Mike's commentary · Seth Speaks, Chapter 7

The "Introduction" and "Key Points" for this chapter were summarized by an AI editor based on the main text below; they are not things Mike said during the lecture. The main text comes from Mike's commentary, and the blockquotes are Seth's original words (the parts Mike read aloud).

Introduction

This chapter continues the previous chapter's explanation of the soul, discussing the soul's potential from the perspectives of image, projection, frequency, streams of consciousness, dreams, and the ego. In addition to the physical image, a person may, through intense emotion, project a nonphysical pseudo-material image; physical reality is only a frequency that consciousness tunes into, not the strongest reality. The individual stream of consciousness is only part of a larger river of consciousness, and in sleep and creative work a person may come into contact with other realities. The ego could originally perceive more broadly, but it is limited because people have put blinders on it.

Key Points in This Chapter

• The physical body is not the only image; intense emotions or thoughts can project nonphysical pseudo-physical images that carry the imprint of personality.
• Physical reality is only a frequency that consciousness tunes into, not the reality with the strongest energy; other realities exist simultaneously at different frequencies.
• The individual stream of consciousness is only part of a larger river of consciousness; a person is simultaneously involved in other realities, but attention is simply not tuned to them.
• Creative work immerses a person in other streams of consciousness, and its source comes from multiple realities.
• The ego was not originally limited only to physical reality; it is people who put blinders on it and restricted its ability to perceive other realities.

Main Text

Session 530

Images, Projection, and the Frequencies of Reality

Let us look at Session 530. This chapter actually continues the detailed description and introduction of the soul from the previous chapter. There is not much new content; it just elaborates on the previous chapter in finer detail, or from different angles. In fact, it is all discussing similar or the same issues. Since this chapter does not have many difficult points, we will move through it a bit faster.

Seth says:

In your terms, you have only one image, the physical body that you perceive. (Session 530)

We assume the physical body is the only image, and there is no other. At the same time, it seems that your image can only be in one place at one time; we cannot bilocate. But you do have other images of which you are unaware. At the same time, you also create different images and different realities for different purposes. This is quite interesting. Although you cannot physically perceive them -- here "physically" means materially, perceiving them in the manner of the flesh.

Your primary sense of identity is connected to your physical body. It is only because we have this physical body that we have this sense of identity. Therefore, for example, it is extremely difficult for you to imagine how, when you do not have it, or outside of it, or in any way cut off from it -- how this sense of identity continues to persist when there is no physical body. This is something we cannot imagine.

Images are the result of concentrated energy. (Session 530)

As soon as we say "image," we think of the physical body, but there are also nonphysical images. Whether physical or nonphysical, they are all the result of concentrated energy.

Their pattern comes from sharply directed emotion, or the image of a psychic concept. (Session 530)

The essence of an image comes from this: the image of a sharply directed emotional or psychic concept. And here, intensity is the most important thing -- be sure to remember that.

For example, if you have an extremely vivid desire to go to a certain place -- remember, a particularly strong desire -- then this pseudo-physical, that is, nonphysical, image, identical to you, may appear there. "May," not "will." And consciously you are not aware of it. That desire will carry the imprint of your personality and image, even though you are never aware that this image has appeared in another location.

This is quite normal. I have already explained this earlier, so I will not repeat it here.

Although this thought-image is usually not seen by others.

This kind of thought-image is usually not seen by others. But in the future, it is very possible that machines and scientific instruments will be able to see it and perceive it. Perhaps in the future, when our technology is sufficiently advanced, and we understand the principles of the soul and the relationship between energy and consciousness, we may be able to use instruments to perceive this thought-image that is invisible to the naked eye. At present, those who already know how to use the inner senses may be able to perceive these images -- note that he uses "may."

Any intense mental activity -- thought or emotion -- will not only be constructed in some physical or pseudo-physical manner, but will also bear the imprint of the personality who originally conceived it. (Session 530)

What does "physical or pseudo-physical" mean? As we discussed earlier, your physical body is the product of one kind of intense thought and consciousness: your entity, your soul, had an intense belief or desire to take human form, and only then did it form your present physical body. That is a physical one. A pseudo-physical one is what we just mentioned: a psychic image appears, without physical substance. But no matter what, it will carry the imprint of the personality who originally conceived it. So your physical body also carries the imprint of your soul, and the image you send out also carries the memory of your personality -- it is your image, not someone else's.

There are many such incipient or latent images.

You see, the title of this chapter is "The Potential of the Soul," so these are all abilities of the soul.

To help you imagine what I am speaking of, you may think of them as ghost images or phantoms. (Session 530)

If it is hard to imagine, you can think of the kind of ghost images or phantoms shown in movies and television dramas. Although this is only an analogy -- images just beneath physical matter, not yet fully manifest as the physical reality you know, yet still possessing enough vividness, and capable of being constructed. If you could see them, you would think they were indeed quite real.

Why would a ghost image or phantom be captured by someone's camera? Why would it be seen by certain people? It is because they have not yet become strong enough to complete the process of materialization, but they are already strong enough -- just one step short of materialization. In that state, you can see such phantoms or ghost images.

So, if you have the inner senses, or even if you do not need the inner senses -- some people do not need them; under certain specific occasions and specific environments, such as when the body is relatively weak, or the environment is relatively dim, or when the environmental conditions are relatively suitable, some people can see them without any special ability. Because they are originally in the process of becoming matter but have not yet become matter.

Actually, each individual constantly sends out such duplicate images of himself. (Session 530)

You do this often, although the degree of materialization may vary -- the intensity of the images differs, and the degree of materialization also differs; some are very vague.

These images, however, are not mere projections. (Session 530)

They are not like a slide or a projector casting a flat image onto a movie screen. They are not flat images; they are three-dimensional. They are constructed in space:

They do have a definite effect upon the air or atmosphere. (Session 530)

They are not two-dimensional things on a screen; they are three-dimensional -- though of course, more likely they may not be merely three-dimensional, but perhaps hyper-dimensional. But they do have a definite effect upon your three-dimensional air and atmosphere, which is why, under certain circumstances, you can see them.

It is difficult to explain the manner in which they create their own space. (Session 530)

Because they have already manifested in the three-dimensional world, except that what they manifest is a change in the air and atmosphere, not yet a substantive change. Air is transparent, so you cannot see them. But some people can see them. It is very difficult for me to explain how this thing of belief, projected outward by your thoughts and emotions, can become an image, and how this image creates a space for itself in the air and atmosphere.

Although at times they may coexist with, or even overlap, objects or shapes.

In this process of overlapping and mutual merging, there must be a kind of interaction -- an interaction that lies just beneath direct physical perception.

This is not easy to understand. For example, in some movie scenes or in some stories, we see certain things possessing certain people. If you encounter someone of relatively high ability, he can see from that person's body the shadow or general shape of the thing possessing him, and will say, "This is a fox spirit," or "That is a fox demon." I use these examples from classical literature and movie scenes to help you understand. He is telling you that all of these things really do happen: these images and forms, if they attach to a person, overlapping with certain people, can attach to certain things, and even attach to certain people. There is a certain interaction, but it is an exchange beneath physical perception, outside the range of our five senses.

You may, for example, suddenly strongly wish that you were standing by a beloved, but distant and familiar, seashore. (Session 530)

For example, you want to go to the beach, a place you have been to and remember fondly, with a very good impression, and you very much want to go. Your intense desire then acts like a core of energy -- and this core of energy projects outward.

This desire projects out an image of you. (Session 530)

Like a projector, but this projector is extremely powerful -- it can project not just the short distance to the wall of your home, but thousands of miles outward, unrestricted by time and space, all the way to that seashore. You have been to Hawaii, the Maldives, the Caribbean; those seashores left an extremely deep impression on you -- the emerald green or sapphire blue seawater, clear and transparent like jade, so clear you can see the bottom at a glance, making your heart yearn for it. This intense wish causes you to project outward.

The place that you imagine will attract this image. (Session 530)

You need to understand this process: the seashore, the beach you are thinking of, will attract this image. You project it outward, and the other side also attracts it, and then it immediately stands there -- no time, no distance; that image is standing right there. This kind of thing happens very, very often; we just do not know it.

Under ordinary circumstances, people cannot see it.

On the other hand, if the desire is still more intense, the energy core is greater, and a portion of your own stream of consciousness is transferred to this image. (Session 530)

When your desire is very strong, when you especially want to go to that seashore, your core energy becomes stronger, and a portion of your stream of consciousness -- not all of it; you are still sitting here -- that portion will be transferred to that image.

Therefore, for a moment, you, sitting here in this room, may suddenly smell the salty air of the seashore, or in some other way perceive the environment in which this pseudo-image is situated. (Session 530)

The pseudo-image is the environment in which your nonphysical image is situated. Not only the air, but perhaps even the sea breeze, the feeling of the breeze brushing your face, can be felt. Many people may have had this experience, this kind of actual sensation.

Let me give a simple example. I know a person in real life who has this ability. Once he was on the phone with a friend in Beijing, chatting about this and that, just normal conversation. Suddenly he smelled a strong odor of chive buns -- you know the northerners' favorite chive, egg, and shrimp three-delicacy stuffed buns; that smell is very strong and very pungent. He suddenly smelled this odor. He asked the person on the phone, "What are you doing right now?" The other person said, "I am eating buns." He asked, "What kind of filling?" The other person said, "Chive filling." On his end of the phone, he suddenly smelled this strong odor of chive buns. This is an actual case, which I share with everyone. This kind of thing happens often with some people, but not everyone; only a very small number of people are born with this ability, without needing training or study.

The degree of perception here will vary greatly. (Session 530)

In the example just now, it was actually the case that while he was on the phone with the other person, one of his own duplicates or images had already gone over to his friend's side. Because his image and duplicate had gone over there, it was as if he were standing next to his friend, watching his friend eat buns, so he could smell the buns. The degree of this perception varies from person to person; what can be perceived differs greatly.

First of all, your physical body is the result of an extremely intense focus of emotion; the miraculous energy of your psyche not only created your physical body, but also maintains it. (Session 530)

Seth says "first of all," and then never says "second" -- he probably forgot as he was speaking. Your physical body is something you projected outward; it is the result of an extremely intense focus of emotion. When we can project an image outward, we know that this image is formless; but if you are strong enough, it must also have perception. Then if you are even stronger, is it not true that when it reaches a certain degree of strength, it can materialize, and others can see you? So this miraculous energy of your psyche not only created your physical body, but also maintains it.

Here he is talking about the issue of duplicates. If you are a person of very high attainment -- at the level of a bodhisattva, a buddha, or an arhat -- you generally have this ability, but the level and ability of the duplicates differ: some people can only send out one duplicate, and it can only look around and do nothing; some duplicates can communicate and chat with the other person; some duplicates can even do things. At the level of a bodhisattva, the ability to create duplicates is already extremely strong; one can conjure countless duplicates outward, and each duplicate can independently communicate with you, just like an independent physical body, and you cannot tell that it is a duplicate.

What he says later is not this meaning; let us continue and see.

While it may seem to you that your physical body is permanent enough at times, it is not a thing of continuity. (Session 530)

Your physical body is not a thing of continuity; it is not, as you think, always staying here. It is still in a state of constant pulsation -- your physical body is a state of pulsation, like a flickering frequency.

And because of the nature of energy and the construction of the body, the body is actually blinking on and off, that is, it persists moment by moment. (Session 530)

This will break your concepts, overturn your values and beliefs. You think your body is a solid thing, motionless, but Seth says it is not -- your physical body is like a twinkling starlight, a flickering energy body, blinking on and off. But to you, it looks like a fixed thing.

This is somewhat like the fluorescent lamp in your home. We all know that a fluorescent lamp changes at a rate of 50 hertz per second¹ -- on and off, 50 times per second. But the human eye can only distinguish changes below 24 frames per second²; beyond 24 frames your naked eye cannot tell the difference, and connects them together. So within changes exceeding 50 times per second, you see the fluorescent lamp as constantly lit. If you record it with a high-speed camera -- nowadays phones all have high-speed video functions, 480 frames per second, 960 frames, or even 1000 frames³ -- you can point it at one of those old fluorescent lamps with a starter, and you will find that it is indeed flickering on and off.

Each of our lives is the same as this fluorescent lamp. Behind it there is an energy support -- the energy of your psyche is constantly supplying energy to your physical body. With the existence of this energy, your body flickers on and off like a fluorescent lamp. Because it flickers fast enough, to you it feels like something that persists continuously, but in fact it persists moment by moment, not as something eternally enduring.

This is somewhat like film -- frame by frame. We all know that film runs at 24 frames per second⁴, and each frame is like a photograph. When the projector plays them at 24 frames per second, the people you see on the screen come alive. But these people, on the film, are only frame by frame, moment by moment.

This is very difficult to explain; as a human being it is not easy to understand. Actually, the speed of this flickering is extremely fast; he does not say how fast -- in order to avoid frightening you. Because if he told you, you would collapse. In fact, it is much faster than a fluorescent lamp; there has been no dedicated scientific study or calculation of it, but I remember he once gave an analogy, something like several hundred million times per second, flickering at that kind of speed. It is not the kind of slow on-and-off you might imagine; it is just extremely fast, so fast that even our scientific instruments can barely detect it. But in essence, that is how it is.

For our present purposes, we do not need to completely understand the reasons for these pulsations. (Session 530)

You do not need to know why it pulsates, why it flickers like this.

But even in terms of the physical body, you are not here as constantly as you appear to be. (Session 530)

Your emotional intensity and focus create images outside your physical body -- that is, you send out other duplicates.

But the persistence and degree of these images depend upon the intensity of the source of any given emotion.

You have images outside the physical body. What images? As we just said, your thoughts move, the mind follows circumstances, and then the mind projects out a thing, an image. The persistence and degree of this image -- its clarity, its perceptual ability -- all depend on the source of your emotion, that is, how strong your desire is.

Your space is therefore filled with incipient images, quite vivid, but beneath the general structure of matter that you can perceive. (Session 530)

In our world, there are many incipient images -- images that have not yet formed into matter. These images are quite vivid and lifelike, because they are all projected outward by your emotions, projected outward by your beliefs. But they are beneath the general structure of matter that you can perceive; they are not on the surface, and you cannot see them.

Seth says in the following passage that this need not be written in the book -- but Rob wrote down every word Seth said. What he says is that we often pause; why? We need to choose specific words. While Seth is speaking, he is also choosing which words or expressions will be more fitting, because some of this material is quite difficult. The passage he just spoke may seem light and ordinary, but it is actually very difficult -- it is hard to explain why a human body is flickering in this kind of strobing state; he cannot explain it.

These projections are, in fact, constantly being sent out. (Session 530)

More mature scientific instruments than you now have would not only clearly show the existence of these images, but would also show the various intensities of vibrational waves surrounding every object that you can perceive. (Session 530)

In the future, if there are more mature scientific instruments, they will not only clearly show the existence of these projected images, but will also be able to perceive, surrounding our environment, those other unformed material images beyond the formed material images -- that is, those vibrational waves of different intensities.

To make this clearer, he says:

Look at any table in the room before you. (Session 530)

The table is physical and solid; you can easily perceive it. Now, as an analogy -- be sure to remember, he says it is an analogy:

If you can imagine that behind that table there is another one like it, but not quite as physical. (Session 530)

About two centimeters behind the table, there is a "ghost image" exactly like it, partially overlapping with it. And then behind this table there is another ghost image, and behind that one an even fainter ghost image -- each one harder to perceive than the last, each one more blurred than the last, until it fades away into invisibility.

Can you understand this? This table, from the point where it finally fades into invisibility -- that is, before the thought of the table has even arisen, when there is nothing at all -- from a very faint virtual image at the very beginning, a thought, gradually becoming stronger and stronger, until at the final step it becomes a physical substance standing before us, and only then can our naked eyes perceive it. If you activate your inner senses, you can see how it formed, step by step, into the present reality. How did it change from a thought or idea into a table? It is a process from weak to strong.

Then he says, imagine that in front of the table there is also another one like it, but not as physical, a vague shadow, and in front of that one there is another -- extending outward with even less physicality. The edges of each table are the same, only increasingly faint. That is to say, behind and in front of this table, there is a series of increasingly faint images.

What he means is that this represents the process of this table's existence in your three-dimensional world: from the nonexistence of this table, to the arising of this table, to its eventual dissolution and disappearance. It is all composed of energy, so its disappearance is also increasingly faint. If there were higher scientific instruments or abilities, the table he saw, and the environment around us, would all look like this: not a table standing alone somewhere, but with all kinds of illusory shadows overlapping in front of and behind the table, layer upon layer, layer upon layer.

Actually, everything that appears in physical terms also exists in ways that you cannot perceive. (Session 530)

Everything that appears in physical (material) form also exists in ways that you cannot perceive. When a physical object reaches a certain "degree" -- this word "degree" is put in quotation marks, meaning it is not what you think, not the kind of degree you understand, but more the degree of emotional intensity it has reached.

When physical objects reach a certain "degree," when they seem to merge into matter, then you can perceive them. (Session 530)

When that string of invisible, vague ghost images -- from the faintest to the strongest, the one about to form into a table, to the one that has already formed into a table -- when they overlap and are strong enough, then you can perceive it.

But they do exist, and are valid, at other levels. (Session 530)

Beyond this physical level, that pile of ghost images -- this physical table is composed of a pile of ghost images from different levels -- at those different levels, they are all real and valid. Do not think that the table only exists in your three-dimensional world; it also exists in other spaces.

Then he says, "You may now take a break." -- Just kidding; he says you may now take a break, go to another level and relax.

There are also realities that are more valid than your own. (Session 530)

We think our material world is already quite valid; things can be seen and touched. He says there are realities even more valid than this reality that can be seen and touched. You cannot imagine what it would mean for something to be more physical than a physical thing, so he can only use an analogy -- for example, this physical table before you right now:

Would appear vague by contrast. (Session 530)

Just like those very vague tables we imagined earlier. Because in that kind of reality, the table could be said to be a kind of "super table."

Therefore, your reality does not contain the most intensely concentrated energy. (Session 530)

As we said earlier, the stronger the core energy, the stronger the ability to materialize and manifest. You have now manifested this three-dimensional world around us, and you think this energy is already very strong. He tells you it is not -- the energy of our reality is not the strongest.

It is simply a frequency to which you are attuned. (Session 530)

The reason we can perceive the environment around us is because your frequency is consistent with it. You are within it, and you are an important part of it. If you were in another reality, either those images would be the real table to you, or your table would also become a kind of image -- depending on the energy intensity of that reality. The reason you can see things is not because the energy of this place is strong enough, strong enough to make you see it; it is simply that your frequency happens to be consistent with the energy frequency of this table. If you are in another reality with another frequency, you can see another reality.

Therefore, other portions of yourself, of which your consciousness is unaware, do dwell within what you could call a supersystem of reality, in which your consciousness learns to deal with and perceive far stronger energies, and learns to construct images of truly different natures. (Session 530)

Using the table as an analogy: the table has a super table in another place. You have a super you existing in another reality -- that is the portion of yourself that your own consciousness cannot perceive. You do dwell within what you could call a supersystem of reality. There, your consciousness learns to deal with and perceive far stronger energies, and learns to construct "images" of truly different natures -- "images" is put in quotation marks, because those images are already completely different from the images you imagine; their natures are different. This has already transcended the space of human imagination, so let us not try to imagine it for now. I cannot explain it to you, and Seth cannot explain it to you either.

Your concepts of space are highly distorted. Since to you space is simply the place where nothing is visible, it is obviously filled with all kinds of phenomena. (Session 530)

We say this place is empty, this house is empty, this office is empty, this venue is empty -- but he says these places are always filled, filled with all kinds of images you cannot see.

But these make no impression at all upon your perceptive mechanisms. (Session 530)

These images are there, but you cannot perceive them; you do not have this perceptual system, this sensory system.

Now, in various ways, occasionally you can to some degree tune in to these other realities. (Session 530)

Occasionally, remember, only occasionally. It is like when a station gets crossed or drifts off frequency — your normal frequency is tuned only to your three-dimensional world, but sometimes there is a slight problem with your frequency, and amid special circumstances, emotions, or external changes, it suddenly drifts off station. Once it drifts, you become tuned to the frequency of another reality.

You do this with conviction, although many times these experiences are lost. (Session 530)

You have no impression of many of these experiences because they were not physically remembered — why? Because they never appeared in your physical world, so you cannot remember them. You can see them, you can adjust your frequency and perceive them, but because they are not things of your three-dimensional world, sometimes you simply cannot remember them.

He then asks you to think again about that image you sent to the seashore:

Although he does not have your own physical senses, he does have perception to some extent within his own range. (Session 530)

You see, this is very interesting. That image does not even have a physical body, so how could it have physical senses? Yet it does have perception within a certain range — remember, it must be within a certain range.

Unknowingly, however, you project him outward through perfectly natural laws. (Session 530)

This process is something you do unconsciously and quite naturally, not something you do deliberately.

The image is built up from intense emotional desire. (Session 530)

Then it follows the laws of its own reality. (Session 530)

You project it outward, and then it lives within that reality, following the laws of its own reality.

To some extent, he is conscious, only to a lesser degree than you are. (Session 530)

It also has its own consciousness. After you project it outward, it is not your stand-in, not your marionette, just standing there dumbly. No, it will wander here and there, look around, and respond to the things that interest it.

From this passage you can understand that your soul's perceptual system does not depend on the physical senses — did the previous chapter not emphasize this point? Is he not emphasizing it again here? When your soul perceives things, it perceives directly, without needing the physical senses. Here he gives an example, but his purpose here is not to explain this; I am only mentioning it in passing.

You are sent forth by an oversoul that intensely desires existence in physical form. (Session 530)

He uses this example to explain what follows: you can send an image out to the seashore, so can we not suppose that behind you there is also an oversoul that intensely desires existence in physical form, and that it has sent out a physical image of you? This is understandable, right —

Remember, he is definitely telling you this is an analogy. You must never mistake an analogy for fact. In studying the Seth material, and in studying other materials as well — the Buddha also used analogies, and other religions use analogies too — you must always remember that an analogy is only meant to help people understand something, and you must never treat an analogy as a real thing. Once you have understood it, set the analogy aside and forget it.

He says, can we not say that within you there is an even stronger oversoul, one that intensely desires to exist in physical form, and that it has projected you here? But you are not the puppet of this oversoul. Just as the image you projected to the seashore is not your puppet — it is the same.

You will follow your own direction of development. (Session 530)

That image at the seashore must follow the laws of its reality, and you must follow the laws of your reality.

And through methods that simply cannot be explained again, you add to the experience of the oversoul. (Session 530)

You project yourself to the seashore, and it smells the salty scent of the sea, feels the sea breeze against its face — does this feeling not also add to your experience? It is as if you have taken one more trip; originally the experience of this trip did not exist, but now you have gained this extra experience. You can add to your own experience, and you can also add to the experience of the oversoul behind you. At the same time, I am also using an analogy, giving an example — it does not actually operate this way.

And at the same time you expand the reality-nature of the oversoul, and you also insure your own development, and you are able to draw upon the abilities of the oversoul. (Session 530)

Nor will you be swallowed up by an oversoul that may seem so superior in such circumstances. (Session 530)

If it can project you outward, it must be far more powerful than you — just as you can project that image to the seashore, and you are far more capable than that image; you can eat, drink, run, and jump, while it is only an image. So can you swallow up that image? You cannot swallow it up. It is itself; once you project it outward, it has its own consciousness. The previous chapter also discussed the same issue: do not be afraid of being swallowed up by the soul, of being directed by the soul like a marionette, or of being absorbed by it — none of that will happen. You are you.

Because you exist, you send out similar projections of yourself. As said earlier, the reality of consciousness is endless, and the methods of materialization are also endless. (Session 530)

And for each entity, the development, the possible development, is also endless. (Session 530)

What do these two "endless" statements lead to? Your potential is unlimited, you have unlimited possibilities, and your development is endless. Do not think, "I am projected by the soul, so I am just a little kid who knows nothing, I am a nobody, insignificant and lowly" — this passage emphasizes and tells you that this is not so. You are you, and your soul is your soul. Although you are projected by your soul, you have your own complete autonomy and complete freedom to develop, and it is utterly endless.

Having said this, the chapter has a very good beginning, and he stops there.

Then he emphasizes once more — does he not feel he is being repetitive? He says it again:

The present personality as you know it is indeed indelible. (Session 530)

After death you still continue to grow and develop. (Session 530)

Is this not something the previous chapter emphasized? He emphasizes it again. Sometimes he is repetitive, truly repetitive, but do not think he has forgotten or does not remember — no, he is emphasizing.

In the middle of our present discussion, I mention this again so that you will not feel lost or negated, or unimportant. (Session 530)

You see how carefully he looks after you. He is afraid that when he says this, you will feel: so behind me there is still a super-self, a super-entity that projected me out, so am I not unimportant? Will I feel lost, have I been negated? Does my existence depend on someone else? And so on. He tells you none of this is necessary; he is soothing your emotions.

The forms and varieties of the images of which we speak obviously have infinite levels. (Session 530)

The intense spark of entity that causes your physical birth, that unique impetus, in certain respects has many similarities to the old concept of the soul. (Session 530)

That unique impetus, in certain respects, has many similarities to the soul often depicted in our ancient legends and religions — religions all say the soul is very powerful and mighty, that the oversoul behind it has all kinds of abilities, like a god. In certain respects, it has many similarities to the old concept of the soul.

Where does it differ?

It is only that those old concepts contained only part of the story. (Session 530)

They did not tell the whole story. The previous chapter said that for the sake of simplification, for the sake of simplifying this matter, he simplified it, but he told you that this simplification is also an extremely dangerous thing.

As you continue to exist and develop as an individual, your whole self and soul have such vast potential that it can never be completely expressed by one personality. (Session 530)

Your whole self, that is, the entity, has such great potential that it can never be completely expressed by one personality. So it needs many, many personalities. It has a very intense emotional focus, and you can create an image and project it to another person:

You may then perceive him, and this may be done consciously or unconsciously, and that is quite important. (Session 530)

When you miss someone, when you long for someone, you project him to that person, and that person may then perceive him — or may not perceive him; this is not certain. This can be done consciously or unconsciously.

This discussion has nothing to do with the so-called astral body, which is an entirely different thing. (Session 530)

The projected image we are now discussing is not your astral body. It is not sending out your astral body, not an out-of-body experience. Many people say this is out-of-body — this is not out-of-body; it has nothing at all to do with out-of-body experience.

The physical body is the materialization of the astral body. (Session 530)

Out-of-body means your astral body goes out; that is a different matter.

The astral body does not abandon the body for long periods of time, nor is it like the projected thing in the earlier analogy of the seashore. (Session 530)

The astral body is not that projected thing. So people who have out-of-body experiences always have very short experiences; they do not go out for a long time, because the astral body cannot abandon the body for long — the body needs the astral body to sustain and maintain it.

In ancient times there was a legend. In Tibetan Buddhism there is a legend that at the time of their founding patriarchs, a man and a woman practiced dual cultivation together⁵. During their practice they entered samadhi so deeply that neither of them returned for a long time — perhaps for days and nights, or even months — their physical bodies were there, but their astral bodies had been out for a very long time. Then two thieves, two bandits, came along and found the two sitting motionless, so they simply cut off their heads and took away all the gold, silver, and treasures. When the two astral bodies returned, they found their physical bodies already dead, so they could not come back. Anyway, the two did not care; the two astral bodies simply went on to continue their cultivation. But later people turned the image of these two into a symbol — in the original materials of Tibetan Buddhism you can often see an image of one skull or two skulls, where the skull and the body are separated and not connected, and this represents the process of the two of them sitting cross-legged in cultivation at that time. In the ancient paintings of Tibetan Buddhism, it is like this.

So here he wants to tell you that this thing is not the astral body; you just need to understand this.

You are presently focused not only upon your physical body, but also upon a particular frequency of events that continue.

You are not only focused upon your physical body, but also upon a particular frequency of events — that is, what we call time. The things that happen to us, in our three-dimensional world, happen within a particular time, and we are focused upon the things that happen within this time.

Other historical ages and reincarnational selves exist simultaneously in the same valid form. (Session 530)

They are also focused upon their bodies, their time, and the events around them. So they exist simultaneously with us in the same valid form.

Again, you simply are not tuned to those frequencies. (Session 530)

Why can I not sense them? Because you are not tuned to their frequency; you are tuned only to the frequency of your present three-dimensional world, so you cannot perceive them.

You can know what happened in the past, and there is the existence of history. (Session 530)

The past can be known, because you believe in the past. But the future is not perceivable — because if the rules of the game were different, you could have a history of the future right now.

You say, you think the past is visible and tangible, because it has already happened; the future has not happened yet, so you do not think it is real at all. We have historical records, video materials, written materials, and all kinds of historical remains, and you can perceive all of them. But we cannot perceive future events — we feel we do not have the ability to foresee the future, because this is what the rules of our game dictate.

But what if the rules of the game were different? When you are tuned to this reality, you are influenced by the rules of this reality's game; when you are tuned to other realities, you must be influenced by the rules of those other realities' games. Because you are tuned to this reality, you must obey these rules of the game, and you cannot know the future. But what if you are tuned to the reality of the future, or even the reality of the future beyond the future? Would not those futures become the past and history to you?

Can you understand this? It all depends on where you tune your frequency. If you now tune your time to the year 2460 AD, then the events of your present year 2020 become history to you, and of course you know them. If you tune your frequency to the year 2600, then 2460 is history relative to 2600; it is no longer the future.

He says, if you change your frequency a little, change the rules of the game a little, you can have a history of the future right now — the future has not happened yet, yet you call it history.

Then Rob says, "I understand." Rob is very clever.

In other levels of reality, the rules of the game change. (Session 530)

To you, after death you can perceive quite freely, and the future appears as clear as the past. (Session 530)

After death, relative to our level, the rules of the game change, and you can perceive quite freely; the future is as clear as the past.

But even this is extremely complicated. (Session 530)

Why is it complicated? Because you do not have only one past, and you do not have only one future. You accept only certain types of events and ignore others. We have talked about events. In your past, many things did not happen, but you did not choose them, so you ignored their existence. There are also probable past events that exist beyond your understanding.

You think your past is a single-threaded development. He tells you that your past is not only one. Many events you did not choose, and you ignored their existence — because that is not your reality. For example, after you graduated from university, you could have joined the army, gone into business, taken the civil service exam, continued on to graduate school, stayed home as a parasite playing video games every day, or gone abroad to study — all were possible. But after graduation you chose only one kind of life, so those other lives do not exist. To you, you think they do not exist; those are not your past. Your past is only the one you chose.

But those pasts you ignored still exist. You choose a particular set, a particular branch of these events, and then lock this set of events in place as the only possibility, without realizing that you have an infinite variety of past events to choose from. You do not know that you chose your present set from among infinite pasts.

Then obviously, there are probable unknown futures, and probable presents. You chose this present set; are not the ones you did not choose the probable presents and probable futures?

I am trying to discuss this in your terms. (Session 530)

Why use our terms? Because only in our terms is there such a distinction as present, past, and future.

Basically, the words past, present, and future are no more meaningful than the words ego, conscious, and unconscious. (Session 530)

The ego is defined relative to the inner self, the conscious is defined relative to the unconscious, and the subconscious is defined relative to the state between the conscious and the unconscious. These things themselves do not exist; we only define them in order to explain this matter. Past, present, and future are the same; it is only when speaking from the human perspective that there is present, past, and future. So you should understand these words in that way.

Then he says, I will stop here today, I will not say too much more. He even says humorously:

I chose one of the probable choices. (Session 530)

That is, he is ending the session. He could also not end it and keep talking, but this is my choice. He is joking.

He again emphasized many ideas and concepts, and the details of every session contain much worth exploring. The Seth material is just this broad and profound — it looks plain and unremarkable, yet every chapter and every session contains very deep meanings and principles, and I hope everyone will take the time to experience them carefully.

Session 531

The Ego's Blinders

Now let's look at the content of his article. Seth says:

You are not only other independent selves, each one focused on a portion of its own reality.

He says you are not only him, not only, not entirely a part of that individual independent you -- what part? The part of you that is focused on its own reality. And there also exists a sympathetic relationship. What is a sympathetic relationship? Because of this relationship, your experience does not have to be limited by the physical sense apparatus. That is to say, your experience is not limited by the physical senses; you can draw upon the knowledge of these other, individually independent selves.

What he means is that you are not only the you that you think you are; you also have countless other alter selves. The alter selves mentioned here do not mean the kind of alter self you project to the seaside, but rather that you simultaneously have many personalities, many personality fragments existing at the same time. You can communicate with these personality fragments of yourself, and you can learn from them. You can learn to shift your attention away from physical reality, and then you can learn new ways of perception that enable you to expand your concept of reality and greatly broaden your own experience. That is, open your inner senses, expand more experience, and communicate with those other yous.

Only because you believe the physical world is the only valid reality -- because that is how we think, we believe this physical world is the only valid one. Then of course you would not think of seeking out other realities, because we do not even think there are others. You certainly would not go looking for something you do not believe exists, right? If you believe it exists, you will naturally go looking for it.

He says telepathy is mind-to-mind communication, and clairvoyance is the matter of opening the celestial eye. These can give you a hint of other kinds of perception -- he gives an example: if you have the ability of the inner senses, then you can have this hint of other kinds of perception. But in the normal waking state and during sleep, you are actually also involved in these, making use of your telepathic or other extrasensory abilities, the inner sense abilities, in perceptual experience. You have it too, but you do not know it.

The Stream of Consciousness and the Great River of Consciousness

The so-called stream of consciousness is only a small creek of thoughts, images, and impressions. He starts giving an example here, and the rest of this passage is all a figurative example. He says the stream of consciousness is just a small creek of your thoughts, images, or impressions, and it is part of a much deeper river of consciousness. This river represents your own deeper existence and experience.

That is to say, the things you are thinking about right now, these thoughts, are only a small creek, and this small creek is part of this great river of consciousness. What is this great river of consciousness? It is the experience of your deeper existence. You spend all your time examining this small creek. Your eyes only look at this small creek, and you are hypnotized by its flow. He uses a pun here: flow refers to the flow of time and the development of events. You are hypnotized by the flow of time, the development of events, one dazzling thing after another. You are hypnotized by it, fascinated by its motion -- motion refers to the many things happening within it, fascinated by the motion of this small creek babbling along.

At the same time, these other streams of perception and consciousness flow through you, and you do not notice. What does this mean? It means this small creek is only a small part of this great river of consciousness. You are within this small creek, and at the same time you are also within this great river. But because you only look at this small creek -- oh, this small creek is so beautiful, flowing so beautifully, this babbling creek water crystal clear, so clear you can see the bottom -- you only look at this, and you forget that this small creek is actually situated within this great river, within this great river. The other streams of perception and consciousness flow through you. The other consciousness of this great river flows through you, and you cannot feel it. You do not notice.

But they truly are a part of you. Those streams of consciousness are also a part of you, flowing through you. They represent very effective events, actions, and feelings in which you are also involved on other levels of reality. That is to say, this small creek of yours exists within your three-dimensional world, but does it not also exist within other worlds? You are also a part of other realities. So he tells you, you have also entered other realities, and in other realities you are also involved in very effective events, actions, and emotions, as well as all facets of yourself.

What he means here is that through your inner perceptual system, you have very deep contact with your other, more numerous reincarnational selves, and you are involved in them too, only you do not feel it -- because you only look at the stream of consciousness of the self before your eyes, and you do not see a greater consciousness behind you surrounding you and enveloping you within it.

You are as actively, vividly, and concernedly involved in these realities as you are in the one to which your main attention is now directed.

You are as active, vivid, and concerned toward those realities you do not pay attention to as you are toward the one to which you now direct your attention in this present reality. It is not as you think, that you only care about the three-dimensional world before your eyes. You are just as actively, vividly, and concernedly directing your attention to those realities. Because you have always only concerned yourself with your physical body and your physical self, you have given your attention to the stream of consciousness that seems to deal with them.

Yet those other streams of consciousness are connected to other self-images of which you are unaware.

In other words, the body is only one part of you within a certain reality. The previous chapter used the word "manifestation," and here the word "display" is used, but the meaning is the same. But within these other realities, you also have other forms. You cannot feel them, and yet you actually participate in all the focus of this reality. You are actively focused within it.

In no basic way is "you" separated from these other streams of consciousness.

You say, I have not participated there, how would I know? I have not participated at all. Actually, you do not know that in the deepest underlying layers of your dreams, you have been active in other realities all along, just the same as your focus on the present reality. He will talk about this later. This "you" in quotation marks refers to the real you. The real you is not this conscious you. The conscious you cannot perceive this great stream of consciousness, but the real you has never been separated from it. You have always participated in it, only the focus of your attention has cut you off from them and from the events in which they are involved.

But if you think of your stream of consciousness as transparent, then you can learn to see through it.

If this small creek is transparent, if you think of it as a current of water, a small current within the great river of consciousness, if you think of it as transparent flowing water enveloped within the great river of consciousness, then you can see what lies beneath this stream of consciousness. You can learn to rise above your present stream of consciousness and perceive what runs parallel to it. Do not always stay within this stream of consciousness. Float up and take a look. Then you can see what runs parallel to it -- parallel means happening at the same time -- the events happening simultaneously in other reality spaces, what your other forms are doing in those realities. You can see that too.

The point is that you are only limited to the self you know if you think that you are limited, or if you do not realize that that self is not your entire identity at all.

That is to say, you must go beyond this limitation. Do not think that you are now limited to this present three-dimensional world. If you think that way, then you will forever be restricted here. If you do not know that behind you there is still an entity, and you are only a small part of that entity, and that you can at any time have more communication with that entity -- if you have such an awareness or realization, then you can communicate with them; otherwise you cannot, and you will be limited to this three-dimensional world.

Creative Work and Multidimensional Perception

He says that actually you often unknowingly tune in to these other streams of consciousness, because, once again, they are also part of the stream of your own entity, so everything is connected. This is the example I just gave: this small creek is also within the great river; it is connected to the entity.

Any creative work involves you in a cooperative process.

Here it says you must do creative work, any creative work. You paint a picture, compose a song, build a house, design something, write an article, create a poem -- any creative work can involve you in a cooperative process, in which you learn to immerse yourself in these other streams of consciousness. You are cooperating with other consciousnesses; you immerse yourself into other consciousnesses and gain a perception that is far more multidimensional than the narrow, ordinary stream of consciousness you know.

Therefore, great creativity is multidimensional. Its origin is not from one, but from multiple realities, and it is tinged with that multiplicity of origin.

Where does the source of great creativity come from? Not from one, but from multiple realities. So you see many great works of art -- sculpture, painting, music, all kinds of architecture -- the impact and shock they have on people is enormous, and the reason is that the source of their creativity does not come only from things in our three-dimensional world; it must come from dimensions of greater space.

So you must understand, when you do any creative work, you are actually not just using this stream of consciousness in your three-dimensional world; you are drawing on more of your reincarnations, more of your personalities, the creativity within your entity, that is, within your soul. You are drawing on their sources.

Great creativity always seems greater than the reality of your purely physical dimension. Compared with the so-called ordinary, it seems almost unearthly. It can carry you away.

Compared with the ordinary, it seems almost unearthly. This creativity, when you are caught up in it, that state of self-forgetfulness -- now everyone can use the feeling of "flow" to understand it -- that self-forgetful joy that cannot be described in words. So many people see creative artists who do not feel tired at all when they are creating; they do not know fatigue.

This creativity automatically reminds each person of their own multidimensionality.

When you create, you can perceive that inspiration, that source of inspiration flowing endlessly, but you do not know where the inspiration comes from. This inspiration lets you automatically discover that you are, in fact, a multidimensional reality.

Knowing Yourself

He says:

Therefore, knowing yourself is far more profound in meaning than what you might imagine or assume.

We often say "know yourself," "understand yourself." Why does he say it is far more profound than the assumed meaning? Because this "yourself" does not refer only to the you in this three-dimensional world, not just the you who has lived these few decades. He is referring to the you who is connected with your inner self, the you who has reincarnated life after life and is still reincarnating -- that complete you.

He says that in moments of solitude, you may actually become aware of these other streams of consciousness. Solitude is very important. Because of the pandemic, many people could not go out, and many people had large amounts of time alone. In this process of solitude, it is actually useful. Do not feel that you are just passively forced to stay at home; you should actively make good use of this time. You can feel it -- the existence of these streams of consciousness in other realities.

For example, sometimes you may hear words -- some people hear auditory hallucinations, hearing someone seemingly speaking to you by your ear, or speaking to you in your mind; sometimes you can see images. This generally happens when you are alone. It generally does not happen when you are chatting with others, and it generally does not happen when you are at a party. It seems to be outside the range of your thoughts, as if someone else is speaking to you, communicating with you. You may interpret it in various ways according to your education, beliefs, and background -- you say it is an auditory hallucination, something psychological -- you use your scientific educational background and cultural background to explain this thing.

In that respect, they may come from several different sources.

It is possible that the one speaking to you, or the images you see, are given to you by different personality fragments, or given to you by different realities. But in many cases, you inadvertently tuned your frequency to one of your other streams of consciousness -- that is, you tuned your frequency precisely to another stream of consciousness, temporarily opened a channel, leading to other levels of those realities, to the place where you dwell. It is as if you suddenly tuned to a new channel, happened to hit the passageway, and saw the place where you live on another level. You arrived at the place where he dwells, and you made contact with him.

Some of these streams of consciousness may involve the thoughts of what you would call a reincarnational self, focused in what you would call another historical period.

That is, the thoughts of you in another life, focused in that historical period of his -- that is, the historical period in which the reincarnated you lives, not the period you are in now. This is one possibility. Conversely, sometimes, according to your inclinations, the suppleness of your psyche, your curiosity, and your desire for knowledge, you can receive events involving a "probable self."

That is to say, you can also receive an event. This depends on your inclinations, the suppleness of your psyche, your curiosity, and your desire for knowledge. The suppleness of the psyche is your degree of openness. Some people's psyches are very rigid; they only believe in the things they already believe in, extremely stubborn, with an inflexible fixed mindset, unable to accept anything else. You need to have a supple psyche, able to accept various viewpoints. Then you can receive a probable self -- that is, the self in another space-time -- and the events involving him.

In other words, you may begin to perceive a reality far greater than the one you now know, and then begin to use abilities that you do not yet know you possess.

After you become aware of that reality, you can connect with the you within that greater reality, and that you within that reality has great abilities. You do not yet know how to use them; you must learn to use the abilities you possess that you do not yet know about.

Your own consciousness and identity are independent of the world in which your primary attention is focused.

That is certain. Your own conscious attention is all focused here.

If what I am saying were not true, then I would not be here writing this book, and you would not be reading it.

He wrote this book by coming through an unknown reality -- a reality we do not understand, coming from another level of reality. He came through Jane, and Jane lives in the same reality as we do; he transmitted it through Jane. So if these things were not true, this book could not have been published, and there could not be this book. He uses this as a kind of proof.

The Translation of Dreams and the Mask

He says that whether you are awake or asleep, these other existences of yours continue on quite happily. But when you are awake, you usually block them out. When you are awake you block them, but these existences have nothing to do with whether you are awake or not; they are always there, always continuing on quite happily.

In the dream state, your perception of them is far, far greater. Although there is a final dream procedure that often puts a mask over intense psychological and psychic activity. The final procedure is translation: your dream is an intense psychological or psychic experience, but because you live in a three-dimensional world, you do not understand the activities of these higher-dimensional levels -- after you have made contact with other probable selves of yours, the things that happen in those realities are very hard for you to understand in three-dimensional reality, so you translate them. Without translation you cannot understand them. At this point it tells you that you put yet another mask on it. It is no longer its original face.

Unfortunately, what you usually recall is this final version of the dream.

You do not see the true face that existed before the mask; what you can usually recall is this final version of the dream, the version after the mask has been put on. In this final version, the basic experience is translated as much as possible into materialized form. The experiences you gained in another time-space, another dimension, are all translated into, turned into materialized form; they have already been distorted.

This final touching up, however, is not done by your deeper levels, but is a much more conscious process than you realize.

This touching-up process is not done by you in that deeper other reality, but is a much more conscious process than you realize, more like a conscious translation. That is to say, the mask is not put on you from over there; it is put on by your own consciousness, your own conscious stuff, after you come back to this side.

I can use a small hint to explain what I mean. If you do not want to remember a dream, you will delete it at a level quite close to consciousness.

If you do not want to remember a certain dream, you will delete it at this level quite close to consciousness. You can even often catch yourself deliberately forgetting a dream. Sometimes you will realize that you are consciously forgetting a dream -- sometimes you have a particularly terrifying dream, for example you dream that something has happened to a loved one, and the dream is simply unbearably horrible, and at that moment you will consciously want to delete it. This is something we often do, sometimes aware of it, sometimes not.

He says that whether you are aware of it or not, this touching-up process happens at almost this same level, but not exactly the same. That is, the process by which your dream is translated into a dream you can understand in the three-dimensional world happens at this level. What he means is that the presentation of your dreams is not something the unconscious does; it is basically something done consciously, only you yourself do not know that you are consciously doing this process.

The basic experience is therefore hastily dressed up here, as much as possible, in clothes from the physical world.

The experiences you learned in other dimensions of time and space are, at this level, hastily dressed up, as much as possible, in clothes from the physical world. This is not because you want to understand these experiences, but because you refuse to accept that they are basically nonphysical. That is, you package them and turn them into three-dimensional things not in order to learn something from them, but because you cannot accept that these experiences are nonphysical -- these experiences were obtained from the nonphysical. Because you believe more in your present physical world, you think these experiences should also be obtained from the physical.

Not all dreams are of this nature.

Here he makes an emphasis: not all dreams are like this. He says some dreams really occur in the psychic and spiritual realms connected with your daily life activities, and in such cases no dressing up is needed. That is, the dreams we often have really are connected with the things you encountered during the day, the things you experienced during the day, connected with your daily activities. In such cases no dressing up is needed; you can understand them.

But in the deepest reaches of sleep experience -- and incidentally, the scientists in your so-called dream laboratories have not yet touched this --

In the deepest places of sleep experience -- places our scientists have not yet touched -- you are communicating with other portions of your own entity, and with the other realities in which it exists. Scientists have not yet observed these.

In this state, however, you are also working at endeavors and efforts that may or may not be connected with the interests you know.

You see, in the deep sleep state, you are also working at endeavors and efforts that may or may not be connected with the interests you know. You are not idle in dreams either; you are still doing efforts and learning related to your interests. In that place you study, research, and also play; you do everything -- except that you are not sleeping in the way you think you are. In that state deep within your sleep, you are not idle at all; apart from not sleeping, you are doing everything.

You are highly active, involved in underground work, in real, direct, and actual living.

He puts it very interestingly: you have shifted into underground work, but it is indeed truly direct and actual living. That is to say, he considers our present working life to be a disguised one -- "disguised" is a more accurate way to put it -- when you go into that state, it is actually truly direct and actual living.

Let me emphasize here that you are not unconscious at all. You only appear to be.

You only appear to be unconscious, because as usual in the morning you do not remember any of these things at all. What he means is that when you go to that deeper level to experience your true, direct, actual life, it is not at all like what you think of as a dream -- completely unconscious and random. It is the same as your life in this time-space: you have to work, to live, to research, to study, to play; you have many things to do. But you do not appear to be this way, because when you wake up in the morning you have forgotten, and so you think all of that was unconscious.

But to some extent, some people perceive these activities.

When your level is high enough, when you have reached a certain ability, some people are able to perceive these activities. There are also methods by which they can recall these activities to some degree. He did not explain these methods; for example, deep hypnosis can achieve a similar effect -- but ordinary hypnosis at present still cannot reach this state.

You Are Vaster in Sleep

I do not want to diminish the importance of your conscious state.

I am not saying that because you live a real and direct life on that level, I am therefore diminishing the importance of your present life. He said he does not want to diminish the importance of your conscious life.

When you are reading this book, for example, you are considered awake, but in many ways, when you are awake, you are resting far more than you do in the so-called unconscious state of night.

When you are reading a book, or when you are listening to me speak, you feel that you are very awake, but he says, actually you are far more comfortable, far more relaxed, and far more rested than you are in your dreams. During the day you feel that you have woken up, that you are doing things, that you are very tired, but actually you are resting—because what you do during the day is simply too easy compared with what you do on that level.

In sleep, then, you know more about your own reality, and you are free to use abilities that you ignore or deny during the day.

Because you enter more and deeper levels of reality. During the day you ignore these abilities, and you do not admit that you have them. Because when you enter the sleep state, your outer senses basically all stop, and your inner senses are entirely in operation, so these abilities are all brought out by you.

On a very simple level, for example, your consciousness often leaves your body during sleep, and you communicate with people you know on other levels of reality.

On a simple level, where conditions are relatively singular, your consciousness leaves the body during the sleep state. In ancient times we often spoke of several hun and several po souls; if all your hun and po souls have left, then you are done for. He says that at this time your consciousness leaves the body, and when you leave the body you detach from this material world, you detach from the three-dimensional world, and you go to other levels—other dimensions, other realms. You communicate with the people you know in those dimensions and realms.

But far beyond this, you creatively maintain your physical image and refresh it.

You creatively maintain your physical image and refresh it. Your physical image is something projected by your beliefs; you creatively maintain this image, and then you return to the body, letting it revive, letting it wake up. If your consciousness leaves the body and does not come back, then you as a person just lie there like someone in a vegetative state, with no response at all, and you cannot come back to life. So you do come back, creatively maintaining your physical image and refreshing it.

You process the daily experience, project it into what you think of as the future, choose from an infinite variety of probable events those you will make physical, and begin the mental and psychic processes that will bring them into the world of matter.

This passage is connected with the previous one—you process the daily experience and project it into what you think of as the future. Actually there is no future, but you think there is a future. How do you project it? You choose from an infinite variety of probable events those you are willing to make physical, and then you begin the mental and psychic processes that bring them into the world of matter. This is what you do every day.

At the same time, then, you make this information available to all these other portions of your own entity.

When you do this work every day, you also make this information available to the other portions of your own entity—other personalities, fragment personalities. They live in completely different realities, not in one three-dimensional world, but in different worlds. And you receive similar information from them as well. You not only transmit information to them, you also receive similar information—the information about their lives in those dimensional spaces is also transmitted to you.

You do not lose contact with your own self as you know it in the waking state. You simply do not focus upon it.

You have not lost contact with this waking self; you simply have more channels and pathways of communication. You are still you, only you have more channels for communicating with others, and you have merely shifted your attention away from the material world. During the day you simply do this process in reverse.

Who Is Awake

This is that feeling of Zhuangzi dreaming of the butterfly, or the sense of a whole universe within a dream. You do not know whether the you who is awake is awake, or whether the you in the dream is awake. You think you are awake right now, but from the perspective of that you in the dream — the one dealing with other levels of consciousness, busy every day, working hard and creating deep within sleep — from his perspective, this daytime you is resting, is sleeping. Change the angle and it is completely different.

At the same time, to use an analogy here, if you look at your normal daily self from another perspective, you might find that the physically awake self is just as strange as the self you are now in sleep.

When we look at the sleeping self being so busy in another reality, living another kind of life, you think, how strange, how is that possible? But if we look at our own daily work from another perspective — from a third-person or higher God's-eye view — at the things we do when we get up in the morning, the things we do all day long, as soon as you shift the perspective, you see what he is doing and you think, how strange, what is he up to? It is the same principle.

But this analogy does not hold, because this sleeping self is far more knowledgeable than the waking self you are so proud of.

Why does this analogy not hold? Because when you look at the sleeping self and find him strange, it is because he knows more than you do, and he does things you simply cannot understand. But if it is reversed, if the sleeping self looks at the awakened you — that sleeping self knows far more than your waking self does, he clearly knows these things, and he does not find them strange at all. It is only you who find him strange; the sleeping self looking at you does not find you strange in the least.

This apparent division is not arbitrary or imposed upon you. It is merely caused by your present stage of development, and it does change.

This appears to be a division, right? Dreaming is dreaming, waking is waking, they are certainly different, so how could one be living in a dream? This appears to be a division. He says I am not trying to arbitrarily impose this concept on you; it is merely caused by your present stage of development, and it does change.

Many people journey into other realities, so to speak, into other streams of consciousness, and take this as a normal part of their waking life. Sometimes strange fish leap out of these waters.

Some people, many people, journey into other realities, travel through other streams of consciousness — meaning they have exchange and communication with other realities — and they take it as a normal part of their waking life. Things you can only do in dreams, in an unconscious state, many people can do in the daytime while awake and conscious. This is lucid dreaming: not merely watching yourself dream, knowing you are dreaming within the dream — it is not that simple. Some people can make contact with another reality of their own in broad daylight.

Once you enter another reality, there will be fish that do not appear in our three-dimensional world, right? Other species leap out of the water of that reality, species that do not exist in our three-dimensional world. This indicates that you have entered another reality. Some people suddenly see strange, inexplicable things in the daytime; they truly have this ability.

In your terms, I am obviously just such a strange fish.

Seth is a strange fish. He is not in our reality, and suddenly he leaps out, begins communicating with Jane, and transmits information to us. Things that are not in this reality are all strange fish to us, swimming up from other dimensions of reality.

Swimming up from other dimensions of reality, observing a dimension that belongs to you and not to my own existence.

So between all these streams of consciousness — between all the symbolic rivers of psychological and psychic experience — there are passageways. If there were none, Seth could not come through. Without this passageway, how could Seth swim out from another reality, how could he manifest and let us know? Not only does he have his dimension and your dimension, he can also do some traveling. Starting from your dimension, it is the same — you can also do some traveling.

The Ocean of Consciousness

Originally Ruburt and Joseph, and I, were part of the same entity and the same whole identity, so, symbolically speaking, certain psychic streams unite us.

Ruburt is the name of Jane's entity, and Joseph is the name of Rob's (her husband's) entity. This explains a great deal of what he explained in the early sessions -- the relationship among the entities of Seth and Jane, Seth and Ruburt and Joseph. A very long time ago -- and by very long ago we mean in terms of Earth time -- they were the same entity, or part of one whole identity; they were one. So these psychic streams unite them; they share a common stream of consciousness.

All of these consciousnesses merge into what has very often been likened to an ocean of consciousness, a well from which all actuality springs.

The small streams of consciousness, the great rivers of consciousness, all eventually merge into one ocean of consciousness. He uses two metaphors: one is the ocean of consciousness, and the other is a well from which all actuality springs. What is meant by actuality? It means that which truly exists; all possibilities come forth from this. All actions, all possibilities, come out of this well.

Starting from any one consciousness, theoretically you will find all others.

Why? Because they are all things from the same well, from the same ocean; they are things within the same whole, and they are all connected. So from one consciousness you can find all consciousnesses. Note that he says "theoretically" -- it has to be theoretically, because in practice it is not so. Your abilities, your experience, and your time are all limited; you cannot possibly travel through all consciousnesses.

Now the ego often acts as a dam, to hold back other perceptions.

The ego is just this ego, and it often acts as a dam to hold back other perceptions, blocking out things that come from other reality spaces and other dimensions. Not because you do this intentionally, or because it is in the nature of the ego, or even because this is one of the ego's main functions -- none of these. It is only because you believe that the ego's purpose is restrictive rather than expansive.

Do you see? This statement is very important. You have imposed a limitation on the ego; you have drawn a circle around the ego; you have made the ego into something closed off. You think the ego is you -- one physical body, or one set of experiences -- and you have defined it rigidly, and limited it only to dealing with the three-dimensional world. For this reason, it becomes a dam that blocks everything out. It blocks everything out not because it intends to do so, not because the ego is naturally like this, and not because the ego inherently has this function, but because you believe that the ego's purpose is restrictive rather than expansive. Because you think this way, the ego blocks everything out.

You really imagine the ego is a very weak portion of yourself, so you really imagine that it must protect itself against your own other far stronger, more persuasive, and indeed more dangerous portions.

You think that those entities of the soul, those fragment personalities, are far stronger than it is, and that in order to protect itself it must stand in opposition to them. Those others are more persuasive, their knowledge is richer than its own, their abilities are greater, and they are also more dangerous -- this is all your own understanding; you think they are very dangerous. Only by opposing them can it protect itself. How powerful those inner senses are -- telepathy, the third eye, clairvoyance, clairaudience, instantaneous perception of events, simultaneous perception of past, present, and future -- once these abilities are opened, how weak the ego's own abilities appear by comparison. It fears being swallowed up, fears losing itself, so it says, "I don't want it, I don't want it, I want to remain myself." It believes that only by opposing them can it protect itself.

You have therefore trained it to wear blinders.

You have put blinders on it, so that it cannot see, so that all that information is blocked out -- out of sight, out of mind. In doing this you are going quite against its natural inclinations. The ego's natural inclination is not to wear blinders; it is capable of sensing these inner things. But you have put blinders on it, and you have told it that it is not allowed to look.

The ego does want to understand and interpret material reality, and to relate to it.

The ego does want to understand material reality; it wants to help you survive in the physical world, and this is normal -- because the purpose of the ego's existence is to let you live in this three-dimensional material world. But because you have put blinders on it, you have hampered its perception and its inherent flexibility. And then, because it has lost its flexibility, you say that this is the ego's natural function -- you say that the ego only focuses on the material world, that the ego only sees things in the three-dimensional world. Actually, it was you who put the blinders on it, and then you say that it was always like this. It was not originally like this; you are the one who imposed the limitation on it.

The ego cannot relate to a reality that you will not allow it to perceive, and when you put blinders on it, you limit its relationship to the things you will not allow it to perceive.

When you will not allow it to use its abilities to discover those real conditions within which it must operate, it can only help you barely survive.

This passage is particularly amusing; the phrase "barely survive" strikes me as funny. The ego cannot relate to the reality that you will not allow it to connect with; if you do not allow it to connect, then the ego simply will not connect. But you do not allow it to use its abilities to discover those real conditions within which it must operate -- and yet the ego still has to operate within them, because you yourself are a multidimensional being, and now you know that you are not a three-dimensional thing at all. But you tell it, you can only look at three-dimensional things; you are not allowed to look at higher-dimensional things, and you should not observe them either. Yet the ego still has to operate within this higher dimension, and it does not have this ability, and you will not let it use this ability, so it can only help you barely survive -- it can only keep you alive, with no abilities at all, basically just alive, with no essential difference from an animal.

All right, you put blinders on it, and then you say it cannot see. You say, how come you are blind? You blind thing, clearly there are more realities, why can't you see them? Clearly there are so many inner senses, why can't you use them? This is where Seth's humor comes through.

Taking Off the Blindfold

This ending part is really fun: you have to take off the blindfold — the blindfold you yourself put on it, the blindfold you put on the ego, you take it off again. Once you take it off, you will be able to see many things you could not see before. Do not blame it; blame yourself.

注释与核实

1. According to Mike's original words, "fluorescent lamps flicker at a rate of 50 hertz per second"; upon verification, it should be "under 50 Hz mains electricity, the light output flicker frequency of traditional magnetic-ballast fluorescent lamps is 100 Hz (100 light-dark cycles per second), which is twice the power frequency, not 50 Hz." (Source: Wikipedia, "Fluorescent lamps and health," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamps_and_health) ↩

2. This claim could not be verified. ↩

3. Source: Android Authority, "Who actually has real 960fps super slow-motion recording?" (https://www.androidauthority.com/real-960fps-super-slow-motion-999639/) ↩

4. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, "History of film" (https://www.britannica.com/art/history-of-film) ↩

5. This claim could not be verified. ↩