Library » Conscious Creation » The Inner Senses – An Introduction & Overview

By Seth/Jane Roberts. By Paul M. Helfrich, Ph.D.

This compilation may only be used for private study, scholarship, or research.

Acknowledgments

This compilation is dedicated the memory of Stan Ulkowski. Without Stan’s hard work and dedication in creating Seth Network International – the group that brought so many Seth readers together from all parts of the world in the 1990’s – this compilation would not exist in its present form.

Kudos, love, and high-fives go out to all of my compatriots and teachers on the Sethnet email list at eGroups.com. Thanks for helping me to experience and ponder the rich subtext within Seth’s ideas and also providing a challenging and creative public forum in which to immerse myself.

There are also many additional people whose creative efforts and diligent pursuit of excellence helped to inspire this compilation. Heart-felt thanks go out to “the unsinkable” Lynda Dahl, Michael Steffen, Mary Rouen, Mary Dillman, Ted Mousseau, Bob Proctor, Barry Noonan, Gregory Polson, Rick Stack, Laurel Davies, Rob Butts, Jane Roberts, and Seth.

And special thanks go to my “partner in time” – Joanne – whose extraordinary dedication to the pursuit of excellence, creativity, and endless love made this little project possible. I love you my ancient friend!

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Foreword
by Paul Helfrich

Jane Roberts and husband, Rob Butts, began their work on the Seth sessions during the Fall of 1963 in the relative isolation of their small apartment on Water Street in Elmira, New York. Thanks to the recent publication of the Early Sessions in nine volumes by Rick Stack and New Awareness Network, Seth readers can now follow the way in which Seth originally presented his ideas. As a result, Seth’s ideas can be explored in greater detail than ever before, hence this compilation of material on the inner senses. However thorough, it is still not comprehensive as there is more material to be published (called the deleted sessions) and no completed master index of the material yet available.

Regarding the inner senses, Seth introduces this concept early on – in session 14 – and weaves it throughout his early discourses on the multidimensional nature of consciousness, perception, and reality. Though only outlined here, the inner senses are key concepts for understanding Seth’s later ideas. It is highly recommended that you obtain the original books and read this material in its original context, as this provides a wider perspective that promotes deeper understanding.

When Seth talks about the inner senses he is talking about a type of subjective psychic perception that is a part of our genetic and spiritual heritage. It has been experienced in every culture since the beginnings of the species. In the West, we are culturally conditioned to believe that our five physical senses – sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste – are the only scientifically valid means of perceiving reality. Organized religion, on the other hand, has imposed the straight-jacket of dogma upon acceptable and unacceptable experiences of a subjective and revelatory nature, false prophets and demons seem to abound.

Still, the human race continues to exhibit a wide spectrum of anomalous or paranormal phenomenon that falls outside of officially accepted scientific and religious belief systems. These include “psi” phenomena (telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and psychokinesis), near-death and out-of-body experiences, lucid dreaming, channeling and automatic writing/painting/music, the subtle human energy field, spontaneous healing, UFO sightings and abductions, stigmata, crop circles, levitation, teleportation, bilocation, remote viewing, the super and cosmic consciousness reported by mystics, miracles, and encounters with sentient entities (angels,demons, faeries, leprechauns, aliens, big foot, etc.).

Even though this wide spectrum of phenomena are now the subject of rigorous scientific and religious investigation, there is still a very human set of blinders involved that includes the limiting beliefs of scientism, materialism, superstition, ignorance, self-aggrandisement, and out-right fraud. So how do we separate the wheat from the chaff? Can these various phenomena, all reflected in ever-growing intensity in the popular imagination, be explained away as various personality disorders—the hallucinations of isolated ego selves seeking meaning and wish fulfillment in a meaningless universe, or the deluded murmurings of false prophets or those possessed by demons?

According to Seth, it all comes back to understanding the nature of personal reality; hence our answers are to be found in the direct experience of our own selves and the world around us. So this is our starting point, the arena in which we will discern what is true in terms of subjective perceptions like those available through the inner senses—deep intuitions or what’s commonly called the sixth sense. These complement our five physical senses and are used primarily by a deeper portion of our psyche that Seth terms the inner ego. The inner ego originates outside of our familiar space-time framework and by definition survives physical death. In this view human personality and its range of perceptions are inherently multidimensional and thus, by conventional standards, transcendental in nature.

The outer ego is the aspect of the psyche, safely ensconced in space and time, that can learn to consciously manipulate the inner senses. In fact, the earlier alluded to paranormal phenomena – all of them – can be more fully understood within the context of Seth’s inner senses. The reason there is so much confusion, dissonance, and disconnect between current scientific and religious interpretations of paranormal phenomena is that when they occur, really as waking bleedthroughs of full bore inner sense perceptions, the perceivers do not yet have an adequate conceptual framework in which to translate and interpret their experiences. Our consensus view of reality still offers limited and incomplete paradigms. And so we have a current hodgepodge of scientific and religious belief filters based upon incomplete models of the psyche, consciousness, god, and the universe that force our interpretations of these experiences into a tiny box that spits out the endless array of amazing stories that abound in the popular media.

I like to use the word “hyperception” to describe the inner senses in action. Hyperception is derived from the word “hyperspace,” a word originating in mid-nineteenth century science fiction to describe a fictional space containing more than three dimensions that allowed for extraordinary events, such as faster than light travel. More recently hyperspace has been used by quantum physicists to describe theoretical multidimensional space-time frameworks. Most of us are familiar, for example, with television’s Starship Enterprise as it engages its warp engines, enters hyperspace, and exits in another quadrant of the galaxy millions of light years away. Hyperception is the logical extension of this concept to describe the spectrum of subjective perception that results from the conscious use the inner senses to transcend the limits of space and time.

The term “transpersonal” refers to the view that the human psyche is very similar to Seth’s view—a multidimensional soul or energy personality gestalt that simultaneously exists in both physical and inner reality that also survives death. The transpersonal view is holistic. It conceives of the physical universe – its galaxies, solar systems, and planets – as consisting of interrelated systems that are inseparable; the whole always being greater than the sum of its parts. So it is within this context that we will find a deeper understanding of how our inner senses work.

Transpersonal psychologists like Stanislov Grof, Robert Assagioli, Abraham Maslow, Charles Tart, and Ken Wilber use the term “non-ordinary states” to describe what I’m calling hyperception. Perhaps the notion of a type of waking dream state is the closest analogy to describe it. Just as we click on hyperlinks to jump at the speed of thought to any page on the World Wide Web, so too can we use hyperception to instantly travel anywhere within our psyche and the universe. In similar fashion we move at the speed of thought in our dream and other altered states of consciousness. In fact, as we learn to use our inner senses, the concept of non-ordinary or altered states blurs into shades of gray. The concept of hyperception provides a wider, holistic view of human consciousness and perception as it includes the five physical senses, intellect, emotions, and other attributes of the outer ego.

When learning to consciously engage our inner senses we are not, however, talking about abandoning our intellect, skepticism, or losing our sense of identity. Far from it. Seth strongly encourages maintaining an equilibrium between our intuitions and intellect during this process. In fact, he strongly suggests that the self we know – the ego self – will be greatly expanded as it ventures more deeply into the subconscious and inner sources from which it springs. According to Seth, the human race is in the midst of a profound shift in consciousness in which we are just beginning to collectively learn the proper use of our inner senses in the waking state. Learning to incorporate these skills are a key element in the further development of our species. In other words, we are living in an era in which our species is evolving toward what has previously been the purview of adepts, sages, and mystics.

Moving on now to the Seth material on the inner senses, I also wish to add a note regarding what may be perceived as Seth’s inherent bias towards the male perspective – what some may even term chauvinism – that is present throughout the sessions.

First, we need to remind ourselves that as soon as any words are committed to paper regarding the ineffable nature of metaphysical ideas they begin to lose some of their potency and utility. All written words will be filtered through the beliefs systems of the writer (and the reader) and contain the effects of what Jane termed “prejudiced perception” or the inherent distortions of subjective experience. In this case they reflect the paternal bias of Western culture that is still quite present as we begin the twenty-first century. Since we continue to grow and change in linear terms so, too, do our belief systems and the words we use that faithfully reflect them.

Second, the majority of the Seth material used in this compilation was delivered in 1964-5, a time before the full emergence of the woman’s liberation movement. So it was a natural convention to use terms like man and mankind when speaking in general terms about the nature of reality. It did not seem appropriate to edit and substitute these terms with human beings or humankind, though I don’t feel that Seth or Jane would have any problem with that. And finally, it’s important to keep our ever-changing perspectives on the bottom line intent behind the material itself: to provide a firm metaphysical foundation from which to further explore the nature of our own consciousness, individually and collectively.

The goal of this compilation, then, is to provide an introduction and overview to Seth’s information on the inner senses. As such I’ve gathered material from a variety of sources while relying heavily on the Early Sessions Books 1 & 2 and The Seth Material. Jane Roberts had the remarkable ability to question the nature of and interpret her own experiences with the Seth phenomenon, constantly seeking answers beyond the officially accepted belief systems offered by mainstream science and religion. So Jane’s thoughts on the inner senses serve as wonderful introductions and summaries throughout. Sandwiched between them is the recently published, original material from Seth himself. It provides his unique perspective, revealing the teaching style used to originally present, develop, and weave his ideas into the fabric of the sessions and ultimately Jane’s, Rob’s, and ESP class member’s every day experiences. Also included are six exercises that will allow anyone to begin their own practice and explorations. And since the Seth material focuses primarily on the nature of personal reality, this is the place where we will begin and ultimately end.

“We have never told anybody to do anything, except to face up to the abilities of consciousness.” – The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events, Seth, April 19, 1978.

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Summary: Seth’s Nine Inner Senses
by Paul Helfrich

Note: Words in italics represent key concepts in the Sethian worldview. Definitions can be found in the Glossary of Seth/Jane Roberts-related Concepts at the end of this webpage.

Speaking generally, the inner senses can be broken down into three primary aspects that work seamlessly in concert, just like our physical senses do:

1. empathically
2. conceptually
3. time-based

These are not hard and fast designations, for they ultimately blur into shades of gray as understanding and experience deepens. But they serve as a good place to begin our explorations.

The empathic senses are not empathy or compassion, but involve a literal mergence with any object, creature, or person. In the case of a person, it means feeling their emotions, bodily sensations, and feeling tone of personality. A good example is the recent movie “Being John Malkovich,” where people were able to enter a portal inside the actor’s body and mind and share in his experiences for short periods of time. Another example is by science fiction author Robert Heinlein in A Stranger in a Strange Land. The lead character, Michael Valentine Smith, is a human being born on Mars, raised by an advanced Martian culture and returns to Earth where he “groks” things, empathically merging with various living things – grass, animals, or people.

The conceptual senses are also a type of mergence, but rather than merging with a “thing” where you experience the qualities of “thingness,” you get inside of a concept pattern or multidimensional blueprint of an idea. A concept pattern is a potential for action that isn’t limited by the boundaries of a “thing.” An example of this would be merging with Jimi Hendrix’s guitar playing style. With these inner senses you would be able to play guitar and compose songs that were based upon the same conceptual blueprints. These are also the inner senses used to merge in so-called god-communion, gnosis, or wholeness with All-That-Is.

The time-based senses involve experiences with forward, backward, shortened, stretched, and even sideways time sequences. An example would be experiencing the richness of a long life in a single day, or an hour that stretched for centuries through the lens of a snail’s nervous system. They also serve as the gateway to other time frameworks and universes.

The following are in the order that Seth originally presented them in The Early Sessions: Book 1 of the Seth Material. I have noted under which of the three primary aspects – empathic, conceptual, time-based – each one falls (in parentheses). Again, these are not hard and fast designations, but a point of departure for further exploration.

1. inner vibrational touch (empathic) – used to merge with any object or thing in your sensory field, a kind of expanded super-touch-sensing. Leads to an expansion of experience, greater understanding, and compassion. Empathy is a superficial outer materialization of this inner sense.

2. psychological time (time-based) – used as a mental gateway, in alpha state, to the inner world, inner self, and other selves. All communications coming through the inner senses exist in psychological time. It’s used in the dream state and is the starting point to learn more about the other inner senses.

3. perception of past, present, and future (time-based) – used to simultaneously perceive temporal aspects of any concept pattern or inner blueprint. Allows us to see through the apparent barrier of time, seeing things as they really are. This is used in precognitive experiences and by the inner ego and entities to directly experience concept patterns, freeing them from the limits of cause and effect.

4. the conceptual sense (conceptual) – used for comprehending the deeper essential nature of any concept or idea. It involves experiencing a concept completely, to the extent of being a concept completely. We cannot truly understand or appreciate any other thing unless we can become that thing. Otherwise we only receive an approximation translated through our the prejudiced perception of our physical senses.

5. cognition of knowledgeable essence (empathic) – a deeper, more abstract form of inner vibrational touch. It does not involve the cognition of a concept. If, for example, we wanted to understand a relative or friend, this inner sense would enable us to literally enter into our friend and share and perceive their essential feelings. These senses do not function until they can be handled correctly. This sense in no way involves invasion. It does not imply that one entity can control another. It merely involves direct, instantaneous cognition of the essence of living tissue.

6. innate working knowledge of the basic vitality of the universe (conceptual) – similar to instinct, only much deeper; it’s the spontaneous inner knowing of how things work, the innate knowledge that makes manipulation of energy from one form to another possible. It is used constantly by the inner ego to create and maintain time frameworks—camouflage. It directs our physical growth, forms the cells of our physical bodies, and is the source of all revelatory knowledge, inspiration, and inventions.

7. expansion or contraction of the tissue capsule (empathic) – used to manipulate our energy field boundary – the tissue capsule – allowing us to change scale and merge with micro to macro aspects of self and the universe. It is used in projections of consciousness and lucid dreaming.

8. disentanglement from camouflage (conceptual) – used to temporarily break up camouflage patterns, for example, suspending the laws of physics via levitation, teleportation, or shapeshifting.

9. diffusion by the energy personality [essence] (time-based) – used by the soul or entity to initiate the birth of one of its personalities in physical life.

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Jane’s and Seth’s Introduction (1)

Jane says that, “My own experiences convince me that I am more than my normal self, the self I refer to as ‘me.’ In getting clairvoyant information, for instance, some part of me knows what the Jane-part ordinarily does not. This portion of me communicates the knowledge to the Jane ego. I believe that this happens not only in the case of ESP, but also in connection with artistic inspiration: we tune into more knowledgeable portion[s] of our own identities.

“Of course, these abilities don’t mean much unless you learn to use them and experience them for yourself. Early in our sessions Seth described what he calls the inner senses—inner methods of perception that expand normal consciousness and allow us to become aware of our own multidimensional existence. It was some time before we fully understood what these meant, and how we could use them, and we are still learning to use them more effectively.

“... My experiences usually parallel whatever information Seth is giving. According to Seth, this involves the use of the inner senses, and my experiences are meant to point up the existence of these abilities not only in me, but as the latent capabilities of each personality.

“Seth says that the physical body and its senses are specialized equipment to allow us to live in physical reality. To perceive other realities, we have to use the inner senses—methods of perception that belong to the inner self and operate whether or not we have a physical form, Seth calls the universe as we know it a ‘camouflage’ system, since physical matter is simply the form that vitality – action – takes within it. Other realities are also camouflage systems, and within them consciousness also has specialized equipment tailored to their peculiar characteristics. But the inner senses allow us to see beneath the camouflage.

“These inner senses belong to the whole selves of which we are part. Each whole self helps and inspires its personalities. Starting with the personality as we usually think of it, ‘there is, after the operating ego, a layer of personal subconscious material. Beneath this, pure and simple, undistorted, there for the searching, absolutely free for the asking, is the knowledge inherent in the inner self pertaining to the inner universe as a whole, its laws and principles, its composition. ’

“‘Here you will find, undistorted, uncamouflaged, the innate knowledge of the creation of the camouflage universe, the mechanics involved, much of the material that I have given you, the method and ways by which the inner self as a basic inhabitant of the inner universe, existing in the climate of psychological reality [Frameworks 1, 2, 3, 4, ...], helps create the various planes of existence, constructs outer senses to project and perceive the various apparent realities or camouflages, how the inner self reincarnates on the various planes. Here you will find your answers as to how the inner self transforms energy for his own purposes, changes his form, adopts other apparent realities, and all this free for the investigation.’ (2)

“Quite a mouthful! What Seth is saying is that each of us can reach the inner self, that the inner senses help us to perceive other than three-dimensional reality, and that we can get to this knowledge with determination and training. We start with ourselves and travel through our own subjective experience, working from the ego inward. The physical senses help us to perceive the exterior reality that we know. The inner senses let us perceive the inner ones.” [The Seth Material, Ch. 16, The Multidimensional Personality]

According to Seth the, “Perception of beauty through the senses is the trigger on your plane for subsequent inner perceptions. The two are so closely bound, through music for example, which can only be appreciated through the senses. Psychic actions take place which lead the individual beyond the senses. There is much more to be said here. There is a phrase which I will explain at a later date—inner senses—which you will find extremely interesting. By this I mean senses within the senses. I would use behind the senses but I believe this would lead to confusion.

“Everything on your plane is a materialization of something that exists independent of your plane. Therefore within your senses there are other senses that perceive inward. Your regular senses perceive, or as Jane would like to say create, an outer world. The senses within them, that is within the recognizable senses, perceive and create an inner world, they perceive part of an inner world. This is difficult for me to explain to you. However as your regular senses are limited according to the plane which your inhabit—in your case dear friends on your plane extremely limited, I’m afraid—so are the corresponding inner senses limited.

“It is almost as if you could see, feel, touch and perceive so much outwardly and feel, touch, see and perceive so much inwardly, though much more exists in all directions, of which you are necessarily ignorant. Once you exist on a particular plane you must necessarily be attuned to it while blocking out many other perceptions.

“It is a sort of psychic focus, a concentration of awareness along certain lines. As your ability grows in relation with the environment of your plane then you can afford to look around, use the inner senses, and enlarge your scope of activity. This is only natural. Survival on a particular plane depends upon your concentration in that plane. Again, when survival is more or less satisfied by attention then you can avail yourself of the opportunity to turn your attention elsewhere.” [Early Sessions, Vol. 1, session 14]

“The inner senses are actually the channels through which the entire composition of any particular plane is appreciated and actually maintained. It is through the inner senses that the mental enzymes are enabled to act upon the vitality which is, as I have said, the structure of the universe itself.

“The inner senses in other words are the means, the mental enzymes are the tools, and the vitality is the actual material that forms the universe as a whole, the apparent divisions within it, the apparent boundaries of the various divisions, and the diverse material within each division. Again, the different materials within each division are only camouflages formed by the inner senses upon the material itself.” [Early Sessions, Vol. 1, session 16]

“Mental enzymes are the transformers, and as I have said they are extremely important. I have spoken of the inner and outer senses to make our discussion easier. However you must know by now that there is no actual distinction between inner and outer. The apparent outer senses are merely concerned with the particular camouflage of a particular plane. The inner senses are concerned with vitalities beneath the camouflage. These inner senses, if I may use an analogy again, are like hidden underground trains that carry important fuel from one country to another.

“In various countries the fuel may be used for different purposes. The inhabitants of these imaginary countries may change the appearance of the fuel, but the fuel is all derived from the same source and supplies each various country, while the train itself travels deeply within each country and finds no barrier to keep it out.

“I will go into this more deeply also. I am merely presenting a brief outline of the direction in which this material will go in the future. If you will ignore the apparent distinction between inner and outer senses you will get along at a faster rate. Even though they are not different things I must speak of them differently because they appear so on your plane. This is caused of course by the typical camouflage distortion effect, which occurs on almost every plane to some extent.

“The tree bark for example is not really divided from the rest of the tree, yet I must speak as if it were so divided because this is one of the apparent effects that you see, and I could not ignore what you insist was the evidence of your senses. The evidence of your senses is usually camouflage. Let that one sink in.

“The inner senses deal with what actually is. The inner senses are the carriers of our fuel, that is, they can be likened to the various cars of our imaginary train. It takes some doing to be aware of this fuel, since it is so instantly transformed by the outer senses into the stuff of camouflage. The process involved is subconscious. You can hardly catch yourself at it, and yet with training you will be able to catch yourself in the act.

“Almost but not quite, our invisible fuel carried to us by our inner senses could be likened to the air which you breathe, and which on a calm day is so difficult to perceive.

“You cannot see a handful of air though your hands may be full of it. You know it effects, you breathe it constantly, but consciously you do not realize what you are doing. You do not know how air tastes unless you really think hard about it. It is fuel to your physical body and the idea of it comes very close to this fuel of the inner senses, which is not a camouflage effect and which is our vitality unsolidified, or the little wires which make up our imaginary [inner] universe. In other words these little wires move along constantly like little individual railway cars carrying fuel, and also are composed of the very fuel themselves.” [Early Sessions, Vol. 1, session 19]

“The trouble is in ESP investigations, that you are using the wrong tools again. You are taking this dual self for granted again. Until you realize that there is one self, and not one self who does and manipulates and another self who breathes and dreams, you will get nowhere quickly. Investigations carried on according to what is considered scientific precepts are doomed in a large measure to slow-motion tactics at best, and to complete failure at worst.

“This does not mean that evidence cannot be found, and overwhelming evidence, for the existence of the inner senses. It does mean that spontaneity must be allowed for. It is extremely difficult to relate data received by the inner senses into data that will be picked up by the outer senses.

“Again, at best you get something like a mirror image which must be deciphered. This is rather difficult to get across to you. However, data received by the inner senses will have its own discernible impact upon the personality receiving it, and this impact is as strong as any impact caused by camouflage stimuli.

“The fact is that when you insist upon evidence through the outside, regularly accepted senses, that you almost automatically turn off the inner sense apparatus. This is not necessary. Man to a large degree has set up this habit reaction. It is not a natural habit reaction. You must take the inner data at its face value, and this is what you will not do. Once you take this first step of spontaneity, you will actually receive evidence that even your conscious mind will be forced to accept. But the first step of such willingness must be made.

“If you once allow yourself to freely receive inner data in a spontaneous noncritical manner, you will see that this data is as legitimate, valid and varied, and as powerful as any outside stimuli. But to insist upon translating this data into channels that can first be picked up by the outer senses, and then expecting undistorted strong data, is asking the impossible.

“Again, the impressions received by the inner senses are actually concrete in a way that you do not yet understand. This data also has physical effects upon the brain. In the same manner that impressions received from outside stimuli affect the brain, they make their impression upon it. They change the personality as any experience changes a personality. To insist upon evidence in terms of outside sensual data is as ridiculous a notion as to expect a camera to play music.” [Early Sessions, Vol. 1, session 25]

“And again remember that these senses, these inner senses, operate as a whole, and that at least to some degree the divisions between them are somewhat arbitrary on my part, and are made for the sake of simplicity.

“... Direct experience of these inner senses will give you a much clearer picture of them than any words, even mine, can do. You understand however that any direct experience will be of very low power. I don’t want to blast you off your feet.” [Early Sessions, Vol. 1, session 38]

“You have no idea of the bulk of the material on the inner senses that is still to be covered and until you have learned much more about them we cannot even begin any real discussion of many other units of activity, because it would be incomprehensible.” [Early Sessions, Vol. 1, session 42]

Seth says that, “First, you must understand the nature of what you call reality. To some very small extent, I have begun to explain this in the Seth material. The five hundred and some odd sessions we have, however, barely represent an outline, but they are enough to begin with.

“The ideas themselves will start you thinking. Besides the outer senses that you take for granted, you have inner senses. These will enable you to perceive reality as it exists independently of the physical matter that you know. You must learn how to use, develop and recognize these inner senses. The methods are given in the material. But you cannot utilize the material until you understand it.

“The material itself is cleverly – if you will forgive the term – cleverly executed so that as you grapple to understand it you are already beginning to use abilities beyond those that you take for granted.

“You must first of all, cease identifying yourself completely with your ego. You must not just listen to my words but realize not only that you are more than your ego, but that you can perceive more than your ego perceives. You [must] demand more of yourself than you have ever demanded in your life.

“This material is not for those who would deceive themselves with pretty, packaged, ribboned, truths – truths that are parceled out and cut apart so that you can digest them. That sort of material does serve a need, and there are many who give it and it is helpful for those who need it. This material demands more. It demands that you intellectually and intuitively expand it demands that you use your abilities.

“There are other ways far more difficult and you are not ready for those, but you are ready for the methods that I have given if you are willing to work. And yet by work, I mean a joyful endeavor, a spontaneous endeavor. You have simply to allow yourselves to be yourselves.” [ESP Class, October 21, 1969] (3)

Jane writes that, “The inner senses are not important because the release clairvoyant or telepathic abilities, but because they reveal to us our own independence from physical matter, and let us recognize our unique, individual multidimensional identity. Properly utilized, they also show us the miracle of physical existence and our place in it. We can live a wiser, more productive, happier physical life because we begin to understand why we are here, individually and as a people.” [The Seth Material, Ch. 19, The Inner Senses—What They Are and How to Use Them]

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Seth’s Nine Inner Senses:

inner vibrational touch

Jane says that, “This sense [inner vibrational touch] is much like empathy, but far more vital. (Seth says that we can’t experience these inner senses in their full intensity now, because our nervous systems can’t handle that much stimuli.)

“Generally, though, this first inner sense can be extremely valuable, leading to expansion of experience, great understanding, and compassion. Using it, with practice, you can feel the living emotional element of any living thing, rejoicing in its vitality. It does not diminish individuality, and it does not imply psychic invasion. We are not to be psychic Peeping Toms, but should use these abilities only to help others or, joyfully, as we use muscles and bones. The intent is important, but I don’t believe that you can use these senses wrongfully in any basic way; if you aren’t ready to utilize them properly, your own personality will see to it that you don’t use them consciously at all.” [The Seth Material, Ch. 19, The Inner Senses—What They Are and How to Use Them]

Seth says, “I would like to make an analogy. Though in some cases it may fall down, overall it will make my point.

“Imagine a man standing on a corner [man A], looking down the street at a tree a block away. He need not walk that distance in order to know what is there since he can see everything between himself and the tree, at least as far as large objects are concerned. His sense of sight allows him this freedom.

“Imagine a man in an automobile [man B] who passes our man at the corner. Now when our man in the automobile reaches the tree he is further ahead, so to speak, in distance. [Man B] is also in some respects further ahead in time, yet actually he is not. That is, the man on the corner has watched him pass by. [Man B] is beyond the man on the corner in space. The man on the corner at the same time sees the motorist drive beyond. But although [man A] sees him pass in space he knows that they exist, he and the motorist, simultaneously even though usually the idea of passing on involves time.

“If you will imagine the rather odd picture of a solid beam extending from the body of the man on the corner to the tree, then this may help you to think of sight as a path.

“The reason I am using solidity here is that we are dealing with the world of camouflage, and sound waves and light waves are definite on your plane and can be measured. They are not solid as your tree is solid, but they are solid in degree. That is, they manifest themselves well enough to be recorded on your [scientific measuring] instruments.

“Now with that out of the way, we can consider the inner senses as paths leading to an inner reality. However, here we are not concerned with space or time. If you were, or if man A was blind, he would not see the tree in question. If he were deaf he would not hear the car. Let us pretend this state of events, and let us compare the physical objects between our man and his tree to points somewhat corresponding to the inner world. It would be as if instead of seeing the various houses or whatever, our man instead felt them. If you remember, I mentioned earlier that your outer sense of touch was extremely immediate, in a way that sight was not, and I also gave you immediacy as one of the qualities of the inner senses.

“Now our man would not vaguely sense these objects, he would feel them. He would be sensitive to them, in other words, while not touching them with anything like physical hands, as for example you feel heat or cold without necessarily touching ice or fire.

“This is one of the qualities belonging to the inner senses. I will go into it more deeply but you may call it the first inner sense.

“It involves immediate perception of a direct nature, whose integrity varies according to what is being sensed. It involves instant cognition through what I can only describe as inner vibrational touch. This is, if you will excuse the pun, touchy, since I want to avoid any implication here of sloppy sentimental emotionalism; and the word vibrational is not the best.

“This sense would permit our man to feel the basic sensations felt by the tree, so that instead of looking at the tree his consciousness would expand to contain the experience of what it is like to be a tree. According to his proficiency, in a like manner, he would feel the experience of being the intervening grass and so forth. He would in no way lose consciousness of who he was, and he would perceive these experiences, again, somewhat in the same manner that you perceive heat and cold. In your camouflage pattern you must adapt yourself to the effects of heat and cold, but our man in the inner world would not be under any such obligation. I am speaking now only of our first inner sense.

“... The inner world of course is part of all planes. It is not so much that it exists simultaneously with the outer world, as that it forms the outer world and the outer world exists in it.

“When you receive more material on the inner senses, you can begin using them to a much higher degree than you do now. For those interested in inner reality the inner senses can be utilized, of course, to explore and perceive portions of this inner reality; and the inner reality is after all what you are after.

“I will have to go into what we will call for now evolution at some time to explain the influence of the inner world upon the outer world, because the species to which you have the honor of belonging is now moving in the direction of breakthrough discoveries, as far as inner reality is concerned. There is much more to be said here, and you can count on me to say it.” [Early Sessions, Vol. 1, session 21]

“... Empathy is an outer materialization, very superficial, of the first inner sense which we have discussed so briefly.

“Unless man learns to use this inner sense he may well lose whatever he has gained.” [Early Sessions, Vol. 1, session 23]

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psychological time [Exercise 1]

Jane says that, “Actually, in practice, psychological time leads to development of the other inner senses. In psy-time, as we call it, you simply turn your focus of attention inward. Sit or lie quietly and close your eyes. Pretend that there is a world within as vivid and real as the physical one. Turn off your physical senses. If you want, imagine that they have dials and you flip them off, one by one. Then imagine that the inner senses have another set of dials. Imaginatively, turn them on. This is one method of beginning.

“You may, instead, just lie quietly and concentrate on a dark screen until images or lights appear on it. Do not concentrate on worries or daily trivia that may arise as soon as you block out physical distractions. If such thoughts do come to the foreground of attention, then you are not ready to proceed. First you must get rid of them.

“Since we can’t concentrate fully on two things at once, you may focus your attention on the screen again or on any imaginary image—this will banish the annoying worries. Or you may pretend that the worries themselves have images and the ‘see’ these vanishing away.

“At a certain point you will feel alert and conscious but very light. Within your mind you may see bright lights. You may hear sounds or voices. Some may simply be subconscious pictures. As you practice, you will learn to tell one from the other.

“Gradually as you progress, you will feel apart from time as we know it during the exercise. You may have various kinds of subjective experiences, from extrasensory episodes to simply periods of inspiration and direction. I sometimes have out-of-body travels, for instance, during psy-time. This sense leads to refreshment, relaxation, and peace. It can be used in many ways, for different purposes. Most of my students now utilize this sense quite well, and use it as a preliminary to other experiences.” [The Seth Material, Ch. 19, The Inner Senses—What They Are and How to Use Them]

According to Seth, “Time is one of your most obvious camouflages, and the study of time will lead you in a fairly direct manner from the camouflaged physical self to the inner self, which you ignore. Even now your psychologists speak of the difference between physical time, by which you set your clocks, and psychological time.

“Psychological-time so-called belongs to the inner self, that is to the mind. It is however a connective, a portion of one of the inner senses, which we will call for convenience the second inner sense.

“Outer physical time is a complete camouflage, unnecessary basically on your plane; but you have made it seem necessary because of your refusal to admit the inner self as part of your whole personality, and therefore you have not been able to utilize psychological time to its fullest advantage on your plane. Psychological time as I have said is a natural pathway, part of an inner sense, that was meant as an easy access from the inner to the outer world and back again. You do not use it as such.

“This is one of the reasons why breathing seems automatic, and why dreaming seems to confound your physical camouflage idea of time. It is perfectly within your present capabilities to understand that time, to your dreaming self, is very much like time to your waking inner self. But you must first disconnect the physical concept of time and watches.

“This concept is one of the easiest to explore, since as I have said your clock time is one of the most artificial of your camouflages. The time concept in dreams may seem far different than your conception of time in the waking state, when you have your eyes on a clock and are concerned with getting to some destination by, say, 12:15. But it is not so different from time in the waking state when you are sitting alone in a room with your thoughts, and with no particular need to get anywhere.

“You will I am sure see the similarity now between this inner, alone sort of psychological time, experienced very often in waking hours, and the sense of time experienced in dreams. This is meant to show you but one more point of similarity between the waking and sleeping selves. In other words it is meant as another proof that they are indeed but one self, and that any divisions between them are artificial.

“The intellect is extremely important in the manipulation of camouflage patterns once they are created. You have made your world, and your intellect should help you deal with what you have created. It has other vital functions which I shall enumerate at a later date. However, I cannot say this too often: You are more than your conscious mind, much more, and the self which you do not admit happens to be the portion of yourself which not only insures your own survival in the physical universe which it has made, but which is also the connective portion of yourself with inner reality. Which is, when all is said and done, the only basic reality; and which also continually enables you to create these camouflage patterns, and which contains knowledge and intuitions and memories which you need in a most desperate manner if you are ever to understand yourself, and if the race of mankind is ever to evolve to its fullest.

“It is only through the use of this inner man, though the recognition of the functions of this inner man, that the race will ever use its potential. The outer senses will not help man to achieve the inner purpose which drives him.” [Early Sessions, Vol. 1, session 23]

“Any such communications coming through the inner senses will exist in your psychological time. I have said also that this psychological time operates during sleep and during quiet times of consciousness. Now in dreams and in the dream framework you have the feeling of experiencing many hours, or even days. These days or hours that you seem to experience in dreams are not recorded by the physical body, and are outside or your physical time camouflage. If in a dream for example you experience within the framework two days, physically you do not age for these two days.

“I am sure you see the many places that this can lead us. For one thing, psychological time is so much a part of inner reality that even though your inner self is still connected to the physical body, you are in the dream framework free of some very important physical effects. Now as your dreams seem to involve you in duration that is independent of your clock time, and I have much more to say here, so can you achieve the actual experience of duration as far as your inner visions are concerned.

“But the minute, the physical minute, that you try to transpose these visions upon the physical minute, then you have lost them. Many times I am sure, in so-called daydreaming, you have lost track of physical time, and before you know it the experience of inner duration has entered in. Physical time so-called, that is clock time, is one of the latest and most artificial of your camouflages. It has nothing to do with your particular plane. It is a human invention of which your animals are blissfully ignorant.

“... Psychological time fits into physical time with little trouble. Originally this enabled man in many ways to live in the inner and the outer world with relative ease. Psychological time can be transposed onto physical time, but psychological time cannot flow unhampered or with any freedom through days chopped up into so many clock divisions. The clock time idea was invented by the conscious ego of man for many various reasons, with fear in the foreground.

“At another time we will have sessions dealing with evolution, and in these sessions we will cover the advent of clock time and its many ramifications. It is without doubt one of man’s tragedies, and it arose in large part out of this unpredictable dualism that befell him.

“Physical time, or that is clock time, was invented by man’s ego to protect the ego itself, because of the mistaken conception of dual existence—that is, because man felt that a predicable conscious self did the thinking and the moving, and an unpredictable almost automatic self did the breathing and dreaming. He set up boundaries to protect the predictable self from what he considered the unpredictable self, and ended up by cutting the whole self in half.

“Nor is the invention of clock time the only such mutilating device mistakenly invented and used to protect one part of the self from the other. You can almost trace back this fear through the legends and fantasies of the species.

“... Concepts fit together in patterns in order for there to be communication between us. I must disentangle a concept from its pattern, which is somewhat difficult. It is somewhat like having to disentangle a particular word from a strong emotional association. I experience patterns made up of concepts, and you use words in associations.

“When speaking through Ruburt [Jane] (4) I must disentangle the concept from the patterns, which sometimes leaves me with short ends because it is natural for me to experience the concepts in their entirety; and yet I must drop very important data by the wayside because you are not capable of handling it, except in consecutive form.

“One of the advantages of the inner senses as they operate together is this ability to experience whole entirety patterns, and it is difficult to dilute this, to drop it so to speak, drop by drop. I would like to say something about Joseph’s [Rob’s] experience the other evening [in which he experienced a wave of tingling over his whole body several times], but I also want to go into the invention of the soul.

“You see, to me these things are closely associated and connected in an overall concept pattern, and yet I must give them to you one at a time, and take pages to make the connection clear. One of mankind’s weaknesses has always been his impatience and his preoccupation with camouflage patterns on his plane. It is this impatience that made him attempt to know himself by examining the outside world, rather than exploring what was within himself.

“... I feel concept patterns, or at least that is the nearest I can come to explaining it to you, and this my dear friend will involves our third inner sense [perception of past, present, and future] when we really go into that discussion. It involves a different idea entirely from the first inner sense [inner vibrational touch], which somewhat corresponds on a different level to your empathy. There is a subtle distinction between the two senses that sets them apart.

“I wanted to say a little more about duration, as far as communication from the inner senses are concerned. As I said, duration can be experienced in relation to psychological time and within its framework. The important thing here, and I’m afraid the difficult thing for you here, is the relaxation of the mind from clock time. And this is a freedom which you can and should allow yourself in such instances.

“It comes, believe it or not, quite naturally, and if you relax you will be aware of it in quite moments.

“... Incidentally again, hypnosis also helps you to use psychological time to a true advantage. The boundaries of clock time melt when psychological time is utilized. You can look through psychological time at clock time, and even use clock time to your advantage; but without the initial recognition of psychological time, then clock time is somewhat of a prison.

“Your physical time of seasons and tides, and night and day, is to me one of your most delightful camouflages, and if Ruburt [Jane] will excuse my clumsy attempt at being poetical, I will say that physical time is like a delightful flowing gown that clothes psychological time with many different colors and materials and designs. It is a most faithful reproduction of psychological time, and one of your truest camouflages.

“This is why psychological time seems to flow so easily when physical time is pursued and watched by a quiet ‘I’. The one leads to the other and the camouflage is loose enough to let the inner form shine though. A proper use of psychological time will not only lead you into the inner world, but will also prevent you from being rushed in the physical world. Within it, that is within the framework of psychological time, you will discover a quiet and cool peacefulness. I tell you both this for your benefit, because both of you will gain much in the utilization of these added benefits.

“Psychological time adds duration. You will find something else here. From the framework of psychological time you will see that clock time is as dreamlike and fleeting as you once thought inner time was. And you will discover your whole selves in other worlds, peeping inward and outward at the same time, and finding that all time is one time, and that all divisions are illusion.

“... I cannot stress too strongly the benefits you will receive by using psychological time as I have told you. You know now what it is and how to use it to advantage. Not only will it help the physical and mental being on your plane, but it will enable you to meet the whole self.

“... The one point I would like to make, first, is this: Conscious fear is usually the main hindrance as far as data from the inner senses is concerned. Therefore, a realization that these senses belong to you and are quite natural will help you avoid the otherwise unavoidable, almost automatic closing off of such data by the consciousness.

“If you remember this, inner data will come through much more easily, and you will be able to control it. It is never of itself overpowering. There are abilities in which you can train yourself, in both recognition of data when it occurs, utilization, and control. This also implies to some degree utilization as far as duration is concerned. That is, within the framework of psychological time you can lengthen such experiences.

“You can never force them to exist for a specified period of clock time, nor for that matter can you do that to a dream. Though this may sound impossible as this stage, nevertheless you can control such data when in a waking state better than you can control a dream. Here you learn to use certain parts of the consciousness for the purposes of the whole self, but I will discuss this at a later date.” [Early Sessions, Vol. 1, session 24]

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perception of past, present, and future

Seth says, “Now basically, consciousness itself is a type of barrier, and anything that has consciousness experiences time to some degree. This degree may be so slight that to you it would not seem to exist at all. Self-consciousness presents a larger barrier, therefore the sense of time is greater. Psychological time is the lowest common denominator, so to speak, from your viewpoint. That is, many of the barriers disappear. Psychological time represents on your plane the closest you can come to the experience of timelessness as far as your physical laws are concerned.

“You do experience time, but not time as it is bound by your camouflage patterns. As I have mentioned you can in a dream or daydream or through conscious use of psychological time experience many hours in a few clock minutes. This experience comes very close to the third inner sense. If you will remember again our imaginary experience through the inner senses as we looked down at the street, you will remember that I spoke of sensing not only the present essence of the living consciousnesses within a certain scope, but I also mentioned sensing their past and futures.

“This sensing would have been done by the third inner sense, in conjunction of course with other senses, and this perception of past, present and future would not take any clock time, at least not theoretically. You, I doubt, will ever have such an experience completely. There will always be some clock time involved for you.

“[O]ur imagined experience would depend upon all of the inner senses working together in a complex, near-perfect manner, that I doubt you could achieve at this stage. This experiencing of past, present and future would seem to be unwilled, almost automatic. If you were to have it or one like it, it would seem as if a door suddenly for no reason opened and then just as abruptly closed. This would not be the case however.

“The inner ego or the inner self-conscious self directs such experiences and uses the inner senses in much the same way that you use the outer senses, except that the inner ego knows all of the mechanics involved in the use of the inner senses, and you know little of the mechanics involved with the outer senses.

“You may have experiences through all of the inner senses but not at once. This is a great simplification. What I should perhaps add for the sake of clearness is that you will not as a rule be aware of data that comes to you through more than one sense, inner sense, at a time.

“The fact is that the whole self is constantly experiencing data from all of the inner senses. The inner ego is of course aware of this. The subconscious is sometimes aware of this, and the outer ego is aware of very little. I have explained the reasons for this in past sessions. The outer ego must concentrate much of its energy toward survival in and manipulation of the outer camouflage world. This world has already been created by the inner self, and its continuing existence is determined by the constant vigilance of the inner self.

“Only when a certain level of confidence is reached can the outer ego afford to become familiar with these inner workings, at least on your plane. Otherwise you would falter. As a rule, even though the whole self is capable of organizing the data from all of the inner senses, the subconscious can rarely receive such communications full blast; and the outer ego, concerned as it is with camouflage pattern[s], and really born to deal with camouflage pattern[s], simply could not stand the shock of realization that a complete set of inner senses would bring.

“This sort of experience will always be shielded from the outer ego of necessity. Even a watered-down version of a direct inner experience is a shock to the outer ego on your plane, since the ego imagines itself and its own perceptions to be supreme. You have no idea, even with what training you have, of how shattering such a complete experience would be to the outer ego, so we will take one inner-sense experience at a time.

“... Full use of the inner senses is not even for me yet. There is still a long way for me to go. We progress along these lines according to our capabilities and our own strengths. The conscious ego also develops in a strange manner through all this, as I will now attempt to explain.

“Through the various levels of existence the inner ego and outer ego come closer and closer together. The subconscious eventually disappears, as it is no longer needed as a necessary buffer zone. At your stage of development the inner ego is by far the most self-conscious part of the whole self, and has the greatest ability for perception and organization. It alone is capable of experiencing inner and basic reality directly and immediately. It alone can cope with the tumultuous nature of such direct reality experience.” [Early Sessions, Vol. 1, session 35]

“Before we close I want to mention the importance of the third inner sense with the experience of concept patterns. The third inner sense, involving what you would call perception of past, present and future, is the sense that enables the inner ego and entities to experience direct concept patterns, and free them therefore from successive cause and effect limitations.” [Early Sessions, Vol. 1, session 36]

“I wanted to say more concerning the third inner sense in connection with concepts.

“With your clock time it is very difficult for you to conceive of large concepts to begin with. You are forced to think using word symbols strung one before the other, and therefore you are imprisoned by a camouflage of continuity.

“You find difficulty in escaping from time, as a rule, and therefore you are also imprisoned by past, present and future, in such a way that they appear to be walls which never can be climbed. Not only is it difficult for you to conceive of a large concept for these reasons, but also it is well nigh impossible to communicate such a concept to you.

“You insist upon a continuity and a seeming cause and effect because of the erected wall barrier that you yourselves have constructed. Concepts such as those I am referring to reach beyond your ideas of time and space.

“When and if you become proficient in the use of the third inner sense, then and only then will you be able to receive such concepts. When cognition is more or less spontaneous, then you can appreciate a concept on its own terms.

“When cognition is spontaneous or nearly so, then the idea can have freedom. You are bounded by your cause and effect theories. You believe in your ideas of time, and depend upon them to such a degree that it is impossible at this stage for you to conceive of a concept that has nothing to do with space or time.

“As an analogy, you live in a self-constructed box with certain self-constructed senses to enable you to perceive the boxworld that you yourself have created. Any true concept has its origins outside your box, and continues beyond it.

“It also riddles your box through. Nevertheless, with your camouflage senses you perceive only that part of the concept that happens to fall within your box, and even then you receive and interpret such a concept with your outer senses, and therefore distort it out of all recognition. (5)

“Unless you use the inner senses in the manner that I have and will prescribe, you will always receive but a glimmering of any true concept, regardless of its simplicity.

“The third inner sense, as I have told you, will enable you to some extent to free yourselves from the constructions of past, present and future, and will permit in theory instant cognition, but you will be able to set aside now and then the boundaries of time, and you will be able at least to glimmer the reality and the concepts of which I speak.” [Early Sessions, Vol. 1, session 37]

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the conceptual sense [Exercise 2]

Seth says, “I went into the connection between the third inner sense and concepts for a reason, and this will now be an introduction into the fourth inner sense.

“... The fourth inner sense is the conceptual sense. Now you think of a concept in terms of an idea, which you can only understand in intellectual terms. However, the fourth inner sense involves again direct cognition, only now of a concept in much more than you would call intellectual terms.

“It involves experiencing a concept completely, to the extent of being a concept completely; and already I hear shouts of dissent. No, you do not leave what you are pleased to call yourself behind. You merely change what you are into a different pattern.

“Concepts have what we will term for now electrical and chemical components. Nothing exists in any universe or on any plane that does not have form of one sort or another. You may not be able to perceive the form but it always exists. Direct experience of a concept therefore involves the transformation of one pattern into another.

“The consciousness that directs this transformation knows what it is doing. The molecules and ions change into the concept, which is thereby directly experienced.

“... You are always receiving data from the inner senses. It is sifted through the subconscious, and when you receive it directly, or more or less directly for the first time, it can be frightening merely because of the unfamiliarity, and because of the unusual vividness. This is why I have said that the inner senses present their own evidence.

“Now returning to the inner conceptual sense. You cannot truly understand or appreciate any other thing unless you can become that thing. This is definite. Otherwise you only receive an approximation and a distortion.

“Your outside egos are constructed to enable you to deal with the camouflage world. It is necessary. It necessarily also narrows your concentration and your understanding. During your existence you are focused, you are stuck to, you are placed and centered in, your physical universe by the outside ego. It manages your manipulation of camouflage material.

“You cannot displace it completely, except at your own peril. Nevertheless you can learn to trick it. You can learn to cease focusing now and then and let the inner senses look out through the [outer] ego’s eyes.

“And you miss the point, often, in that such trickery of the outside ego benefits the outside ego, and brings knowledge to it that it would not have otherwise.

[Exercise 2]

“... When the fourth inner sense is exercised, and I will outline exercises and all three of you [Jane, Rob, and visiting friend John Bradley (entity name Phillip) would certainly benefit by following my suggestions, you will discover what an idea really is.

“You will discover this by experiencing the idea directly, and you can best achieve some approximation of accomplishment by using psychological time. Your idea of experiencing a concept is doubtlessly to follow it through from beginning to end. Sweet tootsies, there is no beginning or end, and this idea of yours is the result of a complete and utter concentration upon camouflage time.

“Nor does the evolution of either an idea or a species involve time. It merely involves time in your universe. You insist upon labeling as laws of absolutes what is actually your distorted and limited vision of concepts as they seem to appear to you. Using psychological time, sit in a quiet room; and I hope this is not impossible, when an idea comes to you, and I presume it will, do not play with it intellectually. You can dissect it to your heart’s content after the experience.

“Reach out to the idea intuitively. Do not be afraid of or reject unfamiliar bodily sensations. With practice, and to a very limited degree, you will find that you can become the idea. You will be inside the idea, looking out, not looking in. This is thought.

“If you think you think you are in for a surprise.” [Early Sessions, Vol. 1, session 37]

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cognition of knowledgeable essence

Seth says that, “As far as the inner senses are concerned, they merge smoothly, one into the other, operating as a unit in what I will call pure unhampered circumstances. They work that way for me, for example, yet I must attempt to list them separately for you.

“There are difficulties also. Not so much in interpretation as the fact that some terms may be negatively suggestive, or that you may put emotional connotations where they do not belong.

“For example as I have said, the fourth or conceptual sense ignores what you call past, present and future, and so can appreciate a concept in its entirely, can actually experience the concept in much the same manner that you might work out an idea through a drama, if you follow me.

“Only in this case the dramatization provides its own actors. I am going to leave further discussion of this sense until some later session, when after additional material you will be able to understand it more thoroughly. And again remember that these senses, these inner senses, operate as a whole, and that at least to some degree the divisions between them are somewhat arbitrary on my part, and are made for the sake of simplicity.

“The fifth inner sense carries us further along in this direction, and involves what I will call cognition of the knowledgeable essence. This sense differs from the fourth inner sense in that it does not involve the cognition of a concept.

“It is similar to the fourth sense in that it is free of course from the arbitrary past, present and future, and it is also similar in that it involves an intimate becoming, or a transformation of self into something else.

“In this case it would involve living tissue. The analogy is difficult on your terms. With your outer senses now, you attempt to understand a relative or a friend. Use of this fifth inner sense, were it available to you, and in its fuller sense—fortunately it is not—would enable you to enter into your friend.

“Now this certainly sounds not only unbelievable from your point of view, but probably undesirable, and if so I appreciate and understand your reactions. However, I certainly cannot let possible unfavorable reactions on your part govern what material I give you.

“This inner sense is not only an important one but is immensely beneficial, and is not misused in any way by those able to use it. Very simply, these senses do not function until they can be handled correctly. This sense in no way involves invasion. It does not imply that one entity can control another. It merely involves direct, instantaneous cognition of the essence of living tissue.

“I use the word tissue with some caution. Nevertheless all entities, except for a few important exceptions, are in one way or another enclosed within themselves, and also connected to others by some sort of capsule, and your word tissue would seem to the closest I can come to this.

“This fifth sense, then, would enable you some freedom to cross this living tissue boundary into other living territory. Do not think of this living tissue necessarily as the flesh, since those who are capable of using this sense fully are not on your plane to begin with.

“Now this sense, like all other inner senses, is being used by the inner self-conscious ego, but the outer ego is not permitted awareness along these lines. A minimum amount of information from these inner senses is given to the outer ego after it is sifted through the subconscious. But only a minimum amount.

“Without any use of this fifth inner sense no man would even come close to understanding another. This is an extremely important point, and perhaps your phrase ‘to put yourself in someone else’s place,’ most clearly approximates this sense.

“Direct experience of these inner senses will give you a much clearer picture of them than any words, even mine, can do. You understand however that any direct experience will be of very low power. I don’t want to blast you off your feet.” [Early Sessions, Vol. 1, session 38]

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innate working knowledge of the basic vitality of the universe (6)

Jane says, “Seth always maintains that the answers to our questions about reality lie within us. They reveal themselves to us when we turn our attention away from physical data and look inward; this is when the sixth inner sense comes into play. It also shows itself in inspirations, and episodes of spontaneous ‘knowing’. Surely this sense suddenly came into operation during my experience with ‘cosmic consciousness’ and was partially responsible for my ‘Idea Construction’ manuscript. (7) This sense gives rise to most experience of a revelationary character.

“The trouble is that we must somehow translate the data into terms that we can understand, explaining it verbally or with images—and distortions are bound to result. Some such experiences can’t be expressed physically, yet the individual concerned is convinced of their validity.” [The Seth Material, Ch. 19, The Inner Senses—What They Are and How to Use Them]

Seth says, “Now again, understand that I am breaking down an extremely complex concept into piecemeal data. There are again extremely subtle differences at times between these inner senses, although at either end of the scale there is great distinction.

“To complete our skeleton outline, and we will go much more deeply into all of the inner senses, I will give you some data on the sixth inner sense, which actually involves a knowledge or ability used by some of the others.

“As far as inner senses go, it is an extremely basic and rudimentary sense, containing within it the possibility of other inner senses. Although it is one of the most necessary senses, I could not give it to you first since you would not have understood it.

“This sixth inner sense is concerned with the entity’s innate working knowledge of the basic vitality of the universe, without which no manipulation of vitality stuff would be possible. As, for example, you could not stand up straight in your physical universe without first having among other things an innate sense of balance.

“The sixth sense is too important to skim over, and yet I wanted to mention it this evening because it fits in with our discussion. Without this sixth sense, and without its constant use by the inner self-conscious ego, you could not even construct the physical camouflage universe of your own plane. This sense, again, is used constantly beneath the outer ego’s awareness, and forms the basis for camouflage constructions on every plane.

“The material I am giving you here is very fragmentary. However, I want the outline to go along, and I will always continue to fill in. This sixth inner sense is so important that this material should be read thoroughly, as it will end up as one of the basic parts of our material from which many other important discussions will follow.

“And when I go more thoroughly into the actual manner in which man constructs his universe, this material will be basic starting point. I do not intend to leave material in a general, undifferentiated fashion, but will add details. But first you need the skeleton outline.” [Early Sessions, Vol. 1, session 38]

“As I mentioned, the sixth inner sense involves something that can be likened to what you call instincts, except that it is a property of the inner self. Consider a spider spinning a web. The web is a camouflage pattern that definitely exists on your plane. Here your simple spider is using his sixth sense, for these senses are the latent property of other living things, and not restricted to mankind.

What you have in the spider’s activity amounts to a demonstration of the sixth inner sense almost in its pure form. The spider has no intellect or outer ego, and his manipulations are the direct result of activities performed by pure and spontaneous use of the inner senses. They are unhampered and uncamouflaged to a great extent.

“All of the inner senses are not utilized to the same degree on any plane. Many planes are given over to the training in the use of one or two of the most important inner senses. I liked the analogy of the spider and his web because it is such a simple and uncomplicated example of camouflage construction, divorced from intermediaries such as ego or tools.

“Inherent, and I repeat inherent in the spider as in man, is the complete comprehension, or rather comprehension through direct experience, of the universe as a whole. In its particular existence the spider is not aware of all this knowledge, but it uses what is necessary of it to construct its web. It experiences directly. There is of course no ‘I’ consciousness, but there is direct consciousness, nevertheless, of the most intimate kind.

“Give the spider an ego and an intellect and you will see then how the picture would change. These would enable him to enlarge upon his scope of awareness and activity, but at the same time impediments would be placed so that the web construction would no longer appear either as direct as far as its source is concerned, nor as spontaneous.

“You construct your own camouflage existence as the spider constructs his web, but you are not aware of the threads. You do not understand that they originate within yourself although it is very simple to smile as the lowly spider weaves its web. The spider’s construction is severely limited to one plane, but this is not the case with your constructions, which may have reality on many planes at once, and in ways with which you are not familiar.

“It should be obvious that although an idea is born in time, after its conception it is free from time in a way that a spider’s web can never be free from time. To the extent that a construction exists as camouflage, to that extent it is bound by and vulnerable to physical laws.

“If energy is imprisoned or focused into the physical construction to the extent that a construction appears on your plane, while still not fully constructed, left incomplete in some aspects, to that extent the idea behind the construction is not bound by physical laws.

“... This sixth sense [of the innate working knowledge of the basic vitality of the universe] is one of the basic ones which makes use of the others possible. Mankind often confuses it with, and calls it, instinct. It is merely the innate knowledge which makes manipulation of energy from one form to another possible, and you use it constantly. The spider is more familiar with it in its pure form than you are. That is, than mankind is.

“It is this sense which directs your growth physically, and which forms the cells of your physical body and constantly changes the stuff of your body.” [Early Sessions, Vol. 1, session 40]

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expansion or contraction of the tissue capsule [Exercise 3]

Seth says that, “The tissue capsule of which I have spoken earlier surrounds every living consciousness. To some extent it could be compared to an extra layer of skin surrounding the physical body, except that it is not constructed in the same manner upon your plane, and is invisible to you under ordinary circumstances.

“It is actually a field, that is energy field, boundary. It protects the inner self by acting as a barrier that keeps the whole self’s energy controlled, and keeps it from seeping away. At the same time it protects the whole self from certain radiations which do not here concern you. No living consciousness exists on any plane without this tissue capsule enclosing it.

“The capsule of course is not a solid on any plane. To some inhabitants of other planes that have access to your plane, all that can be seen of you is this tissue capsule, since such inhabitants have had no experience in your particular type of camouflage construction. Therefore your camouflage patterns are invisible to them, but the tissue capsules are not.

“These capsules can be seen by you under certain circumstances, and have been called astral bodies—a term which does not meet with my pleasure. I would like to repeat again the fact that in many instances, and with exceptions, ideas not fully constructed on your plane not only have great force but are also freer from the effects of physical laws. The idea has at its command then greater and varied methods of expression, and from it varieties of construction can be attempted. I have mentioned the advantages of a painting over a piece of sculpture, and an idea not fully captured will find further expression.

“This is not to say that perfection is not to be sought after. It is of course impossible to achieve but the almost-completed leaves room for further development of the idea, and the idea is not imprisoned.

“The portrait that you [Rob, who is a painter] sent to the gallery is evocative. It continues to grow. It is not completely at the mercy of a completed camouflage. The whole self is never completely constructed on your plane. At best it finds expression now and then. A camouflage plane, merely by being what it is, makes it impossible for the whole self to find expression. There is almost hypnotic focus of energy for a particular time for a particular reason.

“The inner self is always there. You are always aware of it in the same manner that you are aware of what is happening in a trance. This is another excellent analogy, if you’ll forgive me for patting myself on the back.

“... Your plane is a training place in the use of manipulation of energy. Your plane seems to deal with cause and effect, but this is in itself a necessary camouflage. In actuality there is no cause and effect as you think of it. There is only spontaneity. For a particular interval you must be taught as if there were cause and effect, so that the result of spontaneity would not end up as chaos. This statement may seem contradictory but later you will see that it is not.

[Exercise 3]

“Now we have briefly discussed the meaning of a tissue capsule I will go into the seventh inner sense a bit more deeply. This sense allows for an expansion or contraction of the tissue capsule. Theoretically there is no limit to the contraction or expansion allowed, but practically there are usually definite limitations.

“I am only going to hint of something here. For fun, think of the expanding tissue capsule in terms of or in connection with, the theory of your expanding universe. Such contemplation should be excellent exercise. This is quite evocative, and I hope I can peek in sometime when you are trying to deal with it.” [Early Sessions, Vol. 1, session 40]

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disentanglement from camouflage

Seth says, “We have not completed by any means our outline on the inner senses. When we have then some of this material will make more sense to you. Some data on the inner senses has to be withheld until you receive connecting information.

“Such effects as levitation and teleportation, however, are qualities belonging to our next inner sense, which involves a momentary or temporary breaking up of certain camouflage patterns. This particular sense, which I hope to discuss at our next session, is not however the only inner sense that is concerned with what you are pleased to call transportation. It merely involves one of the simpler methods, but there are others belonging to other inner senses which you are not prepared as yet to understand.

“I have been saving these. You might look over the little material that I gave you earlier, concerning my own entry into your plane, as a preliminary to a later discussion on the two other inner senses having to do with transportation. (8) At Wednesday’s session I will go into the next sense having to do with what you will call teleportation and levitation.

“Any time, any one time, that you can behave in a manner that suggest that one of your cherished limited laws of the universe does not exist, then you can be certain that the so-called law does not exist, at least not in any basic manner.

“Your apparent laws of the universe have been broken in isolated instances often enough so that this point should certainly be clear, and yet your scientists constantly ignore such problems.” [Early Sessions, Vol. 1, session 41]

“We shall call the eighth inner sense the sense of disentanglement; and it is one of the most basic inner senses. Complete disentanglement comes rarely on your plane, although it is possible to achieve it with training. Variations occur but usually some remnant of camouflage data is retained.

“Even here there are gradations. Consider again Ruburt [Jane] in one room with his eyes closed, ‘seeing’ the time by a clock in the other room. This clairvoyance is of the easier variety, and yet represents an important step in his development, and should in your own. He was concerned with a camouflage idea, that of time, and clock time at that, the clock itself being a camouflage. Clairvoyantly he merely disentangled himself enough to ignore some camouflage in order to perceive something that lay behind it, and this is a necessary first step.

“Even for example, levitation is involved with camouflage to a large degree, in that the camouflage physical body itself rise, but we are still here using the camouflage physical form. Traveling without the camouflage physical form is a giant step, of course, but a possible one according to your development. Here you are traveling however through camouflage space. It is very difficult on your level to do without any camouflage, and yet it can be done; and here again the use of psychological time is extremely important, since when psychological time is utilized to its fullest extent, then camouflage becomes lessened to an almost astounding degree.

“I am not going to give you any lessons for levitation, any more than I gave Ruburt [Jane] lessons in clairvoyance. Your own development and your own rate of assimilation will be the rule, as far as the movement of camouflage objects through camouflage space is concerned. Again, you are dealing with camouflage. You move camouflage objects through the use of your inner senses constantly without your own conscious knowledge. The trick is not to learn how, but to recognize the occurrence, and with practice this is possible.

“... Briefly let me mention that transportation in the universe, that is transportation as such, is basically unnecessary. This is only a preliminary statement for other sessions, and I will not go into it deeply at this time.

“When, or by the time that transportation difficulties are solved, you will no longer need transportation. Use of the inner senses makes transportation as you think of it completely unnecessary, since complete use of the inner senses amounts to communication to a degree so near perfect and so independent of so-called space, that transportation though space in those terms becomes an outmoded method of communication.

“The inner senses provide their own ‘transportation,’ and put that in quotes. Transportation as such is valid only within a space framework and within a time concept, such as those on your own plane. The ‘transportation’ (in quotes) of the inner senses consists mainly of what you might call a changing of frequencies of vibrations or pulsations, a transformation of vitality-form from one particular pattern or aspect to another.

“The movement through space is a distortion. I expect to say much more about this in further sessions, as it is extremely important; and you can see now perhaps why our eighth sense, disentanglement, is so important, since the inner self must disentangle itself from a particular camouflage before it can change. It must ignore, so to speak, one set of camouflage and be able to either adopt another smoothly or to dispense with camouflage entirely.

“The grouping of inner senses with which we are now concerned deal with the disentanglement of one set of camouflage patterns and the taking up of another set. The grouping of inner senses most dependent upon the use of psychological time are those which involve a nearly complete disentanglement from camouflage pattern, without taking on other patterns, and these are perhaps the most important because they come closer to the direct experience of unveiled reality.

“In some ways you see, your dream world is actually much closer to the direct experience of reality than is your waking world, where the operation of the inner senses is shielded so from your own awareness. This is not to say that the dream world is more important to you in your present situation, merely that it contains more truth about the source of your own existence.” [Early Sessions, Vol. 2, session 43]

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diffusion by the energy personality [essence] (9)

Seth says that, “The energy personality who desires to be materialized upon your plane, himself becomes part of this plane through the use of the inner senses. Through a process of diffusion—and this incidentally is our ninth inner sense—the energy personality first diffuses himself into many parts. Since entry into this plane, cannot be made in any other manner, it must be made in the simplest terms and be built up on your plane, your sperm being of course an entry in this respect.

“The energy of the personality must then be recombined and brought together as is done in the manner which I have specified. The inner sense of disentanglement, which I have mentioned briefly in the past, represents almost an opposing movement to the initial diffusion, and must be carried out to achieve any independence from your plane.” [Early Sessions, Vol. 2, session 50]

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Additional Thoughts:

Projections of Consciousness

Seth says, “You remember that I listed briefly the three forms used during projections. In the first form, you usually use certain inner senses. In the second form, you use more of these, and in the third form you attempt to use all of them, though very rarely is this successful. You should notice the overall form of perception that you seem to be using. You automatically shield yourselves from stimuli that are too strong for your own rate of development. This kind of balancing can lead to an unevenness of experience, however, in any given projection.

“As you know, it is almost impossible for you to be aware of the full perceptions possible, for the [outer] ego would not stand for it. Often, even in simple dreams, however, you will feel concepts or understand a particular piece of information without a word being spoken. In some projections, you will also experience a concept, and, at first, you may not understand what is happening. In these, you experience as actual the innermost reality of a given concept.

“Ruburt [Jane] [in a dream given before this session] was in the third form, and he did project beyond your solar system. This was still a projection within the physical universe, however. He was given information that he did not remember. When you explore the inside of a concept, you act it out. You form a temporary but very vivid image production. If Ruburt’ [Jane’s] experience had been only this, it still would have been pertinent, for when you understand a concept in such a way the knowledge is never forgotten. It becomes part of your physical cells and your electromagnetic structure.

“I want to make this clearer, however. Suppose that you suddenly understand the concept of oneness with the universe, and that this inner sensing of concepts is to be used. You would then construct dream images, a multitudinous variety of shapes and forms meant to represent the complicated forms of life. You would then have the experience of entering each of those lives. You would momentarily be one. This does involve a projection of sorts, yet still must be called by contrast a pseudo-projection. A normal projection would involve one of the three body forms.

“Some experiences, then, will be simple attempts to use the inner senses more fully. They may appear to be projections, and as we go along, I will tell you how to distinguish between them.

“You will be able to look back and see your physical body upon the bed on some occasions, and in other cases you will not be able to do this. In the first body form, for example, you can look back and see the physical body. If you project from this form into the next, in order to intensify the experience, then from this second form you will not see the physical one. You will be aware of it, and you may experience some duality. In the third form, you will no longer be aware of the physical body, and you will not see it.

“In the third form, your experiences will be most vivid. They may involve you in other systems beside your own, and you will have little contact with the physical environment. For this reason, projections in the third form are the most difficult to maintain. There are dangers that do not exist when the other two forms are used.

“Using the third form, there could be a tendency for you not to recognize your own physical situation. It would be difficult to carry the memories of the present ego personality with you. This third form is the vehicle of the inner self. The disorientation that it feels is the same that it will feel when the physical body is deserted at the point of death. This disorientation is only temporary, and when at death the form is severed from the physical body then all the memories and identity within the electromagnetic structure become part of the inner self. This form is sometimes used for purposes of instruction, however, or to acquaint the whole personality with the circumstances that strongly affect it.

“Most of your projections will be in the first and second form, in any case. Usually you will project from the physical body into the first form and then, perhaps, into the second. Occasionally, this will happen and you will not know it, despite all your attempts to ascertain your circumstances.

“There are ways of knowing when you switch form, of course, and we shall see that you get his information. You [Rob and Jane] should both have several projections within the first and second forms in the following months if your development continues at its present rate.

“I want to mention the difference in experience and sensation between projections from a dream state and those from the trance state and also what Ruburt [Jane] calls awake-seeming dreams, for there are many things here that you do not know and they are fairly important.” [Seth, Dreams, and Projection of Consciousness, Ch. 19, Out-of-Body Experiences, session 268]

“There are some notes I wanted to give you concerning dreams in which you feel certain you are normally awake. When these dreams are unusually vivid, then the [outer] ego is aware and participating, but generally it is not using its critical faculties. As you know, you can become critically alert, but when you do so, you realize that you are not in your normal waking condition.

“In awake-seeming dreams you are indeed awake, but within a different psychological framework, indeed, within a different framework of reality. You are operating at a high level of awareness, and using the inner senses. These enable you to perceive an added depth of dimension which is responsible for the vividness and sense of exhilaration that often occurs within [this] kind of dream. The next step, of course, is to allow the [outer] ego to awaken its critical faculties while within this state. You are then able to realize that while you are indeed awake as you seem, you are awake while the body is asleep.

“When this occurs, you will be able to use your normal abilities in addition to those of the dream condition. You will be certain of your identity, realize that the physical self is sleeping or in a dream state and that the inner self is fully awake. This represents a definite increase in the scope of consciousness and a considerable expansion over the usual limitations set by you upon yourself.

“Only then can you fully begin to manipulate the conditions that exist and communicate this knowledge that you receive to the [outer] ego. For the time, you see, the [outer] ego becomes a direct participator in such experience, at least to a degree.” [Seth, Dreams, and Projection of Consciousness, Ch. 20, More on Dream Projections, session 269]

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Becoming Conscious Creators, Cocreaters

According to Seth, “The senses that you use, in a very real manner, create the environment that you perceive. Your physical senses necessitate the perception of a three-dimensional reality. Consciousness is equipped with inner perceptors, however. These are inherent within all consciousness, regardless of its development. These perceptors operate quite independently from those that might be assumed when a given consciousness adopts a specialized form, such as a physical body, in order to operate in a particular system.

“Each reader, therefore, has inner senses, and to some extent uses them constantly, though he is not aware of doing so at an egotistical level. Now, we use the inner senses quite freely and consciously. If you were to do so, then you would perceive the same kind of environment in which I have my existence. You would see an uncamouflaged situation in which events and form were free and not stuck in a jellylike mold of time. You could see, for example, your present living room not only as a conglomeration of permanent-appearing furniture, but switch your focus and see the immense and constant dance of molecules and other particles that compose the various objects.

“You could see a phosphorescentlike glow, the aura of electromagnetic ‘structures’ that compose the molecules themselves. You could, if you wished, condense your consciousness until it was small enough to travel through a single molecule, and from the molecules’ own world look out and survey the universe of the room and the gigantic galaxy of interrelated, ever-moving starlike shapes. Now all of these possibilities represent a legitimate reality. Yours is no more legitimate than any other, but it is the only one that you perceive.

“Using the inner senses, we come conscious creators, cocreaters.

“... Creation and perception are far more intimately connected than any of your scientists realize.

“It is quite true that your physical senses create the reality that they perceive. A tree is something far different to a microbe, a bird, an insect, and a man who stands beneath it. I am not saying that the tree only appears to be different. It is different. You perceive it reality through one set of specialized senses. This does not mean that its reality exists in that form in any more basic way than it exists in the form perceived by the microbe, insect, or bird. You cannot perceive the quite valid reality of that tree in any context by your own. This applies to anything within the physical system that you know.

“It is not that physical reality is false. It is that the physical picture is simply one of an infinite number of ways of perceiving the various guises through which consciousness expresses itself. The physical senses force you to translate experience into physical perception. The inner senses open your range of perception, allow you to interpret experience in a far freer manner and to create new forms and new channels through which you, or any consciousness, can know itself.

“Consciousness is, among other things, a spontaneous exercise in creativity. You are learning now, in a three-dimensional context, the ways in which your emotional and psychic existence can create varieties of physical form. You manipulate within the psychic environment, and these manipulations are then automatically impressed upon the physical mold. Now our environment is in itself creative in a different manner than yours. Your environment is creative in that trees bear fruit, that there is a self-sustaining principle, that the earth feeds its own, for example. The naturally creative aspects are the materializations of the deepest psychic, spiritual and physical inclinations of the species, set up in your terms eons ago, and a part of the racial bank of psychic knowledge.” [Seth Speaks, Ch. 2, session 515]

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Learning to Become Cocreators [Exercise 4]

“Now: You are learning to become cocreators. You are learning to be gods as you now understand the term. You are learning responsibility – the responsibility of any individualized consciousness. You are learning to handle the energy that is yourself, for creative purposes.

“You will be bound to those you love and those you hate, though you will learn to release and lose and dissipate the hatred. You will learn to use even hatred creatively and to turn it to the higher ends, to transform it finally into love...

“The settings in your physical environment, the sometimes lovely paraphernalia, the physical aspects of life as you know it, are all camouflage. Yet these camouflages are composed of the vitality of the universe. The rocks and stones and mountains and earth are living camouflage, interlocking psychic webs formed by minute consciousnesses that you cannot perceive as such. The atoms and molecules within them have their own consciousness, as do the atoms and molecules with your body.

“Since you all have a hand in forming this physical setting, and since you are ensconced yourself in a physical form, then using the physical senses you will only perceive this fantastic setting. The reality that exists both within it and beyond it will elude you. Even the actor [alluded to earlier, representing the outer ego] is not entirely three-dimensional, however. He is part of a multidimensional self.

“Within him there are methods of perception that allow him to see through the camouflage setting, to see beyond the stage. He uses these inner senses constantly, though the actor part of himself is so intent upon the play that this escapes him. In a large manner, the physical senses actually form the physical reality they seem to only perceive. They are themselves part of the camouflage, but they are like lenses over your natural inner perceptions that force you to ‘see’ an available field of activity as physical matter; and so they can be relied upon only to tell you what is happening in a superficial manner. You can tell the position of the other actors for example, or time by [a] clock, but these physical senses will not tell you that time is itself a camouflage, or that consciousness forms the other actors, or that realities that you cannot see exist over and beyond the physical matter that is so apparent.

“You can, however, using your inner senses, perceive reality as it exists apart from the play and your role in it. In order to do this you must, of course, momentarily at least turn your attention away from the constant activity that is taking place – turn off the physical senses, as it were – and switch your attention to those events that have escaped you earlier.

“Highly simplified indeed, the effect would be something like changing one set of glasses for another, for the physical senses are as artificial, basically speaking, to the inner self, as a set of glasses or a hearing aid is to the physical self. The inner senses, therefore, are but rarely used completely consciously.

“You would be more than disoriented, for example, but quite terrified, if between one moment and the next your familiar environment as you knew it disappeared to be replaced by other sets of data that you were not ready to understand, so much information from the inner senses must be translated in terms that you can comprehend. Such information must somehow make sense to you as three-dimensional selves, in other words.

“Your particular set of camouflages is not the only set, you see. Other realities have entirely different systems, but all personalties have inner senses that are attributes of consciousness, and through these inner senses communications are maintained about which the normally conscious self knows little. Part of my purpose is to make some of these communications known.

“The soul or entity, then, is not the self that reads this book. Your environment is not simply the world about you as you know it, but also consists of past-life environments upon which you are not now focusing. Your real environment is composed of your thoughts and emotions, for from these you form not only this reality but each reality in which you take part.

“Your real environment is innocent of space and time as you know them. In your real environment you have no need for words, for communication is instantaneous. In your real environment you form the physical world that you know.

[Exercise 4]

“The inner senses will allow you to perceive the reality that is independent of physical form. I will ask you all to momentarily forsake your roles, therefore, and to try this simple exercise.

“Now, pretend that you are on a lighted stage, the stage being the room in which you now sit. Close your eyes and pretend that the lights have gone out, the setting has disappeared and you are alone.

“Everything is dark. Be quiet. Imagine as vividly as you can the existence of inner senses. For now pretend that they correspond to your physical ones. Clear from your mind all thoughts and worries. Be receptive. Very gently listen, not to physical sounds but to sounds that come through the inner senses.

“Images may begin to appear. Accept them as sights quite as valid as those you see physically. Pretend that there is an inner world and that it will be revealed to you as you learn to perceive it with these inner senses.

“Pretend that you have been blind to this world all your life and are now slowly gaining sight within it. Do not judge the whole inner world by the disjointed images that you may at first perceive, or by the sounds that you may at first hear, for you will still be using your inner senses quite imperfectly.

“Do this simple exercise for a few moments before sleep or in the resting state. It may also be done even in the midst of an ordinary task that does not take all of your attention.

“You will simply be learning to focus in a new dimension of awareness, taking quick snapshots, as it were, in a strange environment. Remember that you will only be perceiving snatches. Simply accept them, but do not attempt to make any overall judgement or interpretation at this stage.