“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

There is much to be explained along many lines which we have only begun to touch upon, for all things are correlated; and there is indeed a correlation between our moment points of which we have spoken, the spacious present, and that portion of the whole self which you call the subconscious.

We are dealing here principally, and in the main, with the essence of action, and essentially all apparent divisions are arbitrary for the sake of explanation. The moment point is in itself arbitrary, an artificial division. As we have said, the moment point for you is actually composed of the amount of action which you are capable of assimilating within your present framework, for the moment point is indeed a portion of the spacious present.

The subconscious, and in fact all portions of the self with the exception of the ego, are capable of assimilating a wider area, so to speak, of action. Therefore to these other portions of the self, time has a much different essence than it has for the ego. The ego is indeed many things. It can be defined in relationship to many other aspects of reality. In relationship to action, and moment points, the ego is indeed that portion of the self which stands at the apex of the moment point, and is limited by the moment point. The ego is in this context the portion of the self which is utterly focused upon, and imprisoned by, the moment point.

The subconscious however is not so limited. If you consider the ego at the apex of the moment point, and imprisoned therefore within the realm of its own before-and-after, cause-and-effect experience, then you can imagine the subconscious reaching further outward and seizing upon many other moment points. It should be easy to see then why the focus of the ego is so sharp and brilliant. Within its limited scope there is intensity of stimuli and response. Indeed, the ego is that portion of the personality which is plunged into a specific and intense preoccupation with a given field of action or dimension.

The subconscious, reaching outward, reaches also inward. For while there is no real past or present or future within the spacious present, there is indeed an infinity of inward and outward; and again, of actions within actions, and there is no end to these actions for they are self-generating. The other portions of the inner self reach then even further in all directions, and they therefore envelop many moment points. To many portions of the inner self then, what you would call a moment would correspond to an almost limitless number of moments, for even physical time has no meaning without experience without action.

Your whole concept of time is built about your own capacity for perceiving action; as this capacity for perceiving action grows, so indeed do the dimensions of time grow. Conceivably therefore one moment of your time would indeed be experienced by the whole self as centuries.

A note here: Ruburt may try the psychological time experiments twenty minutes daily; and indeed yes, the time of the day should be uniform. I would suggest now that he seriously begin to schedule this with his daily activities. It is best that you be in the house with him, Joseph. And indeed, for your own edification your life in general will be much more comfortable within what I would call a short time; though to you this may be two years, before a noticeable change is apparent.

Despite the fact that I had not intended to deliver any personal material this evening, a small note to you, Joseph: you should now once again concern yourself with your painting. It is very necessary to your own concept of yourself in many ways. Not only do you impart energy into a painting, but you also derive energy from a painting even while you are working on it. I had indeed meant to mention this earlier.

I believe I should once again suggest, Joseph, a daily short walk for you. Such suggestions may appear trivial, yet they are not, and will prove most beneficial. There is indeed a value fulfillment within the enjoyment of nature that can release you from many restraints.

I tell you that you are indeed headed for more comfortable times, but this does not mean that there is not very much within your own daily life now to be thankful for. Spontaneity will open many doors. I am speaking of emotional spontaneity.