“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(This morning Jane and I worked with the pendulum on the question of inspiration, and discovered that there was much there to be learned and clarified in her attitudes, and mine too, for that matter. The three pages of questions we devised are on file. We learned among other things that Jane felt she had to hold off on new inspiration while we fulfilled existing commitments—schedules and contracts, etc., and that she wanted to help type “Unknown” Reality, Volume 2, presumably, I thought so that she could get it out of the way so she’d be free to go on to other things. I hadn’t anticipated her doing that kind of “work,” though. This afternoon she did type on the first session for the book, though, and said she felt much better. We asked that Seth comment on the whole idea of inspiration for her, beyond material he’s already given.

(As we waited for the session to begin we got involved in a near-heated discussion of the question of inspiration. The material we covered is indicated in Seth’s material immediately following, so there’s no need to recap it here.)

When Ruburt becomes consciously aware of those results, then he is inspired. That is, he encounters a fresh flow of new perceptions, or of perceptions suddenly appearing in an original manner, so that he is seized with energy, and has merely then to let the intuitive information flow. That is the way he operates. The same applies—in different degree, now—in his painting.

Ruburt has always rather envied your approach. His, relatively speaking, is a fiery approach. He is quite unaware, consciously, of doing any work for these sessions. He does, of course, for our communications do not just happen, and my voice (much louder, briefly) like his, is an inspired one.

Inspiration, however, is not predictable. The fact that these sessions are predictable says much, however, for the longstanding nature of such unpredictable events.

Inspiration, however, in its appearance is spontaneous, and those who possess it have their problems if they want to make such inspiration available to the world. There are those who can go from one spontaneous inspiration happily to another equally spontaneous one, and feel no desire to form any kind of art from it, or to order it along the ways of the world.

You were quick to intuitively understand the nature of such inspiration. You were quick to nourish it. You helped give it form, so you do understand inspiration. It is not a luxury, but the nature that sustains each individual and the world. Ruburt has more than appreciated your support, and in fact you have indeed inspired him, so your conversation earlier upset him considerably.

The world thinks that inspiration is impractical, and you have both made unfortunate distinctions between inspiration and work. You can afford to do so more than Ruburt, since your natural working method falls more easily into that kind of context, where the effort shows in time. Ruburt cannot afford such distinctions.

The dream initiated your pendulum work on inspiration, for to Ruburt to deaden yourself is to deaden inspiration, which to him is the quickness of life. Now he did this because of his ideas of work, and of jobs to be done, and effort.

When he thinks of work in that fashion, then feelings of responsibility, respectability, scorn or criticism emerge, to thicken the picture. He felt that inspiration was providing so much material that it could not be handled in time. He also felt that his inspiration threatened you with more work, which, it seemed to him, was not particularly pleasant for you, since you often spoke about your difficulties in doing the notes, and only lately have you begun to say when you are doing well.

Your desire to know has always inspired Ruburt to go further in his own explorations.

That is enough for this evening. Please take the change-of-focus material into consideration, both of you. And I bid you a fine, inspired good evening.