“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Because it is intimately connected with other portions of the self it does not basically feel alienated or alone, but proudly acts as the director of the conscious mind’s focus. It is an adjunct of the conscious mind in that respect.

Now we have been speaking of the conscious mind, for it is the director of your activities physically. [...] Using this analogy, portions of the self on the other side of the conscious mind constantly receive telepathic data. [...]

The ego tries to organize all material coming into the conscious mind, for its purposes — the ego’s — are those that have come to the surface at any given time in the self’s overall encounter with physical reality. As I said, the ego cannot keep information out of the conscious mind but it can refuse to focus directly upon it.

(Pause.) If such an individual can convince himself or herself that somehow the entire affair is more in the nature of a game, then you can have at times some success, because in a game the conscious mind is willing to make allowances, and to “pretend.” In a good variety of cases, however, the formal experiment itself sets up a barrier, for the conscious mind is being asked to cooperate in a venture that it considers nearly an impossibility. [...]

The same applies to the conscious mind itself, which is not programmed in the same fashion to be the arbiter of microscopic events. [...] That blockage may still allow a kind of displacement targeting, however, in which case inner abilities are allowed to operate, but in a rather sabotaged way—not hitting the target with which the conscious mind is so familiar or concentrated upon, but hitting another microscopic target instead, in which effects are then noticeable. [...]

[...] To divert the conscious mind can therefore be of great import —enjoying television, relaxing in whatever fashion, allows the desired activity to occur. [...] Ruburt should therefore try to divert his mind more. [...]

The thinking mind to a large degree directs the activity of great spontaneous forces, [with] energy-cellular organization being, say, the captain (pause) of the body’s great energy sources. The reasoning mind defines, makes judgments, deals with the physical objects of the world, and also with the cultural interpretations current in its time.

[...] Now in some important respects the reasoning mind is like the government in this analogy. [...] The reasoning mind acts in the same fashion when paranoid beliefs are in power. [...]

So what we want, obviously, is to ensure that the conscious mind, with its reasoning processes, can make proper adjustments about the nature of the world and the individual citizens within it. I will return later to the purposes of man’s conscious mind in nature, and part of that discussion will fall in our book (Dreams).

[...] This inner ego or inner self should not be thought of as superior to your ordinary mind. It should not be thought of, really, as something separate from your ordinary mind. [...]

We will resume dictation for now — but I always do keep your personal concerns in mind.

[...] You usually think of your conscious mind as your ego. [...]

[...] The conscious mind, again, tries to obtain overall integrity and unity, lining up its beliefs into some kind of consistent system. When opposing beliefs that directly contradict each other are held for any length of time, and little attempt is made to reconcile them, then a “battle” begins within the conscious mind itself.

Because like ideas do attract like, both electromagnetically and emotionally, the conscious mind found itself with two complete contradictory systems of belief, and two self-images. (Pause.) To protect the integrity of the physical structure, Augustus’s conscious mind neatly divided itself up. [...]

[...] When Augustus felt threatened then the conscious mind switched over, accepting as operating procedure the system of beliefs in which Augustus saw himself as all-powerful, secure — but as alien. This part of his beliefs, therefore, and this particular self-image, took over his conscious mind and became what we will here call Augustus Two. [...]

The brain deals exclusively with camouflage patterns, while the mind deals with basic principles inherent on all planes. [...] The mind cannot. The mind is the connective. It is here that the secrets of the universe will be discovered, and the mind itself is the tool of discovery.

The mind is distributed throughout the entire physical body, and builds up about it the physical camouflage necessary for existence on the physical level. The mind receives data from the inner senses and forms the necessary camouflage.

You might say that the brain is the mind in camouflage. Imagination belongs to the mind, not the brain. [...]

I have said that the mind cannot be detected by your instruments at present. The mind does not take up space, and yet the mind is the value that gives power to the brain. The mind expands continually, both in individual terms and in terms of the species as a whole, and yet the mind takes up neither more nor less space, whether it be the mind of a flea or a man.

The mind simply does not exist in spatial terms. You have no way of measuring the mind’s expansion, any more than you can measure the expansion of the universe as long as you are thinking in terms of expansion in space. [...]

The dream world and the mind are touched by time, and exist in it only in so far as these realities dip into the camouflage universe. Basically both the dream world and the ideas of the inner mind do not have their existence in time, although they may be visible from the perspective of time, viewed from the physical form.

[...] That is, any given symbol will be the same, but it will be so chosen by the mind that it will have definite meanings to various portions of the self, and the meanings may be quite different. [...] And all of these references are contained within a given impulse, electrical impulse, that will be decoded by the mind.

[...] In the original dream experience then, the electrical reality of the dream is broken down, so to speak, into its varying intensities, by the mind.

The mind then formulates meaningful psychological symbols, but still in terms of electric symbol, and only in the brain are the particular symbols then sent to the various levels of the human personality.

NATURAL GRACE, THE FRAMEWORKS OF CREATIVITY, AND THE HEALTH OF YOUR BODY AND MIND.

[...]

Chapter Nine: “Natural Grace, the Frameworks of Creativity, and the Health of Your Body and Mind. [...]

[...] With the birth of the conscious mind in man, however, the self who acts needed a way to judge its actions. [...]

An association could trigger the clear memory of a past agony in the bewildered new mind. [...] Man’s mind then struggled to contain many images — past, present, and future imagined ones — and was forced to correlate these in any given moment of time. [...]

[...] Neither theory contains an understanding of the functions of the conscious mind, or the evolution of consciousness — or, for that matter, certain aspects of greater physics. [...] The expanding universe theory¹ applies to the mind as well as to the universe.

In terms of simple biological function, you now had a species no longer completely dependent upon instinct, yet still with all the natural built-in desires for survival, and the appearance within it of a mind able to make decisions and distinctions.

(9:50.) Usually when you do examine your conscious mind you do so looking through, or with, your own structured beliefs. [...] I am not telling you to examine your thoughts so frequently and with such vigor that you get in your own way, but you are not fully conscious unless you are aware of the contents of your conscious mind. I am also emphasizing the fact that the conscious mind is equipped to receive information from the inner self as well as the exterior universe.

I quite realize that many of my statements will contradict the beliefs of those of you who accept the idea that the conscious mind is relatively powerless, and that the answers to problems lie hidden beneath.

Obviously the conscious mind is a phenomenon, not a thing. [...]

One believes that the conscious mind and the intellect have all the answers, but to this school this means that the conscious mind is analytical above all, and that it can find all the answers through reason alone. [...] Intellect and feeling together make up your existence, but the fallacy is particularly in the belief that the aware mind must be analytical above all, as opposed to, for example, the understanding or assimilation of intuitive psychic knowledge.

[...] When this occurs “all by itself” it is an innate reflection of the psyche’s creativity and happens with its own rhythm — connected to seasons of the mind and blood and consciousness and cells in ways that you do not as yet understand. But the whole structure and its subsidiary relationships change together, and the conscious mind is able to assimilate what is happening.

Your conscious mind, again, is a part of your inner self, and ever-changing. [...]

I have said that the brain is the mind in camouflage, and so it is. It is the portion of the mind that is more or less observable to the surgeon, and the part of the mind that reacts to camouflage pattern, and the part that can be explored and tampered with, though this is dangerous indeed.

[...] This inner reality data is received by the mind. [...] The mind, being uncamouflaged, is the receiving station for the data brought to it by the inner senses. [...]

[...] This vital data is sent to the mind by the inner senses. [...] The subconscious, so-called, is a connective between mind and brain, between the inner senses and the outer senses. [...]

[...] You know this because you have a reasoning mind, but that particular kind of reasoning mind knows what it knows because at deep levels the cells are aware of the nature of probable action. The beliefs of the conscious mind, however, set your goals and purposes. [...]

Give us a moment … (Long pause, eyes closed.) There are lands of the mind.⁵ That is, the mind has its own “civilizations,” its own personal culture and geography, its own history and inclinations. But the mind is connected with the physical brain, and so hidden in its [the brain’s] folds there is an archaeological memory. [...]

[...] In your mind, try to follow “what might have happened” had you taken the course you did not take. [...]

The mind will be found to be closely allied with the spacious present. The mind’s capabilities, if studied, would lead man into a realization of these other fields of actuality of which I have spoken. The mind deals with intangibles, but it does not deal with unrealities. [...] The ingredients of matter are first of all intangible ingredients, and the study of the mind and a study of the processes by which the mind creates its dream images could lead to a basic understanding of the manner in which man subconsciously produces the physical images of his own material universe.

[...] To study psychology exclusively in terms of the brain’s effect upon the physical body is likewise hampering and limiting, for the brain is merely that portion of, that very small portion, of the mind which is apparent within matter. [...] The mind, having its existence within the scope of the physical field but independent of it, is a much more fruitful subject for study; and not of course study through means of physical instruments or of operations performed. In any case the mind cannot be found by such procedures.

The hows and wherefores cannot be handled by the conscious mind, however, but should be taken care of by the creative intelligence within his subconscious mind. [...]

(One of the first thoughts that came to mind after I realized what was happening was Jane’s book on Rembrandt. [...]

Tell Ruburt to remember that the conscious mind can state its request that Ruburt’s physical condition constantly improve itself, so that he can finally walk by himself, with some ease and confidence. [...]

When you are writing your mind is also playing with images. When you are painting your mind is also building ideas. [...]

He was, in a fashion only, sexually ambiguous, his mathematics expressing what he thought of as an acceptable male aspect while the artistic levels in his mind, now, he related to his feminine aspects. [...]

(Pause.) Because of his beliefs he considered himself somewhat of a failure, and the rich, evocative nature of his own stories did not meet with the approval of his academically attuned mind. [...]

When large doses of chemicals are used, the conscious mind is confronted full blast with very potent experiences that it was not meant to handle, and by which it is purposely made to feel powerless. (Pause.) Faced with the exterior nightmares of wars and natural disasters, the conscious mind is still directed outward into that world with which it knows it was formed to cope. [...]

[...] In the drug experience mentioned before (in the last session), startling, enforced symbols and occurrences are suddenly thrust upon the conscious mind; and more, within a context in which time as it knows it has little meaning. It [the conscious mind] cannot reflect upon phenomena subjectively. [...]

[...] Out of a knowledge of the contents of your own conscious mind you can definitely heal most maladies of the body, within conditions to be given later.

[...] Your mind dreams in joyful pleasure at using itself, freed from the concerns of practical living. Dreams are the mind’s free play. [...]

[...] The mind follows its natural bents. [...] Yet overall, the mind’s spontaneous activity continues because it enjoys its own activities.

[...] Your conscious mind as you understand it is the “psychological structure” that deals with conditions on a physical basis. [...]

In certain terms, the ego is the eye through which the conscious mind perceives, or the focus through which it views physical reality. But the conscious mind automatically changes its focus throughout life. [...] 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.

[...] 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. [...]

(Very slowly at 11:18:) The conscious mind is an excellent perceiving attribute, a function that belongs to inner awareness but in this case is turned outward toward the world of events. Through the conscious mind the soul looks outward. [...]