conscious mind意识心

In The Early Sessions Book 1, Seth offers a multidimensional discussion of the concept of the "conscious mind," revealing its functions in physical reality, its limitations, and its interactive relationship with the subconscious and the inner source.

1. The core functions and survival role of the conscious mind

The conscious mind plays the role of directly handling survival and camouflage patterns in the physical world ^[1]. Once camouflage patterns are created, the intellect, as an important tool of the conscious mind, assists the individual in dealing with and manipulating these creations ^[2]. Seth emphasizes that the conscious mind is an extremely important part of the "whole self," that the expansion and elevation of consciousness is the goal of evolution, and that the individual conscious mind should come to understand the activities of the unconscious, ultimately integrating all parts into an "excellent consciousness" ^[3].

2. The limitations of the conscious mind and the protective mechanism of "ignorance"

Although the conscious mind is crucial for physical survival, its range of cognition is extremely limited:

1. Ignorance of inner life activities: The conscious mind cannot perceive or control basic physiological functions that sustain life, such as heartbeat, breathing, and muscle movement ^[4]. Although human beings move and breathe, the conscious mind does not know the actual mechanisms behind these operations ^[5].
2. Inability to maintain absolute dominance: At the present stage, the ego, as the representative of the conscious mind, cannot maintain conscious dominance at all times ^[6].
3. Protective "ignorance": The conscious mind is often unable to perceive major or critical decisions made by the inner self (such as the decision to leave physical reality) ^[7]. This deliberate "ignorance" is absolutely necessary; otherwise, when faced with these drastic changes, the conscious mind might collapse and disintegrate under unpleasant circumstances ^[8].

3. The fluidity and boundaries between the conscious mind and the subconscious

Seth points out that there is no absolute boundary or distinction between the conscious mind and the subconscious; the two are fluid ^[1]. In daily life, this fluidity occurs constantly: for example, during sleep, the conscious mind actually becomes the subconscious, while the subconscious becomes conscious in the most real sense ^[9]. Moreover, if the viewpoints of the conscious mind and the subconscious are sufficiently fluid, they can avoid using dogma to block or obscure fundamental cosmic information ^[10].

4. The obstruction and cooperation of the conscious mind in receiving inner information

In channeling or receiving data from the inner senses, the conscious mind is both an indispensable participant and often an obstacle:

1. Conscious static and obstruction: The conscious mind produces strong "conscious static" that blocks the transmission of external information ^[11]. The conscious mind may also, out of habit or fear, almost automatically shut down data from the inner senses ^[12], or perform an almost conscious-level "blocking" of incoming information ^[13].
2. Inability to directly experience pure inner data: The conscious mind rarely experiences inner sense material in its pure state ^[14]. It often impatiently tries to grasp this material with the outer senses, thereby causing distortion of the information ^[15].
3. The need for relaxation and dissociation: In order for inner information to come through, the conscious mind must relax to a certain degree and enter a state called "dissociation" ^[16].
4. Intellectual and conceptual preparation: Although the conscious mind causes interference, the receiver's conscious and unconscious minds must first become familiar with certain concepts and possess a high-quality intellect in order for complex material to be transmitted smoothly without serious distortion ^[17].
5. Subtle permission: Seth's contact with an individual requires permission. Although the conscious mind in its ordinary state may not perceive this subtle "permission" or "refusal," this permission still exists at a deeper level ^[18].

In The Early Sessions Book 2, Seth offers an in-depth exposition of the nature and functions of the "conscious mind" (also called the conscious ego or conscious human being) and its relationship to the subconscious and physical reality:

1. Definition and nature of the conscious mind: Seth points out that the conscious human being is a particular personality shaped purposefully (rather than randomly), a replica of itself created by the "inner ego" in order to operate within a specific, unique environment ^[1].

2. Distinct functional positioning and terminological revision: The primary purpose of the conscious mind is to deal with the world of physical construction. Seth here proposes an important terminological revision: because this "conscious mind" that deals with the physical world is itself also a physical construction, and is unable to perceive realities of other dimensions, Seth suggests using "brain" in place of "mind" in this context. In Seth's division, the "brain" represents physical construction and cannot perceive inner planes, whereas the "mind" is nonphysical and is responsible for dealing with inner planes ^[2].

3. Relationship with the subconscious and the whole self: Seth emphasizes that there is no real boundary between the conscious and the subconscious; both are equally conscious, and both are parts of the same consciousness of the whole self ^[3]. However, the so-called "conscious ego" knows almost nothing about the psychological perspectives operated by the subconscious, nor about certain areas such as the dream world ^[4]. Furthermore, excessive conscious attention or fixation produces obstruction. For example, overly conscious preconceptions hinder the transmission of inner knowledge ^[5]; and excessive conscious focus on a goal triggers negative reactions of doubt and anxiety. Therefore, after communicating a goal to the subconscious, one should forget it at the conscious level, allowing inner material to pass through more easily by means of relaxation ^[6].

4. Coordination of conscious desire and physical manipulation: In daily life, physical manipulation and creation are usually carried out at the subconscious level, without the awareness or intention of the conscious mind ^[7]. For the conscious mind to direct these natural subconscious forces is a formidable task ^[7]. However, if certain conditions are met, "conscious awareness" of the subconscious manipulation of matter can become habitual and conform to the conscious mind's desires. These conditions include: first, the conscious desire must be allied with subconscious expectations and not conflict with them; second, sufficient subconscious emotional impetus must be released; third, excellent communication between the conscious and the subconscious must be maintained ^[8]. When conscious desire is aligned with inner emotional needs, the individual can consciously focus his or her subconscious extrasensory abilities to achieve definite physical goals ^[9]. Ultimately, humanity will be able to become consciously aware of the role it plays in continuously creating matter ^[10].

In The Early Sessions Book 3, Seth discusses the "conscious mind" in depth, revealing its position within the multidimensional personality structure, its limitations, and its interactive relationship with the subconscious and the inner self. First, the conscious mind is a specific portion focused on physical reality; its energy is highly focused on the physical field, and this intense focus screens out perception of other dimensions, making it impossible to directly perceive dream constructions that are equally real [chunk 4706, chunk 4721]. The conscious mind's perception of matter occurs through indirect pathways, and only when the whole self directs energy in that direction [chunk 4721]. Within the psychic force field, the conscious mind is described as the outermost radius of the primary field [chunk 4788]. Second, the ego is the tool the conscious mind uses to manipulate within the physical world, representing the very small portion of the self that one permits consciousness to perceive [chunk 5152]. The personal subconscious is devoted to maintaining the autocratic control of the conscious ego, and its inhibitory effects are intended to protect the ego [chunk 4657]. When inner-self information such as precognition attempts to enter consciousness, it must undergo electrical reorganization and symbolic translation through the subconscious, in order to avoid arousing the ego's alarm [chunk 5100, chunk 5101]. Third, the conscious mind has significant limitations and cognitive slowness. It cannot directly command the legs to walk, nor does it know how to create dreams [chunk 4710]; it is extremely slow in absorbing knowledge, far less than intuition [chunk 4725]; in order to avoid the burden of physical life, it does not retain memories of past lives [chunk 5261]; and it tends to regard dreams as disordered, whereas dreams are in fact precisely constructed by the inner self [chunk 4706]. Fourth, the conscious mind and the subconscious need to cooperate in balance. The subconscious knows better than the conscious mind how to achieve goals, and does not require detailed instructions from the conscious mind [chunk 4773, chunk 4774]. Sometimes, in order to maximize the release of abilities, the conscious mind must be completely detached from the work, allowing the subconscious to work behind the scenes [chunk 4696, chunk 4697]. The subconscious and the inner senses possess focusing abilities as intense as those of the conscious mind [chunk 5122, chunk 5123], and the freedom of the whole self lies in being able to skillfully switch between and experience both realities [chunk 5121, chunk 5123]. Finally, the conscious mind tends to rationalize subconscious or past-life symptoms that it cannot understand, seeking childhood events as scapegoats [chunk 4681, chunk 4682], and often examines dreams with rigid limitations, thereby producing distortions [chunk 4735, chunk 4738].