Psychic Perceptions

[jbseth]

Hi All,

Yesterday I came across an interesting quote from Jane Roberts. This quote comes from Chapter 10, of her book, "The God of Jane".

I think that this quote speaks to some of the issues that all of us here have had to grapple with, in one way or another. Including some of the conversations that we've had here in this forum.



In this chapter, Jane was reflecting back on "the Codicils", and some of the other material that came to her from her "Library" (see her book, "Psychic Politics" for information on her "Library").  In her reflections on this material she says that some of this information consisted of excellent psychic constructs, but it was not necessarily factual in the usual terms. Then a little later on, it dawned on her, "These aren't just fascinating hypotheses. These are statements of fact."

Then after this she says the following:

"At once I felt a flash of alarm. Surely I wasn't saying that all psychic information (or so-called psychic information) was factual? But what about all those people whose "psychic sources" told them that they'd been kings and queens, prophets or noblemen in previous lives, or those who were supposedly  in contact with spacemen from other planets–spacemen who were always going to appear for the people, but never did? What frightening, slippery chasms of ignorance and fanaticism could open if we even imagined that all psychic information was factual?

And in that moment, when the whole idea really frightened me, I got the answer. We know how to interpret usual perceptions. We know the difference between a TV drama and a news broadcast, between a war movie and an on-the-spot documentary shot in the middle of a real war, between a story meant to point out a moral or theme, and a factual account of a life.  But we haven't learned to make distinctions as far as psychic perceptions are concerned – and they are far more wide-ranging than usual perceptions. We haven't learned to distinguish between psychic "news stories" and psychic dramas, between intuitive documentaries and morality plays, between symbolism and fact."

(the Bold Font was mine)

In thinking about this, I personally agree with her here on this issue and furthermore, I also think that this is an ongoing issue. Not only have we, ourselves, not learned how to make good distinctions regarding our own psychic perceptions. But we also have a hard time determining whether others (other people who are channels, mediums, psychics,) have a good handle on how to make distinctions regarding their own psychic perceptions.

It also seems to me that when someone else is really bad at doing this, we do occasionally seem to pick up on it.


I'd say that this concept (that we haven't learned to distinguish psychic perceptions) goes along with another idea that I've come across which says that you can be fooled two ways. One, you can be fooled by believing that something is true, when it isn't, and two, you can also be fooled by believing that something isn't true, when it is.


-jbseth

[leidl]

We know the difference between a TV drama and a news broadcast, between a war movie and an on-the-spot documentary shot in the middle of a real war, between a story meant to point out a moral or theme, and a factual account of a life.  But we haven't learned to make distinctions as far as psychic perceptions are concerned – and they are far more wide-ranging than usual perceptions.

Hello jbseth and all,

I've not spent much time pondering the nature of the psychic perceptions of others, but I do spend time reflecting on the thoughts, images and perceptions that flow through my own mind, and trying to discern simple fantasy from glimpses of probable selves, reincarnational selves, etc. 

Last week, for example, I had a challenging dentist appointment.  I have some beliefs about dentistry that probably don't serve me.  :-)  I wanted to get something taken care of, and didn't want to spend three months first examining my beliefs about dentistry and replacing the negative ones with more helpful ones.  I needed something more time efficient!  I decided to spend my time in the dentist's chair focusing my attention on my own pleasant imaginings, which had nothing to do with the dentist at all.

I vividly imagined myself on a beach with someone I adore but who is no longer in this physical reality.  I immersed myself deeply in the physical sensations of sunshine, sand, skin, water, etc.  The appointment was a long one. I had lots of time, and when I'd exhausted myself on the beach I moved on to other imaginings in other times and places.  By the time I left the office, although I was aware of unpleasant physical sensations in my mouth, psychologically I felt like I'd spent a few hours at the spa being tended to in every possible way.   

To some degree the positive psychological benefits of all that imagining have stayed with me.  I feel closer and deeply tended to by the person I imagined being with.  But the nature of the reality I was immersed in is not clear to me.  To use the word "imagine" implies agency on my part, like I directed the unfolding of the fantasy.  I honestly don't know that I was...at times it felt like I was just caught up in the flow of another reality.  Where does imagination end and "psychic perception" begin?

Here's Seth:

"Because you now distrust the imagination so, you do not understand the great clues it gives you, both in terms of problem solving and of creative expression. Many quite valid reincarnational memories come as imaginings, but you do not trust them. A good percentage of your problems can be worked out rather easily through the use of your imagination.

(Pause at 10:50.) Often you inadvertently use it to prolong "negative" circumstances, as you think of all the things that you could do wrong. Yet you can employ it very constructively, altering past, present and future. To do so in your present, freely imagine a situation in which you are happy. To begin with your imaginings may seem foolish. If you are elderly, poor and lonely, it may seem highly ludicrous to think of yourself as twenty, wealthy, and surrounded by friends and admirers.

Indeed, if after such an enjoyable exercise you look about you and compare what you have envisioned with what you have, then you may feel worse than you did before. You are to realize that this imaginative world does exist — but not in the world of facts that you know. To some extent, however, according to your freedom within it, such an exercise will automatically rejuvenate your body, mind and spirit, and begin to draw to you whatever equivalent is possible for you within the world of facts that you know (emphatically)."

—NoPR Chapter 19: Session 669, June 11, 1973

I'm not clear in just what way "this imaginative world does exist," but whatever its nature is, it is apparently capable of influencing my experience of the "world of facts" that I know.  So maybe I don't need powers of discernment about my own imaginings and psychic perceptions.  I don't need to know whether I was tended to closely by another, or whether I was tending to myself.  Maybe all I need is the willingness to be fully present in the pleasures of the moment, whether they be real or imagined.  The rest just takes care of itself, with good things spiraling into the past and future from my attention to the spacious present.

[jbseth]

Hi leidl, Hi All,

Leidl, that's a great story about how a person can use their imagination to make their life better.  I also think your question, regarding where does imagination end and psychic perception begin?, is a really great one.



I just intuitively tuned into myself, regarding this question and what I got from this is that whenever I daydream, I seem to move into another level of consciousness and at this level, I seem to open up to my imagination. It also occurred to me that I do something similar, whenever I try to creatively "brainstorm" a new idea or concept.  Then again, it also occurred to me that whenever I intuitively tune into myself, I also seem to move into another level of consciousness and this also seems to open me up to my imagination.

Are the imagination and psychic perception the same thing, are they similar, are they related, or are they perhaps something different? I'm not sure at the point, but I sense that there's even more involved here in answering this question.




I'm not exactly sure what Seth meant when he said, "You are to realize that this imaginative world does exist — but not in the world of facts that you know."

Perhaps he was referring to his idea of "probable realities."  This imaginative world being a probable world.

It seems to me that if we can imagine all the things that could go wrong, and if we can also imagine all the things that could go right, then at least, "imagination" is a capability that we have, and if we have this capability, then we can put it to use in a positive way for us.

-jbseth