P118:1, 11:0.1 Paradise is the eternal center of the universe
and the abiding place of the Universal Father, the Infinite Spirit, and their
divine co-ordinates and associates. This central Isle is the most gigantic
organized body of cosmic reality in all. Paradise
is a material sphere as well as a spiritual abode. All of the intelligent
creation of the Universal Father is domiciled on material abodes; hence must the
absolute controlling center also be material, literal. And again it should be
reiterated that spirit things and spiritual beings are real.
P118:2, 11:0.2 The material beauty of Paradise consists in the
magnificence of its physical perfection; the grandeur of the Isle of God is
exhibited in the superb intellectual accomplishments and mind development of its
inhabitants; the glory of the central Isle is shown forth in the infinite
endowment of divine spirit personality -- the light of life. But the depths of
the spiritual beauty and the wonders of this magnificent ensemble are utterly
beyond the comprehension of the finite mind of material creatures. The glory and
spiritual splendor of the divine abode are impossible of mortal comprehension.
And Paradise is from eternity; there are neither records nor traditions
respecting the origin of this nuclear Isle of Light and Life.
P118:3, 11:1.1 Paradise serves many purposes in the administration of the universal realms, but to creature beings it exists primarily as the dwelling place of Deity. The Universal Father is cosmically focalized, spiritually personalized, and geographically resident at this center of the universe.
P118:5, 11:1.3 We all know the direct course to pursue to find
the Universal Father. You are not able to comprehend much about the divine
residence because of its remoteness from you and the immensity of the
intervening space, but those who are able to comprehend the meaning of these
enormous distances know God's location and residence just as certainly and
literally as you know the location of New York, London, Rome, or Singapore,
cities definitely and geographically located on Earth. If you were an
intelligent navigator, equipped with ship, maps, and compass, you could readily
find these cities. Likewise, if you had the time and means of passage, were
spiritually qualified, and had the necessary guidance, you could be piloted
through the universe from circuit to circuit, ever journeying inward through the
starry realms, until at last you would stand before the central shining of the
spiritual glory of the Universal Father. Provided with all the necessities for
the journey, it is just as possible to find the personal presence of God at the
center of all things as to find distant cities on your own planet. That you have
not visited these places in no way disproves their reality or actual existence.
That so few of the universe creatures have found God on Paradise in no way
disproves either the reality of his existence or the actuality of his spiritual
person at the center of all things.
P119:1, 11:1.4 The Father is often found at this central
location. There converge in him at this residential center the universal lines
of gravity from the ends of creation. Whether we trace the personality circuit
back through the universe or follow the ascending personalities as they journey
inward to the Father; whether we trace the lines of material gravity to nether
Paradise or follow the insurgent cycles of cosmic force; whether we trace out
the mind circuits or follow the trillions upon trillions of celestial beings who
spring from the Infinite Spirit -- by any of these observations or by all of
them we are led directly back to the Father's presence, to his central abode.
Here is God personally, literally, and actually present. And from his infinite
being there flow the flood-streams of life, energy, and personality to all
universes.
P119:2, 11:2.1 Since you are beginning to glimpse the enormousness of the material universe discernible even from your astronomical location, your space position in the starry systems, it should become evident to you that such a tremendous material universe must have an adequate and worthy capital, a headquarters commensurate with the dignity and infinitude of the universal Ruler of all this vast and far-flung creation of material realms and living beings.
P119:3, 11:2.2 In form Paradise differs from the inhabited
space bodies: it is not spherical. It is definitely ellipsoid, being one-sixth
longer in the north-south diameter than in the east-west diameter. The central
Isle is essentially flat, and the distance from the upper surface to the nether
surface is one tenth that of the east-west diameter.
P119:4, 11:2.3 These differences in dimensions, taken in
connection with its stationary status and the greater out-pressure of
force-energy at the north end of the Isle, make it possible to establish
absolute direction in the master universe.
P119:9, 11:2.5 We speak of that surface of Paradise which is occupied with personality activities as the upper side, and the opposite surface as the nether side. The periphery of Paradise provides for activities that are not strictly personal or nonpersonal. We hardly conceive of the Unqualified Absolute as a person, but we do think of the functional space presence of this Absolute as focalized on nether Paradise.
P120:1, 11:2.6 The eternal Isle is composed of a single form of
materialization -- stationary systems of reality. This literal substance of
Paradise is a homogeneous organization of space potency not to be found
elsewhere in the universe. This Paradise source material is neither dead nor
alive; it is the original nonspiritual expression of the First Source and
Center; it is Paradise, and Paradise is without duplicate.
P120:2, 11:2.7 It appears to us that the First Source and
Center has concentrated all absolute potential for cosmic reality in Paradise as
a part of his technique of self-liberation from infinity limitations, as a means
of making possible subinfinite, even time-space, creation. But it does not
follow that Paradise is time-space limited just because the universe discloses
these qualities. Paradise exists without time and has no location in space.
P120:3, 11:2.8 Roughly: space seemingly originates just below
nether Paradise; time just above Paradise.
Time, as you understand it, is not a feature of Paradise existence, though the
citizens of the central Isle are fully conscious of non-time sequence of events.
Motion is not inherent on Paradise; it is volitional. But the concept of
distance, even absolute distance, has very much meaning as it may be applied to
relative locations on Paradise. Paradise is non-spatial; hence its areas are
absolute and therefore serviceable in many ways beyond the concept of mortal
mind.
P120:4, 11:3.1 On Paradise there are three grand spheres of
activity. There are neither material structures nor purely intellectual
creations in this zone; they could not exist there. It is impossible to portray
to the human mind the divine nature and the beauteous grandeur of the Sphere of
Paradise. This realm is wholly spiritual, and you are almost wholly material. A
purely spiritual reality is, to a purely material being, apparently nonexistent.
P121:1, 11:3.4 Sectors of Paradise are subdivided into
residential units suitable for the lodgment headquarters many individual working
groups.
P121:2, 11:4.1 The central Isle ends abruptly at the periphery, but its size is so enormous that this terminal angle is relatively indiscernible within any circumscribed area. The landing and dispatching fields for various groups of spirit personalities occupy the peripheral surface of Paradise, in part. Since the nonpervaded-space zones nearly impinge upon the periphery, all personality transports destined to Paradise land in these regions.
P121:3, 11:4.2 The Spirits have seats on the spheres that
circle about Paradise in the space between the shining orbs and the inner
circuit of the Heaven worlds, but they maintain force-focal headquarters on the
Paradise periphery.
P121:4, 11:4.3 Here on peripheral Paradise are the enormous
historic and prophetic exhibit areas
dedicated to the local universes of time and space. There are trillions
of these historic reservations set up or in reserve, but these arrangements all
together occupy only a small portion of the peripheral area thus assigned.
P121:5, 11:4.4 That portion of Paradise which has been
designated for the use of the universe is
only a small portion, while the area assigned to these activities is at
least one million times that what actually is required for such purposes.
Paradise is large enough to accommodate the activities of an almost infinite
creation.
P121:6, 11:4.5 But a further attempt to visualize to you the
glories of Paradise would be futile. You must wait, and ascend while you wait,
for truly, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into
the mind of mortal man, the things which the Universal Father has prepared for
those who survive the life in the flesh on the worlds of time and space."
P122:1, 11:5.1 Concerning nether Paradise, we know only that which is revealed; personalities do not sojourn there. It has nothing whatever to do with the affairs of spirit intelligences, nor does the Deity Absolute there function. We are informed that all physical-energy and cosmic-force circuits have their origin on nether Paradise
P122:4, 11:5.4 Occupying the outer margins of the under surface is a region having mainly to do with space potency and force-energy. The activities of this vast elliptical force center are not identifiable with the known functions of any unity, but the primordial force-charge of space appears to be focalized in this area. This center consists of three concentric elliptical zones: The innermost is the focal point of the force-energy activities of Paradise itself; the outermost may possibly be identified with the functions of the Unqualified Absolute, but we are not certain concerning the space functions of the mid-zone.
P122:5, 11:5.5 The inner zone of this force center seems to act as a gigantic heart whose pulsations direct currents to the outermost borders of physical space. It directs and modifies force-energies but hardly drives them. The reality pressure-presence of this primal force is definitely greater at the north end of the Paradise center than in the southern regions; this is a uniformly registered difference. The mother force of space seems to flow in at the south and out at the north through the operation of some unknown circulatory system that is concerned with the diffusion of this basic form of force-energy. From time to time there are also noted differences in the east-west pressures. The forces emanating from this zone are not responsive to observable physical gravity but are always obedient to Paradise gravity.
P122:6, 11:5.6 The mid-zone of the force center immediately surrounds this area. This mid-zone appears to be static except that it expands and contracts through three cycles of activity. The least of these pulsations is in an east-west direction, the next in a north-south direction, while the greatest fluctuation is in every direction, a generalized expansion and contraction. The function of this mid-area has never been really identified, but it must have something to do with reciprocal adjustment between the inner and the outer zones of the force center. It is believed by many that the mid-zone is the control mechanism of the midspace or quiet zones that separate the successive space levels but no evidence or revelation confirms this. This inference is derived from the knowledge that this mid-area is in some manner related to the functioning of the nonpervaded-space mechanism of the universe.
P122:7, 11:5.7 The outer zone is the largest and most
active of the three concentric and elliptical belts of unidentified space
potential. This area is the site of unimagined activities, the central circuit
point of emanations that proceed spaceward in every direction to the outermost
borders of the universe and on beyond to overspread the enormous and
incomprehensible domains of all outer space. This space presence is entirely
impersonal notwithstanding that in some undisclosed manner it seems to be
indirectly responsive to the will and mandates of the infinite Deity. This is
believed to be the central focalization, the Paradise center of the space
presence of the Unqualified Absolute.
P123:1, 11:5.8 All forms of force and all phases of energy seem
to be encircuited; they circulate throughout the universes and return by
definite routes. But with the emanations of the activated zone of the
Unqualified Absolute there appears to be either an outgoing or an incoming --
never both simultaneously. This outer zone pulsates in agelong cycles of
gigantic proportions. For more than a billion Earth years the space-force of
this center is outgoing; then for a similar length of time it will be incoming.
And the space-force manifestations of this center are universal; they extend
throughout all pervadable space.
P123:2, 11:5.9 All physical force, energy, and matter are one. All force-energy originally proceeded from nether Paradise and will eventually return thereto following the completion of its space circuit. But the energies and material organizations of the universe did not all come from nether Paradise in their present phenomenal states; space is the womb of several forms of matter and pre-matter. Though the outer zone of the Paradise force center is the source of space-energies, space does not originate there. Space is not force, energy, or power. Nor do the pulsations of this zone account for the respiration of space, but the incoming and outgoing phases of this zone are synchronized with the billion-year expansion-contraction cycles of space.
P123:3, 11:6.1 We do not know the actual mechanism of space
respiration; we merely observe that all space alternately contracts and expands.
This respiration affects both the horizontal extension of pervaded space and the
vertical extensions of un-pervaded space that exists in the vast space
reservoirs above and below Paradise. In attempting to imagine the volume
outlines of these space reservoirs, you might think of an hourglass.
P123:4, 11:6.2 As the universes of the horizontal extension of
pervaded space expand, the reservoirs of the vertical extension of un-pervaded
space contract and vice versa. There is a confluence of pervaded and un-pervaded
space just underneath nether Paradise. Both types of space there flow through
the transmuting regulation channels, where changes are wrought making pervadable
space non-pervadable and vice versa in the contraction and expansion cycles of
the cosmos.
P123:5, 11:6.3 "Un-pervaded" space means: un-pervaded by those forces, energies, powers, and presences known to exist in pervaded space. We do not know whether vertical (reservoir) space is destined always to function as the equipoise of horizontal (universe) space; we do not know whether there is a creative intent concerning un-pervaded space; we really know very little about the space reservoirs, merely that they exist, and that they seem to counterbalance the space-expansion-contraction cycles of the universe of universes.
P123:6, 11:6.4 The cycles of space respiration extend in each
phase for a more than a billion Earth years. During one phase the universe
expands; during the next they contract. Pervaded space is now approaching the
mid-point of the expanding phase, while un-pervaded space nears the mid-point of
the contracting phase, and we are informed that the outermost limits of both
space extensions are, theoretically, now approximately equidistant from
Paradise.
P124:1, 11:6.5 For a billion years of Earth time the space reservoirs contract while the master universe and the force activities of all horizontal space expand. It thus requires more than a billion Earth years to complete the entire expansion-contraction cycle.
P124:2, 11:7.1
Space does not exist on any of the surfaces of Paradise. If one
"looked" directly up from the upper surface of Paradise, one would
"see" nothing but un-pervaded space going out or coming in, just now
coming in. Space does not touch Paradise; only the quiescent midspace zones come
in contact with the central Isle.
P124:3, 11:7.2
Paradise is the actually motionless nucleus of the relatively quiescent zones
existing between pervaded and un-pervaded space. Geographically these zones
appear to be a relative extension of Paradise, but there probably is some motion
in them. We know very little about them, but we observe that these zones of
lessened space motion separate pervaded and un-pervaded space. Similar zones
once existed between the levels of pervaded space, but these are now less
quiescent.
P124:4, 11:7.3
The vertical cross section of total space would slightly resemble a Maltese
cross, with the horizontal arms representing pervaded (universe) space and the
vertical arms representing un-pervaded (reservoir) space. The areas between the
four arms would separate them somewhat as the midspace zones separate pervaded
and un-pervaded space. These quiescent midspace zones grow larger and larger at
greater and greater distances from Paradise and eventually encompass the borders
of all space and completely encapsulate both the space reservoirs and the entire
horizontal extension of pervaded space.
P124:5, 11:7.4 Space is neither a subabsolute condition within,
nor the presence of, the Unqualified Absolute, neither is it a function of the
Ultimate. It is a bestowal of Paradise, and the space of the grand universe and
that of all outer regions is believed to be actually pervaded by the ancestral
space potency of the Unqualified Absolute. From near approach to peripheral
Paradise, this pervaded space extends horizontally outward through the fourth
space level and beyond the periphery of the master universe, but how far beyond
we do not know.
P124:6, 11:7.5 If you imagine a finite, but inconceivably
large, V-shaped plane situated at right angles to both the upper and lower
surfaces of Paradise, with its point nearly tangent to peripheral Paradise, and
then visualize this plane in elliptical revolution about Paradise, its
revolution would roughly outline the volume of pervaded space.
P124:7, 11:7.6 There is an upper and a lower limit to
horizontal space with reference to any given location in the universes. If one
could move far enough at right angles either up or down, eventually the upper or
lower limit of pervaded space would be encountered. Within the known dimensions
of the master universe these limits draw farther and farther apart at greater
and greater distances from Paradise; space thickens, and it thickens somewhat
faster than does the plane of creation, the universes.
P125:1, 11:7.7 The relatively quiet zones between the
space levels, such as the one separating the universes from the first outer
space level, are enormous elliptical regions of quiescent space activities.
These zones separate the vast galaxies that race around Paradise in orderly
procession. You may visualize the first outer space level, where untold
universes are now in process of formation, as a vast procession of galaxies
swinging around Paradise, bounded above and below by the midspace zones of
quiescence and bounded on the inner and outer margins by relatively quiet space
zones.
P125:2, 11:7.8
A space level thus functions as an elliptical region of motion surrounded on all
sides by relative motionlessness. Such relationships of motion and quiescence
constitute a curved
space path of lessened resistance to motion that is universally followed by cosmic
force and emergent energy as they circle forever around the Isle of Paradise.
P125:3, 11:7.9 This alternate zoning of the master universe, in
association with the alternate clockwise and counterclockwise flow of the
galaxies, is a factor in the stabilization of physical gravity designed to
prevent the accentuation of gravity pressure to the point of disruptive and
dispersive activities. Such an arrangement exerts antigravity influence and acts
as a brake upon otherwise dangerous velocities.
P125:4, 11:8.1 The inescapable pull of gravity effectively
grips all the worlds of all the universes of all space. Gravity is the
all-powerful grasp of the physical presence of Paradise. Gravity is the
omnipotent strand on which are strung the gleaming stars, blazing suns, and
whirling spheres which constitute the universal physical adornment of the
eternal God, who is all things, fills all things, and in whom all things
consist.
P125:5, 11:8.2 The center and focal point of absolute material
gravity is the Isle of Paradise, complemented by the dark gravity bodies
encircling the Heavens and equilibrated by the upper and nether space
reservoirs. All known emanations of nether Paradise invariably and unerringly
respond to the central gravity pull operating upon the endless circuits of the
elliptical space levels of the master universe. Every known form of cosmic
reality has the bend of the ages, the trend of the circle, the swing of the
great ellipse.
P125:6, 11:8.3 Space is non-responsive to gravity, but it acts
as an equilibrant on gravity. Without the space cushion, explosive action would
jerk surrounding space bodies. Pervaded space also exerts an antigravity
influence upon physical or linear gravity; space can actually neutralize such
gravity action even though it cannot delay it. Absolute gravity is Paradise
gravity. Local or linear gravity pertains to the electrical stage of energy or
matter; it operates within the central, super-, and outer universes, wherever
suitable materialization has taken place.
P125:7, 11:8.4 The numerous forms of cosmic force, physical energy, universe power, and various materializations disclose three general, though not perfectly clear-cut, stages of response to Paradise gravity:
P126:1, 11:8.5 1. Pregravity Stages (Force). This is the
first step in the individuation of space potency into the pre-energy forms of
cosmic force. This state is analogous to the concept of the primordial
force-charge of space, sometimes called pure energy or segregata.
P126:2, 11:8.6 2. Gravity Stages (Energy). This modification of the force-charge of space is produced by the action of the Paradise force organizers. It signalizes the appearance of energy systems responsive to the pull of Paradise gravity. This emergent energy is originally neutral but consequent upon further metamorphosis will exhibit the so-called negative and positive qualities. We designate these stages ultimata.
P126:3, 11:8.7 3. Postgravity Stages (Universe Power). In this stage, energy-matter discloses response to the control of linear gravity. In the central universe these physical systems are threefold organizations known as triata. They are the superpower mother systems of the creations of time and space. The Universe Power Directors and their associates mobilize the physical systems of the superuniverses. These material organizations are dual in constitution and are known as gravita. The dark gravity bodies encircling the Heavens are neither triata nor gravita, and their drawing power discloses both forms of physical gravity, linear and absolute.
P126:4, 11:8.8 Space potency is not subject to the interactions
of any form of gravitation. This primal endowment of Paradise is not an actual
level of reality, but it is ancestral to all relative functional non-spirit
realities -- all manifestations of force-energy and the organization of power
and matter. Space potency is a term difficult to define. It does not mean that
which is ancestral to space; its meaning should convey the idea of the potencies
and potentials existent within space. It may be roughly conceived to include all
those absolute influences and potentials that emanate from Paradise and
constitute the space presence of the Unqualified Absolute.
P126:5, 11:8.9 Paradise is the absolute source and the eternal
focal point of all energy-matter in the universe of universes. The Unqualified
Absolute is the revealer, regulator, and repository of that which has Paradise
as its source and origin. The universal presence of the Unqualified Absolute
seems to be equivalent to the concept of a potential infinity of gravity
extension, an elastic tension of Paradise presence. This concept aids us in
grasping the fact that everything is drawn inward towards Paradise. The
illustration is crude but nonetheless helpful. It also explains why gravity
always acts preferentially in the plane perpendicular to the mass, a phenomenon
indicative of the differential dimensions of Paradise and the surrounding
creations.
P126:6, 11:9.1 Paradise is unique in that it is the realm of primal origin and the final goal of destiny for all spirit personalities. Although it is true that not all of the lower spirit beings of the universe are immediately destined to Paradise, Paradise still remains the goal of desire for all supermaterial personalities.
P126:7, 11:9.2 Paradise is the geographic center of infinity; it is not a part of universal creation, not even a real part of the eternal Heavens universe. We commonly refer to the central Isle as belonging to the divine universe, but it really does not. Paradise is an eternal and exclusive existence.
P127:1, 11:9.3 In the eternity of the past, when the Universal
Father gave infinite personality expression of his spirit self, simultaneously
he revealed the infinity potential of his nonpersonal self as Paradise.
Nonpersonal and nonspiritual Paradise appears to have been the inevitable
repercussion to the Father's will and act. Thus did the Father project reality
in two actual phases -- the personal and the nonpersonal, the spiritual and the
nonspiritual. This, in the face of will to action by the Father gave existence
to the Conjoint Actor and the central universe of material worlds and spiritual
beings.
P127:2, 11:9.4 When reality is differentiated into the personal
and the nonpersonal, it is hardly proper to call that which is nonpersonal
"Deity" unless somehow qualified. The energy and material
repercussions of the acts of Deity could hardly be called Deity. Deity may cause
much that is not Deity, and Paradise is not Deity; neither is it conscious, as
mortal man could ever possibly understand such a term.
P127:3, 11:9.5 Paradise is not ancestral to any being or living entity; it is not a creator. Personality and mind-spirit relationships are transmissible, but pattern is not. Patterns are never reflections; they are duplications -- reproductions. Paradise is the absolute of patterns; Heaven is an exhibit of these potentials in actuality.
P127:4, 11:9.6 God's home is the beauteous pattern for all
universe headquarters worlds; and the central universe of his immediate
indwelling is the pattern for all universes in their ideals, organization, and
ultimate destiny.
P127:5, 11:9.7 Paradise is the universal headquarters of all
personality activities and the source-center of all force-space and energy
manifestations. Everything which has been, now is, or is yet to be, has come,
now comes, or will come forth from this central abiding place of the eternal
God. Paradise is the center of all creation, the source of all energies, and the
place of primal origin of all personalities.