三 在布鲁克林伦理学会
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中文
三
（于美国纽约布鲁克林伦理学会）
问——您如何将您的乐观观点与恶的存在、与苦难和痛苦的普遍弥漫相调和？
答——只有先证明恶的存在，我才能回答这个问题；而吠檀多（Vedanta）宗教并不承认恶的存在。永恒的、不掺杂任何快乐的痛苦才是绝对的恶；但如果世间的痛苦和忧伤为人注入了温柔与高尚的品质，并引导人趋向永恒的至福，那它们就不是恶——恰恰相反，它们可能是至善。在我们将事物的因果追溯至永恒的领域之前，我们无法断言任何事物是恶。
崇拜魔鬼并非印度教的组成部分。人类正处于发展的进程之中，并非所有人都已达到同样的高度。因此，有些人在尘世的生命中比其他人更为高尚纯洁。每个人在其当前发展阶段的范围内，都有机会使自己变得更好。我们无法消解自身的存在，我们无法摧毁或削弱内在的生命力，但我们有自由赋予它不同的方向。
问——宇宙物质的实在性是否仅仅是我们心灵的想象？
答——在我看来，外部世界确实是一个实体，其存在独立于我们的心理概念之外。一切造化都在前进和上升，遵循着精神进化的伟大法则——这与物质的进化是不同的。后者是前者的象征，却无法解释前者的过程。在我们目前的尘世环境中，我们还不是真正的个体。只有当我们上升到更高的境界，当内在的神圣精神拥有了完美的媒介来表达其属性时，我们才算真正达到了个体性。
问——您如何解释向基督提出的那个问题——究竟是婴儿本身犯了罪，还是他的父母犯了罪，以至于他生而失明？
答——虽然罪的问题并不直接涉及这个难题，但我确信，这种失明是由于该儿童的灵魂在前世的某种行为所致。在我看来，这类问题只有在前世存在的假设下才能得到解释。
问——我们的灵魂在死后是否进入一种幸福的状态？
答——死亡只是条件的改变：时间和空间在你之中，而不是你在时间和空间之中。我们只需知道：无论在可见的世界还是不可见的世界，当我们使自己的生命更加纯洁高尚时，我们就更加接近上帝——一切精神之美与永恒喜悦的中心。
问——印度教关于灵魂轮回的理论是什么？
答——它与科学家的守恒定律建立在同样的基础之上。这一理论最早由我国的一位哲学家提出。古代圣哲并不相信有一个"创造"。创造意味着从无中生有，这是不可能的。创造没有开端，正如时间没有开端一样。上帝与创造如同两条无尽的平行线——没有终点，没有起点。我们的创造理论是"它存在，它曾存在，它将继续存在"。一切惩罚不过是反作用。西方人应当从印度学习一件事，那就是宽容。一切宗教都是好的，因为它们的本质是相同的。
问——为什么印度的妇女地位不够高？
答——这在很大程度上是由于历代野蛮的入侵者所造成的；部分也归因于印度人民自身。
当有人在美国向斯瓦米吉指出印度教不是一个主动传教的宗教时，他回答道：
"我带给西方的信息，正如佛陀带给东方的信息一样。"
问——您是否打算将印度教的仪式和修行引入这个国家（美国）？
答——我所宣讲的纯粹是哲学。
问——您不认为如果去除了对未来地狱之火的恐惧，人就无法被约束了吗？
答——不！恰恰相反，我认为通过爱与希望，人会变得远比通过恐惧更加善良。
English
III
(At the Brooklyn Ethical Society, Brooklyn, U. S. A.)
Q.—How can you reconcile your optimistic views with the existence of evil, with the universal prevalence of sorrow and pain?
A. —I can only answer the question if the existence of evil be first proved; but this the Vedantic religion does not admit. Eternal pain unmixed with pleasure would be a positive evil; but temporal pain and sorrow, if they have contributed an element of tenderness and nobility tending towards eternal bliss, are not evils: on the contrary, they may be supreme good. We cannot assert that anything is evil until we have traced its sequence into the realm of eternity.
Devil worship is not a part of the Hindu religion. The human race is in process of development; all have not reached the same altitude. Therefore some are nobler and purer in their earthly lives than others. Every one has an opportunity within the limits of the sphere of his present development of making himself better. We cannot unmake ourselves; we cannot destroy or impair the vital force within us, but we have the freedom to give it different directions.
Q.—Is not the reality of cosmic matter simply the imagining of our own minds?
A.—In my opinion the external world is certainly an entity and has an existence outside of our mental conceptions. All creation is moving onwards and upwards, obedient to the great law of spirit evolution, which is different from the evolution of matter. The latter is symbolical of, but does not explain, the process of the former. We are not individuals now, in our present earthly environment. We shall not have reached individuality until we shall have ascended to the higher state, when the divine spirit within us will have a perfect medium for the expression of its attributes.
Q.—What is your explanation of the problem presented to Christ, as to whether it was the infant itself or its parents that had sinned, that it was born blind?
A.—While the question of sin does not enter into the problem, I am convinced that the blindness was due to some act on the part of the spirit of the child in a previous incarnation. In my opinion such problems are only explicable on the hypothesis of a prior earthly existence.
Q.—Do our spirits pass at death into a state of happiness?
A.—Death is only a change of condition: time and space are in you, you are not in time and space. It is enough to know that as we make our lives purer and nobler, either in the seen or the unseen world, the nearer we approach God, who is the centre of all spiritual beauty and eternal joy.
Q.—What is the Hindu theory of the transmigration of souls?
A.—It is on the same basis as the theory of conservation is to the scientist. This theory was first produced by a philosopher of my country. The ancient sages did not believe in a creation. A creation implies producing something out of nothing. That is impossible. There was no beginning of creation as there was no beginning of time. God and creation are as two lines without end, without beginning, and parallel. Our theory of creation is "It is, it was, and is to be". All punishment is but reaction. People of the West should learn one thing from India and that is toleration. All the religions are good, since the essentials are the same.
Q.—Why are the women of India not much elevated?
A.—It is in a great degree owing to the barbarous invaders through different ages; it is partly due to the people of India themselves.
When it was pointed out to Swamiji in America that Hinduism is not a proselytising religion, he replied:
"I have a message to the West as Buddha had a message to the East."
Q.—Do you intend to introduce the practices and rituals of the Hindu religion into this country (America)?
A.—I am preaching simply philosophy.
Q.—Do you not think if the fear of future hell-fire were taken from man there would be no controlling him?
A.—No! On the contrary, I think he is made far better through love and hope than through fear.
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。