真我
本译文由人工智能辅助工具生成，可能存在不准确之处。如需查阅权威文本，请参考英文原文。
AI-translated. May contain errors. For accurate text, refer to the original English.
中文
第十四章
真我[Atman]
（在美国讲授）
你们很多人读过马克斯·穆勒那本著名的《吠檀多哲学三讲》，有些人或许以德文读过德乌森教授关于同一哲学的著作。在西方关于印度宗教思想所写与所教的内容中，印度思想的一个流派被主要呈现，那就是不二论（Advaitism），即印度宗教的一元论一面；有时人们以为吠陀的所有教义都涵盖在那一个哲学体系之中。然而印度思想有各种各样的阶段；或许，这种非二元论的形式，与其他阶段相比是少数。从最古老的时代起，印度就有各种各样的思想流派，由于从未有过一种成文的或被认可的教会，也没有任何机构来指定每个流派应该相信的教义，人们非常自由地选择自己的形式，建立自己的哲学，创立自己的教派。因此我们发现，从最古老的时代起，印度就充满了宗教教派。在当今，我不知道我们在印度有多少数百个教派，每年还有几个新的在涌现。那个民族的宗教活力似乎简直是取之不尽的。
在这些各种各样的教派中，首先可以分为两大类：正统派与非正统派。那些相信印度经典——吠陀，作为永恒真理的启示的，被称为正统派；而那些立足于其他权威、拒绝吠陀的，是印度的异端。主要的现代非正统印度教派是耆那教和佛教。在正统派中，有些人宣称经典的权威远高于理性；另一些人又说，只有经典中合乎理性的那部分才应被接受，其余应被拒绝。
在三个正统分支——数论派、正理派与弥曼差派——中，前两者虽然作为哲学流派存在，却未能形成任何教派。现今真正覆盖印度的一个教派，是后期的弥曼差派，或称吠檀多派。他们的哲学称为吠檀多主义。所有印度哲学流派都从吠檀多或奥义书出发，但一元论者将这个名称作为自己的专称，因为他们希望将自己全部的神学与哲学建立在吠檀多之上，别无其他。随着时间的推移，吠檀多占据了主导地位，印度现存的所有各种教派都可以归入其某个流派。然而，这些流派在意见上并不一致。
我们发现，吠檀多派之间有三种主要的变体。在一点上他们全都一致，那就是他们都相信上帝。所有这些吠檀多派也都相信吠陀是上帝的启示之言，也许不完全像基督徒或穆斯林所相信的那种方式，而是以一种非常独特的意义。他们的想法是，吠陀是上帝之知识的表达，由于上帝是永恒的，祂的知识永远与祂同在，因此吠陀也是永恒的。还有另一个共同的信仰基础：关于循环创造的信仰——整个创造出现又消失；它被投射出来，变得愈来愈粗重，在一段难以计算的时期之末，它变得愈来愈精细，当它溶解消散，然后进入一个休息期。然后它再次开始出现，经历同样的过程。他们假定一种物质的存在，称之为"阿卡夏"，类似于科学家的以太，以及一种称为普拉纳的力量。关于这普拉纳，他们宣称，通过其振动，宇宙被产生出来。当一个循环结束时，自然的这整个表现变得愈来愈精细，溶解进那无法被看见或感知、却从中制造出万物的阿卡夏。我们在自然中所见的所有力量，如重力、吸引力和排斥力，或如思想、感情与神经运动——所有这些各种各样的力量都解析回那普拉纳，普拉纳的振动停止了。在那种状态中它保持下去，直到下一个循环的开始。那时普拉纳再次开始振动，那种振动作用于阿卡夏，所有这些形式以规律的顺序被投射出来。
我将首先告诉你们的第一个流派是被称为二元论流派。二元论者相信，上帝——宇宙的创造者与统治者——与自然永恒分离，与人类灵魂永恒分离。上帝是永恒的；自然是永恒的；所有的灵魂也是如此。自然与灵魂表现出来并发生变化，但上帝保持不变。根据二元论者，这位上帝又是有位格的，因为祂有属性，并不是说祂有肉身。祂有人类的属性；祂是仁慈的，祂是公正的，祂是强大的，祂是全能的，祂可以被趋近，祂可以被祈祷，祂可以被爱，祂也有爱的回应，如此等等。一言以蔽之，祂是一位人格化的上帝，只是无限地伟大于人；祂没有人所具有的任何恶的品质。"祂是无限数量的有福品质的宝藏"——那是他们的定义。祂无法不用材料就创造，而自然是祂用以创造整个宇宙的材料。有些非吠檀多的二元论者，被称为"原子论者"，他们相信自然不过是无数原子，而上帝的意志作用于这些原子，便有了创造。吠檀多派拒绝原子理论；他们说这是完全不合逻辑的。不可分割的原子就像没有部分或大小的几何点；但无数个没有部分或大小的东西相加，仍然保持不变。没有部分的东西，若乘以无限次，仍将保持不变。没有部分的任何东西，永远无法构成有部分的东西；任意数量的零加在一起，也构不成一个整数。因此，若这些原子没有部分或大小，从这些原子中创造宇宙根本是不可能的。所以，根据吠檀多派的二元论者，有一种他们称之为无分别或未分化的自然，上帝从中创造宇宙。印度绝大多数人是二元论者。普通人通常无法想象任何更高的东西。我们发现，相信任何宗教的地球人口中，有百分之九十是二元论者。欧洲和西亚的所有宗教都是二元论的；它们必须是。普通人无法想象任何非具体的东西。他自然地倾向于执着于其智识所能把握的东西。也就是说，他只能通过将高深的灵性理念降低到自己的层次来把握它们。他只能通过使抽象思想具体化来把握它们。这是世界各地大众的宗教。他们相信一位与他们完全分离的上帝，一位伟大的君王，一位崇高、强大的帝王，仿佛如此。与此同时，他们将祂塑造得比地上的君王更纯洁；他们给祂所有的好品质，并从祂那里去除恶的品质。仿佛善可以不依赖于恶而存在；仿佛可以有光的概念而没有黑暗的概念一样！ 对于所有二元论理论，第一个困难是：在一位公正仁慈的上帝、无限善德之宝藏的统治下，这个世界怎么可能有这么多恶？这个问题出现在所有二元论宗教中，但印度教从未发明撒旦作为答案。印度教徒一致将责任归咎于人，这对他们来说很容易。为什么？因为，正如我刚才告诉你们的，他们不相信灵魂是从虚无中被创造出来的。我们在这一生中看到，我们每个人、每一天，都在努力塑造明天；今天我们确定明天的命运；明天我们将确定后天的命运，如此继续。这个推理同样可以向后推延。若我们通过自己的行为塑造了未来的命运，为何不将同样的规则应用于过去？若在无限的链条中，某些环节被交替重复，那么若其中一组环节得到解释，我们就能解释整条链。因此，在这无限的时间长度中，若我们能截取一段并解释那一段，若我们理解了它，那么若自然是一致的，同样的解释就必定适用于整条时间链。若我们在这短暂的时间内确实在创造自己的命运，若一切必然有其原因正如我们现在所见，那么也必然如此：我们现在是什么，就是我们整个过去的结果；因此，没有其他任何人有必要来塑造人类的命运，只有人自己。世界上存在的恶，除了我们自己无人造成。是我们造成了所有这些恶；正如我们不断看到恶行导致苦难，我们也能看到，世界上存在的许多苦难是人类过去罪行的结果。因此，根据这个理论，只有人才应承担责任。上帝无可指责。祂，那永远仁慈的天父，完全无可指责。"我们收获我们播种的。"
二元论者的另一个特殊教义是，每一个灵魂最终都必须获得解脱[Moksha]。没有人会被遗漏。通过各种曲折、各种苦难与欢乐，他们每一个最终都将走出来。走出什么？所有印度教教派的一个共同观念是，所有灵魂都必须走出这个宇宙。我们所看见和感知的宇宙，甚至一个想象中的宇宙，都不可能是正确的、真实的，因为两者都混杂着善与恶。根据二元论者，在这个宇宙之外，有一个只充满幸福与善的地方；一旦到达那个地方，就不再有出生又再生、生又死亡的必要；这个想法对他们非常亲切。那里没有疾病，也没有死亡。将有永恒的幸福，他们将永远与上帝同在并永远享受祂。他们相信，所有存在，从最低的蛆虫直到最高的天使与神灵，最终都将抵达那个不再有苦难的世界。但我们的世界永远不会终结；它无限地继续，虽然以波浪的形式运动。虽然以循环的形式运动，它永远不会终结。待得解救、待得圆满的灵魂数目是无限的。有些在植物中，有些在低等动物中，有些在人中，有些在神灵中，但他们所有人，甚至最高的神灵，都是不完美的，都在束缚中。束缚是什么？出生的必要性和死亡的必要性。即便是最高的神灵也会死去。这些神灵是什么？他们意味着某些状态，某些职位。例如，因陀罗——众神之王——意味着一个特定的职位；某个曾经非常崇高的灵魂，在这个循环中填补了那个职位，在这个循环之后，他将再次作为人出生，来到这地球，而那在这个循环中非常善良的人，将在下一个循环中去填补那个职位。所有这些神灵也是如此；他们是某些职位，由数百万数百万的灵魂交替担任，这些灵魂在担任那些职位之后，来到地球并成为了人。那些在这个世界上行善、帮助他人，但抱着希望得到奖赏的眼光——希望到达天堂或得到同胞赞誉——的人，当他们死去时，必然收获那些善行的果实——他们成为这些神灵。但那不是解脱[Moksha]；解脱[Moksha]绝不会通过对奖赏的希望而来。人所渴望的，主都会给他。人渴望权力，渴望声望，渴望作为神灵的享乐，他们得到这些欲望的满足，但任何业[karma]的效果都不能是永恒的。效果在经过一段时间后将会耗尽，可能是数个劫，但在那之后它将消逝，这些神灵必须再次来到地球，成为人，再得到一次解脱[Moksha]的机会。低等动物将成长为人，也许成为神灵，然后再次成为人，或回到动物，直到他们摆脱所有对享乐的欲望，对生命的渴望，以及对这个"我与我的"的执着。这个"我与我的"正是世界上所有恶的根源。若你问一个二元论者："你的孩子是你的吗？"他会说："那是上帝的。我的财产不是我的，那是上帝的。"一切都应被视为上帝的。
现在，印度的这些二元论教派是伟大的素食主义者，是不杀生的伟大传道者。但他们对此的看法与佛教徒的看法颇为不同。若你问一个佛教徒："你为何传道反对杀生任何动物？"他会回答："我们无权夺取任何生命；"若你问一个二元论者："你为何不杀任何动物？"他会说："因为那是主的。"所以二元论者说，这个"我与我的"应该只应用于上帝和上帝独有；祂是唯一的"我"，一切都是祂的。当一个人达到这样的状态，他没有"我与我的"，一切都奉献给主，他爱每一个人，甚至准备为一只动物献出自己的生命而无任何求回报的欲望，那时他的心将被净化，而当心被净化，上帝的爱将进入那颗心。上帝是每个灵魂的吸引中心，二元论者说："一根被泥土覆盖的针不会被磁铁吸引，但一旦泥土被洗去，它就会被吸引。"上帝是磁铁，人的灵魂是针，其恶业是覆盖它的污垢与灰尘。一旦灵魂纯洁，它将通过自然的吸引来到上帝，永远与祂同在，却永远分别地存在。圆满的灵魂，若愿意，可以取任何形式；它能够取百种身体，若它希望，或者若它愿意，根本没有身体。它几乎变得全能，只是它不能创造；那种力量独属于上帝。然而，没有任何人，无论多完美，都无法管理宇宙的事务；那个职能属于上帝。但所有灵魂，当他们变得圆满，将永远幸福，永远与上帝同住。这就是二元论的陈述。
二元论者还传讲另一个观念。他们反对向上帝祈祷说："主啊，给我这个，给我那个。"他们认为不应该这样做。若一个人必须要求某种物质礼物，他应该向次等的存在求取；向某位神灵，或天使，或圆满的存在求取短暂的事物。上帝只为爱而祈祷。向上帝祈祷"主，给我这个，给我那个"，几乎是渎神。所以根据二元论者，一个人所想要的，他迟早会通过向某位神灵祈祷而得到；但若他想要解脱[Moksha]，他必须礼拜上帝。这是印度大众的宗教。
真正的吠檀多哲学，从那些被称为限定不二论者的人开始。他们的主张是，效果与原因永远不同；效果只不过是以另一种形式再现的原因。若宇宙是效果而上帝是原因，那么它必定是上帝本身——它只能是那个。他们从这一断言出发：上帝既是宇宙的动力因，也是质料因；祂本身是创造者，祂本身是整个自然由之被投射出来的材料。你们语言中的"创造"一词，在梵文中没有对应词，因为印度没有任何教派相信西方所认为的创造——从虚无中产生某物。似乎曾经有那么一段时间，少数人持有某种类似的想法，但他们很快便被压制了。在当今，我不知道有任何教派相信这一点。我们所说的创造，是对已存在之物的投射。现在，根据这个教派，整个宇宙就是上帝本身。祂是宇宙的材料。我们在吠陀中读到："如乌尔纳那毗（蜘蛛）从自身体内吐出丝线……整个宇宙就是从那存在者中涌现出来的。"
若效果是再现的原因，那么问题是："我们如何找到这种物质的、迟钝的、无智识的宇宙，从一位非物质的、而是永恒智识的上帝那里产生出来？若原因是纯洁完美的，效果怎么可能是全然不同的呢？"这些限定不二论者说了什么？他们的理论十分独特。他们说，这三种存在——上帝、自然与灵魂——是一体的。上帝，仿佛是灵魂，而自然与灵魂是上帝的身体。正如我有身体、有灵魂，整个宇宙与所有灵魂，都是上帝的身体，而上帝是诸灵魂之灵魂。由此，上帝是宇宙的质料因。身体可以改变——可以年轻或年老，强壮或虚弱——但这完全不影响灵魂。它是同一个永恒的存在，通过身体表现自身。身体来去，但灵魂不变。同样，整个宇宙是上帝的身体，在这个意义上它就是上帝。但宇宙中的变化不影响上帝。从这种材料中祂创造宇宙，在一个循环终结时，祂的身体变得愈来愈精细，它收缩；在另一个循环开始时，它再次扩展，所有这些不同的世界从其中进化出来。
现在，二元论者和限定不二论者都承认，灵魂本质上是纯洁的，但通过自身的行为变得不纯洁。限定不二论者比二元论者表达得更为精妙，他们说，灵魂的纯洁与圆满被收缩了，又再次彰显，而我们现在所努力做的，就是重新彰显那智识、纯洁、力量——这些是灵魂的自然属性。灵魂有众多属性，但没有全能或全知。每一件恶行都收缩灵魂的本性，每一件善行都扩展它，这些灵魂都是上帝的部分。"如从燃烧的火焰中飞出数百万同质的火花，同样，从这无限的存在——上帝——中，这些灵魂涌现出来。"每一个都有相同的目标。限定不二论者的上帝也是一位有位格的上帝，无限数量有福属性的宝藏，只是祂贯穿渗透宇宙中的一切。祂是无所不在的、无处不在的；当经典说上帝是一切时，意思是上帝贯穿渗透一切，并非上帝变成了那堵墙，而是上帝在那堵墙之中。宇宙中没有一个粒子、一个原子是祂不在的地方。灵魂都是有限的；它们不是无处不在的。当它们扩展其力量并变得圆满，对它们来说就不再有出生与死亡；它们将永远与上帝同在。
现在我们来到不二论，这是我们认为哲学与宗教在任何国家、任何时代所开放的最后也是最美丽的花朵，在这里人类思想达到了最高的表达，甚至超越了似乎不可穿透的神秘。这就是非二元吠檀多主义。它太抽象，太高深，难以成为大众的宗教。即便在印度——它的故乡，在那里它已经主导了过去三千年——它也无法渗透到大众中去。我们随着探讨深入，会发现，即使对于任何国家中最有思想的男男女女来说，理解不二论也是困难的。我们已经将自己变得如此软弱；我们已经将自己降得如此之低。我们或许会作出巨大的宣称，但自然而然地，我们想要依靠别人。我们像小而脆弱的植物，永远需要支撑。我曾被多少次要求提供一种"舒适的宗教"！很少有人寻求真理，寻求学习真理的人更少，敢于在其所有实际含义上追随它的人则最少。这并非他们的过错；那全是大脑的软弱。任何新的思想，尤其是高深的思想，都会制造扰乱，试图在脑质中开凿新的渠道，从而使整个系统失去平衡，将人们从平衡中抛出。他们习惯于某种环境，必须克服大量古老的迷信，先祖的迷信、阶级的迷信、城市的迷信、国家的迷信，在这一切背后，是每个人身上都有的那巨大的固有迷信。然而世界上有少数勇敢的灵魂，敢于构想真理，敢于拿起它，敢于将它贯彻到底。
不二论者宣称什么？他说，若有一位上帝，那位上帝必定既是宇宙的质料因，也是动力因。祂不仅是创造者，也是被创造者。祂本身就是这个宇宙。这怎么可能？上帝，那纯洁的、那灵性的，成了宇宙？是的；表面上如此。所有无知的人所看到的宇宙，实际上并不存在。你、我以及我们所看到的所有这些事物是什么？不过是自我催眠；只有一个实存，那无限者，那永远有福者。在那实存中，我们梦见了所有这些各种各样的梦。那是真我[Atman]，超越一切，那无限者，超越已知，超越可知；在那之中且透过那，我们看见宇宙。它是唯一的实在。它就是这张桌子；它是我面前的听众；它是那堵墙；它是一切，减去名称与形式。除去桌子的形式，除去名称；剩下的就是它。吠檀多派不称它为"他"或"她"——这些是人类大脑的虚构、幻觉——灵魂中没有性别。处于幻象中、已变得如同动物的人，看见女人或男人；活着的神灵看不见男人或女人。那些超越一切的存在，怎么可能有任何性别的观念？每个人、每件事都是真我[Atman]——本我——无性别的，纯洁的，永远有福的。是名称、形式、身体是物质的，它们造成了所有这些差异。若你去除名称与形式这两种差异，整个宇宙就是一个；没有两个，到处只有一个。你与我是一体。没有自然，没有上帝，没有宇宙，只有那一个无限的实存，所有这些都通过名称与形式从中被制造出来。如何认识那知者？它不能被知道。你如何看见自己的本我？你只能反映自己。所以整个宇宙是那一个永恒存在——真我[Atman]——的反映，由于反映落在好的或坏的反射体上，好的或坏的图像被投射出来。因此，在杀人犯身上，反射体是坏的，而非本我[Atman]。在圣徒身上，反射体是纯洁的。真我[Atman]——本我——本质上是纯洁的。是宇宙同一个实存，从最低的蛆虫到最高等最圆满的人，缓慢地反射自身。这整个宇宙是一种统一，一种实存，无论是物质上、精神上、道德上还是灵性上。我们正在以不同的形式审视这一个实存，并将所有这些图像投射到它之上。对于已将自己限定于人类条件的存在，它以人类世界的形式出现。对处于更高存在平面上的存在，它可能显得像天堂。只有一个灵魂在宇宙中，而不是两个。它既不来也不去。它既不出生，也不死亡，也不轮回[Samsara]。它如何死亡？它将往何处去？所有这些天堂，所有这些大地，所有这些地方，都是心智的虚妄想象。它们不存在，过去从未存在，将来也永不存在。 我无处不在，是永恒的。我能去哪里？我在哪里还不已经在那里？我在阅读这本自然之书。一页又一页我翻读完毕，一个又一个生命之梦消逝而去。生命的另一页被翻过；另一个生命之梦来临，又消逝，不断滚转，当我读完了我的阅读，我将它放在一边，我置身其外，我抛开那本书，一切都结束了。不二论者传讲什么？他推翻了曾经存在过或将在宇宙中存在的所有神灵的宝座，并将人的本我[Atman]置于那宝座之上，高于太阳与月亮，高于诸天，大于这宏大的宇宙本身。没有任何书籍，没有任何经典，没有任何科学，能够想象那表现为人——历史上曾存在的最光荣的上帝，唯一曾经存在、存在着或将存在的上帝——的本我[Atman]的荣耀。我因此应当崇拜，除了我自己而崇拜任何人。"我崇拜我的本我[Atman]，"不二论者说。我应当向谁鞠躬？我向我的本我[Atman]致敬。我应当向谁寻求帮助？谁能帮助我，这宇宙的无限存在？这些是愚蠢的梦，幻觉；谁曾帮助过任何人？没有人。无论你在哪里看到一个虚弱的人，一个二元论者，哭泣着从天空之上某处寻求帮助，那是因为他不知道，那天空也在他之内。他想要来自天空的帮助，帮助也来了。我们看到帮助确实来了；但那来自他自己内部，他以为那是从外部来的。有时一个躺在床上的病人可能听到门上的敲击声。他起床开门，发现没有人。他回到床上，又再次听到敲击声。他起床开门。没有人在那里。最后他发现那是他自己的心跳，他以为是门上的敲击声。因此，人在这徒劳地寻求自身之外各种神灵之后，画完了圆圈，回到他出发的那一点——人类灵魂——然后他发现他一直在山川中、在每一条溪流中、在每一座庙宇中、在每一座教堂和天堂中寻找的那位上帝，那位他甚至想象成坐在天堂中统治世界的上帝，就是他自己的本我[Atman]。我就是祂，祂就是我。除了我从来没有什么是上帝，而这个小小的"我"从未存在过。
然而，那完美的上帝怎么可能被迷惑了？祂从未被迷惑过。那完美的上帝怎么可能在做梦？祂从未做过梦。真理从不做梦。追问这幻象[Maya]从何处生起这个问题本身就是荒谬的。幻象[Maya]只能从幻象[Maya]中生起。一旦真理被看见，就不会有任何幻象[Maya]。幻象[Maya]永远依托于幻象[Maya]；它永远不依托于上帝、真理、真我[Atman]。你永远不在幻象[Maya]中；是幻象[Maya]在你之中，在你面前。这里有一朵云；另一朵来临将它推开，取代了它的位置。又一朵来临，将那朵推开。在永恒湛蓝的天空面前，各种色彩与色调的云朵来临，短暂停留后消逝，留那永恒的湛蓝不变，同样，你永远是纯洁的，永远是圆满的。你是真实的神灵；更准确地说，没有两个——只有一个。说"你与我"是错误的；说"我"。是我正在数以百万张嘴吃饭；我怎么可能饥饿？是我正在通过无数双手工作；我怎么可能无为？是我正在生活着整个宇宙的生命；我的死亡在哪里？我超越了所有生命，超越了所有死亡。我将在哪里寻求自由？我本质上就是自由的。谁能束缚我——这宇宙的上帝？世界的经典不过是小小的地图，想要描绘我的荣耀，我，这宇宙的唯一实存。那么这些书籍对我有何意义？不二论者如此说。
"知晓真理，在一刹那获得自由。"那时所有黑暗将消逝。当人将自己视为与宇宙的无限存在合而为一，当所有分离都停止，当所有男人与女人、所有神灵与天使、所有动物与植物，以及整个宇宙都融入那唯一，那时所有恐惧消失。我能伤害我自己吗？我能杀死我自己吗？我能伤害我自己吗？谁可惧？你能害怕自己吗？那时所有悲伤将消失。什么能使我悲伤？我是宇宙的唯一实存。那时所有嫉妒将消失；嫉妒谁？嫉妒我自己？那时所有坏的感情消失。我能对谁有坏的感情？对我自己？宇宙中除我之外没有别人。而这，吠檀多派说，是走向知识的唯一道路。消灭这种分别，消灭这种迷信——以为有许多。"在这众多的世界中，那看见那唯一者，在这无知觉的大量中，那看见那唯一有觉知的存在者，在这充满阴影的世界中，那捕捉到那实在者——永恒的平安属于他，永恒的平安属于他，唯他独有，再无其他，再无其他。"
这些是印度宗教思想在上帝问题上所迈出的三个步骤的要点。我们已经看到，它从有位格的、超宇宙的上帝开始。它从外在到内在的宇宙身体，即贯穿宇宙的上帝，最终以灵魂本身与那上帝的认同而告终，使宇宙中所有这些不同表现成为一个灵魂、一个单元。这是吠陀的最后一言。它从二元论开始，经历限定的一元论，最终达到完美的一元论。我们都知道，这个世界上很少有人能达到最后那个，甚至很少有人敢相信它，敢照此行事的更少。然而我们知道，在那里面，有宇宙中所有伦理、所有道德与所有灵性的解释。为何每个人都说"行善于他人"？解释在哪里？为何所有的伟人都传讲人类的兄弟情谊，而更伟大的人们则传讲所有生命的兄弟情谊？因为不论他们是否有意识，在那一切背后，透过他们所有不理性的个人迷信，永恒的本我[Atman]之光在闪耀，否认一切多元性，断言整个宇宙不过是一。
再者，最后一言给了我们一个宇宙，通过感官我们看见它为物质，通过智识看见它为诸灵魂，通过灵性看见它为上帝。对那将邪恶与世俗所称为罪恶的面纱披于自身的人而言，这同一个宇宙将改变并成为一个可怖的地方；对另一个追求享乐的人，这同一个宇宙将改变其外貌，成为天堂；而对那圆满的人，整个事物将消逝，成为他自己的本我[Atman]。
现在，就社会目前存在的状态而言，所有这三个阶段都是必要的；其中一个并不否定另一个，一个只是另一个的实现与完成。不二论者或限定不二论者并不说二元论是错误的；那是一种正确的观点，只是较低层次的观点。它走在通往真理的道路上；因此，让每个人都根据自己对宇宙的构想来发展自己的见解。不要伤害任何人，不要否定任何人的立场；在人所在之处接纳他，若可以的话，伸出援助之手，把他提升到更高的平台，但不要伤害，不要摧毁。所有人终将在漫长的历程中走向真理。"当心中所有欲望都被克服，那时这凡人便将成为不朽"——那时人本身将成为上帝。
English
CHAPTER XIV
THE ATMAN
(Delivered in America)
Many of you have read Max Müller's celebrated book, Three Lectures on the Vedanta Philosophy, and some of you may, perhaps, have read, in German, Professor Deussen's book on the same philosophy. In what is being written and taught in the West about the religious thought of India, one school of Indian thought is principally represented, that which is called Advaitism, the monistic side of Indian religion; and sometimes it is thought that all the teachings of the Vedas are comprised in that one system of philosophy. There are, however, various phases of Indian thought; and, perhaps, this non-dualistic form is in the minority as compared with the other phases. From the most ancient times there have been various sects of thought in India, and as there never was a formulated or recognised church or any body of men to designate the doctrines which should be believed by each school, people were very free to choose their own form, make their own philosophy and establish their own sects. We, therefore, find that from the most ancient times India was full of religious sects. At the present time, I do not know how many hundreds of sects we have in India, and several fresh ones are coming into existence every year. It seems that the religious activity of that nation is simply inexhaustible.
Of these various sects, in the first place, there can be made two main divisions, the orthodox and the unorthodox. Those that believe in the Hindu scriptures, the Vedas, as eternal revelations of truth, are called orthodox, and those that stand on other authorities, rejecting the Vedas, are the heterodox in India. The chief modern unorthodox Hindu sects are the Jains and the Buddhists. Among the orthodox some declare that the scriptures are of much higher authority than reason; others again say that only that portion of the scriptures which is rational should be taken and the rest rejected.
Of the three orthodox divisions, the Sânkhyas, the Naiyâyikas, and the Mimâmsakas, the former two, although they existed as philosophical schools, failed to form any sect. The one sect that now really covers India is that of the later Mimamsakas or the Vedantists. Their philosophy is called Vedantism. All the schools of Hindu philosophy start from the Vedanta or Upanishads, but the monists took the name to themselves as a speciality, because they wanted to base the whole of their theology and philosophy upon the Vedanta and nothing else. In the course of time the Vedanta prevailed, and all the various sects of India that now exist can be referred to one or other of its schools. Yet these schools are not unanimous in their opinions.
We find that there are three principal variations among the Vedantists. On one point they all agree, and that is that they all believe in God. All these Vedantists also believe the Vedas to be the revealed word of God, not exactly in the same sense, perhaps, as the Christians or the Mohammedans believe, but in a very peculiar sense. Their idea is that the Vedas are an expression of the knowledge of God, and as God is eternal, His knowledge is eternally with Him, and so are the Vedas eternal. There is another common ground of belief: that of creation in cycles, that the whole of creation appears and disappears; that it is projected and becomes grosser and grosser, and at the end of an incalculable period of time it becomes finer and finer, when it dissolves and subsides, and then comes a period of rest. Again it: begins to appear and goes through the same process. They postulate the existence of a material which they call Âkâsha, which is something like the ether of the scientists, and a power which they call Prâna. About; this Prana they declare that by its vibration the universe is produced. When a cycle ends, all this manifestation of nature becomes finer and finer and dissolves into that Akasha which cannot be seen or felt, yet out of which everything is manufactured. All the forces that we see in nature, such as gravitation, attraction, and repulsion, or as thought, feeling, and nervous motion — all these various forces resolve into that Prana, and the vibration of the Prana ceases. In that state it remains until the beginning of the next cycle. Prana then begins to vibrate, and that vibration acts upon the Akasha, and all these forms are thrown out in regular succession.
The first school I will tell you about is styled the dualistic school. The dualists believe that God, who is the creator of the universe and its ruler, is eternally separate from nature, eternally separate from the human soul. God is eternal; nature is eternal; so are all souls. Nature and the souls become manifested and change, but God remains the same. According to the dualists, again, this God is personal in that He has qualities, not that He has a body. He has human attributes; He is merciful, He is just, He is powerful, He is almighty, He can be approached, He can be prayed to, He can be loved, He loves in return, and so forth. In one word, He is a human God, only infinitely greater than man; He has none of the evil qualities which men have. "He is the repository of an infinite number of blessed qualities" — that is their definition. He cannot create without materials, and nature is the material out of which He creates the whole universe. There are some non-Vedantic dualists, called "Atomists", who believe that nature is nothing but an infinite number of atoms, and God's will, acting upon these atoms, creates. The Vedantists deny the atomic theory; they say it is perfectly illogical. The indivisible atoms are like geometrical points without parts or magnitude; but something without parts or magnitude, if multiplied an infinite number of times, will remain the same. Anything that has no parts will never make something that has parts; any number of zeros added together will not make one single whole number. So, if these atoms are such that they have no parts or magnitude, the creation of the universe is simply impossible out of such atoms. Therefore, according to the Vedantic dualists, there is what they call indiscrete or undifferentiated nature, and out of that God creates the universe. The vast mass of Indian people are dualists. Human nature ordinarily cannot conceive of anything higher. We find that ninety per cent of the population of the earth who believe in any religion are dualists. All the religions of Europe and Western Asia are dualistic; they have to be. The ordinary man cannot think of anything which is not concrete. He naturally likes to cling to that which his intellect can grasp. That is to say, he can only conceive of higher spiritual ideas by bringing them down to his own level. He can only grasp abstract thoughts by making them concrete. This is the religion of the masses all over the world. They believe in a God who is entirely separate from them, a great king, a high, mighty monarch, as it were. At the same time they make Him purer than the monarchs of the earth; they give Him all good qualities and remove the evil qualities from Him. As if it were ever possible for good to exist without evil; as if there could be any conception of light without a conception of darkness!
With all dualistic theories the first difficulty is, how is it possible that under the rule of a just and merciful God, the repository of an infinite number of good qualities, there can be so many evils in this world? This question arose in all dualistic religions, but the Hindus never invented a Satan as an answer to it. The Hindus with one accord laid the blame on man, and it was easy for them to do so. Why? Because, as I have just now told you, they did not believe that souls were created out of nothing We see in this life that we can shape and form our future every one of us, every day, is trying to shape the morrow; today we fix the fate of the morrow; tomorrow we shall fix the fate of the day after, and so on. It is quite logical that this reasoning can be pushed backward too. If by our own deeds we shape our destiny in the future why not apply the same rule to the past? If, in an infinite chain, a certain number of links are alternately repeated then, if one of these groups of links be explained, we can explain the whole chain. So, in this infinite length of time, if we can cut off one portion and explain that portion and understand it, then, if it be true that nature is uniform, the same explanation must apply to the whole chain of time. If it be true that we are working out our own destiny here within this short space of time if it be true that everything must have a cause as we see it now, it must also be true that that which we are now is the effect of the whole of our past; therefore, no other person is necessary to shape the destiny of mankind but man himself. The evils that are in the world are caused by none else but ourselves. We have caused all this evil; and just as we constantly see misery resulting from evil actions, so can we also see that much of the existing misery in the world is the effect of the past wickedness of man. Man alone, therefore, according to this theory, is responsible. God is not to blame. He, the eternally merciful Father, is not to blame at all. "We reap what we sow."
Another peculiar doctrine of the dualists is, that every soul must eventually come to salvation. No one will be left out. Through various vicissitudes, through various sufferings and enjoyments, each one of them will come out in the end. Come out of what? The one common idea of all Hindu sects is that all souls have to get out of this universe. Neither the universe which we see and feel, nor even an imaginary one, can be right, the real one, because both are mixed up with good and evil. According to the dualists, there is beyond this universe a place full of happiness and good only; and when that place is reached, there will be no more necessity of being born and reborn, of living and dying; and this idea is very dear to them. No more disease there, and no more death. There will be eternal happiness, and they will be in the presence of God for all time and enjoy Him for ever. They believe that all beings, from the lowest worm up to the highest angels and gods, will all, sooner or later, attain to that world where there will be no more misery. But our world will never end; it goes on infinitely, although moving in waves. Although moving in cycles it never ends. The number of souls that are to be saved, that are to be perfected, is infinite. Some are in plants, some are in the lower animals, some are in men, some are in gods, but all of them, even the highest gods, are imperfect, are in bondage. What is the bondage? The necessity of being born and the necessity of dying. Even the highest gods die. What are these gods? They mean certain states, certain offices. For instance, Indra the king of gods, means a certain office; some soul which was very high has gone to fill that post in this cycle, and after this cycle he will be born again as man and come down to this earth, and the man who is very good in this cycle will go and fill that post in the next cycle. So with all these gods; they are certain offices which have been filled alternately by millions and millions of souls, who, after filling those offices, came down and became men. Those who do good works in this world and help others, but with an eye to reward, hoping to reach heaven or to get the praise of their fellow-men, must when they die, reap the benefit of those good works — they become these gods. But that is not salvation; salvation never will come through hope of reward. Whatever man desires the Lord gives him. Men desire power, they desire prestige, they desire enjoyments as gods, and they get these desires fulfilled, but no effect of work can be eternal. The effect will be exhausted after a certain length of time; it may be aeons, but after that it will be gone, and these gods must come down again and become men and get another chance for liberation. The lower animals will come up and become men, become gods, perhaps, then become men again, or go back to animals, until the time when they will get rid of all desire for enjoyment, the thirst for life, this clinging on to the "me and mine". This "me and mine" is the very root of all the evil in the world. If you ask a dualist, "Is your child yours?" he will say, "It is God's. My property is not mine, it is God's." Everything should be held as God's.
Now, these dualistic sects in India are great vegetarians, great preachers of non-killing of animals. But their idea about it is quite different from that of the Buddhist. If you ask a Buddhist, "Why do you preach against killing any animal?" he will answer, "We have no right to take any life;" and if you ask a dualist, "Why do you not kill any animal?" he says, "Because it is the Lord's." So the dualist says that this "me and mine" is to be applied to God and God alone; He is the only "me" and everything is His. When a man has come to the state when he has no "me and mine," when everything is given up to the Lord, when he loves everybody and is ready even to give up his life for an animal, without any desire for reward, then his heart will be purified, and when the heart has been purified, into that heart will come the love of God. God is the centre of attraction for every soul, and the dualist says, "A needle covered up with clay will not be attracted by a magnet, but as soon as the clay is washed off, it will be attracted." God is the magnet and human soul is the needle, and its evil works, the dirt and dust that cover it. As soon as the soul is pure it will by natural attraction come to God and remain with Him for ever, but remain eternally separate. The perfected soul, if it wishes, can take any form; it is able to take a hundred bodies, if it wishes or have none at all, if it so desires. It becomes almost almighty, except that it cannot create; that power belongs to God alone. None, however perfect, can manage the affairs of the universe; that function belongs to God. But all souls, when they become perfect, become happy for ever and live eternally with God. This is the dualistic statement.
One other idea the dualists preach. They protest against the idea of praying to God, "Lord, give me this and give me that." They think that should not be done. If a man must ask some material gift, he should ask inferior beings for it; ask one of these gods, or angels or a perfected being for temporal things. God is only to be loved. It is almost a blasphemy to pray to God, "Lord, give me this, and give me that." According to the dualists, therefore, what a man wants, he will get sooner or later, by praying to one of the gods; but if he wants salvation, he must worship God. This is the religion of the masses of India.
The real Vedanta philosophy begins with those known as the qualified non-dualists. They make the statement that the effect is never different from the cause; the effect is but the cause reproduced in another form. If the universe is the effect and God the cause, it must be God Himself — it cannot be anything but that. They start with the assertion that God is both the efficient and the material cause of the universe; that He Himself is the creator, and He Himself is the material out of which the whole of nature is projected. The word "creation" in your language has no equivalent in Sanskrit, because there is no sect in India which believes in creation, as it is regarded in the West, as something coming out of nothing. It seems that at one time there were a few that had some such idea, but they were very quickly silenced. At the present time I do not know of any sect that believes this. What we mean by creation is projection of that which already existed. Now, the whole universe, according to this sect, is God Himself. He is the material of the universe. We read in the Vedas, "As the Urnanâbhi (spider) spins the thread out of its own body, . . . even so the whole universe has come out of the Being."
If the effect is the cause reproduced, the question is: "How is it that we find this material, dull, unintelligent universe produced from a God, who is not material, but who is eternal intelligence? How, if the cause is pure and perfect, can the effect be quite different?" What do these qualified non-dualists say? Theirs is a very peculiar theory. They say that these three existences, God, nature, and the soul, are one. God is, as it were, the Soul, and nature and souls are the body of God. Just as I have a body and I have a soul, so the whole universe and all souls are the body of God, and God is the Soul of souls. Thus, God is the material cause of the universe. The body may be changed — may be young or old, strong or weak — but that does not affect the soul at all. It is the same eternal existence, manifesting through the body. Bodies come and go, but the soul does not change. Even so the whole universe is the body of God, and in that sense it is God. But the change in the universe does not affect God. Out of this material He creates the universe, and at the end of a cycle His body becomes finer, it contracts; at the beginning of another cycle it becomes expanded again, and out of it evolve all these different worlds.
Now both the dualists and the qualified non-dualists admit that the soul is by its nature pure, but through its own deeds it becomes impure. The qualified non-dualists express it more beautifully than the dualists, by saving that the soul's purity and perfection become contracted and again become manifest, and what we are now trying to do is to remanifest the intelligence, the purity, the power which is natural to the soul. Souls have a multitude of qualities, but not that of almightiness or all-knowingness. Every wicked deed contracts the nature of the soul, and every good deed expands it, and these souls, are all parts of God. "As from a blazing fire fly millions of sparks of the same nature, even so from this Infinite Being, God, these souls have come." Each has the same goal. The God of the qualified non-dualists is also a Personal God, the repository of an infinite number of blessed qualities, only He is interpenetrating everything in the universe. He is immanent in everything and everywhere; and when the scriptures say that God is everything, it means that God is interpenetrating everything, not that God has become the wall, but that God is in the wall. There is not a particle, not an atom in the universe where He is not. Souls are all limited; they are not omnipresent. When they get expansion of their powers and become perfect, there is no more birth and death for them; they live with God for ever.
Now we come to Advaitism, the last and, what we think, the fairest flower of philosophy and religion that any country in any age has produced, where human thought attains its highest expression and even goes beyond the mystery which seems to be impenetrable. This is the non-dualistic Vedantism. It is too abstruse, too elevated to be the religion of the masses. Even in India, its birthplace, where it has been ruling supreme for the last three thousand years, it has not been able to permeate the masses. As we go on we shall find that it is difficult for even the most thoughtful man and woman in any country to understand Advaitism. We have made ourselves so weak; we have made ourselves so low. We may make great claims, but naturally we want to lean on somebody else. We are like little, weak plants, always wanting a support. How many times I have been asked for a "comfortable religion!" Very few men ask for the truth, fewer still dare to learn the truth, and fewest of all dare to follow it in all its practical bearings. It is not their fault; it is all weakness of the brain. Any new thought, especially of a high kind, creates a disturbance, tries to make a new channel, as it were, in the brain matter, and that unhinges the system, throws men off their balance. They are used to certain surroundings, and have to overcome a huge mass of ancient superstitions, ancestral superstition, class superstition, city superstition, country superstition, and behind all, the vast mass of superstition that is innate in every human being. Yet there are a few brave souls in the world who dare to conceive the truth, who dare to take it up, and who dare to follow it to the end.
What does the Advaitist declare? He says, if there is a God, that God must be both the material and the efficient cause of the universe. Not only is He the creator, but He is also the created. He Himself is this universe. How can that be? God, the pure, the spirit, has become the universe? Yes; apparently so. That which all ignorant people see as the universe does not really exist. What are you and I and all these things we see? Mere self-hypnotism; there is but one Existence, the Infinite, the Ever-blessed One. In that Existence we dream all these various dreams. It is the Atman, beyond all, the Infinite, beyond the known, beyond the knowable; in and through That we see the universe. It is the only Reality. It is this table; It is the audience before me; It is the wall; It is everything, minus the name and form. Take away the form of the table, take away the name; what remains is It. The Vedantist does not call It either He or She — these are fictions, delusions of the human brain — there is no sex in the soul. People who are under illusion, who have become like animals, see a woman or a man; living gods do not see men or women. How can they who are beyond everything have any sex idea? Everyone and everything is the Atman — the Self — the sexless, the pure, the ever-blessed. It is the name, the form, the body, which are material, and they make all this difference. If you take away these two differences of name and form, the whole universe is one; there are no two, but one everywhere. You and I are one. There is neither nature, nor God, nor the universe, only that one Infinite Existence, out of which, through name and form, all these are manufactured. How to know the Knower? It cannot be known. How can you see your own Self? You can only reflect yourself. So all this universe is the reflection of that One Eternal Being, the Atman, and as the reflection falls upon good or bad reflectors, so good or bad images are cast up. Thus in the murderer, the reflector is bad and not the Self. In the saint the reflector is pure. The Self — the Atman — is by Its own nature pure. It is the same, the one Existence of the universe that is reflecting Itself from the lowest worm to the highest and most perfect being. The whole of this universe is one Unity, one Existence, physically, mentally, morally and spiritually. We are looking upon this one Existence in different forms and creating all these images upon It. To the being who has limited himself to the condition of man, It appears as the world of man. To the being who is on a higher plane of existence, It may seem like heaven. There is but one Soul in the universe, not two. It neither comes nor goes. It is neither born, nor dies, nor reincarnates. How can It die? Where can It go? All these heavens, all these earths, and all these places are vain imaginations of the mind. They do not exist, never existed in the past, and never will exist in the future.
I am omnipresent, eternal. Where can I go? Where am I not already? I am reading this book of nature. Page after page I am finishing and turning over, and one dream of life after another goes Away. Another page of life is turned over; another dream of life comes, and it goes away, rolling and rolling, and when I have finished my reading, I let it go and stand aside, I throw away the book, and the whole thing is finished. What does the Advaitist preach? He dethrones all the gods that ever existed, or ever will exist in the universe and places on that throne the Self of man, the Atman, higher than the sun and the moon, higher than the heavens, greater than this great universe itself. No books, no scriptures, no science can ever imagine the glory of the Self that appears as man, the most glorious God that ever was, the only God that ever existed, exists, or ever will exist. I am to worship, therefore, none but myself. "I worship my Self," says the Advaitist. To whom shall I bow down? I salute my Self. To whom shall I go for help? Who can help me, the Infinite Being of the universe? These are foolish dreams, hallucinations; who ever helped any one? None. Wherever you see a weak man, a dualist, weeping and wailing for help from somewhere above the skies, it is because he does not know that the skies also are in him. He wants help from the skies, and the help comes. We see that it comes; but it comes from within himself, and he mistakes it as coming from without. Sometimes a sick man lying on his bed may hear a tap on the door. He gets up and opens it and finds no one there. He goes back to bed, and again he hears a tap. He gets up and opens the door. Nobody is there. At last he finds that it was his own heartbeat which he fancied was a knock at the door. Thus man, after this vain search after various gods outside himself, completes the circle, and comes back to the point from which he started — the human soul, and he finds that the God whom he was searching in hill and dale, whom he was seeking in every brook, in every temple, in churches and heavens, that God whom he was even imagining as sitting in heaven and ruling the world, is his own Self. I am He, and He is I. None but I was God, and this little I never existed.
Yet, how could that perfect God have been deluded? He never was. How could a perfect God have been dreaming? He never dreamed. Truth never dreams. The very question as to whence this illusion arose is absurd. Illusion arises from illusion alone. There will be no illusion as soon as the truth is seen. Illusion always rests upon illusion; it never rests upon God, the Truth, the Atman. You are never in illusion; it is illusion that is in you, before you. A cloud is here; another comes and pushes it aside and takes its place. Still another comes and pushes that one away. As before the eternal blue sky, clouds of various hue and colour come, remain for a short time and disappear, leaving it the same eternal blue, even so are you, eternally pure, eternally perfect. You are the veritable Gods of the universe; nay, there are not two — there is but One. It is a mistake to say, "you and I"; say "I". It is I who am eating in millions of mouths; how can I be hungry? It is I who am working through an infinite number of hands; how can I be inactive? It is I who am living the life of the whole universe; where is death for me? I am beyond all life, beyond all death. Where shall I seek for freedom? I am free by my nature. Who can bind me — the God of this universe? The scriptures of the world are but little maps, wanting to delineate my glory, who am the only existence of the universe. Then what are these books to me? Thus says the Advaitist.
"Know the truth and be free in a moment." All the darkness will then vanish. When man has seen himself as one with the Infinite Being of the universe, when all separateness has ceased, when all men and women, an gods and angels, all animals and plants, and the whole universe have melted into that Oneness, then all fear disappears. Can I hurt myself? Can I kill myself? Can I injure myself? Whom to fear? Can you fear yourself? Then will all sorrow disappear. What can cause me sorrow? I am the One Existence of the universe. Then all jealousies will disappear; of whom to be jealous? Of myself? Then all bad feelings disappear. Against whom can I have bad feeling? Against myself? There is none in the universe but I. And this is the one way, says the Vedantist, to Knowledge. Kill out this differentiation, kill out this superstition that there are many. "He who in this world of many sees that One, he who in this mass of insentiency sees that one Sentient Being, he who in this world of shadows catches that Reality, unto him belongs eternal peace, unto none else, unto none else."
These are the salient points of the three steps which Indian religious thought has taken in regard to God. We have seen that it began with the Personal, the extra-cosmic God. It went from the external to the internal cosmic body, God immanent in the universe, and ended in identifying the soul itself with that God, and making one Soul, a unit of all these various manifestations in the universe. This is the last word of the Vedas. It begins with dualism, goes through a qualified monism and ends in perfect monism. We know how very few in this world can come to the last, or even dare believe in it, and fewer still dare act according to it. Yet we know that therein lies the explanation of all ethics, of all morality and all spirituality in the universe. Why is it that every one says, "Do good to others?" Where is the explanation? Why is it that all great men have preached the brotherhood of mankind, and greater men the brotherhood of all lives? Because whether they were conscious of it or not, behind all that, through all their irrational and personal superstitions, was peering forth the eternal light of the Self denying all manifoldness, and asserting that the whole universe is but one.
Again, the last word gave us one universe, which through the senses we see as matter, through the intellect as souls, and through the spirit as God. To the man who throws upon himself veils, which the world calls wickedness and evil, this very universe will change and become a hideous place; to another man, who wants enjoyments, this very universe will change its appearance and become a heaven, and to the perfect man the whole thing will vanish and become his own Self.
Now, as society exists at the present time, all these three stages are necessary; the one does not deny the other, one is simply the fulfilment of the other. The Advaitist or the qualified Advaitist does not say that dualism is wrong; it is a right view, but a lower one. It is on the way to truth; therefore let everybody work out his own vision of this universe, according to his own ideas. Injure none, deny the position of none; take man where he stands and, if you can, lend him a helping hand and put him on a higher platform, but do not injure and do not destroy. All will come to truth in the long run. "When all the desires of the heart will be vanquished, then this very mortal will become immortal" — then the very man will become God.
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。