“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Inclinations with which the ego has very little liking, for example, are very seldom a problem for the ego, since they remain generally outside of the ego pattern, never having been chosen by it to form a characteristic part of the ego pattern. Obviously, to some degree every conceivable sort of inclination is latent to the ego, but it is apparent that each ego has its peculiar set of adopted characteristics, its set of characteristics that it sometimes accepts and sometimes rejects; and it is obvious that some characteristics simply seem alien to any given ego.

What you have here is an attempt to objectify, or stand apart from action in such a refusal. This is not the fault of the subconscious, but a fault of the ego, which refuses to assimilate or accept a given action. As you know, it is the ego who exists as a result of such objectivity. All the qualities that make up the ego are objectified to that degree, but they are collected about the ego with the ego as center. When the ego however refuses to accept an emotion as a part of itself, it tries one of two actions.

The strength of the ego actually depends on the flexibility with which it can accept and assimilate ever more complex actions, and give them a unity of its own. An action or emotion not accepted by the ego, but nevertheless a part of it, will always drain energy from the main core of the ego, despite the ego’s denial, and energy that cannot therefore be used by the ego for the purposes of its own purposeful action.

Now: the inner ego is the organizer of experience that Jung would call unconscious. The inner ego is another term for what we call the inner self. As the outer ego manipulates within the physical environment, so the inner ego or self organizes and manipulates with an inner reality. The inner ego creates that physical reality with which the outer ego then deals.

[...] It is purposeful, highly discriminating, performed by the inner conscious ego of which the exterior ego is but a shadow—and not, you see, the other way around. Jung’s dark side of the self is the ego, not the unconscious. [...] It is the product of an inner consciousness with far more sense of identity and purpose than the daily ego. It is the daily ego’s ignorance and limited focus that makes it view so-called unconscious activity as chaotic.

The energy of this inner self is used by it to form from itself—from inner experience—a material counterpart in which the outer ego then can act out its role. The outer ego then acts out a play that the inner self has written. This is not to say that the outer ego is a puppet. It is to say that the outer ego is far less conscious than the inner ego, that its perception is less, that it is far less stable though it makes great pretense of stability, that it springs from the inner self and is therefore less, rather than more, aware.

Such alternative reactions frighten the ego because they seem to injure the ego’s self-image. Yet all characteristic reactions, whether denied by the ego or not, are kept for use as alternative actions. In many cases actions unacceptable to the ego may be precisely those actions that are necessary for whole other areas of the personality. When too many actions are restricted by the ego, they may begin to form impulse patterns or groupings of various rejected impulses. These then adhere through attraction, and attempt to find expression regardless of the ego’s attempts to restrict expression.

Many reactions, many patterns of reactions, are rejected by the ego upon some occasions and accepted upon other occasions, but as a rule such alternate behavior is annoying to the ego itself. The ego deals with cause and effect, and often denies particular reactions because it decides that they are not effective. The ego is fairly rigid, comparatively speaking. Rationalization is one method by which the ego justifies its acceptance of a reaction which it once rejected as ineffective.

[...] The ego may choose to use or not use various reactions. It may reject various reactions as a part of the past, for it is the ego alone who is concerned with past, present and future. The ego’s denial of a reaction however does not cause the reaction to disappear from within the personality, at least as part of possible pattern reaction.

The inner ego knows when to apply safety valves, and is aware of the danger before the outer ego is alerted. The inner ego is concerned with maintaining the foundations and balance, which is very important, of the whole self, and it is open to messages from the overall entity. The inner ego receives messages through the inner senses, and is aware of realities which the outer ego cannot afford to recognize because of its specialization. In some important aspects the outer ego is supposed to represent to some degree the subdominant personalities who still dwell in the subconscious. When the outer ego is narrow, and poorly represents these subdominant personalities then they rise up in arms, and when conditions are favorable attempt to express themselves through a momentary weakness on the part of the dominant ego. But without even doing this they may momentarily take over or express themselves through a single function, such as speech or motion, while the outer ego is blissfully unaware.

[...] The outer ego does not want to meet the inner ego. The outer ego does not want to admit the existence of the inner ego. As the eye cannot see its own pupil without a mirror, so the outer ego could not even see itself, were it not that the inner ego hides in the depths of all reflections.

When the outer ego, from the surface of its consciousness, reflects the outer world, it sees reflections of the inner ego which are the images within its own eye; and as the self creates matter subconsciously within its own eye, and as the self creates matter subconsciously and not consciously, and as the self creates matter in line with inner and not outer expectations, so then does the ego, in viewing the material universe, come face to face with the face of its own inner ego; and the outer ego cannot escape from this inner self.

Now the inner ego is the organizer of experience that Jung would call unconscious. The inner ego is another term for what we call the inner self. As the outer ego manipulates within the environment and physical reality, so the inner ego or self organizes and manipulates within an inner reality. The inner ego creates that physical reality with which the outer ego then deals.

He makes a good point, saying that the ego cannot know unconscious material directly. He does not realize however, nor do your other psychologists, what I have told you often—that there is an inner ego; and it is this inner ego that organizes what Jung would call unconscious material.

[...] You merely block out the memory from the normal waking ego. [...] We will differentiate between normal ego consciousness then, and consciousness that only appears unconscious to that ego. [...]

Because of its nature ego does not want to adjust. [...] Because ego is another manifestation of action, it is of course impossible for its aims to be realized. For all its attempts at stability and control, ego itself constantly changes. Ego most of all resents and fights against time as you know it, yet ego is to a large extent responsible for your conception of time. Basically, ego fears both the past and the present. [...]

[...] Those portions of the personality which escape ego’s attempts to dominate are held suspect in ego’s eyes. Ego considers them as invalid and dangerous to its own supremacy. When ego is forced to admit that personality changes, it will do its best to avoid this knowledge. The more rigid an ego is, the more danger there is that the individual will have difficulties in all kinds of adjustments.

The ego is scarcely conscious of these. Your experiences occurred when the ego, because of your illness, was momentarily exhausted, its control lessened. The personality was then momentarily aware of realities that the ego would ordinarily attempt to block. [...]

This ego in particular, and many egos, consider that the self is the ego alone. The ego considers that therefore it must maintain stability and permanence. [...] Therefore any seemingly small incident will tend to bring forth the explosion of these emotions quite against the ego’s inclination, precisely because the ego denies them so vehemently.

It is precisely because the inner vitality is not accepted by the ego, that when it is acknowledged by the ego it seems so explosive. The ego attempts, this ego attempts, to stand aside and to deny the inevitability of change. The ego in this case, as in many cases, attempts to maintain stability and permanence at all costs.

[...] We have also discussed the ego, and our friend would do well to read the sessions dealing with the ego, and the ego’s relationship to action. For one of the basic reasons for the difficulty lies in the fact that the ego of the present personality does strongly attempt to stand apart from action. [...]

[...] However, it must be understood that from the whole personality’s viewpoint, a strong ego, that is a dependable one, and one that will also allow necessary expression, is a necessity. Therefore from the standpoint of the whole personality, the adoption of a new ego, so to speak, with a more practical grouping of unifying principles, could be the best solution of the previous ego, the previously dominant ego, (if it) had been an incapable one.

The very nature of the ego and of the personality is formed by the ability to choose between actions or stimuli; but life as it is not connected to a highly differentiated ego, rejoices in all stimuli, as sensation, whether it is pleasurable or painful, for these distinctions do not exist in your terms. In the beginning of our sessions I spoke in a general manner, for example, saying that trees and plant life had a consciousness, but not a developed ego system. [...]

[...] Only a part of the personality, the ego, is so involved. It is obvious of course that the personality system will react to stimuli that seem, to the ego, to be far divorced in time. That is, the personality may react to a stimuli in the present that occurred originally twenty years ago, to the ego’s understanding of time.

As far as self and notself are concerned, the unit of self is organized, as you know, by the inner ego, which directs the whole energy field. The outer ego directs the manipulation of this gestalt in the physical universe. The outer ego is rather more tied to physical properties, and yet it can directly experience inner reality by a change of focus through aligning itself with the inner ego, focusing its energies with the inner rather than the outer senses. This is by far the most advantageous method of experiencing inner reality, because the outer ego is therefore consciously aware of what has been going on, and can use such knowledge in its own sphere.

When the two are in balance and when there is communication between them, then the inner ego can directly communicate with the outer ego, bring to it the necessary enlightenments, and give it, that is give the outer ego the benefit of its own, the inner ego’s own, condensed comprehension and direct participation in the existence of the universe as a whole.

The ego may also have particular desires of its own along these lines. [...] In various reincarnations upon your plane, the ego that reincarnates is the same ego. The information of past lives is retained by that ego’s subconscious, for obvious reasons. [...]

The ego itself in many instances cannot experience directly certain intuitions and psychological experiences, but it can experience them insofar as it can be aware of them on an intellectual basis. When training forces the ego to become too rigid, and to limit its perception of other realities, then the intuitions will not be accepted by the ego because intuitional experience will not fit into the framework of reality as the ego sees it.

The ego, because of its responsibility, will therefore fight against what it then considers an unknown threat to survival. [...] We want to bring intuitional comprehension to a point where the ego will accept it.

[...] The ego is not equipped of itself to delve directly into nonphysical realities. If the ego is trained to be flexible however, it will accept such knowledge from the subconscious, and other wider horizons of the self.

If only the physically-oriented ego survived, very little indeed would survive at all. The physically-oriented ego is hardly aware of your experiences in their entirety. The physically-oriented ego, if it alone survived, would contain only your conscious memories. [...] Events and experiences which are forgotten, or which escaped the physically-oriented ego, still affect your activities in this life, and if they did not your physical existence would be brief indeed. (Jane pounded the tabletop for emphasis, eyes wide and dark.) Any survival that was based upon the survival of the physically-oriented ego alone would be as shallow as a paper cutout. [...] You take it for granted that the physically-oriented ego represents your own psychological identity, you see, and this is an illusion. [...]

The overall needs of the personality are always taken into consideration by what I have called in the past the inner ego. Now this portion of the self is indeed self-conscious in the highest meaning of the term—aware of the subconscious portion of the personality, aware of the primary conscious framework that you call your ego, and constantly directs the overall activities. [...]

[...] This inner ego can also operate within the dream state, and in certain awake-seeming dreams it is the portion that realizes that the personality is not in its normal waking condition. [...] The inner ego is the part of the personality that contains the highest aspirations and capabilities. [...]

The outer ego is very seldom aware of the inner ego, and the subconscious is indeed a vast area dividing them. We are discussing now the outer ego in relation to the inner ego, and describing a situation in terms of relationships. Other relationships would show both the outer and inner egos in a different light. [...]

The inner ego is focused inward, with as much intensity as the outer ego is focused outward. This inner ego is in many respects a composite, as indeed to a lesser degree the outer ego is a composite.

The inner ego has experienced, then, objectivity, and has returned to a subjective state. It is a relative storehouse of energy, and it is capable of aiding the outer ego when certain conditions arise. The inner ego may be termed the unfamiliar “I”. In many cases it is the I who dreams, bringing valuable information to the personal subconscious, information that may be then used for the benefit of the outer ego itself.

The ego may assimilate only a part of a given experience. [...] Remember here again that there is a difference between the ego and consciousness of self. It is not necessary that the ego assimilate all experiences that are open to consciousness of self. Ego must have at hand, however, those experiences that are significant for manipulation within the physical environment.

The health and psychic condition of an individual is not primarily determined by the ego, however. It is only when the ego is allowed too much power that the individual is deprived of much of the inner vitality of the whole self. For the ego is acquainted with only its role. [...]

[...] It is aware of the ego. Remember here the difference between consciousness of self and the ego, for the difference is important. The ego is but part of the self, part of the conscious self, but focused in one direction.

As you have an ego, fully conscious, directed toward the physical world, you also have what I call an inner ego, directed toward inner reality. You have, in other words, a portion of yourself that is fully conscious in Framework 2. The ego in your ordinary world, which again we will call Framework 1, is uniquely equipped to deal with that environment. [...]

The communication between the inner and outer egos should obviously be as clear and open as possible. As a general rule, the inner ego depends upon your assessment of physical events. [...] The flow of creativity begun by the inner ego will be impeded.

The inner ego is fully conscious. [...] Dream periods provide that service, of course, so that in dreams the two egos can meet and merge to some extent, comparing notes like strangers who perhaps meet on a train at night, and are amazed to discover, after some conversation, that they are indeed close relatives, each embarked upon the same journey though seemingly they travelled alone.

The four faces of Eve all represented various ego manifestations of one inner identity. The course of the ego is a precarious one, and any number of potential egos exist within any identity. The Three Faces of Eve is an excellent title for the book, since the ego may quite legitimately be compared to the face that the identity turns toward objective reality, or the living mask that it dons.

[...] It is true that the personality is a gestalt, and that every identity has any number of potential egos. It is also true that on occasion one potential ego will take over from another. But this is all highly simplified, for the ego structure is not one thing, but a changing, never constant, actually quite informal grouping of psychological patterns. Each ego uses and interprets the organism’s perceiving apparatus in a way that in the overall is characteristic and distinctive.

[...] This should not be forgotten, and all potential egos have, also, their own possibilities. The inner self or identity must express itself through its ego in order to manipulate within physical reality. The inner self is composed of all the potential egos that compose it, but it is more than the sum of these.

The personal subconscious and the ego are indeed equal partners in the formation of any given present personality. [...] Once such a relationship is set up between the ego and the subconscious, then communication in general between the two will always improve. The subconscious, even the personal subconscious, is much freer from the moment point than is the ego, and it can inform the ego of important developments which can be of great help.

[...] Yet the very attempt causes the formation of the ego. Once this apparent separate ego is formed, and once a fair amount of stability is maintained, and a new identity arrived at, the initial desire and energy will maintain the ego in its position during its existence in any field. Since this existence of separate identity is assured, attempts should then be made so that the ego can better participate in its realization of action, and the emotional life is very important in this respect.

It is indeed more fluid and resilient than the ego. It is the failure of the ego to listen to the inner voice of the subconscious that causes many difficulties. The ego would wish the subconscious out of existence. [...]

His ego however is also very strong. His mother taught him to be extremely fearful of his subconscious, and the rigid ego became a protection from it and her. As he grew older he thought of the ego as a balancing agent against an inner spontaneous self that always, it seemed, got him into trouble. [...]

Usually this occurred when alcohol relaxed the ego, and the results would then make the ego tighten its control. [...] The ego fears any weakening, for it feels the pressure of the subconscious demand for expression. [...]

Then, the strong conflict between the ego and subconscious was the result of home environment. [...] In panic, the ego then tripled its defenses. [...]

In the various levels of existence the inner and outer egos begin to merge. Gradually direct experience of inner reality is spoon-fed by the inner ego through the mouth of the subconscious to the outer ego. The division between the inner and outer egos is necessary for other reasons than the nature of direct experience itself. That is, the outer ego is shielded from direct experience of reality because it could not take the impact of such experience. [...]

This sort of experience will always be shielded from the outer ego of necessity. Even a watered-down version of a direct inner experience is a shock to the outer ego on your plane, since the ego imagines itself and its own perceptions to be supreme. You have no idea, even with what training you have, of how shattering such a complete experience would be to the outer ego, so we will take one inner-sense experience at a time.

[...] The inner ego is of course aware of this. The subconscious is sometimes aware of this, and the outer ego is aware of very little. [...] The outer ego must concentrate much of its energy toward survival in and manipulation of the outer camouflage world. [...]

[...] The ego however was terrified at the thought. Long after he wished the ego to return, the ego hid. [...]

The whole self contains the ego, and he ignored this. [...] He cut off his ego to save his soul, and nearly lost both in the bargain. The ego indeed is part of the soul. [...]

There is a possible new beginning for him, however, and it will be a new reorganization of tendencies that results in the formation of a new ego, born out of the old. (Long pause.) It must be formed slowly, as the child’s ego is. [...]

The survival personality therefore momentarily inserts his ego in its old position. [...] The ego, back in its dominant position, finds the circumstances difficult to deal with. [...] The survival personality’s inner self gives this reassembled ego concepts in the same way that, often, the subconscious gives the ego concepts in physical existence.

The child’s ego is not the adult’s ego. [...] The ego is not the most powerful or the most knowledgeable portion of the self. [...]

It is a great mistake to imagine that the human being has but one ego, however. The ego represents merely any given pattern of characteristics, psychological characteristics, that happen to be dominant at any given time. If any kind of a thorough investigation were to be carried on, it would become apparent that during one lifetime any given individual will display several, sometimes quite different, egos at various times, each one quite honestly seeing itself as the permanent I.