“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

“He is not human in your terms, though he passed through human stages; and here the Buddhist myth comes closest to approximating reality. He is not one individual, but an energy gestalt.

“If you remember what I said about the way in which the universe expands, that it has nothing to do with space, then you may perhaps dimly perceive the existence of a psychic pyramid of interrelated, ever-expanding consciousness that creates, simultaneously and instantaneously, universes and individuals that are given—through the gifts of personal perspective—duration, psychic comprehension, intelligence, and eternal validity.

“This absolute, ever-expanding, instantaneous psychic gestalt, which you may call God if you prefer, is so secure in its existence that it can constantly break itself down and rebuild itself.

As mentioned earlier, however, the Seth Material does not ignore deeper questions having to do with the “beginning” of consciousness and of reality. I really think that this particular material can hold its own with the best metaphysical writings of our time. For this reason I am continuing this chapter with excerpts from sessions 426, 427, and 428, where Seth began with a fuller explanation of space, time, and probable realities and then led us, step by step, into a discussion of God.

Seth uses the word “God” sparingly, usually when speaking to students who are used to thinking in theological terms. As a rule, he speaks of “All That Is” or “Primary Energy Gestalts.”

“All That Is retains memory of that state, and it serves as a constant impetus—in your terms—toward renewed creativity. Each self, as a part of All That Is, therefore also retains memory of that state. It is for this reason that each minute consciousness is endowed with the impetus toward survival, change, development, and creativity. It is not enough that All That Is, as a primary consciousness gestalt, desires further being, but that each portion of It also carries this determination.

“When I speak of All That Is, you must understand my position within It. All That Is knows no other. This does not mean that there may not be more to know. It does not know whether or not other psychic gestalts like It may exist. It is not aware of them if they do exist. It is constantly searching. It knows that something else existed before Its own primary dilemma when It could not express Itself.

“At first, in your terms, all of probable reality existed as nebulous dreams within the consciousness of All That Is. Later, the unspecific nature of these ‘dreams’ grew more particular and vivid. The dreams became recognizable one from the other until they drew the conscious notice of All That Is. And with curiosity and yearning, All That Is paid more attention to Its own dreams.

“It then purposely gave them more and more detail, and yearned toward this diversity and grew to love that which was not yet separate from itself. It gave consciousness and imagination to personalities while they still were but within Its dreams. They also yearned to be actual.

“Potential individuals, in your terms, had consciousness before the beginning or any beginning as you know it, then. They clamored to be released into actuality, and All That Is, in unspeakable sympathy, sought within Itself for the means.

“In Its massive imagination, It understood the cosmic multiplication of consciousness that could not occur within that framework. Actuality was necessary if these probabilities were to be given birth. All That Is saw, then, an infinity of probable, conscious individuals, and foresaw all possible developments, but they were locked within It until It found the means.

“The pressure came from two sources: from the conscious but still probable individual selves who found themselves alive in a God’s dream, and from the God who yearned to release them.

“On the other hand, you could say that the pressure existed simply on the part of the God since the creation existed within Its dream, but such tremendous power resides in such primary pyramid gestalts that even their dreams are endowed with vitality and reality.

“This, then, is the dilemma of any primary pyramid gestalt: It creates reality. It also recognized within each consciousness the massive potential that existed. The means, then, came to It. It must release the creatures and probabilities from Its dream.

“To do so would give them actuality. However, it also meant ‘losing’ a portion of Its own consciousness, for it was within that portion that they were held in bondage. All That Is had to let go. While It thought of these individuals as Its creations, It held them as a part of Itself and refused them actuality.

“To let them go was to ‘lose’ that portion of Itself that had created them. Already It could scarcely keep up with the myriad probabilities that began to emerge from each separate consciousness. With love and longing It let go that portion of Itself, and they were free. The psychic energy exploded in a flash of creation.

“All That Is, therefore, ‘lost’ a portion of Itself in that creative endeavor. All That Is loves all that It has created down to the least, for It realizes the dearness and uniqueness of each consciousness which has been wrest from such a state and at such a price. It is triumphant and joyful at each development taken by each consciousness, for this is an added triumph against that first state, and It revels and takes joy in the slightest creative act of each of Its issues.

“It, of Itself and from that state, has given life to infinities of possibilities. From its agony, It found the way to burst forth in freedom, through expression, and in so doing gave existence to individualized consciousness. Therefore is It rightfully jubilant. Yet all individuals remember their source, and now dream of All That Is as All That Is once dreamed of them. And they yearn toward that immense source … and yearn to set It free and give It actuality through their own creations.

“The motivating force is still All That Is, but individuality is no illusion. Now in the same way do you give freedom to the personality fragments within your own dreams and for the same reason. And you create for the same reason, and within each of you is the memory of that primal agony—that urge to create and free all probable consciousness into actuality.

“These connections between you and All That Is can never be severed, and Its awareness is so delicate and focused that Its attention is indeed directed with a prime creator’s love to each consciousness.

In other words, the whole frame of reality according to Seth includes far more than reincarnation and development within the physical system that we know. We have many sessions dealing with the nature of other realities, and sessions on “cosmology” that can’t be included in this book because of the space requirements. One of the most important points, I think, is that God is not static Himself. Whole blocks of Seth material discuss the potentials and makeup of consciousness as it is manifested in molecules, man, and pyramid energy gestalts. All of these are intimately connected in a cosmological web of activity. But as Seth says, “Even this overall pyramid gestalt is not static. Most of your God concepts deal with a static God, and here is one of your main theological difficulties. The awareness and experience of this gestalt constantly changes and grows. There is no static God. When you say, ‘This is God,’ then God is already something else. I am using the term ‘God’ for simplicity’s sake.

“Consciousness, seeking to know itself, therefore knows you. You, as a consciousness, seek to know yourself and become aware of your self as a distinct individual portion of All That Is. You not only draw upon this overall energy but you do so automatically since your existence is dependent upon It.

“There is no personal God-individual in Christian terms,” Seth says, “and yet you do have access to a portion of All That Is, a portion highly attuned to you. … There is a portion of All That Is directed and focused within each individual, residing within each consciousness. Each consciousness is, therefore, cherished and individually protected. This portion of overall consciousness is individualized within you.

“The personality of God as generally conceived is a one-dimensional concept based upon man’s small knowledge of his own psychology. What you prefer to think of as God is, again, an energy gestalt or pyramid consciousness. It is aware of itself as being, for instance, you, Joseph. It is aware of itself as the smallest seed. … This portion of All That Is that is aware of itself as you, that is focused within your existence, can be called upon for help when necessary.

“This portion is also aware of itself as something more than you. This portion that knows itself as you, and as more than you, is the personal God, you see. Again: this gestalt, this portion of All That Is, looks out for your interests and may be called upon in a personal manner.

“This psychic gestalt may sound impersonal to you, but since its energy forms your person, how can this be?

“If you prefer to call this supreme psychic gestalt God, then you must not attempt to objectify him, for he is the nuclei of your cells and more intimate than your breath.”

In another session, Seth explained it this way: “You are cocreators. What you call God is the sum of all consciousness, and yet the whole is more than the sum of Its parts. God is more than the sum of all personalities, and yet all personalities are what He is.

“There is constant creation. There is within you a force that knew how to grow you from a fetus to a grown adult. This force is part of the innate knowledge within all consciousness, and it is a part of the God within you.

“There were three men whose lives became confused in history and merged, and whose composite history became known as the life of Christ. … Each was highly gifted psychically, knew of his role, and accepted it willingly. The three men were a part of one entity, gaining physical existence in one time. They were not born on the same date, however. There are reasons why the entity did not return as one person. For one thing, the full consciousness of an entity would be too strong for one physical vehicle. For another, the entity wanted a more diversified environment than could otherwise be provided.

“The entity was born once as John the Baptist, and then he was born in two other forms. One of these contained the personality that most stories of Christ refer to. … I will tell you about the other personality at a later time. There was constant communication between these three portions of one entity, though they were born and buried at different dates. The race called up these personalities from its own psychic bank, from the pool of individualized consciousness that was available to it.”

“In the dawn of physical existence, in the dawn before history began, men knew that death was merely a change of form. No God created the crime of murder, and no God created sorrow or pain. … Again, because you believe that you can murder a man and end his consciousness forever, then murder exists within your reality and must be dealt with. … The assassin of Dr. King believes that he has blotted out a living consciousness for all eternity. … But your errors and mistakes, luckily enough, are not real and do not affect reality, for Dr. King still lives.”