Dream Image Construction

From Session 189 of Volume 4 of Seth's Early Sessions

Dream Image Construction

"We will go more deeply into a discussion of the ways and means by which both dream images and other materializations are constructed.  For there are various balances, or rather various delicate imbalances, which must be maintained;  and there are differences also in the makeup of dream images, which are usually seen only by the dreamer, and some other more physical materializations which may be created by the semi-waking self, and under certain circumstances seen by others.

"Nerve patterns are indeed very important here, and mechanisms of metabolism.  An understanding of the methods used by the dreamer to construct dream images will, however, allow you to understand more clearly those other constructions.  The chemical percentages are important here;  that is, the chemical percentages vary from those found in the body during what you call normal states of consciousness.

"Dream images are composed in part as a result of chemical excesses that are built up normally by the organism in the waking state.  Physical materializations are built up by bringing about this condition of excessive chemical action.

"It is true that a state can be produced in which such materializations can occur, by artificially producing the chemical imbalance necessary.  However, success by this method may or may not occur.

"This material will be most helpful in our own sessions, since when we are finished with it you will understand to some degree those conditions which may be advantageous and those which are not.

"The electrical composition of the air is important, as you have read, and the periods of even temperature and fair weather are excellent for our purposes.

"The evening hours are best, and it was for this reason that I chose them.  By this hour there is apt to be a stability of electromagnetic properties, though of course this is not always the case.  Since all things have an electrical and chemical reality, the food that you eat is also important, and it is for this reason that I made certain suggestions concerning your diet.

"These suggestions, as you know, were far from extreme.  The exercises that I suggested Ruburt (Jane) take also aid him in utilizing negative ions.  Each individual has various ways in which he or she characteristically handles the protoplastic elements of which the physical being is composed.

"The protoplasm is not entirely physical, however, but in a basic manner is a meeting ground between physical matter and inner vitality.  Therefore the characteristic ways used by any given personality, in connection with his or her physical image, will also be used in the construction of dream images.

"The dream images are indeed extensions, not only of the psychic or inner self, but a definite extension of the electromagnetic and chemical properties that operate through the physical self.  It is indeed as if extensions of nerve endings reached out in self-expansion, making new connections, and this is indeed what occurs in the creation of dream images.

"I have a few side notes here.

"One.  Interruptions in themselves will not bother us once a session is under way.  You may follow whatever course you personally prefer, as circumstances warrant.

"As far as Ruburt (Jane) is concerned, uncertainty as to whether or not a session will be held, is disturbing.  There will be some circumstances when conditions are not of the best, however, when interruptions may bother.  But generally we are beyond such disturbances.

"You have noticed, I am sure, that at times visitors to a session are of definite value, for the psychic energy is pooled, and can be of value.  The emotional impetus, when it is present, is also of benefit.  Now in the same manner you can use and collect such energy when you are in a group, as in your Saturday evening excursions.

"There is actually a quite natural and most effective manner of psychic refreshment, and most particularly when the conscious mind is somewhat diverted, as by music and so forth.  The intuitions act well under such circumstances, and these intuitions are stored subconsciously, and will show themselves in your work.

"There is indeed a knack required here.  Primitive peoples us it all unknowing.  Unfortunately, in civilized conditions it sometimes needs relearning.  All methods of gaining and renewing energy are important, in ordinary living and in our sessions.

"Ruburt (Jane) picked up energy in this way this afternoon, quite spontaneously, and without conscious consideration.

"There will be more said concerning this matter, since the same sort of mechanism is involved in the construction of materializations, in sessions such as this one, and in the construction of dream images.

"A discrimination, preferably a spontaneous and subconscious discrimination, is necessary, but it may be consciously diverted if undue conscious direction is not allowed to rule with a heavy hand.  You may consciously give the suggestion to yourself, that you will constructively use such energy, for example, but then the matter should be forgotten and left alone.

"The suggestion itself, psychologically, also prevents you from simply being swept away, willy-nilly, by the collective energy.  You must understand that use of such energy does in no way suggest monopolizing it.  You do not deprive others.  Your own actions continue to produce additional energy.  This method of utilizing energy is also used in the creation of dream images.  The form of the images is not an illusion.  You simply have form without mass, to all practical purposes, and there is no contradiction in that statement.

"Mass and form may seem synonymous, but they are not.  Mass is not dependent upon weight.  We may say however that dream images have a density which is formed of electrical intensities, that are partially the result of chemical actions."

Dream Realtiy

From Session 188 of Volume 4 of Seth's Early Sessions:

"There are indeed connections between what is called ectoplasm and the composition of dream images.  They are not the same thing, but they are closely allied.  What is called the astral body is also composed of some of the same components.

"It goes without saying that dream images certainly have form to the dreamer, even as physical objects have form.  The astral body also has a form.  These forms do not take up space in the way that physical objects do.  There is less density, but there is still observable form.  The images that appear in dreams exist as forms in another dimension.  They are free of the necessity to follow physical rules of time and growth.  They are constructed more immediately and directly and spontaneously than are physical objects.

"There must be a connection however with the physical organism, and the connection, the physical connection, is both electrical and chemical.  The connection between what you might call materializations, and the physical organism, are also electrical and chemical.  The same applies to the connection between the astral body and the physical body.

"Dream images are indeed, in density, between the tangible nature of physical objects and intangible reality that is entirely independent of physical matter.  The dream reality cannot be entirely disconnected from the material universe because of its connections with human personality.  There is a dependence here.

"The dream images however are projections sent out, so to speak, by the personality, and many astral projections occur within the dream state of which the waking personality is unaware.  In this case the projection is simply of a kind that allows manipulation back and forth between two realities.  The dreamer who dreams he was in Paris may well have been there.

"Dream images, not astral projections, operate within certain electrical limits, limits that form the boundaries of the dream universe.  Dream images are nevertheless almost fibrous projections, almost a thinned-out composition, more plastic basically than physical matter, but composed of a number of the same properties.  For again there must be this connection between the nature of dreams and the matter of physical reality.

"We will use an analogy for its excellent implications.  It is as if the personality in sleep projected out of himself bits of himself, of his own physical matter, thinned out, stretched into an amazing plasticity;  plastic properties that can change instantly from one form to another.  He goes out with these portions of himself, but because of the nature of reality projections cannot be recalled.

"Dreams are a continuous process.

"You create them both waking and sleeping, although you are not aware of them in the waking state.  You constantly project and constantly emit energy in meaningful patterns on as many layers of activity as possible.

"These are quite legitimate realities that continue in their own fashion, even though you are no longer concerned with them.  They remain connected to you, that is to the personality, however, and are a part of the overall reality of the self.  You partake of their energy.

"Oftentimes you send out dream images within a dream framework from your own nerve centers.  These then work out problems for you, and the answer is given to you subconsciously."

Dream Reality and Suggestions

From Session 187 (Volume 4 of Seth's Early Sessions)

Dream Reality and Suggestions

"We will here consider the dream reality in an isolated manner, as if it were a thing disconnected from normal consciousness, although in reality it is not so disconnected.

"I spoke in a recent session concerning the connection between distance and emotions.  The true reality of distance as you know it is dependent upon the intensity of emotion, and has nothing to do with your idea of space.  The emotion which is intense is felt at its peak as present in time, and immediately here in terms of distance.

"Emotions take up a certain amount of what we call psychic space within the personality's awareness.  As the intensity of the emotion fades, so it seems to you that it recedes in time.  But this is an illusion caused by the limitations of your outer senses.  Now, in the dream state the outer senses are to a large degree restrained in their activity.  Therefore the dream state more clearly represents the actual nature of time.  Intense emotions within the dream state are experienced as present time, and the personality moves easily through these emotional intensities without experiencing the sense of passing time, although any given dream may contain within it its own time element.

"The dreamer is not aware of the actual passing of physical hours.  He is only aware of the interior time element as it appears within the framework of his dream.  The personality will be seen to operate in some manners that would be considered quite normal, if he were in the waking state.

"He acts, speaks, walks, talks, makes certain deductions.  He responds to interior stimuli.  The personality also operates within the dream state in ways that would not be considered normal in the waking state.  He travels through space in moments.  He speaks with those who do not exist within physical reality.  He sees parents who have died in physical ways, and in his dreams he knows, on many occasions, what other characters think within the dream context.

"You see, then, that while the personality can act in a more or less normal manner while in the dream state, he can also act in ways that are denied him in periods of so-called normal consciousness.  He has freedoms and abilities and talents in the dream state of which his waking self may be unfamiliar.

"It would seem to be that the waking personality could learn much from his sleeping counterpart, and this is indeed the case.  Theoretically speaking, and in theory only, anything that a personality can do or achieve in the sleeping state, he can do and achieve in the waking state.  The limitations are those adopted by the ego, in many cases for good reason.

"However the limitations can be diminished, and the waking personality can avail himself of many characteristics shown by the sleeping self.

"The sleeping personality is as close to the inner self as you will come in this existence, for here the personality is soon free of the camouflage concerns with which it must be involved in the waking condition.

"In the sleeping state we see the personality as it is in operation.  We see its abilities and its limitations.  [the reader] will do well to read our dream material, for dreams are a reflection of the needs of a personality and of the abilities.  The focus of attention and concentration are magnified a thousandfold in the dream state, and dreams form the basis for your physical environment.

"First, problems are worked out within the dream framework.  Answers and solutions are arrived at.  These answers and solutions are then transformed into physical reality.  No dream is meaningless.  No dream lacks purpose.  Each dream has meaning to all levels of the personality, and one dream object is a symbol which is translated by all layers of the self, in a mathematics which is more complicated than any dealt with by your physical computers.

"As we have suggested in the past, the dream state can indeed work for your benefit in a more efficient manner, if proper suggestions are given before sleep.  The dream fabric itself, the dream drama, is woven of many threads, and all aspects of the personality contribute some of the ingredients.

"One dream will enable the ego to solve pressing immediate problems.  The dream drama will enable the personality to act out various possibilities which are experienced as reality.  The most effective drama is then reacted to in physical reality.

"This same dream, however, will deal with many other actualities.  It will serve as a method of communication between the various portions of the self.  It will deliver information concerning past and future, and if proper suggestions are given it, then the self will use the dream drama particularly to better the overall condition of the personality.

"There are chemical and electrical connections that cannot be ignored here.  For a dream has a chemical reality and an electrical reality.  It is built up, on one level, of chemical components that have an electrical basis, and it is through these connections that transformation within the nerve structure of the physical organism is made.

"The pituitary gland is of great importance here, and the thyroid gland of secondary importance.  Negative electrical charges are responsible mainly for the durability of any given dream.  The mind, as you know, does not appear within physical reality, although the brain is indeed of physical origin.

"Our dreams therefore occupy the same space as is occupied by the mind - no space at all.  There still must be a connection with the physical organism, and here our chemical and electrical components enter in.  Each dream is actually built up through a chemical synthesis that follows strong electrical pathways.

"You recall that all experience has an electrical reality, deposited from birth within the physical cells of the body, so that at physical death we have an electrical counterpart of the physical being with all memory and experience intact.  Were such experience a part of the physical self, and dependent upon it, the personality could hardly survive physical death.  And were dreams so connected to the physical self, then whole areas of personality would dissolve with physical extinction.

"As it is these dreams, having an electrical reality, are deposited in coded form, with all other experience, within but independent of the physical cells.  Dream experience is as real to the personality as waking experience.  Only the ego makes any distinction.  Therefore the personality that has survived makes no distinction on its own.

"We have said this often.  However, suggestions should always be given before sleep, that the subconscious will maintain the organic integrity of the physical organism.  This is basic.

"Suggestions should also be given so that a harmonious relationship be maintained among all levels of the personality structure.  Suggestions should be given that constructive tendencies are given free reign.  Perhaps more important, suggestions should be given that only constructive suggestions will be reacted to.  These suggestions give you a leeway.

"These simple suggestions will serve to guard the personality from many unfortunate circumstances, and if they are given nightly they will serve as an adequate protection against organic disease, such as ulcers.

"Because suggestions do have an electrical and a chemical reality, they can therefore change the framework within which you operate.  Theoretically there are no limitations to what any of you can do.  Practically the limitations are your own, and practically it is within your province to change them or not to change them.

"Because suggestions are formed of the same stuff that forms your physical reality, suggestions can indeed change the framework within which you operate.  This is no Pollyanna hogwash.  Many of the ways and the means have been given.  My suggestions, if followed, will be fair enough proof of the validity of our material."

Emotion, Space and Distance

From Session 183 of Seth's Early Sessions

"Now, before we plunge into the nature and characteristics of dream reality, let us briefly consider the relationship between emotions, space and distance as they occur within the waking conditions.

"An emotion obviously does not take up physical space, yet it takes up varying amounts of psychic space according to its intensity.  It seems to recede in time and to shrink in psychic space as the intensity of it begins too diminish.  An intensive emotion will represent the present in time, a particular instant of now.

"Whenever circumstances tend to revitalize such a charged emotion, that particular now will be re-created.  The emotion will once again rush into the psychic space which is formed by elements in the personality's psychological environment.  The immediate emotion of any moment, therefore, forms the framework of your present time within the waking state.  As the emotion diminishes it takes up less of your psychic space, fills up less of your inner environment, and you seem to yourself to recede from it.

"As far as distance, physical distance, is concerned, this whole idea is subconsciously taken into consideration.  That which appears ahead of you in distance, and has not yet been experienced, under usual circumstances has not yet entered the psychic space of the inner environment.  When you reach this imaginary physical experience, and if you are emotionally involved in it, then it becomes the PRESENT...

"The moment is remembered because the emotions experienced at the time almost completely fill the psychic space, forcing all other experiences out.  The stronger the emotion the more vivid the moment becomes, the more totally it is recalled.  And even in future years such past instances can be experienced as vividly as any present experience.  In other words, to some large extent such a strong emotion unites experience and knocks down the artificial barrier of past, present and future."

... "As we have often stated, inner experience is the only true dimension of existence.

"Because of the physical structure, experiences within your system have a slow-motion distortion which creates the experience of time.  Time as you know it, waking time, is intimately connected with the emotions and with emotional intensities.  Now, there is also a connection here that can be explored most clearly by using color designations.

"Red is the most present or immediate of colors.  The cool colors are more contemplative, or more indicative of contemplation.  They do not however have the same type of intensity.  They leave room within psychic space for other emotional experiences also.

"There are electrical connotations here also that are important, electrical components that compose the emotional experience, and that tend to show themselves in certain auras of color.  Within the dreaming state however inner experience is not limited as it is in the waking condition, so that the time barrier can largely be dispensed with.  There is an additional psychic space to be filled.

"Experiences are more directly felt, although the same sort of differences occur here as far as intensities are involved.  In the dream state as in the waking state, experiences vary in intensity.  There is however a more mobile element and an easier movement through the experiences.  Transitions are more rare in the dream state, since physical time lapses are not necessary.

"Spontaneity is more the rule.  Images appear and disappear, for there is no necessity to construct them as continuous physical constructions.  There is therefore greater opportunity for new creations.  These dream experiences take up psychic space, as do waking experiences.  Their intensity is immediately felt however without any reliance upon physical time.

"They are felt according to their intensity only.  You might say, returning to our analogy, that there is more color-mixing within the dream state, and the materials are immediately at hand.  Distance is then seen in its true light, not in relation to physical space but in its basic relationship to emotional intensity.  As you seem in the waking condition to travel out of an experience, or as you seem to separate yourself from it, then physical time enters into your awareness.

"When you directly experience an emotional event, when you are at its heart, so to speak, then you do not seem to experience physical time.  Only as you move to the outskirts of the experience does such time realization enter in.  The dream experience however is always free of the realization of physical time, practically, for you experience dream events directly from the center of awareness.

"You move from the outskirts of one dream into the core of another without a change of intensity, and therefore without the sense of physical time passing.  It goes without saying that a sense of time may or may not be interwoven in any given dream sequence, but you as the dreamer are not conscious of the physical hours that pass as you sleep."

... "In the dream reality you have the opportunity to work out solutions to problems within a larger framework in a psychic environment, where there is no immediate necessity for physical construction.

"This function is extremely important, and represents one of the main ways in which problem-solving is dealt with by the personality.  This is also the reason why the plays of Shakespeare have endured the centuries.  The dramas are not true to life in physical terms, but are true to life in psychic terms.

"The creative abilities have full reign within the dream state, and it is here that the personality first tests its creative intensities and methods.  The personality's physical environment therefore is greatly colored and formed by his dream existence.  There is some leakage from waking-life experience to dream experience, but this leakage usually represents the material needed, or the problem to be solved.  Mental events and dream events are primary.  The individual first manipulates situations within the dream reality, and then transposes his characteristic method of handling them upon the physical reality.

"It is true, as Ruburt has discovered, that these dream elements are interwound.  Events are indeed clairvoyantly perceived in the dream state.  On the other hand in many instances the sleeping personality solves a problem, and therefore causes the physical event because it is the result of the dream involved.

"In many cases he perceives in a dream a future physical event, and then within the dream situation acts out various possible solutions, until he hits upon the most agreeable one.  In the dream state the personality actually has at its command a stupendous amount of subconscious information of which the ego is not aware.  It is actually more practical therefore to seek the solution in the dreaming state, or in periods of dissociation if you prefer.  The amount of data available to the subconscious is simply superior in quality and larger in quantity to that available to the ego, and this information can be used effectively through suggestion.

"The subconscious in sleep has great freedom, and has at its command information gained through past experience in this life and in other lives.  In the intense focus of awareness that occurs within the dream state, the inner self is able to direct all of its energies for the purpose of solving a given problem.

"It is able to use all of its vast information, gained through previous experience, and all of its knowledge, to solve the problem at hand.  Literally, the whole inner personality is able to focus upon any given problem, completely free of distractions, using the subconscious language of symbols.  This language is crisper in its fashion, and more concise and more inclusive than any written language.  For as we have explained, each symbol has various meanings to all layers of the self.

"(Among many others, see the 92nd, 93rd and 94th sessions in Volume 3.)

"Computerlike, the data is instantly made available exactly when and where it is needed.  The ego is indeed equipped to handle physical reality.  Its purpose is the manipulation of the personality within the physical universe.  Its most effective method of procedure however is to form the problem concisely, and then to feed it to the subconscious before the personality enters the dreaming state.

"This requires on the ego's part an excellent ability to perceive correctly the elements of the physical situation, to express it in terms that the subconscious can understand, and to deliver the message properly.  The subconscious will then break the physical data given to it down into its psychic components, translate it into symbols; and the inner self, at the request of the subconscious, will then focus all of the energies at its command to deliver the most acceptable solution, taking the entire needs of the whole self into consideration.

"The solution therefore may not necessarily be accepted completely as the best solution by the ego.  The ego is aware of the physical situation only in its relationship to itself.  It is not aware of the internal situation.  The solution however must be made in relation to the total conditions.   It is extremely important then that the ego correctly interprets the physical situation, for this is the information that it will give to the computer, so to speak."

... "...let us emphasize the importance here of a clear, honest, perceptive intellect, for it is largely upon the intellect that the ego depends.  The intellect collects from the physical environment those situations and conditions which affect, or will affect, the ego.

"The intellect chooses from the total physical situation those elements with which the personality will ultimately have to deal.  The intellect is discriminating and selective.  An ego that is overly rigid will inhibit the intellect from perceiving various portions of physical reality, and therefore distort the appearance of reality, limiting the intellect's abilities.

"Necessary and vital information is therefore not collected.  The problem is not seen in any total light, but in a distorted manner.  This distorted picture is then delivered to the subconscious, which is able to make some corrections.  It still cannot view the physical situation as clearly as can the ego under best conditions.

"When the ego is of such a rigid nature that it distorts physical reality out of all context, then however the personality had better rely upon the subconscious even in this respect, for the subconscious will at least perceive those elements of physical reality that immediately threaten the whole self."

Daily Light Practice

From Dolores Cannon's Convoluted Universe Volume 1: "Consciously focus your thoughts on light. Not light just without, but light that radiates from every cell of your living body. From the planet herself, from each plant and animal, and from the air and water themselves. Think that every single thing you come in contact with or even think of, is in essence made of light. And the core of light, the very bottom line, is love. And love is a force much misunderstood by humans, who put it into a very tiny, narrow little box. “How do you think on light or focus on light? “How does the human focus? ... He said not to try to visualize, as in seeing a movie, but to try to imagine all things glowing. Just think of glow. Perhaps that will make it easier. “Like looking for the aura? “What I see as you ask that question, is very much like smoke coming out from all things. Waving and swirling and patterning and dispersing, and continuing to flow. So it is as glowing smoke. Luminous fibers that are spoken of in many American Indian tales, do exist. So if you were to think of glowing threads, perhaps; if in fact you saw the aura going on forever! Most people think of it as only surrounding things, but it’s within and through and keeps on going. It permeates all things. “In this way we would all be connected, because if it goes on forever each individual light, so to speak, would overlap the other. “That’s right. The analogy of the tapestry has not been missed. “How do you explain the analogy of the tapestry? “Not quite as simply as I’m afraid we may view a tapestry. The tapestry does seem to be relatively flat, although composed of many fibers weaving in and out, touching at intersections, patterning and forming designs. The tapestry is in fact holographic, so it has depth as well as all the other dimensions. ... “The awakening is the purpose. The awakening of the fact that in essence we are light, we are love. Each cell of our bodies, each cell and molecule of everything. The power source that runs all life is light. So to awaken to that knowledge, and to desire to operate in that realm, and to believe that it is possible, are all factors that will put you there. ... "You see, beliefs are real things, just like thoughts are. Until exposed to light, beliefs are, shall we say, like ropes binding us. ... The larger Self is just one more more cognizant self, but not yet expanded into All That Is. So you see, here is where terminology is very critical to understanding. I wish there was another term we could use. Perhaps I should call it the karmic self. For the karmic self is the one who determines what distractions we hold on to. “For the lessons we have to learn. “That we have decided we have to learn, through our belief. If there were any learning that we could bring forth from this session to other people, it would be the power of beliefs. Belief is a very difficult term even for the human to really comprehend. What is belief? It’s beyond what you think about something. It’s what you think and feel and have that inner knowing about. But it’s even bigger than that. It defies definition. It seems that beliefs are highways. We hold tight to these highways of belief. Our job as beings who are trying to become enlightened, is to send out belief highways toward the light. Beliefs are - it’s so hard to articulate this - very strong thoughts. I see that our friend thinks one of the problems comes from semantics. That by putting a word on something vast and limitless and without sharp edges, we tend to narrow those highways.”

Dolores Cannon

My appologies for not posting anything recently, but I've been absolutely captivated by Dolores Cannon's material on UFOs: "The Keepers of the Garden", "The Custodians" and "The Convoluted Universe". I also found her material on Jesus insightful and very real (see "Jesus and the Essenes" and "They Walked With Jesus"). Dolores is a regressive hypnotherapist who has done amazing work. Have any of you read any of her work?

Framework 1 and 2

From page 80 of Seth's "The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events": "Ruburt and Joseph have recently purchased a color television set, so now their television world is no longer in black and white. I have used television as an analogy at various times, and I would like to do so again, to show the ways in which physical events are formed, and to try to describe the many methods used by individuals in choosing those particular events that will be personally encountered. "Not only does television actually serve as a mass means of communal meditation, but it also presents you with highly detailed, manufactured dreams, in which each viewer shares to some extent. We will use some distinctions here, and so I am going to introduce the terms "Framework 1" and "Framework 2," to make my discussion clear. "We will call the world as you physically experience it, Framework 1. In Framework 1, you watch television programs, for example. You have your choice of many channels. You have favorite programs. You follow certain scenes or actors. You watch all of these dramas, hardly understanding how it is that they appear on your screen to begin with. You are certain, however, that if you do buy a television set it will perform in an adequate fashion, whether or not you are familiar with electronics. Period. "You switch from channel to channel with predictable results. The programming for Channel 9, for example, does not suddenly intrude on Channel 6. Even the actors themselves, taking part in such sagas, have but the remotest idea of events that are involved in order that their own images will appear on your television screen. Their jobs are to act, taking it for granted that the technicians are following through. "Now somewhere there is a program director, who must take care of the entire programming. Shows must be done on time, actors assigned their roles. Our hypothetical director will know which actors are free, which actors prefer character roles, which ones are heroes or heroines, and which smiling Don Juan always gets the girl — and in general who plays the good guys and the bad guys. "There is no need in my outlining in detail the multitudinous events that must occur so that you can watch your favorite program. You flip the switch and there it is, while all of that background work is unknown to you. You take it for granted. Your job is simply to choose the programs of your choice on any evening. Many others are watching the same programs, of course, yet each person will react quite individually. "Now for a moment let us imagine that physical events occur in the same fashion — that you choose those which flash upon the screen of your experience. You are quite familiar with the events of your own life, for you are of course your own main hero or heroine, villain or victim, or whatever. As you do not know what happens in the television studio before you observe a program, however, so you do not know what happens in the creative framework of reality before you experience physical events. We will call that vast "unconscious" mental and universal studio Framework 2."

Mass Events 6

More from "The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events: p74 "One of man's strongest attributes is religious feeling. It is the part of psychology most often overlooked. There is a natural religious knowledge with which you are born. Ruburt's book The Afterdeath Journal ofan American Philosopher: The World View of William James explains that feeling very well. It is a biological spirituality translated into verbal terms. It says: "Life is a gift (and not a curse). I am a unique, worthy creature in the natural world, which everywhere surrounds me, gives me sustenance, and reminds me of the greater source from which I myself and the world both emerge. My body is delightfully suited to its environment, and comes to me, again, from that unknown source which shows itself through all of the events of the physical world." "That feeling gives the organism the optimism, the joy, and the ever-abundant energy to grow. It encourages curiosity and creativity, and places the individual in a spiritual world and a natural one at once. "Organized religions are always attempts to redefine that kind of feeling in cultural terms. They seldom succeed because they become too narrow in their concepts, too dogmatic, and the cultural structures finally overweigh the finer substance within them. "The more tolerant a religion is, the closer it comes to expressing those inner truths. The individual, however, has a private biological and spiritual integrity that is a part of man's heritage, and is indeed any creature's right. Man cannot mistrust his own nature and at the same time trust the nature of God, for God is his word for the source of his being — and if his being is tainted, then so must be his God." p76 "Again, you cannot separate your systems of values and your most intimate philosophical judgments from the other areas of your private or mass experience. "In this country, your tax dollars go for many medical experiments and preventative-medicine drives — because you do not trust the good intent of your own bodies. In the same way, your government funds [also] go into military defenses to prevent war, because if you do not trust your own body's good intent toward you, you can hardly trust any good intent on the part of your fellowmen. "In fact, then, preventative medicine and outlandish expenditures for preventative defense are quite similar. In each case there is the anticipation of disaster — in one case from the familiar body, which can be attacked by deadly diseases at any time, and is seemingly at least without defenses; and in the other case from the danger without: exaggerated, ever-threatening, and ever to be contended with. "(Intently:) Disease must be combatted, fought against, assaulted, wiped out. In many ways the body becomes almost like an alien battleground, for many people trust it so little that it becomes highly suspect. Man then seems pitted against nature. Some people think of themselves as patients, as others, for example, might think of themselves as students. Such people are those who are apt to take preventative measures against whatever disease is in fashion or in season, and hence take the brunt of medicine's unfortunate aspects, when there is no cause."

Mass Events 5

From Seth's "The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events": p57 "Because events do not exist in the concrete, done-and-finished versions about which you have been taught, then memory must also be a different story. "You must remember the creativity and the open-ended nature of events, for even in one life a given memory is seldom a "true version" of a past event. The original happening is experienced from a different perspective on the part of each person involved, of course, so that the event's implications and basic meanings may differ according to the focus of each participant. That given event, in your terms happening for the first time, say, begins to "work upon" the participants. Each one brings to it his or her own background, temperament, and literally a thousand different colorations — so that the event, while shared by others, is still primarily original to each person. "The moment it occurs, it begins to change as it is filtered through all of those other ingredients, and it is minutely altered furthermore by each succeeding event. The memory of an event, then, is shaped as much by the present as it is by the past. Association triggers memories, of course, and organizes memory events. It also helps color and form such events. "You are used to a time structure, so that you remember something that happened at a particular time in the past. Usually you can place events in that fashion. There are neurological pockets, so to speak, so that biologically the body can place events as it perceives activity. Those neurological pulses are geared to the biological world you know. "In those terms, past or future-life memories usually remain like ghost images by contrast. Overall, this is necessary so that immediate body response can be focused in the time period you recognize. Other life memories are carried along, so to speak, beneath those other pulses — never, in certain terms, coming to rest so that they can be examined, but forming, say, the undercurrents upon which the memories of your current life ride. "When such other-life memories do come to the surface, they are of course colored by it, and their rhythm is not synchronized. They are not tied into your nervous system as precisely as your regular memories. Your present gains its feeling of depth because of your past as you understand it. In certain terms, however, the future represents, say, another kind of depth that belongs to events. A root goes out in all directions. Events do also. But the roots of events go through your past, present, and future. "Often by purposefully trying to slow down your thought processes, or playfully trying to speed them up, you can become aware of memories from other lives — past or future. To some extent you allow other neurological impulses to make themselves known. There may often be a feeling of vagueness, because you have no ready-made scheme of time or place with which to structure such memories. Such exercises also involve you with the facts of the events of your own life, for you automatically are following probabilities from the point of your own focus. "It would be most difficult to operate within your sphere of reality without the pretension of concrete, finished events. You form your past lives now in this life as surely as you form your future ones now also. "Simultaneously, each of your past and future selves dwell in their own way now, and for them the last sentence also applies. It is theoretically possible to understand much of this through an examination-in-depth of the events of your own life. Throwing away many taken-for-granted concepts, you can pick a memory. But try not to structure it — a most difficult task — for such structuring is by now almost automatic. "The memory, left alone, not structured, will shimmer, shake, take other forms, and transform itself before your [mental] eyes, so that its shape will seem like a psychological kaleidoscope through whose focus the other events of your life will also shimmer and change. Such a memory exercise can also serve to bring in other-life memories. Edges, corners, and reflections will appear, however, perhaps superimposed upon memories that you recognize as belonging to this life. "Your memories serve to organize your experience and, again, follow recognized neurological sequences. Other-life memories from the future and past often bounce off of these with a motion too quick for you to follow. "In a quiet moment, off guard, you might remember an event from this life, but there may be a strange feeling to it, as if something about it, some sensation, does not fit into the time slot in which the event belongs. In such cases that [present-life] memory is often tinged by another, so that a future or past life memory sheds its cast upon the recalled event. There is a floating quality about one portion of the memory. "This happens more often than is recognized, because usually you simply discount the feeling of strangeness, and drop the part of the memory that does not fit. Such instances involve definite bleed-throughs, however. By being alert and catching such feelings, you can learn to use the floating part of the otherwise-recognizable memory as a focus. Through association that focus can then trigger further past or future recall. Clues also appear in the dreaming state, with greater frequency, because then you are already accustomed to that kind of floating sensation in which events can seem to happen in their own relatively independent context. "Dreams in which past and present are both involved are an example; also dreams in which the future and the past merge, and dreams in which time seems to be a changing ingredient. "In certain terms the past, present, and future [of your present life] are all compressed in any given moment of your experience. "Any such moment is therefore a gateway into all of your existence. The events that you recognize as happening now are simply specific and objective, but the most minute element in any given moment's experience is also symbolic of other events and other times. Each moment is then like a mosaic, only in your current life history you follow but one color or pattern, and ignore the others. As I have mentioned [in other books], you can indeed change the present to some extent by purposefully altering a memory event. That kind of synthesis can be used in many instances with many people. "Such an exercise is not some theoretical, esoteric, impractical method, but a very precise, volatile, and dynamic way of helping the present self by calming the fears of a past self. That past self is not hypothetical, either, but still exists, capable of being reached and of changing its reactions. You do not need a time machine to alter the past or the future. "Such a technique is highly valuable. Not only are memories not "dead," they are themselves ever-changing. Many alter themselves almost completely without your notice. In his (unpublished) apprentice novels, Ruburt (Jane) did two or three versions of an episode with a priest he had known in his youth. Each version at the time he wrote it represented his honest memory of the event. While the bare facts were more or less the same, the entire meaning and interpretation of each version differed so drastically that those differences far outweighed the similarities. "Because the episode was used on two or three different occasions, Ruburt could see how this memory changed. In most cases, however, people are not aware that memory changes in such a fashion, or that the events they think they recall are so different. "The point is that past events grow. They are not finished. With that in mind, you can see that future lives are very difficult to explain from within your framework. A completed life in your terms is no more completed or done than any event. There is simply a cutoff point in your focus from your framework, but it is as artificial as, basically, perspective is applied to painting. "It is not that the inner self is not aware of all of this, but that it has already chosen a framework, or a given frame of existence, that emphasizes certain kinds of experience over others."

Mass Events 4

From Session 805 in Seth's "The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events":


p45
"The animal knows he has the right to exist, and a place in the fabric of nature. This sense of biological integrity supports him.
"Man, on the other hand, has more to contend with. He must deal with beliefs and feelings often so ambiguous that no clear line of action seems possible. The body often does not know how to react. If you believe that the body is sinful, for example, you cannot expect to be happy, and health will most likely elude you, for your dark beliefs will blemish the psychological and biological integrity with which you were born.
"The species is in a state of transition, one of many. This one began, generally speaking, when the species tried to step apart from nature in order to develop the unique kind of consciousness that is presently your own. That consciousness is not a finished product, however, but one meant to change, [to] evolve and develop." Certain artificial divisions were made along the way that must now be dispensed with.
"You must return, wiser creatures, to the nature that spawned you — not only as loving caretakers but as partners with the other species of the earth. You must discover once again the spirituality of your biological heritage. The majority of accepted beliefs — religious, scientific, and cultural — have tended to stress a sense of powerlessness, impotence, and impending doom — a picture in which man and his world is an accidental production with little meaning, isolated yet seemingly ruled by a capricious God. Life is seen as "a valley of tears" — almost as a low-grade infection from which the soul can be cured only by death.
"Religious, scientific, medical, and cultural communications stress the existence of danger, minimize the purpose of the species or of any individual member of it, or see mankind as the one erratic, half-insane member of an otherwise orderly realm of nature. Any or all of the above beliefs are held by various systems of thought. All of these, however, strain the individual's biological sense of integrity, reinforce ideas of danger, and shrink the area of psychological safety that is necessary to maintain the quality possible in life. The body's defense systems become confused to varying degrees.
"I do not intend to give a treatise upon the biological structures of the body and their interworkings, but only to add such information in that line that is not currently known, and is otherwise important to the ideas I have in mind. I am far more concerned [with] more basic issues. The body's defenses will take care of themselves if they are allowed to, and if the psychological air is cleared of the true "carriers" of disease."

Mass Events 3

From Session 804 in Seth's "The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events":


p36
"The body is a spiritual, psychic, and social statement, biologically spoken. It is obviously private, yet it cannot be concealed, in that "it is where you are," in usual terms.
"The individual body is what it is because it exists in the context of others like it. By this I mean that a given present body presupposes a biological past of like creatures. It presupposes contemporaries. If, for example, one adult human being were perceived by an alien from another world, certain facts would be apparent. Even though such an alien came upon a lone member of your species in otherwise uninhabited land, the alien could make certain assumptions from the individual's appearance and behavior."

p36
"While each individual springs privately into the world at birth, then, each birth also represents quite literally an effort — a triumphant one — on the part of each member of each species, for the delicate balance of life requires for each birth quite precise conditions that no one species can guarantee alone, even to its own kind. The grain must grow. The animals must produce. The plants must do their part. Photosynthesis,1 in those terms, reigns.
"The seasons must retain some stability. The rains must fall, but not too much. The storms must rage, but not too devastatingly. Behind all of this lies a biological and psychic cooperative venture."

p37
"Cells possess "social" characteristics. They have a tendency to unite with others. They naturally communicate. They naturally want to move. Period. In making such statements I am not personifying the cell, for the desire for communication and motion does not belong to man, or even animals, alone.
"Man's desire to journey into other worlds is in its way as natural as the plant's urge to turn its leaves toward the sun. Man's physical world, with all of its civilizations and cultural aspects, and even with its technologies and sciences, basically represents the species' innate drive to communicate, to move outward, to create, and to objectify sensed inner realities. The most private life imaginable is a very social affair. The most secluded recluse must still depend upon the biological sociability of not only his own body cells, but of the natural world with all of its creatures. The body, then, no matter how private, is also a public, social, biological statement. A spoken sentence has a certain structure in any language. It presupposes a mouth and a tongue, the kind of physical organization necessary; a mind; a certain kind of world in which sounds have meaning; and a very precise, quite practical knowledge of the nature of sounds, the combination of their patterns, the use of repetition, and a knowledge of the nervous system. Few of my readers possess such conscious knowledge, yet the majority speak quite well."

p38
"At cellular levels the world exists with a kind of social interchange, in which the birth and death of cells are known to all others, and in which the death of a frog and a star gain equal weight. But at your level of activity your thoughts, feelings, and intents, however private, form part of the inner environment of communication. This inner environment is as pertinent and vital to the species' well-being as is the physical one. It represents the psychic, mass bank of potential, even as the planet provides a physical bank of potential. When there is an earthquake in another area of the world, the land mass in your own country is in one way or another affected. When there are psychic earthquakes in other areas of the world, then you are also affected, and usually to the same degree.
"In the same way, if one portion of your own body is injured, then other portions feel the effects of the wound. An earthquake can be a disaster in the area where it occurs, even though its existence corrects imbalances, and therefore promotes the life of the planet. Emergency actions are quite rigorous in the immediate area of an earthquake, and aid is sent in from other countries. When an area of the body "erupts," there are also emergency measures taken locally, and aid sent from other portions of the body to afflicted parts.
"The physical eruption, while it may appear to be a disaster in the area of the disease, is also, however, a part of the body's defense system, taken to insure the whole balance of the body. Biologically, illness therefore represents the overall body defense system at work."

p39
"The biological basis of all life is a loving, divine and cooperative one, and presupposes a safe physical stance from which any member of any species feels actively free to seek out its needs and to communicate with others of its kind."

p41
"The overall sense of health, vitality, and resiliency is a generalized condition of contentment — brought about, however, by multitudinous specific responses. Left alone, the body can defend itself against any disease, but it cannot defend itself appropriately against an exaggerated general fear of disease on the individual's part. It must mirror your own feelings and assessments. Usually, now, your entire medical systems literally generate as much disease as is cured — for you are everywhere hounded by the symptoms of various dis eases, and filled with the fear of disease, overwhelmed by what seems to be the body's propensity toward illness — and nowhere is the body's vitality or natural defense system stressed.
"Private disease, then, happens also in a social context. This context is the result of personal and mass beliefs that are intertwined at all cultural levels, and so to that extent serve private and public purposes.
"The illnesses generally attributed to all different ages are involved. Those of the elderly, again, fit in with your social and cultural beliefs, the structure of your family life. Old animals have their own dignity, and so should old men and women. Senility is a mental and physical epidemic — a needless one. You "catch" it because when you are young you believe that old people cannot perform. There are no inoculations against beliefs, so when young people with such beliefs grow old they become "victims."
"The kinds of diseases change through historical periods. Some become fashionable, others go out of style. All epidemics, however, are mass statements both biologically and psychically. They point to mass beliefs that have brought about certain physical conditions that are abhorrent at all levels. They often go hand-in-hand with war, and represent biological protests. (Long pause.) Whenever the conditions of life are such that its quality is threatened, there will be such a mass statement. The quality of life must be at a certain level so that the individuals of a species — of any and all species — can develop. In your species the spiritual, mental and psychic abilities add a dimension that is biologically pertinent.
"There simply must be, for example, a freedom to express ideas, an individual tendency, a worldwide social and political context in which each individual can develop his or her abilities and contribute to the species as a whole. Such a climate depends, however, upon many ideas not universally accepted — and yet the species is so formed that the biological importance of ideas cannot be stressed too strongly.
"More and more, the quality of your lives is formed through the subjective realities of your feelings and mental constructions. Again, beliefs that foster despair are biologically destructive. They cause the physical system to shut down. If mass action against appalling social or political conditions is not effective, then other means are taken, and these are often in the guise of epidemics or natural disasters. The blight is wiped out in one way or another.
"Such conditions, however, are the results of beliefs, which are mental, and so the most vital work must always be done in that area."

Seth Mass Events 2

p31
"The scientist probing the brain of an idiot or a genius will find only the physical matter of the brain itself.
"Not one idea will be discovered residing in the brain cells. You can try to convey an idea, you can feel its effects, but you cannot see it as you can the chair. Only a fool would say that ideas were nonexistent, however, or deny their importance.
"You cannot find any given dream location, either, within the brain itself. The solid matter of your world is the result of the play of your senses upon an inner dimension of activity that exists as legitimately, and yet as tantalizingly hidden, as an idea or a dream location.
"It is easy for you to see that seeds bring forth the fruit of the earth, each [of] their own kind. No seed is identical to any other, yet generally speaking there are species that serve to unite them. You do not mistake an orange for a grape. In the same way ideas or thoughts form general patterns, bringing forth in your world certain kinds of events. In this respect your thoughts and feelings "seed" physical reality, bringing forth materializations.
"You operate quite nicely politically, living in villages, townships, countries, states, and so forth, each with certain customs and local ordinances. These in no way affect the land itself. They are designations for practical purposes, and they imply organization of intent or affiliation at one level. They are political patterns, invisible but highly effective. There are, however, far more vigorous invisible mental patterns, into which the thoughts and feelings of mankind are organized — or, naturally, organize themselves.
"Each person's thoughts flow into that formation, forming part of the earth's psychic atmosphere. From that atmosphere flows the natural earthly patterns from which your seasons emerge with all of their variety and effects. You are never victims of natural disasters, though it may seem that you are, for you have your hand in forming them. You are creatively involved in the earth's cycles. No one can be born for you, or die for you, and yet no birth or death is really an isolated event, but one in which the entire planet participates. In personal terms, again, each species is concerned not only with survival but with the quality of its life and experience.
"In those terms, natural disasters ultimately end up righting a condition that earlier blighted the desired quality of life, so that adjustments were made.
"The "victims" choose to participate in those conditions at spiritual, psychological, and biological levels. Many of those who are counted among the fatalities might otherwise die of extended illnesses, for example. At cellular levels such knowledge is available, and in one way or another imparted, often in dreams, to the individual. Conscious comprehension need not follow, for many people know such things, and pretend not to know them at the same time.
"Others have finished with their challenges; they want to die and are looking for an excuse — a face-saving device. However, those who choose such deaths want to die in terms of drama, in the middle of their activities, and are in a strange way filled with the exultant inner knowledge of life's strength even at the point of death. At the last they identify with the power of nature that seemingly destroyed them.
"That identification often brings about in death — but not always — an added acceleration of consciousness, and involves such individuals in a kind of "group death experience," where all of the victims more or less embark into another level of reality "at the same time."
"Those people were aware just beneath consciousness of the possibilities of such an event long before the disaster occurred, and could until the last moment choose to avoid the encounter. Animals know of weather conditions ahead of time, as old tales say. This perception is a biological part of your heritage also. The body is prepared, though consciously it seems you are ignorant.
"There are innumerable relationships that exist between the interior environment of the body and the weather patterns. The ancient feelings of identification with storms are quite valid, and in that respect the "realism" of feelings is far superior to the realism of logic. When a person feels a part of a storm, those feelings speak a literal truth. Logic deals with exterior conditions, with cause-and-effect relationships. Intuitions deal with immediate experience of the most intimate nature, with subjective motions and activities that in your terms move far quicker than the speed of light, and with simultaneous events that your cause-and-effect level is far too slow to perceive.
"In that regard also, the activities of the inner environment are too fast for you to follow intellectually. Your intuitions, however, can give you clues to such behavior. A country is responsible for its own droughts, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes — and for its own harvests and rich display of products, its industry and cultural achievements, and each of these elements is related to each other one.
"If the quality of life that is considered spiritually and biologically necessary fails, then adjustments occur. A political problem might be altered by a natural disaster if political means fail. On the other hand, the rousing creative energies of the people will emerge.
"Excellence will show itself through the arts, cultural creativity, technological or sociological accomplishments. The species tries to fulfill its great capacities. Each physical body in its own way is like the world. It has its own defenses and abilities, and each portion of it strives for a quality of existence that will bring to the smallest parts of it the spiritual and biological fulfillment of its own nature."

Seth Mass Events 1

I've just started reading (again) Seth's "The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events". Here are some excerpts:


"You cannot begin to understand the nature of mass events of any kind unless-you consider the even greater framework in which they have their existence. A person's private experience happens in the context of his psychological and biological status, and basically cannot be separated from his religious and philosophical beliefs and sentiments, and his cultural environment and political framework —
"All of the issues form together to make a trellis of behavior. Thorns or roses may grow therein. That is, the individual will grow outward toward the world, encountering and forming a practical experience, traveling outward from his center in almost vine-like fashion, forming from the fabric of physical reality a conglomeration of pleasant or aesthetic, and unpleasant or prickly events. The vine of experience in this analogy is formed in quite a natural fashion from "psychic" elements that are as necessary to psychological experience as sun, air, and water are to plants. (Loudly and humorously:) I do not want to get too entwined (underlined) in this analogy, however; but as the individual's personal experience must be seen in the light of all of these issues, so mass events cannot be understood unless they are considered in a far greater context than usual."

"I have thus far stayed clear of many important and vital subjects, involving mass realities, because first of all the importance of the individual was to be stressed, and his power to form his private events. Only when the private nature of reality was emphasized sufficiently would I be ready to show how the magnification of individual reality combines and enlarges to form vast mass reactions — such as, say, the initiation of an obviously new historical and cultural period; the rise or overthrow of governments; the birth of a new religion that sweeps all others before it; mass conversions; mass murders in the form of wars; the sudden sweep of deadly epidemics; the scourge of earthquakes, floods, or other disasters; the inexplicable appearance of periods of great art or architecture or technology.
(Pause at 9:57, one of many.) "I said there are no closed systems. This also means that in world terms, events spin like electrons, affecting all psychological and psychic systems as well as biological ones. It is true to say that each individual dies alone, for no one else can die that death. It is also true that part of the species dies with each death, and is reborn with each birth, and that each private death takes place within the greater context of the existence of the entire species. The death serves a purpose species-wise while it also serves the purposes of the individual, for no death comes unbidden.
"An epidemic, for example, serves the purposes of each individual who is involved, while it also serves its own functions in the greater species framework."

"There has been great discussion in past years about the survival of the fittest, in Darwinian terms, but little emphasis is placed upon the quality of life, or of survival itself; or in human terms, [there has been] little probing into the question of what makes life worthwhile. Quite simply, if life is not worthwhile (louder), no species will have a reason to continue.
"Civilizations are literally social species. They die when they see no reason to live, yet they seed other civilizations. Your private mental states en masse bring about the mass cultural stance of your civilization. To some extent, then, the survival of your civilization is quite literally dependent upon the condition of each individual; and that condition is initially a spiritual, psychic state that gives birth to the physical organism. That organism is intimately connected to the natural biological state of each other person, and to each other living thing, or entity, however minute.
"New paragraph: Despite all "realistic" pragmatic tales to the contrary, the natural state of life itself is one of joy, acquiescence with itself— a state in which action is effective, and the power to act is a natural right. You would see this quite clearly with plants, animals, and all other life if you were not so blinded by beliefs to the contrary. You would feel it in the activity of your bodies, in which the vital individual affirmation of your cells brings about the mass, immensely complicated achievement of your physical being. That activity naturally promotes health and vitality.
"I am not speaking of some romanticized, "passive," floppy, spiritual world, but of a clear reality without impediments, in which the opposite of despair and apathy reigns."

The Outer Ego

From Session 181 in Volume 4 of Seth's Early Sessions:


"The ego skims the topmost surface of reality and experience.

"This is not the result of any inherent egotistical quality. It is true that the ego's responsibility is with the relationship between the self and the physical environment. It must of necessity be focused within the confines of physical reality.

"Nevertheless it is fully capable of perceiving far more than Western man allows it to perceive. Fear and ignorance and superstition quite obviously limit the potentialities of the ego, and therefore to some degree limit even its effectiveness within the physical universe.

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

"The ego, because of its responsibility, will therefore fight against what it then considers an unknown threat to survival. Struggles are therefore initiated which are entirely unnecessary. We want to bring intuitional comprehension to a point where the ego will accept it."

"It is amazing how man regrets the hours spent in sleep, for he does not realize how hard he works when his ego is unaware."

No Limitations

From Session 180 of Volume 4 of the Seth's Early Sessions:


"The human personality has no limitations except those which it accepts. There are no limits to its development or growth, if it will accept no limits. There are no boundaries to the self except those boundaries which the self arbitrarily creates and perpetuates. There is no veil through which human perception cannot see, except the veil of ignorance which is pulled down by the materialistic ego.

"That which appears empty; such as your space, is empty only for those who will not perceive, who are blind because they fear to perceive that which the ego cannot understand. The ego however is also capable of greater knowledge and potentiality and scope.

"It dwells in the physical universe, but it can indeed also perceive and appreciate other realities. The ego is part of the personality, and as such it can partake of sturdier, heartier, more vivid realities. The personality can dwell, and does dwell, in many worlds at once.

"The inquiring intuitions and the searching self, like summer winds, can travel in small and large spaces, can know of actualities that are more minute than pinheads and more massive than galaxies.

"The power and ability of the human personality, in a most practical manner, can be seen as limited."

Psychic Expansion and the Dream/Physical Connection

The following extract from Seth's Session 178 (Volume 4 of the Early Sessions) is advice given to Jane (Ruburt) and Rob (Joseph) which has great relevance to us all:


Psychic Expansion

"He (Ruburt) must remember however in his psychological time experiments that to focus outward, within and through the universe, is to expand and focus inward simultaneously. He must seek the expansion before he seeks the results or effects of the expansion.

"It would help if he let himself go in the same way that he does when he works on his poetry. It will indeed be beneficial for you both to suggest to your subconscious that it enable you to develop your psychic abilities, and then consciously forget the matter.

"Ruburt does allow himself this freedom, until he begins to brood about it. We will begin slowly to further develop his abilities in our sessions. We may even ourselves initiate such a program.

"I am not primarily concerned with effects, as you know. They can be beneficial however from several viewpoints, and they can also give Ruburt confidence. Any such effects however will happen within the framework of our sessions, and we must always work in an atmosphere of mutual integrity."

Dream and Physical Connections

"The connections between the dreaming self and the waking self, and between the dream universe and the physical universe, exist on chemical, electromagnetic and psychic levels.

"They are completely interwoven. Effects in one are reflected in the other[s]. As you have already supposed Joseph, suggestions received during the sleeping state are often carried out by the waking personality."

... "Suggestions made by the waking personality are also carried out by the sleeping self. The characteristics of the sleeping personality therefore partially determine the physical existence of the waking self. Solutions to problems are sought and received and worked for in the dream state. The physical environment is directly affected then by the activities of the dreaming self.

"Abilities unused by the waking personality are utilized in the dream state. A study of dream activities will often allow the waking personality to recognize abilities of which it is not aware, to discover talents that are not being used. Such a study can be most beneficial in allowing the personality to utilize all of its capabilities. There is no doubt that the whole self is a composite formed by the various aspects of the personality as it is seen in the waking and dream states, and at other levels of operation.

"There are levels of which we have not yet spoken. The repository of potentiality however is contained within those layers that are not conscious. As a rule the ego chooses those elements from this repository which it feels will be most beneficial in dealing with physical reality.

"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.

"In actuality the ego itself definitely benefits by allowing greater flexibility. It does become more active, and to some degree more permissive under such conditions, but the flexibility involved adds to its strength in the beneficial ways.

"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.

"The ego that ignores too many of the possibilities of the inner self is soon in dire difficulty, and is forced to realize that it has been considering survival in a very limited light.

"For the personality in such circumstances will shrivel up, and ultimately the physical self will die ahead of its time, and despite all emergency efforts made by the ego, unless it makes the necessary effort. Survival within the physical universe, as within all others, is determined by the full development of potential.

"The greatest possible development allows the greatest possible security, for such development shows itself physically and in all other manners. The entire gestalt simply works better and more efficiently and more joyfully, from the smallest cell to the most organized aspects of personality.

"You may find it helpful, and certainly fascinating, to study your own dreams, looking at them for the purpose of searching in their framework for abilities of which the ego is not aware.

"Your own talents have worked for the survival of your personality, Joseph. They have given you a strength that you would not possess if your ego had not allowed them to emerge. You may not think of your artistic abilities as serving any practical purpose, insofar as survival is concerned, and yet they have been your main security, and in very practical ways.

"Without a sense of joy and inner accomplishment and development of potential, the personality will not only fail to flourish, but the inner self will refuse to maintain the physical structure adequately. This is extremely important. Superficial measures will not fool the inner self.

"We will discuss for some sessions the nature of dreams, practically speaking, from many viewpoints. Other suggestions will be given for general benefit. I hope in the future to make these points clear enough so that you will be able to discover definite connections where you have not before, that will tie in waking and dreaming situations with rather surprising results.

"By far the most immediately helpful suggestions have to do with dream therapy, with problem solving, and the search for abilities as shown within the dream state.

"The energy used in constructing dreams is every bit as intense as the energy used in the waking state, but there is no depletion because the sleeping self uses energy more naturally, realizing that it is available, and being more free in its operation.

"The energy is used in a more diffused manner however, than in the waking state. It does not have to be focused in one main direction only. It is as intense, but it has a wider radius. There is no strain involved.

"This is one of the reasons why health suggestions given immediately before sleep are so effective. Incidentally, they are excellent practice. Expectation can also aid you. In this case suggestions should be given leading to dreams in which a desired situation is accomplished. The dream will then increase and activate your own expectations. And as you know, the expectations themselves have much to do with whether or not any given situation will occur. Further detailed discussions will be held on all of these points, before these matters are covered."