“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Free will as I mentioned earlier certainly does operate, but you must remember that while it does operate, personalities on your plane are extremely limited as to choice. They can only choose between alternatives with which they are familiar. They can only choose to operate within their own camouflage pattern framework.

Free choice therefore is not the widerange experience that you suppose. The possibilities are certainly not endless in any real sense. That is, while in theory any personality can choose to travel extensively, this really has no meaning for a large percentage of personalities because of their own peculiar makeup.

Many similar, more or less obvious opportunities of this sort are equally impractical to a large number of personalities. These opportunities exist theoretically, and yet for particular personalities do not exist for all practical purposes. Within certain limits there is free will. Yet these limits themselves were set, or if you prefer, chosen, by the entity itself for any given present personality; and at the entity level free choice or free will is much more extensive, and really has much more meaning.

For personality reasons neither of you would be happy, I’m afraid, were Ruburt to go into deep trances at my instigation during sessions. And you, Joseph, would be much less enthusiastic even than Ruburt. So we must simply work as we are and make the best of it for now.

Your clock time as you know is camouflage, and does not exist as far as the inner ego is concerned. This certainly should not be strange to you, since you know that even your present personalities can to some extent escape from clock time through the use of psychological time. I have said that there is no time without barriers. The inner ego is aware of fewer barriers and therefore is not bound by time to the degree that the outer ego is bound.

Nor could he purposely set out for such a journey as a rule. Animals, many times using their own inner senses, have made such journeys, but their conscious apparatus alone would not permit it. In like manner such choice possibilities exist for human personalities, but to all intents and purposes they do not exist because the personality is too limited to take advantage of them.

Many limitations are set upon personalities by their own entities for karmic reasons. I want to make it plain that free will does exist, but that it is limited through use of a more extended free will on the part of the entity. Also, the inner ego is aware of so-called future decisions not because he forces such decisions upon the outer ego but simply because the future as such does not exist to the inner ego, and therefore he can perceive where the outer ego cannot.

In a deep trance there is always a certain lack of protection involved. Many on my plane do teach, or try to teach, using such a fashion. It is one of my personal peculiarities that I do not approve of this educational device.

Benefits received by personalities who are in deep trance are not nearly as long-lasting as they are in my method. It is true that in the trance state the subconscious learns. However, the subconscious knowledge eventually must be transferred to the personality-consciousness. In other methods than my own this transference takes place at a later time, usually on a midplane after the death of the personality on your plane.

I prefer the method we are using, in that assimilation takes place more directly and immediately, and the personality involved makes an active contribution.

Others are watching. There is some friendly disagreement; we are all here what you would call educators, and I sometimes fear that we become too concerned with methods. I much prefer personally an active, fairly alert personality student rather than a deep trance subject who passively receives and transmits spoon-fed knowledge. I thrive on flexible give and take. Ruburt is dissociated but all the connections are left open.

There are many more than you would suppose. The trouble here is that the personality has little protection, and is open to fragments that may enter if the educator on my plane does not scrupulously keep guard. I do not approve of this except for certain particular purposes.

Also, I do not agree that it is beneficial for the personality to become used to dispensing so entirely with his camouflage pattern. It is necessary that the camouflage pattern be recognized for what it is, but on your plane it still must be manipulated, and the efficiency of manipulation is extremely necessary.