The Urantia Corps for Spiritual Progress (UCSP) supports Dr. Michael Pravica, a professor of physics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who has put forward the idea that human consciousness may tap into a higher dimension, particularly during heightened states of awareness. This idea has been criticized as “God of the gaps” thinking—where God is invoked to explain the unknown—with some asserting that the material basis for consciousness simply hasn’t been discovered yet.
The Urantia Book, given to our world 90 years ago, offers extensive insights into the nature of the mind. It describes the mind as mediating between material and spiritual levels of reality in human experience. The book portrays the mind as circuit-like—something the personality uses, but does not create. Contrary to some scientific assertions, mind cannot be generated by matter, as it exists on a higher plane. For over a century, scientists have tried to explain the mind purely as a function of the brain and have failed. The UCSP agrees with Dr. Pravica that it is high time to explore non-material explanations of consciousness.
“It is unfortunate that science has become synonymous with materialism—the idea that nothing exists beyond matter, and that matter is the sum-total of all reality,” said UCSP founder Rebecca Bynum. “Consciousness, much less consciousness of consciousness, does not fit into this model. Many aspects of our experience, such as meaning and value, are not composed of material particles. But are they any less real?”
“I love Dr. Pravica’s reasoning that our soul must be able to exist separate from the body, and can exist outside space and time—otherwise, how did Jesus ascend back to heaven?” added UCSP founding member Cheryl Phillips. “We’ve also heard of countless after-death experiences. We do have greater potentials, as Dr. Pravica states: ‘The sheer fact that we can conceive of higher dimensions than four within our mind, within our mathematics, is a gift.’ Bravo, Dr. Pravica!”
The Urantia Book states: “To build a philosophy of the universe on an exclusive materialism is to ignore the fact that all things material are initially conceived as real in the experience of human consciousness.” We believe this is a conundrum many scientists refuse to face.
“Everyone knows that a table appears solid, but in actuality, it is composed of tiny moving particles, with mostly empty space between them,” added UCSP founding member Julia Raffety. “Clearly, our perception of reality is limited, even in the material sense.”
“Materialists insist that dead matter can spontaneously give rise to something obviously higher, such as life or mind,” said UCSP founding member Marti Garlow Leib. “Logically, the lower cannot give rise to the higher. Something cannot spring from nothing. It’s simply not logical, even though logic is something scientists often extol.”
As the Urantia Book says: “Universe causes cannot be lower than universe effects. The source of the streams of universe life and of the cosmic mind must be above the levels of their manifestation. The human mind cannot be consistently explained in terms of the lower orders of existence. Man’s mind can be truly comprehended only by recognizing the reality of higher orders of thought and purposive will. Man as a moral being is inexplicable unless the reality of the Universal Father is acknowledged.”
“Materialism reduces human beings to soulless automatons, with no value beyond their utility in the moment,” added Tia Thompson, another UCSP founding member. “I applaud Dr. Pravica for bridging the gap between science and spirituality. When science ceases to consider plausible theories simply because of philosophical biases, it ceases to be scientific.”
As the Urantia Book also notes: “The cleverness and dexterity of the false philosophies of mechanism belie their very mechanistic contentions. The fatalistic agility of the mind of a materialist forever disproves his assertions that the universe is a blind and purposeless energy phenomenon.”
“I’m impressed that Dr. Pravica has the courage to speculate about spiritual dimensions and brave the ridicule that will surely come his way from the cynical materialists in his field,” said UCSP founding member Dorenda Morse. “Science and spirituality are not opposites, but complementary. I wish more scientists would humbly admit there is more to reality than mere matter.”
We urge all those interested in the origin of consciousness to explore The Urantia Book.
For more information, please contact:
Rebecca Bynum
(615) 775-6801
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