Episode:Personality and Selfhood (Part 5)
The physical and intellectual processes of the animal-origin self have nothing whatever to do with personality. Personality is that which unifies all these activities and in turn imparts the qualities of identity and creativity.
Keywords: Universe, Personality, Soul, Spirit, Urantia
Summary by Kermit
112:1.12
Much trouble experienced by mortals in their study of human personality could be avoided if the finite creature would remember that dimensional levels and spiritual levels are not co-ordinated in experiential personality realization.
First, we contrast between dimensional levels and spiritual levels.
Dimensional levels or (cosmic levels) represent increasing levels of relationship to the cosmos. Three finite dimensions, length, depth, breadth. Previous study on this show of P110:6.3, p.1209 on the Seven Psychic Circles clarify the distinction between Cosmic levels and Spiritual levels.
110:6.3 The psychic circles are not exclusively intellectual, neither are they wholly morontial; they have to do with personality status, mind attainment, soul growth, and Adjuster attunement. The successful traversal of these levels demands the harmonious functioning of the entire personality, not merely of some one phase thereof. The growth of the parts does not equal the true maturation of the whole; the parts really grow in proportion to the expansion of the entire self—the whole self—material, intellectual, and spiritual.
The threefold cosmic harmony sought by personality in the self has one component which is spiritual. We need to challenge ourselves to distinguish between cosmic levels and “merely” spiritual levels of development.
Second, “Experiential personality realization” is contrasted with “existential, spirit actualization”. What is the difference between personality realization and spirit actualization?
P102:7.4 p. 1126 True, many apparently religious traits can grow out of nonreligious roots. Man can, intellectually, deny God and yet be morally good, loyal, filial, honest, and even idealistic. Man may graft many purely humanistic branches onto his basic spiritual nature and thus apparently prove his contentions in behalf of a godless religion, but such an experience is devoid of survival values, God –knowingness and God-ascension....
Even while intellectually denying God, one can be morally good, loyal, filial, honest, and even idealistic, but a godless religion is devoid of survival values. In spiritual development we have a recognition by the mind of unity, by virtue of encircuitment in the Holy Spirit. This is constitutes the fact of personality (the absolute dimension). This denotes a progressing mind. A purely mindal expression of unity lacks a harmonizing, perfecting spirit aspect. Thus this unity attribute hasn’t been incorporated (grasped) by a personal nature and integrated with the other two aspects of the cosmic discrimination into one’s nature as an ongoing part of the selfhood and the soul. Hence no survival value. The adjuster obeys your will, your personality volition and will copy these attributes into your soul if you are operating at a personal level.
Survival value is associated with dimensional levels, having an expression that only comes about because of the exercise of personality (manifestation of harmony) in your selfhood, not just merely spiritual awareness of the mind.
To go beyond actualization to realization one has to have a relationship to experiential deity.
Third, the word “co-ordinated” in the text, points to a key element in experiential deity, the Mother, which comes subsequent to the initial full engagement of existential deity.
Above progressing mind is perfecting spirit. A spirit nature that is increasingly drawing near to the Father, in response to His mandate, “Be you perfect, even as I am perfect”.
When we exhibit a willingness to share the inner life with God (instead goodness), this adds perfecting spirit to progressing mind and we begin to develop a true experiential nature, a harmonizing personal self. This then is personality realization.
Fourth, humanity’s difficulty understanding the nature of personality lies in the inability to distinguish personality from the self.
We cited Alfred North Whitehead’s book “Process and Reality”. The revelators do an interesting rework of his book title to “Personality and Reality”. Whithead’s “Process” is missing personality.
110:6.17, p. 1211 The motivation of faith makes experiential the full realization of man's sonship with God, but action, completion of decisions, is essential to the evolutionary attainment of consciousness of progressive kinship with the cosmic actuality of the Supreme Being. Faith transmutes potentials to actuals in the spiritual world, but potentials become actuals in the finite realms of the Supreme only by and through the realization of choice-experience. But choosing to do the will of God joins spiritual faith to material decisions in personality action and thus supplies a divine and spiritual fulcrum for the more effective functioning of the human and material leverage of God-hunger. Such a wise co-ordination of material and spiritual forces greatly augments both cosmic realization of the Supreme and morontia comprehension of the Paradise Deities.
This passage speaks to the notion that in addition to spiritual development, harmonization of personality is required for cosmic growth.
1.13
Life is explained as a process between the selfhood and its environment, with personality imparting value of identity and meanings of continuity. The process is not merely mechanical due to the function of personality, thus life is MORE than mechanistic.
This is not simply a rebuttal to mechanistic materialism. The elements the environment include the presence of “unity”. The higher animal-origin self can become aware of this. It is super mechanistic, super-material, even super-mindal. This unity (spiritual) consciousness can be interpreted as the fullness of “meaning of life”. However, it is just the beginning. These individuals claim to be spiritual, but NOT religious. So we start with the “progressing mind”. But we must go up to “perfecting spirit” and then to “harmonizing personal selfhood”, which both involve GOD, not just goodness.
What about those who declare themselves “spiritual” not “religious”? They are talking about false religion not true religion. We are dealing with spiritual consciousness v. cosmic discrimination! By eliminating religion you deny God. Without God, the focus is on the upper levels of animal-origin self, which can be spiritual (unity-like), but this is below the higher personal self, which connects to God, which in turn leads to “survival”.
1.14
Physical life is a process between the organism and the environment, which establishes organismal patterns of reaction to the environment. Directive patterns are highly influential in goal choosing.
The authors are trying to make the distinction between self and personality. They are encouraging a self assessment for this distinction as we evaluate our process patterns.
1.15-1.17
Self and environment connect through the mediation of mind and ability and willingness to make such contacts represent the attitude of the whole personality.
Isolation inimical to personality function. Man has a craving of belongingness.
The concept of the personality as the meaning of the whole of the living and functioning creature signifies the unification of all factors of reality as well as co-ordination of relationships. Systems (three or more objects), are more than complex relationships.
In a cosmic system individuals aren’t connected with each other except in relation to the whole and through the individuality of the whole.
A complex discussion ensued. The Father relates to us as individuals, the Mother relates to us collectively, simultaneously. Thus, through Her we are connected one to the other. The God without (Father), God within (Mother).
1.18
The sum of parts of the human constitute selfhood-individuality. This is not personality, which is the unifier of all these factors as related to cosmic realities.
The harmonizing process (summation) of parts is not personality, but a consequence of personality.
1.19
Parts are arranged in systems and are significant because of their positional values (i.e. which domain of the Mother-local, super, grand-universe?)
2.1 The Self
Reminder: in study of selfhood
- Physical systems are subordinate
- Intellectual systems are co-ordinate
- Personality is superordinate
- Indwelling spiritual force is potentially directive
The indwelling spirit also brings experience with it, and is potentially directive.
2.2
Life comes first, evaluation and interpretation comes later, insight preceeds foresight.
2.3
Jesus’ life as a human being has forever changed all meanings (Spirit of Truth) and altered all values (Thought Adjusters) of human personality . Love, connotes mutual regard of whole personalities (human and divine).
Self functions in thinking, feeling, wishing—but only the co-ordinated attributes of the whole personality are focused in intelligent action, and further associated with the spiritual endowment in the mind when we love another being. (religious not merely spiritual)
2.4
More specific instruction concerning a true relationship (human or divine) being an end in itself. Such a relationship with Deity (God), is the eternal goal of universe ascension (all personalizable deity).
112:5p. 1235 relationships are never scaffolding our memories of relationship persist upward in our ascension.
2.5-2.6
Personality identifies us as spiritual beings in that the unity of selfhood (gift of the Mother) and self-consciousness of personality (gift of the Father) both supermaterial gifts.
We end with a broad perspective-the great cosmic gulf between matter and thought and an even greater gulf between material mind and spiritual love.
P 12:9 p. 142
We have a spirit nucleus around which is our mindal self, constituting the potential of eternal personality. Real trouble, lasting disappointment, serious defeat, or inescapable death can come only when self displaces the governing power of this spirit nucleus.
