Jane Roberts revolutionized spiritual exploration and Channeling with her Seth books in the 60's and 70's. I had the good fortune to study with Jane in 1974. By that time her channeling had grown sophisticated and focused on the way we create our reality with our conscious beliefs. The books from that time are the place to begin understanding Seth, i.e. Seth Speaks and The Nature of Personal Reality. Possibly this book and the others with the sessions from the early years would be among the last Seth books I would suggest one read, but they are wonderful. For the real Seth fan, they not only elaborate on and anticipate ideas Seth later explains, they have a certain freshness and they contain hints with useful information about directions Jane chose not to go in.

In this and all the Seth works Seth/Jane take all the mystery out of the mystical ranks that for so many seems to be another ego project ("I'm more spiritually advanced than you are because I saw the edge of the transpersonal realm once when I slipped on a bar of soap in the shower and I can speak ambiguous circles around anybody"). Instead of vague descriptions of nirvanic states from other authors you get matter of factly description of the nuts and bolts of reality. Instead of non-specific meditation techniques you get instructions for accessing psychological time and information on what other planes you might access (dream world) with this procedure. You get a detailed description of reincarnation, the subconscious, inner self and inner senses. Those who don't appreciate Seth either haven't read enough Seth or didn't understand it. I've also run into those 'elitist' types who think that their understanding is above the Seth teaching. These types usually have read only a few quotes or a single book and no background in psychology. I initially read "The Nature of Personal Reality" and didn't think much of Seth until I read "The Seth Material". I've read every Seth work at this point and look forward to the rest of this series. As far as the fact that this is a channeled work. DO NOT let your ego discredit this material because of the source, this is the real deal.

In this wonderful little volume, you see Seth, Jane & Rob in a less 'cosmetic' way than you see them in the "Seth Books" per se. For example, Jane used to pace around the room while delivering material from Seth.

The various reincarnational stories Seth gives about people Jane & Rob know (as well as about Jane & Rob themselves) can make for very compelling reading. You may find yourself examining your own life and circumstances (or those of friends and loved ones) looking for the parallels.

There are also fairly detailed "scientific" ideas from Seth on how the physics of reality works. Some readers may want to gloss over these areas.

You will also notice that Seth is a very humorous soul. His affection for Jane & Rob is immense. This volume definitely put a new spin on the Seth books for this reader. Enjoy!

Don't get me wrong. All the Seth books by Jane Roberts are worthwhile. And given recent global events, this book is more timely than ever. So I highly recommend that at some point you purchase this book so that you can read and reread it many times over. You should definitely aim to have all the Seth books as part of your personal library. I surely do. And I can pick a Seth book at random, turn to any page, and come away with a fresh insight. But if you are not sure who or what Seth is? Then this book may only confuse and perplex you. If you are new to Seth, I highly recommend that you start with "The Coming of Seth," followed by "The Seth Material," and then the must-have-Seth-book-of-all-time, "The Nature of Personal Reality." Then you will most surely want to read "The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events." My only complaint about this book? The "current" events referred to in this book may seem like ancient history to some. Oh, how I wish Ms. Roberts were alive today for Seth to comment upon such things as the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the more recent terrorist attacks. But indirectly, this book will help you come to terms with all these events and more. So in this respect, it is more important now than ever before. And one of the reasons that I include it on my list of "Timely Tomes for Troubled Times."

"You create your own reality".

This is the central message of the Seth material. Far from being the helpless victims of circumstances that have been thrust upon us, we are the masters of our own destiny, even though most of us are unaware of it. But if we all create our individual realities, how come that there are events that influence a great number of people simultaneously, like elections, natural disasters or epidemics? How could one possibly believe, for example, that the 6 million jews who died in the holocaust all individually chose that fate for themselves?

It is at the intersection of individual and mass reality where Seth's message indeed appears to fail the reality check. Not so, according to Seth, but it takes a whole book to explain why. 'The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events' carefully elaborates how the individual and the collective consciousness work together in a grandiose balancing act to create a shared reality that serves all the invididual development needs, simultaneously. Seth illustrates his points by discussing some of the great mass events of the time, such as Watergate or Three Mile Island. Of particularly significance in this context is Seth's statement that public health announcements and prevention programs, by their suggestive nature, create more instances of the diseases than they prevent!

'The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events' represents a cornerstone of the Seth material, as it reconciles Seth's principal message with our common sense perception of reality. It helps the reader to make sense of seemingly senseless events, and it shows how each of us, individually, can make a difference.

It's important to realize that this book is as much about the individual and the power of the individual to control (or partake in chosen) events in immediate surroundings as it is an offering of insight into the nature of "mass events." As usual, Seth points to the power of the individual in the context of the individual's deep connection to "all that is." The revelation that we are not powerless in a world gone berserk (from a subjective perspective) is comforting and downright empowering. This is evolved thought at its best. All that is left to the reader is to experiment with vigor the value system presented. In my mind, this book taken as a whole, was one of the best presentations of the Seth ideas. Read it, practice it's teachings and change your life for the better.

Having read hundreds of books on the qualities of consciousness, there are NONE superior to Seth's. My first book on the subject back in the 1970's was Seth and still, though many are fabulous, none compare to the DEPTH of Seth.

Seth at one point referred to this book as his masterpeice, the one that all of the others have been building up to. The concepts that he tries to get across here are actually pretty simple once you get your mind to thinking that way--it's a way of viewing oneself, the planet, and the interconnectedness of all relationships (sentiant and otherwise). All of his books are profound, so it would be redundant to say this one is too (but it is). A story within the book is Jane's rapid and dramatic physical deterioration, and Seth's dictation at times takes a back seat to Rob's records of her physical and mental state, and his notes about Three Mile Island and the Iran hostage crisis. When I reread, I will probably skip the notes and just read the dictation, if only to get a clearer flow.

Where do we come from and why are we here. This book deals with the origin of mankind and the creation of this world in dreams. I'd not recommend it if you do not know other Seth books, and also not if you are looking of ways of how to improve your life situation (get Nature of Personal Reality in that case). However, it's excellent if you enjoyed Seth Speaks and Unknown Reality.

Another incredible Seth book. In this book Seth covers reincarnation and the creation of matter by the inner self through the subconscious. A lot of information on hypnosis, suggestion and psychological time. Good information on expectation and emotion as used to manifest personal life changes.

In the second volume of the Early Sessions books, we have a natural continuation from volume 1, as indeed, these books are transcripts of the sessions as they were held.

In this one, Seth gets into the province of dreams, and the psychological reality that is layered beneath our "camouflage" world. It becomes apparent that we have more than one point of focus available, and, at least to a degree, we can consciously set out to explore. The more we learn of ourselves, and the closer in line we can bring our earth-focused ego with our inner ego (the one that deals with the universal), the more we can recapture our psychic heritage and develop inherent abilities we now consider paranormal. (I sometimes picture myself as a chimpanzee with an electric fan; if I could just figure out how to plug it in, life would be so much cooler!) Seth offers practical suggestions on how.

Seth covers complicated material, such as the existence of interdependent, interlinked, yet sovereign planes of existence through which energy flows, each plane being open-ended, while maintaining its own integrity. (Sort of like open doorways that nobody notices.) He explains space-what it is, what it isn't (empty). He talks about matter and antimatter. He tells us we create our own reality, and then goes on to show us how it's done, down to the creative dance of the minutest energy units and their ability to combine to form all we survey. And Seth explains the vital role that our own thoughts, emotions and expectations play in that creation.

Still, Seth is never heavy reading. He presents his material lucidly, in laymen's terms, often with humor. Throughout this book Seth continues to include personal information for Jane and Rob (as well as others)-information that has immense implications for us all, such as provocative comments on what might have happened, had Jane and Rob made a different decision at a given point in their lives. Here Seth seems to be paving the way for a later explanation of "probabilities." Living multidimensional lives, we often change destinies (probabilities) more easily than changing trains. Ah, but meanwhile, the old life continues, unbeknownst to us! It seems that we all make such changes throughout our lifetime, and when we see photos of ourselves in the family album, we may be looking at people who went on to entirely different destinies than the one we know! Hmmm. Fascinating stuff.

Where do we come from and why are we here. This book deals with the origin of mankind and the creation of this world in dreams. I'd not recommend it if you do not know other Seth books, and also not if you are looking of ways of how to improve your life situation (get Nature of Personal Reality in that case). However, it's excellent if you enjoyed Seth Speaks and Unknown Reality.

In this book (two volumes) Seth adds depth to some of the concepts introduced in Seth Speaks (Reincarnation, Probabilities) and adds new flavours (Counterparts, Families of Consciousness). Excellent and intriguing as usual but you should have read and enjoyed Seth Speaks before you dig into this one. However, I just finished reading it for the third time and (again) it's been like a new book to me. book

If you really want to understand what "Time" means, you have to read Seth Books & Jane's this one, instead of reading Einstein's or Stephen Hawking's or any of other so-called scientists', to whom I used to belong. In this book you will see in a fictional format the meaning of "Time," which Seth is telling us. Alas, the so-called self-claimed scientists have never officially taken Seth's messages seriously so far. But many writers seem to have gotten Seth & Jane's idea on "Time." In the movie "Kate & Leopold," Kate went "back to her future" to see Leopold in her past. You will understand what this means, only if you read Seth's & Jane's this book. Mind you that the original novel writer seemed to have ingored to make his story commercial what Seth is telling (only to the extent of my understanding): "Even if you managed to go back to your past, people in the past cannot see you." I am sure you can enjoy romantic (not life-killing) SF videos more realistically after reading this book.

The first book of this trilogy (they were originally published as three separate books), "The Education of Oversoul 7" is one of my most favorite books of all time! And if you like the first one then the 2nd and 3rd books are definitely worth reading too.

As a big Seth fan I must admit I haven't paid much attention to the "Jane" books. But one thing makes sense, that one person who should really know what Seth is saying in his works is Jane. In this trilogy I found that I could hardly put the book down during the first book "The Education of Oversoul 7". This story introduces us to Seven, his entity Cyprus and four of Seven's earthly personalities: Lydia, Josef, Proteus and Ma-ah. The story is fascinating and meant to illustrate the interaction between reincarnational selves with each other and their entity or soul. The second book "The Further Education of Oversoul Seven" didn't hold my attention like the first. Two characters returned from the first book: Josef and Lydia. The story is written from the point of view of a new character William. You meet more of Seven's personalities and see the interaction through time with some of the characters and past or future versions of themselves. The material on "The Gods" seemed to drag the story down to a slow crawl. The third book was almost as interesting as the first. In "The Museum of Time" again Seven is interacting with his personalities except in this story he must assume a human body for a period of time. The writing is very good and the characters are interesting. Jane does an excellent job of illustrating some of Seth's concepts in her novels adding illumination in a way that is only possible through fiction.

yeah, i'm just some 19 year old kid who got this book from his momma, but let me tell you the seth books changed my life and my mind and my world view. Man, this was craziness. Much of the world view persented in the seth books i had found on my own during my walks in nature. I allways thought it was probably true, but they were thoes crazy personal beliefs you never really share. Well, anyway, about 2 years ago, my mother and i began talking more after i got caught smoking pot. when i told her these views, she gave me these books she had secretly read for years behind the catholic front she had raised us with. I am now a very different person then the one who was given those books. I stopped the [chemicals], found meditation, channeling, and life. I went from being a 3.0 high school student to a 3.8 college student. I started exercising. I went from being very solitary, to being increadably social. I can't promise this kind of change, mine has been dramatic, and seth is only partially responsible; there have been many other books which have now shaped my world view. But seth was the spark for my transformation. I gaurantee if you can truley be open to these ideas, and it is "your truth" you will find your life revolutionized just as i (and my mother many years before) have expieranced. good luck

This book is, along with "Seth Speaks", and a few of the other "Seth" books, the most important set of books I have ever read. The information comes from a personality known a "Seth", a teacher who was channeled by Jane Roberts. Seth has lived many lives on Earth, and his perspective, as one who once lived here but now "resides" in another dimension, is riveting. I know many people will find it very weird to consider the idea that a "dead" person could channel information, but after reading this book I think you will be convinced.

The book is about meta-physics in the truest sense of the world - above physics. Unlike religion, which presents a set a dogmatic beliefs, this book presents non-judgemental information.The approach is "try it; if it makes sense to you, use it."

Some of the insights have to do with how we shape our own reality. Seth teaches us that we always have a choice about what is happening in our lives, and provides insights as to why seemlingly bad things may be happening. In all cases, these things have to do with something that we have chosen. Its not about karma, or retribution, or atonement. Its more about creating the kind of life you want to have for yourself. Once you realize the mechanics of things and how the universe works, you can shape your life to better suit you.

This is what I mean by meta-physics. This book is almost a "how to guide" of the universe. Once you know what the mechanisms are, you have a much better time understanding how to use them.

I don't mean to say that this is simple. The lessons are often complex and difficult to make sense of. Part of that has to with the notion that the way in which our earthly thought process works only captures a very small part of what the universe is all about. Our brains don't always "get it." But the good news is that our "souls" do.

I can honestly say my life was dramatically improved by this and the other Jan Roberts books. They take a lot of work - you have to be willing to let go of lots of concepts you've spent your whole life building. But if you do, the world starts making a whole lot more sense. What more can one ask of a book?

Do you know how there are some moments that are so magical in your life, you wish you could go back and live them over? That's how I feel about "The Nature of Personal Reality." Honestly I don't know how many times I have read this book through from cover to cover. Such is the amazing impact it has had on me and my view of the world. It has influenced everything from how I interact with others to why I became an author.

People can be funny about the "Seth books." I recommend them all, and "The Nature of Personal Reality" in particular. Yet I also realize that some people aren't quite ready for Seth. That's okay. Many of the concepts will seem so radical, so revolutionary, that they can be a bit much to take at first. The more you read Seth, the more you understand. And the beauty of this book is that it has almost become the "Bible" for the whole New Age movement. In fact, after you read it through once, do what I do. Take the book down from the shelf, open it at random, and start reading. Almost always you will discover that the passage you chance upon has some personal meaning to you. This is the secret to really getting the most out of "The Nature of Personal Reality."

For years I resisted investigating the Seth material because, after all, according to the Carl Sagans of the world, channeling is disreputable, the province of flakes. One day I surreptitiously purchased The Nature of Personal Reality, another Seth book. My world opened up that day, and continues to do so now, several years later.

With my masters degrees in theological studies and education I have read a LOT of books relating to philosophy, religion, spirituality, etc. For me, the Seth books are the finest, most challenging books in the field of metaphysics. His thoughts are provocative, yet comforting. He challenges my preconceptions and misperceptions at every turn while somehow managing to make me feel better about myself and more hopeful about our world. This is what good teachers do.

Seth communicates several core ideas, including the notion that we each create our own reality through our deepest beliefs and expectations about life. He explores the scientific, psychological, and emotional aspects of his ideas in language that is sometimes complex, yet always straightforward. He also shows how key life priciples operate from the smallest cellular level to the grandest reaches of the cosmos. Indeed, Seth presents the sort of Unified Field Theory that scientists have long been seeking.

Time and again, when reading Seth, I have said, "Yes, this is what I have experienced, though I didn't really grasp it at the time." If you are interested in taking your mind and soul on an expansive journey, I recommend starting with Seth Speaks.

When reading Seth Speaks, ignore anything writen in italics - it slows down the flow of ideas. I have read Seth Speaks about 15 times and each time there is more to consider. The Seth material, not what Jane Roberts offered, is one of the three best sources of material to the very serious metaphysical student. Edgar Cayce was great at introducing concepts and offering a definition for most topics. Cayce's information was definitately rooted in a traditional religious belief system but it is still the best place to start one's study. The Seth works, Seth Speaks being the cental book, builds upon concepts found within the Cayce files and introduces the idea of "You create your own reality." The final book that I believe one must read is A Course In Miracles. This is the CAP STONE. It also states "You create your own reality" but adds that God is NOT involved in this "illusion" since anything of God must be eternal and nothing we see, taste, touch, smell or hear is eternal. Topics like Grace, Reincarnation, Karma, Psychic Powers are all discussed in these three Major sources.

The title of this book should be renamed to "The Bible of Metaphysics". It is, without a doubt, that good. Out of all the channeled books I've read, this one (and all by Seth) far exceed them all...and it was written back in the 70's! But don't let that date fool you, it is just as relevant and useful now as it was back then.....if you read the book, you'll know that back then is happening right at this moment anyway. Seth is so right on with every topic he covers, while you're reading it, there will be no doubt that Seth is the "real deal". I understand when some people say they don't like channeled books, some end up preaching wierd mantras that don't mean much of anything. But Seth, and this material, is so profound that you couldn't walk away without a sense of feeling changed from the inside out.

Seth delivers his material with such rich detail and practically provides a manual on the nature of reality, physical death and reincarnation. It is quite interesting to hear his perspective on the idea of time and that we are experiencing everything at the same time. It takes out the misconception that we are living a linear timeline with "past lives", but rather living all of our lives at once. It is very refreshing to hear what happens after our physical death from Seth who claims to "have died more physical deaths then I care to recall" and says "but if I would have known what I know now, I would have seen every death as an adventure.". It is high honor to read Seth's writtings and I hope that I will met him one day.

"Hating evil only creates another one" -- Seth

Serious students of the Seth philosophy are bound to be disappointed with this final work. Although most of the material is consistent with Seth's previous works, The Way Toward Health contains nothing that has not been far better expressed in other Seth books. Indeed, the book's surprisingly poor quality led me at times to wonder whether or not it is authentic Seth. For instance, all of the other Seth books are characterized by an extraordinary depth and complexity of language--they are elegant, brilliant, wise, and written in a beautiful and intellectually engaging style. The language of Health is by contrast simplistic and even trite. The disappointing quality of this work may be due to the fact that it was written during the final stages of Jane's illness. Not only was she very ill and weak, but she seems to have been taking medication for her symptoms. This (or perhaps other factors) may have led to distortions in the material. The book is of interest for the insight it yields into Jane's inability to apply the Seth principles in her own life. But those looking for further guidance from Seth would do well to return to the major works he produced during Jane's golden years.

I too read the manuscript in its original form, typewritten in upper case with Seth's dictation frequently interrupted by Rob Butt's notes on his wife's hospitalized condition -- interrupted sometimes every few sentences, as a nurse would come in to take Jane's temperature.

I was one of the correspondents who encouraged Rob often to see that it got published. Grief and perhaps shame kept him from pursuing it, as well as Jane's dying wish that he organize and publish as much of the staggering amount of material produced over those twenty years as he could.

Before I read that manuscript, I didn't imagine it would hold my interest much; although a long-time fan, my usual good health made the subject altogether less interesting than others.

Yet I found it the most absorbing reading of all the Seth books, from opinions on religion to current mass health problems to suggestions for individual well-being.

The italicized interruptions can require a little patience. However, it is Rob's most honorable intention to present his notes as an utterly realistic illustration of two people who dealt in all honesty with the ideas Seth put forth. The notes tell a frank and real account -- how Seth's suggestions were used, and how they were ignored. For that reason they are of high value to those who choose to try out Seth's suggestions themselves. I recommend it to those ailing for that reason.

The sweeping, expansive ideas put forth in the Seth books are slowly, naturally working their way into social thought through their creative personal applications in one way or another by thoughtful individuals. This last book will prove to be most effective the same way. One by one, individuals will find successes using the suggestions in ways the authors Jane Roberts and Robert Butts did not. It will eventually generate great popularity that way.

I had the manuscript of this work long before its publication....and have poured over it for some time, wondering if it ever would be published it its entirity. I feared that only the Seth portions would reach the public.

The Jane/Rob relationship, so minutely detailed is probably the most important part of the work. That we humans "do" it, even though some part of our consciousness may know a different route. Paths chosen, pain and all, are of our own choosing. Jane's illness was of her creation, just as her writing was. And Rob was there to be the scibe for it all.