Life on the Mansion Worlds
After we die, where do we go? And what will our lives be like? Jesus said that everyone will be given a chance to survive this life — all it takes is a flicker of faith in the God of eternity. The only ticket we need to ride the celestial train to the next world and our next life is our faith in the goodness of God and in his promise of eternal life.
After death, the human soul (the spiritual self) is transported to a world located near the center of our local system of inhabited planets. It is on this world that we are resurrected for our next life.
The world at the center of this system is Jerusem, and surrounding it are seven smaller worlds called transition worlds. And circling each of these transition worlds are seven smaller satellite worlds. Altogether, there are 56 of these morontia worlds surrounding Jerusem. Of these, The Urantia Book draws our attention to the seven satellite worlds surrounding transition world number one (see diagram). These seven satellites are exclusively referred to as the mansion worlds, and this is where our eternal journey resumes after we leave Urantia, our “initial-life” planet.
The mansion worlds are but a small part of the Jerusem system of architectural worlds. Jerusem itself is gigantic, about one hundred times the size of Urantia — almost the size of our sun. The transition worlds are smaller, about ten times the size of Earth, which is near the size of Saturn or Jupiter. And the mansion worlds, as well as all other satellites, are smaller still, approximately the size of our earth (45:0.1).
On Urantia, we mortals are all “ascension candidates,” which means that, if we choose to survive, we can eventually ascend all the way to Paradise. On this long journey, we start on the first mansion world — mansonia one. And depending on the level of achievement we reach on Urantia, we could soon be transferred to mansonia two or three, or even further up.
Our level of achievement is, to a great degree, determined by our individual attainment of the seven psychic circles (see 110:6), which are a measure of our spiritual and cosmic progress.
But this measure is somewhat ambiguous as only a few of the attributes and qualities that characterize each circle are mentioned in the book. Therefore, we really have no conclusive way to determine which circle any one of us may have attained.
Nevertheless, we are encouraged by the fact that, if we attain the third psychic circle while on earth, or if we make the supreme decision to do the will of God, a personal guardian angel is assigned to us and, after death, we will be resurrected on the first mansion world on the third day. We all have guardian angels, but they are more often assigned to groups of individuals rather than exclusively to a single individual (113:1.0).
Those without a personal guardian angel become sleeping survivors, and their resurrection is delayed until the next planetary dispensation (see Paper 52) or, in some cases, at the call of special or millennial resurrections. The length of this delay varies from one millennium to fifty millennia. But it doesn’t make too much difference because, as a sleeping survivor, you are not aware of the passing of time. You will awaken as if it’s the next day. It’s also comforting to know there is no frenzied race to Paradise. However long it takes is not really a concern to God, nor should it be a concern to us. As Jesus said, “The important thing is not the rapidity of your progress but rather its certainty” (147:5.7).
Mansonia One
When we first awaken in the Temple of New Life on mansonia one, the change is sudden, and we will have trouble recalling our past (earthly) identity; our previous life seems like “a vague and hazy dream.” But thanks to the Thought Adjusters and guardian angels, we will slowly reconstruct the past.
Once resurrected, we start our new life exactly where we left off on earth. This means we not only reap the rewards of our diligent efforts to progress on Urantia, but we also carry with us any emotional baggage or imperfections of character. We will even speak our native tongue until we learn the language of Satania and, afterwards, the language of Nebadon (48:3.13). Fortunately, there will be many Morontia Companions to act as translators.
The morontia worlds are training spheres — places where we improve ourselves through education, practice, and experience. Most of our experiences on mansonia one will pertain to what is called “deficiency ministry.” This means we will be correcting “varied defects of creature character and deficiencies of mortal experience” (47:3.8). This includes, among many things, correcting defects “pertaining to sex life, family association, and parental function.” In other words, rather than learning more about universe relationships or cosmic meanings, as we do on succeeding mansion worlds, we will find ourselves actively engaged in a fundamental self-improvement program.
No doubt, coming from a world as troubled and confused as Urantia, it is quite likely that much improvement will be needed for most of us. But this is not entirely our fault. We can place much of the blame on the debilitating effects of the Lucifer rebellion, the consequences of which have greatly impeded world civilizations. As a result, almost all Urantians resurrecting on mansonia will find themselves at a distinct disadvantage. To all of us, the first mansion world will be an unfamiliar milieu — even alien, while those mortals coming from a “more normal” planet in the system will hardly notice the difference (47:3.1).
How critical are these differences? Considering that we are supposed to be living in a “Postbestowal Son Age,” they are probably much more striking than we can imagine at this time. A quick review of the social achievements associated with this age gives us some idea of how far adrift we are from the average planet.
In Urantia Book study sessions, some of us have speculated about which mansion world we will attain after resurrecting on mansonia one. Indeed, we have been tempted at times to believe we could skip to number two or three, or even four! But any honest consideration of our individual spiritual achievements, as well as the fact that we come from such a wayward world, should quickly dispel such lofty delusions. True, a few Urantians of “brilliant spiritual achievement” (e.g, Enoch and Elijah) have fused with their Thought Adjusters while on earth, so it is certainly possible to reach beyond the first mansion world. But I suspect most of us will be content to simply resurrect.
Once reborn on this alien world, we are given a new home and have ten days to adjust, perhaps longer. Our bodies will be of the lowest morontia form, almost material. In fact, we will continue to eat, drink, and rest throughout all seven mansion worlds. And as we will soon discover, we are no longer male or female, we are no longer sex creatures (150:1.3). Nonetheless, we retain our masculine and feminine “personality trends” all the way to Paradise (84:6.6).
In this new life, we might associate with the companions of our earth days and, no doubt, we will acquire new friends as well. But there will be no such thing as contractual marriage once we leave this planet (38:2.2). Even family relationships, while of paramount importance on earth, do not carry over to the mansion worlds (140:8.14).
No matter what our future relationships may be, it is unlikely we will be together all the time. Judging from the words of a Mighty Messenger, we could be separated from our closest companions “many times and for long periods” in our lengthy ascent to Havona (22:2.6). In other words, we will not live continuously hand-in-hand with any other being.
Mansonia Two and Three
On mansonia one, after ridding ourselves of all animalistic tendencies and defects, we continue our self-improvement program on mansonia two. This world has more to do with improving social relations and developing the intellect. It is where we finally eliminate all intellectual conflict and mental disharmony, which I’m sure will come as a welcome relief to many.
But only when we reach mansonia three does our positive spiritual progress begin. This is the world of “great personal and social achievement.” This is where we will finally complete the seven “cosmic circles of intellectual achievement and spiritual attainment.” It is our “…real introduction to the intelligent comprehension of cosmic meanings and universe interrelationships” (47:5.3). Completing these circles while living on earth would be the equivalent of reaching circle number one. To put this in perspective, this is the level Jesus reached on Mount Hermon at the age of 31 (134:8.4).
Fortunately, the time we spend on the first three mansion worlds may not be too arduous. Not only will we have a new body free of all ailments, but also a greatly expanded spiritual nature and a greatly enhanced mind capable of understanding mota—the profound philosophical perspectives of morontia life.
In addition to this improved nature, we benefit from the personal guidance of the Morontia Companions and Mansion World Teachers, as well as “all orders of angels, from planetary helpers to supreme seraphim” (48:6.1). Considering how much we all fumbled through earthly life without the wise direction of either a Planetary Prince or a Material Son, I’m sure most of us will appreciate getting some wise and practical advice (although there is much good advice in The Urantia Book).
One of the most important objectives of our training on the mansion worlds is to complete “the unification of the evolving mortal personality” (43:8.4). And since this is the goal set before us, it is reasonable to assume that it is an important goal while living our mortal lives on Urantia. Indeed, the discussions of morontia life in Papers 47 and 48 serve as solid reminders of what we can do to progress on earth.
Our personal training on the mansion worlds includes developing a spiritual nature, parental attitudes, greater social skills, and a good sense of humor. We learn to be more faithful and cheerful, to persevere no matter what the circumstances, and we become truly selfless. Among many things, we will enjoy philosophical pursuits (mota), learning the lessons of history, and acquiring the skills needed for good life planning.
Along with all this comes a tremendously exciting adventure. Satania is an enormous system to explore. We will not be confined to the mansion worlds, nor are our experiences limited to these worlds. We will have recreation time to travel back and forth between all the worlds in our local system. These journeys to the other transition worlds introduce us to the finaliters, the seraphic hosts, and the Brilliant Evening Stars, as well as other superangels presently unrevealed to us. We will also meet the local universe Sons of God and the high personalities of the Infinite Spirit. And we will have the privilege to worship on the World of the Father (Transition World #7).
At first, our journeys will be somewhat limited. But as we advance from one mansion world to the next, further opportunities will arise. By the time we reach mansonia seven, almost all of Satania will be open to us. And throughout all this time, we will always have the pleasure of periodic visits to Jerusem, as well as being student visitors to all the inhabited planets in the system — except our own planet, Urantia (39:4.15).
All in all, I look forward to a vibrant and progressive morontia life—but I’m in no rush to get there. This mortal life is an important one with essential experiences that we will never be able to replicate later on. As a Melchizedek reminds us, this is where we begin to live the way of God:
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