“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Jane first mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Seth, her trance personality, would start another book of his own soon. The idea had just “come” to her after supper one night. We hadn’t taken it very seriously, since we’d finished proofreading Seth’s first book, Seth Speaks: The Eternal Validity of the Soul,¹ only last month; certainly we weren’t prepared for the fact that he was quite capable of launching another such project so quickly. Nor did Jane have any conscious thoughts about subject matter, or a title, for any projected Seth book.

(“Ruburt sensed this quite clearly, and as usual feels twinges, wondering what I am going to write about and what kind of a book it will be. Such a book can be given quite normally and quietly along with your regular routine of sessions, adding to your own knowledge and ultimately helping others also. I suggest the simplest of formats; always the least complicated as far as any mechanics are concerned. Do you follow me?

(As we sat for tonight’s session, Jane said, “Well, Seth’s all ready and I’ve got the urge to get going. Maybe he’ll start his book….” She hasn’t been dwelling upon the subject particularly — or at least I don’t remember her saying much about it.

Now: Books on positive thinking alone, while sometimes beneficial, usually do not take into consideration the habitual nature of negative feelings, aggressions, or repressions. Often these are merely swept under the rug.

The authors instead tell you to be positive, compassionate, strong, optimistic, filled with joy and enthusiasm, without telling you what to do to get out of the predicament you may be in, and without understanding the vicious circle that may seem to entrap you. Such books, again, while sometimes of value, do not explain how thoughts and emotions cause reality. They do not take into consideration the multidimensional aspects of the self or the fact that ultimately each personality, while following definite general laws, must still find and follow his or her own way of adapting these to personal circumstances.

(10:26. Pause. Then softly, with a smile:) I am writing this book to help each individual solve his or her own personal problems. I hope to do this by showing you exactly the way in which you form your own reality, by explaining the ways in which you can alter it to your advantage.

(“Okay. You’re pretty tricky, starting your book like that.”

The book will explain how personal reality is formed, with great stress laid upon the ways of changing unfavorable aspects of individual experience.

It will, hopefully, avoid the Pollyanna attributes of many self-help books, and tease the reader into an enthusiastic desire to understand the characteristics of reality if only to solve his or her own problems. The methods given will be highly practical, workable, and within the abilities of any person genuinely concerned with those problems inherent in the nature of human existence.

(A few notes, added later: Six months were to pass before we learned the rest of the title for Seth’s book. While Jane was resting before supper on October 25, 1972, the full name popped into her conscious mind: The Nature of Personal Reality: A Seth Book. We held the 623rd session, bridging Chapters Four and Five, that evening.

(We never did ask Seth for an outline, per se. Once the book was under way we realized it wasn’t necessary. This decision also gave Jane as much freedom as possible.)