For a more detailed study of the generalizations I'm about to relate, go to APPENDICES TO A STUDY OF THE MASTER UNIVERSE by William S. Sadler, Jr. - APPENDIX I: MASTER UNIVERSE ANTECEDENTS and read through it. My attempts below are a severe simplification. Sadler's (in the links I'm giving) are severely detailed ;). I tend to not use some of his terminology, because I find it awkward.
He uses terms like, "eternal," "eternaler," and "eternalest,"
etc...
You may find those Sadler terms easier to comprehend, but I fear to say that they never really caught on as he wanted them to.
Naturally, you must choose what is easier to grasp--or choose both our descriptions, then pick out what you need in order to understand this stuff.
I would like to note that I will include the very hardest and metaphysical aspects of these sections in blockquotes (indented sections). That way those who don't wish to get caught up in hard-to-understand concepts can skip over them...
Unity - Could be called "Unqualified Absolute," but even naming it is not really appropriate at this level. In a strange way--and this IS hard to make sense of--it might be MOST appropriate to call this "The Father Infinite." Please don't be confused by the fact that it isn't really personal yet (when speaking of origins), but because there never was an ACTUAL origin, the Father DOES go back, out, in, on, over to, (and every other preposition) this Unity.
Graphically it could be represented as...
UNITY
All is within the circle nothing is on the outside. Think of Unity not AS the circle, but as the WHITENESS of the circle.
This can be thought of as "singularity," even in a semi-physical way, though it is pre-physical. If we refer to "primal" or "original" energy, this is the "place" where it comes from. Yet, this place could not be "qualified" strictly AS this kind of energy, only as its container.
I. Unqualified Absolute - Now we have the Unqualified Absolute separate from the Qualified Absolute. The Unqualified is like an echo of Unity, but not quite Unity itself anymore, BECAUSE it is juxtaposed by the Qualified. The Unqualified is impersonal.
II. Qualified Absolute - The other side of this duality "coin" is the Qualified Absolute. What "qualifies" it is the fact that it is (almost) Personal. The Qualified will become the Deity Absolute, but isn't quite there yet. In a way, this is ALSO the I AM, yet at a pre-First-Source-and-Center stage (which I know, sounds very confusing, but I hope to address this paradox further down).
In this "age" duality rules in all aspects. The example of a coin is (I think) a very good description. Just bear in mind that this coin has no edge--only top, Qualified, and bottom, Unqualified.
Heads, you're Qualified...Tails, you're Unqualified ;)
As far as energy is concerned, think of it as Qualified being expansive and complex like Light, and Unqualified being restrictive and simple (like Gravity). And please don't read too much into these adjectives, they refer to static states. The universe is not yet dynamic, in any sense.
However, in a certain sense, energy still has these birthmarks. We might (in a metaphysical way) think of all Reality as being stretched between these two extremes. We feel Gravity, and we should think of Light as being the part of gravity we don't see. We see Light, and we should think of Gravity as the part of Light that we don't see. Yet, even both of these are pre-linear and pre-electromagnetic, even prephysical--at this stage.
There are different ways these three can be ordered, I choose the following, but there are good reasons to experiment with other sequences...
I. Deity Absolute - This was formerly the "Qualified Absolute." Deity is all personal and trans-spiritual aspects of infinity. It always implies that it is part of a three-way relationship, never a two-way (or "dual" as above).
II. Unqualified Absolute - This we've already discussed. It pretty-much stays the same in its description from here on out. It is always the most unfathomable of the Absolutes.
III. Universal Absolute - Think of the Universal as what both the Deity and Unqualified are when they are together. The Unqualified and the Deity Absolutes ARE Universal, hence, the need to be able to speak of them as this one additional Absolute.
Qualified is A, Unqualified is B and the large circle that they are inside is the Universal Absolute."
This is a triune "age" but these three Absolutes are not a trinity. However, in the First Universe Age (the next age after Zero Age), at the "dawn of eternity" (Sadler), they are thought of as a "triodity." We won't get into triodities much yet.
In these most recent 6 pages (7-12) we ARE told about Potentials and Actuals though. And, as I said above, the three Absolutes listed in Zero Age--though static HERE--DO function dynamically as the triodity of Potentiality in the next (First Universe) age. And as we will see later on, the Eternal Son, Isle of Paradise and Infinite Spirit function as the Triodity of Actuality.
All of what is listed above comes about further back in infinity than any other aspects of the Central universe, and long "before" there was a Grand Universe. There was no Paradise, not even an Infinite Spirit, and certainly no Havona.
In a strange and paradoxical way (at these levels) though, the Qualified Absolute was the Eternal other/Son. And the Deity Absolute could also be thought of as being the Eternal Mother/Son. Going this far back, the Unqualified Absolute could be thought of as the Father Infinite, AND as I AM. Similarly, we can think that at the hypothetical completion of the cycle of all Reality in a Cosmos Infinite, this same Father Infinite will again emerge as a true aspect of trans-experiential-existential finality. And to twist your minds even more, we MIGHT even think of the original Unity listed above as the end of all things (Omega), beside being the beginning of all things (Alpha). The UB addresses this this in Paper 106, Section 8--The Trinity of Trinities.
Here is a short video I made. The diagram is hard to see so I will post it in the Gallery at Urantia Unity. The narration is by Merritt Horn.
Or read about it in The Trinity of Trinities.
Above we were discussing pre-eternity aspects of the Absolutes. Finally we move into some areas we are more familiar with.
Sadler makes an important point about the Trinity and asymmetry. He reminds us that the Father and the Son AND the Isle of Paradise are more eternal (or as he says "eternaler") and antecedent to the Infinite Spirit.
All the while we keep in the back our our minds that all these four things (Father, Son, Paradise and Spirit) were actually simultaneous and never really "started." However, it is important to put them into order.
The UB has a section in the Foreword that we just read on page 12 called "XI. The Three Absolutes". And this causes no end to the confusion. People ask, "Aren't there seven Absolutes? What's up?" And, as I just extensively explained there are the prerequisite Absolutes of the Pre-PreZero, PreZero and Zero Ages (as shown above).
Well, the way to unfold the paradox is as follows...
The Trinity is the Center of all things, as well as eternity and infinity.
So now we need to overlay the Actuals (as I will explain below)upon the Potentials that I explained above).
I. First Source and Center - Genetically, this is (1) Unity, then (2) Unqualified, then (3) I AM, then (4) the First Source and Center it is at this level that the Thought Adjusters originate), then (5) the Universal Father. See how there are stages to this member of the Trinity? Still, we don't speak of the "Universal
Father" until there is an Infinite Spirit...
This First Cause is at the same time The Father infinite (on both sides of Infinite Reality--beginning and end). Because the personal is more important that the non-personal, the First Three Sources and Centers--as Absolutes--are above all other things, INCLUDING Unity.
This is their personal power, but not necessarily their sequence of origin in eternity. I know it's convoluted. It is like a great sandwich, you can't eat it all at once. But you will appreciate how delicious it is after it has slowly been consumed. The first bites will be better understood after the last bites.
II. Second Source and Center - Genetically, this is (1) Qualified Absolute, then (2) Deity Absolute, then (3) the Second Source and Center, then (4) the Eternal Mother/Son. See how there are only 4 stages to this member of the Trinity? Still, we don't speak of the "Eternal Son" until there is an Infinite Spirit.
III. The Isle of Paradise - Concomitant with the power and existence of the Eternal Mother/Son--yet still as Deity Absolute--is the Physical compliment of the Second Source and Center: Paradise. Paradise is everything in a non-personal way, that the Second Source and Center is in a personal way. In infinity they are THE SAME
ENERGY. But the moment one departs from the physical-spiritual unity of the static energy after PreZero Age, the second Source and Center AND the Isle of Paradise can be differentiated.
IV. Third Source and Center - Once Paradise and the Second Source and Center are divided The Third Source and Center, and all of Havona, "appears". It is the ACTION of the existence of the Third Source and Center that begins eternity. Until there is a Third Source and Center even eternity is not yet existent--only static infinity. In fact it IS the existence of the Third Source and Center that defines the separation of the Second source and Center from its Paradise compliment. AND it is the "appearance" of the Third Source and Center that "instantly" converts all three personal Sources and Centers into the Paradise Trinity we know and love. This is the moment when we move from statics into dynamics. This is also the point when we can stop calling them "Sources and Centers" and think of them as Father, Son and Spirit.
Now let's briefly look at the Trinity as it has always existed and will always exist on Paradise.
The Trinity might be thought of as the center of eternity, in the same sense that Paradise is thought of as the "center of infinity".
Even though, technically, Paradise is antecedent to the infinite Spirit as such, the Infinite Spirit is more powerful, because power is most significantly displayed by the personal over the non-personal.
As aspects of God, the Trinity counts, but Paradise does NOT. Remember what we talked about yesterday--God is personal. But also recall that God divides Itself (in this case I mean as a person's self, though I say "It"), when acting as the Trinity.
The Father is pure thought. The Son is pure word (the word of the Father). The Spirit is pure action (the action of the Father-Son, CONJOINTLY--hence, sometimes referred to as "the Conjoint Actor").
From a different perspective, the Father is pure personality. The Son is pure spirit. The Spirit (ironically) is pure mind.
So, together, the Trinity is the thought-personality, word-spirit and action-mind of ONE GOD.
Obviously, this creates (apparently) another paradoxical set of relationships. The Father is thought but the Spirit is the mind that thinks that thought. The Son is the word that speaks that thought. Also, the Son is spirit, but that spirit represents the spirit nature of all three persons. Similarly, all three persons are derivatives of the Father (being the member who is pure personality).
Are you beginning to see why the Trinity is an indivisible God?
The Father Infinite could never have shared Reality BY HIMSELF. It would be a lonely existence to be diffused throughout the Unqualified and static realm of Original Unity. That is the very most basic and wonderful truth about the Father. He could have it all to himself, but chooses to share ALL of Reality with all
persons. He even chooses to share the most personal details of himself (thoughts, words, acts, personality, spirit, and mind) with two other EQUAL persons!! These things (that I just listed in the parentheses of the last sentence) are aspects that we hold very dearly as our own identity traits and fight for as personal liberties and human freedoms. How great is a God that has permanently given these things to others?
That is why the Father is the MOST UNSELFISH PERSON IN ALL EXISTENCE. He ONLY gives. And to give is to LOVE. That is why we should love him and try to be as much like him as possible--by giving as much as possible and by loving as many other persons, on as many other levels, as possible. THAT is the God-like thing to
do. And now we can see exactly why--with the description of the Trinity. Even this rudimentary examination of the Trinity REVEALS the purpose of love and unselfishness.
So that is also why the Trinity is separated out as THE "Three Absolutes". They are the most important of all seven.
THE SECOND UNIVERSE AGE
Now we are brought right up to the Second Universe Age, the age we are living in. At this time--during the incomplete Age of the Supreme--time and space provide the perfect natural environment for experiential growth.
The Absolutes are represented as follows (and listed in order of importance--not necessarily antecedence):
I. The First Source and Center - As Universal Father
II. The Second Source and Center - As Eternal Son
III. The Third Source and Center - As Infinite Spirit
IV. The First Physical Source - As the Isle of Paradise
V. The Deity Absolute
VI. The Universal Absolute
VII. The Unqualified Absolute
And it is THIS order that we are given in the Foreword. Very interestingly it is a different order that is given in Paper 105 - Deity and Reality (pages 1155-6) . The order there is more similar to how I have presented these Absolutes in the first sections of this essay. Normally it would take us more than a thousand pages to understand why they are ordered differently.
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