P112:3, 10:3.19 The Infinite Spirit is amazingly universal and unbelievably versatile in all his operations. He performs in the spheres of mind, matter, and spirit. The Conjoint Actor represents the Father, but he also functions as himself. He is not directly concerned with physical gravity, with spiritual gravity, or with the personality circuit, but he more or less participates in all other universe activities. While apparently dependent on three existential and absolute gravity controls, the Infinite Spirit appears to exercise three super controls. This threefold endowment is employed in many ways to transcend and seemingly to neutralize even the manifestations of primary forces and energies, right up to the super ultimate borders of absoluteness. In certain situations these super controls absolutely transcend even the primal manifestations of cosmic reality.
P115:6, 10:7.4 We do not find the overcontrol of Supremacy to be wholly predictable. Furthermore, this unpredictability appears to be characterized by a certain developmental incompleteness, undoubtedly an earmark of the incompleteness of the Supreme and of the incompleteness of finite reaction to the Paradise Unity.
P115:7, 10:7.5 The mortal mind can immediately think of a thousand and one things -- catastrophic physical events, appalling accidents, horrific disasters, painful illnesses, and world-wide scourges -- and ask whether such visitations are correlated in the unknown maneuvering of this probable functioning of the Supreme Being. Frankly, we do not know; we are not really sure. But we do observe that, as time passes, all these difficult and more or less mysterious situations always work out for the welfare and progress of the universes. It may be that the circumstances of existence and the inexplicable vicissitudes of living are all interwoven into a meaningful pattern of high value by the function of the Supreme and the overcontrol of the Unity.
P116:1, 10:7.6 As a child of God you can discern the personal attitude of love in all the acts of God the Father. But you will not always be able to understand how many of the universe acts of the Paradise Unity redound to the good of the individual mortal on the evolutionary worlds of space. In the progress of eternity the acts of the Unity will be revealed as altogether meaningful and considerate, but they do not always so appear to the creatures of time.
Part I. The Central Universe
Chapter 8
The Eternal Isle Of Paradise
P118:1, 11:0.1 Paradise is the eternal center of the universe and the abiding place of the Universal Father, the Infinite Spirit, and their divine co-ordinates and associates. This central Isle is the most gigantic organized body of cosmic reality in all. Paradise is a material sphere as well as a spiritual abode. All of the intelligent creation of the Universal Father is domiciled on material abodes; hence must the absolute controlling center also be material, literal. And again it should be reiterated that spirit things and spiritual beings are real.
P118:2, 11:0.2 The material beauty of Paradise consists in the magnificence of its physical perfection; the grandeur of the Isle of God is exhibited in the superb intellectual accomplishments and mind development of its inhabitants; the glory of the central Isle is shown forth in the infinite endowment of divine spirit personality -- the light of life. But the depths of the spiritual beauty and the wonders of this magnificent ensemble are utterly beyond the comprehension of the finite mind of material creatures. The glory and spiritual splendor of the divine abode are impossible of mortal comprehension. And Paradise is from eternity; there are neither records nor traditions respecting the origin of this nuclear Isle of Light and Life.
P118:3, 11:1.1 Paradise serves many purposes in the administration of the universal realms, but to creature beings it exists primarily as the dwelling place of Deity. The Universal Father is cosmically focalized, spiritually personalized, and geographically resident at this center of the universe.
P118:5, 11:1.3 We all know the direct course to pursue to find the Universal Father. You are not able to comprehend much about the divine residence because of its remoteness from you and the immensity of the intervening space, but those who are able to comprehend the meaning of these enormous distances know God's location and residence just as certainly and literally as you know the location of New York, London, Rome, or Singapore, cities definitely and geographically located on Earth. If you were an intelligent navigator, equipped with ship, maps, and compass, you could readily find these cities. Likewise, if you had the time and means of passage, were spiritually qualified, and had the necessary guidance, you could be piloted through the universe from circuit to circuit, ever journeying inward through the starry realms, until at last you would stand before the central shining of the spiritual glory of the Universal Father. Provided with all the necessities for the journey, it is just as possible to find the personal presence of God at the center of all things as to find distant cities on your own planet. That you have not visited these places in no way disproves their reality or actual existence. That so few of the universe creatures have found God on Paradise in no way disproves either the reality of his existence or the actuality of his spiritual person at the center of all things.
P119:1, 11:1.4 The Father is often found at this central location. There converge in him at this residential center the universal lines of gravity from the ends of creation. Whether we trace the personality circuit back through the universe or follow the ascending personalities as they journey inward to the Father; whether we trace the lines of material gravity to nether Paradise or follow the insurgent cycles of cosmic force; whether we trace out the mind circuits or follow the trillions upon trillions of celestial beings who spring from the Infinite Spirit -- by any of these observations or by all of them we are led directly back to the Father's presence, to his central abode. Here is God personally, literally, and actually present. And from his infinite being there flow the flood-streams of life, energy, and personality to all universes.
Part I. The Central Universe
Chapter 8: Section 1.
Nature Of The Eternal Isle
P119:2, 11:2.1 Since you are beginning to glimpse the enormousness of the material universe discernible even from your astronomical location, your space position in the starry systems, it should become evident to you that such a tremendous material universe must have an adequate and worthy capital, a headquarters commensurate with the dignity and infinitude of the universal Ruler of all this vast and far-flung creation of material realms and living beings.
P119:3, 11:2.2 In form Paradise differs from the inhabited space bodies: it is not spherical. It is definitely ellipsoid, being one-sixth longer in the north-south diameter than in the east-west diameter. The central Isle is essentially flat, and the distance from the upper surface to the nether surface is one tenth that of the east-west diameter.
P119:4, 11:2.3 These differences in dimensions, taken in connection with its stationary status and the greater out-pressure of force-energy at the north end of the Isle, make it possible to establish absolute direction in the master universe.
P119:9, 11:2.5 We speak of that surface of Paradise which is occupied with personality activities as the upper side, and the opposite surface as the nether side. The periphery of Paradise provides for activities that are not strictly personal or nonpersonal. We hardly conceive of the Unqualified Absolute as a person, but we do think of the functional space presence of this Absolute as focalized on nether Paradise.
P120:1, 11:2.6 The eternal Isle is composed of a single form of materialization -- stationary systems of reality. This literal substance of Paradise is a homogeneous organization of space potency not to be found elsewhere in the universe. This Paradise source material is neither dead nor alive; it is the original nonspiritual expression of the First Source and Center; it is Paradise, and Paradise is without duplicate.
P120:2, 11:2.7 It appears to us that the First Source and Center has concentrated all absolute potential for cosmic reality in Paradise as a part of his technique of self-liberation from infinity limitations, as a means of making possible subinfinite, even time-sp
ace, creation. But it does not follow that Paradise is time-space limited just because the universe discloses these qualities. Paradise exists without time and has no location in space.
P120:3, 11:2.8 Roughly: space seemingly originates just below nether Paradise; time just above Paradise. Time, as you understand it, is not a feature of Paradise existence, though the citizens of the central Isle are fully conscious of non-time sequence of events. Motion is not inherent on Paradise; it is volitional. But the concept of distance, even absolute distance, has very much meaning as it may be applied to relative locations on Paradise. Paradise is non-spatial; hence its areas are absolute and therefore serviceable in many ways beyond the concept of mortal mind.
Part I. The Central Universe
Chapter 8: Section 2.
Paradise
P120:4, 11:3.1 On Paradise there are three grand spheres of activity. There are neither material structures nor purely intellectual creations in this zone; they could not exist there. It is impossible to portray to the human mind the divine nature and the beauteous grandeur of the Sphere of Paradise. This realm is wholly spiritual, and you are almost wholly material. A purely spiritual reality is, to a purely material being, apparently nonexistent.
P121:1, 11:3.4 Sectors of Paradise are subdivided into residential units suitable for the lodgment headquarters many individual working groups.
P121:2, 11:4.1 The central Isle ends abruptly at the periphery, but its size is so enormous that this terminal angle is relatively indiscernible within any circumscribed area. The landing and dispatching fields for various groups of spirit personalities occupy the peripheral surface of Paradise, in part. Since the nonpervaded-space zones nearly impinge upon the periphery, all personality transports destined to Paradise land in these regions.
P121:3, 11:4.2 The Spirits have seats on the spheres that circle about Paradise in the space between the shining orbs and the inner circuit of the Heaven worlds, but they maintain force-focal headquarters on the Paradise periphery.
P121:4, 11:4.3 Here on peripheral Paradise are the enormous historic and prophetic exhibit areas dedicated to the local universes of time and space. There are trillions of these historic reservations set up or in reserve, but these arrangements all together occupy only a small portion of the peripheral area thus assigned.
P121:5, 11:4.4 That portion of Paradise which has been designated for the use of the universe is only a small portion, while the area assigned to these activities is at least one million times that what actually is required for such purposes. Paradise is large enough to accommodate the activities of an almost infinite creation.
P121:6, 11:4.5 But a further attempt to visualize to you the glories of Paradise would be futile. You must wait, and ascend while you wait, for truly, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the mind of mortal man, the things which the Universal Father has prepared for those who survive the life in the flesh on the worlds of time and space."
Part I. The Central and Universe
Chapter 8: Section 3.
Nether Paradise
P122:1, 11:5.1 Concerning nether Paradise, we know only that which is revealed; personalities do not sojourn there. It has nothing whatever to do with the affairs of spirit intelligences, nor does the Deity Absolute there function. We are informed that all physical-energy and cosmic-force circuits have their origin on nether Paradise
P122:4, 11:5.4 Occupying the outer margins of the under surface is a region having mainly to do with space potency and force-energy. The activities of this vast elliptical force center are not identifiable with the known functions of any unity, but the primordial force-charge of space appears to be focalized in this area. This center consists of three concentric elliptical zones: The innermost is the focal point of the force-energy activities of Paradise itself; the outermost may possibly be identified with the functions of the Unqualified Absolute, but we are not certain concerning the space functions of the mid-zone.
P122:5, 11:5.5 The inner zone of this force center seems to act as a gigantic heart whose pulsations direct currents to the outermost borders of physical space. It directs and modifies force-energies but hardly drives them. The reality pressure-presence of this primal force is definitely greater at the north end of the Paradise center than in the southern regions; this is a uniformly registered difference. The mother force of space seems to flow in at the south and out at the north through the operation of some unknown circulatory system that is concerned with the diffusion of this basic form of force-energy. From time to time there are also noted differences in the east-west pressures. The forces emanating from this zone are not responsive to observable physical gravity but are always obedient to Paradise gravity.
P122:6, 11:5.6 The mid-zone of the force center immediately surrounds this area. This mid-zone appears to be static except that it expands and contracts through three cycles of activity. The least of these pulsations is in an east-west direction, the next in a north-south direction, while the greatest fluctuation is in every direction, a generalized expansion and contraction. The function of this mid-area has never been really identified, but it must have something to do with reciprocal adjustment between the inner and the outer zones of the force center. It is believed by many that the mid-zone is the control mechanism of the midspace or quiet zones that separate the successive space levels but no evidence or revelation confirms this. This inference is derived from the knowledge that this mid-area is in some manner related to the functioning of the nonpervaded-space mechanism of the universe.
P122:7, 11:5.7 The outer zone is the largest and most active of the three concentric and elliptical belts of unidentified space potential. This area is the site of unimagined activities, the central circuit point of emanations that proceed spaceward in every direction to the outermost borders of the universe and on beyond to overspread the enormous and incomprehensible domains of all outer space. This space presence is entirely impersonal notwithstanding that in some undisclosed manner it seems to be indirectly responsive to the will and mandates of the infinite Deity. This is believed to be the central focalization, the Paradise center of the space presence of the Unqualified Absolute.
P123:1, 11:5.8 All forms of force and all phases of energy seem to be encircuited; they circulate throughout the universes and return by definite routes. But with the emanations of the activated zone of the Unqualified Absolute there appears to be either an outgoing or an incoming -- never both simultaneously. This outer zone pulsates in agelong cycles of gigantic proportions. For more than a billion Earth years the space-force of this center is outgoing; then for a similar length of time it will be incoming. And the space-force manifestations of this center are universal; they extend throughout all pervadable space.
P123:2, 11:5.9 All physical force, energy, and matter are one. All force-energy originally proceeded from nether Paradise and will eventually return thereto following the completion of its space circuit. But the energies and material organizations of the universe did not all come from nether Paradise in their present phenomenal states; space is the womb of several forms of matter and pre-matter. Though the outer zone of the Paradise force center is the source of space-energies, space does not originate there. Space is not force, energy, or power. Nor do the pulsations of this zone account for the respiration of space, but the incoming and outgoing phases of this zone are synchronized with the billion-year expansion-contraction cycles of space.
Part I. The Central Universe
Chapter 8: Section 4.
Space Respiration
P123:3, 11:6.1 We do not know the actual mechanism of space respiration; we merely observe that all space alternately contracts and expands. This respiration affects both the horizontal extension of pervaded space and the vertical extensions of un-pervaded space that exists in the vast space reservoirs above and below Paradise. In attempting to imagine the volume outlines of these space reservoirs, you might think of an hourglass.
P123:4, 11:
6.2 As the universes of the horizontal extension of pervaded space expand, the reservoirs of the vertical extension of un-pervaded space contract and vice versa. There is a confluence of pervaded and un-pervaded space just underneath nether Paradise. Both types of space there flow through the transmuting regulation channels, where changes are wrought making pervadable space non-pervadable and vice versa in the contraction and expansion cycles of the cosmos.
P123:5, 11:6.3 "Un-pervaded" space means: un-pervaded by those forces, energies, powers, and presences known to exist in pervaded space. We do not know whether vertical (reservoir) space is destined always to function as the equipoise of horizontal (universe) space; we do not know whether there is a creative intent concerning un-pervaded space; we really know very little about the space reservoirs, merely that they exist, and that they seem to counterbalance the space-expansion-contraction cycles of the universe of universes.
P123:6, 11:6.4 The cycles of space respiration extend in each phase for a more than a billion Earth years. During one phase the universe expands; during the next they contract. Pervaded space is now approaching the mid-point of the expanding phase, while un-pervaded space nears the mid-point of the contracting phase, and we are informed that the outermost limits of both space extensions are, theoretically, now approximately equidistant from Paradise.
P124:1, 11:6.5 For a billion years of Earth time the space reservoirs contract while the master universe and the force activities of all horizontal space expand. It thus requires more than a billion Earth years to complete the entire expansion-contraction cycle.
Part I. The Central Universe
Chapter 8: Section 5.
Space Functions Of Paradise