Beginnings.

The Urantia Papers tell of God's plan for the age-long but adventurous journey to Paradise that is available to the ascending evolutionary mortals of time. You start your journey, virtually as an animal, but with this essential difference--your mind has the potential, of its own volition, to make a moral decision.

Your first such decision usually occurs at about the age of five, and signals the arrival of the gift of a fragment of himself from the Universal Father--your spirit guide, the indwelling spirit of God. Many times referred to in the New Testament by both John and Paul, in the Urantia Papers it is also variously called the Thought Adjuster or Mystery Monitor.

God has struck a covenant with you. All who choose to make the free will decision to seek to put on the perfect nature of God, and do not falter, have the virtual guarantee of ultimate success--and to concomitantly receive the gift of eternal life.

The Papers appear to indicate that the "faintest flicker of faith" assures you of a second chance to make this decision on the mansion worlds. However, a word of warning about that statement--it has a degree of ambiguity. It could mean that those unfortunate people who do not even know about God, let alone about God's promise, need only that faintest flicker to ensure that they get a second chance. But it may be a fatal error to presume that it also includes those who, in full knowledge of God's covenant, decide that they will take it more seriously a little later in life. Later could be too late.

The Mansion Worlds.

This short summary of the journey makes the assumption that you "got it right"--and have just arrived on the First Mansion World. This is a satellite of one of the 7 spheres that encircle your local system headquarters, known as Jerusem. Also called the morontia worlds, this is an intermediate zone between the world of spirit and the material world of the first stage of our life experience. Its purpose is to compensate and adjust our minds so that we can bridge the enormous experiential gap that exists between life as a finite material being and life that is "wholly in the spirit." An interesting facet of methods employed in the Mansion World schools is the custom that each individual is taught by ascenders on the rung of the 'ladder' immediately higher than the individual's present level but must instruct those on the rung immediately below that level. It is an example of a principle well known on Earth implying that we do not really understand even our specialist subject until we are required to teach it.

The general layout of Jerusem and the functions of the individual mansion worlds are:

The Finaliter World. Is the location of the nursery schools for young children who died in their infancy. Those ascending mortals without adequate parental experience in their world of origin must serve in these nurseries.

Mansion World No. 1.Is a period of "deficiency" ministry to correct defects and deficiencies in those mental experiences that are needed to enhance your maturity.

Mansion World No. 2. Is for the removal of conflict and mental disharmony.

Mansion World No. 3. A school for the understanding of morontia mota and logic, both being considerably more spiritual than their equivalent on Earth (philosophy and logic).

Mansion World No. 4. For training in socialization and working together in groups and classes.

Mansion World No. 5. This has the linguistic schools plus schools for the teaching of universe mindedness. It also has a school for preparative learning about the constellation study schools that are in the next stage after the mansion world experience.

Mansion World No. 6. This is the stage of our journey in which our soul fuses with our Thought Adjuster, the individual's indwelling spirit of the Universal Father. Effectively we then become as if a single personality. However the will of the ascender, by decree of the Father himself, remains as sovereign. It is also a stage for the maturing of our partnership with the spirit of the Father. Do not expect to understand this event--it is recognized as a universe mystery.

Mansion World No. 7. Is for the purging of the remnants of genetic and environmental effects that derive from our animal origins.

Traversing our Universe.

From the Mansion worlds onwards, all ascenders have permanent seraphic guardians of destiny to accompany them through the remaining sections of the journey to Paradise.

Having made it safely through the mansion worlds, you become eligible for Jerusem citizenship and a short holiday before you make your next move to the training worlds of your constellation of Norlatiadek. Here you commence a rigorous socialization training in which you must learn to live and work happily with both similar and dissimilar beings.

This course will be no piece of cake but after graduating from training world No. 70, you are received as a resident of the headquarters called Edentia. You attend the "Assemblies of Paradise" where a supreme trinity-origin personality, a Faithful of Days, will enlighten you about your universe career. All of this prepares you for the next move to your local universe headquarters at Salvington.

The physical arrangement at Salvington is more or less a standard one for other training locations--a central sphere encircled by 70 primary spheres, each having six satellites, making a total of 490 surrounding spheres, which, at Salvington, are the Spheres of Spirit Progress constituting the Melchizedek University. On arrival, you take up residence on the Melchizedek pilot world. Your seraphic guardians will be with you to keep the anxiety level under control, and at the conclusion of your stay, your personal guardians will take you to stand face to face with Michael, sovereign of all Nebadon.

You are now classified as a first-stage spirit being, which sounds grandiose, but you are reminded that this is the very bottom rung of the next ladder of spiritual ascent to the Universal Father on Paradise.

The Superuniverse of Orvonton.

Your next stopover is at Ensa, a minor sector of the super-universe of Orvonton. There, on the seven study worlds, you will carry out experiments and studies of a physical and material character to do with the activities of the Master Physical Controllers and the Supreme Power Centers. You pass through only one group of the minor sector training spheres and will know the Recents of Days in charge of Ensa before proceeding to the major sector of Splandon.

On advancement to the major sector, you attain the status of a second-stage spirit. Your new duties are dominantly concerned with spiritual preparation for when you graduate to the central universe of Havona. Your studies are primarily of an intellectual nature. Although registered only on the major sector of Splandon, nevertheless you must pass through all ten of the major sectors of Orvonton, and will see all thirty of the Perfections of Days in charge before you reach Uversa.

Ascenders attain the third-stage spirit level on advancement to Uversa. The head quarters of Orvonton is surrounded by seven higher universities of advanced spiritual training. Each is a cluster of seventy specialized worlds devoted to universe training and spirit culture, and make up the 490 university worlds of the super-universe. On graduation from these worlds, ascenders proceed to the shores of Uversa from where they depart for Havona, the central universe that surrounds Paradise.

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Havona--the Pattern Universe.

The journey to the Havona receiving spheres is always made alone. You are through with the technical and administrative training of the evolutionary worlds of time and space. Now will begin your personal education, your individual special training. Throughout all Havona the instruction is threefold in nature: intellectual, spiritual, and experiential.

Your first act on Havona is to recognize and thank your transport seraphim. You will then meet those who will sponsor your special activities and register your arrival. You then prepare your message of thanksgiving and adoration to the Creator Son of your local universe who made possible your sonship career, following which there will be time for leisure and for meeting old friends.

You are domiciled on the pilot world of the 7th Havona circuit, and are in the hands of the Graduate Guides whose task it is to prepare ascending pilgrims for admission to Paradise. After attaining identity comprehension of the superuniverse Master Spirit, you are advanced to the 6th circle as a fourth-stage spirit and placed under the supervision of the Supremacy Guides.

After attaining a realization of Supremacy you are advanced to the 5th circle. You are now in the hands of the Trinity Guides who instruct you on the divine Trinity in preparation for your attempt to achieve personality recognition of the Infinite Spirit.

The 4th Havona circuit is the circuit of the Sons. From here, ascending pilgrims visit Paradise to achieve an understanding contact with the Eternal Son. While on this circuit they also achieve a new comprehension of the nature and mission of the Creator Sons.

On advancement to the third circle the pilgrim comes under the tutelage of the Father Guides. The attainment of the Universal Father is the passport to eternity and heralds advancement of the ascender to a fifth-stage spirit.

On the 2nd circle, counselors and advisers begin your preparation for your great and final rest, the inevitable sleep which ever intervenes between the epochal stages of the ascendant career. On completion of the 2nd circle experience, the Graduate Guides issue the order admitting you to the final circle where you are placed in the custody of the Complements of Rest. Your time is devoted mostly to the study of the impending problems of Paradise residence. Near the end of your sojourn, you meet the Instigators of Rest and complete the preparation for the transition slumber, following which you are eternally resurrected on Paradise.

A summary of these stages follows:

Havona Tasks.

7th Havona Circuit  - identity comprehension of the super universe Master Spirit.

6^th Havona Circuit  - attain a realization of Supremacy.

5^th Havona Circuit  - achieve personality recognition of the Infinite Spirit.

4^th Havona Circuit  - achieve understanding contact with the Eternal Son.

3^rd Havona Circuit  - recognise the Universal Father; advance to fifth stage spirit.

2^nd Havona Circuit - prepare for the epochal sleep, the great and final rest terminated by resurrection in Paradise.

1^st Havona Circuit - meet with the Instigators of Rest; complete preparation for the transition slumber.

Finally Paradise.

On Paradise, when you awaken from the transit sleep of time into the new experiences of eternity, you will receive greetings from your permanent seraphic guardians who have been your companions from the early days of your universe career. Having been granted residential status on Paradise, you begin a progressive course in divinity and absonity. You must fraternize with upwards of 3000 orders of Paradise citizens and various groups of transcendental personalities. Here, on Paradise, you find God as a person. You are designated a Paradise graduate when you complete your course with the Conductors of Worship, and on taking the Trinity oath of eternity, you become a sixth-stage spirit and are mustered into the Mortal Corps of Finality.

The Spirit Stages of Ascender Progress.

First Stage Spirit: Attained on graduation from Salvington, the local universe headquarters.

Second Stage Spirit: Attained on advancement to the major superuniverse sector of Splandon.

Third Stage Spirit: Attained on advancement to Uversa, the super universe head quarters.

Fourth Stage Spirit: Attained on advancement to the sixth Havona circuit.

Fifth Stage Spirit: Attained on advancement to the 2nd Havona circuit following recognition of the Universal Father.

Sixth Stage Spirit: Attained on taking the Trinity oath of eternity and being mustered into the Mortal Corps of Finality.

Seventh Stage Spirit: Is conjectural--possibly on attaining God the Supreme (the still incomplete experiential deity of the finite universes).

As Finaliters, you are assigned on observational and co-operative service to the ends of the far-flung creation. The expectation is that Finaliters will become seventh-stage spirits concomitantly with the attainment of God the Supreme.

The ultimate destiny of the Corps of Finality is unknown. Speculation has it that you will attempt to know God as Ultimate and, having attained that goal you will begin the quest for the Absolute. So you see, each of you has a long, long way to go, and a lot of learning to do.