Suggestion

[LenKop]

Since I put up affirmation earlier, this came up on FB....love the synchronicity 




Seth: "We will discuss what you call suggestion in more practical terms, for your particular uses. Nevertheless it is necessary that its basic nature be understood. The ego simply cannot judge, as a rule, whether an action is a constructive or an impeding one, for the personality as a whole.
It CAN judge whether an action is a constructive or an impeding one for ITSELF. Upon many occasions the purposes of the ego coincide with the purposes of the whole personality, but upon many occasions the purposes of the ego do not coincide with the best purposes of the whole personality. And in such cases the ego is not equipped to judge, except for itself.
It can however be taught a very valuable function here. The first prerequisite is that the ego understand both the nature of its DEPENDENCE upon the whole personality, and the nature of its peculiar directive abilities in relation with the physical universe. When there is good communication between all areas of the self, and this is a big when, then the judgement of the ego can be trusted to some greater extent.
Suggestions given by an individual on any kind of a conscious basis have to be given with the cooperation of the ego. Many suggestions bypass the ego entirely. Suggestion, however, as you think of it, operates both ways. This is not usually understood. Suggestions may come therefore from the physical world, to act upon the personality. Suggestions may also come from WITHIN the personality to act upon the physical environment.
You can indeed to a large measure train yourself to react to constructive rather than impeding suggestions. This merely means that you will, or may to some extent, choose the direction in which action within you will move. This also implies that some part of the personality DOES the choosing, and is capable of distinguishing a constructive suggestion from an impeding one. And here it is necessary that we discuss more thoroughly the nature or characteristics of constructive suggestions versus impeding ones, for one may turn into the other.

No one portion of the personality should be allowed to block the free flow of energy or action. Impeding actions are easily recognized by their effects, psychological or physical, upon the human system. An illness is the result of an impeding action, generally speaking, but there are exceptions to this case, as others.

There are indeed methods by which the flow of action can be turned back, away from the impeding channels, and we will discuss that matter in some detail.

We are dealing here, again, merely with the various aspects of action. As a personality itself is an action gestalt, within the inner self there is a capsule comprehension of the purposes and intents of the whole personality. These are indeed within the very structure, both psychic and physical, of the personality itself. The ego, ON ITS OWN as a separate unit, does not have such data, although since it is after all a portion of the whole self, it does have such information available. But when it acts as a unit it does not USE such information.
The information is not closed to it. It simply does not use it, and there are several quite sufficient reasons for this, reasons that have to do with the neccessary apart manner in which the ego, when it operates as a separate unit, views the physical universe.
When the personality is well integrated, then even when it operates as a separate unit the ego still fulfills the basic purposes of the personality as a whole. It is the communication between the very areas of the self which is so important here, as in many other matters. It is possible for the ego to realize its position as but one part of the whole personality, while it still behaves in a directive manner toward physical manipulation.
This is the ideal circumstance, for when this is the case then the ego listens to the inner self, and then directs its energy outwards in a way that is beneficial for the whole gestalt framework. What you call negative suggestions are often judgements of the ego, for suggestion works from the ego TO the subconscious, as well as it works the other way around. Such suggestions made by the ego can indeed be caught, and positive or constructive suggestions given to replace them.

However, automatic responses can also be set up, so that only constructive suggestions are reacted to. In such instances however, the inner self should be allowed to make the judgement ultimately, as to which suggestions are constructive and which are not.


snip

It must be understood that the personality is indeed an action within action, and that it is therefore never stationary. Indeed suggestions, being the directions in which action moves, represent the very impetus that constantly changes the action of any given personality. It goes without saying, once more, that all of the designations imply a separation which does not exist in fact, and imply definite boundaries which are not present."
The Early Sessions, Book 4, Session 163, pages 99-101.
sethquotes

Rachel Enevoldsen

Thanks to Phil Allen, via Friends on FB

I love the last paragraph. We are action within action, never stationary. The body, the mind, the spirit, all seemingly separate but not really, always in perpetual action. And our suggestions 'represent the very impetus that constantly changes the action of any given personality.' Our inner dialogue, and imagination, coupled with our emotional energy is the fuel that powers our creative force.

LK

[Monica]

Thank you for posting this. 

[Deb]

This is very interesting for me, explaining more about the nature of our ego in relationship to our whole being/personality. My take on the ego is it is the way we interact with the plane in which we currently exist. Maybe I picture it as the interface, it has receptors (our senses) and 'programs' running (our mind/our beliefs) to observe and translate the data coming in from our reality. But it also has consciousness, self-awareness, and like any conscious thing it is also focused on self-preservation. It's job is to keep our eyes directed toward our reality and while it technically has access to so much more, it turns its back on those resources in order to hold its attention outward. ["The ego, ON ITS OWN as a separate unit, does not have such data, although... it does have such information available... it does not USE such information."] It's a part of the whole, the same but yet different, and has its own purpose. Sort of like our skin (or membranes of cells), it's a part of our whole, it's there to interact, perceive the outer world ["as a separate unit, views the physical universe"] and report back to the self/inner self. The inner self, unlike the ego, does not turn its back on anything.

Seth somewhere said that our egos have gone overboard though, or we have let them do so and that were not meant to be so 'distant' from the inner self and all of its resources. Ego appears to have become an overachiever, maybe insecure in maintaining its position, and takes its job too seriously. Maybe part of our job now is to tame the ego, reassure and calm it somehow so it's not working so hard to do a 'good' job.  Then we/it will let in more of the free flowing information and resources from the inner self... and beyond.