~Speaking of Seth~

Even though it is somewhat funny, this may reverberate in some of the readers here ...  from my blog  http://www.selfrealized.org/thoughts-to-grow/

First quest of self-development :          Who is God?
Second quest of self-development:       Who am I ?
Final Awakening :                                   Oh My God !  I am You !

Vladimir, the problem is that the word "God" has come to mean a king-like authority figure.
It is interesting to read "The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are" by Alan W. Watts. It can be downloaded free here:

http://terebess.hu/english/AlanWatts-On%20The%20Taboo%20Against%20Knowing%20Who%20You%20Are.pdf

Or listen to it on Youtube:

Quotethe word "God" has come to mean a king-like authority figure.

Such meanings indeed established within all mainstream religions. We're all aware of this. But this site is of different mindset - this is Seth site - New Age - and all those who follow Seth know God NOT in the way of mainstream religions but as ONE Consciousness, ALL-THAT-IS....
So my use of words assumes that the reader understands them according to Seth ... it is impossible to share Seth views without accepted consensus on the usage of key words according to him and not otherwise.
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Even so, still I have to honestly admit - until certain experience I had in the past, I was not opened enough to this idea even though I accepted it "theoretically" from Seth and before that from Swami Vivekananda' books 30 years ago. Until 2 years ago I was still uncomfortable of such direct wording...
.............this phrase is one of those which came up and were recorded during a direct experience............

Sena, that video of Alan Watts you posted is wonderful. Thank you.
I am well familiar with Watts, even though his philosophy is no different from other 20+ authors in my library (starting from 3000 y.o. "Yoga Sutras" of Patanjalli), yet I feel something specially sweet about his way of presentation...
Alan Watts is down to Earth simple to digest almost without thinking and undeniably true.
Highly recommended to listen.

Quote from: Vladimir

Quotethe word "God" has come to mean a king-like authority figure.

Such meanings indeed established within all mainstream religions. We're all aware of this. But this site is of different mindset - this is Seth site - New Age - and all those who follow Seth know God NOT in the way of mainstream religions but as ONE Consciousness, ALL-THAT-IS....
So my use of words assumes that the reader understands them according to Seth ... it is impossible to share Seth views without accepted consensus on the usage of key words according to him and not otherwise.
----------
Even so, still I have to honestly admit - until certain experience I had in the past, I was not opened enough to this idea even though I accepted it "theoretically" from Seth and before that from Swami Vivekananda' books 30 years ago. Until 2 years ago I was still uncomfortable of such direct wording...
.............this phrase is one of those which came up and were recorded during a direct experience............

I like Vivekenanda, he is a poet with words and wisdom. Also P. Yogananda, both a joy to read.
do you have a fav translation of the Patanjali Yoga Sutras?

Out of 7 translations in my library I surely start by recommending "Raja Yoga" by Swami Vivekananda which has a full commentary on Yoga Sutras.  This particular book (and included Yoga Sutras in there) was my first eye opening introduction into the True Nature of Life and Universe and as long as I live I will consider him my first and forever teacher. It is very simple commentary but in no way it is to be considered simplistic.
Good translation and commentary written by Swami Satchidananda - I truly like it.
Another good one is by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood. Very popular among readers on Amazon.
When you become intuitively aware of the message of the Sutras, then you can try Sri Aurobindo translation but it is demanding of prior knowledge.
Quite interesting view of Yoga Sutras by a New Age writer Alice A. Baily called "The Light of The Soul" - not many people are aware of this work. I don;t value it as a translation but rather as a reflection on Sutras from the New Age prospective....

Quote from: Vladimir
Out of 7 translations in my library I surely start by recommending "Raja Yoga" by Swami Vivekananda which has a full commentary on Yoga Sutras.  This particular book (and included Yoga Sutras in there) was my first eye opening introduction into the True Nature of Life and Universe and as long as I live I will consider him my first and forever teacher. It is very simple commentary but in no way it is to be considered simplistic.
Good translation and commentary written by Swami Satchidananda - I truly like it.
Another good one is by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood. Very popular among readers on Amazon.
When you become intuitively aware of the message of the Sutras, then you can try Sri Aurobindo translation but it is demanding of prior knowledge.
Quite interesting view of Yoga Sutras by a New Age writer Alice A. Baily called "The Light of The Soul" - not many people are aware of this work. I don;t value it as a translation but rather as a reflection on Sutras from the New Age prospective....

Thanks for responding.
When you say:
"you can try Sri Aurobindo translation but it is demanding of prior knowledge."

Are you referring to knowledge as in the recorded talks/lectures/writings of Aurobindo, some other knowledge, or personal experience of particular states and stages from Patanjali Sutras? Or something else entirely? It's not clear from what you say.

I read a little bit of some books (not sutras) by Alice Bailey, but found them too dated and ethno-centric to be read today. Probably her work on the "Seven Rays" I found the most interesting (sadly none of them involving Famous Rays Pizza or Ray Charles ).

But I could/can be dismissive in that way of much "New Age" writings, as they are often using terms and beliefs from nearly a century ago dressed up in more wishy-washy language that I have to admit, annoys me! I prefer the writers from the earlier parts of the century, who like me were more direct in communicating their ideas. People like Napoleon hill, Neville Goddard, James Allen, Emerson etc for example who were very clear in their writing about the mind, spirit, etc. I think Bailey's work/teachings matter, but I find a lot of it too mixed up in the beliefs and ideas and teachings of the era such as Theosophy etc and it does turn me off a bit.

I think both Vivekenanda and Paramhansa Yogananda had a good mix of telling an entertaining story that is emotionally satisfying to people, while also communicating useful knowledge, ideas and concepts, and descriptions of their own experiences etc.
I wish there were better quality audio of Yogananda's talks, as it is hard to listen to them, but he is one of the few long winded, rambling story teachers that I really enjoy listening to.

I understand your dislike of the Theosophy language - Baily and Blavatski. I could agree with you  but there is something in their view which I add as a "brush stroke" to my view to make it complete... which I will have hard time to pinpoint to others what is it 
Your list of New Age authors almost walks over 2 shelves in my library ... Add to that list Ernest Holmes, Joseph Murphy and Paul Brunton to complete 2 of my shelves Language is very similar although each of them brings something which others don't ...  All are extraordinary.
About Sri Aurobindo: I meant a rather good , if basic, understanding Yoga Sutras prior to reading Sri Aurobindo. He saw the world very multi-dimensional, all his writings are very complex, lots of his own terms and his commentaries may confuse those who are yet to understand the basic principles of Vedanta.
In the past, when my understanding was still tethered to the linguistic terms, I could not finish any of his books... (Mother's books' wording is much easier - that's why she was running ashram, not Aurobindo:)

I did download the Watts book audio and got maybe 45 minutes into it. I've been short of time lately, working two jobs, but intend to get back to the book soon. I did like what I've heard so far--a different way of seeing things and a fresh perspective for me.

Getting back Sena's comment above about the word God, I personally have a knee-jerk reaction to the word "God" although for years I've been trying to mentally substitute the word with All That Is whenever I hear it. It's impossible to avoid it in this country, it's a part of our everyday language and even our money has In God We Trust written on it. I'm getting better at it but progress is slow.

I fully understand your attitude. It might be impossible task but I'll try to reconcile one of your voices with another 
1. Your aversion of the term God has a good reason leading you to the next level - that reason being your aversion to all those distorted meanings assigned to this word and accumulated over the millenniums of the rule of mainstream dominating religions... To be able to progress beyond that barrier you have to drop it.
2. To connect to the Source of Life, the ALL-THAT-IS , your own True Self which you are yet to discover, you need a name for It... As Vedas put it well : "All names belong to It" or otherwise call it "The Absolute" ... All those names are good in pointing out that THAT is beyond our world... but those words are not efficient enough to point out to THAT as the Living THAT ... Swami Yogananda explained this well saying (loosely from my memory): " You can only communicate with somebody/or something Who is Living as you are and also Personal"
I tried to think of such a word which would convey something Beyond this World, Eternal but also Living and Personal.... and I ended with the word "GOD" ...........

Not sure if I did a good job.... this is a very subtle topic