“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

For that matter, the body is naturally well-equipped to handle “projection of consciousness,” or out-of-body travel, whatever you prefer to call it. Your biological makeup includes mechanisms that allow a certain portion of your consciousness to leave your body and return. These mechanisms are a part of the nature of animals as well. The body is equipped to perceive many other kinds of experiences that are not officially recognized as native to human experience. To one extent or another, then, you learn to constantly monitor your behavior, so that it conforms to the established criteria set up for sane or rational experience.

You are social creatures, as the animals are. Despite many of your cherished, erroneous beliefs, your nations exist as the result of cooperation, not competition, as do all social groupings. To be ostracized is no laughing matter. The comfort of social discourse represents one of the great building blocks of families and civilizations. The set criteria of reality, therefore, operate as organizing, psychic, and physical frameworks. There is still more flexibility within those frameworks, however, than is recognized. You still try to carry your own cultural versions of reality into the dream state, for example, but the natural heritage of both body and mind escapes such repression — and despite yourselves, in your dreams you come in touch with a greater picture of reality that will not be shunted aside.

[...] But the idea that each person tries to actualize the idealized good as much as they can through their daily lives — their work, social structures, and so forth — and in the meantime use certain criteria that will help them judge for themselves whether or not their actions are really in line with their ideals. The criteria are actually the ones given in the chapter. [...]

[...] You are each gradually leaving the official level of consciousness behind, in that its beliefs no longer serve as your criteria of reality.

[...] You try to measure the dimension of dream experience by applying the rules of reality that are your usual criteria for judging events. [...]

Again, since you are culturally taught, to accept physical data as your criteria for physical reality, this is to some extent quite understandable. [...]

[...] These probable selves, however, are a portion of your identity or soul, and if you are out of contact with them it is only because you focus upon physical events and accept them as the criteria for reality.

[...] The point is that perception is the criteria for what you call matter. [...]

There are ways of assimilating your inner knowledge, your contrasting values of light and darkness, good and bad, youth and old age, and of using such criteria to enrich your own experience in a most practical fashion. [...]

[...] Black skin or brown skin becomes the criteria of spiritual perfection, and poverty a badge of honor to be worn not only proudly, but often to be used as an aggressive tool. [...]

[...] You have been brought up to accept that as a criteria for existence and yet each of you instinctively knows that you are far more than this, and those of you here realize it quite well and so you are driven to other than physical means. [...]

Understand that awareness is the criteria, however. [...]

[...] You are not to use other people’s criteria. [...]

Clear understanding or effective exploration of the unknown reality can be achieved only when you are able to leave behind you many “facts” that you have accepted as criteria of experience. [...]