“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(We were ready for the session at 9:15. Once again the evening was very warm. We had our fan going, but at low speed so that it wasn’t too noisy; actually we seldom use it. I read Jane the title of Chapter Twenty-two, thinking that its indicated subject matter meant Seth was close to finishing his book….)

When you catch yourself falling into a mood in which you feel inferior, look at your second list, of abilities and accomplishments. Then use the positive suggestion in your own worth, backed up by your own personal self-examination. You may say, “But I know I have great abilities that I am not using. When I compare myself to others, then I fall far short. What difference does it make if I have a few mundane achievements that are shared by many others, that are in no way unique? Surely my destiny involves more than that. I have yearnings that I cannot express.”

In the first place you must understand that in your own uniqueness it is futile to compare yourself to others, for in so doing you try to emulate qualities that are theirs, and to that extent deny your own miraculous being and vision. Once you begin comparing yourself to others there is no end to it. You will always find someone more talented than you are in some way, and so will continue to be dissatisfied. Instead, through working with your own beliefs, take it for granted that your life is important; begin with it and where you are. Do not deride yourself because you have not reached some great ideal, but start to use those talents that you have to the best of your ability, knowing that in them lies your own individual fulfillment.

Have a sense of humor about yourself — not a malicious one but a kindly humorous regard for yourself. High seriousness is fine when it comes naturally and is not forced. But it can become pompous if it is prolonged.

Many embarking upon young adulthood think that the older generations have done everything wrong. However, this belief frees them from childish concepts in which older persons were always not only right but infallible, and it gives them the challenge to tackle personal and world problems.

For a while the new adults often feel themselves to be invincible, beyond the boundaries of creaturehood, even; this belief, again, endows them with the strength and energy they need to begin a life for themselves and to form their own mass world. Yet in material terms they must all realize, sooner or later, not only the challenges but the other peculiar characteristics of creaturehood, in which basically no such generalized beliefs make sense.

(Pause at 10:48.) A young mother may believe that her child is even more important than her husband, and according to the circumstances this belief may help her pay the necessary attention to the child — but if the concept is held as the child grows older, then this can also become highly restrictive. A woman’s entire adult life can be structured according to such an idea if she does not learn to examine the contents of her mind. A belief that has positive results for a woman of twenty will not necessarily have the same effect for a woman of forty, who, for example, may still pay far more attention to her children than her husband.

Many of your beliefs are of course cultural, but you have still accepted those that served your own purposes. As a rule, men in your society believe themselves logical while women are considered intuitive. Women, now trying to assert their rights, often fall into the same trap, but backwards — trying to deny what they think of as inferior intuitive elements for what they think of as superior logical ones.

Certain beliefs then will structure your lives, often for given periods. You will grow out of many of them. When you do, the inner structuring will change, but you must not cravenly acquiesce to “leftover” beliefs once you recognize them.

If you believed you were unworthy because you were scrawny and bullied, then in some way you undoubtedly used that belief for your own purposes. Admit it. Discover what the purposes were. Perhaps you compensated — became athletic later, or used the impetus to go ahead in your own way. If your mother hated you, you may have used that to assert independence, to give you an excuse or a pathway; but in all cases you form your own reality, and so you agreed to it.

(Pause.) Many people who write to me feel that they have unusual psychic or writing abilities, or sense an outstanding need to help others. They constantly compare what they do with what they think they are capable of, but often without making a start toward the development of their own abilities.

They want to write great philosophical theories, for example, perhaps never putting the pen to the paper, or trusting themselves enough to begin. Some want to HELP THE WORLD AT LARGE — in capital letters — but all they do is think about this desire without trying to implement it at all in practical terms. The ideal in their minds becomes so great that they are always dissatisfied with their own performance yet they are afraid to make a start.

The loving acknowledgement of their own uniqueness would in itself show them how to begin to use their own abilities in their own way, and to trust their present situation. The ideal is not yet materialized. It is just the essence of a direction. But that direction can only be found by using what you have in the now that you know, and by acquiescing to your own opportunities and abilities, and using those through the power of the present.

(The night had cooled off comfortably. “But you know what?” Jane asked. “Right now I feel really tired….” Break proved to be the end of the session. After debating about whether or not to go back into trance, she finally decided against it.)