无执是彻底的自我舍弃
本译文由人工智能辅助工具生成，可能存在不准确之处。如需查阅权威文本，请参考英文原文。
AI-translated. May contain errors. For accurate text, refer to the original English.
中文
第六章
无执著即完全的自我消融
正如我们发出的每一行动都以反应的形式返回于我们自身，我们的行动也可以作用于他人，他人的行动亦可作用于我们。诸位或许都曾观察到这样一个事实：当人们行恶时，他们会愈来愈邪恶；而当他们开始行善时，他们会变得愈来愈强大，并学会在任何时候都能行善。这种行动影响力的不断强化，唯有以下理由方能加以解释，即我们彼此之间能够相互作用与影响。以物理科学中的例证为喻：当我从事某一行动时，吾心可谓处于某种特定的振动状态；所有处于相似情境中的心灵，都将倾向于受吾心的影响。如果一个房间里有几件音调相同的乐器，诸位或许已注意到，当其中一件被拨响时，其余乐器都会产生共鸣，发出同样的音调。因此，所有具有相同"张力"的心灵，可以说都会受到同一思想的同等影响。当然，思想对心灵的这种影响，会因距离及其他因素而有所不同，但心灵始终对影响保持开放。假设我正在从事一项恶行，吾心处于某种振动状态，宇宙中所有处于相似状态的心灵，都有可能受到吾心振动的影响。同样地，当我从事善行时，吾心处于另一种振动状态，所有具有相似调性的心灵都有可能受到吾心的影响；而心灵对心灵的这种力量，会随着张力的强弱而大小不一。
沿此比喻进一步推演，光波可能在抵达任何物体之前已传播了数百万年，思想波在遇到与之共鸣的对象之前，也完全可能已传播了数百年。因此，完全可能的是，我们这个大气层中充满了各种思想脉冲，善恶皆有。每个大脑所发出的每一个思想，不断地脉动传播，直到它遇到一个能与之共鸣的适合对象。任何对某些冲动保持开放的心灵，都会立即接收它们。因此，当一个人在行恶时，他已将自己的心灵调适至某种张力状态，所有与该张力状态相应的波——可以说已充斥于大气之中——都将奋力涌入其心灵。这便是行恶者通常会一错再错的原因，其行动不断加剧。行善者亦然：他将向大气中所有善的波浪开放自身，其善行也会不断得到强化。因此，在行恶方面，我们面临双重危险：其一，我们向周围所有恶的影响开放自身；其二，我们制造的恶将影响他人，或许数百年之后方才显现。行恶既伤害自身，也伤害他人；行善则不仅利益自身，也利益他人；与人身中所有其他力量一样，善恶之力也从外界汲取力量而不断增长。
根据业力瑜伽（Karma-Yoga）的教义，一个行动一旦完成，便无法被消除，除非它结出其果实；宇宙中没有任何力量能阻止它产生结果。若我行了恶，我必须承受其后果；宇宙中没有任何力量能够阻止或延缓这一结果。同样，若我行了善，宇宙中也没有任何力量能阻止其结出善果。因必有果，无物能阻止或约束这一规律。现在，关于业力瑜伽有一个极其微妙而严肃的问题，即我们的行动，无论善恶，都与彼此紧密相连。我们无法划定一条界线，断言某行动全然是善的，而另一行动全然是恶的。没有任何行动不同时结出善果与恶果。以最切近的例子为证：我正在向诸位讲话，诸位中或许有人认为我在行善；而与此同时，我也许正在杀灭大气中数以千计的微生物，从而对其他生命造成危害。当善恶距我们很近，并影响到我们所认识的人时，若其影响是积极的，我们便称之为善行。例如，诸位或许会认为我对你们的讲话是件很好的事，但微生物不会这样认为；微生物是你们看不见的，但你们自己你们能看见。我的讲话如何影响你们是显而易见的，但它如何影响微生物则不那么明显。因此，若我们分析我们的恶行，也许会发现，某处某些善事可能由此而生。那个在善行之中看到其中有某些恶的成分，在恶的中间又看到其中有某些善的成分的人，已经参透了行动的奥秘。
然而，这一洞见又意味着什么呢？这意味着，无论我们如何努力，都不存在完全纯净的行动，也不存在完全不净的行动——此处纯净与不净是就有害与无害而言的。我们呼吸和生存，不可避免地要伤害他人；我们所吃的每一口食物都是从他人口中夺取的。我们的生存本身就是在排挤其他生命。那生命或许是人、动物，或微小的微生物，但我们总免不了要排挤其中某些。既然如此，自然可以得出结论：完美绝无可能通过行动来实现。我们可以劳作至永恒，但这错综复杂的迷宫永远没有出路。你可以不断地工作，无穷无尽地工作；而善恶与行动结果之间这种不可避免的相连，永远不会终止。
第二点需要思考的是：行动的目的何在？我们发现，世界各地绝大多数人都相信，将来有一天，这个世界会变得完美，届时将不再有疾病、死亡、不幸和邪恶。这是一个很好的想法，一种很好的动力，可以鼓舞和提升无知者；但若我们稍加思索，便会发现这从表面上来看根本不可能。怎么可能呢？既然善与恶是同一枚硬币的正反两面，你怎么能在没有恶的同时拥有善？完美究竟意味着什么？完美的生活本身就是一个自相矛盾的说法。生活本身就是我们自身与外部一切事物之间持续斗争的状态。每时每刻，我们都在与外在自然进行实际的搏斗，若我们失败，我们的生命便要消逝。例如，这是一场为了食物和空气而进行的持续斗争。若食物或空气匮乏，我们便会死亡。生活不是一件简单而顺畅流淌的事物，而是一种复合的结果。这种内在某物与外部世界之间的复杂搏斗，便是我们所谓的生命。由此可见，当这种搏斗停止时，生命本身也将终结。
所谓理想的幸福，是指这种搏斗的止息。但那时生命也将随之终结，因为搏斗只能在生命本身终结之后方能止息。我们已经看到，在帮助世界的同时，我们也在帮助自己。为他人行善的主要效果，是净化我们自身。通过不断努力为他人行善，我们试图忘却自我；这种对自我的遗忘，是我们在生命中必须学习的最重要的一课。人愚痴地以为自己可以使自己幸福，在多年的挣扎之后，终于发现真正的幸福在于消灭自私，没有人能使他幸福，除了他自己。每一个慈善行动，每一个同情的念头，每一个帮助的举动，每一件善事，都在从我们渺小的自我中移除一些自我的重要感，使我们将自己视为最低微、最卑贱的，因此，这一切都是善的。在此，我们发现智慧（Jnana）、虔信（Bhakti）与业力——三者汇聚于同一点。最高的理想是永恒而彻底的自我消融，彼时已无"我"，一切皆是"你"；无论他是否意识到这一点，业力瑜伽都引领人走向这一目标。一位宗教传道者或许会对无人格之梵（Brahman）的观念感到惶恐；他或许坚持一位有人格的神，并希望保持自己的身份与个性，无论他所谓的身份与个性是何含义。然而，他的伦理观念，若确实高尚，必定只能建立在最高的自我消融之上。自我消融是所有道德的基础；你可以将其延伸至人类、动物乃至天神（Devas），它都是贯穿所有伦理体系的唯一基本观念，唯一的根本原则。
在这个世界上，你将发现各类不同的人。第一类是神人，其自我消融是完全彻底的，他们即使牺牲自己的生命，也只为他人行善。这些人是人中之最高者。若任何一个国家有百名这样的人，该国就永远不必绝望。但不幸的是，这样的人实属罕见。其次是善良之人，他们在不损害自身的前提下为他人行善。还有第三类人，他们为了利益自身而伤害他人。一位梵文诗人说道，还有第四类难以言说的人，他们伤害他人仅仅是为了伤害的满足感。正如在存在的一端有最高的善人，他们为行善而行善；在另一端，也有些人伤害他人仅仅是为了伤害本身。他们从中毫无所得，但作恶乃是其本性。
梵文中有两个词语。其一为"朝向转动"（Pravritti），意为趋向外界；其二为"背离转动"（Nivritti），意为趋向内在。"朝向"便是我们所说的世界，即"我与我的"；它包括所有那些不断以财富、金钱、权力、名声与声望来丰富那个"我"的事物，具有一种贪婪的本性，总是倾向于将一切积聚于一个中心，而那个中心便是"我自己"。这就是"朝向转动"，是每个人类存在的自然倾向——从四面八方汲取一切，将其堆积于一个中心，而那个中心便是人自己甜蜜的小我。当这种趋向开始瓦解，当它成为"离开"或"背离"之时，道德与宗教便由此开始。"朝向"与"背离"在本质上都属于行动：前者是恶的行动，后者是善的行动。这种"背离"是所有道德与所有宗教的根本基础，而其完美境界是彻底的自我消融——随时准备为他人牺牲心灵、身体乃至一切。当一个人达到这种境界，他便已臻于业力瑜伽的完美。这是善行的最高结果。尽管一个人未曾研读过任何一个哲学体系，尽管他不信仰任何神灵，从未信仰过，尽管他一生中甚至从未祈祷过，但若善行的纯粹力量已将他带到那种为他人随时舍弃生命与一切的境界，他便已抵达宗教人通过祈祷、哲学家通过知识所能达到的同一终点；因此你们会发现，哲学家、行动者与虔信者，三者皆汇聚于同一点，而那一点便是自我消融。无论其哲学与宗教体系相差多远，全人类对那些愿意为他人牺牲自我的人都充满崇敬与敬畏。在此，信条与教义全然无关——即便是极力反对一切宗教观念的人，当他们目睹这种完全自我牺牲的行动时，也会感到必须对其肃然起敬。你们难道没有见过，即使是最顽固的基督徒，当他读到爱德温·阿诺德的《亚洲之光》时，也会对佛陀肃然起敬吗？佛陀既不宣讲神灵，唯一的宣讲是自我牺牲。唯一的问题是，那位顽固之人不知道自己生命的终极目的与他所不同意之人的目的完全相同。虔信者，通过将神的观念和善的环境不断置于眼前，最终也达到同一点，说道："愿你的旨意成就"，而不为自己保留任何东西。这就是自我消融。哲学家凭借其知识，看到表象的自我是一种幻觉，因而轻易地放下了它。这也是自我消融。因此，业力、虔信与智慧在此汇聚；这也正是古代所有伟大传道者所要表达的含义——他们教导说，神不是这个世界。有一种事物是这个世界，另一种事物是神；这一区分是非常真实的。他们所谓的"世界"是指自私。无私即是神。一个人可以生活在王座之上、金宫之中，而完全无私；那时他便在神之中。另一个人可以生活在茅舍之中，衣衫褴褛，一无所有；但若他是自私的，他便深深沉溺于这个世界之中。
回到我们的一个主要论点：我们说，在行善的同时，我们不可避免地也在行某些恶；在行恶的同时，也不可避免地在行某些善。明白了这一点，我们该如何行动？因此，世间曾有一些教派，以令人瞠目的荒诞方式宣扬缓慢的自杀是脱离世界的唯一途径，因为人若活着，就必须杀死可怜的小动物和植物，或伤害某些事物或某些人。因此，依他们之见，脱离世界的唯一出路是死亡。耆那教（Jains）将这一教义宣扬为其最高理想。这种教义看似颇为合乎逻辑。然而，真正的解决之道见于《薄伽梵歌》（Bhagavad Gita）。其核心乃是无执著之理论——在从事生命之工作的同时，对任何事物皆不执著。须知你与世界完全分离，尽管你身处世界之中；你在世界中所做的一切，皆非为自己而为。任何为自身而做的行动，都将把其效果反施于你自身。若是善行，你将承受善的效果；若是恶行，你将承受恶的效果；而任何非为自身而为的行动，无论其本质如何，都不会对你产生影响。我们的经典中有一句极为精辟的话，体现了这一思想："即使他杀灭整个宇宙（或他自身被杀灭），当他知晓自己的行动完全不是为了自身时，他既不是杀者，也不是被杀者。"因此，业力瑜伽教导我们："不要放弃这个世界；生活在世界之中，尽量汲取其影响；但若是为了自身的享乐而工作，则毋宁全然不工作。"享乐不应成为目标。首先消灭你的小我，然后将整个世界当作你自己；正如古代基督徒所说："旧人必须死去。"这里的"旧人"，是指整个世界都是为我们享乐而创造的这一自私观念。愚蠢的父母教导孩子祈祷："主啊，你为我创造了这轮太阳，为我创造了这轮明月"，仿佛主除了为这些婴孩创造万物之外，再无其他事情可做。不要教导你的孩子这种无稽之谈。此外，还有另一类愚蠢之人：他们教导我们，所有这些动物都是为供我们宰杀食用而创造的，这整个宇宙都是为人类的享乐而存在的。这全是荒诞之言。一只老虎可能会说："人类是为我而创造的"，并祈祷："主啊，那些不肯走过来让我吞食的人类是多么邪恶；他们是在违背你的律法。"若世界是为我们而创造的，我们同样也是为世界而创造的。"这个世界是为我们的享乐而创造的"——这是束缚我们的最邪恶的观念。这个世界不是为我们而存在的。每年有数以百万计的人离开这个世界，而世界对此毫无感觉；数以百万计的其他人随即补充于其位。正如世界在多大程度上是为了我们，我们同样也在多大程度上是为了这个世界。
因此，若要正确地工作，首先必须放弃执著的观念。其次，不要卷入纷争，要以旁观者的身份置身其外，继续工作。我的上师常说："要像保姆那样看待你的孩子。"保姆会抱起你的孩子，爱抚他、与他玩耍，对待他就如同是她自己的孩子一样温柔；但一旦你通知她离职，她立刻就准备好携带行李离开。所有执著的形式都将被遗忘；对寻常的保姆而言，离开你的孩子、照顾其他孩子不会给她带来丝毫的痛苦。你对待所有你认为属于你的事物，也应如此。你是那位保姆，若你信仰神，就相信你所视为己有的一切实际上都是属于神的。最大的软弱往往以最大的善与力量的面貌渗透进来。认为任何人依赖于我、我能给他人带来善益的想法，是一种软弱，这种信念是我们所有执著的根源，所有的痛苦都通过这种执著而来。我们必须令自己的心灵明白：宇宙中没有一个人依赖于我们；没有一个乞丐依赖我们的施舍；没有一个灵魂依赖我们的善意；没有一个生命依赖我们的帮助。一切皆由自然托举前行，即便我们数百万人不曾存在，亦将如此被托举。自然的进程不会为你我这样的人而停止；正如已经指出的，我们被允许以帮助他人的方式来教育自己，这对你我而言只是一种有福的特权。这是生命中需要学习的重要一课，当我们充分领悟这一课时，我们将永不再不幸；我们可以走出去，无害地在任何地方、任何时候与社会共处。你们可以有妻子与丈夫，有成群的仆人，有王国需要治理；只要你们秉持世界并非为你而存在、也并非不可或缺地需要你的原则，它们就无法伤害你。也许在今年，你们的一些朋友已经离世。世界是否因此停下脚步，等待他们再次归来？它的流程是否停止了？不，它继续前行。因此，从你的心灵中驱除那种你必须为世界做些什么的想法；世界不需要你的任何帮助。任何人认为自己生来是为了帮助这个世界，这不过是彻头彻尾的无稽之谈；这不过是骄傲，是以美德面貌出现的自私。当你训练了你的心灵与神经，认识到这个世界对你或对任何人的不依赖性时，工作便不再会以痛苦的形式产生反应。当你给予某人某物，却不期待任何回报——甚至不期待他的感激——他的忘恩负义也不会触动你，因为你从未期待过任何事，从未认为自己有权获得任何形式的回报。你给予了他他所应得的；是他自己的业力（Karma）为他赢得了这一切；你的业力使你成为传递这一切的媒介。你有什么理由为施予世界某物而骄傲？你不过是运送金钱或其他形式礼物的搬运工，而这个世界凭借其自身的业力赢得了这一切。那么，你有什么理由骄傲？你给予世界的并没有什么了不起的。当你获得了无执著的感受，那时对你而言将既无善也无恶。只有自私才造成善与恶之间的差别。这是一件极难理解的事，但你们终将随着时间的推移而领悟：宇宙中没有任何事物对你拥有力量，除非你允许它发挥这种力量。没有任何事物对人的真我（Atman）拥有力量，除非真我变得愚痴而丧失了独立性。因此，通过无执著，你超越并否定了任何事物作用于你的力量。说"没有任何事物有权作用于你，除非你允许它"是很容易的；然而，那个真正不允许任何事物作用于自己的人——那个在被外部世界作用时既不快乐也不痛苦的人——其真正的标志是什么？标志是：无论好运或厄运都不会在他心中引起任何变化；在任何处境下，他都保持同样的状态。
印度曾有一位名叫毗耶娑（Vyasa）的大圣者。毗耶娑以《吠檀多》（Vedanta）格言的作者而著称，是一位圣人。他的父亲曾努力成为一个非常完美的人，但未能成功。他的祖父也曾努力，亦未能成功。他的曾祖父同样曾尝试，也失败了。他自己也未能臻于完美，但他的儿子修迦（Shuka）却生来便是完美的。毗耶娑向儿子传授智慧；在亲自教导他真理的知识之后，他将儿子送到了国王贾纳卡（Janaka）的宫廷。贾纳卡是一位伟大的国王，被称为贾纳卡·维德哈（Janaka Videha）。"维德哈"意为"无身"。尽管贵为国王，他已完全忘记自己是一个身体；他始终感受到自己是一个灵魂。这个男孩修迦被送去向他学习智慧。国王知道毗耶娑之子将来向他求取智慧，因此事先作了安排。当男孩来到宫殿门口时，卫兵对他完全不加理会。他们只给了他一个座位，他就坐在那里足足三天三夜，没有人与他交谈，没有人询问他是谁或从何而来。他是一位极受尊崇之大圣者的儿子，其父受到全国的景仰，他本人也是极受尊重的人；然而宫殿那些粗鄙的卫兵对他毫不理会。此后，国王的大臣和所有高官突然来到，以最隆重的礼节接见了他。他们将他引入宫内，带他参观富丽的居室，赐以最馥郁的沐浴和华美的衣裳，整整八天让他享受各种奢华。在这截然不同的待遇变化中，修迦那庄严安详的面容丝毫未变；他在这一切奢华之中，与他在门口等待时一模一样。随后他被带到国王面前。国王端坐于王座之上，音乐奏响，舞蹈及其他娱乐节目正在进行。国王随即将一杯盛满牛奶的杯子递给他，请他在大厅里绕行七圈，不得洒出哪怕一滴。男孩接过杯子，在悦耳的音乐声中、在美丽容颜的吸引下前行。按照国王的要求，他绕行了七圈，一滴牛奶也没有洒出。男孩的心灵不会被世间任何事物所吸引，除非他允许它影响自己。当他将杯子捧还国王时，国王对他说："你的父亲所教导你的，以及你自己所学到的，我所能做的只是加以印证。你已知晓真理；回家去吧。"
因此，已修炼自我控制的人，不能被任何外部事物所左右；对他而言，再没有任何奴役。他的心灵已获得自由。只有这样的人，才真正适合在这个世界上安然生活。我们通常会发现，世人对这个世界持有两种截然不同的看法。有些人是悲观主义者，说："这个世界多么可怕，多么邪恶！"另一些人是乐观主义者，说："这个世界多么美丽，多么美妙！"对于那些还没有控制自己心灵的人来说，这个世界要么充满了恶，要么充其量是善恶混杂。当我们成为自己心灵的主宰时，这个世界将在我们眼中成为一个乐观的世界。那时，没有任何事物会再以善或恶的形式作用于我们；我们将发现一切皆处于其适当的位置，皆是和谐的。一些起初说这个世界是地狱的人，往往在成功修炼自我控制之后，最终会说它是天堂。若我们是真正的业力瑜伽修行者，并希望训练自己达到这种境界，那么无论我们从何处开始，必将以完全的自我消融而终结；一旦这个表象的自我消融，整个世界——起初在我们眼中似乎充满了恶——将显现为天堂本身，充满了祝福。它的每一缕气息都将是被祝福的；其中每一张人类的面孔都将是神的面容。这就是业力瑜伽的终极与目标，也是其在实际生活中的完美体现。
我们各种不同的瑜伽（Yoga）之间并不相互冲突；每一种瑜伽都引领我们走向同一目标，使我们趋于完美。只是每一种瑜伽都需要刻苦修炼。全部的秘密就在于修炼。首先要听闻，然后思考，然后修炼。这对每一种瑜伽都是如此。你必须首先听闻，了解它是什么；许多你最初不理解的事情，会通过不断地听闻与思考而变得清晰。一下子理解所有事情是困难的。对一切事物的解释，归根结底就在你自身之内。没有人真正被另一个人所教导；我们每个人都必须教导自己。外部的老师所提供的，只是激发内在老师去工作、去理解事物的启示。然后，我们自身的感知与思考之力将使事物变得更为清晰，我们将在自己的灵魂中实现它们；而那种实现将成长为强烈的意志力。起初是感受，然后成为意愿，从那意愿之中产生出巨大的行动力，它将流贯每一条脉络、每一根神经、每一块肌肉，直到你整个身躯都变成无私瑜伽工作的工具，从而如愿达到完全自我消融与彻底无私的圆满境界。这种成就并不依赖于任何教条、学说或信仰。无论是基督徒、犹太人还是异教徒，都无关紧要。你是无私的吗？这才是问题所在。若你是无私的，那么即便不读一本宗教书籍，不进入任何教堂或庙宇，你也将趋于完美。我们每一种瑜伽都能使人趋于完美，即便没有其他瑜伽的辅助，因为它们都以同一目标为导向。行动、智慧与虔信的瑜伽都有能力作为直接而独立的途径，以臻解脱（Moksha）。"唯有愚者才说工作与哲学是不同的，有学识的人则不然。"有学识的人知晓，尽管这些道路表面上彼此不同，但最终都指向人类完善这同一目标。
English
CHAPTER VI
NON-ATTACHMENT IS COMPLETE SELF-ABNEGATION
Just as every action that emanates from us comes back to us as reaction, even so our actions may act on other people and theirs on us. Perhaps all of you have observed it as a fact that when persons do evil actions, they become more and more evil, and when they begin to do good, they become stronger and stronger and learn to do good at all times. This intensification of the influence of action cannot be explained on any other ground than that we can act and react upon each other. To take an illustration from physical science, when I am doing a certain action, my mind may be said to be in a certain state of vibration; all minds which are in similar circumstances will have the tendency to be affected by my mind. If there are different musical instruments tuned alike in one room, all of you may have noticed that when one is struck, the others have the tendency to vibrate so as to give the same note. So all minds that have the same tension, so to say, will be equally affected by the same thought. Of course, this influence of thought on mind will vary according to distance and other causes, but the mind is always open to affection. Suppose I am doing an evil act, my mind is in a certain state of vibration, and all minds in the universe, which are in a similar state, have the possibility of being affected by the vibration of my mind. So, when I am doing a good action, my mind is in another state of vibration; and all minds similarly strung have the possibility of being affected by my mind; and this power of mind upon mind is more or less according as the force of the tension is greater or less.
Following this simile further, it is quite possible that, just as light waves may travel for millions of years before they reach any object, so thought waves may also travel hundreds of years before they meet an object with which they vibrate in unison. It is quite possible, therefore, that this atmosphere of ours is full of such thought pulsations, both good and evil. Every thought projected from every brain goes on pulsating, as it were, until it meets a fit object that will receive it. Any mind which is open to receive some of these impulses will take them immediately. So, when a man is doing evil actions, he has brought his mind to a certain state of tension and all the waves which correspond to that state of tension, and which may be said to be already in the atmosphere, will struggle to enter into his mind. That is why an evil-doer generally goes on doing more and more evil. His actions become intensified. Such, also will be the case with the doer of good; he will open himself to all the good waves that are in the atmosphere, and his good actions also will become intensified. We run, therefore, a twofold danger in doing evil: first, we open ourselves to all the evil influences surrounding us; secondly, we create evil which affects others, may be hundreds of years hence. In doing evil we injure ourselves and others also. In doing good we do good to ourselves and to others as well; and, like all other forces in man, these forces of good and evil also gather strength from outside.
According to Karma-Yoga, the action one has done cannot be destroyed until it has borne its fruit; no power in nature can stop it from yielding its results. If I do an evil action, I must suffer for it; there is no power in this universe to stop or stay it. Similarly, if I do a good action, there is no power in the universe which can stop its bearing good results. The cause must have its effect; nothing can prevent or restrain this. Now comes a very fine and serious question about Karma-Yoga — namely, that these actions of ours, both good and evil, are intimately connected with each other. We cannot put a line of demarcation and say, this action is entirely good and this entirely evil. There is no action which does not bear good and evil fruits at the same time. To take the nearest example: I am talking to you, and some of you, perhaps, think I am doing good; and at the same time I am, perhaps, killing thousands of microbes in the atmosphere; I am thus doing evil to something else. When it is very near to us and affects those we know, we say that it is very good action if it affects them in a good manner. For instance, you may call my speaking to you very good, but the microbes will not; the microbes you do not see, but yourselves you do see. The way in which my talk affects you is obvious to you, but how it affects the microbes is not so obvious. And so, if we analyse our evil actions also, we may find that some good possibly results from them somewhere. He who in good action sees that there is something evil in it, and in the midst of evil sees that there is something good in it somewhere, has known the secret of work.
But what follows from it? That, howsoever we may try, there cannot be any action which is perfectly pure, or any which is perfectly impure, taking purity and impurity in the sense of injury and non-injury. We cannot breathe or live without injuring others, and every bit of the food we eat is taken away from another’s mouth. Our very lives are crowding out other lives. It may be men, or animals, or small microbes, but some one or other of these we have to crowd out. That being the case, it naturally follows that perfection can never be attained by work. We may work through all eternity, but there will be no way out of this intricate maze. You may work on, and on, and on; there will be no end to this inevitable association of good and evil in the results of work.
The second point to consider is, what is the end of work? We find the vast majority of people in every country believing that there will be a time when this world will become perfect, when there will be no disease, nor death, nor unhappiness, nor wickedness. That is a very good idea, a very good motive power to inspire and uplift the ignorant; but if we think for a moment, we shall find on the very face of it that it cannot be so. How can it be, seeing that good and evil are the obverse and reverse of the same coin? How can you have good without evil at the same time? What is meant by perfection? A perfect life is a contradiction in terms. Life itself is a state of continuous struggle between ourselves and everything outside. Every moment we are fighting actually with external nature, and if we are defeated, our life has to go. It is, for instance, a continuous struggle for food and air. If food or air fails, we die. Life is not a simple and smoothly flowing thing, but it is a compound effect. This complex struggle between something inside and the external world is what we call life. So it is clear that when this struggle ceases, there will be an end of life.
What is meant by ideal happiness is the cessation of this struggle. But then life will cease, for the struggle can only cease when life itself has ceased. We have seen already that in helping the world we help ourselves. The main effect of work done for others is to purify ourselves. By means of the constant effort to do good to others we are trying to forget ourselves; this forgetfulness of self is the one great lesson we have to learn in life. Man thinks foolishly that he can make himself happy, and after years of struggle finds out at last that true happiness consists in killing selfishness and that no one can make him happy except himself. Every act of charity, every thought of sympathy, every action of help, every good deed, is taking so much of self-importance away from our little selves and making us think of ourselves as the lowest and the least, and, therefore, it is all good. Here we find that Jnâna, Bhakti, and Karma — all come to one point. The highest ideal is eternal and entire self-abnegation, where there is no "I," but all is "Thou"; and whether he is conscious or unconscious of it, Karma-Yoga leads man to that end. A religious preacher may become horrified at the idea of an Impersonal God; he may insist on a Personal God and wish to keep up his own identity and individuality, whatever he may mean by that. But his ideas of ethics, if they are really good, cannot but be based on the highest self-abnegation. It is the basis of all morality; you may extend it to men, or animals, or angels, it is the one basic idea, the one fundamental principle running through all ethical systems.
You will find various classes of men in this world. First, there are the God-men, whose self-abnegation is complete, and who do only good to others even at the sacrifice of their own lives. These are the highest of men. If there are a hundred of such in any country, that country need never despair. But they are unfortunately too few. Then there are the good men who do good to others so long as it does not injure themselves. And there is a third class who, to do good to themselves, injure others. It is said by a Sanskrit poet that there is a fourth unnamable class of people who injure others merely for injury's sake. Just as there are at one pole of existence the highest good men, who do good for the sake of doing good, so, at the other pole, there are others who injure others just for the sake of the injury. They do not gain anything thereby, but it is their nature to do evil.
Here are two Sanskrit words. The one is Pravritti, which means revolving towards, and the other is Nivritti, which means revolving away. The "revolving towards" is what we call the world, the "I and mine”; it includes all those things which are always enriching that "me" by wealth and money and power, and name and fame, and which are of a grasping nature, always tending to accumulate everything in one centre, that centre being "myself". That is the Pravritti, the natural tendency of every human being; taking everything from everywhere and heaping it around one centre, that centre being man's own sweet self. When this tendency begins to break, when it is Nivritti or "going away from," then begin morality and religion. Both Pravritti and Nivritti are of the nature of work: the former is evil work, and the latter is good work. This Nivritti is the fundamental basis of all morality and all religion, and the very perfection of it is entire self-abnegation, readiness to sacrifice mind and body and everything for another being. When a man has reached that state, he has attained to the perfection of Karma-Yoga. This is the highest result of good works. Although a man has not studied a single system of philosophy, although he does not believe in any God, and never has believed, although he has not prayed even once in his whole life, if the simple power of good actions has brought him to that state where he is ready to give up his life and all else for others, he has arrived at the same point to which the religious man will come through his prayers and the philosopher through his knowledge; and so you may find that the philosopher, the worker, and the devotee, all meet at one point, that one point being self-abnegation. However much their systems of philosophy and religion may differ, all mankind stand in reverence and awe before the man who is ready to sacrifice himself for others. Here, it is not at all any question of creed, or doctrine — even men who are very much opposed to all religious ideas, when they see one of these acts of complete self-sacrifice, feel that they must revere it. Have you not seen even a most bigoted Christian, when he reads Edwin Arnold's Light of Asia, stand in reverence of Buddha, who Preached no God, preached nothing but self-sacrifice? The only thing is that the bigot does not know that his own end and aim in life is exactly the same as that of those from whom he differs. The worshipper, by keeping constantly before him the idea of God and a surrounding of good, comes to the same point at last and says, "Thy will be done," and keeps nothing to himself. That is self-abnegation. The philosopher, with his knowledge, sees that the seeming self is a delusion and easily gives it up. It is self-abnegation. So Karma, Bhakti, and Jnana all meet here; and this is what was meant by all the great preachers of ancient times, when they taught that God is not the world. There is one thing which is the world and another which is God; and this distinction is very true. What they mean by world is selfishness. Unselfishness is God. One may live on a throne, in a golden palace, and be perfectly unselfish; and then he is in God. Another may live in a hut and wear rags, and have nothing in the world; yet, if he is selfish, he is intensely merged in the world.
To come back to one of our main points, we say that we cannot do good without at the same time doing some evil, or do evil without doing some good. Knowing this, how can we work? There have, therefore, been sects in this world who have in an astoundingly preposterous way preached slow suicide as the only means to get out of the world, because if a man lives, he has to kill poor little animals and plants or do injury to something or some one. So according to them the only way out of the world is to die. The Jains have preached this doctrine as their highest ideal. This teaching seems to be very logical. But the true solution is found in the Gita. It is the theory of non-attachment, to be attached to nothing while doing our work of life. Know that you are separated entirely from the world, though you are in the world, and that whatever you may be doing in it, you are not doing that for your own sake. Any action that you do for yourself will bring its effect to bear upon you. If it is a good action, you will have to take the good effect, and if bad, you will have to take the bad effect; but any action that is not done for your own sake, whatever it be, will have no effect on you. There is to be found a very expressive sentence in our scriptures embodying this idea: "Even if he kill the whole universe (or be himself killed), he is neither the killer nor the killed, when he knows that he is not acting for himself at all." Therefore Karma-Yoga teaches, "Do not give up the world; live in the world, imbibe its influences as much as you can; but if it be for your own enjoyment's sake, work not at all." Enjoyment should not be the goal. First kill your self and then take the whole world as yourself; as the old Christians used to say, "The old man must die." This old man is the selfish idea that the whole world is made for our enjoyment. Foolish parents teach their children to pray, "O Lord, Thou hast created this sun for me and this moon for me," as if the Lord has had nothing else to do than to create everything for these babies. Do not teach your children such nonsense. Then again, there are people who are foolish in another way: they teach us that all these animals were created for us to kill and eat, and that this universe is for the enjoyment of men. That is all foolishness. A tiger may say, "Man was created for me" and pray, "O Lord, how wicked are these men who do not come and place themselves before me to be eaten; they are breaking Your law." If the world is created for us, we are also created for the world. That this world is created for our enjoyment is the most wicked idea that holds us down. This world is not for our sake. Millions pass out of it every year; the world does not feel it; millions of others are supplied in their place. Just as much as the world is for us, so we also are for the world.
To work properly, therefore, you have first to give up the idea of attachment. Secondly, do not mix in the fray, hold yourself as a witness and go on working. My master used to say, "Look upon your children as a nurse does." The nurse will take your baby and fondle it and play with it and behave towards it as gently as if it were her own child; but as soon as you give her notice to quit, she is ready to start off bag and baggage from the house. Everything in the shape of attachment is forgotten; it will not give the ordinary nurse the least pang to leave your children and take up other children. Even so are you to be with all that you consider your own. You are the nurse, and if you believe in God, believe that all these things which you consider yours are really His. The greatest weakness often insinuates itself as the greatest good and strength. It is a weakness to think that any one is dependent on me, and that I can do good to another. This belief is the mother of all our attachment, and through this attachment comes all our pain. We must inform our minds that no one in this universe depends upon us; not one beggar depends on our charity; not one soul on our kindness; not one living thing on our help. All are helped on by nature, and will be so helped even though millions of us were not here. The course of nature will not stop for such as you and me; it is, as already pointed out, only a blessed privilege to you and to me that we are allowed, in the way of helping others, to educate ourselves. This is a great lesson to learn in life, and when we have learned it fully, we shall never be unhappy; we can go and mix without harm in society anywhere and everywhere. You may have wives and husbands, and regiments of servants, and kingdoms to govern; if only you act on the principle that the world is not for you and does not inevitably need you, they can do you no harm. This very year some of your friends may have died. Is the world waiting without going on, for them to come again? Is its current stopped? No, it goes on. So drive out of your mind the idea that you have to do something for the world; the world does not require any help from you. It is sheer nonsense on the part of any man to think that he is born to help the world; it is simply pride, it is selfishness insinuating itself in the form of virtue. When you have trained your mind and your nerves to realise this idea of the world's non-dependence on you or on anybody, there will then be no reaction in the form of pain resulting from work. When you give something to a man and expect nothing — do not even expect the man to be grateful — his ingratitude will not tell upon you, because you never expected anything, never thought you had any right to anything in the way of a return. You gave him what he deserved; his own Karma got it for him; your Karma made you the carrier thereof. Why should you be proud of having given away something? You are the porter that carried the money or other kind of gift, and the world deserved it by its own Karma. Where is then the reason for pride in you? There is nothing very great in what you give to the world. When you have acquired the feeling of non-attachment, there will then be neither good nor evil for you. It is only selfishness that causes the difference between good and evil. It is a very hard thing to understand, but you will come to learn in time that nothing in the universe has power over you until you allow it to exercise such a power. Nothing has power over the Self of man, until the Self becomes a fool and loses independence. So, by non-attachment, you overcome and deny the power of anything to act upon you. It is very easy to say that nothing has the right to act upon you until you allow it to do so; but what is the true sign of the man who really does not allow anything to work upon him, who is neither happy nor unhappy when acted upon by the external world? The sign is that good or ill fortune causes no change in his mind: in all conditions he continues to remain the same.
There was a great sage in India called Vyâsa. This Vyâsa is known as the author of the Vedanta aphorisms, and was a holy man. His father had tried to become a very perfect man and had failed. His grandfather had also tried and failed. His great-grandfather had similarly tried and failed. He himself did not succeed perfectly, but his son, Shuka, was born perfect. Vyasa taught his son wisdom; and after teaching him the knowledge of truth himself, he sent him to the court of King Janaka. He was a great king and was called Janaka Videha. Videha means "without a body". Although a king, he had entirely forgotten that he was a body; he felt that he was a spirit all the time. This boy Shuka was sent to be taught by him. The king knew that Vyasa's son was coming to him to learn wisdom: so he made certain arrangements beforehand. And when the boy presented himself at the gates of the palace, the guards took no notice of him whatsoever. They only gave him a seat, and he sat there for three days and nights, nobody speaking to him, nobody asking him who he was or whence he was. He was the son of a very great sage, his father was honoured by the whole country, and he himself was a most respectable person; yet the low, vulgar guards of the palace would take no notice of him. After that, suddenly, the ministers of the king and all the big officials came there and received him with the greatest honours. They conducted him in and showed him into splendid rooms, gave him the most fragrant baths and wonderful dresses, and for eight days they kept him there in all kinds of luxury. That solemnly serene face of Shuka did not change even to the smallest extent by the change in the treatment accorded to him; he was the same in the midst of this luxury as when waiting at the door. Then he was brought before the king. The king was on his throne, music was playing, and dancing and other amusements were going on. The king then gave him a cup of milk, full to the brim, and asked him to go seven times round the hall without spilling even a drop. The boy took the cup and proceeded in the midst of the music and the attraction of the beautiful faces. As desired by the king, seven times did he go round, and not a drop of the milk was spilt. The boy's mind could not be attracted by anything in the world, unless he allowed it to affect him. And when he brought the cup to the king, the king said to him, "What your father has taught you, and what you have learned yourself, I can only repeat. You have known the Truth; go home."
Thus the man that has practiced control over himself cannot be acted upon by anything outside; there is no more slavery for him. His mind has become free. Such a man alone is fit to live well in the world. We generally find men holding two opinions regarding the world. Some are pessimists and say, “How horrible this world is, how wicked!" Some others are optimists and say, "How beautiful this world is, how wonderful!" To those who have not controlled their own minds, the world is either full of evil or at best a mixture of good and evil. This very world will become to us an optimistic world when we become masters of our own minds. Nothing will then work upon us as good or evil; we shall find everything to be in its proper place, to be harmonious. Some men, who begin by saying that the world is a hell, often end by saying that it is a heaven when they succeed in the practice of self-control. If we are genuine Karma-Yogis and wish to train ourselves to that attainment of this state, wherever we may begin we are sure to end in perfect self-abnegation; and as soon as this seeming self has gone, the whole world, which at first appears to us to be filled with evil, will appear to be heaven itself and full of blessedness. Its very atmosphere will be blessed; every human face there will be god. Such is the end and aim of Karma-Yoga, and such is its perfection in practical life.
Our various Yogas do not conflict with each other; each of them leads us to the same goal and makes us perfect. Only each has to be strenuously practiced. The whole secret is in practicing. First you have to hear, then think, and then practice. This is true of every Yoga. You have first to hear about it and understand what it is; and many things which you do not understand will be made clear to you by constant hearing and thinking. It is hard to understand everything at once. The explanation of everything is after all in yourself. No one was ever really taught by another; each of us has to teach himself. The external teacher offers only the suggestion which rouses the internal teacher to work to understand things. Then things will be made clearer to us by our own power of perception and thought, and we shall realise them in our own souls; and that realisation will grow into the intense power of will. First it is feeling, then it becomes willing, and out of that willing comes the tremendous force for work that will go through every vein and nerve and muscle, until the whole mass of your body is changed into an instrument of the unselfish Yoga of work, and the desired result of perfect self-abnegation and utter unselfishness is duly attained. This attainment does not depend on any dogma, or doctrine, or belief. Whether one is Christian, or Jew, or Gentile, it does not matter. Are you unselfish? That is the question. If you are, you will be perfect without reading a single religious book, without going into a single church or temple. Each one of our Yogas is fitted to make man perfect even without the help of the others, because they have all the same goal in view. The Yogas of work, of wisdom, and of devotion are all capable of serving as direct and independent means for the attainment of Moksha. "Fools alone say that work and philosophy are different, not the learned.” The learned know that, though apparently different from each other, they at last lead to the same goal of human perfection.
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。