“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(9:24.) Now in its way that was a transference of a problem in a unique manner. The need to act and be in control of action is paramount in conscious beings. Augustus therefore actually created from himself a position of power from which he could, at least for a while, operate. He had to pretend amnesia so as to hide this mechanism from himself. As long as power is equated with violence, then you will feel it necessary to regulate normal aggression in your behavior; and considering power as violent, you will be afraid to act to some extent. You will then consider goodness and powerlessness to be somewhat synonymous, and equate power with evil. Not wanting to face such “evil” in yourself, you may then direct it outward and transfer it to another area.

As a society you may project it upon the criminal, as a nation upon a foreign country. As an individual you may place this power upon an employer, a labor union, or any other segment of society. In whatever area you choose, though, you will feel relatively weak in comparison with the strength that you have projected outward. You meet your own denied power, you see, whenever you find yourself in a situation where you feel weak in comparison to another person or situation that frightens you.

Your own attitude about these issues will tell you much about yourself and influence your own personal reality.

If you equate power with youth then you will isolate the elderly, transferring upon them your own rejected powerlessness, and they will seem to be a threat to your well-being. If you agree that violence is power then you will punish the criminal with great vindictiveness, for you will see life as a power struggle, and will concentrate upon the acts of violence about which you read. This may bring such aspects into your personal life, so that you yourself meet with violence — hence deepening your conviction. (Pause.) If you accept the basic idea that evil is more powerful than good, then your beneficial acts will bear little fruit because of your own framework; you assign such small power of action to them.

There are many subsidiary beliefs connected to these convictions. They can all work in such a way that you deny yourself the use of your abilities — and this in turn causes you to project them outward upon others.

You must then project wisdom onto others and reject it in yourself, or be faced with a dilemma in personal values.

(Pause.) Some individuals will make artificial divisions within their own lives, in which it is safe to act in certain areas but dangerous in others. If you believe that wealth is evil, as an example, you automatically rob yourself of any ability that might bring you riches. Talents that are accepted as good in themselves may be inhibited simply because their fulfillment might lead to success in financial terms.

The use of your private energy brings you into intimate relationship with your own source of power. Healing involves great natural aggressive thrusts of energy, growth, and the focus of vitality. The more powerless you feel, the less able you are to utilize your own healing abilities. You are then forced to project these outward upon a physician, a healer, or any outside agency. If your own belief in the physician “works” and you are cured of symptoms, you are physically relieved, and yet your own belief in yourself may be further infringed upon. If you are making no effective efforts to handle your own problems, then the symptoms will simply reappear in a new fashion, and the same process will be reinitiated. You may lose faith in your doctor while still retaining confidence in doctors as a whole, and run from one to another.

(Pause.) This leads you back into yourself and to a recognition of your own abilities. What you now create unconsciously your species will create consciously. The infinite abilities of consciousness become individualized, focused into a particular reality which then becomes expanded. Your own temporal creations add to the abilities with which you made them. You learn through your creations. Mind, as physically directed, utilizes the greatest sources of power and energy along with unlimited aspects of creativity, so that each physical day is indeed absolutely unique. You cannot expect any portion of your environment to remain static, therefore, and the condition of your body is constantly in a state of flux and change.

If you utilize the point of power properly (as described in the 657th session in Chapter Fifteen), you will feel the nonphysical energy translated into effective personal power through your intersection with flesh. You will be able to use that power consciously, with purpose, to change your personal experience, and so to change the social framework at least partially. Such exercises aid in the evolution of your consciousness, and will also serve you in fashions you may not suspect. The acquiescence to your own power will automatically flow through your experience, activating your dream life as well and providing additional helpful impetus to your waking reality. You will no longer need to transfer your sense of power to others. All of the exercises given earlier in this book are prerequisites, however; they are necessary so that you understand how the point of power is to be used. The recognition of personal feelings and the working through of beliefs — all of this will expand your understanding of yourself.

(11:44.) If you hate a parent, for example, you cannot use the point of power to tell yourself that you love the parent instead. The earlier exercises will have helped you understand the reasons for the hate.

As you understand the nature of natural hypnosis, you will no longer feel the need to generate new negative feelings. Your load of inhibitions will recede. As you trust yourself more you will naturally express your feelings, and their suppression will not bring about explosive reactions any more. They will come and go. The channel to power will be opened more clearly. Attention to your own stream of consciousness is highly important. This alone will help you see in what areas you are denying impulses or giving yourself directions that lead to powerlessness.