通往证悟的阶梯
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
1→证悟的步骤 2→ 3→（在美国讲授的一堂课） 4→ 5→在寻求智慧（Jnana）的修行者所需具备的资质中，首先是奢摩（Shama）与陀摩（Dama），二者可以合并来理解。它们意味着将各感官维持在其自身中枢，不令其游荡于外。我将首先向你们解释「感官」（organ）这个词的含义。这里有眼睛；眼睛不是视觉的感官，而只是工具。除非感官（器官）也同时具备，否则即便有眼睛，我也看不见。但即便感官与工具都具备，除非意根（心）与这两者相连接，也不会发生任何视觉。所以，在每一个感知行为中，有三件事是必要的——首先是外在工具，然后是内在感官，最后是意根。若其中任何一个缺失，就不会有感知。如此，意根通过两种媒介运作——一种是外在的，另一种是内在的。当我看东西时，我的意根向外伸展，变得外化；但假设我闭上眼睛开始思想，意根不向外伸展，而是向内活跃。但无论哪种情况，感官（器官）都在活跃。当我看着你并与你说话时，感官与工具都在活跃。当我闭上眼睛开始思想时，感官在活跃，但工具不在。没有这些感官的活动，就不会有思想。你会发现，你们中没有人能在没有某种符号的情况下思考。即便是盲人，他也必须通过某种形象来思考。视觉与听觉的感官通常是非常活跃的。你必须记住，「感官」这个词所指的是大脑中的神经中枢。眼睛和耳朵只是看和听的工具，而感官（器官）是在内部的。如果感官以任何方式被破坏，即便眼睛或耳朵还在，我们也将看不见或听不到。所以，为了控制意根，我们必须首先能够控制这些感官。约束意根不向外或向内游荡，并使感官维持在各自的中枢，就是奢摩与陀摩这两个词所指的含义。奢摩在于不令意根外化，而陀摩在于制约外在工具。 6→ 7→接下来是乌帕拉底（Uparati），它在于不思惟感官对象之事。我们大部分时间都在思考感觉对象——我们所见过或听过的事物，我们将看到或将听到的事物，我们所吃过的、正在吃的或将要吃的东西，我们居住过的地方，等等。我们大部分时间都在思考它们或谈论它们。希望成为一位吠檀多论者的人，必须放弃这种习惯。 7→ 9→接下来来到下一种准备（要成为哲学家确实是一项艰巨的任务！），即提迦沙（Titiksha），是所有这些中最困难的。它无非就是忍辱的理想——「不要抵制恶」。这需要稍作解释。我们可以不抵制一种恶，但同时我们可能感到非常痛苦。一个人可能对我说非常严厉的话，我也许不会表面上憎恨他，也许不会反唇相讥，也许会克制自己不表现出愤怒，但愤怒和憎恨可能在我心中，我可能对那个人感到非常不好。那不是非抵制；我应该没有任何憎恨或愤怒的感觉，没有任何抵制的念头；我的意根（心）那时必须像什么都没有发生一样平静。只有当我达到那种状态时，我才达到了非抵制，而不是在那之前。对一切苦难的忍受，甚至没有一个关于抵制或驱除它的念头，甚至没有心中任何痛苦的感觉，也没有任何懊悔——这就是提迦沙。假设我没有抵制，因此带来了某种巨大的恶；如果我具有提迦沙，我不应该为没有抵制而感到任何懊悔。当意根（心）达到那种状态时，它就在提迦沙中安住了。印度的人们为了修习这种提迦沙而做一些非凡的事情。他们忍受巨大的酷热与严寒而毫不在意，他们甚至不在乎雪，因为他们根本不为身体着想；它被留给自身，仿佛是个外来之物。 10→ 11→下一个所需的资质是信念（Shraddha），即信仰。一个人必须对宗教和神具有强烈的信仰。除非具备信仰，否则一个人无法立志成为智慧者（Jnani）。有一位伟大的圣哲曾告诉我，这世界上每二千万人中恐怕不到一个人真正信神。我问他为什么，他告诉我说：「假设这个房间里有一个贼，他知道隔壁房间里有一堆黄金，而两个房间之间只有一面很薄的隔墙；那个贼的状况会是如何？」我回答说：「他根本无法入睡；他的大脑将积极思考取得黄金的手段，他不会想到任何其他事情。」于是他回答说：「你是否相信，一个人若真正信神，会不发疯地去寻求祂呢？如果一个人真诚地相信那里有那无量、无限的极乐矿藏，并且它可以被到达，那个人会不会在寻求它的奋力中发狂呢？」对神的强烈信仰以及由此产生的热切渴望达至祂，构成了信念（Shraddha）。 12→ 13→接下来是三摩陀那（Samadhana），即持续修习，使意根（心）始终安住于神。任何事情都不能一蹴而就。宗教不能以药丸的形式被吞服。它需要艰苦不懈的修习。意根（心）只能通过缓慢而稳定的修习才能被征服。 14→ 15→其次是牟木沙（Mumukshutva），即强烈的解脱（liberation）渴望。你们中那些读过埃德温·阿诺德的《亚洲之光》的人，还记得他对佛陀第一次说法的翻译，佛陀在其中说： 16→ 17→汝等自受其苦，无他人所迫。 18→ 19→无他人束缚汝，使汝生而又死， 20→ 21→在轮上旋转，紧抱亲吻 22→ 23→那苦难的轮辐， 24→ 25→那泪水之轮缘，那虚无之轴毂。 26→ 27→汝等自受其苦，无他人所迫。 28→ 29→无他人束缚汝，使汝生而又死， 30→ 31→在轮上旋转，紧抱亲吻 32→ 33→那苦难的轮辐， 34→ 35→那泪水之轮缘，那虚无之轴毂。 36→ 37→我们所有的苦难皆是我们自己选择的；这就是我们的本性。那位在中国的老人，被囚禁于监狱六十年后，因新皇帝登基而获释，走出来时高呼他无法生活；他必须回到他那与老鼠和小鼠为伴的可怖牢房；他无法忍受光明。所以他请求他们杀死他或将他遣回监狱，于是他被遣回了。所有人的处境都与此完全相似。我们急急忙忙地追随各种苦难，不愿从中解脱。每天我们追逐快乐，在我们触及它之前，发现它已消失，已从我们指间溜走。我们仍不停止疯狂的追逐，而是一往无前，我们这些盲目的蠢人。 38→ 39→在印度的一些榨油作坊中，使用公牛转动以磨碎油料。公牛脖子上套有轭。从轭上伸出一段木头，上面绑着一捆麦草。公牛被蒙上眼睛，使其只能向前看，所以它伸长脖子去够那麦草；在这样做时，它将那截木头又往前推了一点；它再次尝试，结果相同，又再次，如此往复。它永远够不到那麦草，但带着希望可以得到它而一圈又一圈地转着，在这样做的过程中，磨出了油。你我这些生来就是自性、金钱与财富、妻子与孩子的奴隶，同样地始终在追逐一捆麦草，一个纯粹的幻象，在无数次的轮回中奔走，而未能得到我们所寻求的。最伟大的梦想是爱；我们都要去爱和被爱，我们都要幸福，永不遭受苦难，但我们越是趋向幸福，它离我们越远。如此，世界继续运转，社会继续运转，而我们这些盲目的奴隶，不得不为此付出代价而浑然不知。审视你自己的生命，看看其中有多少幸福，看看你在这场追逐世界的狂野鹅游中实际上获得了多少。 40→ 41→你们还记得梭伦与克洛伊索斯的故事吗？国王告诉这位伟大的圣哲，小亚细亚是个非常幸福的地方。圣哲问他：「最幸福的人是谁？我还没有见过任何非常幸福的人。」「胡说，」克洛伊索斯说，「我是世界上最幸福的人。」「先生，等到你生命终结再说；不要急，」圣哲回答道，然后离去。时隔不久，那位国王被波斯人征服，他们命令将他活焚。柴堆准备好了，可怜的克洛伊索斯看到时，大声哭喊：「梭伦！梭伦！」当被问及他所呼唤的是谁时，他讲述了自己的故事，波斯皇帝深为感动，饶了他的性命。 42→ 43→这就是我们每个人生命故事的缩影；这就是自性对我们的巨大力量。它一次又一次地将我们踢开，但我们仍然以发烧般的激动追逐它。我们总是在希望之外寄予希望；这种希望，这种幻象使我们发狂；我们总是希望着幸福。 44→ 45→古印度有一位伟大的国王，曾被问及四个问题，其中一个是：「世界上最奇妙的事情是什么？」「希望，」是他的回答。这是最奇妙的事情。白天和夜晚，我们看着身边的人一个个死去，但我们仍认为自己不会死；我们从不想到我们会死，或者我们会受苦。每个人都认为成功将属于自己，在希望之外寄予希望，违抗一切机率，违抗所有数学的理性。没有人在这里真正幸福。如果一个人富有，有很多食物，他的消化不良，他无法进食。如果一个人消化良好，有着鸬鹚般的消化力，他却没有任何东西可以入口。如果他富有，他没有孩子。如果他饥饿贫穷，他有一整队的孩子，不知该如何对付他们。为什么会如此？因为幸福与痛苦是同一枚硬币的正反两面；取了幸福的人，也必须取痛苦。我们所有人都有这种愚蠢的想法，认为我们可以拥有没有痛苦的幸福，这一想法已如此占据我们，以至于我们对感官失去了控制。 46→ 47→当我在波士顿时，一位年轻人来到我身边，递给我一张纸，上面写着一个姓名和地址，后面跟着这些话：「世上所有的财富与幸福都是你的，只要你知道如何得到它们。如果你来找我，我将教你如何得到它们。费用：五美元。」他递给我这张纸，说：「你对此有何看法？」我说：「年轻人，你为何不赚钱来印这个？你甚至没有足够的钱来印这个！」他不明白这一点。他为一个想法所迷惑：他可以不费力地获得巨大的财富与幸福。人们正走向两个极端：一是极端乐观，此时一切都是玫瑰色的、美好的、愉快的；另一是极端悲观，此时一切似乎都与他们为敌。绝大多数人的大脑或多或少是未充分发育的。一百万人中，我们看到一个有充分发育大脑的人；其余的要么有奇特的特异性，要么是偏执狂。 48→ 49→我们自然而然地走向极端。当我们健康而年轻时，我们认为世上所有的财富都将属于我们；而当我们后来像足球一样被社会踢来踢去，变得年老时，我们坐在角落里嘎嘎叫，向他人的热情泼冷水。很少有人知道，随快乐而来的是痛苦，随痛苦而来的是快乐；既然痛苦令人厌恶，快乐也同样令人厌恶，因为它是痛苦的孪生兄弟。一个人追逐痛苦，是对人的荣耀的贬损，同样地，追逐快乐，也是贬损。那些理性平衡的人，应当将两者都置之一旁。为什么人们不寻求摆脱被玩弄的自由？这一刻我们被鞭打，当我们开始哭泣时，自性给了我们一美元；我们再次被鞭打，当我们哭泣时，自性给了我们一块姜饼，于是我们又开始笑了。 50→ 51→圣哲渴望自由；他发现感官对象都是徒然的，而快乐与痛苦没有尽头。世界上有多少富人渴望找到新的快乐！所有的快乐都已是旧有的，他们想要新的。你们难道没有看到，他们每天都在发明多少愚蠢的事情，只是为了暂时刺激神经，而当那一切过去之后，随之而来的是一种反应？大多数人就像一群绵羊。如果领头的绵羊跌入沟中，所有其余的都跟着跌入，摔断脖子。同样地，一个社会的领导成员所做的事，所有其他人都会去做，不去想他们在做什么。当一个人开始看到世间事物的虚妄时，他会感到他不应该如此被玩弄或被自性带着走。那是奴役。如果一个人听到几句好话，他就开始微笑；当他听到几句严厉的话，他就开始哭泣。他是一片面包的奴隶，是一口气的奴隶；是衣服的奴隶，是爱国主义的奴隶，是国家的奴隶，是名声与荣誉的奴隶。他如此处于奴役之中，而真正的人通过他的束缚已埋藏于内。你所称之为人的，是一个奴隶。当一个人认识到所有这些奴役时，解脱的渴望就随之而来；一种强烈的渴望涌现。如果一块燃烧的木炭被放在一个人的头上，看他如何挣扎将其抖落。一个真正理解自己是自性奴隶的人，对自由的挣扎将与此相似。 52→ 53→我们现在已经看到了牟木沙（Mumukshutva），即解脱渴望是什么。接下来的训练也是非常困难的。涅提亚尼提亚—毗吠迦（Nityaanitya-Viveka）——辨别真实与不真实之间，永恒与无常之间的区别。只有神是永恒的，其他一切都是无常的。一切都会死去；天使死，人死，动物死，大地死，太阳、月亮和星辰，一切都会死；一切都经历持续不断的变化。今天的山脉昨天还是海洋，明天也将成为海洋。一切都处于流变的状态。整个宇宙是一团变化。但有一位永不改变，那就是神；我们越靠近祂，变化对我们来说就越少，自性就越难以对我们起作用；当我们到达祂，与祂同立时，我们将征服自性，我们将成为自性现象的主宰，它们将对我们不产生任何影响。 54→ 55→你们看，如果我们真正经历了上述修行，我们在这个世界上实际上不需要任何其他东西。所有的知识都在我们内部。所有的圆满已然存在于灵魂之中。但这种圆满已被自性所遮蔽；一层又一层的自性遮蔽着灵魂的这种纯洁。我们必须做什么？实际上，我们根本不需要开发我们的灵魂。什么能开发圆满之物呢？我们只是将恶除去；灵魂便以其原初的纯洁显现自身，以其本然的、固有的自由显现。
1→现在开始探讨：为什么这种修行如此必要？因为宗教不是通过耳朵获得的，也不是通过眼睛，更不是通过大脑获得的。任何经典都不能使我们成为有宗教的人。我们可以研读世上所有的书籍，却对宗教或神一无所知。我们可以一生空谈，却毫无长进；我们可以成为世上所见过的最具智识的人，却始终无法接近神。另一方面，难道你们没有见过，在最具智识的训练中，产生了多少不信宗教的人？你们西方文明的弊端之一，就是你们只追求智识教育，而对于心灵毫不在意。这只会使人的自私程度增加十倍，那将是你们的毁灭。当心与脑之间发生冲突时，应当追随心，因为智识只有一个状态，即理性，而在那之内，智识运作，不能超越其外。是心将人带往智识永远无法企及的最高境界；它超越智识，达到被称为灵感（inspiration）的境界。智识永远无法受到灵感；只有心，当它被启迪时，才会受到灵感。一个具有智识而无心的人，永远不会成为受灵感的人。在爱的人身上，总是心在言语；它发现了一种比智识所能给予的更伟大的工具——灵感的工具。正如智识是知识的工具，心也是灵感的工具。在较低的状态下，它远弱于智识这个工具。一个无知的人一无所知，但他的本性有一点点情感。将他与一位伟大的教授相比——后者拥有多么惊人的力量！但教授受其智识的束缚，他可以同时是魔鬼和具有智识的人；但一个有心的人永远不会是魔鬼；没有一个有情感的人曾经是魔鬼。经过适当的培养，心可以被改变，将超越智识；它将被转化为灵感。人在最终将不得不超越智识。人的知识，他的感知、推理、智识与心的能力，都在忙碌地搅动这世界之乳。长期搅动之后，奶油出现了，而这奶油就是神。有心的人得到了「奶油」，而「酪乳」则留给了那些有智识的人。 2→ 3→这些都是为心做的准备，为那种爱，为那种属于心的强烈同情所做的准备。要接近神，并非必须受过教育或学识渊博。有一位圣哲曾告诉我：「要杀死他人，必须装备刀剑和盾牌，但要自杀，一根针就够了；同样地，教导他人需要大量的智识与学问，但为了你自己的自我光明，则不需要。」你是纯洁的吗？如果你是纯洁的，你将到达神。「心地纯洁的人有福了，因为他们必得见神。」如果你不纯洁，即便你知道世上所有的科学，那也不会对你有任何帮助；你可能被你所读的所有书本淹没，但那也不会有多大用处。是心达到目标的。追随心。一颗纯洁的心超越智识而观见；它受到灵感；它知道理性永远无法知道的事情，每当纯洁的心与智识之间发生冲突时，总是站在纯洁的心这一边，即便你认为你的心在做的事情是不合理性的。当它渴望为他人行善时，你的大脑可能告诉你这样做是不明智的，但追随你的心，你会发现你所犯的错误比追随智识要少得多。纯洁的心是真理映照的最好镜子，所以所有这些修行都是为了纯洁心灵。一旦它变得纯洁，所有真理在一瞬间就在它上面闪现；若你足够纯洁，宇宙中所有的真理都将在你心中显现。 4→ 5→关于原子的伟大真理，关于精微元素，以及人的精微感知，都是数千年前由从未见过望远镜、显微镜或实验室的人们发现的。他们如何知道这一切？是通过心；他们净化了心。我们今天同样可以做到；真正能减少世界苦难的，是对心的培养，而不是对智识的培养。 6→ 7→智识得到了培养，结果是发现了数百门科学，而它们的效果是少数人将多数人变成了奴隶——这就是所完成的一切善事。人为的欲望被创造出来；每一个贫穷的人，无论是否有钱，都渴望满足那些欲望，而当他无法满足时，他挣扎，死于挣扎之中。这就是结果。解决苦难问题的道路不是通过智识，而是通过心。如果所有这些巨大的努力都用于使人更纯洁、更温和、更宽容，这个世界今天将拥有比现在多一千倍的幸福。永远要培养心；通过心，上主言语，而通过智识，你自己在言语。 8→ 9→你们记得在旧约中，摩西被告知：「脱去你脚上的鞋，因为你所站之地是圣地。」我们在研习宗教时，必须始终抱持那种虔敬的态度。带着纯洁的心与虔敬态度而来者，他的心将被开启；大门将为他而开，他将看见真理。 10→ 11→如果你只带着智识而来，你可以进行一些智识性的体操，一些智识性的理论，但不是真理。真理有这样一副面孔，凡是见到那副面孔的人，都会信服。太阳不需要任何火炬来照耀自身；太阳是自身光明的。如果真理需要证据，什么能证明那个证据？如果某物作为真理的证人是必要的，那个证人的证人在哪里？我们必须以虔敬与爱来接近宗教，我们的心将挺身而出说：这是真理，这是非真理。 12→ 13→宗教的领域超越我们的感官，甚至超越我们的意识。我们无法感知到神。没有人曾经用眼睛看见神，也永远不会；没有人在自己的意识中拥有神。我不在意识中意识到神，你也不，没有人能。神在哪里？宗教的领域在哪里？它超越感官，超越意识。意识只是我们运作的众多平面之一；你将必须超越意识的领域，超越感官，越来越接近你自己的中心，当你这样做时，你将越来越接近神。神的证明是什么？直接感知（Pratyaksha）。这面墙的证明是我感知到它。神已通过那种方式被数千年前的人们所感知，并将被所有想要感知祂的人感知。但这种感知根本不是感官感知；它是超感官的、超意识的，所有这些训练都是为了将我们带至感官之外。通过各种过去的业（work）与束缚，我们被向下拖拽；这些准备将使我们纯洁而轻盈。束缚将自行脱落，我们将被托举超越这个我们被束缚于其上的感官感知平面，那时我们将看见、听见并感受到那些处于三种普通状态（即清醒、梦境与睡眠）中的人，既感受不到，也看不到，也听不到的事物。那时我们将说一种奇异的语言，仿佛如此，而世界将不理解我们，因为它除了感官之外一无所知。真正的宗教完全是超越的。宇宙中每一个存在都具有超越感官的潜能；即便是小小的虫子，也将有一天超越感官，到达神。没有生命会是失败的；在宇宙中没有失败这样的事情。一个人可以百次伤害自己，千次跌倒，但最终他将认识到他就是神。我们知道，进步不是在一条直线上。每个灵魂都以某种方式在一个圆圈中运动，并将必须完成它，没有任何灵魂能沉沦得如此之深，而不会有一个时刻，它必须向上。没有人会迷失。我们都从一个共同的中心——即神——发出。神所展现出的最高以及最低的生命，都将回归一切生命的父。「一切存在由此发出，一切皆生存于其中，一切皆回归于此；那就是神。」
English
Steps To Realisation
(A class-lecture delivered in America)
First among the qualifications required of the aspirant for Jnâna, or wisdom, come Shama and Dama, which may be taken together. They mean the keeping of the organs in their own centres without allowing them to stray out. I shall explain to you first what the word "organ" means. Here are the eyes; the eyes are not the organs of vision but only the instruments. Unless the organs also are present, I cannot see, even if I have eyes. But, given both the organs and the instruments, unless the mind attaches itself to these two, no vision takes place. So, in each act of perception, three things are necessary — first, the external instruments, then, the internal organs, and lastly, the mind. If any one of them be absent, then there will be no perception. Thus the mind acts through two agencies —one external, and the other internal. When I see things, my mind goes out, becomes externalised; but suppose I close my eyes and begin to think, the mind does not go out, it is internally active. But, in either case, there is activity of the organs. When I look at you and speak to you, both the organs and the instruments are active. When I close my eyes and begin to think, the organs are active, but not the instruments. Without the activity of these organs, there will be no thought. You will find that none of you can think without some symbol. In the case of the blind man, he has also to think through some figure. The organs of sight and hearing are generally very active. You must bear in mind that by the word "organ" is meant the nerve centre in the brain. The eyes and ears are only the instruments of seeing and hearing, and the organs are inside. If the organs are destroyed by any means, even if the eyes or the ears be there, we shall not see or hear. So in order to control the mind, we must first be able to control these organs. To restrain the mind from wandering outward or inward, and keep the organs in their respective centres, is what is meant by the words Shama and Dama. Shama consists in not allowing the mind to externalise, and Dama, in checking the external instruments.
Now comes Uparati which consists in not thinking of things of the senses. Most of our time is spent in thinking about sense-objects, things which we have seen, or we have heard, which we shall see or shall hear, things which we have eaten, or are eating, or shall eat, places where we have lived, and so on. We think of them or talk of them most of our time. One who wishes to be a Vedantin must give up this habit.
Then comes the next preparation (it is a hard task to be a philosopher!), Titikshâ, the most difficult of all. It is nothing less than the ideal forbearance — "Resist not evil." This requires a little explanation. We may not resist an evil, but at the same time we may feel very miserable. A man may say very harsh things to me, and I may not outwardly hate him for it, may not answer him back, and may restrain myself from apparently getting angry, but anger and hatred may be in my mind, and I may feel very badly towards that man. That is not non-resistance; I should be without any feeling of hatred or anger, without any thought of resistance; my mind must then be as calm as if nothing had happened. And only when I have got to that state, have I attained to non-resistance, and not before. Forbearance of all misery, without even a thought of resisting or driving it out, without even any painful feeling in the mind, or any remorse — this is Titiksha. Suppose I do not resist, and some great evil comes thereby; if I have Titiksha, I should no feel any remorse for not having resisted. When the mind has attained to that state, it has become established in Titiksha. People in India do extraordinary things in order to practice this Titiksha. They bear tremendous heat and cold without caring, they do not even care for snow, because they take no thought for the body; it is left to itself, as if it were a foreign thing.
The next qualification required is Shraddhâ, faith. One must have tremendous faith in religion and God. Until one has it, one cannot aspire to be a Jnâni. A great sage once told me that not one in twenty millions in this world believed in God. I asked him why, and he told me, "Suppose there is a thief in this room, and he gets to know that there is a mass of gold in the next room, and only a very thin partition between the two rooms; what will be the condition of that thief?" I answered, "He will not be able to sleep at all; his brain will be actively thinking of some means of getting at the gold, and he will think of nothing else." Then he replied, "Do you believe that a man could believe in God and not go mad to get him? If a man sincerely believes that there is that immense, infinite mine of Bliss, and that It can be reached, would not that man go mad in his struggle to reach it ?" Strong faith in God and the consequent eagerness to reach Him constitute Shraddha.
Then comes Samâdhâna, or constant practice, to hold the mind in God. Nothing is done in a day. Religion cannot be swallowed in the form of a pill. It requires hard and constant practice. The mind can be conquered only by slow and steady practice.
Next is Mumukshutva, the intense desire to be free. Those of you who have read Edwin Arnold's Light of Asia remember his translation of the first sermon of Buddha, where Buddha says,
Ye suffer from yourselves. None else compels.
None other holds you that ye live and die,
And whirl upon the wheel, and hug and kiss
Its spokes of agony,
Its tire of tears, its nave of nothingness.
Ye suffer from yourselves. None else compels.
None other holds you that ye live and die,
And whirl upon the wheel, and hug and kiss
Its spokes of agony,
Its tire of tears, its nave of nothingness.
All the misery we have is of our own choosing; such is our nature. The old Chinaman, who having been kept in prison for sixty years was released on the coronation of a new emperor, exclaimed, when he came out, that he could not live; he must go back to his horrible dungeon among the rats and mice; he could not bear the light. So he asked them to kill him or send him back to the prison, and he was sent back. Exactly similar is the condition of all men. We run headlong after all sorts of misery, and are unwilling to be freed from them. Every day we run after pleasure, and before we reach it, we find it is gone, it has slipped through our fingers. Still we do not cease from our mad pursuit, but on and on we go, blinded fools that we are.
In some oil mills in India, bullocks are used that go round and round to grind the oil-seed. There is a yoke on the bullock's neck. They have a piece of wood protruding from the yoke, and on that is fastened a wisp of straw. The bullock is blindfolded in such a way that it can only look forward, and so it stretches its neck to get at the straw; and in doing so, it pushes the piece of wood out a little further; and it makes another attempt with the same result, and yet another, and so on. It never catches the straw, but goes round and round in the hope of getting it, and in so doing, grinds out the oil. In the same way you and I who are born slaves to nature, money and wealth, wives and children, are always chasing a wisp of straw, a mere chimera, and are going through an innumerable round of lives without obtaining what we seek. The great dream is love; we are all going to love and be loved, we are all going to be happy and never meet with misery, but the more we go towards happiness, the more it goes away from us. Thus the world is going on, society goes on, and we, blinded slaves, have to pay for it without knowing. Study your own lives, and find how little of happiness there is in them, and how little in truth you have gained in the course of this wild-goose chase of the world.
Do you remember the story of Solon and Croesus? The king said to the great sage that Asia Minor was a very happy place. And the sage asked him, "Who is the happiest man? I have not seen anyone very happy." "Nonsense," said Croesus, "I am the happiest man in the world." "Wait, sir, till the end of your life; don't be in a hurry," replied the sage and went away. In course of time that king was conquered by the Persians, and they ordered him to be burnt alive. The funeral pyre was prepared and when poor Croesus saw it, he cried aloud "Solon! Solon!" On being asked to whom he referred, he told his story, and the Persian emperor was touched, and saved his life.
Such is the life-story of each one of us; such is the tremendous power of nature over us. It repeatedly kicks us away, but still we pursue it with feverish excitement. We are always hoping against hope; this hope, this chimera maddens us; we are always hoping for happiness.
There was a great king in ancient India who was once asked four questions, of which one was: "What is the most wonderful thing in the world?" "Hope," was the answer. This is the most wonderful thing. Day and nights we see people dying around us, and yet we think we shall not die; we never think that we shall die, or that we shall suffer. Each man thinks that success will be his, hoping against hope, against all odds, against all mathematical reasoning. Nobody is ever really happy here. If a man be wealthy and have plenty to eat, his digestion is: out of order, and he cannot eat. If a man's digestion be good, and he have the digestive power of a cormorant, he has nothing to put into his mouth. If he be rich, he has no children. If he be hungry and poor, he has a whole regiment of children, and does not know what to do with them. Why is it so? Because happiness and misery are the obverse and reverse of the same coin; he who takes happiness, must take misery also. We all have this foolish idea that we can have happiness without misery, and it has taken such possession of us that we have no control over the senses.
When I was in Boston, a young man came up to me, and gave me a scrap of paper on which he had written a name and address, followed by these words: "All the wealth and all the happiness of the world are yours, if you only know how to get them. If you come to me, I will teach you how to get them. Charge, $ 5." He gave me this and said, "What do you think of this?" I said, "Young man, why don't you get the money to print this? You have not even enough money to get this printed !" He did not understand this. He was infatuated with the idea that he could get immense wealth and happiness without any trouble. There are two extremes into which men are running; one is extreme optimism, when everything is rosy and nice and good; the other, extreme pessimism, when everything seems to be against them. The majority of men have more or less undeveloped brains. One in a million we see with a well-developed brain; the rest either have peculiar idiosyncrasies, or are monomaniacs.
Naturally we run into extremes. When we are healthy and young, we think that all the wealth of the world will be ours, and when later we get kicked about by society like footballs and get older, we sit in a corner and croak and throw cold water on the enthusiasm of others. Few men know that with pleasure there is pain, and with pain, pleasure; and as pain is disgusting, so is pleasure, as it is the twin brother of pain. It is derogatory to the glory of man that he should be going after pain, and equally derogatory, that he should be going after pleasure. Both should be turned aside by men whose reason is balanced. Why will not men seek freedom from being played upon? This moment we are whipped, and when we begin to weep, nature gives us a dollar; again we are whipped, and when we weep, nature gives us a piece of ginger-bread, and we begin to laugh again.
The sage wants liberty; he finds that sense-objects are all vain and that there is no end to pleasures and pains. How many rich people in the world want to find fresh pleasures! All pleasures are old, and they want new ones. Do you not see how many foolish things they are inventing every day, just to titillate the nerves for a moment, and that done, how there comes a reaction? The majority of people are just like a flock of sheep. If the leading sheep falls into a ditch, all the rest follow and break their necks. In the same way, what one leading member of a society does, all the others do, without thinking what they are doing. When a man begins to see the vanity of worldly things, he will feel he ought not to be thus played upon or borne along by nature. That is slavery. If a man has a few kind words said to him, he begins to smile, and when he hears a few harsh words, he begins to weep. He is a slave to a bit of bread, to a breath of air; a slave to dress, a slave to patriotism, to country, to name, and to fame. He is thus in the midst of slavery and the real man has become buried within, through his bondage. What you call man is a slave. When one realises all this slavery, then comes the desire to be free; an intense desire comes. If a piece of burning charcoal be placed on a man's head, see how he struggles to throw it off. Similar will be the struggles for freedom of a man who really understands that he is a slave of nature.
We have now seen what Mumukshutva, or the desire to be free, is. The next training is also a very difficult one. Nityânitya-Viveka — discriminating between that which is true and that which is untrue, between the eternal and the transitory. God alone is eternal, everything else is transitory. Everything dies; the angels die, men die, animals die, earths die, sun, moon, and stars, all die; everything undergoes constant change. The mountains of today were the oceans of yesterday and will be oceans tomorrow. Everything is in a state of flux. The whole universe is a mass of change. But there is One who never changes, and that is God; and the nearer we get to Him, the less will be the change for us, the less will nature be able to work on us; and when we reach Him, and stand with Him, we shall conquer nature, we shall be masters of phenomena of nature, and they will have no effect on us.
You see, if we really have undergone the above discipline, we really do not require anything else in this world. All knowledge is within us. All perfection is there already in the soul. But this perfection has been covered up by nature; layer after layer of nature is covering this purity of the soul. What have we to do? Really we do not develop our souls at all. What can develop the perfect? We simply take the evil off; and the soul manifests itself in its pristine purity, its natural, innate freedom.
Now begins the inquiry: Why is this discipline so necessary? Because religion is not attained through the ears, nor through the eyes, nor yet through the brain. No scriptures can make us religious. We may study all the books that are in the world, yet we may not understand a word of religion or of God. We may talk all our lives and yet may not be the better for it; we may be the most intellectual people the world ever saw, and yet we may not come to God at all. On the other hand, have you not seen what irreligious men have been produced from the most intellectual training? It is one of the evils of your Western civilisation that you are after intellectual education alone, and take no care of the heart. It only makes men ten times more selfish, and that will be your destruction. When there is conflict between the heart and the brain, let the heart be followed, because intellect has only one state, reason, and within that, intellect works, and cannot get beyond. It is the heart which takes one to the highest plane, which intellect can never reach; it goes beyond intellect, and reaches to what is called inspiration. Intellect can never become inspired; only the heart when it is enlightened, becomes inspired. An intellectual, heartless man never becomes an inspired man. It is always the heart that speaks in the man of love; it discovers a greater instrument than intellect can give you, the instrument of inspiration. Just as the intellect is the instrument of knowledge, so is the heart the instrument of inspiration. In a lower state it is a much weaker instrument than intellect. An ignorant man knows nothing, but he is a little emotional by nature. Compare him with a great professor — what wonderful power the latter possesses! But the professor is bound by his intellect, and he can be a devil and an intellectual man at the same time; but the man of heart can never be a devil; no man with emotion was ever a devil. Properly cultivated, the heart can be changed, and will go beyond intellect; it will be changed into inspiration. Man will have to go beyond intellect in the end. The knowledge of man, his powers of perception, of reasoning and intellect and heart, all are busy churning this milk of the world. Out of long churning comes butter, and this butter is God. Men of heart get the "butter", and the "buttermilk" is left for the intellectual.
These are all preparations for the heart, for that love, for that intense sympathy appertaining to the heart. It is not at all necessary to be educated or learned to get to God. A sage once told me, "To kill others one must be equipped with swords and shields, but to commit suicide a needle is sufficient; so to teach others, much intellect and learning are necessary, but not so for your own self-illumination." Are on pure? If you are pure, you will reach God. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." If you are not pure, and you know all the sciences in the world, that will not help you at all; you may be buried in all the books you read, but that will not be of much use. It is the heart that reaches the goal. Follow the heart. A pure heart sees beyond the intellect; it gets inspired; it knows things that reason can never know, and whenever there is conflict between the pure heart and the intellect, always side with the pure heart, even if you think what your heart is doing is unreasonable. When it is desirous of doing good to others, your brain may tell you that it is not politic to do so, but follow your heart, and you will find that you make less mistakes than by following your intellect. The pure heart is the best mirror for the reflection of truth, so all these disciplines are for the purification of the heart. And as soon as it is pure, all truths flash upon it in a minute; all truth in the universe will manifest in your heart, if you are sufficiently pure.
The great truths about atoms, and the finer elements, and the fine perceptions of men, were discovered ages ago by men who never saw a telescope, or a microscope, or a laboratory. How did they know all these things? It was through the heart; they purified the heart. It is open to us to do the same today; it is the culture of the heart, really, and not that of the intellect that will lessen the misery of the world.
Intellect has been cultured with the result that hundreds of sciences have been discovered, and their effect has been that the few have made slaves of the many — that is all the good that has been done. Artificial wants have been created; and every poor man, whether he has money or not, desires to have those wants satisfied, and when he cannot, he struggles, and dies in the struggle. This is the result. Through the intellect is not the way to solve the problem of misery, but through the heart. If all this vast amount of effort had been spent in making men purer, gentler, more forbearing, this world would have a thousandfold more happiness than it has today. Always cultivate the heart; through the heart the Lord speaks, and through the intellect you yourself speak.
You remember in the Old Testament where Moses was told, "Take off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." We must always approach the study of religion with that reverent attitude. He who comes with a pure heart and a reverent attitude, his heart will be opened; the doors will open for him, and he will see the truth.
If you come with intellect only, you can have a little intellectual gymnastics, intellectual theories, but not truth. Truth has such a face that any one who sees that face becomes convinced. The sun does not require any torch to show it; the sun is self-effulgent. If truth requires evidence, what will evidence that evidence? If something is necessary as witness for truth, where is the witness for that witness? We must approach religion with reverence and with love, and our heart will stand up and say, this is truth, and this is untruth.
The field of religion is beyond our senses, beyond even our consciousness. We cannot sense God. Nobody has seen God with his eyes or ever will see; nobody has God in his consciousness. I am not conscious of God, nor you, nor anybody. Where is God? Where is the field of religion? It is beyond the senses, beyond consciousness. Consciousness is only one of the many planes in which we work; you will have to transcend the field of consciousness, to go beyond the senses, approach nearer and nearer to your own centre, and as you do that, you will approach nearer and nearer to God. What is the proof of God? Direct perception, Pratyaksha. The proof of this wall is that I perceive it. God has been perceived that way by thousands before, and will be perceived by all who want to perceive Him. But this perception is no sense-perception at all; it is supersensuous, superconscious, and all this training is needed to take us beyond the senses. By means of all sorts of past work and bondages we are being dragged downwards; these preparations will make us pure and light. Bondages will fall off by themselves, and we shall be buoyed up beyond this plane of sense-perception to which we are tied down, and then we shall see, and hear, and feel things which men in the three ordinary states (viz waking, dream, and sleep) neither feel, nor see, nor hear. Then we shall speak a strange language, as it were, and the world will not understand us, because it does not know anything but the senses. True religion is entirely transcendental. Every being that is in the universe has the potentiality of transcending the senses; even the little worm will one day transcend the senses and reach God. No life will be a failure; there is no such thing as failure in the universe. A hundred times man will hurt himself, a thousand times he will tumble, but in the end he will realise that he is God. We know there is no progress in a straight line. Every soul moves, as it were, in a circle, and will have to complete it, and no soul can go so low but there will come a time when it will have to go upwards. No one will be lost. We are all projected from one common centre, which is God. The highest as well as the lowest life God ever projected, will come back to the Father of all lives. "From whom all beings are projected, in whom all live, and unto whom they all return; that is God."
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。