“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Now: The body consciousness reacts to exterior stimuli, of course, and to inner stimuli as well. Its “deductions” about any given event are also necessarily colored by judgments that lie outside of its province.

The body consciousness must react to your (underlined) interpretation of an exterior stimulus as well. The body consciousness, for example, will react quite differently to, say, two slaps of exactly the same pressure—one an energetic love slap, and the other one delivered in ridicule or anger. The physical stimulus itself, however, would be precisely the same, but the body would react to your understanding of that stimulus.

The slap could bring pleasure or pain. In its moment-to-moment reactions, the body consciousness is, you might say, “literal-minded.” It reacts literally, say, in that regard, to symbols. The symbols are the realm in which interpretations are made, but the body must always react moment by moment at that level of activity, irregardless of a vast knowledge of probabilities.

Ideas of course are highly important, for they are a part of your interpretation of the world, of personal events, and they are a part of the symbolizing process. The body consciousness is geared for action, vitality, growth, curiosity, excitement, whether it be mental or physical. If there is a large body of beliefs, however, that dampen those bodily purposes, that encourage timidity rather than courage, promote fear rather than faith, then you run into difficulty—particularly if the grounds for those beliefs are not present in any given moment.

(9:35.) A few such thoughts were semiconscious. The idea of activity, of the body wearing down—all of those issues contributed. The body consciousness reacted with stress, for your fears tell it that there is immediate danger. It experiences your projected negative pictures as present, for your fear is immediate. Yet none of its own sources of information show any cause for alarm: you are both obviously in the house together. Ruburt is safe.

There is a period of almost animal bewilderment. The body consciousness is in a state of dilemma, which it signals through the feeling of panic. That is, you interpret that feeling as panic while the body consciousness, through physical sensation, is actually asking nervously: “What is wrong? Please clarify the situation.”

Almost all such instances (underlined) involve thoughts nearly conscious, conscious, or just below consciousness, in which you have projected imagined unfortunate situations into the future. The body senses your fear, looks for the source in the immediate environment of the moment so that it can suitably react to protect you—but it senses no immediate difficulty. Naturally it becomes anxious.

I do not want you to bury such negative thoughts. On the other hand, when you have them, make a point to recognize that they are the result of cultural beliefs, beliefs that often run counter to the body’s natural knowledge of optimism (pause) and saving inner balance. That knowledge will take the brunt off the negative thoughts.