Seth on Racism

[jbseth]

Hi All,

Here in the US, in watching the news, between the white supremacist groups that have marched in various cities and the Black Lives Matter protests, it is fairly obvious that we have social issues in our society that have to do with racism.

If you do a search, using the Seth search engine on the word "racism" you'll find "0" results.  It may appear from this that Seth never talked about "racism", but that isn't exactly true. If you do a search on the world "races", you'll find 154 results.

While Seth may never have used the word "racism", he does talk about it quite extensively on NOPR. What does he have to say about it?  Well he ties this concept into a discussion that has to do with a "system of beliefs" that people have and hold onto. This system of beliefs sometimes come to us, as children, from "adults" such as our parents and teachers. This system of beliefs is also connected to the concept of "grace" as well.


So here in this entry, we'll take a brief look at what Seth says about "grace". Then we'll take a brief look at what Seth says about where some of our beliefs came from. Following this in entries to follow we'll delve into what Seth had to say about systems of beliefs and racism. 


What does he say about racism in general? Well, in Session 650 he says that, it has to do with:

"concepts of good and evil being applied in areas in which they do not belong."

He also reminds us in Session 649 that:

[...] Each of you have been members of different races, and so each of you have shared in both the advantages and ignominies attached, in historic terms, to such conditions of birth.


Given what Seth has to say about reincarnational lives, probable realities, and counterparts, it seems to me that anyone who is a great believer in Seth's ideas, would understand that racism is ridiculous. If in this life, you are a white supremacist, then in another life, you are a person of a different race, who's most likely being exposed to racism. Given that then, why would anyone who believes in Seth's ideas, choose to be a racist?


A lot of what Seth had to say about racism can be found in NOPR in sessions 649, 650 and 651.  Session 649 starts at the end of chapter 12 and ends in the beginning of Chapter 13. Session 650 and 651 are both located in chapter 13.

Here's what Seth had to say about grace, falling out of grace and where some of our beliefs come from. 


Seth on "Grace" (Bold font is my doing).

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Seth on "Fallen out of Grace" and where some of our beliefs come from (Bold font is my doing).

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-jbseth

[jbseth]

Hi All,

As I mentioned previously, Seth did talk about racism. He did this in NOPR, in sessions 649, 650 and 651. In these sessions, he talked about racism in terms of the systems of beliefs that many people have and hold. Here in this post, I'll quote what Seth had to say about racism and systems of beliefs in these three sessions.

In these sessions, Seth also talks about the way we think about the colors black and white and the associations that we relate to these colors. These associations also foster the negative beliefs having to do with racism.

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-jbseth

[leidl]

Hello, jbseth,

why would anyone who believes in Seth's ideas, choose to be a racist?

Maybe for the same reason that those who believe in Jesus's ideas don't usually give away everything they have to the poor, and devote their lives to loving God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.  It is very difficult to opt out of family and cultural programming that teaches us to see "other" as lesser, or see poverty as a personal failure.

To be fair, though, very few at this point consciously choose to be racist.  The vast majority of us find the label abhorrent, even if we still have some lingering prejudices.  We all like to think we've mastered this issue, and nothing puts someone on the defensive faster than calling them a racist.  But I've sat in on a few Zoom meetings focused on diversity, and pretty much everyone stumbles through awkwardly, making proclamations about race only to have it pointed out that there was some subtle prejudice in their statements.

You were born into a state of grace, therefore. It is impossible for you to leave it.

Thank you for this, jbseth--I love being reminded. 

You accepted the concepts for your own reasons. Those given beliefs represent the spiritual and mental fabric of ideas — the raw material, so to speak, with which you have to work.

Seth uses the phrase "for your own reasons" a lot, and correct me if I'm wrong, it is commonly in the context of a life plan.  My entity, for example, might have chosen to send me, a probable self, into a family with racist beliefs, giving me the opportunity to accept those beliefs as a child and later develop my own perspective and ultimately reject them.  Thinking back on Seth's claim that we are all of good intent, does he specifically mean that each and every probable self is of good intent, or does he mean that each entity is of good intent, and might choose to craft a life plan for a probable self that involves psychopathy, for its own (good) reasons?  If the latter is the case, it isn't strictly true that white supremacists and psychopaths are of good intent.  They are more accurately viewed as a part of an entity who is choosing to experience ill intent in a specific incarnation from a place of good intent outside of that incarnation.

I have always assumed that he meant that each probable self has good intent, and it just occurred to me that I might have erred?

[T.M.]

Hi All,

These days I wonder. Are we really surrounded by racists, or are we surrounded by a mainstream narrative and educational system that relentlessly pushes the idea of massive racism and victimology?

I've met alot of people.  I've lived in 4 different states in the U.S. Of all the people I've met, and interacted with, very few of them were racist, let alone extremely racist.

Or are they all hiding really well?!

[jbseth]

Seth uses the phrase "for your own reasons" a lot, and correct me if I'm wrong, it is commonly in the context of a life plan.  My entity, for example, might have chosen to send me, a probable self, into a family with racist beliefs, giving me the opportunity to accept those beliefs as a child and later develop my own perspective and ultimately reject them.  Thinking back on Seth's claim that we are all of good intent, does he specifically mean that each and every probable self is of good intent, or does he mean that each entity is of good intent, and might choose to craft a life plan for a probable self that involves psychopathy, for its own (good) reasons?  If the latter is the case, it isn't strictly true that white supremacists and psychopaths are of good intent.  They are more accurately viewed as a part of an entity who is choosing to experience ill intent in a specific incarnation from a place of good intent outside of that incarnation.I have always assumed that he meant that each probable self has good intent, and it just occurred to me that I might have erred?

Hi leidl,

I've found that sometimes, it can be somewhat challenging to figure out exactly what Seth was trying to say about some particular subject. As a result of this, it can sometimes be easy to completely misunderstand or misinterpret his point.  I think that what he had to say about "good" falls into this category.

 
In NOME, Ch 6, S835, Seth says, "Man is of good intent".

In NOME, Ch 4, S825, Seth says, "The universe is of good intent".

In NOME, Ch 4, S825, Seth says, "Framework 2 is not neutral, but automatically inclined towards what we will term here good or constructive developments".

Then, along with this, in NOME, Ch 7, S852, Seth also say the following:

When you are discussing the nature of good and bad, you are on tricky ground indeed, for many — or most — of man's atrocities to man have been committed in misguided pursuit of "the good."

Whose good (question mark)? Is "good" an absolute (question mark)? In your arena of events, obviously, one man's good can be another's disaster. [Adolf] Hitler pursued his version of "the good" with undeviating fanatical intent. He believed in the superiority and moral rectitude of the Aryan race. In his grandiose, idealized version of reality, he saw that race "set in its proper place," as natural master of mankind.1




Now, along with all of that, in several places cross the Seth literature, he seems to make a point that we often think of concepts in terms of pairs of opposites, such as "good" and "bad", "up" and "down", "right" and "wrong".  In "Seth Speaks", Session 546, he talks about this and how and why it is possible, for example to have "good" without having "bad".  I personally think that this is what Seth was really getting at when he talked about "Man" being of "good" intent.



In SS, Ch 11, S546

[...] The intellect alone cannot understand what the intuitions most certainly know. In trying to make sense in its terms of physical existence, the intellect has set up these opposing factors. The intellect says, "If there is good, there must be evil," for it wants things explained in neat parcels. If there is an up, there must be a down. There must be balance. The inner self, however, realizes that in much larger terms, evil is simply ignorance, that "up" and "down" are neat terms applied to space which knows no such directions.

(10:25.) A strong belief in such opposing forces is highly detrimental, however, for it prevents an understanding of the facts — the facts of inner unity and of oneness, of interconnections and of cooperation. A belief, therefore, an obsessional belief in such opposing factors, is perhaps the most detrimental element, not only after death but during any existence.


Then along with this, in this very same session, he also says the following.


Quite simply, a belief in the good without a belief in the evil, may seem highly unrealistic to you. This belief, however, is the best kind of insurance that you can have, both during physical life and afterward.

It may outrage your intellect, and the evidence of your physical senses may shout that it is untrue, yet a belief in good without a belief in evil is actually highly realistic, since in physical life it will keep your body healthier, keep you psychologically free of many fears and mental difficulties, and bring you a feeling of ease and spontaneity in which the development of your abilities can be better fulfilled. After death it will release you from the belief in demons and hell, and enforced punishment. You will be better prepared to understand the nature of reality as it is. I understand that the concept does indeed offend your intellect, and that your senses seem to deny it. Yet you should already realize that your senses tell you many things, which are not true; and I tell you that your physical senses perceive a reality that is a result of your beliefs.

Believing in evils, you will of course perceive them. Your world has not tried the experiment as yet which would release you. Christianity was but a distortion of this main truth — that is, organized Christianity as you know it. I am not simply speaking here of the original precepts. They were hardly given a chance, and we will discuss some of this later in the book.

The experiment that would transform your world would operate upon the basic idea that you create your own reality according to the nature of your beliefs, and that all existence was blessed, and that evil did not exist in it. If these ideas were followed individually and collectively, then the evidence of your physical senses would find no contradiction. They would perceive the world and existence as good.

-jbseth

[leidl]

Are we really surrounded by racists, or are we surrounded by a mainstream narrative and educational system that relentlessly pushes the idea of massive racism and victimology?

Hi T.M!  You raise a great question here.  Personally, I see evidence that racism is an issue in many U.S. communities; statistics, for example, about use of force by police on people of color point in the same general direction.  I've never known a police officer personally who was less than professional, but psychologists tell us we all have a bit of prejudice in us due to our heritage. Maybe it is sort of like our vestigial tail.  Unfortunately, if I am a well-armed officer making a career out of protecting my community, my biases are likely to be magnified for all to see by my unique situation.  Police have gotten a lot of criticism this year, but my guess is that morally they are no different than the rest of us; they are just in a different situation.  Nearly all of us are a little challenged regarding our perspectives on race, but in most of us it never has a reason to show.  In that sense, yes, it is hidden, even to ourselves!  In others it is artificially magnified.

I do think our cultural narrative is raising the risk of a culture of "victimology." (Hadn't heard that word before, but am happy to be introduced to it!)  Hopefully the events of last summer produce more good than harm to our psyches.

Also worth considering--some of us see racism where others do not, because we are looking with different eyes. 

"If another individual under the same circumstances comes across the same potential object, he can also perceive it as you did. He may however, because of his own makeup, perceive and translate another portion of allied pattern."
—TES7 Session 284 September 7, 1966

I may be blind to what is obvious to you, and you may be blind to what is obvious to me.  Is one of us seeing incorrectly, or are we creating two slightly different realities?  I personally haven't had any experiences that suggest the existence of aliens, for example, but my beliefs may be making them impossible to see!  It makes me want to be really humble about making broad claims about a single reality that we supposedly all witness--a single reality isn't what we're dealing with, right?

jbseth, I'm going to process your post, look at the Sessions you referenced, and develop my understanding of the claim that we are all of good intent before I respond.  Thank you for your help on this!

[jbseth]

Hi All, These days I wonder. Are we really surrounded by racists, or are we surrounded by a mainstream narrative and educational system that relentlessly pushes the idea of massive racism and victimology?

I've met alot of people.  I've lived in 4 different states in the U.S. Of all the people I've met, and interacted with, very few of them were racist, let alone extremely racist.

Or are they all hiding really well?!

Hi T.M., Hi All,

We've all had different personal life experiences.  The vast majority of my friends and relative aren't racist. If I were to base my beliefs about racism, here in the US, upon my experiences with friends and relatives, then I would tend to believe that there isn't any real issue with racism here in the US.  This, however, I don't believe is actually true.

One of my sisters lives in eastern Texas. The last time I visited her in Texas was in 2017. My other sister lived in Arizona. The last time I visited her was in 2020.  I wouldn't necessarily say that either one of my two sisters were racist, but some of the people that they associate with, were somewhere between being either mildly racist to being quite racist, based upon the comments that I've personally heard them make.

Having visited my sisters in their home states of Texas and Arizona on several occasions, sadly, my experience has been that there are, in fact, many people here in the US, who are racists.

-jbseth
               
                     
                     
                     

[T.M.]

Hi All,

Hi Jbseth,

I would have to agree with you to an extent about Az. Though lately it's been so flooded with people escaping a neighboring state; that it's now much more diverse in many ways and area's, in the smaller and larger cities. As always that comes with some good and bad.

In the past, yeah, it was very proudly racist. I happily missed most of that, having moved here in the later years of my life. I was completely shocked with some of the story's I was told happened here in the not so distant past. I truly thought that kind of attitude and actions belonged in the 50's, in the deep south.

There's truth to the statement, crazy people in the hills. I suspect that's true of every place. I have no doubt at all, there's various small locations, everywhere in the world, that the local stereotype of the area, is the dominant driving force of the area.
That a more well rounded person would find too painful, especially mentally to be around.

I still see that more as a misguided narrative, perhaps passed on generationaly, than an inherent characteristic of most humans.
One that also as time moves forward, is losing ground fast.

I truly believe, perhaps naively, hatred is a learned behavior. It has to be taught, and repeatedly reinforced, with rhetoric and images, for most people to grab a hold of and run with.

[leidl]

Hey jbseth and all,

jbseth pointed to an intriguing experiment suggested by Seth:

Believing in evils, you will of course perceive them. Your world has not tried the experiment as yet which would release you....

The experiment that would transform your world would operate upon the basic idea that you create your own reality according to the nature of your beliefs, and that all existence was blessed, and that evil did not exist in it. If these ideas were followed individually and collectively, then the evidence of your physical senses would find no contradiction.

Our discussion in this thread has had the underlying assumption that racism exists to some degree, and that it isn't a good thing.  But if we take Seth's suggestion that "all existence was blessed, and that evil did not exist in it," where does that leave our discussion of racism?  By even discussing it this way, are we reinforcing the idea that evil exists in the world?  I've always believed a thoughtful discussion about racism or sexism could produce much good.  And while a thoughtful discussion about racism is certainly better than a brawl about racism, by talking about racism without questioning our root assumptions, are we just entrenching ourselves more deeply in an unhelpful belief in evil?

I've found that sometimes, it can be somewhat challenging to figure out exactly what Seth was trying to say about some particular subject. As a result of this, it can sometimes be easy to completely misunderstand or misinterpret his point.

Yes, I'm feeling that, jbseth.  I'm clearly still a student.   

In Elias's comments on acceptance, he tells us that we should acknowledge that we are here in physical focus, that we belong here, that we have belief systems, and that having belief systems is acceptable.  Belief systems are what we are here to work with; they are the gameboard we're playing on.  From this way of thinking, we should accept that we currently have a belief system about racism existing and being bad.  But then we should examine it!  Do we want to believe that racism exists and is bad, if beliefs create reality?  https://www.eliasforum.org/digests/acceptance101.html


To state that racism doesn't exist just feels delusional to me.  But I can imagine a belief like "some racism exists in our culture, and while it has caused pain, ultimately it is a good thing, because we are learning important lessons and racism is now diminishing."

I'm not going to go around casually spouting off comments about racism being a good thing--I'd lose my friends!  But Seth and Elias want us to notice our beliefs, and choose them more consciously.  And I just noticed that I have beliefs about racism that I might want to change.  I'm going to give myself a gold star today as a student.  If anyone has caught something I've missed, please let me know.