自由
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中文
第七章
自由
除了"行动"这一含义之外，我们曾指出，从心理学角度而言，"业力"（Karma）一词同样意味着因果关系。任何产生效果的行动、任何作为、任何思想，皆称为业力。因此，业力法则意味着因果律，意味着必然的原因与结果的序列。无论何处有因，该处必然产生果；这种必然性不可抗拒。根据我们的哲学，这一业力法则在整个宇宙中皆为真实。无论我们所见、所感、所为，无论宇宙中何处有任何行动，它一方面是过去行动的结果，另一方面又依次成为原因，产生其自身的效果。与此同时，还有必要思考"法则"（规律）这个词的含义。所谓法则，是指一系列现象重复自身的倾向。当我们看到一个事件跟随在另一个事件之后，或有时与另一个事件同时发生，我们便期望这种序列或共存能够再次出现。我们古代正理派（Nyaya）的逻辑学家和哲学家，以"周遍"（Vyapti）这个名称来称呼这一法则。依他们之见，我们所有关于法则的观念都源于联结（association）。一系列现象以某种固定不变的顺序与我们心中的事物联结在一起，因此无论我们在任何时候所感知到什么，都会立即被引涉到心中其他的事实。任何一个观念，或者按照我们的心理学，心质（Chitta）中产生的任何一个波，都必然引发许多类似的波。这便是联结的心理学观念，而因果性不过是这一宏大而普遍的联结原则的一个方面。这种联结的普遍性，在梵文中被称为"周遍"（Vyapti）。在外部世界中，法则的观念与在内部世界中是相同的——期望某一特定现象将被另一现象所跟随，且这个序列将会重复。因此，严格地说，法则在自然界中并不存在。实际上，说地球中存在引力，或在自然界的任何地方客观存在任何法则，都是一个错误。法则是我们的心灵把握一系列现象的方式、方法；它全在于心灵之中。某些现象相继发生或同时发生，加之对其规律性重现的确信——从而使我们的心灵能够把握整个系列的方式——这便构成了我们所称的法则。
下一个需要思考的问题是，我们所说的法则的普遍性是什么意思。我们的宇宙，是存在中以梵文心理学家所谓"空间、时间、因果"（Desha-kala-nimitta）——即欧洲心理学所说的空间、时间与因果——为特征的那一部分。这个宇宙只是无限存在的一部分，被铸入了一种由空间、时间与因果所构成的特殊模式之中。由此必然可以得出结论：法则只在这个有条件的宇宙之内才是可能的；超越其外，便不可能存在任何法则。当我们谈及宇宙时，我们所指的，只是受我们心灵所限制的那部分存在——感官的宇宙，我们能够看见、感受、触摸、听闻、思考和想象的那个宇宙。这一宇宙才在法则之下；但超越它之外，存在便不能受制于法则，因为因果关系并不延伸至我们心灵范围之外的世界，而且没有观念的联结便没有因果性，感官范围之外的区域中便没有观念的联结。只有当"存在"或实有被铸入名与形之中，它才服从因果律，才被称为处于法则之下；因为所有法则的本质皆在于因果性。因此，我们立即可以看到，根本不可能存在所谓的自由意志这种东西；这个词本身就是一个矛盾，因为意志是我们所知晓的，而我们所知晓的一切皆在我们的宇宙之内，宇宙中的一切皆被空间、时间与因果的条件所塑造。我们所知晓或可能知晓的一切，都必须服从因果律，而服从因果律的东西不可能是自由的。它受到其他力的作用，并依次成为原因。然而那转化为意志的东西——它在转化之前并非意志，但当它落入空间、时间与因果这一模式之中时，便转化为人类的意志——那个才是自由的；当这意志脱离空间、时间与因果这一模式时，它将再度自由。它从自由中而来，被铸入这奴役之中，然后脱出，重归于自由。
关于这个宇宙从何而来、安住于何处、归向何处的问题，已有人提出，并已给出答案：它从自由中来，安住于束缚之中，再归向那自由。因此，当我们说人不过是那无限存在本身的显现时，我们的意思是，其中只有极小的一部分是人；我们所见的这个身体与这颗心灵，只是整体的一个部分，只是无限存在中的一个点。这整个宇宙只是无限存在中的一粒微尘；我们所有的法则、奴役、喜悦与悲伤、幸福与期望，都只在这个小小的宇宙之内；我们所有的进步与退步，都在其有限的范围之内。由此可以看出，期望这个宇宙——我们心灵的创造物——的延续是多么幼稚，以及期望去往天堂是多么幼稚，而天堂归根结底不过意味着这个我们所知晓的世界的重复。你们立即可以看到，要使无限存在的全体符合我们所知晓的那种有限而有条件的存在，是一种不可能且幼稚的愿望。当一个人说他还要一遍又一遍地得到这同样的东西——他如今正在厌恶的东西——，或者，如我有时所表达的，当他寻求一种舒适的宗教时，你便知道他已变得如此堕落，以至于无法想象任何高于其当下的事物；他不过就是他那渺小的当下环境，仅此而已。他已忘却了自己无限的本性，其所有的观念都局限于这些片刻的小小喜悦、悲伤与心中的嫉妒。他以为这种有限的东西就是无限的；不仅如此，他还不愿意放下这种愚昧。他死死地抓住"执渴"（Trishna）不放，抓住对生命的渴望——佛教徒所谓的"爱欲"（Tanha）与"渴望"（Tissa）。在我们所知晓的这个小宇宙之外，可能有数以百万计的各种幸福、存在、法则、进步与因果关系，都在其中运作；而归根结底，这一切不过构成我们无限本性中的一个部分。
为了获得自由，我们必须超越这个宇宙的种种局限；自由无法在此间寻得。完全的平衡，或如基督徒所称的"超越理解的平安"，在这个宇宙之中无从获得，在天堂之中无从获得，在我们的心灵与思想所能抵达之处无从获得，在感官所能感受之处无从获得，在想象所能构想之处无从获得。没有任何这样的地方能给予我们那种自由，因为所有这样的地方都在我们的宇宙之内，而宇宙受制于空间、时间与因果。宇宙之外或许存在比我们这个地球更为精微的地方，享乐或许在那里更为深邃，但那些地方也必然在宇宙之内，因而也处于法则的束缚之中；所以我们必须超越，真正的宗教便从这个小宇宙终结之处开始。那些小小的喜悦与悲伤、那些对事物的知识，在那里终结，而实在在那里开始。除非我们放弃对生命的渴望，放弃对这我们短暂的有条件的存在的强烈执著，否则我们连那无限自由的一瞥也无望捕捉到，而那自由正是人类所有崇高理想的目标。由此可以推断，要达到那种自由——人类所有崇高愿望之目标——只有一条路，那就是放弃这小小的生命，放弃这小小的宇宙，放弃这个地球，放弃天堂，放弃身体，放弃心灵，放弃一切有限与有条件的事物。若我们放弃对感官或心灵这个小宇宙的执著，我们便会立即获得自由。走出束缚的唯一途径，就是超越法则的局限，超越因果关系。
然而，放弃对这个宇宙的执著是极为困难的事，鲜有人能真正做到。我们的典籍中提到了两种做到这一点的方法。一种称为"非此，非此"（Neti，Neti），另一种称为"即此"（Iti）；前者是否定的途径，后者是肯定的途径。否定的途径是最为艰难的。它只对那些具有最高超凡心灵与巨大意志力的人才是可能的，他们只需挺身而立，宣言："不，我不要这些"，而心灵与身体服从其意志，他们便成功地走了出来。但这样的人极为罕见。绝大多数人类选择肯定的途径——穿越世界的途径，利用一切束缚本身来打破那些束缚。这也是一种放弃；只不过它是缓慢而渐进地完成的，通过了解事物、享受事物，从而获得经验，认识事物的本性，直至心灵最终放下它们一切，变得无执著。前一种获得无执著的方式是通过推理，而后一种方式是通过行动与经验。前者是智慧瑜伽（Jnana-Yoga）的道路，其特征是拒绝从事任何行动；后者是业力瑜伽的道路，其中行动从不停止。宇宙中每个人都必须行动。只有那些完全满足于真我（Atman）、其欲望不超出真我范围、心灵从不游离真我之外、以真我为一切的人，才不需行动。其余的人都必须行动。一股奔涌的水流，依其本性跌入一个深穴，形成一个漩涡，在那个漩涡中旋转片刻之后，再次以自由水流的形式涌出，继续无阻地流淌。每一个人的生命都如同那股水流。它卷入漩涡，陷入这个空间、时间与因果的世界，旋转片刻，呼喊着："我的父亲、我的兄弟、我的名字、我的声誉"等等，最终从中涌出，重获其原有的自由。整个宇宙都在做这件事。无论我们是否知晓，无论我们是否有意识，我们所有人都在努力走出世界的梦幻漩涡。人在世间的经历，正是为了使他能够走出其漩涡。
什么是业力瑜伽？乃是行动奥秘的知识。我们看到整个宇宙都在行动。为了什么？为了解脱（Moksha），为了自由；从原子到最高的存在，一切都在为同一目标而努力——心灵的自由、身体的自由、灵魂的自由。一切事物都在不断尝试获得自由，力图摆脱束缚。太阳、月亮、地球、诸行星，都在力图摆脱束缚。自然界的离心力与向心力，确实是我们宇宙的典型象征。若不知道如何在这个宇宙中利用行动，我们便是被它所击打，在漫长的延迟与磨难之后，才以艰苦的方式认识事物的本来面目。业力瑜伽使我们学习行动的奥秘、行动的方法、行动的组织力量。若我们不知道如何加以利用，大量的能量可能会白白浪费。业力瑜伽使行动成为一门科学；通过它，你学习如何最充分地利用这个世界一切运作的力量。行动是不可避免的，它必然如此；但我们应当为最高的目的而行动。业力瑜伽使我们承认，这个世界不过是五分钟的世界，是我们必须穿越的某种东西；自由不在于此，只能在彼处寻得。要找到走出世界束缚的道路，我们必须缓慢而稳健地穿越它。或许存在我刚才所说的那些例外的人，他们能够置身事外，如蛇蜕皮后远远地注视着蛇皮一样，放下这个世界并远离观望。这样的例外存在，毋庸置疑；但其余的人类则必须缓慢地穿越行动的世界。业力瑜伽揭示了这一过程的方法、奥秘，以及如何以最大的效益来完成这一过程。
它说什么？"不停地行动，但放弃对行动的一切执著。"不要将自己与任何事物认同。保持心灵自由。你所见到的这一切，那些痛苦与悲惨，不过是这个世界的必然条件；贫穷与财富、快乐与不快乐，都不过是转瞬即逝的；它们根本不属于我们的真实本性。我们的本性远在悲惨与幸福之上，远在感官的任何对象之上，远在想象之上；然而我们必须不停地行动。"悲惨来自执著，而非来自行动。"一旦我们将自己与所做的工作认同，我们便感到悲惨；但若我们不将自己与工作认同，便不会感到那种悲惨。若属于他人的一幅美丽画作被焚毁，人通常不会感到悲惨；但若是他自己的画作被焚毁，他会多么悲惨！为什么？两幅都是美丽的画作，或许是同一原作的临摹；但在一种情况下感受到的悲惨，远比另一种情况深重得多。原因在于，他在一种情况下将自己与那幅画认同，而在另一种情况下则没有。这种"我与我的"造成了全部的悲惨。有了占有感，便有了自私；自私带来悲惨。每一个自私的行动，每一个自私的念头，都使我们执著于某物，随即我们便成为奴隶。心质（Chitta）中每一个说"我与我的"的波，都立即将一条锁链套在我们身上，使我们成为奴隶；而我们说"我与我的"越多，奴役便越深，悲惨便越重。因此，业力瑜伽告诉我们要享受世界上所有画作的美，但不要将自己与任何一幅认同。永远不要说"我的"。无论何时我们说某物是"我的"，悲惨便会立即到来。即便在心里也不要说"我的孩子"。占有这个孩子，但不要说"我的"。若你这样说，悲惨便将随之而来。不要说"我的房子"，不要说"我的身体"。全部困难就在于此。这个身体既不属于你，也不属于我，也不属于任何人。这些身体依据自然的法则而来而去，但我们是自由的，作为见证者而立。这个身体并不比一幅画或一堵墙更为自由。为何我们要如此执著于一个身体？若某人画了一幅画，他画完了就走开了。不要伸出那自私的触角："我必须拥有它"。一旦那触角伸出，悲惨便开始了。
因此，业力瑜伽说，首先摧毁那种伸出自私触角的倾向；当你有能力制止它时，将它收回，不要让心灵走上自私的道路。然后你便可以走入世界，尽你所能地行动。无论到哪里，与谁交往；你都不会被恶所污染。荷花叶片浮于水面，水无法触及并附着于它；你在世界中也将如此。这便是所谓的"离欲"（Vairagya），即超然或无执著。我相信我已经告诉过你们，没有无执著，便不可能有任何形式的瑜伽。无执著是所有瑜伽的基础。那个放弃在房屋中居住、穿着华美衣裳、享用美食，而走入荒漠的人，或许是执著最深的人。他唯一的所有物——他自己的身体——或许成了他的一切；当他活着时，他不过是为了自己的身体而挣扎。无执著并不意味着我们对外在身体所做的任何事情，它完全在于心灵之中。"我与我的"这一束缚的纽带，存在于心灵之中。若我们与身体及感官事物没有这种联结，无论身处何处、从事何事，我们便是无执著的。一个人可以身处王座之上而完全无执著；另一个人可以衣衫褴褛却依然执著极深。首先，我们必须达到这种无执著的状态，然后不停地行动。业力瑜伽为我们提供了帮助我们放弃一切执著的方法，尽管这确实非常困难。
以下是放弃一切执著的两种方式。其一适用于不信仰神或任何外在帮助的人。他们只能依靠自身；他们只能凭借自己的意志力、心灵的力量与辨别力（Viveka）来工作，对自己说："我必须无执著。"对于信仰神的人，则有另一种方式，其难度要小得多。他们将行动的果实献于神；他们行动，却从不执著于结果。无论他们所见、所感、所闻、所为，皆是为了神。我们所行的任何善事，切勿求取任何称赞或利益。这是属于神的；将果实献于祂。让我们置身事外，想到我们不过是服从主人——我们的主——的仆人，而每一个行动的冲动，每时每刻皆来自于祂。你所礼拜的、你所感知的、你所行的一切，全部献上于祂，安住于平静之中。让我们与自身处于平静，完全的平静之中，将我们整个的身体与心灵以及一切，作为永恒的祭品献于神。以往人们将祭品倒入火中，而今日夜不息地行这一大祭——牺牲你渺小自我的祭品。"在这世界中寻求财富，我只发现唯有你是我找到的财富；我将自己牺牲于你。在寻求可以被爱的人，我只发现唯有你是我找到的至爱；我将自己牺牲于你。"让我们日夜重复这句话，并说："没有什么是为了我的；无论那事物是好是坏是无关紧要的，我都不在乎；我将一切献于你。"日夜不停地让我们舍弃那表象的自我，直到舍弃成为我们的习惯，直到它流入血液、神经与大脑，直到整个身体在每一刻都服从于这一自我舍弃的观念。然后走入战场中间，在轰鸣的炮声与战争的喧嚣之中，你将发现自己是自由而平静的。
业力瑜伽教导我们，关于责任的通常观念处于较低的层面；然而，我们所有人都必须尽到我们的责任。然而我们可以看到，这种特殊的责任感往往是悲惨的一大根源。责任对我们成了一种疾病；它不断地驱使我们向前。它抓住我们，使我们的整个生命变得悲惨。它是人类生命的祸患。这种责任，这种责任的观念，是那在内心深处炙烤人类灵魂的仲夏烈日。看看那些可怜的责任奴隶吧！责任不给他们时间祈祷，不给他们时间沐浴。责任无处不在地压迫着他们。他们出门工作，责任压在他们身上！他们回家，又在思考明天的工作。责任压在他们身上！这是过着一种奴隶的生活，最终在街上倒下，如马一般死在拉车途中。这就是通常所理解的责任。唯一真正的责任，是无执著地行动，作为自由的存在去行动，将一切工作献于神。我们所有的责任都是属于祂的。有福了，我们被命令来到这里。我们服着我们的役期；无论我们服得好是坏，又有谁知晓？若我们服得好，我们也得不到果实。若我们服得不好，我们同样也得不到忧虑。安住于平静，自由地行动。这种自由是极难达到的事情。将奴役解释为责任是多么容易——把肉体对肉体那种病态的依附解释为责任！人们走入世界，为金钱或为任何他们所执著的其他事物而挣扎与争斗。问他们为何这样做，他们回答说："这是责任。"这不过是对金银财帛荒唐贪婪，而他们试图用几朵鲜花来掩盖它。
责任究竟是什么？它实际上是肉体的冲动，是我们执著的冲动；当一种执著变得根深蒂固时，我们便称之为责任。例如，在没有婚姻制度的地方，丈夫与妻子之间便没有责任；当婚姻制度出现，丈夫与妻子便因执著而生活在一起；这种共同生活的方式经历数代之后逐渐固定下来；当它如此固定之后，便成为一种责任。可以说，这是一种慢性病。当它是急性的，我们称之为疾病；当它是慢性的，我们称之为天性。它是一种疾病。因此，当执著变成慢性之后，我们便以责任这个冠冕堂皇的名称为其施洗。我们在它上面撒满鲜花，为它吹奏喇叭，在它上面诵读圣文，然后整个世界为这种责任而战斗，人们为了这种责任而认真地相互劫夺。责任在限制兽性方面是有益的。对于那些无法拥有任何其他理想的最低层次的人，责任有某种益处；但那些想要成为业力瑜伽修行者的人，必须将责任这种观念抛之脑后。对你我而言，没有任何责任。无论你必须给予这个世界什么，尽管给予；但不要将它当作责任。不要对此有任何顾虑。不要受强迫。为什么你要受强迫？你在强迫之下所做的一切，都会增长执著。为何你要有任何责任？将一切归于神。在这熊熊燃烧的烈炉之中，责任的烈焰烤炙着每一个人，喝下这杯甘露而获得幸福。我们不过都是在执行祂的旨意，与奖惩毫无关系。若你想要奖赏，你也必须接受惩罚；摆脱惩罚的唯一方式是放弃奖赏。走出悲惨的唯一方式，是放弃幸福的观念，因为这两者是相互关联的。一边是幸福，另一边是悲惨。一边是生，另一边是死。超越死亡的唯一方式，是放弃对生命的眷恋。生与死从不同的角度看是同一件事情。因此，没有悲惨的幸福、没有死亡的生命这样的观念，对小学生和孩童而言是很好的；但思想者看到这不过是一个自相矛盾的概念，于是两者都放弃了。不要为你所做的任何事情寻求称赞或奖赏。我们一旦做了一件好事，便开始渴望被人称赞。我们一旦将钱捐给某项慈善，便希望看到自己的名字被大肆刊登于报纸之上。悲惨必然是这种欲望的结果。世界上最伟大的人都在默默无闻中逝去。我们所知晓的那些佛陀们与基督们，与世界所不知晓的最伟大人物相比，不过是二流的英雄。这些默默无闻的英雄，数以百计地生活在每一个国家，默默地工作。他们默默地生，默默地逝；随着时间的流逝，他们的思想在佛陀们或基督们身上得到表达，而这些人才被我们所认识。最高的人不寻求从其知识中获取任何名望或声誉。他们将自己的思想留给这个世界；他们对自己不作任何主张，也不以自己的名字建立任何学派或体系。他们的整个本性对这样的事情退避三舍。他们是纯粹的萨埵性（Sattvikas）者，他们永远不能激起任何波澜，而只是在爱中融化。我曾见过一位这样的瑜伽修行者（Yogi），他生活在印度的一处山洞之中。他是我所见过的最了不起的人之一。他已如此彻底地失去了自我个性的意识，以至于我们可以说，他身上属人的部分已完全消融，只留下那普遍覆盖一切的神圣意识。若一只动物咬了他的一只手臂，他随时准备将另一只手臂也递过去，并说这是神的旨意。降临于他的一切，皆来自神。他不向人显示自己，然而他是一座爱的宝库，充满了真实而甘美的思想。
次一级的是具有更多激性（Rajas）或活跃性的人，是战斗性的本性，他们接受完美者的思想，并向世界宣讲。最高层次的人默默地收集真实而高尚的思想，而其他人——佛陀们与基督们——则走遍各处，宣讲并为之努力。在乔达摩·佛陀（Gautama Buddha）的生平中，我们注意到他一再说自己是第二十五位佛陀。在他之前的二十四位，历史上无从知晓，尽管历史上所知的佛陀必然是建立在他们所奠定的基础之上的。最高的人是沉静、寂然而默默无闻的。他们是真正懂得思想之力的人；他们确信，即便他们走入山洞，关上门，只是思考五个真实的思想，然后逝去，他们这五个思想也将穿越永恒而长存。确实，这样的思想将穿透山脉，横越大洋，遍行于世界之中。它们将深入人心与大脑，激励男男女女，使他们在人类生活的运作中为之提供实际的表达。这些萨埵性的人距神太近，以至于无法活跃地行动，无法战斗、工作、奋斗、布道，以及在他们所说的这里，在人间做好事。然而积极的工作者，无论多么善良，依然在其内心遗留了一点无明（Avidya）的残余。当我们的本性中尚存一些不净之物时，我们才能行动。工作的本性，通常是受动机与执著所驱使的。在一位无所不在、积极运作的天意面前——祂甚至注意到麻雀的坠落——人如何能对自己的工作附加任何重要性？当我们知晓祂照料着世界上最细微的事物时，这样做岂不是一种亵渎？我们只能在祂面前满怀敬畏与虔敬地站立，说道："愿你的旨意成就。"最高的人无法行动，因为他们之中没有执著。那些整个灵魂已融入真我之中、其欲望局限于真我之内、始终与真我相融合的人，对他们而言没有任何行动。这样的人确实是人类中最高的；但除了他们之外，其余每个人都必须行动。在如此行动时，我们绝不应认为自己能够在这个宇宙中有助于哪怕最微小的事物。我们不能。我们只是在这个世界的健身房中帮助我们自己。这是行动的正确态度。若我们以这种方式行动，若我们始终记得我们当下行动的机会，是一种赐予我们的特权，我们就永远不会执著于任何事物。像你我这样的数以百万计的人，都以为自己在世界上是了不起的人物；但我们都会死去，五分钟后世界便将我们遗忘。但神的生命是无限的。"若这全能者不愿如此，谁能活一刻，呼吸一刻？"祂是无所不在的天意。一切力量皆属于祂，皆在祂的掌管之下。通过祂的命令，风在吹拂，太阳在照耀，大地在生息，死神在地上行走。祂是一切中的一切；祂是一切，也在一切之中。我们只能礼拜祂。放弃一切行动的果实；为善而行善；唯有如此，完全的无执著方会到来。心中的束缚将由此断裂，我们将收获完全的自由。这自由，确实是业力瑜伽的目标。
English
CHAPTER VII
FREEDOM
In addition to meaning work, we have stated that psychologically the word Karma also implies causation. Any work, any action, any thought that produces an effect is called a Karma. Thus the law of Karma means the law of causation, of inevitable cause and sequence. Wheresoever there is a cause, there an effect must be produced; this necessity cannot be resisted, and this law of Karma, according to our philosophy, is true throughout the whole universe. Whatever we see, or feel, or do, whatever action there is anywhere in the universe, while being the effect of past work on the one hand, becomes, on the other, a cause in its turn, and produces its own effect. It is necessary, together with this, to consider what is meant by the word "law". By law is meant the tendency of a series to repeat itself. When we see one event followed by another, or sometimes happening simultaneously with another, we expect this sequence or co-existence to recur. Our old logicians and philosophers of the Nyâyâ school call this law by the name of Vyâpti. According to them, all our ideas of law are due to association. A series of phenomena becomes associated with things in our mind in a sort of invariable order, so that whatever we perceive at any time is immediately referred to other facts in the mind. Any one idea or, according to our psychology, any one wave that is produced in the mind-stuff, Chitta, must always give rise to many similar waves. This is the psychological idea of association, and causation is only an aspect of this grand pervasive principle of association. This pervasiveness of association is what is, in Sanskrit, called Vyâpti. In the external world the idea of law is the same as in the internal — the expectation that a particular phenomenon will be followed by another, and that the series will repeat itself. Really speaking, therefore, law does not exist in nature. Practically it is an error to say that gravitation exists in the earth, or that there is any law existing objectively anywhere in nature. Law is the method, the manner in which our mind grasps a series of phenomena; it is all in the mind. Certain phenomena, happening one after another or together, and followed by the conviction of the regularity of their recurrence — thus enabling our minds to grasp the method of the whole series — constitute what we call law.
The next question for consideration is what we mean by law being universal. Our universe is that portion of existence which is characterized by what the Sanskrit psychologists call Desha-kâla-nimitta, or what is known to European psychology as space, time, and causation. This universe is only a part of infinite existence, thrown into a peculiar mould, composed of space, time, and causation. It necessarily follows that law is possible only within this conditioned universe; beyond it there cannot be any law. When we speak of the universe, we only mean that portion of existence which is limited by our mind — the universe of the senses, which we can see, feel, touch, hear, think of, imagine. This alone is under law; but beyond it existence cannot be subject to law, because causation does not extend beyond the world of our minds. Anything beyond the range of our mind and our senses is not bound by the law of causation, as there is no mental association of things in the region beyond the senses, and no causation without association of ideas. It is only when "being" or existence gets moulded into name and form that it obeys the law of causation, and is said to be under law; because all law has its essence in causation. Therefore we see at once that there cannot be any such thing as free will; the very words are a contradiction, because will is what we know, and everything that we know is within our universe, and everything within our universe is moulded by the conditions of space, time, and causation. Everything that we know, or can possibly know, must be subject to causation, and that which obeys the law of causation cannot be free. It is acted upon by other agents, and becomes a cause in its turn. But that which has become converted into the will, which was not the will before, but which, when it fell into this mould of space, time, and causation, became converted into the human will, is free; and when this will gets out of this mould of space, time, and causation, it will be free again. From freedom it comes, and becomes moulded into this bondage, and it gets out and goes back to freedom again.
The question has been raised as to from whom this universe comes, in whom it rests, and to whom it goes; and the answer has been given that from freedom it comes, in bondage it rests, and goes back into that freedom again. So, when we speak of man as no other than that infinite being which is manifesting itself, we mean that only one very small part thereof is man; this body and this mind which we see are only one part of the whole, only one spot of the infinite being. This whole universe is only one speck of the infinite being; and all our laws, our bondages, our joys and our sorrows, our happinesses and our expectations, are only within this small universe; all our progression and digression are within its small compass. So you see how childish it is to expect a continuation of this universe — the creation of our minds — and to expect to go to heaven, which after all must mean only a repetition of this world that we know. You see at once that it is an impossible and childish desire to make the whole of infinite existence conform to the limited and conditioned existence which we know. When a man says that he will have again and again this same thing which he is hating now, or, as I sometimes put it, when he asks for a comfortable religion, you may know that he has become so degenerate that he cannot think of anything higher than what he is now; he is just his little present surroundings and nothing more. He has forgotten his infinite nature, and his whole idea is confined to these little joys, and sorrows, and heart-jealousies of the moment. He thinks that this finite thing is the infinite; and not only so, he will not let this foolishness go. He clings on desperately unto Trishnâ, and the thirst after life, what the Buddhists call Tanhâ and Tissâ. There may be millions of kinds of happiness, and beings, and laws, and progress, and causation, all acting outside the little universe that we know; and, after all, the whole of this comprises but one section of our infinite nature.
To acquire freedom we have to get beyond the limitations of this universe; it cannot be found here. Perfect equilibrium, or what the Christians call the peace that passeth all understanding, cannot be had in this universe, nor in heaven, nor in any place where our mind and thoughts can go, where the senses can feel, or which the imagination can conceive. No such place can give us that freedom, because all such places would be within our universe, and it is limited by space, time, and causation. There may be places that are more ethereal than this earth of ours, where enjoyments may be keener, but even those places must be in the universe and, therefore, in bondage to law; so we have to go beyond, and real religion begins where this little universe ends. These little joys, and sorrows, and knowledge of things end there, and the reality begins. Until we give up the thirst after life, the strong attachment to this our transient conditioned existence we have no hope of catching even a glimpse of that infinite freedom beyond. It stands to reason then that there is only one way to attain to that freedom which is the goal of all the noblest aspirations of mankind, and that is by giving up this little life, giving up this little universe, giving up this earth, giving up heaven, giving up the body, giving up the mind, giving up everything that is limited and conditioned. If we give up our attachment to this little universe of the senses or of the mind, we shall be free immediately. The only way to come out of bondage is to go beyond the limitations of law, to go beyond causation.
But it is a most difficult thing to give up the clinging to this universe; few ever attain to that. There are two ways to do that mentioned in our books. One is called the "Neti, Neti" (not this, not this), the other is called "Iti" (this); the former is the negative, and the latter is the positive way. The negative way is the most difficult. It is only possible to the men of the very highest, exceptional minds and gigantic wills who simply stand up and say, "No, I will not have this," and the mind and body obey their will, and they come out successful. But such people are very rare. The vast majority of mankind choose the positive way, the way through the world, making use of all the bondages themselves to break those very bondages. This is also a kind of giving up; only it is done slowly and gradually, by knowing things, enjoying things and thus obtaining experience, and knowing the nature of things until the mind lets them all go at last and becomes unattached. The former way of obtaining non-attachment is by reasoning, and the latter way is through work and experience. The first is the path of Jnâna-Yoga, and is characterized by the refusal to do any work; the second is that of Karma-Yoga, in which there is no cessation from work. Every one must work in the universe. Only those who are perfectly satisfied with the Self, whose desires do not go beyond the Self, whose mind never strays out of the Self, to whom the Self is all in all, only those do not work. The rest must work. A current rushing down of its own nature falls into a hollow and makes a whirlpool, and, after running a little in that whirlpool, it emerges again in the form of the free current to go on unchecked. Each human life is like that current. It gets into the whirl, gets involved in this world of space, time, and causation, whirls round a little, crying out, "my father, my brother, my name, my fame", and so on, and at last emerges out of it and regains its original freedom. The whole universe is doing that. Whether we know it or not, whether we are conscious or unconscious of it, we are all working to get out of the dream of the world. Man's experience in the world is to enable him to get out of its whirlpool.
What is Karma-Yoga? The knowledge of the secret of work. We see that the whole universe is working. For what? For salvation, for liberty; from the atom to the highest being, working for the one end, liberty for the mind, for the body, for the spirit. All things are always trying to get freedom, flying away from bondage. The sun, the moon, the earth, the planets, all are trying to fly away from bondage. The centrifugal and the centripetal forces of nature are indeed typical of our universe. Instead of being knocked about in this universe, and after long delay and thrashing, getting to know things as they are, we learn from Karma-Yoga the secret of work, the method of work, the organising power of work. A vast mass of energy may be spent in vain if we do not know how to utilise it. Karma-Yoga makes a science of work; you learn by it how best to utilise all the workings of this world. Work is inevitable, it must be so; but we should work to the highest purpose. Karma-Yoga makes us admit that this world is a world of five minutes, that it is a something we have to pass through; and that freedom is not here, but is only to be found beyond. To find the way out of the bondages of the world we have to go through it slowly and surely. There may be those exceptional persons about whom I just spoke, those who can stand aside and give up the world, as a snake casts off its skin and stands aside and looks at it. There are no doubt these exceptional beings; but the rest of mankind have to go slowly through the world of work. Karma-Yoga shows the process, the secret, and the method of doing it to the best advantage.
What does it say? "Work incessantly, but give up all attachment to work." Do not identify yourself with anything. Hold your mind free. All this that you see, the pains and the miseries, are but the necessary conditions of this world; poverty and wealth and happiness are but momentary; they do not belong to our real nature at all. Our nature is far beyond misery and happiness, beyond every object of the senses, beyond the imagination; and yet we must go on working all the time. "Misery comes through attachment, not through work." As soon as we identify ourselves with the work we do, we feel miserable; but if we do not identify ourselves with it, we do not feel that misery. If a beautiful picture belonging to another is burnt, a man does not generally become miserable; but when his own picture is burnt, how miserable he feels! Why? Both were beautiful pictures, perhaps copies of the same original; but in one case very much more misery is felt than in the other. It is because in one case he identifies himself with the picture, and not in the other. This "I and mine" causes the whole misery. With the sense of possession comes selfishness, and selfishness brings on misery. Every act of selfishness or thought of selfishness makes us attached to something, and immediately we are made slaves. Each wave in the Chitta that says "I and mine" immediately puts a chain round us and makes us slaves; and the more we say "I and mine", the more slavery grows, the more misery increases. Therefore Karma-Yoga tells us to enjoy the beauty of all the pictures in the world, but not to identify ourselves with any of them. Never say "mine". Whenever we say a thing is "mine", misery will immediately come. Do not even say "my child" in your mind. Possess the child, but do not say "mine". If you do, then will come the misery. Do not say “my house," do not say "my body". The whole difficulty is there. The body is neither yours, nor mine, nor anybody's. These bodies are coming and going by the laws of nature, but we are free, standing as witness. This body is no more free than a picture or a wall. Why should we be attached so much to a body? If somebody paints a picture, he does it and passes on. Do not project that tentacle of selfishness, "I must possess it". As soon as that is projected, misery will begin.
So Karma-Yoga says, first destroy the tendency to project this tentacle of selfishness, and when you have the power of checking it, hold it in and do not allow the mind to get into the ways of selfishness. Then you may go out into the world and work as much as you can. Mix everywhere, go where you please; you will never be contaminated with evil. There is the lotus leaf in the water; the water cannot touch and adhere to it; so will you be in the world. This is called "Vairâgya", dispassion or non-attachment. I believe I have told you that without non-attachment there cannot be any kind of Yoga. Non-attachment is the basis of all the Yogas. The man who gives up living in houses, wearing fine clothes, and eating good food, and goes into the desert, may be a most attached person. His only possession, his own body, may become everything to him; and as he lives he will be simply struggling for the sake of his body. Non-attachment does not mean anything that we may do in relation to our external body, it is all in the mind. The binding link of "I and mine" is in the mind. If we have not this link with the body and with the things of the senses, we are non-attached, wherever and whatever we may be. A man may be on a throne and perfectly non-attached; another man may be in rags and still very much attached. First, we have to attain this state of non-attachment and then to work incessantly. Karma-Yoga gives us the method that will help us in giving up all attachment, though it is indeed very hard.
Here are the two ways of giving up all attachment. The one is for those who do not believe in God, or in any outside help. They are left to their own devices; they have simply to work with their own will, with the powers of their mind and discrimination, saying, "I must be non-attached". For those who believe in God there is another way, which is much less difficult. They give up the fruits of work unto the Lord; they work and are never attached to the results. Whatever they see, feel, hear, or do, is for Him. For whatever good work we may do, let us not claim any praise or benefit. It is the Lord’s; give up the fruits unto Him. Let us stand aside and think that we are only servants obeying the Lord, our Master, and that every impulse for action comes from Him every moment. Whatever thou worshippest, whatever thou perceivest, whatever thou doest, give up all unto Him and be at rest. Let us be at peace, perfect peace, with ourselves, and give up our whole body and mind and everything as an eternal sacrifice unto the Lord. Instead of the sacrifice of pouring oblations into the fire, perform this one great sacrifice day and night — the sacrifice of your little self. "In search of wealth in this world, Thou art the only wealth I have found; I sacrifice myself unto Thee. In search of some one to be loved, Thou art the only one beloved I have found; I sacrifice myself unto Thee." Let us repeat this day and night, and say, "Nothing for me; no matter whether the thing is good, bad, or indifferent; I do not care for it; I sacrifice all unto Thee." Day and night let us renounce our seeming self until it becomes a habit with us to do so, until it gets into the blood, the nerves, and the brain, and the whole body is every moment obedient to this idea of self-renunciation. Go then into the midst of the battlefield, with the roaring cannon and the din of war, and you will find yourself to be free and at peace.
Karma-Yoga teaches us that the ordinary idea of duty is on the lower plane; nevertheless, all of us have to do our duty. Yet we may see that this peculiar sense of duty is very often a great cause of misery. Duty becomes a disease with us; it drags us ever forward. It catches hold of us and makes our whole life miserable. It is the bane of human life. This duty, this idea of duty is the midday summer sun which scorches the innermost soul of mankind. Look at those poor slaves to duty! Duty leaves them no time to say prayers, no time to bathe. Duty is ever on them. They go out and work. Duty is on them! They come home and think of the work for the next day. Duty is on them! It is living a slave's life, at last dropping down in the street and dying in harness, like a horse. This is duty as it is understood. The only true duty is to be unattached and to work as free beings, to give up all work unto God. All our duties are His. Blessed are we that we are ordered out here. We serve our time; whether we do it ill or well, who knows? If we do it well, we do not get the fruits. If we do it ill, neither do we get the care. Be at rest, be free, and work. This kind of freedom is a very hard thing to attain. How easy it is to interpret slavery as duty — the morbid attachment of flesh for flesh as duty! Men go out into the world and struggle and fight for money or for any other thing to which they get attached. Ask them why they do it. They say, "It is a duty”. It is the absurd greed for gold and gain, and they try to cover it with a few flowers.
What is duty after all? It is really the impulsion of the flesh, of our attachment; and when an attachment has become established, we call it duty. For instance, in countries where there is no marriage, there is no duty between husband and wife; when marriage comes, husband and wife live together on account of attachment; and that kind of living together becomes settled after generations; and when it becomes so settled, it becomes a duty. It is, so to say, a sort of chronic disease. When it is acute, we call it disease; when it is chronic, we call it nature. It is a disease. So when attachment becomes chronic, we baptise it with the high sounding name of duty. We strew flowers upon it, trumpets sound for it, sacred texts are said over it, and then the whole world fights, and men earnestly rob each other for this duty's sake. Duty is good to the extent that it checks brutality. To the lowest kinds of men, who cannot have any other ideal, it is of some good; but those who want to be Karma-Yogis must throw this idea of duty overboard. There is no duty for you and me. Whatever you have to give to the world, do give by all means, but not as a duty. Do not take any thought of that. Be not compelled. Why should you be compelled? Everything that you do under compulsion goes to build up attachment. Why should you have any duty? Resign everything unto God. In this tremendous fiery furnace where the fire of duty scorches everybody, drink this cup of nectar and be happy. We are all simply working out His will, and have nothing to do with rewards and punishments. If you want the reward, you must also have the punishment; the only way to get out of the punishment is to give up the reward. The only way of getting out of misery is by giving up the idea of happiness, because these two are linked to each other. On one side there is happiness, on the other there is misery. On one side there is life, on the other there is death. The only way to get beyond death is to give up the love of life. Life and death are the same thing, looked at from different points. So the idea of happiness without misery, or of life without death, is very good for school-boys and children; but the thinker sees that it is all a contradiction in terms and gives up both. Seek no praise, no reward, for anything you do. No sooner do we perform a good action than we begin to desire credit for it. No sooner do we give money to some charity than we want to see our names blazoned in the papers. Misery must come as the result of such desires. The greatest men in the world have passed away unknown. The Buddhas and the Christs that we know are but second-rate heroes in comparison with the greatest men of whom the world knows nothing. Hundreds of these unknown heroes have lived in every country working silently. Silently they live and silently they pass away; and in time their thoughts find expression in Buddhas or Christs, and it is these latter that become known to us. The highest men do not seek to get any name or fame from their knowledge. They leave their ideas to the world; they put forth no claims for themselves and establish no schools or systems in their name. Their whole nature shrinks from such a thing. They are the pure Sâttvikas, who can never make any stir, but only melt down in love. I have seen one such Yogi who lives in a cave in India. He is one of the most wonderful men I have ever seen. He has so completely lost the sense of his own individuality that we may say that the man in him is completely gone, leaving behind only the all comprehending sense of the divine. If an animal bites one of his arms, he is ready to give it his other arm also, and say that it is the Lord's will. Everything that comes to him is from the Lord. He does not show himself to men, and yet he is a magazine of love and of true and sweet ideas.
Next in order come the men with more Rajas, or activity, combative natures, who take up the ideas of the perfect ones and preach them to the world. The highest kind of men silently collect true and noble ideas, and others — the Buddhas and Christs — go from place to place preaching them and working for them. In the life of Gautama Buddha we notice him constantly saying that he is the twenty-fifth Buddha. The twenty-four before him are unknown to history, although the Buddha known to history must have built upon foundations laid by them. The highest men are calm, silent, and unknown. They are the men who really know the power of thought; they are sure that, even if they go into a cave and close the door and simply think five true thoughts and then pass away, these five thoughts of theirs will live through eternity. Indeed such thoughts will penetrate through the mountains, cross the oceans, and travel through the world. They will enter deep into human hearts and brains and raise up men and women who will give them practical expression in the workings of human life. These Sattvika men are too near the Lord to be active and to fight, to be working, struggling, preaching and doing good, as they say, here on earth to humanity. The active workers, however good, have still a little remnant of ignorance left in them. When our nature has yet some impurities left in it, then alone can we work. It is in the nature of work to be impelled ordinarily by motive and by attachment. In the presence of an ever active Providence who notes even the sparrow's fall, how can man attach any importance to his own work? Will it not be a blasphemy to do so when we know that He is taking care of the minutest things in the world? We have only to stand in awe and reverence before Him saying, "Thy will be done". The highest men cannot work, for in them there is no attachment. Those whose whole soul is gone into the Self, those whose desires are confined in the Self, who have become ever associated with the Self, for them there is no work. Such are indeed the highest of mankind; but apart from them every one else has to work. In so working we should never think that we can help on even the least thing in this universe. We cannot. We only help ourselves in this gymnasium of the world. This is the proper attitude of work. If we work in this way, if we always remember that our present opportunity to work thus is a privilege which has been given to us, we shall never be attached to anything. Millions like you and me think that we are great people in the world; but we all die, and in five minutes the world forgets us. But the life of God is infinite. "Who can live a moment, breathe a moment, if this all-powerful One does not will it?" He is the ever active Providence. All power is His and within His command. Through His command the winds blow, the sun shines, the earth lives, and death stalks upon the earth. He is the all in all; He is all and in all. We can only worship Him. Give up all fruits of work; do good for its own sake; then alone will come perfect non-attachment. The bonds of the heart will thus break, and we shall reap perfect freedom. This freedom is indeed the goal of Karma-Yoga.
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。