The "Reading Guide" and "Key Points" for this chapter were summarized by an AI editor based on the main text below; they are not things Mike said during his lecture. The main text comes from Mike's commentary, and the blockquotes are Seth's original words (the portions Mike read aloud).
Introduction
Counterparts generally belong to the same psychic consciousness group, that is, a family of consciousness. Families of consciousness form naturally within consciousness; they are not determined by birth or innate factors, but by the characteristics and frequency of individual consciousness. Members of the Sumari family are extremely independent, resist authority, emphasize creative practice, and dislike organizations; families of consciousness have no necessary correlation with physical characteristics or race. Rob's question about the relationship between reincarnational personalities and animals was interrupted by Barbara's visit. Finally, it is emphasized that individuality is greater than the family of consciousness, and the names are only directions, not boundaries.
Key Points of This Chapter
- Counterparts generally belong to the same psychic consciousness group, which is also the consciousness family, and it forms naturally.
- Consciousness families are not determined by birth or innate factors; individuals belong to the corresponding family because of their own consciousness characteristics and frequencies.
- Sumari has characteristics such as extreme independence, resistance to authority, emphasis on creative practice, and dislike of organization and routine work, but specific personalities can differ.
- Consciousness families have no necessary correlation with physical features or race; Sumari can appear in different genders and races.
- Individuality is greater than the consciousness family; the names of consciousness families only indicate direction, not restriction or boundary.
Main Text
The Families of Consciousness and Counterparts
The Families of Consciousness: The Natural Affiliation of Psychic Awareness
Seth mentions at the very beginning that there is a connection between counterparts and the families of consciousness. Just as your brothers and sisters belong to the same physical family, generally speaking, you and your counterparts are part of the same psychic group of consciousness. You are not a physical family, but a psychic group of consciousness. This psychic group of consciousness is the family of consciousness; the two are actually the same thing -- the psychic group of consciousness is a bit more objective, while the family of consciousness is a bit more colloquial.
But remember, these psychic groups of consciousness are formed naturally after consciousness, as it were, flows into nature. Remember, they are natural formations.
Your own interests, desires, and abilities are not predetermined by your membership in a given psychic family. Just because you are a person in a family of consciousness, or a member of a psychic group of consciousness, does not mean that you possess the same interests, hobbies, or abilities. That does not matter. It is like how you are all sons and daughters of the Chinese nation, but each person's personality, interests, and abilities are completely different.
For example, it is not because of Sumari that you love creative play. Quite the opposite: it is precisely because you love creative play that you joined the Sumari group of consciousness, this family of consciousness.
So this group of consciousness cannot be compared with the twelve houses of astrology, nor with the twelve zodiac signs. The twelve zodiac signs are automatically determined by the month of your birth, whereas the families of consciousness are not something you are born into. It is not what you think -- that if you are a person of a certain family of consciousness, then you have certain characteristics. It should be said the other way around: whatever characteristics of consciousness you have, that is the family of consciousness you belong to.
To put it more simply and directly, whichever type your frequency of consciousness is closer to, that is the family of consciousness you belong to. Your frequency of consciousness has a certain commonality with that family of consciousness, a certain shared quality within it. Do not get the order reversed here: you cannot say, "I was born into the Sumari family." No. It is because you have such attributes that you are Sumari; it is because your consciousness exhibits such characteristics that you are a member of this family of consciousness.
This is somewhat like university clubs -- Teacher Xiyu generally uses clubs as an example in his interpretations: it is not innate. Afterward, you display your own characteristics or interests, and then you join different clubs.
Characteristics of the Sumari
Seth uses the Sumari as an example. The Sumari can be overly eager, deliberative, or somber and melancholic -- the Sumari personality can also be entirely different. Those who are melancholic or deliberative have not yet learned how to use their creativity gracefully and with joy. Not all Sumari exercise creativity with joy and grace. However, the joyful use of that ability will be their intent -- they have such a potential intent: I want to develop that way of gracefully and joyfully displaying my own creativity.
In your terms, during certain periods of history, different families may hold different advantages. In the developmental stages of our human history, different historical periods may have had different proportions of different families; it is not evenly distributed.
However, the psychic groupings partially overlap the concrete and national groupings. This psychic family of consciousness overlaps our national groups, or certain specific organizational groups.
For example, the Sumari are extremely independent. Remember, not ordinarily independent, but extremely independent, extreme individualists who resist all authority. So people of this character, of this consciousness, conventionally speaking, you would not find them living in a dictatorial country -- a dictatorial country requires obedience to authority, and the Sumari are by nature disobedient to authority and extremely independent. By all reason they should not live in such dictatorial countries. Yet when they do appear in that dictatorial country, their work may ignite a spark, like a single spark that starts a prairie fire, and bring about change.
However, they rarely take collective political action. They are that single spark, but they will not take any political action, will not form any organization or political party, will not confront the government or overthrow centralized power -- no. They are simply spontaneous; through their own innate resistance to and opposition against authority, their extreme individuality will bring about a single spark. But their goal is not to take political action. Their creativity itself is threatening to such a society, because they will often ignite sparks and bring about a single spark that starts a prairie fire.
Yet the Sumari are also practical, very practical. And they bring creative vision into physical reality -- they are not armchair theorists; they want to bring creative vision into the physical world, and try to live by it, to live using this creativity. That is to say, they use their creativity as a source of income.
They are creators, but they seldom try to organize or preserve organizations -- even organizations they consider quite beneficial, they do not maintain; they are innately resistant to these organizations. So you can see these characteristics in Jane as well, very similar.
They are not by nature lawbreakers; they are not lawbreakers, but in the strictest terms, they are not reformers either. Yet their playful work does often lead to social or cultural change -- while doing their own playful creative work, they inadvertently often bring about a social or cultural transformation.
They are indeed devoted to art, but also in the broadest sense -- for example, they try to make life itself an art. They want to turn life into art.
They have been part of most civilizations. Although they appeared least during the Middle Ages -- the Middle Ages were from 476 CE to 1450 CE1, a full thousand years, a relatively dark period in European history. Why was it dark? The main reason is this: around the time of Jesus' birth, philosophers mainly explored the problems of this world, the problems of human beings and the world; at that time there was a stage of a hundred flowers blooming and a hundred schools of thought contending. More than two thousand years ago, in various places around the world there was this state of "a hundred flowers blooming"; various doctrines emerged, and humanity began to broadly explore the relationship between human beings and nature, human beings and the world, human beings and the universe. That is why Plato, Socrates, and other great philosophers were all born in that era2.
Later, because of the birth of Jesus, after Christianity was established as the state religion3 in its later period, everything was unified. After that, for a period of time, basically all cultural transmission outside of religion was strangled. If you understand European history or European development, you know that at that time, all education was provided by the Church. The Church provided education, provided children's education, and excluded everything else. During that long thousand-year period, only the study of Church matters was allowed, only the study of the New Testament and the Old Testament and such.
And at that time, the common people of Europe were almost all illiterate; those with any learning all entered clerical positions and work. Children were indoctrinated from a young age -- do not underestimate the power of education; they lived from childhood under this Church system, and generation after generation firmly believed in what the Church propagated. That was the medieval era.
It was not until later that the Copernicus affair occurred, and after that came the Renaissance. Why was the Renaissance a great period of transformation in European culture? What did it revive? It revived the era before the Middle Ages -- when people could freely discuss themselves and the world, themselves and other human beings. In other words, at that time humanity had been liberated from the system in which the Church was the only orthodox theory. That is why it is called the Renaissance; what it revived was the culture of that era of a hundred schools contending before the Middle Ages. Only then did the later Industrial Revolution come, step by step overthrowing the rule of the Western Church, the rule of centralized power.
So during the roughly thousand years of the Middle Ages, the Sumari rarely appeared, because at that time they basically could not survive; it was impossible for them to survive, because that authority absolutely could not be defied.
They often mobilize en masse before great social changes. For example, others may build social structures out of the work of the Sumari, but the Sumari themselves, although pleased, usually cannot feel any direct sense of belonging to structural groups. Often before periods of social change in the development of human civilization, the Sumari will frequently appear, mobilize en masse; large numbers of Sumari emerge in that society. Then through their own work they bring forth such social organizational structures. But the Sumari themselves have no sense of belonging to this social structural organization, nor to the group -- they do not feel that they brought it forth, nor do they feel they belong to the group. They remain in their own world, very individualized, very personal, disliking all kinds of organizations and groups. This is very interesting.
So think about it, Krishnamurti is very much like a person from the Sumari family of consciousness; he was opposed to any group.
The Sumari Family Has No Correlation with Physical Characteristics
But there is no correlation between the families of consciousness and physical characteristics -- no correlation with physical traits. You cannot say this person looks like a Sumari; there is no correlation. Although many Sumari choose to be born in the spring, mostly under Aries or Taurus. Even so, it does not mean all people born in spring are Sumari; there is no necessary connection, only that among Sumari there are more born in spring. No general rule can be applied here, no rule applies.
They do have certain preferences for certain races, for example they favor certain races. But again, no specific rule applies. You cannot say which race has more Sumari and which race has fewer; there is no such special rule. But there are indeed certain preferences. For instance, many Irish, Jews, Spanish, and a smaller number of French are Sumari. Although they appear in all races -- this has nothing to do with race. You know France has many Black people; do not think of white people the moment you think of the French, never have that mistaken idea. Many Jews are also Black, and many Africans practice Judaism. You cannot equate it with race.
So generally speaking, America has never been a Sumari country, and the Nordic countries or Britain generally are not either. You might say America values freedom so much, so why is it not Sumari? It just is not; he will explain later. Because there are nine families of consciousness, America is not a country with many Sumari. So you know Jane in America actually cannot find too many kindred spirits, because there are not that many Sumari.
Psychologically, Sumari very deliberately arrange themselves to appear as a minority -- they always make themselves a minority in a region or a place, never appearing as the majority. This is their very deliberate arrangement.
For example, within a democratic political system, all of them can devote themselves to their art within a fairly stable political situation. What he means is, in a democratic system like America, Sumari are a minority, and in this way they can devote themselves to their own art within a stable political situation, which provides them with a very good, stable social and political environment.
They have no interest in government, no interest in politics or government. Yet for all that, they do depend on government -- depend on government to provide a stable environment so they can create their art at ease. Within that framework, they have a tendency toward self-sufficiency.
Their recognized artistic ability may hold a dominant position, or it may be negligible -- within that social framework, their ability may take the lead. For example, their artistic creative ability may become the artistic mainstream of the country, becoming a leading figure in art or a representative of great masters; or it may not matter at all. Both possibilities exist, but they do not care.
Sumari is a state of mind, a tendency of being. Remember: they are not fighters, and usually they will not advocate overthrowing a government by violence or changing customs; none of that. They believe in the creativity of naturally occurring change -- they like change that comes naturally and in due course, and do not like overthrowing or changing a culture, a society, a country, or a government through organization or violence; they dislike all of that.
In any case, because they are seldom followers, they are often part of a culture's underground organizations -- if there is an underground culture, they are part of that underground culture.
A Sumari very much dislikes being a member of any large commercial organization, especially if the work involves habitual or unpleasant routine -- the step-by-step nine-to-five job is what they hate most. So you see Rob and Jane, neither of them works. In the early period they had to support themselves and did some temporary jobs, but later once they had a stable income, they both worked from home as freelancers. Many of these freelancers are Sumari.
They do not like working on an assembly line. They very much enjoy playing with details, or putting them to creative purposes. For that reason, they often change from one job or profession to another -- they change jobs frequently, precisely to express their creativity, liking to do things with details and play with the variations of those details.
If you begin to examine your own nature and directly feel that you are a Sumari, then you should find a position where you can use your inventive talents. If you discover you are a Sumari, you should find a position where you can bring your intelligence, inventiveness, or artistic gifts into play; only then can you maximize your abilities.
For example, Sumari very much like theoretical mathematics, but they make the most miserable bookkeepers -- do not become accountants, do not become cashiers; Sumari hate doing those things most, but that does not prevent them from becoming theoretical mathematicians. In the art world, Picasso was a Sumari. Many people in the entertainment industry are Sumari. You rarely find them in political circles; among politicians there are very few Sumari. They are usually not historians either. They rarely hold a place within organized religion -- within that kind of proper, organized religion, they hold no place. But in those very loose, non-organized groups that are not large-scale religions, you might find them. Within large religious systems they are generally rare, because large religious systems all require you to worship some authority, and that is what they resent most.
However, because of their self-reliant nature, as mentioned earlier they are very practical, putting their creativity into practice in their world -- whether through artistic creation, handicrafts, or obsessing over details in their work, all of it must be embodied in practice. So you can find them as farmers, intuitively cultivating the land. Many farmers, gardeners, or nursery workers who tend flowers and plants, dealing with nature and the soil, are very happy, because in this they can also express their creativity, and they pay great attention to details.
They are evenly distributed between the two sexes -- present among both men and women, not predominantly male or female. However, in your society, the Sumari traits as seen in men were, until recently, somewhat looked down upon. Look at the characteristics described here: independent and unconventional, artistically creative, contemptuous of authority, unwilling to join any organization, unwilling to do nine-to-five work, unwilling to settle into doing what everyone approves of, and even less fond of large social organizations -- whether large companies, large enterprises, or large groups, they do not want to join any of them. If a man has this kind of nature, people will think he is not doing proper work or not going along with the crowd. But for women it seems to matter less; if a woman has such Sumari traits, people will only say she is very artistic, has a great sense of aesthetics, her life is beautiful everywhere, she has turned life into art, and so on. This is very interesting.
And you see, Sumari also do not like politics -- many men love discussing politics and get very excited once they start talking about it, but Sumari themselves are not interested in politics either. Although they have much creativity and many things, they are not interested in political organizations or anything of that sort.
Rob's Questions and the Barbara Interlude
Rob said he had written two questions he intended to ask Seth, and he read them aloud to Jane. His first question was: Assuming Seth's concept of time is correct -- and it certainly is -- if simultaneity occurs, then does a reincarnational personality usually experience its simultaneous lives through a variety of different consciousness families, or is it more likely to maintain loyalty to one consciousness family across all those lives? At the beginning of tonight's session, Seth had said that counterparts are generally part of the same psychic family, and what Rob wanted to know was whether the same holds true for reincarnational personalities.
To put it simply: Rob asked Seth, if a person's counterparts all belong to one consciousness family, then are those reincarnational figures -- and these are not counterparts, but reincarnational figures -- also part of one consciousness family? Because the time of reincarnation is different, whereas counterparts are still from the same era.
Second question: What connection do animals and other living creatures, or objects that are naturally occurring but appear lifeless to humans, have with the concepts of counterparts and consciousness families? For example, do stones have consciousness families? Do trees have consciousness families -- trees are alive, whereas stones, from a human perspective, might be considered lifeless; do dogs have consciousness families?
After Rob had been discussing this for a minute or two, Jane said she had an answer, at least a partial one. Her answer appeared to have come from Seth, although she was the one speaking it. Just as she was beginning to speak, she was interrupted by a heavy knocking on the door -- someone was pounding on one of the large doors of the second-floor common hallway. They lived in an apartment, and the second floor had a common entrance.
Then, right at the door to their two apartments, a female voice called out Jane's name. They waited, but the insistent noise cutting through the sound of the wind meant exactly what they thought it would bring -- tonight's session was certainly going to end.
The woman kept calling Jane's name; it was a female voice. They had thought about waiting a while and ignoring her, figuring she would go away, but the person kept calling and would not leave. Their persistence in ignoring her did no good, and they had no choice but to open the door.
Actually, by this point Rob was already quite annoyed, because in America, dropping by unannounced is a very impolite thing to do, let alone at this hour of the night -- it was already ten o'clock, and without any prior notice, someone had simply charged up to their door. He said: "I found myself facing a rather attractive but very distraught woman, whom I shall call Barbara. She was in her early forties, and beside her sat an expensive suitcase."
She immediately asked: "Aren't you expecting me? Seth told me you would be." Perhaps what she meant to say next was, Seth told me you would be waiting. She came right out and asked: Aren't you expecting me? Didn't you know I was coming? Didn't Seth tell you? And the two of them just stood there dumbfounded -- what was going on? Of course, neither Jane nor Rob had anticipated this uninvited guest from out of state; they never expected someone to suddenly show up at their door from another state.
It should be noted here that Jane later discussed this incident in greater detail in Chapter 18 of Psychic Politics4; you can look it up there. For now, suffice it to say: they found themselves facing a well-educated person who was very frightened by her own experiences -- she was terrified by what had happened to her. Because of this fear, she had developed certain problems serious enough to prevent her from working in a legal profession. The fact that she worked in the legal field did not necessarily mean she was a lawyer; she might have been a paralegal.
Barbara insisted she needed help, but as in other cases Jane and Rob had encountered before, she was so absorbed in her own distress -- she felt she needed help, but she focused only on her own distress -- that they could not get through to her, could not pull her away from that focus, at least not in such a short span of time.
Seth eventually came through as well. Even Seth could not help but come through, in the midst of such a chaotic and noisy environment. This was something Jane almost never allowed to happen under those circumstances; in such chaotic conditions, Jane would ordinarily never permit Seth to come through, but she was powerless to stop it.
You see, many people say that even with Seth showing up, it was no use. Don't assume that so-and-so has some special ability, or that a certain master has some kind of power -- no, the master is useless too, no one is of any use, even God showing up would be of no use. When you encounter such a stubborn person, no one can get through to them. So don't say that this person or that person can solve it, or that so-and-so can help them solve their problem. It won't happen. You see, Seth came, and even Seth could do nothing with her. Barbara simply could not understand that she was creating her own reality; she just could not believe it, could not comprehend it -- that this fear was something she herself had brought about, that all of these things were brought about by herself. She had caused it herself, and she did not believe it; she could not grasp this point.
After a distressing two full hours -- she had shown up making a scene at ten o'clock, and by then it was past midnight -- Rob said he took her to a motel. When Rob returned, he told Jane that Barbara had already made a decision: she was going to fly halfway across America the next day to see another psychic who would surely be able to help her. She felt Jane could not help her, so she was going to find someone else.
That was the Barbara interlude. But this interlude caused the session to end prematurely; there was no way to continue.
Seth's Self-Identity: The Nature of the Sumari
Seth said, "I am a Sumari. To be honest with you, I am actually a very noble Sumari." Seth said jokingly. In Session 598, the first session discussing the Sumari family of consciousness, he told everyone this very humorously. A month later, he provided more insight into his own reality -- which can be found in Session 601.
He said, just as my name is basically of no importance, so the name Sumari itself is of no importance either, but these names indicate a unique yet not independent consciousness within certain boundaries. The name itself is not important, but it points out a direction. "Unique" is like defining that this type of consciousness is a specific one, one with boundaries drawn around it, but in fact there are no boundaries. Your Sumari consciousness is that kind of consciousness, and so is mine, except that my boundaries are far less limited than yours.
I am also Sumari, and you are also Sumari. But your boundaries regarding Sumari are rather rigid, while my boundaries regarding Sumari are broader, and I do not regard them as boundaries. He said I do not think that the descriptions of the various families of consciousness, or the name Sumari, is some kind of boundary -- saying I am of this family, you are of that family. No, that is not a boundary, that is a direction. Sumari represents a direction, and my understanding of myself must grow within it -- he had to recognize that he belongs to the Sumari family of consciousness, so his understanding of his own consciousness, of his own identity, grows within that larger category.
Likewise, this also applies to the Sumari family.
In other words, what is speaking to you now is not an undifferentiated consciousness, but a consciousness that understands the nature of its own identity. This Seth speaking to you now, that is me, is not an undifferentiated consciousness -- not one that is as yet undetermined, or incomplete, or not fully formed. It is a consciousness that understands the nature of its own identity. I understand the nature of all consciousness. I am not saying that I speak only on behalf of Sumari, nor is my viewpoint merely the Sumari viewpoint.
It is an individual consciousness, a personal consciousness of Seth with my strong characteristics. Yet the gap between my understanding of my identity and your understanding of your reality is enormous, do you understand?
The consciousness speaking to you is not the consciousness of some Sumari, a representative speaking on behalf of the Sumari consciousness. No. What is speaking to you is this consciousness of Seth, a personalized consciousness. But he said, my understanding of personalization, of my own existence, is far deeper than your understanding of your own personal identity -- they are not on the same level. In other words, Seth knows the essential meaning of existence, whereas we are actually not yet very clear about this essence of existence; we have only just begun to learn about it and come into contact with it.
Do not think that when I say I am an individual consciousness, you should think of it in terms of your own individual consciousness, equating what I call an individual consciousness with the consciousness of one human being among you. That is not the same concept; do not confuse them. What he said actually conveys two meanings: I am not speaking on behalf of the Sumari family, I am speaking on behalf of myself as an individual; but this individual of mine is also not the individual as you humans understand it.
Rob said, "I understand."
Then importantly, Seth continued: In that same way of speaking, I am no less personal than you are. He said from that angle, I am very personal -- not as you imagine, that I have no personalization, like a god, like a soul, like some kind of conscious energy body, speaking only impersonal words, perfectly correct and grandly righteous things. He said no, I am an individual; just treat me as an individual. I am a very personalized thing.
This statement is a bit difficult to understand logically. What he means is: I am very personal. And again, in that same way of speaking, Sumari is also individual and personal; every Sumari is also unique and one of a kind. You cannot say that because they are all members of the Sumari family they must share certain common traits -- there are common traits, but their individuality far exceeds their commonality.
What he is trying to say here is this: the individual is greater than the family of consciousness. Sumari is individual; it just tells you that there is such a family of consciousness, but do not place it above individuality. In other words, you cannot place your astrological sign above individuality -- saying that you are of a certain sign, as if you can never escape it, feeling that being of a certain sign necessarily means you will have certain attributes. That is not good. The same principle applies: your individuality is far greater than any of that, whether it is your astrological sign, your blood type, your race, your skin color, or even your family of consciousness -- your individuality is greater than all of them.
You remember in the previous sessions he said that your individuality is the most important thing, surpassing all organizations. So do not be intimidated by this concept of families of consciousness, thinking that I belong to a certain family and I should go look for common traits -- no. What you need to bring into play is your individuality. You are part of the Sumari family, and in the simplest terms, you have certain characteristics, just as members of a family or a nation may share certain characteristics. Just as you are Chinese and you have your own characteristics, but would you say all Chinese people are the same? No. Would you say all Chinese people share common traits? They do. But your individuality far exceeds the commonality. Do not misunderstand this; do not think that commonality is greater than individuality -- that would be understanding it backwards.
Here he emphasizes once again, so regarding these families of consciousness, especially this session's focus on the Sumari portion, everyone should have an overall concept. And in the final part, he also repeatedly emphasized the relationship between the families of consciousness and the individual, individuality, and personality, so that we can have a clear understanding and not lose ourselves.
Teacher Xiyu's Commentary
注释与核实
-
Source: Oxford University Press, Understanding History Second Edition Teaching Guide 2 (https://oup.com.pk/media/teaching-guides/Understanding%20History%20Second%20Edition/Understanding%20History%202nd%20Ed%20TG%202.pdf) ↩
-
This claim could not be verified. ↩
-
Source: Robert G. T. Edwards, Travelling Festivals in Late Antiquity: How Christmas Came to the Greek East (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-ecclesiastical-history/article/travelling-festivals-in-late-antiquity-how-christmas-came-to-the-greek-east/14E309530669870F53A47E440CBE7C77) ↩
-
Source: International Institute of Conscientiology, Bibliografia Internacional da Conscienciologia (https://www.oic.org.br/_files/ugd/84ca1f_f81778d694894533a55483da42d32b04.pdf) ↩