“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

The ego can perceive only certain portions of any given moment point or present instant, and it sees the moment point indeed as if it were one of a series of lights that approaches the ego from one side, and passes him by on the other side. The ego perceives this moment point, then, very much as if it were a flat cardboard-like object which comes, is flashed before him, and disappears.

The ego cannot see that this moment point is open, so to speak, and represents an opening into many other dimensions. These dimensions may be traveled through; but they may not be traveled through by the ego, for the ego can only perceive those dimensions which it is physically equipped to see, or perceive.

[...] It must be clearly understood however that these other portions of the self are incapable of the ego’s intense focus within physical reality. [...] However, these selves are not limited as is the ego to one main field of perception only, in the manner which Dunne believes. [...]

[...] The ego does not perceive the communications, obviously; but the ego, you must understand, is not self one alone, it is only a portion of self one, or the physical self.

Ego concern is a very jealous concern, and it is directly connected to the personality’s concept of survival necessities within the physical universe. The ego that is overly fearful for survival will allow little potential to show itself unless that potential is directly connected with physical survival. Actually what happens here is that the ego sells the personality short, out of fear, and denies those very abilities that are needed, and in practical terms.

In many instances however, because of environment and other influences, the ego accepts few of the abilities available, and therefore hampers the full development of personality. Of necessity the ego discards more than it accepts, and this is why Ruburt runs into difficulties when he becomes too egotistically concerned.

[...] As a rule the ego chooses those elements from this repository which it feels will be most beneficial in dealing with physical reality.

In actuality the ego itself definitely benefits by allowing greater flexibility. [...]

Now, the ego, the dominant ego, does indeed affect the inner identity, and changes it even as it affects and changes the dominant ego. [...]

The overall efficiency of the inner self, or prime identity, is best displayed of course when it adopts an ego that mirrors its own characteristics and intents as closely as possible. There is bound to be a difference however, between the purposes of the inner identity and the ego.

[...] It is only the ego who makes the time distinction. The various existences are not perceivable by you, or rather they are not perceivable to the ego. [...]

The whole self or identity is aware of the experiences of all the egos, and since one identity forms these egos there is bound to be some similarities between them, and characteristics. [...]

Seth says that even in this life, each of us has various egos; we only accept the idea of one ego as a sort of shorthand symbolism. The ego at any given time in this life is simply the part of us that “surfaces”; a group of characteristics that the inner self uses to solve various problems. Even the ego as we think of it changes constantly. [...]

[...] Ego consciousness, on the other hand, involves a state in which consciousness of self attempts to divorce self from action—an attempt on the part of consciousness to perceive action as an object … and to perceive action as initiated by the ego as a result, rather than as a cause, of ego’s own existence.

[...] This is not ego consciousness. [...] Ego consciousness is a state resulting from the third creative dilemma, which happens when consciousness of self attempts to separate itself from action. [...]

[...] It never was imprisoned by ego time. Its perceptions are merely inhibited by the ego. [...]

[...] It is the ego’s idea of what is possible, the ego’s concept of reality, that determines in a large manner whether or not the brain will interpret any particular data.

Inner perceptions enlarge the ego’s idea of reality however so adjustments are made. It is the ego that insists upon separating itself from events, preferring to imagine itself a spectator above events, rather than a participator in events.

[...] The inner self has a much richer and deeper heritage than the intellect or ego. [...]

[...] The physical self can, it is true, become somewhat bewildered, but the ego also learns and expands so that it is able to accept and use the new information, and benefit from it. [...]

I did want to make the point however that you are now aware in practical terms of a conscious part of the personality that appears to be independent of the ego and aware of the ego’s activities.

You have by now become acquainted with a self you did not know before our sessions, a self who keeps watch upon both the ego and the subconscious. [...]

This portion of the self then can be utilized to keep the ego and the subconscious in balance. [...]

At times the ego can hold you in a tight vice, which the dissociation breaks. [...] However conscious fears cause the ego to tighten its grasp and some effects of this nature were starting up again. [...] The fact that the fearful ego was beginning to tighten explains your reaction to the exercises. The ego can build up around the subconscious vitality like a glacier, and these exercises melt it away. [...]

So should man’s ego be. When man’s ego turns instead into a shell, when instead of interpreting outside conditions it reacts too violently against them, then it hardens, becomes an imprisoning form that begins to snuff out important data, and to keep enlarging information from the inner self. The purpose of the ego is protective. [...]

The confident inner self will let the ego manipulate in the physical world, but will not allow it to become fiercely overprotective. [...] Your particular ego’s function is to show this work to the world as you know it. [...] Your ego’s job is to help you trade your true abilities for your daily bread.

Man’s ego causes him to interpret everything else in the light of himself. [...] The ego is definitely an advancement, but it can be compared to the bark of the tree in many ways. [...]

And the ego must have its feet upon solid earth. [...] Physical reality is, after all, a rock to which the ego must cling; from it, the ego achieves its prestige and reason for existence. [...] The ego would see no reason for such a memory and on general principles attempts to repress them.

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

The ego in that case 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 to delve directly into nonphysical realities, but if it is trained to be flexible, it will accept such knowledge from other wider horizons of the self.

The ego skims the topmost surface of reality and awareness. [...] It is true that the ego’s responsibility is with the relationship between the self and the physical environment. [...]

The urge between the child’s desire to do so, the basically kind nature, and the inability to carry out any such actions in any case, led to an overguarding ego. The ego did not appear rigid, for the inner seethings made it impossible, and spontaneity constantly erupted, but in ways the whole personality felt were the least dangerous.

Now occasionally the ego has risen up in our sessions, but to no alarming degree. On the few occasions when the symptoms were mentioned and a particular time given, this was a rather pathetic attempt on the part of the ego to make use of the sessions.

The ego has to a large extent accepted them already, as is shown by the results of our test data, for which the ego’s cooperation is necessary.

[...] He has been depriving it physically, in a misguided attempt to force it into the ego’s idea of spirituality.

In other words the ego is not familiar with the probable self, but certain portions of the subconscious are. [...] The subconscious is aware of many realities which are not accepted by the ego as actual physical events, and it reacts to many stimuli of which the ego is completely unaware.

The information is sifted often through the dreaming self to the subconscious, which has intimate knowledge of the ego with which it is closely connected. The subconscious makes its own value judgments here, and passes these on to the ego. But then the ego must come to its own decision.

Again past, present and future are definite realities only to the ego. Memory to the ego presupposes the existence of a past that no longer exists within physical reality. [...]

[...] However, for various reasons often the ego will simply refuse to make the decision. Occasionally when a decision has been made by the ego, the subconscious will change it, because the decision is obviously such an unwise one.

Even if they are recalled as dreams however, they may appear meaningless, for they are unfamiliar to the ego. [...] Tomorrow’s events in tonight’s dreams do not, not at least to the ego. Generic codes apply in other words to the future as well as to the past, but mankind does not generally perceive them as such for they appear meaningless to the ego, because of the ego’s inherent nature and limitations.

[...] You recognize elements from the past, since your ego is familiar with them. [...] The ego does not recognize elements of the future when they do appear within dreams, and it does not therefore admit them into perceptive patterns. The ego does not perceive their significance. [...]

[...] It existed before the ego’s formation, and in many cases exists after the ego’s organization is altered. [...]

[...] Such dreams do carry the individual out away from ego identity, and at the same time closer to an inner identity that the ego usually attempts to deny.

[...] The inner ego (long pause) draws instant and continuous support from the universal consciousness, and the more the exterior ego keeps that fact in mind, the greater its own sense of stability, safety, and self-esteem.

The inner ego, however, always identifies with its source-identity as a beloved, individualized portion of the universe. [...]

[...] Through being made aware of these facts, the exterior ego can begin to feel a quicker sense of support and nourishment. [...]

Now, in the past when you said the word I, this I was the ego I, and you identified the whole self with the ego. Later you learned to distinguish between the ego and the subconscious. [...]

[...] You are aware of the ego and able to see yourself as something more than the ego is. This is the I that you have been using in the pendulum sessions, that questions both the ego and subconscious. [...]

This self can give directions to both the ego and the subconscious and can instruct the subconscious to speed up healing processes. [...]

[...] The inner ego (see the last session) is perfect as a term to suit my purposes. [...] Its methods are not chaotic, and its characteristics are not only equal to those of the known ego, but indeed are more resilient and knowledgeable.

I said that the inner ego reasons, but its reasoning is not restricted to the cause-and-effect limitations that you apply to the reasoning process. The action of the inner ego within the wider sphere of Framework 2 explains many events and seeming coincidences that otherwise seem to make no sense within your world. [...]

The inner ego has access, again, to a much vaster amount of knowledge. [...]

[...] The reasoning of the inner ego is involved with the creative invention of those experiences. [...]

[...] The inner self therefore does not overstep the boundaries of the ego, go against the ego’s wishes, or try to force (underline) the ego. It is up to the ego to learn how to use these vast potentials that lie within the inner self, how to use them to help itself and others.

When the ego is using its abilities in an unfortunate manner the inner self sets up warning systems, sometimes even bringing the physical organism to a physical or symbolic halt to prevent the ego from doing further damage through misdirection.

Through these maneuvers the inner self does teach the ego the proper use of these inner potentials. The inner self literally carries the ego, and provides life sustenance. [...]

[...] The inner self does offer advice, intuitional help, inspiration, all of these things, but it does not force the ego to accept them.

[...] The deeper portions of the self do not have to take the ego’s idea of time into consideration, so these portions of the self also deal with data that would ordinarily escape the ego’s perception, perhaps until a certain “point” of ego time was reached.

The ego, which must manipulate most directly with the everyday world, takes time, clock time, quite seriously. Even the ego however realizes to some extent that clock time is a convention; but it does not like such conventions broken.

[...] On occasion, when the ego recognizes that such data can be highly practical, it then becomes more liberal in its recognition of it — but only when such information fits in with its concepts of what is possible and not possible.

Now the ego’s concepts are your concepts, since it is a part of you. [...]

A disciplined but intuitive ego then becomes a necessity in order that such new experience may be brought under useful control, in your (underlined) terms. The ego become more necessary you see, not less, for it must learn to synthesize the gained experience in recognizable terms within your system. Otherwise if the ego is pushed aside it will rise up in arms and in opposition, and can be highly dangerous.

[...] The ego in such cases is so attuned that it becomes almost something else. [...] The ego is not, underlined, banished. [...] Therefore it is no longer an ego in the terms usually meant.

The ego has completely changed its structure. [...] And in the long run no consciousness expansion can occur unless the ego structure is so altered.

[...] There is no doubt that this sort of experience is new to the ego, which is used to interpreting sense data in highly rigid and specialized terms.

[...] Oh, how the ego fights. [...] Oh, how the ego rises up in arms.

The very fact that you breathe and dream and perform countless other activities without any aid from the conscious ego should of itself convince even the most stubborn scientific skull that more is involved than science is willing to admit. The idea of the subconscious mind is merely a grudging, hedging, partial admission that man is more than the conscious ego, more than the sum of his parts, and more than a mechanism.

The emotions, while connected to the ego strongly, nevertheless also belong to what we have been pleased to call the subconscious. But because they are so intertwined with the inner life they are also common to both the ego and the so-called subconscious.

[...] To the ego this is a frightening future in prospect. To the ego, even sleep seems a slap in the face. [...]

The ego is a very specialized portion of your greater identity. [...] The ego can feel cut off, lonely and frightened, however, if the conscious mind lets the ego run away with it. The ego and the conscious mind are not the same thing. The ego is composed of various portions of the personality — it is a combination of characteristics, ever-changing, that act in unitary fashion — the portion of the personality that deals most directly with the world.

In certain terms, the ego is the eye through which the conscious mind perceives, or the focus through which it views physical reality. [...] The ego, while appearing the same to itself, ever changes. It is only when the conscious mind becomes rigid in its direction, or allows the ego to take on some of its own functions, that difficulties arise. Then the ego allows the conscious mind to work in certain directions and blocks its awareness in others.

I have spoken of “you,” yet this must not be confused with the “you” that you often think you are — the ego alone, for the ego is only a portion of You; it is that expert part of your personality that deals directly with the contents of your conscious mind, and is concerned most directly with the material portions of your experience.

Your ego, in common ordinary terms, has changed as a result of our sessions, in that it is now concerned with other realities also. In common sense terms, the ego handles manipulations within physical reality, and focuses brilliantly within a rather narrow range.

I used the term (ego) often myself for your convenience, and I use it now for the same reason. I believe that I will tell you this for your definition: the ego is the portion of identity that is presently focused within an apparent now—that is, it is primarily designed as a mental tool, focusing within time as it is known and experienced by physical creatures.

Obviously then ego is a part of identity, rather than the other way around, and it is only a part of consciousness. It is when ego attempts to confuse itself with identity that difficulties begin.

[...] He will not overdo, for in this his ego is an aid and it will see to it that over-exertion does not occur. [...]