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It's been said that not all that glitters is gold. Disappointing though this may be, it's one of those beliefs that we seem to have embraced in the mass consciousness. In a similar vein, I've often found myself pondering a question that some might consider a sort of spiritual corollary to the foregoing lament: Is All That Is all it's cracked up to be? Is it "all that"?

Why have I asked myself this question? In part it stems from a religious upbringing that left me with many unaddressed questions (and even more unsatisfying answers) about the nature of reality, spirituality and other metaphysical matters. Once I discovered the Seth material, however, I found many of my questions answered (or at least better addressed) than what I had been accustomed to. Yet even with that, there were still some very noticeable (and often very irksome) gaps in my overall belief system. In particular, most of those gaps were associated with one specific area: God/All That Is.

Why did I have trouble with Seth's concepts regarding God/All That Is? While I found Seth's descriptions more fulfilling than any of those of my conventional religious training, I still found them not completely satisfying. For me this was perhaps most troublesome in connection with Seth's discussions about the concept of co-creation.
Seth's writings contain numerous references to the concept of conscious co-creation between us and All That Is, and those passages did much to whet my spiritual appetite. As Seth wrote in "The Nature of Personal Reality" (Session 674, July 2, 1973), "....you are the power of God manifested. You are not powerless. To the contrary. Through your being the power of God is strengthened, for you are a portion of what He is. You are not simply an insignificant, innocuous clump of clay through which He decides to show Himself." Moreover, Seth speaks of the profound support provided by All That Is in a passage from "The Nature of the Psyche" (Session 800, April 4, 1977): "You are a portion of All That Is; therefore the universe leans in your direction. It gives. It rings with vitality. Then forsake beliefs that tell you otherwise."

However, as enticing and empowering as these text passages may have been, I still had a metaphysical itch that wasn't being scratched: Exactly how does All That Is fit into the picture where conscious co-creation is concerned? What is its role? How do I know it's doing its part? In short, how does it work?

I didn't think answers to these questions were too much to ask for, especially since the Seth material had already given me so much in so many other regards. However, at least in the Seth books I had read (which encompasses most of them), despite the numerous references to and descriptions of conscious co-creation, I couldn't honestly recall reading (or remembering) any text passages explaining how All That Is participates in this process.

To Seth's credit, he did allude to the fact that questions like this would be difficult to answer, given the nature of All That Is, as in this quote from "Seth Speaks" (Session 561, November 25, 1970): "There are no facts that can be given that can portray with any faithfulness the attributes of All That Is." But being stubborn, I trudged onward.

By the way, you're probably wondering about the reason for my persistence in this endeavor. Put simply, I believed that understanding the joint nature of co-creation would enable me to be a better participant, a more willing and committed partner, a more effective collaborator. But I also felt frustrated and unfulfilled that this mutual undertaking seemed to be operating at least partially in the dark.

Given that the answers weren't coming to me directly through Seth's books, I decided to search via alternate means. I first read the books and listened to the tapes of some of my other favorite metaphysical authors and channels (many of whom credit Seth and Jane Roberts as being among some of their best and/or first metaphysical teachers). Through this, I found a few small clues here and there that elaborated on Seth's basic co-creation concept, but the "big" answers still eluded me. I needed to look elsewhere.

Finally, I decided to look for answers where I often receive some of my most valuable insights: the dream state. In true Sethian fashion, I asked for dreams to help answer my questions regarding the role of All That Is in conscious co-creation. And early this year, I finally got some answers.

The first dream provided a simple but powerful answer. I dreamt that I ran into a longtime friend and former co-worker named Dodie Ownes. We hadn't seen each other in a long time (in either the waking or the dreaming state). We ran into each other at a convention/trade show, much like the ones we used to work at when we were employed by the same publishing company. We decided to leave so we could chat and get caught up. We walked to my apartment, which, as it turned out in the dream, was only a few blocks from the convention center. Once there, we started chatting. Before long, however, we noticed it was rather cold in my apartment, so we decided to cover up with a blanket. And just so that she'd be comfortable, my friend decided to remove one of her items of clothing before getting under the blanket. [Note: Before your imaginations run wild, dear readers, please note that I'm openly gay in both my waking and dreaming states and that my friend is just that —a friend.] And then I woke up.

Thankfully, I knew immediately what the dream meant. By way of background, I should note that my dream self often packs much information into each symbol (a highly efficient way for retrieving lots of information from the dream state) and it often does so by way of symbolic puns.

In this dream, I asked for insight into the role of All That Is in the co-creation process, and what did I get? A warm, friendly meeting with a "co-worker." I suppose I could have picked any co-worker, but I believe I chose Dodie specifically because of her last name: Ownes (pronounced just like, you guessed it, "onus"). Indeed, these nagging questions about All That Is had become a burden to me. But now, as the dream illustrated, I was being afforded an opportunity to rectify things, to unburden myself, to convert my onus into an opportunity for change - one characterized by a relationship of newfound closeness. Consider the symbol of where we met in the dream—a convention, which, according to the dictionary, can be defined as a form and/or place of agreement. And what better way to approach a new undertaking like this than in the company of a friend?

I apparently decided to take myself up on the opportunity my dream state was offering, too. How? By going to my apartment (for me, homes and apartments are symbols of the self) to talk to (i.e., "communicate with") my symbolic "collaborator" and by then getting under a blanket with her—which symbolized me "warming up" to the idea of a closer connection (the coldness of my apartment having symbolized my prior outlook—belief baggage no doubt left over from my unsatisfying religious upbringing). My collaborator apparently felt comfortable with this notion, too, going so far as to remove an article of clothing before getting under the covers, a gesture indicating a willingness to become closer to me (take your minds out of the gutters, folks). This good faith gesture in turn allowed me to draw closer, to develop a more trusting and intimate connection of my own.

With this dream, I thus had a very important piece of the puzzle in understanding the role of All That Is in conscious co-creation: That it really is based on a partnership, an intimate and highly personal relationship between collaborators, and that without it, we're nothing more than strange bedfellows (or estranged bedfellows, to be more precise) on the path of conscious co-creation. Knowing that, I felt more comfortable in moving forward.

But what was the next step? As in any relationship, getting to know your partner is key to its development, growth and success. And so it was that I embarked on my "courtship" of All That Is (and of All That Is with yours truly). It is the story of that courting that will be the focus of the next part of this article.

Brent Marchant is a free-lance writer and editor from Chicago, IL. He is the founding editor of Interior Landscape magazine, a leading horticultural industry trade publication.