God-Consciousness

By Julia K. Fenderson

I have undertaken this study of God-consciousness with the deepest humility fully aware of my many human limitations. Yet, I submit, we can only grow and develop by trying - by struggling to understand, and by praying for guidance and direction in yielding mind to spirit. I submit further, that we can grow faster by pooling our resources, by meeting and discussing those topics together as we are doing today. Rodan says, (page 1776:2) “…through personality association the mind of one augments its spiritual values by gaining much of the insight of the other. In this way men enrich the soul by pooling their respective spiritual possessions.”

What does this term God-consciousness mean to us? Have we experienced this personal feeling? The Urantia Book tells us, page 1130:6: "There is no word in any human language which can be employed to designate this “sense,’ ‘feeling,’ “intuition,” or “experience” which we have elected to call God-consciousness.”

We realize that we are at the bottom of the long evolutionary climb toward fully understanding this term and at our present point we can only catch a faint glimpse of its true meaning. But to see more, we must climb and struggle upward to gain a larger view at each level until at last we can come into a full understanding.

The find the term God-consciousness used throughout the book in many and varied settings, all of which help us to gain understanding of this term. For example, in the Foreword, an Orvonton Divine Counselor points up the fact that numerous divine helps are given to aid us in our progress. In spite of the limitations of our mortal minds we can achieve divine levels if we sincerely try.” “…there dwells within the human mind a fragment of God, and there sojourns with the human soul the Spirit of Truth; and we further know that these spirit forces conspire to enable material man to grasp the reality of spiritual values. But even more certainly we know that these spirits of the Divine Presence are able to assist man in the spiritual appropriation of

all truth contributory to the enhancement of the ever-progressing reality of personal religious experience - God-consciousness." (Page 17:2.)

One of the first things we might have this experience of God-consciousness is told by a Melchizedek (page 1131:4): “Every human being very early experiences something of the conflict between his self-seeking and his altruistic impulses, and many times the first experience of God-consciousness may be attained as the result of seeking for superhuman help in the task of resolving such moral conflicts.”

Above all else, God-consciousness is the most longed-for and sought-after experience of religious man.

Consider the following presentation by a Divine Counselor (page 34:L) “…Thought Adjusters, the actual gift of the great God himself sent to indwell such as the humans of Urantia, sent without announcement and without explanation. In endless profusion, they descend from the heights of glory to grace and indwell the humble minds of those mortals who possess the capacity for God-consciousness or the potential therefor.^”

A Melchizedek of Nebadon portrays the setting for increased God-consciousness: "The sincere religionist is conscious of universe citizenship and is aware of making contact with sources of superhuman power. He is thrilled and energized with the assurance of belonging to a superior and ennobled fellowship of the sons of God. The consciousness of self-worth has become augmented by the stimulus of the quest for the highest universe objectives -- supreme goals.

"The self has surrendered to the intriguing drive of an all-encompassing motivation which imposes heightened self-discipline, lessens emotional conflict, and makes mortal life truly worth living. The morbid recognition of human limitations is changed to the natural consciousness of mortal shortcomings, associated with moral determination and spiritual aspiration to attain the highest universe and superuniverse goals. And this intense striving for the attainment of supermortal ideals is always characterized by increasing patience, forbearance, fortitude and tolerance." (Page 1100:7.6)

"It should be made clear that professions of loyalty to the supreme ideals the psychic, emotional, and spiritual awareness of God-consciousness -- may be a natural and gradual growth or may sometimes be experienced at certain junctures, as in a crisis. The Apostle Paul experienced just such a sudden and spectacular conversion that eventful day on the Damascus road. Gautama Siddhartha had a similar experience the night he sat alone and sought to penetrate the mystery of final truth. Many others have had like experiences, and many true believers have progressed in the spirit without sudden conversion…” When the mental mobilization is absolutely total on any level of the psychic up-reach toward spirit attainment, when there exists perfection of the human motivation of loyalties to the divine idea, then there very often occurs a sudden down-grasp of the indwelling spirit to synchronize with the concentrated and consecrated purpose of the super-conscious mind of the believing mortal." (Page 1099:2,3,)

“God-consciousness, as it is experienced by an evolving mortal of the realms must consist of three varying factors, three differential levels of reality realization. There is first the mind consciousness -- the comprehension of the idea of God. Then follows the soul consciousness - the realization of the ideal of God. Last, dawns the spirit consciousness - the realization of the spirit reality of God. By the unification of these factors of the divine realization, no matter how incomplete, the mortal personality at all time overspreads all conscious levels with a realization of the personality of God. In those mortals who have attained the Corps of the Finality all this will in time lead to the realization of the supremacy of God and may subsequently eventuate in the realization of the ultimacy of God, some phase of the absonite super-consciousness of the Paradise Father.”

“The experience of God-consciousness remains the same from generation to generation, but with each advancing epoch in human knowledge the philosophic concept and the theologic definitions of God must change. God-knowingness, religious consciousness, is a universe reality, but no matter how valid (real) religious experience is, it must be willing to subject itself to intelligent criticism and reasonable philosophic interpretation; it must not seek to be a thing apart in the totality of human experience.” (Page 69:7,8). -3-

“The actuality of the existence of God is demonstrated in human experience by the indwelling of the divine presence, the spirit monitor sent from Paradise to live in the mortal mind of man and there to assist in evolving the immortal soul of eternal survival. The presence of this Divine Adjuster in the human mind is disclosed by three experiential phenomena:

1. The intellectual capacity for knowing God -- God-consciousness.

2. The spiritual urge to find God -- God seeking.

3. The personality craving to be like God -- the wholehearted desire to do the Father’s will.

^“The existence of God can never be proved by scientific experiment or by the pure reason of logical deduction. God can be realized only in the realm of human experience: nevertheless, the true concept of the reality of God is reasonable to logic, plausible to philosophy, essential to religion, and indispensable to any hope of personality survival.”

^“Those who know God have experienced the fact of his presence; such God-knowing mortals hold in their personal experience the only positive proof of the existence of the living God which one human being can offer to another. The existence of God is utterly beyond the possibility of demonstration except for the contact between 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." (Page 24:2-7)

Such high and certain hope is given to each of us by these statements from a Divine Counselor of Uversa:

“If mortal man is wholeheartedly spiritually motivated, unreservedly consecrated to the doing of the Father^’s will, then, since he is so certainly and so effectively spiritually endowed by the indwelling and divine Adjuster, there cannot fail to materialize in that individual's experience the sublime consciousness of knowing God and the supernal assurance of surviving for the purpose of finding God by the progressive experience of becoming more and more like him." (Page 63:5)

"The divine presence cannot, however, be discovered anywhere in nature or even in the lives of God-knowing mortals so fully and so certainly as in your attempted communion with the indwelling mystery monitor, the Paradise Thought Adjuster. What a mistake to dream of God far off in the skies when the spirit of the Universal Father lives within your own mind. (Page 647)

“It is because of this God fragment that indwells you that you can hope, as you progress in harmonizing with the Adjuster’s spiritual leadings, more fully to discern the presence and transforming power of those other spiritual influences that surround you and impinge upon you but do not function as an integral part of you. The fact that you are not intellectually conscious of close and intimate contact with the indwelling Adjuster does not in the least disprove such an exalted experience. The proof of fraternity with the divine Adjuster consists wholly in the nature and extent of the fruits of the spirit which are yielded in the life experience of the individual believer. “By their fruits you shall now them.” (Pages 64:8-65-1)

“It is exceedingly difficult for the meagerly spiritualized, material mind of mortal man to experience marked consciousness of the spirit activities of such divine entities as the Paradise Adjusters. As the soul of joint mind and Adjuster creation becomes increasingly existent, there also evolves a new phase of soul consciousness which is capable of experiencing the presence and of recognizing the spirit leadings and other supermaterial activities of the Mystery Monitors.” (Page 65:2)

“The entire experience of Adjuster communion is one involving moral status, mental motivation, and spiritual experience. The self-realization of such an achievement is mainly, though not exclusively, limited to the realms of soul consciousness, but the proofs are forthcoming and abundant in the manifestation of the fruits of the spirit in the lives of all such inner-spirit contactors.” (Page 65:3)

That certain apostles were gradually developing personal God-consciousness is an interesting fact for us to consider. They had been associated with Jesus for many long days, weeks, and months when the following discussions with Rodan on the personality of God reveal significant developments in their personal lives:'

“Thomas contended that God does communicate with man, and therefore that the Father is a person, even within the definition of Rodan. This the Greek rejected on the ground that God does not reveal himself personally; that he is still a mystery. Then Nathaniel appealed to his own personal experience with God and that Rodan allowed, affirming that he had recently had similar experiences.” (Page 1784:1)

What were these experiences of which we see such brief mention? How we would like to talk to Nathaniel and Rodan and to know more about these experiences.

Let us conclude this paper with some powerful statements made by Jesus in his Second Discourse on Religion to the twenty-four as they paused in the shade by the hillside on their way to Phoenicia:

“Many of your brethren have minds which accept the theory of God while they spiritually fail to realize the presence of God. And that is just the reason why I have so often taught you that the kingdom of heaven can best be realized by acquiring the spiritual attitude of a sincere child. It is not the mental immaturity of the child that I commend to you but rather the spiritual simplicity of such an easy-believing and fully-trusting little one. It is not so important that you should know about the fact of God as that you should increasingly grow in the ability to feel the presence of God.” (Page 1733:1)

“When once you begin to find God in your soul, presently you will begin to discover him in other men^’s souls and eventually in all the creatures and creations of a mighty universe. But what chance does the Father have to appear as a God of supreme loyalties and divine ideals in the souls of men who give little or no time to the thoughtful contemplation of such eternal realities? While the mind is not the seat of the spiritual nature, it is indeed the gateway thereto.

“But do not make the mistake of trying to prove to other men that you have found God; you cannot consciously produce such valid proof, albeit there are two positive and powerful demonstrations of the fact that you are God-knowing, and they are:

1. The fruits of the spirit of God showing in your daily routine life.

2. The fact that your entire life plan furnishes positive proof that you have unreservedly risked everything you are and have on the adventure of survival after death in the pursuit of the hope of finding the God of eternity, whose presence you have foretasted in time. But you who have been called out of darkness into the light are expected to believe with a whole heart; your faith shall dominate the combined attitudes of body, mind and spirit.^” (Page 1733:2,3,4)

And this final strong statement of Jesus, which I wish to quote, is taken from his beautiful Instruction for Teachers and Believers, Page 1766:8. It is one which has become a memory verse for me -- I use it many times in a week or a day for aid and encouragement. It always gives me strength and courage:

Jesus said: “When children once become self-conscious of the assurance of the divine presence, such a faith will expand the mind, ennoble the soul, reinforce the personality, augment the happiness, deepen the spirit perception, and enhance the power to love and be loved."

References on God-consciousness

1130:6

17:2

34:L

1131:4

1100:7

1099:2,3

69:7, 8

24:2

63:5

64:7

65:1,2,3

1784: 1

1733:1,2,3,4

1766:8