何为宗教？
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中文
1→什么是宗教？ 2→ 3→一列巨大的机车疾驰在铁轨上，一条在轨道上爬行的小虫因爬出了机车的路径而幸免于难。然而，这条随时可能被碾碎的微小虫子，却是一个有生命的存在，而这列庞大无比的机车，不过是一部引擎，一台机器。你们说，其中一个拥有生命，另一个只是没有生命的物质，它一切的力量、强大与速度，都不过是一台死机器、一部机械装置的力量。然而，那条在轨道上爬行的可怜小虫——机车轻轻一碰便可夺去其生命——与那列巨大的机车相比，却是一个威严的存在。它是无限者的一个微小部分，因此它比这部强大的引擎更为伟大。这是为什么？我们如何区分有生命者与无生命者？机器只是机械地执行其制造者令其执行的动作，它的运动不是生命的运动。我们究竟如何区分有生命者与无生命者？在有生命者中，有自由，有智性；在无生命者中，一切皆受束缚，不可能有自由，因为那里没有智性。这种将我们与纯粹机器区分开来的自由，正是我们一切努力所追求的目标，因为只有在完全的自由中才能有完美。追求自由这一努力，无论我们是否知晓，是所有礼拜形式的根基。 4→ 5→若我们考察世界各地各种礼拜形式，我们将看到：最原始的人类在礼拜鬼魂、恶魔和祖先的灵魂——蛇崇拜、部落神灵崇拜，以及对亡者的崇拜。他们为什么这样做？因为他们感觉到，这些未知的存在以某种方式比他们自身更伟大、更有力量，并限制了他们的自由。因此他们试图安抚这些存在，以防止它们骚扰他们，换言之，是为了获得更多的自由。他们也寻求赢得这些优越存在的恩惠，以从神祇那里得到本应通过个人努力才能赢得的东西。 6→ 7→总体而言，这表明整个世界都在期待奇迹。这种期待从不离我们而去，无论我们如何努力，我们都在追逐那神奇与非凡之物。心灵是什么，若非是对生命意义与奥秘的无休止探询？我们也许会说，只有未受教化的人才在追求这些东西，但问题依然存在：为何会如此？犹太人在寻求奇迹，几千年来整个世界也在寻求同样的东西。此外，还有那普世性的不满足感。我们树立一个理想，但当我们仅仅走了一半的路程时，又树立了一个更新的理想。我们努力奋斗以达到某个目标，随后却发现我们并不真正想要它。这种不满足感我们一再体验，而若心灵中只有不满足感，那还有什么意义呢？这种普世性的不满足感意味着什么？那是因为自由是每个人的目标，他永远在追寻自由，他整个的生命都是对自由的奋斗。孩子一出生便反抗法则，他的第一声呼喊，就是对他所处的束缚状态的一声抗议。这对自由的渴望，产生了一个绝对自由的存在的观念。上帝的概念是人类心灵构成中根本性的基本要素。在吠檀多中，「萨—吉特—阿难陀」（Sat-chit-ânanda，即存在—知识—喜乐）是心灵所能达到的对上帝最高的概念。它是知识的本质，在其本性上即是喜乐的本质。我们已经长久地压制那内在的声音，努力遵循法则，平息人类的本性，但仍有那人类本能在反抗自然的法则。我们也许无法理解其含义，但有那人类与灵性、较低心灵与较高心灵之间的无意识争斗，而这场争斗试图维护我们各自分离的生命，我们所称的「个体性」。 8→ 9→即便是地狱，也凸显出这一奇迹般的事实——我们生来便是反叛者；而生命本身涌入的第一个事实，是我们对此的反叛和呼喊：「我们不受法则约束。」只要我们服从法则，我们便如同机器，宇宙就这样运转下去，我们无法打破它。法则作为法则成为了人的本性。更高层次上生命最初的征兆，在于看见我们内部这种要冲破自然束缚、走向自由的挣扎。「自由啊，自由！自由啊，自由！」是灵魂的歌唱。束缚啊，被束缚于自然之中，似乎是它的命运。 10→ 11→为何有蛇、鬼魂或恶魔崇拜，以及种种为获得奇迹的信条与形式？我们为何说某事物中有生命，有存在？这一切探寻、这一切理解生命、解释存在的努力，其中必有其深义。它绝非毫无意义，绝非徒劳。这是人类永不停歇的走向自由的奋斗。我们如今称之为科学的知识，在数千年的历史中一直在挣扎，试图赢得自由，人们也在呼唤自由。然而，自然之中没有自由，那里全是法则。然而这场挣扎仍在继续。不仅如此，从太阳到原子，整个自然都在法则之下，即便对于人而言，也没有自由。但我们无法相信这一点。我们从太初就在研习法则，却仍然无法——不，是不愿——相信人处于法则之下。灵魂永远在呼喊：「自由啊，自由！」带着对一个绝对自由的存在——上帝的观念，人不能永远安于这种束缚之中。他必须向上攀登，而若非这场挣扎是为了他自己，他会以为这太过严苛。人对自己说：「我是一个天生的奴隶，我受束缚；然而，有一个不受自然束缚的存在，他是自由的，是自然的主宰。」 12→ 13→因此，上帝的概念，与束缚的概念一样，是心灵不可或缺的根本组成部分。两者都是自由观念的产物。即便在植物中，没有自由的观念便不可能有生命。在植物或虫子中，生命必须上升至个体的概念。它在那里，无意识地运作，植物活着其生命以维护其种类、原则或形式，而非自然。自然控制每一步前进的观念凌驾于自由的观念之上。物质世界的观念向前推进，自由的观念也向前推进。这场战斗仍在继续。我们听说了所有信条与教派的争论，然而信条与教派是正当的、合适的，它们必定存在。锁链在延伸，这场挣扎自然也在加剧，但若我们知道我们都在努力走向同一个目标，则无需有任何争斗。 14→ 15→自由的化身，自然的主宰，那就是我们所称的上帝。你无法否认他，不，因为你离不开自由的观念便无法运动或生活。若你不相信自己是自由的，你还会来这里吗？当然有可能，生物学家可以且将会对这种对自由的永恒追求给出某种解释。即便接受这一切，自由的观念依然在那里。它是一个事实，正如另一个你显然无法超越的事实一样真实——受自然支配的事实。 16→ 17→束缚与自由、光明与阴影、善与恶必定存在，但束缚本身的事实也揭示了其中隐藏的自由。若其中一个是事实，另一个同样是事实。自由的这一观念必然存在。尽管我们目前看不出，在未受教化的人身上，这种束缚的观念其实正是他对自由的挣扎，但自由的观念就在那里。未受教化的野蛮人意识中对罪恶与不洁之束缚的感受极为微弱，因为他的本性仅比动物高出一点点。他所挣扎反抗的，是物质自然的束缚，是缺乏物质满足，但从这种较低的意识中，逐渐成长并拓展出对精神或道德束缚的更高观念，以及对灵性自由的渴望。在这里，我们看到神圣的光辉通过无明的帷幕隐约闪耀。起初帷幕极为厚重，光芒几乎被遮蔽，但它就在那里，永远纯净无损——自由与完美的熠熠光辉。人将这一光辉人格化为宇宙的主宰，那个唯一自由的存在。他尚未意识到，宇宙是合一的，差异只是程度上的，只是观念上的。 18→ 19→整个自然都是对上帝的礼拜。凡有生命之处，就有这对自由的追寻，而那自由即是上帝本身。这一自由必然赋予我们对整个自然的主宰，没有知识便不可能实现这种主宰。我们知道得越多，就越成为自然的主宰。唯有主宰使我们强大，若有某个存在完全自由、完全主宰自然，那个存在必定对自然有完美的认知，必定是全在全知的。自由必须与这些相辅相成，唯有那获得了这些的存在，才能超越自然。 20→ 21→从完美自由中生起的永恒喜乐与宁静，是吠檀多中上帝一切观念根基处最高的宗教概念——绝对自由的存在，不受任何东西束缚，没有变化，没有自然，没有任何东西可以在他内部引起变化。这同样的自由在你和我之中，那是唯一真实的自由。 22→ 23→上帝安立于他自身威严不变的自我之中。你和我试图与他合一，却将自身植根于自然，植根于日常生活的琐碎之中，植根于金钱、名声、人间的爱，以及自然中一切这些变化的形式——那些带来束缚的形式。当自然放射光辉时，那光辉依赖于什么？依赖于上帝，而非太阳，非月亮，非星辰。无论何处有光辉照耀，无论是太阳中的光芒，还是我们自身意识中的光明，那都是他。他放光，万物随之而明。 24→ 25→现在我们已看到，这位上帝是自明的、非人格的、全知的，是自然的认知者与主宰，是一切的主。他在所有礼拜的背后，无论我们知晓与否，一切礼拜都是依照他而行的。我再向前走一步：令所有人惊叹的那一切，我们所称的恶，也是对他的礼拜，也是自由的一部分。不仅如此，我甚至要告诉你们更令人震骇的——当你们行恶时，其背后的冲动同样是那种自由。它也许被引入了歧途，被误导了，但它就在那里；没有那种自由在其背后，便不可能有任何生命或任何冲动。自由在宇宙心跳的律动中呼吸。除非宇宙的心脏处有统一，我们便无法理解多样性。这便是《奥义书》（Upanishads）中对主的概念。有时这一概念甚至上升得更高，向我们呈现出一种起初令我们目瞪口呆的理想——我们在本质上与上帝合一。那赋予蝴蝶翅膀色彩的存在，那使玫瑰花蕾绽放的存在，正是植物与蝴蝶中那力量。那赋予我们生命的存在，正是我们内部的那力量。从他的火焰中生出生命，最可怖的死亡也是他的力量。他的阴影是死亡，他的阴影同样是不死。领受更高的概念吧。看看我们如何像被猎的野兔一般仓皇逃离一切可怖之物，像野兔一样藏头以为安全。看看整个世界如何从一切可怖之物前逃离。有一次，当我在瓦拉纳西时，我穿行于一个地方，一侧是一大片水塘，另一侧是一道高墙，那是一个有许多猴子的园地。瓦拉纳西的猴子体型庞大，有时脾气暴躁。它们那时心血来潮，不允许我穿过它们的街道，于是它们嚎叫，尖叫，在我经过时抓我的脚。当它们越逼越近时，我开始奔跑，但我跑得越快，猴子追得越快，它们开始咬我。似乎无路可逃，就在那时，我遇到了一个陌生人，他向我喊道：「面对那些畜生！」我转身面对猴子，它们便退却了，最终四散而逃。这对整个生命都是一个教训——直面可怖之物，勇敢地直面它。正如猴子一般，当我们不再逃跑时，生命的艰辛便会退却。若我们要赢得自由，就必须征服自然，而非逃离自然。懦夫从不赢得胜利。若我们期望恐惧、磨难与无明在我们面前退却，我们就必须与之正面交锋。 26→ 27→死亡是什么？恐怖是什么？你难道看不见主的面容在其中吗？逃离邪恶、恐惧与苦难，它们便会追随你。面对它们，它们便会逃离。整个世界都在礼拜安逸与欢娱，很少有人敢于礼拜那痛苦的东西。超越两者，正是自由的理想。除非人通过这道门，否则他无法自由。我们都必须面对这些。我们努力礼拜主，但身体在我们与他之间升起，自然在我们与他之间升起，遮蔽了我们的视野。我们必须学习如何在雷霆之中、在耻辱之中、在悲苦之中、在罪恶之中礼拜他、爱他。整个世界一直在宣讲德行的上帝。我宣讲一位德行的上帝，同时也宣讲一位罪恶的上帝，合而为一。若你有此勇气，便接受他——那是唯一的得救之道；唯有如此，来自合一观念的究竟真理才会向我们显现。届时，我是比任何人都更伟大的这一观念将消失。我们越接近自由的法则，便越走向主，苦恼将消散。届时，我们将不再区分地狱之门与天堂之门，也不再区分人与人而说「我比宇宙中任何存在都更伟大。」除非我们在世界上处处只看见主自己，否则这一切邪恶将继续困扰我们，我们将继续作出这些区别；因为只有在主之中，在灵性之中，我们才是合一的；除非我们处处见到上帝，否则这种统一对我们而言将不复存在。
1→两只羽翼美丽、形影不离的鸟儿，栖居于同一棵树上，一只在顶端，一只在下方。下方那只美丽的鸟儿在啄食树上的果实，时甜时苦，一会儿啄到一颗甜的，一会儿又啄到一颗苦的。每当它啄到苦果，便感到懊悔，但过一会儿它又再次啄食，当那又是一颗苦果时，它抬头望向上方那只鸟，那只鸟既不啄甜果，也不啄苦果，而是静穆威严，沉浸于自身的荣光之中。下方那只可怜的鸟儿随即忘记了一切，继续啄食甜果与苦果，直到最后它啄到了一颗极苦之果，于是它再次停下来，再次仰望那只荣光四射的鸟儿。然后它越来越靠近另一只鸟，当它靠近到足够近时，光芒照耀在它身上，将它笼罩，它看见自己已变成了那只更高的鸟儿。它变得静穆、威严、自由，并发现树上从始至终只有一只鸟。下方的鸟儿不过是上方那只鸟的倒影。因此，我们在实相上与主合一，但这倒影使我们似乎是众多的，正如一轮太阳在百万颗露珠中映照，便似乎成了百万颗微小的太阳。若我们要认同我们真实的本性——那神圣的本性——这倒影就必须消失。宇宙本身永远无法成为我们满足的极限。那就是为何吝啬者积攒越来越多的钱财，为何强盗抢劫，为何罪人犯罪，也为何你们在学习哲学。所有人都有同一个目的，生命中没有别的目的，只有达到这个自由。有意识地或无意识地，我们都在追求完美，每一个存在都必须达到它。 2→ 3→那个在罪孽中、在苦难中摸索前行的人，那个选择通过地狱之路的人，终将到达彼岸，但这需要时间。我们无法拯救他。头上几记重击将有助于他转向主。德行、纯净、无私、灵性之路，终究会被认识，而所有人无意识地在做的事，我们是在有意识地努力去做。这一思想由圣保罗表达如下：「你们所不认识而礼拜的那位，我现在告诉你们。」这是全世界都要学习的功课。这些哲学与自然理论究竟有何用处，若非帮助我们达到生命中这唯一的目标？让我们来到那感知万物同一性的意识之中，让人在万物中见到自己。让我们不再只是教条或狭隘有限的上帝观念的宗派礼拜者，而是在宇宙的一切事物中见到他。若你们是上帝的认知者，你们将在各处发现与在自己内心中同样的礼拜。 4→ 5→首先，抛弃所有这些有限的观念，在每一个人身上见到上帝——通过所有的双手在工作，通过所有的双脚在行走，通过每一张嘴在进食。他居住在每一个存在之中，通过所有的心灵在思考。他是自明的，比我们自己更亲近于我们。认识这一点，就是宗教，就是信仰，愿主垂赐我们这种信仰！当我们感受到那种合一时，我们便是不朽的。我们在肉身上也是不朽的，与宇宙合为一体。只要宇宙中有一口气在呼吸，我就活在那一口气之中。我不是这个有限渺小的存在，我是宇宙性的。我是过去所有儿女的生命，我是佛陀、耶稣、穆罕默德的灵魂，我是所有导师的灵魂，我是所有抢劫的强盗，以及所有被绞死的杀人犯，我是宇宙性的。那么站立起来吧，这才是最高的礼拜。你与宇宙是合一的。那才是真正的谦逊——而非四肢匍匐于地、自称罪人。那才是最高的进化，当这差异的帷幕被撕去之时。最高的信条是合一。「我是某某人」是一个有限的观念，对于真实的「我」而言并不真实。我是宇宙性的；立足于此，永远以最高的形式礼拜那至高者，因为上帝是灵，应当以灵和真理来礼拜他。通过较低形式的礼拜，人对物质的思想上升至灵性的礼拜，而那宇宙性的无限一者，最终在灵与通过灵之中得到礼拜。凡有限者，皆属物质，唯有灵是无限的。上帝是灵，是无限的；人是灵，因此是无限的；唯有无限者才能礼拜无限者。我们将礼拜那无限者，那是最高的灵性礼拜。领悟这些观念的宏大，是多么困难！我在理论上阐述，谈论，作哲学探讨；然而下一刻某事向我袭来，我无意识地动了怒，我忘记了宇宙中除了这渺小有限的自我之外还有任何东西，我忘记了说：「我是灵，这点小事算得了什么？我是灵。」我忘记了这一切都是我自己在游戏，我忘记了上帝，我忘记了自由。 6→ 7→锋利如剃刀，漫长、艰难而难以穿越，乃是通往自由之路。圣哲们一再宣示这一点。然而不要让这些软弱与失败束缚你。《奥义书》已经宣告：「起来！觉醒！勇往直前，直至目标达成。」那么，我们必将渡越那条路，尽管它锋利如剃刀，尽管它漫长遥远而艰难。人成为神祇与恶魔的主人。我们的苦难除了我们自己之外，没有任何人应当受责。你以为若人去寻访甘露，他得到的只是一杯苦毒之酒吗？甘露就在那里，为每一个努力寻求的人而备。主自己告诉我们：「放弃这一切道路与挣扎，你当投奔于我。我将带你渡越到彼岸，不要惧怕。」我们从世界各地流传到我们手中的一切经典中都听到这一声音。同一个声音教导我们说：「愿你的旨意行在地上，如同行在天上，」因为「国度、权能、荣耀都是你的。」这一切都是艰难的，非常艰难。我对自己说：「此刻，主啊，我将投奔于你，我将向你的爱牺牲一切，我将把所有善好与高贵的事物置于你的祭坛上。我的罪孽、我的悲痛、我的行为——善的与恶的——我将奉献给你；你来接受，我将永远不会忘记。」一刻我说：「愿你的旨意成就，」但下一刻某事来试炼我，我猛地怒气腾升。所有宗教的目标都是相同的，但导师们的语言各有不同。这一努力是要消灭那虚假的「我」，使真实的「我」——主——得以掌权。「我是你的上帝，是忌邪的上帝。除我之外，你不可有别的神，」希伯来经典如此说道。上帝必须单独在那里，我们必须说「不是我，而是你」，然后我们应当放弃除主之外的一切。他，唯有他，应当掌权。也许我们竭力奋斗，然而下一刻我们的双脚滑倒，于是我们试图向圣母伸出双手。我们发现自己无法独自站立。生命是无尽的，其中一章是：「愿你的旨意成就，」除非我们领悟所有的章节，否则我们无法领悟全体。「愿你的旨意成就」——每一刻，叛逆的心灵都在反抗这话，然而它必须一遍又一遍地被说出，若我们要征服那较低的自我。我们无法既服侍叛徒，又得救。除了叛徒之外人人都有得救，而当我们拒绝服从我们更高自我的声音时，我们便成了叛徒，叛逆了自己，叛逆了圣母的威严。无论发生什么，我们都必须将我们的身体与心灵奉献给那至高的意志。印度哲学家说得极好：「若人说两次『愿你的旨意成就』，他就犯了罪。」「愿你的旨意成就」——还需要什么，又何必说两次？好的便是好的。我们不会再收回。「愿你的旨意行在地上，如同行在天上，因为国度、权能、荣耀都是你的，直到永远。」
English
What Is Religion?
A huge locomotive has rushed on over the line and a small worm that was creeping upon one of the rails saved its life by crawling out of the path of the locomotive. Yet this little worm, so insignificant that it can be crushed in a moment, is a living something, while this locomotive, so huge, so immense, is only an engine, a machine. You say the one has life and the other is only dead matter and all its powers and strength and speed are only those of a dead machine, a mechanical contrivance. Yet the poor little worm which moved upon the rail and which the least touch of the engine would have deprived of its life is a majestic being compared to that huge locomotive. It is a small part of the Infinite and, therefore, it is greater than this powerful engine. Why should that be so? How do we know the living from the dead? The machine mechanically performs all the movements its maker made it to perform, its movements are not those of life. How can we make the distinction between the living and the dead, then? In the living there is freedom, there is intelligence; in the dead all is bound and no freedom is possible, because there is no intelligence. This freedom that distinguishes us from mere machines is what we are all striving for. To be more free is the goal of all our efforts, for only in perfect freedom can there be perfection. This effort to attain freedom underlies all forms of worship, whether we know it or not.
If we were to examine the various sorts of worship all over the world, we would see that the rudest of mankind are worshipping ghosts, demons, and the spirits of their forefathers — serpent worship, worship of tribal gods, and worship of the departed ones. Why do they do this? Because they feel that in some unknown way these beings are greater, more powerful than themselves, and limit their freedom. They, therefore, seek to propitiate these beings in order to prevent them from molesting them, in other words, to get more freedom. They also seek to win favour from these superior beings, to get by gift of the gods what ought to be earned by personal effort.
On the whole, this shows that the world is expecting a miracle. This expectation never leaves us, and however we may try, we are all running after the miraculous and extraordinary. What is mind but that ceaseless inquiry into the meaning and mystery of life? We may say that only uncultivated people are going after all these things, but the question still is there: Why should it be so? The Jews were asking for a miracle. The whole world has been asking for the same these thousands of years. There is, again, the universal dissatisfaction. We make an ideal but we have rushed only half the way after it when we make a newer one. We struggle hard to attain to some goal and then discover we do not want it. This dissatisfaction we are having time after time, and what is there in the mind if there is to be only dissatisfaction? What is the meaning of this universal dissatisfaction? It is because freedom is every man's goal. He seeks it ever, his whole life is a struggle after it. The child rebels against law as soon as it is born. Its first utterance is a cry, a protest against the bondage in which it finds itself. This longing for freedom produces the idea of a Being who is absolutely free. The concept of God is a fundamental element in the human constitution. In the Vedanta, Sat-chit-ânanda (Existence-Knowledge-Bliss) is the highest concept of God possible to the mind. It is the essence of knowledge and is by its nature the essence of bliss. We have been stifling that inner voice long enough, seeking to follow law and quiet the human nature, but there is that human instinct to rebel against nature's laws. We may not understand what the meaning is, but there is that unconscious struggle of the human with the spiritual, of the lower with the higher mind, and the struggle attempts to preserve one's separate life, what we call our "individuality".
Even hells stand out with this miraculous fact that we are born rebels; and the first fact of life — the inrushing of life itself — against this we rebel and cry out, "No law for us." As long as we obey the laws we are like machines, and on goes the universe, and we cannot break it. Laws as laws become man's nature. The first inkling of life on its higher level is in seeing this struggle within us to break the bond of nature and to be free. "Freedom, O Freedom! Freedom, O Freedom!" is the song of the soul. Bondage, alas, to be bound in nature, seems its fate.
Why should there be serpent, or ghost, or demon worship and all these various creeds and forms for having miracles? Why do we say that there is life, there is being in anything? There must be a meaning in all this search, this endeavour to understand life, to explain being. It is not meaningless and vain. It is man's ceaseless endeavour to become free. The knowledge which we now call science has been struggling for thousands of years in its attempt to gain freedom, and people ask for freedom. Yet there is no freedom in nature. It is all law. Still the struggle goes on. Nay, the whole of nature from the very sun to the atoms is under law, and even for man there is no freedom. But we cannot believe it. We have been studying laws from the beginning and yet cannot — nay, will not — believe that man is under law. The soul cries ever, "Freedom, O Freedom!" With the conception of God as a perfectly free Being, man cannot rest eternally in this bondage. Higher he must go, and unless the struggle were for himself, he would think it too severe. Man says to himself, "I am a born slave, I am bound; nevertheless, there is a Being who is not bound by nature. He is free and Master of nature."
The conception of God, therefore, is as essential and as fundamental a part of mind as is the idea of bondage. Both are the outcome of the idea of freedom. There cannot be life, even in the plant, without the idea of freedom. In the plant or in the worm, life has to rise to the individual concept. It is there, unconsciously working, the plant living its life to preserve the variety, principle, or form, not nature. The idea of nature controlling every step onward overrules the idea of freedom. Onward goes the idea of the material world, onward moves the idea of freedom. Still the fight goes on. We are hearing about all the quarrels of creeds and sects, yet creeds and sects are just and proper, they must be there. The chain is lengthening and naturally the struggle increases, but there need be no quarrels if we only knew that we are all striving to reach the same goal.
The embodiment of freedom, the Master of nature, is what we call God. You cannot deny Him. No, because you cannot move or live without the idea of freedom. Would you come here if you did not believe you were free? It is quite possible that the biologist can and will give some explanation of this perpetual effort to be free. Take all that for granted, still the idea of freedom is there. It is a fact, as much so as the other fact that you cannot apparently get over, the fact of being under nature.
Bondage and liberty, light and shadow, good and evil must be there, but the very fact of the bondage shows also this freedom hidden there. If one is a fact, the other is equally a fact. There must be this idea of freedom. While now we cannot see that this idea of bondage, in uncultivated man, is his struggle for freedom, yet the idea of freedom is there. The bondage of sin and impurity in the uncultivated savage is to his consciousness very small, for his nature is only a little higher than the animal's. What he struggles against is the bondage of physical nature, the lack of physical gratification, but out of this lower consciousness grows and broadens the higher conception of a mental or moral bondage and a longing for spiritual freedom. Here we see the divine dimly shining through the veil of ignorance. The veil is very dense at first and the light may be almost obscured, but it is there, ever pure and undimmed — the radiant fire of freedom and perfection. Man personifies this as the Ruler of the Universe, the One Free Being. He does not yet know that the universe is all one, that the difference is only in degree, in the concept.
The whole of nature is worship of God. Wherever there is life, there is this search for freedom and that freedom is the same as God. Necessarily this freedom gives us mastery over all nature and is impossible without knowledge. The more we are knowing, the more we are becoming masters of nature. Mastery alone is making us strong and if there be some being entirely free and master of nature, that being must have a perfect knowledge of nature, must be omnipresent and omniscient. Freedom must go hand in hand with these, and that being alone who has acquired these will be beyond nature.
Blessedness, eternal peace, arising from perfect freedom, is the highest concept of religion underlying all the ideas of God in Vedanta — absolutely free Existence, not bound by anything, no change, no nature, nothing that can produce a change in Him. This same freedom is in you and in me and is the only real freedom.
God is still, established upon His own majestic changeless Self. You and I try to be one with Him, but plant ourselves upon nature, upon the trifles of daily life, on money, on fame, on human love, and all these changing forms in nature which make for bondage. When nature shines, upon what depends the shining? Upon God and not upon the sun, nor the moon, nor the stars. Wherever anything shines, whether it is the light in the sun or in our own consciousness, it is He. He shining, all shines after Him.
Now we have seen that this God is self-evident, impersonal, omniscient, the Knower and Master of nature, the Lord of all. He is behind all worship and it is being done according to Him, whether we know it or not. I go one step further. That at which all marvel, that which we call evil, is His worship too. This too is a part of freedom. Nay, I will be terrible even and tell you that, when you are doing evil, the impulse behind is also that freedom. It may have been misguided and misled, but it was there; and there cannot be any life or any impulse unless that freedom be behind it. Freedom breathes in the throb of the universe. Unless there is unity at the universal heart, we cannot understand variety. Such is the conception of the Lord in the Upanishads. Sometimes it rises even higher, presenting to us an ideal before which at first we stand aghast — that we are in essence one with God. He who is the colouring in the wings of the butterfly, and the blossoming of the rose-bud, is the power that is in the plant and in the butterfly. He who gives us life is the power within us. Out of His fire comes life, and the direst death is also His power. He whose shadow is death, His shadow is immortality also. Take a still higher conception. See how we are flying like hunted hares from all that is terrible, and like them, hiding our heads and thinking we are safe. See how the whole world is flying from everything terrible. Once when I was in Varanasi, I was passing through a place where there was a large tank of water on one side and a high wall on the other. It was in the grounds where there were many monkeys. The monkeys of Varanasi are huge brutes and are sometimes surly. They now took it into their heads not to allow me to pass through their street, so they howled and shrieked and clutched at my feet as I passed. As they pressed closer, I began to run, but the faster I ran, the faster came the monkeys and they began to bite at me. It seemed impossible to escape, but just then I met a stranger who called out to me, "Face the brutes." I turned and faced the monkeys, and they fell back and finally fled. That is a lesson for all life — face the terrible, face it boldly. Like the monkeys, the hardships of life fall back when we cease to flee before them. If we are ever to gain freedom, it must be by conquering nature, never by running away. Cowards never win victories. We have to fight fear and troubles and ignorance if we expect them to flee before us.
What is death? What are terrors? Do you not see the Lord's face in them? Fly from evil and terror and misery, and they will follow you. Face them, and they will flee. The whole world worships ease and pleasure, and very few dare to worship that which is painful. To rise above both is the idea of freedom. Unless man passes through this gate he cannot be free. We all have to face these. We strive to worship the Lord, but the body rises between, nature rises between Him and us and blinds our vision. We must learn how to worship and love Him in the thunderbolt, in shame, in sorrow, in sin. All the world has ever been preaching the God of virtue. I preach a God of virtue and a God of sin in one. Take Him if you dare — that is the one way to salvation; then alone will come to us the Truth Ultimate which comes from the idea of oneness. Then will be lost the idea that one is greater than another. The nearer we approach the law of freedom, the more we shall come under the Lord, and troubles will vanish. Then we shall not differentiate the door of hell from the gate of heaven, nor differentiate between men and say, "I am greater than any being in the universe." Until we see nothing in the world but the Lord Himself, all these evils will beset us and we shall make all these distinctions; because it is only in the Lord, in the Spirit, that we are all one; and until we see God everywhere, this unity will not exist for us.
Two birds of beautiful plumage, inseparable companions, sat upon the same tree, one on the top and one below. The beautiful bird below was eating the fruits of the tree, sweet and bitter, one moment a sweet one and another a bitter. The moment he ate a bitter fruit, he was sorry, but after a while he ate another and when it too was bitter, he looked up and saw the other bird who ate neither the sweet nor the bitter, but was calm and majestic, immersed in his own glory. And then the poor lower bird forgot and went on eating the sweet and bitter fruits again, until at last he ate one that was extremely bitter; and then he stopped again and once more looked up at the glorious bird above. Then he came nearer and nearer to the other bird; and when he had come near enough, rays of light shone upon him and enveloped him, and he saw he was transformed into the higher bird. He became calm, majestic, free, and found that there had been but one bird all the time on the tree. The lower bird was but the reflection of the one above. So we are in reality one with the Lord, but the reflection makes us seem many, as when the one sun reflects in a million dew-drops and seems a million tiny suns. The reflection must vanish if we are to identify ourselves with our real nature which is divine. The universe itself can never be the limit of our satisfaction. That is why the miser gathers more and more money, that is why the robber robs, the sinner sins, that is why you are learning philosophy. All have one purpose. There is no other purpose in life, save to reach this freedom. Consciously or unconsciously, we are all striving for perfection. Every being must attain to it.
The man who is groping through sin, through misery, the man who is choosing the path through hells, will reach it, but it will take time. We cannot save him. Some hard knocks on his head will help him to turn to the Lord. The path of virtue, purity, unselfishness, spirituality, becomes known at last and what all are doing unconsciously, we are trying to do consciously. The idea is expressed by St. Paul, "The God that ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you." This is the lesson for the whole world to learn. What have these philosophies and theories of nature to do, if not to help us to attain to this one goal in life? Let us come to that consciousness of the identity of everything and let man see himself in everything. Let us be no more the worshippers of creeds or sects with small limited notions of God, but see Him in everything in the universe. If you are knowers of God, you will everywhere find the same worship as in your own heart.
Get rid, in the first place, of all these limited ideas and see God in every person — working through all hands, walking through all feet, and eating through every mouth. In every being He lives, through all minds He thinks. He is self-evident, nearer unto us than ourselves. To know this is religion, is faith, and may it please the Lord to give us this faith! When we shall feel that oneness, we shall be immortal. We are physically immortal even, one with the universe. So long as there is one that breathes throughout the universe, I live in that one. I am not this limited little being, I am the universal. I am the life of all the sons of the past. I am the soul of Buddha, of Jesus, of Mohammed. I am the soul of the teachers, and I am all the robbers that robbed, and all the murderers that were hanged, I am the universal. Stand up then; this is the highest worship. You are one with the universe. That only is humility — not crawling upon all fours and calling yourself a sinner. That is the highest evolution when this veil of differentiation is torn off. The highest creed is Oneness. I am so-and-so is a limited idea, not true of the real "I". I am the universal; stand upon that and ever worship the Highest through the highest form, for God is Spirit and should be worshipped in spirit and in truth. Through lower forms of worship, man's material thoughts rise to spiritual worship and the Universal Infinite One is at last worshipped in and through the spirit. That which is limited is material. The Spirit alone is infinite. God is Spirit, is infinite; man is Spirit and, therefore, infinite, and the Infinite alone can worship the Infinite. We will worship the Infinite; that is the highest spiritual worship. The grandeur of realising these ideas, how difficult it is! I theorise, talk, philosophize; and the next moment something comes against me, and I unconsciously become angry, I forget there is anything in the universe but this little limited self, I forget to say, "I am the Spirit, what is this trifle to me? I am the Spirit." I forget it is all myself playing, I forget God, I forget freedom.
Sharp as the blade of a razor, long and difficult and hard to cross, is the way to freedom. The sages have declared this again and again. Yet do not let these weaknesses and failures bind you. The Upanishads have declared, "Arise ! Awake ! and stop not until the goal is reached." We will then certainly cross the path, sharp as it is like the razor, and long and distant and difficult though it be. Man becomes the master of gods and demons. No one is to blame for our miseries but ourselves. Do you think there is only a dark cup of poison if man goes to look for nectar? The nectar is there and is for every man who strives to reach it. The Lord Himself tells us, "Give up all these paths and struggles. Do thou take refuge in Me. I will take thee to the other shore, be not afraid." We hear that from all the scriptures of the world that come to us. The same voice teaches us to say, "Thy will be done upon earth, as it is in heaven," for "Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory." It is difficult, all very difficult. I say to myself, "This moment I will take refuge in Thee, O Lord. Unto Thy love I will sacrifice all, and on Thine altar I will place all that is good and virtuous. My sins, my sorrows, my actions, good and evil, I will offer unto Thee; do Thou take them and I will never forget." One moment I say, "Thy will be done," and the next moment something comes to try me and I spring up in a rage. The goal of all religions is the same, but the language of the teachers differs. The attempt is to kill the false "I", so that the real "I", the Lord, will reign. "I the Lord thy God am a jealous God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me," say the Hebrew scriptures. God must be there all alone. We must say, "Not I, but Thou," and then we should give up everything but the Lord. He, and He alone, should reign. Perhaps we struggle hard, and yet the next moment our feet slip, and then we try to stretch out our hands to Mother. We find we cannot stand alone. Life is infinite, one chapter of which is, "Thy will be done," and unless we realise all the chapters we cannot realise the whole. "Thy will be done" — every moment the traitor mind rebels against it, yet it must be said, again and again, if we are to conquer the lower self. We cannot serve a traitor and yet be saved. There is salvation for all except the traitor and we stand condemned as traitors, traitors against our own selves, against the majesty of Mother, when we refuse to obey the voice of our higher Self. Come what will, we must give our bodies and minds up to the Supreme Will. Well has it been said by the Hindu philosopher, "If man says twice, 'Thy will be done,' he commits sin." "Thy will be done," what more is needed, why say it twice? What is good is good. No more shall we take it back. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for evermore."
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。