“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Now: The Physical Universe as Idea Construction, mentioned by Ruburt in his Introduction, did indeed represent our first formal contact, although Ruburt was not aware of it at that time.

The experience came within a framework that he could accept — that of highly accelerated inspiration. His consciousness left his body only after he was in the throes of what seemed to him to be inspiration of almost unbearable intensity. Had his habits instead led him, say, to regular prayer, then that framework could also have been used. In all such cases several qualities are apparent: an ability to look inward, to concentrate deeply, to lose the sharp edges of the physically oriented self in contemplation, and an intense desire to learn. These must be coupled with the inner confidence that pertinent knowledge can be directly received. To those who believe that all answers are known, there is little need to search.

The energy generated by some such experiences is enough to change a life in a matter of moments, and to affect the understanding and behavior of others. These are intrusions of knowledge from one dimension of activity to another. They are highly charged and volatile. Unknowingly, the individual who receives such information is himself a part of it. The entire feeling-tone of his present personality is changed — and directly — by the information he receives.

To the extent that he is true to his own vision, possibilities of expansion are available to him that he could hardly have achieved otherwise. Often the information given clashes with previously held ideas and beliefs, however. Otherwise, there would be no need for the sometimes explosive, intrusive qualities of such experiences, for there would be no barriers.

Ruburt, for example, would have made the same error had he not been led by his experience beyond the framework of inspiration that had given it birth. (Pause.) In his case, then, he was propelled into new concepts because he had the sense to reject old ones, and the courage to go ahead.

Now such experiences or such doorways to knowledge are available to each individual, and to some extent each individual partakes in them. They appear in much less conspicuous form, often in intuitive decisions made with seeming suddenness, beneficial changes, intuitive hunches. Often midway in life an individual will suddenly seem to see things clearly in a physical manner, straightening out his affairs. A life that seems headed for disaster will suddenly become victorious, for example. These are all variations of the same experience, though in lesser form.