“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Action accepts all stimuli in an affirmative manner. It is only when action becomes compartmented, so to speak, in the development of highly differentiated consciousness, that such refinement occurs. I am not here saying that unpleasant stimuli will not be felt as unpleasant, and reacted against, by less self-conscious organisms. I am saying that less self-conscious organisms will rejoice even in their automatic reaction against such stimuli, because any stimuli and reaction represents sensation, and sensation is another method by which such action knows and expresses itself.

Without any acceptance of painful stimuli the structure could never maintain itself, for the atoms and molecules within the structure constantly accept painful stimuli, and suffer even joyfully, their own destruction; being aware of their own separateness within action, and aware of their reality within all action, and not having complicated “I” structures to maintain, there is no reason for them to fear destruction.

For one thing, while pain is unpleasant it is also a method of familiarizing the self against the edges of quickened consciousness. Any heightened sensation, pleasant or unpleasant, has a stimulating effect upon a consciousness to some degree. It is a strong awareness of activity and life. Where the stimulus may be extremely annoying, and humiliatingly unpleasant, certain portions of the psychological framework accept it indiscriminatingly because it is a sensation, and a vivid one. This acquiescence to even painful stimuli is a basic part of the nature of consciousness, and a necessary one.

These differentiations come much later and on another level, and in a later evolutionary development. But because the personality is composed of action, the personality also contains within it this characteristic of action, in that it accepts all sensations as expressions of itself, and does not discriminate between stimuli.

In a most basic manner, a denial of stimuli is a negative action, if any action could be called negative. I do not, of course, speak in human terms, where every stimuli for example should then be followed or sought out indiscriminately. [...]

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. [...]

[...] 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.

I spoke, for example, of the acquiescence of action at certain levels to any kind of stimuli, indiscriminately, whether painful or pleasurable. [...]

This is done by translating exterior stimuli into interior stimuli, but the physical carriers of the data are all that scientists or physicians have been able to follow thus far. [...]

[...] The body reacts to exterior sounds and to the stimuli brought to it by the physical senses. [...]

By the time the organism responds the inner patterns have already reacted, and this must and always does precede any physical response to stimuli. [...]

(Slowly:) There is always this translation of exterior stimuli. [...]

“Because dreams are such a perfect combination of stimuli from the inner environment and the exterior environment, other events are often used to trigger inner dream messages, just as the opposite occurs. [...]

[...] The magnitude of the physical stimuli with which you are surrounded makes it possible, of course, for any number of like situations to come to your physical attention during any given day. [...]

[...] They move in response to stimuli received from each other, and to stimuli that come from other atoms.

Each molecule within a cell, for example, is aware of the activity of each of the other molecules, and to some extent of the stimuli that comes to the cell itself from outside it.

[...] The emotional system of the medium must also learn to handle further stimuli, and then also learn to do so in such a way that balance is maintained.

[...] You must close yourself off from some stimuli in order to fully utilize the stimuli that you do perceive.

[...] That background activity, however, supports a million forces: the neural stimuli that you accept as biologically real. Those other background stimuli are now quite difficult for you to identify, but they are always there in the [hinterland] of your waking consciousness, like dream chatter way beneath your usual associations.

“Action accepts all stimuli in an affirmative manner. [...] I am not saying that unpleasant stimuli will not be felt as unpleasant and reacted against in less self-conscious organisms. I am saying that they will rejoice even in their automatic reaction, because any stimuli and reaction represents sensation, and sensation is a method by which consciousness knows itself.

Now Seth comes to this point, very important in his theories: “This acquiescence to even painful stimuli is a basic part of the nature of consciousness. Action does not differentiate between pleasant, painful, or joyful stimuli. [...]

“Without this acquiescence to even painful stimuli, the structure would never maintain itself, for the atoms and molecules within it constantly accept such stimuli, and joyfully suffer even their own destruction. [...]

[...] But beneath this sophisticated gestalt are the simpler foundations of its being, and indeed the very acceptance of all stimuli without which identity would be impossible.

[...] This was necessary because the particular kind of physical manipulation of corporal existence required instant physical response to immediately present stimuli.

[...] With memory, however, mental projections into the future were of course also possible so that man could plan his activities in time, and foresee probable results: “Ghost images” of the future probabilities always acted as mental stimuli for physical explorations in all areas, and of all kinds.

These ghost images provided stimuli for mental, spiritual, and physical experience. [...]

[...] In your terms, time now includes more space, and hence more experience and stimuli. [...]

(Still quietly, but at a good pace:) When a skunk is frightened, it throws off a foul odor indeed, and when people are frightened they react in somewhat the same fashion at times, biologically reacting to stimuli in the environment that they consider alarming. [...]

One note to Ruburt on vitamins: They are most effectively used for periods of two or three weeks, where they act as stimuli and reminders to the body. [...]

[...] There are decisions made in periods of time so brief you cannot imagine them—reactions that are almost over before they begin, reactions so fast you cannot perceive them as the body responds to its inner reality, and to all the stimuli from the exterior environment. [...]

[...] You train yourselves — biologically, even — to inhibit certain stimuli, yet often the body itself responds to the very stimuli that you consciously ignore. [...]

[...] The problems act as stimuli in that regard. [...]

It begins to reject stimuli, because stimuli must be reacted to, and it rejects action because action must be reacted to. [...]

[...] Nevertheless this intensification is a pretense that one part of the self plays upon the other part, for the very intensity of the emotional reaction on the part of the ego to even small stimuli, allows the ego to say to itself “I feel deeply, therefore I know the depths of myself.” [...]

[...] Nevertheless, beneath there is a denial of involvement, and a strong desire for permanency, both of which are repressed, and the stronger the efforts put forth by the ego to repress these tendencies, then these tendencies will explode with inadequate stimuli. [...]

When the ego becomes so rigid, it immediately begins an insidious attempt to block off stimuli, to limit the reaches of perception, to enclose itself in what it considers a safe world.

[...] The moods may be recognized of course, but their destructive nature must also be recognized, and concentration then directed to other stimuli.

[...] His concentration is focused on a more intense stimuli. [...]

(Seth continues to describe the ways in which various kinds of consciousness react to painful stimuli, ending up with a statement that at deepest cellular levels, all sensations and stimuli are instantly, automatically and joyfully accepted, regardless of their nature. [...]

But beneath the sophisticated gestalt are the simpler foundations of its being and, indeed, the very acceptance of all stimuli without which identity would be impossible. Without this acquiescence, the physical structure would never maintain itself, for the atoms and molecules within it constantly accept painful stimuli and suffer even their own destruction. [...]

[...] This acquiescence to even painful stimuli is a basic part of the nature of consciousness and a necessary one.

In most cases the stimuli [toward healing] come from deeper levels of the self, where they may be translated into terms that the personal subconscious can use. [...]

He does respond to stimuli rather well. [...]

(Pause.) He can use also stimuli from you of suggestion and so forth, when momentarily he feels, at least, unable to rouse himself on his own behalf. [...]

You were of great benefit, you see, tonight, in actively mentioning the session—providing that stimuli, when Ruburt thought at least that his energies would not allow it. [...]

[...] They are the invisible formations resulting from reaction to any kind of stimuli. [...] Their relative “duration” depends upon the original intensity behind them — that is, behind the original thought, emotion, stimuli, or reaction that brought them into being.

[...] You are seeking from future probabilities unpleasant—or perhaps the most unpleasant—circumstances, and actually demanding that the body handle that stimuli now (all intently).

[...] The individual will find himself surrounded by more stimuli than he knows what to do with—but using this as impetus he will learn to handle it, using portions of the brain that now lie latent.

[...] The oversaturation of your atmosphere that will be brought about as a result of overpopulation, the increased psychic activity, the greater communications, will have the result further of pressing inward upon the individual until he is forced to find a new way to handle stimuli, and to respond to events.

No stimuli is ever accidental. No stimuli is ever accidental. [...]

Now it takes study, development, and experience before an identity can learn to hold its own stability in the face of such constant stimuli; and many of us have gotten lost, even forgetting who we were until we once more awakened to ourselves. [...]

[...] In some systems for example, it forms highly integrated mathematical and musical patterns that are themselves stimuli for other universal systems. [...]