sleeping self睡眠中的自己

In The Early Sessions, Book 4 (dictated in 1965), Seth provides an in-depth discussion of the "sleeping self" (also called the "sleeping personality" or "sleeping counterpart"). This concept reveals an aspect of the self that is active in sleep and dreams, free from the limitations of the body and camouflage, and possessed of a high degree of freedom and ability. The following is a summary of the book's treatment of this concept:

1. The nature and free state of the sleeping self

Seth points out that the sleeping personality is the closest aspect to the "inner self" that we can reach in this life. This is because in the sleeping state, the personality can quickly free itself from the camouflage concerns it must face in the waking state ^[1].

1. The shift in the direction of consciousness: Consciousness is the direction in which the self looks. In sleep, when the ego becomes quiet, the self looks in other directions and becomes aware of its own dreams ^[2].
2. Freedom in space and time and supernormal abilities: In the dream universe, the sleeping self deals with space and time freely and familiarly in a way that is denied to it in the waking state ^[2]. In dreams, the sleeping personality can act in ways impossible during so-called "normal consciousness," possessing freedoms, abilities, and talents with which the waking self may be unfamiliar ^[3].

2. The natural and lossless operation of energy

The sleeping self has unique advantages in its use of energy:

1. No energy loss: Although the energy used to construct dreams is just as intense as that used in the waking state, the sleeping self uses energy more naturally; it is aware of the availability of energy and operates more freely, so no energy depletion occurs ^[4].
2. A diffuse and tension-free manner of use: Unlike the waking state, in which energy must be focused in one main direction, the sleeping self uses energy in a more diffuse manner. This use is intense, but has a wider radius and involves no tension or pressure ^[4].

3. Communication with the waking self, suggestion, and dream therapy

All aspects of the personality are part of the whole self, and there is overall communication among the aspects, although individual aspects may not be aware of these exchanges ^[5].

1. Receiving and carrying out the waking self's instructions: The waking personality can give suggestions or instructions to the sleeping personality (the sleeping self). The sleeping self will carry out these instructions in its own way and according to its own understanding ^[5].
2. Indirect and ingenious communication: Communication among the various aspects of the self is very cunning and indirect. The solutions provided by the sleeping self may not appear in the way the waking self expects, and the waking self may not even recognize the particular solution, yet it will act according to that solution ^[5].
3. Dream therapy and the limitations of the ego: In dream therapy, the waking self does not need to remember the dream it requested. In fact, because the ego is as sensitive, rigid, complaining, and eccentric as an old gentleman with arthritis, it is actually beneficial for the ego to remain unconscious of the dreams actually involved ^[5].
4. Learning from the sleeping counterpart: Theoretically, anything the personality can do or achieve in the sleeping state can also be done and achieved in the waking state. The limitations of the waking self are adopted by the ego, but these limitations can be reduced, and the waking personality can make use of many of the characteristics displayed by the sleeping self ^[3].

4. Solving problems and creating physical reality

The sleeping self is not only active in dreams, but is also the behind-the-scenes creator of physical reality:

1. The amplification of focus: In the sleeping state, we can see the personality as it actually operates, including its abilities and limitations. In dreams, the focus of attention and concentration is magnified a thousandfold ^[6].
2. The blueprint of physical reality: Dreams form the basis of the physical environment. Problems are first solved within the framework of dreams; once answers and solutions are obtained, these answers and solutions are then translated into physical reality ^[6].
3. The rehearsal of dream dramas: Dream dramas are woven together by all aspects of the personality. They enable the personality to rehearse various possibilities that are experienced as realities, and the most effective dramas among them subsequently respond in physical reality ^[6].
4. The efficacy of suggestions before sleep: Because of the sleeping self's natural use of energy, health suggestions or expectation suggestions given just before sleep are extremely effective. These suggestions guide dreams that bring about the desired situation, thereby increasing and activating the individual's expectations, and expectation itself is closely related to whether a particular event occurs in physical reality ^[7].

In The Early Sessions, Book 5, Seth provides an in-depth discussion of the concept of the "sleeping self" (or sleeping ego), revealing its nature as a distinct and richly conscious aspect of the personality.

First, the sleeping self and the waking self exist in a mutually isolated yet equivalent state of "compartmentalization." Seth points out that all levels of the personality are conscious; they simply operate like compartments. Therefore, humans are usually unaware of their sleeping self while awake, and even know their neighbors far better than they know it, which makes the sleeping self seem very mysterious. This isolation is mutual: when awake, we cannot find the dream locations that were so familiar the previous night, nor can we remember the friends greeted in dreams who are strangers to the waking self; and when in the sleeping state, we cannot find the streets of waking life, and do not even recognize the waking self. Seth gives a core definition here: "The sleeping self is your identity" ^[1].

Second, when the physical self sleeps and the sleeping self is active, the abilities of the self are no longer hindered by the outer ego. In the waking state, the outer ego's communication system is basically closed, but in sleep these barriers are removed, and knowledge from the inner self flows more freely. At this time, the sleeping self's telepathic and clairvoyant abilities are completely unrestricted ^[2].

Third, the sleeping self frequently engages in astral projection and travel. When the physical self sleeps, the astral form does indeed travel about (and always returns to the physical body during physical life). This astral projection occurs frequently during sleep, and whether or not the waking self knows it, the astral self is often traveling ^[2].

Finally, the sleeping self can be trained and guided. Seth mentions that although this belongs to the more distant future, it is entirely within the range of human ability: people can give suggestions to direct their sleeping self to carry out various activities during sleep, visit specific locations, and bring back information ^[3][4]. Through training in dreams and different states of consciousness, people can better control the various aspects of their own consciousness and discover the common reality connecting the waking and sleeping states, thereby exploring the nature of the human personality and reality ^[3][1].

In The Early Sessions Book 6, Seth offers an in-depth exposition of the "sleeping self" (or dream self, the self-aspect active in sleep), overturning traditional psychology's misunderstanding of sleep and the unconscious. Its core argument, distinctive aspects, and conceptual wording are mainly reflected in the following points:

1. Core formulation: the multidimensionally focused "one self" Seth points out that people usually and mistakenly believe they are conscious only when focused in physical reality, and assume they are unconscious while sleeping. Yet from the standpoint of the dream state, a person is fully awake and possesses consciousness during sleep. Seth stresses that one should no longer use the divisive terms "conscious self" and "subconscious or unconscious self"; in fact "there is only one self," which merely focuses its consciousness in different dimensions. While awake, the whole self focuses in physical reality; in the dream state, the whole self focuses in another, different dimension, where it likewise possesses full consciousness and awareness ^[1].

2. Distinctive aspects: the legitimacy of dream reality and non-spatial distance

3. Equivalence of realities: the locations visited by the dream self are, at the time, as real to it as physical locations are while awake. The vagueness of dream memory while awake is equivalent to the vagueness of memory of the physical world while dreaming; both are legitimate realities ^[1].

4. Non-spatial distance: while the physical body lies in bed, the dream location occupied by the dreaming self may seem far removed from the body, but this "distance" has nothing whatever to do with physical space. The dream location and the room where the body lies actually exist simultaneously ^[1].

5. Training and multidimensional sharing of the self during sleep During sleep, other areas of the self are not idle, but receive training through their own experience. In a process resembling practical exercises, psychic organizations are established, dissolved, and established again. These layers of the self have experienced self-consciousness in other existences prior to the present one. In order not to remain completely dormant, they must continually reassert their own characteristics and abilities. Therefore, whether or not the present ego is aware of it, they share physical life with you ^[2].

6. Wording and conceptual distinctions At this stage Seth's wording strongly avoids Freudian psychological divisions, regarding them as excessively biased toward the "conscious mind." He advocates using the focus of the "whole self" in different dimensions to explain the alternation between sleep and waking ^[1]. At the same time, he points out that what is active in sleep is not only the dream self, but also those "other layers of the self" that once predominated in past existences and now train during sleep while sharing physical life with the individual ^[2].