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INTRODUCTION 自序（珍·羅伯茲）

This book was written by a personality called Seth, who speaks of himself as an “energy personality essence” no longer focused in physical form. He has been speaking through me for over seven years now, in twice weekly trance sessions.

這本書是個叫〝賽斯〞（Seth）的人物所寫的，他自稱是一個〝能量人格元素〞，已不再貫注於肉身的形式裡。他每周兩次透過我來說話已有七年之久。

My psychic initiation really began one evening in September, 1963, however, as I sat writing poetry. Suddenly my consciousness left my body, and my mind was barraged by ideas that were astonishing and new to me at the time. On return to my body, I discovered that my hands had produced an automatic script, explaining many of the concepts that I’d been given. The notes were even titled — The Physical Universe as Idea Construction.

然而，我的通靈（Psychic）能力的開啟實在是始於一九六三年九月的一個晚上，當我正在寫詩時，突然間我的意識離開了身體，而一些驚人且新奇的概念如彈雨般轟擊我的心智（mind）。在回到我的身體之後，我發現我的手已自動寫出了一篇東西，解釋了其中許多的觀念，這篇東西甚至還有個標題––[物質宇宙即意念建構]。

Because of that experience, I began doing research into psychic activity, and planned a book on the project. In line with this, my husband, Rob, and I experimented with a Ouija board late in 1963. After the first few sessions, the pointer spelled out messages that claimed to come from a personality called Seth.

因為那次經驗，我開始鑽研通靈活動，並且計畫就這個題目寫本書。為此，在一九六三年尾，我的先生羅和我用一個靈應盤（類似中國的碟仙）來試驗。在最初幾次之後，指針拼出了自稱來自〝賽斯〞的訊息。

Neither Rob or I had any psychic background, and when I began to anticipate the board’s replies, I took it for granted that they were coming from my subconscious. Not long after, however, I felt impelled to say the words aloud, and within a month I was speaking for Seth while in a trance state.

羅或我都沒有任何靈異方面的背景，而當我開始在心裡〝預知〞靈應盤的回答時，我以為那一定來自我的潛意識。然而，過不了多久，我覺得非把答案大聲說出來不可，而在一個月之內，我就在出神狀態中替賽斯說話了。

The messages seemed to begin where Idea Construction left off, and later Seth said that my expansion of consciousness experience had represented his first attempt at contact. Since then, Seth has delivered a continuing manuscript that now totals over six thousand typewritten pages. We call it the Seth material, and it deals with such topics as the nature of physical matter, time, and reality, the god concept, probable universes, health, and reincarnation. From the beginning, the obvious quality of the material intrigued us, and it was for this reason that we continued.

這些訊息似乎是由〝意念建構〞結束處開始的，後來賽斯說我的意識擴展的經驗代表了他首次與我接觸的嘗試。從那以後，賽斯陸續傳送來的文稿，到現在已累積了六千多頁打字紙了，我們叫它〝賽斯資料〞，它談到像物質的性質、時間、實相、神的觀念、可能的宇宙、健康與轉世等問題。從一開始，這資料顯明的優秀性即引起了我們的興趣，也就是為此之故我們才繼續下去。

Following the publication of my first book in this field, letters came from strangers asking for Seth’s help. We held sessions for those most in need. Many of the people involved couldn’t attend, since they lived in other parts of the country, yet Seth’s advice helped them, and the information he gave by mail concerning individual backgrounds was correct.

隨著我在這方面的第一本書出版之後，便接到陌生人求助於賽斯的信。我們為那些最需要幫助的人舉行賽斯課。其中很多人因住在美國其他各地而不克出席，但賽斯的勸告卻幫助了他們，而他籍信件所給的有關個人背景的資料也都正確無誤。

Rob has always taken verbatim notes of the Seth sessions, using his own shorthand system. Later in the week he types them and adds them to our collection of Seth material. Rob’s excellent notes point up the living framework in which the sessions take place. His support and encouragement have been invaluable.

對賽斯課，羅一直是逐字逐句的用他自創的速記方法作筆記，過後在一周內他將之打字下來，把他們加進我們〝賽斯資料〞的收藏裡。羅的精彩註記突顯了賽斯課發生於其中活生生的架構，他的支持和鼓勵是無價的。

To our way of thinking, we have kept over six hundred appointments with the universe — though Rob would never describe it that way himself. These appointments are kept in our well-lighted, large living room, but in deeper terms they take place within the spaceless area of human personality.

依我們自己想來，我們已與〝宇宙〞約會了六百多次––雖則羅自己絕不會那樣形容它。這些約會就發生在我們燈光通明的大客廳裡，但更深入地說，它們是發生在人類人格無垠無涯的領域之內。

I do not mean to imply that we have any cornerstone on truth, or give the impression that we wait breathlessly for the undistorted secrets of the ages to gush forth. I do know that each individual has access to intuitional knowledge and can gain glimpses of inner reality. The universe speaks to each of us in this regard. In our case, the Seth sessions are the framework in which this kind of communication takes place.

我並無意暗示我們已獲得了任何對真理的基本觀念，也無意給人一個印像：我們在屏息以待〝未遭扭曲的世代的秘密〞傾瀉而出。我只確知每個人都能通達直覺的知識，而得以略見他的內心世界之一斑。〝宇宙〞就這一點對我們每個人說話。對我們而言，〝賽斯課〞就是發生這種溝通的一個架構。

In The Seth Material, published in 1970, I explained these events and gave Seth’s views on a variety of subjects with excerpts from the sessions. I also described our encounters with psychologists and parapsychologists, as we tried to understand our experiences and place them within the context of normal life. The tests we conducted to verify Seth’s clairvoyant abilities were also described. As far as we are concerned, he came through with flying colors.

在一九七0年出版的〝賽斯資料〞––《靈界的訊息》裡，我解釋了這些事，並以賽斯課的摘錄表明了在各種不同題目上賽斯的看法。我也描寫了當我們試著了解我們的經驗，並將之置入正常生活脈絡內的時候，我們與心理學家以及超心理學家接觸的經過。也描寫了我們為證實賽斯真的具備千里眼能力所做的測驗。對我們來說，他勝利地過了關。

It was extremely difficult to choose a few excerpts on any given topic from Seth’s growing body of work. As a result, The Seth Material necessarily left many questions unanswered and many topics unexplored. Two weeks after it was finished, however, Seth dictated the outline for this present manuscript, in which he would be free to state his ideas in his own way, in book form.

從日漸增多的賽斯資料中選擇一些有關任一題目的摘錄是極為困難的。因此之故，《靈界的訊息》那本書必然留下了許多未答覆的問題和未探索的題目。然而，在它完成了兩周之後，賽斯口授了目前這本書的大綱，在這文稿裡他將可自由地以他的方式將想法寫成書。

Here is a copy of that outline, which was given to us in Session 510, January 19, 1970. As you’ll see here, Seth calls me Ruburt, and Rob, Joseph. These names represent our entire personalities as distinguished from our present physically oriented selves.

以下是在一九七0年一月十九日第五一0節所給的大綱的一個副本。如你們將看到的，賽斯叫我魯柏，而叫羅為約瑟。這些名字代表我們整個的人格，以別於處於目前的肉身裡的我們。

I am working on some other material just now that you will be given, and so you must bear with me for a few moments. For example, I would like to give you some idea of the contents of my own book. Many issues will be involved. The book will include a description of the way in which it is being written, and the procedures necessary so that my own ideas can be spoken by Ruburt, or for that matter translated at all, in vocal terms.

〝我現在正忙著準備給你們另一些資料，因此你們必須再忍耐一會兒。好比說，我願告訴你們我自己這本書的一些內容，它將會涉及許多問題。此書將描寫關於它寫成的方式，以及我自己的意念能由魯柏說出來，甚或能以語言轉譯，這其間的必要過程。

I do not have a physical body, and yet I will be writing a book. The first chapter will explain how and why.

我不具肉身，但我卻將寫一本書。第一章將解釋我如何及為何寫這本書。

(By now [Rob wrote in his notes] Jane’s pace had slowed considerably, and her eyes were often closed. She took many pauses, some of them long.)

（到現在珍的步調明顯地慢了下來，他的雙眼常常閉著。他停頓了許多次，有幾次停了很久。［羅的附記］）

The next chapter will describe what you may call my present environment; my present “characteristics,” and my associates. By this I mean those others with whom I come in contact.

下一章將描寫你可之為我目前的環境是什麼；我目前的〝特性〞，以及我的同事們。這是指我接觸的其他那些〝人〞。

The next chapter will describe my work, and those dimensions of reality into which it takes me, for as I travel into your reality I also travel into others, to fulfill that purpose which is mine to fill.

再下一章將描寫我的工作，以及它帶我進入的那些實相的次元，因為正如我旅遊到你們的實相，我也到其他的實相，以完成我應完成的目的。

The next chapter will deal with my past in your terms, and some of those personalities that I have been and have known. At the same time I will make it clear that there is no past, present, or future, and explain that there is no contradiction even though I may speak in terms of past existences. This may possibly run two chapters.

再下一章將談談對你們來說的〝我的過去〞，以及我曾〝當過〞哪些人和認識哪些人。同時我要明白指出並無過去、現在或未來，並且解釋，雖則我可能用〝過去的生活〞這種說法，這其中並無矛盾。這可能要花上兩章。

The next chapter will give the story of our meeting — you (to me), Ruburt and I, from my viewpoint of course, and the ways in which I contacted Ruburt’s inner awareness long before either of you knew anything about psychic phenomena, or my existence.

再下一章將談到我們相遇的故事––你（對我說）、魯柏和我，自然是以我的觀點來說，以及早在你們知道任何靈異現象或我的存在之前，我接觸魯柏的內在知覺的方式。

The next chapter will deal with the experience of any personality at the point of death, and with the many variations on this basic adventure. I will use some of my own deaths as examples.

再下一章將談談人在死亡那一刻的經驗，以及在這基本探險上的許多變化。我會以我自己的幾次死亡作例子。

The next chapter will deal with existence after death, with its many variations. Both of these chapters will bear on reincarnation as it applies to death, and some emphasis will also be given to death at the end of the last incarnation.

再下一章將談到死後的存在及其多種變化。這兩章都將談到與死亡有關的轉世，並將強調最後一次投生結束時的死亡。

The next chapter will deal with the emotional realities of love and kinship between personalities — with what happens to these during succeeding incarnations, for some fall by the wayside and some are retained.

下一章將談到各人格之間愛與親屬關係的感情實相––說到在連續的轉世間這些感情的演變情形，因為有些遺落在路邊而有些維持了下去。

The next chapter will deal with your physical reality as it appears to me and others like me. This chapter will contain some rather fascinating points, for not only do you form the physical reality that you know, but you are also forming other quite valid environments in other realities by your present thoughts, desires and emotions.

下一章將談到對我和其他像我的〝人〞來說，你們的物質實相看起來如何。這一章將包含一些頗為迷人的要點，因為你們不僅造成了你們所知的物質實相，而且也以你們目前的思想、欲望和情感，在其他的實相裡形成其他十分確實有據的環境。

The next chapter will deal with the eternal validity of dreams as gateways into these other realities, and as open areas through which the “inner self” glimpses the many facets of its experience and communicates with other levels of its reality.

下一章將談到〝夢〞永遠可作為進入這些其他實相的門戶，以及作為一個開放地區，經由這開放地區，〝內我〞瞥見它的經驗的許多面，並與其實相的其他層面溝通。

The next chapter will deal further with this subject, as I relate the various ways that I have entered the dreams of others, both as an instructor and as a guide.

下一章將更深入地談談這題目，重述做為教師和嚮導的我進入別人夢境的各種方法。

The next chapter will deal with the basic methods of communication that are used by any consciousness, according to its degree, whether or not it is physical. This will lead up to the basic communication used by human personalities as you understand them, and point out these inner communications as existing independently of the physical senses, which are merely physical extensions of inner perception.

下一章將談到任何意識––不論它是否具形體––按照它的程度所用的基本溝通之法。話題將轉而談論，如你們所了解的人類所用的基本溝通之法，而指出這些內在的溝通是獨立存在於肉體感官之外的，而肉體感官只不過是內在知覺的延伸而已。

I will tell the reader how he sees what he sees, or hears what he hears, and why. I hope to show through the entire book that the reader himself is independent of his physical image, and I hope, myself, to give him some methods that will prove my thesis to him.

我會告訴讀者他如何及為何看到他所看到的，或聽到他所聽到的。我希望透過這整本書讓讀者明白他自己是獨立於他的肉體形象之外的，而我希望由我自己來給他一些得以證實我的理論的方法。

The next chapter will relate what experience I have had in all my existences with those “pyramid gestalts” of which I speak in the material, and about my own relationship with the personality you call Seth Two, and with multidimensional consciousnesses far more evolved than I.

下一章將談到在我所有的存在中，我與那些我在資料中談到過的〝金字塔完形〞有過些什麼經驗，以及關於我與你們稱為〝賽斯二〞及遠較我進化的〝多次元意識〞間的關係。

My message to the reader will be: “Basically, you are no more of a physical personality than I am, and in telling you of my reality I tell you of your own.”

我給讀者的訊息將是：〝基本上來說，你們不比我更是個具肉身的人。在告訴你們關於我的實相時，我也告訴了你們你們的實相。〞

There will be a chapter on the religions of the world, on the distortions and truths within them; the three Christs; and some data concerning a lost religion, belonging to a people of which you have no information. These people lived on a planet in the same space that your earth now occupies, “before” your planet existed. They destroyed it through their own error, and were reincarnated when your planet was prepared. Their memories became the basis for the birth of religion as you now think of it.

有一章將探討世界上的宗教，及在它們內的曲解和真理；〝三位〞基督；及關於一個失落的宗教的一些資料，它屬於一個你們毫無所知的民族。在你們的地球存在〝之前〞，這些人住在占據和你們現在的地球同一空間的一個行星上。他們由於自己的錯誤毀滅了它，而當你們的行星準備好了時，他們便再轉生於地球上。他們的記憶成為你們現在所知的宗教誕生的基礎。

There will be a chapter on probable gods and probable systems.

有一章會談到可能的神祇和可能的系統。

There will be a question and answer chapter.

有一章專門回答問題。

There will be a final chapter in which I will ask the reader to close his eyes and become aware of the reality in which I exist, and of his own inner reality. I will give the methods. In this chapter I will invite the reader to use his “inner senses,” to see me in his own way.

在最後一章裡，我會叫讀者閉上眼睛，而對我存在的實相及他自己的內在實相有所知覺。我會教你們一些方法。在此章裡，我會邀請讀者用他的〝內在感官〞以他自己的方式來看我。

While my communications will come exclusively through Ruburt at all times, to protect the integrity of the material, I will invite the reader to become aware of me as a personality, so that he may then realize that communication from other realities is possible, and that he himself is therefore open to perception that is not physical.

雖然為了保護資料的完整一貫性，我的通訊始終將透過魯柏作獨家報導，我還是要邀請讀者知覺到有我這麼一個〝人〞的存在，因而他能明瞭由其他實相來的通訊是可能的，並且他自己也能接受非屬肉體的知覺。

Now this is my outline for the book, but it contains merely a sketch of my intentions. I am not giving a fuller outline, for I do not want Ruburt to anticipate me. The difficulties involved in such communications will be given thoroughly. It will be made clear that so-called paranormal communications come from various levels of reality, and that those communications describe the reality in which they exist. So I will describe mine, and others of which I have knowledge.

那麼這就是本書的大綱，但它只大略勾勒出我的意向而已。我沒有給一個更完滿的大綱，因為我不要魯柏對我有所預期。我將透徹地討論這種通訊所涉及的困難，指明所謂的超常通訊是由各種不同的實相層面而來，並且那些通訊說明了它們存在於其中的實相。因此我會描寫我的及其他我所知的實相。

This is not to say that other dimensions do not exist of which I am ignorant. I will dictate the book during our sessions.

這並不是說我所不知的其他次元是不存在的。在我們的課裡我將會口述此書。

This is the title for our book (smile): Seth Speaks: The Eternal Validity of the Soul.

這是我們的書的標題（面帶微笑）《賽斯如是說––靈魂永生》。

I am using the term soul, for it will have instant meaning to most readers. I suggest you equip yourself with some good pens.

我用〝靈魂〞這個名詞，因為它對大多數讀者而言立即有其意義。我建議你為自己準備些好的筆。〞

Precisely because I am acquainted with the effort involved in writing a book, I was cautious when Seth spoke of writing his own. Though I knew perfectly well that he could do it, a nagging part of me questioned. “Granted, the Seth material is really significant, but what does Seth know about writing books? About the organization required? Or about directing himself to the public?”

正因為我熟知寫一本書所費的力氣，所以當賽斯說要寫本他自己的書時，我頗為戒慎，雖然我明知他做得到，但心中仍不免犯嘀咕：〝不錯，《賽斯資料》是真的很重要，但賽斯知道怎麼樣寫書嗎？他知道所需的組織，或如何針對公眾說話嗎？〞

Rob kept telling me not to worry about it. Friends and students seemed astonished that of all people, I should have any doubts, but I thought — of all people, who else should have doubts? Here was a stated intent. Could Seth follow through?

羅一直叫我別為此擔心。朋友和學生們似覺驚異，在所有人之中偏偏我倒有疑問。但我想，在所有人中，除了我誰還〝該〞有疑問？賽斯已說出了寫書的意圖，但他能完成它嗎？

Seth began dictating the book in our next Session 511, January 21, 1970, and finished it in Session 591, August 11, 1971. The intervening sessions did not all involve book dictation, however. Some were devoted to personal matters, some given for specific people who needed help, and some were in answer to philosophical questions not connected with the book. I also took several “little vacations.” Despite such layoffs, Seth always picked right up, precisely where he left off dictation.

賽斯在下一課––一九七O年一月二十一日的第五一節––開始口述，這本書在一九七一年八月十一日第五九一節大功告成。不過，其間的課並非全都涉及寫書的工作，有些是專為私人的事，有些是給需要幫助的某些人，有些是回答與書無關的哲學問題。我也有過幾次〝小休假〞。縱使有這種中斷,賽斯總是立刻精確地接上他口述中止的地方。

During the time that he was working on his book, I was writing four hours a day on a book of my own, conducting my weekly ESP class, and finding myself swamped by the correspondence that followed publication of The Seth Material. I also began holding a weekly class in creative writing.

在他寫〝他的書〞的期間，我每天花四小時寫我自己的書，指導我每周一次的ESP班，並發現我自己被《靈界的訊息》出版後的讀者來信所淹沒。我同時還開辦一周一次的創作班。

Out of curiosity, I looked over a few of the early chapters of Seth’s book, then stayed away from it. Occasionally Rob told me about a few passages that he thought my students might be particularly interested in. Otherwise I paid no attention to the book, being content to let Seth do it. Generally speaking, I put his work out of my mind, and didn’t even see the manuscript for months at a time.

出於好奇我看了賽斯的頭幾章，後來就不再碰了。偶爾羅告訴我一些他認為我的學生可能會特別感興趣的片段。除此之外我對之書不予注意，放心滿意讓賽斯去弄。一般而言，我不把他的工作放在心上，甚至幾個月都不看他的草稿。

Reading the finished book was a delightful experience. As a whole it was completely new to me, though each word had been spoken through my lips, and I had devoted many evenings in trance to its production. This was particularly strange to me since I am a writer myself, used to organizing my own material, keeping track of it, and hovering over it like a mother hen.

閱讀這完成了的書是個愉快的經驗。整體而言它對我是全新的，雖然每個字都是由我的嘴說出來的，而我曾奉獻許多個夜晚在出神狀態來製作它。這點對我來說格外的奇怪，因為我自己是個作家，慣於組織我自己的資料，追蹤它，並且像個母雞般地呵護它。

Because of my own writing experience, I’m also well aware of the process involved in translating unconscious material into conscious reality. It’s particularly obvious when I’m working on poetry. Whatever else is involved in Seth’s book, certainly some kind of unconscious activity is operating at high gear. It was only natural, then, that I found myself comparing my own conscious creative experience with the trance procedure involved in Seth’s book. I wanted to discover why I felt that Seth’s book was his, as divorced from mine. If both were coming from the same unconscious, then why the subjective differences in my feelings?

由於我自己的寫作經驗，我也熟知把無意識的資料轉譯為有意識實相的過程。這在我寫詩時格外明顯。不論賽斯的書還涉及了別的什麼，顯然某種無意識的活動是在〝高速檔〞運轉。那麼，很自然地，我發現自己在比較有意識的創作經驗與賽斯書所涉及的出神狀態的過程，我想要發現我為什麼感到賽斯的書是〝他的〞，而我的書是〝我的〞。如果兩者皆由同一個無意識而來，那麼為什麼在我的感覺裡有主觀上的不同？

These differences were obvious from the first. When I’m caught up in inspiration, writing a poem, then I’m “turned on,” excited, filled with a sense of urgency, and discovery. Just before this happens, however, an idea comes out of nowhere, it seems. It is “given.” It simply appears, and from it new creative connections spring.

從一開始這些〝不同〞就很明顯。當在寫一首詩，我沉浸在靈感裡時，那時我很〝來電〞、很興奮，充滿了一個急迫感與發現感。但是，正在這些發生之前，一個構想似乎無中生有地來了。它是〝現成的〞，就這麼突然出現了，而由它湧出了連綿不絕的新創意。

I’m alert, yet open and receptive — suspended in a strange psychic elasticity between poised attention and passivity. The particular poem or idea is the only thing in the world for me at that point. The highly personal involvement, the work and play involved in helping the idea “out,” all make the poem mine.

那時我是警醒的，卻又開放而富感受性，懸在〝寧靜的專注〞與〝被動〞之間的一種奇異的心靈彈性裡。在那一刹那，那特定的詩或意念對我而言是全世界獨一無二的事。這種極度個人性的投入，與促使這意念〝出生〞所涉及的工作和遊戲，全都使這首詩成為〝我的〞。

This kind of experience has been familiar to me since early childhood. It is the cornerstone of my existence. Without it, or when I am not working generally within that framework, I become listless and sad. To some degree, I have that same sense of personal creativity now, as I write this introduction. It is “mine.”

這種經驗從小即為我所熟知，它是我存在的要素。沒有它，或當我沒在那種情境裡工作時，我就變得無精打采而且憂傷。在我寫這序言時，我現在便有點那種同樣的發揮個人創造性的感覺，它是〝我的〞。

I was not connected in this way with Seth’s book, and had no awareness of the creative processes involved. I went into trance as I do for our regular sessions. Seth dictated the book through me, speaking through my lips. The creative work was so distant from me, that in this respect I could not call the product my own. I am, instead, given a complete product in Seth’s book — an excellent one — for which I am, of course, exceedingly grateful.

我與賽斯的書就沒有這種關聯，對它所涉及的創作過程也毫無知覺。我像在定期課裡那樣進入出神狀態，而賽斯透過我，經過我的口，口述此書。這創造工作與我相距這麼遠，因此在這方面來說我不能稱這作品為我自己的。反之，一部完整的––精彩的––賽斯作品交給了我，為此我自然是極端地感激。

I’ve found that only my own writing gives me the particular kind of creative satisfaction that I need, however — the conscious involvement with unconscious material, the “excitement of the chase.” Because Seth does his thing, I am not absolved from doing mine. I would feel deprived if I did not continue with my own work.

可是，我發現只有我自己的寫作才會給我，我所需的那種特別創造性的滿足感––有意識地投入於無意識資料，〝追尋的興奮〞。並不因為賽斯在做他的事，我就可以免除做我的。如果我不繼續自己的工作我會覺得被剝奪了什麼。

Anyone can say, of course, that in Seth’s book the hidden processes are so separate from my normal consciousness that the final product only seems to come from another personality. I can only state my own feelings and emphasize that Seth’s book, and the whole six-thousand-page manuscript of Seth material, don’t take care of my own creative expression or responsibility. If both came from the same unconscious, it seems that there would be no slack to take up.

當然，任何人都可以說，在賽斯書裡那神秘的過程與我的正常意識離得那麼遠，以致最後的成品只〝看起來〞是來自另一個人。我只能說明我自己的感覺，並且強調，賽斯的書以及賽斯資料的六千頁底稿，並沒影響到我自己創造性表達的需要或責任。如果兩者都來自那同樣的無意識，卻似並未減緩我工作的效率。

Despite this, I’m aware of the fact that I was necessary to the production of Seth’s book. He needs my ability with words; even, I think, my turn of mind. Certainly my writing training aids in the translation of his material and helps give it form, no matter how unconsciously this is done. Certain personality characteristics are important too, I imagine — the agility with which I can switch the focus of my consciousness, for example.

縱使如此，我知道賽斯書的製成還是少不了我。他需要我用字遣詞的能力；我想，甚至我的性向氣質。顯然我的寫作鍛練有助於轉譯他的資料，有助於給予它形式，不管這是多麼無意識地做到的。我猜想，某些人格上的特徵也是很重要的––例如我能敏捷的轉換我意識的焦點。

Seth intimates as much in Chapter Four, when he says, “Now the information in this book is being directed to some extent through the inner senses of the woman who is in trance as I write it. Such endeavor is the result of highly organized inner precision, and of training. [She] could not receive the information from me — it could not be translated nor interpreted — while she was focused intensely in the physical environment.”

在第四章裡賽斯也如此暗示，當他說：〝現在，當我寫這本書的時候，它的資料到某個程度是經由這位在出神狀態的女性之內在感官來指揮的，這是非常有組織的內在精確性與訓練的結果。當她全神貫注於物質環境時便不能自我這兒收到資料––它便無法被翻譯或詮釋。

Looked at merely as an example of unconscious production, however, Seth’s book clearly shows that organization, discrimination, and reasoning are certainly not qualities of the conscious mind alone, and demonstrates the range and activity of which the inner self is capable. I do not believe that I could get the equivalent of Seth’s book on my own. The best I could do would be to hit certain high points, perhaps in isolated poems or essays, and they would lack the overall unity, continuity, and organization that Seth has here provided automatically.

不過，如果只把賽斯書當作是〝無意識〞產品的一個例子，則它很明白地指出，組織性、辨識力和推理力等品質顯然不只為〝有意識的心智〞所獨有，並且它也展示了〝內我〞的能力和活動的範圍。我不相信靠我自己我能得到與賽斯書並駕齊驅的作品。我最多能做到的是，也許在某些詩作或論述裡偶爾達到某種高水準，但它們卻缺乏賽斯在此自動提供的整體統一性、連貫性和組織。

Besides this, I have certain unique experiences during sessions that seem to compensate for my lack of conscious creative involvement. Often I participate in Seth’s great energy and humor, for example, enjoying a sense of emotional richness and encountering Seth’s personality on a very strange level. I feel his mood and vitality clearly, though they are not directed at me, but to whomever Seth is addressing at the moment. I feel them as they pass through me.

除此之外，在課中我的某些經驗，似乎對我沒能有意識地涉入創作過程有所彌補。例如，我常參與了賽斯的大能量和幽默，享受一種情感上的富足感，並且在一個非常奇特的層面與賽斯接觸。我清楚地感覺到他的心情和活力，雖然它們不是對我而發，而是對他當時說話的對象。當它們流過我時我感覺得到。

As Rob’s notes show, I often have other kinds of experiences, also, while speaking for Seth. Sometimes, for instance, I see inner visions. These may illustrate what Seth is saying, so that I am receiving information in two ways, or they may be completely separate from the script. I’ve had several “out-of-body” experiences also during sessions, when I saw events actually happening some thousands of miles away.

如羅的註所顯示的，在替賽斯說話時我也常有別種的經驗。舉例來說，有時我看見內在的意象。這些可能把賽斯正在說的話以畫面表明出來，因此我在以兩種方式接收資料；或者它們也可能與稿子完全無關。在課中我也有過好幾次〝出體〞的經驗，那時我看見實際上發生在幾千哩外的事。

This book is Seth’s way of demonstrating that human personality is multidimensional, that we exist in many realities at once, that the soul or inner self is not something apart from us, but the very medium in which we exist. He emphasizes that “truth” is not found by going from teacher to teacher, church to church, or discipline to discipline, but by looking within the self. The intimate knowledge of consciousness, the “secrets of the universe,” are not esoteric truths to be hidden from the people, then. Such information is as natural to man as air, and as available to those who honestly seek it by looking to the source within.

賽斯用這本書來展示以下這些事實––人類人格是多次元的，我們同時存在於許多實相裡，靈魂或內我不是與我們分開的東西，而正是我們存在於其中的那個媒介。他強調〝真理〞並不是由追隨一位老師又一位老師，一個教會到另一個教會，一種訓練到另一種訓練而找到的，而是由內看自己來找到的。那麼對意識的深入知識，〝宇宙的奧秘〞，都不應該是不讓人們知道的密傳真理。這種資料對人而言就如空氣一樣自然，對那些向內源頭誠實地尋求的人也是同樣可以企及的。

In my opinion, Seth has written a book that is a classic of its kind. After referring to him cautiously as “a personality,” I feel bound to add that Seth is an astute philosopher and psychologist, deeply knowledgeable in the ways of human personality, and well aware of the triumph and plight of human consciousness.

照我的看法，賽斯寫了一本在它那類書中的經典之作。在小心地以一個〝人物〞稱他之後，我覺得必須補充說賽斯是個機敏的哲學家和心理學家，對人類人格的種種所知甚深，對人類意識的勝利與困境也瞭如指掌。

I’m personally intrigued, of course, that this book was written through me, without my conscious mind there at every point, anxiously checking, organizing, and criticizing, as it does in my own work. Then, while my creative and intuitional abilities are given a good deal of freedom, the conscious mind is definitely in control. Yet this book was not written “by itself,” in the same way that some poems seem to be. Often a writer will say that a certain book “wrote itself,” and I know what that means. In this case, however, the book came from a specific source, not just from “out there,” and it is colored by the author’s personality, which is not mine.

當然，令我個人深感好奇的是，這本書透過我而寫出，但我的〝意識心〞（譯註：亦即有意識的心智）並沒有時時在關懷地核對、組織與批評，如它在我自己的作品中所做的那樣。那時，雖然我的創造和直觀能力被予以相當大的自由，意識心仍確然是居控制地位的。可是這本書卻又不是〝由它自己〞寫出來的，像某些詩彷彿是自己產生的那樣。一個作家有時會說某一本書是〝自己寫成的〞，我了解那是什麼意思。然而，在這個例子裡，這本書來自一個特定的源頭，不只是從〝天外〞而來，並且它浸染著作者而非我的個人風格。

The whole creative venture may be the initiation of a personality, Seth, who then writes books. Seth may be as much of a creation as his book is. If so, this is an excellent instance of multidimensional art, done at such a rich level of unconsciousness that the “artist” is unaware of her own work and as much intrigued by it as anyone else.

這整個〝創造性的冒險〞也許是先有〝賽斯〞這個人物之被創始，而後由他來寫書。賽斯也許是個和他的書一樣的被造物。如果這樣，這是個多次元藝術的絕佳例子，在〝無意識〞的如此豐富的一個層面造成，以致那〝藝術家〞對她自己的作品也無所知覺，而與任何外人一樣地深感好奇。

This is an interesting hypothesis. In fact, Seth speaks about multidimensional art in his book. But Seth does more than write books. He is a fully developed personality with a variety of interests: writing, teaching, helping others. His sense of humor is quite individualistic and unlike mine. He is shrewd; in his manner more earthy than ethereal. He knows how to explain complex theories simply, in person-to-person contact. Perhaps more important, he is able to relate these ideas to ordinary living.

這是個有趣的假設。事實上，賽斯在他的書中也提及了多次元的藝術。但賽斯還不只是寫書而已，他是個發展完全的人格，具有多方面的興趣：寫作、教書、幫助別人。他的幽默感十分具個人色彩而不像我的。他很精明，他的態度是入世而非空靈的。在與人面對面的接觸中，他知道如何簡明地解釋複雜的理論。也許更重要的是，他能把這些概念與日常生活連接起來。

Seth also appears frequently in the dreams of my students, giving them instructions that work — either involving methods of using their abilities or of achieving certain goals. Almost all of my students have frequent “class dreams,” also, in which Seth addresses them as a group and initiates dream experiments. Sometimes they see him as he appears in the portrait Rob painted of him. On occasion he speaks through my image, as in normal sessions. I have awakened many times, when such dream sessions were taking place, hearing Seth’s words still lingering in my mind.

賽斯也時常出現在我學生的夢裡，給予他們有效的指導––教他們運用他們才能的方法或是達成某種目的的方法。幾乎我所有的學生也都常有〝上課的夢〞，在其中賽斯對他們全體說話，就像在正常的課裡一樣。有好多次當這種〝夢中課〞正在發生的時候，我醒了過來，而我心中仍聽見賽斯的話在縈繞。

It’s not unusual that students should dream of Seth, of course, or that they should dream of me. But certainly Seth has achieved independent status in their eyes and has become a vehicle of instruction even in the dream state. In other words, besides producing the continuing Seth material and this book, Seth has entered the minds and consciousness of many people.

當然，學生夢見賽斯並不稀奇，也不是說他們只該夢見我。但賽斯確乎已在他們眼中建立了獨立的地位，甚至在夢境也變成了教導的工具。換言之，除了製作連續不斷的賽斯資料和此書外，賽斯也已進入了許多人的心和意識裡。

This is a good deal of accomplishment in seven years for any personality, regardless of its status. For a nonphysical personality, it is astonishing indeed. To ascribe all of this activity to a figment of the unconscious seems rather much. (In the same amount of time I’ve published two books, finished another, and begun a fourth. I mention this to show that Seth hasn’t been absorbing any of my own creativity.)

不論他的地位如何，一個人在七年內能做到這些，已是很大的成就，何況賽斯是一個沒有肉身的人物，那就真的是令人驚愕了。把所有這些活動都歸於一個無意識的虛構之物似乎太過分了。（在等量的時間裡，我出版了兩本書，寫完了另一本，並且開始了第四本。我提這個以示賽斯並未吸取任何我自己的創造力。）

Rob and I don’t refer to Seth as a spirit; we dislike the connotations of the term. Actually what we object to is the conventional idea of a spirit, which is an extension of quite limited ideas of human personality, only projected more or less intact into an afterlife. You can say that Seth is a dramatization of the unconscious or an independent personality. Personally, I don’t see why the statements have to be contradictory. Seth may be a dramatization playing a very real role — explaining his greater reality in the only terms we can understand. This is my opinion at this time.

羅和我並不視賽斯為一個靈，我們不喜歡這個名詞所暗含的寓意。事實上我們反對的是對幽靈的傳統觀念，那是延伸自對人類人格的十分局限的概念，只是多少未變地被投射到來世。你可以說賽斯是一個被戲劇化了的〝無意識〞或一個獨立人格。我個人看不出這兩者有什麼矛盾。賽斯也許是個戲劇化人物，演出一個非常真實的角色––以我們能了解的唯一方式解釋他更廣大的實相。這是我目前的看法。

First of all, to me the term “unconscious” is a poor one, barely hinting at an actual open psychic system, with deep intertwining roots uniting all kinds of consciousness; a network in which we are all connected. Our individuality rises out of it, but also helps form it. This source contains past, present, and future information; only the ego experiencing time as we know it. I also believe that this open system contains other kinds of consciousness beside our own.

首先，對我來說〝無意識〞這名詞並不妥，它僅只暗示一個本來開放的心靈系統，具有統一各種意識的交互連接的深根；一個我們全在其中互相連接的網狀組織。我們的個人性由它升起，同時也助其形成。這源頭包含過去、現在與未來的資料；只有自我（ego）在經驗我們所知的時間。我也相信這開放系統包含了我們之外的他種意識。

Because of my own experiences, particularly with out-of-body states, I’m convinced that consciousness is not dependent upon physical matter. Certainly physical expression is my main mode of existence right now, but I don’t take this to infer that all consciousness must be so oriented. Only the most blind egotism, it seems to me, would dare define reality in its own terms or project its own limitations and experience upon the rest of existence.

由於我自身的經驗，尤其是〝出體〞狀態的經驗，使我深信意識是不必依賴物質的。目前有肉身這副模樣確乎是〝我的〞主要的存在模式，但我不以此而推斷所有的意識必須如此取向。在我看來，只有最盲目的自我主義才敢拿它自己的看法來界定實相，或把它自己的限制和經驗投射到其餘的存在界上。

I accept Seth’s idea of multidimensional personality as described in this book because my experiences, and those of my students seem to confirm it. I also think that in that open system of consciousness and unlimited source, there is an independent Seth who operates in quite different terms than we do.

我接受如賽斯在此書中所描述的多次元人格的概念，因為我及我學生的經驗似乎證實了它。我也認為在那意識的開放系統和無限泉源裡，有一個獨立的賽斯以與我們相當不同的角度運作。

In what terms? Quite honestly, I don’t know. The closest I’ve come to explaining my own views was in a short intuitive statement I wrote for my ESP class, as I tried to clear my ideas for myself and my students as well. Rob had told me about the “Speakers”, as Seth calls them in this book — personalities who continually speak to man through the ages, reminding him of inner knowledge so that it is never really forgotten. This evocative idea inspired me to write the small piece which I am including here. It points up the framework in which I think Seth and others like him may exist.

以何種角度？老實說，我不知道。有一次當我試著為自己、也為ESP班的學生澄清我的概念時，寫下了一個簡短而直觀性的聲明，我認為最接近我的看法。羅曾告訴我有關〝說法者〞的事，賽斯在此書中對他們如此稱呼，他們是歷代以來不斷對人們說法的人，提醒人內在的知識，以使它永不會真的被遺忘。這個意念喚起我的靈感，使我寫下這一篇小品。它指出我認為賽斯及其他像他的〝人〞也許存在於其中的那個架構。

“We come together in ways that we do not understand. We’re composed of elements, chemicals, and atoms, and yet we speak and call ourselves by name. We organize about our inner stuff the outer stuff that coagulates into flesh and bone. Our identities or personalities spring from sources we do not know.

〝我們以我們所不了解的方式合成。我們是由元素、化學物質及原子所組成，但我們卻開口說話並自取名字。圍繞著我們的內在，我們組織了外在物質，凝結成肌肉與骨骼。我們的本體或人格由我們所不知的泉源湧起。

“Perhaps what we are has always waited, hidden in the possibilities of creation, dispersed and unknowing — in the rain and wind that swept across Europe in the thirteenth century — in the heaving mountain ranges — in the clouds that rushed through the skies of other times and places. As dust particles, we may have blown past Greek doorways. We may have been sparked on and off into consciousness and unconsciousness a million times, touched by desire, by yearnings toward creativity and perfection we barely understood.

〝也許現在的我們會一直在那兒等待著，隱藏在創造的可能性中，四散而茫昧的––在十三世紀掃過歐州的雨與風中––在起伏的山巒間––在湧過另一個時地的天空的雲朵裡。身為塵沙，我們也許曾吹過希臘的門廓。也許我們曾無數次地明滅於有意識與無意識之間，被我們還不太了解的對創造與完美的欲望與渴望所觸及。

“And so there may be others now (like Seth), also without images, but knowing — others who have been what we are and more — others who remember what we have forgotten. They may have discovered through some acceleration of consciousness other forms of being, or dimensions of reality of which we are also part.

〝因而現在可能有其他的〝人〞（如賽斯），也沒有形象，但卻有知––他們曾是我們現在的樣子，但還要更多––他們記著我們已遺忘了的。也許經由意識的加速他們發現了其他的存在形式，或其他我們也為其一部分的實相次元。

“So we give them names who are nameless, as basically we are nameless. And we listen, but usually we try to squeeze their messages into concepts that we can understand, cloaking them in worn stereotyped images. Yet they are all about us, in the wind and trees, formed and unformed, more alive in many ways perhaps than we are — the speakers.

〝因此我們給那些無名者名字，就如我們本也是無名的。我們傾聽，但通常我們試圖把他們的訊息擠入我們能懂的觀念裡，給它們穿上陳腐的樣版形象。但他們卻就在我們周遭，在風裡在樹梢；有形的和無形的，在許多方面也許比我們還活潑––那些說法者。

“Through these voices, these intuitions, these flashes of insights and messages, the universe speaks to us, to each of us personally. You are being addressed, and so am I. Learn to hear your own messages, not to distort what you hear or translate it into old alphabets.

〝透過這些聲音、這些直覺、這些閃現的靈光與訊息，宇宙向我們說話，向我們每個人說話。對你們說，也對我說。學著聆聽你們自己的訊息，不要扭曲你們所聽見的，或把它譯成陳腔濫調。

“In class (and in life, generally,) I think we are responding to such messages, sometimes acting them out with almost childlike wisdom, forming them into dramas that are original and individualistic — dramas that arouse within us meanings that cannot be put into words.

〝在班上（一般而言，並且在生活中）我認為我們的確在對這種訊息起反應，有時以幾近孩童似的智慧把它們演出來，形成原創、個人的戲劇––由我們內在喚起無可名狀的意義之戲劇。

“This may be the kind of play in which the ‘gods’ indulge, from which creations grow, sprawling out in all directions. We may be responding to the gods in ourselves — those inner sparks of knowing that defy our own three-dimensional knowledge.

〝這也許是“神明們”沉浸其中的那種戲劇，創造自它生成，而向各方面蔓延。我們內心也許在對神明們響應––那內心的了解之火花，超越了我們自己三次元的知識。

“Seth may be leading us out of our usual limitations, into another realm that is ours by right — elemental whether we are in flesh or out of it. He may be the voice of our combined selves, saying, ‘While you are conscious bodies, remember what it was like and will be like to be bodiless, to be freewheeling energy without a name but with a voice that does not need tongue, with a creativity that does not need flesh. We are yourselves, turned inside out.’”

〝賽斯也許在引導我們脫出通常的限制，進入本來就屬於我們的另一個領域––不論我們在肉體之內或之外它都是基本的。他也許是集合在一起的我們的聲音，說道：〝當你們是有意識的身體時，要記得以前和未來，當你們沒有身體，作為無羈的能量，沒有名字卻只有不需舌頭的聲音，具有不需肉體的創造性時，你們是怎麼樣的。我們即你們自己，裡外翻了個面而已。〞

Regardless of my ideas about Seth or the nature of reality, however, this manuscript must stand on its own as a book. It bears the mark of Seth’s personality, as any book carries indelibly within it the stamp of its author, no more and no less. The ideas within it deserve a hearing, despite their source, and conversely, because of it.

然而不管我對賽斯或實相本質的看法如何，這稿本必須獨立成書。它具有賽斯這〝人〞的印記，正如任一本書都自有其作者不可磨滅的烙印，絲毫不爽。在這本書內的觀念值得一聽，不論其來源，而又正因其來源。

When our sessions first began, I thought of publishing the material as my own, so that it could be accepted for its value, without introducing questions about its source. This did not seem just, however, because the way the Seth material is produced is part of the message and reinforces it.

當我們的課剛開始時，我想過用我自己的名義出版這本書，好讓人因為它的價值而接受它，又不會讓人對它的來源起疑。然而，這似乎是不公平的，因為賽斯資料產生的方式不但是它傳遞的訊息的一部分，並且也強化了訊息本身。

Seth’s dictation is given as we received it, in order, with no paragraphs added or deleted. He certainly knows the difference between spoken and written language. His class sessions are less formal, with a good amount of give and take. This book, though, is much more like our own private sessions in which the body of the material is delivered. The emphasis is more definitely on content, the stress on the written rather than the spoken word.

我們把賽斯的口述如我們所收到的那樣印出來，按照次序，既無增潤也無減損。他顯然明白口說和寫作用字的不同。他在ESP班上的課比較不正式，有相當的相互交流。這本書卻更像我們自己的私人課，此書大體是在課裡傳遞的。可以更明確的看出，所強調的是內容，更著重文字而非口語性的陳述。

Seth’s sentence structure has not been changed either, except in occasional instances. (A few times I made two sentences out of one long one, for example.) Much of the punctuation was indicated by Seth. In such cases, we just inserted the hyphens, semicolons, and parentheses as he suggested, and deleted the directions themselves to avoid distracting the reader. Where Seth asked for quotes, we have used double quotes; otherwise, where the meaning seems to call for them, single quotation marks are used. Seth also instructed us to underline certain words.

賽斯的語句結構也沒被改變，除了在偶爾的例子（例如少數幾次我將一長句變成兩個句子）。賽斯也指明了很多標點符號。在這種時候，我們只依照他的指示加上破折號、分號與括號，而把他指示的話語本身略去，以免讓讀者分心。賽斯也指示我們在某些字句下劃線。

Seth’s sentences are often long, particularly for verbal delivery, yet he never gets lost or loses touch with syntax or meaning. Whenever a difficulty seemed to exist in this respect, we checked the original session and saw that somewhere along the line an error in copying had been made. (I noticed this particularly, since I have tried dictating letters into a recorder, with noted lack of success. After the first few sentences, I had great difficulty in remembering what I’d said, or how I expressed it.)

賽斯的句子往往很長，特別是就口語演說而言，但他卻從不弄亂或與造句法或意義脫節。不論何時只要在這方面似乎有困難，我們查核原先的課，就會發現是在謄寫過程某一處出了錯所致。（我特別注意到這點，因為我試過用錄音機口述信件，但顯然很少成功。在頭幾句之後，我很難記得我說過了什麼，或我是如何地表達它的。）

Proofreading involved work on Rob’s notes mainly, as he made them more presentable. In some cases, material not a part of the book was included if it seemed relevant, cast sidelights on the method of presentation, or gave insights into Seth himself. As Rob’s notes also show, Seth began dictating the Appendix as soon as the book was finished. Rather amusingly, I didn’t realize that Seth had already begun the Appendix, and I spent several days wondering just who was supposed to take care of it — and if Seth was, when he would begin.

校對主要是修正羅的筆記，當他把它們弄得更像樣一點。在有些情形，不屬此書的資料也包括了進去，若它們似與正文有關，對本書的表達方法有間接的說明，或對賽斯本身有所洞見。如羅的註記所示，賽斯在書完成後立即口述〝附錄〞。好笑的是，我並不曉得賽斯已經開始了〝附錄〞，倒花了好幾天在猜測到底該是誰來管這檔子事––而如果是賽斯管，他何時會開始。

Here is another note of interest along these lines. I write three drafts of my own work, and sometimes still wind up dissatisfied. This book was dictated in its final draft. Seth also followed his outline far more faithfully than I’ve ever followed mine. He also deviated from it in some cases, however, as is every author’s right.

這兒再說一件有趣的事：為我自己的書我要寫三遍草稿，有時到末了仍不盡滿意。此書口述出來卻就是它最後的定稿。賽斯也遠比我更忠於他訂的大綱。不過，他也偶爾離題，正如每個作者應有的權利。

From here on, Seth speaks for himself.

從這兒開始，由賽斯自己發言了。

Jane Roberts Elmira, New York September 27, 1971