“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Ruburt should read that session (for October 22, 1973) and ones immediately previous. The attitudes still stand to some important degree. The contrast represented his own interpretation of his private reality, of course—yet they also represent the main issues involved right now in your society at large.

Everything I said recently about the disclaimer stands. Be aware, however, of the sudden reassurances from Framework 2. (Also at Prentice)—The news program invitation (from ABC), which places you in a context, however small, of national interest—an invitation that you did not court; these, plus many excellent letters of late, should show you of course the beneficial aspects of your work that you can at times overlook (with irony). You have at the very least a very large extended family, people whose lives you have touched for the better.

Your morning discussion, concerning Ruburt’s past, was also beneficial, for it is good to remind yourselves of your own (underlined) backgrounds, rather than ever comparing yourselves with other people whose own backgrounds may have little to do with yours. You have both done remarkably well from that viewpoint. When you seem to suffer in contrast to the development or situation of any other specific or generalized persons, it is when you are trying to live up to artificial pictures of yourselves—of people who should have been as knowledgeable years ago as they are now, and who therefore now should be at much greater stages of development.

(10:20.) Again, it goes without saying that in your situations you largely overlook such benefits. Ruburt’s remarks in his essay on love apply here, in regard to its specific nature. That is (pause), it arouses memories from your own most intimate moments in the past, and therefore in its own way records the development of ideas and attitudes that you might otherwise completely overlook. You had friends lately disappointed in marriages and relationships (Sue and Claire). Your own relationship is itself quite extraordinary, precisely in the light of your own backgrounds—not as you think those backgrounds should have been, but as they were.

When you ask why you did not understand when you were young what you know now, you are ignoring the validity of your own past to some extent, and denying the accomplishments that have resulted—because it seems that you should now be much further on, so that you create a kind of artificial self who began where you are now, and with whom it seems you can never catch up.

At Ruburt’s end, it almost seems as if he had our material at hand magically without effort, and therefore should have put it to use at once, learning the lessons of half a lifetime in a few years, and graduating to solve all of his own problems and half of the world’s as well. Against that image of course he feels inadequate, and of course such an image would make him lose faith in himself to some degree; so it is very important that you realize how well you have both done in many areas of activity, and that you reinforce each other in those directions.

There is no need saying Ruburt would be in better physical condition perhaps if the psychic development has not happened—since that development was a part of his natural growth processes. While it may sound unrealistic, the fact remains that much of Ruburt’s problems are indeed caused by a constant comparison with the self that he is, and the self that he and you think he should be (long pause), and to some extent by too much concern about what the world may think or not think.

Again, you have evidence of his body’s willingness to change for the better. His faith is growing, and both of you can help reinforce it. The sessions on work discuss the relaxation and work aspects thoroughly, and should not be forgotten. Many of your accomplishments (long pause) are allowed to fade when you do not pay attention to the large bulk of your mail, for it does involve people whose lives you are indeed helping to change for the better.