冥想
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中文
冥想
（1900年4月3日，于旧金山华盛顿厅演讲）
一切宗教皆强调冥想的重要性。瑜伽修行者宣称，冥想之境乃心智所能企及的最高状态。当心智研究外在对象时，它便与之同化合一，迷失了自身。借用古印度哲人的比喻：人的灵魂犹如一块水晶，却映照出近旁之物的色彩。灵魂所触及之处……皆不得不染其颜色。此即困境所在，此即束缚之根源。颜色如此鲜烈，水晶竟忘却自身，误以颜色为己。试想一朵红花置于水晶旁，水晶染上红色，忘记了自身，以为自己是红色的。我们已染上肉身的色彩，忘却了本来面目。随之而来的一切困苦，皆源于这具僵死的肉身。我们所有的恐惧、忧虑、焦虑、烦恼、过失、软弱、邪恶，皆来自这同一根本谬误——以为自己是肉身。此乃常人之状。此乃水晶染取近旁花色之状。我们并不比水晶更是肉身，正如水晶并非那朵红花。
冥想的修炼由此而来。水晶认识到自身是何物，便呈现出本来的色彩。冥想比任何其他方法都更能引领我们趋近真理……
在印度，两人相遇。英语的问候是"你好吗？"印度的问候则是"你立足于自身之上吗？"你一旦立足于他物之上，便有陷入苦难的风险。此即我所言冥想之义——灵魂努力立足于自身。当灵魂思考自身、安住于自身的光辉之中时，那状态必然是灵魂最健康的状态。不，我们所拥有的其他一切方法——激发情感、祈祷等等——其实都以此为目的。在深沉的情感激荡中，灵魂努力立足于自身。虽然情感可能由外物激起，心智却已凝聚专注。
冥想有三个阶段。第一阶段称为"执持"（Dharana），即将心智凝聚于某一对象。我试图将心智专注于这只玻璃杯，将一切其他对象排除于心智之外，唯留这只玻璃杯。然而心智飘忽不定……当它变得坚固，不再那般动摇，便称为"禅那"（Dhyana），即禅定冥想。再往上，有一更高的状态，此时玻璃杯与我之间的分别已然消融——此即"三摩地"（Samadhi），即吸收合一。心智与玻璃杯融为一体，我不见任何分别。一切感官停息，一切原本通过其他感官运作的力量都汇聚于心智之中。此时，这只玻璃杯完全处于心智的支配之下。这有待亲身证悟。这是瑜伽修行者所演练的一种妙法……不妨先承认外在对象是存在的。那么，真正在我们之外的，并非我们所见之物。我所见的玻璃杯，确乎并非外在对象。那作为玻璃杯的外在某物，我不知道，也永远无法知道。
外部有某物对我产生了印象。我随即向那方向发出反应，而这只玻璃杯便是两者结合的产物。来自外部的作用——X。来自内部的反应——Y。玻璃杯即XY。当你审视X，称之为外部世界；审视Y，称之为内部世界……若你试图辨别哪部分是你的心智，哪部分是世界——实则并无此分别。世界是你与某种他物的结合……
让我们再举一个例子。你向平滑的湖面投掷石块。每投一块，随即引发反应。石块被湖中微微涌起的波纹所覆盖。同理，外在事物犹如投入心智之湖的石块。因此，我们并非真正看见外在……我们所见的，只是波纹而已……
涌现于心智中的这些波纹，在外部引发了许多事物。我们无意探讨唯心论与实在论的是非曲直。我们姑且承认事物存在于外部，然而我们所见之物与外部实存之物有所不同，因为我们所见的是外部实存加上我们自身的投射。
假设我将自己加于玻璃杯的那部分贡献抽去，还剩什么？几乎什么都不剩。玻璃杯将会消失。若我将自己加于桌子的那部分贡献抽去，桌子还剩什么？肯定不是这张桌子，因为它是外部加上我自身贡献的混合物。可怜的湖无论何时石块投入，都不得不向着石块涌起波纹。心智对任何感觉都必然生起波纹。若我们能够收摄心智……我们立刻便成为主宰。我们拒绝向这一切现象贡献我们的份额……若我不贡献我的份额，现象便不得不停息。
你一直在制造这种束缚。如何制造的？就是通过你的贡献。我们都在铺设自己的床铺，锻造自己的枷锁……当这外在对象与我之间的认同消解之时，我便能撤回我的贡献，这事物便会消失。届时我会说："玻璃杯在这里"，随即收摄心智，它便消失了……若你能撤回你的那份，你便能行走于水面之上。它为何还能使你沉溺？毒药又当如何？再无困苦。在自然界的每一现象之中，你至少贡献了一半，自然也贡献一半。若你的那一半被撤去，这事物便必然停息。
……每一作用皆有等量的反作用……若一人击打我、使我受伤，那是那人的作用加上我身体的反应……假设我对身体拥有如此强大的力量，以至于能够抵制那种自动反应。这种力量是否能够获得？典籍如是说……若你偶然遇上，便是奇迹。若你以科学方法修习，便是瑜伽。
我亲眼见过人们借心智的力量而获得疗愈。彼处有一行奇迹者。我们说他祈祷，于是那人得到了疗愈。另一人则说："绝非如此。不过是心智的力量罢了。此人乃科学之人，他知道自己在做什么。"
冥想的力量能带给我们一切。若你希望获得对自然的支配力，你可以通过冥想获得。当今所有科学事实的发现，皆借助于冥想的力量。他们研究课题，忘却一切——自身的身份认同以及一切——然后伟大的真相如灵光一现。有些人以为那是灵感。然而灵感无异于呼气；从来没有什么东西是无缘无故得来的。
所谓最崇高的灵感，乃耶稣之功业。他在以往的许多生命中刻苦修行。那是他此前工作的成果——辛勤的工作……谈论灵感都是无稽之谈。若真有灵感，它必如雨水般普降。任何思想领域中的"受启示者"，只出现在拥有普遍教育与文化的民族之中。所谓灵感并不存在……凡被称为灵感的，皆是由心智中已有的原因所产生的结果。某一天，结果如闪光般涌现！他们过去的工作，便是那原因。
由此你也看到了冥想的力量——思想的强度。这些人搅动了自身的灵魂。伟大的真理浮现于表层，显现为明白可见之物。因此，冥想的修炼乃是求知的伟大科学方法。离开了冥想的力量，便无知识可言。从愚昧、迷信等状态中，我们可以借冥想暂时得到救治，然而仅此而已。假设一人曾告诉我，若饮下某种毒药你将死亡，而另一人在夜间前来说："去喝那毒药吧！"而我并未死亡——所发生的是：我的心智通过冥想暂时切断了毒药与我自身之间的认同关系。若在另一次饮毒的情形下，我将死去。
若我了解其中道理，并以科学方法将自己提升到那种冥想境界，我便能救助任何人。典籍如是说；然而其正确程度，你们须自行评判。
有人问我："为何你们印度人不能征服这些事物？你们总是声称自己优于其他一切民族。你们修炼瑜伽，修习之速较任何人都快。你们条件更优越。付诸实践吧！若你们是伟大的民族，理当拥有伟大的体系。你们将不得不向所有神明道别。让那些神明入睡，去研习那些伟大的哲学家。你们不过是稚嫩的孩童，与世界上其他人一样迷信。你们所有的主张都是失败。若你们有主张，就站起来，大胆地说出来，曾经存在的所有天堂都是你们的。麝香鹿身怀芳香而不知香气源自何处。许多天日之后，它才在自身之中发现了芬芳。所有这些神明和魔鬼都在他们自身之内。借助理性、教育与文明的力量去发现，原来一切皆在你自身之中。不需要更多神明与迷信。你们要成为有理性的人，成为瑜伽修行者，成为真正的灵性之人。"
我的回答是：对你们来说，一切也不过是物质。还有什么比坐在宝座上的上帝更为物质？你们俯视那些礼拜偶像的穷苦之人，你们并没有比他们更好。你们这些黄金的崇拜者，你们又是什么？那礼拜偶像者礼拜他的神，礼拜他能看得见的某物。但你们甚至连这一点也做不到。你们既不礼拜灵性，也不礼拜你们能够理解的某物……言辞的崇拜者！"神是灵！"神是灵，应当以灵与信心来礼拜神。灵性居于何处？在一棵树上？在一片云中？你们说神是我们的，是何意？你就是那灵性。这是你永远不可放弃的第一个根本信仰。我是灵性之存在。那就在那里。一切瑜伽的技巧、冥想的体系以及其他一切，不过是为了在那里找到祂。
我为何此刻要说这一切？若不确定位置，便无从谈起。你们把它确定在天堂，确定在全世界一切处所，唯独不在正确的地方。我是灵性，因此一切灵性之灵必在我的灵魂之中。凡认为灵在他处者，皆是无知之人。因此，要在这里寻求，在这内在的天堂中寻求；曾经存在的所有天堂皆在我自身之中。有些圣贤，知晓此理，将目光转向内在，在自己的灵性之中发现了一切灵性之灵。这便是冥想的范畴。洞见关于神与你自身灵魂的真理，从而证得解脱……
你们都在追逐生命，而我们发现那是愚痴之举。有某种东西甚至比生命更崇高。这种生命是低劣的、物质性的。我为何要活着？我是高于生命的某种存在。活着，总是一种束缚。我们总是陷于混乱……一切都是连绵不断的束缚之链。
你们获得某物，而没有人能够教导另一人。这一切皆通过经验而习得……那年轻人无法被说服，让他相信生命中存在任何困苦。你无法说服老人，让他相信生命是一帆风顺的。他经历过许多。这便是两者的区别。
借助冥想的力量，我们必须一步一步地掌控这一切事物。我们从哲学上已经明白，所有这些分别——灵性、心智、物质等等——并无真实的存在……凡存在的，唯有一。不可能有众多。这便是科学与知识的含义。愚昧看见万千差异。智慧证悟唯一。……将众多还原为一，便是科学……整个宇宙已被证明为一。那门科学称为吠檀多（Vedanta）之学。整个宇宙是一。那唯一贯穿于这表面的种种差异之中……
我们现在看到所有这些变异——我们所称的五大元素：固态、液态、气态、光明态、以太态。其后的存在状态是心智的，再往上是灵性的。并非灵性是一物，心智是另一物，以太又是另一物，如此等等。而是同一存在显现于所有这些变异之中。要回归，固体必须变为液体。元素演化的路，必须原路返回。固体将化为液体，化为以太。这是宏观宇宙的概念——是普遍性的。存在着外在宇宙与宇宙性的灵性、心智、以太、气、光、液、固。
心智亦复如此。我在微观之中恰如其分地是同一存在。我是灵性；我是心智；我是以太、固体、液体、气体。我所要做的，是回归我的灵性状态。这是个体在短短一生中活出宇宙生命的任务。如此，人在此生便能获得自由。他在自己短暂的一生之中，将拥有活出整个生命广度的力量……
我们都在挣扎……若无法达到绝对，我们也会抵达某处，那必定优于我们的现状。
冥想就在于这种修炼——将一切事物消融于究竟实相，即灵性之中。固体化为液体，液体化为气体，气体化为以太，再化为心智，心智终将消融。一切皆是灵性。
某些瑜伽修行者宣称，这个身体将变为液体等等。你将能对其为所欲为——使之缩小，或化为气体穿墙而过——他们如是主张。我不得而知，我从未见过任何人做到这一点。但典籍中有此记载，我们没有理由不相信典籍。
也许，我们中的某些人将在此生得以做到。如同一道闪光，它到来，乃是我们过去修行的成果。谁知道在座之中是否有古老的瑜伽修行者，距完成全部功业只差须臾之功。继续修炼！
你们知道，冥想是通过一种观想的过程而来的。你经历所有这些净化元素的过程——使一元素消融于另一元素，再化为更高的元素，化为心智，化为灵性，然后你就是灵性了。
灵性永远是自由的、全能的、全知的。当然，在神的主宰之下。神不可能有众多。这些已解脱的灵魂拥有奇妙的力量，近乎全能。然而没有任何存在能够与神一样全能。若一位解脱之魂说："我要让这颗星球朝这个方向运行"，另一位说："我要让它朝那个方向运行"，便将出现混乱。
切勿犯这个错误！当我用英语说"我是神！"时，那是因为我没有更好的词语。在梵语中，神意味着绝对的存在、知识与智慧，意味着无限的自发光明之意识。没有人格。它是无人格性的……
我永远不是罗摩（Rama）——永远不与自在天（Ishvara），即神之有格性面相合一——但我与梵（Brahman），即无人格的、遍在的存在合一。这里有一大块黏土。我从那黏土中捏出一只小鼠，你捏出一头小象。两者皆是黏土。把两者都融化还原，它们本质上是同一的。"我与我父原为一。"然而那只黏土小鼠永远不可能与那头黏土小象合而为一。
我停在某处；我拥有少许知识。你拥有多一点；你停在另处。有一个灵魂是所有灵魂中最伟大的。这便是自在天（Ishvara），瑜伽之主，即作为具有属性的创造者之神。祂是那个体。祂是全能的。祂居于每一颗心中。没有肉身。祂不需要肉身。你通过冥想等修炼所获得的一切，你都可以通过对自在天——瑜伽修行者之主——的冥想来获得……
通过冥想于某位伟大灵魂之上，亦能达到同样的境界；或者冥想于生命的和谐之上。这些称为客体冥想。因此，你开始冥想于某些外在事物——客体性的事物——无论是外在的还是内在的。若你选取一段冗长的句子，那根本算不上冥想。那不过是试图通过重复来使心智收摄。冥想意味着心智回转于自身。心智止息一切思维波动，世界也随之停歇。你的意识扩展开来。每当你冥想，你都将守护自己的成长……多用些功，不断精进，冥想便会到来。你感受不到身体，也感受不到任何其他事物。当你一小时后从中出来，你会发现那是你此生所曾获得的最美好的休息。那是你给予自身系统休息的唯一途径。就连最深的睡眠也无法给你如此的休息。即便在最深的睡眠中，心智仍在跳动游荡。就那么短短几分钟的冥想，你的大脑几乎停止了活动。只保留极少的生命力。你忘却了身体。哪怕被刀割裂，你也感觉不到丝毫痛苦。你感受到其中的喜悦。你变得如此轻盈。这种完美的休息，我们将在冥想中获得。
其次，是对脊柱不同中心的冥想。根据瑜伽修行者的说法，脊柱中有两条神经，称为"伊达"（Ida）和"平伽拉"（Pingala）。它们是传导传入与传出电流的主要通道。中空的通道称为"苏舒姆那"（Sushumna），贯穿脊柱正中。瑜伽修行者宣称这条通道是封闭的，然而借助冥想的力量，必须将其开启。能量必须被引导至脊柱基部，军荼利（Kundalini）随即升起。世界将因此而变化……
千万神圣的存在就站立在你身旁。你看不见它们，因为我们的世界是由我们的感官所决定的。我们只能看见外在的这一切。让我们称之为X。我们依照自己的心智状态来看待那X。试取屹立于外的一株树木。一个盗贼来了，他在那树桩中看见了什么？一个警察。那孩子看见了一个巨大的鬼魂。那等待心上人的年轻人，看见了什么？他的心上人。然而树桩本身并未改变，依旧如故。这就是神自身，而我们以愚痴看祂，将祂视为一个人，视为尘埃，视为哑默可怜之物。
本性相近的人自然会聚集在一起，生活在同一个世界中。换言之，你们生活在同一处地方。所有的天堂与所有的地狱，就在此地。举例而言：试想若干大圆相互切割，在某些点上相交……在这个平面上的某一圆中，我们可以与另一圆中的某个点相接触。若心智到达中心，你便开始在所有平面上生起意识。在冥想中，你有时会触及另一个平面，看见其他存在——无身的灵体等等。你借助冥想的力量到达那里。这种力量正在改变我们的感官，净化我们的感官。若你开始修炼冥想五天，你将在这些意识中心内部感到疼痛，而听觉也会变得更为精细……这就是为什么印度所有神明都有三只眼睛的缘故。那是灵眼开启，为你显示灵性之物。
当军荼利（Kundalini）的力量从脊柱中一个中心升至另一个中心，它改变了感官，你开始以另一种方式看见这个世界。那便是天堂。你无以言说。随后军荼利下降至较低的中心，你再度成为凡人，直至军荼利抵达大脑，所有中心皆已穿越，整个景象消失，你所感知的……唯有那唯一的存在。你就是神。你从祂之中构建出所有的天堂，从祂之中构建出所有世界。祂是那唯一的存在。除此之外，别无存在。
注释
English
MEDITATION
(Delivered at the Washington Hall, San Francisco, April 3, 1900)
Meditation has been laid stress upon by all religions. The meditative state of mind is declared by the Yogis to be the highest state in which the mind exists. When the mind is studying the external object, it gets identified with it, loses itself. To use the simile of the old Indian philosopher: the soul of man is like a piece of crystal, but it takes the colour of whatever is near it. Whatever the soul touches ... it has to take its colour. That is the difficulty. That constitutes the bondage. The colour is so strong, the crystal forgets itself and identifies itself with the colour. Suppose a red flower is near the crystal and the crystal takes the colour and forgets itself, thinks it is red. We have taken the colour of the body and have forgotten what we are. All the difficulties that follow come from that one dead body. All our fears, all worries, anxieties, troubles, mistakes, weakness, evil, are from that one great blunder — that we are bodies. This is the ordinary person. It is the person taking the colour of the flower near to it. We are no more bodies than the crystal is the red flower.
The practice of meditation is pursued. The crystal knows what it is, takes its own colour. It is meditation that brings us nearer to truth than anything else. ...
In India two persons meet. In English they say, "How do you do?" The Indian greeting is, "Are you upon yourself?" The moment you stand upon something else, you run the risk of being miserable. This is what I mean by meditation — the soul trying to stand upon itself. That state must surely be the healthiest state of the soul, when it is thinking of itself, residing in its own glory. No, all the other methods that we have — by exciting emotions, prayers, and all that — really have that one end in view. In deep emotional excitement the soul tries to stand upon itself. Although the emotion may arise from anything external, there is concentration of mind.
There are three stages in meditation. The first is what is called [Dhâranâ], concentrating the mind upon an object. I try to concentrate my mind upon this glass, excluding every other object from my mind except this glass. But the mind is wavering . . . When it has become strong and does not waver so much, it is called [Dhyâna], meditation. And then there is a still higher state when the differentiation between the glass and myself is lost — [Samâdhi or absorption]. The mind and the glass are identical. I do not see any difference. All the senses stop and all powers that have been working through other channels of other senses [are focused in the mind]. Then this glass is under the power of the mind entirely. This is to be realised. It is a tremendous play played by the Yogis. ... Take for granted, the external object exists. Then that which is really outside of us is not what we see. The glass that I see is not the external object certainly. That external something which is the glass I do not know and will never know.
Something produces an impression upon me. Immediately I send the reaction towards that, and the glass is the result of the combination of these two. Action from outside — X. Action from inside — Y. The glass is XY. When you look at X, call it external world — at Y, internal world . . . If you try to distinguish which is your mind and which is the world — there is no such distinction. The world is the combination of you and something else. ...
let us take another example. You are dropping stones upon the smooth surface of a lake. Every stone you drop is followed by a reaction. The stone is covered by the little waves in the lake. Similarly, external things are like the stones dropping into the lake of the mind. So we do not really see the external . . .; we see the wave only. . . .
These waves that rise in the mind have caused many things outside. We are not discussing the [merits of] idealism and realism. We take for granted that things exist outside, but what we see is different from things that exist outside, as we see what exists outside plus ourselves.
Suppose I take my contribution out of the glass. What remains? Almost nothing. The glass will disappear. If I take my contribution from the table, what would remain of the table? Certainly not this table, because it was a mixture of the outside plus my contribution. The poor lake has got to throw the wave towards the stone whenever [the stone] is thrown in it. The mind must create the wave towards any sensation. Suppose . . . we can withhold the mind. At once we are masters. We refuse to contribute our share to all these phenomena.... If I do not contribute my share, it has got to stop.
You are creating this bondage all the time. How? By putting in your share. We are all making our own beds, forging our own chains.... When the identifying ceases between this external object and myself, then I will be able to take my contribution off, and this thing will disappear. Then I will say, "Here is the glass", and then take my mind off, and it disappears.... If you can take away your share, you can walk upon water. Why should it drown you any more? What of poison? No more difficulties. In every phenomenon in nature you contribute at least half, and nature brings half. If your half is taken off, the thing must stop.
... To every action there is equal reaction.... If a man strikes me and wounds me it is that man's actions and my body's reaction. ... Suppose I have so much power over the body that I can resist even that automatic action. Can such power be attained? The books say it can. ... If you stumble on [it], it is a miracle. If you learn it scientifically, it is Yoga.
I have seen people healed by the power of mind. There is the miracle worker. We say he prays and the man is healed. Another man says, "Not at all. It is just the power of the mind. The man is scientific. He knows what he is about."
The power of meditation gets us everything. If you want to get power over nature, [you can have it through meditation]. It is through the power of meditation all scientific facts are discovered today. They study the subject and forget everything, their own identity and everything, and then the great fact comes like a flash. Some people think that is inspiration. There is no more inspiration than there is expiration; and never was anything got for nothing.
The highest so-called inspiration was the work of Jesus. He worked hard for ages in previous births. That was the result of his previous work — hard work. ... It is all nonsense to talk about inspiration. Had it been, it would have fallen like rain. Inspired people in any line of thought only come among nations who have general education and [culture]. There is no inspiration. . . . Whatever passes for inspiration is the result that comes from causes already in the mind. One day, flash comes the result! Their past work was the [cause].
Therein also you see the power of meditation — intensity of thought. These men churn up their own souls. Great truths come to the surface and become manifest. Therefore the practice of meditation is the great scientific method of knowledge. There is no knowledge without the power of meditation. From ignorance, superstition, etc. we can get cured by meditation for the time being and no more. [Suppose] a man has told me that if you drink such a poison you will be killed, and another man comes in the night and says, "Go drink the poison!" and I am not killed, [what happens is this: ] my mind cut out from the meditation the identity between the poison and myself just for the time being. In another case of [drinking] the poison, I will be killed.
If I know the reason and scientifically raise myself up to that [state of meditation], I can save anyone. That is what the books say; but how far it is correct you must appraise.
I am asked, "Why do you Indian people not conquer these things? You claim all the time to be superior to all other people. You practice Yoga and do it quicker than anybody else. You are fitter. Carry it out! If you are a great people, you ought to have a great system. You will have to say good-bye to all the gods. Let them go to sleep as you take up the great philosophers. You are mere babies, as superstitious as the rest of the world. And all your claims are failures. If you have the claims, stand up and be bold, and all the heaven that ever existed is yours. There is the musk deer with fragrance inside, and he does not know where the fragrance [comes from]. Then after days and days he finds it in himself. All these gods and demons are within them. Find out, by the powers of reason, education, and culture that it is all in yourself. No more gods and superstitions. You want to be rational, to be Yogis, really spiritual."
[My reply is: With you too] everything is material What is more material than God sitting on a throne? You look down upon the poor man who is worshipping the image. You are no better. And you, gold worshippers, what are you? The image worshipper worships his god, something that he can see. But you do not even do that. You do not worship the spirit nor something that you can understand. ... Word worshippers! "God is spirit!" God is spirit and should be worshipped in spirit and faith. Where does the spirit reside? On a tree? On a cloud? What do you mean by God being ours? You are the spirit. That is the first fundamental belief you must never give up. I am the spiritual being. It is there. All this skill of Yoga and this system of meditation and everything is just to find Him there.
Why am I saying all this just now? Until you fix the location, you cannot talk. You fix it up in heaven and all the world ever except in the right place. I am spirit, and therefore the spirit of all spirits must be in my soul. Those who think it anywhere else are ignorant. Therefore it is to be sought here in this heaven; all the heaven that ever existed [is within myself]. There are some sages who, knowing this, turn their eyes inward and find the spirit of all spirits in their own spirit. That is the scope of meditation. Find out the truth about God and about your own soul and thus attain to liberation. ...
You are all running after life, and we find that is foolishness. There is something much higher than life even. This life is inferior, material. Why should I live at all? I am something higher than life. Living is always slavery. We always get mixed up. ... Everything is a continuous chain of slavery.
You get something, and no man can teach another. It is through experience [we learn]. ... That young man cannot be persuaded that there are any difficulties in life. You cannot persuade the old man that life is all smooth. He has had many experiences. That is the difference.
By the power of meditation we have got to control, step by step, all these things. We have seen philosophically that all these differentiations — spirit, mind, matter, etc. — [have no real existences. ... Whatever exists is one. There cannot be many. That is what is meant by science and knowledge. Ignorance sees manifold. Knowledge realises one. ... Reducing the many into one is science. ... The whole of the universe has been demonstrated into one. That science is called the science of Vedanta. The whole universe is one. The one runs through all this seeming variety. ...
We have all these variations now and we see them — what we call the five elements: solid, liquid, gaseous, luminous, ethereal. After that the state of existence is mental and beyond that spiritual. Not that spirit is one and mind is another, ether another, and so on. It is the one existence appearing in all these variations. To go back, the solid must become liquid. The way [the elements evolved] they must go back. The solids will become liquid, etherised. This is the idea of the macrocosm — and universal. There is the external universe and universal spirit, mind, ether, gas, luminosity, liquid, solid.
The same with the mind. I am just exactly the same in the microcosm. I am the spirit; I am mind; I am the ether, solid, liquid, gas. What I want to do is to go back to my spiritual state. It is for the individual to live the life of the universe in one short life. Thus man can be free in this life. He in his own short lifetime shall have the power to live the whole extent of life....
We all struggle. . . . If we cannot reach the Absolute, we will get somewhere, and it will be better than we are now.
Meditation consists in this practice [of dissolving every thing into the ultimate Reality — spirit]. The solid melts into liquid, that into gas, gas into ether, then mind, and mind will melt away. All is spirit.
Some of the Yogis claim that this body will become liquid etc. You will be able to do any thing with it — make it little, or gas pass through this wall — they claim. I do not know. I have never seen anybody do it. But it is in the books. We have no reason to disbelieve the books.
Possibly, some of us will be able to do it in this life. Like a flash it comes, as the result of our past work. Who knows but some here are old Yogis with just a little to do to finish the whole work. Practice!
Meditation, you know, comes by a process imagination. You go through all these processes purification of the elements — making the one melt the other, that into the next higher, that into mind, that into spirit, and then you are spirit.
Spirit is always free, omnipotent, omniscient. Of course, under God. There cannot be many Gods. These liberated souls are wonderfully powerful, almost omnipotent. [But] none can be as powerful as God. If one [liberated soul] said, "I will make this planet go this way", and another said, "I will make it go that way", [there would be confusion].
Don't you make this mistake! When I say in English, "I am God!" it is because I have no better word. In Sanskrit, God means absolute existence, knowledge, and wisdom, infinite self-luminous consciousness. No person. It is impersonal. ...
I am never Râma [never one with Ishvara, the personal aspect of God], but I am [one with Brahman, the impersonal, all-pervading existence]. Here is a huge mass of clay. Out of that clay I made a little [mouse] and you made a little [elephant]. Both are clay. Melt both down They are essentially one. "I and my Father are one." [But the clay mouse can never be one with the clay elephant.]
I stop somewhere; I have a little knowledge. You a little more; you stop somewhere. There is one soul which is the greatest of all. This is Ishvara, Lord of Yoga [God as Creator, with attributes]. He is the individual. He is omnipotent. He resides in every heart. There is no body. He does not need a body. All you get by the practice of meditation etc., you can get by meditation upon Ishvara, Lord of Yogis. ...
The same can be attained by meditating upon a great soul; or upon the harmony of life. These are called objective meditations. So you begin to meditate upon certain external things, objective things, either outside or inside. If you take a long sentence, that is no meditation at all. That is simply trying to get the mind collected by repetition. Meditation means the mind is turned back upon itself. The mind stops all the [thought-waves] and the world stops. Your consciousness expands. Every time you meditate you will keep your growth. ... Work a little harder, more and more, and meditation comes. You do not feel the body or anything else. When you come out of it after the hour, you have had the most beautiful rest you ever had in your life. That is the only way you ever give rest to your system. Not even the deepest sleep will give you such rest as that. The mind goes on jumping even in deepest sleep. Just those few minutes [in meditation] your brain has almost stopped. Just a little vitality is kept up. You forget the body. You may be cut to pieces and not feel it at all. You feel such pleasure in it. You become so light. This perfect rest we will get in meditation.
Then, meditation upon different objects. There are meditations upon different centres of the spine. [According to the Yogis, there are two nerves in the spinal column, called Idâ and Pingalâ.They are the main channels through which the afferent and efferent currents travel.] The hollow [canal called Sushumnâ] runs through the middle of the spinal column. The Yogis claim this cord is closed, but by the power of meditation it has to be opened. The energy has to be sent down to [the base of the spine], and the Kundalini rises. The world will be changed. ...
Thousands of divine beings are standing about you. You do not see them because our world is determined by our senses. We can only see this outside. Let us call it X. We see that X according to our mental state. Let us take the tree standing outside. A thief came and what did he see in the stump? A policeman. The child saw a huge ghost. The young man was waiting for his sweetheart, and what did he see? His sweetheart. But the stump of the tree had not changed. It remained the same. This is God Himself, and with our foolishness we see Him to be man, to be dust, to be dumb, miserable.
Those who are similarly constituted will group together naturally and live in the same world. Otherwise stated, you live in the same place. All the heavens and all the hells are right here. For example: [take planes in the form of] big circles cutting each other at certain points. . . . On this plane in one circle we can be in touch with a certain point in another [circle]. If the mind gets to the centre, you begin to be conscious on all planes. In meditation sometimes you touch another plane, and you see other beings, disembodied spirits, and so on. You get there by the power of meditation. This power is changing our senses, you see, refining our senses. If you begin to practise meditation five days, you will feel the pain from within these centres [of conciousness] and hearing [becomes finer]. ...That is why all the Indian gods have three eyes.That is the psychic eye that opens out and shows you spiritual things.
As this power of Kundalini rises from one centre to the other in the spine, it changes the senses and you begin to see this world another. It is heaven. You cannot talk. Then the Kundalini goes down to the lower centres. You are again man until the Kundalini reaches the brain, all the centres have been passed, and the whole vision vanishes and you [perceive] . . . nothing but the one existence. You are God. All heavens you make out of Him, all worlds out of Him. He is the one existence. Nothing else exists.
Notes
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。