“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Jane then arose abruptly and began to dictate in a voice somewhat stronger than usual, without greeting. Bill called out the time to me. Jane spoke rather loudly but paced at an average rate. Her eyes, I noticed, were exceptionally dark.)

—was thought to be the disloyal member. He denied it; but when they decided that another innocent man was the culprit, a man whom he knew to be innocent, then to save his own life he let them think the innocent man was the betrayer.

But such a mere annoyance becomes indeed a form of torture. There is no longer any need for this. In other ways, through constructive action, he has more than made his way.

Nor does karma say anything about an eye for an eye, nor is there in karma any suggestion of punishment. Karma is merely in the physical plane, the result of personal development, and represents the maturing realization that we are all psychically and physically part of All There Is, and that when we wound, it is not another that we wound but ourselves.

(Break at 10:32. Jane was fully dissociated. She had been worried about giving a session before three witnesses, she said, this being the first time for that many. During the conversation at break it developed that Louie in this life does not use his right hand for all things, but is somewhat ambidextrous. Ida associated this, which neither Jane or I realized, with the fact that in the previous life a right arm had not been used by Louie.

Since I will not give a session simply to give a session, and because I will not let Ruburt parade me as part of his precious subconscious, I will indeed here speak for myself, but in terms that will help another and for the benefit of that other. And despite our anxious Ruburt’s furious attempts to block me, I will indeed say that the person who was once betrayed by the personality involved was the present father of the personality, and he knows it—

One, he attempts to convince himself of something that is indeed a fact. He has nothing else to do penance for. By enduring the literally endless small cruelties he does needless penance, but at the same time he strikes back by causing the father hours of remorse. In all relationships these intertwining effects exert, many times, most unpleasant effects.

The personality left, to return. He returned to reassure himself that he had indeed paid this subconscious debt, as indeed he had. But here again conditioning took over, and the old ways and the old responses.

Everything becomes plain. Such and such happened to me at the age of five or six, and ever after have I acted thus and so. So it is with Ruburt’s eyes. The panic reaction, which is true, the fear of seeing reality as it was when he was a child; but this indeed is only a symptom of a symptom, and not an origin.

The incident, and I will mention it but consciously it will mean nothing, the incident represented the individual’s final success after many failures to bring forth circumstances that would then allow, or seem to cause, the peculiar set of symptoms that he felt necessary in order to repay old debts.

The time, 3 PM. He went out to the kitchen, where the ball after he played with it finally rolled. A portion of a stove had been left on; and though there was no danger of fire, the child was afraid of fire. But this was not the cause of his sudden terror.

It was indeed the sight of that portion of the stove glowing, however, that made him try to call out. There is somewhat more here, but our illustrious and pigheaded Ruburt has indeed implied that I should somewhat maintain silence.

The fact remains that the child did try to scream. At the same time a door close by slammed abruptly. Unused to being alone, the child reacted in the first place vehemently to the unaccustomed isolation. He ran to the stove, touched it, and as he burned but only slightly his right hand, the door slammed nearby very loudly.

He stuttered because the pain from the small burn through subconscious association became, for the first time in this existence, penance for the barely remembered past offense. Now. The stuttering did not, as is believed, begin continuously to show itself, but from then on it began to show itself more and more as the child experienced those necessary and trivial wounds that every child must indeed endure.

(The five of us were discussing the session when Jane spoke for Seth again, abruptly rising and dictating in the same strong voice. She spoke without wearing her glasses, but instead left them on the floor near where she had been sitting. Each time, pacing back and forth across the room, seldom looking down, it seemed she might step on the glasses, but she did not. Resume at 11:51.)

The son is even now coming to an inner understanding. Indeed much of this I gain for Ruburt through subconscious telepathy from the personality involved. Were this not so it would be more difficult, but possible, for me to tell you what I do. And if I sound dour and heavy-handed it is only because I must sometimes deal with Ruburt with a heavy hand.

He does not believe that a houseguest should behave in any such manner, but then I am not a houseguest. And I will indeed close the session, with no more p.s.’s, and with my most sincere wishes for you all. I will not however give you a shorter session Monday, since I consider that I have done a favor, and I do not owe you another.

I may sound irascible, and if I do then indeed certainly I shall try to blame it on Ruburt, and say it is a distortion, though it is no distortion. I find it, however, a rather painful duty, self imposed, to delve into personal backgrounds, and consider myself rather dignified to adopt the pose of a Peeping Tom. But there are too few who can, either, look within themselves with candor, and if this material does anything, it must be oriented toward knowledge; and knowledge must be applied in your case in human terms.