Episode:Personality and Selfhood (Part 1)
Before continuing our exploration of the paradise ascension, we pause to pursue a deeper examination of the nature of personality. In this series we seek to illuminate the subtleties of personality and selfhood.
Keywords: Personality, Soul, Spirit, Paradise, Urantia
Summary by Kermit
Foreword V. Personality Realities
Last year we encountered the UB concepts of personality, self and selfhood when we studied, the seven psychic circles, the three cosmic intuitions and our series on harmonizing the soul on the Mansion Worlds. Last week we began a more focused study of The UB’s teaching concerning the nature of and distinction among personality, self and selfhood starting with the foreword section V. PERSONALITY REALITIES.
As we launch into this complex and inscrutable topic it is essential to remember that the true nature of personality as presented in TUB has never been properly understood by mankind. The revelators make great effort throughout the entire book of beginning to awaken us to a recognition and understanding of this all important aspect of the totality of the reality called personality.
We should therefore possess ourselves of patience in what we should consider our initial efforts in this quest.
We have been given this information by the revelators because they know that we are assisted by a conspiracy of mindal and spirit ministries that enable us to begin to grasp the facts and approach the truth of these realities.
Personality is introduced as “a level of deified reality” ranging from mortal/midwayer levels of the 6th and 7th adjutant mind spirits, all the way through the morontial and spiritual levels to the attainment of finality of personality status. In other words the entire Paradise ascension. Personality is not a thing. It is superimposed on energy and associated only with living energy systems. It is never spontaneous, but is the unique gift of the Paradise Father.
Our ascension consists in a bidirectional process whereby with our adjutant mind encircuitment in the Holy Spirit we begin an upward evolution from a realm of potentials, while engaging a downward reach of Deity (the superimposition of Personality). Personality provides a means for the relationship between that which is upwardly evolving (material self) and that which is reaching down to engage it (Deity).
Deity has a fundamental quality of unity. As the unity-likeness influence of down reaching Deity is able to synchronize with the upwardly evolving material self (individuality), that which results is called harmony. Thus Personality is a harmonizing influence.
Personality is also a purposing influence according to its spirit pattern. Thinking of material substance and spirit substance, there are two different types of purposing that engage these substances. We have energy purposing and pattern, and spirit purposing and pattern. Spirit pattern is personality and because of its uniqueness is capable of infinite diversity.
Because of the origin of personality in the highest of realities, Infinite Paradise Father, it brings with it the potential for God-likeness and allows us to be co-creative with God. Personality is likewise able to harmonize the realities of matter, mind, spirit and morontia because it is above them.
The authors are seen to use the word personality in two ways. The more abstract and general way is referring to something bestowed upon us by the Universal Father. As a descriptor of what we are, we are personalities.
Concerning personality and the three original sources and centers:
The Universal Father is the secret of the reality, bestowal, and destiny of personality. The Eternal Son is the absolute personality. The Conjoint Actor is the spirit-mind personality, The Isle of Paradise is non-personal, and extraspiritual and the source and center of physical matter.
These existential sources of reality become manifest in our experience as
1. Body-our physical mechanism
2. Mind-the intelligence associated with the emotional life reaching upward through worship and wisdom to the spirit level
The Body-Mind constitute the material self. Gently resting on matter below and touching spirit above. Think of this self as a vertical construct where there is a lower domain, the animal origin and nature. Then there is an upper domain of the self, a part that is personal self, that part that has taken on a measure of harmony. It is this personal self domain that we refer to as dwelling in the temple within, the heart-the core of our mind.
Visualize an hourglass, with the upper domain and lower domain connected by a narrow neck. Adjutant mind spirits 1-6 are in the lower domain. The 7th adjutant (wisdom) is the gateway to the upper domain. Through wisdom we can engage the upper domain which represents a cocreational capacity, because of encircuitment in the Holy Spirit (an objective domain), and the extent to which we personalize the animal origin self, these “threads” of harmonized self dwell in the upper domain. We are slowly drawing the animal origin self, thread by thread as it is harmonized, up into the upper domain. In that upper domain, the heart or core of your mind, that you have access to the cosmos above and a growing objective awareness. Thus, by this analogy, the consciousness in the lower domain has limited perspective. The lower consciousness has no capability for self awareness. Yet the personal self above can look down and recognize the animal origin self being thus self-conscious. Self consciousness is what we have because we have a vantage point in the upper domain to look down on the child like animal origin self. We can then begin to foster growing it upward to benefit from the ministries coming down from above. Only the part of you in the upper domain can benefit from the ministries coming down from above. i.e. Holy Spirit, Spirit of Truth and the Thought Adjuster (which also dwells in the upper domain). Only that parts of your self that have been personalized have access to the TA, not necessarily conscious, but can begin to have some immediate benefit. The lower self is going to have to make due with whatever the personal self “hands down to it”. Adjuster can not engage it directly.
3. Spirit-the Thought Adjuster-prepersonal, not a personality but destined to become part of our personality (personalizable). Impersonal not nonpersonal.
4. Soul-an experiential acquirement-offspring of the indwelling spirit and material mind-a morontial reality destined to survive death and begin the Paradise ascension.
Putting the pieces together. Body and Mind are the material self and it has personality identified to it. Self #1
Thought Adjuster, Self #2, a divine self from above, sent by the Father to indwell the upper domain of your mind. Thus a relationship between the material self and the divine self made possible by the personality. There is a supper additive consequence of the relationship of these two selves. The Divine self is the father and the personal material self is the mother and the result is a third self. A new reality, the soul. (Self #3) Made of morontia. Minded by morontia mind.
We now have three selves, material, spirit and morontial. This gift of personality is going to engage this complex system of three selves. Initially totally identified with the material self. It then begins to foster more and more relationship to the other two selves. Eventually the material mortal self dies. Thus the two remaining selves continue the process. The copy of the higher self, the soul, is resurrected in a new body and reengaged by the thought Adjuster. and the personality begins where it left off in trying to foster greater relationship between these two selves.
Personality and Morontia
Personality is engaged in harmonizing matter mind and spirit (not just matter and spirit) When matter and spirit and brought into association, there is a super additive consequence which is mind. Three energies now present, individuality, unity and associativity. Personality creates a harmony of all three. When thus observed, personality can be seen to be far above these three levels of reality.
Morontia is a “weave” of matter and spirit substance. The warp of morontia is spiritual; its woof is physical. Spirit substance expresses unity and matter expresses individuality. Unity likeness , with individuality likeness woven through. The unity likeness provides strength, while an evermore unique individuality is woven upon it. By analogy the authors are trying to help us arrive at a correct picture of how this threefold actuality comes together. Matter, mind and spirit.
