subjective experience主观体验

In The Early Sessions Book 1, Seth explores "subjective experience" (often referred to in the text as "psychological experience") in depth, emphasizing its nonphysical nature, its reality, and its deep connection with the inner self.

First, subjective experience has a nonphysical nature and cannot be objectively observed. Seth points out that almost everyone is familiar with that kind of psychological experience which may have no obvious physical effect, yet can alter the personality to a great degree. This inner experience cannot be observed through the outer senses (such as sight, smell, or touch), cannot be objectively held in the hand and examined like a pencil on a table, and cannot be directly tested in a laboratory. Yet it would be foolish to deny the existence of such experience, because it is extremely vivid and cannot be ignored ^{[1] [2]}.

Second, the influence of subjective experience on the physical world is secondary. Seth explains that subjective experience itself does not produce direct physical effects on the physical world; any physical effects are produced by the personality involved after the experience occurs. For example, the death of a family member is a physical event, but each member's psychological experience is highly varied, personal, and unpredictable. Although the experience may trigger physiological reactions such as weeping and sorrow, or cause the heartbeat to quicken and chemical and hormonal activity to accelerate, these physical and physiological effects are all secondary - the experience itself does not shed tears ^{[1] [3]}.

Third, emotion is an important bridge connecting subjective experience with the inner self. Seth points out that although scientists can use instruments to induce emotions such as fear and sorrow, the experience itself remains subjective and psychological. Emotions belong to the current personality and are strongly connected with the conscious self and the often-neglected inner self. Because emotions possess an intense quality, they come closer than anything else to the vividness of "inner data" ^[3].

Finally, Seth emphasizes the reliability of subjective experience and the inner senses. He criticizes the artificial duality of defining non-outer-sense perception as "ESP." Seth points out that the outer senses are actually "lovely liars"; for example, the eyes see a chair as solid when it is not. By contrast, the data received by the inner senses and subjective psychological experience are far more reliable. Whether or not the chair is solid, psychological experience is real and valid, and inner data and the inner self are more enduring than the outer physical world ^[2].

In The Early Sessions Book 3, Seth offers a profound discussion of "subjective experience" and the closely related "psychological experience," revealing their nonphysical characteristics, the electrical essence behind them, and humanity's psychological limitations when confronting such inner realities that cannot be objectified.

1. The nonphysical characteristics of psychological and subjective experience, and humanity's tendency toward objectification Seth points out that humanity has always feared those things that cannot be "objectified." Human beings constantly attempt to separate various realities from themselves and hold them in their hands for observation and study. However, toward those realities that are most closely connected with the self and cannot be objectified and held in the hand, human beings feel fear and try to deny their existence, yet in fact cannot deny it ^[1]. Taking "psychological experience" as an example, although it cannot be held in the hand like a stone, weighed on a scale, or seen with the naked eye, its "weight" may be heavier than a stone. Psychological experience does not occupy physical space, yet when it occurs, it can "fill" a person. Although people cannot strip psychological experience from themselves and examine it with the physical senses, no one can deny its existence; its influence and validity are well known to everyone. These realities, because they are too close to the self, cannot be separated and objectified ^[1].

2. The electrical reality of subjective experience and its physical influence Seth further explains that seemingly purely subjective experience actually possesses an "electrical reality." It is through this electrical reality that subjective experience can directly influence the human physical structure. All experiences that seem purely subjective, that do not occupy physical space but are felt emotionally or subjectively, first exist in electrical form. The human system then translates these experiences, but their original existence and actuality are electrical ^[2].

3. The electrical encoding mechanism of dreams and cellular comprehension As an important form of subjective experience, dreams are also an "electrical reality." Dreams depend on a system of electrical patterns to transmit their data to different levels or regions of the inner self. The original dream experience is essentially a direct electrical experience, which is decoded at the electrical level and then subjectively translated to the various regions of the inner self ^[2]. Moreover, this electrical mechanism is also manifested in the microscopic bodily structure. The "innate capsule comprehension" that exists within all cells is likewise electrically encoded. Therefore, complete comprehension can exist within the physical structure without occupying any physical space ^[2].

In summary, at this stage of The Early Sessions Book 3, Seth emphasizes that subjective experience is not an illusory phantom, but has a solid "electrical" foundation. Although human beings fear it or try to deny it because they cannot objectify it with the physical senses, subjective experience, through its original electrical form, not only transmits within the inner self but also directly shapes and influences the human physical and physiological structure ^[1][2].

In The Early Sessions Book 4, Seth offers a profound exposition of the concept of "subjective experience" (or "inner experience"), revealing its essence as a core dimension of existence and its far-reaching influence on the personality and the physical body.

1. Inner experience is the only real dimension of existence Seth clearly states that inner experience is the only real dimension of existence ^[1]. Within the physical system, because of the limitations of the physical structure, experience produces a kind of "slow-motion" distortion, thereby creating the appearance of time. The waking time with which we are familiar is actually closely connected with emotion and its intensity ^[1]. When subjective emotion is sufficiently intense, it almost completely fills the psychic space, breaking down the false boundaries of past, present, and future, so that past experiences can be relived as vividly as present ones ^[1].

2. The shaping effect of subjective experience on the personality Seth emphasizes that the formation and alteration of the personality depend not only on activities in the physical world, but equally on purely subjective experiences such as dreams ^[2]. These subjective experiences exist only within the psychological time framework, yet when the personality confronts them, it does not discriminate between different types of experience in the way the ego does; rather, it responds to dream experiences in the same way it responds to any other experience ^[2]. If a person did not simultaneously exist in the dream universe, he could not exist in the physical universe; there are inseparable chemical and electromagnetic connections between these different states of consciousness ^[2].

3. The manipulation of the physical body and matter by subjective experience Although subjective experiences have no entity in the physical universe, they can produce definite changes in the physical body framework ^[2]. These changes are not caused by physical events, but are triggered by events occurring in nonphysical states such as dreams. Therefore, subjective events actually manipulate physical matter indirectly, through the personality that experiences them ^[2]. The reality field of any particular personality must include these areas of subjective activity, because they give form and dimension to its existence ^[2].

4. Subjective experience cannot be studied mechanically apart from the personality Subjective experience, represented by dreams, cannot be studied through mechanical or physical isolation ^[3]. Seth points out that in a sleep laboratory, separating the dreamer from his personality, or treating dreams as physical or mechanical phenomena, cannot truly lead to an understanding of dreams. The only laboratory for studying dreams (and subjective experience more broadly) is the laboratory of the personality itself ^[3].