Seths views on Karma?

[WindWalker]

What are Seths views on Karma? Does it actually exist? I know Seth doesnt believe Karma as a means of punishment or reward and that life is intended for experience-so then where does karma fit in?  I have a difficult time understanding, lets say a pedophile who molests children. What would Seths views be on someone like that? The pedophiles life was to be lived for the experience? And where does karma come into play? Sorry so graphic but i need to understand this aspect of Seths teachings. Thank you.

[Sena]

have a difficult time understanding, lets say a pedophile who molests children. What would Seths views be on someone like that? The pedophiles life was to be lived for the experience?

WindWalker, that is a good question. Seth's views on karma are rather difficult to understand because of his idea of "simultaneous time". With regard to the example you quote above, I am pretty sure that Seth would NOT have said that a child abuser abuses a child just to get that experience. That would be a cynical interpretation. The following is I think a useful quote from Seth:

""Do not do this again," is only the afterward message. I am placing these concepts within your time scheme because in your terms they were born out of it. But the fact is that all "time" is simultaneous. In a simultaneous time, punishment makes no sense. The punishment as an event, and the event for which you were being punished, exist at once; and since there is no past, present and future, you could just as well say that the punishment came first. We have mentioned reincarnation hardly at all (but see the 631st session in Chapter Seven), yet here let me state that the theory is a conscious-mind interpretation in linear terms. On the one hand it is highly distorted. On the other hand it is a creative interpretation, as the conscious mind plays with reality as it understands it. But in the terms used there is no karma to be paid off as punishment unless you believe that there are crimes for which you must pay. In larger terms there is no cause and effect either, though these are root assumptions in your reality.*" (from "The Nature of Personal Reality(A Seth Book)" by Jane Roberts, Chapter 9: Session 636)

How I understand simultaneous time is that all the "reincarnations" of an individual are happening simultaneously. What this means is that if A is abusing B in this life that we are aware of, B (or someone else) could be abusing A in another simultaneous incarnation.

We might ask ourselves why this kind of nasty thing happens. Here I would use the term "ignorance" in the Buddhist sense. If someone is not making an effort to understand the meaning of life, he will end up in a state of ignorance. In that state he might do something like starting a nuclear war.

[WindWalker]

Thanks so much for the reply Sena. I have never interpreted karma as reward/punishment but rather as a guide that keeps track of our experiences and dictates other incarnations we must learn from as a result of prior incarnations. As a means for growth solely vs. a means of reward or punishment. Thats a great point about simultaneous time. Then what need IS there for karma? What would stop a personality from committing eternal horrible deeds if there is no mechanism in place that denotes bad deeds are not the way to personal growth? I believe all things Seth but i wish there were more expanded knowledge as far as karma is concerened. Does Seth state there actually is no such thing? I havent re-read all Janes material at this point. Again-thanks for the reply!

[Sena]

What would stop a personality from committing eternal horrible deeds if there is no mechanism in place that denotes bad deeds are not the way to personal growth?

Windwalker, glad you found my reply helpful. My understanding is that Seth believed in the basic goodness of human beings. It may be that false beliefs lead to evil actions. Seth did not subscribe to the stupid Christian idea of Original Sin:

"You are not under a sentence placed upon you for original sin, by any childhood events, or by past-life experience. Your life, for example, may be far less fulfilling than you think you would prefer. You may be less when you would be more, but you are not under a pall placed upon your psyche, either by original sin, Freud's infancy syndromes, or past-life influences."
—Seth Speaks Chapter 4: Session 523, April 13, 1970

[LenKop]

I also think the concept of an Oversoul comes into play. If A is abusing B in this life, while simultaneously different versions of B abuses A in another life, then one possibility might be both A and B are two expressions of the same greater being, that is creating dramas from different angles for various reazons.

Other concepts I think about on this topic are value fulfillment and creativity.

Seth's notions of Karma were one of the main reasons I was drawn to the work.

Len