Action and the Personality

From Session 146 of Seth's Early Sessions (in Volume 3):


"You realize that in order to speak of action it is necessary that it be discussed as though some aspects were isolated from others. But this is not the case.

"In order that you understand it is necessary, as I have told you, for me to break down concepts. In this way much of the unity of certain phenomena may escape you. We have spoken at various times about specific portions of action's manifestations. We have discussed to some degree, for example, the nature of matter, the electrical universe, the dream universe, and such other topics as the layers of the subconscious and the nature of the whole self.

"There is always the danger in such discussions that effects which are studied separately will appear to be separate in essence. But what we have been discussing in all these topics is, indeed, the nature of action. The personality as you know it is action. As such the personality however is not physically materialized. You cannot hold it in your hand. You can only observe it in motion, for it is never still, and to probe into it yourself is to change it.

"In very important aspects it always escapes you, though you are partially what it is. Men speak of having their own personalities, as if the personality were a thing that they had in their possession, a thing fairly permanent, a concrete, always-to-be-counted-on possession.

"But the personality is always in a state of becoming, and forever changes. The personality is an excellent example of action in one aspect. It is important here also to realize that while the personality is always in motion, the motion involved here is not one of mobility in space as you know it. It is most definitely motion in terms of value fulfillment.

"There are here also thrusts in all directions, with certain identifying pulsations that underlie all, and that have their origins within the inner self. As the vitality of the universe forms, of itself, the boundaries of the various fields of activity, and as vitality itself takes on the coloration of the various fields and forms the camouflage patterns within them, so also vitality, in the form of emotions that the camouflage patterns of the personality, even while this vitality forms both emotions and personality for every individual, every consciousness, may be thought of as a separate field of activity; and all the data relating to fields of activity may be seen to apply to any consciousness as well.

"We find once again a basic reality, that of the personality, which is accepted and recognized within the physical field, even while it does not appear there as a definite physical unit. It can indeed be examined but the examination itself, being action, changes it. For the personality, true to the roles of action, will seize upon the new action and form of it new realities and unities with itself.

"The personality and the ego are not the same.

"The personality has strong connections with the inner self.

"The personality is that consciousness of self of which I have spoken, which is aware of itself within, and a part of, action. The ego attempts to stand apart from action, and to stand apart from the personality, and to mould the personality into a more or less permanent and stable, dependent portion of the ego itself.

"(Again, see the following sessions among others: 139, 141, 142.)

"The ego would if it could, stop personality's motion and development for the security of stability. The ego would drive the personality into preconceived channels. This consciousness-of-self is seen in man as personality, as the human personality. It appears, however, in all types of consciousness to one degree or another.

"Therefore, consciousness-of-self can appear with or without the existence of an ego. Consciousness-of-self is an attribute then of all physical species, regardless of their classification. Personality, human personality, is simply the name given to this class of self, as applied and seen within human beings. Personality changes and acts upon all other action. Personality, then, can be seen to operate as a field of action in identity; but identity that is conscious of its relation to action as a whole.

"The peculiar and individualistic aspects of personality are the result of those camouflaging abilities of which we have spoken earlier. 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.

"Because of its nature ego does not want to adjust. It wants adjustments to be made to it. 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, ego fears both the past and the future. It fears the past because it has already lost control of the past. It fears the future because it is not yet in control of it. It seeks continuity of identity, yet it is forced to realize that the "I" of today is hardly the "I" of thirty years ago.

"It is the ego which fears death so strongly. And yet the stability which ego so urgently seeks would, indeed, result in death, since no further action would be allowed.

"Ego also fears spontaneity, for it cannot control action; being a part of action, most of its efforts of necessity are thwarted. Yet it is precisely this struggle between ego's struggles for stability, and the personality's attempt to expand spontaneously, that is at the basis of much of mankind's achievements, and that is certainly the basis for much of his art.

"In his art we have the nostalgia of the ego for past time, and for lost control of a self that has already vanished, and changed into something new. It is ego who plans for the future, trying to anticipate the environment in which it must operate. Its anticipations, of course then form that environment.

"The ego therefore is a very necessary force within your field. It is also, regardless of current psychological beliefs, the basis for aggression, in general. All aggression is not detrimental, for example.

"Because the personality is that part of the individual which is conscious of itself as a part of action, and therefore aware of its relation with action, the personality is that part of the individual which survives physical death.

"The personality is not the whole self. It is a portion of the whole self, which is activated during a particular existence. The ego, as I have explained, does not vanish. However, it must always be remembered here that the ego is not the self-conscious self in its entirety by any means. It is simply a portion, a field of focus whereby the self attempts to objectify itself within the world of matter.

"It simply ceases to so objectify itself, but it retains, or the self retains, memory of that objectification.

"The personality necessarily continues to change after physical death. After physical death the personality simply ceases to project itself, as a rule, within the physical field, and no longer focuses within it.

"The personality is much more extensive and expansive than you realize. Remember here our discussions upon the subject of the limitations of the self.

"Theoretically, the self is unlimited, if you will recall. The ego within your field is limited because of the nature of its rigidity. The ego operates as a partitioning agent. It directs and uses the abilities of the personality for manipulation in the physical universe. It can mobilize a smaller or larger amount of these energies according to its own strength. It has a small focus but a powerful one.

"I mentioned earlier that the personality is an excellent example of action as it is sometimes projected into the physical field, while not appearing within it in tangible form. For here we see many of action's characteristics: the mobility that does not necessarily involve space, the thrusts outward, and the corresponding thrusts inward. We see action acting upon itself and constant change.

"A thorough study of the personality will be an excellent exercise, and will lead you close to the nature of action itself. The experiences about which you asked, for example, involved actions of the personality and not, of course, of the ego. Expansion and contraction occur constantly as characteristics of action, as I have explained.

"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. These were pulsations, in actuality of corresponding strength, but interpreted differently by you.

"(See page 323, of the 145th session, for a description of my experiences. Also see the 86th session.)

"I will have more to say concerning this after I have developed certain subject matter that is important. If I did not make it clear, let me repeat that the personality is a portion of the inner self. There are interchanges here, so that certain parts of the personality will seem to vanish. In such cases, for various reasons, the inner self simply sees no reason for their continued focus in the physical field.

"There is a very delicate balance always maintained, and later on we will have a whole section of our material that will deal with the personality in relation to other phenomena. We are speaking of it this evening mainly in terms of its reality as a part of action. As we speak of such subjects in their relation to various phenomena, again it must be kept in mind that such realities are being considered often from one aspect only, but that their reality extends into many other dimensions.

"Many of these dimensions cannot be discussed at this time. But you will see, indeed, that the nature of action, or the nature of any reality, is greatly coloured by the viewpoint or dimension from which it is examined. It is my purpose here to examine for you reality from as many different aspects as possible, lifting you from the limitations of your own dimensions, and allowing you the advantage of others.

"It must, once again, be realized that there is no particular point where ego begins or ends.

"There is no particular and definite line between the ego and the personality and the inner self. They must merely be discussed in such terms. There is, believe it or not, no particular and specific definite boundary between what is self and not self. If we isolate such portions of reality for the sake of discussion, such isolation is artificial, and in no way affects the nature of reality itself.

"Such a remark may appear so simple that it is not worth saying, but it is extremely important that it be understood. In like manner, there is indeed no particular boundary or line of demarcation between the dream universe and the physical universe. Any seeming barrier is artificial, for all these realities merge one into the other, and an action in one affects the other.

"The self is extended, so to speak, existing within many dimensions. It extends as vitally and actually in the dream universe as it does in your own physical universe. It is as much a part of the electrical universe as it is a part of the world of psychological motivation. The intertwinings are infinite in all directions.

"The ego fears death, yet in the space of your own physical lifetime portions of the self have undergone like transformations endless times, of which the ego is unaware."