P621:1, 55:0.1 The age of light and life is the final evolutionary attainment of a world of time and space. From the early times of primitive man, such an inhabited world has passed through the successive planetary ages.
P621:2, 55:0.2 This era of light and life continues indefinitely on the inhabited worlds. Each advancing stage of settled status may be segregated into a succession of dispensations; but all such actions are purely technical, in no way modifying the course of planetary events.
P621:4, 55:0.4 There are seven stages in the unfoldment of the era of light and life on an evolutionary world, and in this connection it should be noted that the worlds of the Spirit-fused mortals evolve along lines identical with those of the Adjuster-fusion series. These seven stages of light and life are:
P621:12, 55:0.5 At the conclusion of this narrative these stages of advancing development are described as they relate to the universe organization, but the planetary values of any stage may be attained by any world quite independent of the development of other worlds or of the superplanetary levels of universe administration.
P625:1, 55:3.2 Human government in the conduct of material affairs continues to function throughout this age of relative progress and perfection. The public activities of a world in the first stage of light and life were financed by the tithing technique. Every adult worker -- and all able-bodied citizens worked at something -- paid ten per cent of his income or increase to the public treasury, and it was disbursed as follows:
P625:2, 55:3.3 1. Three per cent was expended in the promotion of truth -- science, education, and philosophy.
P625:3, 55:3.4 2. Three per cent was devoted to beauty -- play, social leisure, and art.
P625:4, 55:3.5 3. Three per cent was dedicated to goodness --
social service, altruism, and religion.
P625:5, 55:3.6 4. One per cent was assigned to the insurance reserves against the risk of incapacity for labor resultant from accident, disease, old age, or unpreventable disasters.
P625:6, 55:3.7 The natural resources of this planet were
administered as social possessions, community property.
P625:7, 55:3.8 On this world the highest honor conferred upon a
citizen was the order of "supreme service," being the only degree of
recognition ever to be granted. This recognition was bestowed upon those who had
long distinguished themselves in some phase of supermaterial discovery or
planetary social service.
P625:8, 55:3.9 The majority of social and administrative posts
were held jointly by men and women. Most of the teaching was also done jointly;
similar associated couples discharged likewise all judicial trusts.
P625:9, 55:3.10 On these superb worlds the childbearing period
is not greatly prolonged. It is not best for too many years to intervene between
the ages of a family of children. When close together in age, children are able
to contribute much more to their mutual training. And on these worlds they are
magnificently trained by the competitive systems of keen striving in the
advanced domains and divisions of diverse achievement in the mastery of truth,
beauty, and goodness. Never fear but that even such glorified spheres present
plenty of evil, real and potential, which is stimulative of the choosing between
truth and error, good and evil, sin and righteousness.
P626:1, 55:3.11 Nevertheless, there is a certain, inevitable
penalty attaching to mortal existence on such advanced evolutionary planets.
When a settled world progresses beyond the third stage of light and life, all
ascenders are destined, before attaining the minor sector, to receive some sort
of transient assignment on a planet passing through the earlier stages of
evolution.
P626:2, 55:3.12 Each of these successive ages represents
advancing achievements in all phases of planetary attainment. In the initial age
of light the revelation of truth was enlarged to embrace the workings of the
universes.
P626:3, 55:3.13 A planet the size of Earth, when fairly well settled, would have about one hundred sub-administrative centers. These subordinate centers would be presided over by groups of qualified administrators.
P626:10, 55:3.14 The great handicap confronting Earth in the
matter of attaining the high planetary destiny of light and life is embraced in
the problems of disease, degeneracy, war, multicolored races, and
multilingualism.
P626:11, 55:3.15 No evolutionary world can hope to progress
beyond the first stage of settledness in light until it has achieved one
language, one religion, and one philosophy. Being of one race greatly
facilitates such achievement, but the many peoples of Earth do not preclude the
attainment of higher stages.
P629:10, 55:5.1 Mortal creatures living on an evil-dominated,
self-seeking, isolated world, such as Earth, can hardly conceive of the physical
perfection, the intellectual attainment, and the spiritual development which
characterize these advanced epochs of evolution on a supreme sphere.
P629:11, 55:5.2 The advanced stages of a world settled in light
and life represent the acme of evolutionary material development. On these
cultured worlds, gone are the idleness and friction of the earlier primitive
ages. Poverty and social inequality have all but vanished, degeneracy has
disappeared, and delinquency is rarely observed. Insanity has practically ceased
to exist, and feeble-mindedness is a rarity.
P629:12, 55:5.3 The economic, social, and administrative status
of these worlds is of a high and perfected order. Science, art, and industry
flourish, and society is a smoothly working mechanism of high material,
intellectual, and cultural achievement. Industry has been largely diverted to
serving the higher aims of such a superb civilization. The economic life of such
a world has become ethical.
P630:1, 55:5.4 War has become a matter of history, and there
are no more armies or police forces. Government is gradually disappearing.
Self-control is slowly rendering laws of human enactment obsolete. The extent of
civil government and statutory regulation, in an intermediate state of advancing
civilization, is in inverse proportion to the morality and spirituality of the
citizenship.
P630:2, 55:5.5 Schools are vastly improved and are devoted to
the training of mind and the expansion of soul. The art centers are exquisite
and the musical organizations superb. The temples of worship with their
associated schools of philosophy and experiential religion are creations of
beauty and grandeur. The open-air arenas of worship assembly are equally sublime
in the simplicity of their artistic appointment.
P630:3, 55:5.6 The provisions for competitive play, humor, and
other phases of personal and group achievement are ample and appropriate. A
special feature of the competitive activities on such a highly cultured world
concerns the efforts of individuals and groups to excel in the sciences and
philosophies of cosmology. Literature and oratory flourish, and language is so
improved as to be symbolic of concepts as well as to be expressive of ideas.
Life is refreshingly simple; man has at last co-ordinated a high state of
mechanical development with an inspiring intellectual attainment and has
overshadowed both with an exquisite spiritual achievement. The pursuit of
happiness is an experience of joy and satisfaction.
P630:4, 55:6.1 As worlds advance in the settled status of light
and life, society becomes increasingly peaceful. The individual, while no less
independent and devoted to his family has become more altruistic and fraternal.
P630:5, 55:6.2 On Earth, and as you are, you can have little
appreciation of the advanced status and progressive nature of the enlightened
races of these perfected worlds. These people are the flowering of the
evolutionary races. But such beings are still mortal; they continue to breathe,
eat, sleep, and drink. This great evolution is not heaven, but it is a sublime
foreshadowing of the divine worlds of the Paradise ascent.
P630:6, 55:6.3 On a normal world the biologic fitness of the
mortal race was long since brought up to a high level during the Technology
epochs; and now, from age to age throughout the settled eras the physical
evolution of man continues. Both vision and hearing are extended. By now the
population has become stationary in numbers. Reproduction is regulated in
accordance with planetary requirements and innate hereditary endowments.
The continued improvement of such a magnificent race throughout the era
of light and life is largely a matter of selective reproduction of those strains
that exhibit superior qualities of a social, philosophic, cosmic, and spiritual
nature.
P630:7, 55:6.4 The Messengers continue to come as in former evolutionary eras, and as the epochs pass, these mortals are increasingly able to commune with the indwelling Father fragment. During the embryonic and prespiritual stages of development the adjutant mind-spirits are still functioning. The Holy Spirit ministry is even more effective as the successive epochs of settled life are experienced. In the fourth stage of light and life the advanced mortals seem to experience considerable conscious contact with the spirit presence of the Master Spirit, while the philosophy of such a world is focused upon the attempt to comprehend the new revelations of God the Supreme. More than one half of the human inhabitants on planets of this advanced status experience translation to the morontia state from among the living. Even so, "old things are passing away; behold, all things are becoming new."
P631:1, 55:6.5 We conceive that physical evolution will have
attained its full development by the end of the epoch of the light-and-life era.
Adjuster-fusion level of conjoint morontia values and cosmic meanings determines
the upper limits of spiritual development associated with evolving human mind.
But concerning wisdom: While we do not really know, we conjecture that there can
never be a limit to intellectual evolution and the attainment of wisdom. On a
seventh-stage world, wisdom can exhaust the material potentials, enter upon mota
insight, and eventually even taste of absonite grandeur.
P631:2, 55:6.6 We observe that on this highly evolved worlds
human beings fully learn the local universe language, the tongue of the
superuniverse.
P631:3, 55:6.7 This is the story of the magnificent goal of
mortal striving on the evolutionary worlds; and it all takes place even before
human beings enter upon their morontia careers; all of this splendid development
is attainable by material mortals on the inhabited worlds, the very first stage
of that endless and incomprehensible career of Paradise ascension and divinity
attainment.
P631:4, 55:6.8 But can you possibly imagine what sort of
evolutionary mortals are now coming up from worlds long existing in the epoch of
settled light and life? It is such as these who go on to the morontia worlds of
the local universe capital to begin their ascension careers.
P631:5, 55:6.9 If the mortals of distraught Earth could only
view one of these more advanced worlds long settled in light and life, they
would nevermore question the wisdom of the evolutionary scheme of creation. Were
there no future of eternal creature progression, still the superb evolutionary
attainments of the mortal races on such settled worlds of perfected achievement
would amply justify man's creation on the worlds of time and space.
P632:3, 55:7.4 This settled age continues on and on until every inhabited planet in the system
attains the era of stabilization; and then, when the youngest world -- the last
to achieve light and life -- has experienced such settledness for one millennium
of system time, the entire system enters the stabilized status, and the
individual worlds are ushered into the system epoch of the era of light and
life.
P632:7, 55:8.4 During this epoch of stabilization, for the first time midsoniters come from the universe headquarters worlds of their sojourn to act as counselors to the legislative assemblies and advisers to the adjudication tribunals. These midsoniters also carry on certain efforts to inculcate new mota meanings of supreme value into the teaching enterprises that they sponsor jointly with the finaliters. The midsoniters work alongside these unified and glorified humans in the ever-advancing realms of philosophy and spiritualized thinking.
P633:3, 55:8.7 As the systems one by one become settled in light by virtue of the progress of their component worlds, the time comes when the last system in a given constellation attains stabilization.
P633:4, 55:9.1 The unification of a whole constellation of
settled systems is attended by new distributions of readjustments of universe
administration. This epoch witnesses advanced attainment on every inhabited
world but is particularly characterized by readjustments on the constellation
headquarters, with marked modification of relationships with both the system
supervision and the local universe government. During this age many
constellation and universe activities are transferred to the system capitals,
and the representatives of the superuniverse assume new and more intimate
relations with the planetary, system, and universe administrators. Concomitant
with these new associations, certain superuniverse administrators establish
themselves on the constellation capitals as volunteer advisers to the Most High
Fathers.
P633:5, 55:9.2 When a constellation is thus settled in light,
the legislative function ceases, and the house of System Sovereigns, presided
over by the Most Highs, functions instead. Now, for the first time, such
administrative groups deal directly with the superuniverse government in matters
pertaining to Heaven and Paradise relationships. Otherwise the constellation
remains related to the local universe as before. From stage to stage in the
settled life the univitatia continue to administer the constellation morontia
worlds.
P633:6, 55:9.3 As the ages pass, the Constellation Fathers take
over more and more of the detailed administrative or supervising functions which
were formerly centered on the universe headquarters. By the attainment of that
stage of stabilization these unified constellations will have reached the
position of well-nigh complete autonomy. To all intents and purposes the
constellations will then deal directly with the superuniverse administrators,
while the local universe government will expand to grasp the responsibilities of
new grand universe obligations.
P630:4, 55:6.1 As worlds advance in the settled status of light
and life, society becomes increasingly peaceful. The individual, while no less
independent and devoted to his family has become more altruistic and fraternal.
P630:7, 55:6.4 The Adjusters continue to come as in former
evolutionary eras, and as the epochs pass, these mortals are increasingly able
to commune with the indwelling Father fragment. During the embryonic and
prespiritual stages of development the adjutant mind-spirits are still
functioning. The Holy Spirit ministry is even more effective as the successive
epochs of settled life are experienced. In the fourth stage of light and life
the advanced mortals seem to experience considerable conscious contact with the
spirit presence of the Master Spirit of superuniverse jurisdiction, while the
philosophy of such a world is focused upon the attempt to comprehend the new
revelations of God the Supreme. More than one half of the human inhabitants on
planets of this advanced status experience translation to the morontia state
from among the living. Even so, "old things are passing away; behold, all
things are becoming new."
P631:1, 55:6.5 We conceive that physical evolution will have
attained its full development by the end of the fifth epoch of the
light-and-life era. We observe that the upper limits of spiritual development
associated with evolving human mind are determined by the Adjuster-fusion level
of conjoint morontia values and cosmic meanings. But concerning wisdom: While we
do not really know, we conjecture that there can never be a limit to
intellectual evolution and the attainment of wisdom. On a seventh-stage world,
wisdom can exhaust the material potentials, enter upon mota insight, and
eventually even taste of absonite grandeur.
P631:2, 55:6.6 We observe that on these highly evolved and long
seventh-stage worlds human beings fully learn the local universe language before
they are translated.
P631:3, 55:6.7
This is the story of the magnificent goal of mortal striving on the evolutionary
worlds; and it all takes place even before human beings enter upon their
morontia careers; all of this splendid development is attainable by material
mortals on the inhabited worlds, the very first stage of that endless and
incomprehensible career of Paradise ascension and divinity attainment.
P631:4, 55:6.8
But can you possibly imagine what sort of evolutionary mortals are now coming up
from worlds long existing in the seventh epoch of settled light and life? It is
such as these who go on to the morontia worlds of the local universe capital to
begin their ascension careers.
P631:5, 55:6.9
If the mortals of distraught Earth could only view one of these more advanced
worlds long settled in light and life, they would nevermore question the wisdom
of the evolutionary scheme of creation. Were there no future of eternal creature
progression, still the superb evolutionary attainments of the mortal races on
such settled worlds of perfected achievement would amply justify man's creation
on the worlds of time and space.
P631:7, 55:7.1 This epoch extends from the appearance of the
morontia temple at the new planetary headquarters to the time of the settling of
the entire system in light and life.
Concomitant therewith the finaliters inaugurate their active
participation in planetary affairs.
P632:3, 55:7.4 This settled age continues on and on until every inhabited planet in the system attains the era of stabilization; and then, when the youngest world -- the last to achieve light and life -- has experienced such settledness for one millennium of system time, the entire system enters the stabilized status, and the individual worlds are ushered into the system epoch of the era of light and life.
P632:4, 55:8.1 When an entire system becomes settled in life, a new order of government is inaugurated. The Planetary Sovereigns become members of the system conclave and functions as the new administrative body. Such a system of inhabited worlds becomes virtually self-governing. The system legislative assembly is constituted on the headquarters world, and each planet sends representatives thereto.
P632:5, 55:8.2
With the settling of the system the Assigned Sentinel, representative of the
universe Supreme Executive, becomes the volunteer adviser to the system supreme
court and actual presiding officer of the new legislative assembly.
P633:3, 55:8.7 As the systems one by one become settled in light by virtue of the progress of their component worlds, the time comes when the last system in a given constellation attains stabilization, and the universe administrators arrive for a visit to the capital of the constellation of the newly perfected family of one hundred settled systems of inhabited worlds.
P633:4, 55:9.1 The unification of a whole constellation of
settled systems is attended by new distributions of executive authority and
additional readjustments of universe administration. This epoch witnesses
advanced attainment on every inhabited world but are particularly characterized
by readjustments on the constellation headquarters, with marked modification of
relationships with both the system supervision and the local universe
government. During this age many constellation and universe activities are
transferred to the system capitals, and the representatives of the universe
assume new and more intimate relations with the planetary, system, and universe
rulers. Concomitant with these new associations, certain universe administrators
establish themselves on the constellation capitals as volunteer advisers to the
Most High Fathers.
P633:5, 55:9.2 When a constellation is thus settled in light,
the legislative function ceases, and the house of System Sovereigns, presided
over by the Most Highs, functions instead. Now, for the first time, such
administrative groups deal directly with the superuniverse government in matters
pertaining to Heaven and Paradise relationships. Otherwise the constellation
remains related to the local universe as before. From stage to stage in the
settled life the univitatia continue to administer the constellation morontia
worlds.
P633:6, 55:9.3 As the ages pass, the Constellation Fathers take
over more and more of the detailed administrative or supervising functions which
were formerly centered on the universe headquarters. By the attainment of the
sixth stage of stabilization these unified constellations will have reached the
position of well-nigh complete autonomy. Entrance upon the seventh stage of
settledness will no doubt witness the exaltation of these advisors to the true
dignity signified by their names, the Most Highs. To all intents and purposes
the constellations will then deal directly with the superuniverse rulers, while
the local universe government will expand to grasp the responsibilities of new
grand universe obligations.
P634:1, 55:10.1 When a universe becomes settled in light and life, it soon swings into the established superuniverse circuits. The council of authority is chiefly concerned with the new problems and the new conditions arising out of the advanced status of light and life.
P634:3, 55:10.3 The Associate Inspector now mobilizes all Assigned Sentinels to constitute the stabilization corps of the local universe. And now, for the first time, a corps of the Inspired Spirits is assigned to its service.
P634:4, 55:10.4 The settling of an entire local universe in light and life inaugurates profound readjustments in the entire scheme of administration, from the individual inhabited worlds to the universe headquarters. New relationships extend down to the constellations and systems. The newly assigned Universe Spirit experiences new liaison relations with the Master Spirit of the superuniverse.
P634:5, 55:10.5 During this and subsequent ages the Universe Spirit continues to function as dispensational adjudicators and will become the supreme counselor stationed on the headquarters world of each local system until the seventh stage of unity is attained.
P634:6, 55:10.6 During this epoch volunteer advisers similarly serve the Constellation Fathers and are also assigned to the service of the supreme council.
P634:7, 55:10.7 The finaliter corps now, for the first time, acknowledges the jurisdiction of an extra-Paradise authority, the supreme council. Heretofore the finaliters have recognized no supervision this side of Paradise.
P634:9, 55:10.9
The Divine Minister is progressively blending her ministry with that of
the superuniverse Master Spirit and the Infinite Spirit. There seems to be
evolving a new and sublime relationship between the Creative Spirit and the
ever-increasing finaliter corps.
P635:1, 55:10.10 At the same time new status would be imparted
to all orders of permanent citizenship, such as univitatia, midsoniters,
susatia, and Spirit-fused mortals. But as long as evolution continues, the
seraphim will be required in universe administration.
P635:3, 55:11.1 Minor and major sectors of the superuniverse do not figure directly in the plan of being settled in light and life. Such an evolutionary progression pertains primarily to the local universe as a unit and concerns only the components of a local universe. A superuniverse is settled in light and life when all of its component local universes are thus perfected.
P635:4, 55:11.2 The minor sector age. As far as observations can penetrate, the fifth or minor sector stage of stabilization has exclusively to do with physical status and with the co-ordinate settling of other associated local universes in the established circuits of the superuniverse. Apparently none but the power centers and their associates are concerned in these realignments of the material creation.
P635:6, 55:11.4 Since the minor sector status has to do with co-ordinate physical equilibrium, we infer that major sector unification will be concerned with certain new intellectual levels of attainment, possibly some advanced achievements in the supreme realization of cosmic wisdom.
P635:7, 55:11.5 We arrive at conclusions regarding the
readjustments which would probably attend the realization of hitherto unattained
levels of evolutionary progress by observing the results of such achievements on
the individual worlds and in the experiences of individual mortals living on
these older and highly developed spheres.
P635:8, 55:11.6 Let it be made clear that the administrative
mechanisms and governmental techniques of a universe or a superuniverse cannot
in any manner limit or retard the evolutionary development or spiritual progress
of an individual inhabited planet or of any individual mortal on such a sphere.
P635:9, 55:11.7 In some of the older universes we find worlds
settled in the fifth and the sixth stages of light and life -- even far extended
into the seventh epoch -- whose local systems are not yet settled in light.
Younger planets may delay system unification, but this does not in the least
handicap the progress of an older and advanced world. Neither can environmental
limitations, even on an isolated world, thwart the personal attainment of the
individual mortal; God’s Messenger Jesus of Nazareth, as a man among men,
personally achieved the status of light and life over two thousand years ago on
Earth.
P636:1, 55:11.8 It is by observing what takes place on
long-settled worlds that we arrive at fairly reliable conclusions as to what
will happen when a whole superuniverse is settled in light, even if we cannot
safely postulate the event of the stabilization of the superuniverses.
P636:2, 55:12.1 We cannot positively forecast what would occur
when a superuniverse became settled in light because such an event has never
factualized. We infer that sweeping changes would be made in the entire
organization and administration of every unit of the creations of time and space
extending from the inhabited worlds to the superuniverse headquarters.
P636:4, 55:12.3 If and when a superuniverse should be settled
in light and life, we believe that the now advisory Unqualified Supervisors of
the Supreme would become the high administrative body on the headquarters world
of the superuniverse. These are the personalities who are able to contact
directly with the absonite administrators, who will forthwith become active in
the settled superuniverse. Although these Unqualified Supervisors have long
functioned as advisers and counselors in advanced evolutionary units of
creation, they do not assume administrative responsibilities until the authority
of the Supreme Being becomes sovereign.
P636:5, 55:12.4 The Unqualified Supervisors of the Supreme, who
function more extensively during this epoch, are not finite, absonite, ultimate,
or infinite; they are supremacy and only represent God the Supreme. They
are the personalization of time-space supremacy and therefore do not function in
Heaven. They function only as supreme unifiers. They may possibly be involved in
the technique of universe reflectivity, but we are not certain.