“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Now Jane agreed with all of this at the time, but later while painting I wondered whether I’d been too vehement in what I’d said. I didn’t want her to feel bad. And I learned during the day that our talk had upset her considerably, even though I’d told her I felt that there was “a lot of hope” in the ideas expressed in our discussion. Jane further echoed my concern when she said later that she didn’t know what suggestions to give herself when she went to the john, and later got onto the bed. Yet I felt that I was on to something good, and asked Jane pretty definitely to see that Seth discussed the subject tonight. I also wanted him to talk about the subject we’d mentioned for Monday night’s session, but which hadn’t been covered: the reasons for her sore backside, and what she could do to help ease her hip and leg discomfort. Somehow we got totally off that subject when Seth went into the interesting topic of PKMB, or psychokinetic metal bending. But at this time in these sessions we’ve got to get all the new data we can to help in our own hassles.

(“Insight, February 25, 1981, 1:20 PM. Although Jane enjoys the sessions, as Seth himself said in the session for February 1, 1981 She is still somewhat afraid of what he will produce in the future—new theories and ideas that either might or will place her in further confrontation with the major tenets of our ordinary world—meaning science, religion, medicine, history, whatever. She fears then, Seth going too far as an expression of her creative and spontaneous self. This expression then must be kept within strict, safe limits. This fear of future developments ties in very well with her natural concerns about becoming a public figure, one that should be able to solve the world’s problems. Once more, I know I’m on to something here, while agreeing in advance that I’ve expressed the insight in simplistic terms.”

(“The insight also reminds me of one of my questions for Seth: I plan to ask him for hints about what sort of ideas he would advance if he’s given the freedom to do so by Jane. He’s already alluded to this notion through a rather recent reference to the fact that he “toned down” some of his material for Mass Events in order to make it more acceptable. I now wish I’d asked him at the time, acceptable to whom? Jane and me, Prentice-Hall, the world, critics, the post office?”

(Jane called me for the session at 8:25. “I don’t feel Seth around and I don’t feel like a session,” she said, “but I guess I’d better....” We sat waiting for some time. I showed her my rough notes on the latest insight, and took pains to explain to her that it wasn’t a negative statement, but one that I saw as having only beneficial connotations. “What I think would happen if Seth were free to do anything he wanted to, would be great,” I said. “Whether it was ever published or not. We can talk about it later.” We agreed the insight represented something of a new idea.

The body is softening. The affair frightens him nevertheless because, as mentioned earlier, he identifies strongly with his own bodily tensions. Letting them go brings him into a more or less constant encounter with many of the fears that helped generate them. Some of these have to do with an erroneous idea of relaxation in general, of course, with his father, and with spontaneity.

The idea that it is indeed safe to relax is important, coupled with the realization that all creativity is basically now—basically—effortless, and that this applies to the body’s motion also. When he is effortlessly creating a poem he is not worried that he is relaxing too much, or going too far, or giving up control. Instead, he is letting go by going with himself (all intently)—and that attitude makes all the difference.