“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Ruburt and Joseph often watch old Star Trek reruns (humorously) as they eat their evening meal. They sit quite comfortably on their living room couch, with dinner on the coffee table, surrounded by all of the dear, homey paraphernalia that is familiar to your society.

As they sit thus comfortably ensconced (leaning forward with a smile), they observe dramas in which planets explode, and otherworld intelligences rise to challenge or to help the dauntless captain of the good ship Enterprise and the fearless “Spock” — but none of this threatens our friends, Ruburt and Joseph. They drink their coffee and eat their dessert.

Let us return to our friends, Ruburt and Joseph, watching Star Trek as each of you watch your own favorite programs.

Ruburt and Joseph know that Star Trek is not “real.” Planets can explode on the television screen, and Ruburt will not spill one drop of coffee. The cozy living room is quite safe from the imaginary catastrophes that are occurring just a few feet from the couch. Yet in a way the program reflects certain beliefs of your society in general, and so it is like a specialized mass waking dream — real but not real. For a moment, though, let us change the program to your favorite cops-and-robbers show. A woman is shot down in the street. Now this drama becomes “more real,” more immediately probable, less comfortable. So watching such a program, you may feel slightly threatened yourself, yet still largely unconcerned.

(10:15.) In the dream state, many people have learned to escape from a bad dream by waking up, or altering the focus of consciousness. Ruburt and Joseph do not feel threatened, again, by Star Trek. (Long pause.) The program does not make them feel less safe. When you are in the middle of a frightening physical experience, however, or caught in the throes of a nightmare, then you wish you knew how to “change the station.”