“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

We are aware of past, present, and future—a series of moments strung out, it seems, one before the other. What if this series is only part of a larger present, a more spacious “moment” of which we are unaware?

We would exist in this other dimension of time whether we knew it or not, of course, just as our cat exists in my four o’clock in the afternoon, without ever understanding what a clock is. In a way, the cat is more nearly right than I am, because clock-time is an artificial device, and he’ll have nothing to do with it. Suppose, as Seth maintains, that past, present, and future are also artificial devices, divisions superimposed over a spacious moment in which all action is simultaneous.

And what about the future? Perhaps it consists of events already in existence in this Spacious Present; events that we have conveniently decided not to contend with “as yet.” According to Seth events are not concrete in any case, but plastic, and initially they are always mental. Some we form into physical realities, in which case we follow through with the process mentioned above. Others we do not handle at all in this dimension. They never even enter our past, present, or future reference.

In a way I was just as bad: I questioned myself and my experiences at every corner, and still do. But at least I didn’t let outdated concepts dictate what portions of my own experience I could accept as real, and what portions I must reject. But if I had not been affected by such ideas, I could have accepted my initial psychic experiences more freely and examined them wholeheartedly. Instead, particularly in the beginning, I was as much appalled as delighted with each new development.

These experiences have taught me this: We are multidimensional personalities now—you and I and everyone else. I think that consciousness congregates just as atoms and molecules do; that there are clumps of consciousness just as there are clumps of matter; and that we are a part of these clumps, whether we know it or not. We know little about our own psychology and less about the nature of consciousness. To learn more we must be willing to examine our own consciousness, individually. In doing so, I’m convinced that we will discover a greater individuality, uniqueness, and sense of identity. In sticking so close to the confines of egotistical physically oriented awareness, we may be closing ourselves off from answers to our deepest questions, knowledge that can help us deal more intelligently with physical life.

The matter of Seth’s sex also arises here. To me at least, the intuitive portions of most personalities seem to have a feminine rather than masculine cast. If Seth were just my higher intuitive self, I would expect him to be feminine or to be the pseudomasculine type of male character so frequently created by women writers. Usually males instantly recognize characters drawn in this manner as overly romantic. While Seth is not “blatantly” male, in his actions and speech he is more a man’s man than the woman’s man type. Men like him. While he is a teacher, he is not basically the stereotyped “spiritual guide” either. He is simply himself—which may, after all, be the badge of his own independent existence.

Rob asked Seth once if he was always available to us for a session, and Seth’s answer shows clearly that we have more than a simple one-to-one relationship. I trust the answers that we received and think that they are honest statements about a very complicated psychological connection.

“It is as if there were two portions of a bridge, like a drawbridge, and these two portions must meet. [Earlier Seth had explained that this “psychological bridge” was constructed by both of us.] When you wish to contact me at other than [the] usual appointed times, I may or may not be easily available. Your own emotional need would be known to me, however. If that need was strong, I would of course answer it, even as you would not disregard the need of a friend. I am not automatically available, however, any more than you are.”

We both know that some sessions seem more “immediate” than others, and now as Seth continued we saw why.

“I am, however, automatically a part of the message that I bring to you. At times I am ‘here’ more completely than in other sessions. These reasons often have to do with circumstances usually beyond normal control: electromagnetic conditions, psychological circumstances. These could be considered as atmospheric conditions through which I must travel.

“Again: the medium is the message in the Spacious Present,” Seth said, smiling, “and whenever the time for the program arrives, I am here in your present, regardless of where I am in what you would term my present. … I may prepare my film in advance when Ruburt is not consciously aware of it. This does not imply that such a session is less legitimate.”

Seth went on to say that I had given my permission for such an arrangement, and that much of our work went on while I was sleeping or otherwise engaged. “This does not mean that I use Ruburt as a puppet, and stuff his mouth with tapes as a recorder, that you are always listening to replays, or that emotionally I am not always with you in sessions. It means that in such multidimensional communications, more is involved than you suppose.

I don’t find these ideas contradictory. Seth could still be a part of an ancient entity, and Seth Two another portion more evolved in our terms. If physical life evolves, why not consciousness itself? I don’t find it difficult to accept the possibility that we might be independent fragments of such entities or clumps of consciousness. And granting this, some kind of communication between us would be possible. We would be all formed from the same “mental stuff,” whatever that stuff is. To us, however, such experiences would seem supranormal.

He went on to say that vocal communication is not the rule. It is not used by more advanced entities nor by less developed ones than ourselves. In order to make sense to our three-dimensional selves, information must be “squeezed” through—and this in itself causes some distortion.

Since he is responsive, he must be affected by his relationship to us (though perhaps not to the extent that we are affected by him!). There is no doubt that my own personality has grown as it accommodated itself to the Seth experience. I had to learn to handle more stimuli than ever before, and to maintain overall stability as I learned to develop latent abilities. This certainly involved strains and stresses as well as rewards: but none that couldn’t be resolved with a sense of humor and some common sense. When I feel I need a rest, I take a break, which Seth respects with good grace.

With all Seth has told us about man’s potentials, I must admit that we’ve wondered at times why the race isn’t more developed morally and spiritually.

Among other things, Seth Two said: “The human race is a stage through which various forms of consciousness travel. … Before you can be allowed into systems of reality that are more extensive and open, you must first learn to handle energy and see, through physical materialization, the concrete result of thought and emotion. As a child forms mud pies from dirt, so you form your civilizations out of thoughts and emotions, and then see what you have created.

“When you leave the physical system after reincarnations, you have learned the lessons—and you are literally no longer a member of the human race, for you elect to leave it. Only the conscious self dwells within it in any case, and other portions of your identity dwell simultaneously within other training systems. In more advanced systems, thoughts and emotions are automatically and immediately translated into action, into whatever approximation of matter there exists. Therefore, the lessons must be taught and learned well.