“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(By 8:58 Jane said she did not feel very nervous, but did feel strange because she had no idea of what Seth would talk about. Her mind was on the house we plan to buy, instead of on the session, she said. Our cat Willy was also very quiet.

Even a primary construction, therefore, is but a partial appearance of inner nature into matter. The term consciousness, as I am here using it, may need some explanation, although you should by now understand my meaning.

Some conditions, some roads and countries, would require different beams to meet different circumstances, as even in automobiles you use high beams or low beams according to necessity or utility; and in some cases the high beams would not only be ineffective but dangerous, and so low beams are used.

Consciousness therefore forms the primary construction about itself, not to protect itself from matter but in order to become allied with matter, the consciousness obviously being diffused through the whole physical construction.

You say that grass grows from a seed, but the grass is not the seed. The material of the grass is not the material of the seed. From experience you know that the seed will often precede grass.

There is obviously something identical, and some continuity between the child and the adult, but it is not matter. Consciousness, according to its ability, projects itself into the physical plane, and through value fulfillment it constructs its image.

You say that the matter that composes it steadily changes, but this is not the case. The apparent continuity is a result of your inability to perceive the actual atoms that compose matter as they appear and disappear. Because grass appears where seeds have been sown, you have leaped to the conclusion that the matter of the seeds grows from the matter of which they are composed, and that grass grows from the actual matter of the seeds.

Since you can more or less count upon the appearance of grass seed, preceding grass, all this may seem making much over nothing, but it is very important, as you will see later. It is not matter that has continuity, and it is not matter that dictates the form.

This will be a vital point in later discussions. You must, and will, learn to look at things in a new way, and many implications will arise from tonight’s discussion that will carry us further along our way. You will indeed see clearly that matter is created simultaneously, and has no duration, but is completely and almost instantly replaced by other matter, and that identity and continuity are not characteristics of matter, but must be found in other places.

—but this is the beginner’s manual. As much of it as possible should be read by any who may become interested. It is a book of facts as they must be interpreted for your comprehension; and that last sentence is extremely important, for they must be interpreted and translated into terms that are comprehensible to you.

You have both not only done well on the level of theory, but you are also learning practical application, which is excellent.

You have helped others as well as yourselves. Any seeming caution on Ruburt’s part has been necessary, particularly in the beginning. This caution will gradually be replaced by expectation and confidence, but it is a necessary element.

I will now close, but I wanted to give you some sort of report card, so to speak. And we may end up missing some sessions due to your vacations and your purchase of the house, but not too many.

(I saw nothing during this experience, but did hear an unidentified voice utter a phrase, clearly enough, but had lost it by the time I left the state.