吠檀多与特权
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中文
1→吠檀多（Vedanta）与特权 2→ 3→（于伦敦讲授） 4→ 5→我们已将不二论（Advaita）的形而上学部分几近阐释完毕。尚余一点——或许是最难理解的一点——有待说明。迄今为止，我们已然明了：依据不二论的理论，我们所见的一切，乃至整个宇宙，皆是那唯一绝对实在的演化展现。梵文中称此绝对实在为梵（Brahman）。绝对者已转化为整个自然万有。然而，此处有一难题：绝对者如何能够变化？是何物驱使绝对者发生变化？就其本义而言，绝对者是不变的。以不变者而言变化，实为自相矛盾。同样的困难，亦适用于信奉人格神者。例如，这个创造究竟如何生起？它不可能无中生有；此乃矛盾——无中生有，永不可能。效果即是另一形式的原因。大树从种子中生长；树木便是种子加上所吸收的空气与水。倘若有任何方法可以测量树木构成所需的空气与水的分量，我们便会发现，它与效果即树木完全相等。现代科学已无可辩驳地证明：原因确实是另一形式的效果；原因各部分的组合发生变化，便成为效果。因此，我们须避免那种无因之宇宙的困境，而必须承认：上帝已化为宇宙。 6→ 7→然而，我们回避了一个难题，却又陷入另一个难题。在每一种理论中，上帝的观念都经由不变性这一理念而来。历史地考察，我们在寻求上帝的过程中始终保有的那一理念——即便以最粗浅的形式——乃是自由的理念；而自由的理念与不变性的理念实为一体。唯有自由者方能不变，唯有不变者方能自由；盖变化乃由外部某物，或由自身内部某种较周围环境更为强大之力所造成。一切能够变化之物，必然受制于某种或某些原因，而此等原因本身亦不能不变。假设上帝已化为这宇宙，则上帝便在此处，已经变化了。假设无限者已化为这有限宇宙，则无限者已被消减宇宙之分量，因此，上帝便是无限减去宇宙。一个可变的上帝，根本算不上上帝。为回避这泛神论的教义，吠檀多提出了一个极为大胆的理论：我们所知所想的这个宇宙根本不存在；不变者从未改变；整个宇宙不过是表象，而非实在；所谓部分、微小存在、种种差别，不过是表面现象，并非事物本身的性质。上帝根本没有变化，也根本没有化为宇宙。我们之所以将上帝视为宇宙，是因为我们必须透过时间、空间与因果关系来观看。是时间、空间与因果关系造成了这种表面上的差别，而非实质上的差别。这诚然是一个极为大胆的理论。这个理论还需进一步阐明。它并非通常意义上的唯心主义——它并非说宇宙不存在；宇宙确实存在，但同时，它并非我们所认为的那个样子。为说明此义，不二论哲学所援引的例子广为人知：夜间，一截树桩被迷信的人看成鬼魅，被盗贼看成警察，被等待同伴的人看成朋友。在所有这些情形中，树桩本身并未改变，但存在着表面的变化，而这些变化发生在观看者的心中。从主观面，我们可以借助心理学更好地理解这一点。在我们之外，有某种东西，其真实性质对我们而言是未知且不可知的；姑称之为X。在我们之内，也有某种东西，同样是未知且不可知的；姑称之为Y。可知者是X加Y的组合，因此我们所知的一切，必有两个部分：外部的X与内部的Y；而X加Y便是我们所认识的事物。所以，宇宙中的每一种形式，都部分是我们的创造，部分是外部某物。吠檀多所坚持的是：此X与此Y实为一体。 8→ 9→某些西方哲学家——尤其是赫伯特·斯宾塞以及其他一些近代哲学家——也得出了极为相似的结论。当人们说，在花朵中显现自身的那同一种力量，正在我自己的意识中涌动，这与吠檀多论者所欲宣扬的理念如出一辙：外部世界的实在性与内部世界的实在性本为一体。乃至内部与外部的理念本身，也是由于差别化才得以存在，并非存在于事物本身之中。例如，倘若我们发展出另一种感官，整个世界对我们而言便会彻底改变，这说明是主体在改变客体。若我改变，外部世界便随之改变。因此，吠檀多的理论归结为：你与我，以及宇宙中的一切，都是那绝对者，不是其部分，而是其整体。你就是那绝对者的全体，其余一切亦然，因为部分的观念根本不能进入其中。这些分割、这些限制，不过是表面现象，并非事物本身的性质。吠檀多大胆宣告：我是圆满完整的，我从未被束缚。若你认为自己受束缚，你便永远受束缚；若你知道自己是自由的，你便是自由的。因此，这一哲学的目标与旨归，在于让我们明白：我们一直是自由的，将来也永远是自由的。我们从不改变，从不死亡，也从未出生。那么，这一切变化又是什么？这个现象世界将归于何处？这个世界被承认为一个受时间、空间与因果关系约束的表象世界，在梵文中称为"显现论"（Vivarta-vada），即自然的演化与绝对者的显现。绝对者并不改变，也不重新演化。在小小的阿米巴中，那无限的完善潜伏其中。因其阿米巴外壳而被称为阿米巴；从阿米巴到完善之人，变化不在内部之物——那始终如一，不变不动——变化发生在外壳上。 10→ 11→这里有一面屏障，屏障之外是美丽的风景。屏障上有一个小孔，我们只能从中瞥见一斑。假设这个孔开始扩大；随着它越来越大，越来越多的风景映入眼帘；当屏障消失，我们便与整片风景面对面。屏障之外的风景是真我（Atman），而介于我们与风景之间的屏障，便是幻相（Maya）——时间、空间与因果关系。某处有一小孔，我只能从中窥见真我的片影。孔越大，我所见越多；屏障消失之时，我便知道我就是真我。因此，宇宙中的变化并不在绝对者之中；它们在自性中。自性不断演化，直至绝对者将自身彰显出来。它存在于每一个人之中；在某些人身上，其显现多于他人。整个宇宙实为一体。谈及真我，说某人优于他人，毫无意义。谈及真我，说人优于动物或植物，毫无意义；整个宇宙是一体的。在植物中，阻碍真我显现的障碍极大；在动物中稍小；在人类中更小；在有修养的属灵之人中更小；在完善之人身上，障碍已完全消除。我们一切的奋斗、修炼、苦乐、泪水与微笑，我们所做与所想的一切，皆趋向那个目标——撕碎屏障，使小孔扩大，使真实与其背后的实在之间残余的层层障碍愈发稀薄。因此，我们的工作不是要解放真我，而是要摆脱束缚。太阳被层层云朵遮蔽，却不受其影响。风的工作是驱散云朵，云朵消散得越多，日光便越发显现。真我之中没有丝毫变化——它是无限、绝对、永恒、智识、至福与存在。真我既无生，也无死。死亡与出生、轮回与升天，对真我而言皆不可能。这些不过是种种表象、种种幻景、种种梦境。若一个人在梦中当下怀有邪恶的思想，行邪恶之事，在某段时间之后，那梦境本身的念头便会产生下一个梦。他将梦见自己身处恐怖之地，饱受折磨。而那在梦中怀有善念、行善之事的人，在那段梦境结束之后，将梦见自己身处更美好之地；如此循环，从梦到梦。然而，终将有一时，整个梦境彻底消散。对我们每一个人，终将有那么一刻：整个宇宙被发现不过是一场梦，我们将发现真我无限优于其所处的环境。在我们称之为环境的这场挣扎中，终将有那么一刻，我们发现这些环境与真我的力量相比几近于零。这只是时间问题，而在无限之中，时间不过是沧海一粟。我们尽可从容等待，保持平静。 12→ 13→因此，无论有意还是无意，整个宇宙都在趋向那个目标。月球努力挣脱其他天体引力的束缚，终将脱离——假以时日。但那些有意识地奋力争取自由者，会加速这一进程。从这一理论中，我们在实践上可以直接看到的一个益处，是：真正的普世之爱的理念，唯有从这一立场出发才有可能。我们都是同路人、同行者——一切生命：植物、动物；不只是我的人类兄弟，还有我的动物兄弟、我的植物兄弟；不只是我善良的兄弟，还有我邪恶的兄弟，我属灵的兄弟和我堕落的兄弟。他们都趋向同一个目标。众生皆在同一条洪流之中，每一个都在奔向那无限的自由。无人能阻止这一进程，无人能逆流而上，无论怎样挣扎；他将被向前推进，最终获得自由。创造的意义，在于挣扎着回归自由——回归我们存在的中心，我们仿佛从那里被抛出来。我们身在此处这一事实，本身就说明我们正趋向中心；而这种趋向中心的吸引力的显现，正是我们所称的爱。 14→ 15→有人问：这宇宙从何处来，在何处持续，将归于何处？答案是：它从爱而来，在爱中持续，复归于爱。由此，我们便能理解：无论喜欢与否，任何人都无路可退。每一个人都必须抵达中心，无论他如何挣扎想要退回。然而，若我们有意识地、自觉地挣扎，便会使途径更为平坦，减少震荡，缩短时间。由此，我们自然得出的另一个结论是：一切知识与一切力量皆在内而非在外。我们所称的自然，不过是一面反射之镜——那是自然的全部用处——而一切知识，便是内在在这面自然之镜上的映射。我们所称的力量、自然的奥秘与能量，皆在内。在外部世界中，只有一系列变化。自然中并无知识；一切知识皆来自人的真我。人彰显知识，从自身内部发现它——那知识自永恒即已存在。每一个人都是知识的体现，每一个人都是永恒至福与永恒存在的体现。其伦理效果，正如我们在其他场合所见，与平等息息相关。
1→然而，特权的观念是人类生命的祸根。仿佛有两种力量始终在发挥作用：一种制造种姓，另一种打破种姓；换言之，一种制造特权，另一种打破特权。每当特权被打破，一个民族便会获得更多光明与进步。我们在周围随处可见这种斗争。当然，首先是那粗野的特权观念——强者凌驾于弱者之上的特权。其次是财富的特权：若一个人拥有的钱财多于他人，他便要在那些拥有较少者面前争取一点特权。更为微妙、也更为强大的，是才智的特权；因为一个人比他人知晓更多，便要求更多特权。而最后一种，也是最坏的一种，因为它是最为专横的，乃是属灵的特权。若某些人自以为对属灵、对上帝有更多了解，便要对其他每一个人声索优越的特权。他们说："俯伏下来崇拜我们吧，你们这些普通众生；我们是上帝的使者，你们必须崇拜我们。"任何人都不能既是吠檀多论者，同时又承认任何人——无论在心理、肉体还是属灵层面——享有特权；绝对不允许任何人享有特权。每个人身上都有同样的力量，只是一者显现更多，另一者显现较少；每个人身上都有同样的潜能。特权的依据何在？一切知识皆在每一个灵魂之中，即便是最无知者亦然；他尚未将其彰显出来，但或许他尚未得到机会，环境或许对他并不适宜。当他获得机会，他便会将其彰显出来。所谓某人生来高于他人的观念，在吠檀多中毫无意义；所谓两个民族之间一者优越、另一者低劣，也毫无意义可言。将他们置于相同的环境中，看看是否会涌现出同等的智识——在此之前，你无权说某个民族优于另一个民族。在属灵方面，更不应声索特权。服务人类是一种特权，因为这是对上帝的敬拜。上帝就在这里，在所有这些人类灵魂之中。他是人的真我。人们能要求什么特权？上帝从无特殊使者，从来没有，也永远不会有。一切存在，无论大小，都是上帝同等的显现；差别仅在于显现程度。那同一个永恒的信息，自古已被永恒地传递，正在一点一滴地降临于他们。那永恒的信息已铭刻在每一个存在的心中；它已然在那里，众生都在努力将其表达出来。某些人在适宜的环境中，将其表达得比他人稍好一些，但作为信息的承载者，他们都是一体的。优越性的依据何在？最无知的人，最无知的孩童，与有史以来任何一位伟大的上帝使者同样伟大，与未来将要降临的任何使者同样伟大。因为那无限的信息已一劳永逸地铭刻于每一个存在的心中。无论何处有一个存在，那个存在便承载着至高者的无限信息。它就在那里。因此，不二论的工作，是打破所有这些特权。这是最艰难的工作，而奇怪的是，在孕育了这一哲学的土地上，它的推行却比任何地方都更为迟滞。若说世界上有哪片土地盛行特权，那便是孕育了这一哲学的土地——对属灵之人的特权，以及对出身的特权，随处可见。在那里，财富的特权并不十分突出（我认为这是其益处之一），但出身的特权与属灵的特权却无处不在。 2→ 3→曾有一次，人们作出了宏大的尝试，宣扬吠檀多伦理，并在数百年间取得了相当程度的成功；历史告诉我们，那些年代正是这个民族最美好的时代。我指的是佛教打破特权的尝试。我所记得的、献给佛陀的一些最优美的称号是："种姓的破除者，特权的摧毁者，向一切众生宣扬平等者。"于是，他宣扬这一平等的理念。在沙门团体中，这一理念所产生的力量在某种程度上被误解了；我们发现，那里曾有数百次尝试，要将他们建构成一个有上有下的教会组织。然而，当你告诉人们说他们都是神的时候，教会便难以大有作为。吠檀多的一个良好效果是宗教思想的自由——印度在其历史的所有时代都享有这种自由。这值得引以为荣：那是一片从未有过宗教迫害的土地，人们被允许在宗教上享有完全的自由。 4→ 5→吠檀多道德这一实践层面，在今天与以往任何时代同样必要——也许比以往任何时代都更为必要；因为随着知识的扩展，一切声索特权的行为已变得愈发强烈。上帝与魔鬼、或阿胡拉·马兹达与阿里曼的观念，其中蕴含着不少诗意。上帝与魔鬼的差别，不在于别处，唯在无私与自私之别。魔鬼所知与上帝一样多，力量与上帝相当；唯独缺乏神圣——这使他成为魔鬼。将同样的理念应用于现代世界：过度的知识与力量，缺乏神圣，使人类成为魔鬼。通过机器与各种器械的制造，正获取着惊人的力量；如今所声索的特权，是世界历史上前所未有的。这就是为何吠檀多要起而反对，要打破这种对人类灵魂的专横压迫。 6→ 7→研习过《博伽梵歌》（Bhagavad Gita）的人，当记得那些难忘的段落："以同一眼光看待博学的婆罗门（Brahmin）、母牛、大象、狗或贱民者，他确是智者与贤人"；"即便在今生，凡心念牢固地安住于此平等之中者，已然征服了相对的存在，因为主对一切是同一的，而主是纯洁的；因此，那些以同一心待一切，又是纯洁的，据说是活在上帝之中。"这正是吠檀多道德的精髓——对一切的同一性。我们已看到，是主观世界统治着客观世界。改变主体，客体便不得不改变；净化你自己，世界便不得不得到净化。这一件事，在当今比以往任何时代都更需要被宣扬。我们对邻人越来越关注，对自己却越来越少关注。若我们改变，世界便会改变；若我们纯洁，世界便会纯洁。问题在于：我为何要在他人身上看到邪恶？我若非邪恶，便看不到邪恶。我若非软弱，便不会痛苦。幼时曾令我痛苦之事，如今已不再如此。主体改变了，客体也就不得不改变——吠檀多如是说。所有这些我们称之为痛苦与邪恶根源的东西，当我们抵达那奇妙的平等境界、那同一性的境界时，我们将会对之一笑而过。这在吠檀多中被称为获得自由。趋近那种自由的征兆，是这种同一性与平等性的日益增长。在苦难与幸福中同一，在成功与失败中同一——如此心境，正趋近于那自由的境界。 8→ 9→心意不易征服。那些在每一件小事临近时、在最轻微的挑衅或危险面前就波涛汹涌的心意，处于何等状态！当这些变化袭来心间，又谈何伟大或属灵？心意这种不稳定的状态必须加以改变。我们必须扪心自问：外部世界能对我们产生多大影响，我们能在多大程度上无视外部一切力量而自立？当我们成功地阻止了世界上所有力量令我们失去平衡，也唯有到那时，我们才算获得了自由。那便是解脱（Moksha）。它就在此处，别无他处；它就在此刻。一切美好的思想之流，从这一理念、这一源泉中汩汩流向世界，通常在其表达中被误解，表面上彼此矛盾。我们发现，在每个民族中都有众多勇敢而属灵卓越的灵魂，遁入山洞或森林修行，斩断与外部世界的联系。这是一种理念。另一方面，我们又发现许多光辉卓越的存在，置身社会，致力于提升同胞——穷苦者、悲惨者。表面上，这两种方式相互矛盾。住在山洞中、远离同胞的人，对那些为同胞再生而工作者投以轻蔑的微笑。"多么愚蠢！"他说；"还有什么工作可做？幻相（Maya）的世界永远是幻相的世界，它无法被改变。"若我问印度的一位祭司："你相信吠檀多吗？"——他会说："那是我的宗教，我当然相信；那是我的生命。""很好，你是否承认一切生命的平等、万物的同一性？""我当然承认。"然而下一刻，当一位低种姓之人走近这位祭司，他便跳到街道的另一侧以避开那人。"你为何跳开？""因为他的触碰会使我污秽。""但你方才说我们都是一样的，你承认灵魂之间没有差别。"他说："哦，那只是理论，仅适用于在家人；当我进入森林，我便会平等视待一切人。"你若问英国某位出身与财富显赫的大人物，他是否以基督徒的身份相信人类的弟兄情谊——因为众生皆出于上帝——他会作出肯定的回答，但五分钟后，他便高声说出一些贬低普通民众的话。这样，数千年来它一直只是一种理论，从未付诸实践。人人都理解它，宣称其为真理，但当你要求他们付诸实践，他们说，这需要数百万年的时间。 10→ 11→从前有一位国王，拥有众多的廷臣，每一位廷臣都宣称愿为主上献出生命，并自称是有史以来最忠诚的人。随着时间的流逝，一位桑雅辛（Sannyasin）来到国王面前。国王对他说，从未有过哪位国王拥有他这样众多的忠诚廷臣。桑雅辛微笑着说，他不相信这一点。国王说，桑雅辛可以亲自加以检验。于是桑雅辛宣布，他将举行一场盛大的祭祀，可以延长国王的统治，条件是建造一个小水池，由每一位廷臣在夜深之时，向其中倒入一罐牛奶。国王微笑着问："这便是检验？"他召来廷臣，告知此事。廷臣们皆欣然应诺，各自离去。深夜，他们一一前来，将各自的罐子倒入水池。然而到了早晨，水池中发现满是清水。廷臣们被召集起来询问此事。每一位都以为，众多罐子里有那么多牛奶，自己的那一罐清水不会被察觉。不幸的是，我们大多数人都抱有与故事中廷臣相同的想法，将自己分担的那份工作也照此完成了。 12→ 13→祭司说，平等的理念如此普遍，我那一点点特权不会被察觉。我们富有的人也这么说，每个国家的专制者也这么说。被压迫者比压迫者更有希望。压迫者要抵达自由，需要更漫长的时间；而被压迫者则较少。狐狸的残忍远比狮子的残忍更为可怕。狮子猛击一拳，之后便沉寂一段时日；而狐狸则锲而不舍地追踪猎物，从不放过任何机会。祭司政治本性上是残忍而无情的。这就是为何凡祭司政治兴起之处，宗教便随之衰落。吠檀多说，我们必须放弃特权的观念，宗教才能到来。在此之前，根本谈不上什么宗教。 14→ 15→你是否相信基督所说的："变卖你所有的，周济穷人"？那是实践层面的平等；不曲解经文，而是如实面对真理。不要曲解经文。我曾听人说，那只是对聆听耶稣的那一小撮犹太人所宣扬的。同样的论点也适用于其他事情。不要曲解经文；敢于如实面对真理。即便我们无法达到这一目标，也让我们承认自己的软弱，但不要摧毁这一理想。让我们希望有朝一日能够达到它，并为之奋斗。就在那里——"变卖你所有的，周济穷人，来跟从我。"如此，践踏一切特权与一切在我们内部为特权效力之物，让我们为那种知识而工作——那知识将带来对全人类一视同仁的感受。你以为因为你说话比街上的人更优雅，你便优于他。请记住，当你这样想时，你并非在趋向自由，而是在为自己的脚镣铸造新的锁链。尤其是，若属灵的骄傲进入你心中，那将是你的祸患。它是有史以来最可怕的束缚。财富或人心的任何其他束缚，都不及此对真我的捆缚深重。"我比他人更纯洁"——这是人心所能产生的最可怕的念头。你究竟在何种意义上是纯洁的？你内在的上帝，即是一切众生内在的上帝。若你尚未知晓这一点，你便什么都不知道。差别如何存在？一切皆为一体。每一个存在都是至高者的庙宇；若你能见到这一点，甚好；若不能，属灵于你尚有待降临。
English
Vedanta And Privilege
(Delivered in London)
We have nearly finished the metaphysical portion of the Advaita. One point, and perhaps the most difficult to understand, remains. We have seen so far that, according to the Advaita theory, all we see around us, and the whole universe in fact, is the evolution of that one Absolute. This is called, in Sanskrit, Brahman. The Absolute has become changed into the whole of nature. But here comes a difficulty. How is it possible for the Absolute to change? What made the Absolute to change? By its very definition, the Absolute is unchangeable. Change of the unchangeable would be a contradiction. The same difficulty applies to those who believe in a Personal God. For instance, how did this creation arise? It could not have arisen out of nothing; that would be a contradiction — something coming out of nothing can never be. The effect is the cause in another form. Out of the seed, the big tree grows; the tree is the seed, plus air and water taken in. And if there were any method of testing the amount of the air, and water taken to make the body of the tree, we should find that it is exactly the same as the effect, the tree. Modern science has proved beyond doubt that it is so, that the cause is the effect in another form. The adjustment of the parts of the cause changes and becomes the effect. So, we have to avoid this difficulty of having a universe without a cause, and we are bound to admit that God has become the universe.
But we have avoided one difficulty, and landed in another. In every theory, the idea of God comes through the idea of unchangeability. We have traced historically how the one idea which we have always in mind in the search for God, even in its crudest form, is the idea of freedom; and the idea of freedom and of unchangeability is one and the same. It is the free alone which never changes, and the unchangeable alone which is free; for change is produced by something exterior to a thing, or within itself, which is more powerful than the surroundings. Everything which can be changed is necessarily bound by certain cause or causes, which cannot be unchangeable. Supposing God has become this universe, then God is here and has changed. And suppose the Infinite has become this finite universe, so much of the Infinite has gone, and, therefore, God is Infinite minus the universe. A changeable God would be no God. To avoid this doctrine of pantheism, there is a very bold theory of the Vedanta. It is that this universe, as we know and think it, does not exist, that the unchangeable has not changed, that the whole of this universe is mere appearance and not reality, that this idea of parts, and little beings, and differentiations is only apparent, not the nature of the thing itself. God has not changed at all, and has not become the universe at all. We see God as the universe, because we have to look through time, space, and causation. It is time, space, and causation that make this differentiation apparently, but not really. This is a very bold theory indeed. Now this theory ought to be explained a little more clearly. It does not mean idealism in the sense in which it is generally understood. It does not say that this universe does not exist; it exists, but at the same time it is not what we take it for. To illustrate this, the example given by the Advaita philosophy is well known. In the darkness of night, a stump of a tree is looked upon as a ghost by some superstitious person, as a policeman by a robber, as a friend by some one waiting for his companion. In all these cases, the stump of the tree did not change, but there are apparent changes, and these changes were in the minds of those who saw it. From the subjective side we can understand it better through psychology. There is something outside of ourselves, the true nature of which is unknown and unknowable to us; let us call it x. And there is something inside, which is also unknown and unknowable to us; let us call it y. The knowable is a combination of x plus y, and everything that we know, therefore, must have two parts, the x outside, and the y inside; and the x plus y is the thing we know. So, every form in the universe is partly our creation and partly something outside. Now what the Vedanta holds is that this x and this y are one and the same.
A very similar conclusion has been arrived at by some western philosophers, especially by Herbert Spencer, and some other modern philosophers. When it is said that the same power which is manifesting itself in the flower is welling up in my own consciousness, it is the very same idea which the Vedantist wants to preach, that the reality of the external world and the reality of the internal world are one and the same. Even the ideas of the internal and external exist by differentiation and do not exist in the things themselves. For instance, if we develop another sense, the whole world will change for us, showing that it is the subject which will change the object. If I change, the external world changes. The theory of the Vedanta, therefore, comes to this, that you and I and everything in the universe are that Absolute, not parts, but the whole. You are the whole of that Absolute, and so are all others, because the idea of part cannot come into it. These divisions, these limitations, are only apparent, not in the thing itself. I am complete and perfect, and I was never bound, boldly preaches the Vedanta. If you think you are bound, bound you will remain; if you know that you are free, free you are. Thus the end and aim of this philosophy is to let us know that we have been free always, and shall remain free for ever. We never change, we never die, and we are never born. What are all these changes then? What becomes of this phenomenal world? This world is admitted as an apparent world, bound by time, space, and causation, and it comes to what is called the Vivarta-vâda in Sanskrit, evolution of nature, and manifestation of the Absolute. The Absolute does not change, or re-evolve. In the little amoeba is that infinite perfection latent. It is called amoeba from its amoeba covering, and from the amoeba to the perfect man the change is not in what is inside — that remains the same, unchangeable — but the change occurs in the covering.
There is a screen here, and some beautiful scenery outside. There is a small hole in the screen through which we can only catch a glimpse of it. Suppose this hole begins to increase; as it grows larger and larger, more and more of the scenery comes into view, and when the screen has vanished, we come face to face with the whole of the scenery. This scene outside is the soul, and the screen between us and the scenery is Mâyâ — time, space, and causation. There is a little hole somewhere, through which I can catch only a glimpse of the soul. When the hole is bigger, I see more and more, and when the screen has vanished, I know that I am the soul. So changes in the universe are not in the Absolute; they are in nature. Nature evolves more and more, until the Absolute manifests Itself. In everyone It exists; in some It is manifested more than in others. The whole universe is really one. In speaking of the soul, to say that one is superior to another has no meaning. In speaking of the soul, to say that man is superior to the animal or the plant, has no meaning; the whole universe is one. In plants the obstacle to soul-manifestation is very great; in animals a little less; and in man still less; in cultured, spiritual men still less; and in perfect men, it has vanished altogether. All our struggles, exercises, pains, pleasures, tears, and smiles, all that we do and think tend towards that goal, the tearing up of the screen, making the hole bigger, thinning the layers that remain between the manifestation and the reality behind. Our work, therefore, is not to make the soul free, but to get rid of the bondages. The sun is covered by layers of clouds, but remains unaffected by them. The work of the wind is to drive the clouds away, and the more the clouds disappear, the more the light of the sun appears. There is no change whatsoever in the soul — Infinite, Absolute, Eternal, Knowledge, Bliss, and Existence. Neither can there be birth or death for the soul. Dying, and being born, reincarnation, and going to heaven, cannot be for the soul. These are different appearances, different mirages, different dreams. If a man who is dreaming of this world now dreams of wicked thoughts and wicked deeds, after a certain time the thought of that very dream will produce the next dream. He will dream that he is in a horrible place, being tortured. The man who is dreaming good thoughts and good deeds, after that period of dream is over, will dream he is in a better place; and so on from dream to dream. But the time will come when the whole of this dream will vanish. To everyone of us there must come a time when the whole universe will be found to have been a mere dream, when we shall find that the soul is infinitely better than its surroundings. In this struggle through what we call our environments, there will come a time when we shall find that these environments were almost zero in comparison with the power of the soul. It is only a question of time, and time is nothing in the Infinite. It is a drop in the ocean. We can afford to wait and be calm.
Consciously or unconsciously, therefore, the whole universe is going towards that goal. The moon is struggling to get out of the sphere of attraction of other bodies, and will come out of it, in the long run. But those who consciously strive to get free hasten the time. One benefit from this theory we practically see is that the idea of a real universal love is only possible from this point of view. All are our fellow passengers, our fellow travellers — all life, plants, animals; not only my brother man, but my brother brute, my brother plant; not only my brother the good, but my brother the evil, my brother the spiritual and my brother the wicked. They are all going to the same goal. All are in the same stream, each is hurrying towards that infinite freedom. We cannot stay the course, none can stay it, none can go back, however he may try; he will be driven forward, and in the end he will attain to freedom. Creation means the struggle to get back to freedom, the centre of our being, whence we have been thrown off, as it were. The very fact that we are here, shows that we are going towards the centre, and the manifestation of this attraction towards the centre is what we call love.
The question is asked: From what does this universe come, in what does it remain, to what does it go back? And the answer is: From love it comes, in love it remains, back it goes unto love. Thus we are in a position to understand that, whether one likes it or not, there is no going back for anyone. Everyone has to get to the centre, however he may struggle to go back. Yet if we struggle consciously, knowingly, it will smooth the passage, it will lessen the jar, and quicken the time. Another conclusion we naturally arrive at from this is that all knowledge and all power are within and not without. What we call nature is a reflecting glass — that is all the use of nature — and all knowledge is this reflection of the within on this glass of nature. What we call powers, secrets of nature, and force, are all within. In the external world are only a series of changes. There is no knowledge in nature; all knowledge comes from the human soul. Man manifests knowledge, discovers it within himself, which is pre-existing through eternity. Everyone is the embodiment of Knowledge, everyone is the embodiment of eternal Bliss, and eternal Existence. The ethical effect is just the same, as we have seen elsewhere, with regard to equality.
But the idea of privilege is the bane of human life. Two forces, as it were, are constantly at work, one making caste, and the other breaking caste; in other words, the one making for privilege, the other breaking down privilege. And whenever privilege is broken down, more and more light and progress come to a race. This struggle we see all around us. Of course there is first the brutal idea of privilege, that of the strong over the weak. There is the privilege of wealth. If a man has more money than another, he wants a little privilege over those who have less. There is the still subtler and more powerful privilege of intellect; because one man knows more than others, he claims more privilege. And the last of all, and the worst, because the most tyrannical, is the privilege of spirituality. If some persons think they know more of spirituality, of God, they claim a superior privilege over everyone else. They say, "Come down and worships us, ye common herds; we are the messengers of God, and you have to worship us." None can be Vedantists, and at the same time admit of privilege to anyone, either mental, physical, or spiritual; absolutely no privilege for anyone. The same power is in every man, the one manifesting more, the other less; the same potentiality is in everyone. Where is the claim to privilege? All knowledge is in every soul, even in the most ignorant; he has not manifested it, but, perhaps, he has not had the opportunity, the environments were not, perhaps, suitable to him. When he gets the opportunity, he will manifest it. The idea that one man is born superior to another has no meaning in the Vedanta; that between two nations one is superior and the other inferior has no meaning whatsoever. Put them in the same circumstances, and see whether the same intelligence comes out or not. Before that you have no right to say that one nation is superior to another. And as to spirituality, no privilege should be claimed there. It is a privilege to serve mankind, for this is the worship of God. God is here, in all these human souls. He is the soul of man. What privilege can men ask? There are no special messengers of God, never were, and never can be. All beings, great or small, are equally manifestations of God; the difference is only in the manifestation. The same eternal message, which has been eternally given, comes to them little by little. The eternal message has been written in the heart of every being; it is there already, and all are struggling to express it. Some, in suitable circumstances, express it a little better than others, but as bearers of the message they are all one. What claim to superiority is there? The most ignorant man, the most ignorant child, is as great a messenger of God as any that ever existed, and as great as any that are yet to come. For the infinite message is there imprinted once for all in the heart of every being. Wherever there is a being, that being contains the infinite message of the Most High. It is there. The work of the Advaita, therefore, is to break down all these privileges. It is the hardest work of all, and curious to say, it has been less active than anywhere else in the land of its birth. If there is any land of privilege, it is the land which gave birth to this philosophy — privilege for the spiritual man as well as for the man of birth. There they have not so much privilege for money (that is one of the benefits, I think), but privilege for birth and spirituality is everywhere.
Once a gigantic attempt was made to preach Vedantic ethics, which succeeded to a certain extent for several hundred years, and we know historically that those years were the best times of that nation. I mean the Buddhistic attempt to break down privilege. Some of the most beautiful epithets addressed to Buddha that I remember are, "Thou the breaker of castes, destroyer of privileges, preacher of equality to all beings." So, he preached this one idea of equality. Its power has been misunderstood to a certain extent in the brotherhood of Shramanas, where we find that hundreds of attempts have been made to make them into a church, with superiors and inferiors. Your cannot make much of a church when you tell people they are all gods. One of the good effects of Vedanta has been freedom of religious thought, which India enjoyed throughout all times of its history. It is something to glory in, that it is the land where there was never a religious persecution, where people are allowed perfect freedom in religion.
This practical side of Vedanta morality is necessary as much today as it ever was, more necessary, perhaps, than it ever was, for all this privilege-claiming has become tremendously intensified with the extension of knowledge. The idea of God and the devil, or Ahura Mazda and Ahriman, has a good deal of poetry in it. The difference between God and the devil is in nothing except in unselfishness and selfishness. The devil knows as much as God, is as powerful as God; only he has no holiness — that makes him a devil. Apply the same idea to the modern world: excess of knowledge and power, without holiness, makes human beings devils. Tremendous power is being acquired by the manufacture of machines and other appliances, and privilege is claimed today as it never has been claimed in the history of the world. That is why the Vedanta wants to preach against it, to break down this tyrannising over the souls of men.
Those of you who have studied the Gita will remember the memorable passages: "He who looks upon the learned Brahmin, upon the cow, the elephant, the dog, or the outcast with the same eye, he indeed is the sage, and the wise man"; "Even in this life he has conquered relative existence whose mind is firmly fixed on this sameness, for the Lord is one and the same to all, and the Lord is pure; therefore those who have this sameness for all, and are pure, are said to be living in God." This is the gist of Vedantic morality — this sameness for all. We have seen that it is the subjective world that rules the objective. Change the subject, and the object is bound to change; purify yourself, and the world is bound to be purified. This one thing requires to be taught now more than ever before. We are becoming more and more busy about our neighbours, and less and less about ourselves. The world will change if we change; if we are pure, the world will become pure. The question is why I should see evil in others. I cannot see evil unless I be evil. I cannot be miserable unless I am weak. Things that used to make me miserable when I was a child, do not do so now. The subject changed, so the object was bound to change; so says the Vedanta. All these things which we call causes of misery and evil, we shall laugh at when we arrive at that wonderful state of equality, that sameness. This is what is called in Vedanta attaining to freedom. The sign of approaching that freedom is more and more of this sameness and equality. In misery and happiness the same, in success and defeat the same — such a mind is nearing that state of freedom.
The mind cannot be easily conquered. Minds that rise into waves at the approach of every little thing at the slightest provocation or danger, in what a state they must be! What to talk of greatness or spirituality, when these changes come over the mind? This unstable condition of the mind must be changed. We must ask ourselves how far we can be acted upon by the external world, and how far we can stand on our own feet, in spite of all the forces outside us. When we have succeeded in preventing all the forces in the world from throwing us off our balance, then alone we have attained to freedom, and not before. That is salvation. It is here and nowhere else; it is this moment. Out of this idea, out of this fountain-head, all beautiful streams of thought have flowed upon the world, generally misunderstood in their expression, apparently contradicting each other. We find hosts of brave and wonderfully spiritual souls, in every nation, taking to caves or forests for meditation, severing their connection with the external world. This is the one idea. And, on the other hand, we find bright, illustrious beings coming into society, trying to raise their fellow men, the poor, the miserable. Apparently these two methods are contradictory. The man who lives in a cave, apart from his fellow-beings, smiles contemptuously upon those who are working for the regeneration of their fellow men. "How foolish!" he says; "what work is there? The world of Maya will always remain the world of Maya; it cannot be changed." If I ask one of our priests in India, "Do you believe in Vedanta?" — he says, "That is my religion; I certainly do; that is my life." "Very well, do you admit the equality of all life, the sameness of everything?" "Certainly, I do." The next moment, when a low-caste man approaches this priest, he jumps to one side of the street to avoid that man. "Why do you jump?" "Because his very touch would have polluted me." "But you were just saying we are all the same, and you admit there is no difference in souls." He says, "Oh, that is in theory only for householders; when I go into a forest, then I will look upon everyone as the same." You ask one of your great men in England, of great birth and wealth, if he believes as a Christian in the brotherhood of mankind, since all came from God. He answers in the affirmative, but in five minutes he shouts something uncomplimentary about the common herd. Thus, it has been a theory only for several thousand years and never came into practice. All understand it, declare it as the truth, but when you ask them to practice it, they say, it will take millions of years.
There was a certain king who had a huge number of courtiers, and each one of these courtiers declared he was ready to sacrifice his life for his master, and that he was the most sincere being ever born. In course of time, a Sannyâsin came to the king. The king said to him that there never was a king who had so many sincere courtiers as he had. The Sannyasin smiled and said he did not believe that. The king said the Sannyasin could test it if he liked. So the Sannyasin declared that he would make a great sacrifice by which the king's reign would be extended very long, with the condition that there should be made a small tank into which each one of his courtiers should pour a pitcher of milk, in the dark of night. The king smiled and said, "Is this the test?" And he asked his courtiers to come to him, and told them what was to be done. They all expressed their joyful assent to the proposal and returned. In the dead of night, they came and emptied their pitchers into the tank. But in the morning, it was found full of water only. The courtiers were assembled and questioned about the matter. Each one of them had thought there would be so many pitchers of milk that his water would not be detected. Unfortunately most of us have the same idea and we do our share of work as did the courtiers in the story.
There is so much idea of equality, says the priest, that my little privilege will not be detected. So say our rich men, so say the tyrants of every country. There is more hope for the tyrannised over, than for the tyrants. It will take a very long time for tyrants to arrive at freedom, but less time for the others. The cruelty of the fox is much more terrible than the cruelty of the lion. The lion strikes a blow and is quiet for some time afterwards, but the fox trying persistently to follow his prey never misses an opportunity. Priestcraft is in its nature cruel and heartless. That is why religion goes down where priestcraft arises. Says the Vedanta, we must give up the idea of privilege, then will religion come. Before that there is no religion at all.
Do you believe what Christ says, "Sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor?" Practical equality there; no trying to torture the texts, but taking the truth as it is. Do not try to torture texts. I have heard it said that that was preached only to the handful of Jews who listened to Jesus. The same argument will apply to other things also. Do not torture texts; dare to face truth as it is. Even if we cannot reach to it, let us confess our weakness, but let us not destroy the ideal. Let us hope that we shall attain to it sometime, and strive for it. There it is — "Sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and follow me." Thus, trampling on every privilege and everything in us that works for privilege, let us work for that knowledge which will bring the feeling of sameness towards all mankind. You think that because you talk a little more polished language you are superior to the man in the street. Remember that when you are thinking this, you are not going towards freedom, but are forging a fresh chain for your feet. And, above all, if the pride of spirituality enters into you, woe unto you. It is the most awful bondage that ever existed. Neither can wealth nor any other bondage of the human heart bind the soul so much as this. "I am purer than others", is the most awful idea that can enter into the human heart. In what sense are you pure? The God in you is the God in all. If you have not known this, you have known nothing. How can there be difference? It is all one. Every being is the temple of the Most High; if you can see that, good, if not, spirituality has yet to come to you.
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。