“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

There is always the danger in such discussions that effects which are studied separately will appear to be separate in essence. But what we have been discussing in all these topics is, indeed, the nature of action. The personality as you know it is action. As such the personality however is not physically materialized. You cannot hold it in your hand. You can only observe it in motion, for it is never still, and to probe into it yourself is to change it.

There are here also thrusts in all directions, with certain identifying pulsations that underlie all, and that have their origins within the inner self. As the vitality of the universe forms, of itself, the boundaries of the various fields of activity, and as vitality itself takes on the coloration of the various fields and forms the camouflage patterns within them, so also vitality, in the form of emotions that the camouflage patterns of the personality, even while this vitality forms both emotions and personality for every individual, every consciousness, may be thought of as a separate field of activity; and all the data relating to fields of activity may be seen to apply to any consciousness as well.

The ego would if it could, stop personality’s motion and development for the security of stability. The ego would drive the personality into preconceived channels. This consciousness-of-self—I suggest hyphens between consciousness-of-self—this consciousness-of-self is seen in man as personality, as the human personality. It appears, however, in all types of consciousness to one degree or another.

Therefore, consciousness-of-self can appear with or without the existence of an ego. Consciousness-of-self is an attribute then of all physical species, regardless of their classification. Personality, human personality, is simply the name given to this class of self, as applied and seen within human beings. Personality changes and acts upon all other action. Personality, then, can be seen to operate as a field of action in identity; but identity that is conscious of its relation to action as a whole.

The peculiar and individualistic aspects of personality are the result of those camouflaging abilities of which we have spoken earlier. Those portions of the personality which escape ego’s attempts to dominate are held suspect in ego’s eyes. Ego considers them as invalid and dangerous to its own supremacy. When ego is forced to admit that personality changes, it will do its best to avoid this knowledge. The more rigid an ego is, the more danger there is that the individual will have difficulties in all kinds of adjustments.

Because of its nature ego does not want to adjust. It wants adjustments to be made to it. Because ego is another manifestation of action, it is of course impossible for its aims to be realized. For all its attempts at stability and control, ego itself constantly changes. Ego most of all resents and fights against time as you know it, yet ego is to a large extent responsible for your conception of time. Basically, ego fears both the past and the present. It fears the past because it has already lost control of the past. It fears the future because it is not yet in control of it. It seeks continuity of identity, yet it is forced to realize that the “I” of today is hardly the “I” of thirty years ago.

The ego therefore is a very necessary force within your field. It is also, regardless of current psychological beliefs, the basis for aggression, in general. All aggression is not detrimental, for example.

Such a remark may appear so simple that it is not worth saying, but it is extremely important that it be understood. In like manner, there is indeed no particular boundary or line of demarcation between the dream universe and the physical universe. Any seeming barrier is artificial, for all these realities merge one into the other, and an action in one affects the other.

The self is extended, so to speak, existing within many dimensions. It extends as vitally and actually in the dream universe as it does in your own physical universe. It is as much a part of the electrical universe as it is a part of the world of psychological motivation. The intertwinings are infinite in all directions.