© 1995 Ken Glasziou
© 1995 The Brotherhood of Man Library
In The Urantia Book, the word unselfish is used as both a noun and an adjective. Its derivatives, the noun unselfishness and the adverb unselfishly, also make an appearance. As a noun, unselfish is associated with religious experience, religious impulse, and religious reflection, as well as with spiritual insight and God-consciousness. As an adjective, there is a difference in the way it is used in Parts 1-3 of the book as compared with Part 4. In the latter, it qualifies service (20 times), devotion (4 times) and good and love once each. In Parts 1-3 unselfish is used to qualify ministry, fellowship, service, love, prayer, and interest in the welfare of our fellows.
In its first appearance in the book, unselfishness is described as the spirit of self-forgetfulness.
“Is unselfishness—the spirit of self-forgetfulness —desirable? Then must mortal man live face to face with the incessant clamoring of an inescapable self for recognition and honor.” (UB 3:5.13)
In the book’s second use of unselfishness, we are told that when the spiritual tests for greatness are applied, unselfishness is the real measure of planetary greatness. (UB 28:6.20) Greatness is further explicated: “Greatness is synonymous with divinity. God is supremely great and good. Greatness and goodness simply cannot be divorced.” (UB 28:6.21) It appears then that unselfishness, implying greatness and goodness, is a quality of the divine nature.
Given these criteria for unselfishness, it seems that “He who would be greatest among you let him first become the most unselfish of all” would make an adequate substitute for those well-known words of Jesus: “He who would be greatest among you let him first become servant of all.” And the answer to the question once put by Jesus, “What is it that defiles a man?” could well have been, “his incessant clamoring for recognition and honor.”
The apostles “learned that many souls can best be led to love the unseen God by being first taught to love their brethren whom they can see. And it was in this connection that new meaning became attached to the Master’s pronouncement concerning unselfish service for one’s fellows: ‘Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least ofmy brethren, you did it to me’.” (UB 155:3.4)
"If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.’
Martin Luther King
Where can we discover a practical revelation that adequately illustrates the meaning of “divine greatness?” The book tells us, “The nature of God can be studied in a revelation of supreme ideas, the divine character can be envisaged as a portrayal of supernal ideals, but the most enlightening and spiritually edifying of all revelations of the divine nature is to be found in the comprehension of the religious life of Jesus of Nazareth, both before and after his attainment of full consciousness of divinity.” (UB 2:0.2)
What was it about Jesus that so impressed the disciple, John? “Those characteristics of Jesus which John most appreciated were the Master’s love and unselfishness; these traits made such an impression on him that his whole subsequent life became dominated by the sentiment of love and brotherly devotion.” (UB 139:4.6) Among the early Christians, John became known as the apostle of love. Tradition has it that he lived beyond his ninetieth year. The Urantia Book has this touching description of his last days, “At Ephesus, when the aged bishop was no longer able to stand in the pulpit to preach but had to be carried to church in a chair, and when at the close of the service he was asked to say a few words to the believers, for years his only utterance was, ‘My little children, love one another.’” (UB 139:4.6)
In its next use in the book, unselfishness is described as the “badge of human greatness,” (UB 140:4.6) after which we are told that, “Love, unselfishness, must undergo a constant and living readaptative interpretation of relationships in accordance with the leading of the Spirit of Truth.” (UB 180:5.10)
The final use of the word unselfishness comes in a remark about the refreshing comfort and liberating power that Christianity brought to spiritually hungry people (the Stoics and members of the mystery cults) whose language had no word for “unselfishness.” (UB 195:3.3)
Those who are in touch with modern theological scholarship will be aware that, even without the aid of The Urantia Book, scholars have demonstrated that it is possible to unravel the essential lessons of the Fourth Epochal Revelation—and the meaning of the life of Jesus as a revelation of the true nature of God. The Urantia Book expands enormously upon our knowledge of the details of Jesus’ life and teachings, but the fact remains that the essentials can be, and have been, unravelled from records other than The Urantia Book. But what about Parts 1-3? What is contained therein that is of unique value to twentieth century humanity?
The answer to the last question may be contained in these words: “Only a glimpse of the circle of eternity can inspire man to do his best and can challenge the best in him to do its utmost. And when man is thus at his best, he lives most unselfishly for the good of others, his fellow sojourners in time and eternity.” (UB 160:2.9)
In The Urantia Book, for the very first time on the planet of Urantia, mankind has a documented account of life beyond the grave. Prior to its receipt, the only reliable knowledge about the afterlife was contained in the few disclosures given to us by Jesus, as recorded in the gospel accounts: “In my Father’s house there are many mansions.” (John 14:2), and “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.” (Matt 22:30)—which amounts to very little. Parts 1-3 of The Urantia Book fill this enormous gap by providing a reasonably detailed account of the Isle of Paradise and the Grand Universe, the hierarchical structure of its administration, an account of our progressive pathway towards the ultimate attainment of the Universal Father, our entry into the Corps of the Finality, and even some speculation on what may lie beyond.
In providing us with this glimpse of the circle of eternity in The Urantia Book, the Revelators have challenged us who possess it to do our utmost to live “most unselfishly for the good of others” in a manner not seen on our planet since the bestowal life of Michael of Nebadon. Such is the privilege of receiving and believing the revelation contained in this precious book.
Many, perhaps most of us Urantia Book readers, have only a vague or inadequate understanding of what it means to have a religious experience, or to be conscious of the presence of the God-within. Some people, such as Paul for example, really strike it big when they get their religious experience—a brilliant light from heaven, a voice calling him by name, and to prove that he was not just hallucinating, striking him blind for three days then restoring his sight at the hands of someone who mistrusted him and did not really want to know him. Now that’s an experience!
On Symbolism
The cross is that high symbol of sacred service, the devotion of one’s life to the welfare and salvation of one 's fellows. … The cross stands as the token of the highest form of unselfish service, the supreme devotion of the full bestowal of the righteous life in the service of wholehearted ministry, even in death, the death of the cross. (UB 188:5.9)
A religious experience is not necessarily that dramatic: “When a moral being chooses to be unselfish when confronted by the urge to be selfish, that is primitive religious experience.” (UB 103:2.8) Not only that—this same unselfish act “embraces the fact of God consciousness.” We do not need to be struck by lightning! “When mind chooses a right moral judgment by an act of the free will, such a decision constitutes a religious experience.” (UB 103:2.8) On the very next page we are told, “the fact remains that the true religious impulse has its origin in genuine spirit presences activating the will to be unselfish” (UB 103:3.1), and two pages later, “the religionist more correctly recognizes that the truly unselfish drive of mortal mind is in response to the inner spirit leadings of the Thought Adjuster.” (UB 103:5.3)
Both the Bible and The Urantia Book inform us that all goodness has its origin in the Father. (UB 8:2.7) It stands to reason then, that every good thought we have ever had, and every good deed that we have ever performed, provide us with the evidence that we are indwelt by the spirit of God and that, at least in our superconscious minds, we have truly listened to His voice. Our awareness of our real spirituality, of the God-within, and our response to that God-within, is further evidenced by the quality of unselfishness as it reveals itself in the fruits of the spirit showing forth in our lives, our increasing involvement in disinterested labor for the welfare of our earthly fellows.
“Spiritual growth is first an awakening to needs, next a discernment of meanings, and then a discovery of values. The evidence of true spiritual development consists in the exhibition of a human personality motivated by love, activated by unselfish ministry, and dominated by the wholehearted worship of the perfection ideals of divinity. And this entire experience constitutes the reality of religion as contrasted with mere theological beliefs.” (UB 100:2.2) When all is said and done, knowing God and being familiar with Him can be a fairly ordinary, down-to-earth, unselfish experience. That is the way it is really meant to be.