expectation期望

In The Early Sessions Book 2, Seth offers a deep and highly practical exposition of the concept of expectation. Expectation is not only a mental attitude that directs energy, but also the core mechanism by which the individual shapes his or her physical environment and future experience. The following is a summary of the core formulations, distinctive aspects, and specific mechanisms of expectation at this stage:

1. Core Definition and Distinctive Formulations of Expectation

Seth points out that expectation is the expression of the deepest layers of the personality and constitutes the core of the individual [chunk:4514, 4515].

1. Psychic Building Blocks: Expectation is a "psychic building block" more basic than atoms and molecules, and is the framework of physical construction ^[1].
2. Main Trigger: Expectation is the "main trigger" that converts inner data and triggers it into the field of physical construction [chunk:4515, 4516]. Desire alone is not enough; only when desire grows into expectation can the process of materialization be initiated ^[2].
3. Not Pollyanna: Seth repeatedly emphasizes that the operation of expectation is extremely practical and effective, and by no means cheap "Pollyanna" optimism or useless nonsense [chunk:4426, 4439].

2. The Operating Mechanism of Expectation

Expectation plays a decisive role in the process by which the individual receives and interprets information and creates physical reality:

1. Filtering and Interpreting Inner Data: Expectation determines which of all available inner data the individual will receive, and determines how those data will subsequently be interpreted [chunk:4514, 4515].
2. Shaped by Emotion: Expectation is formed by basic emotions, not the other way around [chunk:4514, 4517]. Therefore, if one wishes to change expectation, one must first manipulate and direct the underlying basic emotions, such as transforming aggression or hatred into constructive force [chunk:4517, 4561].
3. Cooperation of the Conscious and the Subconscious: To successfully manipulate matter, conscious desire must be allied with subconscious expectation and must not conflict with it [chunk:4571, 4590]. When the two are consistent, the individual can focus subconscious psychic abilities to achieve specific physical goals ^[3].
4. Prerequisite for Commitment and Action: Commitment depends on expectation. A person who lacks a specific expectation will not make commitments, and cannot truly give and receive [chunk:4589, 4592].

3. Physiological and Psychological Connections between Expectation and Physical Construction

1. Physiological Mechanism (the Thyroid Connection): The thyroid gland is highly sensitive to panic, fear, and expectation. When fear distorts expectation, the thyroid is overstimulated, causing subconscious mechanisms to actually create in matter the very object that is feared ^[4].
2. Vicious Circle: Fear leads to defective physical construction, and these frightening physical constructions in turn reinforce the individual's fearful expectation through the outer senses, thereby setting a vicious circle in motion [chunk:4426, 4471, 4507].
3. Shaping "Personal Truths" and Abilities: In the physical field, many "truths" are actually the results of expectation in operation. For example, once the belief that "artists must be poor" becomes a framework of expectation, the individual will resist wealth in order to protect talent [chunk:4516, 4522]. Moreover, expectation not only shapes the environment, but can in turn shape and activate the individual's abilities ^[5].

4. Concrete Manifestations of Expectation in Daily Life

The book illustrates the power of expectation through several examples:

1. The House Sale Incident: The ups and downs of Jane and Rob's purchase and sale of the Birch house were precisely the concrete projection of their inner expectations on the physical level. When they faced the specific house, their expectations changed, thereby leading to a series of external events such as the rejection of the loan, so as to match the level of their expectations at that time [chunk:4513, 4526, 4557, 4558].
2. The Effectiveness of Everyday Objects: Even the maintenance of roads or the efficiency of heating systems is affected by the level of the user's expectation [chunk:4558, 4561].
3. Rob's Automobile Experiment: While on vacation, Rob suggested to his subconscious the expectation that the car would consume less oil, and without precise calculation he did in fact experience the actual effect of reduced oil consumption [chunk:4565, 4566].

In summary, in The Early Sessions Book 2, Seth establishes expectation as a highly practical bridge connecting inner psychic energy with outer physical reality. The individual will actually receive what he or she expects, whether success or danger ^[2].

In The Early Sessions Book 3, Seth explores the concept of expectation in depth, linking it closely with the individual's physical health, the creation of future events, and inner energy operations. The following is a summary of the core discussion of expectation in this book:

1. The Nature of Expectation: Electrical Realities and Physical Creation. Seth gives expectation a highly physical and energetic definition: expectation consists of "electrical realities" ^[1]. This nature explains why expectation occupies such an important place in human experience. Seth points out that human beings not only sometimes predict so-called future events, but actually create the actual existence of these events in the "electrical field," thereby in some way ensuring their manifestation in the physical field ^[1]. This creative process is often related to the operation of the subconscious, which uses symbols and other means to bypass the vigilance of the ego, thereby transforming these predictions and expectations into physical reality ^[1].

2. The Negative Shaping of Physical Health by Adverse Expectation. If the great power of expectation is not properly used, it becomes "adverse expectation" or "expectation poorly used," thereby producing destructive effects on the body ^[2]. Seth uses the specific experience of Ruburt (Jane) as an example: because Ruburt used a second typewriter with different key spacing, the usual automatic wrist movement pattern of touch typing was disrupted, producing unstable pressure and strain, which in turn led to a harmless protective nodule ^[2]. However, the osteopath's careless suggestion, made on extremely insufficient evidence, could easily, through the great power of "adverse expectation," transform this harmless nodule into the arthritic condition that Ruburt feared, since Ruburt was in a state of emotional depression and stress at the time ^[2]. Seth also gives another similar example: for a slight and harmless irregular heartbeat, a doctor's careless suggestion can, through the patient's fear, that is, adverse expectation, develop into a genuine functional disorder ^[2].

3. The Synergistic Mechanism of Expectation, Suggestion, and Inner Fear. Seth clearly points out that careless external suggestions alone cannot be held responsible for the above pathological results; they must fall on "fertile soil" ^[2]. If the individual has sufficiently great emotional and subconscious fear, the individual will bring about problems through his or her own adverse expectation even without external suggestion ^[2]. From the broader perspective of psychological and physiological interaction, illness does not suddenly arise at a particular point in time, but is latent over a long period. Because of early conditioning and environment, the individual has potential psychological tendencies toward many so-called diseases ^[3]. These tendencies lead to weak points in the physical structure, and these weak points are essentially due to "inner pockets of fear" that block needed energy, causing imperfections in physical construction and operation ^[3]. When the individual's fear and adverse expectation direct energy, these weak points are activated, causing latent illness to manifest as perceptible physical symptoms ^[4]. In summary, in the discussion in The Early Sessions Book 3, expectation is defined as an "electrical reality" capable of directing energy, shaping reality in the electrical field, and ensuring its manifestation in physical reality ^[1]. Whether health is maintained or illness arises, both are the result of the interaction of this power of expectation with inner fear and external suggestion ^[4].

In The Early Sessions Book 4, Seth offers an in-depth exposition of the concept of expectation, regarding it as a more precise and central term than suggestion, and revealing its key role in directing energy, constructing matter, and shaping dreams.

1. The Relationship between Expectation and Suggestion, and Its Definition Seth points out that what people usually call "suggestion" is actually "expectation" ^[1]. In the operation of the human system and the personality, "suggestion" is a poorer word, while "expectation" is a much better term ^[2]. So-called suggestion is merely the projection into the physical universe of data that serve as the basis of action and continue to operate within action ^[2]. Expectation determines to a great extent how we use energy and what kind of physical construction will ultimately be formed ^[3].

2. Expectation Shapes Reality and Bodily Construction Seth emphasizes that your reality will manifest in the way you expect it to manifest ^[4]. The construction of the physical image proceeds from within outward. The inner self attempts to construct the physical image according to its self-image, and any errors in construction, such as illness and deformity, do not originate in the inner self, but in distortions within the personal subconscious or the ego ^[1]. For example, a stomach ulcer is the result of the individual completely constructing unresolved mental conflict into the matter of his or her own organism, and is a faithful reproduction of that psychological distortion ^[3].

3. Expectation as the Inner Impetus of Action From a broader perspective, expectation is only one stage of the larger directional characteristic inherent in action itself ^[2]. It is an "inner impetus" belonging to the interior of action, rather than an external force independent of action and acting upon it ^[2]. This impetus is a natural and spontaneous movement generated within action, representing the pattern by which energy expresses itself ^[2]. By contrast, so-called "negative suggestion" is usually obstructing action, operating like a countercurrent, causing blockage, and hindering the main inner flow of energy by dispersing energy in different directions ^[2].

4. The Application of Expectation in Dream Control Expectation operates not only in the waking state, but can also be applied to dreams. Seth points out that through practice, dream activity can also be directed toward the desired direction ^[5]. By means of suggestion, action in dreams can be turned toward satisfying constructive expectations, thereby bringing about real and beneficial changes in the personality concerned ^[5].