Mike's commentary · The Way Toward Health, Chapter 12

The "Introduction" 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 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 discusses special conditions in early life such as death, disease, miscarriage, congenital disabilities, mental disorders, and genetic variations, explaining that these are not meaningless or punitive, but rather choices made by consciousness within reincarnational relationships. It also touches on psychological issues such as schizophrenia caused by conflicting beliefs, as well as the limitations of hypnotherapy.

Key Points of This Chapter

• Conditions such as death, illness, miscarriage, and congenital disability in early life are choices made by consciousness, and they have their reasons and meanings.
• Not all fetuses intend to develop into normal infants, and medical intervention may go against their intentions.
• Genetic variation is part of the flexibility of the genetic system, and attempting to eliminate variation is unhelpful.
• People with mental disorders may possess unique abilities and ways of perception that are indispensable to human development.
• Contradictory beliefs may lead to psychological problems such as schizophrenia, and hypnotic treatment may further fragment the personality.

Main Text

Chapter 12: Early Instances of Death or Disease in Relation to Further Reincarnational Relationships

Today we continue sharing the first part of Chapter 12 of the Seth material, The Way Toward Health.

The title of Chapter 12 is "Early Instances of Death and Disease in Relation to Further Reincarnational Relationships." In the recent chapters, starting from Part Two, Seth has been analyzing these very serious early illnesses, or very serious illnesses in general.

He previously talked about the beliefs and concepts related to health within reincarnational relationships, but at that time he said that for certain situations—for example, children who die right after birth, or who are miscarried while still in the mother's womb, or who are born with congenital disabilities, and so on—he would address those separately. And this chapter is precisely that separate discussion. He begins to address it on its own.

This session began on Friday, June 15, 1984, at 3:12 p.m. Right at the start, Seth said:

I bid you again a good afternoon. We will resume dictation. Again, before we discuss other varied and more ordinary occurrences of health and disease, I want to touch upon a subject that is somewhat of a special condition—the fear of physical and mental dilemmas in early life, at a very young age, that often seem to have no cause or meaning. (Chapter 12)

Many people say, you claim that a person gets sick because of their beliefs, but in infancy or early childhood, when the person has not yet developed such strong beliefs, why would they get sick? This is what Seth wants to address here—because these people have not yet reached the stage of having beliefs.

Then he said:

The universe is either meaningful, or it is not. Since the universe is indeed meaningful, then even situations that appear chaotic, cruel, or grotesque must have their reasons and causes.

The universe has only these two possibilities—either it is meaningful, or it is not. Since the universe is meaningful, the meaning of the universe is value fulfillment. Within this there are many, many universal laws and rules, so the meaning of the universe is not what scientists think—that the universe is an existence without much meaning. If the universe is meaningful, then even situations that appear chaotic, cruel, or grotesque must have their reasons and causes. But here we are not dealing with the concept of causality, so it is very difficult to express this in words—you say there is a cause, and that is causality, but then you also say it is not causality, so is there a cause or not?

Let us continue:

Even in such instances, however, the individual can indeed to some extent begin again, or at least those closest to the person in question can begin to see a larger framework of existence, in which even the most tragic physical circumstances are somehow redeemed.

He says that even in those very harsh circumstances, a certain individual can begin again. If they cannot begin again, at least those involved in the problem, or those closest to the person in question, can see a larger framework of existence—and within that larger framework, even the most tragic physical circumstances are somehow redeemed.

What does redemption mean? It means that after going through suffering, you are instead reborn from the fire. This process is called redemption. Like the film The Shawshank Redemption¹, where the protagonist is persecuted and imprisoned, and then within prison he is reborn. Of course, redemption has its special meaning; in Christianity, redemption refers specifically to Jesus, who through his own devotion, gave his life as a redemption for the original sin of all humanity. So you can roughly understand the word redemption—it means that even in a tragic situation, one can still attain an elevation and sublimation.

That is to say, Seth is saying here that if in early life, before there are beliefs, before there is cognition, in such tragic circumstances, even if a child or an infant has no beliefs, they can still begin again. As for how they begin again, he will explain later. Even if they cannot begin again, they can still see a larger framework of the universe beyond this life. Within that framework, they will discover that the suffering and life they have experienced is actually part of a greater redemption, or is meant to bring about that redemption, and so it becomes meaningful.

In many instances, the parents of such children suffer more than the children do, because such families seem to unfairly bear the most unfortunate disasters. In cases where diseases appear in childhood, or where the child dies young, the parents suffer more than the child—even though the illness is in the child, even though the symptoms are in the child, the parents bear more of the disaster.

We hope to explain further this larger framework of existence, because it indeed affects all aspects of the human condition. This is what this chapter will explain—what exactly this larger framework of existence is.

As I said earlier:

In most instances, the reasons for physical, mental, psychic, or emotional problems can be found in this lifetime, and because of the nature of simultaneous time, new beliefs in the present can also affect those past lives.

Whether the problems are physical, mental, psychic, or emotional, the answers can all be found in this lifetime. You do not need to push back into the past—the subconscious, past karma, or karmic retribution—none of that. The answer can be found in this life.

One basic approach is:

Present beliefs can actually modify what appear to be the beliefs of a past life.

Your present beliefs can modify the beliefs of a previous life. How can this be done? It is simply done that way. Because of the simultaneity of time—all lives are lived at once. You die and then reincarnate; that is what you think. Indeed, with different focuses of consciousness, different emphases, it is different—this life the focus is on experiencing abundance, that life the focus was on experiencing lack. But your traditional concept of time makes it simpler to think that one life happens before or after another.

Many people say, I do not want to experience lack. Although I chose to experience lack before I came here, I have changed my mind—this is too painful, I want to switch. That is fine. Remember, you can change whenever you want; it is not that you cannot change. It is just that by default, the focus and emphasis of each life is different.

Again, no one is being punished for crimes committed in a previous life. In each life you are unique, and the inner wisdom within you that gives you each life also gives you certain conditions for each life.

You are unique, and the inner wisdom within you that gives you each life—that is, the inner wisdom of the universe itself, from which your life comes—also gives you certain conditions for each life. That is, your life is conditional. The so-called conditions are certain limiting things; we often speak of the eight great limiting masters—your life comes with conditions, all kinds of conditions.

Obviously, to many of you, it seems that most people would always choose to live healthy and whole. Most of you are healthy and whole, and would choose such a life—in an excellent environment, with loving and genetically advantaged parents. In other words, you grow up healthy, wealthy, and intelligent.

But:

Life is too profound and varied, and requires such deep emotional response and action, that it can never be fully satisfied by any one set of circumstances, no matter how favorable.

It can never be fully satisfied by one set of circumstances; no matter how good the environment is, it cannot satisfy. Human beings are filled with a sense of curiosity and wonder; they are extremely curious, with a need for exploration and discovery. Therefore, even a man who has been a king for several lives will feel bored and decide to seek a completely different, opposite existence. If you were made to be a king life after life forever, you would be very bored; you would want to live in a different way.

So some lives you are born into fortunate circumstances, while in other lives you may find an environment of poverty and lack. You may be born in one life with excellent health, high intelligence, and remarkable wit. Yet in another life, you may be born ill, or disabled, or mentally deficient.

It also seems as if every fetus must naturally desire to grow and emerge whole from the mother's womb, as if every child will grow up normally and develop into a natural childhood and adulthood. But:

In those terms, there are just as many infants who want the experience of being a fetus, without proceeding to other stages.

Some fetuses do not want to be born; they only want to experience the fetal stage. Is that allowed? It is allowed. Just as many fetuses want to be born, there are also many fetuses who do not want to be born—they do not have the intention of growing into full human development. In fact, many fetuses explore that element of existence many times before deciding to go further and emerge normally from the womb.

Many infants, before what you consider a normal birth, have already experienced being an infant many times without being born—that is, the fetal experience is not their first time; it has already happened many times. Those many times may have ended with them leaving during miscarriage or early death. So do not think that a person has no intention of experiencing the fetal experience, or that a person must experience the process of growing into adulthood. No, for some, that is not the case.

Those fetuses that do not develop still contribute to the overall experience of the body.

This includes induced abortion as well; they will choose this, and they are aware of it. However:

They feel successful in their own existence.

That is, the infant is successful at the fetal stage—do not think that because they were not born, they were unsuccessful or a failure. No. Even though the fetal stage lasts only a few short months, for them it is a success.

Understanding these issues helps to clarify early death and disease, as well as spontaneous abortion. You will understand that these issues are all their choices, and there is no need to suffer. Many women, in the process of natural miscarriage or induced abortion, carry great guilt and a sense of sin; they feel they are killing a life—you are overthinking it. This life was not killed by you; it was the being's own choice. I hope all women who hear this will no longer have such concerns, guilt, or self-torment.

These are all part of the continuing undercurrent of life.

Life has both cheerful waves on the surface and undercurrents beneath; the undercurrent is part of it. The same issues apply to many other species whose offspring die very young—including other species as well. A very small animal is born and then dies; this is a natural choice. That it is not born, or dies very early, does not mean it does not care about the workings of the universe and nature. No.

But whatever level a portion of consciousness chooses a certain experience on, it enriches the living environment, and brings a satisfaction that may never show itself in life.

Although it dies very early, it still brings a satisfaction that shows on the surface of its life—perhaps it never manifests in life, but it still enriches the living environment. This is its own choice.

In the human case, however, many issues rise to the forefront—once it comes to humans, the issues become complicated, and many problems are brought to the front. I do not want to generalize, because each life situation is too unique for that:

I do want to point out that not all fetuses must or necessarily intend to develop into normal infants.

Not every infant must develop into a normal infant, or must be born and grow up. And:

If medicine, through its technology, ends up by choosing to dictate a normal birth, then the child's consciousness may never feel normally allied with the physical experience.

He is speaking very obliquely here; later I will tell you why he speaks so obliquely—because he does not want to stimulate everyone too much. But one drawback of being oblique is that many people cannot understand what he is saying. Let me explain in less oblique, perhaps more impactful language, and you may understand what he wants to say.

What he wants to say is this: some infants do not want to come into this world at birth, but modern medical conditions are too good; all kinds of problems and risks are eliminated for them—what could have been a miscarriage due to accident can now be prevented through fetal preservation; what would have required miscarriage due to illness can now be treated through other means; an infant with a heart defect that would have died in the womb can now undergo minimally invasive heart surgery before birth.

All these situations can cause a child to be born normally under the guidance of science. Infant survival rates have greatly increased, and mortality rates have sharply decreased. Humanity considers this an achievement, a great progress, a progress of human civilization. But Seth says it is not.

Because whether an infant is born wanting to live or wanting to die is its own purpose and intentionality. Some simply do not want to be born, and yet you insist on using technical means to make them be born. In that case, the infant's consciousness and physical body are not well united. Even if it is born, either it will not be whole—because its consciousness has not fully integrated; it has already left, it did not intend to stay here, but you made it be born through biological science, and so this situation arises; or there is another possibility: not long after birth, it will choose to leave again through other means.

This is the view Seth wants to express, but this view is completely inconsistent with many of our views.

The child may go from one illness to another, or simply display a strange aversion to life... until it finally dies at an early age.

If you bring such a child into the world, it will also be constantly ill, or display a strange aversion to life. Such children do exist, though they are rare. A kind of lack of enthusiasm, lifelessness, no interest in anything, and an early death.

Another person in the same circumstances might change his or her mind and decide to go along with the experience of normal life.

Some people are not so stubborn. After being born, they had not planned to live this life; they had planned to end their life at the fetal stage, but then they were born, and once born, they just go along with it—it does not matter anyway—so they change their mind, without that stubborn intention to leave early. Both situations exist.

To some people, it seems quite unnatural to hear of animal mothers refusing to nurse their offspring, or sometimes even attacking them. But in those instances, the animal mother is instinctively aware of the situation, and acts to spare the offspring future suffering.

Many animals are more spiritual than humans. When it sees that such a newborn will not survive, will not grow up, and did not intend to live at all, then in that situation, sometimes the mother animal will even bite its young to death. Many people cannot understand why such a thing happens—they say even a tiger does not eat its own cubs. And it is not all of them; it only attacks or eats specific individual offspring. It does this to spare the child greater suffering in the future.

I am not advising you to kill those who are deformed—I have never said that. But I do point out that even in the most severe instances, the situation has meaning, and the consciousness involved chooses another kind of experience. In the case of such deformed infants, those born with congenital diseases or deformities, they already intended to choose another kind of experience; some of them want to begin a new kind of life, and after experiencing this one, they immediately begin another.

There are also entirely healthy, normal children:

Who decide beforehand that they will live only to the threshold of adulthood, happy and filled with dreams and hopes of achievement, but without experiencing any disillusionment, regret, or sorrow. Such youths die of disease or accident, but go to their deaths like a child who has had a wonderful day.

Like a child who has had a wonderful day, content and without any regrets, they leave. They are full of beautiful visions and longings for the future, but they do not want to actually put them into practice and realize them—because they may worry about suffering the shattering of illusions, or regret and sorrow. They want to leave this world while still in the momentum of their ideals. This also happens.

In most such instances, they choose a rapid death, leaving this world quickly through illness or other means.

In a fashion, such children may try to describe their feelings to those closest to them.

Such children will try to approach their loved ones and family members to describe their feelings. In order to soften the shock—for others it is a shock—they tell others that they are going to die, that they are going to leave this world. Many children say strange things; they do this so as not to frighten the adults, the parents, and relatives.

These people are not suicides in the traditional sense, although they may be. They do not commit suicide, but they leave this world through other means—illness, early death, accident.

Let us continue:

Perhaps the greatest variation in human behavior shows itself in mental states.

What was said above concerns various physical deformities, but what Seth wants to say is that the greatest variation in human beings is actually not about thought, but perhaps about the mental.

And therefore, if any of your children prove to be what is generally considered mentally disturbed, the parents feel most depressed, heartbroken, and discouraged.

Many children have more psychological or mental disturbances, and these are the most common. Because what changes most easily in human beings is the mental—the body has only so many possible variations: congenital heart disease, physical deformities, conjoined twins, missing internal organs, congenital underdevelopment, and so on; but mental variation is easier. Therefore, many children are born with no physical problems, but with mental disturbances.

And the parents of such children are the most depressed, the most heartbroken and discouraged. The parents suffer more than the child—such a child actually does not suffer, because having a mental disturbance, they do not feel suffering. The parents suffer far more than the child.

First of all, the term is a judgment cast by others—the problem of mental disturbance is something others tell you. And a particular personality may feel quite comfortable within its own perception of reality.

A particular personality, within its own reality, does not feel that it has a mental disturbance; it does not feel uncomfortable; it feels very comfortable. Others suffer—the parents suffer, the people around suffer—but the person themselves does not suffer.

Only when confronted by others do they become aware of those differences. If they do not have contact with other people, if they do not engage with society, they do not feel suffering; they do not feel different from others; they live comfortably within their own inner world and environment. When such children are not compared with others, they are fine; they are comfortable.

Most such people are quite peaceful rather than violent.

Most are peaceful; only a very few truly have violent tendencies.

And their emotional experience may indeed include subtleties and depths unknown to normal people.

Their emotional experience may truly be different from others; these subtleties and depths are different from others.

Many simply perceive reality from a different focus, feeling a problem rather than thinking about a problem.

To put it bluntly, people with mental disturbances simply feel their own lives; they do not, like you, step outside themselves to analyze whether they are the same as or different from others. Most do not feel they are different from others—we look at some people and think they already show neurotic tendencies, but the person involved feels perfectly normal, with no problem at all. This is what he means: most feel the problem rather than analyze it or think about it. They live within their own feelings, and within those feelings they do not sense any problem.

At 4:17 p.m., when we heard what we thought was someone pushing a medicine cart down the hallway toward our room, Jane took a break, and then everything became quiet. When I looked out, I saw no cart, and no nurse or nurse's aide, as if we were alone on this floor. The whole building was empty and quiet, as if only the two of them were there.

In any case, since the session had almost reached the length Rob could type tonight, and Rob still had to go buy food, Rob suggested that Jane end it. Then Seth said again:

I bid you a good afternoon. Again, I have activated those coordinates that promote your own peace of mind and body, and accelerate the healing process.

At 4:20 p.m. it was still very quiet; no one came to take Jane's vital signs. Jane said they had not done so yesterday either—a new policy? A nurse had brought in Jane's medication, and that was it; no one took her temperature, blood pressure, or anything.

Let us look at the next session. This next session was on Saturday, June 16, 1984, at 3:23 p.m.

Now I bid you again a good afternoon... good afternoon again. We will resume dictation.

Very crisp. Seth said:

In reality, in human development, all seemingly bizarre variations that often occur are indispensable to the flexibility of the entire genetic system.

He is now talking about genetic variation or genetic problems. Earlier he talked about physical disability, then mental disturbance, and now he begins to talk about genetic issues—these are all early-life issues. His first sentence is: these genetic issues are an indispensable part of the richness, completeness, or flexibility of the genes. It must be so; it is not as you think—that genes must be perfect and without any variation. Genetic variation is normal, and it is fundamental to the genes being able to function normally.

It is not beneficial, for example, to try to breed out those genetic characteristics that seem unfortunate divergences.

Human scientists have always fantasized about using genetic modification, genetic scissors, and gene editing to remove the undesirable parts of genes and make genes perfect. Again, do not make such attempts; such attempts are of no benefit to human beings.

The physical system would become too rigid, lose its natural strength, and eventually bring about a dead end to the survival of human existence.

If all human beings, under genetic engineering, never got sick and everything were perfectly wonderful, this would actually be losing the natural power of life, losing its diversity and differentiation.

If our genes were all uniform, without any defects, humanity would not get better and better, but would become more and more dead—a dead end.

We all know that the greater the genetic differences, the more optimized the result. If you do not understand this, you can look at what we learned in school about the genetics of rice hybridization—rice often produces better and better varieties after hybridization, rather than better varieties producing even better varieties. If you have done biological breeding work, you know: the best varieties often do not produce good offspring. It is not the strong-strong combination you imagine; without genetic complementarity, defects are actually more easily amplified.

This is also why marriage between close relatives easily leads to various congenital diseases. This is a particularly interesting point: the genetic similarity between close relatives is too high. If we follow this logic, if in the future human genes are all genetically modified, all uniform and perfect, then we humans would be no different from close relatives marrying, which would ultimately lead to the destruction of humanity. If humanity continues down this path, constantly optimizing its genes, eventually it would be two completely identical genes combining—a dead end.

But it is very difficult for this possibility to occur—humanity currently cannot achieve this at all. Humanity wants to create genes without defects, but it cannot yet be realized. The reason it is difficult I have explained before: human genes are extremely complex, and their complexity is not because they are many, but because they are few. The most magical thing about this world is that the most complex things are often the simplest, and the simplest things often appear the most complex. Genes are like this—human genes are fewer than all others, but because of their complex combinations, their complexity cannot even be understood by humans, or even calculated.

Seth said:

Since such a task would be almost impossible to carry out even with the most advanced technology, and indeed, the very attempt to do so would likely immediately trigger a reaction on the part of the entire genetic system. Therefore, as compensation, new variations would appear with even greater frequency.

Leaving aside whether your human technology could ever achieve it, the mere fact that you harbor such an intention is already wrong. Even if one day you possess the technical power to accomplish it, your genetic system will spontaneously produce any changes you never anticipated -- all sorts of strange new mutations can occur, keeping you humans perpetually guessing, ensuring that you can never fully grasp the inner laws of these genes themselves. The reason they do this is very simple: to keep themselves alive.

Humans are foolish enough to think that making genes more superior will allow humanity to develop better, but it will actually backfire and spoil things by overeagerness. Yet your inner wisdom is far smarter than that.

How do genes resist the development of human technology? How do they treat these children who have just picked up an axe? We say in jest: give a child an axe, and he will only chop down trees; he will not do anything else. Humanity has grasped technology but has not grasped the corresponding wisdom, so it will certainly use technology to do foolish and laughable things, such as modifying human genes.

And what will this laughable behavior ultimately lead to? It will lead to human genes being far smarter than you -- the moment they see you are about to make a move on them, about to modify them, the genes will produce even greater mutations and variations, leaving you even more baffled. You think you have just understood and grasped the laws of genes, and suddenly a mutation leaves you completely at a loss. And right now, humanity in its current genetic research is precisely in this situation. These gene segments interact with one another through combinations, and when these combinations take effect, they are indeterminate -- it is not the case that the result of a certain combination will necessarily produce a certain symptom or alter a certain symptom. It will suddenly produce a mutation, leaving scientists baffled, thinking they have made an error in their research, overturning all their previous views. And the reason it does this is simply that it wants to leave you baffled.

Now you understand.

Some individuals, for their own reasons, do indeed choose in advance, in one life or another, to accept such a mutated genetic inheritance, often in order to experience life from a most unique perspective, and sometimes in order to encourage the growth of other abilities that would not otherwise occur.

Some people's genetic mutations are chosen by them in advance. Everyone should not feel especially sorry for these people, thinking how could their genes be like this. They chose it. One kind chooses to experience this unique perspective; another kind is such that without it, their other abilities could not be opened up -- if this gene had no defect, it might not be able to inspire or stimulate their greater other potentials.

For example, some people are born blind, and this situation will stimulate certain other abilities in them that they could not have acquired if they were not blind.

The normal experience of human consciousness -- its comprehensive and broad rhythms, its varied states of awareness, and its astonishing elasticity -- depends in part on its lack of rigidity and its own spontaneous tendencies.

It simply needs broad, diverse, and varied awareness. Its elasticity depends on its lack of rigidity -- these spontaneous tendencies of humanity, as well as the capacity to accept curiosity, wondrous discoveries, and emotions.

Our elasticity is very great, and we have a very great capacity for acceptance. Our curiosity can be boundless, our capacity to accept emotions far exceeds your imagination, and our capacity to accept such discoveries also exceeds your imagination. This spontaneous tendency is greater than you think, greater in range. There are many things you feel you cannot accept, whether physical or psychological, that in fact you can accept, even far beyond the parts you think you cannot accept. And this elasticity is precisely a normal phenomenon of human consciousness; it is simply a broad rhythm.

Seth says:

People do not often notice that many mentally disturbed individuals possess their own unique learning abilities, and that they often learn what they truly learn in ways different from most other people.

He does not learn in the way we humans use traditional logical reasoning. To this day, humans do not know how he learns; he simply suddenly knows it.

Many possess abilities that others have not discovered.

That is the hardest thing to explain -- his abilities cannot be explained in human language, and you do not know how he acquired them; he simply suddenly has such abilities.

In the learning process itself, they can utilize chemicals in ways different from other people.

They utilize the effects of these neurochemical substances at the bottom of our bodies in ways different from yours. The way you use these neurotransmitters between nerves is one way; he uses them in another way, so you cannot understand how a normal person learns. In other words, at the underlying biochemical level, he is different from you. His biochemical structure is different from a normal person's, and these differences reach the molecular level or even deeper levels, so humans cannot understand him. He looks the same as you, but in fact he is not.

Some may even have a superior understanding of physical and psychological space.

Some children have special abilities, which we call -- or rather, which we label as mental disorders. Mental disorder is a label we humans give them; in fact it is not a disorder, it is simply difference -- being different from others. They may have an understanding of physical and psychological space that surpasses ordinary people, and those subtle and wondrous feelings are also different from ordinary people.

Their emotional abilities are also quite avant-garde, and quite possible.

Their emotional abilities are also different from others. Just this term alone -- many people may not be able to understand what is meant by emotional avant-garde. Let me give a simple example: you think the seven emotions and six desires are just those few kinds, right? His emotions are different from yours; he not only has the seven emotions and six desires, he has some emotions that you humans cannot describe or characterize in language, and these emotions can only be understood and felt by himself. Ordinary people cannot even understand them, let alone feel them. So his emotions are different from others; you cannot truly empathize with him.

They are gifted in mathematics and music, although these gifts may never be developed or bear fruit, since no one can expect their development and fruition.

They may have mathematical talent but have not displayed it, and may have musical talent but have not displayed it either. Because no one expects them to have such talents -- people think they are very foolish and very stupid; how could a mentally disturbed person have mathematical talent, or musical talent? They are not even normal people.

Seth says:

Many handicapped individuals, in their own way, are like geniuses, and are indispensable to human development, because both maintain the elastic nature of human consciousness and promote its ability to deal with events.

Humanity needs these handicapped individuals, just as humanity needs geniuses; both are indispensable to humanity. Seth explained this in detail in earlier material: it is like the two ends of a balance -- however many geniuses you want, there may be just as many people with intellectual deficiencies. The proportion of geniuses to deficient individuals should remain consistent or balanced. The two of them maintain the elasticity of human consciousness -- between genius and what we consider fools, the two extremes are the broad existence in the middle of human consciousness. The smartest and the most foolish show us to what extent human consciousness can go and how much elastic space it has. Therefore anyone in the middle is normal, and you should not find it strange.

Once again, each person creates their own reality, but each family member also shares in the realities of others.

Family members share in the realities of others. For example, if there is a mentally disturbed child in the family, then all the family members must experience this reality.

So unusual cases of genetic difference often have the special effect of bringing out understanding, compassion, and empathy on the part of family members, and those qualities are likewise indispensable to human development.

Some human children have such congenital diseases, and this will cause their family members to develop greater empathy and compassion, and more understanding. The more they understand, sympathize with, and comprehend such children with congenital problems, the more this ability is what humanity needs. Without such children, humanity might not be able to produce this empathy, this compassion, and this understanding. And the existence of these children precisely stimulates the empathy and compassion that humanity needs.

Since the reasons for any such condition may be so diverse, then even in the face of deformity, life should be encouraged. If the consciousness involved has its reasons for living, then it will also make the best possible use of even the most tragic circumstances.

If this life wants to live, it will also make use of the circumstances you consider most tragic to keep living -- no matter how tragic the circumstances, it can keep living. If it does not want to live, it will choose to leave this world, and whichever way it chooses is its own choice.

Conversely, if the consciousness is kept alive by medical procedures against its own intent, then it will terminate its own physical life in some manner.

If it is exactly the opposite -- this consciousness already wants to leave this world, but medical means have kept it alive, and current medicine is indeed very powerful and can maintain a basic state of life, so that for a time it cannot leave -- then it will choose other ways to end its own life.

Seth says again:

It seems as if infants have no belief system, and therefore cannot in any way control their own reality.

We say that your beliefs create your reality, but an infant has no beliefs, so how does it control its reality? This is a question many people ask.

However, as mentioned earlier, the cells of the body themselves have an equivalent in those biological tendencies toward health and development.

In other words, to put it plainly, humans have a body consciousness. Before your ego consciousness arises, this body consciousness is similar to your self-awareness -- it has no ego consciousness, it only has a body consciousness, and it is an equivalent. Before your own consciousness arises, it is responsible for taking over your life.

Even in cases where physical survival may seem meaningless, the organism still has the possibility of altering its course to an astonishing degree.

In your view, the physical survival of some organisms is simply meaningless. For example, if someone is born with cerebral palsy, you would think what meaning could such a child have? He recognizes no one, his brain basically does not operate in that way, and he cannot think like a normal human being. But once again, even in such cases of life that you consider meaningless, he can still change and create to an astonishing degree -- that is, you simply cannot imagine what he will do. You think that by common sense he is already finished, that his living is truly meaningless, but he will also produce changes and generate some astonishing courses.

Children labeled mentally deficient or even idiots can often grow and develop far beyond the assumptions of medical science.

Many children are considered intellectually disabled, suffering from cerebral palsy, or mentally deficient, and medicine believes they simply cannot live like normal people or reach a certain level, yet these people can often surpass these medical assumptions -- medicine says that with your condition you can only ever be like this in this life, but no, he can perform beyond expectations.

Especially if loving parents help them by continually providing stimulation and interest, they will be even more able to transcend these medical assumptions and hypotheses.

This does not mean that all such children should be cared for at home. If parents are forced by circumstances to place their children in an institution, they should feel guilty -- no, that is not necessary.

In each individual case, however, the parents' intuition will often point in the most appropriate direction.

Whether you keep the child at home or place them in an institution is both acceptable; parents will rely on their intuition to choose the most appropriate direction. Many parents, because they cannot personally care for their children, send them to special institutions or special education facilities or special medical facilities, and the parents carry a certain amount of guilt. He tells you that there is no need for guilt; both approaches are acceptable, and you will rely on your own intuition to choose a better way.

If they understand that there is indeed a reason in such a situation, then that realization alone can lighten a burden on the parents.

Parents should understand: the child chose such a way of life as its starting point, and it was the child's own choice, having nothing to do with you. The moment you realize this, and understand the greater inner framework and meaning of these children's existence, the pressure on the parents' hearts can be instantly relieved.

Before this, they will always feel they owe the child something, have let the child down, or feel guilty toward the child. And such an approach will ultimately be detrimental to the development of the whole family, including the parents' health, and also detrimental to the child. But if you simply know that the child chose such a way of life -- whether physical disability, mental disability, or genetic defect, it is all the result of its own choice, and even including those who die young, those who miscarry, whether spontaneous or induced, all are the child's own choice -- then parents will no longer have artificial guilt.

These feelings of guilt are also completely unnecessary. But our society often places such a burden on parents.

And help them decide the course to take in their own particular case.

That is, help these special children, within the cases they themselves have decided, to adopt the appropriate, proper, and suitable methods and the suitable course for their growth. It is a kind of cooperation and tacit understanding between you and the child. Perhaps your child is different from other children; he is destined not to live like other children, and destined perhaps not to recover to the state of a normal child as you imagined. But that does not mean your child is abnormal, nor does it mean you should feel guilty or sorry toward him; none of that is necessary.

All right. A very long pause, eyes closed, and then Seth said the dictation was over:

Once again, I activate those coordinates of your own mental and physical peace, and accelerate the healing process. And I wish you a good afternoon.

At 4:16, when Rob was about to take his leave today, Jane asked Rob what he thought of the session. Rob said it was very good, truly very good, just as he had expected.

Then Jane said something very important -- Jane said that she and Seth had been trying to handle some rather troublesome material in a certain way, so that it would not be too unpleasant, and so that the results could have an optimistic interpretation. But Rob did not fully quote her words.

This passage is actually very meaningful. Jane said that she and Seth shared a common expectation: they did not want, in describing these tragic situations -- you see, the recent sessions have all discussed very extreme and tragic situations: suicide, depression, AIDS, homosexuality, congenital death, cancer -- since they were discussing these issues, they still did not want to make others feel uncomfortable. In order to prevent others from having this uncomfortable feeling, they had both carefully considered their manner of expression and their choice of words; it was a joint result of the two of them.

But this also causes many things to be said rather obscurely, or not so directly. Because they are afraid that for everyone, especially for some people who are in the midst of these situations -- if you are a normal healthy person, these words will hardly cause you any harm or impact; but if you are one of those types of people, then the way these words are phrased and expressed must be weighed carefully, so as not to make people extremely disgusted. Because many of the viewpoints here are actually different from everyone's, not what everyone understands, and even less acceptable to many people who suffer from these conditions.

Jane was interrupted twice during the transmission; the staff would come at irregular times to check their vital signs, especially when they were busy.

Both this session and the previous one were excellent. Although he spoke very obscurely, and although he did not use very intense words to express himself, the information he conveyed was already sufficiently comprehensive -- allowing all those with such conditions and symptoms, whether their parents, relatives, or the individuals themselves, to lay down the heavy burden in their hearts. I think Seth did this very well. He carries a deep love for humanity, and he gave certain consideration when making these transmissions.

July 16, 1984, Sunday, 2:41 PM

Driving to the hospital, the weather was overcast and cold; it rained some last night and this morning. To me, Room 330 felt chilly, but Jane found it comfortable. Carla is back from her vacation, and I think she may help Jane call me tonight. This afternoon, while I was sleeping in Room 330, Marklette Benbarro called to invite me to dinner across the street tonight.

Good afternoon, Seth. We will continue the dictation.

Seth came through right away and said:

Every sound affects every other sound.

Every person's life has an influence on every other life. A certain part of the personality retains not only experiences from some past lives, but also those from future lives. Don't just think, do I only have past-tense abilities and experiences? No, because of the simultaneity of time, you have both the past and the future.

When people begin to study reincarnation, they occasionally recall some experiential occasions from previous lives, but the conventional concept of time is so strong that all future memories are blocked off. We ourselves have blocked off everything from the future, because from childhood we have believed that we cannot obtain things that have not yet happened. But actually it is the same: we can obtain experiences from past lives just as we can from future lives.

In other words, the inner self is aware of all of your existences. Your inner being knows all of your existences, all of your lifetimes; it understands how your many lives are situated, how they combine with one another, fit together, or merge. The inner self knows this deeply, but because you have been so outward-oriented since birth, that inner self may sometimes seem strange, distant, and irrelevant to the self you know. From the moment you were born, you have always been interested in the external world, always exploring outward, always pursuing outward, rarely turning inward to think or explore. So these inner selves seem very distant and strange to you; you have no idea that you can also obtain other kinds of experiences from lifetime after lifetime.

You cannot even consciously perceive all the infinitely small details that exist within a single lifetime. You will not remember all the little things you experienced in this life, let alone those of previous or future lives. Your consciousness would be so utterly satisfied and cluttered that you would be unable to choose or freely use your will. If you remembered every little thing you experienced in this lifetime, it would be a disaster; you would not be able to do anything. Consciousness would be stuffed full, filled up, and chaotic. There is too much; our conscious mind, memory, storage, and processing capacities are all limited, so you can only pick out what is useful and important. Let alone if the realities of other lifetimes came crashing in as well, then the whole person would collapse.

From your standpoint, thinking takes time, and you would become so involved in thinking itself that action would become impossible. For us humans, thinking takes time, but when you enter higher dimensions of consciousness, thinking does not take time, and time does not exist. But when we are dealing with the affairs of one lifetime, there is definitely the influence of time. When you think too much, action cannot proceed.

Some people ask: since it is reincarnation, with a pile of infinite possibilities attached, why are our choices not that many, and in fact very limited? For example, why can't we choose to live freely in any country in the world? Why can we only be born in this country? If there were too many choices, with over one hundred ninety countries in the world, you would spend this entire lifetime just comparing which country is better, then personally experiencing life there for a while before switching to another. Even if you lived to be a hundred, living in two or three countries a year, each country would only get three or four months of experience. The matter of choosing where to live alone would make you miserable, let alone actually experiencing and feeling life.

From your viewpoint, the inner knowledge of all your lifetimes belongs in the same category as those automatic processes that form the basis of your existence.

That is to say, the knowledge of your lifetimes belongs to the category of things you know but are not conscious of, just like breathing and heartbeat. Do you know how you breathe? No. But you can breathe. This knowledge is just like that: something you are born knowing, yet something you do not know.

This does not mean that all conscious knowledge about your own reincarnations is forever beyond your reach. Just as you do not understand how breathing works, yet you still breathe, and can breathe quite well. The knowledge of reincarnation is the same: you do not know it, but you can obtain it. Through various kinds of practice, you can indeed learn some of this material. For example, if you were a musician in a previous life, in this life you can directly draw upon that material and be born with a very high talent for music.

It does mean, however, that you are born with an awareness of all of your existences... and that knowledge acquired in one life is automatically transferred to another.

Whether that life is present, past, or future, the experiences of all these lifetimes can be obtained in the present moment. So you may try many different kinds of experiences:

Sometimes endowing yourself with superior attributes and powers, relying upon physical strength above all other considerations.

In one lifetime you may consider only physical strength, becoming an athlete, where the body's attributes are your highest attributes. Yet in another lifetime, you may utilize and develop unusual mental abilities, enjoying the triumphs of creative thought, while largely ignoring physical agility and strength. I do not mean to imply that you are necessarily dealing with opposite behaviors, because as consciousness expresses itself through the physical senses, attempting to explore emotional, psychic, biological, and spiritual existence, there are endless variations, and each is unique.

It is not that if this time you emphasize the physical, next time you must emphasize the mental. It is simply that you want to explore that uniqueness and diversity as much as possible. Just as when you have finished playing a game, you would not go back and replay it; once you have played a role, you will not go act out the same part again. There is no opposition or contrariety here; it is simply that he wants to try more possibilities.

In each life, once the conditions of that life are set, free will will operate fully.

There is a precondition here: when you choose the opening of each life, once the stage setting, the era, the background of birth, and the initial conditions are set, free will then begins to operate on top of that foundation. If you are born into a poor and depressed environment, free will will not change the conditions at birth; it will not suddenly make the conditions better one day. These are your initial set conditions, arranged before you came. But through the countless choices you make over a lifetime, it can help you become wealthy in your adult life. You can start from nothing, going from a life of poverty all the way to a life of great wealth; there are too many such cases.

You learn that even unfortunate birth conditions are not imposed upon you by some external agency, but are choices made at inner levels of your own reality.

This is helpful, and clearly somewhat comforting. The true opening of your life is a deep choice made by certain parts of your inner being that you do not know. As for why such a choice was made, why not choose a birth situation of wealth, good looks, and privilege, there is an inevitable deep inner consideration, and you may not know what it is. Once you know it, you will understand.

This also applies to almost any situation, regarding the nature of suffering in general. The various religions hold ideas that are completely opposite to one another. Some religions believe that suffering is punishment sent by God, because sins or even negligence of the past and present must be repaid in this lifetime; this is guilt, karma, or cause and effect. Meanwhile, other religious sects insist that suffering is sent as a special love for the individual involved; God must love you very much, because he can give you so much suffering. Just as Jane was once told by several nurses.

For example, in the famous Chinese essay "Inscription of a Humble Room," it says, "When Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on a man, it will first exercise his mind with suffering and his sinews and bones with toil"², which holds that suffering is the necessary path by which Heaven perfects a person. Another school holds that suffering is punishment, so the views are all different.

Sick people are often told such things: you are specially cared for by God, so he made you sick. The assumption of that concept is this: suffering is good for the soul, it is a method of atoning for one's sins, and in some way it implies that the suffering of this life will be repaid doubly in heaven.

This view is incorrect. We do not need suffering in life; we do not need to obtain anything through suffering. Suffering will not bring corresponding rewards. Suffering is simply suffering; suffering lets us feel that in the future we should not do these things again, should not experience these painful things again.

This concept encourages individuals to feel like victims, with no real control over their own life circumstances; I am passive, I am victimized. This concept is very dangerous; it treats everyone as victims, or each person picks up the role of victim and puts it on themselves. The benefit of this is that you can shift a lot of responsibility onto others, making it unrelated to yourself, not believing it is the result of your own initiative but rather the result of passivity; this way you feel a bit lighter psychologically.

Rob was particularly dismissive of the nurses who told Jane these things at the hospital: if that were the case, then unhealthy people, people whose whole bodies are sick, would be the ones favored by God and should go to a better heaven; then would healthy people go to a worse heaven? Then in life, should you make yourself healthy or unhealthy? This view simply does not hold up.

Quite the opposite:

People should understand that suffering, uncomfortable as it is, does somehow have a meaning within the context of your entire existence.

Suffering is uncomfortable, but within the larger framework it has its meaning, and that meaning may not exist in a way that can be understood from our three-dimensional world. But we need not go overboard in pursuing or investigating what that meaning is; there is no practical significance to it. A thing may have this meaning on one level, and on another level its meaning may be different. Do not over-interpret your life and experiences using the information and knowledge you obtain from this angle; it is more about experiencing, feeling, and creating, rather than interpreting and explaining. We are here to live life, not to explain life or analyze life.

Again, it is not thrown upon you by some unfair or uncaring external force or natural agency; it is your own choice. To some degree, that realization can help alleviate the pain of suffering itself; once you achieve this, suffering is not so bitter.

I am not creating a fatalistic attitude either. That would be like saying: suffering is just suffering, it is merely a higher choice of life or a meaning within a larger framework. Seth absolutely does not mean this. That would be somewhat like saying: on a level I do not understand, I chose such and such unfortunate circumstances, and therefore the whole thing is beyond my control, and I can do nothing about it. If you say that, it is a fatalistic attitude, but that is not Seth's view.

First, almost all situations, including the most extreme, can be improved to some degree. And the very attempt to do so will increase a person's sense of control over his own environment. No matter how extremely adverse the environment, whether physical or external, it can be changed to a very different state. You say, if someone is born missing a leg, can it grow back later? No, it cannot. But the experience and feeling of happiness in life with a missing leg can be completely changed. The variability of congenital disability is very great; it does not necessarily mean a life of pain or suffering.

This does not mean that those adverse conditions will change overnight in ordinary terms; it is not that your disability will disappear or your family's poverty will suddenly end. Although ideally that is also possible, for most people it requires a process of time. Why is this process needed? Because he wants to experience the process of change, to master the effect of changing and controlling the environment through his own efforts.

A sense of control over one's own life will encourage all mental and physical healing abilities. This ability, the sense of control over life, is very important. As far as starting over on this point is concerned, the main thing to remember is: do not expect too much too quickly. We change beliefs to let the body start over from the beginning; from the time of birth, we retrieve that original state and let the body begin anew. Do not expect too much too quickly; for example, do not change your beliefs today and expect the body to recover miraculously tomorrow. Although instantaneous healing is indeed possible, and this possibility exists, do not place this expectation into your expectations for health transformation.

Again:

Mental play, inserted with humor and diversion, is extremely valuable.

You should approach this whole process from the mental and psychological level as a kind of game and experience, so that you do not try too hard; doing it with some diversion and humor is extremely valuable. Never think that joking around is something frivolous; it is very valuable.

These past two days, while sharing The Way Toward Health, many friends have been communicating offline or sharing experiences in the group. One friend shared that in 2013 she was diagnosed with uterine cancer. The doctors wanted her to undergo various treatments, but she did not take any treatment at all. She felt she was fine, felt she would not have any problems, and simply did not take it seriously; she lived her life exactly as she wanted to live it. Miraculously, a year later, a follow-up examination showed the uterine cancer was completely gone.

Another friend, I cannot remember whether it was gallstones or kidney stones, but the stones had almost filled the organ. The doctor said surgery was necessary, and without surgery the organ might become necrotic or there would soon be serious consequences. But he felt it would not happen; he felt no discomfort in his body at all, and believed it could be improved through a normal, happy lifestyle. He also took no treatment and went about his business as usual. After a period of time, a follow-up examination showed the stones had disappeared.

These are real cases that happened around us; friends in the group can see their sharing. If you are not in the group, you might think this sounds too far-fetched. But those who have not experienced it cannot understand or appreciate it. We are not calling on everyone to stop taking medicine, stop being hospitalized, stop seeing doctors, or stop getting injections. What we are telling you is that you should believe the body's self-healing ability is also very powerful. You have this ability; you should prioritize using your own healing abilities first, and external things can be used in coordination, if needed. If you have a strong belief that the body is absolutely healthy and without problems, then you can change all of this through belief.

But in both of these cases, there is one greatest common condition: neither of these two people had the slightest anxiety or worry; they were very relaxed, and they were extremely certain and firm about their body's health, never having the slightest doubt. This is the core. You must be relaxed and at ease; if you can add humor and diversion, even better.

Some people try too hard to be spontaneous... while others are afraid of spontaneity itself.

Spontaneity must be spontaneous; you cannot try too hard, because trying too hard will backfire. There are also people who are afraid of spontaneity itself; both are incorrect.

Knowledge of reincarnational lives is spontaneously held.

The holding of reincarnational knowledge is obtained spontaneously, not through effort. And being able to have that knowledge, receiving suitable insights, happens when you are not looking for it, but are familiar enough with the whole idea that you realize such knowledge is available.

When can you obtain reincarnational knowledge? First, you must know cognitively that you can have this ability; you must be familiar with the idea. Then one day you suddenly have a kind of realization; you feel that you have this gift, that you are naturally good at something, or that you naturally have an inner guidance about certain things. For example, some people are born with the ability to cook; they know this thing innately. Once this realization is opened, they will do it better and better. Some people have never learned to draw, yet suddenly pick up a pen and can draw. Every line, every stroke, though perhaps not professional, crooked and uneven, yet in their hearts they are very certain that this is an expression of their inner being, a flourishing of their inner potential.

When you have this knowledge and this sense of realization, this inner belief can allow you to obtain experiences from past or future lives.

July 18, 1984, Monday, 4:02 PM

It rained heavily last night and this morning. Seth continued from the previous topic:

(The reincarnational heritage) is very exuberant, and under certain circumstances he may have a tendency to affirm himself.

This reincarnational heritage comes with exuberance, and under certain circumstances there is a tendency to affirm himself. You will receive this inner confirmation. So there is no need to go looking for "Is this my ability? Is this my potential?" None of that is needed. It is an inner tendency of yours.

I am not speaking of ordinary events, but of quite extraordinary ones, when in a certain fashion reincarnational memories seem to penetrate into the present life.

This does not mean that such things happen frequently to everyone. Even within the ordinary, this is an extraordinary event, and it occurs only in very rare cases. That is to say, our reincarnational memories directly penetrate into this present life of ours. First of all, remember that this does not happen to everyone. It is perfectly normal that it has not happened to us; this is the setting of the rules of our psychic game, or the game of consciousness. So do not feel, "Why hasn't it happened to me?" Not having it happen is normal.

Again, this is not an ordinary experience; it rarely occurs. But it does occur, on some occasions, sometimes during periods of poor health or accompanied by the confusion of old age. They tend to occur more readily during adolescence. Remember that adolescence is a time when this is especially likely to happen. Although I do want to emphasize that we are speaking of special cases. Do not expect that every child in adolescence will activate the potentials of his past and future selves. Those who can activate them are generally what we call gifted youths. These young people truly learn without being taught, activating many potentials and experiences from past or future lives. But this kind of thing cannot be sought after. If your child is not like this, you should be glad; this is a very normal child, the most normal life setting. This special quality is entirely spontaneous; you cannot deliberately pursue it. If you deliberately pursue it, you will go astray, you will become obsessed.

Just as one quietly waits for a flower to bloom, quietly wait for the child to reveal whatever potentials he has. Even if the potentials of his past and future lives do not manifest, the potentials he carries in this life alone, the potentials he embodies and is meant to express, are more than enough for him to display, more than enough for him to live a beautiful and brilliant life.

Older people often begin to exercise their consciousness in ways they had not used before.

Older people often do this. Perhaps there are fewer distractions occupying their thoughts; they may be lonely, and they will often practice, and then quite often find themselves trying out various different experiences—experiences that, under present circumstances, seem very difficult to achieve in the physical world. They will gain some especially wondrous and different experiences, experiences that cannot be obtained in this physical world.

Because they are often fearful and uncertain about the future, they tend to cast their thoughts back to childhood, to expand their earliest memories, and in their minds try to gain comfort from the voices of loved ones they remember. Yet in their minds they see images they did not expect, or hear other voices that are not the ones they longed for. Because of their worry and fear about the future, and their lack of understanding and certainty about their abilities, they often project these things onto childhood and early years, tending toward the people they believed in and trusted during childhood—parents, teachers, authorities. This projection is a kind of inner insecurity and uncertainty.

But occasionally they will hear unfamiliar voices, and images they had not anticipated will also appear. In fact, fragments of many episodes from many other lives can flood into their consciousness. And in most cases, they are quite unprepared for such experiences. On the other hand, usually such episodes are extremely comforting, and can bring them solace of the psyche. Because the inner assurance that life has been activated many times before is coming along with him—the affirmation of yourself across life after life can all be felt along with this feeling.

The individual involved may then return to normal consciousness. But if, at the very moment this is happening, they speak or mutter to themselves, any observer might take it for granted that mental derangement is involved. After they have gone through this period of connection with the potentials of other lives, or the connection of memories, they will return to normal, so there is no need to worry too much. But from the perspective of an onlooker, they appear to be speaking with some unseen person, or speaking with a person from another time and space.

In those situations, do not give them medication. Unless the patient becomes extremely agitated and confused, only then is it necessary to give them medication. Generally, if they are muttering or talking to themselves in a normal way, do not give them medication; after a while they will return to normal. In most cases, those experiences leave no adverse side effects. In the vast majority of cases they do not bring about anything bad, though in a very few individual cases it cannot be denied that they may bring some psychological or mental effects.

The same kind of thing may also occur during periods of poor health, or under excessive anesthesia.

During periods of stress, under unusual stress, consciousness does not have sufficient agility to rely upon, and cannot leap beyond the limitations of this life to go to past or future lives to obtain the corresponding experience. But under conditions of extremely poor health or anesthesia, a person's consciousness will instead become more acute. Because after the body's consciousness is weakened, those inner latent abilities will manifest. For example, after anesthesia, patients often experience some hallucinations, some sense of imagery or experiential encounters. In earlier times, after surgery or during serious illness, when people were nearing death, they would also experience all kinds of hallucinations, and could see and feel some wondrous things. The reason is that at such times consciousness can have sufficient agility. Under normal circumstances our consciousness is not that agile; it is firmly controlled by our body.

The same kind of thing may happen in adolescence, and be easily mistaken for a schizophrenic episode.

Not only old age—adolescence can also produce the same kind of thing: a person suddenly seems to have become schizophrenic, speaking with an unseen person, or communicating with a virtual figure from the future world or a past life, or with a nonphysical being, or connecting with one of his own lives in some lifetime. Adolescence and old age are the times when this most readily occurs; in adulthood such things are relatively rare, but not nonexistent. This perhaps occurs more often than the other things mentioned, but usually it does not repeat; happening once is enough. After it opens that person's mind, giving him a larger view of life than he had before, they remain only as memory. Happening once in this way lets him understand that his personality is not just this one small fragment, but has a richer and vaster existence, and then he automatically returns to normal. The most it brings you is insight, letting you know that you have a greater existence, and nothing else. There is no need to worry.

Seth once again activated those coordinates that help us find peace of body and mind, and accelerated the healing process. The hospital staff interrupted Jane twice, but her vital signs were measured, and her temperature was as high as 101.4 degrees; she had a high fever. Jane was very angry, and she argued that because the weather was hot, her temperature had risen—this was pure nonsense. Our bodies are warm-blooded, and body temperature does not change because of changes in the external environment; this reasoning was very far-fetched.

Before I left Room 330, it began to drizzle, but by the time I was driving home, the rain had already turned into a downpour. At times the rain fell so densely that I could hardly see where I was driving. This both refreshed me and made me feel invigorated. It is very interesting: when we suddenly cannot see the road clearly, when we suddenly do not know the direction of our life, there is instead a kind of inexplicable excitement and coolness. It is as if you have finally returned to a most primal or most authentic state. Because in fact you never could see clearly, but you insisted on believing that you could. When through heavy rain or thick fog you suddenly feel an inexplicable excitement and invigoration, you feel that anywhere is fine, and you have finally returned to that most primal state you were in before you came into this world.

Opening and Background of This Session

This session is Part 3 of Chapter 12 of The Way Toward Health, beginning on Tuesday, June 19, 1984, at 2:41 p.m., a bit earlier than usual. Rob came upstairs and said that you simply could not say a hospital was a quiet place -- the hospital was not quiet at all. As fire engines and police cars stopped beneath the window, sirens screamed and wailed, and people pushed creaking medication carts outside Room 330, sounding like a whole pile of clattering pots and pans. As Jane got ready for the session, I could not help wondering what any patient who needed even a little peace and quiet was supposed to do in a hospital.

Seth came through directly, saying:

Now I bid you once again a good afternoon.

Then Seth continued with the dictation. Up to this point, they had been dealing with contradictory beliefs, and it was this kind of contradictory belief that they had been working on. Most of these contradictory beliefs could find their resolution within the context of this lifetime alone, without having to go into past lives. These beliefs could have physical and mental consequences, although in most cases the two would not occur immediately -- that is, if you have some contradictory beliefs or impulsive beliefs, unless they reach a certain degree, they will not manifest as your mental and physical symptoms.

They had already dealt with some of the many physical difficulties that could follow from this. But in other cases, the individual faced those dilemmas on the mental and emotional levels -- one part of the personality might wholeheartedly approve of the full expression of this power, and be inspired to express and use his energy and power; while another part of the personality might fear power and genes, just as another part rejoiced within it.

He had already discussed some physical difficulties earlier, giving many examples of cancer and examples of early congenital disabilities. Now he was going to talk about mental problems. That is, the personality might have two parts with contradictory beliefs: one part wanted to use its own power and energy to do many things, while another part of the self was afraid of this energy and power. These two emotions, these two personality beliefs, existed at the same time. Usually, sometimes one part of the personality did not develop physical complications -- that is, sometimes people did not break out on the physical level; their contradictory beliefs were not embodied physically, but were instead expressed mentally.

For example, one part acted with affirmation of power and energy, while at the same time another equally valid part (here it does not mean "legal," but "valid") refused to use energy and power in any way. These two approaches were so opposite, and in fact so evenly matched, that the conscious personality could hardly be aware of both at the same time. They were too different, completely opposite, so your conscious self could only discover one of them, and you could not discover the other -- because the contrast was too great for your consciousness to accept.

Title Scene

At 2:50, Nurse Mary Jane and Jane came in to eat chocolate-covered soda crackers, and dropped some vague hints about the birthday party they planned to throw for me tomorrow. I pretended to be ignorant, and while they told me what kind of cake they preferred, they asked me, and I said a chocolate cake with chocolate icing.

At 2:58, I read the last sentence of this session to Jane, so she could continue narrating.

Then Seth continued:

In such a case, although one part of the personality expresses itself in the self, and directs the general willpower, showing that normal state, another part remains silent, latent, and unexpressed.

One part expresses normally, directs normal consciousness, does normal things; the other part is hidden away, not correctly expressed or truly expressed. This person may act decisively with full energy and strength, over long or short periods -- this person may feel very powerful for a stretch of time, doing things with bold decisiveness. Yet sometimes, unexpectedly, the fearful, voiceless part of the personality will take over the normal abilities of consciousness. Sometimes without any warning, a person will suddenly sink into depression, become silent and withdrawn, and find it hard to communicate with others.

In real life, you will often see a person who is constantly in high spirits, doing things very steadily, but suddenly for a stretch of time he sinks into a low period, very depressed and lifeless, and finds it hard to communicate with others. This is all a very normal phenomenon.

One part of the personality will continue conscious behavior -- he will go to work, go shopping, or live a normal person's life, no matter what he does; but at the same time, other parts of the personality do not remember doing those things at all -- another part of the personality simply does not know that he is doing these normal everyday things.

The Example of Norma A and Norma B

Let's take a hypothetical example. Call the affirmative part of the personality Norma A -- say a girl, and this affirmative part of her personality is called Norma A. This part of the personality is fully expressed, a normal expression; while the passive partner is Norma B. The active one is called Norma A, the passive one Norma B.

Norma A goes out dancing, goes to a bar to have fun -- that is what Norma A does. Then, suddenly, the whole program is handed over to Norma B. While dancing, suddenly the whole consciousness is exchanged to Norma B. And at this moment Norma B finds herself in a noisy environment, surrounded by people she does not remember, and completely unaware of why she has ended up in a dance hall like this.

This situation is generally what we call split personality -- she suddenly finds, in a scene, that she does not recognize the people around her. Norma A certainly knows these people; they are the friends she often dances with. But Norma B does not know them. To Norma B these people are complete strangers; she does not know where they came from, she does not know why she is here, and she does not understand what her purpose is in coming here. Her memory will return to the last time she was still in control of her consciousness -- that is, before Norma B took over consciousness, before Norma A had taken over. Norma B does not know what Norma A did; her own memory returns to the state before her own consciousness took over. And she may or may not have any concept at all of Norma A's existence.

Norma A may like action, like sports, like dancing and physical activity; at the same time Norma B may prefer reading, like taking walks, like quiet activities such as drawing. These personalities may even have different kinds of friends -- Norma A and Norma B each have their own friends. When Norma A is in charge, she knows those companions who love dancing, love sports, love activity; and when Norma B takes over consciousness, she knows those quiet companions who like reading, like chatting, like taking walks.

Although these personalities may seem so different, they are connected to each other -- they seem so diametrically opposed, yet at their foundation they are connected. And occasionally, they may be assumed to communicate with each other in rather strange ways. These two completely different personalities will communicate through some strange means, perhaps leaving mysterious notes for each other. When Norma A comes online, she will write some strange, mysterious notes to leave for Norma B, and leave them in places where they are bound to be found -- very obvious, yet written in a special coded way, or using some kind of symbol, or left through some means. Because communication that is too clear would dissolve the whole relationship, it must be left in this metaphorical way, this secret way, through codes, symbols, riddles, left for Norma B to guess. She cannot directly say, "I am Norma A, I am another part of your personality." She would not do that.

People may actually continue this kind of existence for many years, until some event reveals that something is wrong. For example, a friend of Norma A may meet a friend of Norma B -- a friend who especially loves excitement and dancing suddenly meets a friend who loves reading, and both of them know a common person named Norma. Because they do not know that this Norma is two personalities, both of them know a person called Norma. Then the two of them will start talking: "You know, yesterday I went dancing with Norma at night, went clubbing until three in the morning." The other friend says, "Impossible. The Norma I know never goes dancing, never goes clubbing; she hates those things most of all." "The person you know probably isn't Norma; you've got the wrong person." "No, that's not right. Norma is such-and-such a person, lives at such-and-such a place." "Hey, yes, it is that Norma." "But no, Norma is not that kind of person." That is, the friend who knows Norma B and the friend who knows Norma A, when these two friends compare notes, discover that the person they know is not the same person -- although physically it is one person, it is completely two personalities. At this point the secret may be exposed.

Or there is another possibility: the gaps in memory eventually become so frequent. Norma A controls a stretch of consciousness, then Norma B controls a stretch. If the time in between is somewhat long, Norma B does not know what Norma A did -- that is quite normal, and in that case there are not too many problems. But if this switching is too frequent, for example if Norma A has not been in control for two hours before Norma B takes over, then problems arise, because she does not know what she did in the previous two hours -- it feels exactly like blacking out from drinking. And at this point, because Norma A and Norma B exchange too frequently, problems arise for them, to the extent that it becomes obvious that something is wrong.

Norma A and Norma B represent a fairly simple example of schizophrenia -- this is a very simple example within schizophrenia of a split into two personalities, A and B. Actual cases of split personality are far more complex than this. Seth says:

And I have indeed kept the story simple to maintain the clarity of the issue.

He says again that he gives this simple example so that the subject can be seen more clearly. What does clarity mean? It means his theme -- that for ordinary people, this kind of contradictory belief will lead to the appearance of certain mental and physical symptoms. Physical symptoms mean that when his contradictory beliefs are uncoordinated, inharmonious, and the self cannot reach agreement, this will lead to certain physical symptoms or discomfort, or the appearance of what we call illness. And the other direction he gave earlier says: there is another kind of person who does not display it physically, but displays it mentally -- this disharmony and disagreement among different beliefs is a typical example of schizophrenia. Such contradictory beliefs can lead to different symptoms: one kind is physical, as in the many examples he gave earlier; the other kind is mental, which is the example he is giving now.

The Example of Joe A and Joe B

Seth said that Norma A might actually become an increasingly assertive or aggressive person, even showing violent tendencies; while at the same time, on the other hand, Norma B might become more timid, or depressed, or lonely. But on other levels, each one is quite aware of the other's presence -- in this three-dimensional world, Norma A does not know Norma B, and Norma B does not know Norma A; but on a higher level, or on a deeper level, they do know of each other's existence. And on those higher levels or deeper levels, they do indeed react to each other's activities -- this means that the entire memory process is whole for them; they both know. No matter how perfect it may appear, it is only on the surface.

He used different beliefs about power as an example -- translating it here as "power" is not appropriate; it should be translated as "a sense of power." That is, one personality is willing to use its sense of power to dance, to move about, and another personality is unwilling to use its sense of power and denies it. But any belief may be involved, if a person holds its opposite with nearly equal weight in several matters -- this is one example given: a person has one such belief, and also a completely opposite belief, and when these two are evenly matched, this kind of personality split tends to occur easily.

Then he went on to say:

One portion may believe that sex is good, while at the same time another portion fiercely believes that sex is evil and degrading.

These two completely opposite beliefs exist in one person at the same time. Here he used a man as a hypothetical example:

Suppose a Joe A might be an excellent husband, and breadwinner and father, a churchgoer, who believed in the beauty and goodness of sex. And another Joe B might fervently hold the opposite view, saying that sex was at the very least evil, or sent by the devil, and beneath the dignity of a good man.

These are two opposite, different beliefs within his personality. On the most surface level, Joe A might go to church regularly, be loving and considerate to his family, and, for example, come home for dinner every night after work; he might continue a productive and accomplished existence for a longer or shorter period of time. For quite a long stretch of time he was such a person. Yet perhaps without any warning, he might suddenly refuse to make love with his wife, become unkind to his children, stop for a few drinks after work before dinner, and even begin to visit prostitutes, or start an affair -- often with a woman he considered beneath him.

Joe A might be greatly startled to discover liquor bottles scattered around his closet, because he was not that kind of person -- Joe A was what we ordinarily call a good man; since he hardly ever drank at all, where did the liquor bottles come from? Joe A might suddenly wake up in a strange bedroom, with a woman he had clearly never seen before in his life, in a compromising situation -- he would suddenly find himself waking up in a strange room, naked in bed with a strange woman. He would not know why this happened, because at this time his other personality did not know of the other personality's existence. So when Joe A took over Joe B's consciousness, he did not know what Joe B had been doing; nor did Joe B know what Joe A had been doing.

On the other hand, Joe B might find himself impatient and unhappy during a family picnic or some other gathering -- he did not like this kind of family gathering, or worse, he did not remember his family at all. But this predicament became more and more complicated, and harder and harder to keep secret. The things these two personalities did were completely opposite; to other people it looked like one person doing them, but to himself it was clearly two different personalities doing them. So this kind of thing ultimately could not be kept secret -- it was bound to be discovered by others -- because these two completely opposite things were done by the same person, and the very complexity of it multiplied the chances of his being found out.

Of course there were other variables as well; on the other hand, he had not thought of hiding it either. Joe B, while drinking, might suddenly be sent back to his Joe A self; the kinds of communication might be very unique and confusing:

They ranged from number codes, to unintentional sentences, or hearing imaginary voices, that served to remind one portion of the self that another seemingly strange personality was involved in his existence.

That is, while Joe B was drinking, he would suddenly return to the Joe A state. And at such times the two personalities did not know of each other's existence, but they would often have some strange, mysterious exchanges and communications -- for example, a string of mysterious numbers, or Joe B would suddenly hear some voices in his mind saying strange things to him, or some images would flash through his mind: when Joe A was doing something, Joe B's mind would show him the things Joe A was doing. These were all hints, reminding him that another personality existed -- a personality he seemingly did not know; remember, "seemingly" he did not know, but in fact he did know. But to other people this person seemed very strange; to him it was simply two personalities taking turns coming online.

The Limits of Hypnosis as a Therapeutic Method

No need to go into the middle part. The nurse came to take Jane's temperature, and she still had a slight fever, 99.4 degrees.

Seth said:

In many cases, very intense feelings of persecution and paranoia may be involved, but this will be discussed in the next chapter.

This chapter does not deal with such complex situations. Often this kind of personality splitting gets mixed together with feelings of persecution and paranoia.

In the kind of split behavior we just discussed:

Hypnosis is often used as a method of treatment, and often the attempt is not only to introduce the two levels of the personality to each other, but also to discover the original time when they split apart in such a way.

Generally, hypnosis is used to treat this kind of personality splitting. How is it treated? They let the two different personalities get to know each other, introduce personality A and personality B to each other, and at the same time try to discover when exactly they began to split, find the state before the split, find what the cause of the split was, what led to the split.

In the hands of a fairly skilled professional hypnotist, hypnosis may have considerable value -- remember, "may." As a therapy in this kind of situation, it still has serious drawbacks:

Because of its very nature, the results of hypnosis may further segment these personalities.

Here, although it looks like a very effective method of treatment and has benefits, it has many flaws. One of its flaws is that it strengthens, or further splits, these two personalities -- it acknowledges the independent, separate existence of these two personalities. Under this kind of treatment, sometimes it seems as though new personalities are discovered, not just two but a third, or even worse personality fragments. But Seth said:

These personalities may very well be created by the therapists themselves.

Have you ever thought about that? The so-called "discovered" personalities may have been created by him. So we often see reports saying that some people have 19 split personalities -- 19! Whether there are more than that, I do not know.

The hypnotist obviously wants to cure these patients; his starting point is good. And all forms of schizophrenia are intellectually fascinating -- schizophrenia makes people feel deeply fascinated: a person who is clearly one person can become multiple roles, multiple personalities, completely unaware of each other. The hypnotist, and those who study personality splitting, are all deeply fascinated by this matter. The personality fragments involved are also given a great deal of attention -- these researchers pay very close attention to each different personality, and this attention may further dazzle the hypnotist, while at the same time undermining his efforts at recovery.

What he means is that after these personality fragments are reinforced by the hypnotist's attention, the hypnotist's extra notice and attention will strengthen this personality -- and when this personality finds itself being noticed, being paid attention to, being reinforced, it will produce even more dazzling behaviors and mannerisms to make the hypnotist even more fascinated. The more fascinated the hypnotist becomes, the more behaviors this personality will perform. It is showing off -- "Did you notice me? See, you noticed this personality of mine, so I will perform even more amazing things. Aren't you interested? Then I will make even more things appear that interest you. The more you pay attention to me, the more outrageous things I will do -- won't you pay even more attention to me then?" As a result, this personality ends up being reinforced by him instead. Originally he came to treat this schizophrenia, these split personalities, but in the end he is strengthening each personality -- because for the hypnotist and the therapist, their excessive attention to and fascination with this matter itself will make it even harder for these different split personalities to fully merge back together.

Seth said:

In sessions, it is better to speak to whichever primary personality is present, explaining to him the therapist's concern and interest, while letting him know that on other levels, he is quite aware of his own other fragments and existences.

Then during the treatment process, whether the hypnotist or the therapist, he will look for a primary personality -- one he considers to be better, more positive -- and he will talk with this personality. He says, you have other personalities, and the other personalities are such and such -- this is the common method of treatment, letting him recognize the existence of the other personalities.

People with splitting problems often enjoy word games and puzzles, and therefore they may very well use these to confuse any therapist.

People with splitting problems love these word games and puzzles; this is what they are best at -- since they enjoy this sort of thing, they will use it to play with you.

The very fact that such a person would consider any kind of treatment does indeed mean that they are ready to take on a considerable challenge.

What does this mean? These personalities, these so-called split personalities, know that you are treating them, and they know that you are dealing with them -- they are also dealing with you. Remember, they are also dealing with you, because they know that your ultimate plan is to eliminate them, so they will certainly find ways to deal with you.

It is possible:

To express to each fragment of the personality that each of them is becoming more aware of the other is a considerable challenge.

This is the correct method -- not to tell one personality, "You have some other personalities, you should do such and such" -- he says the correct method is to tell every personality that you have other personalities. But doing this is also very difficult:

You can compare the situation to that of siblings who have been separated for many years. It can be explained that the separation is psychological rather than physical.

Just like siblings who have been separated for many years, getting them to identify as brothers and sisters is very difficult -- they have no sibling bond, because they never lived together and were separated from an early age. Getting them to identify as one family is very hard. He uses this as an example: just like these different split personalities, getting them to identify as one is also very difficult.

Contradictory Beliefs: The Underlying Basis of All Variations

At 4:21 there was a pause of two lengths. Seth said:

In a way, all of these activities are variations of other activities.

One kind of activity is a variation of another kind of activity. As mentioned earlier:

A person who does not form this kind of fragment self may enjoy the full use of power, and yet fear it so much that he experiences an epileptic episode rather than a schizophrenic one.

Some people may not express it in a schizophrenic way, but rather in an epileptic way. There will always be various different variations. The underlying logic, the underlying cause is all one — that is, different beliefs fighting with each other. One likes power, one does not like power. When it develops to the extreme, it will either become schizophrenia, or it may be expressed in an epileptic way, or it may be expressed as a physical illness — all are possible. They are all different variations, but at the bottom they all share one core — what is the core? It is different beliefs fighting with each other.

Seth said:

Before we return to our other discussion of physical difficulties, we will discuss some further, unusual psychological events.

He also wants to discuss psychological issues, and their connection with contradictory beliefs — what exactly is the relationship between these psychological issues and contradictory beliefs? This is the question to be discussed in the next chapter.

Then he said the dictation was over:

Once again, I have activated all those coordinates that initiate your own mental and physical peace, and have hastened the healing process.

He said thank you.

At 4:26, I think this was the longest session since Jane was hospitalized.

Seth said, perhaps longer than you wanted — meaning that tonight I will have to spend more time typing, which is about the limit of what I can handle without falling behind.

I forgot to tell you, I received the title of the next chapter earlier — information from "psychic heroes and other famous figures," or rather more contradictory beliefs. Jane already knew the title of the next chapter before she began the dictation for this chapter.

Summary

This session focused on schizophrenia -- that is, when different beliefs develop to an extreme within one person, they can lead to psychological illness, and he used schizophrenia as the example. At this point he tells you that this is actually one possibility, one of the possibilities that can result when different beliefs are in conflict.

注释与核实

1. This claim could not be verified. ↩

2. According to Mike's original words, "China's famous 'Inscription of the Humble Room' says, 'When Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on such a person, it will first bitter their mind and will, labor their sinews and bones'"; upon verification, it should be "'Therefore, when Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on such a person, it will first bitter their mind and will, labor their sinews and bones' comes from Mencius, 'Gaozi II' (i.e., the text 'Born in Sorrow, Died in Peace and Happiness'), not Liu Yuxi's 'Inscription of the Humble Room'." (Source: Mencius, "Mencius: Gaozi II," https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%AD%9F%E5%AD%90/%E5%91%8A%E5%AD%90%E4%B8%8B) ↩