~Speaking of Seth~

Quote from: DandelionRegardless of what other people might think about the relationship of Seth, Jane, and Rob,  Jane and Rob appreciated Seth's help.  Sixteen years after Jane's death, Rob wrote, "We deeply appreciated Seth's insights and suggestions about Jane's and my visible and invisible psyches, the challenges we had chosen to create for ourselves in our present lifetimes."  There were also some really telling phrases in the rest of the forward that reflected his appreciation, such as "...Jane's and my struggles to survive before the advent of the Seth material..."

It is unusual for someone who has been abused in childhood to have a fairly stable marital relationship lasting decades. Rob must have been quite a mature, understanding person, and Seth's help seems to have been valuable in ironing out their difficulties. One can imagine that if they had chosen the probable reality of the "York Beach couple" ("thrown-off materializations of your own negative and aggressive feelings"), they would have soon split up and Jane may not have lived even as long as she did.

Dandelion, thanks for your suggestion about Early Sessions #8 - I hope to get that soon.

Quote from: SenaRob must have been quite a mature, understanding person

Based solely on the books I've read (which do include the first 3 Personal Sessions books), that's not how I would describe Rob.  To me, he did seem somewhat rigid and controlling, although perhaps not any more so than many men during that time period.  He also had a pretty negative outlook.  However, his problems were not nearly as severe as Jane's and he also wasn't self-destructive like she was.  I think Rob's qualities helped Jane in some ways but exacerbated her problems in other ways.  For instance, his negative outlook was similar to Jane's, which gave them something in common and created a bond that probably helped their relationship survive during the early part of it, but it also magnified negativity in their lives, making it that much harder for them to break free of it.  Him being rigid at times and controlling actually helped give Jane a certain feeling of stability, but I'm sure it caused problems, too.  Just from the glimpses I've gotten from reading, I suspect their relationship was very complicated and that Seth's help did make a huge difference in its survival and in its improvement as the years passed. 

I don't want to come off as negative about them or their relationship because they both had great strengths as well, such as their commitment to each other and their strong artistic sides which created a positive bond between them, even before the bond created by their work with Seth.  And Rob's artistic side gave him the resources to change and grow, not just as an artist, but as a person.  It was a way he could connect to his inner self that probably wouldn't have been possible if he had been completely ruled by his ego.

Early Sessions #8 and #9 should make what I'm trying to say here a lot clearer.

Quote from: DandelionSession 491 in Early Sessions #9 just added new depth to my understanding about all this.  Seth was comparing our reality to other realities that did not have lots of violence like ours.  He said each of them were set up with different types of controls to prevent it, such as limiting the amount of energy available, allowing less free will, or having automatic short circuits if a person contemplated violence .  Although it resulted in more constructive uses of aggression in those realities, it also resulted in less progress being made because they did not have the same impetus.

This is a fascinating idea for me: the idea of exploring other realities, what the terms of existence are compared to what we accept here as the norm. A real mind-opener.

Quote from: DandelionSome thoughts:  One reason it feels like change is happening slowly is that we use time to slow things down in our world.

Similar to our time delay between "what we concentrate upon" and what we actually materialize. We are learning how to use our tools, our power. If we didn't have time to slow things down, we'd create complete chaos.

I have to say that in the past few days I've felt a need to split the most recent posts off of this topic to a new one as it seems they took on a new life of their own starting about here https://speakingofseth.com/index.php?topic=556.msg6406#msg6406 with talking more about Jane.

But after re-reading this topic top to bottom, I'm not sure whether to do that or not. It may be an opportunity, though, to  get a new topic started that focuses on Jane herself. @Dandelion  and @Sena , you're the two most involved at this point with this topic. What do you think? It may also be a way for me to work in the Silk Roads post, although that one probably also deserves a topic of it's own, maybe "The Illness and Death of Jane Roberts" ? THAT is a loaded topic.

Quote from: DebBut after re-reading this topic top to bottom, I'm not sure whether to do that or not. It may be an opportunity, though, to  get a new topic started that focuses on Jane herself. @Dandelion  and @Sena , you're the two most involved at this point with this topic. What do you think? It may also be a way for me to work in the Silk Roads post, although that one probably also deserves a topic of it's own, maybe "The Illness and Death of Jane Roberts" ? THAT is a loaded topic.

Deb, it seems to me that rather than having a thread dealing with "The Illness and Death of Jane Roberts",it could be subsumed under a broader heading such as "Being in good health".
In Session 485 (Early Sessions #9), Seth gives a very interesting definition of good health:
" (A state of good health) never as a finished product....It is the ability to effectively handle energy in a constructive way for your own benefit and the benefit of others.... To imagine yourself as a channel through which the creativity of the universe can express itself." While according to the medical definition of good health Jane was in very poor health, it could be said that according to Seth's definition she was in very good health because she handled the energy she received from Seth and her own inner self in a constructive way for the benefit of herself and the human race.

Quote from: SenaWhile according to the medical definition of good health Jane was in very poor health, it could be said that according to Seth's definition she was in very good health because she handled the energy she received from Seth and her own inner self in a constructive way for the benefit of herself and the human race.

Excellent point, Sena.  That helped me to understand why I was uncomfortable with the topic heading "The Illness and Death of Jane Roberts."  Seth kept urging Jane and Rob to not focus on her symptoms but rather to focus on health, so a title focusing on her illness is counterintuitive to Seth's basic concepts. 

Another possibility would be to split some of our comments off under a general heading of "Jane and Rob" (and maybe put it under Discussions???).  But I'd also like to add that I think I'm pretty much done with discussing them.  I'm very aware that anything I have to say about them is only speculation since I didn't know either of them.  I usually try to only comment about them or their relationship in connection to the material--how they affected the content or used it in their own lives, so I did get off-track here.

I'm sorry for the digression.  I've been the administrator on a message board, so I appreciate the need for organization and the challenge of maintaining it.  And I'm perfectly comfortable with you making a decision based on your vision of the board and the best structure for implementing it.

Quote from: Senait could be said that according to Seth's definition she was in very good health because she handled the energy she received from Seth and her own inner self in a constructive way for the benefit of herself and the human race.

Quote from: DandelionExcellent point, Sena.  That helped me to understand why I was uncomfortable with the topic heading "The Illness and Death of Jane Roberts."  Seth kept urging Jane and Rob to not focus on her symptoms but rather to focus on health, so a title focusing on her illness is counterintuitive to Seth's basic concepts. 

Thanks to both of you for your input. Spot on.
And no worries about digressing from the topic at hand, I'm not much a control freak and want this forum to take on a life of its own. It's just that once in a while I see the opportunity to split a topic so people can find things when they need them.
I'll just leave things as they are right now.

I've really been enjoying reading your posts. You are both intellectuals, well-read and understand the Seth materials very well. It helps me to understand more, and prompts me (and others, namely Sena) to buy and read more Seth books. I wish Rick Stack had understood that when he found out I had the idea to start this forum and reacted negatively.

@Dandelion, the forum error log has been recording cryptic error messages occasionally when you use partial quotes in your posts. Have you noticed anything unusual when you post? Any error messages or problems? I'm just trying to trouble-shoot.

Quote from: Dandelion
Session 491 in Early Sessions #9 just added new depth to my understanding about all this.  Seth was comparing our reality to other realities that did not have lots of violence like ours.  He said each of them were set up with different types of controls to prevent it, such as limiting the amount of energy available, allowing less free will, or having automatic short circuits if a person contemplated violence .  Although it resulted in more constructive uses of aggression in those realities, it also resulted in less progress being made because they did not have the same impetus.  So ultimately, not only was it more difficult for them to learn how to handle large amounts of energy, but learning was very slow to occur, and the big challenge in those realities was to not just coast along, maintaining the status quo.

In our reality, we have a lot more creative energy (aggressive energy) available.  That's reflected even in our natural world which uses great bursts of energy to make sudden, rapid changes.  We also have free will which gives us more options in how we use our energy.  So we are actually learning how to use energy more rapidly than those other realities.  (We, apparently, are "more venturesome, more daring"  And also impatient.)

Some thoughts:  One reason it feels like change is happening slowly is that we use time to slow things down in our world.  This gives us "time" to change direction—something which is very important when we're learning to handle large amounts of aggressive energy.  Slowing things down may also have the effect of reducing the intensity of the energy so that it doesn't overwhelm or kill our physical bodies.

Speculation in connection to Jane and her problems:  In many sessions, Seth mentions that Jane was handling immense amounts of energy.  The dilemma that everybody has is how to handle aggressive energy.  If you tamp it down, you are not fulfilling your potential.  Besides that, suppression is liable to lead to explosive expressions of aggression.  But how do you express it without any of it being directed against others?  Sometimes you direct it against yourself as the only "safe" alternative.  A person may be especially prone to doing this if they've had a difficult childhood where they were continually devalued and made aware of all the things that were wrong with them.  In Jane's case, she did multiple things to handle the immense amount of energy she had, like tamp it down to a certain extent, express some of it in her writing, and exert strong control over her spontaneous self.  But she also directed a lot of her aggression against herself.  As she loosened up in some areas, like allowing herself more spontaneity, she released even more energy, some of which was added to the energy that she directed against herself, thus creating her multiple physical problems.

Seth then continues on that topic of violence / non-violence and the extremes of the some Lumanians who found they could not handle the energy.

~~~
Seth, session 562 & 563, excerpts:
"It seems to you that you have, perhaps, but one chance as a species to solve your problems, or be destroyed by your own aggression, by your own lack of understanding and spirituality. As you are given many lives in which to develop and fulfill your abilities, so has the species in those terms been allotted more than the single line of historical development with which you are presently acquainted.
The reincarnational structure is but one facet in the whole picture of probabilities. In it you have literally as much time as you need, to develop those potentials that you must develop, before leaving the reincarnational existences."

"On your planet...were...three particular civilizations long before the time of Atlantis; when, in fact, your planet itself was in a somewhat different position."
"The strength of this second civilization lay mainly in the areas now known as Africa and Australia, although at that time not only was the climate entirely different, but the land areas."

"This civilization, therefore, left the natives that surrounded them in peace. They did send out members of their own group, however, to live with the natives and intermarry, hoping peacefully to thus alter the physiology of the species.

The energy, often in your time given over to violence, went instead into other pursuits, but began to turn against them. They were not learning to deal with violence or aggression. They were attempting to short-circuit it physically, and this they found had complications."
"The civilization was called Lumania, (spelled out), and the name itself went down in legend and was used again at a later time.
The Lumanians were a very thin, weakly people, physically speaking, but psychically either brilliant or completely ungifted. In some, you see, the built in controls caused so many blockages of energy in all directions that even their naturally high telepathic abilities suffered."

"Large groups, however, simply left their cities, destroyed the force fields that had enclosed them, and joined the many groups of relatively uncivilized peoples, mating with them and bearing children. These Lumanians died quickly, for they could not bear violence nor react to it violently."
~~~

Bold emphasis added by me.
I've often felt a connection the Lumanians, well the non-violent ones here that Seth talks about, and the dead end of extreme non-violence they experienced, that is extreme in-action or blocking of energy.

In this lifetime (so far)  I've been very thin, physically weak and hyper-sensitive emotionally and intuitive.  I've looked into all types of violence and really gone deeply into that topic. To supplement my old habit of "weak, thin" I used the new energy of "strong, resourceful" both mentally and physically, building my body up stronger and learning to balance my at times almost manic / bipolar and similar to autistic tendencies (energies) through disciplined exercise and meditation in equal measure.
Now sometimes I feel quite repulsed at how weak and ineffective I was when I was younger. But then that gentleness comes that Lumanian type self, and while at times I fell oh how weak and useless they must be, there is also great strength in gentleness and compassion. To fight is easy, to be gentle take real courage and strength. But I had to experiences both extremes to fully understand this. Now I only have love for any self that pokes their head out from behind the multidimensional camouflage curtain. Violent murderer, extreme pacifist, they are all part of my larger self, and I'm here to understand rather than judge any of them and see what I can learn from them.

Quote from: Deb@Dandelion, the forum error log has been recording cryptic error messages occasionally when you use partial quotes in your posts. Have you noticed anything unusual when you post? Any error messages or problems? I'm just trying to trouble-shoot.

I haven't noticed any problems at all and my posts always look the way I intended.  I feel like I'm pretty consistent in how I post so I'm not sure why there would be a problem with some and not all of them.  Most of the time I do write up my thoughts on MS Word to organize them and then copy and paste, preview, and do a little more editing before finally posting them.  But again, I've never gotten an error message or had a problem on my end.  Maybe you could message me if it happens again and I could look at the specific post to see what, if anything, I did differently.

Quote from: Batfan007I've often felt a connection the Lumanians, well the non-violent ones here that Seth talks about, and the dead end of extreme non-violence they experienced, that is extreme in-action or blocking of energy.

In this lifetime (so far)  I've been very thin, physically weak and hyper-sensitive emotionally and intuitive.  I've looked into all types of violence and really gone deeply into that topic. To supplement my old habit of "weak, thin" I used the new energy of "strong, resourceful" both mentally and physically, building my body up stronger and learning to balance my at times almost manic / bipolar and similar to autistic tendencies (energies) through disciplined exercise and meditation in equal measure.
Now sometimes I feel quite repulsed at how weak and ineffective I was when I was younger. But then that gentleness comes that Lumanian type self, and while at times I fell oh how weak and useless they must be, there is also great strength in gentleness and compassion. To fight is easy, to be gentle take real courage and strength. But I had to experiences both extremes to fully understand this. Now I only have love for any self that pokes their head out from behind the multidimensional camouflage curtain. Violent murderer, extreme pacifist, they are all part of my larger self, and I'm here to understand rather than judge any of them and see what I can learn from them.

You must have had confidence in your inner strength and abilities to not only cope with these extremes but to actually learn and grow from them or you wouldn't have set up this current life situation for yourself.  And if one of your incarnations was as a Lumanian, then you've made tremendous progress in learning how to handle energy.

This principle applies to myself, as well.  My challenges have mostly been psychological—bad childhood, low self-esteem, feelings of alienation, chronic depression, etc.  But no matter how overwhelmed or hopeless I felt at times, I never gave up.  And now, with the help of the Seth books, I am consolidating what I have learned and growing from it, and I can see how the life situation I set up created this opportunity for growth.  (Of course, my ego is still griping about having spent so much of my life being semi-miserable and thinks I should have learned much faster than I did.)

This can also be applied to Jane and everybody else, as individuals and as part of this world with all the extremes in it and all the daily dramas that reflect the huge amounts of aggressive energy in this reality.  We must have believed we could handle it and learn from it or we wouldn't be here.

still griping about having spent so much of my life being semi-miserable and thinks I should have learned much faster than I did.)

I think about that too.  It seems that I've been in suspended animation all my life and have been gradually thawed out this past 18 months.  It all seems externally planned .   

Quote from: DandelionThat doesn't mean the personality will work them out, but rather that they have the capability of doing so.  Furthermore, it is not the intent of the inner self to make life so easy that it presents no challenge to the personality, no opportunity for learning and growth.  So generally, the greater the abilities an individual has, the greater the challenges they will have throughout their entire life.

Quote from: DandelionWe must have believed we could handle it and learn from it or we wouldn't be here.

Quote from: Dandelionbad childhood

For some reason this is finally hitting home for me for the first time. I mean, I've grasped this before, but only recently I've been gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation for the process. I had a bad childhood too, enough that anything else that was thrown my way after getting out of that house was considered a cakewalk. That's probably attributable more to my perspective, age and helplessness in childhood. There were many times I thought it would never end, but I still hung in there (fantasizing that I would find out I was adopted and my real family would find me,lol). Again, though, the concept of those children who had bad childhoods, at such a tender age and without the tools we have to cope as adults, yes: "we must have believed we could handle it." We did.

Quote from: Deb"There will be a time, not so far from now, that you will look back on this phase of your life and instead of condemning it or beating up on it... instead of blaming or guilting, you will feel appreciation for it, because you will understand that a renewed desire for life was born out of this time period that will bring you to physical heights that you could not have achieved without the contrast that gave birth to this desire."
~Abraham-Hicks

Sometimes it takes quite a while for understanding to catch up with intellectual knowledge.  I think Seth was well aware of the challenge of us assimilating these concepts, so he went back to them over and over, explaining them from a slightly different perspective and expanding them just a little bit each time.  For instance, right before Session 498 in ES#9, Rob had gone on a bit of a rant about the news media and the state of the world.  Seth reminded him of the importance of maintaining perspective and again went into an explanation of what we're trying to accomplish in this reality and how we are going about it.

I have some more thoughts about this but they would be more appropriate under "Problems and Perspectives" so I'll try to get them organized and clarified so I can post them there.

Quote from: BethAnneIt all seems externally planned

I don't know if it's because externals are particularly favorable (some change in energy perhaps) or if it's just because I'm in a productive phase in my own life, but between the discussions and questions posted on this message board and what I've been reading, I've been having new insights pretty much every day.

Being this age is great (64) because you have the perspective of time to see how every thing worked out. 

Quote from: Dandelion

Quote from: Deb@Dandelion, the forum error log has been recording cryptic error messages occasionally when you use partial quotes in your posts. Have you noticed anything unusual when you post? Any error messages or problems? I'm just trying to trouble-shoot.

I haven't noticed any problems at all and my posts always look the way I intended.  I feel like I'm pretty consistent in how I post so I'm not sure why there would be a problem with some and not all of them.  Most of the time I do write up my thoughts on MS Word to organize them and then copy and paste, preview, and do a little more editing before finally posting them.  But again, I've never gotten an error message or had a problem on my end.  Maybe you could message me if it happens again and I could look at the specific post to see what, if anything, I did differently.

Quote from: Batfan007I've often felt a connection the Lumanians, well the non-violent ones here that Seth talks about, and the dead end of extreme non-violence they experienced, that is extreme in-action or blocking of energy.

In this lifetime (so far)  I've been very thin, physically weak and hyper-sensitive emotionally and intuitive.  I've looked into all types of violence and really gone deeply into that topic. To supplement my old habit of "weak, thin" I used the new energy of "strong, resourceful" both mentally and physically, building my body up stronger and learning to balance my at times almost manic / bipolar and similar to autistic tendencies (energies) through disciplined exercise and meditation in equal measure.
Now sometimes I feel quite repulsed at how weak and ineffective I was when I was younger. But then that gentleness comes that Lumanian type self, and while at times I fell oh how weak and useless they must be, there is also great strength in gentleness and compassion. To fight is easy, to be gentle take real courage and strength. But I had to experiences both extremes to fully understand this. Now I only have love for any self that pokes their head out from behind the multidimensional camouflage curtain. Violent murderer, extreme pacifist, they are all part of my larger self, and I'm here to understand rather than judge any of them and see what I can learn from them.

You must have had confidence in your inner strength and abilities to not only cope with these extremes but to actually learn and grow from them or you wouldn't have set up this current life situation for yourself.  And if one of your incarnations was as a Lumanian, then you've made tremendous progress in learning how to handle energy.

This principle applies to myself, as well.  My challenges have mostly been psychological—bad childhood, low self-esteem, feelings of alienation, chronic depression, etc.  But no matter how overwhelmed or hopeless I felt at times, I never gave up.  And now, with the help of the Seth books, I am consolidating what I have learned and growing from it, and I can see how the life situation I set up created this opportunity for growth.  (Of course, my ego is still griping about having spent so much of my life being semi-miserable and thinks I should have learned much faster than I did.)

This can also be applied to Jane and everybody else, as individuals and as part of this world with all the extremes in it and all the daily dramas that reflect the huge amounts of aggressive energy in this reality.  We must have believed we could handle it and learn from it or we wouldn't be here.

I very much enjoy reading your posts and of your experiences. I went through a number of those things you mentioned, I won't bore people with the details but from my current perspective I can the benefit of all of the worst of the worst times.
It took me well over a decade to feel like im no longer manic with energy, mostly through yoga and meditation and martial arts.

Sometimes I get so much psychic/inner data I have to block it out for a bit so I focus on whatever I have to get done here and now.
There are many more adventures ahead, if I was not bound to things like working for the old food clothing shelter game, I could focus more on the life of the mind. However I am grateful to live such a good life where my basic needs are taken care of and I am not spending every day hunting and gathering etc.

I've noticed that the news (TV News, especially) is designed to excite and incite fear.   If you listen to the voices of the newscasters you'll hear an urgency--almost a panic in their voices as they recite even the most normal of events.  If you watch the news lead-ins you'll also notice that they are almost exclusively the most dramatic stories, designed to grab your attention and get your blood going so that you'll watch the rest.  For a long time I'd watch without realizing how it raised my pulse rate or understanding even why, but then I began to listen to the voices and inflections rather than the words they were saying.  So a big part of the problem in TV news is that it is designed to excite and generate fear.  News in the press is similar--many papers highlight the parts of seeming innocuous stories that are the most sensational and fear-inducing.  I think the trick in watching or reading the news is to look at it for what it is--entertainment of a kind of dark and distorted sort.  Certainly there are some factual basis for the stories themselves, and certainly many are tragic personal and mass events.  But the trick is to see them in that context and own them as part of the human experiment.    I believe that the response we have to these stories helps to change them.  If we experience fear and anxiety we generate energy and thought forms that reinforce those aspects of the events.  If we send peace, love and compassion we may actually be able to moderate some of the negativity surrounding those events.  If we take them in fearfully we can generate anxiety and a sense of unease in our own lives reinforcing the ideas that it is an unsafe world full of negativity that we live in.  Like everything in life the trick is to remain mindful of our reactions, thoughts and beliefs and create even our mental responses in the present...

I've noticed exactly the samethings about the news. They ramp up the volume, start with Breaking News (that usually isn't), and always play their inflection games. And about 99% zeroes in on all of the negatives. No good news out there?? Really!! My wife likes to watch it so I usually read and tune it out, go play with the pc or go outside.

Quote from: caaronI've noticed that the news (TV News, especially) is designed to excite and incite fear.   If you listen to the voices of the newscasters you'll hear an urgency--almost a panic in their voices as they recite even the most normal of events.

Boy, I sure have to agree with you on that. I can't even multi-task if the news is on in the background, the excited voices break my concentration. I guess they have to do something to get people excited enough to watch.

Your opinion of how we respond to the news is exactly what Seth said--our responses have an effect. One thing I've never understood about people is why most are so fascinated with bad news, accidents, loss, the whole morbid curiosity thing, in the first place. If that's innate in humans, I wonder for what purpose? I understand the function of curiosity, but if I had a dollar for every time I got stuck in horrendous traffic because people are rubbernecking a flat tire or minor accident... well you know.

Quote from: DebOne thing I've never understood about people is why most are so fascinated with bad news, accidents, loss, the whole morbid curiosity thing, in the first place. If that's innate in humans, I wonder for what purpose?

I honestly don't know what drives that curiosity.  Perhaps it is our conditioning or some kind of perversion of the drive to empathize with others.  It is an interesting question though...

Quote from: caaron
I've noticed that the news (TV News, especially) is designed to excite and incite fear.   If you listen to the voices of the newscasters you'll hear an urgency--almost a panic in their voices as they recite even the most normal of events.  If you watch the news lead-ins you'll also notice that they are almost exclusively the most dramatic stories, designed to grab your attention and get your blood going so that you'll watch the rest.  For a long time I'd watch without realizing how it raised my pulse rate or understanding even why, but then I began to listen to the voices and inflections rather than the words they were saying.  So a big part of the problem in TV news is that it is designed to excite and generate fear.  News in the press is similar--many papers highlight the parts of seeming innocuous stories that are the most sensational and fear-inducing.  I think the trick in watching or reading the news is to look at it for what it is--entertainment of a kind of dark and distorted sort.  Certainly there are some factual basis for the stories themselves, and certainly many are tragic personal and mass events.  But the trick is to see them in that context and own them as part of the human experiment.    I believe that the response we have to these stories helps to change them.  If we experience fear and anxiety we generate energy and thought forms that reinforce those aspects of the events.  If we send peace, love and compassion we may actually be able to moderate some of the negativity surrounding those events.  If we take them in fearfully we can generate anxiety and a sense of unease in our own lives reinforcing the ideas that it is an unsafe world full of negativity that we live in.  Like everything in life the trick is to remain mindful of our reactions, thoughts and beliefs and create even our mental responses in the present...

Back in high school I did media studies and our teacher covered this sort of stuff.
The news is a well constructed fiction, a psychic drama that seems almost like an attention parasite.
When our nervous systems are constantly over stimulated we can't think straight, we react from fear and exaggerations and lose our centre of wisdom.
Fear keep us rooted in physicality, and rightly so for genuine threats but most of our daily threats are wild exaggerstions that our body and nervous system treats as life or death

I'm going through an anxious phase and have lots to sort out, and so have given up on the news again. At breakfast I try to catch the weather forecast on TV  (just to help me to decide what to wear for the day!!  )  but that's about it and have stopped watching political shows, which I used to enjoy in a not so healthy way. I did watch some of the BBC and Channel 4 coverage of the Rio Olympics and Paralympics, as it was very positive and the UK did really well, but otherwise...nah. It's the same doom and gloom stuff, on radio and TV, repeated ad nauseum.

My energy therapist doesn't watch the news and that has definitely made me re-think what I am giving my attention to in the media.

You could try reading online news from things like BBC (and other more factual sites) for example which are less sensational, and with text you can just stop reading, you don't hear all the bells and whistles and volume spikes of TV and radio "spews"

also with weather, you can just type in where you live in an search engine plus "weather" or "forecast" and get the info without everything else along with it.

Currently raining heavy here, I just made a mad dash from the park to the bank after walking in between the heavy showers.

Quote from: Batfan007
You could try reading online news from things like BBC (and other more factual sites) for example which are less sensational, and with text you can just stop reading, you don't hear all the bells and whistles and volume spikes of TV and radio "spews"

also with weather, you can just type in where you live in an search engine plus "weather" or "forecast" and get the info without everything else along with it.

Currently raining heavy here, I just made a mad dash from the park to the bank after walking in between the heavy showers.

Online is fine, but it's impersonal and sometimes I like to see a weather presenter with a changing map of the country.

The BBC etc has more than enough bad news stories on its website too. And for really negative perspectives, BTL commentators are champions! 

Interesting subject.

For my part, I haven't been interested in any kind of news for almost all my life. I had no TV, didn't read the newspapers either. You always find out about big events. As most of you, I thought the news focused on only the bad stuff and it didn't represent what I thought as a good portrait of a more global reality.

But lately there has been a twist. I still do not like reading or hearing about the bad stuff in the news, but I also see a more positive reaction with globalization, and it feels me up with hope and faith in humanity. People with a bad agenda are exposed, and with every act of violence there is an uprise of people around the world. Tactics aren't always the best, but people seem to be waking up and REACTING. Both sides of the balance seem to be rising quickly: on one side people that are scared and prone racism , segragation and violence, on the other side people who prone living together, being all as one big race-human, violence is not the solution. People are grouping up to say: " hey! Enough with this crap! We want to live in a world that accepts everybody for who they are". And I find that inspiring.

So for that reason, I am a bit more prone to watch the news through social media- as a reader I can pick and choose what type of news I want to read. I like finding people who are trying to reach out to others to create a more beautiful place to live. I try to make a difference in my area, and I let myself be inspired by the creativity of others around the world.

Has anybody else noticed this?

Quote from: BumblebeeSo for that reason, I am a bit more prone to watch the news through social media- as a reader I can pick and choose what type of news I want to read. I like finding people who are trying to reach out to others to create a more beautiful place to live. I try to make a difference in my area, and I let myself be inspired by the creativity of others around the world.

Bumblebee, thanks for putting this so clearly. I agree with your approach. I think that because of what Seth and others have revealed to us, we have reason to be optimistic.

Quote from: Wren

Quote from: Batfan007
You could try reading online news from things like BBC (and other more factual sites) for example which are less sensational, and with text you can just stop reading, you don't hear all the bells and whistles and volume spikes of TV and radio "spews"

also with weather, you can just type in where you live in an search engine plus "weather" or "forecast" and get the info without everything else along with it.

Currently raining heavy here, I just made a mad dash from the park to the bank after walking in between the heavy showers.

Online is fine, but it's impersonal and sometimes I like to see a weather presenter with a changing map of the country.

The BBC etc has more than enough bad news stories on its website too. And for really negative perspectives, BTL commentators are champions! 

What's a BTL? I don't follow any kind of news stuff.

Old topic, but I came across this news article today, about watching the news. The article is old too, from 2013, so in my mind a perfect match.

"News is bad for you — and giving up reading it will make you happier." It makes some good points.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/apr/12/news-is-bad-rolf-dobelli

The only news that is good for me:

http://batman-news.com/

Here's another perspective from Seth about the news.  The quote is from Personal Sessions #5, Session dated 8/30/78 (pg. 3).  He talks first about several issues:  about how slanted it is, how negative the focus is and the need to individually focus on other, positive things outside of the news, about how things are not actually worse, they're just more out in the open.  Then he explains  one of the reasons (what I would call "a big picture" reason) behind all this focusing on bad news, bringing it out into the open.

"This barrage is meant to push consciousness in its official stance nearly to desperation, so that it opens other doorways of awareness, and extends itself into the intuitional realms, giving itself greater insight, and providing 'an extra band' of communication--the merging of man's innate 'psychic' abilities with his normally attuned consciousness.  The effort then is meant to release another kind of intelligence for which man is innately equipped."

Nice...

Quote from: Dandelion"This barrage is meant to push consciousness in its official stance nearly to desperation, so that it opens other doorways of awareness, and extends itself into the intuitional realms, giving itself greater insight, and providing 'an extra band' of communication--the merging of man's innate 'psychic' abilities with his normally attuned consciousness.  The effort then is meant to release another kind of intelligence for which man is innately equipped."

Thanks Dandelion. Excellent quote.

Seems to relate to humans changing as an almost unrecognisable species, as Sena's thread (in Discussions) regarding reincarnation and probabilities referred to.

I also remember reading a Seth passage that mentions the massive population explosion we are experiencing, and how it acts as a psychic push for mankind's greater abilities. I can't remember the quote number, as it was a facebook post. (I know it's not quite on topic, but it popped in my head as relating to Dandelion's quote)

Len

Somehow I forgot about this one from Seth:

"Your thoughts and beliefs and desires form the events that you view on television. If you want to change your world, you must first change your thoughts, expectations, and beliefs. If every reader of this book changed his or her attitudes, even though not one law was rewritten, tomorrow the world would have changed for the better. The new laws would follow. (Long pause at 9:48.) Any new law always follows the change in belief. It is not the other way around."

Mass Events, Session 873
Thanks to Ejay on Facebook for the reminder.

Quote from: strangerthings
Reality is always better than the story we are believing about it. - Byron Katie

Thanks, nice quote.

Quote from: strangerthings
When you DO catch your thoughts and beliefs what do you say to yourself? Do you beat yourself up mentally with the story you tell yourself? If so, you could try to redirect that inner dialogue with general statements.

A Neville Goddard quote may be useful here:

"The Principle of Least Action governs everything in physics..... Least Action is the minimum of energy, multiplied by the minimum of time. Therefore, in moving from your present state to the state desired, you must use the minimum of energy and take the shortest possible time.... Because creation is finished, what you desire already exists. It is excluded from view because you can only see the contents of your own consciousness."

Found another pertinent quote a while ago, underlines are Seth's:

"The tragedies of the newspapers are symbols.... Those symbols represent 'real' tragedies, but those tragedies do not exist in your moment unless you are participating in them.

"Those who are involved in such tragedies feel a sense of hopelessness and the loss of power in the present—and you do not help them by taking on the guise of hopelessness!

"What I am saying this evening is indeed simplified . . . but you must operate from strength, not from weakness. When you stand upon a firm shore, you can extend your arm to the man who is in quicksand.

"You cannot help him by leaping into the quicksand with him, for surely both of you will go down—and he will not thank you!

"Then we're doing that as a nation?" Warren asked.

"Individually—as you read your paper, as you watch your television,' Seth replied, 'whenever you look around you and say, 'Other men are fools'; whenever you look around you and say 'The race is ruining itself—it is insane'; you are doing the same thing—you are jumping into the quicksand, and you cannot help.

"Organize your reality according to your strength; organize your reality according to your playfulness; according to your dreams; according to your joy; according to your hopes—and then you can help those who organize their reality according to their fears."

Conversations With Seth, Chapter 20

Quote from: Deb
"Organize your reality according to your strength; organize your reality according to your playfulness; according to your dreams; according to your joy; according to your hopes—and then you can help those who organize their reality according to their fears." Conversations With Seth, Chapter 20

Oh that's great Deb. I like that.

jbseth

*bump*
😁

Quote from: strangerthings
*bump*
😁

St, thanks for bumping this thread.
I do miss Dandelion, Batfan, Jim, BethAnn, and Wren.

@Sena me too!
I never met Beth but everyone else yes.
Also so many goodies above!

Quote from: KylePierce
When someone says they get their news on social media (or just on FB) I have never been able to make sense of that statement. I've been on FB for a decade and I can't think of a single time when something that would qualify as an actual news item (as in national news, world news, etc.) ever showed up for my viewing pleasure. Not even once.

So, what do they mean? Do they read stuff that their friends shared or posted, and then call that "news"?

Amen!

I read a book several years ago, Don't Make Me Think, that was about web design but I took it further. Many people do not want or have time to think, would rather go with the flow, move on to focus on other things going on in their lives. Maybe creatures of habit (ala Who Moved My Cheese ? Never read it, but it feels right). There's also "believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see."

Personally I don't trust just one news source, or the mainstream ones. I always play Devil's Advocate with myself because I think ALL news sources are biased, and I think I have developed a pretty good BS-o-meter at this point. Many people never read past the sensational headlines, and if they do, only the first few sentences of the article, and the press knows that. So the parts close to actual news are buried pretty far down on the page—and missed.

Facebook is certainly not a place to get the truth, it's all personal opinion, as are most news sources.

I still keep in touch with @Bumblebee on occasion on FB. I don't think she's as into Seth as she was. @Batfan / John Sorenson decided to concentrate on his own blog. @Jim had some things come up, he also stopped posting on FB, so I don't know where he is now. @Wren just stopped posting. @BethAnne and @Len Kopf as well. All great members, all very much missed. But they may return some day, even if just for a cameo appearance. 

PS If you see "guest" under someone's name to the left of their post, that means they've deleted their account and will not get any notifications from SoS. I don't think any of the above members deleted their accounts.

Quote from: jbseth

Quote from: Deb
"Organize your reality according to your strength; organize your reality according to your playfulness; according to your dreams; according to your joy; according to your hopes—and then you can help those who organize their reality according to their fears." Conversations With Seth, Chapter 20

Oh that's great Deb. I like that.

jbseth

I love love love this book! If whomever doesnt have it ....get it lol
If you can get it try to get it from new awareness. It really does support the great work. If you buy it from amzn it does not support them. 😁 Its like buying music from its creator or amzn. Who benefits most by buying directly from the source? (Shout out)

Hey Deb! Glad you tagged me in a post. I had lost the address of this site. Still into Seth big time, but I read the books very slow and try to apply or find people who apply his teaching (not necessarily people who follow Seth but have the same way of viewing things). In the past 2 years, I've been trying to get rid of my limiting beliefs. It's a long process. I have worked with Dr. Burns book " The feeling good handbook" and also recently exploring Mr. Joe Dispenza's meditating method. I've also done a bit of shamanic journeying (still am when I need guidance). I am currently still reading " The Nature of the Psyche". I've been on it for more than a year. I've finished " the Way to Health", "Seth Speaks" and "the Nature of Personal Reality" ( which I read twice). I'm going at turtle pace but still eating up the stuff. His vision is the most complete I have found so far and the one that makes the most sense to me. I think I'm a fan for life!

Sorry for the intrusion on this subject! So to balance things up, here is my input on the subject:

For my part, I don't really watch the news. I keep informed indirectly on what is happening, the big lines only. I find it hard to stay focused on a positive and hopeful outcome if I listen to everything negative that is going on daily. Even though I like to focus on and create a personal reality full of solutions, it helps to know a little bit about what is going on with the rest of the world in order to be able to help.

@Bumblebee

Woohoo!

🤗❤️

Mmmm Nature of the Psyche made me so mad when I read it the first time ! 🤣
I was so so pissed off after reading it I swore I would never read it again harharhar

Nothin like a grand wake up call 🤣🥰

I feel such joy seeing you here!

Quote from: Bumblebee
Hey Deb! Glad you tagged me in a post. I had lost the address of this site. Still into Seth big time, but I read the books very slow and try to apply or find people who apply his teaching (not necessarily people who follow Seth but have the same way of viewing things).

Hi Bumblebee, so nice to hear from you again! I was hoping you'd get a notification. Awesome that you're still into the Seth materials. I tend to read the books slowly too, and switch back and forth between them. Last summer I got into listening to the audio versions from YouTube. I spent a lot of time walking and biking due to covid, and got thru a few. Had a hard time not drifting during Jane's Psychic Politics, though, lol.

Quote from: Bumblebee
For my part, I don't really watch the news. I keep informed indirectly on what is happening, the big lines only. I find it hard to stay focused on a positive and hopeful outcome if I listen to everything negative that is going on daily. Even though I like to focus on and create a personal reality full of solutions, it helps to know a little bit about what is going on with the rest of the world in order to be able to help.

Power to you! I think that's very important: Some people don't realize the effect on their attitude when they take in so much negativity. They don't see it in themselves.

Quote from: strangerthings
Mmmm Nature of the Psyche made me so mad when I read it the first time !
I was so so pissed off after reading it I swore I would never read it again harharhar

Well it looks like I need to read that one next!

Quote from: Deb
I still keep in touch with @Bumblebee on occasion on FB. I don't think she's as into Seth as she was. @Batfan / John Sorenson decided to concentrate on his own blog. @Jim had some things come up, he also stopped posting on FB, so I don't know where he is now. @Wren just stopped posting. @BethAnne and @Len Kopf as well. All great members, all very much missed. But they may return some day, even if just for a cameo appearance. 

Deb, what about @Dandelion ? She was very active.

Quote from: Bumblebee
I am currently still reading " The Nature of the Psyche". I've been on it for more than a year.

@Bumblebee ,welcome back! Thanks for recommending this Seth book. I have it on my Kindle, but have only read parts of it.

I found one of your posts from 2016 which I seem to have missed at the time:

https://speakingofseth.com/index.php?topic=845.msg7981#msg7981

Something must have been going on in my life September to November 2016, because I missed this post as well:

https://speakingofseth.com/index.php?topic=787.msg7327#msg7327

This is such an excellent post that I shall quote from it:

QuoteSo I am gentle with myself these days. I also realized that the purpose I was seeking might not be the way to go. I had the right intentions, but I was trying hard to mold it into a certain pattern that it didn't need to be in. I was trying to make " helping others be who they are" my job, as in "making money to live". It has been a hard, unsuccessful and depressing journey. I just couldn't figure out how to do it. I now realize that what I do for a living doesn't really matter because if I help myself to be who I am, then I will automatically spread that on people around me. And if on top of that I look at people as souls, they become ageless and no matter what their actions are, they all have their special uniqueness and wisdom, and we all have things to learn from each other. Seth said many times we do not need to accomplish anything but to become who we are. That is our purpose. This just took on a new meaning for me. I don't need to actually be a teacher in a school in order to teach. I don't need to be paid to teach. Teaching and learning are happening everywhere at every moment.

This life I have given myself is a precious gift, all the more that it is time limited. From now on,I want to marvel at life's beauty, dance with nature and discover wisdom in every encounter I make, and it all start with me!

Wow! So nice to hear from friendly "faces"! <3

2016... Have I been gone so long?? I have some catching up to do LOL

Hi everyone!

I AM SO SORRY I HAVE BEEN AWAY SO LONG!! 

Thank you Deb for remembering me. *hug*

To continue the conversation, I am still avoiding the news, mostly. I don't watch news broadcasts, at most I check the BBC News Channel for the weather. I have to look at a couple of newspapers for work, but this will be changing and eventually we will down to one newspaper, and I won't have to check it every day. The only issue now is Twitter, which I like very much with loads of interesting people to follow (plus Seth accounts!), there as ever are some negative people on there, but I can mute/block if necessary. No, the main issue with twitter is the trending news to the right of my feed, which I can't switch off. Twitter won't give you all the gory details unless you click on it. But it's there. And I still know more or less what's happening, despite some attempts at reducing exposure. I also use Twitter for work. The news gets everywhere.


Wren

Quote from: Wren
I AM SO SORRY I HAVE BEEN AWAY SO LONG!! 

The main thing is that you are here now!

@Wren

Yaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
💪🏻💃

Wonderful! To see you!!!!!

I have zero socmed at the moment
I think for me its a bonus lol

Quote from: Wren
I AM SO SORRY I HAVE BEEN AWAY SO LONG!! 

Ha ha ha, welcome back Wren! You were so missed that we tracked you down, lol. So glad it worked. It's like "old school week" on Speaking of Seth right now.

@strangerthings, thank you for getting the ball rolling with your return. You are the charm. And you too, @Sena. Ask and you shall receive.