The origin of ideals
103:5.1 (1133.6)The early evolutionary consciousness gives rise to a sense of social duty and moral obligation, stemming primarily from emotional apprehension. The more positive impulse to serve the community and the idealism of altruism come from the direct impulse of the divine spirit dwelling in human consciousness.
103:5.2 (1133.7)This idea-ideal of doing good to others-the impulse to deny the ego something for the benefit of one's neighbor-is at first very limited in scope. Primitive man considers as his neighbor only those who are very close to him, those who also treat him as their neighbor; as religious civilization progresses, the concept of neighbor widens and comes to include the clan, the tribe, and the people. And then Jesus extended the concept of neighbor to all of humanity, to the point that we must love even our enemies. And there is something inside every normal human being that tells him that this teaching is ethical - right. Even those who practice this ideal the least admit that it is correct in theory.
103:5.3 (1134.1)All people recognize the morality of this universal human urge to be unselfish and altruistic. The humanist attributes the origin of this urge to the natural workings of material consciousness; the religious man recognizes that it is more accurate to say that the truly selfless urge in mortal consciousness is a reaction to the inner spiritual directions of the Thought Giver.
103:5.4 (1134.2)Yet 's human interpretation of these initial conflicts between the ego-will and the on-the-other-will is not always reliable. Only a fairly well unified personality can act as arbiter between the multifarious claims of the ego's desires and the burgeoning social consciousness. The self has rights as much as the neighbor. Neither has the exclusive right to the individual's attention and service. When left unresolved, this problem raises the earliest form of human guilt.
103:5.5 (1134.3)Human happiness can be achieved only when the ego desire of the self and the altruistic drive of the higher self (the divine mind) are coordinated and reconciled by the unified will of the integrating, supervising personality. The consciousness of evolutionary man always faces the complicated task of acting as arbiter in the struggle between the natural expansion of his emotional impulses and the moral growth of his altruistic impulses based on spiritual insight - true religious reflection.
103:5.6 (1134.4)The attempt to obtain for oneself as much good as for the greatest possible number of others constitutes a task that cannot always be resolved to full satisfaction in a time-space framework. Starting from an eternal life, such antagonisms can be worked out, but in a single short human life they cannot possibly be resolved. Jesus was alluding to such a paradox when he said, “Whoever will preserve his life will lose it, but whoever will lose his life for the sake of the kingdom will find it.
103:5.7 (1134.5)The pursuit of the ideal - the striving to be like God - is a constant effort, both before death and after. Life after death is no different in essentials from mortal existence. All the good we do in this life contributes directly to the elevation of the life to come. True religion does not breed moral indolence and spiritual laziness by giving man the vain hope that all the virtues of a noble character will be bestowed upon him once he has passed through the gate of natural death. True religion does not belittle man's efforts to make progress during the span of mortal life. Every progress of the mortal is a direct contribution to the enrichment of the first stages of his experience of survival as an immortal.
103:5.8 (1134.6)It is fatal to man's idealism when he is taught that all his altruistic impulses are no other than the development of his natural herd instincts. But he is veined and greatly strengthened when he learns that these higher impulses of his soul emanate from the spiritual forces that dwell in his mortal consciousness.
103:5.9 (1134.7)Man is lifted above himself once he becomes fully aware that something lives and strives within him that is eternal and divine. And so it is that a living belief in the superhuman origin of our ideals validates our belief that we are sons of God, and gives reality to our altruistic convictions, the feelings of the brotherhood of man.
103:5.10 (1134.8)Man does indeed have free will in his spiritual realm. Mortal man is not the helpless slave of the immovable sovereignty of an all-powerful God, nor the victim of the hopeless inevitability of a mechanistic cosmic determinism. Man, in the truest sense, is the architect of his own eternal destiny.
103:5.11 (1135.1)Yet by pressure man is neither saved nor veined. Spiritual growth sprouts from within the developing soul. Pressure may disfigure the personality, but it never stimulates growth. Even pressure applied in education and upbringing is only negatively helpful in the sense that it can help prevent disastrous experiences. Spiritual growth is greatest where all outside pressure is minimal. “Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Man develops best when the forms of pressure from the family, from the community, from the church, and from the state are least. Yet this should not be taken to mean that in a progressive society there would be no place for the family, for social institutions, for a church, or for a state.
103:5.12 (1135.2)When a member of a religious community has fulfilled the requirements of such a group, he should be encouraged to religious freedom in the full expression of his own personal interpretation of the truths of religious faith and the facts of religious experience. The security of a religious group depends on spiritual unity, not theological uniformity. A religious group should be able to enjoy the freedom of free thought without becoming a group of “freethinkers. One should expect the best from any church that glorifies the living God, affirms the brotherhood of men, and dares to abolish all pressure of creeds on its members.
A Thought for Consideration from The Urantia Book
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