“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Telepathic communications go on continually beneath consciousness, and without the aid of telepathy and without the aid of the inner senses, language itself would be meaningless. The hidden cues are the symbols that make language intelligible. I have said before that the inner senses experience reality as it exists beneath camouflage pattern, though of course camouflage pattern is in itself part of this reality.

Different outer senses are necessary at different levels and on various planes to interpret the different camouflage patterns. These outer senses are developed to cope with these particular camouflage patterns which the personality will meet in its various environments. The inner senses always operate regardless of the particular environment in which the personality is presently involved. The inner senses provide the whole personality with balance, and enable it to keep in contact with its vitality source.

When the data from the inner senses is ignored the personalities then become so intertwined with the camouflage pattern that they are only capable of drawing upon a very limited amount of the vitality which gives them basic energy and strength. This happens more usually than not in such culturally-oriented levels as your own, where the camouflage pattern becomes extremely complicated and imprisoning.

On your plane such transformations are carried on without the awareness of the ego with which you are familiar, and therefore other mechanisms become necessary. On some planes the inner senses are the only senses, because all other necessities vanish since the inner senses function at greatest capacity.

This does not in any way absolve you from using your outer senses to their fullest capacity. If you recall, your outer senses, Joseph, tipped you off as to a message that your inner senses had been endeavoring to deliver. The falling tree incident is what I am referring to, and often there is such a completed circle when the outer senses will return you to inner data.

Direct experience through use of the inner senses at full capacity could be likened to the following example.

Imagine looking at a scene outside your window as Ruburt now allows me to do. From Ruburt’s viewpoint he receives the visual image with auditory effects. A slightly cold draft of air leaks in through the window. He does not smell anything from the outside. With use of the complete set of inner senses the experience would be to you astonishingly more rich, varied, direct, and instantly instructive.

This last is extraordinarily important and I shall return to it shortly. Through the inner senses, and using a very simple analogy, you would not only see the street as you do or hear the few sounds that drift to your ears. You would actually experience directly the essence of everything within a certain range. This experience would be instantaneous and would, using the analogy, include more than the usual data that you would receive from the outer senses. That is, not only would you be able to feel the air though you were not out in it, not only would you pick up the odors, though ordinarily you cannot do this while you look out through closed windows, but you would literally feel the unitary essences of the trees and branches and hidden birds and insects. You would experience directly the personalities of the inhabitants of the automobiles—the vitality even of the components of the automobiles’ molecules, and “see” (in quotes) the future and the past experience of everything within that particular range of focus. And the range itself would be much larger.

The inner experience of which I speak would not be frightening, although it would be frightening in the extreme if you were not prepared for it. The fact is that you would experience these other live things as if you were part of them. You would know them directly. No one would have to teach you about the oneness of all living things, or the brotherhood of man. The lesson would be instantaneous and complete.

You should approach a fair approximation, which would represent to you an astounding degree of change for the better. It would be impossible for you to experience such inner abilities to the degree that I mentioned, while on your plane. Nevertheless even fair progress would represent a world gain.

As far as these drugs are concerned there are a few points I would like to make. One of your purposes as I have said is to learn to organize energy units and to focus your own energy along those lines. That is, you are the energy that you use. The self-consciousness is not to be blotted out but taken along. It is so to speak to walk side by side with the inner self.

The use of these drugs sweeps the personality off its feet. Often the personality does receive a rewarding glimpse of the inner reality, but more often the ego is merely sent tumbling through frightening images of chaotic phantom realities formed by a suddenly-released subconscious, and with no guide. The experience is often vivid and long remembered, but so unorganized and undisciplined that no inner order is arrived at, no other organization glimpsed, and the ordinary but necessary camouflage footing suddenly dispensed with.

There is, if anything, more order in the inner reality than in your camouflage world, and more, not less discipline is required. Such drug experiments could have dire consequences. The camouflage pattern is completely broken up, the disorganized personality is afloat and could slip into a state where disorientation would prevent return to your level, while ignorance and lack of discipline prevented entry onto another level. The consequences would be completely disastrous in such a circumstance.

(“I remember you said once that the inner senses weren’t as fluent.”

(“Well, I can’t remember the whole context now, but I think you were comparing the inner senses to the outer senses. Somewhere back around the 15th or 16th sessions.”)

I was going to say that discipline is even more important in the use of the inner senses than you might think. It is true that focusing upon the inner reality at times requires a temporary lessening of outer focus, and this would sometimes give the appearance of letting go, but the inner concentration requires discipline and intent. It is quite possible to let the inner and the outer senses operate at the same time. It merely takes practice.

—and this time we have no distortion but a simple mistake I believe in notes. I certainly did not say what I have just seen through Ruburt’s eyes. The error is in one word; not fluent but “inner.” The outer senses are not as fluent as the inner. For some reason the word was either mistaken or transposed, I do not know. The outer senses dealing with rigid camouflage patterns could not be as fluent as the inner senses.

(This was true. Recalling this statement as I had first recorded it, I had wondered about its accuracy more and more as Seth gave us additional information on the much wider abilities of the inner senses. Later, checking my original handwritten notes, I found that I had indeed taken the statement down that way, then typed it up that way. So, although we didn’t pinpoint the exact cause of the error, at least it has been corrected.)

We have covered some necessary material this evening that will be a basis for further later sessions. In particular read over the instance of our imagined inner sense experience and the learning implication involved.