Also, we’ve rarely discussed reincarnation publicly in these
newsletters. But today we’re going to do just that.
We’re also doing something else slightly different today.
Joseph and I are "co-authoring" this article. Let me
explain.
Many years ago, a friend asked me if, when I was in a
conversation with another person, Joseph was there and
"participating" in the conversation. I said yes, that
happened often. It still does. Back then I called it a
"blended" conversation, or a "blending" of
Joseph’s and my energies. It wasn’t just me talking, it was both
of us.
I don’t know the "mechanics" of how that happens. But
I do know when it’s happening, and I do know I can ask
Joseph to come in and participate with me. To an observer, it
appears it’s just me talking. But it’s really both of us.
That’s how we did this article. I don’t know as we’ll do
this again in the newsletter. But it’s kind of fun when the
"spirit" moves us.
John Cali and Chief Joseph
Thirty years ago I was going through a deeply painful time. The
Roman Catholicism I was born into no longer made spiritual sense to
me. I was struggling mightily to find a spiritual path that did make
sense.
Then I discovered the Seth
books. I read every one of them, several times each.
Seth, as many of you know, was the spirit guide of Jane
Roberts for many years until her death in 1984. Jane
and her artist husband, Rob Butts, created a series of books that
contributed much to what we now call the New Age movement.
Seth was my first spiritual teacher, and he remains a powerful
influence in my life today. The phrase, "You create your own
reality" (which Chief Joseph often uses) began with Seth.
Seth also talked about what we call reincarnation, the endless
cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Back then I didn’t believe in
reincarnation.
In a way I still don’t fully understand, Seth’s ideas about
reincarnation resonated powerfully with me. They brought me a deep
sense of peace I’d never known before. It was the beginning of the
end of the years-long spiritual struggle I’d had, the quest to
know who I was and why I was here. I realized we are all eternal,
with no beginning and no ending. That realization was powerfully
liberating for me.
In the years since then, I’ve come to see reincarnation through
Chief Joseph’s "eyes," from an even broader perspective.
And I’ve gone back and re-read some of Seth’s words, and found
new meaning in them, meaning that totally escaped me thirty years
ago.
For example, in his book, The Seth Material, Seth says
"You will reincarnate whether or not you believe that you will.
It is much easier if your theories fit reality; but if they do not,
you will not change the nature of reincarnation one iota. . . . When
I tell you that you lived, for example, in 1836, I say this because
it makes sense to you now. You live all of your reincarnations at
once, but you find this difficult to understand."
Joseph has often said linear time, as we experience it, simply
doesn’t exist. In Seth’s words, ". . . the fact is that all
‘time’ is simultaneous."
I particularly love the analogy Joseph gave me many years ago. He
likened time to a reel of movie film (for those of us born before
this digital age). When we’re watching the movie, we view it one
frame at a time. So, as the movie plays, we see the frames as
"past," "present," and "future." Yet,
in the film reel, they all exist at once -- "simultaneous
time."
All that’s happened in the "past" and that will
happen in the "future" exist now, in this present
moment, our eternal now.
We can freely move back and forth across this landscape of time.
It’s all there, before and behind us, as with the film reel. Even
though we focus only on one frame "at a time," it’s all
available to us now. We can change any of it at will,
depending on our thoughts and where we choose to focus them.
We are, therefore, never imprisoned by the "past" --
nor need we ever be worried about the "future." If we don’t
like what we see, we can choose another thought and create a new
reality, "past" or "future."
Joseph and I view reincarnation as simply a way, as Seth said, of
understanding more clearly who we are. So many believe they are
suffering in this lifetime for past "misdeeds" in another
lifetime -- you know, paying their "karmic debts."
Reincarnation, as we think of it now, is a myth. It simply doesn’t
exist since "past," "present," and
"future" are all simultaneous. For me, that is a very
liberating concept. And certainly a very thought-provoking one.
Chief Joseph talks about related subjects here:
Time
Time
and Other Illusions
Beyond
the Veil: Life’s Other Side
Now
Is All You Have
Peace
In the Valley: Reflections on Life and Death
Beyond
the Veil of Death
