Death and the divine comedy

[Sena]

Some may feel that yet another post on death is morbid, but death is one of the most frequent Seth topics. I began thinking about death today as I was reading a very good science fiction novel, "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell. Eight people travel to a distant planet and only one survives. I was thinking, why did Russell have to kill off seven of them?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sparrow_(novel)



I looked up Seth Speaks and found 162 references to death. Here is one which caught my eye:

"When one has been born and has died many times, expecting extinction with each death, and when this experience is followed by the realization that existence still continues, then a sense of the divine comedy enters in. We are beginning to learn the creative joy of play. I believe, for example, that all creativity and consciousness is born in the quality of play, as opposed to work, in the quickened intuitional spontaneity that I see as a constant through all my own existences, and in the experience of those I know. I communicate with your dimension, for example, not by willing myself to your level of reality, but by imagining myself there. All of my deaths would have been adventures had I realized what I know now. On the one hand you take life too seriously, and on the other, you do not take playful existence seriously enough. We enjoy a sense of play that is highly spontaneous, and yet I suppose you would call it responsible play. Certainly it is creative play. We play, for example, with the mobility of our consciousness, seeing how "far" one can send it." (from "Seth Speaks: The Eternal Validity of the Soul (A Seth Book)" by Jane Roberts)

From the Kindle edition: https://amzn.eu/370tkUZ

It is also interesting that the word "comedy" appears in the Seth writings on only 4 occasions:

https://findingseth.com/q/comedy/

I found this article on Seth referring to the divine comedy:

https://realtalkworld.com/2015/03/20/seth-on-the-divine-comedy-of-being-and-creation/

Another article about Seth on that website:

https://www.realtalkworld.com/2019/11/01/seth-the-greatest-spiritual-teacher/

Returning to the book "The Sparrow", it seems to me that the author takes God too seriously, and does not see the divine comedy.

[jbseth]

When one has been born and has died many times, expecting extinction with each death, and when this experience is followed by the realization that existence still continues, then a sense of the divine comedy enters in.

Hi Sena, Hi All,

Wow Sena, I think you've started a fantastic topic here. Thanks for starting this.  




The divine comedy. I think that this is actually a very major secret to how life works.


Let's just say that this is how life works.

1) You never die.

2) When you are born, you forget Step 1. This a fundamental part of how life works.
   
3) You live your life never knowing what happens to you went you die.

4) You die.

5) After you die, you once again remember Step 1.   Repeat.



Without Step 2, I think that perhaps life wouldn't work the way that it does.
Why? Because people wouldn't take life quite so seriously.




Say you find yourself in a boat that's sinking and you're going to drown. 

Your response:  Fine. I'm not worried. I'll just die and then I'll be reborn again, into a new life. 



Say you find yourself in the middle of a fire fight in a war.

Your response: Fine. I'm not worried. I'll just die and then I'll be reborn again, into a new life. 




How different might life actually be, if we all knew for certain that we never die?

-jbseth

[Michael Sternbach]

While I personally believe in the continuing existence of my soul, I do feel attached to my body, the people and animals I care for, some of my belongings, my entire world in fact... And most certainly to the tasks that I feel I have come here to do!

So even though, I (which "I", exactly, though?) may very well survive my physical death, I would not be one to give all that up without a fight...

[Sena]

Without Step 2, I think that perhaps life wouldn't work the way that it does.
Why? Because people wouldn't take life quite so seriously.

jbseth, I agree. "All the world's a stage", but if the actors did not believe in the reality of the play, it would not be interesting.
It seems to me that Seth speaking so much about death is evidence of his genuineness. Many people don't like to be reminded of death.

[leidl]

How would life be different, if we all knew for certain that we would never die? The playfulness Seth encourages would arise more frequently, I'm sure.  But I'm not convinced that I would become cavalier about the end of the self that is typing this, if that self were about to drown or die on the battlefield.  Suffering is still suffering!  Also, emotional attachments between myself and others, even if they are based in ultimately false beliefs about our own transience, are still felt!  The anguish of loss is still a genuine experience.  If I died, others would suffer while their awareness is focused in our shared reality. 

Thus, I don't think my playfulness would extend too far, unless all of my present loved ones shared my belief that we will never die.  Only if these loved ones shared my belief that we can eternally reinvent ourselves, sharing company as much as we wish, could I really sense "the divine comedy" while in this form. 

But still, if I more deeply internalized my belief that I will go on after death, and came to really know it, I do think life would change significantly.  I would no longer feel the slightest concern about the annihilation of my own being.  A lot of energy would be freed up to work on the things I am here to work on.  I would become a wonderfully efficient and far less distracted human being, and I look forward to that. 

[Sena]

Thus, I don't think my playfulness would extend too far, unless all of my present loved ones shared my belief that we will never die.  Only if these loved ones shared my belief that we can eternally reinvent ourselves, sharing company as much as we wish, could I really sense "the divine comedy" while in this form. 

leidl, welcome to the forum.
The reality of life is that not many have accepted the Sethian view that each of us has chosen the moment of death and the mode of death. There are some who think that death means extinction, and others who believe in immortality and a punitive God up there. Again, the Sethian view is that the latter have chosen to experience fear so that the relief when it comes will be all the sweeter.

[jbseth]

How would life be different, if we all knew for certain that we would never die? ...

I do think life would change significantly.  I would no longer feel the slightest concern about the annihilation of my own being.  A lot of energy would be freed up to work on the things I am here to work on.  I would become a wonderfully efficient and far less distracted human being, and I look forward to that. 

Hi leidl, Hi All,

Welcome to the forum leidl. 

I agree, I too think that life would change significantly. I have a friend and she's very Catholic in her thinking. She's terrified of dying because she's convinced that she's going to purgatory at a minimum, when she dies.

In my mind, this is such a "horrible" thing that this church does to its people. If she knew that she wasn't going to burn in purgatory, I think a lot of her life would be significantly impacted by this.

For some people, this fear of death would be completely removed from their lives.
I also think that fear itself would largely go away.


Welcom to the Seth forum.

-jbseth

[Michael Sternbach]

How would life be different, if we all knew for certain that we would never die? ...

I do think life would change significantly.  I would no longer feel the slightest concern about the annihilation of my own being.  A lot of energy would be freed up to work on the things I am here to work on.  I would become a wonderfully efficient and far less distracted human being, and I look forward to that. 

Hi leidl, Hi All,

Welcome to the forum leidl. 

I agree, I too think that life would change significantly. I have a friend and she's very Catholic in her thinking. She's terrified of dying because she's convinced that she's going to purgatory at a minimum, when she dies.

In my mind, this is such a "horrible" thing that this church does to its people. If she knew that she wasn't going to burn in purgatory, I think a lot of her life would be significantly impacted by this.

For some people, this fear of death would be completely removed from their lives.
I also think that fear itself would largely go away.


Welcom to the Seth forum.

-jbseth

I agree. The Church caused an awful lot of harm by promoting the idea of eternal damation.

Seth insists that we create our own experience on any level of reality. A related view is that we find ourselves in the places and situations that we resonate with.

Personally, I believe we may be passing through places of difficulty in the "after life", as we try and work out our unresolved issues. Not unlike what we do during our physical existence, basically. Seth says as much in Seth Speaks, at least the way I get him.

Christianity established its doctrine based on an inkling of that and employed it to plant fear in the minds of its followers, so they would be easier to keep in line.