You asked: Could the morontia worlds include what others call the astral dimensions, or might the astral realms be possible closer/lower border lands between our physical earth life now and the morontia level, or might the astral realms be simply a more conscious look and aware journey into our own subconscious mind and dream lands?

Thanks so much for this interesting question! To answer your question, I had to do a little self-education, as I have never really been very knowledgeable about the “astral realm.” I found this website which describes this term as “an extension of the physical plane a transition place or doorway to access other planes.” This has always been my understanding, more or less..

Wikipedia describes it as “a plane of existence postulated by classical (particularly neo-Platonic), medieval, oriental and esoteric philosophies and mystery religions.[1] It is the world of the celestial spheres, crossed by the soul in its astral body on the way to being born and after death, and generally said to be populated by angels, spirits or other immaterial beings.[2] In the late 19th and early 20th century the term was popularised by Theosophy and neo-Rosicrucianism.”

Both of these descriptions of the astral world are what I believe to be products of “metaphysics,” which is that attempt by human beings to make sense of the spiritual world and our relationship to it. After having discovered the real story of our existence and its continuation following our time here on earth, I can see no real need for continuing to entertain a concept like that, although, as you observe, it could be that what others think of as the astral plane might correspond in some way with the concept of morontia. Here are a few UB passages that may help both of us understand more fully:

103:6.7 But many mortals have recognized the desirability of having some method of reconciling the interplay between the widely separated domains of science and religion; and metaphysics is the result of man’s unavailing attempt to span this well-recognized chasm. But human metaphysics has proved more confusing than illuminating. Metaphysics stands for man’s well-meant but futile effort to compensate for the absence of the mota of morontia.

103:7.9 The science of the material world enables man to control, and to some extent dominate, his physical environment. The religion of the spiritual experience is the source of the fraternity impulse which enables men to live together in the complexities of the civilization of a scientific age. Metaphysics but more certainly revelation, affords a common meeting ground for the discoveries of both science and religion and makes possible the human attempt logically to correlate these separate but interdependent domains of thought into a well-balanced philosophy of scientific stability and religious certainty.

In the end, what we discover is this:

101:2.7 What metaphysics fails utterly in doing, and what even philosophy fails partially in doing, revelation does; that is, affirms that this First Cause of science and religion’s God of salvation are one and the same Deity.

103:6.8 Metaphysics has proved a failure; mota, man cannot perceive. Revelation is the only technique which can compensate for the absence of the truth sensitivity of mota in a material world. Revelation authoritatively clarifies the muddle of reason-developed metaphysics on an evolutionary sphere.

What we have been given in The Urantia Book is certainly “a well-balanced philosophy of scientific stability and religious certainty.” With it, we can make a huge leap into both understanding reality and orienting ourselves to it that we didn’t have before. And this is one of the the purposes of revelation.

101:5.1 Revelation is a technique whereby ages upon ages of time are saved in the necessary work of sorting and sifting the errors of evolution from the truths of spirit acquirement.

The revelation of the morontia levels of reality that bridge the gap between the purely physical and the purely spiritual is a gift that can help any of us to gain more peace, comfort, and stability as we adjust our thinking about our existence.

Click to see our topical study about Metaphysics

Click to read our topical study on Revelation

There are a lot of beliefs that are taken for granted as being true just because people have heard them all their lives and assumed they’re true or because they’ve never really given them any thought, the astral plane concept being one. There may be some truth behind it and all the other metaphysical concepts as well but the picture of the reality they portray is nothing like the reality we discover in The Urantia Book… it seems to me that the concept of the astral realms is likely an outworn one for those of us who have received the gift of revelation contained in The Urantia Book.

Thanks again for writing; I hope that my reply has been helpful.

And feel free to write back any time!