Part II. The Local Universe
Paper 48
7. Morontia Mota
48:7.1 The lower planes of morontia mota join directly with the higher levels of human philosophy. On the first mansion world it is the practice to teach the less advanced students by the parallel technique; that is, in one column are presented the more simple concepts of mota meanings, and in the opposite column citation is made of analogous statements of mortal philosophy.
48:7.2 Not long since, while executing an assignment on the first mansion world of Satania, I had occasion to observe this method of teaching; and though I may not undertake to present the mota content of the lesson, I am permitted to record the twenty-eight statements of human philosophy which this morontia instructor was utilizing as illustrative material designed to assist these new mansion world sojourners in their early efforts to grasp the significance and meaning of mota. These illustrations of human philosophy were:
48:7.3 A display of specialized skill does not signify possession of spiritual capacity. Cleverness is not a substitute for true character.
48:7.4 Few persons live up to the faith which they really have. Unreasoned fear is a master intellectual fraud practiced upon the evolving mortal soul.
48:7.5 Inherent capacities cannot be exceeded; a pint can never hold a quart. The spirit concept cannot be mechanically forced into the material memory mold.
48:7.6 Few mortals ever dare to draw anything like the sum of personality credits established by the combined ministries of nature and grace. The majority of impoverished souls are truly rich, but they refuse to believe it.
48:7.7 Difficulties may challenge mediocrity and defeat the fearful, but they only stimulate the true children of the Most Highs.
48:7.8 To enjoy privilege without abuse, to have liberty without license, to possess power and steadfastly refuse to use it for self-aggrandizement—these are the marks of high civilization.
48:7.9 Blind and unforeseen accidents do not occur in the cosmos. Neither do the celestial beings assist the lower being who refuses to act upon his light of truth.
48:7.10 Effort does not always produce joy, but there is no happiness without intelligent effort.
48:7.11 Action achieves strength; moderation eventuates in charm.
48:7.12 Righteousness strikes the harmony chords of truth, and the melody vibrates throughout the cosmos, even to the recognition of the Infinite.
48:7.13 The weak indulge in resolutions, but the strong act. Life is but a day's work—do it well. The act is ours; the consequences God's.
48:7.14 The greatest affliction of the cosmos is never to have been afflicted. Mortals only learn wisdom by experiencing tribulation.
48:7.15 Stars are best discerned from the lonely isolation of experiential depths, not from the illuminated and ecstatic mountain tops.
48:7.16 Whet the appetites of your associates for truth; give advice only when it is asked for.
48:7.17 Affectation is the ridiculous effort of the ignorant to appear wise, the attempt of the barren soul to appear rich.
48:7.18 You cannot perceive spiritual truth until you feelingly experience it, and many truths are not really felt except in adversity.
48:7.19 Ambition is dangerous until it is fully socialized. You have not truly acquired any virtue until your acts make you worthy of it.
48:7.20 Impatience is a spirit poison; anger is like a stone hurled into a hornet's nest.
48:7.21 Anxiety must be abandoned. The disappointments hardest to bear are those which never come.
48:7.22 Only a poet can discern poetry in the commonplace prose of routine existence.
48:7.23 The high mission of any art is, by its illusions, to foreshadow a higher universe reality, to crystallize the emotions of time into the thought of eternity.
48:7.24 The evolving soul is not made divine by what it does, but by what it strives to do.
48:7.25 Death added nothing to the intellectual possession or to the spiritual endowment, but it did add to the experiential status the consciousness of survival.
48:7.26 The destiny of eternity is determined moment by moment by the achievements of the day by day living. The acts of today are the destiny of tomorrow.
48:7.27 Greatness lies not so much in possessing strength as in making a wise and divine use of such strength.
48:7.28 Knowledge is possessed only by sharing; it is safeguarded by wisdom and socialized by love.
48:7.29 Progress demands development of individuality; mediocrity seeks perpetuation in standardization.
48:7.30 The argumentative defense of any proposition is inversely proportional to the truth contained.
48:7.31 Such is the work of the beginners on the first mansion world while the more advanced pupils on the later worlds are mastering the higher levels of cosmic insight and morontia mota.