“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(No session was held last night, obviously, because Jane was so relaxed. She’d felt better through the day, and had slept well the night before. She also slept well last night, and felt better today. Earlier she’d mentioned having a session to make up for last night, but as 9 PM passed I thought she’d decided to let it go once again because of her relaxed state. Once again she was very comfortable on the couch after supper, watching the news on television; in fact, for some days now she’d had her best times, as far as feeling better go, while relaxing after supper.

(Note that tonight’s session refers to the notes I wrote “on inspiration” at the end of the last session, for February 11. These concern my insight—a simplistic one to be sure—that one of Jane’s hassles results from her fear that Seth would take over if given the chance. My notes bothered her somewhat when she first read them, and she’d mentioned them several times since. Note, however, that I wrote that she feared Seth would take over—not necessarily that he would if given the chance—a big difference. But Seth seems to lay to rest our concerns here this evening.

(At the same time, Jane also liked my concluding material in the notes, regarding the integration of each portion of the personality into one whole, and so thus attaining the freedom to follow any chosen course of action in the world.

(I mentioned black and white thinking in the notes, and Seth has also used that phrase several times recently. I remarked to Jane today, then, that what we need is more insight into the phenomenon of such thinking itself—for after all, that approach to life’s challenges has led to our problems, it seems to me. I meant, of course, that all of us indulge in such black and white thinking at times, on some subjects, and I added that I periodically have to catch myself when I overreact to certain events. The question is why the personality would choose to use black and white thinking to begin with, when the results are so often deleterious to the whole personality, if we can just dissolve such approaches.... I’d like Seth to comment.

The only other times there is any such difficulty also involve responsibility when he concentrates upon his responsibility to hold the sessions—that is, when he focuses upon need, function, or utility as separate from other issues involved. Such feelings can then for a while override his natural inclinations and his natural enjoyment and his natural excitement with which he otherwise views our sessions.

(Rather intently:) He would not have had the sessions to begin with over this period of time for your sake alone, or even for your sake primarily—they simply would have petered out. You do have a large role to play, however, and I will go into that more clearly along with the way that you might have sometimes misread some of your own attitudes. Nothing, however, would have kept him at the sessions for this amount of time unless he wanted them.

(Pause.) You had some time ago an old newspaper article you had saved, on the dangers of using the words “should” or “would” too often—and there is perhaps nothing else you could do that is as detrimental to the true development of the natural self. Part of the difficulty in what Ruburt thinks of as the development of his abilities, or the more frequent insertion of inspirational work of his own, is the very fact that he feels so responsible to so thusly perform. All of these issues are highly important. The idea of responsibility, as described here, blocks creativity, hampers natural psychic and physical flow: “I should be doing thus and so.” “What do I like to do? What do I feel like doing? What makes me feel good?” Those questions are far more pertinent. When you want to do something truly there are usually few real impediments. Desire flows freely into action.

Ruburt’s own material of late is excellent, and will help enlarge the picture. It came spontaneously and clearly. His body has been attempting to relax. When he feels like so doing, then such activity or lack of it is precisely what is needed at the time, and he need not feel that he should be doing something else.

It is further inhibited if that sense of responsibility is wedded to solving the problems of the world or of correspondents, or when such an attempt is allowed to tinge any book sessions. I am not here referring to Mass Events, which was indeed directed toward the condition of the world, but to matters—whatever they may be—where Ruburt feels a responsibility on his part (underlined) for me to dictate specific material that might answer questions he thinks scientists or others might have in mind about any given subject matter; for I write from a different viewpoint, and our material is of course not to be dictated in any (pause)important way by the statement of your official knowledge at any given time. It is to rise beyond such categories. It is to present a larger thematic framework, which then can be used to put the world together in a different fashion for those who want to do so.

Remember what I told you some time ago, though you have made excellent strides in that regard, apropos natural man, in contrast to what you may think you should (underlined) be doing, in terms of any idealized self with characteristics that are not your own.