“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(As we began to reread Monday’s session this morning, Jane said something that triggered a reaction on my part that I felt was based on material Seth gave in that session: “I tell my body every day that I trust it, that it can bear my weight when I go to the john, for example,” or words closely to that effect. Suddenly it came to me that she had it backwards—that her body didn’t need any additional trust, that it was perfectly willing to do her bidding at any time, including healing itself. What she should be stressing, I said, was that she trusted her spontaneous self—then the body would automatically react to the release of tension, to her trust in that spontaneous self. Put another way, the intellect then must learn to cooperate in that trusting by relaxing its near-paranoid protective cover.

(But with a new insight growing out of this month’s series of private sessions, I explained, I now felt that one could more directly get at the heart of one’s challenges, instead of trying to cajole the body into behaving differently—after all, the body’s condition was the result of certain ways of thinking, not the cause of the trouble. In addition, it was obvious that the body hadn’t responded to those habitual suggestions over the years, so something else was needed. The cause of Jane’s symptoms is her fear of the spontaneous self—that is the area that needs treatment. One might better address the fears of being the public person, for example, rather than trying to futilely patch up a body that was only faithfully following mirroring habits of deep and long standing.

(“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 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.

It often seems to him that to relax is to be lax, to let down, do nothing, achieve nothing, as if spontaneously left alone he would be lazy, unambitious, and again lax. He has those feelings and fears. (Pause.) At the same time there are feelings that to relax would be to let go too much (louder)—slide into overly spontaneous behavior, to lack control over one’s life, to lose the observer’s fine focus. As his body begins to relax—as indeed it has—those feelings become more prominent than before. Under the circumstances he is handling them rather well.

It is very important that Framework 2 be remembered, that overall suggestions be creative while open (intently), rather say than at this time too closed-ended. Talking with you is highly important now, many of the feelings that the rigidity hid, you see, now come into consciousness—an excellent situation because they can be and are being encountered. The entire arena of public endeavor brings up questions about the differences between spontaneous and controlled behavior, of course (long pause)—an issue we will go into another time, but thoroughly.

I am trying to hit all important points. (Pause.) I will in time, along with your questions, give some material, again, on Ruburt’s attitudes toward both of his parents as these relate to his difficulties. For now, however, I will bring the session to a close, though he may hold brief spontaneous sessions, you know, at other nights than our usual ones. I bid you a fond good evening.