“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

It then does not reincarnate again upon that plane. However because of its own extraordinary nature, it itself forms with the inner self in an added gestalt, adding to the energy and ability of the inner self; and in a manner which I cannot yet explain to you, it voluntarily may give up its ego identification to a large degree for the purpose of giving its full energies to the store of the inner self.

As far as self and notself are concerned, the unit of self is organized, as you know, by the inner ego, which directs the whole energy field. The outer ego directs the manipulation of this gestalt in the physical universe. The outer ego is rather more tied to physical properties, and yet it can directly experience inner reality by a change of focus through aligning itself with the inner ego, focusing its energies with the inner rather than the outer senses. This is by far the most advantageous method of experiencing inner reality, because the outer ego is therefore consciously aware of what has been going on, and can use such knowledge in its own sphere.

It is true that the inner self in the last analysis is the durable self. Nevertheless the various outer egos are extremely important, and without them the inner self would be blocked. Nor are these inner abilities as a rule ever left unfulfilled. The outer egos are not gobbled up, so to speak, after a particular existence, but remain in control of those characteristics and abilities which they have been so important in forming and training.

The self then, being action which has formed itself into gestalts of pattern perceptions, by which it knows itself, this self changes constantly. [...] For convenience’s sake we will have to limit our discussion to some degree, taking the self as a particular gestalt within, or composed of, a particular range of perception patterns; though in actuality the range may be smaller or larger at any given time.

[...] Boundaries may be set up in terms of a self. A self is a gestalt of action perception patterns, which are formed together through attraction.

[...] For practical purposes it may be said that a self is composed of a gestalt of perception patterns, within which a fairly constant efficiency is maintained. [...]

It is a self materialized in physical form. [...] The fact that it may be part of a larger gestalt self in no way belittles its own identity. It is conscious of the gestalts of which it is part.

Value fulfillment opens the many eyes of the self to its various portions. It enables the self to expand, to join in a gestalt with other selves. [...]

It is also true however that this lack of boundary allows for possibilities of development and expansion that would be impossible with a limited self. The self is not nebulous. [...] Any self, therefore, is never the same self, but action contains within itself its own comprehension.

Through dreams the self communicates with the self, and with all layers of the self. For the self is not one concrete thing. The self has no boundaries, the self is not limited. Consciousness is the direction in which the self looks, again, but the ego is not aware of the whole self. [...]

The following basic subjects are necessary for an understanding of what we are trying to say, particularly for any practical application: the construction of physical matter; the psychological and electrical gestalt that results in the formation of a self; the nature of the dream universe; the electrical system, as it is related to both the physical universe and the inner psychic gestalt; the nature of action; mental enclosures; mental genes; and again, all of these subjects in relationship to their reality as action.

[...] They are indeed transmitted without your conscious knowledge, and the self expands. Nor is the self limited physically. Again, this idea is the result of your own habit of perception, for chemicals and air and nutrients that you consider not your self, enter the self constantly from the physical environment; and that which you consider yourself, leaves through the pores of the body.

[...] As a personality itself is an action gestalt, within the inner self there is a capsule comprehension of the purposes and intents of the whole personality. [...] The ego, on its own as a separate unit, does not have such data, although since it is after all a portion of the whole self, it does have such information available. [...]

The personality itself, as you know, is a gestalt of action, and as such it is necessary that the flow of action within it follow the overall directives of the entity and the inner self. [...]

This is the ideal circumstance, for when this is the case then the ego listens to the inner self, and then directs its energy outward in a way that is beneficial for the whole gestalt framework. [...]

[...] The self may of course be considered as a gestalt of action, perceived in a different manner by various levels of itself.

On one hand, basically, the self is limitless, both electromagnetically and because of the nature of action, which affects all other action. The self does not however proceed along straight lines, from a birth to a death. This is only the self that the ego perceives. [...]

[...] And time, therefore, physical clock time, is much more alien to the intuitive self than it is to the intellectual self.

[...] The self or structure or personality travels outward and inward and (if you will forgive me) in all directions. [...] Each self as you know it has its own abilities and inclinations and sympathies. It has its own particular place within the Pyramid Gestalt. It can contact that whole self which in your terms does not yet exist, but which is of course always present. [...]

[...] If you looked up now, you would not recognize the self that you will recognize. [...] It is a self you do not as yet know in your terms.

([Gene]: “Is it possible for one to be aware of the larger self, the universal self that exists apart from what I here and now call time?”)

[...] Practically speaking a self can be defined as an energy gestalt whose perceptions are organized under the auspices of apparent identity. The more of reality that is perceived the larger the dimensions of the self, or identity.

For one thing, you are not dealing with one linear self. The self is indeed multidimensional, and the driving force behind the self does not reside in the ego or in what you refer to as the subconscious.

[...] In the case of the whole self there is communication between various portions of the self. [...] A thorough understanding of reincarnated existences are of benefit to the conscious present self. [...]

[...] As you break down the spacious present into moments, which you then experience, so also you break down psychic identity, gestalts, into small self-structures.

And as you break up then an hour into so many seconds, so you break up identities into so many self-structures, without perceiving their innate unities.

[...] On other levels, laws of dynamics apply to the energy sources of the self. Think of a given “self” as a nucleus of an energy gestalt of consciousness. [...]

[...] I added that perhaps the important thing for us now was to observe our unfolding lives with Seth’s ideas of the larger, or whole self, in mind, and so achieve insights we could interpret in terms of probabilities. So we decided not to ask Seth to backtrack and give us material about the son my mother’s probable self had had in her reality, even though that son was a probable self of mine.

[...] (To me:) Your “sportsman self”* was never endowed with the same kind of force as that of your artistic or writing self. [...]

In the entire gestalt from cellular to “self” consciousness, there is a vast field of knowledge — much of it now “unconsciously” available — used to maintain the body’s integrity in space and time. [...]