CONJOINT READER - SUMMER 1997

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. The Urantia Book is the 5th Epochal Revelation of God and the Universe to Man

2. Introduction to the Philosophy of the Urantia Teachings

3. Thoughts on Building the Kingdom of Heaven

4. Travel Log: South America or Bust

THE URANTIA BOOK IS THE 5TH EPOCHAL REVELATION OF GOD AND THE UNIVERSE
TO MAN by ROBERT BURNS, IRVINE, CA

It is a great time to be alive! We are able to display faith in God and our universe, to a
degree never before attempted by mere mortals. We have faith in God with no more to go
on than faith. We are finding goodness, truth and beauty with little help other than the aid
of our spiritual helpers (seraphic ministry), the divine monitor that indwells our mind
(Thought Adjusters), the Spirit of Truth (Jesus’ Spirit) and the Holy Spirit (Spirit of the
Third Source and Center in time and space). These are powerful ministries, but they are
recognized and accepted by us only through faith. We have no proof of their existence
except as they are manifested in the experiences of our lives. They are not seen with the
eyes, heard with the ears, or felt with our physical senses. We feel, see, hear, taste, touch
their powerful realities with only our faith and our willingness to discern the beauty,
goodness and truth they exert on our evolving spirit. We are identifying the realities of
God and Deity through our willingness of these experiences, and through such
experiences, we create the fabric of our souls, the very identity of our being. And we are
doing this with only our faith and our will to do our Father’s Will. This is the greatest
opportunity, the greatest challenge and the greatest gift!
THE URANTIA BOOK proclaims three basic truths:

Divine Sonship
1. We are the children of a loving Infinite Father – we are faith sons, evolving sons,
ascending sons of the First Source and Center of all beings and all things.
2. God is a Perfect Father.... A patient, merciful, kind and loving parent.

Spiritual Liberty
1. Our individual lives are composed of free will decisions. God does not force our will,
does not scare us into doing his will through fear. The Eternal Father attracts our will
through love - the truth, beauty and goodness we discern in our lives.
2. It is through our free will decision to do our Eternal Father’s Will that we develop our
eternal nature as individuals. The greatest liberty possible is the liberty we find when
our will is to do our Father’s Will. Jesus’ life manifested the will of the Eternal Father
– showing us the way through his universe to the Eternal Father. We can live such a
life, doing our Eternal Father’s Will, serving mankind with our recognition of eternal
values and bringing new meanings to existence with our unique life experiences. We
can love the Father, serve the children of time, and even love all other beings as the
Eternal Father loves us. This Jesus did with his life when word was made flesh,
serving all his creatures of time and space, showing all of us the way to doing the
Father’s Will even as he revealed the nature of God and our relationship to such a
loving Creator, as sons.
3. Our character is free to display the fruits of our evolving spirit – our service to others:
our love, respect and joy of other beings; our very recognition of the Universal
Brotherhood of all beings and the Fatherhood of God.
Eternal Salvation
1. Through our faith we are saved. Not through ritual, proclaimed beliefs, or
identification with a specific theology or creed. Eternal salvation is through our desire
to do the will of God, which is to find the nature of our Eternal Father. In our quest to
 find the source of all things and beings, we find, identify and resonate the values and
meanings of all beauty, goodness, and truths of existence.
2. “Self is man’s invincible foe, and self is manifested as man’s four greatest passions:
anger, pride, deceit, and greed. Man’s greatest victory is the conquest of
himself.”(1450) When man is selfish, the result of anger, pride, deceit and greed, he is
incapable of unselfishly serving and loving others. We must lose our selfishness to find
our eternal destiny.
It is important to remember that we communicate with the Father personally and
instantaneously, as an individual and/or as a group, through the spirit nucleus indwelling
our mind. THE URANTIA BOOK speaks to all people as individual religionists, to all men and
women, especially the young, and even the faith-less and the downtrodden. Jesus
provided the excellent model of human living. He listened to people, understood them and
loved them. Jesus is always personally available, always understanding of all persons and
loves them.
Through science, we understand that light is made up of photons having mass and
energy. The opposite of light is darkness. Darkness does not have mass nor does it
possess energy. Darkness is nothing more than the absence of light. We cannot make a
beam of darkness. We cannot extract energy from complete darkness.
Heat is energy and therefore has mass equal to its energy. Cold is not an energy nor
does it have mass. Cold is the absence of heat, nothing more. Absolute zero is as cold as
it gets, the complete absence of heat atomic energy. Absolute zero is not a force, an
energy or matter. It is simply the absence of energy.
Spirit reality is much the same. Truth, beauty and goodness are realities of eternal
existence. They are realities of love which is a reality of the Eternal Father – of God. Sin
is not a reality, a force. It is an absence of reality, the relative distance from goodness,
truth and beauty. Evil is the absence of goodness. It is a measurement of the lack of the
presence of God. When a being completely rejects eternal reality, that being does not exist
anymore with any form of identity. The personality goes back to the oversoul of creation,
back into the Supreme Being.
Beings can influence us with their “sins”, evil, or iniquity only by their ability to divert
us from goodness, truth and beauty. If we choose with our free will choice to follow non-
truth, non-goodness, non-beauty, then we will, with our free will, lose identity in the
universe. When our name is called, we will not be found, for we will not be anymore.
I believe there are images of beauty within the expanding consciousness of mankind
that will actually move this planet forward on it’s march toward physical perfection. I
believe that our individual faith, our willingness to do our Eternal Father’s Will, will bring
us to spiritual perfection. There are truths that urge each of us toward the reality of
eternity. The goodness in the universe draws us to the love within us and even dares us to
love others as our Father loves us. SMV
[In grateful appreciation to Dorothy Elder who provided the inspiration and basic idea for doing this writing.
Many ideas were also taken from Stephen Covey's book Principle Centered Leadership.]
URANTIA TEACHINGS
BY K. BRENDI POPPEL, SANTA BARBARA, CA

"There is in the mind of God a plan which embraces

every creature of all his vast domains, 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)

This quotation comes from THE URANTIA BOOK. THE URANTIA BOOK claims to be a special
revelation of truth written by higher celestial personalities. It professes to be the first
major or epochal revelation since Jesus came to earth. Now this is a claim that is bound to
raise a few eyebrows out there. It seems that every generation has a new revelation, and
the age we live in has psychic healers on the hotline and a new guru in every ashram. THE
URANTIA BOOK, however, has no guru. It has nothing in common with fanatical or radical
cults or movements. It is not a new religion. it builds upon the foundation of our
religious heritage, but strips away the superstitions and goes beyond the best of
metaphysics. But you need to read this book and critically examine it for yourself. It was
first published in Chicago in 1955 and is currently available in local bookstores (in several
English editions, as well as translations.)
The purpose of THE URANTIA BOOK is to expand cosmic consciousness and enhance
spiritual perception. With each reading, your understanding deepens. This is a book to
grow into. The book paints a picture of a brilliantly coordinated universe - where science
and religion are perfectly integrated. And God, who dwells in the center of the universe of
universes is love. The essential message of THE URANTIA BOOK is: God is our father, and
we are related as his cosmic children of destiny.

“The myriad of planetary systems were all made to be

eventually inhabited by many different types of
intelligent creatures, beings who could know God,
receive the divine affection, and love him in return.”(21)

THE URANTIA BOOK describes in detail the trillions of planets which circle around
Paradise and its one billion perfect spheres. We are here, on the outer edge of the seventh
superuniverse. We learn that our cosmic journey begins here on earth, and continues on
upward and inward to Paradise and beyond. There are vivid descriptions of the orders of
angels and their functions. Part 3 of this book is The History of Urantia, Urantia being
the name of our world. Here you can read about the birth of the solar system. How did
human life evolve from the apes? What really happened in the garden of Eden? How does
it effect us today? Why are we here? The fourth, and last part is The Life and Teachings
of Jesus. These seven hundred pages present the human Jesus and his struggles as a man,
as well as the divine Master. Why did he really come to earth? The story of Jesus is
probably the most enthralling and inspiring part of the Book. You can begin reading
anywhere. I began with the Thought Adjuster papers.
I first came upon this book in Colorado in 1971. I had recently gotten married, and
we traveled to Colorado from upstate New York in a caravan with two other couples and
assorted animals. I have to admit we were a bunch of hippies. We found a place to live
up in the mountains between Boulder and Denver. There were three other people who
lived with us. I never quite figured out why they were there - I think they came with the
house. (Actually it was a mobile home). One of them had THE URANTIA BOOK and would
frequently read passages from it. All nine of us congregated around a large cable spool
table in the kitchen and listened to Ron read. I had no idea what he was talking about.
But somehow I had this strange notion that this was a holy book and that the people who
had it could help me. We stayed in Colorado a short time, maybe six or seven weeks, and
then went back to Ithaca, New York. The couple with THE URANTIA BOOK came back east
with us. Shortly after New Years, and quite unexpectedly, my husband Allen killed
himself. After the initial shock had subsided, I decided to go to the island of Jamaica to
live forever. Ron and Sheri and THE URANTIA BOOK came with me. And that’s where it hit
me! Ron was reading about Thought Adjusters. Thought Adjusters, also called Mystery
Monitors, are actual fragments of the Father that indwell our minds. Their purpose is to
spiritualize our thinking. As we allow God to lead, we progress through the seven psychic
circles. If we choose, we can eventually fuse with this perfect piece of God. We become
one with God within.
On the last page of THE URANTIA BOOK it says, “The great challenge to modern man is
to achieve communication with the Divine Monitor that dwells within the human mind.
Man’s greatest adventure in the flesh consists in the well balanced and sane effort to
advance the borders of self-consciousness in a whole-hearted effort to reach the
borderland of spirit consciousness - contact with the divine presence.”(2097) SMV
THOUGHTS ON BUILDING THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
by SIOUX HARVEY, BEVERLY HILLS, CA

This article was originally written as an appeal to members of the International Urantia
Association and The Fellowship to consider how their behavior (regarding their respective
viewpoints) was enhancing or negating the building of the kingdom of heaven. However,
the teachings reviewed here can be contemplated by all readers as we strive to grow
intellectually and spiritually. As human beings we need to grow in our decision-making
and discernment while embodying the fruits of the spirit that are discussed by Jesus on
page 2054:3:

“The bread of life and the water thereof are given only to those who hunger for
truth and thirst for righteousness - for God. The fact that the dead rise is not the
gospel of the kingdom. These great truths and these universe facts are all related to
this gospel in that they are a part of the result of believing the good news and are
embraced in the subsequent experience of those who, by faith, become, in deed and
truth, the everlasting sons of the eternal God. My father sent me into the world to
proclaim this salvation of sonship to all men. And so I send you abroad to preach
this salvation of sonship. Salvation is the free gift of God, but those who are born
of the spirit will immediately begin to show forth the fruits of the spirit in loving
service to their fellow creatures. And the fruits of the divine spirit which are yielded
in the lives of spirit-born and God-knowing mortals are: loving service, unselfish
devotion, courageous loyalty, sincere fairness, enlightened honesty, undying hope,
confiding trust, merciful ministry, unfailing goodness, forgiving tolerance and
enduring peace. If professed believers bear not these fruits of the divine spirit in
their lives, they are dead, the Spirit of Truth is not in them; they are useless
branches on the living vine, and they soon will be taken away. My Father requires
of the children of faith that they bear much spirit fruit. If, therefore, you are not
fruitful, he will dig about your roots and cut away your unfruitful branches.
Increasingly, must you grow up, by grace, to the full stature of spiritual adulthood.
And when you go abroad to tell all nations the good news of this gospel, I will go
before you, and my Spirit of Truth shall abide in your hearts. My peace I leave
with you.”

What are we URANTIA BOOK readers doing to facilitate the building of this kingdom?
Can Jesus provide us with some guidance? Jesus tells us in paper 170, “The Master made
it clear that the kingdom of Heaven must begin with, and be centered in, the dual concept
of the truth of the fatherhood of God and the correlated fact of the brotherhood of man.”
(1859:11) He tells us then if we accept this teaching we can be liberated from animal fears
and enriched with the following endowments. I think most readers accept this teaching,
but do we allow ourselves to be enriched by these seven endowments? They are:
1. The possession of new courage and augmented spiritual power. The gospel of the
kingdom was to set man free and inspire him to dare to hope for eternal life.
2. The gospel carried a message of new confidence and true consolation for all men, even
for the poor.
3. It was in itself a new standard of moral values, a new ethical yardstick wherewith to
measure human conduct. It portrayed the ideal of a resultant new order of human
society.
4. It taught the pre-eminence of the spiritual compared with the material; it glorified
spiritual realities and exalted superhuman ideals.
5. This new gospel held up spiritual attainment as the true goal of living. Human life
received a new endowment of moral value and divine dignity.
6. Jesus taught that eternal realities were the result (reward) of righteous earthly striving.
Man’s mortal sojourn on earth acquired new meanings consequent upon the
recognition of a noble destiny.
7. The new gospel affirmed that human salvation is the revelation of a far-reaching divine
purpose to be fulfilled and realized in the future destiny of the endless service of the
salvaged sons of God. (1859:12)

We can read and intellectually understand these endowments. But how can we
experientially “know” them? Living the kingdom now does not mean being a “softie” on
issues we believe in - it means maintaining a dignified, tolerant, understanding persona,
while having the courage to calmly speak the truth and having complete faith in the fact
that God’s will will prevail and getting on with the Father’s business living the teachings.
Jesus taught that, "by faith, the believer enters the kingdom now.” (1861:2) He also
taught that two things are essential to faith-entrance into the kingdom:
1. Faith sincerity. To come as a little child, to receive the bestowal of sonship as a gift; to
submit to the doing of the Father’s will without questioning and in the full confidence
and genuine trustfulness of the Father’s wisdom; to come into the kingdom free from
prejudice and preconception; to be open-minded and teachable like an unspoiled child.
2. Truth hunger. The thirst for righteousness, a change of mind, the acquirement of the
motive to be like God and to find God.(1861:3)

The book tells us that Jesus taught that sin is not the child of a defective nature but
rather the offspring of a knowing mind dominated by an unsubmissive will.(1861:5) Jesus
wanted to impress his apostles and disciples that they must acquire, by faith, a
righteousness which would exceed the righteousness of slavish works such as those that
some of the scribes and Pharisees paraded so vaingloriously before the world in his time.
What does Jesus teach us about the progressive steps to this righteousness? First, we
must have faith to open the door to the kingdom, then, there are the progressive steps of
righteousness which every believing child must ascend in order to grow up to the full
stature of the robust sons of God. Forgiveness is the act of God which accepts our faith
as the price of admission.

"And the reception of the forgiveness of God by a kingdom believer involves a definite
and actual experience and consists in the following four steps, the kingdom steps of
inner righteousness:
1. God’s forgiveness is made actually available and is personally experienced by man
just in so far as he forgives his fellows.
2. Man will not truly forgive his fellows unless he loves them as himself.
3. To thus love your neighbor as yourself is the highest ethics.
4. Moral conduct, true righteousness, becomes, then the natural result of such love."
(1862:1)
 Furthermore, it is not our place to make judgments upon others, that is God’s
prerogative.
“The righteousness of any act must be measured by the motive; the highest forms of
good are therefore unconscious. Jesus was never concerned with morals or ethics
as such. He was wholly concerned with that inward and spiritual fellowship with
God the Father which so certainly and directly manifests itself as outward and
loving service for man. He taught that the religion of the kingdom is a genuine
personal experience which no man can contain within himself; that the
consciousness of being a member of the family of believers leads inevitably to the
practice of the precepts of the family conduct, the service of one’s brothers and
sisters in the effort to enhance and enlarge the brotherhood."(1862:6)

On page 1863:12 the book warns us not to make the fatal mistake, when we look for
the age manifestation of the kingdom, to fail to effect its establishment within our own
souls. Are we more successful if we love those brethren who we have disagreed with, or
is it better to stay angry, attack, be mistrustful, and intolerant? We are the receivers of
teachings that mean a great deal to us. Can we get by the past and move to a new era for
URANTIA BOOK readers? An age that accepts the fact that mistakes were and are being
made by a few people, but where we realize that the most important lesson for us all is to
live the teachings of the book?
We have an opportunity to move forward, to build the kingdom of heaven within our
hearts today. It will take prayer, willingness and love. We can do it, especially with our
Father’s support. And I do believe we all have his love and support. If we really trust
God then we should have no fear of loving and forgiving each other. God is the
personality that can judge us - he alone. We may feel that we are here to protect and fight
against those we disagree with. We are here to learn to live God’s will, which means to
live the truth while being full of love. If we look to Jesus for examples, he loved those
who hated him, he forgave those who trespassed against him, he even loved those who
killed his body because he knew the power of love and forgiveness. Is each one of us
practicing the power of forgiveness enough in our life? I think that we can infuse a lot
more love into our communication with those we disagree with – to help to build the
kingdom within our hearts. SMV

“You should never forget that intolerance is the mask covering up the
entertainment of secret doubts as to the trueness of one’s belief.”(1641:4)

“Always we may have diversity of intellectual comprehension and interpretation,

even varying degrees of socialization, but lack of spiritual brotherhood is both
inexcusable and reprehensible.” (1866:3)

“The weak indulge in resolutions, but the strong act. Life is but a day’s work - do it
well. That act is ours; the consequences God’s.”(556:13)
TRAVEL LOG: SOUTH AMERICA OR BUST
by NORMAN INGRAM, WHITTIER, CA
and POLLY FRIEDMAN, CALABASAS , CA

On May 21, 1996, Polly Friedman spent an afternoon chatting with Norman Ingram a
reader from Molokai, now residing in southern California until departing for Africa and
China. Norman had recently returned to Los Angeles after nearly 24 months sojourning in
Mexico, Central and South America.

Welcome back Norman. I guess the first question is why did you go to Latin America?
Well, in 1995 I went from Hawaii to New York for a summer session Urantia
Workshop. I met Senora Lourdes Pizarro who said she knew of an attorney from Peru
who had a study group in Arequipa. I was surprised because I knew there were study
groups in Bogata and Santiago. She continued by saying it was a large group of around
one hundred, but the amazing thing was they had only one Urantia Book. This put a
burden on my heart, or for want of better words, on the top of my prayer list for books for
this study group.
A few months later I was in Chicago helping with the Whole Life Expo. I hadn’t
darkened the door of 533 Diversey Parkway in about 15 years, so I went in and said,
“Aloha, I’m Norman Ingram from Molokai, Hawaii and I would like to place an order for
one hundred Spanish translation books, “El Libro de Urantia.” Well, there was a sudden
tension in the room. They said, “How did you know we had Spanish books?" I said that I
didn’t know they didn’t have them, but I had a need for them in Peru. We all had a good
laugh and they said they didn’t know the books were coming but there was a truck sitting
outside with 5000 books and no one to unload this first load of second edition softcover
Spanish translations. I rolled up my sleeves and said, “Let’s get them unloaded.” And
everything with the Foundation has worked fine ever since.
At any rate, on October 24, 1995, I left with the few books I could afford in hand for
Peru. Five people from four different study groups in Southern California joined with me
(they were also going to Peru for an International Conference: Duane Faw, Richard
Omura, Stella Religa, John Mahaffey and Sandy Varga. We proceeded to Lima and met
many new friends. We met with some people in Arequipa where we delivered some
books. In Pisac, a small town outside of Cuzco, on our way to Macchu Pichu, Duane Faw
and I met a Chilean student named Pradhana Fuchs. After our introduction he asked,
“What are you doing here?” I said, “We are delivering some needed Urantia Books to
Peru.”
Well, his eyes got real big and he said, “Urantia! I’ve been looking for this book for
my spiritual progress.” Prahdana had been reading the book by J.J. Benitez, called The
Trojan Horse (a best seller in Latin America). In that book the author captures the
crucifixion of Christ from THE URANTIA BOOK. A friend had told Prahdana that Benitez got
his information from THE URANTIA BOOK, which is very expensive and hard to get.
I said, “un momento” and I went upstairs and brought down an El Libro de URANTIA
and gave it to him. He got so excited his knees kind of buckled. As a result of this
meeting we spent two months in 1995 traveling “the Urantia trail” together in South
America going from Lima to Ecuador to Columbia and to Brazil and up the Amazon River
to Iquitos, Peru and onto Chile. Then friends flew Pradhana up for the Flagstaff
conference in August 1996 for his contribution to the world outreach of Urantia Nations,
S.A.
 Shortly after the conference we drove back to South America via Mexico and Central
America for the big trip to go to each nation’s capital city, to the national libraries
(biblioteca), universities and prisons. We did manage to set up a book distributor in Lima
and make contact with some book stores along the way as well as a book order of ten to
the student book store at the University of Equador in Quito.

How many books do you think you placed?

Well, all in all, 184 books were contributed to the Latin American outreach. We want
to give our humble thanks to Fred Harris and all the friends who responded through the
Internet, readers at large from the Fellowship and the Foundation’s contribution of ten
books and air frieght to the different shipping destinations. You can all be proud of your
cooperative efforts. The Kingdom is being built in the hearts of men and women.

How were you personally supported during this time? It must have been very
expensive.
We got very little help but it seems like it was a step of faith. We didn’t have the funds
when we started out to do it, but we were given the burden to reach the South American
continent. It seems like every place we went we were taken care of beyond what we
could imagine. Remember, when the apostles first went out they were told not to take
extra food or clothes with them because things would work out. And it did the same for
us.

What transportation and route did you take?

We drove a donated RV nicknamed “Norla” (Norlatiadek) from Los Angeles to
Phoenix, to Laredo, Texas and then we passed through Monterey, Guadaljara, San Miquel
de Allende, Mexico City, Oaxaca and Chiapas. Then we headed to Central America, going
through Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. We left “Norla” in
Costa Rica because we didn’t have the funds to ship the RV all the way to Peru and the
ferry from Panama to Columbia had gone out of service.
From Costa Rica we bused to Panama, then flew to Bogata, Columbia and then to
Lima and Cusco in Peru. We rode the train passed Lake Titicaca to La Paz, Bolivia.
From Bolivia we took a bus to Santiago, Chile.

What highlights or jubilees did you experience?

There were so many. One highlight happened one evening in San Miquel de Allende.
Pradhana was sitting by himself on a park bench when a young man came down and sat
next to him. Prahdana motioned us over to them and we were introduced to “Seraphim.”
I had never met a Seraphim before. Needless to say, that turned out to be quite a night.
We turned on a little love to this young man and he stuck to us like glue and followed us
back to the RV. There we read to him about seraphim and he was delighted. We watched
this Seraphim as he had a spritual birthday. He wanted to take us to his father’s ranch but
we couldn’t accept all the invitations we got or we would still be there.

What about highlights in South America?

Again, there were so many. While in Santiago we met a fellow who was a co-owner
of a TV video editing studio. He asked a question about life after death. I was explaining
to him about the journey to Paradise, and we had gone past the local system and on to the
constellations when he looked at me and with a big smile as if a burden had been lifted off
his shoulders and said, “Happy Birthday!” All the questions and burdens he had before
were lifted and he was on the way to Paradise. He was having a spiritual birthday on the
spot, like our friend Seraphim did.

So you also went to prisons?

Yes, and it was always a blessing to go to prisons. Our first experience was in
Guadalajara, Mexico. There were 30 inmates that sat down to see our little introduction
of the Adoration video, which we always showed first. There was one boastful young
prisoner who wouldn’t settle down and was making fun of our work. Finally the other
prisoners made him quiet down to see the slide show and he was the first one to stand up
after a few minutes to say, “I think I got a glimpse of what heaven must be like.” He got
the message for sure, as did his fellow inmates.

What happened in difficult places like Columbia?

As far as turmoil, it seems there was something happening in most places. Like in
Chiapas, Mexico it was the Indians. then we crossed over to Guatemala and shortly after
that people were calling with concern about the deaths at a soccer game which we didn’t
happen to attend. When we arrived in Columbia they were observing the 10th anniversary
of the bombing of government buildings that were overtaken by mountain rebels. They
were afraid that violence might happen again, so you saw only men in suits and the
military and police on the streets of Bogota. We were in Lima when rebels took over the
Japanese embassy. In Chile four prisoners were airlifted by helicopter from the new multi-
million dollar prison that was thought to be escape proof. It seems everywhere we went
things were politically active, but we weren’t affected by any of it.

Did you have any disappointments?

They are so minor compared to the blessings that’s its hardly worth mentioning. In
South America, Latinos especially are reaching outside their church. They are tired and
unhappy with the mysteries. They want more answers and they’re latching onto every
new age thing that comes down the pipe: L. Ron Hubbard is out in full force with
Dianetics; the Mormons are out in full force with their missionaries; the 7th Day
Adventistsm Jehovah Witnesses and the rest are all there and I see the people latching on
to these new things because it gets them out of the unfulfilling experience they’ve been
having with their churches and lack of spiritual growth.
If I can show my brothers a more direct path - the journey to Paradise, I feel its my
first duty in life.

How much influence have the Benitez books had on paving the way for the Urantia
teachings?
We talk about the help we get from the Foundation and a little from the Fellowship,
but Benitez has probably been our biggest helper in all South America. When you say
Urantia, you might get a puzzled look, but when you say, J.J. Benitez you have them right
back in the conversation. When they find out a lot of the material from the Benitez books
came from THE URANTIA BOOK, they want this also for spiritual insight, so it’s been a great
help to us in many ways.

What do you feel comes now? What’s the next step? What can we do to help this
cause?
 First let me recap what we’ve accomplished. In Latin America and Mexico there are
over 38 municipal and national libraries, 20 plus universities and 14 prisons that have THE
URANTIA BOOK on the shelf. We delivered over 184 books and spoke to over 500 people
in 24 months. With all of your help and the help of the powers that be, we were able to
plant some seeds. But after reading THE URANTIA BOOK I realize it is just as important to
nurture these seeds that have been planted. We have a database list of people who want
more information and fellowship. They want more visitors from America. They love the
fact that people in America love them and are willing to share these marvelous truths with
them.

In time, do you think it will be helpful to develop study aids that could be sent to new
study groups?
Most definitely, and some of that is being translated and sent already. Many of the
secondary works have been translated and many more need to happen. In fact, we are
looking for volunteers to join the translation team to translate articles and quarterly
newsletters into Spanish.
I’ve never seen such an enthusiastic bunch of people, especially young people of South
America under the age of 26. They are picking up THE URANTIA BOOK and getting so
excited and telling their friends about it. THE URANTIA BOOK tells us that when you take a
bold step forward for truth, beauty and goodness, you can change the world. I think
South America is going to be a prime example of how things can turn around in a shorter
period of time.

Do any of these folks talk about coming to America?

Yes, about a half dozen people from a Mapuche study group and the same number
from Santiago want to come to the IC99 conference. Two new young readers from
Uruguay will be here in June and we may take them to the Vancouver, B.C. conference.
Pradhana will be flying into LAX from time to time to fellowship (he is a flight attendant
with Lanchile Airlines.)

What country has the most study groups?

Well, I can say there’s been about 2000 books sold in Bogota. There are five to six
very good study groups in Columbia and some of the study groups are very strict in their
teachings so the students really learn the material. A lot of those groups are breaking up
now to form new study groups from the result of a very thorough training of teachers.
There are at least three groups in Chile, one in the north and two in Santiago. And there
are a lot of readers at large in South America that don’t know each other, but at least this
little mission brought several readers together. I understand the newest outpost study
group has started on Isla Robinson Crusoe, thanks to Pete Niada, Sebastian Solar and
Guido Balbontin. Over 52 books were given to new young readers in Chile alone. In
their appreciation, the Mapuche study group has made a video "Adoracion" as an
introduction to El Libro de Urantia, Chilean style. It is available in Spanish, Portuguese,
French and English. George Dupont got the first complimentary copy for his approval.

We have other countries to talk about, but for now I’ll give you a rest. Many thanks and
blessings Norman. You are truly a trail blazer, and have brought riches to many by your
action, example and love for humanity. SMV
If you would like to hear more about Norman's South American adventure or his plans for
missions to Africa and China, please feel free to contact him via:
Stella Religa
8316 S. Comstock Avenue
Whittier, CA 90602 USA
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: (562) 698-2122
Fax: (562) 698-2122 *51
A single truth has many paths....

Christianity: Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of
God.

Confucianism: Seek to be in harmony with all your neighbors...live in peace with

your brethern.

Buddhism: There is no happiness greater than peace.

Hinduism: Without meditation where is peace? Without peace, where is

happiness?

Islam: God will guide men to peace. If they will heed Him, He will lead
them from the darkness of war to the light of peace.

Taoism: The wise esteem peace and quiet above all else.

Sikhism: Only in the name of the lord do we find our peace.

Judaism: When a man's way pleases the lord, he maketh even his enemies to
be at peace with him.

Shinto: Let the earth be free from trouble and men live at peace under the
protection of the Divine.

Urantia: Personal peace integrates personality.

Peace is the social yardstick measuring civilizations advancement.