“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Now no one asked me what it was like when I go in trance. Now to go into a trance is simply to focus intensely in a highly specific area of reality and, therefore, I throw or project a part of what I am here because I am able to utilize greater areas of my personality than those with which you are now acquainted in yourself. I can do this in a conscious manner and yet still, as I am here and as I have mentioned, I find a difficulty in looking at you and relating to the selves that you think you are within your given moment of time for I see the composites, so it takes some training on my part to pinpoint you in the time and space with which you are acquainted.

Now let me give you a more concrete example that each of you may use in your own way. Suppose the worst, that in this life you have the following background—you are poor, you are of a minority race, you are not intellectual, you are a woman, you have a severe physical defect and you are no beauty. Now these challenges, in a so-called past life, you have set for yourself. This does not mean you cannot use all your resolution, all your courage to solve those problems that you have set. To use those abilities that are still yours and to make from a seemingly chaotic pattern of personality and environment a product of joy and fulfillment.

The problems you set for yourself for this life you set in the hope that you will solve them. You do not set them for yourselves like millstones about your neck hoping ahead of time that you will drown. All you have to do is realize your own freedom. To cease being afraid of the fear of water, it is not water that you fear, but the fear, so face the fear and conquer it.

You have in the past, collectively or individually, to blame a God or a fate for the nature of your personal realities, those aspects, indeed, that you did not like. Avoid the temptation to use, instead, the word, whole-self, for the personality is given, again and this is not new material either, the greatest gift of all. You get exactly what you want to get. You create from nothing the experience that is your own, and if you do not like your experience then look within yourself and then you can change your experience, but realize also, that you are responsible for your joys and triumphs. And realize also, that the energy to create any of these realities comes from the inner self. The energy, but what you do with it is up to the individual personality.

By the whole self indeed. Remember, when we speak of other personalities, again, this is only for convenience sake. This is your entire identity of which we are speaking. It is only you who are presently aware but of one portion and this portion you insist upon calling yourself. You are the self who makes these decisions.

Your main point of contention is brought about by the emotional barriers that are caused by the difference in terms. It is as if for a day you choose to work, say in the slums. It would be ridiculous for you to choose to work in the slums and then say to yourself, why did I choose to work in the slums? I would prefer to work on Fifth Avenue. You know the reason and your entire identity knows the reason. You hide them from the present self simply to insure the fact that the reality is not a pretended one.

A rich man who tries to be poor for a day to learn what poverty is learns little because he cannot forget the great wealth that is available to him, and he can very easily return to his fine home. And though he eats the same poor fare as the poor man for a day and lives in the same poor house for a day or a year or five years, he knows he has his mansion to return to and so he cannot relate. And so you hide these things from yourself so that you can relate. You forget your home so you can return to it enriched.

(To Alison.) And I do not want you to look at your husband with such strange eyes yourself. When he is in trance your eyes are as strange as his.

You will find there is nothing to be frightened of and much to be gained but do not feel yourself rushed either for there is plenty of time.