神圣之爱
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中文
神圣之爱
（本演讲转录自《吠檀多与西方》，见第四卷。）
（一九〇〇年四月十二日在旧金山地区演讲）
爱可以用一个三角形来象征。第一个角是：爱不发问。爱不是乞丐……乞丐的爱根本不是爱。爱的第一个标志是它什么也不索取，它给予一切。这就是真正的灵性崇拜，通过爱的崇拜。神是否慈悲，已不再是一个问题。他是神；他是我的爱。神是全能还是全善，有限还是无限，已不再是一个问题。如果他施与福乐，好的；如果他带来灾难，那又有什么关系？一切其他属性都消失了，只剩下唯一的一个——无限之爱。
有一位古印度皇帝，一次外出打猎时在森林中遇到一位伟大的圣人。他对这位圣人非常欢喜，坚持邀请圣人到都城去接受一些礼物。圣人起初拒绝了。但皇帝一再坚持，圣人最终同意了。当他到达宫殿时，被通报给皇帝，皇帝说："请等一下，让我先完成我的祈祷。"皇帝祈祷道："主啊，赐予我更多的财富、更多的土地、更多的健康、更多的子嗣。"圣人站起身来，开始往外走。皇帝说："你还没有接受我的礼物啊。"圣人回答说："我不向乞丐行乞。你一直在祈求更多的土地、更多的金钱，求这求那。你能给我什么呢？先满足你自己的欲求吧！"
爱从不索取；它始终给予……当一个年轻人去见他的恋人时……他们之间没有商业关系；他们的关系是爱的关系，而爱不是乞丐。同样地，我们要明白，真正灵性崇拜的开端意味着不再乞求。我们已经结束了一切乞求："主啊，赐予我这个那个。"到那时，宗教才真正开始。
第二个角是：爱不知恐惧。你可以把我千刀万剐，我仍然爱你。假设你们中某位母亲，一个柔弱的女子，看到一只老虎在街上抢走了你的孩子。我知道你会在哪里：你会直面那只老虎。换作另一个时候，街上出现一条狗，你会逃之夭夭。但你纵身扑向老虎的血盆大口，把孩子夺了回来。爱不知恐惧。它征服一切邪恶。敬畏神是宗教的开端，但热爱神是宗教的终极。一切恐惧都已消亡。
第三个角是：爱本身就是目的。爱永远不能是手段。一个人说"我爱你，因为这样那样"，这不是爱。爱永远不能是手段；它必须是完美的目的本身。爱的目的和归宿是什么？爱神，如此而已。为什么要爱神？没有为什么，因为爱不是手段。当一个人能够去爱时，那就是解脱，那就是圆满，那就是天堂。还有什么更多的？还能有什么目的？你还能拥有什么比爱更高的呢？
我所说的并非我们每个人通常理解的那种爱。那种柔柔弱弱的小情小爱固然可爱。男人爱上了女人，女人为了男人去赴死。很可能五分钟后约翰就踢了简一脚，简也踢了约翰一脚。这是物质主义，根本不是爱。如果约翰真的能爱简，他在那一刻就是完美的。他的真正本性就是爱；他在自身之中就是圆满的。约翰仅仅通过爱简就能获得瑜伽的一切力量，尽管他也许对宗教、心理学或神学一个字也不了解。我相信，如果一个男人和一个女人能真正去爱，他们就能获得瑜伽行者所声称拥有的一切力量，因为爱本身就是神。神无处不在，因此你拥有那份爱，无论你是否知晓。
有一天傍晚我看到一个男孩在等一个女孩……我认为研究这个男孩是一个很好的实验。他因爱的强烈而发展出了千里眼和顺风耳。六七十次他都从未出过错，而那个女孩远在两百英里之外。他会说："她穿着这样的衣服。"或者："她正往那边走。"这些我亲眼所见。
问题是这样的：你的丈夫难道不是神吗？你的孩子难道不是神吗？如果你能爱你的妻子，你就拥有了世间一切的宗教。你内在拥有宗教和瑜伽的全部奥秘。但你能去爱吗？这才是问题。你说："我爱……哦，玛丽，我为你而死！"但如果你看到玛丽亲吻另一个男人，你就想割断他的喉咙。如果玛丽看到约翰和另一个女孩说话，她就整夜无法入睡，把约翰的生活变成地狱。这不是爱。这是性的交易和买卖。谈论这些而称之为爱是亵渎。世人日日夜夜谈论神和宗教——同样也谈论爱。把一切都弄成虚假的表象——这就是你们在做的事！人人都在谈论爱，但在报纸的栏目中，我们每天读到的都是离婚的消息。当你爱约翰时，你是为他而爱他，还是为你自己而爱他？如果你为自己而爱他，你就期望从约翰那里得到什么。如果你为他而爱他，你就不会想从约翰那里要任何东西。他可以做任何他喜欢的事，你仍然一样爱他。
这就是三个要点，构成爱的三角形的三个角。没有爱，哲学变成干枯的骨架，心理学变成一种空洞的理论，工作变成纯粹的劳役。有了爱，哲学变成诗歌，心理学变成神秘主义，工作变成世间最甜美之事。仅仅通过读书，人会变得枯竭。谁才是真正的学者？是能够感受到哪怕一滴爱的人。神就是爱，爱就是神。而神无处不在。在看到神就是爱、神无处不在之后，一个人不知道自己是头朝上还是脚朝上——就像一个人喝了一瓶酒后不知道自己站在哪里……如果我们为神哭泣十分钟，在接下来的两个月里我们都不知道自己身在何处……我们会忘记吃饭的时间。我们不知道自己在吃什么。你怎么可能爱着神却总是那么体面得体、像做生意一样？……那种……征服一切的、全能的爱之力——它怎样才能降临？……
不要评判他人。他们都是痴狂的。孩子们为游戏而痴狂，年轻人为年轻人而痴狂，老人在咀嚼往年的回忆；有些人为黄金而痴狂。为什么就不能有人为神而痴狂呢？像你们为约翰和简而痴狂那样，为对神的爱而痴狂吧。他们算什么？人们说："我该放弃这个吗？我该放弃那个吗？"有人问："我该放弃婚姻吗？"不要放弃任何东西！一切事物终将自己离你而去。等着吧，你会忘记它们的。
完全融入对神的爱之中——这才是真正的崇拜！你偶尔能在罗马天主教会中瞥见这种境界——那些美妙的修士和修女在奇妙的爱中癫狂。你们应该拥有这样的爱！对神的爱就应该是这样——不索取什么，不寻求什么……
有人问：如何崇拜？把他当作比你一切财产都珍贵、比你一切亲友都珍贵、比你的子女都珍贵的来崇拜。把他当作你所爱的"爱"本身来崇拜。有一位，他的名字是无限之爱。这是对神唯一的定义。不要在乎这个……宇宙是否毁灭。只要他是无限之爱，我们在乎什么呢？你明白崇拜的含义了吗？一切其他念头都必须消失。除了神之外，一切都必须隐没。父亲或母亲对孩子的爱，妻子对丈夫的爱，丈夫对妻子的爱，朋友对朋友的爱——所有这些爱汇聚为一，都必须献给神。如果一个女人爱上了一个男人，她就无法再爱另一个男人。如果一个男人爱上了一个女人，他就无法再爱另一个女人。这就是爱的本性。
我的老师过去常说："假设这间屋子里有一袋黄金，隔壁有一个强盗。那个强盗清楚地知道那里有一袋黄金。那个强盗能睡着吗？当然不能。他无时无刻不在疯狂地想着如何拿到那些黄金。"……同样地，如果一个人爱神，他怎么可能还爱别的什么？在对神那磅礴的爱面前，还有什么别的东西能站得住脚？一切都在它面前化为乌有。心灵怎能停歇下来而不疯狂地去寻找那份爱、去实现、去感受、去活在其中呢？
我们应该这样爱神："我不要财富，也不要朋友、美貌、财产、学识，甚至不要解脱。如果这是你的旨意，就让我经历千次死亡。赐予我这一点——让我爱你，并且为爱而爱。那些世俗之人对其世间财物的那种强烈的爱，愿那种强烈的爱进入我的心中，但唯独是为了那至美者。赞美神！赞美作为恋人的神！"神不是别的什么，就是这样。他不在意许多瑜伽行者所能做的那些神奇之事。小术士耍小把戏。神是大术士；一切把戏都由他来施展。谁在乎有多少个世界呢？……
还有另一条道路——征服一切，降伏一切——征服身体，降伏心灵……"征服一切有什么用？我的事只在于神！"虔信者如是说。
有一位瑜伽行者，一位伟大的爱者。他正死于喉癌。另一位瑜伽行者前来探望他，此人是一位哲学家。后者说："听着，我的朋友，你为什么不把心灵集中在你的溃疡上，把它治好呢？"当这个问题第三次被提出时，这位伟大的瑜伽行者说："你以为我已经完全奉献给主的心灵，还可能固着于这副血肉之躯吗？"基督拒绝召唤天使大军来援助自己。这具渺小的身体真的那么重要，值得我召来两万天使来多维持它两三天吗？
从世俗的立场来看，我的一切就是这具身体。我的世界就是这具身体。我的神就是这具身体。我就是这具身体。你掐我一下，我就感到疼痛。我一头痛就忘记了神。我就是身体！神和一切都必须为这最高目标——身体——而屈就。从这个立场来看，基督死在十字架上却没有召来天使，他是一个傻瓜。他应该召来天使把自己从十字架上救下来！但从爱者的立场来看，对于那些把这具身体视为无物的人来说，谁在乎这些无聊之事？为什么要费心去想这来来去去的身体呢？它的重要性不过如同罗马士兵掷骰子争夺的那块布罢了。
在世俗立场和爱者的立场之间有着天壤之别。继续去爱吧。如果一个人生气了，你没有理由也生气；如果他自甘堕落，你也没有理由自甘堕落……"仅仅因为另一个人愚弄了自己，我为什么就要生气呢？你不要抗拒邪恶！"这是神的爱者们所说的话。无论世界如何行事，走向何方，都对他们毫无影响。
有一位瑜伽行者获得了超自然的力量。他说："看我的神通！看天空，我要用云彩把它遮住。"于是天开始下雨了。有人说："大师，您真了不起。但请教给我那种——知道之后就不再需要任何其他东西的——智慧。"……要能够摆脱权力，一无所有，不想要权力！这不是仅凭理智就能理解的……你读上千本书也理解不了……当我们开始真正理解时，整个世界在我们面前敞开……女孩在玩她的娃娃，不断给娃娃换新丈夫；但当她真正的丈夫到来时，所有娃娃都将永远被抛在一旁……世间这些忙碌纷扰也是如此。当爱的太阳升起时，所有这些权力的游戏之阳和这些渴望都消逝了。我们拿权力做什么？感谢神，如果你能摆脱你所拥有的权力。开始去爱吧。权力必须退去。在我与神之间不应有任何东西，唯有爱。神只是爱，别无其他——开始是爱，中间是爱，最终还是爱。
有一个王后在街头传扬对神之爱的故事。她暴怒的丈夫迫害她，她在全国各地被追捕。她常常唱歌描述她的爱。她的歌曲传遍了各处。"我含泪浇灌着爱的永恒之藤蔓……"这就是最终的、伟大的目标。还有什么别的呢？人们想要这个那个。他们都想拥有和占有。这就是为什么这么少的人能理解爱，这么少的人能达到爱的境界。唤醒他们，告诉他们吧！他们会得到更多的启示。
爱本身就是永恒的、无尽的牺牲。你将不得不舍弃一切。你无法占有任何东西。找到了爱，你就不会再想要任何别的东西……"只愿你永远做我的爱！"这就是爱所渴望的。"我的爱人，你的双唇一吻！被你亲吻过的人，一切忧愁都将消散。一经你的亲吻，人就变得幸福，忘记了对其他一切的爱。他唯独赞美你，他唯独看见你。"即便在人间之爱的本质中，也潜藏着神圣的元素。在强烈之爱的最初一刻，整个世界似乎都与你的心合拍。宇宙中的每一只鸟都在歌唱你的爱；花儿为你绽放。正是那无限的、永恒的爱本身，人间的爱才由此而来。
神的爱者为何要惧怕什么——惧怕强盗、惧怕困苦，甚至惧怕自己的生命？……爱者可以去到最深的地狱，但那还会是地狱吗？我们都必须放下这些关于天堂和地狱的观念，获得更伟大的爱……有成百上千的人在寻求这种爱的癫狂，在这癫狂面前，除了神之外的一切都消失殆尽。
最终，爱、爱者与被爱者合而为一。这就是目标……为什么灵魂与人之间有隔离，灵魂与神之间有隔离？……正是为了拥有这种爱的享受。他想要爱自己，所以他将自己分为多……"这就是创造的全部理由，"爱者如是说。"我们都是一体的。'我与父原为一。'此刻我是分离的，为的是爱神……哪个更好——成为糖还是吃糖？成为糖有什么乐趣？吃糖——那才是对爱的无限享受。"
爱的所有理想——神作为我们的父亲、母亲、朋友、孩子——都是为了加强我们内心的虔信，使我们感到与神更亲近、更亲密。最强烈的爱是两性之间的爱。必须以那种爱来爱神。女人爱她的父亲，她爱她的母亲，她爱她的孩子，她爱她的朋友。但她无法将自己的全部向父亲倾诉，也不能向母亲，也不能向孩子，也不能向朋友。只有一个人面前她无所隐瞒。男人也是如此……夫妻关系是最全面的关系。两性之间的关系将所有其他的爱汇聚为一。在丈夫身上，女人拥有了父亲、朋友、孩子。在妻子身上，丈夫拥有了母亲、女儿，以及更多。两性之间那种磅礴完整的爱必须为神而来——正如一个女人向一个与她没有血缘之约的男人敞开自己——完全地、无惧地、无愧地。没有黑暗！她在爱人面前不会隐藏任何东西，就像在自己面前不会隐藏一样。正是那样的爱必须为神而来。这些道理既深奥又难以理解。你们会渐渐开始理解，而一切关于性别的观念都将脱落。"如同夏日河岸沙上的水滴，此生及其一切关系亦复如是。"
所有这些观念，如"他是创造者"之类，都是适合孩子的观念。他是我的爱，我的生命本身——这必须是我心中的呼喊！……
"我怀着一个希望。人们称你为世界之主——无论善恶，无论大小——我都是这世界的一部分，而你也是我的爱。我的身体、我的心灵、我的灵魂，尽皆奉于你的祭坛之上。爱啊，请不要拒绝这些供养！"
English
DIVINE LOVE
(This lecture is reproduced from the Vedanta and the West. See Vol. IV.)
(Delivered in San Francisco area, April 12, 1900)
[Love may be symbolised by a triangle. The first angle is,] love questions not. It is not a beggar. . . . Beggar's love is no love at all. The first sign of love is when love asks nothing, [when it] gives everything. This is the real spiritual worship, the worship through love. Whether God is merciful is no longer questioned. He is God; He is my love. Whether God is omnipotent and almighty, limited or unlimited, is no longer questioned. If He distributes good, all right; if He brings evil, what does it matter? All other attributes vanish except that one—infinite love.
There was an old Indian emperor who on a hunting expedition came across a great sage in the forest. He was so pleased with this sage that he insisted that the latter come to the capital to receive some presents. [At first] the sage refused. [But] the emperor insisted, and at last the sage consented. When he arrived [at the palace], he was announced to the emperor who said, "Wait a minute until I finish my prayer." The emperor prayed, "Lord, give me more wealth, more [land, more health], more children." The sage stood up and began to walk out of the room. The emperor said, "You have not received my presents." The sage replied, "I do not beg from beggars. All this time you have been praying for more land, [for] more money, for this and that. What can you give me? First satisfy your own wants!"
Love never asks; it always gives. . . . When a young man goes to see his sweetheart, . . . there is no business relationship between them; theirs is a relationship of love, and love is no beggar. [In the same way], we understand that the beginning of real spiritual worship means no begging. We have finished all begging: "Lord, give me this and that." Then will religion begin.
The second [angle of the triangle of love] is that love knows no fear. You may cut me to pieces, and I [will] still love you. Suppose one of you mothers, a weak woman, sees a tiger in the street snatching your child. I know where you will be: you will face the tiger. Another time a dog appears in the street, and you will fly. But you jump at the mouth of the tiger and snatch your child away. Love knows no fear. It conquers all evil. The fear of God is the beginning of religion, but the love of God is the end of religion. All fear has died out.
The third [angle of the love-triangle is that] love is its own end. It can never be the means. The man who says, "I love you for such and such a thing", does not love. Love can never be the means; it must be the perfect end. What is the end and aim of love? To love God, that is all. Why should one love God? [There is] no why, because it is not the means. When one can love, that is salvation, that is perfection, that is heaven. What more? What else can be the end? What can you have higher than love?
I am not talking about what every one of us means by love. Little namby-pamby love is lovely. Man rails in love with woman, and woman goes to die for man. The chances are that in five minutes John kicks Jane, and Jane kicks John. This is a materialism and no love at all. If John could really love Jane, he would be perfect that moment. [His true] nature is love; he is perfect in himself. John will get all the powers of Yoga simply by loving Jane, [although] he may not know a word about religion, psychology, or theology. I believe that if a man and woman can really love, [they can acquire] all the powers the Yogis claim to have, for love itself is God. That God is omnipresent, and [therefore] you have that love, whether you know it or not.
I saw a boy waiting for a girl the other evening. . . . I thought it a good experiment to study this boy. He developed clairvoyance and clairaudience through the intensity of his love. Sixty or seventy times he never made a mistake, and the girl was two hundred miles away. [He would say], "She is dressed this way." [Or], "There she goes." I have seen that with my own eyes.
This is the question: Is not your husband God, your child God? If you can love your wife, you have all the religion in the world. You have the whole secret of religion and Yoga in you. But can you love? That is the question. You say, "I love . . . Oh Mary, I die for you! " [But if you] see Mary kissing another man, you want to cut his throat. If Mary sees John talking to another girl, she cannot sleep at night, and she makes life hell for John. This is not love. This is barter and sale in sex. It is blasphemy to talk of it as love. The world talks day and night of God and religion—so of love. Making a sham of everything, that is what you are doing! Everybody talks of love, [yet in the] columns in the newspapers [we read] of divorces every day. When you love John, do you love John for his sake or for your sake? [If you love him for your sake], you expect something from John. [If you love him for his sake], you do not want anything from John. He can do anything he likes, [and] you [will] love him just the same.
These are the three points, the three angles that constitute the triangle [of love]. Unless there is love, philosophy becomes dry bones, psychology becomes a sort of [theory], and work becomes mere labour. [If there is love], philosophy becomes poetry, psychology becomes [mysticism], and work the most delicious thing in creation. [By merely] reading books [one] becomes barren. Who becomes learned? He who can feel even one drop of love. God is love, and love is God. And God is everywhere. After seeing that God is love and God is everywhere, one does not know whether one stands on one's head or [on one's] feet—like a man who gets a bottle of wine and does not know where he stands. . . . If we weep ten minutes for God, we will not know where we are for the next two months. . . . We will not remember the times for meals. We will not know what we are eating. [How can] you love God and always be so nice and businesslike? . . . The . . . all-conquering, omnipotent power of love—how can it come? . . .
Judge people not. They are all mad. Children are [mad] after their games, the young after the young, the old [are] chewing the cud of their past years; some are mad after gold. Why not some after God? Go crazy over the love of God as you go crazy over Johns and Janes. Who are they? [people] say, "Shall I give up this? Shall I give up that?" One asked, "Shall I give up marriage?" Do not give up anything! Things will give you up. Wait, and you will forget them.
[To be completely] turned into love of God—there is the real worship! You have a glimpse of that now and then in the Roman Catholic Church—some of those wonderful monks and nuns going mad with marvellous love. Such love you ought to have! Such should be the love of God—without asking anything, without seeking anything. . . .
The question was asked: How to worship? Worship Him as dearer than all your possessions, dearer than all your relatives, [dearer than] your children. [Worship Him as] the one you love as Love itself. There is one whose name is infinite Love. That is the only definition of God. Do not care if this . . . universe is destroyed. What do we care as long as He is infinite love? [Do you see what worship means? All other thoughts must go. Everything must vanish except God. The love the father or mother has for the child, [the love] the wife [has] for the husband, the husband, for the wife, the friend for the friend—all these loves concentrated into one must be given to God. Now, if the woman loves the man, she cannot love another man. If the man loves the woman, he cannot love another [woman]. Such is the nature of love.
My old Master used to say, "Suppose there is a bag of gold in this room, and in the next room there is a robber. The robber is well aware that there is a bag of gold. Would the robber be able to sleep? Certainly not. All the time he would be crazy thinking how to reach the gold." . . . [Similarly], if a man loves God, how can he love anything else? How can anything else stand before that mighty love of God? Everything else vanishes [before it]. How can the mind stop without going crazy to find [that love], to realise, to feel, to live in that?
This is how we are to love God: "I do not want wealth, nor [friends, nor beauty], nor possessions, nor learning, nor even salvation. If it be Thy will, send me a thousand deaths. Grant me, this—that I may love Thee and that for love's sake. That love which materialistic persons have for their worldly possessions, may that strong love come into my heart, but only for the Beautiful. Praise to God! Praise to God the Lover!" God is nothing else than that. He does not care for the wonderful things many Yogis can do. Little magicians do little tricks. God is the big magician; He does all the tricks. Who cares how many worlds [there are]? . . .
There is another [way. It is to] conquer everything, [to] subdue everything —to conquer the body [and] the mind. . . . "What is the use of conquering everything? My business is with God! " [says the devotee.]
There was one Yogi, a great lover. He was dying of cancer of the throat. He [was] visited [by] another Yogi, who was a philosopher. [The latter] said, "Look here, my friend, why don't you concentrate your mind on that sore of yours and get it cured?" The third time this question was asked [this great Yogi] said, "Do you think it possible that the [mind] which I have given entirely to the Lord [can be fixed upon this cage of flesh and blood]?" Christ refused to bring legions of angels to his aid. Is this little body so great that I should bring twenty thousand angels to keep it two or three days more?
[From the worldly standpoint,] my all is this body. My world is this body. My God is this body. I am the body. If you pinch me, I am pinched. I forget God the moment I have a headache. I am the body! God and everything must come down for this highest goal—the body. From this standpoint, when Christ died on the cross and did not bring angels [to his aid], he was a fool. He ought to have brought down angels and gotten himself off the cross! But from the standpoint of the lover, to whom this body is nothing, who cares for this nonsense? Why bother thinking about this body that comes and goes? There is no more to it than the piece of cloth the Roman soldiers cast lots for.
There is a whole gamut of difference between [the worldly standpoint] and the lover's standpoint. Go on loving. If a man is angry, there is no reason why you should be angry; if he degrades himself, that is no reason why you should degrade yourself. . . . "Why should I become angry just because another man has made a fool of himself. Do thou resist not evil!" That is what the lovers of God say. Whatever the world does, wherever it goes, has no influence [on them].
One Yogi had attained supernatural powers. He said, "See my power! See the sky; I will cover it with clouds." It began to rain. [Someone] said, "My lord, you are wonderful. But teach me that, knowing which, I shall not ask for anything else." ... To get rid even of power, to have nothing, not to want power! [What this means] cannot be understood simply by intellect. . . . You cannot understand by reading thousands of books. ... When we begin to understand, the whole world opens before us. ... The girl is playing with her dolls, getting new husbands all the time; but when her real husband comes, all the dolls will be put away [for ever]. ... So [with] all these goings-on here. [When] the sun of love rises, all these play-suns of power and these [cravings] all pass [away]. What shall we do with power? Thank God if you can get rid of the power that you have. Begin to love. Power must go. Nothing must stand between me and God except love. God is only love and nothing else—love first, love in the middle, and love at the end.
[There is the] story of a queen preaching [the love of God] in the streets. Her enraged husband persecuted her, and she was hunted up and down the country. She used to sing songs describing her [love]. Her songs have been sung everywhere. "With tears in my eyes I [nourished the everlasting creeper] of love. ..." This is the last, the great [goal]. What else is there? [People] want this and that. They all want to have and possess. That is why so few understand [love], so few come to it. Wake them and tell them! They will get a few more hints.
Love itself is the eternal, endless sacrifice. You will have to give up everything. You cannot take possession of anything. Finding love, you will never [want] anything [else]. ... "Only be Thou my love for ever! " That is what love wants. "My love, one kiss of those lips! [For him] who has been kissed by Thee, all sorrows vanish. Once kissed by Thee, man becomes happy and forgets love of everything else. He praises Thee alone and he sees Thee alone." In the nature of human love even, [there lurk divine elements. In] the first moment of intense love the whole world seems in tune with your own heart. Every bird in the universe sings your love; the flowers bloom for you. It is infinite, eternal love itself that [human] love comes from.
Why should the lover of God fear anything—fear robbers, fear distress, fear even for his life? ... The lover [may ]go to the utmost hell, but would it be hell? We all have to give up these ideas of heaven [and hell] and get greater [love]. ... Hundreds there are seeking this madness of love before which everything [but God vanishes].
At last, love, lover, and beloved become one. That is the goal. ... Why is there any separation between soul and man, between soul and God? . . . Just to have this enjoyment of love. He wanted to love Himself, so He split Himself into many . . . "This is the whole reason for creation", says the lover. "We are all one. 'I and my Father are one.' Just now I am separate in order to love God. ... Which is better—to become sugar or to eat sugar? To become sugar, what fun is that:? To eat sugar—that is infinite enjoyment of love."
All the ideals of love—[God] as [our] father, mother, friend, child—[are conceived in order to strengthen devotion in us and make us feel nearer and dearer to God]. The intensest love is that between the sexes. God must be loved with that sort of love The woman loves her father; she loves her mothers she loves her child; she loves her friend. But she cannot express herself all to the father, nor to the mother, nor to the child, nor to the friend. There is only one person from whom she does not hide anything. So with the man. ... The [husband-] wife relationship is the all-rounded relationship. The relationship of the sexes [has] all the other loves concentrated into one. In the husband, the woman has the father, the friend, the child. In the wife, the husband has mother, daughter, and something else. That tremendous complete love of the sexes must come [for God]—that same love with which a woman opens herself to a man without any bond of blood—perfectly, fearlessly, and shamelessly. No darkness! She would no more hide anything from her lover than she would from her own self. That very love must come [for God]. These things are hard and difficult to understand. You will begin to understand by and by, and all idea of sex will fall away. "Like the water drop on the sand of the river bank on a summer day, even so is this life and all its relations."
All these ideas [like] "He is the creator", are ideas fit for children. He is my love, my life itself—that must be the cry of my heart! ...
"I have one hope. They call Thee the Lord of the world, and—good or evil, great or small—I am part of the world, and Thou art also my love. My body, my mind, and my soul are all at Thy altar. Love, refuse these gifts not!"
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。