一个存在显现为多
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中文
一在多中之显现
（1896年讲于纽约）
离欲（Vairagya）或出离，是各种瑜伽（Yoga）的转折点。业行者（Karmi，行动者）放弃其行为的果实。虔信者（Bhakta，虔诚的信徒）将一切渺小的爱舍弃，归向那全能遍在之爱。瑜伽修行者放弃其所历经的一切，因为他的哲学是：整个原质（Prakriti），尽管是为了真我（Atman，梵文Atman）的经验而存在，最终使他认识到自身并不在原质之中，而是永远独立于原质之外。智慧者（Jnani，哲学家）放弃一切，因为他的哲学是：原质从未存在，过去不曾，现在不曾，将来也不会。在这些更高深的主题中，效用的问题是无从提问的。提出这个问题实属荒诞；即便提出，经过适当的分析，我们在这效用问题中究竟发现了什么？幸福的理想——凡能为人带来更多幸福者，对他便有更大的效用，远胜于那些不能改善其物质状况、也不能带给他同等幸福的更高深之物。一切科学都为着这同一目的而存在：为人类带来幸福；而能带来更多幸福者，人便取之，并舍弃那带来较少幸福者。我们已见到，幸福要么在于身体，要么在于心意，要么在于真我（Atman）。对于动物以及最低等的、极为接近动物的人类而言，幸福全在身体。没有人能以和一只饥饿的狗或狼进食时同等的快乐来进食；所以在狗和狼那里，幸福全在身体。在人类中，我们发现了更高层面的幸福，即思想的幸福；而在智慧者中，幸福处于最高层面——在自性（Atman）之中。因此，对于哲人而言，认识真我具有最高的效用，因为它赋予他最高可能的幸福。感官享受或物质之物对他而言不可能具有最高效用，因为他在其中所获得的快乐远不及知识本身所带来的快乐；毕竟，知识是唯一的目标，是我们所知的最高幸福。一切在无明（Avidya，无知）中工作的人，在某种意义上，不过是天神（Deva，智者）的驮兽。这里所用的"天神"一词，是在"智者"的意义上使用的。一切如机器般工作和劳苦的人，实际上并不享受生命，而是智者在享受。一个富翁花了也许十万美元购买一幅画，但真正享受它的是那个懂得艺术的人；若富翁不懂艺术，那幅画对他而言毫无用处，他不过是它的所有者。遍观世界，享受世界幸福的都是智者。无知之人从不真正享受；他必须不知不觉地为他人劳作。
到此为止，我们已见到了这些不二论哲人的理论——只有一个真我（Atman），不可能有两个。我们已见到，在整个宇宙中只有一个存在；那唯一的存在，当透过感官来见，便被称为世界，物质的世界。当透过心意来见，便被称为思想与观念的世界；当如其所是地被见，便是那唯一的无限存在。你必须铭记于心：并非说人之中有一个真我，尽管为了解释方便我起初不得不如此假定，而是说只有一个存在，那唯一的就是真我（Atman）、本性（Self）；当这被透过感官、通过感官的映象来感知时，被称为身体。当被透过思想来感知时，被称为心意。当被按其自身本性所感知时，便是真我（Atman），那唯一的存在。因此并非说在一中有三样东西——身体、心意与自性——尽管在解释过程中这样说是一种方便的说法；而是一切皆是那真我，那唯一的存在有时被称为身体，有时被称为心意，有时被称为自性，只是因视角不同而已。只有一个存在，无知者称之为世界。当一个人在知识上提升，他将同一个存在称为思想的世界。当知识本身到来时，一切幻妄消散，人发现这一切不过是真我（Atman）。我即那唯一的存在。这是最终的结论。宇宙中既非三、也非二；一切是合一的。那唯一者，在摩耶（Maya）的幻妄下，显现为众多，正如一根绳子被看成一条蛇。被看作蛇的正是那根绳子本身。那里并不是既有一根分开的绳子、又有一条分开的蛇。没有任何人能同时看见那两样东西。二元论与一元论是很好的哲学术语，但在完全的感知中，我们绝不会同时感知到真实与虚假。我们生来便是一元论者，我们无法帮助自己做到其他。我们始终感知到那一。当我们感知到绳子，我们根本看不见蛇；而当我们看见蛇时，我们根本看不见绳子——它已消失。当你看见幻妄，你看不见实相。假设你在街上远远地看见你的一位朋友；你非常熟悉他，但由于眼前的雾霾，你以为那是另一个人。当你将你的朋友视为另一个人，你根本看不见你的朋友——他已消失。你只感知到一个人。假设你的朋友是甲先生；但当你将甲先生认作乙先生时，你根本看不见甲先生。每种情况下你都只感知到一个人。当你将自己视为身体，你就是身体而别无他物；这是绝大多数人类的感知。他们或许谈论真我和心意以及诸如此类的东西，但他们所感知的是物质形体，是触觉、味觉、视觉等等。此外，某些人在某些意识状态下，将自己感知为思想。你当然知道关于汉弗莱·戴维爵士的那个故事——他正在课堂上用笑气做实验，突然一根管子破裂，逃出的气体被他吸入。有那么几分钟，他如雕像般静立。事后他告诉学生，当他处于那种状态时，他确实感知到整个世界是由观念构成的。那气体暂时使他忘却了对身体的意识，而他原本视为身体的那东西，他开始感知为观念。当意识上升得更高，当这渺小可怜的意识永远消逝之时，背后的实相开始发光，我们将其见为那唯一的存在-知识-极乐，那唯一的真我（Atman），那宇宙之真我。"那唯一的，自身即是知识，那唯一的，自身即是极乐，超越一切比较，超越一切限制，永远自由，永远不被束缚，无边如天空，不变如天空。这样的一位，将在你的禅定（Dhyana，冥想）之心中显现自身。"
不二论的理论是如何解释这些各色天堂与地狱以及我们在一切宗教中所发现的种种观念的？据说一个人死后，会去天堂或地狱，去这里或那里；或者说一个人死后会在另一个身体中转生，或在天堂，或在另一个世界，或在某处。这些都是幻觉。真正说来，从来没有任何人出生或死去。既无天堂也无地狱，也无这个世界；这三者都从未真实存在过。告诉一个孩子很多鬼故事，然后让他在傍晚走到街上。路边有一截树桩。孩子看见了什么？一个张开双臂、随时准备抓住他的鬼。假设一个男人从街角走来，想去见他的心上人；他将那截树桩视为那个女孩。一个警察从街角走来，将树桩视为一个小偷。小偷则将它视为一个警察。见到的都是同一截树桩，却以各种方式被感知。树桩是实相，对树桩的各种感知是各种心意的投射。有一个存在，即那自性；它既不来也不去。当一个人愚昧无知，他想去天堂或某个地方，而他一生都在想着这些；当这尘世的梦消散，他见到这个世界变成了天堂，天神与天使在其中翱翔，以及诸如此类的景象。若一个人一生中都渴望见到自己的祖先，他将得到他们——从亚当一路向下，因为他自己创造了他们。若一个人更加愚昧，终其一生都被狂热者以地狱的观念、各种惩罚的观念吓到了，当他死去，他将见到这个世界就是地狱。所谓死亡或出生，无非就是视野平面的转换。你既不移动，你所投射视野的那个存在也不移动。你是永恒的，是不变的。你如何能来来去去？这是不可能的；你是遍在的。天空从不移动，但云彩在天空表面移动，我们可能以为天空本身在移动——正如你坐在火车上，你以为大地在移动。并非如此，移动的是火车。你处于你本来的位置；这些梦境，这各色云彩在飘动。一个梦境在与另一个梦境毫无关联的情况下接踵而来。这个世界中根本不存在律法或关联，但我们以为其中有大量的关联。你们大概都读过《爱丽丝梦游仙境》。那是本世纪为儿童所写的最奇妙的书。当我读到它，我感到无比愉悦；我一直想写一本那样的书给孩子们读。其中最令我欣喜的，正是你们认为最不合逻辑之处——其中没有任何关联。一个观念冒出来，跳到另一个观念上，毫无关联。当你们还是孩子的时候，你们认为其中有着最奇妙的关联。于是这个人将童年的思维带回来，这些思维对他儿时而言是完全关联的，并将其编写成这本给孩子们读的书。而所有那些大人为孩子写书、试图让孩子吞下他们成人观念的书，都是无稽之谈。我们也不过是长大了的孩子，仅此而已。世界也是同样无关联的东西——《爱丽丝梦游仙境》——毫无关联可言。当我们看见事物以某种特定的顺序发生若干次，我们便称之为因果，并说这事将再度发生。当这个梦境改变，另一个梦境将看来同样关联。当我们做梦，梦中所见的一切似乎都是关联的；在梦中我们从不认为它们是不合逻辑的，只有醒来之后，我们才看出其中缺乏关联。当我们从这世界的梦中醒来，并将其与实相对照，它将被发现是一片不合逻辑的无稽，一团在我们眼前流过的不协调——我们不知其从何而来，也不知去往何处，但我们知道它终将结束；这就被称为摩耶（Maya），如一团团飘忽的薄云。它们代表着这一切变化的存在，而太阳本身——不变者——就是你。当你从外部来观看那不变的存在，你称之为上帝；当你从内部来观看，你称之为你自己。两者不过是一。宇宙中没有与你分开的上帝，没有比你更高的上帝——比真实的"你"更高的上帝。一切神明对你而言都是渺小的存在，关于上帝和天父的一切观念，都不过是你自己的映像。上帝本身不过是你的形象。"上帝照着自己的形象创造了人。"这是错误的。人照着自己的形象创造了上帝。这才是对的。遍观整个宇宙，我们都在照着自己的形象创造神明。我们创造了神，然后俯伏于其脚下礼拜；而当这梦境到来，我们爱它！
此讲有一个要点值得理解——此讲的总旨，在于宇宙中只有一个存在，那唯一的存在透过不同的构成，显现为大地、天堂、地狱、神明、鬼魂、人类、魔怪、世界，或所有这些事物。但在这众多之中，"那看见这死亡之洋中唯一者，那在这漂流的宇宙中看见唯一生命者，那实现了那永恒不变者——唯有他拥有永恒的和平；其余的人皆不然，其余的人皆不然。"这唯一的存在必须被实现。如何实现，是接下来的问题。如何实现它？如何打破这个梦境，我们如何从这个梦——我们是渺小的男男女女，以及诸如此类的观念——中醒来？我们是宇宙的无限存在，已经物质化为这些渺小的存在——男人、女人——依附于一个人的甜言蜜语，或另一个人愤怒的言词，等等。这是多么可怕的依附，多么可怕的奴役！我——那超越一切苦乐之上的我，整个宇宙都是其映像的我，众太阳、月亮与星辰皆是其生命的微小碎片的我——被钉在地上，成为一个可怕的奴隶！若你捏我的身体，我感到疼痛。若某人说一句亲切的话，我开始欣喜。看我的处境——身体的奴隶，心意的奴隶，世界的奴隶，善言的奴隶，恶言的奴隶，情欲的奴隶，幸福的奴隶，生命的奴隶，死亡的奴隶，一切的奴隶！这奴役必须被打破。如何打破？"这真我（Atman）首先必须被聆听，然后加以推论，再加以冥想。"这是不二（Advaita）智慧者的方法。真理必须被聆听，然后加以反思，并且持续地加以确认。时刻思想："我是梵（Brahman）。"其他一切念头必须作为令人软弱者而被抛弃。抛弃每一个说你是男人或女人的念头。让身体去，让心意去，让神明去，让鬼魂去。让一切都去，唯留那唯一的存在。"在那里，一者听见另一者，在那里，一者看见另一者——那是渺小；在那里，一者听不见另一者，在那里，一者看不见另一者——那是无限。"当主体与客体合为一体，那是最高境界。当我是聆听者，我也是言说者；当我是老师，我也是学生；当我是创造者，我也是被创造者——唯有在那时，恐惧才告终止；再没有另一者令我们恐惧。除了我自己，没有任何东西，什么能使我恐惧？这必须日复一日地被聆听。摒除一切其他念头。其他一切都必须被抛开，这个真理必须被持续重复，从耳中倾入，直到它抵达心灵，直到每一条神经与肌肉、每一滴血都随着"我即那，我即那"的观念而颤动。即使在死亡之门前，也要说"我即那"。在印度有一位游方僧（Sannyasin），他习惯于反复念诵"湿婆（Shiva）哈姆"——"我是永恒的极乐"；有一天一只老虎扑向他，将他拖走并杀死；然而只要他还活着，那声音一直在响："湿婆哈姆，湿婆哈姆"。即使在死亡之门前，在最大的危险中，在最激烈的战场上，在海洋的最深处，在最高山峰之巅，在最茂密的森林中，也要告诉自己："我即那，我即那。"日夜说"我即那"。那是最强大的力量；那就是宗教。"软弱者永远无法到达真我（Atman）。"永远不要说："噢主啊，我是一个可悲的罪人。"谁会帮助你？你是宇宙的帮助者。宇宙中有什么能够帮助你？哪个人、哪个神明、哪个鬼魂能够帮助你？什么能够胜过你？你是宇宙的上帝；你去哪里寻求帮助？帮助从未从任何地方而来，除了从你自己。在你的无明（Avidya）中，你所作的每一个得到了回应的祈祷，你以为是某个存在回应了；但其实是你自己在不知不觉中回应了那祈祷。帮助来自你自己，而你却深情地以为某人是在向你伸出援手。宇宙之外没有任何对你的帮助；你是宇宙的创造者。如同蚕虫，你在自己周围织起了一个茧。谁来拯救你？挣破你自己的茧，以美丽的蝴蝶、以自由之魂的姿态破茧而出。唯有那时你才能见到真理。时刻告诉自己："我即那。"这些是能燃尽心中糟粕的话语，这些是能唤出你内心已然存在的那巨大力量、那沉睡于你心中的无限力量的话语。这力量要通过持续聆听真理、而不闻其他而被唤醒。凡有软弱念头之处，不要靠近那地方。若你想成为一个智慧者，避开一切软弱。
在你开始修习之前，清除心中的一切疑虑。奋斗，推论，辩驳；而当你在心中确立了"这是唯一能成为真理的，其他都不是"，就不要再辩驳了；闭上嘴巴。不要听辩论，自己也不要辩驳。还要更多辩驳有何用处？你已满足了自己，你已作出了决定。什么还没有完成？真理现在必须被实现，所以为何将宝贵的时间浪费在无用的辩驳中？真理现在必须被冥想，每一个能强化你的观念都必须被采纳，每一个令你软弱的念头都必须被摒弃。虔信者（Bhakta）冥想各种形象、图像以及诸如此类的东西，以及上帝。这是自然的过程，但较为缓慢。瑜伽修行者冥想身体中的各个脉轮，并操控心意中的力量。智慧者（Jnani）说，心意并不存在，身体也不存在。身体和心意的观念必须消除，必须被驱逐；因此，去思考它们是愚昧的。那会像是试图用引入另一种疾病来治愈一种疾病。所以他的冥想是最难的那种——否定的方式；他否定一切，剩下的就是自性。这是最具分析性的方式。智慧者要凭借分析的纯粹力量，将宇宙从自性中剥离开来。说"我是一个智慧者"很容易，但真正成为一个智慧者却极其艰难。"道路漫长"，好比是走在剃刀的锋刃之上；然而不要绝望。"醒来，起身，直到达到目标决不停止"，吠陀（Vedas）如此说道。
那么智慧者的冥想是什么？他想要超越身体或心意的一切观念而上升，想要驱走自己是身体的观念。例如，当我说"我，斯瓦米（Swami）"，身体的观念立刻涌现。我该如何做？我必须给心意一个重击，说："不，我不是身体，我是自性。"谁在乎疾病是否到来，或以最可怖的形式到来的死亡？我不是身体。为何让身体保持良好？是为了再度享受那幻妄？是为了延续那奴役？随它去吧，我不是身体。这就是智慧者的方式。虔信者说："主赋予了我这个身体，让我得以安全地渡越生命之洋，我必须珍视它，直到旅程完成。"瑜伽修行者说："我必须善待身体，以便我能稳步前进，最终达到解脱（Moksha）。"智慧者感到他无法等待，他必须在此刻就到达目标。他说："我通过永恒而是自由的，我从未被束缚；我通过所有的永恒而是宇宙的上帝。谁能使我完美？我已经是完美的了。"当一个人是完美的，他在他人身上见到完美。当他见到不完美，那是他自己的心意在投射自身。若他自身之中没有不完美，他如何能见到不完美？所以智慧者不在乎完美或不完美。对他而言，两者皆不存在。一旦他获得自由，他便不见善与恶。谁见到恶与善？那自身中有它的人。谁见到身体？那认为自己是身体的人。当你摆脱了"你是身体"的观念，你根本就看不见世界了；它永远消失了。智慧者试图借助理智确信的力量，将自己从物质的束缚中撕裂出来。这就是否定的方式——"非此，非此"（Neti，Neti）。
English
ONE EXISTENCE APPEARING AS MANY
(Delivered in New York, 1896)
Vairâgya or renunciation is the turning point in all the various Yogas. The Karmi (worker) renounces the fruits of his work. The Bhakta (devotee) renounces all little loves for the almighty and omnipresent love. The Yogi renounces his experiences, because his philosophy is that the whole Nature, although it is for the experience of the soul, at last brings him to know that he is not in Nature, but eternally separate from Nature. The Jnâni (philosopher) renounces everything, because his philosophy is that Nature never existed, neither in the past, nor present, nor will It in the future. The question of utility cannot be asked in these higher themes. It is very absurd to ask it; and even if it be asked, after a proper analysis, what do we find in this question of utility? The ideal of happiness, that which brings man more happiness, is of greater utility to him than these higher things which do not improve his material conditions or bring him such great happiness. All the sciences are for this one end, to bring happiness to humanity; and that which brings the larger amount of happiness, man takes and gives up that which brings a lesser amount of happiness. We have seen how happiness is either in the body, or in the mind, or in the Âtman. With animals, and in the lowest human beings who are very much like animals, happiness is all in the body. No man can eat with the same pleasure as a famished dog or a wolf; so in the dog and the wolf the happiness is entirely in the body. In men we find a higher plane of happiness, that of thought; and in the Jnani there is the highest plane of happiness in the Self, the Atman. So to the philosopher this knowledge of the Self is of the highest utility, because it gives him the highest happiness possible. Sense-gratifications or physical things cannot be of the highest utility to him, because he does not find in them the same pleasure that he finds in knowledge itself; and after all, knowledge is the one goal and is really the highest happiness that we know. All who work in ignorance are, as it were, the draught animals of the Devas. The word Deva is here used in the sense of a wise man. All the people that work and toil and labour like machines do not really enjoy life, but it is the wise man who enjoys. A rich man buys a picture at a cost of a hundred thousand dollars perhaps, but it is the man who understands art that enjoys it; and if the rich man is without knowledge of art, it is useless to him, he is only the owner. All over the world, it is the wise man who enjoys the happiness of the world. The ignorant man never enjoys; he has to work for others unconsciously.
Thus far we have seen the theories of these Advaitist philosophers, how there is but one Atman; there cannot be two. We have seen how in the whole of this universe there is but One Existence; and that One Existence when seen through the senses is called the world, the world of matter. When It is seen through the mind, It is called the world of thoughts and ideas; and when It is seen as it is, then It is the One Infinite Being. You must bear this in mind; it is not that there is a soul in man, although I had to take that for granted in order to explain it at first, but that there is only One Existence, and that one the Atman, the Self; and when this is perceived through the senses, through sense-imageries, It is called the body. When It is perceived through thought, It is called the mind. When It is perceived in Its own nature, It is the Atman, the One Only Existence. So it is not that there are three things in one, the body and the mind and the Self, although that was a convenient way of putting it in the course of explanation; but all is that Atman, and that one Being is sometimes called the body, sometimes the mind, and sometimes the Self, according to different vision. There is but one Being which the ignorant call the world. When a man goes higher in knowledge, he calls the very same Being the world of thought. Again, when knowledge itself comes, all illusions vanish, and man finds it is all nothing but Atman. I am that One Existence. This is the last conclusion. There are neither three nor two in the universe; it is all One. That One, under the illusion of Maya, is seen as many, just as a rope is seen as a snake. It is the very rope that is seen as a snake. There are not two things there, a rope separate and a snake separate. No man sees these two things there at the same time. Dualism and non-dualism are very good philosophic terms, but in perfect perception we never perceive the real and the false at the same time. We are all born monists, we cannot help it. We always perceive the one. When we perceive the rope, we do not perceive the snake at all; and when we see the snake, we do not see the rope at all — it has vanished. When you see illusion, you do not see reality. Suppose you see one of your friends coming at a distance in the street; you know him very well, but through the haze and mist that is before you, you think it is another man. When you see your friend as another man, you do not see your friend at all, he has vanished. You are perceiving only one. Suppose your friend is Mr. A; but when you perceive Mr. A as Mr. B. you do not see Mr. A at all. In each case you perceive only one. When you see yourself as a body, you are body and nothing else; and that is the perception of the vast majority of mankind. They may talk of soul and mind, and all these things, but what they perceive is the physical form, the touch, taste, vision, and so on. Again, with certain men in certain states of consciousness, they perceive themselves as thought. You know, of course, the story told of Sir Humphrey Davy, who has making experiments before his class with laughing-gas, and suddenly one of the tubes broke, and the gas escaping, he breathed it in. For some moments he remained like a statue. Afterwards he told his class that when he was in that state, he actually perceived that the whole world is made up of ideas. The gas, for a time, made him forget the consciousness of the body, and that very thing which he was seeing as the body, he began to perceive as ideas. When the consciousness rises still higher, when this little puny consciousness is gone for ever, that which is the Reality behind shines, and we see it as the One Existence-Knowledge-Bliss, the one Atman, the Universal. "One that is only Knowledge itself, One that is Bliss itself, beyond all compare, beyond all limit, ever free, never bound, infinite as the sky, unchangeable as the sky. Such a One will manifest Himself in your heart in meditation."
How does the Advaitist theory explain these various phases of heaven and hells and these various ideas we find in all religions? When a man dies, it is said that he goes to heaven or hell, goes here or there, or that when a man dies he is born again in another body either in heaven or in another world or somewhere. These are all hallucinations. Really speaking nobody is ever born or dies. There is neither heaven nor hell nor this world; all three never really existed. Tell a child a lot of ghost stories, add let him go out into the street in the evening. There is a little stump of a tree. What does the child see? A ghost, with hands stretched out, ready to grab him. Suppose a man comes from the corner of the street, wanting to meet his sweetheart; he sees that stump of the tree as the girl. A policeman coming from the street corner sees the stump as a thief. The thief sees it as a policeman. It is the same stump of a tree that was seen in various ways. The stump is the reality, and the visions of the stump are the projections of the various minds. There is one Being, this Self; It neither comes nor goes. When a man is ignorant, he wants to go to heaven or some place, and all his life he has been thinking and thinking of this; and when this earth dream vanishes, he sees this world as a heaven with Devas and angels flying about, and all such things. If a man all his life desires to meet his forefathers, he gets them all from Adam downwards, because he creates them. If a man is still more ignorant and has always been frightened by fanatics with ideas of hell, with all sorts of punishments, when he dies, he will see this very world as hell. All that is meant by dying or being born is simply changes in the plane of vision. Neither do you move, nor does that move upon which you project your vision. You are the permanent, the unchangeable. How can you come and go? It is impossible; you are omnipresent. The sky never moves, but the clouds move over the surface of the sky, and we may think that the sky itself moves, just as when you are in a railway train, you think the land is moving. It is not so, but it is the train which is moving. You are where you are; these dreams, these various clouds move. One dream follows another without connection. There is no such thing as law or connection in this world, but we are thinking that there is a great deal of connection. All of you have probably read Alice in Wonderland. It is the most wonderful book for children that has been written in this century When I read it, I was delighted; it was always in my head to write that sort of a book for children. What pleased me most in it was what you think most incongruous, that there is no connection there. One idea comes and jumps into another, without any connection. When you were children, you thought that the most wonderful connection. So this man brought back his thoughts of childhood, which were perfectly connected to him as a child, and composed this book for children. And all these books which men write, trying to make children swallow their own ideas as men, are nonsense. We too are grown-up children, that is all. The world is the same unconnected thing — Alice in Wonderland — with no connection whatever. When we see things happen a number of times in a certain sequence, we call it cause and effect, and say that the thing will happen again. When this dream changes, another dream will seem quite as connected as this. When we dream, the things we see all seem to be connected; during the dream we never think they are incongruous; it is only when we wake that we see the want of connection. When we wake from this dream of the world and compare it with the Reality, it will be found all incongruous nonsense, a mass of incongruity passing before us, we do not know whence or whither, but we know it will end; and this is called Maya, and is like masses of fleeting fleecy clouds. They represent all this changing existence, and the sun itself, the unchanging, is you. When you look at that unchanging Existence from the outside, you call it God; and when you look at it from the inside, you call it yourself. It is but one. There is no God separate from you, no God higher than you, the real "you". All the gods are little beings to you, all the ideas of God and Father in heaven are but your own reflection. God Himself is your image. "God created man after His own image." That is wrong. Man creates God after his own image. That is right. Throughout the universe we are creating gods after our own image. We create the god and fall down at his feet and worship him; and when this dream comes, we love it!
This is a good point to understand — that the sum and substance of this lecture is that there is but One Existence, and that One-Existence seen through different constitutions appears either as the earth, or heaven, or hell, or gods, or ghosts, or men, or demons, or world, or all these things. But among these many, "He who sees that One in this ocean of death, he who sees that One Life in this floating universe, who realises that One who never changes, unto him belongs eternal peace; unto none else, unto none else." This One existence has to be realised. How, is the next question. How is it to be realised? How is this dream to be broken, how shall we wake up from this dream that we are little men and women, and all such things? We are the Infinite Being of the universe and have become materialised into these little beings, men and women, depending upon the sweet word of one man, or the angry word of another, and so forth. What a terrible dependence, what a terrible slavery! I who am beyond all pleasure and pain, whose reflection is the whole universe, little bits of whose life are the suns and moons and stars — I am held down as a terrible slave! If you pinch my body, I feel pain. If one says a kind word, I begin to rejoice. See my condition — slave of the body, slave of the mind, slave of the world, slave of a good word, slave of a bad word, slave of passion, slave of happiness, slave of life, slave of death, slave of everything! This slavery has to be broken. How? "This Atman has first to be heard, then reasoned upon, and then meditated upon." This is the method of the Advaita Jnâni. The truth has to be heard, then reflected upon, and then to be constantly asserted. Think always, "I am Brahman". Every other thought must be cast aside as weakening. Cast aside every thought that says that you are men or women. Let body go, and mind go, and gods go, and ghosts go. Let everything go but that One Existence. "Where one hears another, where one sees another, that is small; where one does not hear another, where one does not see another, that is Infinite." That is the highest when the subject and the object become one. When I am the listener and I am the speaker, when I am the teacher and I am the taught, when I am the creator and I am the created — then alone fear ceases; there is not another to make us afraid. There is nothing but myself, what can frighten me? This is to be heard day after day. Get rid of all other thoughts. Everything else must be thrown aside, and this is to be repeated continually, poured through the ears until it reaches the heart, until every nerve and muscle, every drop of blood tingles with the idea that I am He, I am He. Even at the gate of death say, "I am He". There was a man in India, a Sannyâsin, who used to repeat "Shivoham" — "I am Bliss Eternal"; and a tiger jumped on him one day and dragged him away and killed him; but so long as he was living, the sound came, "Shivoham, Shivoham". Even at the gate of death, in the greatest danger, in the thick of the battlefield, at the bottom of the ocean, on the tops of the highest mountains, in the thickest of the forest, tell yourself, "I am He, I am He". Day and night say, "I am He". It is the greatest strength; it is religion. "The weak will never reach the Atman." Never say, "O Lord, I am a miserable sinner." Who will help you? You are the help of the universe. What in this universe can help you? Where is the man, or the god, or the demon to help you? What can prevail over you? You are the God of the universe; where can you seek for help? Never help came from anywhere but from yourself. In your ignorance, every prayer that you made and that was answered, you thought was answered by some Being, but you answered the prayer yourself unknowingly. The help came from yourself, and you fondly imagined that some one was sending help to you. There is no help for you outside of yourself; you are the creator of the universe. Like the silkworm you have built a cocoon around yourself. Who will save you? Burst your own cocoon and come out as the beautiful butterfly, as the free soul. Then alone you will see Truth. Ever tell yourself, "I am He." These are words that will burn up the dross that is in the mind, words that will bring out the tremendous energy which is within you already, the infinite power which is sleeping in your heart. This is to be brought out by constantly hearing the truth and nothing else. Wherever there is thought of weakness, approach not the place. Avoid all weakness if you want to be a Jnani.
Before you begin to practice, clear your mind of all doubts. Fight and reason and argue; and when you have established it in your mind that this and this alone can be the truth and nothing else, do not argue any more; close your mouth. Hear not argumentation, neither argue yourself. What is the use of any more arguments? You have satisfied yourself, you have decided the question. What remains? The truth has now to be realised, therefore why waste valuable time in vain arguments? The truth has now to be meditated upon, and every idea that strengthens you must be taken up and every thought that weakens you must be rejected. The Bhakta meditates upon forms and images and all such things and upon God. This is the natural process, but a slower one. The Yogi meditates upon various centres in his body and manipulates powers in his mind. The Jnani says, the mind does not exist, neither the body. This idea of the body and of the mind must go, must be driven off; therefore it is foolish to think of them. It would be like trying to cure one ailment by bringing in another. His meditation therefore is the most difficult one, the negative; he denies everything, and what is left is the Self. This is the most analytical way. The Jnani wants to tear away the universe from the Self by the sheer force of analysis. It is very easy to say, "I am a Jnani", but very hard to be really one. "The way is long", it is, as it were, walking on the sharp edge of a razor; yet despair not. "Awake, arise, and stop not until the goal is reached", say the Vedas.
So what is the meditation of the Jnani? He wants to rise above every idea of body or mind, to drive away the idea that he is the body. For instance, when I say, "I Swami", immediately the idea of the body comes. What must I do then? I must give the mind a hard blow and say, "No, I am not the body, I am the Self." Who cares if disease comes or death in the most horrible form? I am not the body. Why make the body nice? To enjoy the illusion once more? To continue the slavery? Let it go, I am not the body. That is the way of the Jnani. The Bhakta says, "The Lord has given me this body that I may safely cross the ocean of life, and I must cherish it until the journey is accomplished." The Yogi says, "I must be careful of the body, so that I may go on steadily and finally attain liberation." The Jnani feels that he cannot wait, he must reach the goal this very moment. He says, "I am free through eternity, I am never bound; I am the God of the universe through all eternity. Who shall make me perfect? I am perfect already." When a man is perfect, he sees perfection in others. When he sees imperfection, it is his own mind projecting itself. How can he see imperfection if he has not got it in himself? So the Jnani does not care for perfection or imperfection. None exists for him. As soon as he is free, he does not see good and evil. Who sees evil and good? He who has it in himself. Who sees the body? He who thinks he is the body. The moment you get rid of the idea that you are the body, you do not see the world at all; it vanishes for ever. The Jnani seeks to tear himself away from this bondage of matter by the force of intellectual conviction. This is the negative way — the "Neti, Neti" — "Not this, not this."
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。