“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(At 8:40 PM. Jane left for the corner grocery to get a pack of cigarettes. Actually she had to hurry for the store is several blocks away. It was also raining. Once again Jane had been trying to give up cigarettes; this time the struggle lasted but a day or so, and ended in tears after supper this evening. It appeared to be a panic reaction of some kind, and had happened before.

First, naturally, I have a few comments to make that will not only tie in Ruburt’s smoking habits with his present personality, but also to some extent tie in his present personality with past personalities.

Ruburt even has a latent gluttonous desire for rich foods that he has conquered. Nevertheless although the cigarette habit satisfies these basic old habits, he will be able to let it go. He is a gobbler, that is all. A gobbler of ideas, of emotions, of atmosphere, in some ways a veritable sponge soaking up whatever he can, but he has learned discipline and he is learning a certain amount of patience, which is difficult for him.

I did not intend to go into this any more deeply tonight but it is rather interesting. And he thought he had a foolproof method of gratification, a gratification that seemed to bring no penalties as with overeating and so forth.

The personality here has been giving as a rule but also took in all it could. I hope that this also answers some questions that you might have had, Joseph, along these lines.

It aggravates a certain amount of nervousness however and is not beneficial. In this also a definite but not bullying attitude is important. The panicky feeling is already lessening and Ruburt’s discipline is catching up with and conquering his emotional attitudes so that the problem will be worked out, that is he will stop smoking.

There were other personalities of course who were fairly developed but these were resting. The world so to speak got back on its feet when these personalities reappeared centuries later; and by this time new personalities who had taken the place of those whose cycles were completed also began to use and show their abilities.

This has been the case with the country of Russia in the past but it may not be the case in the future; as activity grows there intellectual and psychic attractions will draw stronger and wiser personalities. The same in a somewhat different manner will apply to countries in Africa.

There are whole areas of material here that we have not discussed so that this is spotty, but we will go into it more deeply. There are no laws to force personalities to use all their abilities. A personality will not choose unfavorable circumstances of rebirth until he himself sees that necessary discipline can be achieved in no other manner. Therefore extremely hot and extremely cold countries go largely undeveloped. But once development begins to occur it is swift.

These personalities, often talented in many directions and often with past experiences of wealth and power, choose to be born as Jews of their own volition, and this is a karmic compensation, not in any sense punishment but a needed adjustment on the part of the personalities involved.

On your plane the hunter and the prey system is at this time a necessary one but it will not always be this way. A time will come when you will not have to kill in order to exist, and the balance of nature will take care of itself. This time is sooner on the way than you think. In your country, if there is peace, you will see its beginning in your lifetimes.

There is a very practical reason for a reverence for all life, and very practical reasons why man must learn certain facts that up to this point he has considered impractical. He has usually managed to separate his ethical conceptions from his daily business life, but this shall be increasingly difficult for him to manage.

Until you learn reverence for all living things you will continue to slaughter each other. Again, this does not involve punishment in any sense of the word, but the idea of killing permissiveness is not discriminating. Once you allow yourselves to kill you will kill any living thing. In future lives this involves the race in further adjustments.

This should be of benefit. Also the slow breathing habits you began to acquire with your yoga exercises will be beneficial. Giving up the smoking habit will also help you in this respect. You are strongly intuitive and very quick, but you can learn to have a more relaxed body. A fear has been developed by the present personality resulting directly from early circumstances. Ruburt is afraid that if he does not operate quickly he will be symbolically caught and crippled as is the case with his present mother.

The disability of the present mother is a result of that personality’s own problems, and Ruburt does not have to fear such a circumstance in his own condition. However a relaxed attitude is extremely important to counteract other tendencies. His fear of relaxation is actually rather simply based and superficial, in that it does not have its source in a past life but in this one.

Incidentally Ruburt always felt a strong bond with every living thing, and even as a man was not cruel. He was only a Christian once, the last time, and otherwise was paganistic but always in ways that enabled him to feel close to the earth. This is of course one of the main reasons for his particular reaction with the starling incident, and this quality has been a saving one in the past.

I haven’t had the opportunity to use my sense of humor lately but it is still here as you will discover. This is one of those nights when I dislike saying goodbye for now, but I will. And Ruburt please heed my advice, all of it.

But no one came.

But still alive, were left to squawk.