“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(9:40.) You have the conscious mind for a good reason. You are not at the mercy of unconscious drives unless you consciously acquiesce to them. [...] If you do not like your experience, then you must change the nature of your conscious thoughts and expectations. [...]

Man has been endowed, and has endowed himself, with a conscious mind to direct the nature, shape and form of his creations. All deep aspirations and unconscious motivations, all unspoken drives, rise up for the approval or disapproval of the conscious mind, and await its direction.

Experience is the product of the mind, the spirit, conscious thoughts and feelings, and unconscious thoughts and feelings. [...]

An examination of your conscious thoughts will tell you much about the state of your inner mind, your intentions and expectations, and will often lead you to a direct confrontation with challenges and problems. [...]

[...] Again, the powers of the brain come from the mind, so while you learn to center your consciousness in your body — and necessarily so — nevertheless your inner perceptions roam a far greater range. Before sleep, then, imagine your consciousness traveling down a road, or across the world — whatever you want. [...]

[...] I am speaking specifically of the brain, as separated from the mind, to emphasize the point that these abilities are of creaturehood. The brain’s genius comes from the mind, which can be called the brain’s biophysical counterpart.

The body will seek its release, and so will the mind. [...] The mind’s creative play often serves up symbolic events that result in therapeutic physical reactions, and also function as postdream suggestions that offer hints as to remedial action.

[...] The brain is primarily an event-forming psycho-mechanism through which consciousness operates. [...]

[...] Sometimes this idea quality is received as intuition, where it sparks into the conscious mind. But the conscious ego is the primary manipulator of camouflage patterns and the obvious mover. [...]

When your friend Philip innocently asked at what point human consciousness entered the picture, his question was not pertinent. Human consciousness involves entity consciousness, and entity consciousness asserted itself at the very first phase of physical materialization.

(A few days ago, while doing some painting, the idea had popped into my conscious mind unbidden that the very act of painting a picture involved the construction of a plane. [...]

[...] The strong self-conscious self of which I have spoken, the self-conscious self of which your own personality is not aware, this self that faces into the inner world of reality, quite consciously draws upon the vitality and stuff of what is.

Using your conscious mind as a threshold, however, you can discover still more. [...] Think of that moment of conscious awareness as a path. Imagine many other such paths, all converging; again, imaginatively take one of them in your mind and follow it. [...] To some small extent you are “altering” your consciousness. [...]

[...] That exterior world is thrust outward, however, and projected into reality in line with your conscious desires, beliefs, and intent. It is important that you remember this position of the conscious mind as you think of it. [...]

The true [mental] physicist² will be a bold explorer — not picking at the universe with small tools, but allowing his consciousness to flow into the many open doors that can be found with no instrument, but with the mind.

[...] The structures are formed by organizations of consciousness, or CU’s. You have the most intimate knowledge of the nature of a cell, for example, or of an atom. [...] There is, in certain terms, a continuum of consciousness there of which your present physical life is a part. You are in certain kinds of communication and communion with your own cells, and at certain levels of consciousness you know this. A true physicist would learn to reach that level of consciousness at will. [...]

[...] Your conscious mind perceives these clearly, while you pretend that this official version is all that exists. Your conscious mind, generally speaking, interprets reality according to your private beliefs and those of your civilization. [...]

[...] As you know, in a fashion you are appealing to portions of peoples’ minds that exist “beneath” the conventionalized version of consciousness that they take for granted. The words are perceived consciously, but the concepts run directly counter to many usual beliefs—not just scientific ones, but to the beliefs that underlie the accepted establishment of the world.

[...] It seemed too much to bear, and quite unexplainable in ordinary conscious-mind terms. [...]

[...] In a manner of speaking, your conscious mind, as you think of it, is a psychological convention. [...]

I want you to take a break but first I want to make one other point, and that is this: The mind contains the conscious and the subconscious, but the conscious and the subconscious are fluid. At various times the consciousness becomes unconscious, and the unconscious becomes conscious. [...]

The conscious mind deals directly with survival as far as the particular camouflage patterns are concerned. But there is no actual dividing line or distinction between the conscious and the subconscious, nor among the apparent levels of the subconscious itself.

I have said that the brain is the mind in camouflage, and so it is. It is the portion of the mind that is more or less observable to the surgeon, and the part of the mind that reacts to camouflage pattern, and the part that can be explored and tampered with, though this is dangerous indeed.

[...] This inner reality data is received by the mind. [...] The mind, being uncamouflaged, is the receiving station for the data brought to it by the inner senses. [...]

Your conscious mind tells you where you are in time and space, and directs your activity in a world of human action. [...] Because you have a conscious mind, then, other portions of your being rely upon it to give them an adequate picture of your situation, and to give the conscious orders for action. [...] To do this, you must use that mind as completely as possible. [...]

[...] Again, on deep biological levels beneath normal consciousness, and on psychic levels above normal consciousness, you are aware of the integrity of your being — but also of your great connection, while living in flesh, with the natural environment of time and space. The earth-god concept can be consciously used, but only to your greatest advantage if you understand the purposes of your conscious mind and its relationship with your biological nature.

The conscious mind has always been aware of the cells’ —

[...] Instead there are simply species of consciousness, entirely different from your own, not usually perceived physically under most conditions. [...]

(Pause.) Your dog dream (of March 31, 1979) also somewhat symbolizes that dilemma: do you go with your head, forcing a conscious decision, or do you go with your instincts, symbolized by the dog’s form? The question itself causes the dilemma of the dream—that is, the separation of the two in your mind, instinct and reason, causes the uneasy confrontation. There is no separation, of course, only a seeming one, for again, the mind’s conscious processes are spontaneous, and the body’s instincts are highly disciplined, so there is no need to vacillate between one side of the question or the other.

(My question about Jane’s hand, her writing hand, had been on my mind for some time now. [...]

[...] In other words, you are perturbed over what is the proper direction for you to take—not trusting yourself to make the proper decision automatically, but wanting to force a quick conscious decision so that you will know what to do, and have it over with.

In your mind, the left side represents the unconscious portions of the personality. [...]

I’m personally intrigued, of course, that this book was written through me, without my conscious mind there at every point, anxiously checking, organizing, and criticizing, as it does in my own work. Then, while my creative and intuitional abilities are given a good deal of freedom, the conscious mind is definitely in control. [...]

[...] Suddenly my consciousness left my body, and my mind was barraged by ideas that were astonishing and new to me at the time. [...]

[...] He needs my ability with words; even, I think, my turn of mind. [...] Certain personality characteristics are important too, I imagine — the agility with which I can switch the focus of my consciousness, for example.

Looked at merely as an example of unconscious production, however, Seth’s book clearly shows that organization, discrimination, and reasoning are certainly not qualities of the conscious mind alone, and demonstrates the range and activity of which the inner self is capable. [...]

[...] Instead, of course, he should then remind himself of the roles of the conscious and the unconscious minds—and then remind himself that the unconscious mind can handle such matters easily—as indeed it can. [...]

[...] With a small inspiration, I told her that in the light of the session today she should do the same thing as far as her understanding of the roles of the conscious and unconscious minds goes. It was a good analogy—to let the unconscious mind be concerned with how she was going to be healed, and so forth. [...]

[...] Let the unconscious mind do that for you, I told her. [...] I said that such a simple action must be governed by other portions of the unconscious mind that are conscious in their own rights. [...]

Jane and I have often been most intrigued by the obvious contradictions involved here, for what can the materialistic scientists use other than mind—or consciousness, that poor epiphenomenon—to study and dissect matter? (Not to mention that innumerable experiments have proven that “physical matter” isn’t solid or objective at all, but “only” energy!) We have, then, the paradox of mind denying its own reality, let alone its importance. [...] But for the materialists, the mind-brain duality isn’t scientific in the orthodox sense. It isn’t falsifiable; that is, it cannot be stated under what precise conditions the mind-brain duality could be proven false. To which, understandably enough, those scientists who do accept the reality of mind reply that neither can the idea be falsified that only what is “physical” is real.

“Science would say that the idea of meaning itself is simply a reflection of the state of the brain, as is the illusion of our consciousness. But a science that disregards consciousness must necessarily end up creating its own illusion. [...]

[...] And in his opening delivery he referred to the creative freedoms that—seemingly in spite of her conscious fussing—Jane had allowed herself today.)

[...] Moreover, science’s thesis meets with no answering affirmation in the human heart—and in fact arouses the deepest antipathy, for in his heart man well knows his own worth, and realizes that his own consciousness is no accident.⁵ The psyche, then, possesses within itself an inner affirmation, an affirmation that provides the impetus for physical emergence, an affirmation that keeps man from being completely blinded by his own mental edifices (all with much emphasis and fast delivery.

[...] The “proper” emotions will be generated, bringing about those body states that exist in your conscious mind.

Often, of course, those who try the hardest to be “good” do so because they fear for their basic worth, and those who speak of having youthful minds and bodies do so because they are so terrified of age. [...] In most instances these opposing beliefs are held quite consciously, but kept apart from each other. [...]

[...] But when you are unaware of the contents of your conscious mind, and not fair with your emotions, you run into difficulty.

[...] I would like to use this instance as an excellent example of the ways in which conscious beliefs affect your feelings and behavior.

The kind of dream Ruburt interpreted for you, about the Cézanne exhibition, is an example of an excellent message dream, important enough to come to consciousness because you were ready. Then, you consciously assimilate the information, and add the strength and power of the conscious mind, and conscious intent, to the power of the dream’s message.

Once you begin consciously working with Framework 2, help, support, solutions, all begin to come, for you line up your conscious faculties with your unconscious ones, in the most beneficial way, and your conscious goals fit in with your unconscious natural goals—the primary ones given you at birth. [...]

[...] Because you are natural, however, your existence is couched in Framework 2, and to some extent you are even saved at times from your own beliefs because additional insights or solutions are directly inserted into your mind in the dream state, or in other moments of the day.

Often such information will be given time and time again, in different ways, until its importance is finally impressed upon your mind. [...]

Remind him once again that the conscious mind cannot know of all of the body’s interior actions. And remind him once again of the material I gave him concerning the roles of the conscious and unconscious minds. Remind him also that the so-called unconscious mind is indeed highly conscious—but in a different area of activity—and it knows what it is doing. [...]

[...] The world mind needs all of that information in order to produce continuous world events. [...] The world mind, then, in your terms, could not be conscious all at one time, and the varying graduated waking-sleeping patterns—the overlapping between the extremes you mention—provide overall balance and allow for smooth communications of an inner kind.

[...] In a manner of speaking, the mind sends out electromagnetic patterns that are used almost like aerial bridges, upon which the signals of consciousness travel invisibly through your world. [...]

The entire affair masks the fact that in certain terms there is a mass world mind, that has the same responsibility for the body of the earth as a man’s mind does to his own corporeal image.

First of all, there are rhythms of consciousness. [...]

Of course, the conscious mind cannot be aware of such critical inner decisions. [...]

[...] That afternoon it was difficult to keep my mind on my work. [...] Was their consciousness born anew, and was it really something quite independent of the images they wore?

All kinds of thoughts flooded to my mind. Consciousness was independent of the body — Seth was right — and if that was true, then there was no reason why he couldn’t be what he said he was: an independent personality, out of the flesh. [...]

[...] One day I went into the bedroom where it was quiet, closed my eyes, lay down and began clearing my mind of thoughts for my psy-time exercise. Several times Miss Cunningham came to mind: I wanted to ask her doctor about her condition but hesitated because I wasn’t a member of her family.

[...] When I used the word “conscious” (or “consciousness”), I meant it as I thought you understood it. I thought that you meant: conscious of being conscious, or placing yourself on the one hand outside of a portion of your own consciousness — viewing it (intently) and then saying, “I am conscious of my consciousness.”

[...] When you use the Ouija board or trance procedures, you frequently free philosophical areas of your mind that have been frozen. The resulting information then definitely seems to come from outside of yourself, and because you are literal-minded you try to interpret such experiences in a literal way. The material must come from a philosopher, therefore (amused), and since it certainly seems profound to your usual mundane organization, then it appears that such information must originate with a profound mind certainly not your own.

(“What,” I wrote at the time, “would a state other than a conscious one be? [...] But how could the species, or its individual members, not be ‘conscious’? Since I think our collective and individual actions are self-consciously designed for survival, in the best meaning of that word, I’m curious to know in what other state these functions could be performed, for existence’s sake…. [...]

When I use the term time-wise, I refer it to the formation of a structure from which one kind of consciousness then views itself, sees itself as unique, and then tries to form other kinds of conscious structures. A fly is conscious of itself, fulfilled within that reality, and feels no need to form an “extension” of that awareness from which to view its own existence.

His conscious mind, when he is not writing, should be anchored on something. There is too much unrecognized free brooding, when he sits doing nothing consciously, waiting perhaps for inspiration but not in a positive way. [...] His mind, his conscious mind, is the type that should be anchored in such a way, for it is overactive, otherwise, and when he is not at his best it will leap to brooding. [...]

Since he had temporarily put you in the role of a controlling factor, this was also in the back of his mind. [...] The issues were not identical, you see, but similar enough in his mind.

[...] Ruburt’s mother, as mentioned earlier, had often told him that if he kept on as he was going he would lose his mind; and contacts with psychologists, when he feels they are testing him, brings up this old issue.

[...] He also wanted to understand the effect of mind on matter. [...]

It could not be accomplished by the conscious mind — though the conscious mind can indeed will the process to occur. [...]

The idea of using animals for experimentation has far more drawbacks than advantages; there is the matter of one kind of consciousness definitely taking advantage of another kind, and thus going counter to nature’s cooperative predisposition.

[...] Instead, they united in a cooperative venture, in which animals and man both understood that no consciousness truly died but only changed its form.

[...] The creatures are treated as if they possessed no feeling or consciousness of their own — and such attitudes show a most unfortunate misreading of natural events. [...]

Now you give yourself conscious direction by taking it for granted that you paint well, by trying to see the completed painting in your mind. This is the function of the conscious self, to use the emotions and expectations to bring about a desired result.

[...] If your conscious mind is to be a foreman he must be one who is easy to get along with, and not so authoritative that he is yelling demands all the time. [...]

It is your contact with All That Is, but it is up to the conscious mind of the present individual as to how much its abilities will be used and in what manner. [...]

[...] In this period let the conscious suggestions be given with emotion and feeling, and then have him forget all about them. He does not need to give himself conscious suggestions every fifteen minutes. [...]