natural time自然时间

In The Early Sessions Book 1, Seth offers a profound explanation of "natural time," which follows natural rhythms. It should be noted that in this book Seth calls this time, which accords with natural rhythms, the seasons, and inner experience, "physical time," and strictly distinguishes it from artificial "clock time." The following are the core statements and distinctive aspects of this concept:

1. The fundamental difference between natural physical time and clock time: Seth clearly states that the "physical time" he refers to is the time related to day and night, the tides, and the seasons, which is essentially different from the "clock time" invented by human beings ^[1]. Clock time is the most recent and most artificial camouflage invention of the human ego. Animals know nothing of it, and in earlier centuries clock time was not important to human beings either ^[1].

2. Natural time is the "delightful gown" of psychological time: Seth highly praises physical time that follows natural rhythms, comparing it to a "delightful flowing gown" that wraps "psychological time" in different colors, materials, and designs ^[2]. It is the most faithful reproduction of psychological time and one of the truest camouflages ^[2]. When a quiet ego observes and pursues this natural time, psychological time can flow with extreme ease, allowing inner forms to emerge ^[2].

3. The harmonious coexistence of psychological time and natural time: Psychological time can merge without difficulty into this natural physical time related to the seasons, tides, and day and night ^[3]. In a primitive state, this merging enabled human beings to live relatively easily in both the inner world and the outer world at the same time ^[3]. However, psychological time cannot flow freely and unobstructedly within days arbitrarily cut up by clock divisions ^[3].

4. The background of the birth of clock time and its splitting of the self: Unlike physical time that follows nature, clock time was invented by the human conscious ego out of fear ^[3]. Because human beings mistakenly split themselves into a "predictable conscious ego" (responsible for thinking and acting) and an "unpredictable self" (responsible for breathing and dreaming), they set up the boundary of clock time in order to protect the former from the latter, with the result that the whole self was cut in two ^[3].

5. Transcending clock time and returning to inner experience: To experience true inner time, people must first free themselves from the constraints of clocks and the concept of physical time ^[4]. In dreams or daydreams, the hours or days people experience are not recorded by the body and are not limited by clock time ^[5]. Through the correct use of psychological time, and within the framework of natural physical time, people will not only avoid feeling rushed in the physical world, but will also discover a "quiet and cool peacefulness," and finally realize that all divisions are illusions and all time is one time ^[2].

In The Early Sessions Book 9, Seth offers a profound explanation of the concept of "natural time," guiding us to cast off the false view of time defined by clock divisions, minutes, or hours, and instead to understand the true nature of time.

First, Seth points out that the true nature of time is more similar to human inner experience, that is, to thoughts and feelings. A thought or a feeling, with all its varying intensities, comes closer to the true nature of time than all human minutes or hours. The intensity of a thought is regulated by its own nature, not determined by any external rule ^[1]. In genuine nonlinear time experience, people may experience future events, distant past events, and the present moment at the same time. Although the human "associative process" (for example, holding in the present mind images of a person from different periods) provides a faint analogy, it falls far short of showing the complexity of the true concept of time. Seth emphasizes that the linear time human beings believe in basically does not exist, and that people must completely cast off known ideas about time in order to understand what truly exists ^[1].

Second, Seth defines time as "experience itself" or simply as "being" ^[2]. Most people cannot understand this because they can only think of time in terms of days or hours and cannot detach themselves from measurement. However, Seth clearly states that in reality no form of measurement exists at all. He offers a seemingly absurd but closer-to-truth definition: "Time is an apple. Time is not an apple. Time is a worm in an apple. Time is not a worm in an apple." ^[2]

This metaphor reveals the identity of natural time and natural things. Seth points out that in the world there exist "natural things" such as the "apple," but absolutely no natural things such as "minutes" or "hours" exist. Minutes and hours are only concepts imposed upon reality, and they themselves are not real. By contrast, an apple itself is a time event and also a space event, condensing the years its growth and production have undergone. Human perception can only view it piecemeal, but it itself is time. Likewise, a specific person, with sixty or seventy years of earthly existence, is, like the more than 150 pounds he possesses, the whole presentation of his own existence and time event ^[2].

In summary, the discussion of natural time at this stage of the book emphasizes the inseparability of time from "being" and "natural things." True organization is not logical; time is not a measured scale, but the flow and presentation of experience ^[2].

In Seth Speaks, through his explanation of "psychological time" and his discussion of the relationship between humanity and nature in human history, Seth profoundly reveals the dimension of "natural time" that departs from mechanical clock measurements and follows inner experience and natural rhythms. The core discussions, distinctive aspects, and related formulations are organized as follows:

1. Psychological time: inner time based on the intensity of experience Seth points out that in his reality environment there is no fixed, mechanical clock time such as "four in the afternoon" or "nine in the evening," and he is not restricted by temporal sequence (although he can choose to experience it) ^[1]. Instead, they feel something similar to time according to the "intensity of experience," that is, a kind of "psychological time" ^[1]. This "psychological time" has its own unique peaks and valleys, similar to the human experience of time seeming to speed up or slow down amid emotional fluctuations, but with great differences ^[1]. Seth compares this psychological time to the walls of a room that constantly change color, size, height, depth, and width; it represents a consciously utilized multidimensional psychic reality ^[1].

2. Intuitive association and the transcendence of temporal sequence Human experience of the physical environment is determined by psychological structure. Usually, human beings rely on the familiarity gained from moving within "temporal sequence" to establish a sense of personal continuity ^[2]. However, Seth points out that if the human perceptual apparatus were built primarily on "intuitive association" rather than "temporal sequence," the experience of physical reality would be entirely different ^[2]. Under the perceptual mode of intuitive association, past and present objects could be seen simultaneously, and their appearance would be rationalized through associative connections (for example, seeing at the same moment all the chairs a father favored throughout his life) ^[2]. This indicates that temporal sequence is not absolutely objective, but is the result of a perceptual mode determined by psychological structure ^[2].

3. Historical perspective: the early fusion of humanity and natural rhythms In the early stages of the evolution of human consciousness, there existed a more harmonious relationship with nature and inner reality. In the era of ancient tribal religions, human beings did not feel separate from nature, but regarded nature as an extension of their own existence, while also feeling themselves to be an extension of natural reality ^[3]. In that period, human beings followed nature, listened to it and let it reveal its secrets, and could even communicate with the souls of birds, trees, and spiders, knowing deeply that in inner reality such communication was understood ^[3]. This early belief represented a better presentation of inner reality ^[3]. However, with the rise of the human ego, God gradually became an ally of humanity against nature, and nature was treated as a tool, leading to a growing sense of alienation between humanity and nature, and thus a departure from this inner rhythm of oneness with nature ^[3].

In summary, the concept of "natural time" or "inner time" in the book manifests at the micro level as "psychological time" that transcends clock measurements and takes the intensity of experience as its index ^[1]; at the macro level as multidimensional perception that transcends "temporal sequence" and is based on "intuitive association" ^[2]; and at the historical and ecological level as the early human state of existence in which humanity was not separated from nature and resonated harmoniously with all natural things and inner reality ^[3].