Urantia Book New Readers Course (Korean)
Course Description
When spiritual seekers first encounter the Urantia Book, they are usually intrigued but often overwhelmed by its size and complexity and all the strange new terms and concepts. After initial attempts, many of them give up trying to read it. Without a little help, it is difficult for them to cross the threshold into a serious study of the text. And so they may never experience the joys and spiritual transformation that come from fully exploring this revelation.
Urantia University Institute (UUI) has developed a New Reader Course, in cooperation with the Urantia Book Fellowship Education Committee, to help such fledgling readers cross the initial threshold, equipping them to comfortably begin a full exploration of the text and to participate in the growing Urantia movement.
Instructor:
Marvin Gawryn, Sy Chang, Asha Lee, & Mahan Choi
Start Date:
Saturday, January 17
End Date:
Saturday, March 21
Times:
7:00-9:00 am Korea time
Format: One 2 hour webinar per week using Zoom video conferencing
How do I access the materials? Course materials will be sent to you as pdfs via email
Level: Beginner ~ someone just starting to explore the Urantia Book.
Language: Korean
Size: Class is limited to 30 participants.
Required Effort: The group meets 2.5 hours per week. There is no other class time or work required. A handout of the weekly class material is emailed to students a few days in advance of each class, should they wish to review it before the class.
Participants are urged, but not required, to attend all the weekly meetings.
A video recording of the Zoom meeting will be available for the benefit of those who miss a session.
Weekly Outline
The course is structured as a series of 10 weekly Zoom meetings, each about two and a half hours long, with no additional work requirements.
Week 1
After first getting to know a bit about each other’s spiritual journeys, and considering some often-asked questions about the book’s nature and origins, the first class meeting will focus on an overview of the course. We will emphasize personal sharing in all of the class sessions.
Week 2 - Week 9
The heart of the course – the next 8 sessions – uses the book's "Table of Contents" and the natural grouping of the Papers as a sort of overview of the text, allowing us to “drop into” and briefly sample its many different “regions.”
We will share many short passages, all of which have been carefully selected to both intrigue new readers and expose them to the incredibly varied types of material in the different sections of the text.
Along the way we will explain many new terms ("morontia," "Thought Adjuster," "the Supreme", "Central/Super/and Local Universes," etc.), so that by the end of the course, students will be quite comfortable with the book’s “vocabulary.”
Week 10
In the last session, in addition to summarizing and sharing our class experience, we will provide information on study groups, organizations, conferences and the culture of the emerging Urantia movement, in order to help new readers begin to participate, insofar as they are motivated.
Learning Outcomes
The course is rooted in the profound, relational context of spiritual family. It is designed not only to familiarize new readers with the structure and basic themes of The Urantia Book, but also to introduce new participants to the changed way of living that results from the truth that we are all children of God—sisters and brothers in spiritual family—a reality that transcends any and all religious, philosophical, and cultural differences. We hope this universal approach will allow everyone to feel comfortable and at ease.
Just as a map prepares an adventurer to discover a whole new world without getting too lost in unfamiliar territory and new concepts and vocabulary, the New Reader Course facilitates the beginning of a journey into expanded consciousness and enhanced spirtual perception. It is designed for those who dare to seek for truth, led by their own inner guide in the company of fellow explorers in the ever-growing Urantia community.
103:9:7 (1141.5) Faith most willingly carries reason along as far as reason can go and then goes on with wisdom to the full philosophic limit; and then it dares to launch out upon the limitless and never-ending universe journey in the sole company of TRUTH.
Marvin Gawryn considers himself incredibly lucky. 50 years ago, when he was 17 and barely sentient, at his high school job at one of the first metaphysical book shops in Los Angeles, he stumbled upon The Urantia Book. It has shaped his entire adult life from that day forward.
He has participated in and led study groups weekly for 40 years, and served in numerous leadership roles with the Urantia Book Fellowship and other service organizations. His dearest friends are fellow readers. He is the author of Reaching High: The Psychology of Spiritual Living, and has presented workshops at many movement conferences. He was especially fortunate to serve as Chair of the Fellowship’s Liaison Committee during efforts to restore cooperative relations with Urantia Foundation and Urantia Association after the turbulence of the 1990’s. He is currently a member of UUI's Board of Directors and Curriculum Committee, and of the Standard Reference Text Committee, which works with the publishers of The Urantia Book to ensure the integrity of the original 1955 text.
Marvin is semi-retired after 30 years in practice as a family therapist, and currently works as the executive director of the Interfaith Council of Southern Nevada. He has, over the past 30 years, researched and offered workshops on the socialization of religion material in The Urantia Book, and in 1988 completed a two year Certificate of Theological Studies from the Graduate Theological Union in the history and sociology of religion.