Episode:Jesus the Tutor—Journey to Rome (Part 5)

From Symmetry of Soul


The eye of the material mind perceives a world of factual knowledge; the eye of the spiritualized intellect discerns a world of true values.  These two views, synchronized and harmonized, reveal the world of reality, wherein wisdom interprets the phenomena of the universe in terms of progressive personal experience.

Listen to the broadcast

Keywords: Urantia, Jesus, Wisdom, Error, Evil

Note: Brad acted in capacity as emcee this evening, due to James' late arrival.

Summary by Kermit

Commentary on Review

Our post review commentary included clarification about “...the highest level to which a finite creature can progress is the recognition of the Universal Father and the knowing of the Supreme.” While as finite beings we are able to recognize the Universal Father, we do not engage the Universal Father in a super-Supreme way until following completion of the power-personality synthesis of the Supreme Being. Anticipating centuries hence in the history of the 5th ER, this discourse on reality can be expected to be comprehensible and foundational to Urantia citizens having passed from the material comfort era to the quest for knowledge and wisdom and beyond. For now it remains a formidable challenge to more fully appreciate. The self-mastery to which we aspire is attainable only when the you that is anchored in eternity serves as the basis for your experience in time.

130:4.10

Here we are introduced to a second binocular analogy concerning material and spiritual perception. The previous eye analogy suggested that single eyed materialists and spiritists were unable to correctly visualize and adequately comprehend the true depths of universe reality. The true values of creature experience are only perceived in depth of perspective which requires the integration of both material and spiritual perception. This eye analogy presented here takes things up a notch. The true values of creature experience now become the basis of the eye of the spiritualized intellect, which when synchronized and harmonized with the view of the world of factual knowledge reveals the world of reality, wherein wisdom interprets the phenomena of the universe in terms of progressive personal experience. In correctly interpreting these two analogies it is helpful to utilize our old friend the hourglass analogy wherein the upper domain of the spiritualized intellect and the lower domain of factual knowledge are interposed by the wisdom neck of the hourglass. Listen to the episode for the full discussion.

With the hourglass analogy the outer life is represented by the lower domain of adjutant mind, the sphere of knowledge and is demonstrable to others. The inner life is represented by the upper domain of spiritualized mind, the realm of truth where God-knowingness is experienced in the soul. Note that the authors use the term soul here to designate the spiritualized mind (progressing self) in contrast to the morontia object. These two domains are capable of being synchronized and harmonized enabling universe phenomena to be interpreted by wisdom in terms of progressive personal experience. All of which leads us to recall that the value of life is its progressability, and further that the path to progress begins intentionally with effort, struggle and conflict.

Love on the 6th LoM in this upper domain is only demonstrable as fruits of love in the outer life. The synchronized and harmonized upper and lower domains is the product of genuine self-mastery. This mastery demands a recognition of biases and adjustments thereto through applied wisdom. And with any self-assessment we mustn’t mistake the small measure of wisdom we possess by grace for something more grand.

Jesus goes on to provide instruction on the better understanding of error and evil on both material and moral levels. To facilitate clarification of meaning we can think of error as a measure incompleteness and evil in terms of imperfection. Continuing on with the idea of perfection in an existential-experiential differential we find goodness existentially expressed as perfectness, and in the experiential realm goodness is best thought of as perfectingness. Note the disparity in perception of meaning of the word “evil” as used in contemporary discourse vs. its use in the revelation. Further we must recognize that evil signifies an absence of a quality of perfection rather than the presence of purposive malevolence.

The authors continue with the platonic analogy of light and shadow. The shadow of evil (imperfection) cast by the finite universe of things and beings by obscuring the living light of God is best remedied by the process of purposefully allowing yourself to be a personal conduit of this living light rather than seeking to de-individuate the self in any attempt to be transparent. Potential evil is inherent in our finite and partial status in the universe. Actual evil becomes a reality when one fails to make sincere and humble attempts to strike step with the universal harmony of the Mother. This is a clear example of the need for us creatures of time and space to consecrate both our will AND mind to the high purpose of seeking perfection through the process of perfecting.

Finally, the experiential-existential differential is addressed again in the last paragraph of this section. Our proclivity for misinterpreting the relativity and incompleteness of the finite by falsely existentializing concepts in the realms of science, politics, society, and religion prevents our recognition of the universe coordination of both material and spirit realities through the function of the cosmic mind and control of the Supreme.

Notes by Brad

  • Self-mastery will indeed be a masterwork. You won't be able to realize it from "within time," only from the perspective from eternity.
    • And remember that eternity isn't a trillion years off. It's existential, so it's here and now. And you have a connection to it, by grace.
  • It takes a lot of humility for this lifelong reader of the 5th ER to admit he basically knows nothing about this Section 4, beyond general agreement with it! Learning here in this and the previous episode has meant a lot.
  • True values are objective values, not the subjective values one might discern before realizing "depth of recognition."


  • The eye analogy of paragraph 10 is NOT the same as the eye analogy in paragraph 4.
    • In the second eye analogy, the second eye is equivalent to the "depth of recognition" the was the result of the first eye analogy
    • The first eye in this second analogy is equivalent to peering back down on the "lower domain of the hourglass" from this elevated vantage point.
    • And then there is another superadditive consequence in this second eye analogy: not just touching reality, but encompassing the "world" of reality.
    • Wisdom is an agent between the upper domain and lower domain of the hourglass analogy.
  • Humans have a tendency to blur these two eye analogies together (far longer than we've had the 5th ER)
  • "Spheres" and "domains" in paragraph 10 are directly appealing to the hourglass analogy, also the notion of spheres and hemispheres.
  • The lower domain of the hourglass always will be your associative mechanism.
    • If mastered, it can demonstrate fruits of the spirit outward.


  • We all have a modicum of true wisdom by grace. For most people, it remains fully superconscious only throughout their life. A few humble people might consciouscize a bit of wisdom.
    • And remember the levels of mortal wisdom and the many levels therein.
    • And remember that eventually, far down the road, that first bit of grace-given wisdom will have to be RE-acquired on your own terms. Fully grow up.


  • Feelings are demonstrable... as emotions (aka ex- -motions, outward motions)
  • Feelings OF the heart... there are two possibilities
    • The are FROM the heart (where this is the true heart, the inner life)
    • They are derived from the heart. Still valid, and profound, but only a shadow cast by the heart.


  • One thing we try to do here in ingrain and habituate some basic concepts over and over, so they become more automatic for us and we don't trip when reading further down the road.


  • "Error (evil)" is excluding what we might call "mere error".
  • Give untruth form in your mind: error
  • Give un-goodness (badness) form in your mind: evil
  • And both of these are an ABSENCE of something, not a presence of something (discard dual spiritism, even if it's a fun storytelling device in Star Wars)
  • In common language, evil is often considered worse than sin, the worst thing possible. Not so. Paragraph 11 explains this, among many places in the 5th ER.


  • After two eye analogies, and dense material, we find ourselves heavy of eye as well! Just like Ganid. The revelators amped up this discourse and "packed" it a bit for us, to make us heavy of eye.
  • Ganid was fascinated by evil--had more questions about it. Most of us are like this, too, using our eye as an "error and evil detector". Most people are anti-evil instead of being pro-good.
  • Don't be "anti your enemies." Spiritually, love the children of God (materially, that's another matter, that's what government is for).
  • "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there" --Will Rogers.
    • Don't falsely assume a statis because of an obsession with the existential.
  • The referent to not letting relativity lead us astray reminds me of the "dabbling with...relativity" in [195:7.5]