“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

I will not give him any date, or approximate date, for his wife’s death. The knowledge would not be to his advantage, nor in some ways would it be to her advantage, for his attitude toward her would change.

[...] (Eyes closed; Jane gestured as though attempting to understand.) I believe to someone else beside the man and his wife—the man, or his wife.

(The first part of this session was held for John Pitre, who telephoned Jane about a week ago from Franklin, LA, on behalf of his ill wife, Peggy.

(Jane began speaking in trance at a very slow and deliberate pace, I had the distinct feeling that she wanted to get the information through in as undistorted a manner as possible, as Seth began to discuss the material John had given during his call.)

The father in many ways wanted to save face, so that his death should indeed appear accidental, and the result of someone else’s fault beside his own. [...] He had sired his children, loved as well as he could, done his job—but there was no contemplative life to look forward to, no greater love than the one with his wife—and that love while conventionally sound enough, did not content him.

(However, neither of us had the slightest idea that Seth himself would use the account—which Jane hadn’t read, don’t forget—as the subject matter for his first delivery tonight. [...] And his work in turn led me to what I think of as an exceptionally good idea for a book, which I’ll describe at first break.)

[...] The accident gives him a specific event upon which to lay his guilt, but coming so close to death, his own instincts for life were rearoused, so that he is literally given a second chance.

[...] Not enough attention has been given by Ruburt to his feelings in his daily records. [...]

There will be a final chapter in which I will ask the reader to close his eyes and become aware of the reality in which I exist, and of his own inner reality. [...] In this chapter I will invite the reader to use his “inner senses,” to see me in his own way.

[...] In fact, Seth speaks about multidimensional art in his book. [...] His sense of humor is quite individualistic and unlike mine. He is shrewd; in his manner more earthy than ethereal. [...]

Rob has always taken verbatim notes of the Seth sessions, using his own shorthand system. [...] His support and encouragement have been invaluable.

[...] Two weeks after it was finished, however, Seth dictated the outline for this present manuscript, in which he would be free to state his ideas in his own way, in book form.

[...] I want him to make out a list of his beliefs about you. I want him to concentrate, now, upon those beliefs that are working for him, to quite consciously build up the sense of his own worth by listing the uses to which he has put his abilities. I want him to then stress, this week, all of his good points, and as much as possible to ignore for that amount of time the negative ones.

When he thinks that he must do such and such, must prove his worth by sitting at his desk, then he lays a heavy hand upon those same impulses. [...] His creative and psychic abilities emerge precisely when he is relaxed. So do his normal physical ones. [...]

(Pause.) Ruburt let his guard down ever so slightly, stopped stewing ever so slightly. [...]

[...] The development of his abilities is now showing in definite terms because the improvement in health is freeing much energy that had been bound up in his dilemma.

[...] His abilities are being further developed, however, and other facets will also make themselves known. [...]

The abilities had been developing but he did not have sufficient energy to use his growing proficiency. [...]

[...] This experience gave him confidence to continue later with his students, you see.

The sportsman that you might have been would have gathered, from that same available background, other attitudes and ideas that would have fit in with his concept of himself, and with his core focus. [...]

Your father’s creativity, as mentioned [in earlier, unpublished sessions] had its side of secrecy, privacy and aloneness … you identified creatively with his private nature. [...] You believed the painting self had to be protected … as you felt that your father had to protect his creative self in the household …

[...] But even without Seth’s help, interesting results can flow from an awareness of the probable-self concept: The reader can begin to intuitively consider his or her own probable selves, or those of others who may be closely related psychically or physically. [...]

Ruburt’s writing abilities have blossomed because of his psychic experiences. [...]

[...] While he was tainted to some extent by conventional sexual beliefs, he still felt his own personhood in such a way that he gladly took advantage of characteristics considered feminine. [...] This rebellion was psychological — that is, he maintained an acceptable male orientation in terms of sexual activity, but he would not restrain his mind and soul with such nonsense. The world felt the result of his great intuitive abilities, and of his devotion.

[...] The male scientist is often ashamed of using his intuitions, for not only do they appear to be unscientific, but female as well. It is what others will think about his masculinity that such a man is concerned with. [...]

[...] Man is seen in opposition in the most immediate fashion with his own father. [...]

[...] Man first changed his myths, and then altered the reality that reflected them.

Your leadership in that area will vastly speed his own understanding, which is now growing, by leaps and bounds. But where he is tentative he can use your leadership, as where you are tentative you can use his.

[...] His trouble has been directing it in various areas. [...]

[...] In terms of material abundance, now, follow his leadership. [...]

[...] Ruburt has finally established his part in all of this. [...]

Some of that understanding should flower this week, so that he grabs more fully a hold of that creative stimulus that can greatly accelerate his improvements. The paper that he wrote and you read is important there—he must understand more fully that his mind can indeed direct his body toward flexibility. [...]

[...] He did make gains this week in the use of suggestion, so that he understood better how he has been using it to his disadvantage, and how to change that course. [...]

(10:27.) Ruburt will have no difficulty with his teeth (on Wednesday). His body is vastly releasing in the head and neck areas, and he is using the symbolism of the teeth to rid himself of several important problems.

[...] His creative self knows he wants to publish another book, and will easily provide the means when it is given some freedom and not told what it must do. [...]

Let him simply write what comes into his mind. [...]

(In the call this morning, Jane learned that Leonard had overdone his physical activities at the house, and suffered some discomfort as a result. His doctor told him to take it easy, as did his sister-in-law. [...] So did Leonard pick up my own fears about his situation, and avoid calling me because of them?

You tried hard not to think of your friend Leonard because his situation so upset you. [...] His illness brought up a million questions about the nature of illness and death, age, and so forth, backed up by your society’s negative beliefs, so you tried harder not to think of your friend Leonard, and of course you couldn’t relax. [...]

[...] Leonard is doing well, and it was indeed his own exaggerated fears about his condition that led to the rather frenzied message to begin with. [...]

First of all, it is because Ruburt was relaxed and open to his impulses that you have today’s information. [...]

[...] The writer has obviously learned much from reading the Seth material, and revealed insight as to why he and his lady had chosen to marry to begin with. [...] Jane plans to inform him that he and his family are doing much better than they know.

[...] Now: Man’s first encounter with physical reality in life is his experience with the state of his own consciousness.

[...] He encounters his consciousness first, and then he encounters the world—so I am saying, of course, that each person has an identity that is larger than the framework of consciousness with which you are usually familiar in life.

(A closing note, added following Seth’s completion of his sessions for Dreams on February 8, 1982:

[...] The sect, called the People’s Temple, had been created by Jim Jones, a charismatic fundamentalist who had eventually been hounded out of the U.S. for many reasons, to then set up his town for his devoted religious followers in Guyana. [...]

(Actually, the affair is a perfect example of much of the material Seth has been going into in his latest book on the mass culture and mind. To Jane and me, it seemed as if his material was being enacted in real life as the ideal demonstration of Seth’s material. [...]

[...] He had his picture taken with celebrities, and because he was “a religious man,” the establishment took it for granted that his aims and policies were good, and that he spoke for those who had no voice otherwise. [...]

He was, of course, a despot, and he did indeed set up his own alienated kingdom. [...]

[...] He exaggerates his brilliance out of nagging doubts of his merit. Nevertheless, one of the basic keys to his character is the overwhelming need to be liked as a human being.

[...] Our good Ruburt has amazed his new director by his sudden bubbling good spirits, and bewildering exuberance.

He is so different in his attitude as to appear to be two completely different people. [...] His affectations are for the purpose of building up an image that he believes must be superior enough to be respected. [...]

[...] Here not only desire but expectation brought about his directorship. He wanted, and finally expected, some kind of domain of his own. [...]

In the first scene of this dream you see a probable self, who could reasonably be expected to be the kind of son your father might have, gifted with his hands mechanically, assertive enough to own his own business, however—after all, a part of the American dream, embarked upon employment that he enjoyed, and yet one that provided a service, hence physically seen between the ice (and roller-skating) rink, representing pleasure or fun, and the grocery store, representing service or nourishment. [...] A man if possible should own his own business, provide a service for the community—and, again, inventiveness or creativity were to be wedded to those pursuits. [...]

[...] He thought, for example, of his own pajamas that he wears now instead of the jeans he wore before, and it seemed to him that in all his strivings he had in one way or another also acted like your friend whose jeans kept turning into the Turkish towel: he had been trying to protect an important way of relating to the world, or to protect a way of life. [...]

[...] In later years, as books were finished, the matter of publicity would rise anew, but his relative success meant that the issues stayed in the air, so to speak. Your discussion reminded him of how he used to be (pause), and also brought up in his mind the seeming contradictions of creativity, in that it is private, but usually ends up as some kind of public expression. [...]

[...] To a large degree they were largely the result of a lack of understanding of himself, brought on by his old religious beliefs of responsibility, then applied to his own creativity. [...]

[...] His past indispositions, from an overall viewpoint, have been most necessary and beneficial. [...] His indispositions taught him this is a way that he will not forget. His inner and unthinking reactions literally immobilized him.

It was your reactions that should have been changed, as it was Ruburt’s reactions concerning his book that should have been changed. His attitude toward his book and publisher largely were responsible for the delays.

[...] The exhaustion was a natural result of his own reactions. [...]

Now Ruburt utilized his abilities in helping you, but he did not mobilize them with any vigor in helping himself, until panic drove him to do so.

As Seth continued dictating The Nature of Personal Reality, I wrote a complete poetry manuscript, Dialogues of the Soul and Mortal Self in Time, in which I worked out many of my own beliefs as per suggestions Seth was giving in his book. This led to another group of poems, The Speakers. To me this all means that there is a rich vein of creativity and knowledge available to each according to his abilities, just beneath the surface of usual consciousness. [...]

[...] It shows what was happening in my personal reality while Seth was writing his book on the subject, and reveals how the creative impetus splashes out into all areas of the personality. [...] Many of those events occurred as I tried to understand the relationship between his world and mine, and the connection between inner and outer experience.

Seth often uses episodes from our lives as specific examples of larger issues, and our experiences with the flood served as a starting point for his discussion of personal beliefs and disasters. In several other instances he also used our life situation as his source material — an intriguing turnabout.

While I was trying to define Seth that way and questioning whether or not he was a spirit guide, I was closed off to some extent from his greater reality, which exists in terms of vast imaginative and creative power that is bigger than the world of facts and can’t be contained in it. [...]

These were the methods he took then in line with his beliefs about the world and the nature of the self. [...] So he did indeed —to some extent, now—turn his body into a shell of a kind, cutting down spontaneous activity in an unsafe universe.

[...] He is quite correct in his feelings, that now his forces are united; and the body unerringly makes its adjustments, and assumes a healthy course.

Now: a few words, though Ruburt’s main appointment this evening is with his own body.

[...] In programmed societies where “each man or woman knows his or her place,” then the will knows which direction to follow, though other considerations and prerogatives might be ignored. [...]

[...] They want to believe that he depends upon me to make all his decisions, and they do not want to hear about his independent thinking. [...]

[...] Some people purposely will not read his works. They do not want his comments, where yours are acceptable.

At the same time I work with a level of Ruburt’s personality that is his, that to some extent uses his knowledge of the world and its people, but I am far freer in my overall understanding and comprehension of people. [...]

Any improvements should be considered in the light of his own position. If he walks down his steps better, that should be noted and encouraged. [...]