dream state梦境状态

In The Early Sessions Book 1, Seth's treatment of the concept of the "dream state" centers mainly on its close connection with the framework of "psychological time." First, the experience of time in the dream state has nonphysical characteristics. Seth points out that in the dream state, people experience the passage of time within the framework of "psychological time." In dreams, individuals can experience days or hours of time, but in physical time, the body does not undergo an equivalent degree of aging ^{[1] [2]}. This experience reveals the essential difference between psychological time and physical clock time. Second, the use of psychological time in the dream state can be extended and applied to waking consciousness. Seth emphasizes that as the individual's ability to use psychological time improves, people will be able to use the framework of psychological time in the waking state as well, to obtain rest and rejuvenation ^{[1] [2]}. The development of this ability has astonishing benefits for both the mental and physical state of the individual: on the one hand, it can significantly increase vitality, and on the other hand, it can reduce the need for sleep ^[2]. For example, within just five minutes of clock time, an individual can obtain up to one hour of rest independent of clock time ^[2]. In addition, Seth mentions that when people feel tired or exhausted, one of the reasons is their inability to use even simple psychological time for their own benefit ^[2]. Once psychological time is used, the boundaries of clock time melt away. Although people can observe clock time through psychological time, and even use clock time, if psychological time is not initially recognized, clock time will to some extent become a prison ^[2]. In summary, at this stage in the book, the dream state is portrayed as a natural window demonstrating the operation of "psychological time." In this dimension, consciousness frees itself from the constraints of the physical clock and experiences the elasticity and non-aging nature of time. By understanding and extending the psychological time naturally experienced in dreams into everyday waking states, human beings can greatly optimize their own physiological and psychological energy ^{[1] [2]}.

In The Early Sessions Book 4, Seth offers an in-depth analysis of the dream state as a dimension of consciousness, and the core discussion can be summarized in the following distinctive aspects:

1. Essence and spatiotemporal characteristics: The dream state is a typical example of the alteration of consciousness, the reality field closest to the material world, and the meeting point of psyche and physical existence ^[1]. Although the dream universe is composed of atoms and molecules, it does not occupy physical space and is not made of matter ^[2]. In dreams, the physical time barrier is removed, revealing the true face of time (no passage of physical hours, only inner time) ^[3]; space and distance depend on emotional intensity rather than physical distance ^[4].

2. Undisguised reality and the inner self: The dream state provides a window for observing undisguised reality, in which consciousness is not ego-oriented ^[5]. The sleeping personality is the closest a person comes to the inner self in physical existence, freed from the camouflaged concerns of waking life ^[6]. Because survival needs are usually already met in the dream state, consciousness is free to switch to other realities ^[7].

3. Release of potential and extrasensory abilities: In the dream state, the ego's defenses are lowered, and the electromagnetic responses of the inner senses are more easily triggered ^[8]. The personality possesses freedoms, abilities, and talents that are denied in the waking state (such as instantaneous movement and communication with nonphysical entities) ^[9], and telepathy and clairvoyance are also more likely to occur in dreams ^[10].

4. Problem solving and physical creation: Dream events are primary, and dreams form the basis of the physical environment ^[11]. In dreams, the personality draws on vast subconscious information and, using a highly condensed symbolic language, focuses all its energy to solve specific problems and translate them into physical reality ^[12].

5. Suggestion, dream therapy, and self-coordination: The dream state is extremely sensitive to suggestion ^[13]. Suggestions from the waking personality are carried out by the sleeping self, thereby directly influencing the physical environment and health-regulating mechanisms ^[14]. The dream state is also a platform for communication among all parts of the personality ^[15]. Although the ego instinctively rejects and represses dream memories because of its defensive concern with physical survival, a flexible ego can accept knowledge from the dream state as if receiving letters from a distant place ^[16].

In The Early Sessions Book 5, Seth offers an extensive exposition of the dream state, treating it as an active dimension in which the inner self creates, learns, communicates, and explores multidimensional reality beyond the limits of physical space and time. The following is a summary of the core discussion of the dream state in this book:

1. The operation of the inner self and the retention of identity

Seth points out that in the dream state, the individual's identity is retained. Although familiar physical props sometimes disappear in dreams, the inner I operates perfectly well without them ^[1]. Unlike the outer ego, which deals mainly with secondary realities, the inner self deals mainly with primaries, although secondary realities often appear in the dream world as props ^[1]. Moreover, experiences such as speaking (communication) and walking (motion), which occur in both the waking and dream states, represent basic primary realities of life ^[2].

2. Travel through moment points beyond linear time and space

In the dream state, the self is released from the outer ego's narrow conception of time as a series of consecutive moments. At such times, other portions of the self can travel through moment points ^[3]. These moment points are like spirals, electrical realities and intensities. Traveling through these dimensions in dreams is actually a journey of intensity that has nothing to do with concepts of time or space, enabling other portions of the self to contact actions that appear to the ego to belong to the past or the future ^[3].

3. The inverted time system and tomorrow's dream changing yesterday

The dream state demonstrates the operation of the inverted time system, that is, the unique relationship between time and the dream state. Seth even states that, literally speaking, tomorrow's dream can change yesterday ^[4]. The existence of this inverted time is also the main cause of clairvoyance.

4. Telepathy and multidimensional communication in dreams

The dream state is a dimension in which telepathy is highly active. An individual's dreams greatly influence his or her actions in the physical environment. For example, telepathic communication with another person in the dream state can directly lead that person to make unusual physical decisions in the waking state ^[5]. Seth mentions that when you dream of someone on certain nights, you may strongly suspect that the other person is also dreaming of you ^[5]. Furthermore, before sleep an individual can use self-suggestion to send a specific message to a specific person in the dream state, and because this transmission is not overly restricted by the outer ego, the recipient will pick it up in his or her own dreams ^[6].

5. Perception of the system of probabilities and mental association

The system of probabilities in which humanity exists is completely real, and individuals often become aware of this system in the dream state ^[7]. At the same time, the mind does not shut down in dreams but continues its associative processes. Therefore, many of a person's associations in the waking state may actually originate from dream events rather than solely from past waking experiences ^[8].

6. Dream experiments and the expansion of consciousness

Seth strongly recommends dream experiments, noting that at that time very few people were studying the dream state along the lines he suggested ^[9]. He advises using self-suggestion to wake immediately at the end of a dream and using recording equipment to record the dream while it is still fresh, which can greatly increase the quantity of dream recall ^[10]. By comparing the first dream, second dream, and so on across different nights in sequence, persistent experimentation can provide excellent evidence for different layers of the subconscious and the inner self ^[10]. Seth emphasizes that the dream state provides researchers with original and varied material, and he attempts to teach people to bring a portion of the egotistical consciousness into the dream state in order to achieve focused and expanded consciousness ^[4].

7. An analogy to Seth's own state

It is worth noting that in the context of the early sessions, Seth once compared his own state of existence to the dream state of a physical individual during sleep ^[11].