SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES AT THE DAKAR SUMMIT
An international meeting of Urantia Book readers was held in Dakar, Senegal from Friday 6 February to Friday 16 February 2018. This gathering, dubbed ‘Dakar Summit’ by participants, brought together:
- Gaétan Charland, Line Saint Pierre, Guy Perron of Canada and Agnès Lazar from Belgium.
- The Group of Students in Progressive Divine Wisdom (ASREFLU) of Senegal, among which, Mr. Mamadou Doudou Diagne, Mr. Moustapha K. Ndiaye, Mr. Assane Diagne, Mr. Khatabe Ndiaye, Mr. Ndiawar Ndiaye, Mr. Lamine Ndour, Mrs. Marième Seye, Mrs. Salimata Bamba.
The meeting focused on five (5) topics proposed by the Dakar Study Group, endorsed by all participants following a series of video conference discussions on Zoom. The group had previously paid a visit to Moussa Ndiaye, founder of the Group of Students in Progressive Divine Wisdom (ASREFLU). The visit was an opportunity for Gaétan, Line, Guy and Agnès to share thoughts and teachings on Progressive Divine Wisdom based on truths from the Urantia Book. These are truths shared in Europe and Canada by Moussa from 2002 to 2012. During the visit, the group obtained the blessing and prayer support of Moussa towards the success of this initiative and for all those who seek to know God, particularly within the Urantia Movement, based on the teachings of the Urantia Book.
Discussions on the agreed topics were held in the home of a member from Saturday 10 February to Friday 16 February from 9:30am to 8pm.
The first topic had to do with Channeling. Through sharing of years of experiences in Channeling by students of Progressive Divine Wisdom of Dakar, participants of the summit arrived at two conclusions: First, Channeling phenomena gravitate around the astral environment linked to the material domain, and this gives the illusion of a pseudo-angelic domain. It differs from a morotian environment, unifier of the human ego in progressive divine evolution. Second, attempts to manipulate contact with entities constitute major risks for personality balance and mental health, through forms of de-socialising, dangerous and harmful addictions. All participants hailed the Wisdom of revelators who touched on this topic.
The second topic was the “Pedagogy of teaching”. This approach initialy known as the ‘Dakar Method’, then more appropriately the ‘Progressive Divine Wisdom’, is the method used by Moussa from 1975 to 2000 with about 30 members who benefitted first hand, as well as hundreds of Senegalese students who more or less learnt the method through students-turned-teachers. The Dakar Group underscored activities which were carried out through questions and answers on all subjects, for more than 7years from 1973.
- A systematic teaching based on the pedagogical approach, consisting of organising teaching from the functinning of adjuvants, with two stages: Attainment of the 7th seminar on Prayer in order to gain membership into qualified prayers groups if the person so wishes, and attainment of the 12th seminar to be qualified as spiritual teacher, if the person so wishes.
- Other activities carried out during the training include: Banquets held in homes of women in the Dakar Group for 4years to sensitize their close ones, which led to a cycle of dozen seminars on the Family, led by specialistes (teachers, doctors, lawyers…), a number of discussions on religion with the support and participation of catholic priests and Islam representatives in Senegal.
These experiences concerned primarily the first group of teachers and somehow the second group, however, the aptitudes gained and shared are beneficial to new comers to the teaching and learning of truths of the UB.
The third topic was “Prayer and worship”. Discussion of this theme was an opportunity for members of the Dakar Group to share their many years of experiences on prayer, facilitated by the significance of this act in Islam, which is widespread in Senegal. The Dakar Group analysed diverse prayers, carried out in teams for close to 40 years for individuals or groups. These prayers were successful, based on the unified thoughts of those praying, and the law on the number of people offering a prayer and its proportional spiritual effectiveness to the square of the number. This approach underscores the manner in which our adjustors always display answers externally, concerning internal prayers, if we can maintain divine peace, calm and balance in our inner life, thanks to the habit of Worship. Participants of the summit also noted several ways in which the organisation of the summit was facilitated due to coordinated prayers on three continents for the success of the summit.
The fourth topic was “The Supreme and Service”. This topic provided a platform to discuss mutual clarifications and thoughts, from very deep Concepts of the teachings of the UB on the nature and the reality of the Supreme, as well as the realities associated with the Supreme within human experience. These discussions clarified and grouped many seemingly difficult concepts and helped to open up new pathways for reflection and action for members present. The discussions also highlighted the significance of Service in the cosmic economy, for the Universal Father as well as for the Supreme. In addition, the discussions strengthened our faith in the commitment and furthering of our efforts to live and share the truths of the UB, by allowing God to inspire us on the best approach.
The fifth and last topic was the “Method of Jesus”. The Dakar Group explained its approach, given the nature of Senegal which is a country with a large Muslim majority, but which respects all religions. This approach involved highlighting all parts of the Quran (and the Bible for Christians) which could serve as foundation and bridge to reach UB students. This theme was shared with all participants of the summit, and it is directly inspired from the Master. During his incarnation, he focused on the Truths of the “Sacred Books” from the Jewish tradition and others, or active truths found in the beliefs of those he met, in order to lead their conscience towards their soul. The Urantia Book contains many references in this regard (more than one thousand citations from books or previous materials produced by humans). This gathering of diverse students throughout the years finally led teachers of the Dakar Group to gain interest in different approaches in relation with the spirit (esotericism, occultism, Asian approaches…). A second aspect of the life of the Master, which was relevant in the experience of the Dakar Group, was the remarkable effectiveness of prayers for students in spiritual education, as was the case of Jesus for his apostles, for whom he constantly prayed. Lastly, meditation and worship retreats inspired by internal Adjusters from his example were equally productive as far as spiritual support and mental clarification are concerned. As such, more than a historical document, the fourth part of the UB is a practical motivational guide for whoever aspires to be qualified to serve the Father and the Supreme.
In the evening of the fourth day, Mr. Insa Diop, one of the students of an organiser of the summit invited Belgian and Canadian participants of the summit as well as Moustapha and Doudou, representing all members of the Dakar Group, to a dinner at his residence. During this occasion, he shared his experience, responded to questions from Belgian and Canadian friends on his personal spiritual experience and his appraisal of the truths in the UB.
During the summit, Line, together with Agnès and available women of the Dakar Group, organised meetings for discussion and reflection on future prospects concerning the specificities of teaching the UB to women, to support the spread of the truths contained in the UB.
All discussions began and ended with individual prayers for unity and spiritual peace in the world, offered by members present, and prayers of grace for all the divine responses received.
All members present welcome the inroads made during the summit, and hope that these meetings can benefit the entire Urantia Movement.