业瑜伽的理想
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
第八章
业瑜伽的理想
吠檀多宗教中最崇高的思想，乃是我们可以通过不同的道路抵达同一目标；我将这些道路归纳为四种，即行动之道、爱之道、心理修习之道与智慧之道。然而你们同时必须记住，这些划分并非截然分明，亦非彼此完全排斥。各道路相互交融渗透。我们不过是依据其中占主导地位的类型来命名各道。并非世上有人只具备行动的能力，也并非有人只是虔诚的礼拜者，更非有人只具纯粹的知识。这些划分乃是根据一个人身上可见的主导类型或倾向而定。我们已然发现，归根结底，所有这四条道路殊途同归，汇为一处。一切宗教，一切行动与礼拜的方法，皆引领我们走向同一个目标。
我已尝试阐明那个目标。依我所理解，那便是自由。我们周围所感知到的一切，都在向着自由而挣扎——从原子到人，从无知觉的、毫无生气的物质微粒，到地球上最高的存在，即人类灵魂。整个宇宙实际上正是这场追求自由之斗争的产物。在一切组合之中，每一粒子都试图走上自己的道路，试图脱离其他粒子；但其他粒子又将其束缚制衡。我们的地球试图飞离太阳，月亮试图飞离地球。万物皆有趋向无限离散的倾向。我们在宇宙中所见的一切，其根基都是这一趋向自由的挣扎；正是在这种冲动之下，圣者祈祷，盗贼行窃。当所走的行动路线不正当时，我们称之为恶；当其表现正当而高尚时，我们称之为善。然而冲动是同一的，皆是趋向自由的挣扎。圣者被自身束缚状态的认知所压迫，他渴望摆脱这种状态，因此他礼拜上帝。盗贼被他不拥有某些东西的念头所压迫，他试图摆脱那种匮乏，获得对其的自由，因此他去偷窃。自由是整个大自然——无论有情还是无情——的唯一目标；无论自觉还是不自觉，万物都在向着那个目标而挣扎。圣者所追求的自由与盗贼所追求的自由截然不同：圣者所爱的自由引领他走向对无限、难以言喻之至福的享受，而盗贼所执着的自由却只是为其灵魂更添新的枷锁。
在每一种宗教中，都可以找到这种趋向自由之挣扎的彰显。这是一切道德的基础，是无私的基础——无私意味着摆脱将人等同于其渺小肉身的观念。当我们看见一个人行善、帮助他人时，这意味着他无法被囿于"我与我所有"的狭小圈子之中。这种走出自我的过程没有终点。一切伟大的伦理体系都将绝对的无私作为目标。假设一个人能够达到这种绝对的无私，他将成为何等模样？他不再是渺小的某某先生；他已获得无限的扩展。他曾经拥有的那小小的个性，如今已永远失落；他已化为无限，而这无限扩展的实现，确实是一切宗教及一切道德与哲学教导的目标。当人格主义者听到这一思想被哲学地表达出来时，他会感到惶恐。然而，他若宣讲道德，他归根结底也在讲授同一思想。他对人的无私之心不设任何限度。假设一个人在人格主义体系下变得完全无私，我们如何将他与其他体系中的完善之人区别开来？他已与宇宙合而为一，而与宇宙合一正是一切人的目标；只是可怜的人格主义者没有勇气将自己的推理追循至其正当的结论。业瑜伽（Karma-Yoga）即是通过无私的工作来实现那个自由——那个作为全体人类本性之目标的自由。因此，每一个自私的行动都阻碍我们达到目标，而每一个无私的行动则使我们趋近目标；这便是为何道德唯一可以给出的定义是：凡自私者即是不道德，凡无私者即是道德。
然而，若你深究细节，事情便不那么简单了。因为正如我已提及的，环境常常使细节有所不同。同一行动，在一组情况之下可能是无私的，在另一组情况之下则可能是自私的。因此我们只能给出一个总体的定义，而将细节留待考量时间、地点与情境之差异后加以处理。在一个国家被视为道德的行为，在另一个国家同样的行为却被视为不道德，因为情境不同。大自然的目标是自由，而自由只能通过完全的无私来实现；每一个无私的思想、言语或行为都引领我们趋向目标，因此被称为道德。这个定义，你将发现，在每一种宗教和每一个伦理体系中都站得住脚。有些思想体系将道德来源于一个更高的存在——上帝。若你问为何一个人应当做此而非彼，他们的回答是："因为这是上帝的命令。"然而无论道德的来源为何，他们的伦理规范也有同样的核心思想——不要为自身着想，而是舍弃自我。然而某些人，尽管持有这种高尚的伦理理念，仍对必须舍弃自己渺小个性的想法感到恐惧。对于那些执着于渺小个性之念的人，我们不妨请他们思考一个已臻完全无私境界之人的情况——此人无一念为自身，无一行为自身，无一言为自身——然后再说他的"自身"究竟在何处。那个"自身"只有当他为自身思想、行动或言说时才为他所知晓。若他只意识到他人、宇宙与整体，他的"自身"又在哪里？它已永远消逝。
因此，业瑜伽是一套通过无私与善行来实现自由的伦理与宗教体系。业瑜伽修行者无需信奉任何教义。他甚至可以不信上帝，可以不追问自己的灵魂为何，也无需思考任何形而上学的玄思。他有其自己特定的目标，即实现无我；他必须自己去努力实现它。他生命中的每一时刻都必须是实证，因为他必须单凭工作——无需教义或理论的帮助——来解决同一个问题，而智慧之道修行者（Jnâni）以理性与灵感解决这一问题，虔信之道修行者（Bhakta）则以爱来解决。
现在来看下一个问题：这种工作是什么？这种为世界行善是什么？我们能为世界行善吗？在绝对意义上，不能；在相对意义上，可以。没有任何永久或永恒的善可以施予世界；若可以如此，这世界便不成其为这个世界了。我们也许能满足一个人五分钟的饥饿，但他还会再次感到饥饿。我们为人提供的每一种快乐，都可以看出是短暂的。没有人能永久治愈这反复发作的苦乐之热。任何永久的幸福能施予世界吗？在海洋中，我们不能掀起一个浪而不在别处造成一个凹陷。世界上善物的总量，就其与人类需求和贪欲的关系而言，始终是不变的。它既不能增加，也不能减少。以我们今天所知的人类历史为例。我们是否发现同样的苦难与同样的幸福，同样的欢乐与苦痛，同样的地位差异？某些人不是同样富有、某些人贫穷、某些人地位高、某些人低微、某些人健康、某些人不健康吗？对古代的埃及人、希腊人、罗马人而言，一切皆与今日的美国人相同。就历史所知，情况始终如此；然而与此同时我们发现，伴随着所有这些无法消除的苦乐差异而来的，始终有一种减轻这些差异的努力。每个历史时期都孕育了成千上万的男男女女，他们努力为他人铺平生命的道路。而他们成功了多少呢？我们只不过是在玩将球从一处踢到另一处的游戏。我们消除了肉体层面的痛苦，它便转移到精神层面。这就像但丁《地狱》中的那幅画面，守财奴们被给予一堆黄金在山坡上滚动。每次他们将它稍稍滚上去，它又滚了下来。我们关于黄金时代的一切谈论，作为学童的故事尚可，但不过如此而已。所有幻想黄金时代的民族也都认为，在世界上所有的民族中，届时他们自己将从中获益最多。这便是黄金时代这个思想奇妙的"无私"理念！
我们无法为这世界增添幸福；同样，我们也无法为它增添痛苦。在这地球上所显现的苦乐能量的总量，始终将保持不变。我们只是把它从这一面推到那一面，再从那一面推回这一面，但它将始终保持不变，因为保持如此乃是其本性。这起伏涨落，这升降沉浮，正是世界本性的一部分；持相反意见就如同说我们可以有生命而无死亡一样荒谬。这是彻底的无稽之谈，因为生命这一概念本身就蕴含着死亡，快乐这一概念本身就蕴含着痛苦。灯盏在不断地燃尽，而这正是它的生命。若你想要拥有生命，你就必须每时每刻为之死去。生与死不过是从不同立场审视同一事物的不同表达；它们是同一波浪的下落与上升，二者共同构成一个整体。一个人看到"下落"的一面，便成为悲观主义者；另一个人看到"上升"的一面，便成为乐观主义者。当一个男孩上学，父母照料他时，一切对他而言都是美好的；他的需求简单，他是个大乐观主义者。但那饱经世事的老人则会变得更为平静，他的热情势必已大为冷却。同样，那些四处可见衰败迹象的古老民族，往往不如新兴民族那般充满希望。印度有一句谚语："千年之城，千年之林。"城与林之间这种相互转化正在到处发生，它根据人们所见的一面，将他们塑造为乐观主义者或悲观主义者。
我们接下来要探讨的是平等的思想。这些黄金时代的理念作为行动的强大动力发挥了重要作用。许多宗教将其作为自身教义的组成部分——上帝将要统治宇宙，届时情况将不再有任何差别。宣扬这种教义的人不过是狂热者，而狂热者确实是人类中最真诚的人。基督教正是在这种狂热的魅力之基础上宣扬的，这也是它对希腊和罗马奴隶如此具有吸引力的原因。他们相信，在千禧年的宗教统治下，将不再有奴役，将有充足的饮食；因此他们纷纷聚集在基督教的旗帜之下。最初宣扬这一思想的人当然是无知的狂热者，但却是非常真诚的。在现代，这种千禧年式的渴望以平等的形式出现——自由、平等、博爱。这同样是狂热。真正的平等从未存在于世，也永远不能存在于世。我们怎能在这里全都平等？这种不可能的平等意味着彻底的死亡。是什么使这个世界成为其所是？失去平衡。在那被称为混沌的原初状态中，有着完美的平衡。那么，宇宙所有的成形力量是如何产生的？通过挣扎、竞争与冲突。假设物质的所有粒子都处于平衡之中，届时是否会有任何创造的过程？我们从科学中得知，这是不可能的。搅动一片水，你会发现每一粒水都在试图重新趋于平静，相互奔涌碰撞；同样，我们所称之为宇宙的一切现象——其中的一切事物——都在竭力回归完美平衡的状态。然后新的扰动再度来临，我们又有了组合与创造。不平等乃是创造的根本基础。与此同时，趋向平等的力量与摧毁平等的力量，同样是创造的必要条件。
绝对的平等——意味着所有平面上所有挣扎力量的完美平衡——在这个世界中永远不可能实现。在你达到那种状态之前，世界早已变得完全不适于任何形式的生命，而届时也将无人在世。因此我们发现，所有这些关于千禧年与绝对平等的思想，不仅是不可能的，而且若我们试图付诸实践，它们必将引领我们走向灭亡之日。是什么造成了人与人之间的差异？在很大程度上是大脑的差异。如今除了疯子，没有人会说我们生来就拥有同等的脑力。我们带着不平等的禀赋来到世上；我们生来有伟大者亦有渺小者，而这由先天决定的状况无法逃避。美洲印第安人在这片土地上生活了数千年，你们的少数祖先来到他们的土地上。他们在这片土地的面貌上造成了何等的变化！若人人平等，为何印第安人没能加以改善并建造城市？随着你们的祖先而来的是一种不同类型的脑力，不同的过去印象组合随之而来，它们得以运作并彰显自身。绝对的无差异化即是死亡。只要这个世界存在，分化就将存在且必然存在，而完全平等的千禧年只会在一个创造周期走向终结时才会到来。在此之前，平等不可能实现。然而这种实现千禧年的理念是一种伟大的行动动力。正如不平等对于创造本身是必要的，限制不平等的斗争同样是必要的。若没有趋向自由、回归梵的挣扎，创造也将不复存在。正是这两种力量之间的差距，决定了人类动机的本质。行动的动机将始终存在，有些趋向束缚，另一些趋向自由。
这世界的轮中之轮是一部可怕的机器；若我们将手伸入其中，一旦被卷入便再难脱身。我们都认为，当我们完成某项职责之后便可以得到安息；然而在我们尚未完成其中一部分之前，另一项职责已在等候。我们都被这强大而复杂的世界机器所拖拽。逃脱之路只有两条：一是彻底放弃与这部机器的一切干系，任其运转，自己袖手旁观，放弃我们的欲望。这说来容易，做来却几乎不可能。我不知道在两千万人中是否有一人能够做到。另一条路是投身世界，学习工作的秘诀，这便是业瑜伽之道。不要从世界机器的轮子面前逃跑，而是站入其中，学习工作的秘诀。通过在其中进行恰当的工作，也同样可以走出来。穿越这部机器本身，正是出路所在。
我们现在已经明白了什么是工作。它是大自然根基的一部分，永远持续不断。那些信奉上帝的人对此理解得更为透彻，因为他们知道上帝并非那种需要我们帮助的无能之辈。尽管这个宇宙将永远运转下去，我们的目标是自由，我们的目标是无私；而根据业瑜伽，那个目标要通过工作来达到。一切使世界完全幸福的设想，对于狂热者来说或许是良好的行动动力；但我们必须知道，狂热带来的恶与它带来的善同样多。业瑜伽修行者问道：除了与生俱来的对自由的热爱之外，你为何还需要任何工作的动机？要超越世俗的寻常动机。"你有权去工作，但无权要求其果实。"人能够训练自己认识并践行这一点，业瑜伽修行者如是说。当行善的念头成为他本性的一部分时，他便不再在外部寻求任何动机了。让我们行善，因为行善是好的；业瑜伽修行者说，即便是为了上天堂而行善，也是在束缚自己。任何出于哪怕最微小的自私动机而做的工作，非但不能使我们自由，反而又为我们的脚锻造了一条新的锁链。
因此，唯一的出路是放弃工作的一切成果，对它们不执着。认识到这个世界并非我们，我们亦并非这个世界；我们并非真正的肉身；我们并非真正在工作。我们是真我（Atman），永恒地安住于宁静与平和之中。我们为何要被任何事物所束缚？说我们应当完全不执着，这固然很好，但方法是什么？我们所做的每一件无任何私念的善事，非但不会锻造新的锁链，反而会打断现有锁链上的一个环节。我们向世界发出的每一个无求回报的善念，都会储存于其中，打断锁链上的一个环节，使我们日益纯净，直至我们成为凡人中最纯净的存在。然而这一切看起来似乎有些唐·吉诃德式的空想，过于哲学化，理论多于实践。我读过许多反对《薄伽梵歌》的论点，许多人说没有动机就无法工作。他们从未见过无私的工作，除非是在狂热的影响之下，因此他们才这样说。
最后，让我向你们讲述一个真正将业瑜伽教导付诸实践的人。那个人就是佛陀。他是唯一一个将这种教导完美付诸实践的人。世界上所有的先知，除佛陀之外，都有外在的动机驱使他们去无私地行动。世界上的先知们，除这一例外，可以分为两类：一类持有他们是降临大地的神之化身的信仰，另一类则持有他们只是来自上帝的使者；两者都从外部汲取工作的动力，都期待来自外部的回报，无论他们所使用的语言是多么地精神崇高。然而佛陀是唯一一位先知，他说："我不关心你们关于上帝的各种理论。讨论关于灵魂的一切微妙教义有何用处？行善，做一个善人。这将带领你走向自由，走向任何真理之所在。"在他的一生言行中，他完全没有个人动机；然而有哪个人工作得比他更多？请在历史上找出一个在如此高度上凌驾于一切之上的品格！整个人类种族所孕育的，只有这样一个人物、这样的崇高哲学、这样广博的同情。这位伟大的哲学家，宣讲最崇高的哲学，却对最卑微的动物怀有最深厚的同情，而且从未为自己提出任何主张。他是理想的业瑜伽修行者，完全无动机地行动；人类历史表明他是有史以来最伟大的人；无可比拟的，是迄今所存在的最伟大的心与脑的结合体，是曾经彰显出的最伟大的灵魂力量。他是世界所见的第一位伟大改革者。他第一个敢于说："不要因为某些古老的手稿被拿出来而相信，不要因为这是你民族的信仰、因为你从孩童时代起就被迫如此相信而相信；而是将一切进行推理，经过分析之后，若你发现它对所有人都有益，那就相信它，活出它，并帮助他人也活出它。"工作得最好的人是不带任何动机工作的人，不为金钱，不为名声，也不为任何其他东西；当一个人能够做到这一点时，他将成为一位佛陀，从他身上将流溢出一种工作的力量，能够以这样的方式改变世界。这个人代表了业瑜伽的最高理想。
English
CHAPTER VIII
THE IDEAL OF KARMA-YOGA
The grandest idea in the religion of the Vedanta is that we may reach the same goal by different paths; and these paths I have generalised into four, viz those of work, love, psychology, and knowledge. But you must, at the same time, remember that these divisions are not very marked and quite exclusive of each other. Each blends into the other. But according to the type which prevails, we name the divisions. It is not that you can find men who have no other faculty than that of work, nor that you can find men who are no more than devoted worshippers only, nor that there are men who have no more than mere knowledge. These divisions are made in accordance with the type or the tendency that may be seen to prevail in a man. We have found that, in the end, all these four paths converge and become one. All religions and all methods of work and worship lead us to one and the same goal.
I have already tried to point out that goal. It is freedom as I understand it. Everything that we perceive around us is struggling towards freedom, from the atom to the man, from the insentient, lifeless particle of matter to the highest existence on earth, the human soul. The whole universe is in fact the result of this struggle for freedom. In all combinations every particle is trying to go on its own way, to fly from the other particles; but the others are holding it in check. Our earth is trying to fly away from the sun, and the moon from the earth. Everything has a tendency to infinite dispersion. All that we see in the universe has for its basis this one struggle towards freedom; it is under the impulse of this tendency that the saint prays and the robber robs. When the line of action taken is not a proper one, we call it evil; and when the manifestation of it is proper and high, we call it good. But the impulse is the same, the struggle towards freedom. The saint is oppressed with the knowledge of his condition of bondage, and he wants to get rid of it; so he worships God. The thief is oppressed with the idea that he does not possess certain things, and he tries to get rid of that want, to obtain freedom from it; so he steals. Freedom is the one goal of all nature, sentient or insentient; and consciously or unconsciously, everything is struggling towards that goal. The freedom which the saint seeks is very different from that which the robber seeks; the freedom loved by the saint leads him to the enjoyment of infinite, unspeakable bliss, while that on which the robber has set his heart only forges other bonds for his soul.
There is to be found in every religion the manifestation of this struggle towards freedom. It is the groundwork of all morality, of unselfishness, which means getting rid of the idea that men are the same as their little body. When we see a man doing good work, helping others, it means that he cannot be confined within the limited circle of "me and mine". There is no limit to this getting out of selfishness. All the great systems of ethics preach absolute unselfishness as the goal. Supposing this absolute unselfishness can be reached by a man, what becomes of him? He is no more the little Mr. So-and-so; he has acquired infinite expansion. The little personality which he had before is now lost to him for ever; he has become infinite, and the attainment of this infinite expansion is indeed the goal of all religions and of all moral and philosophical teachings. The personalist, when he hears this idea philosophically put, gets frightened. At the same time, if he preaches morality, he after all teaches the very same idea himself. He puts no limit to the unselfishness of man. Suppose a man becomes perfectly unselfish under the personalistic system, how are we to distinguish him from the perfected ones in other system? He has become one with the universe and to become that is the goal of all; only the poor personalist has not the courage to follow out his own reasoning to its right conclusion. Karma-Yoga is the attaining through unselfish work of that freedom which is the goal of all human nature. Every selfish action, therefore, retards our reaching the goal, and every unselfish action takes us towards the goal; that is why the only definition that can be given of morality is this: That which is selfish is immoral, and that which is unselfish is moral.
But, if you come to details, the matter will not be seen to be quite so simple. For instance, environment often makes the details different as I have already mentioned. The same action under one set of circumstances may be unselfish, and under another set quite selfish. So we can give only a general definition, and leave the details to be worked out by taking into consideration the differences in time, place, and circumstances. In one country one kind of conduct is considered moral, and in another the very same is immoral, because the circumstances differ. The goal of all nature is freedom, and freedom is to be attained only by perfect unselfishness; every thought, word, or deed that is unselfish takes us towards the goal, and, as such, is called moral. That definition, you will find, holds good in every religion and every system of ethics. In some systems of thought morality is derived from a Superior Being — God. If you ask why a man ought to do this and not that, their answer is: "Because such is the command of God." But whatever be the source from which it is derived, their code of ethics also has the same central idea — not to think of self but to give up self. And yet some persons, in spite of this high ethical idea, are frightened at the thought of having to give up their little personalities. We may ask the man who clings to the idea of little personalities to consider the case of a person who has become perfectly unselfish, who has no thought for himself, who does no deed for himself, who speaks no word for himself, and then say where his "himself" is. That "himself" is known to him only so long as he thinks, acts, or speaks for himself. If he is only conscious of others, of the universe, and of the all, where is his "himself"? It is gone for ever.
Karma-Yoga, therefore, is a system of ethics and religion intended to attain freedom through unselfishness, and by good works. The Karma-Yogi need not believe in any doctrine whatever. He may not believe even in God, may not ask what his soul is, nor think of any metaphysical speculation. He has got his own special aim of realising selflessness; and he has to work it out himself. Every moment of his life must be realisation, because he has to solve by mere work, without the help of doctrine or theory, the very same problem to which the Jnâni applies his reason and inspiration and the Bhakta his love.
Now comes the next question: What is this work? What is this doing good to the world? Can we do good to the world? In an absolute sense, no; in a relative sense, yes. No permanent or everlasting good can be done to the world; if it could be done, the world would not be this world. We may satisfy the hunger of a man for five minutes, but he will be hungry again. Every pleasure with which we supply a man may be seen to be momentary. No one can permanently cure this ever-recurring fever of pleasure and pain. Can any permanent happiness be given to the world? In the ocean we cannot raise a wave without causing a hollow somewhere else. The sum total of the good things in the world has been the same throughout in its relation to man's need and greed. It cannot be increased or decreased. Take the history of the human race as we know it today. Do we not find the same miseries and the same happiness, the same pleasures and pains, the same differences in position? Are not some rich, some poor, some high, some low, some healthy, some unhealthy? All this was just the same with the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans in ancient times as it is with the Americans today. So far as history is known, it has always been the same; yet at the same time we find that, running along with all these incurable differences of pleasure and pain, there has ever been the struggle to alleviate them. Every period of history has given birth to thousands of men and women who have worked hard to smooth the passage of life for others. And how far have they succeeded? We can only play at driving the ball from one place to another. We take away pain from the physical plane, and it goes to the mental one. It is like that picture in Dante's hell where the misers were given a mass of gold to roll up a hill. Every time they rolled it up a little, it again rolled down. All our talks about the millennium are very nice as school-boys' stories, but they are no better than that. All nations that dream of the millennium also think that, of all peoples in the world, they will have the best of it then for themselves. This is the wonderfully unselfish idea of the millennium!
We cannot add happiness to this world; similarly, we cannot add pain to it either. The sum total of the energies of pleasure and pain displayed here on earth will be the same throughout. We just push it from this side to the other side, and from that side to this, but it will remain the same, because to remain so is its very nature. This ebb and flow, this rising and falling, is in the world's very nature; it would be as logical to hold otherwise as to say that we may have life without death. This is complete nonsense, because the very idea of life implies death and the very idea of pleasure implies pain. The lamp is constantly burning out, and that is its life. If you want to have life, you have to die every moment for it. Life and death are only different expressions of the same thing looked at from different standpoints; they are the falling and the rising of the same wave, and the two form one whole. One looks at the "fall" side and becomes a pessimist another looks at the "rise" side and becomes an optimist. When a boy is going to school and his father and mother are taking care of him, everything seems blessed to him; his wants are simple, he is a great optimist. But the old man, with his varied experience, becomes calmer and is sure to have his warmth considerably cooled down. So, old nations, with signs of decay all around them, are apt to be less hopeful than new nations. There is a proverb in India: "A thousand years a city, and a thousand years a forest." This change of city into forest and vice versa is going on everywhere, and it makes people optimists or pessimists according to the side they see of it.
The next idea we take up is the idea of equality. These millennium ideas have been great motive powers to work. Many religions preach this as an element in them — that God is coming to rule the universe, and that then there will be no difference at all in conditions. The people who preach this doctrine are mere fanatics, and fanatics are indeed the sincerest of mankind. Christianity was preached just on the basis of the fascination of this fanaticism, and that is what made it so attractive to the Greek and the Roman slaves. They believed that under the millennial religion there would be no more slavery, that there would be plenty to eat and drink; and, therefore, they flocked round the Christian standard. Those who preached the idea first were of course ignorant fanatics, but very sincere. In modern times this millennial aspiration takes the form of equality — of liberty, equality, and fraternity. This is also fanaticism. True equality has never been and never can be on earth. How can we all be equal here? This impossible kind of equality implies total death. What makes this world what it is? Lost balance. In the primal state, which is called chaos, there is perfect balance. How do all the formative forces of the universe come then? By struggling, competition, conflict. Suppose that all the particles of matter were held in equilibrium, would there be then any process of creation? We know from science that it is impossible. Disturb a sheet of water, and there you find every particle of the water trying to become calm again, one rushing against the other; and in the same way all the phenomena which we call the universe — all things therein — are struggling to get back to the state of perfect balance. Again a disturbance comes, and again we have combination and creation. Inequality is the very basis of creation. At the same time the forces struggling to obtain equality are as much a necessity of creation as those which destroy it.
Absolute equality, that which means a perfect balance of all the struggling forces in all the planes, can never be in this world. Before you attain that state, the world will have become quite unfit for any kind of life, and no one will be there. We find, therefore, that all these ideas of the millennium and of absolute equality are not only impossible but also that, if we try to carry them out, they will lead us surely enough to the day of destruction. What makes the difference between man and man? It is largely the difference in the brain. Nowadays no one but a lunatic will say that we are all born with the same brain power. We come into the world with unequal endowments; we come as greater men or as lesser men, and there is no getting away from that pre-natally determined condition. The American Indians were in this country for thousands of years, and a few handfuls of your ancestors came to their land. What difference they have caused in the appearance of the country! Why did not the Indians make improvements and build cities, if all were equal? With your ancestors a different sort of brain power came into the land, different bundles of past impressions came, and they worked out and manifested themselves. Absolute non-differentiation is death. So long as this world lasts, differentiation there will and must be, and the millennium of perfect equality will come only when a cycle of creation comes to its end. Before that, equality cannot be. Yet this idea of realising the millennium is a great motive power. Just as inequality is necessary for creation itself, so the struggle to limit it is also necessary. If there were no struggle to become free and get back to God, there would be no creation either. It is the difference between these two forces that determines the nature of the motives of men. There will always be these motives to work, some tending towards bondage and others towards freedom.
This world's wheel within wheel is a terrible mechanism; if we put our hands in it, as soon as we are caught we are gone. We all think that when we have done a certain duty, we shall be at rest; but before we have done a part of that duty, another is already in waiting. We are all being dragged along by this mighty, complex world-machine. There are only two ways out of it; one is to give up all concerns with the machine, to let it go and stand aside, to give up our desires. That is very easy to say, but is almost impossible to do. I do not know whether in twenty millions of men one can do that. The other way is to plunge into the world and learn the secret of work, and that is the way of Karma-Yoga. Do not fly away from the wheels of the world-machine, but stand inside it and learn the secret of work. Through proper work done inside, it is also possible to come out. Through this machinery itself is the way out.
We have now seen what work is. It is a part of natures foundation, and goes on always. Those that believe in God understand this better, because they know that God is not such an incapable being as will need our help. Although this universe will go on always, our goal is freedom, our goal is unselfishness; and according to Karma-Yoga, that goal is to be reached through work. All ideas of making the world perfectly happy may be good as motive powers for fanatics; but we must know that fanaticism brings forth as much evil as good. The Karma-Yogi asks why you require any motive to work other than the inborn love of freedom. Be beyond the common worldly motives. "To work you have the right, but not to the fruits thereof." Man can train himself to know and to practice that, says the Karma-Yogi. When the idea of doing good becomes a part of his very being, then he will not seek for any motive outside. Let us do good because it is good to do good; he who does good work even in order to get to heaven binds himself down, says the Karma-Yogi. Any work that is done with any the least selfish motive, instead of making us free, forges one more chain for our feet.
So the only way is to give up all the fruits of work, to be unattached to them. Know that this world is not we, nor are we this world; that we are really not the body; that we really do not work. We are the Self, eternally at rest and at peace. Why should we be bound by anything? It is very good to say that we should be perfectly non-attached, but what is the way to do it? Every good work we do without any ulterior motive, instead of forging a new chain, will break one of the links in the existing chains. Every good thought that we send to the world without thinking of any return, will be stored up there and break one link in the chain, and make us purer and purer, until we become the purest of mortals. Yet all this may seem to be rather quixotic and too philosophical, more theoretical than practical. I have read many arguments against the Bhagavad-Gita, and many have said that without motives you cannot work. They have never seen unselfish work except under the influence of fanaticism, and, therefore, they speak in that way.
Let me tell you in conclusion a few words about one man who actually carried this teaching of Karma-Yoga into practice. That man is Buddha. He is the one man who ever carried this into perfect practice. All the prophets of the world, except Buddha, had external motives to move them to unselfish action. The prophets of the world, with this single exception, may be divided into two sets, one set holding that they are incarnations of God come down on earth, and the other holding that they are only messengers from God; and both draw their impetus for work from outside, expect reward from outside, however highly spiritual may be the language they use. But Buddha is the only prophet who said, "I do not care to know your various theories about God. What is the use of discussing all the subtle doctrines about the soul? Do good and be good. And this will take you to freedom and to whatever truth there is." He was, in the conduct of his life, absolutely without personal motives; and what man worked more than he? Show me in history one character who has soared so high above all. The whole human race has produced but one such character, such high philosophy, such wide sympathy. This great philosopher, preaching the highest philosophy, yet had the deepest sympathy for the lowest of animals, and never put forth any claims for himself. He is the ideal Karma-Yogi, acting entirely without motive, and the history of humanity shows him to have been the greatest man ever born; beyond compare the greatest combination of heart and brain that ever existed, the greatest soul-power that has even been manifested. He is the first great reformer the world has seen. He was the first who dared to say, "Believe not because some old manuscripts are produced, believe not because it is your national belief, because you have been made to believe it from your childhood; but reason it all out, and after you have analysed it, then, if you find that it will do good to one and all, believe it, live up to it, and help others to live up to it." He works best who works without any motive, neither for money, nor for fame, nor for anything else; and when a man can do that, he will be a Buddha, and out of him will come the power to work in such a manner as will transform the world. This man represents the very highest ideal 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。