“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

I wanted to say more concerning the third inner sense in connection with concepts.

When and if you become proficient in the use of the third inner sense, then and only then will you be able to receive such concepts. When cognition is more or less spontaneous, then you can appreciate a concept on its own terms.

As an analogy, you live in a self-constructed box with certain self-constructed senses to enable you to perceive the boxworld that you yourself have created. Any true concept has its origins outside your box, and continues beyond it.

It also riddles your box through. Nevertheless, with your camouflage senses you perceive only that part of the concept that happens to fall within your box, and even then you receive and interpret such a concept with your outer senses, and therefore distort it out of all recognition.

Unless you use the inner senses in the manner that I have and will prescribe, you will always receive but a glimmering of any true concept, regardless of its simplicity.

The third inner sense, as I have told you, will enable you to some extent to free yourselves from the constructions of past, present and future, and will permit in theory instant cognition. As far as practice is concerned you will never achieve such instant cognition, but you will be able to set aside now and then the boundaries of time, and you will be able at least to glimmer the reality and the concepts of which I speak.

It does originate in the inner self that exists in your world, but is not of your world. The inner self-conscious ego as I have said—and this is for Philip’s edification—the inner self-conscious ego can be compared to another face, looking out upon a different world. And yet it is the driving personality and force in your world, and you use its energy as you construct your camouflage patterns.

This inner ego knows the outer ego well. The outer ego is but a counterfeit image of the inner ego. The outer ego as a rule is not aware of what you may think of for now as the thoughts or communications of the inner ego; but the inner ego knows every step you take, every particle of air you breathe, every dream you have; and it is the source of your own personality and is the representative of the entity of which it is part.

(Break at 9:30. Jane was dissociated as usual. She said that the presence of a witness apparently made no difference at all. John of course was not familiar with much of the material. Jane and I both tried to fill him in rapidly on the inner senses, but surprisingly between us we had trouble explaining them. We did not appear to be mentally sharp. John said he felt somewhat the same way. And yet, as Jane observed, sometimes under these conditions the material that comes through from Seth is excellent.

I am very glad that this is not test night. Shall I give you all gold stars? Nevertheless, at least you do remember to some degree. It is not remembering with which we are concerned, however. The inner senses, and this should help Philip, the inner senses deal with direct perception of reality, of inner reality.

The outer senses do not deal with direct perception of reality. The outer senses themselves are camouflage patterns, part of the necessary and essential physical body camouflage. They, the outer senses, are perceptors of camouflage patterns. They were developed on your level, to deal with your world. They are useless outside of your world. They are useless in themselves as far as enabling you to perceive inner reality. This is not their function.

The inner senses belong to you as inhabitors of a spontaneous inner reality universe. They, the inner senses, are your regardless of the particular camouflage plane you might inhabit at any given instance. Only by using the inner senses can you perceive while on your plane the inner reality of which it is part.

I have mentioned earlier the peculiar problems of your scientists as with tools and instruments they attempt to reduce reality to their terms. Any instruments made on your plane are like your outer senses, constructed to perceive camouflage patterns. The instruments of the scientists, and the outer senses themselves, are camouflage patterns and cannot, and never will, dissect themselves.

Ideas and use of the inner senses can form a shaft of understanding through camouflage pattern, by which you will receive a dismally small burst of light; but even that is extremely important.

The fact remains that the inner senses are equipped to let you perceive inner reality. You can use them; and for Philip’s information the evidence of the inner senses is immediate, and vivid, and direct—much more vivid, Philip, than for example your camouflage experience of the color red. Everyone sees red differently. There is no absolute objective red but only gradations of the idea red.

You do not even perceive camouflage reality with your outer senses with any dependability. Telepathy, which belongs to the inner senses, is used constantly. Without it your languages would be meaningless. The inner senses, Philip, experience direct data instantaneously.

The table, and I’m afraid this is somewhat review, Joseph, the table as you know is not solid. Your scientists know this. Your outer senses lie when they experience the table as solid. You know this. The inner senses are not so deceived, and never have been. The inner senses experience directly the reality of which your matter is composed.

I went into the connection between the third inner sense and concepts for a reason, and this will now be an introduction into the fourth inner sense. And I am appalled: Getting this through Ruburt’s subconscious should be quite a trick.

The fourth inner sense is the conceptual sense. Now you think of a concept in terms of an idea, which you can only understand in intellectual terms. However, the fourth inner sense involves again direct cognition, only now of a concept in much more than you would call intellectual terms.

You are always receiving data from the inner senses. It is sifted through the subconscious, and when you receive it directly, or more or less directly for the first time, it can be frightening merely because of the unfamiliarity, and because of the unusual vividness. This is why I have said that the inner senses present their own evidence.

Now returning to the inner conceptual sense. You cannot truly understand or appreciate any other thing unless you can become that thing. This is definite. Otherwise you only receive an approximation and a distortion.

You cannot displace it completely, except at your own peril. Nevertheless you can learn to trick it. You can learn to cease focusing now and then and let the inner senses look out through the ego’s eyes.

Philip, earlier, mentioned hypnosis. Existence on your plane or any other plane is merely self-hypnosis. As far as an analogy is concerned, this one is very nearly perfect. Your existence, and mine for that matter, on any particular level is predetermined by complete concentration or focus of inner selves upon the particular universe in question. And your camouflage patterns can most aptly be compared to the hallucinary effects created by the hypnotist upon his subject.

Only in this case the hallucinary effects are actual constructions upon the plane in question, and involve problems that must be worked out. The hallucinations appear more or less consistent merely because everyone on that particular level is under the effects of self-hypnosis, and because they have already constructed hallucinary senses, the outer senses, in order to perceive the hallucinary world that they have created.

I will also go into this more deeply. You should be able to see now why a concept such as I refer to is difficult to achieve on your plane. You cannot focus upon it thoroughly. When the fourth inner sense is exercised, and I will outline exercises and all three of you would certainly benefit by following my suggestions, you will discover what an idea really is.

There are many ramifications here. The wrong way, and I do not mean even wrong in the sense of sinful, the wrong way is never the practical way, Philip. The practical way is the only way.

The inner senses try desperately to make their knowledge plain to the individual. It is communicated through what you call hunch or intuition. It represents actual knowledge of a definite and unerasable reality.

The so-called practical solution to your problems, Philip, is hardly practical and for many reasons. In the first place, having little respect for yourself for following such a course, you would not even be able to put on the act which you contemplate. Your sense of falseness would immediately be picked up by your superiors.

The manipulation of camouflage material depends to a large degree upon the outside ego’s confidence, and the outside ego’s confidence is only strong when it follows the inner ego’s pattern. You can for a while fake the sort of disbelieving belief required, but your ability to sell is based upon your own confidence as an integrated and principled personality. Practically you would find your ability minimized, and do you speak to me about practicality?

You are in no danger however as long as you pursue your present course, but you are in peril as soon as you change it. You will find that these loose predictions will come to pass. You understand that free will always operates, this being a foregone conclusion. I also am practical in my way. And speaking of practicality, you would find it most beneficial even in dealing with your precious camouflage patterns if you would develop the use of your inner senses.

Such resulting knowledge would be practical. I am not only speaking in terms of your limited sense of what is practical, but what is truly practical for your personality is the full use of your abilities, and not stunting them through studied hypocrisies.

Material matters may seem extremely practical to you. However there is nothing less practical than inner torment, and much inner torment is caused by a false sense of what is practical. Inner torment will cause you to lose whatever material gains you have achieved, and this is not practical.