violence暴力

In The Early Sessions Book 6, Seth deeply explores the concept of "violence," clarifying its dialectical relationship with humanity's "natural aggressiveness." Seth points out that the emergence of violence, as well as the fear of violence, essentially stems from the extreme denial and suppression of natural aggressiveness.

1. The mechanism by which natural aggressiveness is transformed into violence

Seth clearly states that humanity possesses "quite human and natural aggressiveness." This aggressiveness itself is healthy, but when it is "meticulously denied" and suppressed, it becomes distorted and transforms into "violence" and "the fear of violence" ^[1]. In a healthy state, this energy can be recognized and accepted, but once it is forcibly blocked during growth, it accumulates in the subconscious and evolves into destructive violent impulses.

2. Ruburt's suppression, fear, and projection of violence

Ruburt's childhood experience is a typical case in which natural aggressiveness was severely suppressed and distorted into violence:

• The illusion of punishment for violence: Ruburt's father had a violent streak in his character, and his mother was hot-tempered. When his father suddenly disappeared and his mother became paralyzed by illness and unable to move, the young Ruburt, in extreme fear, interpreted these changes as "punishment for violence" ^[2]. To avoid bringing about terrible consequences, he began to suppress his most natural aggressive feelings with all his might, even carefully avoiding unintentional movements and careless gestures so as not to cause his mother pain and anger ^[2].
• The subconscious projection of self-violence: As an adult, Ruburt found it extremely difficult to defend himself physically ^[3]. The reason he avoided seeing his mother was not because he feared his mother, but because he feared the "violence" deep within himself that he had never dared to express toward his mother ^{[3] [1]}. He projected this inner violence outward so that it appeared to originate from his mother ^[3].
• Docility as a survival strategy: In childhood, any act of disobedience by Ruburt would provoke vicious retaliation from his mother. His mother would even pretend to have an attack or act out a near-death experience, making the child believe that his own improper behavior had caused his mother's death ^[4]. This forced Ruburt to choose only absolute "docility" to protect himself and his mother ^[4]. In this situation, "escape" became the only solution ^{[3] [1]}.

3. Joseph's confusion between violence and aggressiveness

Unlike Ruburt, Joseph's upbringing presented another pattern of suppression:

• The equation of violence and aggressiveness: In the family environment in which Joseph grew up, "violence" and "aggressiveness" were fused together. The parents expressed this violence to some degree, but deprived the children of the right to express it ^[5].
• The obstruction and inward turning of normal aggressiveness: Joseph's father's normal male aggressiveness was obstructed and turned against his mother ^[5]. Joseph longed to express his own natural violence and normal aggressiveness, but did not dare to express them out of fear, and could only retreat into his own world, having in the past directed part of his suppressed violence inward against himself ^[5].
• Anger at docility: Joseph felt anger at Ruburt's "lack of aggressiveness" and "excessive docility" in the business world. This actually stemmed from his own anger at being unable to resist the violent atmosphere of his family in childhood, and also reminded him of his father's cowardly lack of aggressiveness in business dealings ^[5].

4. The creative transformation of suppressed violence

Although violence and aggressiveness were severely suppressed in both of them, Seth points out that this restrained violent energy was not entirely destructive. To a large extent, both of them successfully used this restrained violence and suppressed aggressiveness as "the basis of creative work," and transformed it into creative energy ^{[4] [5]}. However, this transformation has limitations: once creative energy becomes blocked, or when they need to express words that are less "docile," the subconscious difficulties and pain will resurface ^[4].

In summary, Seth points out in The Early Sessions Book 6 that violence is not an inevitable evil, but rather the distorted product of denied natural aggressiveness. By bringing these subconscious suppressions, projections, and childhood traumas concerning violence to the conscious level, the individual can re-accept his or her own natural aggressiveness, and thereby respond more effectively to the external world ^{[1] [5]}.

In Seth Speaks, through his exposition of the ancient Lumanian civilization, Seth explores in depth the essence of the concept of "violence" and its operating principles within the human mind-body system. First, Seth points out that energy must be allowed to flow freely through the body system, and be controlled and directed by mental or psychic forces ^[1][2]. The Lumanians attempted to preset safety mechanisms in the human body to guard against violence, so that when the mind sent strong aggressive signals, the body would not respond ^[1]. However, this physical "short-circuiting" of violence brought serious side effects: it caused creative functions and the impulse to act to be distorted into misunderstood aggressive ideas ^[2]. Seth even points out that "in a certain manner, breathing itself is a kind of violence" ^[2]. This bodily alteration placed stress on the entire system, creating an overly conscientious, inhibitory mind-body condition that hindered the organism's natural survival needs and made the sprint required for action impossible ^[2]. In modern humans, remnants of this mechanism manifest in the fact that some people, before allowing themselves to commit violence against others, will choose to faint or attack their own body systems ^[1]. Second, this absolute avoidance of violence deprived free will. Although the Lumanians deeply understood the evil of human violence, they denied the individual the right to learn this in his or her own way, thereby preventing the individual from creatively transforming violence into constructive areas ^[3][4]. Because free will was surrendered in this respect, and because the freedom of energy and expression was physically blocked along specific routes, the vitality of that civilization became very weak ^[3][4]. Third, suppressing violence did not eliminate fear. The Lumanians protected themselves from violence, but they could not protect themselves from fear ^[4]. Because they were also physically unable to react violently to nature, their sense of fear was actually intensified ^[4]. When faced with attack, they could not apply the "fight or flight" principle, and could only choose flight ("retreat as the best policy") ^[4]. They used too much energy avoiding contact with violence, so that they could not channel ordinary aggressive emotions into other areas ^[5]. Finally, this suppression of violence left a profound impact on the psychic level. Because they could not protect themselves through nonviolence, the Lumanians projected their concepts of force, power, and violence onto their fierce god images, using these to protect themselves ^[5]. Through the "seepage" of the psychic environment, this image was absorbed by various ancient religions in our civilization ^[5]. Although the Lumanians failed to solve the problem of violence in the reality they understood, their intense longing for nonviolence still echoes within humanity's psychic environment ^[5].

In The Nature of Personal Reality, Seth offers a profound analysis of the concept of "violence," pointing out that violence is not an innate human attribute but rather a destructive result that erupts when natural aggression is suppressed and distorted. First, the essence of violence: the distorted release of suppressed aggression. Normal aggression is a powerful, creative energy flow in the universe, representing "the power to act" [chunk:10606, 11119]. However, when people attempt to deny and suppress these thoughts and energies out of fear, shame, or moral judgment, the energy does not disappear but instead grows within the body and forms blockages [chunk:10606, 10607]. This obstruction of the true aggressive flow ultimately leads to a distorted, unbalanced, and explosive "false aggression," thereby giving rise to violent behaviors such as personal neurosis, family discord, and even war [chunk:10606, 10630, 10636]. Second, violence originates from an inner sense of powerlessness. Seth points out that the eruption of violence often stems from a deep-rooted "sense of powerlessness" ^[1]. Whether criminals inside or outside prison, or those usually meek, conventional "model" figures who suddenly commit enormous crimes, their inner depths are filled with powerlessness and resentment [chunk:11107, 11291, 11293]. Because they believe they lack personal power while at the same time strongly believing in the power of others, they are driven to adopt antisocial behaviors such as violence, attempting thereby to prove their own power to themselves, and even using it as a "defensive means" to guard against others' violence toward them ^[2]. Third, the confusion of power, aggression, and violence. Society generally holds a belief-based misconception, namely equating "power" with "aggression," and further equating it with "violence" [chunk:1002, 11115]. This confusion causes people to fear taking action, to equate "goodness" with "powerlessness," and to regard power as evil ^[3]. In fact, true power (such as the power of love) has nothing to do with violence ^[4]. When society fails to understand the nature of normal aggression and regards it as violence, prisons, law enforcement agencies, and criminals all operate within the same belief system, with both sides accepting the assumption that "violence is a mode of behavior and a method of survival" ^[5]. Fourth, the real relationship between hatred and violence. Seth overturns conventional understanding, pointing out that in a natural state, simple "hatred" does not erupt or unleash powerful violence ^[1]. Hatred is a stimulating mode of communication and action, and if not interfered with or suppressed, it will change automatically ^[1]. Only when people consider hatred evil and suppress it harshly, pretending it does not exist, does this torrential energy become dammed up, ultimately able to be released only through massive psychological or physical upheaval [chunk:11289, 11293]. Fifth, methods for avoiding and resolving violence. To avoid the eruption of violence, individuals must learn to express emotions safely and naturally in daily life, rather than denying the reality of emotions through the point of power [chunk:10606, 11133]. If one feels rage, one can release the energy by striking a pillow or other means that do not harm others, and directly confront the sense of powerlessness behind the rage ^[6]. In addition, animals make their status clear through symbolic confrontations such as growling, roaring, and body language, thereby effectively avoiding real violence [chunk:11297, 11299]; and Christ's teaching of "turning the other cheek" is also, psychologically and biologically, a clever mode of communication that avoids violence through symbolic yielding ^[7].