Many people today read the books of Abraham, channeled by Esther Hicks. These books present a very concise and inspiring look at the Law of Attraction, which Abraham calls the most powerful law in the universe. The Books of Abraham, however, acknowledge that this message is not new, although arguably they are taking it to more people than ever before.
In the introduction to Abraham’s book, The Law of Attraction, Esther’s husband and co-author Jerry talks about reading Seth before Esther began channeling. Seth is credited with coining the famous new age phrase, “You create your own reality.”
While that phrase caught on and is easy to say, much of the material in the Seth books is actually quite complicated, especially compared to the light-hearted conversational style of the Abraham books. The best-known Seth books are Seth Speaks and The Nature of Personal Reality, but Jane Roberts published at least half a dozen others. These are meticulously transcribed by Jane’s husband, Rob (channels seem to require a supportive spouse!), with dates and times of each statement noted in the books.
The very exhaustive nature of Seth’s books, coupled with the fact that the Robertses never traveled the world giving seminars—they never really moved from their home in downtown New York—seems highly unlikely that there was any financial motive for the work. This was before the new age movement was sparked in the 1980s, largely by Shirley Maclaine. This is not to criticize seminar givers like the Hickses, but just to say that the Robertses’ simple lifestyle (Jane died several years ago) seems to support their sincerity.
Seth’s stuff is frankly too detailed and dense to be very popular. Even I, who devoured it for a few years, have come to prefer Abraham’s direct and simple style. However, you have to give Seth credit for posting extremely interesting information (or theories, if he prefers). This mostly revolves around reincarnation, probably themselves and naturally the creation of reality.
According to Seth, all of our lives happen at once, since time, as we understand it, is just a mental construct. In addition to this, we have many “probable selves” living “probable realities” in alternate dimensions. This means that each of us has infinite possibilities that are being lived out in some world or another. Some academic philosophers, approaching the subject from a very different point of view, have arrived at a similar theory, called possible worlds.
Another powerful phrase that Seth came up with is: “The present is the point of power.” Again, quite simple, but it means something quite important. The present is the only “time” that is real, so it is the only place where we have real power. So the point of the Seth material is not to remember his past lives (which weren’t in the past anyway!), but to realize his own power in the present, where he can access and unite all of his various selves.
Seth’s books, especially The Nature of Personal Power, are an excellent addition to any self-improvement or law of attraction library. It’s especially good for people who like detailed, scientific explanations of everything, rather than just being told how things are. The latter will probably prefer the books of Abraham. If you’re somewhere in between, like me, you might like both. Seth also gives a very comprehensive explanation of how reincarnation works, for those interested in that.