Paper 111 Overview: The Adjuster and the Soul

The presence of the Thought Adjuster in the human mind creates an inherent barrier to the comprehensive understanding of the evolving soul through scientific or philosophical means alone, as the morontia soul exists as a cosmic reality that transcends purely material investigation. Throughout human history, various civilizations have conceptualized the indwelling spirit and soul in diverse ways, from the primitive associations with physical organs to more sophisticated understandings, reflecting humanity's persistent recognition of something divine and enduring within human nature. This paper explores the cosmic relationship between the material mind, divine Adjuster, and the emerging morontia soul, explaining how human choice functions in the evolution of eternal identity.

The mortal mind serves as the arena of choice where the divine Adjuster works to foster the growth of the morontia soul, with human decisions either facilitating or hindering this collaborative spiritualizing process that transcends physical existence. The soul emerges as a unique morontia reality, neither purely material nor wholly spiritual, created through the relationship between the human mind and divine spirit, evolving through mortal decisions and gradually achieving greater spirit identification. It further examines the primacy of the inner life in human development, the consecration of human will to divine purpose, and the paradoxical human condition of being simultaneously bound to nature yet possessing transcendent spiritual capacity. The paper culminates with a poignant appeal to allow the indwelling Adjuster greater influence in mortal experience despite the complex challenges posed by humanity's evolutionary nature.

The presence of the divine Adjuster in the human mind creates an inherent limitation that prevents either science or philosophy from attaining a satisfactory comprehension of the evolving soul of human personality. The morontia soul exists as a cosmic creation that can only be truly known through cosmic insight and spiritual discovery, transcending the boundaries of material investigation and rationalistic philosophy. This conceptualization of a soul and indwelling spirit has manifested repeatedly throughout planetary history, appearing in various systems of belief where humans have perceived their dual nature as both divine in heritage and human in inheritance. The recognition of an inner presence alongside the external omnipresence of Deity has long formed an integral part of religious understanding, reflecting humanity's intuitive awareness that something within human nature continues beyond temporal existence.

Before humans recognized that the evolving soul was fathered by a divine spirit, primitive understandings associated it with various physical organs: first the eye, then the liver, kidney, heart, and eventually the brain. Early peoples connected the soul with tangible elements like blood and breath, or visual phenomena such as shadows and reflections. Different cultural traditions approached this understanding with varying degrees of sophistication: the Hindu concept of atman approximated an appreciation of the Adjuster's nature but failed to distinguish the co-presence of the evolving immortal soul; the Chinese recognized the dual aspects of yang and yin (soul and spirit); while the Egyptians developed the concept of the ka, a protective spirit bestowed upon favored individuals at birth that remained with them throughout life and awaited them after death, guiding them toward better paths of living and influencing their prospects in the afterlife.

Though the Adjusters' work is fundamentally spiritual in nature, they must necessarily perform all their operations upon an intellectual foundation, as mind constitutes the human soil from which the spirit Monitor must evolve the morontia soul with the cooperation of the indwelt personality. A cosmic unity pervades the various mind levels throughout the universe of universes, with intellectual selves originating in the cosmic mind similar to how nebulae emerge from the cosmic energies of universal space. On the human level of intellectual selfhood, the potential for spirit evolution becomes dominant when the mortal mind acquiesces, because the human personality possesses spiritual endowments combined with the creative presence of an entity-point of absolute value. However, this spiritual dominance over the material mind depends on two critical experiences: the mind must have evolved through the ministry of the seven adjutant mind-spirits, and the material self must willingly cooperate with the indwelling Adjuster in creating and nurturing the morontia self, the evolutionary and potentially immortal soul.

The material mind functions as the arena wherein human personalities live, maintain self-consciousness, make decisions, choose either to embrace or reject God, and thereby determine their eternal destiny. Material evolution has provided humans with a life mechanism, the physical body, while the Universal Father has endowed each person with the purest spirit reality known in the universe: the Thought Adjuster. Between these two realities exists the mind, subject to personal decisions, which determines whether individuals live or die spiritually. What proves most significant is not what mind comprehends but what it desires to comprehend, not what mind resembles but what it strives to become, not that humans are conscious of God but that they yearn for God; these aspirations result in universe ascension. The Adjuster remains fundamentally impervious to evil and incapable of sin, but mortal mind can be twisted and distorted by a perverse will, or alternatively, made noble and beautiful through alignment with the spirit-illuminated will of a God-knowing being.

As Jesus taught, the mind can be likened to a cosmic instrument upon which human will plays either discordant destruction or the exquisite melodies of God-identification leading to eternal survival. The connection between mind and Adjuster creates the potential for the birth of a morontia soul destined for spirit attainment. The material mind provides the context for decisions that shape eternal destiny, with each choice either enhancing or inhibiting soul growth. Human choices during mortal existence lay the foundation for the ultimate character of the immortal self. The freewill decisions made in the mind arena ultimately determine whether the evolving soul achieves fusion with the indwelling Adjuster, thereby gaining eternal identity.

In all cosmic intelligence functions, the totality of mind invariably dominates over its constituent parts, manifesting a functional unity that continually seeks spirit coordination when associated with self-conscious entities possessing dignity and ascension potential. This integration persists even when hampered by unwise actions and choices of a misguided self. The material mind of mortal beings serves as the cosmic loom that carries the morontia fabrics upon which the indwelling Thought Adjuster threads patterns of universe character with enduring values and divine meanings, creating a surviving soul with ultimate destiny and unending career potential. The human personality exists as an integration of mind and spirit held together through a functional relationship by life in a material body, producing not merely a combination of mind and spirit qualities, but an entirely new, original, and unique universe value with potential eternal endurance, the soul.

The evolutionary creation of the immortal soul involves three distinct antecedent factors: the human mind with all cosmic influences affecting it, the divine spirit indwelling this mind with all potentials inherent in such absolute spirituality, and most significantly, the relationship between material mind and divine spirit, which connotes a value and carries meaning absent in either contributing factor alone. This unique relationship produces a reality that is neither material nor spiritual but morontial in nature. The midway creatures have long designated this evolving soul as the "mid-mind" to distinguish it from the lower material mind and higher cosmic mind. The potential for such morontia evolution inherently resides in two universal urges: the finite creature's impulse to know God and attain Creator divinity, and the infinite Creator's impulse to know man and experience the creature. This superb transaction of evolving the immortal soul becomes possible because the mortal mind possesses personality and contacts superanimal realities, having a supermaterial endowment that ensures the evolution of a moral nature capable of making decisions, effectively establishing creative contact with spiritual ministries and the indwelling Thought Adjuster.

The gradual birth of the soul represents the joint offspring of a human will that hungers to know God, coupled with the spiritual forces of the universe that can reveal God, all working harmoniously under the direction of the Thought Adjuster. The growth of the evolving soul corresponds directly to the alignment of human will with divine will, particularly in moral decisions and spiritual choices. As the soul matures, it transcends its origins in the material mind while remaining distinct from its divine origin in the Adjuster. The developing soul exists as a living connection between the material human mind and the divine spirit within, functioning as a bridge that renders spirit realities increasingly accessible to the material self. The soul thereby emerges as a transcendent reality that draws from both material and divine sources without being reducible to either.

While the mistakes of mortal mind and errors of human conduct may significantly delay the evolution of the soul, they cannot ultimately impede this morontia phenomenon once it has been initiated by the indwelling Adjuster with the consent of the creature's will. However, this freedom of choice remains inviolate throughout mortal existence; at any point prior to physical death, the material human will retains the power to rescind its earlier decision and reject survival entirely. This sovereignty of choice extends beyond death, as even after survival, the ascending mortal continues to possess the prerogative to reject eternal life until the moment of fusion with the Adjuster. This fusion represents the irrevocable commitment of the ascending mortal to eternally and unreservedly execute the Father's will. During physical existence, the evolving soul strengthens the supermaterial decisions of the mortal mind, though being supermaterial itself, it cannot function independently on the material level of human experience without collaboration from a spirit of Deity, such as the Adjuster.

As terrestrial mortal growth progresses, the will, the personality power of decision-choice initially residing in the material mind circuits, becomes increasingly identified with the emerging morontia-soul entity. This developmental trajectory culminates after death and resurrection on the mansion worlds, when the human personality becomes completely integrated with the morontia self. At first, wholly morontia in nature, the immortal soul possesses remarkable capacity for development, invariably ascending to true spirit levels where it achieves fusion value with the divine spirit, typically with the same spirit of the Universal Father that initiated this creative phenomenon in the mortal mind. Both the human mind and the divine Adjuster remain conscious of the presence and differential nature of the evolving soul, the Adjuster comprehending it fully, the mind only partially. As the soul evolves, it becomes increasingly aware of both the mind and Adjuster as associated identities, proportionate to its own evolutionary growth, while persistently developing toward augmented spirit control and divine dominance by fostering mind functions that coordinate with authentic spirit values.

The evolution of the immortal soul proceeds through phases of increasingly spiritualized identity, progressively reflecting the divine reality of its indwelling Adjuster. This evolutionary process begins with the initial decision to survive, continues through the mansion world resurrections, and culminates in the achievement of Paradise and the finality of eternal union with God. The soul maintains its unique identity throughout this process despite profound transformations. It serves as the repository of all worthwhile character traits and meaningful memories from the mortal existence, preserving the essence of personality while discarding material limitations. The soul thus emerges as the true identity that bridges mortal and immortal existence, carrying forward all that represents genuine spiritual value while leaving behind that which belongs solely to the material realm.

Recognition represents the intellectual process of integrating sensory impressions received from the external world into existing memory patterns, while understanding signifies that these recognized impressions and associated memories have been organized into a dynamic network of principles forming a coherent framework of comprehension. Meanings emerge from the combination of recognition and understanding but remain nonexistent in a wholly sensory or material realm, as they can only be perceived within the inner or supermaterial spheres of human experience where values and significance transcend mere physical reality. The advances of true civilization originate exclusively in this inner world of mankind, as only the inner life possesses genuine creative potential, a fact that makes civilization's progress precarious when the majority of young people devote their energies primarily to materialistic pursuits rather than inner development.

Human civilization faces significant jeopardy when three-quarters of its youth enter materialistic professions and dedicate themselves to sensory activities of the outer world, neglecting interest in ethics, sociology, eugenics, philosophy, fine arts, religion, and cosmology. Only in the higher levels of the superconscious mind, where it interfaces with the spirit realm of human experience, can one discover those elevated concepts and effective master patterns that contribute to building a better and more enduring civilization. The outward material world remains largely beyond personal control, whereas the creativity of the inner world remains substantially subject to individual direction, offering a limited sovereignty of will. This inner creative capacity places upon each person the responsibility of choosing whether this creativity will manifest as spontaneous and haphazard or controlled, directed, and constructive. While ideas may originate from external stimuli, ideals emerge exclusively in the creative realms of the inner world, explaining why contemporary societies, abundant in ideas but impoverished in ideals, experience widespread poverty, divorce, war, and racial hatred.

The challenge humans face is that freewill creativity inherently encompasses the potential for freewill destructivity, with evil representing a partial expression of creativity oriented toward disintegration and eventual destruction. True civilization requires a foundation of meaningful inner values and spiritual ideals, not merely materialistic achievements or technological advancement. The quality of civilization depends directly on the balance between the outer and inner life, with the healthiest cultures maintaining harmonious development of both material comfort and spiritual growth. A society's progress is measured not by its material prosperity but by its enduring contributions to truth, beauty, and goodness. The creative power of the inner life drives all genuine human progress, transforming mere ideas into living ideals that inspire and elevate successive generations.

The doing of the will of God is nothing more or less than the creature's willingness to share their inner life with God, the very God who made such a meaningful inner life possible through his creative act. This sharing reflects the divine nature itself, as God shares everything with the Eternal Son and Infinite Spirit, who subsequently share all things with the divine Sons and spirit Daughters throughout the universes. Emulating God's nature provides the key to perfection, while doing his will represents the secret to both survival and perfection in that survival. Mortals live within God, and correspondingly, God has chosen to live within mortals; as humans trust themselves to him, he has first trusted a fragment of himself to dwell with and within humans, consenting to reside in them, subject to human will.

When a creature chooses to subject their will to the Father's will, this decision does not represent a surrender of personal will but rather its consecration, expansion, glorification, and ultimate perfection. Such choosing elevates creature will from the level of temporal significance to a higher estate wherein the creature's personality communes directly with the personality of the spirit Father. This spiritual discovery of the Father by mortal humans, while requiring potentially an entire age before the creature physically stands in God's presence on Paradise, involves the positive affirmation: "It is my will that your will be done." When this choice is made, the God-choosing individual will eventually experience inner union with the indwelling Adjuster fragment, while simultaneously discovering supreme personality satisfaction in the worship communion between the personality of the human and the personality of the Maker, a relationship whose creative attributes have eternally joined in self-willed mutuality of expression, representing the birth of another eternal partnership between human will and divine will.

The consecration of human will to divine purpose transforms not only the individual but also enhances the divine-human relationship in ways that extend throughout eternity. This free choice to align with God's purposes does not diminish human identity but rather fulfills and amplifies it beyond all temporal limitations. The Universal Father cherishes the spontaneous devotion of his creatures, preferring willful cooperation over any form of compulsion or manipulation. Through this voluntary consecration, the human personality discovers its highest expression and truest freedom, paradoxically finding liberation through submission to divine direction. The partnership between human will and divine will initiates an eternal adventure of progressive growth and expanding service, leading to ever more complete expression of the divine character in the perfecting human personality.

Many temporal difficulties experienced by mortal beings stem from their dual relationship to the cosmos: humans exist as part of nature while simultaneously possessing the capacity to transcend it, and though finite in constitution, they are indwelt by a spark of infinity. This bifurcated existence inevitably generates social and moral situations characterized by uncertainty and anxiety. The courage required to effect the conquest of nature and transcend oneself might potentially succumb to the temptations of self-pride, as the mortal who transcends personal limitations could yield to the temptation of self-deification. The fundamental human dilemma arises from the concurrent reality of bondage to nature alongside the possession of unique spiritual liberty, creating a paradox inseparable from temptation, potential evil, and decisional errors, particularly when self becomes proud and arrogant, allowing sin to evolve.

The problem of sin does not inherently exist in the finite realm, as finitude itself constitutes neither evil nor sin. The finite universe, created by an infinite Creator and representing the handiwork of the divine Sons, must fundamentally be good. Evil and sin originate exclusively in the misuse, distortion, and perversion of finite reality. The spirit possesses the capacity to dominate mind, and mind can subsequently control energy, though mind's influence over energy depends on intelligent comprehension of the mathematical relationships governing cause and effect in the physical domains. Science provides the factual building blocks which, when cemented by life experience, contribute to the construction of wisdom. Humans may discover God's love without facts and God's laws without love, but they cannot appreciate the infinite symmetry, harmony, and completeness of the First Source and Center without experientially unifying divine law and divine love within their evolving cosmic philosophy.

Despite feeling insecure when contemplating their inextricable connection to nature alongside their possession of transcendent spiritual powers, humans should recognize that reasonable self-confidence differs substantially from pride, which proves deceitful, intoxicating, and ultimately self-destructive. The human condition perpetually necessitates making decisions within this paradoxical situation, balancing material needs against spiritual aspirations. Mortals must navigate the complex interplay between their evolutionary heritage and their divine potential, often experiencing tension between natural instincts and spiritual leadings. This intrinsic paradox, while creating possibilities for error and sin, simultaneously provides the context for spiritual growth, moral development, and the cultivation of genuine character. The very difficulties inherent in human existence serve as the crucible in which immortal souls are forged through free will choices that progressively align the creature with divine values.

The essential nature of the Paradise adventure encompasses uncertainty combined with security: uncertainty regarding time and mind, contrasted with absolute security in spirit and eternity. This paradoxical experience balances the uncertainty inherent in being an inexperienced cosmic citizen against the unqualified trust in the divine compassion and infinite love of the Universal Father. The indwelling Adjuster cannot prevent or diminish the hardships encountered during mortal existence; this divine presence cannot materially alter the struggles of temporal life or reduce the difficulties faced on the evolutionary world. However, if humans would only permit it, they could allow this valiant Adjuster to fight alongside them and for them throughout life's challenges. Rather than struggling alone, mortals could experience comfort, inspiration, and enlightenment by permitting the Adjuster to continuously reveal the true motives, final aims, and eternal purposes underlying all the difficult material struggles of daily existence.

Why do mortals not allow the Adjuster to strengthen them with spiritual truths while they wrestle with temporal difficulties? Why do they not encourage this heavenly helper to cheer them with the clear vision of the eternal perspective of universal life as they confront the perplexities of temporal involvements? Why do humans refuse to be spiritually illuminated and assisted while they traverse the challenging material domains? The complex nature of humanity, with its mixture of races and diverse origins, makes the Adjuster's work particularly challenging. A guardian of destiny once presented a formal statement describing the difficulties of ministering to her mortal subject, depicting an unceasing conflict between contradictory aspects of human nature: ambition opposed by indolence, high ideals crossed by primitive instincts, the long-distance perspectives of the Monitor counteracted by the nearsightedness of temporal creatures, progressive plans modified by material desires, and the progress of good retarded by the inertia of evil. Despite these challenges, the soul achieved a fair degree of happiness and success through the constant help and urging of the Thought Adjuster, ultimately ascending to the judgment halls of the mansion worlds.

This testimony illustrates both the profound challenge facing Adjusters in their work with complex human beings and the remarkable potential for spiritual achievement despite these obstacles. The Adjuster's task involves patiently nurturing spiritual awareness within the human mind while respecting the sovereignty of mortal free will. This divine fragment works tirelessly to spiritualize thought patterns and elevate values, always adapting to the unique personality configuration and developmental readiness of each individual. The mortal who learns to cooperate with their indwelling Adjuster discovers an inner source of strength, wisdom, and spiritual insight that transforms the experience of material life. Through this partnership, the temporal struggles of mortal existence acquire eternal significance as they contribute to the evolution of an immortal soul destined for Paradise perfection. The challenges confronting both Adjuster and human ultimately serve the divine purpose of creating unique personalities who have freely chosen eternal identification with God.