The Early Sessions: Book 7 out on the Kindle

I'm still on Book 3. Book 3 is a tough read. Anyone who thinks that Jane Roberts "free-associated" this material ought to take a gander at this book. I can imagine Robert Butts patiently and somewhat bemusedly transcribing Seth's intricate discussions of atoms, inner and outer realities, idea construction, the existence of the physical body within multiple realities. You cannot make this stuff up. This will be a book that I will have to re-read (again) much later. However, Book 3 does introduce a seminal and (in my opinion) important idea: that an electrical counterpart to our physical universe exists "nearby."  This electrical plane is the described as the closest non-physical reality to ours and in fact intermingles with the physical. Per Seth, our physical manifestation of electricity is a weak echo of the actual power of this reality; the electricity that we've managed to harness in our world is merely a shadow of the electrical realm. It is this realm that is the most immediate after-death state.  Dreams are electrical in origin, and their electrical signature is "translated" into images that we recall as a dream.

I regard this as a significant idea because it is theoretically testable; unlike vague ideas of an "astral realm," the idea of an "electrical realm" is one that we can (somewhat) wrap our minds around; and it may explain a very some puzzling paranormal phenomena, one that I've experienced all my life: street lights (and other lights) turning off when I approach... As well as the frustrating problem that I had as a child of not being able to wear a mechanical watch without it dying. It also explains the apparent ease with which the newly dead and the earth-bound are able to record voices on our electrical equipment, turn on and off lights, radios, doorbells, fire alarms, and even, occasional, power televisions even when unplugged. A simple idea, to be sure, but one that I've never seen discussed anywhere else.

A temporarily suspension of my self-imposed exile from"Coast"

I visited the "Coast" website, but it was for a good cause: Joe McMoneagle, who was interviewed by the estimable George Knapp. I discovered this by accident on McMoneagle's blog. I'd Googled "The Ultimate Time Machine" to see if I could figure out why my blog entry on the book keeps getting hits. Basically, 90% of my readership is due to my mentions of Joe McMoneagle or David Paulides. I suspect that this is because both gentlemen are infinitely more interesting than I am.

Well, what have I missed on "Coast"?  Let's see.... Rosemary Ellen Guiley discussed dream visits from the dead. She's good. Who else? Carla Wills-Brandon discussed deathbed visions. I might give her my first listen.  And there's also Richard Bach.  A few good shows, scattered here and there.  The rest is dreck.

The universe as a mathematical simulation

An interesting scientific article. It's my personal belief that our perceived universe is actually created / crafted / designed, rather than simply a product of a random number generator. Leaving out all the baggage that's associated with creationism--for any scientist, now, to posit such a possibility is quite a shift. Is it just me, or is this huge?  I grew up in a world with an unbridgeable gulf between the religionists, on one side, and the objective scientists on the other.  One of the touchstones of traditional science is that while it's okay to admire a creation, speculation about who created the creation was streng verboten (arguably, for good reason, what with religionists blowing up their enemies at the slightest provocation).

My personal opinion, based on experience and research, is that, yes, our world is created, but it would be more accurate to say that it's co-created. To paraphrase Robert Monroe, "someone, somewhere," laid down the template, but there is something within us that throws up the drywall, the nails, installs the carpet and roof.

The fact that I'm seeing an increasing number of mainstream scientific articles that happen to agree with my mystical viewpoint suggests a pendulum swing. It makes me glad to have stuck around long enough to be vindicated somewhat.