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Q & A ON LIFE AND DEATH
1.
What is life after death?
Death is the beginning of our endless career of adventure, our eternal
voyage of discovery, and our ceaseless progression towards finding
God. Our next stage of universe growth occurs on a group of planets
called the mansion worlds. Life on the mansion worlds will not be
much different than our life on earth. We will continue our evolutionary
adventure; our endless quest for eternal values. This next stage of
our life takes place on the first seven worlds of our local system
called Jerusem. On each of these worlds we progress from a material
being to a more intellectual and spiritual being.
There are two non-material parts of us that survive mortal death.
Our Thought Adjuster, an actual fragment of God that lives within
our mind and our soul (112:3.5-7). Our human bodies stay here on earth.
(30:4.8) Our soul is the combined life and efforts of the human part
of each of us with that divine part of us, our Thought Adjuster. We
will awake on the first mansion world and work, progress, and play
through all seven before we ascend to the next arena of our spiritual
growth and continue until we reach Paradise, the dwelling place of
the Universal Deity. |
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2.
What happens after we die? Where will we wake up?
We will awake in a place that truly approaches the status of heaven
from our religious traditions, but it is just the beginning of an
incredible evolutionary growth process for us. Upon our death we wake
up in a new, less material, body in the resurrection halls of the
first mansion world. We will be able to see our guardian angels for
the first time. We will have seventy senses on these worlds and our
lives will be greatly enriched by larger brains. (14:2.3-4), (154:3-4)
When we are endowed with our new morontia eyes we will have an enlarged
sensitivity to the reality of spiritual things. (9:8.11).
The resurrection hall is a gigantic structure where our fragment of
God (our Thought Adjuster), our guardian angels, and the archangels
of the resurrection await us to bring us back to life in a new body.
(112:5.16-19) Our Thought Adjusters carry the transcripts of our minds,
memory, and our personality. Our guardian angels safekeep our souls
after we die until we are reassembled in the hall.
When we leave the resurrection halls we will be assigned a new residence
and then have ten days of personal liberty. We will be able to explore
the area where we live and find out about the program that lies in
front of us. One wonderful experience that awaits us will be to look
up in the registry and find out about our loved ones and friends who
proceeded us to these worlds.
On this first mansion world our intellectual training and spiritual
development will resume at the exact level when we died. (47:3.7)
The experience on mansion world one is referred to as "deficiency
ministry." Here we are corrected and cured from character defects
and deficiencies of our mortal experience. On the remaining mansion
worlds we will continue to erase the defects of a hereditary handicap,
unfavorable environment, and conspiracy of circumstances that slowed
down our soul growth. (45:7.1) If we are not to be detained on the
first mansion world we will enter the transition sleep and proceed
to mansion world number two and the process repeats itself until we
arrive on the world of our assignment. |
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3.
What happens to babies and children who die?
Babies who die go to the probationary nursery also located in Jerusem,
the capital of our local system. On this nursery world babies are
grouped according to whether they have Thought Adjusters (here on
earth children receive Thought Adjusters around their fifth birthday
when they make their first moral decision). Babies who die before
their parents are held in transit sleep and are awakened when one
of their parents arrives on the first mansion world. These babies
are personalized in their exact physical status at the time of death.
Their earth parents are aware of their children's progress and frequently
visit them as they grow up. (47:1-3)
Children, usually those under 6, without Thought Adjusters, are raised
in families of five. Children who do have Thought Adjusters are also
raised in families of five, ranging in ages from six to fourteen.
When they reach sixteen they may transfer up to mansion world number
one and begin their Paradise ascent. Mansion world parents are given
every opportunity to collaborate with the Morontia custodians regarding
their instruction and training. They may visit their children up to
four times a year. (47:2.3)
None of us escapes the experience of raising children--our own or
others--either on the material worlds or subsequently on the finaliter
world or on Jerusem. (47:1.6) |
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4.
What do the mansion worlds look like?
Life on these worlds is still more material than spiritual but we
will be filled with wonder when we see how magnificent they are. There
are no rugged mountains, earthquakes, or rainfall, due to the fact
that these are not evolutionary worlds, they are architectural worlds
(space bodies constructed for a special purpose). (15:7.1) The grandeur
of these worlds is quite beyond our imaginations. There are thousands
of small lakes, no raging rivers, but it is not flat, there are beautiful
highlands and a variety of landscapes. (46:2.1-2) There is daily precipitation
for the incredible array of plant life. We use mechanical means of
transport that vary in speed from two to five hundred miles per hour.
The mansion worlds, and the rest of the architectural worlds we will
visit, have ten standard divisions of physical life. These worlds
have double the number of elements, (we have 100, and there are 100
morontia elements) of evolved planets like earth. (48:1.3) There is
no organic evolution, therefore no conflicting forms of life, and
no struggle for existence, no survival of the fittest. "Rather is
there a creative adaptation which foreshadows the beauty, the harmony,
and the perfection of the eternal worlds of the central and divine
universe." (46:2.5)
The plant life is also unique. It grows in both material and morontia
varieties. The material plants have the characteristic green hue but
the morontia equivalents have a violet or orchid tinge of varying
hue and reflection. Morontia plants are pure energy and when we eat
them, there is no residue. (43:6.6) (492:6)
There are no days or nights, no seasons of heat and cold. The full
light temperature is about 70 degrees and falls to about 50 degrees
when the light recedes in the evening. The light comes from above,
is even and is described as having the intensity of our sunlight when
the sun is shining overhead at ten o'clock in the morning. This light
is maintained for 75% of the day and then gradually recedes until
the light intensity is about that of our full moon. (46:1.4-7)
These worlds are described as a foretaste of paradisiacal glory and
grandeur but it is explained that we will never have an adequate picture
until we see them for ourselves. |
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5.
Where do we live while we are there?
The structures we will see on the mansion worlds reflect the divine
beauty of the Paradise Creators. These structures would be outside
our current short-range vision and are made of many materials that
we have never seen. We will experience a glory and grandeur on these
worlds that is beyond your human imagination. There are buildings
material and morontia types all of which are exquisite and replete.
We mortals live in buildings that have an open roof (since the climate
is controlled); the buildings are in small groups with plenty of open
space around them. The buildings on these worlds vary and crystals
and precious metals abound. They are all open enclosures and are in
the shapes of circles, squares, and triangles. They are described
as "being enclosures of magnificent construction and exquisite embellishment."
(48:3.15)
The changes in our sensory input from our 70 senses will afford us
much greater opportunity to appreciate our new home. There are over
ten thousand tones of harmonious color used, spirit waves of sound
flow through these worlds, there are artists who specialize in making
things smell exquisite and beautiful, there are artisans who arrange
living musical notes, odors, sights, and blend them into what are
called "anthems of glory." They explain that we must await "deliverance
from our animal body before we can begin to conceive of the artistic
glories and aesthetic beauties of the morontia and spirit worlds."
(44:6)
Our experience on the mansion worlds is to help us become more Godlike--to
help us blend eternal truth, universal beauty, and divine goodness
through our unlimited self-expression and to become more unified with
God. (44:7) |
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6.
Are there animals on the mansion worlds?
Yes. There are many types of animals there but they are far different
from those on earth. "There are thousands upon thousands of living
creatures which our imagination could not possibly picture." (43:6.5)
These animals are intelligent, exquisitely serviceable, surprisingly
gentle, and touchingly companionable. There are carnivores or animals
that will not make you afraid on any of these worlds.
The architectural worlds we will live on and visit in our local universe
are real physical creations with plants, huge gardens, and many structures.
Their physical upkeep is the responsibility of the Spornagia. (The spornagia are the animal caretakers of the architectural spheres. They have traits similar to a horse, dog, and a chimpanzee and are beautiful. They will be companions to use and minister to the children in the probationary nursery.) They
are involved with the care and culture of the material phases of the
headquarters worlds. Spornagia are found on all seven mansion worlds
and are the landscape gardeners. They are original and artistic in
their treatment of the open spaces of Jerusem. They are neither spirits
nor persons, they are a type of animal described as embracing the
combined traits of a faithful horse, an affectionate dog, and are
much more intelligent than the highest type of chimpanzee. (46:7.)
And if we could see them we would think they are perfect animals. |
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7.
Who are our hosts while we are there?
Our hosts on the mansion worlds are the Morontia Companions. Morontia
Companions are there to welcome us when we awaken in the resurrection
halls and perform important services for us while we are on the mansion
worlds. They entertain us when we are student visitors during our
sojourn on the transition worlds, instruct us about social conduct,
sponsor classes and other group activities for us, and act as translators
and interpreters. They are an intelligent and loyal group of beings.
They are not sex creatures but they "manifest a touchingly beautiful
affection for one another." (48:3.4) They are charmingly social and
possess distinct personalities. They will contribute a great deal
to our mansion world experience. They are very close kin to us humans
and are a personality luxury of your ascending career in the local
universe. (48:3.4) |
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8.
What will we remember about my earth life?
At first your life on earth will feel like a vague dream. However
our Thought Adjusters and our angels will help us connect our memories
of our previous identity. (112:5.21) We will recognize and know all
our friends and family as we evolve into more spiritual beings. We
will remember everything from our earth life that has spiritual value.
We will be conscious of our relationships with those we love and remember
those things that add to the growth of our souls. On the mansion worlds
we will "know and be known, and more, you will remember, and be remembered
by, your onetime associates in the short but intriguing life on Urantia
(earth)." (112:6.21) |
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9.
What will our new bodies look like?
We will continue to eat, drink, and rest. The food we eat is a form
of living energy unknown to us on earth. And food and water are fully
utilized by our morontia forms; there is no waste. (47:4.6) We will
undergo 570 body changes by the time we leave the local universe.
(48:1)
Here we will have a body that is more reflective of our inner beauty.
Here on earth some people are "outwardly beautiful but inwardly unlovely"
on the mansion worlds we will more resemble the inherent beauty of
our personality. (112:6.3) And as we ascend onto higher levels this
will be even more true. Our beauty will radiate from within. |
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10.
What is the purpose of our morontia life?
Our pursuit to become more Godlike--this is the eternal purpose of
our lives--a "continuous effort before death and after." (103:5.7)
The mansion worlds are where we bridge the material and the spiritual
and help prepare us to grow into magnificent spiritual beings. The
goal of our lives on the first few mansion worlds is to correct for
biological deficiencies, defects of character, intellectual conflict,
and mental disharmony from our first life in the flesh so that we
can allow our true spiritual personalities to emerge. |
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11.
What will we do there?
The activities during our sojourn on the mansion worlds are in three
areas of activity: work, progress, and play. They are also stated
as service, study, and relaxation. In addition there will be times
for social intercourse, group entertainment, and divine worship. (46:5.22)
The economy described as a "necessary economy of mutual ministry and
specialized division of labor." (44:2.3) The economy is based on manufacturing,
called the laboratory sector which "has no smoking chimneys" but has
an intricate material economy. It is said that "the perfection of
mechanical technique and physical achievement which would astonish
our most experienced chemists and inventors." (46:3.7)
"There is in the mind of God a plan which embraces every creature
of all his vast domains, and this plan is an eternal purpose of boundless
opportunity, unlimited progress, and endless life. And the infinite
treasures of such a matchless career are yours for the striving!"
(365) |
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