Ham on future growth and advancement

[David G. Schlundt, Ph.D.]

3/23/97

Ham:  Greetings, children, friends, I am happy to welcome you all here
again tonight. This evening I would like to introduce to you some of
the concepts of your advancing maturity.  You all are growing in the
spirit day by day and we want you to be aware of your altering
natures.  The life on Mansonia two is very different but contains
similarities enough that we can make analogies.  

All through the universe advancement, experience, and age all are
equated with wisdom.  Your society, because of the unfortunate effects
of aging which are due largely to lifestyle and poor health habits,
fear the aging process and so you tend to denigrate the aged.  Aging
does not have to entail debilitation, either of the mind or the body.
As your culture advances and you learn to arrest the effects of
disease and correct your poor health habits, your aging will be much
more pleasant and graceful than it currently is.  

Age in the universe is always revered because there is no stigma
attached to it. There is no appreciable physical degradation on the
mansion worlds.  Every one inhabits living tissue but it is composed
of a different substance, it is morontia matter.  The bodies still
have circulatory systems, nervous systems, and sensory apparatus.  The
soul is still housed in substance. These morontia bodies are more
reflective of the soul than your physical bodies are. Each body is
entirely unique, just like your physical bodies on earth.  Everyone
appears ageless. By the second mansion world, the inherent beauty that
you are is beginning to make its appearance. You are becoming more
poised, more graceful, more self-secure. There is no effort to change
your looks, you are contented with yourself.  

The second mansion world begins to witness fusion.  On this world, the
morontia body is not consumed by this energy, but there is a definite
and immediately recognizable transformation that occurs nonetheless. 
But you must remember that fusion does not exempt you from experiences
that are necessary for your further development. So fusion at this
stage does not necessarily advance you to another mansion world.   
But you are distinguished from your colleagues by the donning of
certain apparel that is different and sets you apart to some degree.
Fusion is actually fairly rare on Mansonia two and begins to start
picking up more on Mansonia three. 

The dwelling places are simple and very beautiful.  While it is not a
truly spectacular garden world, Mansonia two abounds with life with
living plants and flowers of unsurpassed beauty.  There is still the
process of socialization begun on Urantia that continues to occupy
quite a lot of your time.  There is the general study of the local
universe language and history, the necessity to understand the
universe hierarchies and its functions, but also you will have time
for your own individualized study or pursuits.  You will have access
to those in your field who are knowledgeable and who are willing to
instruct you in the adanced knowledge you are seeking. And, by this
time in your career, you yourselves are asked to help those behind you
to teach.  

There are libraries on Mansonia two that would astound you.  They are
living repositories of knowledge. If you wanted to understand a
certain time frame in universe history in a particular location, for
example, you are immersed in this time in a way that a book could
never tell you.  You understand it as if you had lived through it
yourself, and this is done in a very short space of time.  The life
and teachings of Jesus, for example, is  a required subject and you
come away from the experience having really witnessed it yourself. 
When you hear the sounds, you see the scenes, you feel the heat and
the cold, you taste the food, you smell the smells, it is all a
complete immersion.

You are expected also to understand the culture and the peoples on
various other worlds.  Those who are dealing with you are expected to
immerse themselves in your planet experience and you are expected to
do the same with those who you are dealing with.  So you will not be
surprised that when you are assigned to work with others, that they
know about your world and the time you lived and discuss its politics.
 They even know what street you lived on, perhaps, and understand the
local happenings in your town. 

Even with this immersion knowledge of each other, there is still the
intangible factor that governs all interaction between beings, what we
might refer to as soul sensibility.  So that even though you may know
another's background, this does not make you that person, this just
gives you a tool for understanding.  Still, understanding is
imperfect, and there are certain conventions that every one must
master to help smooth social interactions, but still misunderstandings
do occur and arguments and tempers still flair.  

Usually there are exercises that you all must pass through concerning
team work. You will be assigned some project such as designing and
building a foot bridge over a pond or beautifying a garden area,
something of this nature.  And, because you are all coming from such
different backgrounds, these projects are very valuable in learning
about each other.  

There is always spiritual instruction, and indeed you will be seeking
spiritual insight all the time, for this is the only way to bridge the
gap in understanding between beings.  The selfish side wants to
entrench and defend his position and this is usually everyone's first
impulse. It is sometimes only in the realm of the spirit where two
souls can meet and so knowing this you know you must abandon your
entrenched position and meet in the realm of the spirit. It is hard to
work with people. It is usually easier to work alone, but the lessons
of the universe cannot be learned in isolation.  You cannot learn
about your brother if you do not meet him. Once you understand that
you are both trying to meet in the spiritual realm, then forgiveness
is much easier.  Are there any questions at this time.

Q: I realize that a lot of the Urantia book I read wrongly or did not
understand it adequately. There is a part in it that said if you have
developed to a point where you would be more advanced than the first
mansion world, then you would spend 10 days on each one until you
would begin your tenure.

Ham: Yes.

Q: What I had all messed up was that the circle we were in was
analogous to the mansion world we would advance to. You were the one
that had cleared that up and told me that that wasn't true.  If it is
not the circle you are in, what is it that says which ones you will
skip and which one you will go to to begin your tenure?

Ham: Your guardian seraphim put in recommendation as to where they
feel you would be best situated to begin your ascension career. This
must be approved by the angelic authorities, the ones who are superior
to the guardian seraphim.  

Q: I guess I also had the misunderstanding that when you fused you
were pure spirit and that you did not need any morontia body.

Ham: No.

Q: At what point do you begin taking field trips and get to see other
places besides the mansion world on which your home is?

Ham: You can always visit the next world ahead and sometimes there are
speakers from the more advanced worlds.  On the third mansion world,
you can visit Jerusem. But if you mean visiting other evolutionary
worlds, you must wait until you are a resident of Jerusum.  

Q: I guess by that time you really know a lot about these worlds by
having gained the experience in the library?

Ham: Yes.

Q: I imagine you become good friends with all these beings you work
and associated with?

Yes. The socialization process normally adapts you slowly to
increasingly different types of beings. In the beginning, you work
with beings much like yourself and towards the end of the mansion
world experience, you work with beings that are very different from
yourself.  

Q: I was thinking that you would get to know people from our planet
that span a very large range of time.

Ham: Yes, exactly.

Q: Do you meet your anscestors, even one that you did not know about?

Ham: Yes.

Q: And people in history that you knew about but did not get to meet?

Ham: Yes.

Q: I can imagine that even these first few mansion worlds are a very
pleasant experience for us.

Ham: Yes, I would think so. It is very different from your life here. 
As your planet develops and progresses, the first mansion world
experiences will not be quite so different, but taking someone from
say the middle ages to the first mansion world is incredibly different
and takes quite a bit of adjustment.

Q: It seems to me that when you need help or are having difficulty
there is always someone you can turn to for help or support which is
very different from the way it is here.

Ham: Yes, exactly. 

[personal questions deleted]

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
David G. Schlundt, Ph.D.               (615)322-7800
Associate Professor of Psychology      (615)343-8449  Fax
Vanderbilt University               schlundg at ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu
301 Wilson Hall
Nashville, TN  37240
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The soul of man requires spiritual exercise as well as spiritual
nourishment. The Urantia Book
Paper-91 Section-7 Para-2  Page-1000 Line-19 Para-4
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