形式礼拜
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
正式崇拜
（本篇讲演转载自《吠檀多与西方》，参见第四卷。）
（一九〇〇年四月十日于旧金山地区演讲）
凡研读《圣经》的人……都明白，整个犹太历史和犹太思想是由两类导师所塑造的——祭司和先知，祭司代表保守的力量，先知则代表进步的力量。事实的全貌是：保守的仪式主义悄然蔓延，形式主义攫取了一切。这在每个国家、每种宗教中都如此。随后，一些拥有新视野的先见者出现了；他们宣扬新的理想和观念，为社会注入新的推动力。几代人之后，追随者们对其导师的思想变得如此忠诚，以至于再也看不到其他任何东西。这个时代最先进、最自由的布道者，几年之内便会成为最保守的祭司。那些先进的思想家反过来又会开始阻碍比他们走得更远一步的人。他们不会让任何人超越他们自己所已达到的境界。他们满足于让一切维持原状。
在每个国家的每种宗教中，贯穿其构成性原则而运作的那种力量，显现为宗教的各种形式……原则和经典，某些规则和动作——起立、坐下——所有这些都属于同一范畴的崇拜。灵性崇拜变得物质化，以便大多数人能够把握它。在每个国家，绝大多数人从来没有被看到以灵体崇拜灵体。这在目前还不可能。我不知道是否将来会有那么一天。在这座城市中，有多少千人已准备好将神作为灵体来崇拜？极少。他们做不到；他们活在感官之中。你必须给他们现成的固定观念。告诉他们做一些身体上的事：站起来二十次，坐下二十次。他们能理解这个。告诉他们从一个鼻孔吸气，从另一个鼻孔呼气。他们能理解这个。所有这些关于灵性的理想主义，他们根本无法接受。这不是他们的过错……如果你有能力将神作为灵体来崇拜，很好！但曾经有那么一个时期，你也做不到……如果人民粗鄙，宗教观念也粗鄙，形式也粗陋不堪。如果人民精进而有文化，形式就更加优美。形式必须存在，只是形式随时代而变化。
这是一个奇特的现象：在这个世界上，从来没有一种宗教以比伊斯兰教更强烈的对抗态度……来反对形式崇拜。……穆斯林既不能有绘画，也不能有雕塑，也不能有音乐……那会导向形式主义。祭司从不面对他的信众。如果面对了，那就造成了区别。这样则没有。然而先知去世不到两个世纪，圣人崇拜就（发展起来了）。这里是圣人的脚趾！那里是圣人的皮肤！就这样发展下去。形式崇拜是我们必须经历的阶段之一。
因此，与其对它大加讨伐，不如取崇拜中的精华，研究其背后的原理。
当然，最低级的崇拜形式是所谓的（树木和石头崇拜）。每个粗鄙未开化的人都会拿起什么东西，加上自己的某种观念；那就会对他有所帮助。他可以崇拜一块骨头或一块石头——任何东西。在所有这些粗朴的崇拜状态中，人从来没有把石头当作石头来崇拜，也没有把树当作树来崇拜。这是常识就能知道的。学者们有时说人类曾崇拜石头和树木。那完全是胡说八道。树木崇拜是人类曾经经历过的阶段之一。实际上，人从来没有真正崇拜过灵体以外的任何东西。
他是灵体，（因而）只能感受灵体。神圣的心灵绝不会犯把灵体当作物质来崇拜那样粗鄙的错误。在这种情况下，人是把石头构想为灵体或把树构想为灵体。他想象那个存在的某个部分居住在（石头）或树中，（石头或）树有灵魂。
树木崇拜和蛇崇拜总是相伴而行。有知识之树。必定总是有树，而树总是以某种方式与蛇相连。这些是最古老的（崇拜形式）。即便在那里，你也会发现某棵特定的树或某块特定的石头被崇拜，而非世界上所有的（树或）石头。
（形式崇拜的）一个更高阶段是（祖先和神的）偶像。人们为已故之人制作偶像，也制作想象中的神的偶像。然后他们崇拜那些偶像。
更高一层的是对圣人的崇拜，对已经去世的善男信女的崇拜。人们崇拜他们的圣物。（他们感到）圣人的临在以某种方式存在于圣物之中，圣人会帮助他们。（他们相信）如果触摸到圣人的骨头，就会被治愈——不是骨头本身治愈了他们，而是居住在那里的圣人治愈了他们……
这些都是崇拜的低级阶段，但仍然是崇拜。我们都必须经历这些阶段。仅从理智的角度来看，它们是不够好的。但在我们心中，我们无法摆脱它们。（如果）你把所有圣人和偶像从一个人身边拿走，不允许他进入庙宇，（他仍然会）在想象中构造所有的神。他不得不这样做。一位八十岁的老人告诉我，他除了把神想象成一个坐在云端、蓄着长须的老人之外，无法构想神。这说明什么？他的教育尚未完成。没有任何灵性教育，他无法用人类的范畴之外的方式来构想任何事物。
形式崇拜还有一个更高的层次——象征的世界。形式仍然存在，但它们既不是树，也不是（石头），也不是偶像，也不是圣人的遗物。它们是象征。世界各地都有各种各样的（象征）。圆是永恒的伟大象征……还有正方形；众所周知的十字架象征；以及两个像S和Z交叉的图形。
有些人一心认为象征中什么也没有……（另一些人却想要）各种各样的咒语符号。如果你告诉他们浅显的真理，他们不会接受……人性就是（这样），他们越不理解越好——（他们认为）你就是越伟大的人。在每个时代、每个国家，这样的崇拜者都被某些图形和形式所迷惑。几何学曾是所有科学中最伟大的。绝大多数人对此一无所知。（他们相信，如果）几何学家画一个正方形，在四个角念念有词，整个世界就会开始转动，天门大开，神就会降临，跳来跳去，成为奴仆。今天仍有一大群疯子日夜沉迷于这些东西。所有这些都是一种病态。这根本不是形而上学家的事；这是医生的事。
我在取笑，但我内心非常难过。我在印度看到这个问题如此（严重）。这些是种族衰退的迹象，是堕落和困厄的标志。活力的标志、生命的标志、希望的标志、健康的标志、一切美好事物的标志，就是力量。只要身体还活着，身体中就必须有力量，心灵中必须有力量，（手中也必须有力量）。在想要通过（这一切咒语符号）获得灵性力量的做法中，有着恐惧，对生命的恐惧。我所指的不是那种象征主义。
但象征主义中确有某些真理。没有某种真理作为根基，就不可能有任何虚妄。没有某种真实的东西，就不可能有任何仿造。
各种宗教中都有象征形式的崇拜。有新鲜的、充满活力的、富有诗意的、健康的象征。想想十字架这个象征对千百万人所产生的奇妙力量！想想新月的象征！想想这一个象征所具有的磁力！世界各处都有美好而伟大的象征。它们诠释灵性，并引发心灵的某些状态；一般而言，我们发现（它们创造了）巨大的信仰和爱的力量。
比较一下新教与天主教（教会）。在过去四百年（两者并存的时期），谁培养出了更多的圣人、更多的殉道者？天主教仪式的巨大感召力——所有那些灯光、熏香、蜡烛和祭司的法袍——本身就具有极大的效果。新教则相当朴素而缺乏诗意。新教徒获得了许多东西，在某些方面给予了比天主教徒更大的自由，因而拥有更清晰、更个性化的观念。这都不错，但他们也失去了许多……看看教堂里的绘画。那是对诗意的一种尝试。如果我们渴望诗意，为什么不拥有它？为什么不给灵魂它所需要的东西？我们必须有音乐。长老会教徒甚至反对音乐。他们是基督徒中的"穆斯林"。打倒一切诗意！打倒一切仪式！然后他们创作音乐。音乐诉诸感官。我曾看到他们如何集体地追寻那束照在讲坛上方的光芒。
让灵魂在外在层面上尽情享受诗意和宗教的呈现。为什么不呢……？你无法抗拒（形式崇拜）。它会一次又一次地征服你……如果你不喜欢天主教徒所做的，那就做得更好。但我们既不会做出更好的东西，也不拥有已经存在的诗意。这是一种可怕的状态！诗意是绝对必要的。你可能是世界上最伟大的哲学家。但哲学就是最高的诗。它不是枯燥的骨架。它是事物的精华。实在本身比任何二元论都更富有诗意……
学问在宗教中没有位置；对大多数人来说，学问反而是障碍……一个人可能读遍了世界上所有的图书馆，却一点也不虔诚，而另一个人，也许连自己的名字都不会写，却能感受宗教并体证宗教。宗教的全部在于我们自己内在的感悟。当我使用"造就人的宗教"这个词时，我指的不是书本，不是教条，不是理论。我指的是那个已经体证了、已经充分感悟到自己心中那无限存在之某些东西的人。
那个我毕生坐在其脚下的人——我所试图传授的仅仅是他的几个理念——他几乎不会写自己的名字。我一生走遍世界各地，从未见过像他那样的人。每当我想到那个人，我就觉得自己像个傻瓜，因为我想去读书，而他从来不读。他从来不愿意舔别人吃过的盘子。这就是为什么他本身就是自己的书。我一辈子都在重复杰克说了什么、约翰说了什么，却从来不说自己的话。你知道约翰二十五年前说了什么、杰克五年前说了什么，这有什么光荣？告诉我你自己有什么话要说。
请注意，学问本身没有价值。你们在学问方面都搞错了。知识的唯一价值在于强化和训练心灵。凭借这种永无止境的吞咽，我们没有全都消化不良，真是奇迹。让我们停下来，把所有的书都烧掉，抓住自己来思考。你们都在谈论并为失去"个性"而焦虑不安。你们正在通过这种永恒的吞咽，在每时每刻失去自己的个性。如果你们中有任何人相信我所教的东西，我会很遗憾。如果我能激发你们独立思考的力量，那才是我最高兴的事……我的志向是对男人和女人说话，而不是对绵羊。说男人和女人，我的意思是个体。你们不是小婴儿，把街上所有肮脏的破布都拖来绑成一个布娃娃！
"这是一个学问的殿堂！那个人被安置在大学里！他知道布兰克先生所说的一切！"但布兰克先生什么也没说！如果我有选择权，我会……对教授说："滚出去！你什么都不是！"记住这种个性主义，不惜任何代价！即使你想错了也没关系，不管你是否得到真理。全部的要点在于训练心灵。你从别人那里吞下的真理不会成为你的。你不能从我嘴里教导真理；你也不能从我嘴里学到真理。没有人能教导另一个人。你必须自己体证真理，按照你自己的本性去实践它……所有人都必须努力成为个体——强壮地站在自己的脚上，思考自己的思想，体证自己的真我（Atman）。吞咽别人传递的教条毫无用处——像监狱里的士兵一样一起站起来，一起坐下，都吃同样的食物，都在同一时间点头。差异是生命的标志。雷同是死亡的标志。
有一次我在印度的一座城市，一位老人来找我。他说："斯瓦米，教我道路。"我看出那个人就像我面前的这张桌子一样死气沉沉。在精神上和灵性上，他真的死了。我说："你愿意照我说的去做吗？你能偷窃吗？你能喝酒吗？你能吃肉吗？"
那人（惊呼）道："你在教什么！"
我对他说："这面墙偷过东西吗？这面墙喝过酒吗？"
"没有，先生。"
人会偷窃，人会喝酒，然后人成为神。"我知道你不是墙，我的朋友。做点什么！做点什么！"我看出，如果那个人去偷窃，他的灵魂就走上了解脱（Moksha）之路。
我怎么知道你们是个体呢——大家都说同样的话，都一起站起来一起坐下？那是通往死亡的道路！为你们的灵魂做点什么！如果你愿意，做错也可以，但要做点什么！即使现在不理解我，你们迟早会理解的。灵魂仿佛已步入了老年。它已经生锈了。铁锈必须被（磨掉），然后我们继续前进。现在你们明白了为什么世上有罪恶。回家好好想想，就是为了去掉那层锈！
我们为物质的东西祈祷。为了达到某个目的，我们以做买卖的方式崇拜神。继续去为食物和衣服祈祷吧！崇拜是好的。有总比没有好。"一个瞎了眼的叔叔也比没有叔叔好。"一个非常富有的年轻人生了病，然后为了摆脱疾病，他开始施舍穷人。这很好，但这还不是宗教，还不是灵性宗教。这一切都在物质层面。什么是物质的，什么不是？当世界是目的而神是达到那个目的的手段时，那就是物质的。当神是目的而世界只是达到那个目的的手段时，灵性就开始了。
因此，对于那个足够渴望这种（物质）生活的人来说，他所有的天堂不过是这种生活的延续。他想再次见到所有已死去的人，再快乐一场。
有这么一位能把亡灵请下来给我们的女士——一位灵媒。她体型非常庞大，却被称为灵媒。好吧！这位女士非常喜欢我，邀请我去。那些灵魂们对我都很有礼貌。我有过一次非常特殊的经历。你们知道，那是一场（降神会），在午夜。灵媒说："……我看到一个鬼魂站在这里。鬼魂告诉我那边长凳上坐着一位印度绅士。"我站起来说："用不着鬼魂来告诉你这件事。"
有一个年轻人在场，已婚，聪明而受过良好教育。他来那里是为了见他的母亲。灵媒说："某某人的母亲在这里。"这个年轻人之前一直在和我谈论他的母亲。她去世时非常消瘦，但从屏风后面出来的那位母亲！你们真该看看她！我想看看这个年轻人会怎么做。令我惊讶的是，他跳起来拥抱了这个灵魂，说道："哦，母亲，你在灵界变得多么美丽啊！"我说："我有幸在此。这让我洞察了人性！"
回到我们的形式崇拜……当你将神作为达到目的的手段来崇拜，而那个目的就是今生和今世时，那是崇拜的低级状态……绝大多数（人）从来没有过任何高于这一团血肉和感官之乐的观念。即便在今生，这些可怜的灵魂所拥有的一切快乐也与禽兽无异……他们吃动物。他们爱他们的孩子。这就是人的全部荣耀吗？而我们崇拜全能的神！为了什么？只是为了给我们这些物质的东西，并一直保护它们……这意味着我们还没有超越（动物和）飞鸟。我们并不比它们好。我们不知道什么更好。而我们本应知道得更好，这是我们的悲哀！唯一的区别是它们没有像我们这样的神……我们与（动物）有着同样的五种感官，只是它们的感官更敏锐。我们无法以狗啃骨头那样的享受来吃一口食物。它们在生活中比我们有更多的快乐；所以我们还不如动物。
为什么你要追求自然界中任何力量都能做得更好的东西？这是你必须思考的最重要的问题。你想要什么——这个生命，这些感官，这个身体，还是某种无限更高、更好的东西，某种不再有堕落、不再有变迁的东西？
所以这意味着什么……？你说："主啊，给我面包，给我金钱！治愈我的疾病！做这做那！"每次你这样说，你就是在用这个观念催眠自己："我是物质，而这物质就是目标。"每次你试图满足一个物质欲望，你就是在告诉自己你是身体，你不是灵体……
感谢神，这是一场梦！感谢神，它将会消逝！感谢神，有死亡，光荣的死亡，因为它终结了这一切幻觉，这场梦，这种肉身之执，这种痛苦。没有梦是永恒的；它迟早必定结束。没有人能永远保持他的梦。感谢神如此安排！然而这种形式的崇拜也是对的。继续吧！为某事祈祷总比什么都不做好。这些是我们经历的阶段。这些是最初的功课。渐渐地，心灵开始思考高于感官、身体和此世享乐的事物。
（人）是怎样做到的？首先，他成为一个思想者。当你思考一个问题时，那里没有感官的享受，只有（那）思想的精妙愉悦……正是那个造就了人……抓住一个伟大的理念！它不断深化。专注出现了。你不再感觉到自己的身体。你的感官已经停止了。你超越了一切物质感官。所有那些通过感官显现的东西，都集中在那一个理念上。那一刻你就比动物更高了。你获得了无人能夺走的启示——对某种高于身体之物的直接感知……心灵的黄金在那里，不在感官的层面上。
这样，通过在感官的层面上努力，你越来越多地进入其他境界，然后这个世界便从你身上脱落。你获得了灵体的一瞥，然后你的感官和感官享受、你对肉身的执着，都将从你身上融化消散。从灵性的国度，瞥见将接踵而来。你将完成瑜伽，灵体将显现为灵体。然后你将开始崇拜神作为灵体。然后你将开始理解，崇拜不是为了获取什么。在内心深处，我们的崇拜是那个无限与有限的元素——爱，灵魂在主的脚前永恒的奉献。"是你，不是我。我已死去。你在，而我不在。我不要财富，不要美貌，不，甚至不要学问。我不要解脱（Moksha）。如果这是你的意愿，让我下到两千万个地狱。我只要一件事：做我的所爱！"
English
FORMAL WORSHIP
(This lecture is reproduced from the Vedanta and the West. See Vol. IV.)
(Delivered in San Francisco area, April 10, 1900)
All of you who are students of the Bible . . . .understand that the whole [of] Jewish history and Jewish' thought have been produced by two [types of] teachers—priests and prophets, the priests representing the power of conservatism, the prophets the power of progress. The whole thing is that a conservative ritualism creeps in; formality gets hold of everything. This is true of every country and every religion. Then come some new seers with new visions; they preach new ideals and ideas and give a new push to society. In a few generations the followers become so faithful to their masters' ideas that they cannot see anything else. The most advanced, liberal preachers of this age within a few years will be the most conservative priests. The advanced thinkers, in their turn, will begin to hinder the man who goes a little farther. They will not let anyone go farther than what they themselves have attained. They are content to leave things as they are.
The power which works through the formative principles of every religion in every country is manifested in the forms of religion. . . . Principles and books, certain rules and movements—standing up, sitting down—all these belong to the same category of worship Spiritual worship becomes materialised in order that the majority of mankind can get hold of it. The vast majority of mankind in every country are never [seen] to worship spirit as spirit. It is not yet possible. I do not know if there ever will be a time when they can. How many thousands in this city are ready to worship God as spirit? Very few. They cannot; they live in the senses. You have to give them cut and dried ideas. Tell them to do something physical: Stand up twenty times; sit down twenty times. They will understand that. Tell them to breathe in through one nostril and breathe out through the other. They will understand that. All this idealism about spirit they cannot accept at all. It is not their fault. . . . If you have the power to worship God as spirit, good! But there was a time when you could not. . . . If the people are crude, the religious conceptions are crude, and the forms are uncouth and gross. If the people are refined and cultured, the forms are more beautiful. There must be forms, only the forms change according to the times.
It is a curious phenomenon that there never was a religion started in this world with more antagonism . . . [to the worship of forms] than Mohammedanism. . . . The Mohammedans can have neither painting, nor sculpture, nor music. . . . That would lead to formalism. The priest never faces his audience. If he did, that would make a distinction. This way there is none. And yet it was not two centuries after the Prophet's death before saint worship [developed]. Here is the toe of the saint! There is the skin of the saint! So it goes. Formal worship is one of the stages we have to pass through.
Therefore, instead of crusading against it, let us take the best in worship and study its underlying principles.
Of course, the lowest form of worship is what is known as [tree and stone worship]. Every crude, uncultured man will take up anything and add to it some idea [of his own]; and that will help him. He may worship a bit of bone, or stone—anything. In all these crude states of worship man has never worshipped a stone as stone, a tree as tree. You know that from common sense. Scholars sometimes say that men worshipped stones and trees. That is all nonsense. Tree worship is one of the stages through which the human race passed. Never, really, was there ever worship of anything but the spirit by man.
He is spirit [and] can feel nothing but spirit. Divine mind could never make such a gross mistake as [to worship spirit as matter]. In this case, man conceived the stone as spirit or the tree as spirit. He [imagined] that some part of that Being resides in [the stone] or the tree, that [the stone or] the tree has a soul.
Tree worship and serpent worship always go together. There is the tree of knowledge. There must always be the tree, and the tree is somehow connected with the serpent. These are the oldest [forms of worship]. Even there you find that some particular tree or some particular stone is worshipped, not all the [trees or] stones in the world.
A higher state in [formal worship is that of] images [of ancestors and God]. People make images of men who have died and imaginary images of God. Then they worship those images.
Still higher is the worship of saints, of good men and women who have passed on. Men worship their relics. [They feel that] the presence of the saints is somehow in the relics, and that they will help them. [They believe that] if they touch the saint's bone, they will be healed—not that the bone itself heals, but that the saint who resides there does. . . .
These are all low states of worship and yet worship. We all have to pass through them. It is only from an intellectual standpoint that they are not good enough. In our hearts we cannot get rid of them. [If] you take from a man all the saints and images and do not allow him to go into a temple, [he will still] imagine all the gods. He has to. A man of eighty told me he could not conceive God except as an old man with a long beard sitting on a cloud. What does that show? His education is not complete. There has not been any spiritual education, and he is unable to conceive anything except in human terms.
There is still a higher order of formal worship—the world of symbolism. The forms are still there, but they are neither trees, nor [stones], nor images, nor relics of saints. They are symbols. There are all sorts [of symbols] all over the world. The circle is a great symbol of eternity. . . . There is the square; the well-known symbol of the cross; and two figures like S and Z crossing each other.
Some people take it into their heads to see nothing in symbols. . . . [Others want] all sorts of abracadabra. If you tell them plain, simple truths, they will not accept them. . . . Human nature being [what it is], the less they understand the better—the greater man [they think] you are. In all ages in every country such worshippers are deluded by certain diagrams and forms. Geometry was the greatest science of all. The vast majority of the people knew nothing [of it. They believed that if] the geometrist just drew a square and said abracadabra at the four corners, the whole world would begin to turn, the heavens would open, and God would come down and jump about and be a slave. There is a whole mass of lunatics today poring over these things day and night. All this is a sort of disease. It is not for the metaphysician at all; it is for the physician.
I am making fun, but I am so sorry. I see this problem so [grave] in India These are signs of the decay of the race, of degradation and duress. The sign of vigour, the sign of life, the sign of hope, the sign of health, the sign of everything that is good, is strength. As long as the body lives, there must be strength in the body, strength in the mind, [and strength] in the hand. In wanting to get spiritual power through [all this abracadabra] there is fear, fear of life. I do not mean that sort of symbolism.
But there is some truth in symbolistic. There cannot be any falsehood without some truth behind it. There cannot be any imitation without something real.
There is the symbolic form, of worship in the different religions. There are fresh, vigorous, poetic, healthy symbols Think of the marvellous power the symbol of the cross has had upon millions of people! Think of the symbol of the crescent! Think of the magnetism of this one symbol! Everywhere there are good and great symbols in the world. They interpret the spirit and bring [about] certain conditions of the mind; as a rule we find [they create] a tremendous power of faith and love.
Compare the Protestant with the Catholic [Church]. Who has produced more saints, more martyrs within the last four hundred years [during which] both have been in existence? The tremendous appeal of Catholic ceremonialism— all those lights, incense, candles, and the robes of the priests—has a great effect in itself. Protestantism is quite austere and unpoetic. The Protestants have gained many things, have granted a great deal more freedom in certain lines than the Catholics have, and so have a clear, more individualized conception. That is all right, but they have lost a good deal. . . . Take the paintings in the churches. That is an attempt at poetry. If we are hungry for poetry, why not have it? Why not give the soul what it wants? We have to have music. The Presbyterians were even against music. They are the "Mohammedans" of the Christians. Down with all poetry! Down with all ceremonials! Then they produce music. It appeals to the senses. I have seen how collectively they strive for the ray of light there over the pulpit.
Let the soul have its fill of poetry and religion represented on the external plane. Why not . . . ? You cannot fight [formal worship]. It will conquer again and again. . . . If you do not like what the Catholics do, do better. But we will neither do anything better nor have the poetry that already exists. That is a terrible state of things! Poetry is absolutely necessary. You may be the greatest philosopher in the world. But philosophy is the highest poetry. It is not dry bones It is essence of things. The Reality itself is more poetic than any dualism. . . .
Learning has no place in religion; for the majority learning is a block in the way. . . . A man my have read all the libraries in the world and many not be religious at all, and another, who cannot perhaps write his own name, senses religion and realises it. The whole of religion is our own inner perception. When I use the words "man-making religion", I do not mean books, nor dogmas, nor theories. I mean the man who has realised, has fully perceived, something of that infinite presence in his own heart.
The man at whose feet I sat all my life—and it is only a few ideas of his that try to teach—could [hardly] write his name at all. All my life I have not seen another man like that, and I have travelled all over the world. When I think of that man, I feel like a fool, because I want to read books and he never did. He never wanted to lick the plates after other people had eaten. That is why he was his own book. All my life I am repeating what Jack said and John said, and never say anything myself. What glory is it that you know what John said twenty-five years ago and what Jack said five years ago? Tell me what you have to say.
Mind you, there is no value in learning. You are all mistaken in learning. The only value of knowledge is in the strengthening, the disciplining, of the mind. By all this eternal swallowing it is a wonder that we are not all dyspeptics. Let us stop, and burn all the books, and get hold of ourselves and think. You all talk [about] and get distracted over losing your "individuality". You are losing it every moment of your lives by this eternal swallowing. If any one of you believes what I teach, I will be sorry. I will only be too glad if I can excite in you the power of thinking for yourselves. . . . My ambition is to talk to men and women, not to sheep. By men and women, I mean individuals. You are not little babies to drag all the filthy rags from the street and bind them up into a doll!
"This is a place for learning! That man is placed in the university! He knows all about what Mr. Blank said!" But Mr. Blank said nothing! If I had the choice I would . . . say to the professor, "Get out! You are nobody! " Remember this individualism at any cost! Think wrong if you will, no matter whether you get truth or not. The whole point is to discipline the mind. That truth which you swallow from others will not be yours. You cannot teach truth from my mouth; neither can you learn truth from my mouth. None can teach another. You have to realise truth and work it out for yourself according to your own nature. . . . All must struggle to be individuals— strong, standing on your own feet, thinking your own thoughts, realising your own Self. No use swallowing doctrines others pass on—standing up together like soldiers in jail, sitting down together, all eating the same food, all nodding their heads at the same time. Variation is the sign of life. Sameness is the sign of death.
Once I was in an Indian city, and an old man came to me. He said, "Swami, teach me the way." I saw that that man was as dead as this table before me. Mentally and spiritually he was really dead. I said, "will you do what I ask you to do? Can you steal? Can you drink wine? Can you eat meat?"
The man [exclaimed], "What are you teaching!"
I said to him, "Did this wall ever steal? Did the wall ever drink wine?"
"No, sir."
Man steals, and he drinks wine, and becomes God. "I know you are not the wall, my friend. Do something! Do something! " I saw that if that man stole, his soul would be on the way to salvation.
How do I know that you are individuals—all saying the same thing, all standing up and sitting down together? That is the road to death! Do something for your souls! Do wrong if you please, but do something! You will understand me by and by, if you do not just now. Old age has come upon the soul, as it were. It has become rusty. The rust must be [rubbed off], and then we go on. Now you understand why there is evil in the world. Go home and think of that, just to take off that rustiness!
We pray for material things. To attain some end we worship God with shopkeeping worship. Go on and pray for food and clothes! Worship is good. Something is always better than nothing. "A blind uncle is better than no uncle at all." A very rich young man becomes ill, and then to get rid of his disease he begins to give to the poor. That is good, but it is not religion yet, not spiritual religion. It is all on the material plane. What is material, and what is not? When the world is the end and God the means to attain that end, that is material. When God is the end and the world is only the means to attain that end, spirituality has begun.
Thus, to the man who wants this [material] life enough, all his heavens are a continuance of this life. He wants to see all the people who are dead, and have a good time once more.
There was one of those ladies who bring the departed spirits down to us—a medium. She was very large, yet she was called medium. Very good! This lady liked me very much and invited me to come. The spirits were all very polite to me. I had a very peculiar experience. You understand, it was a [seance], midnight. The medium said, ". . . I see a ghost standing here. The ghost tells me that there is a Hindu gentleman on that bench." I stood up and said, "It required no ghost to tell you that."
There was a young man present who was married, intelligent, and well educated. He was there to see his mother. The medium said, "So-and-so's mother is here." This young man had been telling me about his mother. She was very thin when she died, but the mother that came out of the screen! You ought to have seen her! I wanted to see what this young man would do. To my surprise he jumped up and embraced this spirit and said. "Oh mother, how beautiful you have grown in the spirit land!" I said, "I am blessed that I am here. It gives me an insight into human nature!"
Going back to our formal worship. . . . it is a low state of worship when you worship God as a means to the end, which is this life and this world. . . . The vast majority of [people] have never had any conception of anything higher than this lump of flesh and the joys of the senses. Even in this life, all the pleasures these poor souls have are the same as the beasts. . . . They eat animals. They love their children. Is that all the glory of man? And we worship God Almighty! What for? Just to give us these material things and defend them all the time. . . . It means we have not gone beyond the [animals and] birds. We are no better. We do not know any better. And woe unto us, we should know better! The only difference is that they do not have a God like ours. . . We have the same five senses [as the animals], only theirs are better. We cannot eat a morsel of food with the relish that a dog chews a bone. They have more pleasure in life than we; so we are a little less than animals.
Why should you want to be something that any power in nature can operate better? This is the most important question for you to think about. What do you want—this life, these senses, this body, or something infinitely higher and better, something from which there is no more fall, no more change?
So what does it mean . . . ? You say, "Lord, give me my bread, my money! Heal my diseases! Do this and that!" Every time you say that, you are hypnotising yourselves with the idea, "I am matter, and this matter is the goal." Every time you try to fulfil a material desire, you tell yourselves that you are [the] body, that you are not spirit. . . .
Thank God, this is a dream! Thank God, for it will vanish! Thank God, there is death, glorious death, because it ends all this delusion, this dream, this fleshiness, this anguish. No dream can be eternal; it must end sooner or later. There is none who can keep his dream for ever. I thank God that it is so! Yet this form of worship is all right. Go on! To pray for something is better than nothing. These are the stages through which we pass. These are the first lessons. Gradually, the mind begins to think of something higher than the senses, the body, the enjoyments of this world.
How does [man] do it? First he becomes a thinker. When you think upon a problem, there is no sense enjoyment there, but [the] exquisite delight of thought. . . . It is that that makes the man. . . . Take one great idea! It deepens. Concentration comes. You no longer feel your body. Your senses have stopped. You are above all physical senses. All that was manifesting itself through the senses is concentrated upon that one idea. That moment you are higher than the animal. You get the revelation none can take from you—a direct perception of something higher than the body. . . . Therein is the gold of mind, not upon the plane of the senses.
Thus, working through the plane of the senses, you get more and more entry into the other regions, and then this world falls away from you. You get one glimpse of that spirit, and then your senses and your sense-enjoyments, your dinging to the flesh, will all melt away from you. Glimpse after glimpse will come from the realm of spirit. You will have finished Yoga, and spirit will stand revealed as spirit. Then you will begin the worship of God as spirit. Then you will begin to understand that worship is not to gain something. At heart, our worship was that infinite-finite element, love, which [is] an eternal sacrifice at the feet of the Lord by the soul. "Thou and not I. I am dead. Thou art, and I am not. I do not want wealth nor beauty, no, nor even learning. I do not want salvation. If it be Thy will, let me go into twenty million hells. I only want one thing: Be Thou my love!"
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。