实践吠檀多：第一部分
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1→实践吠檀多 2→ 3→第一部分 4→ 5→（1896年11月10日在伦敦宣讲） 6→ 7→有人请我谈谈吠檀多[Vedanta]哲学的实践地位。正如我已告诉诸位，理论固然极好， 8→然而我们如何将其付诸实践？倘若它根本无从实践，任何理论都毫无价值， 9→不过是智识上的体操。因此，吠檀多作为一种宗教，必须具有强烈的实践性。 10→我们必须能够在生活的每一部分中贯彻它。不仅如此， 11→宗教与世俗生活之间那种虚构的界限必须消弭，因为吠檀多教导的是合一—— 12→贯穿始终的一体生命。宗教的理想必须涵盖生命的整个领域， 13→必须渗透我们所有的思想，并越来越多地付诸实践。我将在我们的探讨中逐渐进入 14→实践层面。但这一系列讲座旨在奠定基础，因此我们必须先研究理论， 15→了解这些理论如何从森林洞穴发展到繁忙的街道与城市； 16→我们发现一个奇特之处，许多这些思想并非出于遁世隐居， 17→而是从我们期望过着最繁忙生活的人那里涌现出来——来自统治君主。 18→ 19→湿婆凯图是圣人阿鲁尼之子，很可能是一位隐士。他在森林中长大， 20→但后来前往般遮罗城，出现在国王普罗瓦哈纳·贾伊瓦利的宫廷。国王问他： 21→"你知道众生死后如何离去吗？""不知道，大人。""你知道 22→他们如何回来吗？""不知道，大人。""你知道祖先之道与诸神之道吗？" 23→"不知道，大人。"国王随后又问了其他问题。湿婆凯图 24→无法回答。于是国王告诉他，他一无所知。这个少年 25→返回父亲身边，父亲也承认自己无法回答这些问题。并非他不愿回答， 26→而是他不知晓这些事情。于是他去见国王，请求传授这些秘要。 27→国王说，这些事情至今只在国王中流传，祭司们从来不知晓。然而他 28→继续教导他所渴望知晓的东西。在各种奥义书[Upanishads]中，我们发现这吠檀多 29→哲学并非仅是森林冥想的产物，而是那些在日常生活事务中最为忙碌的 30→头脑所思索和表达出来的。我们无法想象有任何人比一个统治君主更繁忙， 31→一个统治着数百万人民的人，然而其中一些统治者却是深刻的思想家。 32→ 33→一切都表明这门哲学必然极具实践性；此后，当我们来到博伽梵歌[Bhagavad Gita]—— 34→诸位也许大多读过，它是我们关于吠檀多哲学最好的注解—— 35→奇妙的是，场景设在战场上，奎师那[Krishna]在那里向阿周那传授这门哲学； 36→而那在博伽梵歌[Gita]每一页上都放射着光辉的学说，是激烈的行动， 37→但在其中，是永恒的宁静。这是工作的秘诀，而达到它是吠檀多的目标。 38→无为，正如我们所理解的消极怠惰意义上，当然不是目标。若是如此， 39→则我们周围的墙壁将是最有智慧的；它们无为。大地的土块、树木的残桩， 40→将是世界上最伟大的圣人；它们无为。无为与激情相结合也不会变成有为。 41→真正的行动，即吠檀多的目标，与永恒的宁静相结合——那不能被扰乱的宁静， 42→无论发生什么事都永远不会被打乱的心灵平衡。我们从生活经验中都知道， 43→那是工作的最佳态度。 44→ 45→我曾被多次问及：若我们没有那通常感受到的工作激情，我们如何能工作。 46→多年前我也曾如此想，但随着年龄增长、经验渐丰，我发现那并不真实。 47→激情越少，我们工作得越好。我们越平静，对我们越好， 48→我们能完成的工作量也越多。当我们放纵感情，我们浪费了大量能量， 49→损耗了神经，扰乱了心灵，却几乎做不成多少事。本应作为工作流出的能量 50→被消耗于单纯的感情，毫无建树。只有当心灵非常平静而专注时， 51→它全部的能量才会用于做好工作。倘若你们阅读世界上伟大工作者的生平， 52→你们会发现他们是异常平静的人。没有什么东西，可以说，能使他们失去平衡。 53→这就是为什么愤怒的人从来做不了多少工作，而没有任何事物能令他愤怒的人 54→却能成就如此之多。那放纵愤怒、仇恨或任何其他激情的人无法工作； 55→他只是将自己撕成碎片，什么实际的事情都做不成。能做最大量工作的， 56→是那平静、宽容、平和、心理均衡的人。 57→ 58→吠檀多宣讲理想；而理想，如我们所知，总是远超现实、超越实践（如我们所称）。 59→人性中有两种倾向：一是使理想与生活相协调，另一是将生活提升至理想。 60→理解这一点是极重要的，因为前者的倾向正是我们生活中的诱惑。 61→我认为我只能做某类工作。其中大多数，也许，是不好的；其中大多数，也许， 62→背后有激情的动力——愤怒、贪婪或自私。现在若有人来向我宣讲某种理想， 63→迈向它的第一步是放弃自私，放弃自我享受，我认为那是不切实际的。 64→但当一个人带来能与我的自私相调和的理想时，我立刻欣喜并欣然接受。 65→那是适合我的理想。正如"正统"一词被以各种方式操弄，"实践"一词也一样。 66→"我的信仰是正统；你的信仰是异端。"实践性也是如此。我认为实践的， 67→对我而言就是世界上唯一的实践。若我是商人，我认为做生意是世界上唯一 68→实践性的追求。若我是小偷，我认为偷窃是最实际的手段；其他则不实际。 69→你们看，我们如何都把"实践"这个词用于我们喜欢和能做的事情上。 70→因此，我要请你们理解：吠檀多虽然具有强烈的实践性，但始终是在理想意义上的。 71→它不宣讲一种不可能的理想，无论那理想有多高——它已经足够高了，足以作为理想。 72→用一句话来说，这个理想是：你是神圣的，"汝即梵"。 73→这是吠檀多的精髓；在其所有的演绎和智识体操之后，你知道人的灵魂是纯洁而全知的， 74→你会看到，像生死这类迷信，当涉及灵魂时完全是无稽之谈。 75→灵魂从未诞生，也永不消亡，而所有关于我们将死、害怕死亡的想法都不过是 76→迷信。诸如我们能做这个或不能做那个的种种想法也都是迷信。我们能做一切。 77→吠檀多教导人们首先对自身怀有信念。正如世界上某些宗教说，不信身外人格神的人是无神论者， 78→吠檀多同样说，不信自身的人是无神论者。不信自己灵魂的荣耀，正是吠檀多所称的无神论。 79→对许多人来说，这无疑是一个可怕的想法；我们大多数人认为这个理想永远无法实现； 80→但吠檀多坚持认为每个人都能实现它。既无男女之别，也无孩童之异， 81→既无种族之分，也无性别之差，没有任何东西能阻碍理想的实现， 82→因为吠檀多表明它已经实现了，它早已就在那里。 83→ 84→宇宙中所有的力量已然是我们的。是我们自己用双手遮住了眼睛，呼喊着一片漆黑。 85→要知晓我们周围没有黑暗。移开双手，从太初就存在的光明便显现出来。 86→黑暗从未存在，软弱从未存在。我们这些愚人呼喊着我们软弱； 87→我们这些愚人呼喊着我们不净。因此，吠檀多不仅坚持认为理想是实践的， 88→而且它一直都是如此；而这个理想、这个实在，就是我们自己的本性。 89→你所见的一切其他事物都是虚假的、不真实的。一旦你说"我是一个渺小的凡人"， 90→你就是在说不真实的事，你在向自己撒谎，你在催眠自己 91→堕入某种卑鄙、软弱和可悲之中。 92→ 93→吠檀多不承认罪，它只承认错误。吠檀多说，最大的错误是说你软弱， 94→你是罪人，你是可悲的生灵，你没有能力，你不能做这做那。 95→每次你那样想，你就仿佛在束缚你的链条上再铆一个环， 96→你就在自己的灵魂上再加上一层催眠。因此，凡认为自己软弱的人都是错的， 97→凡认为自己不净的人都是错的，而且是在向世界投入不良念头。 98→这一点我们必须时刻铭记：在吠檀多中，没有任何尝试去调和现实生活—— 99→那被催眠的生活，那我们所承担的虚假生活——与理想之间的关系； 100→而是这种虚假的生活必须消逝，而那始终存在的真实生命必须彰显，必须放光。 101→没有人变得越来越纯洁——那是更大的显现问题。面纱落下，灵魂本来的纯洁 102→开始彰显。一切都已是我们的——无限的纯洁、自由、爱与力量。 103→ 104→吠檀多还说，这不仅能在深山密林的森林与洞穴中实现， 105→而且能由处于各种可能生活条件下的人实现。我们已经看到，发现这些真理的人 106→既不住在洞穴里或森林中，也不从事普通的生计，而是那些我们有充分理由相信 107→过着最繁忙生活的人——那些不得不指挥军队、坐于王座、照顾数百万人福祉的人—— 108→而且这一切都是在君主专制时代，而非如今，国王在很大程度上不过是个名义上的领袖。 109→然而他们能找到时间思考这一切，实现它们，并向人类传授它们。 110→那么对我们来说，与他们的生活相比，我们的生活是休闲的，实现这些岂不更加可行？ 111→我们无法实现它们，是我们的耻辱——因为我们时刻相对自由，几乎无事可做。 112→我的需求与一位古代专制君主相比微不足道。我的所需与在俱卢之野战场上 113→指挥庞大军队的阿周那的需求相比微不足道；然而他却能在战场的嘈杂与骚动中 114→抽出时间来谈论最高哲学，并将其贯彻于自己的生命。我们无疑应该能够 115→在这种相对自由、轻松舒适的生活中做到同样的事。我们大多数人在这里拥有的 116→时间比我们以为的要多，如果我们真的想把它用于善的目的。 117→以我们所拥有的这些自由，如果愿意，我们一生中能达到两百个理想， 118→但我们切不可将理想降格为现实。最具诱惑性的事物之一，是以人的形式出现， 119→他们为我们的过失道歉，并教导我们如何为我们所有的愚蠢欲求和愚蠢念头 120→找出特别的借口；然后我们认为他们的理想是我们唯一需要的理想。但事实并非如此。 121→吠檀多并不教导这些。现实应该与理想相协调，现实生命应该与永恒生命相一致。 122→ 123→因为你们必须始终记住，吠檀多一个核心理想是这一合一性。任何事物中都没有二， 124→没有两种生命，甚至两个世界的生命也没有两种不同的形式。你们会发现吠陀[Vedas] 125→起初谈及天国之类的事情；但后来，当它们来到其哲学的最高理想时， 126→它们将这一切都扫除殆尽。只有一种生命、一个世界、一种存在。一切都是那个"一"， 127→差别在于程度而非种类。我们生命之间的差别不在种类。吠檀多完全否认这样的看法： 128→动物与人是分离的，它们被神创造出来是为了给我们作食物。 129→ 130→有些人好心地创立了一个反对活体解剖的协会。我问其中一名成员： 131→"我的朋友，你认为为什么宰杀动物作食物是完全合法的，而为了科学实验宰杀 132→一两只却不行？"他回答说："活体解剖极为可怕，但动物是赐给我们作食物的。" 133→合一包括所有动物。如果人的生命是不朽的，动物的生命也是。 134→差别仅在程度而非种类。变形虫与我是相同的，差别仅在程度； 135→从最高生命的立场看，所有这些差别都消失了。一个人也许能看到草与小树之间 136→的巨大差别，但若你攀登到很高的地方，草与最高的树看起来几乎相同。 137→因此，从最高理想的立场看，最低等的动物与最高等的人是相同的。 138→若你相信有神，动物与最高等的生灵一定是相同的。一个偏爱被称为人的孩子、 139→而对被称为野兽的孩子残酷的神，比恶魔还糟糕。我宁愿死上一百次 140→也不愿崇拜这样的神。我的整个生命都将是与这样的神的斗争。 141→但实际上没有差别，而那些说有差别的人是不负责任的、冷酷无情的无知者。 142→这是一个用错误意义使用"实践"一词的例子。我自己也许不是一个非常严格的素食者， 143→但我理解这个理想。当我吃肉时，我知道那是错的。即使我在某些情况下不得不吃， 144→我知道那是残忍的。我不能将理想降低到现实，并以这种方式为自己软弱的行为辩护。 145→理想是不吃肉，不伤害任何生灵，因为所有动物都是我的兄弟。 146→若你能将它们视为你的兄弟，你已在迈向万灵平等道路上迈出一小步， 147→更不用说人类的兄弟情谊了！那是小儿游戏。你们通常会发现，这对许多人来说 148→不太可接受，因为它教导他们放弃现实，向更高的理想迈进。 149→但若你提出一个与他们当前行为相调和的理论，他们就认为这完全是实践的。 150→ 151→人性中有这种强烈的保守倾向：我们不喜欢向前迈出一步。我对人类的想法， 152→正如我读到那些在雪中冻僵的人的情形；据说，所有这样的人都想睡觉， 153→若你试图拖他们起来，他们会说："让我睡吧；在雪中睡觉真美啊"， 154→然后他们就死在那睡眠中。我们的本性也是如此。这正是我们终其一生所做的—— 155→从脚向上逐渐被冻住，却仍想睡觉。因此，你们必须向理想奋斗；若有人要 156→将那理想降低到你的水平，并传授一种不承载那最高理想的宗教，不要听他的。 157→对我来说，那是一种不可实践的宗教。但若一个人传授呈现最高理想的宗教， 158→我就准备好接受了。要当心任何人试图为感官虚荣和感官软弱辩护的时候。 159→若有人想那样向我们宣讲——我们这些可怜的、受感官束缚的尘土，正是通过跟随那种教导 160→使自己变成这样的——我们将永不进步。我见过许多这样的事， 161→在这个世界上有一些经历，而我的国家正是宗教派别像蘑菇一样生长的土地。 162→每年都有新的派别兴起。但有一件事我注意到了：只有那些从不想将肉身之人 163→与真理之人相调和的人才能进步。凡存在这种将肉体虚荣与最高理想相调和的 164→虚假理念——将神降低到人的水平的地方——都会出现衰败。人不应被降格为 165→世俗的奴役，而应被提升至神。 166→ 167→与此同时，这个问题还有另一面。我们不能以蔑视的目光看待他人。 168→我们所有人都走向同一个目标。软弱与力量之间的差别是程度之别； 169→美德与恶习之间的差别是程度之别，天国与地狱之间的差别是程度之别， 170→生与死之间的差别是程度之别，这个世界中的所有差别都是程度之别， 171→而非种类之别，因为合一是万物的秘密。万物是一，显现为 172→思想、或生命、或灵魂、或肉身，差别仅在程度。如此，我们无权 173→以蔑视的目光看待那些发展程度不与我们完全相同的人。不要谴责任何人； 174→若你能伸出援助之手，就这样做。若不能，就合起双手，祝福你的兄弟们， 175→让他们走自己的路。降低和谴责不是工作的方式。工作从未以那种方式完成。 176→我们将精力用于谴责他人。批评与谴责是消耗我们精力的无益方式， 177→因为长远来看，我们终将认识到所有人都看到的是同一件事，或多或少在接近同一理想， 178→我们大多数的差别不过是表达方式上的差别。 179→ 180→以罪的观念为例。我刚才向你们讲述了关于它的吠檀多观念，另一种观念认为人是罪人。 181→它们实际上是相同的，只是一个采取积极立场，另一个采取消极立场。 182→一个向人展示其力量，另一个展示其软弱。吠檀多说，也许有软弱， 183→但没关系，我们要成长。人一降生，疾病就被发现了。每个人都知道自己的病； 184→不需要任何人来告诉我们自己的病是什么。但时时刻刻想着自己生病并不能治愈我们—— 185→药物是必要的。我们也许能在外部忘掉一切，我们也许试图向外部世界装出伪善， 186→但在我们心灵深处，我们都知道自己的软弱。但是，吠檀多说， 187→不断被提醒软弱并没有多大帮助；给予力量，而力量不是通过一直想着软弱而来的。 188→克服软弱的良方不是沉溺于软弱，而是思考力量。向人们传授那已在他们内在的力量。 189→吠檀多不说他们是罪人，而是采取相反的立场，说："你是纯洁和完美的， 190→你所称的罪不属于你。"罪是真我显现的极低程度；要在高程度上彰显你的真我。 191→这是需要记住的一点；我们所有人都能做到。永远不要说"不"，永远不要说"我不能"， 192→因为你是无限的。甚至时间与空间与你的本性相比也微不足道。你能做任何事、 193→一切事，你是全能的。 194→ 195→这些是伦理的原则，但我们现在将降低层面，深入细节。我们将看到这吠檀多 196→如何能够贯彻到我们的日常生活中——每个民族的城市生活、农村生活、国家生活 197→和家庭生活。因为，一种宗教若不能帮助人无论身处何处——无论他站在哪里—— 198→就没有多大用处；它将仅仅是为少数被选者准备的理论。宗教要帮助人类， 199→必须随时准备好帮助他，无论他处于什么状况——奴役还是自由， 200→在堕落的深渊还是在纯洁的高处；无处不然，它应同等地来到他的援助。 201→吠檀多的原则，或宗教的理想，或随你怎么称呼，将因其履行这一伟大功能的能力而得到实现。 202→ 203→自信的理想对我们是最大的帮助。若自信得到更广泛的传授与实践， 204→我确信我们所有的大部分邪恶与苦难都会消失。纵观人类历史， 205→在所有伟大男女的生命中，若有任何动力比其他的更强有力，那就是对自身的信念。 206→生来就有意识，意识到他们将要伟大，他们便成就了伟大。让一个人跌落到尽可能低的程度； 207→必然会有一个时刻，出于绝望，他将走向上升的弧线，并学会对自己怀有信念。 208→但对我们来说，从一开始就知晓这一点更好。我们为何要经历所有这些痛苦的体验 209→才能获得对自己的信念？我们能看到，人与人之间所有的差别都是由于自身信念 210→的存在或缺失。对自身的信念将完成一切。我在自己的生命中经历过这一点， 211→至今仍在经历；随着年龄增长，这信念变得越来越强。不信自身的人是无神论者。 212→旧宗教说，不信神的人是无神论者。新宗教说，不信自身的人是无神论者。 213→但这不是自私的信念，因为吠檀多，再说一遍，是合一的学说。
1→它意味着对一切怀有信念，因为你就是一切。对自身的爱意味着对一切的爱， 2→对动物的爱，对万物的爱，因为你们是同一的。这是使世界变得更好的伟大信念。 3→我对此确信无疑。那能真实地说"我了解关于自身的一切"的人，是最高等的人。 4→你们知道在你们那幅躯体背后还潜藏着多少能量、多少力量、多少威力吗？ 5→有哪位科学家了解人之内在的一切？自从人类首次来到这里已经过了数百万年， 6→然而他的力量只显现出了极小的一部分。因此，你们不能说你们软弱。 7→你们怎知那表面堕落背后隐藏着什么可能性？你们对自身内在知之甚少。 8→因为在你们身后，是无限力量与祝福的海洋。 9→ 10→"这真我[Atman]首先应当被聆听。"日夜听闻你就是那灵魂。 11→日夜向自己重复，直至它进入你的血脉，直至它在你每一滴血中颤动， 12→直至它在你的血肉骨骸中。让整个身体充满那一个理想： 13→"我是无生的、无死的、极乐的、全知的、全能的、永远荣耀的灵魂。" 14→日夜思考它；思考它，直到它成为你生命的一部分。冥想它，由此将涌现工作。 15→"心中的充盈使嘴巴发言"，心中的充盈也使双手劳作。行动将会到来。 16→用理想充满自己；无论你做什么，都善加思考。你所有的行动将因思想的力量 17→而被放大、转化、神化。若物质是有力量的，思想是全能的。 18→将这思想引导至你的生命，用你全能的、庄严的、荣耀的思想充满自己。 19→但愿神从未将任何迷信置入你的头脑！但愿我们自出生起就没有被所有这些 20→迷信的影响和关于我们软弱与卑鄙的麻痹性观念所包围！ 21→但愿人类曾有一条更容易的道路通向最高贵、最崇高的真理！ 22→但人类不得不经历这一切；不要为那些随后而来的人使道路更加艰难。 23→ 24→这些有时是可怕的教义，难以传授。我认识一些被这些想法吓到的人， 25→但对那些想要实践的人来说，这是首先要学的。永远不要告诉自己或他人说你软弱。 26→若能行善，就行善；但不要伤害这个世界。你们在内心深处知道，你们许多 27→有限的想法——这种谦卑自己、向想象中的存在祈祷和哭泣——都是迷信。 28→告诉我一个这些祈祷得到回应的例子。所有到来的答案都来自你们自己的内心。 29→你们知道没有鬼魂，但你们一置身黑暗，就会感到一丝毛骨悚然的感觉。 30→那是因为在我们的童年，所有这些可怕的想法被塞进了我们的头脑。 31→但不要因为害怕社会和公众舆论、因害怕招来朋友的憎恨、 32→或因害怕失去珍爱的迷信而将这些东西传授给他人。做这一切的主人。 33→宗教中还有什么比宇宙的合一性和对自身的信念更需要传授的呢？ 34→数千年来人类所有的工作都朝向这一目标，人类至今仍在实现它。 35→现在轮到你们了，你们已经知晓真理。因为它在各个方面都被传授了。 36→不仅哲学和心理学，连唯物主义科学也已宣称了它。 37→今天有哪位科学家会害怕承认这宇宙合一性的真理？ 38→谁还敢谈论许多世界？所有这些都是迷信。只有一种生命和一个世界， 39→这一种生命和一个世界对我们呈现为多样。这种多样性犹如一场梦。 40→当你做梦时，一个梦消逝而另一个到来。你并不活在你的梦中。 41→梦一个接一个，场景在你面前一幕幕展开。在这个有百分之九十苦难、 42→百分之十快乐的世界中也是如此。也许过一段时间它将呈现为百分之九十的快乐， 43→我们将称之为天国，但对于圣人来说，有一个时刻整个事物消失， 44→而这个世界呈现为神自身，他自己的灵魂呈现为神。 45→因此，并非有许多世界，也并非有许多生命。所有这种多样性都是那"一"的显现。 46→那"一"以许多形式显现自身——作为物质、精神、心灵、思想以及其他一切。 47→就是那"一"，将自身显现为众多。因此，我们迈出的第一步是向自己和他人传授真理。 48→ 49→让这个世界与这一理想共鸣，让迷信消逝。把它告诉软弱的人们并坚持告诉他们。 50→你是纯洁的那个；醒来并觉起，啊，威猛的那个，这睡眠不适合你。 51→醒来并觉起，这不适合你。不要以为你软弱和可悲。全能者， 52→觉起并醒来，彰显你自己的本性。你认为自己是罪人，这是不恰当的。 53→你认为自己软弱，这是不恰当的。将那话告诉这个世界，告诉你自己， 54→看看会有什么实践的结果，看看一切如何以电光石火般显现， 55→一切如何改变。将那话告诉人类，向他们展示他们的力量。然后我们将学会 56→如何在我们的日常生活中运用它。 57→ 58→为了能够运用我们所称的辨别力（识别），学会在我们生命的每一刻、 59→在我们的每一个行动中，辨别什么是对与错、真与假，我们必须知晓 60→真理的试金石，它是纯洁性、合一性。使万物趋向合一的一切都是真理。 61→爱是真理，而恨是虚假，因为恨导向多样性。正是仇恨使人与人分离； 62→因此它是错的和虚假的。它是一种解体的力量；它分离和毁灭。 63→ 64→爱连结，爱促进那合一。你变成一体——母亲与孩子，家庭与城市， 65→整个世界与动物变成一体。因为爱是存在，是神自身； 66→而所有这一切都是那一爱的显现，或多或少地表达出来。 67→差别仅在程度，但它是那一爱贯穿始终的显现。因此在我们所有的行动中， 68→我们必须判断它是否在促进多样性或合一性。若是多样性，我们就必须放弃它， 69→但若它促进合一性，我们就确信它是好的。对于我们的思想也是如此； 70→我们必须决定它们是否导向解体、多样性，或合一性——将灵魂与灵魂连结 71→并带来一种影响。若它们做到这一点，我们就采纳它们，否则就把它们作为犯罪行为丢弃。 72→ 73→伦理的整个理念是它不依赖任何不可知的事物，它不教导任何未知的东西， 74→而是用奥义书[Upanishads]的语言来说："你作为未知之神所崇拜的那个神， 75→我向你宣讲的也是同一位。"正是通过真我你才能知晓任何事物。 76→我看见这把椅子；但为了看见椅子，我首先必须感知自身，然后才是椅子。 77→正是在真我之中并通过真我，椅子才被感知。正是在真我之中并通过真我， 78→你对我才是已知的，整个世界对我才是已知的；因此说这真我是未知的， 79→是彻头彻尾的无稽之谈。移去真我，整个宇宙消失。在真我之中并通过真我， 80→一切知识得以涌现。因此它是最被知晓的一切。它就是你自己，就是你所称的"我"。 81→你也许会困惑，我的这个"我"如何能成为你的"我"。你也许会困惑， 82→这有限的"我"如何能成为无限的无量，但确实如此。有限不过是一种虚构。 83→无限被遮蔽了，可以说，而它的一小部分显现为那个"我"。 84→限制永远不能降临于无限之上；那是虚构。因此，真我对我们每个人来说都是已知的—— 85→男人、女人或孩子——甚至对动物也是如此。若不知晓祂，我们既不能生存、 86→行动，也没有存在；若不知晓这一切的主宰，我们连呼吸一秒也无法做到。 87→吠檀多的神是所有中最为已知的，而不是想象力的产物。 88→ 89→若这不是在宣讲一位实践的神，否则你还如何能教导一位实践的神呢？ 90→哪里还有比我在你们面前所见的更实践的神——一位无处不在、在每个存在中、 91→比我们感官更真实的神？因为你们就是祂，无处不在的全能神，你们灵魂的灵魂， 92→倘若我说你们不是，我就是在说谎。我知晓这一点，无论我何时何地是否完全意识到它。 93→祂是合一、万物的统一、所有生命与所有存在的实在。 94→ 95→吠檀多伦理的这些理念必须在细节上加以阐发，因此，你们必须有耐心。 96→正如我告诉你们的，我们要详细地探讨这个课题并彻底研究它， 97→看看这些理念如何从极低的理想成长起来，以及那一伟大的合一理想如何演进 98→并被塑造成普世之爱；我们应当研究这些，以便避免危险。世界没有时间 99→从最低的步骤一步步去实现它。但若我们站在更高的台阶上，却不能将真理 100→传给后来者，有什么用呢？因此，最好在其所有运作中研究它；首先， 101→绝对有必要澄清智识的部分，尽管我们知道智识几乎什么都不是； 102→因为最重要的是心灵。正是通过心灵才能见到主，而非通过智识。 103→智识只是街道清洁工，为我们清洁道路，是次要的工作者，是警察； 104→但警察并非社会运作的正面必要条件。他只是阻止骚乱，制止不当行为， 105→那就是智识所需要做的全部工作。当你读完智识性书籍后，你想， 106→当你掌握了它们，"感谢主让我从中解脱出来"，因为智识是盲目的， 107→不能自己行动，它既无手也无脚。是感情在工作，以无限超越电力或任何其他事物 108→的速度行动。你感觉到了吗？——这才是问题所在。若你感觉到了， 109→你就会见到主：你今天拥有的感情将被强化、被神化、被提升到最高的平台， 110→直到它感知万物，感知万物中的合一，直到它在自身与他人中感知到神。智识永远做不到这一点。 111→"解释词汇的各种方法，解释书籍文本的各种方法，这些是为博学者的享受， 112→而非为灵魂的解脱"（《辨别冠宝珠》，第58节）。 113→ 114→你们中那些读过托马斯·肯培斯的人，知道他在每一页上如何坚持这一点， 115→几乎世上每一位圣人都坚持过这一点。智识是必要的，因为没有它我们会陷入粗糙的错误， 116→犯下各种各样的错误。智识制止这些；但在那之外，不要试图在其上建立任何东西。 117→它是一种不活跃的、次要的帮助；真正的帮助是感情、是爱。你为他人感受吗？ 118→若是，你就在走向合一的成长中。若你不为他人感受，你也许是有史以来最博学的智识巨人， 119→但你将一无所成；你不过是干枯的智识，你将如此留存。若你感受，即使你读不了任何书， 120→也不懂任何语言，你也走在正确的路上。主是你们的。 121→ 122→你们难道不从世界历史中知晓先知们的力量所在吗？那在哪里？在智识中吗？ 123→他们中有谁写过关于哲学的精彩著作、关于逻辑最错综复杂的推理的著作吗？没有一个。 124→他们只说了几句话。像基督那样感受，你就会成为基督；像佛陀那样感受，你就会成为佛陀。 125→感情是生命、力量、活力，没有它，无论多少智识活动都无法接触到神。 126→智识如同没有行动力的肢体。只有当感情进入并赋予它们运动时，它们才能移动 127→并对他人产生作用。在整个世界上都是如此，这是你们必须始终记住的事情。 128→这是吠檀多道德中最实践的事物之一，因为吠檀多的教导是你们都是先知， 129→所有人都必须成为先知。书不是你行为的证明，而你才是书的证明。 130→你怎么知道一本书教导的是真理？因为你就是真理并能感知它。这就是吠檀多所说的。 131→世上基督们和佛陀们的证明是什么？是你和我像他们一样感受。那就是你和我 132→如何理解他们是真实的。我们先知般的灵魂是他们先知灵魂的证明。 133→你的神性是神自身的证明。若你不是先知，就从来没有任何关于神的真实。 134→若你不是神，就从来没有任何神，以后也永远不会有。这，吠檀多说， 135→是要效法的理想。我们每个人都必须成为先知，而你已经是了。只需知晓这一点。 136→永远不要认为对灵魂来说有任何不可能的事。认为如此是最大的异端。 137→若有罪，这是唯一的罪——说你软弱，或他人软弱。 138→ 139→人性中有这种强烈的保守倾向：我们不喜欢向前迈出一步。我对人类的想法， 140→正如我读到那些在雪中冻僵的人的情形；据说，所有这样的人都想睡觉， 141→若你试图拖他们起来，他们会说："让我睡吧；在雪中睡觉真美啊"， 142→然后他们就死在那睡眠中。我们的本性也是如此。这正是我们终其一生所做的—— 143→从脚向上逐渐被冻住，却仍想睡觉。因此，你们必须向理想奋斗；若有人要 144→将那理想降低到你的水平，并传授一种不承载那最高理想的宗教，不要听他的。 145→对我来说，那是一种不可实践的宗教。但若一个人传授呈现最高理想的宗教， 146→我就准备好接受了。要当心任何人试图为感官虚荣和感官软弱辩护的时候。 147→若有人想那样向我们宣讲——我们这些可怜的、受感官束缚的尘土，正是通过跟随那种教导 148→使自己变成这样的——我们将永不进步。我见过许多这样的事，在这个世界上有些经历， 149→而我的国家正是宗教派别像蘑菇一样生长的土地。每年都有新的派别兴起。 150→但有一件事我注意到了：只有那些从不想将肉身之人与真理之人相调和的人才能进步。 151→凡存在这种将肉体虚荣与最高理想相调和的虚假理念——将神降低到人的水平的地方—— 152→都会出现衰败。人不应被降格为世俗的奴役，而应被提升至神。 153→ 154→与此同时，这个问题还有另一面。我们不能以蔑视的目光看待他人。 155→我们所有人都走向同一个目标。软弱与力量之间的差别是程度之别；美德与恶习之间 156→的差别是程度之别，天国与地狱之间的差别是程度之别，生与死之间的差别是程度之别， 157→这个世界中的所有差别都是程度之别，而非种类之别，因为合一是万物的秘密。 158→万物是一，显现为思想、或生命、或灵魂、或肉身，差别仅在程度。 159→如此，我们无权以蔑视的目光看待那些发展程度不与我们完全相同的人。 160→不要谴责任何人；若你能伸出援助之手，就这样做。若不能，就合起双手， 161→祝福你的兄弟们，让他们走自己的路。降低和谴责不是工作的方式。 162→工作从未以那种方式完成。我们将精力用于谴责他人。批评与谴责是消耗我们精力的无益方式， 163→因为长远来看，我们终将认识到所有人都看到的是同一件事， 164→或多或少在接近同一理想，我们大多数的差别不过是表达方式上的差别。 165→ 166→以罪的观念为例。我刚才向你们讲述了关于它的吠檀多观念，另一种观念认为人是罪人。 167→它们实际上是相同的，只是一个采取积极立场，另一个采取消极立场。 168→一个向人展示其力量，另一个展示其软弱。吠檀多说，也许有软弱， 169→但没关系，我们要成长。人一降生，疾病就被发现了。每个人都知道自己的病； 170→不需要任何人来告诉我们自己的病是什么。但时时刻刻想着自己生病并不能治愈我们—— 171→药物是必要的。我们也许能在外部忘掉一切，我们也许试图向外部世界装出伪善， 172→但在我们心灵深处，我们都知道自己的软弱。但是，吠檀多说，不断被提醒软弱 173→并没有多大帮助；给予力量，而力量不是通过一直想着软弱而来的。克服软弱的良方 174→不是沉溺于软弱，而是思考力量。向人们传授那已在他们内在的力量。 175→吠檀多不说他们是罪人，而是采取相反的立场，说："你是纯洁和完美的， 176→你所称的罪不属于你。"罪是真我显现的极低程度；要在高程度上彰显你的真我。 177→这是需要记住的一点；我们所有人都能做到。永远不要说"不"，永远不要说"我不能"， 178→因为你是无限的。甚至时间与空间与你的本性相比也微不足道。 179→你能做任何事、一切事，你是全能的。 180→ 181→这些是伦理的原则，但我们现在将降低层面，深入细节。我们将看到这吠檀多如何能够 182→贯彻到我们的日常生活中——每个民族的城市生活、农村生活、国家生活和家庭生活。 183→因为，一种宗教若不能帮助人无论身处何处——无论他站在哪里——就没有多大用处； 184→它将仅仅是为少数被选者准备的理论。宗教要帮助人类，必须随时准备好帮助他， 185→无论他处于什么状况——奴役还是自由，在堕落的深渊还是在纯洁的高处； 186→无处不然，它应同等地来到他的援助。吠檀多的原则，或宗教的理想， 187→或随你怎么称呼，将因其履行这一伟大功能的能力而得到实现。 188→ 189→自信的理想对我们是最大的帮助。若自信得到更广泛的传授与实践， 190→我确信我们所有的大部分邪恶与苦难都会消失。纵观人类历史，在所有伟大男女的生命中， 191→若有任何动力比其他的更强有力，那就是对自身的信念。生来就有意识， 192→意识到他们将要伟大，他们便成就了伟大。让一个人跌落到尽可能低的程度； 193→必然会有一个时刻，出于绝望，他将走向上升的弧线，并学会对自己怀有信念。 194→但对我们来说，从一开始就知晓这一点更好。我们为何要经历所有这些痛苦的体验 195→才能获得对自己的信念？我们能看到，人与人之间所有的差别都是由于自身信念的存在 196→或缺失。对自身的信念将完成一切。我在自己的生命中经历过这一点，至今仍在经历； 197→随着年龄增长，这信念变得越来越强。不信自身的人是无神论者。旧宗教说， 198→不信神的人是无神论者。新宗教说，不信自身的人是无神论者。 199→但这不是自私的信念，因为吠檀多，再说一遍，是合一的学说。 200→它意味着对一切怀有信念，因为你就是一切。对自身的爱意味着对一切的爱， 201→对动物的爱，对万物的爱，因为你们是同一的。这是使世界变得更好的伟大信念。 202→我对此确信无疑。那能真实地说"我了解关于自身的一切"的人，是最高等的人。 203→你们知道在你们那幅躯体背后还潜藏着多少能量、多少力量、多少威力吗？ 204→有哪位科学家了解人之内在的一切？自从人类首次来到这里已经过了数百万年， 205→然而他的力量只显现出了极小的一部分。因此，你们不能说你们软弱。 206→你们怎知那表面堕落背后隐藏着什么可能性？你们对自身内在知之甚少。 207→因为在你们身后，是无限力量与祝福的海洋。 208→ 209→"这真我是首先应当被聆听的。"日夜听闻你就是那灵魂。
1→若这不是在宣讲一位实践的神，否则你还如何能教导一位实践的神呢？ 2→哪里还有比我在你们面前所见的更实践的神——一位无处不在、在每个存在中、 3→比我们感官更真实的神？因为你们就是祂，无处不在的全能神，你们灵魂的灵魂， 4→倘若我说你们不是，我就是在说谎。我知晓这一点，无论我何时何地是否完全意识到它。 5→祂是合一、万物的统一、所有生命与所有存在的实在。 6→ 7→吠檀多伦理的这些理念必须在细节上加以阐发，因此，你们必须有耐心。 8→正如我告诉你们的，我们要详细地探讨这个课题并彻底研究它，看看这些理念 9→如何从极低的理想成长起来，以及那一伟大的合一理想如何演进并被塑造成普世之爱； 10→我们应当研究这些，以便避免危险。世界没有时间从最低的步骤一步步去实现它。 11→但若我们站在更高的台阶上，却不能将真理传给后来者，有什么用呢？ 12→因此，最好在其所有运作中研究它；首先，绝对有必要澄清智识的部分， 13→尽管我们知道智识几乎什么都不是；因为最重要的是心灵。 14→正是通过心灵才能见到主，而非通过智识。智识只是街道清洁工，为我们清洁道路， 15→是次要的工作者，是警察；但警察并非社会运作的正面必要条件。 16→他只是阻止骚乱，制止不当行为，那就是智识所需要做的全部工作。 17→当你读完智识性书籍后，当你掌握了它们，你会想："感谢主让我从中解脱出来"， 18→因为智识是盲目的，不能自己行动，它既无手也无脚。是感情在工作， 19→以无限超越电力或任何其他事物的速度行动。你感觉到了吗？ 20→——这才是问题所在。若你感觉到了，你就会见到主：你今天拥有的感情将被强化、 21→被神化、被提升到最高的平台，直到它感知万物，感知万物中的合一， 22→直到它在自身与他人中感知到神。智识永远做不到这一点。 23→"解释词汇的各种方法，解释书籍文本的各种方法，这些是为博学者的享受， 24→而非为灵魂的解脱"（《辨别冠宝珠》，第58节）。 25→ 26→你们中那些读过托马斯·肯培斯的人，知道他在每一页上如何坚持这一点， 27→几乎世上每一位圣人都坚持过这一点。智识是必要的，因为没有它我们会陷入粗糙的错误， 28→犯下各种各样的错误。智识制止这些；但在那之外，不要试图在其上建立任何东西。 29→它是一种不活跃的、次要的帮助；真正的帮助是感情、是爱。你为他人感受吗？ 30→若是，你就在走向合一的成长中。若你不为他人感受，你也许是有史以来最博学的 31→智识巨人，但你将一无所成；你不过是干枯的智识，你将如此留存。 32→若你感受，即使你读不了任何书，也不懂任何语言，你也走在正确的路上。主是你们的。 33→ 34→你们难道不从世界历史中知晓先知们的力量所在吗？那在哪里？在智识中吗？ 35→他们中有谁写过关于哲学的精彩著作、关于逻辑最错综复杂的推理的著作吗？没有一个。 36→他们只说了几句话。像基督那样感受，你就会成为基督；像佛陀那样感受，你就会成为佛陀。 37→感情是生命、力量、活力，没有它，无论多少智识活动都无法接触到神。 38→智识如同没有行动力的肢体。只有当感情进入并赋予它们运动时，它们才能移动 39→并对他人产生作用。在整个世界上都是如此，这是你们必须始终记住的事情。 40→这是吠檀多道德中最实践的事物之一，因为吠檀多的教导是你们都是先知， 41→所有人都必须成为先知。书不是你行为的证明，而你才是书的证明。 42→你怎么知道一本书教导的是真理？因为你就是真理并能感知它。这就是吠檀多所说的。 43→世上基督们和佛陀们的证明是什么？是你和我像他们一样感受。那就是你和我 44→如何理解他们是真实的。我们先知般的灵魂是他们先知灵魂的证明。 45→你的神性是神自身的证明。若你不是先知，就从来没有任何关于神的真实。 46→若你不是神，就从来没有任何神，以后也永远不会有。这，吠檀多说，是要效法的理想。 47→我们每个人都必须成为先知，而你已经是了。只需知晓这一点。 48→永远不要认为对灵魂来说有任何不可能的事。认为如此是最大的异端。 49→若有罪，这是唯一的罪——说你软弱，或他人软弱。 50→ 51→（后续内容）我想向你们关联一个非常古老的故事，来自《大林间奥义书》， 52→它讲述了知识如何来到一个少年。故事的形式很原始，但我们会发现其中蕴含一个原则。 53→一个年轻的男孩对他的母亲说："我要去学习吠陀。告诉我父亲的名字和我的种姓。" 54→母亲并非已婚女性，在印度，未婚女性所生的孩子被视为贱民； 55→他不被社会承认，也无权学习吠陀。于是可怜的母亲说： 56→"孩子，我不知道你的家族名字；我做过佣人，在不同的地方服务； 57→我不知道你的父亲是谁，但我的名字是贾巴拉，你的名字是萨提亚卡玛。" 58→小孩子去找一位圣人，请求收他为学生。圣人问他： 59→"你父亲叫什么名字，你是什么种姓？"这个男孩把他从母亲那里听到的重复给他听。 60→圣人立刻说："除了婆罗门，没有人能对自己说出如此有损名誉的真话。 61→你是婆罗门，我要教导你。你没有偏离真理。"于是他把这个男孩留在身边并教育他。 62→ 63→现在来了一些古代印度教育的特殊方法。这位老师给萨提亚卡玛四百头瘦弱的牛 64→让他照料，并把他送到森林中去。他在那里去了一些时间。老师告诉他， 65→当牛群增加到一千头时回来。几年后的一天，萨提亚卡玛听到牛群中一头大公牛 66→对他说："我们现在是一千头了；把我们带回你的老师那里。我将教导你一些关于梵[Brahman]的事。" 67→"请说，先生，"萨提亚卡玛说。然后公牛说："东方是主的一部分，西方也是， 68→南方也是，北方也是。四个主要方向是梵的四个部分。火也将教导你一些关于梵的事。" 69→火在那些日子里是一个伟大的象征，每个学生都必须取火并供奉。 70→所以第二天，萨提亚卡玛出发前往他的古鲁[Guru]的家，当傍晚他完成了祭祀， 71→在火前礼拜，坐在火旁边时，他听到一个从火中传出的声音："啊，萨提亚卡玛。"
English
PRACTICAL VEDANTA
PART I
(Delivered in London, 10th November 1896)
I have been asked to say something about the practical position of the Vedanta philosophy. As I have told you, theory is very good indeed, but how are we to carry it into practice? If it be absolutely impracticable, no theory is of any value whatever, except as intellectual gymnastics. The Vedanta, therefore, as a religion must be intensely practical. We must be able to carry it out in every part of our lives. And not only this, the fictitious differentiation between religion and the life of the world must vanish, for the Vedanta teaches oneness — one life throughout. The ideals of religion must cover the whole field of life, they must enter into all our thoughts, and more and more into practice. I will enter gradually on the practical side as we proceed. But this series of lectures is intended to be a basis, and so we must first apply ourselves to theories and understand how they are worked out, proceeding from forest caves to busy streets and cities; and one peculiar feature we find is that many of these thoughts have been the outcome, not of retirement into forests, but have emanated from persons whom we expect to lead the busiest lives — from ruling monarchs.
Shvetaketu was the son of Âruni, a sage, most probably a recluse. He was brought up in the forest, but he went to the city of the Panchâlas and appeared at the court of the king, Pravâhana Jaivali. The king asked him, "Do you know how beings depart hence at death?" "No, sir." "Do you know how they return hither?" "No, sir." "Do you know the way of the fathers and the way of the gods?" "No, sir." Then the king asked other questions. Shvetaketu could not answer them. So the king told him that he knew nothing. The boy went back to his father, and the father admitted that he himself could not answer these questions. It was not that he was unwilling to answer these questions. It was not that he was unwilling to teach the boy, but he did not know these things. So he went to the king and asked to be taught these secrets. The king said that these things had been hitherto known only among kings; the priests never knew them. He, however, proceeded to teach him what he desired to know. In various Upanishads we find that this Vedanta philosophy is not the outcome of meditation in the forests only, but that the very best parts of it were thought out and expressed by brains which were busiest in the everyday affairs of life. We cannot conceive any man busier than an absolute monarch, a man who is ruling over millions of people, and yet, some of these rulers were deep thinkers.
Everything goes to show that this philosophy must be very practical; and later on, when we come to the Bhagavad-Gita — most of you, perhaps, have read it, it is the best commentary we have on the Vedanta philosophy — curiously enough the scene is laid on the battlefield, where Krishna teaches this philosophy to Arjuna; and the doctrine which stands out luminously in every page of the Gita is intense activity, but in the midst of it, eternal calmness. This is the secret of work, to attain which is the goal of the Vedanta. Inactivity, as we understand it in the sense of passivity, certainly cannot be the goal. Were it so, then the walls around us would be the most intelligent; they are inactive. Clods of earth, stumps of trees, would be the greatest sages in the world; they are inactive. Nor does inactivity become activity when it is combined with passion. Real activity, which is the goal of Vedanta, is combined with eternal calmness, the calmness which cannot be ruffled, the balance of mind which is never disturbed, whatever happens. And we all know from our experience in life that that is the best attitude for work.
I have been asked many times how we can work if we do not have the passion which we generally feel for work. I also thought in that way years ago, but as I am growing older, getting more experience, I find it is not true. The less passion there is, the better we work. The calmer we are, the better for us, and the more the amount of work we can do. When we let loose our feelings, we waste so much energy, shatter our nerves, disturb our minds, and accomplish very little work. The energy which ought to have gone out as work is spent as mere feeling, which counts for nothing. It is only when the mind is very calm and collected that the whole of its energy is spent in doing good work. And if you read the lives of the great workers which the world has produced, you will find that they were wonderfully calm men. Nothing, as it were, could throw them off their balance. That is why the man who becomes angry never does a great amount of work, and the man whom nothing can make angry accomplishes so much. The man who gives way to anger, or hatred, or any other passion, cannot work; he only breaks himself to pieces, and does nothing practical. It is the calm, forgiving, equable, well-balanced mind that does the greatest amount of work.
The Vedanta preaches the ideal; and the ideal, as we know, is always far ahead of the real, of the practical, as we may call it. There are two tendencies in human nature: one to harmonise the ideal with the life, and the other to elevate the life to the ideal. It is a great thing to understand this, for the former tendency is the temptation of our lives. I think that I can only do a certain class of work. Most of it, perhaps, is bad; most of it, perhaps, has a motive power of passion behind it, anger, or greed, or selfishness. Now if any man comes to preach to me a certain ideal, the first step towards which is to give up selfishness, to give up self-enjoyment, I think that is impractical. But when a man brings an ideal which can be reconciled with my selfishness, I am glad at once and jump at it. That is the ideal for me. As the word "orthodox" has been manipulated into various forms, so has been the word "practical". "My doxy is orthodoxy; your doxy is heterodoxy." So with practicality. What I think is practical, is to me the only practicality in the world. If I am a shopkeeper, I think shopkeeping the only practical pursuit in the world. If I am a thief, I think stealing is the best means of being practical; others are not practical. You see how we all use this word practical for things we like and can do. Therefore I will ask you to understand that Vedanta, though it is intensely practical, is always so in the sense of the ideal. It does not preach an impossible ideal, however high it be, and it is high enough for an ideal. In one word, this ideal is that you are divine, "Thou art That". This is the essence of Vedanta; after all its ramifications and intellectual gymnastics, you know the human soul to be pure and omniscient, you see that such superstitions as birth and death would be entire nonsense when spoken of in connection with the soul. The soul was never born and will never die, and all these ideas that we are going to die and are afraid to die are mere superstitions. And all such ideas as that we can do this or cannot do that are superstitions. We can do everything. The Vedanta teaches men to have faith in themselves first. As certain religions of the world say that a man who does not believe in a Personal God outside of himself is an atheist, so the Vedanta says, a man who does not believe in himself is an atheist. Not believing in the glory of our own soul is what the Vedanta calls atheism. To many this is, no doubt, a terrible idea; and most of us think that this ideal can never be reached; but the Vedanta insists that it can be realised by every one. There is neither man nor woman or child, nor difference of race or sex, nor anything that stands as a bar to the realisation of the ideal, because Vedanta shows that it is realised already, it is already there.
All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark. Know that there is no darkness around us. Take the hands away and there is the light which was from the beginning. Darkness never existed, weakness never existed. We who are fools cry that we are weak; we who are fools cry that we are impure. Thus Vedanta not only insists that the ideal is practical, but that it has been so all the time; and this Ideal, this Reality, is our own nature. Everything else that you see is false, untrue. As soon as you say, "I am a little mortal being," you are saying something which is not true, you are giving the lie to yourselves, you are hypnotising yourselves into something vile and weak and wretched.
The Vedanta recognises no sin, it only recognises error. And the greatest error, says the Vedanta, is to say that you are weak, that you are a sinner, a miserable creature, and that you have no power and you cannot do this and that. Every time you think in that way, you, as it were, rivet one more link in the chain that binds you down, you add one more layer of hypnotism on to your own soul. Therefore, whosoever thinks he is weak is wrong, whosoever thinks he is impure is wrong, and is throwing a bad thought into the world. This we must always bear in mind that in the Vedanta there is no attempt at reconciling the present life — the hypnotised life, this false life which we have assumed — with the ideal; but this false life must go, and the real life which is always existing must manifest itself, must shine out. No man becomes purer and purer, it is a matter of greater manifestation. The veil drops away, and the native purity of the soul begins to manifest itself. Everything is ours already — infinite purity, freedom, love, and power.
The Vedanta also says that not only can this be realised in the depths of forests or caves, but by men in all possible conditions of life. We have seen that the people who discovered these truths were neither living in caves nor forests, nor following the ordinary vocations of life, but men who, we have every reason to believe, led the busiest of lives, men who had to command armies, to sit on thrones, and look to the welfare of millions — and all these, in the days of absolute monarchy, and not as in these days when a king is to a great extent a mere figurehead. Yet they could find time to think out all these thoughts, to realise them, and to teach them to humanity. How much more then should it be practical for us whose lives, compared with theirs, are lives of leisure? That we cannot realise them is a shame to us, seeing that we are comparatively free all the time, having very little to do. My requirements are as nothing compared with those of an ancient absolute monarch. My wants are as nothing compared with the demands of Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, commanding a huge army; and yet he could find time in the midst of the din and turmoil of battle to talk the highest philosophy and to carry it into his life also. Surely we ought to be able to do as much in this life of ours — comparatively free, easy, and comfortable. Most of us here have more time than we think we have, if we really want to use it for good. With the amount of freedom we have we can attain to two hundred ideals in this life, if we will, but we must not degrade the ideal to the actual. One of the most insinuating things comes to us in the shape of persons who apologise for our mistakes and teach us how to make special excuses for all our foolish wants and foolish desires; and we think that their ideal is the only ideal we need have. But it is not so. The Vedanta teaches no such thing. The actual should be reconciled to the ideal, the present life should be made to coincide with life eternal.
For you must always remember that the one central ideal of Vedanta is this oneness. There are no two in anything, no two lives, nor even two different kinds of life for the two worlds. You will find the Vedas speaking of heavens and things like that at first; but later on, when they come to the highest ideals of their philosophy, they brush away all these things. There is but one life, one world, one existence. Everything is that One, the difference is in degree and not in kind. The difference between our lives is not in kind. The Vedanta entirely denies such ideas as that animals are separate from men, and that they were made and created by God to be used for our food.
Some people have been kind enough to start an antivivisection society. I asked a member, "Why do you think, my friend, that it is quite lawful to kill animals for food, and not to kill one or two for scientific experiments?" He replied, "Vivisection is most horrible, but animals have been given to us for food." Oneness includes all animals. If man's life is immortal, so also is the animal's. The difference is only in degree and not in kind. The amoeba and I are the same, the difference is only in degree; and from the standpoint of the highest life, all these differences vanish. A man may see a great deal of difference between grass and a little tree, but if you mount very high, the grass and the biggest tree will appear much the same. So, from the standpoint of the highest ideal, the lowest animal and the highest man are the same. If you believe there is a God, the animals and the highest creatures must be the same. A God who is partial to his children called men, and cruel to his children called brute beasts, is worse than a demon. I would rather die a hundred times than worship such a God. My whole life would be a fight with such a God But there is no difference, and those who say there is, are irresponsible, heartless people who do not know. Here is a case of the word practical used in a wrong sense. I myself may not be a very strict vegetarian, but I understand the ideal. When I eat meat I know it is wrong. Even if I am bound to eat it under certain circumstances, I know it is cruel. I must not drag my ideal down to the actual and apologise for my weak conduct in this way. The ideal is not to eat flesh, not to injure any being, for all animals are my brothers. If you can think of them as your brothers, you have made a little headway towards the brotherhood of all souls, not to speak of the brotherhood of man! That is child's play. You generally find that this is not very acceptable to many, because it teaches them to give up the actual, and go higher up to the ideal. But if you bring out a theory which is reconciled with their present conduct, they regard it as entirely practical.
There is this strongly conservative tendency in human nature: we do not like to move one step forward. I think of mankind just as I read of persons who become frozen in snow; all such, they say, want to go to sleep, and if you try to drag them up, they say, "Let me sleep; it is so beautiful to sleep in the snow", and they die there in that sleep. So is our nature. That is what we are doing all our life, getting frozen from the feet upwards, and yet wanting to sleep. Therefore you must struggle towards the ideal, and if a man comes who wants to bring that ideal down to your level, and teach a religion that does not carry that highest ideal, do not listen to him. To me that is an impracticable religion. But if a man teaches a religion which presents the highest ideal, I am ready for him. Beware when anyone is trying to apologise for sense vanities and sense weaknesses. If anyone wants to preach that way to us, poor, sense-bound clods of earth as we have made ourselves by following that teaching, we shall never progress. I have seen many of these things, have had some experience of the world, and my country is the land where religious sects grow like mushrooms. Every year new sects arise. But one thing I have marked, that it is only those that never want to reconcile the man of flesh with the man of truth that make progress. Wherever there is this false idea of reconciling fleshly vanities with the highest ideals, of dragging down God to the level of man, there comes decay. Man should not be degraded to worldly slavery, but should be raised up to God.
At the same time, there is another side to the question. We must not look down with contempt on others. All of us are going towards the same goal. The difference between weakness and strength is one of degree; the difference between virtue and vice is one of degree, the difference between heaven and hell is one of degree, the difference between life and death is one of degree, all differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything. All is One, which manifests Itself, either as thought, or life, or soul, or body, and the difference is only in degree. As such, we have no right to look down with contempt upon those who are not developed exactly in the same degree as we are. Condemn none; if you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If you cannot, fold your hands, bless your brothers, and let them go their own way. Dragging down and condemning is not the way to work. Never is work accomplished in that way. We spend our energies in condemning others. Criticism and condemnation is a vain way of spending our energies, for in the long run we come to learn that all are seeing the same thing, are more or less approaching the same ideal, and that most of our differences are merely differences of expression.
Take the idea of sin. I was telling you just now the Vedantic idea of it, and the other idea is that man is a sinner. They are practically the same, only the one takes the positive and the other the negative side. One shows to man his strength and the other his weakness. There may be weakness, says the Vedanta, but never mind, we want to grow. Disease was found out as soon as man was born. Everyone knows his disease; it requires no one to tell us what our diseases are. But thinking all the time that we are diseased will not cure us — medicine is necessary. We may forget anything outside, we may try to become hypocrites to the external world, but in our heart of hearts we all know our weaknesses. But, says the Vedanta, being reminded of weakness does not help much; give strength, and strength does not come by thinking of weakness all the time. The remedy for weakness is not brooding over weakness, but thinking of strength. Teach men of the strength that is already within them. Instead of telling them they are sinners, the Vedanta takes the opposite position, and says, "You are pure and perfect, and what you call sin does not belong to you." Sins are very low degrees of Self-manifestation; manifest your Self in a high degree. That is the one thing to remember; all of us can do that. Never say, "No", never say, "I cannot", for you are infinite. Even time and space are as nothing compared with your nature. You can do anything and everything, you are almighty.
These are the principles of ethics, but we shall now come down lower and work out the details. We shall see how this Vedanta can be carried into our everyday life, the city life, the country life, the national life, and the home life of every nation. For, if a religion cannot help man wherever he may be, wherever he stands, it is not of much use; it will remain only a theory for the chosen few. Religion, to help mankind, must be ready and able to help him in whatever condition he is, in servitude or in freedom, in the depths of degradation or on the heights of purity; everywhere, equally, it should be able to come to his aid. The principles of Vedanta, or the ideal of religion, or whatever you may call it, will be fulfilled by its capacity for performing this great function.
The ideal of faith in ourselves is of the greatest help to us. If faith in ourselves had been more extensively taught and practiced, I am sure a very large portion of the evils and miseries that we have would have vanished. Throughout the history of mankind, if any motive power has been more potent than another in the lives of all great men and women, it is that of faith in themselves. Born with the consciousness that they were to be great, they became great. Let a man go down as low as possible; there must come a time when out of sheer desperation he will take an upward curve and will learn to have faith in himself. But it is better for us that we should know it from the very first. Why should we have all these bitter experiences in order to gain faith in ourselves? We can see that all the difference between man and man is owing to the existence or non-existence of faith in himself. Faith in ourselves will do everything. I have experienced it in my own life, and am still doing so; and as I grow older that faith is becoming stronger and stronger. He is an atheist who does not believe in himself. The old religions said that he was an atheist who did not believe in God. The new religion says that he is the atheist who does not believe in himself. But it is not selfish faith because the Vedanta, again, is the doctrine of oneness. It means faith in all, because you are all. Love for yourselves means love for all, love for animals, love for everything, for you are all one. It is the great faith which will make the world better. I am sure of that. He is the highest man who can say with truth, "I know all about myself." Do you know how much energy, how many powers, how many forces are still lurking behind that frame of yours? What scientist has known all that is in man? Millions of years have passed since man first came here, and yet but one infinitesimal part of his powers has been manifested. Therefore, you must not say that you are weak. How do you know what possibilities lie behind that degradation on the surface? You know but little of that which is within you. For behind you is the ocean of infinite power and blessedness.
"This Âtman is first to be heard of." Hear day and night that you are that Soul. Repeat it to yourselves day and night till it enters into your very veins, till it tingles in every drop of blood, till it is in your flesh and bone. Let the whole body be full of that one ideal, "I am the birthless, the deathless, the blissful, the omniscient, the omnipotent, ever-glorious Soul." Think on it day and night; think on it till it becomes part and parcel of your life. Meditate upon it, and out of that will come work. "Out of the fullness of the heart the mouth speaketh," and out of the fullness of the heart the hand worketh also. Action will come. Fill yourselves with the ideal; whatever you do, think well on it. All your actions will be magnified, transformed, deified, by the very power of the thought. If matter is powerful, thought is omnipotent. Bring this thought to bear upon your life, fill yourselves with the thought of your almightiness, your majesty, and your glory. Would to God no superstitions had been put into your head! Would to God we had not been surrounded from our birth by all these superstitious influences and paralysing ideas of our weakness and vileness! Would to God that mankind had had an easier path through which to attain to the noblest and highest truths! But man had to pass through all this; do not make the path more difficult for those who are coming after you.
These are sometimes terrible doctrines to teach. I know people who get frightened at these ideas, but for those who want to be practical, this is the first thing to learn. Never tell yourselves or others that you are weak. Do good if you can, but do not injure the world. You know in your inmost heart that many of your limited ideas, this humbling of yourself and praying and weeping to imaginary beings are superstitions. Tell me one case where these prayers have been answered. All the answers that came were from your own hearts. You know there are no ghosts, but no sooner are you in the dark than you feel a little creepy sensation. That is so because in our childhood we have had all these fearful ideas put into our heads. But do not teach these things to others through fear of society and public opinion, through fear of incurring the hatred of friends, or for fear of losing cherished superstitions. Be masters of all these. What is there to be taught more in religion than the oneness of the universe and faith in one's self? All the works of mankind for thousands of years past have been towards this one goal, and mankind is yet working it out. It is your turn now and you already know the truth. For it has been taught on all sides. Not only philosophy and psychology, but materialistic sciences have declared it. Where is the scientific man today who fears to acknowledge the truth of this oneness of the universe? Who is there who dares talk of many worlds? All these are superstitions. There is only one life and one world, and this one life and one world is appearing to us as manifold. This manifoldness is like a dream. When you dream, one dream passes away and another comes. You do not live in your dreams. The dreams come one after another, scene after scene unfolds before you. So it is in this world of ninety per cent misery and ten per cent happiness. Perhaps after a while it will appear as ninety per cent happiness, and we shall call it heaven, but a time comes to the sage when the whole thing vanishes, and this world appears as God Himself, and his own soul as God. It is not therefore that there are many worlds, it is not that there are many lives. All this manifoldness is the manifestation of that One. That One is manifesting Himself as many, as matter, spirit, mind, thought, and everything else. It is that One, manifesting Himself as many. Therefore the first step for us to take is to teach the truth to ourselves and to others.
Let the world resound with this ideal, and let superstitions vanish. Tell it to men who are weak and persist in telling it. You are the Pure One; awake and arise, O mighty one, this sleep does not become you. Awake and arise, it does not befit you. Think not that you are weak and miserable. Almighty, arise and awake, and manifest your own nature. It is not fitting that you think yourself a sinner. It is not fitting that you think yourself weak. Say that to the world, say it to yourselves, and see what a practical result comes, see how with an electric flash everything is manifested, how everything is changed. Tell that to mankind, and show them their power. Then we shall learn how to apply it in our daily lives.
To be able to use what we call Viveka (discrimination), to learn how in every moment of our lives, in every one of our actions, to discriminate between what is right and wrong, true and false, we shall have to know the test of truth, which is purity, oneness. Everything that makes for oneness is truth. Love is truth, and hatred is false, because hatred makes for multiplicity. It is hatred that separates man from man; therefore it is wrong and false. It is a disintegrating power; it separates and destroys.
Love binds, love makes for that oneness. You become one, the mother with the child, families with the city, the whole world becomes one with the animals. For love is Existence, God Himself; and all this is the manifestation of that One Love, more or less expressed. The difference is only in degree, but it is the manifestation of that One Love throughout. Therefore in all our actions we have to judge whether it is making for diversity or for oneness. If for diversity we have to give it up, but if it makes for oneness we are sure it is good. So with our thoughts; we have to decide whether they make for disintegration, multiplicity, or for oneness, binding soul to soul and bringing one influence to bear. If they do this, we will take them up, and if not, we will throw them off as criminal.
The whole idea of ethics is that it does not depend on anything unknowable, it does not teach anything unknown, but in the language of the Upanishad, "The God whom you worship as an unknown God, the same I preach unto thee." It is through the Self that you know anything. I see the chair; but to see the chair, I have first to perceive myself and then the chair. It is in and through the Self that the chair is perceived. It is in and through the Self that you are known to me, that the whole world is known to me; and therefore to say this Self is unknown is sheer nonsense. Take off the Self and the whole universe vanishes. In and through the Self all knowledge comes. Therefore it is the best known of all. It is yourself, that which you call I. You may wonder how this I of me can be the I of you. You may wonder how this limited I can be the unlimited Infinite, but it is so. The limited is a mere fiction. The Infinite has been covered up, as it were, and a little of It is manifesting as the I. Limitation can never come upon the unlimited; it is a fiction. The Self is known, therefore, to every one of us — man, woman, or child — and even to animals. Without knowing Him we can neither live nor move, nor have our being; without knowing this Lord of all, we cannot breathe or live a second. The God of the Vedanta is the most known of all and is not the outcome of imagination.
If this is not preaching a practical God, how else could you teach a practical God? Where is there a more practical God than He whom I see before me — a God omnipresent, in every being, more real than our senses? For you are He, the Omnipresent God Almighty, the Soul of your souls, and if I say you are not, I tell an untruth. I know it, whether at all times I realise it or not. He is the Oneness, the Unity of all, the Reality of all life and all existence.
These ideas of the ethics of Vedanta have to be worked out in detail, and, therefore, you must have patience. As I have told you, we want to take the subject in detail and work it up thoroughly, to see how the ideas grow from very low ideals, and how the one great Ideal of oneness has developed and become shaped into the universal love; and we ought to study these in order to avoid dangers. The world cannot find time to work it up from the lowest steps. But what is the use of our standing on higher steps if we cannot give the truth to others coming afterwards? Therefore, it is better to study it in all its workings; and first, it is absolutely necessary to clear the intellectual portion, although we know that intellectuality is almost nothing; for it is the heart that is of most importance. It is through the heart that the Lord is seen, and not through the intellect. The intellect is only the street-cleaner, cleansing the path for us, a secondary worker, the policeman; but the policeman is not a positive necessity for the workings of society. He is only to stop disturbances, to check wrong-doing, and that is all the work required of the intellect. When you read intellectual books, you think when you have mastered them, "Bless the Lord that I am out of them", because the intellect is blind and cannot move of itself, it has neither hands nor feet. It is feeling that works, that moves with speed infinitely superior to that of electricity or anything else. Do you feel? — that is the question. If you do, you will see the Lord: It is the feeling that you have today that will be intensified, deified, raised to the highest platform, until it feels everything, the oneness in everything, till it feels God in itself and in others. The intellect can never do that. "Different methods of speaking words, different methods of explaining the texts of books, these are for the enjoyment of the learned, not for the salvation of the soul" (Vivekachudâmani, 58).
Those of you who have read Thomas a Kempis know how in every page he insists on this, and almost every holy man in the world has insisted on it. Intellect is necessary, for without it we fall into crude errors and make all sorts of mistakes. Intellect checks these; but beyond that, do not try to build anything upon it. It is an inactive, secondary help; the real help is feeling, love. Do you feel for others? If you do, you are growing in oneness. If you do not feel for others, you may be the most intellectual giant ever born, but you will be nothing; you are but dry intellect, and you will remain so. And if you feel, even if you cannot read any book and do not know any language, you are in the right way. The Lord is yours.
Do you not know from the history of the world where the power of the prophets lay? Where was it? In the intellect? Did any of them write a fine book on philosophy, on the most intricate ratiocinations of logic? Not one of them. They only spoke a few words. Feel like Christ and you will be a Christ; feel like Buddha and you will be a Buddha. It is feeling that is the life, the strength, the vitality, without which no amount of intellectual activity can reach God. Intellect is like limbs without the power of locomotion. It is only when feeling enters and gives them motion that they move and work on others. That is so all over the world, and it is a thing which you must always remember. It is one of the most practical things in Vedantic morality, for it is the teaching of the Vedanta that you are all prophets, and all must be prophets. The book is not the proof of your conduct, but you are the proof of the book. How do you know that a book teaches truth? Because you are truth and feel it. That is what the Vedanta says. What is the proof of the Christs and Buddhas of the world? That you and I feel like them. That is how you and I understand that they were true. Our prophet-soul is the proof of their prophet-soul. Your godhead is the proof of God Himself. If you are not a prophet, there never has been anything true of God. If you are not God, there never was any God, and never will be. This, says the Vedanta, is the ideal to follow. Every one of us will have to become a prophet, and you are that already. Only know it. Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin — to say that you are weak, or others are weak.
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。