blocking阻碍

In The Early Sessions Book 2 (dictated in 1964), "blocking" is mainly described as a suppressive and screening reaction produced by the channel Ruburt (Jane) when receiving Seth's information, intuition, or psychological stimuli, due to her own psychological tension, fear, or subconscious conflict. The following are the core formulations and distinctive aspects of the concept of "blocking" in this book:

1. The essence and operating mechanism of blocking.

2. A nearly automatic defensive reaction: Seth points out that blocking is a nearly automatic reaction built up over a long period of time ^[1]. When Ruburt feels tense, she tries to screen out a particular psychological stimulus, but this tension causes her to "screen out all psychological stimuli in order to screen out that one correct stimulus" ^[2].

3. Fear of concrete material: Blocking often points to specific types of information. Seth clearly states that what Ruburt fears and tries to block is "concrete material" ^[3]. For example, when it involves concrete images or scenes about a specific person such as Philip, Ruburt produces blocking ^[4].

4. Relationship with the depth of dissociation: Blocking is closely related to the channel's degree of dissociation. At the beginning of a session, before the first break, because the dissociation is not deep enough, Ruburt is more likely to fear making mistakes and thus produce blocking; after the first break, as the dissociated state deepens and consolidates, her fear of error or distortion decreases, and blocking correspondingly lessens ^[4].

5. Psychological and situational factors that trigger blocking.

6. The arousal of personal emotions and old resentments: Ruburt's personal life circumstances and reading content can induce blocking. For example, a certain book she read triggered her morbid fascination and awakened many old resentments, causing her body to become tense, which in turn screened out psychological stimuli and even made it impossible to hold a session ^[2].

7. Resistance to authority and loss of independence: Blocking is often related to conflicts in Ruburt's subconscious. For example, when material concerning the gallery (work) was involved, Ruburt blocked Seth ^[5]. This is because Ruburt strongly opposed in principle treating other people's words as absolute truth, and felt that following dictation, even of simple letters, was a lack of independence, inferior, and damaging to dignity; this emotional confusion led to blocking when channeling related topics ^[6].

8. A natural phenomenon at a stage of development: Seth emphasizes that in the early stages of material transmission, when facing troubling real-life situations, this personal blocking will be stronger, which is entirely natural ^[5].

9. The effects of blocking and how to deal with it.

10. Causing suggestions to seem impractical: Because Ruburt often produces blocking, certain suggestions given by Seth may seem impractical at the conscious level ^[3].

11. The definite validity behind blocking: Despite the existence of blocking, Seth points out that in any case, there is still definite validity behind the blocked information ^[3].

12. A universal human tendency: Blocking is not a defect unique to Ruburt. Seth tells Joseph (Robert) that if their roles were reversed, Joseph's blocking of Seth's information would be even more severe ^[1].

13. A cooperative way of overcoming: In the face of blocking, Seth does not choose to break through by force, such as knocking Ruburt down or placing her in a deep hypnotic state ^[5], but chooses to train and improve gradually through cooperation between both parties in a non-deep-hypnotic state. Although this process may take longer, it is more beneficial in the long run and can avoid hysterical reactions ^[3].

In the specific records of The Early Sessions Book 3 (dictated in 1964-1965), the discussion of the concept of "blocking" unfolds mainly through a concrete physical blocking event, in which a vehicle blocked the garage exit. This event vividly demonstrates the entire process by which Robert (Rob) and Jane, when faced with sudden inner impulses, intuition, and telepathic information, did not suppress or screen them out, that is, did not produce inner blocking, and thus successfully received and verified this inner information. First, Robert's experience on the morning of November 3, 1964 shows compliance with inner intuitive information. At that time, he was preparing to go to work when an extremely clear thought suddenly flashed into his mind, prompting him that he should walk to the studio and look out the back window, because he would see a car parked in front of the garage, blocking the exit for his car. When he looked out, he was shocked to find that there was indeed a car blocking off the exit. Robert analyzed that the car blocking his way belonged to a young man downstairs, and they normally had an agreement not to block each other. He speculated that because the neighbor knew his own car was blocking the passage, he himself may have received telepathy from the neighbor when he got up. Robert did not suppress or screen out this sudden inner intuition, but complied with it and went to check, thereby confirming the accuracy of the information. In addition, Robert mentioned that since resuming regular study of "psychological time" on October 27, he had experienced many phenomena of hearing voices and seeing faces, which indicated that he was reducing the screening of inner sense information ^[1]. Second, Jane's experience confirms the non-screening state of inner impulses from another angle. After Robert left the apartment, Jane suddenly felt a strong impulse to walk to the studio and look out. She did this almost without thinking, because she strongly felt that the garage was blocked by another car. Although by the time she looked, the blocking vehicle had already moved away and she only saw Robert backing out normally, this was the first time in her memory that she had actively gone to check whether the garage was blocked. Jane likewise did not suppress or block this sudden strong inner impulse, but directly acted on it, and only when Robert mentioned his own experience at noon did she recall this intuitive event again ^[2]. In summary, in these two records, although "blocking" at the physical level manifests as a vehicle blocking the garage exit, at the conscious and psychological level it becomes a typical case for testing whether an individual "blocks" (screens out) inner intuition and impulses. Neither Robert nor Jane suppressed or screened out this inner intuitive information about the "physical blocking," but chose to follow the intuition and observe, thereby completing the successful reception and verification of inner impulses and telepathic information. This shows that when an individual does not produce inner "blocking," intuition and telepathic information can flow freely and accurately guide action.

In The Early Sessions Book 4, Seth discusses the concept of "blocking/impediment" in depth. He not only regards it as the stagnation of energy flow, but also reveals its inner connections with "negative suggestions," personality interests, and psychological defense mechanisms. The following is a summary of the core discussion of the concept of "blocking" in this book:

1. The essence of blocking: the rupture of inner impulses and the truth of "negative suggestions"

Seth points out that under normal circumstances, suggestion is part of the inner impulse toward action, and it naturally translates outward into all areas of consciousness. What is called "blocking" is the interference with and screening out of this inner impulse; it interrupts the synchronized and effortless flow of the inner impulse outward, which in the human case means outward physical construction ^[1]. Seth puts forward a very distinctive view: what people often call "negative suggestions" or "impediments" are actually only the symptoms of inner energy and impulses after blocking has occurred, not the cause ^[1]. The inner rupture and blocking occur first and represent an already existing rift, and it is precisely because of this that negative suggestions are put into action. Without the prior inner energy blocking, negative suggestions would never take effect ^[1]. Seth vividly compares these blocking actions to "dead eddies in dead waters," which are meaningless movements in dead water and belong to blocking actions ^[1].

2. The energy mechanism of blocking: dead-end accumulation and the inward turning of energy

Blocking does not mean the complete termination of action. Seth clarifies that blocking action represents the actual obstruction of energy or action, and is a kind of "dead-end accumulation" ^[2]. However, this obstruction does not equal the end of action, but means that action is diverted into channels that do not conform to "the best interests of the whole personality" ^[2]. In this case, the energy that should originally flow outward becomes concentrated and "turns inward," thereby producing adverse effects on the whole system ^[2].

3. Blocking at the psychological and contact level: the conflict between fear and intense desire

At the level of interpersonal or psychic contact, such as emotional contact, blocking also plays a role. Seth points out that when a person blocks off contact from their own end, external forces, such as Seth himself, will not forcibly break through it out of ethical principles ^[3]. Regarding why people establish these blockings, Seth gives a profound psychological explanation: many times, people establish blockings not because they are afraid of getting the answer, but basically because they are afraid that the answer will be given "in a particular way," for example through psychic dictation ^[3]. Even more interestingly, intense desire itself can also become a catalyst for blocking: because in a particular situation, the power of the individual's own desire is too strong, this power will in turn recoil and frighten the individual, thereby building defensive blockings ^[3].

4. Wording characteristics and conceptual associations

In the discussion of this period, Seth frequently equates "impediments" with "negative suggestions" ^[1]. Through concrete and vivid physical metaphors such as "dead eddies in dead waters" ^[1] and "dead-end accumulation" ^[2], he depicts the state of invisible energy when it is blocked, emphasizing the negative damage that blocking does to the health of the whole personality and to the constructive outward expression of energy.