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THE MINISTRY OF THE THOUGHT ADJUSTERS
Troy Bishop
The Urantian Journal of Urantia Brotherhood
Fall, 1978

This paper, printed here in its entirety, was presented at the Second Central Atlantic Conference of Urantia Book readers, Rockville, Maryland, on October 28, 1978.

On our world and in our day, in the life of each person of normal mind, a strange and wonderful thing happens, usually just before her or his sixth birthday. When a human mind makes its first moral decision, this mind is granted a spirit identity. A fragment of God arrives from Paradise to take up residence in this now-prepared human mind. This spirit is known by many names: the Thought Adjuster, the Mystery Monitor, the Father fragment, the Divine Gift. A prepersonal entity, this indwelling spirit is of the essence of Deity. The Father's nature is also the nature of this spirit; the very energy that constitutes the factual presence of the Thought Adjuster is directly responsive to the Paradise Father. The Thought Adjuster is the presence of God within you. And it is more: it is your spirit, too.

"Your Adjuster is the potential of your new and next order of existence, the advance bestowal of your eternal sonship with God. By and with the consent of your will, the Adjuster has the power to subject the creature trends of the material mind to the transforming actions of the motivations and purposes of the emerging morontial soul." (*1191:6)

The arrival of the Thought Adjuster is the occasion of the birth of your soul. This spirit is the father of your soul, and your material mind is the mother of your soul. For the remainder of your life on Urantia, your Adjuster will be engaged in attempting to lead your mortal free will into those spiritual decisions that will further the growth of your soul, to the end that your soul will be able to survive your death in the flesh. Your Thought Adjuster arrives with a model career already formulated for your life on Urantia, drawn up from a knowledge of your mindal and ancestral factors. You are always at liberty to accept or reject all or any part of this plan. Never does God abrogate that precious free will that he has bestowed of himself upon his children.

'Material mind is the arena in which human personalities live, are self-conscious, make decisions, choose God or forsake him, eternalize or destroy themselves." (*1216:5)

'Mortal mind is a temporary intellect system loaned to human beings for use during a material lifetime, and as they use this mind, they are either accepting or rejecting the potential of eternal existence. Mind is about all you have of universe reality that is subject to your will, and the soul - the morontia self - will faithfully portray the harvest of the temporal decisions which the mortal self is making." (*1216:7)

God has willed that man should attain Deity, should be a full participant in the divine drama. The doors of eternity stand wide; it is only up to man to accept or reject this wonderful gift. The Thought Adjuster is your future spirit identity. When man ascends to spirit levels of eternal fusion with the divine Adjuster, when the human will has chosen to do the Father's will with a finality of purpose that will remain fixed throughout all future eternity, then, ". . there will eventually ensue that morontia oneness, that supernal harmony, that cosmic co-ordination, that divine attunement, that celestial fusion, that never-ending blending of identity, that oneness of being which is so perfect and final that even the most experienced personalities can never segregate or recognize as separate identities the fusion partners - mortal man and divine Adjuster." (*1204:4)

Jesus devoted his entire life on Urantia to directing men to the recognition and willing obedience of God within - the Father fragment. As the Master says, "You are not to go hence in the proclamation of the kingdom, saying, 'it is here' or 'it is there,' for this kingdom of which you preach is God within you." (*1569:3)

All through the ages, the news of this divine gift has been the message of messages. The Hindus called it the Atman. The Buddhists called it the Buddha nature. The dwellers along the Nile called it the Ka. Jesus called it the kingdom of God within you. The Urantia Book calls it the Thought Adjuster.

The study of the divine spirit in man is the supreme study of man. The Urantia Book gives us many wonderful facts about these supernal ministers who come from Paradise to indwell us and lift us up to glory. But just as a harp is of little consequence if it is not to be played, so, too, are these facts residing in our material intellects of little worth if they are not to be used in our lives. It's very easy to think that we can go about gathering spiritual facts and leave it at that - as if the storing of the literal facts in our minds were somehow a spiritual end in itself. Such facts are devoid of meaning and good for little in the spiritual world if we do not intend to put them to use in our lives!

If our study of the Thought Adjusters is to have meaning, then it must be a study aimed at action. Our motive in undertaking this study must be to put these truths to work in our lives and in the lives of others -to give God within us more expression. Mere intellectualizing for its own sake is meaningless and empty. If we can realize this and commit ourselves to the next higher step, then we can take this critical step that leads from the mind to the heart. To the soul. To the sanctuary

within, where spiritual decisions are made, where God himself whispers and we sigh. We must open up the doors of our heart and listen with the ears of the soul to the story of God within us. We must give rein to the highest motivation we have, the very motivation that is given to us by the faithful and divine Adjuster who lives in our hearts. Then will our thoughts take themselves wings and soar, and our pulses pound with hope, and the very air and earth about us resound with the glory of God; for we shall be consecrated and sanctified, vitalized with the energy of infinity and the power of eternity. And the lifeless facts in our minds shall be transformed into dazzling adornments for our souls; and our living souls shall become the center of our being, bringing forth visions and purposes of true light and spiritual goodness from our Father in heaven.

Our study of the ministry of the Thought Adjusters, then, has brought us, through the interest of the mind, to the powerful resolve of the soul: let us vindicate these divine gifts from heaven! And we now face the intensely meaningful question: how can we better accept our Thought Adjusters and cooperate with their precious presence?

The Urantia Book is a treasure-house of spiritual wisdom for the true seeker. Its wealth of information can help greatly in leading the spiritually motivated individual into greater rapport with his or her Thought Adjuster.

Ever Seek Faith

First, there is faith. Faith is the first essential for the spirit-led life. Faith is the switch that causes the universe to respond to the spirit-born sons and daughters of God. "The success of your Adjuster in the enterprise of piloting you through the mortal life and bringing about your survival depends not so much on the theories of your beliefs as upon your decisions, determinations, and steadfast faith." (*1205:7) Faith itself is a gift from God - from the Adjuster. Faith is a supermaterial reality that no human or animal could ever produce of them selves. If you have even a tiny bit of it, then you can use this precious amount to pray for even greater portions of faith. We must have faith. We must desire faith. We must seek faith. We must use faith. We must nurture faith. In God. In the eventual dominance of good over evil. In the ultimate coordination of all reality.

Then, there is our motive. We must always look at our motive, for only the spirit-indited prayer ever ascends to the Father, and our urge to follow him and his Adjuster-presence is the most valid of all prayers of the heart.

Our motive is the source of all that we do. All energies we put to work in our lives, all our decisions and undertakings, even the ways in which we see things come from our motive-power: that which actuates that which supplies action and energy from the inmost parts of our being.

"Those who have received and recognized the dwelling of God have been born of the Spirit. 'You are the temple of God, and the spirit of God dwells in you. It is not enough that this spirit be poured out upon you - the divine Spirit must dominate and control every phase of human experience. "It is the presence of the divine Spirit, the water life, that prevents the consuming thirst of mortal discontent and that indescribable hunger of the unspiritual human mind. Spirit-motivated beings 'never thirst, this spiritual water shall be in them a well of satisfaction springing up into life everlasting.' Such divinely watered souls are all but independent of material environment regards the joys of living and the satisfactions of earthly existence. They are spiritually illuminated and refreshed, morally strengthened and endowed." (*381-1,2)

As we learn to perfect our motivation, we can be directing our minds to look to our souls for the assessment of spiritual values. As we develop our factual logical abilities, we must also develop our soul sensitivities so that we can detect that which has worth. What good to be able to use the intellect to attain any selected goal, if we cannot see, with the eyes of the soul, the goals that are worthy and true. The Urantia Book tells us, concerning the function of mind versus that of the soul: "Mind knows quantity, reality, meanings. quality - values - is felt. That which feels is mutual creation of mind, which knows, and the associated spirit, which reality-izes." (*1219-6)

The Soul. The heart. Jesus addressed the vital issue of the heart on many occasions, always referring to kingdom of heaven as being in the heart of man – not in the mind of man. No commitment is in the mind. Consider the following words of the Master: "And so you must not allow yourselves to be deceived by the great crowds who heard us in the temple and who seemed to believe our teachings. These multitudes listen to the truth and believe it superficially in their minds, but few of them permit the word of truth strike down into the heart with living roots. Those know the gospel only in the mind, and who have not experienced it in the heart, cannot be depended upon for support when real trouble comes." (*1927:4)

The heart. The Master concentrated on the heart. We must see to it that we, too, lay up only good treasure in the sanctuary of our heart.

How does the Thought Adjuster contact his subject? According to The Urantia Book. there are two places from which come the endless thoughts that parade before our consciousness. One is a material source, the subconscious. The other is a true spiritual source, the Superconscious, the zone of contact of the conscious mind with the spirit indweller. We, as human personalities, view these mental offerings as they pass by our screen of consciousness; some we accept; others we reject.

Communion and cooperation with the Thought Adjuster is not a particularly conscious process. The initial contacts with the Thought Adjuster might helpfully be pictured as two individuals contacting each other by means of notes left in an old-fashioned country mailbox. The Thought Adjuster has a concept to present to you. He places it in the mailbox of the superconscious mind. Sometime later, you come by. You open up the mailbox and examine its contents. And of course, if you have trouble reading the note, an understanding of the nature of Adjusters can help you in making out the intent of the communication.

We help or hinder this communication with our indwelling spirit by the type of thoughts we habitually entertain. If we are unaccustomed to entertaining noble and unselfish thoughts, then when such a magnificent thought is offered to us by our heavenly indweller, it flashes across our mind and out, before we can ever begin to take it seriously or even to recognize it. In order to strengthen our attunement with our spiritual guide, we should consciously cultivate the habit of, seriously entertaining those fleeting and high thoughts that sometimes enter our minds, instead of automatically dismissing them as impractical and otherwise-not-to-betaken-seriously. As a matter of fact, we can cultivate and weed out thought-fields the same way we do a planted field in the earth. And the harvest will always be good.

Another way to augment Adjuster leading is through being other-motivated. We're told that kingdom believers become fired with the urge to serve others. This means more than the sometimes immature urge for "noble" involvement with "humanity" that can present its formless face to all of us, particularly to spiritual newcomers. Don't make large-scale nobility, ostentatious nobility, or even nobility itself, a goal. Just truly care about the man or woman or child next door. We don't have to travel ten miles to find someone to love. It's not always as real that way. God is the father of each and every one of us. His nature is one of true affection. The Thought Adjuster shares the Father's nature fully, and makes that nature available to us as a part of us. We should nurture feelings toward each of our brethren similar to those we have toward members of our own earthly families. We should care about them for their own sakes. just because they need someone to care.

In God's universe, the greater ever serves the lesser -the strong serves the weak. God himself serves us all. And where we have, therewith should we serve him who has not. Nurture the weak. Succor the helpless. Be as a cool breeze and a balm for the aching hearts and souls of those who walk in despair on all sides. And do all of this because you really care for each one of your brothers and sisters. Thus will the spirit of God within you smile within your soul and say, well done, my son!

You can assist your Adjuster in his task of spiritualizing you by always striving to live the highest that you know. Be true to your ideals. But let your ideals include the appreciation of those details of self-tolerance and the laws of growth and readiness that can spell the difference between success and failure. Don't attempt to change overnight everything that you are; this could lead to serious instability; rather, enshrine truth, beauty, and goodness in your heart and ever try to be true to what you believe, in the best way you know. It's not so much what you are as what you long to be that determines your destiny. God invented time, and we should grow in this time that he has given us. Be true - to yourself, to others, and to God.

Expand Realities

If you would let the Thought Adjuster expand your realities, then be open to change - to new truth, regardless of its apparent source. No one knows everything; and when we think we do, we tend to crystallize - to lock ourselves in to whatever pattern we happen to be in, and to lock out everything that doesn't happen to be among our current possessions. Jesus has said that a stagnant soul is a dying soul. Always must there be growth - as with any living thing.

Don't restrict your life to the phase of the spirit, but rather let the spirit guide your heart in active participation in the full range of earthly affairs. Growth in the circles of psychic ascension involves balanced development of the physical, intellectual, and spiritual endowments - movement of the entire personality. Learn to minister as you pass by, in all the routine affairs of life. Know that there are no sacred and secular occupations; all are sacred under the guidance of the hand of the Divine Spirit.

If you would consent to the leading of the divine indweller, you must become God-oriented and God-actuated. Always turn to God for guidance. Practice worshipful problem solving. Include God in your life. Put your life where your belief is. Pray. Commune with your Father, through the intermediary of the soul – the repository of your highest and deepest values. Be always confident that he will participate in the decisions of your life, and be ever open to the stirring of his influence in your heart. Ask and you shall receive. In life's trying situations, go off alone from men in calm expectation that the right course, and the strength to follow the right course, will be given to you. Use your highest wisdom in applying the spiritual urgings sent to you from God.

Would you follow the spirit within you? "This spirit of the Father partakes of the love of the Father, and as it dominates man, it unfailingly leads in the directions of divine worship and loving regard for one's fellows."(*1642:3)

Be a fountain to others, as God within is a fountain to you. Let gush forth from you what each in your presence needs in his or her own way: for one, a friendly ear; for another, material assistance; and for yet another, loving non-interference. Look upon those you would help not as objects, to whom you would give, but as subjects, who have their own needs and their own selfhood. Through it all and overspreading it all, let there be love - the love of God.

Pray that God will help you to love others. Pray for sensitivity to the personhood of others. Pray for their development, their spiritual growth. Believe that love is the greatest thing in the universe. Know that you are never alone - that God is always with you. Let others know that he is near them, too. Bring God to each person you meet through your concern, your smile, your love. Remember that God needs a vessel, an agent, in order to deliver his love to each of his children. When you love in the name of God, God is there, acting. Learn to recognize the hand of God in your life through the love that accompanies it - and through the way that things work out- in so many ways when God is involved.

Know that God is your father. Know that he is the father of everyone you meet. Trust your Father. Learn to love him through what you perceive him to be, intellectually and spiritually. Learn to love him because of the goodness of him that you increasingly perceive, right within yourself I Love him because of the loveliness of him as was demonstrated by his Son when he lived on Urantia. Honor and respect your Thought Adjuster. Be more humble in taking credit for the results of the mighty labors that he performs within your soul. Where spiritual things are concerned, know that of ourselves we can do nothing, and that God can do anything. Instead of attempting to invoke spiritual forces for your own purposes, attempt to cooperate with them for their purposes - for God's purpose. And always follow truth, wherever it may lead.

During this discussion of the ministry of the Thought Adjusters, we have progressed from the area of factual comprehension to moral resolve to spiritual action; we have addressed our minds, our souls, and our spirits. These three endowments encompass our full field of encounter with God, and they must all be used in the search to know God and to be like him.

"God-consciousness, as it is experienced by an evolving mortal of the realms, must consist of three varying factors, three differential levels of reality realization. There is first the mind consciousness - the comprehension of the idea of God. Then follows the soul consciousness - the realization of the ideal of God. Last, dawns the spirit consciousness - the realization of the spirit reality of God. By the unification of these factors of the divine realization, no matter how incomplete, the mortal personality at all times overspreads all conscious levels with a realization of the personality of God." (*69:4)

We must each pass through these phases, one by one, in our own experience and unify them in our personal realization. We must not be enamored with any one of these phases, to the exclusion of the others, but should rather encompass them all in a balanced symmetry of growth. To think is the mind; to purpose is the soul; to be is the spirit.

"The great goal of human existence is to attune to the divinity of the indwelling Adjuster; the great achievement of mortal life is the attainment of a true and understanding consecration to the eternal aims of the divine spirit who waits and works within your mind." (*1206:3)

-Troy Bishop

Silver Springs, Maryland

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