History of Urantia
: The Origin Of Urantia Life Establishment On Urantia The Marine-life Era On
Urantia Urantia During The Early Land-life Era The Mammalian Era On Urantia The
Dawn Races Of Early Man The First Human Family The Evolutionary Races Of Color
The Overcontrol Of Evolution The Planetary Prince Of Urantia The Planetary
Rebellion The Dawn Of Civilization Primitive Human Institutions The Evolution
Of Human Government Development Of The State Government On A Neighboring Planet
The Garden Of Eden Adam And Eve The Default Of Adam And Eve The Second Garden
The Midway Creatures The Violet Race After The Days Of Adam Andite Expansion In
The Orient Andite Expansion In The Occident Development Of Modern Civilization
The Evolution Of Marriage The Marriage Institution Marriage And Family Life The
Origins Of Worship Early Evolution Of Religion The Ghost Cults Fetishes,
Charms, And Magic Sin, Sacrifice, And Atonement Shamanism--medicine Men And
Priests The Evolution Of Prayer The Later Evolution Of Religion Machiventa
Melchizedek The Melchizedek Teachings In The Orient The Melchizedek Teachings
In The Levant Yahweh--god Of The Hebrews Evolution Of The God Concept Among The
Hebrews The Melchizedek Teachings In The Occident The Social Problems Of
Religion Religion In Human Experience The Real Nature Of Religion The
Foundations Of Religious Faith The Reality Of Religious Experience Growth Of
The Trinity Concept Deity And Reality Universe Levels Of Reality Origin And
Nature Of Thought Adjusters Mission And Ministry Of Thought Adjusters Relation
Of Adjusters To Universe Creatures Relation Of Adjusters To Individual Mortals
The Adjuster And The Soul Personality Survival Seraphic Guardians Of Destiny
Seraphic Planetary Government The Supreme Being The Almighty Supreme God The
Supreme Supreme And Ultimate--time And Space The Bestowals Of Christ Michael
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