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Word Gems 

exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity

 

Reincarnation On Trial

The Seth Material

 

 

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Wikipedia:

The Seth Material is a collection of writing dictated by Jane Roberts to her husband from late 1963 until her death in 1984. Roberts claimed the words were spoken by a discarnate entity named Seth. The material is regarded as one of the cornerstones of New Age philosophy, and the most influential channeled text of the post–World War II "New Age" movement, after the Edgar Cayce books and A Course in Miracles.

It’s billed as “the most influential” recent message from the next worlds, and yet, with wider scope, we see that the Seth Material offers but recrudescence of common themes in a hundred-plus other sources.

From time to time I’d been asked, what do I think of it? and so I finally decided to have a look. My initial impressions were positive as I encountered a few rubrics of settled natural law; such as, the essential you can never be annihilated; that, there are no limits to the self; and, especially appreciated, “You are as much a part of a nirvana now as you ever will be.” Very good, I thought. But a rush to positive judgment was soon found to be unwarranted.

I would prefer not spending a lot of time on this review as I've addressed these issues at length elsewhere. There is nothing here to command our special attention. We are not oppressed by the wisdom of Seth. Some investigators will be impressed to label “most influential,” but such accolade springs not from unique meritoriousness but ignorance of the larger setting, as, in principle, there are a great many like Seth.

how to judge the Seth Material

Salient writings on the WG site might be our assigned reading:

(1) afterlife item #31: the 500 tape-recorded messages from the other side;

(2) the "law of attraction" discourse, featuring similar vacuous philosophies such as "the secret";

and, to be included here would be

(3) the nearly 100 articles eviscerating the concept of reincarnation;

plus, while most will not be able to consider these, but just to call to the witness stand as amicus curiae, 

(4) the 100+ channeled books, free online, written during the last 175 years, the majority of which echo, in principle, the vapid philosophies of Seth. Many of these books are quoted in the WG articles.

essentially, what is the issue with Seth

In “the 500” writing, it was put forward that, on the other side (here, too), people divide themselves into two major branches of a philosophical tree:

What are the two major divisions? It is to build one’s life on either the true self or the false. The reader is encouraged to review the above-referenced writings for a complete discussion.

Seth begins well, but then throws it all away in the fine print. Many of these off-base works do the same: they commence by “talking the talk” suggesting an adherence to well-tested natural law of the inner life, only to reverse gears as they say more.

What we find in ill-conceived programs as promoted by Seth, and so many others of this genre, is a concerted effort, subtly and overtly, to “be rid of oneself.” This may sound strange but only until one examines the psychological details presented in the autopsy. Their tenets are materialistic in nature, in that, their remedies are centered in externals. See much discussion of this foundational error on the "reincarnation" page.

In “the 500” writing we learn that a great many over there crave to be known as "the wise". These wanna-be teachers seek for followings. And if one’s own life is not built upon “the true self” one becomes prey to these charlatans. This is not my private opinion as, in “the 500” writing, we see debate and conflict over there, with the “false self” group called to task by the more clear-eyed.

Editor’s note: Why do so many channeled books reflect a philosophy from the “wrong side of the tree of life”? In my investigations, it seems that about 90% of these works are off-kilter. But I think the answer reflects the sentiment of Nobel laureate F.A. Hayek who wrote of “why the worst get on top” in politics. The worst “get on top” so often because their own internal cravings of “I don’t have enough” because “I am not enough” rule their spirits. They say they want to “help”, they say they want to “serve,” but what they really want is to find their significance in the adoration of the masses. The psychologically healthy, however, there and here, are too busy living their lives, exploring life and love in relationships of mate, children, and friends, plus properly-centered work activities. They are not driven to “be on top”. They don’t need it. But the deficient ones think they do. Afflicted with this poverty-of-spirit, they tend not to extol the virtues of true love - and in "the 500" writing I said that this taciturnity becomes clue to understanding their malady: it is Sherlock's "dog that didn't bark". Again, so many of the channeled reports are from these immature ones. They need something from you. They gush to sell you something, a narrative of life's meaning - in which they play a starring role - no, not of authentic romance, but how wonderfully wise they are, how they, alone, from some imagined zenith on Mount Olympus, possess the secrets of the universe. However, their elder detractors remain unimpressed, are "appalled" by their arrogance, and chide, "they want to direct others but cannot even direct themselves".

Well, the assigned home-work is somewhat lengthy and discusses all this in detail and so there’s no point in attempting recapitulation here. The assiduous seeker of truth is referred to the main body of evidence.

 

postscript

reprinted from "the 500 tape-recordings" page:

 

an ancient sage, a Chinese man, purported to be thousands of years old, a modern day Jeremiah, warns us about unqualified teachers offering a false view of reality

He wouldn’t give his name, didn’t want notoriety, but the sitters believed him to be either Confucius or Lao-Tzu. This could be true. Along with only a few others among “the 500,” he struck me as very wise and insightful.

'they are not content in themselves, they always want more and more'

The Chinese man speaks out against an entire class of would-be teachers, seeking a following and a name for themselves, who make appearance at the Flint sessions:

“Many people who come to these [Flint] meetings do not have an open mind, though they profess to have it. Their minds are full of their own importance, full of their own pre-conceived ideas. Even those who preach from your platforms, who profess to be spiritually-minded are full of their own importance. And the little knowledge they have got is twisted and contorted into such ways, that it cannot give a true picture of things spiritual… they are good souls, in intent and purpose, but they are not great souls, not highly advanced souls… they are not great souls in wisdom or spiritual understanding, they are not a great people of realization of truth…  But we realise that the majority of those who are so-called spiritually minded, are far from being spiritually minded. Oft-times they are immersed in their own vanities, they are immersed in their own ideas and ideals and they are not content for themselves. Always they want more and more… [they] have a little knowledge, but are vain and say that they have all knowledge... some have a [small amount] of truth but they distort it for their own purposes...

there is no such thing as directly receiving messages from highest origin

“It is extraordinary how it is that people who have not the slightest knowledge, who have not, within themselves, the slightest indication of spiritual progression, who expect that they shall receive from the higher spheres, great souls to come to them, to work with them. It is only true that you would [wish] these [higher] souls come to you [to teach], that you [imagine yourself to be] worthy to receive those souls that will be able to work with you accordingly. It would be impossible for certain souls to come and to work. I have heard it said that, in certain circles, certain souls come, of very high origin and make direct contact. I deny this. I say that this is an impossibility - that you do not, and cannot, receive from certain souls on very high spheres, a direct contact. Because I know there is no one in your world who has spiritually progressed to the state that they can tune in. It is not possible. It is an impossibility.

we can receive, in a meaningful way, only what we're spiritually attuned to receive

Editor's note: notice the earlier phrase "tune in".

"Man can only receive that which he himself has made possible by, not only his thoughts, but by his actions, by his very way of life. You may receive and do receive - which is quite a different thing - messages from highly evolved souls, but it is done through a system of relay. It is other souls on lower spheres [acting as the mentor] they act, as it were, as the instrument. They transmit the message of spirit through the sources of instruments, to you. But the direct contact; when I hear, as I have heard it said, that there are people in your world who have received direct contact with Jesus and other great souls, I [have] to say this is not true."

Editor's note: They are “good souls,” says the ancient Chinese man. They might live in your neighborhood in Summerland. They will smile and offer pleasantries, and they would help you if they could. However, in spite of the conviviality, they’re quite insane, out of tune with their own sacred selves.

 

 

The ancient Chinese man reminds us of something Chief Seattle once said, to the effect: “We don’t know what the whites want. They’re never satisfied. They just want more and more.”

See this page for the wisdom of Chief Seattle.

How enlightened was Chief Seattle. We gasp in dismay as we contemplate all that we lost when we failed to embrace the wisdom of this man. There is a place for technology, but just as “art is not enough” (see below) neither is scientific so-called progress. We should have been willing to learn from our spiritual elders.

 

 

Brother John of Glastonbury: We in the spirit-world are often appalled at how so-called 'servants of God' become proud and puffed up, thinking themselves to be so important and better than others.

Brother John of Glastonbury (1393-1464 CE), one of the "sane 500," a former monk during his Earth-life, in effect, speaks with T.S. Eloit on the problem of "servants" ruining themselves in an orgy of hubristic pride:
 

 

Here is a rough transcript of Brother John's teaching, recorded 3.10.1961:

"We in spirit are often appalled by how those with whom we work become proud, and now see themselves as better and above the common man or woman; how they in themselves feel so important. The ego builds a barrier making it difficult for us to work with a 'servant,' and the message is distorted or falls to the ground because of the pride. I want to warn them of the dangers that lie within themselves when other people praise them and say how wonderful they are, and they come to believe it, causing them to become materially-minded and unbalanced. Some mediums, in boastful pride, give the impression that they know all about the world of spirit, that they have all the answers, but this is not true, never true, as there is so much that cannot be revealed during your time on Earth."

Editor’s note: In my youth, as a young man, some of my teachers would say that the way to avoid pride, especially for ones who have been given office and power, is to have suffered. This seemed reasonable at the time, and there is an element of truth to it, but, without something more, it all fails.

The problem is, the ego can become proud of its suffering, can boast about how “I suffered so much, far more than you, and this is why you should elect me, or give me the chief seat, or listen to me," or some other perk that the ego craves to fill the neediness in its shriveled heart.

We learned in the “Prometheus” discussions that suffering per se will not produce a godly character. There’s a missing element. It all needs to be based on a clear perception of both the “true” and the “false” selves. With this in place, no matter how much power or notoriety one might achieve, there will be no delusion of “I am better than you,” no pious chanting of "I thank thee Lord that I am not like other men." Just ask Lateece.