“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Dictation: In the terms of our discussion, Framework 2 is the medium in which your world exists. It represents the vaster psychological reality in which your own subjective life resides.

Some ancient religions put the existence of gods there, and saw the spirits of each living thing as existing primarily in that invisible medium of reality. Therefore, Framework 2 has always been represented in one way or another as a source of your world. Christianity saw it as heaven, inhabited by God the Father, His angels, the saints, and [the] deceased faithful.

Once scientists theorized the ether as the medium in which the physical universe existed.¹ Framework 2 is the psychological medium in which the consciousness of the world exists. The word “ego” is much bandied about, and in many circles it has a poor reputation. It is, however, as I use it, a term meant to express the ordinarily conscious directive portion of the self. It is your conscious version of what you are — an excellent description, if I do say so myself (with amusement). It is directed outward into the physical world. It is also aware, however, of some of your “unconscious” activities. It is the you you identify with, so it is as aware of your dreams, for example, as you are, and it is quite conscious of the fact that its existence rests upon knowledge that it does not itself possess.

As you have an ego, fully conscious, directed toward the physical world, you also have what I call an inner ego, directed toward inner reality. You have, in other words, a portion of yourself that is fully conscious in Framework 2. The ego in your ordinary world, which again we will call Framework 1, is uniquely equipped to deal with that environment. It manipulates with rules of cause and effect and consecutive moments. It deals with an objectified reality. It can stretch its capacities, becoming far more aware of inner events than it is normally allowed to do, but its main purpose is to deal with the world of effects, to encounter events.

Your world is populated by individuals concentrating upon physical activities, dealing with events that are “finished products” — at least in usual terms. Your inner egos populate Framework 2, and deal with the actual creation of those events that are then objectified. Since “the rules” of Framework 2 are different, that reality is not at all bound by your physical assumptions. It contains, therefore, the inner ego of each individual who has lived or will ever live upon the earth.

I am speaking of that framework now only as it applies to your world — not in its relationship to other realities. Earlier in his own experience Ruburt described that framework (in Psychic Politics) as the heroic dimension. He saw quite correctly that there was a great give-and-take between the two frameworks — your regular working one, Framework 1, and this other more comprehensive reality. He did not thoroughly understand, however, the creative ramifications involved, for it did not occur to him at the time that the prime work of your world was actually done by you in that other wider aspect of your existence.

(Long pause, one of many, at 10:28.) It is the source of your world, so therefore it contains not only all knowledge physically available, but far more. Give us a moment… I do not want to compare the inner ego with a computer in any way, for a computer is not creative, nor is it alive. You think of course of the life that you know as LIFE, in capitals. It is, however, only the manifestation of what in those terms can only be called the greater life out of which your life springs. This is not to compare the reality that you know in derogative terms to the other-source existence, either, for your own world contains, as each other world does, a uniqueness and an originality that in those terms exists nowhere else — for no world of existence is like any other.

The inner ego is a portion of the self, for example — is the portion of your self — that is aware of your reincarnational activities. It is the part of you that exists outside of time, yet simultaneously lives in time. You form your own reality. The ego that you are aware of obviously could not form your body for you, however, or grow your bones. It knows how to assess the conditions of the world. It makes deductions. Your reasoning is highly important, yet alone it cannot pump your blood or tell your eyes how to see.

The communication between the inner and outer egos should obviously be as clear and open as possible. As a general rule, the inner ego depends upon your assessment of physical events. Your involvement in the private aspects of your living, and your participation in mass events, has much to do with your estimation of the physical situation, and with your beliefs and desires regarding it. Give us a moment… A very simple example (colon): If you want to write a letter you do so. There is no conflict between your desires, beliefs, and the execution of the act, so the action itself flows smoothly. If for some reason or another, through a poor assessment of your reality, you believe that such an act is dangerous, then you will hamper the flow between the desire and the execution. The flow of creativity begun by the inner ego will be impeded.

I think the idea of the ether is an excellent example of how man has always attempted to posit or visualize in physical reality his innate knowledge of Framework 2.

2. Note 13, for Appendix 18 in Volume 2 of “Unknown” Reality, contains excerpts from one of the sessions Seth has given on the inner self-conscious self.