Q: What do we need to know and how good do we have to be to not be a “sleeper” after we die? In other words, to qualify for the first Mansion World right after death?

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A: Thanks so much for this question to us here at TruthBook. I think it is an issue that many of us think about: will I wake up after three days, or will I be asleep for a thousand years or until the next resurrectional dispensation?

Before The Urantia Book appeared we did not know very much at all about what happens to us after we die. And it was not until then that we even knew that there were these two possibilities. In this passage, we learn about them in more detail:

30:4.11 2. Sleeping Survivors. All mortals of survival status, in the custody of personal guardians of destiny, pass through the portals of natural death and, on the third period, personalize on the mansion worlds. Those accredited beings who have, for any reason, been unable to attain that level of intelligence mastery and endowment of spirituality which would entitle them to personal guardians, cannot thus immediately and directly go to the mansion worlds. Such surviving souls must rest in unconscious sleep until the judgment day of a new epoch, a new dispensation, the coming of a Son of God to call the rolls of the age and adjudicate the realm, and this is the general practice throughout all Nebadon. It was said of Christ Michael that, when he ascended on high at the conclusion of his work on earth, “He led a great multitude of captives.” And these captives were the sleeping survivors from the days of Adam to the day of the Master’s resurrection on Urantia.

30:4.14 3. Mansion World Students. All surviving mortals who reawaken on the mansion worlds belong to this class.

So, we see that unless mortals are able to “attain that level of intelligence mastery and endowment of spirituality” that ensures they have a guardian angel they cannot go immediately to the  Mansion Worlds. Instead, those souls sleep unconsciously until a new dispensation, like that which occurred when Jesus was bestowed on our world. Even so, sleeping for a long time does not inhibit our potential for ascension. It is just delayed for a time.

Like you, I would like to know for certain whether I will be resurrected sooner rather than later; I’d like to know for certain if I have a guardian angel. Nowhere in the teachings do we really find out for sure. But we do have some clues about it in this section called the Seven Psychic Circles. where we read:

110:6.3 The psychic circles are not exclusively intellectual, neither are they wholly morontial; they have to do with personality status, mind attainment, soul growth, and Adjuster attunement. The successful traversal of these levels demands the harmonious functioning of the entire personality, not merely of some one phase thereof. The growth of the parts does not equal the true maturation of the whole; the parts really grow in proportion to the expansion of the entire self—the whole self—material, intellectual, and spiritual.

And so, our work and our goal must be towards spiritual development, soul growth, Adjuster attunement, and “expansion of the entire self—the whole self—material, intellectual, and spiritual.”

And in that section we read about the third circle and guardian angels:

110:6.14The third circle. The Adjuster’s work is much more effective after the human ascender attains the third circle and receives a personal seraphic guardian of destiny. While there is no apparent concert of effort between the Adjuster and the seraphic guardian, nonetheless there is to be observed an unmistakable improvement in all phases of cosmic achievement and spiritual development subsequent to the assignment of the personal seraphic attendant. When the third circle is attained, the Adjuster endeavors to morontiaize the mind of man during the remainder of the mortal life span, to make the remaining circles, and achieve the final stage of the divine-human association before natural death dissolves the unique partnership.

So, how do we work on spiritual development, soul growth, and Adjuster attunement? Jesus taught that we must first be born of the spirit in order to enter the kingdom. It is a vital first step towards achieving these goals, as it leads to our ability and desire to find and do the will of God – to become God-concscious and acknowledge God’s presence in our minds through living faith.

142:6.7 And Nicodemus said: “But how can I begin to lay hold upon this spirit which is to remake me in preparation for entering into the kingdom?” Jesus answered: “Already does the spirit of the Father in heaven indwell you. If you would be led by this spirit from above, very soon would you begin to see with the eyes of the spirit, and then by the wholehearted choice of spirit guidance would you be born of the spirit since your only purpose in living would be to do the will of your Father who is in heaven. And so finding yourself born of the spirit and happily in the kingdom of God, you would begin to bear in your daily life the abundant fruits of the spirit.”

We see by this passage that another way to be more certain of circle attainment is to cultivate the fruits of the spirit in our daily lives:

156:5.2 “Build well the foundations for the growth of a noble character of spiritual endowments,” he said: “In order to yield the fruits of the spirit, you must be born of the spirit. You must be taught by the spirit and be led by the spirit if you would live the spirit-filled life among your fellows.

193:2.2 And the fruits of the divine spirit which are yielded in the lives of spirit-born and God-knowing mortals are: loving service, unselfish devotion, courageous loyalty, sincere fairness, enlightened honesty, undying hope, confiding trust, merciful ministry, unfailing goodness, forgiving tolerance, and enduring peace. If professed believers bear not these fruits of the divine spirit in their lives, they are dead; the Spirit of Truth is not in them; they are useless branches on the living vine, and they soon will be taken away.

And finally, we are called to sincerely love one another, which correlates with the fruits of the spirit:

142:5.4 “Said the Prophet Isaiah, speaking of these times: `When the spirit is poured upon us from on high, then shall the work of righteousness become peace, quietness, and assurance forever.’ And for all who truly believe this gospel, I will become surety for their reception into the eternal mercies and the everlasting life of my Father’s kingdom. You, then, who hear this message and believe this gospel of the kingdom are the sons of God, and you have life everlasting; and the evidence to all the world that you have been born of the spirit is that you sincerely love one another.”

178:1.17 Said Jesus: “Throughout the vicissitudes of life, remember always to love one another. Do not strive with men, even with unbelievers. Show mercy even to those who despitefully abuse you. Show yourselves to be loyal citizens, upright artisans, praiseworthy neighbors, devoted kinsmen, understanding parents, and sincere believers in the brotherhood of the Father’s kingdom. And my spirit shall be upon you, now and even to the end of the world.”

So, how good do we have to be? It’s our choice. We can sincerely dedicate ourselves to becoming closer to God every day. We can follow Jesus’s advice in this passage and work on being “loyal citizens, upright artisans, praiseworthy neighbors, devoted kinsmen, understanding parents, and sincere believers in the brotherhood of the Father’s kingdom.” We can dedicate our lives to practicing and cultivating the fruits of the spirit. We can sincerely love our brothers and sisters. We can cultivate our moral character by always choosing good over evil:

16:7.6 Virtue is righteousness—conformity with the cosmos. To name virtues is not to define them, but to live them is to know them. Virtue is not mere knowledge nor yet wisdom but rather the reality of progressive experience in the attainment of ascending levels of cosmic achievement. In the day-by-day life of mortal man, virtue is realized by the consistent choosing of good rather than evil, and such choosing ability is evidence of the possession of a moral nature.

And finally, here’s advice that helps us be more certain that we are going in the right direction:

111:1.5 It is not so much that man is conscious of God as that man yearns for God that results in universe ascension. What you are today is not so important as what you are becoming day by day and in eternity.

Thanks again for this important question. I hope that this reply has been helpful.