“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

The ideal may be specific, then, or ill-defined, and man’s idea of “the good” varies considerably. The better you can define your idea of the ideal, the better off you are, for it—the definition—at least clears your own mind, and suggests lines of action too. “The best” idealist is a practical one—someone who realizes that most men like to work with specifics. Many might shy away from any philosophical discussions concerning the nature of “the good,” but many would also understand and appreciate the meaning of the word “better,” when applied to any situation.

(9.39.) You feel sometimes a visual outrage, because your natural ideals tend to follow the design and integrity, the lines and flowing patterns that belong to the nature of the universe. Some part of you feels that when such blatant distortions occur, as sometimes occur in the packaging of the books, that far greater invisible lacks of integrity lie buried within. Now that is true and not true, as you know—for ideally, how marvelous it would be if each person could indeed understand those balances and artistic lacks of balances when they appear.

On the other hand, of course, the very individuality implied in art itself tells you that even the ideal must follow its own eccentric patterns, and that man must find his own way out of his l-a-c-k-s (spelled). Ruburt, however, would rarely deal with such issues at all, though he was aware of them, so you felt you bore the brunt. You cannot expect Prentice to understand the nature of your own idealism, or Ruburt’s, in such a way that Prentice as an entity can apply that idealism to its packaging. Not unless you define, you specify. You get together, the two of you, on each issue, as it happens, and make your decision together, and stick by it. You have not done this before because each of you would become irritated at the other’s mode of behavior.

Ruburt felt that your idealism could threaten the practical distribution of the books, so that his idealistic purpose—to get those words out—could be held back. You felt that the lack of taste, and often of artistic integrity, was so blatant that it blighted the words themselves, marred the message. Both of you were concerned with the ideal. You felt Ruburt was being too “practical,” and would put up with almost anything, and he felt that you were being too impractical at times.

Because neither of you really (underlined) defined and carried through on your definitions some black or white thinking resulted. It would seem to you that all of the books were marred, in that manner, now, or it would seem to Ruburt that nothing was wrong at all, in that manner. You would find it hard to express pleasure with a given cover, or you would forget, as with Seven Two, for its attributes would seem lost in your larger displeasure. Or Ruburt, feeling displeasure with Prentice on any occasion, would find it difficult to admit to you.

The coins represent the small amount of money Ruburt did receive. The old man also stands for Ruburt’s father, as Ruburt thought of him bumming around, frittering away his time and energy, so he was stealing from the pot. There would be nothing left. Ruburt was not greedy, but curious. The missing key represented Yale locks (with emphatic amusement). The dream said “Do not wait too late to set up the legal mechanism,” and affirmed that Yale was at least a good idea. (Pause.) The old man also stood for old man time in the dream, and reinstated the fact that an executor is important, for the old man also stood for —in the dream, now—Ruburt’s father acting as his own executor—meaning that his nature led him to leave ends loose.

To do so, however, they must back down through previous limiting beliefs, and had you not wakened Ruburt, the four of you would have joined each other on the stage. Ruburt was correct in what he picked up from me today (half laughing)—concerning both your rugs and nationalized medicine, and some of its effects upon the poor if it were established.

(10:28 PM. Jane’s delivery had been good throughout the session, and once again she was relaxed now that it was over. Seth’s reference to the poor and nationalized health care referred to material Jane had picked up from him during the day; The poor were actually better off as they are now, without such a national health-care plan, for as it is they’re isolated from and immune to a number of ills they would start falling prey to if they could afford to pay for such treatment—that is, if the costs were paid for them. An interesting point of view.)