The "Introduction" and "Key Points" of this chapter were summarized by an AI editor based on the main text below; they are not words spoken by Mike during his lectures. The main text comes from Mike's commentary, and the blockquotes are Seth's original words (the portions Mike read aloud).
Introduction
This chapter centers on the states of health and illness. From a holistic perspective, Seth points out that illness and health are different parts of the state of life, cooperating with each other; without illness and death there would be no normal physical existence. Illness itself is also a form of health, and illness is not necessarily connected with suffering. At the same time, this chapter records the early negative beliefs Jane exposed through free association, such as believing that only writing made her worthy of living, that expressing herself was unsafe, and her fear of spontaneity, and it discusses topics such as emotional expression, value fulfillment, vaccination, and animal experimentation, emphasizing that pleasure is a virtue.
Key Points of This Chapter
- Illness and health are different parts of the state of life, cooperating with each other; without illness and death, normal physical existence would be impossible, and illness itself is also a form of health.
- Illness and suffering are not necessarily connected; pain can prompt an individual to recover health; no one dies before the hour they have set for themselves.
- Free association shows that Jane's early negative beliefs included: thinking that only writing made her worthy of living, that expressing herself was unsafe, fear of spontaneity, dislike of the female body, and so on.
- Emotional expression is action; expressing rather than repressing is important; pleasure is a virtue, and expressing oneself is safe.
- Every segment of life is activated by value fulfillment, and illness promotes health; the relationship between humans and nature, and between humans and animals, is cooperative, and using animals for experiments and cruel slaughter stems from a philosophy of separation.
Main Text
April 20, 1984: Free Association and Jane's Early Beliefs
Today we are studying the first part of Chapter 6 of the Seth material, The Way Toward Health. The title of Chapter 6 is "States of Health and Disease." We begin with the session dated Friday, April 20, 1984, at 4:12 p.m.
Last night, with Elizabeth's help, Jane called. This is Elizabeth the nurse at the hospital; they also have a German friend named Elizabeth, who left me a lemon cake and brought Jane a compound Easter gift basket. Both of these people happen to be named Elizabeth.
As Seth suggested yesterday, today we tried doing free association, and it worked very well. And it happened spontaneously when Jane asked me to pour him a glass of water and I dropped my notebook on the bed. I was tired and somewhat annoyed, and he immediately, through me -- that is, through this kind of free association, when he was pouring water for Jane and dropped the notebook on the bed -- tapped into a chain of Jane's associations, and he followed these associations, while saying he was a bit embarrassed to mention them.
The following are the notes I wrote while he was speaking: When Jane asked me to do something and I seemed annoyed and tossed my notebook onto the bed, he immediately felt a strong sense of fear. He was afraid that he had annoyed me beyond my tolerance, and that he could not bear my being angry at him. This immediately brought up feelings from his childhood, when avoiding the disapproval of others was extremely important. He had to avoid the disapproval of others, especially his mother Marie, even when he was in college. Jane was afraid that if he made his mother Marie angry, Marie would get sick and die. Marie habitually told Jane that her being sick was Jane's fault, and that the deaths of Jane's grandmother and the housekeeper were also Jane's fault. His mother often said that if you are not careful, you might hurt yourself or hurt others.
This is what Jane's mother told him from childhood -- because he is currently sick and so on -- so this was the implantation of a false belief in Jane from an early age. Jane also felt that these sessions might be responsible for more deaths or for harming people. Going back to the very beginning, he had always been very afraid of holding Seth sessions for the woman in Louisiana who had a rigid form of multiple sclerosis. At that time Jane felt a responsibility to help her. Basically Jane did not want to have any dealings with sick people, afraid that he would harm them in the sessions. As for Jane's attitude toward such things -- for example, when a woman in Louisiana with a rigid condition sought help and wanted Jane to give her a Seth session, Jane refused. He avoided these things, afraid of any dealings with sick people. Why? Because he was afraid he would harm them in the sessions. It was because of this childhood belief -- he felt his mother's illness was his fault -- and he felt that other people's illnesses might also be the result of his passing on wrong information.
Jane did not think the sessions would harm him, although he often felt he had not transmitted enough information for himself. We talked about other similar situations and matters, and he sometimes pushed too hard, so there must have been emotions involved. I do not really think we said anything brand new -- it was all the same old talk, which is what Jane said, that it was all the same old talk. Right, he was still worried that what he said was not good enough and would harm his readers, or the patients who sought his help.
But it was good to review all of that. I explained my view, saying that he had no need to bargain with himself. I said that being healthy and talented at the same time, as you choose, using your own abilities is completely fine -- you can be both healthy and capable. And Jane thought that if he was too capable it might affect his health, and Rob said you can choose to be both healthy and capable. If he chooses not to deal with patients, the world will not offer any kind of criticism.
Afterward he said several times that he wanted to have a session. I thought he might give up, but his Seth voice was somewhat louder than usual. Then Seth came through.
I wish you a good afternoon.
The two of them said good afternoon to Seth.
Now let us continue back to the session. Seth said:
You began your free association in such a good and surprising manner that Ruburt became consciously aware of some of his own mental attitudes that had been somewhat blind.
So what was previously blind has now become possible to perceive. But he told him that he had already progressed enough that there was no need to worry about any regression, and that we had set up a framework that would prevent it. He told Jane not to worry about regressing, that they would get better and better.
Then he said, now we begin the dictation. What follows is the content of the book.
Before we discuss the human situation more specifically as it relates to health and disease, let us consider the so-called states of health and disease.
This "disease" is the same as "illness"; these two words are very similar, both are "disease." Let us consider the so-called states of health and disease, as they are spoken of in terms of the entire planet, and as they operate among all species. This will give us a far larger framework in which to understand the way each individual fits into the overall picture.
What he is saying here is that we are now looking at health from a very large perspective -- from the perspective of the entire Earth, from the perspective of all humanity. In the development of our human civilization, or within our species, what role do health and disease play? This is a very high-level framework. Then through this large framework, you can understand how each individual fits into this larger framework of disease and health states within the overall picture; the individual's small framework must fit into this larger framework.
First, wait for us a moment, we will begin the next chapter, entitled "States of Health and Disease."
The whole sentence is in parentheses, with quotation marks added to emphasize that the title was written with your concepts of health and disease in mind. But in fact, regardless of the manifestations, appearances, and misreadings of natural events, your usual concepts of disease are themselves chauvinistic -- that is, in terms of a primarily loud chauvinism of health rather than disease.
What he means is, we should not worry about how we misread health and disease on the surface; we are now discussing the concept of disease itself. Regardless of how humans misunderstand disease, Seth is discussing the topic of health and disease from a higher, purer perspective.
Basically speaking, there is only the existence of states of life, and through their cooperation, your entire world maintains its reality, physical life, and outer form.
What he means is, fundamentally there is only the existence of states of life -- life has different states, including health and disease, and they are all different states of life. These different states are in a cooperative relationship with one another; disease is not an enemy of health, disease and health are in a cooperative relationship. Only then can our entire world maintain the whole framework of the world's reality, physical form, life, and outer shape.
What Seth wants to say is, if the existence of what you consider disease did not exist as a part of the forms of life, there would be no complete form of life at all. That is to say, the reason we are alive, or the reason we have such a state of life, is because the state of disease exists. They are a complete, integrated, indivisible whole. So if there were no disease as you conceive of it, there would be no form of life at all; without disease there would be no life.
Your reality requires a steady fluctuation of physical and nonphysical experience.
In our world, the physical and the nonphysical each have their own stable states, but you cannot see the inner relationship between the two and the transformation between them.
Many of you, my readers, understand that if you do not sleep you will die. The conscious withdrawal of mental life while alive makes normal conscious experience possible.
He says you all know that if you do not sleep you will die. During sleep, your consciousness has actually withdrawn from your awareness, or you are in a state of conscious rest, and only then can you ensure the vitality and activity of the mind and consciousness. He uses sleep as an example. If you do not sleep you will die, which means that if consciousness did not have a state of conscious rest, or a state of conscious absence, it would be impossible to ensure the lasting vitality or existence of consciousness.
So it goes without saying that without death and disease, for the two go hand in hand, normal physical existence would not be possible. If people are so afraid of disease, yet humanity has never been destroyed by it.
Although people are so afraid of disease, humanity has never been destroyed by disease. Has humanity been destroyed by any disease? No. And although disease seems to constantly harass and threaten, life continues to operate with an overall stability. Although disease constantly harasses, with new viruses, new symptoms, new states, new kinds of illness appearing, on the whole, life operates in a stable, sustained manner, and will not be wiped out by disease.
Generally speaking, the same is true for all other species as well, including plants and insects, and they also fit into this larger picture, and all other fish and birds as well. That is, all things, all animals and plants in the world, conform to this state -- death is an indispensable part of life.
I have said elsewhere that no species has ever been wiped out, and in those terms, no disease, virus, or bacteria has ever entirely disappeared from the face of the Earth.
If no species has ever disappeared, then it can also be said that no virus, disease, or bacteria has ever disappeared.
First of all, viruses change their forms, in your terms, sometimes appearing in harmless, sometimes in deadly forms.
Viruses change, like our current COVID, which was once so dangerous, and now the novel coronavirus has changed into a harmless form and continues to exist. Everyone has had COVID now, but it no longer has the same level of harm or fatality rate as at the beginning. And the so-called states of health and disease are also constantly changing.
And in those larger terms, disease itself is a kind of health.
This sentence is very important. From a certain perspective, disease itself is a kind of health, because it makes life and health themselves possible. Again, from the higher-level perspective, disease is also health; without disease there would be no existence of life.
Later we will discuss what this means for you as individuals.
Again, what I am discussing now is the very general, overall framework, discussing the relationship between disease and life, and between disease and health, but what does this mean for each of you as individuals?
For now, however, I want to stress the fact that while it may seem very natural to think of disease as a threat, an adversary, or an enemy, this is not the case.
Again he emphasizes, although it may seem very natural to treat disease as a threat, an adversary, or an enemy, this is not the case.
Suffering -- a subject obviously of vital importance to the topic at hand. But basically speaking, disease and suffering are not necessarily connected.
Many people think that disease is suffering, but the two are not necessarily connected. Being sick does not necessarily mean pain, and suffering and death are not necessarily connected either; it is not the case that death must be painful.
The sensations of suffering and pain do exist. Some are quite natural reactions, while others are learned reactions to certain things.
The sensations of pain and suffering do exist; some are real, but others are learned from other events -- the feeling that this thing should be suffering. What does it mean to have learned that something should be suffering? For example, if we walk barefoot on a bed of fire, it would very likely cause my readers the sharpest sensations of pain. Walking barefoot on a red-hot bed of fire, just thinking about it makes you feel it would be very painful; that is what you have learned. You say no, that is real. But at the same time, in some primitive societies, under certain circumstances, the same situation instead produces ecstatic or joyful results. In some primitive tribes, the same act of walking barefoot on a bed of fire instead leads some people to produce ecstatic and joyful results. The same event, some people feel it as suffering, others feel it as ecstasy and joy. Their feelings brought about by the same behavior are completely different.
So in many cases, some behaviors that you consider extremely painful and unbearable are, for some people, a kind of enjoyment and sensation they are pursuing. This statement may be hard for some people to understand, but in actual situations such phenomena do exist.
We will for now discuss disease and suffering as if they existed separately.
So let us first separate disease and pain for discussion. Then we will discuss pain and suffering, and their implications -- why people suffer, why there is pain. Again, let us first discuss it separately from disease. When we discuss pain, we discuss pain; when we discuss disease, we discuss disease; and disease itself does not necessarily bring pain.
I do want to mention, however, that pain, suffering, and agony are obviously important and living sensations, and so are part of the full function of the body's possible sensations and experience.
Pain and suffering are also sensations, and they are part of your overall sensory system. Therefore they are also a marker of your life vitality, a marker that proves you are alive. Including feeling pain, feeling suffering -- these are all markers and reminders that you are alive.
And in themselves, when they learn to accompany learned communication, they often become responsible for a return to health.
We often say, I do not know whether I am dreaming or awake, so I pinch myself to feel pain. If you feel pain, you know you are awake and not dreaming. Why does pain make you feel you are awake and not dreaming? Because pain lets you feel a sense of being alive. If you cannot feel pain anymore, then you also cannot feel the real existence of life.
In the social feelings we normally learn, we think that pain or suffering is an unhealthy behavior and manifestation. But in fact, pain and suffering are also another expression of your being alive. I do not know whether you can understand Seth's logic here -- if you no longer feel pain, it also cannot prove that you are truly alive. So do not think you are unhealthy the moment you feel pain; it is just one part of your many sensations.
So pain, even though uncomfortable, stimulates the individual to rid himself of it, and thus often promotes humanity's return to a state of health.
Because pain makes you uncomfortable, you want to get rid of the pain, which moves you from a so-called unhealthy state back to a healthy state. So pain, from a certain perspective, is beneficial and helpful to you, rather than bad. In other words, when some diseases arrive, the pain that accompanies the disease will make you notice the disease earlier and take some self-treatment measures. If you had no sense of pain or painful sensations at all, you would not even know when the disease became very serious, and you might not even have any awareness until you died of the illness. So having no sense of pain is actually a very dangerous thing. This is the subtlety and wonder of the human body. In other words, pain is also an important marker of your being alive or healthy, rather than the opposite.
Then the dictation ended. Seth at the same time reminded Ruburt again that he is indeed a beloved daughter of the universe, and that his parents are also the ocean and the sky, just as they are his parents. Thus, the dictation ended.
What does what he said mean? Because Jane felt that since his mother had such a serious illness, he would also get the same serious illness because of heredity. So Seth said, in fact, not only are your parents your parents, but the sky, the sea, and the universe are also your parents, and they themselves have no disease at all. He wanted Jane to change his belief, and not think that because his mother was sick, he would definitely get the same disease.
At 4:50, I was glad I had the session. Jane said that even though it was late, because he had the material you needed, I did well, I was able to clear my mind and get the material. He seemed to feel quite good, and I told him he did very well. And this session went deeper into the question I had noted down at the end of yesterday's session, concerning the role of health and disease in our world. This is what Rob had been pursuing -- why do people in our world get sick? Why do some people suffer because of illness? Why does disease still exist in the world? Why cannot everyone be without pain and without disease?
In this session, Seth gave what could be considered a complete or positive response, telling him: pain, or what you consider disease, is an indispensable part of what maintains our form of life; it is one of the components of life. It is not unhealthy; on the contrary, it helps us recover health and promotes our return to a healthy state.
Around 9:04, while I was typing this session, Jane called with Carla's help. He said Carla told him that a year ago, when he was admitted to the hospital on April 20, Carla was on duty. I did not remember this, and Jane did not remember it either.
Jane's Negative Beliefs and Rob's Observations
All right, let's look at the next session now -- Sunday, April 22, 1984, 3:35 p.m. There was no session on April 21, 1984, but we did some free association, so I will write a summary here, and as memory allows, record more of the free associations. They had been doing free association exercises over the past few days, jotting down whatever came to mind, using this free association method as a practice, and they had kept at it.
Because of the material Jane transmitted yesterday, I had a few questions. I said that over the years his illness might have cost us at least half of the six books. This comment triggered a response from him. In fact, today he mentioned it: now he said he had done nothing, except for doing a little each day -- and that was how the books got finished. I think that in terms of his most spontaneous nature, he had picked up the concept of self-discipline from me in a most unfortunate way.
This was originally a person with no concept of self-discipline, a completely spontaneous, free nature. But Rob is a very self-disciplined person, as you can tell from the recording, typing, and organizing work. Very unfortunately, Jane picked up Rob's self-discipline and turned it into a belief of her own. We talked about why his psyche had done this -- why it went for self-discipline. He agreed that in the hospital he was protected, he did not have to live, did not have to think about the problems of life. Although he was also restricted.
He also believed that he personally could not put the Seth material into practice -- this point is crucial. He also believed that he himself could not put the Seth material into practice; those were his exact words. So you can see that Jane was not a very good case or example when it came to the effectiveness of the Seth material. He could not practice his own spiritual work -- the material was his spiritual work, yet he could not put the Seth material into practice. A very apt description: a high-quality spiritual work.
His symptoms had kept him tied to his desk for years. Because he had limited mobility, it was inconvenient for him to go anywhere else, so every day he could only write or work on books at his desk. Because he was afraid that if he did not keep it in check, he would fly off somewhere and do nothing at all, afraid of his own overly free nature -- if the body could not serve as a restriction to keep him here writing, he had no idea where he would run off to and what else he would do. His symptoms, and now the hospital, protected him from criticism -- no one in the hospital criticized him -- and eliminated the book tours. He was supposed to do nationwide book tours for his books, and those were canceled too.
As for the whole promotion of the books, from the very beginning he had been frightened by Sumari. Sumari was the very free, natural part of him, just as it had been when the sessions first began in 1963. But at the same time he was also very curious and energetic. He was also afraid of the tests with visitors, the possibility of making mistakes, and the seances. The tests with visitors were those times when they kept testing various extrasensory experiences, such as writing things in sealed envelopes for Seth to guess. The possibility of making mistakes -- it was possible to make mistakes -- and the seances, they would often organize so-called seances, letting Seth come through in front of a group of people and demonstrate to them. And the fear that he would be called a hysterical woman, a show-off -- these were all things Jane was afraid of.
The weight of doing things right was not as great as the weight of doing things wrong. In Jane's feeling, the weight of doing things wrong was actually greater. In his self-perception, he felt that the parts he had done wrong outweighed the parts he had done right. This was Jane's overall judgment of himself -- first, he did not practice the Seth material; second, he believed that in the process of transmitting this material, the places where he had done wrong were more than the places where he had done right.
I was talking about the notes from the first session -- this was the first record of Jane's physical symptoms, and he wanted to find that record. Very early on, in 1965, November 15, in the private portion of Session 2081, that was the first time Jane's symptoms were recorded. However, he said that for him, the whole thing really began in June of '662, the day before we went to a party about a Seth manuscript. Our friend wanted to celebrate his first channeled book -- that is, information from the other side. His friend was also a channeler and had published a channeled book. He mentioned Seth for the first time, and at this gathering he read poetry at the party and refused to talk about that book on the sixth sense. He only talked about his poetry, and did not even mention the channeled book his friend had written. He felt too embarrassed, too awkward.
A strange protective behavior pattern -- feeling that he had very strong psychic abilities, but strongly disapproving of them, rejecting them, unable to accept them, and even feeling that it was something deeply embarrassing. You can see Jane's behavior pattern, his underlying beliefs. Jane said that in 1966, he felt for the first time this protective behavior pattern -- not daring to let others know he had psychic abilities, and not wanting to discuss the matter.
At 4:40, when I asked him: it was obvious that his symptoms were heading toward a very serious problem, why had his psyche not stepped in to protect him, he was on the verge of tears. Rob said your body is getting worse and worse, it has reached a very serious point, why has your inner psyche not come out to protect you? Jane was on the verge of tears, and he said his psyche had indeed stepped forward to protect him -- of course, otherwise he would have died long ago. So you can see how severe Jane's underlying beliefs were in their judgment and harm toward his own inner self.
He mentioned the progress at various periods, he wrote his unfinished and unpublished autobiography, such as that fertile ground, and also his published novel The Oversoul Seven trilogy, a series, and so on. But with each new book he got worse. Since that was expected, he said, on the verge of tears: when a new book came out, he did not need to get worse. What was left? The actual situation was that with every new book, Jane's physical condition deteriorated further. Why? Because he felt that what he was doing with channeling was not right, because he could not be one hundred percent certain that the material he transmitted was valid and beneficial to people. Although deep down he knew these things were good and useful, he was afraid both that his channeling state would not be accepted by the mainstream world, and that the material transmitted might even cause harm to others.
He agreed with what I said, that he now had the ultimate protection of the hospital. He said it would be best if something could be gained from this. He said digging up those feelings was no fun, good heavens, they had better be worth the price of admission. Digging up those feelings was really no fun, very painful -- these underlying beliefs of his, the non-acceptance and judgment of himself.
But the next day -- the above content was all from the previous day -- on Sunday, April 22, 1984, there was clearly a session. It took place on a chilly, gray Easter day. Jane read yesterday's association material, that is, the material above, and he finally finished reading it, though it must have taken considerable effort. Afterward we discussed the material, and he announced that he wanted to have a session.
Now I wish you both a good afternoon. Seth came through, and the following material is for Ruburt, and it can also be used as material for association. Comrade, please wait for us a moment -- pause, two beats -- he said:
Ruburt felt that his writing, and his ability to write, was the legitimate reason for his existence. I think he felt that only by writing did he deserve to live. The ability to write was supposed to compensate for all his other deficiencies.
Simply writing well, or writing very well, was supposed to make up for all his other deficiencies, including the deficiency of physical immobility.
His mother helped make him feel unlikable, but his ability seemed to be his saving grace.
Although he felt that people did not like him, he felt that having the ability to write was something excellent. So he had to encourage and protect it at all costs -- protect what? Protect his writing ability.
It would be helpful if you made a list of Ruburt's good qualities and excellent personality traits.
He said that if you made a list of Ruburt's very good or excellent qualities, it would be helpful to Ruburt, because he had far too many negative views of himself.
Then use this brief moment as a starting point for free association, and begin a new round of free association. I may or may not return, again following the rhythms I mentioned, but know that I am here and accessible.
All right. Jane said at 3:43 I read this session to Jane. It was a very short session, very, very short. He pointed out some of Jane's underlying belief problems -- Jane's underlying belief was that only by writing did he deserve to be alive, and writing was an excellent ability of his, and by developing this ability to its utmost, he could compensate for his deficiencies in other areas. So he did not care about the outer circle at all, and he just wrote desperately, and wrote again.
Afterward we tried some free association. When Jane first began to talk about his attempts to get people to listen to his poetry, and his early fear that people would think he was strange because of his talent -- in his early years he thought his talent would make people think he was strange, such as the poetry he wrote. This led to him talking about my mother's opinion of him. Although I tried to let him know that Stella's opinion had changed, that is, Rob's mother did come to like Jane in the later years. Jane agreed.
I said it is easy to criticize the past, but instead one should point to learning from it and understanding it, and start from there. Today we seemed to have come to the end of a road of understanding. The criticism of the past -- including others' disapproval of him in the past, and his own disapproval of himself -- was all criticism of the past. It only lets you learn something; there is no need to repeatedly emphasize this thing. Understanding what we can learn from it is already enough.
In Jane's youth, in college, he was afraid of not getting other people's approval. On the contrary, I said, Rob said: since his abilities surpassed theirs, others should be afraid of not getting his approval. Rob began to say, since Jane felt you have this transcendent ability, such as writing poetry or this kind of gift, you think your abilities are stronger than others, so why do you still need to get other people's approval? If you are stronger than others, should it not be others who need your approval, who hope even more to get your approval? How could a stronger person hope to get the approval of people weaker than himself? Rob could not understand why Jane had such a strange idea.
So why should he sink to the common denominator? Why sink into a state of hoping to be like the majority, and to be recognized by the majority? He was clearly one of the few, and one of the excellent few. Jane said he had never thought of that. I said it is really too bad that young people do not have the insight to emphasize their abilities regardless of other people's opinions. But I am afraid this kind of thinking usually comes with age.
What he meant was, when young, he had not realized that he should develop his talents regardless of what others thought of him. Many young people are still influenced by traditional views from childhood, caring about other people's opinions, even the opinions of parents, family members, and those around them.
Even in the summer of 19573 -- just now we were talking about 1966, now going back to the summer of the '50s -- the people at the Milford, Pennsylvania writers' group also told Jane that he should grow up and stop longing to write, that he should have a child. The people in the writers' group told Jane: do not keep writing every day, you should live your life properly, you should grow up, you should have a child, do not be like a little girl immersed in literature and writing all day long.
And Jane felt that his body might betray him through pregnancy. He worried that after getting pregnant, his body would go take care of the child and the family, and would not write anymore. He even thought that I would feel the same way. That is right, I was not in a hurry to be a parent, Rob said he did not want to be a parent, but I did not think of it as betrayal or bargaining. Rob said I really was not in a hurry to have children, but I also never thought that having a child would affect my work, or affect my talent in any way, I never thought that way.
Jane was afraid that getting pregnant would ruin my career, he was worried about ruining Rob's career, because Rob would have to work full-time. I am quite sure I could have responded better. Because at that time, in the 1950s, if Jane had a child, Rob would have had to find a full-time, stable job to support the family. And Jane felt that Rob preferred to paint freely, and did not want a fixed, stable job. So to prevent this from happening, he would rather not have children; he believed that pregnancy would ruin Rob's talent. Rob said he was quite sure it would not, that with a child he would actually be happier, and would have better solutions and approaches. Although this was a past probability, Rob and Jane finally talked about this topic.
I think the important thing today is that as we talked, we saw how Jane painted negative beliefs and reactions on every subject. We could see that Jane always grabbed onto negative things -- whether it was at the writers' group, whether it was about having children or not, whether it was during college -- Jane always held very negative beliefs.
This is a very good point, and it was an idea we had had before: it seemed as though everything we accomplished was done in the face of, or in spite of, the dense barrage of negative emotions, feelings, and beliefs. Rob said we completed so much of the Seth material, completed so much work, under the bombardment of Jane's dense negative emotions. You do not know how negative Jane's beliefs about himself and about this matter were on a daily basis. Through this free association method you can see a part of it -- from childhood to school, to college, to young adulthood, from writing poetry in his twenties all the way to the present, he had been stuck in a negative pattern and could not get out. No matter where he went, he would pick up these negative things.
However, he finally admitted that he knew he had succeeded in winning over my mother, but not my father. As for his own mother, Marie, I said admitting that he had not succeeded there, or choosing to retreat, or admitting defeat -- on the Marie issue there was no problem at all, there was no need to force himself; if it did not work out, it did not work out. But Jane had great self-blame -- what did success mean? It meant getting his mother's approval. In this matter he had failed, and failure was failure. But Jane believed that his mother had hated him when he was a child, and even now that he was grown up, it was still the same. Jane said his mother's hatred led to his need for protection, and I said that was completely correct, completely normal.
Because of his mother's hatred toward him, he had always maintained a state of excessive self-protection. This can be seen in many people with similar experiences. He was not like children who live in the love of their parents, who have an open, trusting attitude toward the external environment; children who grow up in that kind of environment often tend to overprotect themselves, shrinking into a very hard shell, unwilling even to let others help them, unwilling even to come out. When someone touches his protective shell, he has a very strong rebound. He did not say he wanted to come out; instead, he did not know how to live without protection, and every little thing in life made him want to protect himself at all times.
Jane said that when his father was drunk, he told Jane that Marie was his enemy. Apparently Jane believed this. I was reading part of the April 18 session to Jane, in which Seth said Jane had become extremely fearful. That was an excellent session. But that is how the situation is, Jane said miserably: I know, but that is how things are. Jane said: I am afraid I have sunk so deep that I can never get out again -- meaning he could never get out of this negative emotional state. An honest, urgent fear openly appeared. That is, a real, urgent, underlying fear in Jane -- he felt he could never get out again, could not emerge from this negative emotional state.
I had the same fear many times, after I speculated about why his psyche had not stepped on the brakes regarding his symptoms before this. Jane said: But I have decided, enough -- to no longer continue this pattern. In any case, emotions were expressed today, and that result is a success. Rob said many, many times he had this kind of fear. And Rob was wondering why his psyche had not protected him before he caused such harm to his own body. Actually Jane had already answered this earlier -- his psyche had been protecting Jane to the greatest extent possible, otherwise Jane would not have lived to this day, because he had been in a very deep negative emotional system, a pattern.
April 25, 1984: Death, Illness, and Vaccination
All right, let us look at the next session -- Wednesday, April 25, 1984, at 3:10 p.m. There was no class. The following is a summary of the free association we discussed yesterday, April 24.
This morning Jane was in a bad mood and uncomfortable. What kind of life is this, he said. He had thought of death, but did not want to say that to me. You see his underlying belief -- why would Jane die? He had thought of death long ago, he just did not say it. He was looking for a sign of something better, some improvement that could lift his spirits. After I read the March 19 session to him, and a great Sumari poem from my earlier unfinished essay for Dreams, "Evolution," and Value Fulfillment, he felt better.
Jane wanted something better to give him a sign, so Rob read him some sessions and a Sumari poem. Jane even thought of asking Debbie Harris to come in the evening to take dictation for another children's book, and perhaps also an autobiography -- he intended to finish a children's book, or an autobiography.
This morning, the nurses and nurse's aides told jokes and did tricks, having a grand time, which usually helped cheer Jane up. Although if they were absent-minded while working, for instance when they lifted the needle, he would get nervous. These nursing workers would do little tricks and tell jokes to make Jane happy, but when they worked they were indeed sometimes absent-minded. These two things are not contradictory.
We discussed the differing opinions regarding their publisher, Prentice-Hall. These are to be expected, but given our current situation, everything now seems like trivial little matters.
Jane thought his work and his poems were very good. Before Seth wrote Seth Speaks, he was very afraid he could not write a book, worried that he could not manage to write one. I never had that kind of worry. Jane felt that I was somewhat disappointed about the publication of his novel The Rebel -- Jane had originally written a novel called The Rebel, but Jane felt it was not well written, and also felt that Rob was disappointed in him. That is right, neither of us thought much of it. He was also unhappy about the design of that cheap story collection.
I have been trying to talk about events -- the symptoms with Jane before and at the start of the session. Rob, throughout the Seth material, often recorded events that happened before and after Jane transmitted the session content. Jane now said: I cannot even go home for an hour without it costing 200 dollars. Because he was now lying in bed and it was very inconvenient, he would probably need a professional vehicle or a professional bed to bring him home. Jane began to cry -- he could not go home. But I am not prepared to settle for my current situation -- again he was not content with the status quo, always wanting to go home, not wanting to stay in the hospital.
But he was often very careful about what he said to me, meaning Jane cared a great deal about what he said to Rob, so that when Rob came to the hospital he would not constantly dump garbage on him. Jane said, I do not want to bring all these negative emotions to you, so when I talk to you I am very careful, trying as much as possible to pick relatively positive topics. So you can see how much negative stuff was left unspoken.
But I said, if not me, who else can he talk to? You have to tell me -- if you do not tell me, who can you tell? Besides, I clearly understood his moods and feelings better than he realized. It is actually worse if you do not speak.
When he said, I have found that I never really liked women before, it surprised me -- and there was more. Jane said he had never liked women before. You see this underlying belief of his -- if he does not say it, others would not know, but you can see it from his behavior -- for a long time he wore just one pair of jeans, and would go a week without bathing or changing clothes. There was completely no pursuit of feminine qualities; he thought of himself as, and preferred himself to be, a man.
I again wish you all a wonderful afternoon. Seth came through, and we will continue the dictation.
Even in a situation involving a so-called parasite-host relationship, there is also a cooperative process.
There is cooperation in all of this.
Fleas, for example, actually help promote circulation, and they constantly groom the animal's fur. On a subtle level they also consume some of the body's waste products, and even organisms smaller than themselves are consumed by them. They also keep the immune system active and elastic, because of their presence.
Many illnesses are actually processes that promote health. Chickenpox, measles, and other similar childhood diseases, in their own way, naturally inoculate the body -- they give themselves a vaccine. Having recently had this illness, one is now immunized, and therefore able to handle other factors -- those parts of the body and the body's environment. After getting the vaccine, one can handle the adverse influences in the surroundings and environment, and will not get a similar illness again. It is equivalent to giving oneself a vaccination.
But when civilized children are medically inoculated against such diseases, they usually do not show the same symptoms, and to another important degree, the natural protective process is impeded.
When natural people got chickenpox or measles as children, the natural immunity obtained through having the illness is completely different from the protective effect on the human body of not having the illness and merely being injected with the chickenpox vaccine or measles vaccine. Between obtaining immunity through having the illness, or natural immunity, and obtaining it through later artificial vaccination, clearly the effect of natural immunity is better.
Such a child may not come down with the disease against which he or she was medically protected, but they may indeed, because of this, become the prey of other diseases at a later time that otherwise would not have occurred.
These people are children who were injected with artificial vaccines, such as the chickenpox vaccine. When they grow up they indeed will not get chickenpox -- the vaccine does work in this regard. But because they did not obtain natural immunity by naturally getting chickenpox as children, then even if they do not get chickenpox, at a later time they may get an illness that originally would not have occurred. That is to say, if they had obtained natural immunity by naturally getting chickenpox, then some illnesses would not occur; but if they obtained immunity through the chickenpox vaccine, even if they do not get chickenpox, they may get these other illnesses, and these illnesses originally did not need to occur.
I am speaking generally here. Remember, therefore, that your individual beliefs, thoughts, and emotions bring about your reality, so no one dies before his or her time.
This matter is extremely personal for each person, completely individualized. The reality composed of his emotions, thoughts, and beliefs constitutes when he is supposed to die -- he dies at the time point when he is supposed to pass away, not because he got some illness or disease. No one dies when he should not die; each person chooses the time of his own death. The time is chosen by oneself.
However, truly speaking, many conditions such as AIDS occur because the immune system has been so damaged that the body's own balancing processes have not been allowed to follow through to completion.
With something like AIDS, the immune system is thoroughly damaged, damaged so severely that the body's own balancing system has no way to balance, no way to repair itself.
But again, no one dies of cancer or AIDS, or any other condition, before the individual has set his or her time of death.
Even so, you must understand that each person does not die because of illness; rather, it is because he has set the time of his death. Illness is only a way and a method to take him out of this world.
There are also many other conditions to be taken into consideration, because such diseases clearly have strong social connections. They occur within social species, which does not mean they are necessarily contagious.
That is, in society, some diseases appear to be contagious, but that does not mean they will necessarily be transmitted.
But they do involve a mutual accommodation between the individual and his or her social and natural frameworks, as an overall process.
This sentence is stated very officially, and very objectively. That is, why do these people get sick? Why do they get AIDS or other diseases? His meaning is that these have strong social connections. If you get AIDS, for example, if you have intimate relations with someone else you may transmit AIDS to them. But Seth's meaning is that this transmission is not inevitable -- it is not that if you come into contact with an AIDS patient you will definitely be infected. Whether transmission occurs or not involves many complex social connection factors, not the purely biological kind you imagine -- one contact means certain infection? Not necessarily. Many people who have contact with AIDS patients do not necessarily all get AIDS.
But these diseases do involve a mutual accommodation between the individual, society, and the natural framework. What is meant by mutual accommodation? Both the social and the natural viewpoints hold that AIDS is contagious -- this is a social cognition, and then it leads to the occurrence of this transmission phenomenon. The natural framework requires the existence of an HIV virus.
The meaning is that at the bottom level, when you as a person will die, on what day you will die, is all arranged by yourself. But on the surface, it appears that you died because you got AIDS, were infected, could not be cured, and passed away. And the whole process -- you getting AIDS, being infected, ultimately not being cured, and finally passing away -- is a process of mutual compromise and accommodation reached between your belief system or your choice of death date, and the whole of society and nature, including your own body and physical form. They have an overall relationship, more complex than what we simply think. This is what he is telling you.
For example, a city may be overrun with rats, but the whole picture would include the restlessness and discouragement of the entire population, and all those conditions together would contribute to the problem.
On the surface it looks like rats are running rampant, but at the bottom level it is the restlessness of the entire city's population, dissatisfaction with the status quo, and great discouragement that leads to the rats running rampant. His meaning is also that the prevalence of AIDS has a certain social attribute and social need -- it is a need of collective belief, or a projection.
The rat poison may indeed add its own dangers, killing small birds and rodents, and contaminating the animal food supply.
You say the rats are running rampant, so let us put out rat poison. Putting out rat poison will cause other small birds or rodents to be poisoned, affecting the entire ecological chain or food chain. In such an imagined picture, insects also cannot avoid this situation -- the entire ecosystem is interconnected and affected.
In fact, within that entire environment, all life forms will seek a return to balance, but to a more vigorous condition.
In such a harsh environment, all life forms will seek a return to balance, and will develop toward the good. Even if today rats run rampant and sewage flows through the streets, there is still this possibility of balancing toward the good. This is the point he wants to tell you.
You may wonder why so many life forms would become involved in behavior that seems self-destructive, and often leads to death?
You may wonder why so many life forms become involved in this kind of self-destructive -- or often death-leading -- behavior. Why do they all seek their own destruction?
But remember, no consciousness considers death an end or a calamity.
True consciousness does not consider death an end or a calamity. Why do you think so many living beings become involved in death? Why would they arrange a death time node for themselves? Actually this is what Rob had been wanting to ask Seth in the previous several sessions -- why is there still illness, pain, and death in this world? Continuing the answer from the previous session, his meaning is that at the level of consciousness, death is not what we think it is. It does not consider death an end, nor does it consider death a calamity. It does not consider death a sacrifice; it considers death an inevitable state of the healthy condition of life -- that is, death is another kind of health.
Instead, it regards it as a method of continuing physical existence.
On the contrary, your consciousness considers death merely a process of transition between the physical state and the nonphysical state. This is how it regards death.
This afternoon may or may not return. But in any case, I have also activated those coordinates that encourage self-healing, confidence, and well-being.
At 3:35, there was one interruption for nursing care. I do not know what time it was, but somewhat earlier, quite early, I felt that would be the theme of today. He said he could feel today's theme, perhaps aimed at your own questions. That is, Rob had been asking Seth this question before, and here Seth gave him a clear answer.
He added that he knew he still had to discuss at least two other matters within the chapter. For example, in certain eras people mostly died in their thirties, while in other periods they lived to be very old. Also, we have cut ourselves off from our feelings about death, and are afraid of it -- we do not feel the feeling of death and we fear death. But death, like other forms of life, is also a feeling and an experience; we should feel and sense death, rather than fear it.
He is not telling people not to vaccinate -- Seth's viewpoint is not telling people not to vaccinate. He is merely stating such a possibility: if you go through natural inoculation, the effect will actually be better; if you go through artificial inoculation, it is possible to avoid this. I do not know whether you can understand the meaning of his words. That is, if you as a person, suppose at age 50 you would get an infectious disease and die -- this is a choice and arrangement of your own self. But this infectious disease can be avoided through a vaccine -- for example, if it is tuberculosis, you might get tuberculosis at age 50, but you got the tuberculosis vaccine, so at age 50 you will not get tuberculosis and will not die. But the matter of your dying at age 50 is something you arranged long ago, so you will get another kind of illness, and then still die. Seth's meaning is that he is not telling you not to get vaccinated; he is telling you that your natural arrangements are all very magical and wonderful. Artificially trying to make everyone uniformly not get a certain infectious disease does not prevent this person from getting other illnesses.
I found this session very interesting. Regarding Seth's comments on fleas, I wondered about whether to use the flea bombs in the house that Frank and Longwell had given a few days ago -- these supposedly would kill every flea in the house. And the vet had given us powder to use on the cats. Would this actually deprive them of their valuable symbiotic relationship? -- that is, the valuable relationship between fleas and cats, parasite and host. I began to secretly worry, since the carpets in the house had now been cleaned and there were no fleas, how to compromise on the flea situation this summer -- by compromise, does it mean giving up on the flea bombs that kill fleas?
I told Jane that Seth's material about childhood inoculation leading to later illness might be valuable for statistics. Clearly enough records exist that such a correlation might be found. Actually, again, it has nothing to do with statistics. If one searched diligently over a long period, such a discovery might lead to a revision of medical treatment. Although I am not sure what or how.
I told Jane that this material made me speculate about Joe Bumbalo. In his life he had undergone many operations, and was often filled with medications. Could this repeated use of drugs have some connection with his current cancer? And even now Joe is receiving strong chemotherapy, and I believe he is losing his hair.
Today Jane said he had talked with Debbie Harris, and the latter would come back three nights a week, while Jane would try some spontaneous dictation. They also agreed that the completed manuscript would be fifty cents per page. However, Jane did not know how it would go with another person attempting an emotional subject like an autobiography. I said let him work it out himself. Debbie Harris came to help Jane take dictation, and was paid fifty cents per page.
Both Jane and I were very moved. Yesterday we received checks from Maude Cardwell totaling no less than 900 dollars4. At noon today, on my way to the hospital, I deposited them into those special accounts.
This morning I did not do any work on Dreams, "Evolution," and Value Fulfillment. It has been over a week since I last wrote on that book, and I have not touched it.
This discusses a great deal about the relationship between illness and the individual, and also talks about it from the human perspective and the individual perspective. It seems somewhat loose, scattered across three sessions, but it consistently runs through one theme. And within it runs a large amount of recording of Jane's personal negative emotions and the sorting out of some of his underlying beliefs.
I think for many people who want to understand why Jane ultimately did not pull through, this is a tremendous help. At the same time, it also allows you to see whether you yourself have similar problems to Jane in your own illness -- whether you have been stuck in this kind of negative belief, in this pattern, unable to get out.
Seth on the Self-Healing of the Knee
Friday, April 27, 1984, 4:20 p.m. Rob said the day was bright and warm, and by the time he left the house for Room 330 the temperature was almost 80 degrees Fahrenheit, already very hot. But Jane's room was comfortable and cool. Rob turned on the electric fan, and Jane showed him the place on her right knee where the bone had cracked and then become inflamed. There was a large scar there, and today part of it had come off during hydrotherapy. It was now half its original size, and where the scar had come off, pink new flesh was showing. The hole in her leg that drained the fluid was still quite large, but both of them were very pleased with the progress.
At noon today, on his way to Room 330, Rob stopped to deposit the check for over $18,000 that he had received from Blue Cross the day before yesterday. About two weeks earlier he had received a check for about $3,700, and the two together paid off all the hospital bills that had been submitted to the insurance company. Rob said that when he opened the letter and saw the $18,000 check, he felt no reaction at all, not the excitement he had expected. He wondered at his lack of feeling, and attributed the indifference to the long wait involved, plus his determination not to be upset, and possibly other factors he simply had not bothered to examine.
There must have been anger involved in this, because the wait had been so long. When the $3,700 came, he also felt nothing. He admitted that this lack of feeling at the moment caused him some momentary concern. It seemed that the payment covered 100 percent of the bills rather than 80 percent, but he was still waiting to see. Rob was suspended in a feeling of inaction or non-response. Because during the long wait, there was actually nothing he could do. Since he feared the outcome might not be good, he did not dare to have any expectations, but he also had no particular certainty about the future. In this state, Rob was actually quite worried that he was becoming unresponsive.
When Jane entered the trance state, the window was wide open, and a breath of fresh air filled Room 330, with the fan still on. Then Seth came through.
I bid you a good afternoon.
The two said good afternoon to Seth.
Ruburt's knee shows obvious improvement, a fine example of the body's self-healing process.
Seth said that this obvious improvement in the knee was a good example of self-healing. The next sentence is crucial—it cannot be accomplished by the conscious mind. Although the conscious mind can indeed decide to set that process in motion. Remember, this is a key sentence.
Many people say, what should I do for self-healing? Actually, it is mainly your body consciousness that is doing the work. Your true conscious mind can do very little about the healing itself. But the conscious mind is not entirely powerless either—it is also very crucial. It can adjust its own beliefs, adjust its own emotions, and allow itself to relax. All of this is very critical to one's healing. But in the final analysis, what truly brings about your healing is that unconscious part, the part that is your body consciousness, not the part that is your conscious mind.
This also explains why many patients have a strong will to live, or a strong belief and desire to recover, and yet still cannot get well. Their belief is sufficient, the people they cannot bear to leave behind, their emotional attachments are sufficient, but they still cannot make their bodies heal. The main reason is that what truly works is really not your conscious mind, not your firm belief, but a very deep-level change in body consciousness.
I hope everyone can understand this, and not misinterpret it. Do not think that in terms of bodily healing, if you can make up your mind, overcome all difficulties, and strive hard to do something, your body will get well. I do not want to give everyone that kind of misleading impression. True healing, true recovery, does not work that way.
Just like the story I often share with everyone about the person who had to die once before learning to love, Annie5, it was almost in a state of giving up, in that final moment of losing consciousness, approaching the very end of life, that he had that insight and understanding. It was not the result of strenuous thinking and analysis, but a flash of insight in the mind, a sudden turn of thought. It did not require him to go through great effort and arduous thinking, or anything manufactured out of belief. So here I hope everyone can understand—does your conscious mind play a role? It does. The conscious mind plays a role on the outside, but what truly works is on the inside. Everyone must clearly distinguish this relationship.
The knee will continue to improve, and the fingers, the fingers of the left hand, as well.
Then Seth said, please wait for us a moment, and began the formal dictation.
I would not advise my readers to refuse to have their children vaccinated.
Seth said again that he had not said parents should not let their children be vaccinated. He had never said that, nor did he advise people not to vaccinate their children. Since vaccination is important in your society, you must now consider it, because the collective consciousness of the whole society considers vaccination important. If you also accept this collective consciousness, then go ahead and vaccinate.
Science itself, however, will in time discover many unfortunate side effects of such procedures, and begin to reassess whether the whole system of vaccination needs improvement.
It is true that in some native populations, particularly in the past, the childhood diseases considered natural by Western medicine, such as measles, smallpox, and so forth, were not contracted. This is also true. Of course, certain primitive societies did lose large numbers of people to disease, but there are also examples where a massive population decline was caused precisely by the sudden introduction of Western medicine.
I do not, however, intend to blame Western medicine itself in any way. I am merely pointing out many of its unfavorable aspects.
Seth did not blame Western medicine itself. Medicine is also a transitional state, and it is still developing. And examining its own concepts is just as important as examining its techniques, if not more so.
What he means is that medicine is developing, but in the process of its development, what it should examine more is its own concepts, not just problems in technique and method. Yet current medicine focuses more on the examination and study of techniques and methods. Seth suggests that medicine should have an elevation and improvement in its concepts about health and the body, not just in technique. He feels this should be more important.
The Cooperative Relationship Between Humans and Animals
Seth says that the concept of using animals for experiments has far more drawbacks than benefits. He does not say there are no benefits, only that it brings more drawbacks. Where does the problem lie? One kind of consciousness is clearly exploiting another kind of consciousness, and the cooperative tendency between humans and nature becomes adversarial.
Originally, nature is mutually cooperative, and all species, including humans and animals, cooperate with one another. But modern medicine or pharmaceutical companies, in order to develop new drugs, conduct large numbers of animal experiments. The act of using animals for experiments is itself humans exploiting another species, and this exploitation is not natural or voluntary, but coercive and forced.
In the distant past, certain ancient civilizations did indeed use animals in such a way. But Seth says that was using animals within a very different framework. In ancient times, the doctors or priests of that era spoke of their problems with great humility. They humbly communicated with animals, saying that we humans have encountered certain problems, and through ritualized dances and ceremonies, they requested the animals' help. Therefore, in that manner, animals were not sacrificed, nor were they taken advantage of.
This form can still be seen in rural areas, for example in many ancient shamanic traditions. Even now in the countryside, there are still practices of inviting fox spirits and snake spirits to help humans heal illness through spirit dancing and dance. In that process, humans are relatively humble, and there is mutual cooperation with animals, and animals are also happy to help humans heal.
In terms of actual results, this is not feudal superstition; many illnesses were treated in this way. But do not mythologize it as a cure-all either; it cannot cure all illnesses. Like any medical treatment method, it can only treat certain illnesses. It can treat some less serious illnesses, but for certain difficult and complicated diseases, it is actually even more adept. And for some substantive organic lesions, it will also suggest that you see a doctor when you should see a doctor, and go to the hospital when you should go to the hospital -- I am referring to modern times. In ancient times, there were no doctors and no hospitals, so the only option was this method.
The point Seth makes is this -- patients did not take large numbers of animals for experiments as they do now. On the contrary, they would come together in a cooperative venture. They also did not know whether the treatment could be one hundred percent effective, but they were willing to cooperate and try. The patient was willing to believe that the animals could heal them, and the animals were also willing to try to heal the humans. A very interesting cooperation. In it, both animals and humans understood that no consciousness truly dies; it merely changes its form. In that process, they all understood that consciousness is immortal, only changing from material form to energy form, or from energy back to matter.
In all kinds of situations and healings, animals have indeed often been quite helpful to humans, but all these instances were cooperative ventures.
Remember, this was not as clear-cut as hospitals and doctors. Whether the healing could work, they were also just trying. In any such ritual, you would hear the priest tell you that he could not be certain of curing your illness, and that he had to ask the animal to judge before deciding whether it could be healed. Or the animal would also tell you that it would try, but could not give you a one hundred percent guarantee. So this was a mutual, cooperative venture, an adventure.
This leads, of course, to the cruel methods used in the slaughter of animals and domestic animals for human consumption, which I am at least mentioning here.
Seth says this method is not good. If you have seen a slaughterhouse, you know -- those creatures are treated as if they did not possess their own feelings and consciousness at all. They are not treated at all like sentient, conscious beings, but entirely like raised products. Such an attitude is clearly a most unfortunate misreading of the natural world. Misreading means that nature is simply not like this. Animals have feelings and consciousness, yet we humans treat these animals, especially those in slaughterhouses, as if they had no consciousness and no feelings. This is a complete misunderstanding of nature, and of the cooperation and inner connections among all things in nature.
What is a direct result?
That is, the diseases developed through such procedures would exist at least as much as in a very primitive society with unsanitary conditions.
Seth says that such results lead to diseases in modern society being just as prevalent as in primitive societies where medicine was very backward or nonexistent. Even the probability of modern people getting sick is no less than that of ancient people. This is a very strange thing. With the development of civilization and the progress of science, the probability of humans getting sick should be getting lower and lower. But in fact, if we compare ourselves with primitive societies, with those very early ancient humans, they were actually healthier than we are.
Seth points out that one of the reasons for this is that we have lost our connection with nature. Our attitudes and views toward our partners, toward our surrounding environment, and even toward animals have become distorted. We do not treat them as conscious, feeling beings like ourselves. And this view that separates oneself from the environment and nature has led to the fact that our bodily illnesses have not decreased, but rather show a trend of increasing.
Even though we consume so many creatures -- every year who knows how many white mice, white rabbits, monkeys, and various other animals die needlessly or unnecessarily because of experiments; every year countless farmed animals are slaughtered to provide humans with unlimited abundant resources -- this still cannot effectively improve human health. This is the root of the problem. Seth says, that is how it is, and this is the fact.
Under such circumstances, however, balance would establish itself, because the basic understanding between living beings would be maintained.
Seth says that in that situation, balance would establish itself automatically. A new balance would be established automatically, and a basic state would also be maintained. In other words, modern people's illnesses are caused by our separation from the environment and the natural environment. But it will not become as terrifying as you imagine, reaching catastrophic consequences, causing mass human death or increased mortality. He says it will not reach that state either, because a new balance will be established.
You cannot separate philosophy from action.
And were it not for a distorted philosophy of the survival of the fittest on the one hand, and the self-righteous assumption that God gave animals to humans to do with as they please on the other, the cruel acts committed in slaughterhouses would not have occurred.
What he means is that we cannot separate philosophy from action. Whatever philosophy we hold will bring about corresponding actions. We hold a philosophy of survival of the fittest, and we believe that humans stand at the top of the food chain and can therefore treat the creatures below us on the food chain however we wish. This is caused by our philosophical concept of survival of the fittest. On the other hand, in Western religious belief, it is also held that humans are of the highest order, and that other species all serve humans, and that animals exist to serve humans. These two -- one religious, one philosophical -- have led to the cruel behaviors we see today.
The dictation ended at 4:43. This part discussed the relationship between humans and nature, and between humans and animals, and also discussed some of the underlying logic and roots of human illness.
Seth finally said:
Keep in mind what I said about Ruburt's knee, for he realizes that the healing process has indeed been within him all along.
Remember, the healing process has been operating within him all along, not operating in his mind. That realization will be enough to help him change the situation. He does not need to do too much work; his body will heal itself, so that the two of you may return home together perhaps sooner than you think. Once again, I have activated those coordinates that enhance strength and vitality, and I wish you both a pleasant afternoon.
Free Association: Jane's Underlying Beliefs
The next session, April 30, 1984, Monday afternoon at 4:11. The following is a summary of the free association material that Rob and Jane discussed on Sunday afternoon, April 29. We have also done free association exercises in previous sessions with everyone before -- that is, free association.
When Jane was hospitalized a year ago, she had thought about death. She was on morphine and having hallucinations. Frank Longwell's father had just died, and she was afraid she would go down the same path. When she was younger, Jane really did not like women. She had once been afraid of her body as well as sex -- she was not only afraid of the body, but also afraid of sex. When she was told that she had a mind like a man's, she regarded it as a compliment, a form of praise. She also thought that women did not like her, because she felt women were afraid she was pursuing their men, and all sorts of things like that. So she thought women did not like her, and she did not like women either.
When they talked about her family environment, and how in 1965, that doctor in stream -- this young psychologist at the hypnosis seminar -- had reawakened her fears and ego insecurity. In '65, Jane underwent a hypnosis session, and this hypnosis not only did not help her, but instead dredged up some of her underlying fears and insecurities.
So, do not casually go and get hypnotized. If you encounter a bad hypnotist, not only can he not help you, he will instead bring you into a deeper state of disadvantage. Because sometimes, when you cannot handle certain things, burying them deep in the recesses of memory is a self-protective mechanism. Of course, the problem has not been resolved; it has merely been buried deep. The correct approach is indeed to process it or clear it out, but that must be premised on a very professional hypnotist, or at least a loving, capable hypnotist. If not, he will just dredge up those deeply buried underlying fears and insecurities, and then lack the ability to process them, and your self-protective mechanism will have failed. Originally you spent many years burying it very deep, and then it gets dug up again, and at that point you still do not know how to process it. Jane encountered a similar problem, in a hypnosis session in 1965. She even named the hypnotist, and in fact she had deep resentment within her, which is to say she exposed this hypnotist.
Jane had once been called a fraud by a classmate in college and by Rob's mother. We talked about religion, and all of this stirred up some emotional reactions, but without tears.
Rob had been trying to return to the state before Jane got these physical symptoms, wanting to go back to what changes had occurred in Jane's beliefs before she had these symptoms. Rob still wanted to resolve this matter from the root. Before she had these symptoms, before she became famous, and so on -- what had happened? He wanted to know what had happened.
Rob told Jane that he remembered Seth saying once that her symptoms were surprisingly stubborn. Many things pointed to a great fear of spontaneity. Where did the stubbornness lie? The stubbornness lay in her great fear of spontaneity. Spontaneity is a fundamental law of the universe; without spontaneity nothing is possible. And Jane precisely had a great fear of spontaneity. And after the Seth sessions had already begun, this fear was reinforced again and again. After they began the Seth sessions in 1963, it was still being reinforced. The symptom was this -- she was spontaneously transmitting the Seth material, but she had a great fear of spontaneity.
When Jane retraced the time several years earlier when she could not get up from bed at home, she began to cry. Jane recalled that time and began to cry, finally reaching the point of helplessness. At that time she remembered Rob being angry at Jane and shouting, saying that if you cannot stand up, I will just let you sit there, keep sitting there, and I will not help you. Rob thereby displayed his deep fear.
Rob also had deep fear. In the process of retracing, they had already reached the point of sadness and despair. Rob remembered that he sometimes cried. And Rob told Jane that he did indeed cry when she was not paying attention. You see, Rob, such a person who is very poor at expressing emotions, would also secretly cry.
Then again on the afternoon of April 30, they did some more free association. He placed the records of two days of free association here. Many years ago, around 1960, Jane said:
I think I love you much more than you love me.
That is what Jane thought, and that you can get along very well by yourself. This was one of Jane's beliefs -- she thought she loved Rob more than Rob loved her, and that Rob could get along fine by himself, while Jane could not get along very well on her own.
Rob said that was a complete misunderstanding on her part. He never had such a thought, and never wanted to do anything of the sort. For example, that he did not love Jane, or that he loved Jane less than Jane loved him -- he never thought that. Rob said there was absolutely no such thing; these thoughts had never entered his head.
Rob knew that things bothered him -- his work, the pressures of his life made Rob very irritable. He had to work, and as an artist, or trying to be an artist, he had to do commercial art, drawing illustrations and posters for people. This is the last thing an artist wants to do -- an artist least wants to do things for money, but he had no choice, and he did it for many years. But that had absolutely nothing to do with Jane. Rob meant that his attitude and state at the time were not good not because of Jane, but because of his frustration with his own work. As an artist, he had to bow to necessity for the sake of a living, doing work that was not artistic at all.
Rob said that he was not even as afraid of becoming a father as Jane was afraid of becoming pregnant, although he did not want to be a father. They talked a lot about their early days together, their work, and their art, fame, money, and other people's opinions.
Rob said:
Most of what we talked about would be considered the normal troubles of life.
Most of what they talked about were the normal troubles of ordinary people, but they had attached negative meanings to those everyday matters while ignoring the positive ones. They only focused on the negative matters, and these matters were the most commonplace things that everyone faces. In retrospect, the problems that were brought up now seemed trivial.
Rob added:
Each person is so different from another that criticism is useless.
There is no need to criticize. Therefore, each person might as well just do their own thing, and let the trivial things fall away. Each person's differences are so great that if you want to criticize someone because of these differences, it is completely meaningless. As long as one person does not harm another or steal, and so on, who can say what is right or wrong? Rob meant that one should not casually criticize others.
Jane said that she thought if Rob had to choose between painting and her, Rob would choose painting. That was Jane's view -- how terrible. Then Rob said, no, that is absolutely not true. How could I say I would give up Jane for the sake of choosing painting? Rob said that after all, he had worked full-time for four years in commercial art during one entire stretch, and at other times he often did part-time work to earn money and support the family.
Rob agreed that Jane needed a lot of affirmation. At the time they married, there was one thing Rob did not yet fully understand -- for the newly married Rob, he did not know that Jane needed so much affirmation to confirm their relationship, that is, to confirm that Rob loved her. And Rob at that time was frantically busy making a living. As a man, he had to support the family; he had that sense of responsibility. Especially in America, basically women could choose not to work and be homemakers, while men had to bear the social responsibility of supporting the family -- this was something that had existed in America for several hundred years. And at this time, as a painter and artist, he had to do commercial work that went against his heart, so he was bound to be unhappy and in pain. And at this time, Jane would misinterpret it as Rob being dissatisfied with her, or dissatisfied with their marriage. And Rob at this time still did not know that he needed to give Jane more emotional affirmation and recognition, that he needed to constantly tell Jane "I love you, I love you." These were all things he only came to understand later.
Rob added:
I was always very proud of her as my wife, and considered myself very fortunate to have her. I never questioned her loyalty and love, and I took it for granted that she felt the same way. I discovered today that I may sometimes have been wrong.
Where did he think he might have been wrong? He thought his feelings for Jane were beyond question and he never doubted them, and he thought Jane should feel the same way about him. He did not expect that Jane was not so certain. Jane in fact was very worried in the early days of their marriage that Rob would leave her. Jane felt she was not good enough, not excellent enough, and even when talking to Rob she was very careful and very cautious. Under this early repression, many seeds were planted -- she did not dare to truly express herself, and when speaking she was careful and guarded in her words.
Think about it -- she herself was very averse to sex, and she very much disliked women, and she also disliked appearing in the identity of being a woman. Think of this inner tug-of-war in Jane, and then she also led Rob to wonder whether she was not womanly enough, not beautiful enough, and thus he might reject her. But she also hated becoming beautiful, hated having feminine characteristics. You can imagine what kind of torment this tug-of-war caused in Jane's heart.
On the contrary, she even thought that Rob sometimes disapproved of the way she dressed.
If I remember correctly, I almost always liked the way she dressed and did her hair.
Rob said that in his impression it had never happened. But Jane felt that Rob would dislike her clothing and appearance, including her hairstyle. Rob said he had never made such judgments. Jane often brooded in melancholy, feeling that Rob was rejecting her.
At 4:03 in the afternoon, Jane was made very unhappy by their conversation. Of course she was unhappy. Rob asked her to ask Seth for a session regarding his comment about her symptoms being surprisingly stubborn. Then Jane decided to have a cigarette and see whether she could enter a trance state. Actually Jane was also quite unhappy -- why have such a session, to evaluate her stubborn symptoms? So she said, let me see whether I can get into it first.
Rob had always believed that the sessions themselves were a form of self-hypnosis. Today they talked about self-hypnosis as a method for breakthrough, and also talked about Jane having undergone hypnosis in 1965. When Jane spoke for Seth, her voice was rather quiet, because she was still a bit hoarse from yesterday's cigarettes. She lost volume, which Rob thought was due to the free association material. This afternoon a strong wind suddenly arose, sometimes very strong, and sometimes Rob had difficulty hearing Jane's voice. Her eyes were often closed, and there were many long pauses. Today it was sometimes bright and sunny, and sometimes very gray, with dark clouds gathering from time to time.
Then Seth came through.
I wish you a good afternoon.
Good afternoon from Seth.
What I am going to say next is not dictation related to the book; it is directed at the two of you.
Rob, however, still excerpted it into this book.
First, the most important point and the core that Seth emphasized:
Ruburt must not focus on what went wrong.
That is, Ruburt must not think, where in my past life did I go wrong, which led to the occurrence of my symptoms today. Actually Rob and Jane had been pursuing this question all along; they had been pursuing that key point, that core -- what exactly caused this problem to go wrong. And this matter itself -- the very thought of wanting to find where things went wrong -- was itself wrong. Yet the two of them had been tirelessly pursuing it. At this point Seth promptly came out to stop this behavior of theirs, saying do not go on pursuing where you did wrong.
In the deepest of terms, if you understand what I mean, nothing is wrong.
On the contrary, you have a whole host of severely conflicting beliefs, so that there is no clear and simple path toward action.
You have been going around and around within these conflicting beliefs, unable to get out. Seth meant that there is nothing wrong with you; you have done nothing wrong. You just need to act. The problem is that you do not act; you are tugging back and forth within these beliefs, thinking about which one is right, what you did wrong, what you did right. Just act, and there is no right or wrong. And what is most feared is going around and around within this without acting.
Rob himself said:
I understand Seth's declaration that, in the deepest of terms, nothing is wrong. Over this past year, when I tried to understand what was happening, I often used this idea.
But although Rob said this, he was the one who often pushed the search for where exactly Jane went wrong, the instigator. But Rob did not recognize that he was the instigator; instead he would say, I did not, I often say that nothing is wrong, I often use this method to console myself. Rob first extracted himself from the matter. Actually this was not well done.
In this matter, Rob bore very important responsibility. Rob, as a male with very strong rational thinking, had always treated much of the Seth material in a logical and rational manner. He had always wanted to sort through beliefs, investigate causes, and find where Jane's beliefs had gone wrong, hoping to help Jane heal through this method. But in fact, the simplest way to let Jane heal was to ignore the present reality before them, ignore these symptoms, and also ignore the reasons why she became this way, and stop searching. Just let Jane live simply and happily every day, even if it meant making Jane laugh for a little while each day, having Rob tell Jane a joke, or reading to Jane some of their beautiful past, or looking forward to some beautiful expectations for the future -- all of that would have been more useful and more effective than what he was doing now.
But they did not do that. Every day they kept asking Jane why she was like this, why we are like this, where exactly things went wrong, which belief exactly had a problem, tracing all the way back very early, going back twenty years, thirty years to trace it. And the key is that neither of them recognized this problem. Rob even did not think he was that kind of person; he thought he was instead the kind of person Seth described -- nothing is wrong. If Rob truly believed that nothing was wrong, then why did he repeatedly question and entangle himself in the roots of Jane's problems?
You can understand that although the two of them were transmitting Seth, recording Seth, and making contributions to humanity that cannot be measured in words or in value, the two of them were actually not very good at applying Seth. Their transmitting Seth does not mean that they were the ones who used Seth well. Here one must look at the matter in two parts, and not mythologize or blindly believe. Through this series you can know that perhaps you are the one who uses Seth best, and not necessarily Rob and Jane.
Seth did not pay attention to Rob's self-justification, and continued:
You want to clear the road. Free association is highly valuable, because it helps point out those conflicting feelings and beliefs.
Seth said that free association helps clear the road ahead of you, because it lets you see where the conflicts are -- which beliefs, which emotions, which feelings, and even which actions are in conflict with one another -- bringing them into your awareness, into the present. Whether they are conflicting beliefs from the past, bring them all into the present. Through the point of power in the present, the past can be changed.
Here they truly could use the knowledge they had gained so far to understand. Bring it into the present, and use your present wisdom to resolve those previous conflicting beliefs; it is very effective. Although at the time you could not get out of it, and some bad seeds or influences had already been planted, today you already have very high wisdom. You can use what you have learned and known today to resolve those previous cognitive limitations, or the conflicts and tug-of-war in beliefs. This is very good. You use today's wisdom to resolve the historical problems of the past. If you can also apply the point of power, you can thoroughly change it.
Then you do not give yourselves permission to act according to the old contradictory beliefs.
Bring the old, contradictory beliefs into the present, then use new beliefs to sort them out and understand them, and then you can jump out of that old pattern.
Emotional expression is itself an expression of action and motion.
Seth said that emotional expression is action, and emotional expression is motion. Emotions include language; they are themselves action, themselves motion. Do not think they are not action; they are also action. Remember, emotions and language themselves are also a form of action.
First you must move; the first step is to move. First there needs to be felt expression, and any expression of feeling leaves more room for movement. If you say nothing and express nothing, if you suppress it, you press yourself rigidly into a narrow space of consciousness, causing thought to be unable to move, and the body also unable to move. This is one root of why Jane's body cannot move today.
We all know that today Jane's body has already become completely unable to move, basically unable to move. Except for a few fingers and her arms which can still move slightly, her knees and her lower body basically cannot move. Where is the root? It is right here in what Seth said -- because Jane did not dare to express herself freely. Do not think that because she is a writer and a poet, she is especially good at expression. That is not so. She was actually afraid of her own expression, and this not daring to express left her no room for movement, ultimately causing her body to have no room for movement either.
Seth actually pointed out the root with this sentence.
In terms of accelerating the body's motion, accelerating the body's movement and healing, self-hypnosis can indeed be invaluable. Expression rather than repression is highly important.
Expression is very important; do not repress. Free association and self-hypnosis can both allow free expression.
Ruburt often does not connect with his own feelings, but will try to rationalize many feelings away.
Ruburt has not connected with his own feelings, using rationality to sort through her feelings, rather than letting the feelings express themselves directly.
He needs to realize that it is safe to express himself, and that such expression will not bring danger.
Expression itself will not bring danger. She needs to express correctly and truthfully, but she does not dare to express truthfully.
Many people greatly admire that Jane could sing the Sumari songs. Although the meaning of the lyrics of the Sumari songs is known only to Jane, no one else knows. Although Rob sometimes also sang some Sumari songs, Rob did not know what they meant, and Jane could translate them for him. Jane often sang Sumari songs alone, but no one knew what the lyrics meant. Everyone thought this might be an ability of Jane's, or a nature and characteristic of Jane's Sumari family. What you have not seen is this -- this was another disguised and hidden way in which Jane did not dare to express herself. It is as if she invented a new language, and used this new language, a language that no one else could understand, to express herself. Because she had been repressed for too long, she needed to express, but she did not dare to truly speak her expression in English, in her mother tongue. Writing poetry was also a veiled form of expression, but she just would not express directly.
So when I sometimes hear or see descriptions of Jane singing Sumari songs, every time I see such descriptions, my heart actually aches. It is not as everyone thinks -- oh, this is an ability, this is a supernatural ability, an extrasensory experience. No, this was another form of Jane's repression, another form of expression of being repressed.
At 4:24, today Jane also said that she felt she had to be careful in how she treated Rob, so that Rob would not get angry and leave. Those feelings had gradually faded over the years, yet they must have played a not very good role in the early onset of the symptoms. Jane had to be careful even when talking to Rob -- in the early days, think about how repressed that was? Is there any need for a married couple to speak so cautiously? And how much fear was contained in this -- Jane was afraid that if she said one wrong thing, Rob would abandon her and leave.
The person who wrote books against the Catholic Church was excommunicated, and Ruburt transferred those fears to society at large.
Because Jane grew up in Catholic Church schools, she knew many things about the church. She knew that there were people who, because they wrote books and expressed some of their own views -- these people were not targeting the church, nor were they trying to denigrate the church; they merely expressed their true thoughts -- were excommunicated. Such behavior left a very deep psychological shadow on Jane. She came to believe that in this society one cannot casually express one's true views, and that if one did, one would be rejected, abandoned, and exiled by society or the church. As a social animal, what a human being fears most is being cast out of society. And Jane, when she was very young, when she was in church school, had already planted this deep fear -- do not truly express yourself, otherwise such a powerful institution would cast you out.
Because for anyone, the church is a very powerful organization. Even nations, kings, politicians, and presidents are somewhat wary of the church, and are all quite afraid of it. Let alone a small child. Such a powerful religious force, just because a person expressed their true opinions, excommunicated them. This planted a very deep psychological shadow in Jane.
Even if it only involved poetry, there would still be conflict between creative work and the church. Jane did not dare to write books, so she wrote poetry instead, expressing herself in veiled ways.
He should indeed give himself the suggestion that the necessary insights will come, and that whether consciously or unconsciously, the proper connections will be made.
Seth meant to tell Jane that the insight would come sooner or later, whether it came consciously or unconsciously. For example, when Jane was transmitting the Seth material, it came unconsciously first; it was not at all Jane's conscious doing. Seth meant that whether conscious or unconscious, the insights that should come will come. It is useless to be afraid, and useless to worry; this is your insight.
But the most crucial point is that it is safe to express yourself, and that the true purpose of life is indeed to express those characteristics that make up his personal reality.
Seth continued, expressing yourself is very safe. Jane needed to have such a belief. Seth emphasized that not only is it safe for Jane to express herself, but the true purpose of her life is precisely to express those characteristics that make up her personal reality. What this sentence means is that Jane must express the insights and feelings she has experienced and encountered -- including the Seth material, including the novels and poems she wrote herself, all of which are characteristics that make up her reality, including her psychic ability which is so special; all of this is what she needs to express. Jane was indeed expressing, but her heart carried fear. Here you can know how much fear she carried while doing this.
Then there was a very long pause.
Ruburt should also realize that pleasure is indeed a virtue.
That is what I just said -- being happy and joyful is a virtue. Happiness itself is a virtue. If we ask what virtue is, happiness and joy are virtues. It is not about following moral codes or social rules, not about not violating them, not about not daring to truly express, not about suppressing oneself -- none of those are virtues. Pleasure is the virtue.
By all means express your feelings to each other, as they naturally occur.
Ruburt was not taught as a child to love himself, and regarded his talent as the justification for his existence. He felt that it was a somewhat dubious existence, since his mother told him that he was responsible for his own poor health.
Simply put, Jane should just live happily, and all her illnesses would heal. But she could not be happy. She felt she had to accomplish something in order to be happy. And the accomplishments she made were expressions of herself, such as writing poetry and writing books. And expressing herself made her feel unsafe, because from childhood she had seen someone excommunicated by the church for expressing themselves. So think about how painful this tug-of-war was for her. If you do not express, you can still be very happy; no problem. But she absolutely had to express, because she believed this was her talent. Writing was her talent, her gift, and she believed that only by bringing this gift into play did she have value in living or existing. And when she was bringing her gift into play, she had extraordinary fear within -- she worried that because of the release of this gift, she would not be accepted by society. Think about what kind of state of tug-of-war was in her heart.
These issues do indeed all fit together, but they can be read, brought into the present, and reconciled.
These can all be interconnected and coordinated, read well, and brought into the present. As long as you bring them out and use your present cognition to understand them anew, they will be reconciled.
The body will not only gladly agree, but can bring about a remarkable recovery.
Bring these old opposing, repeatedly tugging beliefs into the present, and use your present cognition to reconcile them, and you will no longer believe that expressing your views is unsafe. As said before, do not keep tracing back. As long as you bring it into the present, your body will automatically recover, and it will be a remarkable recovery, and not merely recovery.
I did indeed activate for you both the coordinates of accelerated insight, wisdom, inner peace, and the healing process, again reminding Ruburt of the steady progress of his knees and his physical abilities.
Then he said good afternoon. At 4:33, when Rob lit a cigarette for Jane, Jane said she had done quite well, that she had not known whether she could do it, and that several times she had almost come back to ordinary consciousness, but she had managed it anyway.
Because the entire session had been Rob asking Jane to ask Seth what those very stubborn underlying beliefs were that had caused her symptoms. And sure enough, Seth brought them out for her. And while reading these words to Jane, Jane had some thoughts of her own.
First, she had transferred the matter of being excommunicated into the loss of friendship. If you defied them, no one would want to have anything to do with you. If you denied or disagreed with a friend's views, then the friend would no longer want to have any contact with you. This was one of her mistaken perceptions, because from childhood she had seen people being excommunicated, and she had acquired this perception. So she suppressed herself and did not dare to express her true thoughts. She did not dare to speak the truth even with friends, and even with Rob she did not dare to speak the truth.
Second, she tried to be more like Rob, cooler, not expressing so much emotion, more self-contained. The word "self-contained" was a belief Jane should not have picked up. Jane's nature did not require self-containment; Jane needed to express freely, to express with complete freedom. That was Jane's nature. But she picked up one of Rob's traits—Rob was very self-contained, Rob was not good at expressing emotion. She thought this was cool, and because Rob was the person she loved, she picked up Rob's trait and put it onto herself. And this was completely incompatible with her nature. Jane needed free expression; she did not need self-containment; she did not need to be without emotion. Jane needed to have emotion. Jane was a person of intense emotion, a person of heavy emotion, but she suppressed herself.
And on his part it was also a mistake, a serious mistake, Rob said, born of a wish to protect and to love. Jane wished to be protected, wished to be loved, so she did not dare to express her true emotions. Then Jane said, you can see how they fit together with each other—how they interlocked, how they were linked ring by ring, how they supported each other, how these limiting beliefs supported one another unbreakably.
Rob said that while they were talking, he began to feel that Seth was about to come through again. Since it was getting late, Rob was somewhat reluctant to continue, but he told Jane it was all right. At 4:45, Seth came back again.
In other words, Ruburt was given powerful creative abilities, and he was determined to express them. And at the same time, early in his life, he was given the erroneous concept that to express the uniqueness natural to his creativity was itself highly dangerous.
You see, this is part of the main issue. This is a major problem that led to her symptoms today. She was naturally creative, and she should have expressed her creativity, yet she also believed that expressing her natural creativity was extremely dangerous. You see what a bind this was.
He must realize that if he has any responsibility and purpose in life, it is to express these abilities themselves.
Seth said the above words with great emphasis.
Since these abilities are so natural in his makeup, and the abilities come so naturally, they also possess their own protective mechanisms.
Seth's meaning is that when abilities come naturally, you need not worry that they will lack natural protection. You are born with an ability; you need not fear that this ability will bring you any harm. This kind of innate ability, this naturally acquired ability, has its own protective mechanism from birth; you need not worry that it will not be protected from harm. For example, Jane naturally acquired this link to the Seth material through channeling. When she was transmitting the Seth material, she did not need to worry about being persecuted by the church or mainstream society. No, because when this material came naturally, it came with natural protective functions and protective mechanisms. What Seth gave her was an emphasis and an affirmation—do not worry, just express freely.
And follow wherever it leads him. As long as he follows this nature of his channeling, he can freely express this natural flow of his.
Since it is indeed the natural pathway by which he entered into existence, and his most intimate connection with the universe and with All That Is.
This is the way Jane has her most intimate connection with the universe and with All That Is—through channeling, expressing those inner feelings and experiences, including these insights. She only needs to understand that she is maintaining contact with All That Is through this method, and then she need not have any worry or fear.
This session indeed tied the issues together quite well, and could also be used well for free association.
The session ended. 4:50. Rob said he had almost no time to discuss the session's content with her, but he considered it a most valuable breakthrough. It also made Rob see that even Jane's poetry was a suspect. There, Rob had had an impression that poetry was one aspect of her creativity that was essentially free, unpolluted by fear and doubt. For many years he had thought that if Jane only wrote poetry, even if she had any problems, they would probably be minimal problems, meaning physical problems.
Rob's meaning is that writing poetry was actually Jane's true expression, and she should have expressed herself through writing poetry. If she had not channeled, if she had not written the Seth material, perhaps Jane would not have had so much pain and discomfort. But the problem was not only there; it lay in Jane's underlying beliefs. Even so, writing poetry expressed a part of her, but later it would also have become distorted. In her poetry you can also see a great deal of obscurity; it was not as direct in expressing her heart as we might imagine.
The second part of this chapter is actually very important. The first half pointed out some underlying causes of human illness in relation to people and the natural world; the second half discussed Jane's underlying core beliefs—what exactly were the root causes that led to her illness.
May 2: Free Association and Emotional Expression
We begin with Wednesday, May 2, 1984, at 4:29 p.m. Rob began by saying that Jane had once written a poem, and in it there was a line:
When the mountain moon sinks deep into the sea, I am still I.
This was a poem Jane wrote when she was very young. The meaning of this line translated into Chinese is: no matter how the seas change into mulberry fields, no matter how the seas dry up and the rocks crumble, I am still I; no matter how the outer universe and the natural environment change, I am still that same I.
In another poem, she had also written a line:
When I became a priest of God, you learned what sin was.
She had also written that when Jane lived with her mother, she saw that the priests did not like these works. The priests did not like the things she wrote, and they reprimanded her for writing these things—just like schools and teachers, saying that at such a young age you should not write about such things. Jane began to rebel; she refused to obtain a special permit from the church so that she could read certain works. At that time the church stipulated that she could only read what the church allowed, and books outside the permitted range could not be read. You can imagine how controlling and how strict the church was.
She told me once again that when she was a teenager, a priest carried out a book burning in her backyard—he burned all the books the church did not allow, the books Jane had been reading, all of them burned in the backyard when she was in her teens. This was some of the free association content we discussed on May 1.
This behavior was extremely, extremely vile. Many parents have done similar things: not allowing their children to read books they consider inappropriate, thinking it is a form of protection and safety for the child, when in fact the harm to the child is enormous. I have seen one of the most extreme examples: a mother would not allow her child to keep a puppy, believing that keeping a pet would affect the child's studies. It is true that caring for a pet takes some time and may affect studies, but the love between a child and animals, the love and the flow of love between a child and a beloved pet, is something that studying and no amount of other achievements can teach or make up for. But this mother could not see that; she only saw that keeping a pet affected studies. In front of this teenage boy, she took the puppy and smashed it to death, throwing it to the ground again and again. She did this right in front of the child.
Do you know what this boy did in his rage? It was unimaginable—the boy was so enraged that he ran to the kitchen, took out a knife, and stabbed his mother to death on the spot. None of us wants to see such human tragedies, but in this process, I only want to remind all parents of one thing: do not use such violent methods to treat your children, such as tearing up their books, burning their books, throwing away or giving away their pets, and so on. These extreme and violent behaviors have an enormous impact on children, far greater than you imagine.
So you see, when Jane was a child, a priest went to her backyard and burned her books, and even now, in her fifties, she still remembered it vividly, still held a grudge. And this was only done by a priest. If your own biological parents did such a thing, imagine how great the harm would be.
Jane took the April 30 session to heart. That session was very important, but she had not yet tried any self-hypnosis. One of the two of them had to make sure to read it to her every day or let her hear it. Rob said:
I had tried to hypnotize her, to give her the right starting thoughts so that she would have the right starting thoughts, so that she would not think those negative beliefs anymore, but after reconsidering, I decided it was better to give her time to think about that session.
Rob's thinking was also correct: do not hypnotize her right away; let her think. Jane believed that the session itself was a form of hypnosis, and an excellent form of hypnosis at that.
Today when they arrived at Room 330, they found that Jane's call light was broken. Every patient's bedside has a call light, and now it was hanging outside its casing, broken in half. People were going in and out of the room constantly; at one point there were four nurses and nurse's aides in there laughing and joking, chatting and laughing.
After lunch, he tried to read the April 30 session to Jane, but it seemed as if every few lines they were interrupted. What was more, this morning a nurse had inadvertently given Jane the wrong medication. Jane finally became quite angry and upset, and suddenly began talking about the lack of privacy in Room 330 today. She expressed her feelings intensely, saying with tears:
If she wants privacy, living in a hospital is not a good way to get it. I have no privacy. I have always wanted privacy. It sounds stupid to say it, because I clearly know that this way I cannot get any privacy. How can you get privacy in a hospital?
Rob thought Jane was clearing a path, as Seth had suggested in the previous session, but this was difficult.
Getting a private room was almost impossible, because many patients, especially those whose expenses were reimbursed by insurance companies, were approved and authorized, and private rooms or single rooms were not possible. About this, I think everyone has seen an American film called The Bucket List6. An old man finally made a list of all the things he had not completed in his life, and then went to fulfill them. At the time, this old man was himself a shareholder of the hospital, the owner of the hospital. He particularly disliked the Black man who shared his hospital room, and he always wanted a private room. Even though he was the owner of the hospital, he could not get one, because according to the medical insurance policy, he did not qualify for a private room; his illness had not reached that level of severity. Everyone knows the rest of the story—these two old men had many amazing adventures.
So for Jane to get privacy or seclusion in the hospital was impossible.
Jane reiterated that she did not trust her female body. She reiterated this point again, and she believed that she was now paying the price for not wanting children. Why was she paying the price? Because she hated her female body. Her not wanting children was a major example of her hatred of her female body—because giving birth is what a woman should do. Jane did not like the female body, and she did not identify with her own female body, so she did not have children, as a very obvious declaration of rebellion against mainstream society: I will not bear children; I do not admit that I should be a woman; I will not do what all women should do. What price did she pay? She paid the price for this hatred of her own female body.
She also thought the church was ambiguous about motherhood—what exactly the church's position on a mother's duties was, she thought, was muddled and unclear. In high school she had read a Shakespeare sonnet that also gave her an idea. That poem told her that her role in this life was to bear children and forget everything else. She had never liked that poem; she wished it would wither and die. She believed the church had always held that a woman should be either a nun or a mother.
A repairman was finally called to fix the call light, which meant that while he was repairing it in the room, Jane had to be covered up, which upset Jane greatly. She began trying to read a session, but did not do well, so Rob continued reading the session to her at 4:25. By that time, they had already had many interruptions. Jane said:
I am very upset this afternoon, and I am uncomfortable, but perhaps if I have a cigarette or settle down, I can have a short session. I feel Seth is nearby, and he has two comments, so I should get them.
For most of the afternoon Jane lay on her back, quite uncomfortable, as she had yesterday. But Rob thought her expression of anger was very significant. Her Seth voice was still not as clear as usual, and her ordinary voice was also not as clear, but both voices had improved a great deal from yesterday. She transmitted more quickly today, but her voice was still not very loud. Now the light outside was quite bright, so they pulled the heavy blue curtains closed, and then they completed the entire session without any interruptions.
Emotional Expression and Value Fulfillment
Seth came through. Good afternoon. Seth said:
The expression of emotion is very good, especially the release of anger and frustration, which is very good. But this does not mean that you should concentrate on that emotion. You should not concentrate on that emotion. It is indeed fine to acknowledge and express them—you acknowledge and express these emotions, and that is enough, but do not concentrate.
This will allow new feelings to take their place, to replace the old emotion, and again accelerate movement on all levels. In other words, if you do not express an emotion, it gets stuck there, and new emotions cannot come through. Once you express it and release it, new emotions come, and at that point the new emotions may replace the old emotions. This is a normal, accelerated flow. This point has been emphasized repeatedly in our previous Seth material, so Seth told her again that Jane's expression of being upset and uncomfortable was a very good expression.
At first, Jane may find it difficult to express certain material, but it is very much worth the effort and the brief outburst.
There are some things Jane sometimes finds difficult to express, and some things she should burst out about briefly; this is very much worth the effort.
It is normal, but such experiences should be followed by mutual reassurance from both of you, and effort, and self-reminders on Ruburt's part—that his existence and experience are indeed protected by safety and love.
When Ruburt expresses emotions, when he expresses these negative things, his expression is very important, and it is appropriate. But the premise is that it should take place within mutual reassurance—what is the assurance in this reassurance? The assurance that they are all protected and upheld by safety and love. That is, all your emotional outbursts and eruptions take place under such a premise.
Free association is indeed working in the way it should.
They had also been doing free association recently. That expression will clear the mental and emotional path. Free association can help serve this function, so that Ruburt's natural, innate, proud spirit—you see what Ruburt is, a naturally proud spirit—can begin to show its face again.
You are both handling the situation very well. I am indeed accelerating your understanding—accelerating the coordinates of your personal and joint understanding—and indeed promoting a natural exuberance, and a re-emergence of joy, and this natural healing process.
At this point Jane said, "Okay, it's me," and she came back. At 4:34, Rob told Jane:
I don't know if I can have a session.
His voice had become somewhat hoarse. Rob read the session to her. She had really become unhappy shortly before the session began. Rob reassured her again, saying that the session had broken through the past, and that the session had broken through. Then Rob said:
You can write your own book about all of this, just like Jane's poetry.
That is, about Jane's expression of her own emotions, and how to clear her mental and emotional path—Rob said she could write about these things. Then Jane said:
If my Jane's mood were high, I don't know what I would do either.
This sentence is very interesting. Seth said Jane was naturally high-spirited; this was innate. But Jane said, even if my mood were high, I still don't know what to do now—that is, she had fallen to an extremely low point, and she had no plans or intentions for writing. She was completely engaged in transmitting the Seth material, doing this final transmission. But the main reason for her transmission, and the main purpose of Seth's coming through to transmit, besides passing on the final health guidance of the Seth material, was more to help Jane heal. And Jane herself, as an individual, had written many novels and many books in the past, but now she had no intention of writing anything. So at this point you can see the state of Jane's emotions. Then Rob joked:
But you can enjoy them, after you question them.
This was a joke, meant to cheer Jane up.
May 6: The Emergence of Guilt
Now let us look at the record for Sunday, May 6, 1984, at 4:32 p.m. Jane called last night to say that her mattress felt more comfortable. Over the past few days Jane had had many problems with her mattress; when she lay on her back she felt very uncomfortable, and her mood was gloomy. Yesterday Rob went to get the lawnmower and did not write down his dreams, and evolution was completed all at once; this morning he only worked for an hour and a half because of letter writing. Two days ago they had received forty-nine reader letters forwarded from the publisher.
This morning Dr. Wilson came to see Jane and suggested that he wanted to clean out the place above Jane's right knee that was open and draining. There was a large hole there, although the signs of healing were obvious. Rob also said that even if Jane had surgery, he did not know whether it could correct that leg.
Jane and he discussed a kind of chair that Jane could sit in. She mentioned something like a wheelchair or a recliner-type vehicle that might be adjustable for Jane's use.
Jane said:
The terrible depression I had two or three days ago has passed.
Jane herself said that she should have discovered that those feelings contributed to her entire discomfort—that the discomfort of those two days was actually mainly caused by her depressive emotions. Rob observed her, and he was quite certain that most of Jane's problems were caused by her own reactions. But Jane could not admit this; Jane would certainly feel that her bed was uncomfortable, her lying position was uncomfortable, and her body was uncomfortable. And Rob, as an observer, believed that most of it was determined by her own inner reactions.
However, today when Jane lay on her back, she was also very uncomfortable at times. Rob said that Jane said she had gotten past the depressive mood today, but when she lay there today, she still felt uncomfortable. Indeed, when Rob tried to get her to sit up for dinner, she fell to the other side of the bed at such a severe angle that Rob had to ask for help to sit her upright again.
Rob said that sometimes his own irritation showed clearly. Rob was sometimes very irritated. What was this irritation? It was because he felt that Jane still had such great self-denial and negative emotions—why could they not be removed? And as an observer he could see it all very clearly, with complete clarity, but there was nothing he could do. Rob said:
I feel as if no matter what I myself do, or what anyone else does, his wife Jane will be uncomfortable.
That is, no matter what they did, she was uncomfortable—lying down was uncomfortable, sitting was uncomfortable, lying on her side was uncomfortable; there was never a comfortable moment. This made Rob very anxious, very angry, very irritated. He was not angry at Jane; he was angry at the situation.
Jane's right leg, in its current folded position, kept pushing her to the left, pushing her outward, making her lean crookedly in a very ungraceful way. Jane could not sit straight. After she had eaten and Rob was preparing to leave, Jane said:
I really feel very guilty about making your life so difficult.
Jane said, I have made your life so difficult, I really feel very guilty, and she said many similar things. Rob thought this was the first time, at least as far as he could remember, that Jane had made such a statement in such a simple and direct way. You can imagine how heavy Jane's guilt was. Rob immediately thought this was excellent material for free association—why was there guilt? We should pursue this. But he replied:
We had better forget it and try to focus on the future.
However, this guilt may have played an extremely significant role in her daily life, and they should find out whether this was so. Rob said he should have let her pursue it, to begin a new free association—that is, why there was guilt. But he was preparing to leave at that moment, so there may not have been time to begin a free association, and Rob only said, very officially, that she should think about the beautiful focus of the future, and not think about this recent guilt.
Rob said that his own recent pendulum experiments told him that he felt guilty because he believed he should have helped Jane more in the past. Rob also had guilt; he felt he should have given Jane more help, but in fact had not achieved that effect. Only this morning did his pendulum say for the first time that he no longer felt guilty. Rob said this was an achievement for him. Actually, this was a point he should continue to explore. He was in the habit of using the pendulum after breakfast or as the last thing before going to bed at night, and it seemed to be working well. He had not yet discussed this material with Jane; now might be the time to talk with Jane about it.
Value Fulfillment and the Purpose of Life
When Jane was having the session, the window of Room 330 was open, and sometimes the traffic noise was irritating. The room became a little cold, and Jane asked Rob to turn off the fan. Then Seth came through and dictated. He returned to the main text of The Way Toward Health.
Remember, every segment of life is motivated by value fulfillment. This sentence is very important, so it is always a cooperative process. Then Seth corrected this sentence:
A process that takes into consideration the needs and desires of every other segment of life, attempting to use and develop all of their abilities and potentials, and to express themselves in as many ways as possible.
What did he mean after he finished and made the correction? In our words:
Remember, every segment of life is motivated by value fulfillment, in a process that takes into consideration the needs and desires of every other segment of life, attempting to use and develop all of its abilities and potentials, and to express itself in as many ways as possible.
I do not know whether you can understand his meaning. Every segment of life is mutually enhancing, mutually supporting, mutually satisfying each other's needs. You cannot say that this segment of life is bad or useless; it is also helpful and enhancing to those segments of your life that you consider good. You cannot say that you only want those stages you consider good, and that those stages you consider bad, dark, or low are wrong—no, they enhance all the stages of your life in their own way. This is one of his main ideas: you must no longer think that certain people or certain things in your life are bad. This is why you should live in the present, love yourself, and accept all the arrangements of the present, because on a level you do not know, they enhance all the stages of your life.
The very existence of a certain virus provides safety against many other diseases.
This sentence, understood in our most common terms: when your body contains a certain virus, you actually have antibodies against that type of virus. Therefore you have the possibility of resisting other diseases. It does not matter whether the virus exists in an active form—whether the virus is active in your body is not important; as long as this virus is present, similar viruses will not attack you again, nor will they cause you any harm. So whether a virus is good or bad for the human body is very difficult to judge simply.
Of course, it is obvious that the overall physical stability of the earth is made possible precisely because of the so-called storms, the so-called natural disasters, and the seeming catastrophes that are always occurring, which maintain it.
That is why the Earth remains stable: it is precisely because of these so-called unstable factors, these so-called geological hazards and Earth disasters. What you consider bad is actually what forms the core of stability and what maintains that stability.
Yet such events promote the food supply of the Earth's great exuberance, and they are also useful in redistributing the planet's resources.
For example, volcanic eruptions, the melting of ice and snow, and so on. If you have watched the documentary The Amazing Earth that we shared, you know that our Earth -- those volcanic eruptions, undersea volcanic eruptions, and changes in the Earth that you consider disasters -- have an indelible and immeasurable role in the development and balance of the Earth as a whole.
In the same way, in the larger picture, illness also promotes health. Value fulfillment operates within microorganisms and nations in all aspects of life, within individual creatures and within entire species, and it unites all of life's expressions, so that life and its environment are indeed united in a holistic adventure. Within this, each segment, in creative growth and expression, almost always seeks to surpass itself.
This sentence is rather long. To put its meaning simply: from the perspective of the whole picture, they are all operating as a whole. What does operating as a whole mean? Value fulfillment operates in every stage of every life, in every life on the entire Earth, and in every species -- all operate in the manner of value fulfillment. Whether for a single species, or for the millions of species on Earth -- perhaps even more than tens of millions of species -- these species together form the stable ecological state of the entire Earth. And within this, every species, in the manner of value fulfillment, benefits both itself and all other species and the entire Earth environment. As for each individual life within a species, each individual creature also enhances the entire species -- in the way it enhances itself, it likewise enhances the entire species.
Let us subdivide further. Every stage of an individual life's existence -- whether in its healthy stage, in its stage of illness, or even in its stage of death -- enhances the state of its entire life. You cannot say that one stage is good and another stage is bad. Every stage, every stage of an individual life, every individual life, even every species, including the entire Earth and every part of the entire ecological environment -- they all realize the value fulfillment of each individual and of each different life stage of each individual through value fulfillment, through a shared cooperative adventure -- a creative cooperative adventure.
What kind of value fulfillment? First of all, it is a holistic cooperative adventure, and its foundation is holistic. He and the environment he is in are connected; creatures and the environment they are in are connected -- a holistic cooperative adventure. Then, in each segment of creative growth and expression, they almost always seek to surpass themselves. Remember, they are always seeking to surpass themselves. To surpass oneself is to never be content with mediocrity, to rise up and meet challenges in the face of life. This is what every life and every stage of life should do. Of course, each stage may have different emphases, but their central idea is always value fulfillment. And so-called value fulfillment, to put it in plain words, is to constantly seek to surpass oneself. That is value fulfillment.
Within a smaller, individual framework, each man and each woman is inspired by this same value fulfillment. That is how it is.
You will soon understand:
How often, because of fear, doubt, or misunderstanding, some illnesses are set up as damages that oppose value fulfillment.
Because of your fear, doubt, and misunderstanding, you think that certain illnesses are obstructing and opposing value fulfillment. In fact, that is not so. Each illness itself is also a part of value fulfillment. It is not opposing value fulfillment; it is promoting this value fulfillment. It is only because of your fear and misunderstanding, or doubt, that you think it is not so. You think illness is opposing your value fulfillment. Many people set it up this way, thinking that illness comes to oppose them.
So this is an example of how these other illnesses may in fact lead to a misunderstood value fulfillment.
And you may think that certain illnesses actually promote value fulfillment. For example, you think that a certain illness was good to have, that after this illness your bodily functions achieved a new breakthrough or new progress, or that by overcoming a certain illness you think you have achieved value fulfillment, realized some kind of value fulfillment. These views are all incorrect. It is not that overcoming a certain illness means you have achieved value fulfillment, or that if a certain illness leaves permanent injuries in your body, or some physical inconvenience, you think these have no value fulfillment. Seth wants to tell you that both of these ways are value fulfillment for you. I do not know whether you can understand this deeper meaning of Seth's. Do not judge or misunderstand illness. For each person, it is a part of value fulfillment. It only depends on how you understand, feel, and experience it.
The Nature of Emotions and Innate Gallantry
Seth says again:
I also want to emphasize here that all aspects of life are not only experience and sensation.
This sentence is extremely important. Indeed, many people find it hard to understand the point about emotional feelings. They think: since the goal of our spiritual practice is to have no discriminating mind, then how can I still have emotions? If I have no discrimination, how can I have emotions? And then they think that discrimination is what causes emotions to arise.
First of all, emotions are the result of your energy dancing behind the scenes. As long as there is a flow of energy, there will be emotions. But the word "emotion" has been misunderstood by many of us. It carries many negative connotations -- when you say "emotion," people say "this person is getting emotional" or "this person has emotions," as if it were something very negative. But in the Seth material, emotion itself is an extremely positive thing. There is nothing negative in it. It is a form of expression of energy. Beneath emotion is energy, and beneath that is belief. A person cannot be without emotion. No matter how much he says "I have no emotion," having no emotion is also another kind of emotion.
Emotion is like the atmosphere of our Earth, like the climate changes on our planet. You cannot say that a place has no climate. You cannot say that any place on Earth has no climate. You can say its climate is relatively monotonous, relatively cold, relatively dry, with little rain and much cloud, and so on -- that is its climate. But there is no corner on Earth that has no climate. If we compare emotion to the atmosphere of our personality, then it is impossible for you to have no emotion. Never fight against your emotions, and never make any judgment about your emotions.
And this sentence is very important for spiritual practice and for us. Many people think they should no longer have emotions, that they should be as calm as still water, as plain as water, and that having no emotion at all is the right state. That means you have been misled and misunderstood in this understanding. It is not like that. So-called spiritual practice is life itself. So-called good spiritual practice is being able to enjoy life well and to create life. And apart from life, the so-called state of spiritual practice you are creating -- if you separate spiritual practice from life, or split them apart, or insulate them from each other, saying "one part of my life is for spiritual practice, and the rest is for living" -- if you set these two in opposition, then you have completely failed to grasp the original meaning of spiritual practice. Spiritual practice is not like that. Spiritual practice can only exist within life. There is no such state called spiritual practice -- the way you live is the way you practice, and the state of your life is the state of your practice. If you cannot show a good state in your life, yet you insist on showing a good state in your practice, then you are creating such opposition and division, and this is not conducive to your growth.
Since emotion is mentioned here, I want to specifically point this out to everyone: do not be afraid of having emotions, and do not be afraid of carrying emotions. Then what is this thing called having no judgment? If I have no judgment, how can I still have emotions? Right -- just as with climate and weather, do not judge. Do not say, "Oh, I do not like the desert climate," or "Oh, I do not like the rainy rainforest climate." You simply feel different climates, just as you feel different emotions. You will come to realize that every climate and every emotion has its own inner beauty. We cannot say that rain is better than drought, or that sunny weather is better than rain. There is nothing to compare here. Each has its own beauty, each has its own goodness. Each contributes an essential and irreplaceable part to the entire Earth environment and Earth climate. Whether it is the drought of the desert or the year-round rainfall of the tropical rainforest, both are part of the entire Earth. And as an individual, all the emotions in your life are also a component that makes up the complete you. Every emotion has its own meaning of value fulfillment.
So in the Seth material -- in the Huizhou Xianxia class, I placed special emphasis on the word "qing," emotion. In ancient Chinese, it is called qingxu, called the word qing. This qing is the origin of life, the core of life force. Then in the subsequent Xianxia class, when we discussed the book Xingming Guizhi, we also talked about how the correct state of meditation is lively and vibrant -- I think those who have attended our online classes know this -- not the dead stillness you imagine, sitting there motionless like a stone or a wooden post. That is only the surface appearance you see. Inside, it is lively and vibrant.
So here I want to emphasize once again to everyone: the source of all of our life and vitality lies in this emotion, in this word qing. Without this qing, your life would be utterly pale and completely devoid of interest. So never try to remove the word qing from your life. On the contrary, you should embrace it, guide it, love it, and make no judgment about it, nor blame it. To give a simple example: you cannot, just because it is pouring rain outside, roar at the heavens and say, "I hate the downpour, I hate the downpour." If you cannot understand how childish that behavior is, then you can understand that what you do to your own emotions is just like that behavior.
Seth says:
There is an innate gallantry. An innate gallantry that operates in all segments of life.
In every segment and every stage of your life, there is this innate gallantry. It is a gallantry worthy of your respect and contemplation. What kind of gallantry? It is the gallantry that almost always seeks to surpass itself. You never want to cling to old rules, to hold fast to established patterns, or to maintain your current stage. You are always contemplating how to seek to surpass yourself. And this courage and this gallantry deserve the respect of all of us and the contemplation of all of us. Everyone has it. As long as you return to a normal state, as long as you become a normal person, this gallantry arises naturally and spontaneously. It does not require you to pump yourself up or anything like that. It is natural.
It is like the gallantry that arises in a bodhisattva to deliver all sentient beings in the world. What kind of person can give rise to such gallantry? I want to tell you: every person. Every person, as long as you reach this state -- that is, when you no longer have any judgment or harshness toward yourself -- this inner gallantry is innate. Remember, it is innate, it is born with you. So do not say that a bodhisattva made such a great vow, that a bodhisattva has such greatness, or that the Buddha is such and such, or that Master Xuanzang had such gallantry. What I want to tell you is that every one of you has this gallantry innately within. It is in every cell of yours, in every segment of your life and existence.
Then why, you ask, have I not seen it, not manifested it, or not lived out this gallantry? It is because you have restricted it. It has been restricted by your fear, doubt, or misunderstanding. It is not that it does not exist. It does.
Then you should respect the cells of your body, the thoughts of your mind. You should respect them all.
Your thoughts and your cells deserve your respect, because they innately possess this kind of gallantry.
And try to understand that even the smallest life shares with you the emotional experience of life's triumph and vulnerability.
Even the smallest life shares with you the emotional experience of life's triumph and vulnerability. It has both the triumph of its life and the vulnerability of its life. These are all its emotional experiences. And these emotional experiences are what you should most cherish and most strive for, rather than striving for a life as plain as water with no experience at all.
The Errors of Darwin's Theory of Evolution
Regarding this triumph of life, I want to share with you again -- about why Darwin's theory of evolution is fundamentally wrong. At the end of On the Origin of Species, Darwin said the following:
If you find an organ that was not formed through evolution from simple to complex, then I will admit that my theory of evolution is utterly and completely wrong and a failure.
In Darwin's time, the organs of living creatures he observed -- for example, the eye is an organ -- evolved gradually from very simple single-celled light-sensitive cells into the complex eye of today. He believed this was a process of evolution. Then he said: if you can show me an organ, if you can point out any organ that was not completed through such evolution but was complex from the very beginning, then I will admit that my theory of evolution is utterly wrong.
And what is truly amazing is that such organs are everywhere. For example, we are all very familiar with a single-celled organism we learned about as children, called the paramecium. Although it is called a paramecium, it has only one cell, a single cell. But although this cell is small, it is complete in every way. It has all the forms of life. It has the ability to reproduce itself. It has digestion, it captures food, it moves, and it breathes. Within this one tiny cell, all the functions that living creatures possess are all present, all realized within a single cell. If you are not clear about this, you can search for information about the paramecium.
The paramecium is a life form that lived 1.85 billion years ago7. According to Darwin's theory of evolution, when living creatures evolve from lower to higher forms, it is because of the survival of the fittest -- the old environment was no longer suitable for the previous old species to survive, so it should evolve into a new species, because the environment changed. Survival of the fittest, natural selection -- this is Darwin's main theory. And by this logic, these lower animals or creatures should have gone extinct long ago. But in reality, that is not the case at all. All species are still living. And moreover, the paramecium I just mentioned was never simple from the beginning. It is very, very far from simple, extremely complex. Even today, scientists still have not figured out how the entire cellular system operates.
Let us give another example. We all know about viruses. A virus is an existence many, many, many times smaller than a cell. In such a tiny virus, how exactly does it move? Can a virus move? Let us take the paramecium just mentioned, or any single-celled organism or simple example. They can move -- they move by means of something like a flagellum. And viruses can also move. Viruses grow long protein filaments. Many viruses have long protein filaments. They are not called flagella -- the ones on the paramecium are called flagella -- these are called filaments, and they can also be considered a type of flagellum. They rotate constantly, spin constantly, and then propel the virus forward, just as the paramecium moves, and the virus also moves.
Then let us talk about this protein filament of the virus. It rotates like a flagellum. Do you know how complex it is? At the place where it connects to the virus body, there is a mechanism similar to the drive shaft and engine of a car made by humans. This scale is down to the nanometer and micrometer level. At the base, or the power end, of this tiny filament, it is composed of more than 500 protein parts8. Remember, more than 500. These more than 500 parts make up the drive, transmission, power assembly, and so on of this flagellum. All these functions are at the nanometer and micrometer level. And this flagellum rotates continuously at speeds ranging from 300 to 2,400 revolutions per minute9. And such a precise biological structure is something humans cannot even imagine. Humans cannot imagine how such a complex life structure could form at such tiny nanometer and micrometer scales, and on a virus -- remember, you can look up how small a virus is, much smaller than a cell -- on a single protein filament of a virus, or on the flagellum of a virus, there is such a complex structure.
Not to mention the evolution of other life forms. So this single point alone is enough to overturn Darwin's theory of evolution. Because such a complex structure was not evolved at all. It was like this from the very beginning. And the earliest viruses may date back 3 billion years10. With such complex biological structures existing so long ago, if you say they evolved, I think even you would not believe it.
Even the Smallest Life Shares in Life's Triumph
It is just that in Darwin's era, he did not have such advanced technology and could not see such tiny structures. He observed with the naked eye and judged with his own logic. In other words, he first made a judgment, then arrived at observations that fit his judgment, and then treated what he thought as a principle, when in essence it was not like that at all. The biological world has been this complex from the very beginning, and it has always been this way. It is not that one species changed into another species; all species have existed from the very beginning, and they have presented themselves in this way.
In the United States there is a canyon, and in this canyon area a fossil record of a full 5 million years has been preserved11, layer upon layer, never disturbed by humans. Scientists were very excited; they wanted to find, within this 5-million-year record, evidence that certain species changed from one species into another. The result disappointed them greatly -- they did not find a single piece of evidence. Not only did they fail to find evidence of species evolution, but what made them utterly astonished and slapped them in the face was this: they discovered that the previously speculated notion that such-and-such a species was the ancestor of so-and-so, or that such-and-such a species evolved from so-and-so -- these two species often appeared simultaneously in the chronological layers of the fossils. According to Darwin's view, that ancestral species should already have gone extinct, because the environment was no longer suitable for it to grow, so it should have disappeared. Yet in actual archaeological investigation, they often appear at the same time, and sometimes the descendant even appears earlier than the ancestor. Of all the existing evidence, not a single piece supports Darwin's theory of evolution. We humans have still not found an intermediate state of one species changing into another. What we have found is only this -- every species has had its own unique form from the very beginning.
What is another complex example? In their research, scientists discovered a symbiotic mechanism called the endosymbiotic mechanism. There is a virus that parasitizes a certain cell, and in the process of parasitizing, it helps that cell attack foreign invaders that try to approach the cell. This virus releases those protein filament-like things, like swords, that shoot and kill all outsiders trying to approach the cell. That is to say, the virus plays the role of a guard for the cell, and it has a symbiotic relationship with the cell -- the cell cannot do without it, and it cannot do without the cell. What is most interesting is that scientists tried to strip this virus from the cell for study, and the result was this: as soon as the virus was stripped from the cell, the virus died, and the cell also died12. In other words, only together can they live in symbiosis; as soon as they are separated, the other one dies. Scientists performed countless experiments and could not change this fact.
So they were thinking: if according to Darwin's theory of evolution these two species evolved separately, then how, may I ask, did they live before they reached the symbiotic state? They cannot exist independently; only together can they live in symbiosis. Their symbiotic relationship is as if nature originally formed it this way, and it is absolutely not that you were first one species and I was another species, and after evolving to a certain point, because the environment changed, the two of us had to live together in symbiosis. No, they had no such possibility; when they were independent, neither could survive. So all kinds of evidence show that Darwin's theory of evolution is fundamentally untenable.
All right, on this point, I just want to tell everyone: even the smallest life is sharing with you the triumph of life. Just like the flagellum in the virus I mentioned earlier, or the most minute life such as the paramecium, it has its own triumph of life. Of course it also has vulnerability, and of course it also has vulnerable emotional experience. Triumph is an emotion, and the vulnerability of life is also an emotion. These two kinds of emotional experience are both part of your experience; there is no such distinction that the experience of triumph is good and the experience of vulnerability or failure is bad. No such distinction exists.
Guilt, the Pendulum, and the Healing of the Teeth
After this session's Seth dictation ended, let's go on to the next session, Wednesday, May 9, 1984, at 4:29 p.m. The following is free-association material from Sunday afternoon, May 7, 1984. They did free association whenever they had time. Rob described to Jane: he had recently used a pendulum for research, and he felt guilty about his own symptoms and about the matter of his teeth falling out—he felt guilty both about Jane's current illness and about his own tooth loss. At that time they talked about Rob's lower front teeth (the lower incisors). Rob had always had too many dental problems. He explained in considerable detail: because of Jane's illness, the guilt he developed involved certain emotions—Jane thought I could make my teeth grow back. Rob said that because of Jane's problems, he felt guilty about himself, which led to problems with his own teeth as well.
They then discussed the religious family environment of Jane's early years, especially the influence of the priests in her life. Jane agreed that, in terms of her fixation on religion—and later on Rob—her own behavior was compulsive. You see, she told the truth: her own behavior was compulsive, not spontaneous, not something she willingly did, but something forced upon her. From childhood onward, including the early years of her marriage, it was like this.
Rob said that some of this might have been due to Jane's lack of a normal family environment, having no father. Nevertheless, there was a strong independent streak in her personality that would encourage this kind of behavior. Of course, all extremes are unacceptable. Jane lacked a counteracting influence against the priests; she did not know how to stand up to them. During the process from when she was a few years old into her teens, when a senior priest made advances toward her in her early teens, she felt betrayed. There was a priest who, when she was in her teens, expressed this kind of attentiveness and affection toward Jane. The book-burning incident did not help either. The religious concepts really took hold of her, and Rob thought they still only partially understood the reasons.
This process is very complicated. That is to say, when Jane was a child, this kind of thought control by the priests, or their harsh reprimands, formed Jane's compulsive behavior pattern. Later, when a priest showed fondness toward her, not only did it not ease her rigid perception of priests, it actually made Jane feel quite repulsed. Then the book-burning incident also did not make Jane produce real resistance. What Rob meant was: Jane should have resisted, resisted the priests' influence over her, but Jane did not—from her childhood onward, she never got to express that resistance.
All right, let's keep the following point in mind, it is very important. Why is it important? After Rob and Jane talked about how he felt helpless and powerless regarding Jane's condition, and therefore developed guilt, and after he tested with the pendulum yesterday and the guilt had already disappeared—after he finished talking about this matter, he suddenly discovered that his teeth had stopped bothering him. Remember, he discovered it suddenly—after expressing this, after the guilt was gone, he suddenly discovered his teeth were better. Rob told Jane: I had already forgotten about that condition. The lesson is very clear: as long as there is guilt, one will attack one's own body. He said, sharing your challenges with the people involved helps a great deal. What does that mean? For example, if your emotions were triggered by certain people, then sharing the source of your emotions and your expression with that person is the greatest help to you. You must share with the people involved—that is the greatest help. If you do not share with the person involved, and instead share with some unrelated bystander, it will only intensify the emotion, not soothe it; it will only make things worse, not better. And this may be indispensable. You cannot bypass it; you must face the person directly and state your viewpoint, to resolve the matter. It seems as though only the other person can help reduce the negative emotions of a situation to a minimum—only the person involved can reduce this negative emotion to a minimum, while strengthening the positive. If you do not face the person directly, you cannot minimize this influence.
Rob said: Have I helped Jane in this way? Or have I hindered her by reinforcing shared negative beliefs? But this incident helped me gain firsthand experience of the healing benefits that can come from simple communication. From the fact that his teeth got better instantly, he understood a principle: these simple, one-on-one communications with the person involved are extremely effective, very beneficial therapeutically. This incident also reminded him that the ancient healers all had a "tangyi"—what was the tangyi for? For exchange and communication.
This is the free-association summary from Tuesday, May 8, 1984, Jane's 55th birthday. Jane tried using the pendulum that Rob carried in his wallet—this was after their discussion of the pendulum. Since Rob's dental challenge had achieved considerable relief over the past few days, Jane became more and more interested. Jane said: Oh, so the pendulum is that effective, then let me try it too. She also felt somewhat threatened. Threatened by what? She saw that Rob had merely eliminated this one guilt and his teeth got better, and Jane also wanted to get better, but her symptoms were far more severe than Rob's. Jane said: I also want to achieve the same clean, decisive result you did. Then Rob said: it was Jane's own attitude that was hindering her physical recovery; she should not compare herself with Rob.
Using the pendulum today was more difficult, because today was her birthday and several extra interruptions occurred. When the various staff members came in to sing, to sing happy birthday to them, they brought cards and toys. Rob gave Jane a greeting card and candy, and brought her forsythia flowers, which moved her to tears. That yellow-flowered shrub grew in the yard in front of their hillside house. Rob brought Jane a bouquet from her front yard, which moved Jane deeply, and he also wrote a very touching greeting card.
Because of the staff interruptions, Jane did not do much with the pendulum. She said she felt she ought to demonstrate her use of the pendulum—you see, even at this point she still wanted to demonstrate her use of the pendulum. She said: People will really think I am crazy. She thought people would see her using the pendulum and think she was crazy. Rob said: What are the facts? No one paid the slightest attention to the pendulum lying on her stomach. No one cared whether you were using a pendulum; they did not even understand what you were doing. Rob added: she must be honest with herself; her problems came from her not being so honest. She must be honest with herself—so I am using a pendulum, so what? I like using it, I am willing to use it, I want to use it right now. If she wanted to use the pendulum, then she should do so; she should do it honestly like that.
Jane did get several answers with the pendulum, and holding the pendulum with her left hand, she did better than she thought she would. First she asked whether she had a clear path for using her abilities—that is, she wanted to recover, to recover using her own power, and she wanted to know whether this path to recovery was clear enough. This was what she wanted to ask the pendulum, but she did not get an answer. Then the "no" answer came—the affirmative answer did not come, but the answer about "no" came. The pendulum said: he can help, said: he can help Jane open a clear path to action. While using the pendulum, she did have sensations of weight and movement. The pendulum said: I can help you open a clear path to action. While she was using it, she could clearly feel a sensation of movement in her body, or a sensation of weight in her body. This was a good sign. However, she mostly decided to just talk—that is, she felt that during the process she did indeed sense movement and weight, and she thought this was a good sign, yet she still felt that just talking would be enough, and she did not want to move.
Thoughts about her birthday immediately led her to think of Mother's Day and her own mother. Because soon after May 8 came Mother's Day, and Marie was her mother. Jane talked for a long time about the chaotic and contradictory events surrounding Marie and herself. I was especially surprised: Jane was already in her fifties, and she was still going on and on about things from her teens, even from when she was five or six years old. This matter seemed impossible for her to get past—just imagine, a person in her fifties still entangled in these things.
She discovered that as a child she had loved her mother and had tried hard to do things for her. Even when Marie rejected her efforts, she still wanted to help her do things. For example, after Jane bought a nightgown in the wrong color and was scolded by her mother, she still wanted to help her mother do things. Then they talked about Jane's maternal grandparents and their relationship with Jane and Marie. Her grandmother died in a traffic accident—Rob had never heard this before—and then they filed a lawsuit against the city government, demanding that society bear responsibility. Jane's maternal grandfather, Joseph Burdo, and Jane's feelings toward him, and so on. She told Rob that because of her grandfather's death, Marie won the lawsuit against the city government, and a traffic light was erected at the corner of Lake Street and Wilson Street. Jane was not aware of any details of that lawsuit, such as how long it took or how much compensation was involved. She might have been only five or six years old at the time.
Rob said: once again, Jane saw the extreme behavior in her family—as if there were no middle ground at all. She talked about her grandfather's death at age 68, when she was only 22. Rob listened as she said she had never read any of the poems her grandfather wrote to him, and Rob was very surprised, because Jane had always thought her relationship with her grandfather was very good, and that her grandfather had been very supportive and encouraging of her. But Jane also saw this extremism and stubbornness inherited in her family—there was no middle ground, either this or that, either black or white, either right or wrong. This was a characteristic of their family. Through recalling her grandparents, the lawsuit against the government, and this whole series of events, Jane also saw these things.
Great Love: Communication with the Entity
On May 9, Jane read the free-association material from the previous two days, and she did very well, reading through a portion fairly quickly. As they discussed it in rough terms, she reminded Rob that she still sometimes felt a sense of isolation. Rob said: that was probably normal enough, everyone is essentially isolated, or at least alone—since no one else lives their life for them, they can only live it independently; no one can be born or die for them. At the same time, Rob understood what she meant: she needed fairly steady, even frequent reinforcement in the world.
On that program search, they saw a show about Cleve Backster and plants' responses to human emotions13—plants do respond to human emotions, and in the vast majority of cases they respond; human emotions can affect the surrounding environment, even affect plants, though in occasional cases there is no response. Rob found this very interesting.
After lunch and after reading the free-association material, Jane said she did not know what she should do. Rob began replying to the fan letters that had piled up again. At 3:45, Jane said she felt a larger Rob—that is, the entity of the larger Rob—beside her, and she said it was very hard to describe. Rob recalled her question about whether he was his own entity or a part of it—she thought that larger self was Rob's entity. She felt a tremendous love from that entity. She said that, if it could be described, it might be circular, although it was formless in itself. She felt as though she were surrounded by a circular love, coming from all directions. As they discussed that image, while Rob was taking notes, the aftereffect still lingered.
Jane was not consciously thinking about psychic matters. Earlier, Rob had read her the sentences from the birthday card he had given her yesterday, and she liked it just as much as when he first read it to her yesterday; both times she had a feeling of being moved. She did not know whether that might have triggered her experience, but Rob said that the emotion the two of them generated from reading that card was itself precious time.
By the time Jane said she finally felt Seth nearby, it was already late. After she began, they had one interruption: a young girl delivered a bouquet of flowers sent by Steve and Tracy Blumen. As Rob took the flowers from the girl and placed them on the shelf beside the chair, Jane lay quietly in a trance state. Then Seth spoke—this was not book dictation, and had nothing to do with the book:
I wish you both a good afternoon. Ruburt's experience this afternoon was a response on your part to your own beliefs about communication and its importance. (May 9, 1984)
Communication and its importance—Ruburt's experience this afternoon was Jane's response to Rob's belief that communication is very important. Seth said that, in this instance, these notes allowed Ruburt to see a greater, yet even deeper kind of communication that unites the two of you, and that unites all of your lives. What he meant was: Jane felt a larger Rob—the state of Rob's entity—and she felt his tremendous love. Seth said this was a feeling of intimate communication at the deepest level, uniting all life.
The television program about plant communication also served as an impetus, so that Ruburt could feel the inner world in which all life is couched, the flow of love and cooperation. (May 9, 1984)
This television program was also meant to demonstrate this—the flow of love and cooperation. Ruburt had spoken of sometimes feeling isolated, and that experience was also to show her that isolation itself is an illusion. Isolation is not real; you are intimately connected with all things in the world and with the environment.
Pause at length. This kind of communication exists at every level. But for his own personal reasons, and because of your relationship, Ruburt focused particularly upon your own greater personality. (May 9, 1984)
This kind of communication exists with everything around you, but because Ruburt especially loves you and pays special attention to you, she focused her attention on you, and she felt your entity and the communication with the entity.
Those attributes of love, deep understanding, and respect that so often seem so difficult to express adequately. (May 9, 1984)
That is, after she connected with the greater personality of Rob's entity, the love she felt was truly very hard to describe in words. It had the attributes of deep understanding and respect—respect for what? Respect for the divinity within each of us, respect for the greater self within each of us. The love of that greater self and the inner divinity is just this kind of love that is so hard to describe in words, a very deep, very profound, tremendous love. That is why we often say "namaste"—the meaning of namaste is to bow to the inner divinity, to bow to the divinity within each person.
Once again I accelerate those coordinates of automatic healing, exuberance, and well-being, that touch upon the source from which the very spirit of life springs. (May 9, 1984)
Where does the spirit of your life spring from? Seth said he was touching upon those sources to accelerate these healings.
At 4:35, after Rob had read the session to Jane, she said of her experience: it was not particularly vivid, but it did reach a point where it clearly drew attention. Do you understand what I mean? Rob said that during the session, she had effectively answered her own questions about that experience. Rob suggested that perhaps when she was alone, she could have that experience again, for example in the evening. Jane said the experience was not that vivid—not the kind where the entity's love for you is so distinct, so stirring, so vivid as you might imagine. She said no. Indeed, Jane's description was right: this love is not the kind that excites you; it is a steady, continuous, faint, unceasing love that comes from within, very hard to describe in words. But it is not what you might imagine: that when Rob's entity appears, an overwhelming love comes crashing in like a tidal wave. It is not that feeling; if you think it is that, then you have misunderstood. What kind is it exactly? I briefly described it just now; it is very hard to put into words. Those who have experienced it can probably understand tacitly, and know what I am talking about.
Fear, Birthdays, and Mother's Day
Let's look at the next session, Saturday, May 12, 1984, at 3:47 p.m. Today, as Jane lay on her back, she was again very uncomfortable, and this pattern had now continued for several days. Rob thought: how can a person lying in bed receiving treatment be even more uncomfortable than before? He didn't know the answer. His own final conclusion was that more was involved -- that it had to do with Jane's state of mind and her beliefs.
At least when Rob was in Room 330, Jane's appetite was declining, and she had let up on her free association and in the evenings, and she wasn't holding sessions much either. In the afternoon, Rob thought about asking the medical staff to give her some medication, but he didn't bring it up, because he felt his wife would reject the idea. Then yesterday, when Rob said a session might help, Jane agreed to hold one today -- they hadn't had a session for several days.
Today was very warm, probably in the 60s, with rain at times, and the windows were wide open, so the traffic noise pounded against them. Somewhere down the hallway, a woman called out tirelessly for hours on end -- a display that must have taken a great deal of effort and energy. One nurse called her "a blind boil on the butt" -- said she was a troublesome person. Then when the nurse added that the woman really did have hemorrhoids (because a blind boil on the butt, from a certain angle, is just like having hemorrhoids), Rob burst out laughing. But to Rob, her incomprehensible calling out pointed to more than just a physical torment -- that woman called out for hours, and it was not merely physical torment, but more a matter of state of mind, of psychology.
Then Seth came through again, and he said:
I wish you a good afternoon. (May 12, 1984)
This was not book dictation; what followed was still about their personal issues.
Ruburt entered into discomfort, partly out of fear that her body could not completely heal itself, even though she had really discovered the reasons for her microscopic condition. (May 12, 1984)
Ruburt's discomfort was partly because she feared her body could not completely heal itself. Even though she had already discovered the reasons why she had gotten this illness, she still feared she could not heal herself. Even having truly discovered the causes that led to today's dangerous situation, she still wasn't sure she could heal herself. Of course, the fear had always been there. Seth said:
Of course Jane's fear has always been there. And your recent efforts have merely brought these fears into prominence, rather than removing them. (May 12, 1984)
In other words, their recent efforts had merely brought these fears into a prominent place, or shone a light on this fear, but had not removed it.
This can be counteracted, if Ruburt emphasizes that she is indeed safe and protected, and that her existence is spontaneously upheld, then the ideas of safety and reassurance will counter that fear, and once again open the pathways of free association. (May 12, 1984)
Seth wanted to tell Ruburt: she is indeed safe and protected, and the validity of her existence is spontaneously upheld. She doesn't need to think about how I exist, why I am alive, what is the meaning of my life -- no, you are all spontaneously upheld there. Such safety and assurance, and reassurance, can counter her fear, and can also once again open the pathways of free association.
This session helps to explain why, when you visit -- that is, when Rob goes to the hospital each time to see Jane, precisely when he wants to perform at his best -- the obvious discomfort is so often at its strongest. (May 12, 1984)
Jane of course hoped to perform at her best every time Rob went to the hospital to see her -- and precisely because of that, the discomfort was often so obvious. In other words, she was trying too hard; she wanted too much to perform well.
Each of her activities can truly be effortless, flowing easily from one to another. And she should remind herself that the inner wisdom within her does indeed, on its own, forever seek her greatest benefit, and it is forever working for her. (May 12, 1984)
Each of her activities flows naturally. She should remind herself: that inner self is forever seeking greater benefit for itself, and you don't need to worry about it. Whether or not your outer self needs to prod it or encourage it -- none of that is needed. You don't need your outer self to take any extra action, as if you had to persuade your inner self not to give up on healing you, not to give up on helping your health -- these are all superfluous actions. Because that inner self of yours is smarter and more capable than you; it is thinking every moment about how to help you, and it is also helping itself. It is forever working for the outer self, working for this body. So don't have any more fear, don't worry about whether your personal outer slackness will affect your inner healing progress -- it won't; don't think about such questions. Do I need to do some work every morning and evening, do I need to bow and chant in the morning, or do some activities and exercises to promote my inner recovery? None of this is needed. Your inner healing of you has never stopped for a moment, not for one minute or one second, and it has never slackened; it is forever working for you.
What he meant was: Jane had no need to try so hard on physical healing; what she needed instead was relaxation, rather than continuing to exert force on her own healing -- that often backfires.
If she wants to -- referring to Ruburt -- have her imagine this inner wisdom as a beloved parent. Imagine this inner wisdom as being like a loving parent; this will blunt the edge of any resentment she may have toward her own parents. (May 12, 1984)
That is, you can visualize and personify the inner wisdom, turning it into your parent. This can blunt the edge of any resentment she may have toward her own parents. Jane still carried very heavy hatred toward her own parents, and this resentment was as sharp as a blade. Some people, when talking about their parents, use language so vicious and sharp it is unimaginable. They think this is a sharp blade directed at their parents, but what they don't know is this: the blade actually cuts into themselves -- any resentment and sharp edge you direct at any external person ultimately cuts into yourself. This is also why Buddhism discourages any greed, hatred, or delusion -- hatred is anger; don't stir up this anger and resentment, because the blade ultimately cuts into yourself.
Seth offered a very good concrete method: have Jane imagine that inner wisdom's healing of her as being her parents' love for her. Doing this can reduce her resentment toward her parents, and thereby reduce her attacks on herself -- Seth was killing two birds with one stone, hoping to achieve two effects through this one exercise. But whether Jane was willing to do it was another matter.
I may return in a while, but I am now truly activating those coordinates that increase self-love, exuberance, and well-being. (May 12, 1984)
This is very central. At 3:45 p.m., Rob read this session to Jane twice; he handled correspondence, thanked a reader for their efforts, and received a donation of $650. Of course we notice: Seth said Jane's discomfort was only partly from her fear that she could not heal herself -- so what were the other parts? Jane then said she thought Seth would really come back. At 4:16 p.m., Seth did come back. He said:
Another reason for Ruburt's discomfort -- for Jane's discomfort -- has to do with her birthday, and in addition Mother's Day, which is tomorrow; her thoughts about Mother's Day account for some of the other reasons for the discomfort. (May 12, 1984)
Because of the terrible relationship with her mother, the idea of Mother's Day made her half resentful and half sad. And she had hoped to make further progress before her birthday -- before her birthday arrived, she wanted some progress, but there was no progress, and she was very unhappy.
Although Jane does believe the body can begin to feel better and better, and that is a usable good suggestion, because it implies a continuous input of information, without involving the absolute. (May 12, 1984)
What does this sentence mean? It means Jane really did believe her body was beginning to get better and better, and that was a usable, good suggestion. But what did this sentence imply? That information had to be continuously input, that affirmation had to be continuously given saying "your body will get better and better" -- you need to see some symptoms, see some information, or see some test results or a doctor's affirmation saying your body is getting better and better. And it did not involve the absolute -- meaning: you are not truly feeling from the bottom of your heart that your body is getting better and better, that I don't need any evidence, I don't need hospital test results, I don't need the hospital's affirmation, and I don't need any changes in my body to prove that I am getting better and better; I can simply believe that my body is getting better and better, and that is enough. But Jane didn't achieve this; she couldn't do it. She needed this positive information to be continuously input in order to feel that she was getting better and better; and once she couldn't find this information, she couldn't feel the evidence that her body was getting better and better, and she would start to get irritable, and the emotions would come out.
At 4:20 p.m., Rob read this session to her, and she again felt that Seth had come. At 4:23 p.m., Seth continued:
Her body has made no new errors; this fear shows that distrust of the body still exists to some degree, and therefore she should restore her memory of the connection between the psyche and her physical health. (May 12, 1984)
Her body has made no new errors -- "errors" in quotation marks, and in fact they are not errors -- this fear shows that distrust of the body still exists to some degree, and has not changed. That is, Jane's fear of her own body had always been there. What Seth meant was that she should restore her thinking about the nature of health; she didn't need to do anything -- Seth had said this countless times already.
I do want to mention to you that the sales of our books are indeed increasing, and will continue to increase in this way. (May 12, 1984)
Once again, I wish you a good afternoon. (May 12, 1984)
At 4:26 p.m., Rob read the latter part of this session to Jane, and then she said: I have a feeling that something must be involved in the increase in sales of our books. When they finished reading, Jane said the letters had piled up again, and Rob had fallen behind -- behind on his reply progress.
After today's session, Rob felt very frustrated. Because to him, it seemed that after all this time, Jane still had not rid herself of her fears, especially her distrust of the body's processes. Rob said: the trouble with birthdays and Mother's Day was just the latest new business in a 20-year cycle she was swimming in through her symptoms. It was a cycle -- what cycle? She was cycling through her mother's physical condition. She had picked up all of her mother's old beliefs -- although she didn't approve of them, she hated her mother the most, but precisely when she hated her mother the most, she inadvertently ended up living like her mother. That is, she had accepted all of her mother's distrust of life and of physical health, she had accepted all of it, including her mother's curses upon her, she had accepted them all. On Mother's Day, Rob saw a 20-year cycle -- Jane was still talking about things from her childhood, still talking about her mother, still talking about her mother's influence on her, all things from decades ago. This was the reason for Rob's frustration.
The question was not why she was so uncomfortable on these days -- these days indeed were -- but why had the body and psyche chosen to endure those symptoms for so long?
As for the following note about the pendulum explanation, I won't go into it. The pendulum can directly reflect a state of your subconscious, and can be used for practice. When we clear out these emotions滞留 in the body, we use similar methods -- not with a pendulum, but with the body's responses, and the result is the same, similar: find which emotions you have not yet cleared, and then figure out how to clear them. This is something we use in the exercises in our class.
Fear Is the Biggest Stumbling Block on the Path to Enlightenment
At the end of this session, what I want to share with everyone is about this part concerning fear. I often joke with people by saying: Do you know you are only one step away from enlightenment? Do you know what that one step is? Many people will say: all kinds of wisdom, all sorts of things, saying a great many things. I say: Right, that is correct. But for ordinary people, for the vast majority of people, the step you are missing from enlightenment, or the crucial step -- is that there is fear in your heart. Fear is the biggest stumbling block standing between you and enlightenment. If you still have fear -- no matter what kind of fear, fear of wealth, fear of emotional relationships, fear of intimate relationships, fear of colleague relationships, fear of future career -- any even the slightest bit, the faintest trace of fear, can prevent you from reaching the true state of enlightenment. If many people still cannot understand this point, I hope you can verify this: fear is absolutely the first thing you should remove.
So many people say: How can I remove fear? I must first achieve not being afraid, having no fear -- no. The opposite of fear is not the absence of fear, the opposite of fear is not not being afraid, the opposite of fear is simply joy. Joy alone can counter all fear. When a person is joyful, he has no fear. Joy can automatically eliminate all fear, just as light can drive away all darkness. Regarding the elimination of fear, I will only give everyone the simplest and most direct method: the simplest, most direct joy. This is also what Seth has always mentioned -- in the previous sessions, including these sessions -- let him have a sense of happiness, let him have a sense of pleasure. Seth has always wanted to bring this pleasure to Jane, but it has always been very difficult. Because deep in Jane's heart, in her deepest state of mind, or in her emotional undertone, in her feeling tone, she is not a happy person, she is not a joyful person, she is not a person who is inwardly pleased. And Seth has always wanted to bring this back into Jane's life.
Here I also want to say to all those who may have physical discomfort and are listening to The Way Toward Health, and to all those who want to pursue their own spiritual growth and the growth of their lives, and to all those who want to truly gain insight, enlightenment, and clear seeing of their own nature: fear is the first thing you must remove. If you cannot remove this fear, it will be very difficult for you to make greater progress. You can see this from Jane's example.
Therefore, removing fear is especially simple -- just make yourself happy, that is all. If we talk about it theoretically, you could write countless papers, countless articles telling you how to face fear, how to overcome fear, how to conquer fear, but I tell you: those are all reinforcing fear. When you say "I do not want fear," "I have no fear," "I want to clear away fear," you are actually reinforcing fear. These are not very good methods. I tell you the best method: simply joy and pleasure alone can automatically eliminate fear. You do not need to do any special hard work -- can you not even make yourself happy?
Just like the sentence Seth emphasized in the previous sessions, I will emphasize it to everyone once again: joy itself is the greatest virtue. If a person wants to pursue any virtue, it is to make himself happy. If you cannot do this, you are committing an extremely immoral act against yourself, and you are also committing an extremely immoral act against your life, and you are also committing an extremely immoral act against your existence. Only by making yourself happy is true virtue.
This is what I wanted to say at the end of this chapter. This chapter focuses on illness and suffering, on why people have illness and suffering. To summarize: these are different experiences of your life, nothing more. And then you should choose -- a happy life, or a suffering life? All of this lies in your own choice. Well then, regarding this chapter, each person has their own different feelings and insights. Whether you are healthy or have physical discomfort, I hope you can all begin to live happily and joyfully, truly step onto the path of happiness, truly step onto the way toward health.
注释与核实
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Source: Jane Roberts, The Early Sessions: Book 5 of The Seth Material (https://sethcenter.com/products/the-early-sessions-book-5-of-the-seth-material/) ↩
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This claim could not be verified. ↩
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According to Mike's original words, it was "the summer of 1957"; upon verification, it should be "Jane Roberts was invited to the Milford Science Fiction Writers' Conference in Milford, Pennsylvania, and there formed 'The Five' with Bruce and others at the first conference in 1956, not 1957." (Source: Wikipedia, "Milford Writer's Workshop," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milford_Writer's_Workshop) ↩
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This claim could not be verified. ↩
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According to Mike's original words, it was "Annie, who learned love only after dying once"; upon verification, it should be "The author of Dying to Be Me is Anita Moorjani, not 'Annie.'" (Source: Wikipedia, "Anita Moorjani," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anita_Moorjani) ↩
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According to Mike's original words, it was "an American film called The Hospital List"; upon verification, it should be "The correct title of the film is The Bucket List (2007 American film, known in Hong Kong and Taiwan as Playing It to the End), about two elderly cancer patients who share a hospital room, make a list of things to do before they die, and fulfill them one by one; there is no American film called The Hospital List." (Source: Wikipedia, "The Bucket List," https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hans/%E4%B8%80%E8%B7%AF%E7%8E%A9%E5%88%B0%E6%8E%9B) ↩
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According to Mike's original words, it was "the paramecium is a life form that lived 1.85 billion years ago"; upon verification, it should be "The ciliate phylum (Ciliophora), to which the paramecium belongs, originated about 1.14 billion years ago (1143 Ma, 95% credible interval 1061–1242 Ma), not 1.85 billion years ago; the genus Paramecium itself appeared even later." (Source: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, "A multigene timescale and diversification dynamics of Ciliophora evolution," https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31152779/) ↩
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This claim could not be verified. ↩
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According to Mike's original words, it was "this flagellum rotates continuously at speeds ranging from 300 to 2400 revolutions per minute"; upon verification, it should be "The bacterial flagellar motor rotates at 300 to 2400 revolutions per second, not 300 to 2400 revolutions per minute." (Source: Chinese Academy of Sciences, "Why do bacteria 'run fast'? Because the flagellar motor converts chemical energy into mechanical energy," https://www.cas.cn/kj/202104/t20210422_4785467.shtml) ↩
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Source: Krupovic, Dolja & Koonin, "The LUCA and its complex virome," Nature Reviews Microbiology (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41579-020-0408-x) ↩
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This claim could not be verified. ↩
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According to Mike's original words, it was "as soon as this virus is stripped out of the cell, the virus dies, and the cell also dies"; upon verification, it should be "The symbiont in this classic experiment was a bacterium, not a virus: after the symbiotic X bacteria inside the amoeba (Amoeba proteus) were killed by antibiotics, the host amoeba also died." (Source: University of California, Berkeley, Understanding Evolution, "It Takes Teamwork: How Endosymbiosis Changed Life on Earth," https://evolution.berkeley.edu/it-takes-teamwork-how-endosymbiosis-changed-life-on-earth/) ↩
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Source: Wikipedia, "Cleve Backster" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleve_Backster) ↩