What are the Seth materials about?

[Deb]

If someone asks you what the Seth materials are about, and what attracts you to them, what do you say?

Yesterday I had lunch with a friend I've had since 1983. She's known I'm a fan of Jane Roberts for a long time, and I was explaining how I'd ended up with Mary Dillman's research project. She'd never shown any curiosity about my interest in the past, there are many other things we have in common and we've surely been through a lot over the decades and been there for each other.

Normally with people who ask, I give an extremely abbreviated version of the Seth materials: I consider it in the category of philosophy (as opposed to science or religion), it's about the nature of reality, we make our own reality based on our beliefs, which can be considered the filters through which we see reality and I play down the channeling aspect. I also say that in my life, the Seth materials make more sense to me than anything I've come across in my past.

She looked like I might have speaking to her in Russian, and could not relate to a thing I said. I'm not the kind of person to try to convert or convince someone of anything, and the good news is that despite the fact that it appears she thinks I'm completely Looney Tunes, we are still friends after the conversation.

But I'm curious what others say when this question comes up.

[usmaak]

I try to put it in terms that might make sense to them.  Something like.

"You know The Secret?  Well it's like that.  It's about the Law of Attraction, but it is from a legitimate source and wasn't copied and pasted so someone can make millions of dollars selling books and movies."

Everyone who's alive has heard of The Secret and the Law of Attraction after all. 

[Sena]

Normally with people who ask, I give an extremely abbreviated version of the Seth materials: I consider it in the category of philosophy (as opposed to science or religion), it's about the nature of reality, we make our own reality based on our beliefs, which can be considered the filters through which we see reality and I play down the channeling aspect.

Deb, it seems to me that if we tell someone that, according to Seth, we each have unlimited ability to create our own reality, we are going to meet with scepticism. If we look at the life of Jane Roberts, we can see that CYOR (create your own reality) is a bit of a myth. I do believe that each of us has some limited ability to influence reality, but we need to take into account the intentions of the Entity to which we belong.

[Deb]

Everyone who's alive has heard of The Secret and the Law of Attraction after all. 

I can see that being helpful for people who have heard of LoA and The Secret.

This is weird, but I'd say the majority of people in my personal life have never heard of them. For some reason many of my friends, relatives and neighbors are pretty traditional in their beliefs and taste in reading materials, and think there's something odd about me for looking beyond tradition.    Thankfully none of my Christian acquaintances have asked me about Seth, I think that would not go well.

Deb, it seems to me that if we tell someone that, according to Seth, we each have unlimited ability to create our own reality, we are going to meet with scepticism. If we look at the life of Jane Roberts, we can see that CYOR (create your own reality) is a bit of a myth.

Even the concept of creating our own reality in any way is foreign to others. And especially to those whose lives are not going well, such as they have serious financial or health issues, family problems, etc. I would never tell someone who is suffering that they created their situation.

Jane did appear to fail with respect to her health issues, but that's from our perspective. She had her own reasons, or her entity did, for her suffering. Jane and Rob were very successful in other ways—I'm just about done editing a timeline of their lives that Mary began and I'll post it on SoS when I'm done. According to that, and through a case of book royalty statements I inherited, they were very successful, but mismanaged their finances. It seems to me that too many of the original Seth folks had financial problems, and I don't know what that's about. Maybe not firmly rooted in the "material" world?

[usmaak]

Jane did appear to fail with respect to her health issues, but that's from our perspective. She had her own reasons, or her entity did, for her suffering.

Yet I seem to remember Seth spending time trying to help her improve her situation.  Right up to the very end.  I might not be recalling it entirely correctly because I haven't read those books in a long time but I remember Seth saying something to the effect of the suffering not being necessary.  Maybe I'm remembering that wrong.

I'm learning from reading the Early Sessions (only on book one right now) that Seth spent a lot of time trying to help Jane and Rob with various issues.  I'm at the point now where he's very hung up on Jane's smoking habit and has predicted several times that she would stop smoking.  I just finished the session where he explains that her smoking is related to past life glutton issues and air gulping.  I guess those predictions didn't go well because I don't remember her quitting that habit.

I have never met anyone who's heard of Seth.  Not that I ask.  But LoA is so mainstream now that many have at least heard of it.  Maybe they haven't actually looked into it but they've heard the phrase used.

[Sena]

Jane did appear to fail with respect to her health issues, but that's from our perspective. She had her own reasons, or her entity did, for her suffering.

Deb, I agree, but most people who want to create their own reality just want a comfortable or even luxurious life. They don't want to accept that we have chosen a human existence as a learning experience.

[usmaak]

Jane did appear to fail with respect to her health issues, but that's from our perspective. She had her own reasons, or her entity did, for her suffering.

Deb, I agree, but most people who want to create their own reality just want a comfortable or even luxurious life. They don't want to accept that we have chosen a human existence as a learning experience.

I think that most people in general want to live a comfortable existence.  I know that I do.  I accept the challenges that I've had as part of living, but I'd prefer to be comfortable.  Just because suffering appears to be part of the human condition doesn't mean that we can't say that suffering sucks.

[Sena]

Just because suffering appears to be part of the human condition doesn't mean that we can't say that suffering sucks.

usmaak, then is it your view that Jane (and/or her entity) did not choose to suffer with her rheumatoid arthritis?

[usmaak]

Just because suffering appears to be part of the human condition doesn't mean that we can't say that suffering sucks.

usmaak, then is it your view that Jane (and/or her entity) did not choose to suffer with her rheumatoid arthritis?

Don't read too much into what I'm saying or not saying.  My statement was that suffering sucks.  I literally said nothing else.

[Deb]

I'm learning from reading the Early Sessions (only on book one right now) that Seth spent a lot of time trying to help Jane and Rob with various issues.  I'm at the point now where he's very hung up on Jane's smoking habit and has predicted several times that she would stop smoking.  I just finished the session where he explains that her smoking is related to past life glutton issues and air gulping.  I guess those predictions didn't go well because I don't remember her quitting that habit.

Yes, Seth did try to help quite a bit. And I think Jane smoked right to the end, I remember reading she was smoking in the hospital!

I have this nagging feeling that Jane was punishing herself with her disease, and she may not have looked at that possibility. Her mother was extremely abusive, more so than has been indicated in the books and interviews. Laurel found This Rich Bed recently, and said if she gets it published she's considering leaving out some of the parts involving Jane's mother because they're so horrible.

Jane probably strongly resented her mother for her entire life (I would have), and that could have made her feel guilt as well, maybe a need for self-punishment. In an obvious way: taking on rheumatoid arthritis, the same auto-immune disease her mother had. The body attacking itself. Her mother could also have often told Jane that she hoped she'd end up with RA herself, a kind of "then you'll understand how much I've suffered." Not all mothers are mature, fair and kind.

On the other hand, I have no idea why Jane went through what she did, so I'll just stop here.

[jbseth]

If someone asks you what the Seth materials are about, and what attracts you to them, what do you say?

Hi Deb, Hi All,

That's an interesting question. Thanks for starting this post. I'm wondering what others will share here as well.

I've run into this myself on several occasions.

For me, I've found that it largely depends upon, the specific person I'm talking to, what I do and don't know about them, and the specific situation that's taking place.

Sometimes, I've approached it from an angle of the odd or strange things that have happened to people (such as recognizing that the phone was going to ring, just before it did, my parent's potential UFO sighting, my father's ghost story, my mother's NDE, etc.) I've found that no matter what people actually believe, many people have had or know of someone who's had a similar type of experience.

Sometimes, I've approached it from an angle of having been on a search for life's answers (why are we here, what is the purpose of life, etc.) and in finding issue with and not being satisfied with the answers from many of the various religions, etc. that I've looked into.

Sometimes, I've approached it exactly like you did.


Sometimes I've been surprised by people. Someone I thought would have thought that I was looney tunes, came back and told me about her NDE experience for example. Other times, someone who I would have thought may have been open to such ideas have told me that they are Catholic, they attend church services quite regularly and that the Catholic belief system is what they believe.

Like a lot of life, I'm not sure that there's any fail proof way of approaching this subject.


- jbseth


     

[Sena]

Jane probably strongly resented her mother for her entire life (I would have), and that could have made her feel guilt as well, maybe a need for self-punishment.

Deb, we can only speculate, but it seems to me that Jane was spiritually advanced enough (especially later in life) not to need to punish herself. It may be that she wanted to indicate to Seth readers that the spiritual path could not be free of suffering.

[LarryH]

Deb, we can only speculate, but it seems to me that Jane was spiritually advanced enough (especially later in life) not to need to punish herself. It may be that she wanted to indicate to Seth readers that the spiritual path could not be free of suffering.

Yes, I think she was also really afraid of being viewed as some sort of perfect saint. She did not want to start a religion. She wanted to be viewed as a normal person who happened to have this particular ability, despite smoking, drinking, swearing, and having health problems. She did share many insights or speculations as to why she had RA. Meanwhile, Seth kept saying that she did not have arthritis. And she was able to move about with greater range of motion while in trance than when not in trance.

[Sena]

Yes, I think she was also really afraid of being viewed as some sort of perfect saint. She did not want to start a religion.

Larry, I agree.

[Kyle]

If someone asks you what the Seth materials are about, and what attracts you to them, what do you say?

Hi Deb,

No one has ever asked me that, but I've recently told some friends about rediscovering Jane/Seth after many years. Well, I mentioned it on my blog and they read it. They were respectful but they could see I am unlikely to adopt their common beliefs about astrological research -- that it should follow the scientific method. I'm not studying the same things they are, and not in the same way.

I believe each has his own impressions of Seth already, which they didn't disclose and I didn't attempt to address. I am no Seth evangelist, which is fine because he would avoid that, I imagine. Anyway, most of them will still be friends with me, I think. But they have seen a new side of me, for sure.

[Deb]

For me, I've found that it largely depends upon, the specific person I'm talking to, what I do and don't know about them, and the specific situation that's taking place.

I take that into consideration too. Many times I tell people the materials are a philosophy and let it go at that.

I am no Seth evangelist, which is fine because he would avoid that, I imagine. Anyway, most of them will still be friends with me, I think. But they have seen a new side of me, for sure.

I guess the best we can hope for is "respectful" and someone still willing to accept us Seth folks, despite our weird and kinky tastes. The friend I mentioned when I started this post found out I was reading a Stephen King book a couple of decades ago and I got the same frownie faces from her for that. We focus more on the things we have in common.

I sometimes feel like we need a Seth folk secret society symbol, like the Christians had their fish, lol. It's a shame we have to be careful, but I guess we really don't have to—it's my choice whether I want to keep some of myself to myself, rather than risk being discounted by friends or family because I look beyond the official line of consciousness. As they say, "embrace your inner eccentric." When I saw Harold and Maude back in the 70s, I decided I wanted to end up like Maude in my old age. Colorful, eccentric and free as a bird. BTW great soundtrack.

Thank you all for your input!

[Tob]

If someone asks you what the Seth materials are about, and what attracts you to them, what do you say?

'The consciousness will expand on your planet, just as it expands for those who go beyond your plane. The scope of consciousness will be so broadened in the future that all personality fragments, split personality images, and even individual fragments in succeeding incarnations, will be held in clear focus without strain. It is toward this that evolution on the earthly plane is headed, though of course with its usual donkey-slow rate. In the meantime, when incarnations on the planet earth are finished the entity moves toward this goal anyway. In any case by the time that this goal is reached on the earthly plane, those who have passed from it will have evolved in ways of which even I can only dream.' (Session No 9)

I think this is a good description of Seth's motivation to 'produce' his books. Tom Campbell is circumscribing something similar, using the terminology of physicists ('reduction of entropy').

[Deb]

The scope of consciousness will be so broadened in the future that all personality fragments, split personality images, and even individual fragments in succeeding incarnations, will be held in clear focus without strain. It is toward this that evolution on the earthly plane is headed, though of course with its usual donkey-slow rate.

Great quote from TES1. It's encouraging to me, while at the same time frustrating because I doubt I'll see much progress in this lifetime. Most of the time it feels like we take two steps back for every step forward. Seth used the term "donkey-slow rate" more than once. I wonder if that slow rate is by design, we're especially dense here on earth, or it's due to our lower rate of vibration. I think we also recognize and get frustrated by our slow progress in this reality because we know or sense more than we realize.

[Tob]

If someone asks you what the Seth materials are about, and what attracts you to them, what do you say?

It looks that I happened to end up somehow on a Seth mailing list run by the 'Seth Institute'. They offer some 'help' in dealing with the 'sinful self'. Must have been Seth classes of a parallel universe. Or maybe a joke.

'Part 1 Awakening, Affirming Your Being and the Transformation of the Sinful Self
Part 2 Awakening, Affirming Your Being and the Transformation of the Sinful Self
In this presentation, Rick Stack, who studied directly with Seth and Jane Roberts in the 1970's, discusses some of the most important concepts and methodology presented in the Seth material, including; how to trigger an awakening to the wisdom of your greater being; the effective use of thoughts, emotions and beliefs to create your ideal life; how negative beliefs can form artificial psychological constructs that can interfere with your health and fulfillment, and how to recognize and transform those constructs.'

[usmaak]

I remember being really annoyed and wanting to skip the so called sinful self material.  I can't remember why now.  Maybe next time I pass through it, I will remember.

[Deb]

It looks that I happened to end up somehow on a Seth mailing list run by the 'Seth Institute'. They offer some 'help' in dealing with the 'sinful self'. Must have been Seth classes of a parallel universe. Or maybe a joke.

Have you ever bought any Seth books, audio, etc. from Rick Stack? He's the one who runs the Seth Center. That' the only way I can imagine you'd be on his mailing list. He does online workshops, such as the Seth Intensive. He's doing the online Global Conference right now.

I was never to keen on the sinful self stuff, I couldn't relate. I figured it was just more of Jane's baggage from her religious background. Original sin never made any sense to me, even as a small child, so I've never really felt sinful.

[Tob]

It looks that I happened to end up somehow on a Seth mailing list run by the 'Seth Institute'. They offer some 'help' in dealing with the 'sinful self'. Must have been Seth classes of a parallel universe. Or maybe a joke.

Have you ever bought any Seth books, audio, etc. from Rick Stack? He's the one who runs the Seth Center. That' the only way I can imagine you'd be on his mailing list. He does online workshops, such as the Seth Intensive. He's doing the online Global Conference right now.

I was never to keen on the sinful self stuff, I couldn't relate. I figured it was just more of Jane's baggage from her religious background. Original sin never made any sense to me, even as a small child, so I've never really felt sinful.

Yes, an open COVID-related course (sequence of 4 free presentations, designed to shuffle people into the commercial follow-up courses.) This approach is fully legitimite, but it became obvious that one of the two presenters stumbled more over his self-complacency and his presentations had basically not much to do with Covid. The inputs delivered by the second person were informative, structured and in a way forward-looking. Worth listening again.

Seth did present the skeleton of his cosmology in TES 2. It is physics, explained coming 'from the other side' ('Skeleton' is the term used by Seth). The skeleton has been presented with the intention to 'put flesh to the bones' over the following sessions (books and years) as soon as the growing understanding of Jane and Robert and the improved technical vocabulary accumulated by both of them allowed it (Seth). To that end Seth recommended explicitely the perusal of books on quantum physics and astronomy.

Ignoring the physics part of the Seth material - up to the present day - and filling the 'vacuum' deliberately with fragments of religious dogma and superficial psychology does not do justice to the consistency of the  'cosmology' and the explanatory system provided by Seth.

You create your universe by creating your own universe (YOUniverse). You are the only one in your universe (Seth). You do that billions of times per second (at the rate of Planck time). And you get the specific version of reality which matches the vibration of your specific belief system at any given moment. Compared to any alternate physical reality where you would find yourself at/in hadn't you decided to change your vibration by changing your belief systems, you are now on a different track/timeline. You are another probable self (Seth). This is physics (Bashar, Seth, Campbell) and 50 years after the class sessions there is no need to resort to outdated formulations and concepts. We are in 2021 now. You can call the physical process 'shifting', and in a way this term DOES help, but any association with a 'sinful self' in the context of Seth is medieval. One cannot explain the Seth material by beginning with the 'sinful self', nor is it possible to resort to such a concept when explaining eg. the 'double slit'-experiment and its profound implications for our understanding of reality. And the particle/wave duality is dealt with by Seth as well on several occasions, generously ignored by the Seth-related literature.

[strangerthings]

If someone asks you what the Seth materials are about, and what attracts you to them, what do you say?

It depends on who it is, where we are, the amount of time I/we have, their age, what kind of stuff they are into themselves, and other factros I would know in the moment.  My answers are always spontaneous and I ask my Inner Self for guidance every time.

I have more than Seth as a resource such as Seth. NLP, Dolores Cannon, Life, My results and experiences, Neville Goddard, Byron Katie, Gregg Braden and many more... so when someone asks me I can steal water from an unteacher lol or use my own stuff.

I have used examples such as being in a hurry because you know you will be late, and hitting all the red lights and trains and longest frikking lines etc to set them up for a conversation about beliefs and expectations.

If I think anything would come from this conversation I may even give them a book (usually Seth Speaks or NOPR) as I tend to search for cheap copies to give away.

If they permit me to send them a link I always start with Gregg Braden and the Divine Matrix. Always. This presentations is layed out in such a way that logical, reasoning and analytical minds can grasp.

I play it by ear!

Sometimes Byron Katie wins the day.

It may not be Seth I share with them but definitely something to help them redirect their conversating mind into mindful right minded thinking for themselves and others. NLP comes in very handy when speaking with others and listening and building rapport ....which are SO VERY important.

We have so many tools we do not have to lay Seth out on table quite yet. When they become hungry for more and ask for more, I give them baby bites lol No way do I pack on the whole enchilada at once. Unless they are in their famine.

Thats what happened to me. I was so hungry for the REAL food spiritually I was in a famine. And Seth was given to me.

I cried through the whole book LOL I felt it in my bones as truth. (Seth Speaks) I was in such a famine I didnt care it was channeled hahahahaha

THANK YOU JANE and ROB YAYYY

[strangerthings]

Jane did appear to fail with respect to her health issues, but that's from our perspective. She had her own reasons, or her entity did, for her suffering.

Deb, I agree, but most people who want to create their own reality just want a comfortable or even luxurious life. They don't want to accept that we have chosen a human existence as a learning experience.

But! At least they know the secret. lol

Its better than not knowing it. And it will be carried with them in their next incarnation and it will be even more expansive!

By all means create luxury bc there isnt a thing wrong with knowing this law and living in luxury!
Use the law test your faith!

As you stated before ... your entity will either allow or not allow what you are working on creating.

[strangerthings]

I sometimes feel like we need a Seth folk secret society symbol

We could use a "dot".

As the present point ... of power.

lol

[strangerthings]

Yes, an open COVID-related course (sequence of 4 free presentations

Yep thats why - you can easily unsubscribe though within that email.

I enjoyed the covid presentation and there is a great affirmation exercise at the end of part 4.

Over 1,000 people attended this webinar! I was thrilled!

The covid link I put it around here somewhere in the forum if anyone is interested.

Its still up and still free : )