宗教的方法与目的
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中文
宗教的方法与目的
在研究世界各大宗教时，我们通常发现两种探索方法。一种是从神到人。也就是说，我们有闪米特语族的宗教群体，其中关于神的观念几乎从一开始就出现了，而奇怪的是，却没有任何灵魂的概念。在古希伯来人中有一个非常值得注意的现象：直到其历史的相当晚近时期，他们始终未曾发展出人类灵魂的观念。人由某些心智和物质粒子组成，如此而已。死亡降临，一切便告终结。但另一方面，同一民族却发展出了一种最为奇妙的神的观念。这是探索方法之一。另一种则是从人到神。第二种方法具有鲜明的雅利安特色，而第一种则具有鲜明的闪米特特色。
雅利安人首先从灵魂开始探索。他们关于神的观念是模糊的、不甚分明的、不太清晰的；但随着他们对人类灵魂的认识逐渐清晰，他们对神的认识也按同样的比例变得清晰起来。因此，吠陀（Vedas）中的探究始终是通过灵魂来进行的。雅利安人关于神的一切知识都是通过人类灵魂获得的；正因如此，印刻在他们整个哲学体系上的独特印记便是向内探寻神性。雅利安人始终在自己的内心深处寻求神性。久而久之，这成为自然而然的特征。这在他们的艺术和日常交往中都有着显著体现。即便在当今时代，如果我们看一幅欧洲人描绘宗教姿态的画作，画家总是让他的人物双眼向上仰望，在自然之外寻找神，仰望天空。而在印度，宗教姿态则总是以闭目来呈现。他仿佛是在向内观照。
这就是人类研究的两个课题：外在自然与内在自然。虽然初看之下二者似乎是对立的，但对于普通人而言，外在自然必然完全由内在自然——即思想世界——所构成。每个国家的大多数哲学，尤其是西方哲学，都以这样一个假设为出发点：物质和心灵这二者是对立的存在。但从长远来看，我们将发现它们相互趋近，最终合而为一，形成一个无限的整体。因此，我这样分析并非意味着在此课题上有高低之分。我并不是说那些想要通过外在自然探寻真理的人是错误的，也不是说那些想要通过内在自然探寻真理的人更为高明。这只是两种不同的探索方式。二者都必须存在，二者都必须被研究，而最终我们将发现它们殊途同归。我们将看到，身体与心灵并不对立，心灵与身体也不相悖，尽管我们确实会遇到许多认为身体毫无价值的人。在古代，每个国家都充满了认为身体不过是一种疾病、一种罪恶之类东西的人。然而，后来我们看到，正如吠陀所教导的那样，身体融入心灵，心灵也融入身体。
你们必须记住贯穿整部吠陀的一个主题："正如通过了解一团泥土，我们便了解了宇宙中一切泥土，那么，知道了什么，我们便知道了其他一切？"这个或清晰或模糊地表达出来的主题，便是一切人类知识的主题。它是去寻找一种统一性，而我们都在向着这个目标前进。我们生活中的每一个行动——最物质的、最粗糙的，乃至最精微的、最高尚的、最具灵性的——都同样趋向于这一个理想：寻找统一性。一个人是单身的，他结了婚。表面上这可能是一个自私的行为，但与此同时，那推动力、那原动力，正是要寻找那个统一。他有了孩子，有了朋友，他爱自己的国家，他爱这个世界，最终以爱整个宇宙而告终。我们不可抗拒地被推向那种圆满——它在于找到统一性，消灭这个渺小的自我，使我们自身越来越宽广。这就是目标，宇宙所奔向的终点。每一个原子都在试图去与下一个原子结合。原子与原子结合，形成巨大的球体——地球、太阳、月亮、恒星、行星。它们又反过来试图彼此靠拢，而最终，我们知道整个宇宙——精神的和物质的——都将融为一体。
在宇宙大尺度上进行着的过程，也同样在小宇宙的微观尺度上进行着。正如这个宇宙存在于分离和区别之中，同时又一直奔向统一和不分离，在我们的小世界里，每个灵魂也仿佛是与世界其余部分隔离开来而诞生的。越无知、越不开悟的灵魂，就越认为自己与宇宙其余部分是分离的。越无知的人，就越认为自己会死亡或将要出生等等——这些观念正是这种分离性的表达。但我们发现，随着知识的增长，人在成长，道德在进化，而不分离的观念开始萌生。不管人们是否理解，他们都被背后的力量所驱动，变得无私。这就是一切道德的基础，是以任何语言、任何宗教、由世界上任何先知所宣讲的一切伦理的精髓。"你要无私"，"不是'我'，而是'你'"——这就是一切伦理准则的背景。而这所意味的是对非个体性的认知——你是我的一部分，我也是你的一部分；伤害你就是伤害我自己，帮助你就是帮助我自己；当你活着的时候，我不可能有死亡。当这个宇宙中有一条虫子在活着，我怎能死去？因为我的生命就在那条虫子的生命之中。同时这也教导我们，我们不能弃任何一个同胞而不顾，不去帮助他，因为他的福祉就是我的福祉。
这就是贯穿整个吠檀多（Vedanta）的主题，也是贯穿每一种其他宗教的主题。因为你们必须记住，宗教通常分为三个部分。第一部分是哲学——每种宗教的精髓和原则。这些原则通过神话来表达——圣人或英雄、半神或神灵的生平故事；而整个神话的核心理念就是力量。在较低级的神话——原始的神话——中，这种力量的表达在于肌肉；其中的英雄强壮无比，身形巨大。一个英雄征服了整个世界。随着人类的进步，他必须为自己的能量找到比肌肉更高层次的表达方式；因此他的英雄也在更高层次上得到表达。较高级的神话中的英雄是道德上的巨人。他们的力量体现在成为有道德、纯洁的人。他们能独立不倚，能击退自私和不道德的汹涌浪潮。一切宗教的第三个部分是象征主义，即你们所说的仪式和形式。即便是通过神话来表达，即英雄的生平故事，对于所有人来说也还不够。还有一些更为低级的心智。正如孩子们必须有他们的宗教幼儿园，这些象征体系便由此演化而来——那些他们能够把握、理解、看见和感受的具体实例，如同物质的实在。
因此在每种宗教中你都会发现这三个阶段：哲学、神话和仪式。吠檀多有一个可以称道的优势，那就是在印度，幸运的是，这三个阶段被清晰地界定了。在其他宗教中，原则与神话交织在一起，以至于很难将二者区分开来。神话占据主导地位，吞没了原则；经过几个世纪，原则便被人遗忘。对原则的解释和阐述吞没了原则本身，人们只看到解释、先知和传道者，而原则几乎已不复存在——以至于即便在今天，如果一个人胆敢脱离基督来宣讲基督教的原则，人们就会攻击他，认为他是错误的，是在打击基督教。同样地，如果一个人想要宣讲伊斯兰教的原则，穆斯林也会有同样的想法；因为具体的观念——伟人和先知的生平——已经完全遮蔽了原则。
在吠檀多中，其主要优势在于它不是某一个人的创作；因此，与佛教、基督教或伊斯兰教不同，先知或教师并没有完全吞没或遮蔽原则。原则存在着，而先知们则仿佛形成了一个次要的群体，在吠檀多中不为人所知。奥义书（Upanishads）不谈论某一位特定的先知，而是谈论各种男女先知。古希伯来人也有类似的观念；然而我们发现摩西占据了希伯来文献的大部分篇幅。当然，我并不是说这些先知对一个民族产生宗教影响力是不好的；但如果原则的整个领域被遗忘，那无疑是非常有害的。在原则上我们能够达成很大程度的共识，但在人物上则不然。人物诉诸我们的情感；而原则诉诸更高层次的东西——我们冷静的判断力。从长远来看，原则必将胜出，因为这才是人之为人的特质。情感常常将我们拖到动物的层次。情感与感官的联系多于与理性能力的联系；因此，当原则被完全遗忘而情感占据上风时，宗教便退化为狂热主义和宗派主义。它们不比党派政治之类的东西更好。最可怕的无知观念会被人接受，而为了这些观念，千千万万的人准备割同胞的喉咙。正因为此，虽然这些伟大的人格和先知是向善的巨大推动力，但同时，当他们的生平导致人们忽视他们所代表的原则时，也是极其危险的。这总是导向狂热主义，使世界血流成河。吠檀多能够避免这种困难，因为它没有一个特定的先知。它有许多见者，被称为仙人（Rishis）或圣哲。见者——这是其字面意思——那些看到这些真理、这些真言（Mantras）的人。
真言这个词的意思是"被心灵思索出来的"，被头脑沉思而出；而仙人就是这些思想的见者。它们既不是特定个人的财产，也不是任何男人或女人——无论多么伟大——的专属财产；甚至也不是世界上产生过的最伟大灵魂——佛陀或基督——的专属财产。它们既是最卑微之人的财产，也同样是佛陀的财产；既是脚下最微小的虫子的财产，也同样是基督的财产，因为它们是宇宙法则。它们从未被创造。这些法则自古以来就存在着，也将永远存在。它们是非被造的——不是由今天科学教给我们的任何定律所创造的。它们始终被覆盖着，后来被发现，但在自然中从亘古到永恒一直存在。即使牛顿不曾出生，万有引力定律也依然如故，依然照样运行。正是牛顿的天才将其表述出来、发现出来、带入了意识之中，使其成为人类的自觉认知。灵性的伟大真理——这些宗教法则——也是如此。它们始终在运行。即使一切吠陀、圣经和古兰经根本不存在，即使见者和先知从未诞生，这些法则依然存在。它们只是处于潜伏状态，但会缓慢而确定地发挥作用，提升人类，提升人性。但正是先知们看到了它们、发现了它们，这样的先知是灵性领域的发现者。正如牛顿和伽利略是物理科学的先知，他们也是灵性的先知。他们无法对这些法则中的任何一条声称独占权；它们是全体自然的共同财产。
吠陀，正如印度教徒所说，是永恒的。我们现在理解了他们所说的永恒是什么意思——即这些法则既无始也无终，正如自然既无始也无终。一个又一个地球、一个又一个星系将会演化，运行一段时间，然后再度消融回混沌之中；但宇宙始终如一。亿万个星系正在诞生，同时亿万个正在毁灭。宇宙始终如一。就某一颗行星而言，可以说出时间的始与终；但就宇宙而言，时间毫无意义。自然法则——物理法则、心灵法则、灵性法则——也是如此。它们没有开始，也没有终结；而人类试图揭示它们，相对而言，不过几年、至多几千年的事。无穷无尽的存在仍然摆在我们面前。因此，我们从吠陀中一开始就学到的伟大教训是：宗教才刚刚开始。灵性真理的无限海洋展现在我们面前，有待我们去探索、去发现、去融入我们的生活之中。世界已经见证了千百位先知，而世界还将见证数百万位。
在古老的年代，每个社会中先知比比皆是。终将有一天，先知会走在世界每个城市的每条街道上。在古时，由社会法则的运作，某些特殊的人可以说是被选中成为先知的。终将到来的时代，我们会理解到，成为有宗教信仰的人就意味着成为先知，在一个人成为先知之前，没有人能够真正有宗教信仰。我们将会理解到，宗教的奥秘不在于能够思考和说出所有这些思想，而是如吠陀所教导的那样，去实证它们，去实证比以往任何人所实证过的更新、更高的真理，去发现它们，把它们带给社会。而宗教的研究应当是培养先知的训练。学校和大学应当成为先知的训练场。整个宇宙都必须成为先知；在一个人成为先知之前，宗教对他来说不过是嘲弄和空谈。我们必须看见宗教、感受宗教、实证宗教，其强度要比我们看见墙壁的感受强烈千倍。
但有一个原则贯穿了宗教的所有这些不同表现形式，而且已经为我们勾画出来了。每一门科学都必须在找到统一性的地方终止，因为我们无法再进一步。当达到了一种完美的统一性时，那门科学就没有更多的原理可以告诉我们了。宗教所要做的一切工作就是去充实细节。以任何一门科学为例，比如化学。假设我们能找到一种元素，从中可以制造出所有其他元素，那么化学作为一门科学就完美了。留给我们的将是每天发现那一种物质的新组合，以及将这些组合应用于生活的各种目的。宗教也是如此。宗教的宏伟原则、范围和规划早在很久以前就已被发现，那时人类找到了吠陀所谓的最后之言——"我即是祂"——在那一位中，物质和心灵的整个宇宙找到了统一，人们称祂为神、梵、安拉、耶和华，或任何其他名称。我们无法超越这一点。这个宏伟的原则已经为我们勾画出来了。我们的工作在于充实它、完善它、将它应用到我们生活的每一个部分。我们现在要努力的是使每一个人都成为先知。摆在我们面前的是一项伟大的工作。
在古时，许多人不理解先知意味着什么。他们以为那是偶然之事，仿佛只是凭借某种意志的力量或某种超越的智力，一个人便获得了超越的知识。在现代，我们有能力证明这种知识是每一个活着的生命的与生俱来之权利，无论他是谁、身在何处，而且这个宇宙中没有偶然。我们认为每一个看似偶然获得什么的人，实际上已经在漫长的岁月中缓慢而确定地为之努力。而整个问题归结到我们自己身上："我们想成为先知吗？"如果我们想，我们就能成为。
这——培养先知——便是摆在我们面前的伟大工作；不论自觉与否，一切伟大的宗教体系都在朝着这同一个伟大目标努力，唯一的区别在于，在许多宗教中，你会发现它们宣称灵性的直接感知在此生中不可得，人必须死去，死后才会在另一个世界来一个时刻，届时他将拥有灵性的异象，届时他将实证那些他现在只能相信的事物。但吠檀多会质问所有做出这种断言的人："那么你们如何知道灵性的存在？"他们将不得不承认，必定始终有某些特殊的人，即便在此生中也已瞥见了那些未知的、不可知的事物。
即便如此也产生了一个困难。如果他们只是碰巧拥有这种能力的特殊之人，我们便没有权利相信他们。相信任何出于偶然的事物都是一种罪过，因为我们无从了解它。知识意味着什么？意味着消除特殊性。假设一个男孩走进一条街道或一个动物园，看到一只形状奇特的动物，他不知道那是什么。然后他去到一个国家，那里有成百上千只同样的动物，他便满足了，他知道了那个物种。我们的知识就是认识原理。我们的无知就是发现个别事例而不参照原理。当我们发现一个或少数几个脱离原理、不参照原理的事例时，我们便处于黑暗之中，一无所知。那么，如果这些先知——正如他们所说的——只是有权利瞥见超越之境的特殊之人，而其他人则没有这种权利，我们就不应该相信这些先知，因为他们是不参照任何原理的特殊事例。我们只有在自己也成为先知时才能相信他们。
你们所有人都听说过报纸上关于海蛇的各种笑话；这是为什么呢？因为只有少数人在漫长的间隔中前来讲述他们关于海蛇的故事，而其他人从未见过。他们没有特定的原理可供参照，因此世人不相信。如果一个人来告诉我说一位先知消失在空中并穿越了空气，我有权亲眼看到那个。我问他："你的父亲或祖父见过吗？""哦，没有，"他回答，"但五千年前曾发生过这样的事。"而如果我不相信，我就要在永恒中被烧烤！
这是多大一堆迷信！而它的效果是将人从神性的本质贬低到畜生的层次。如果我们必须盲目相信，理性为何被赐予我们？违背理性去相信，难道不是对神极大的亵渎吗？我们有什么权利不去运用神赐予我们的最伟大礼物？我确信神会宽恕一个运用理性但无法相信的人，而不会宽恕一个放弃运用神赐予他的能力而盲目相信的人。后者不过是贬低自己的本性，堕落到畜生的层次——使自己的感官退化而死去。我们必须运用理性；当理性向我们证明了每个国家的古书中所记载的那些先知和伟人的真实性时，我们就会相信他们。当我们在自己中间看到这样的先知时，我们就会相信他们。那时我们将发现他们不是特殊的人，而只是某些原则的例证。他们努力了，那个原则自然地表达了出来，而我们也必须努力在自身中表达那个原则。我们将相信他们是先知——当我们自己成为先知的时候。他们是神圣事物的见者。他们能够超越感官的界限，瞥见那超越之境。我们将相信这一点——当我们自己也能做到的时候，而不是在此之前。
这就是吠檀多的根本原则。吠檀多宣称宗教在此时此地，因为此生与彼生、生与死、此世与彼世的问题，不过是迷信与偏见。时间中并不存在我们所制造的那些断裂之外的断裂。十点钟和十二点钟之间有什么区别呢？不过是我们因自然中的某些变化而造成的区别。时间同样流淌。那么所谓的此生或彼生意味着什么？那不过是一个时间问题，而时间上的损失可以通过工作的速度来弥补。因此，吠檀多说，宗教要在当下被实证。而你要成为有宗教信仰的人，意味着你将从没有任何宗教的状态开始，靠自己一路向上努力，实证事物，亲眼看见事物；而当你做到了这些，那时，也只有那时，你才有了宗教。在那之前，你并不比无神论者好，甚至更差，因为无神论者是真诚的——他站出来说："关于这些事情我不知道"——而那些人也不知道，却在世间到处说"我们是非常虔诚的人。"他们有什么宗教没人知道，因为他们吞下了某个祖母的故事，牧师们要求他们相信这些东西；如果他们不信，那就让他们小心。事情就是这样。
对宗教的实证是唯一的道路。我们每个人都必须自己去发现。那么这些书——世上的这些圣经——有什么用呢？它们大有用处，就像一个国家的地图一样。在来英国之前，我一生中看过许多英国地图，那些地图对我形成某种关于英国的概念很有帮助。然而，当我到达这个国家时，地图和真实的国家之间有多大的差别！实证与经典之间的差别也是如此。这些书只是地图，是前人的经验，作为一种动力激励我们敢于做同样的体验，以同样的方式去发现——如果不是更好的方式的话。
这就是吠檀多的第一原则：实证就是宗教，实证者就是有宗教信仰的人；而那些没有实证的人，并不比那些说"我不知道"的人好——如果不是更差的话——因为后者说"我不知道"，并且是真诚的。在这种实证中，我们又将得到这些书籍的极大帮助，不仅作为指南，而且作为教导和练习的手段；因为每一门科学都有其特定的研究方法。你会在这个世界上发现许多人会说："我想成为有宗教信仰的人，我想实证这些事物，但我做不到，所以我什么都不相信。"即便在受过教育的人中你也会发现这样的人。大量的人会告诉你："我一辈子都在试图成为有宗教信仰的人，但其中什么也没有。"同时你会发现这种现象：假设一个人是化学家，一位伟大的科学家。他来告诉你这些。如果你对他说："我不相信化学的任何东西，因为我一生都在试图成为化学家，但什么也没发现"，他会问："你什么时候试过？""每晚上床时我就重复'啊化学，到我这儿来吧'，但它从没来过。"这完全是同样的事情。化学家会嘲笑你说："哦，那可不是方法。你为什么不去实验室，拿到所有的酸和碱，不时烧伤一下手？只有那样才能教会你。"你对宗教付出了同样的努力吗？每一门科学都有自己的学习方法，宗教也要以同样的方式来学习。它有自己的方法，而这里有我们能够学习、也必须学习的东西，来自世界上所有古代先知——每一位有所发现、有所实证的人。他们将给我们方法——那些特定的方法——唯有通过这些方法我们才能实证宗教真理。他们终生奋斗，发现了特定的心灵修养方法，将心灵带到某种状态——最精微的感知——并通过那种状态感知到了宗教真理。要成为有宗教信仰的人，要感知宗教，感受宗教，成为先知，我们必须采用这些方法并加以实践；然后如果我们什么也没发现，我们才有权利说："宗教中什么也没有，因为我已经尝试过，失败了。"
这是一切宗教的实践面。你会在世上每一部圣经中找到它。它们不仅教导原则和教义，而且在圣人的生平中你能找到修行方法；即使没有被明确地列为行为准则，你也总会在这些先知的生平中发现，甚至连他们有时也会节制饮食。他们的整个生活方式、他们的修行、他们的方法，一切都与周围的大众不同；而正是这些造成了差异，给了他们更高的光明、对神圣的洞见。而我们，如果想要获得这种洞见，就必须准备好采用这些方法。是修行、是努力，将把我们提升到那个境界。因此，吠檀多的计划是：首先确立原则，为我们勾画出目标，然后教给我们达到目标的方法——去理解和实证宗教。
再者，这些方法必须是多样的。鉴于我们的本性如此不同，同一种方法几乎不能以同样的方式应用于我们当中的任何两个人。我们的心灵各有其特质，每个人都是如此；因此方法应当是多样的。有些人，你会发现，本性非常感性；有些人则非常哲学化、理性化；还有些人执着于各种仪式形式——想要具体的东西。你会发现一个人对任何仪式或形式或诸如此类的东西毫不在意，那些东西对他来说如同死亡。而另一个人全身挂满护身符，他是如此喜爱这些象征！还有一个人本性多情，想要向每个人展示慈善行为；他时而哭泣，时而大笑，如此等等。而所有这些人当然不可能有同样的方法。如果只有一种通达真理的方法，对于每一个不具有同样禀赋的人来说都将是死路一条。因此方法应当是多样的。吠檀多理解这一点，并愿意在世人面前展示不同的方法，供我们去实践。选择你喜欢的任何一种；如果一种不适合你，另一种或许适合。从这个角度来看，世上有如此多的宗教是多么光荣的事，有如此多的导师和先知是多么美好的事——而不是像许多人所希望的那样只有一种。穆斯林想让全世界都成为穆斯林；基督徒想让全世界都成为基督徒；佛教徒想让全世界都成为佛教徒；但吠檀多说："如果你愿意，就让世上每个人各自独立；那个唯一的原则、那些统一性，将在背后支撑。先知越多，书籍越多，见者越多，方法越多，对世界就越好。"正如在社会生活中，一个社会中职业越多，对那个社会就越好，其中每个人就有越多的机会谋生；在思想和宗教的世界中也是如此。今天，当我们有如此多的科学分支时，情况好了多少——在如此丰富的多样性面前，每个人获得伟大心灵修养的可能性大了多少！即便在物质层面上，能够在面前摆着如此多样的事物中选择一种我们喜欢的、最适合我们的，又是多么好！宗教的世界也是如此。世上有如此多的宗教，这是上天最光荣的安排；但愿天意让这些宗教日益增多，直到每个人都有一种属于自己的宗教！
吠檀多理解这一点，因此宣讲唯一的原则并承认多种方法。它没有什么要反对任何人的——无论你是基督徒、佛教徒、犹太教徒还是印度教徒，无论你信仰什么神话，无论你效忠于拿撒勒的先知、麦加的先知、印度的先知还是任何其他地方的先知，无论你自己是否就是一位先知——它没有什么要反对的。它只宣讲那个原则——每一种宗教的背景、所有先知和圣人和见者不过是其例证和显现的那个原则。如果你愿意，就增加你的先知吧；它毫无异议。它只宣讲原则，而将方法留给你。走你喜欢的任何路；追随你喜欢的任何先知；但要选择适合你自己本性的方法，这样你才能确保进步。
English
THE METHODS AND PURPOSE OF RELIGION
In studying the religions of the world we generally find two methods of procedure. The one is from God to man. That is to say, we have the Semitic group of religions in which the idea of God comes almost from the very first, and, strangely enough, without any idea of soul. It was very remarkable amongst the ancient Hebrews that, until very recent periods in their history, they never evolved any idea of a human soul. Man was composed of certain mind and material particles, and that was all. With death everything ended. But, on the other hand, there was a most wonderful idea of God evolved by the same race. This is one of the methods of procedure. The other is through man to God. The second is peculiarly Aryan, and the first is peculiarly Semitic.
The Aryan first began with the soul. His ideas of God were hazy, indistinguishable, not very clear; but, as his idea of the human soul began to be clearer, his idea of God began to be clearer in the same proportion. So the inquiry in the Vedas was always through the soul. All the knowledge the Aryans got of God was through the human soul; and, as such, the peculiar stamp that has been left upon their whole cycle of philosophy is that introspective search after divinity. The Aryan man was always seeking divinity inside his own self. It became, in course of time, natural, characteristic. It is remarkable in their art and in their commonest dealings. Even at the present time, if we take a European picture of a man in a religious attitude, the painter always makes his subject point his eyes upwards, looking outside of nature for God, looking up into the skies. In India, on the other hand, the religious attitude is always presented by making the subject close his eyes. He is, as it were, looking inward.
These are the two subjects of study for man, external and internal nature; and though at first these seem to be contradictory, yet external nature must, to the ordinary man, be entirely composed of internal nature, the world of thought. The majority of philosophies in every country, especially in the West, have started with the assumption that these two, matter and mind, are contradictory existences; but in the long run we shall find that they converge towards each other and in the end unite and form an infinite whole. So it is not that by this analysis I mean a higher or lower standpoint with regard to the subject. I do not mean that those who want to search after truth through external nature are wrong, nor that those who want to search after truth through internal nature are higher. These are the two modes of procedure. Both of them must live; both of them must be studied; and in the end we shall find that they meet. We shall see that neither is the body antagonistic to the mind, nor the mind to the body, although we find, many persons who think that this body is nothing. In old times, every country was full of people who thought this body was only a disease, a sin, or something of that kind. Later on, however, we see how, as it was taught in the Vedas, this body melts into the mind, and the mind into the body.
You must remember the one theme that runs through all the Vedas: "Just as by the knowledge of one lump of clay we know all the clay that is in the universe, so what is that, knowing which we know everything else?" This, expressed more or less clearly, is the theme of all human knowledge. It is the finding of a unity towards which we are all going. Every action of our lives—the most material, the grossest as well as the finest, the highest, the most spiritual—is alike tending towards this one ideal, the finding of unity. A man is single. He marries. Apparently it may be a selfish act, but at the same time, the impulsion, the motive power, is to find that unity. He has children, he has friends, he loves his country, he loves the world, and ends by loving the whole universe. Irresistibly we are impelled towards that perfection which consists in finding the unity, killing this little self and making ourselves broader and broader. This is the goal, the end towards which the universe is rushing. Every atom is trying to go and join itself to the next atom. Atoms after atoms combine, making huge balls, the earths, the suns, the moons, the stars, the planets. They in their turn, are trying to rush towards each other, and at last, we know that the whole universe, mental and material, will be fused into one.
The process that is going on in the cosmos on a large scale, is the same as that going on in the microcosm on a smaller scale. Just as this universe has its existence in separation, in distinction, and all the while is rushing towards unity, non-separation, so in our little worlds each soul is born, as it were, cut off from the rest of the world. The more ignorant, the more unenlightened the soul, the more it thinks that it is separate from the rest of the universe. The more ignorant the person, the more he thinks, he will die or will be born, and so forth—ideas that are an expression of this separateness. But we find that, as knowledge comes, man grows, morality is evolved and the idea of non-separateness begins. Whether men understand it or not, they are impelled by that power behind to become unselfish. That is the foundation of all morality. It is the quintessence of all ethics, preached in any language, or in any religion, or by any prophet in the world. "Be thou unselfish", "Not 'I', but 'thou'"—that is the background of all ethical codes. And what is meant by this is the recognition of non-individuality—that you are a part of me, and I of you; the recognition that in hurting you I hurt myself, and in helping you I help myself; the recognition that there cannot possibly be death for me when you live. When one worm lives in this universe, how can I die? For my life is in the life of that worm. At the same time it will teach us that we cannot leave one of our fellow-beings without helping him, that in his good consists my good.
This is the theme that runs through the whole of Vedanta, and which runs through every other religion. For, you must remember, religions divide themselves generally into three parts. There is the first part, consisting of the philosophy, the essence, the principles of every religion. These principles find expression in mythology—lives of saints or heroes, demi-gods, or gods, or divine beings; and the whole idea of this mythology is that of power. And in the lower class of mythologies—the primitive— the expression of this power is in the muscles; their heroes are strong, gigantic. One hero conquers the whole world. As man advances, he must find expression for his energy higher than in the muscles; so his heroes also find expression in something higher. The higher mythologies have heroes who are gigantic moral men. Their strength is manifested in becoming moral and pure. They can stand alone, they can beat back the surging tide of selfishness and immorality. The third portion of all religions is symbolism, which you call ceremonials and forms. Even the expression through mythology, the lives of heroes, is not sufficient for all. There are minds still lower. Like children they must have their kindergarten of religion, and these symbologies are evolved—concrete examples which they can handle and grasp and understand, which they can see and feel as material somethings.
So in every religion you find there are the three stages: philosophy, mythology, and ceremonial. There is one advantage which can be pleaded for the Vedanta, that in India, fortunately, these three stages have been sharply defined. In other religions the principles are so interwoven with the mythology that it is very hard to distinguish one from the other. The mythology stands supreme, swallowing up the principles; and in course of centuries the principles are lost sight of. The explanation, the illustration of the principle, swallows up the principle, and the people see only the explanation, the prophet, the preacher, while the principles have gone out of existence almost—so much so that even today, if a man dares to preach the principles of Christianity apart from Christ, they will try to attack him and think he is wrong and dealing blows at Christianity. In the same way, if a man wants to preach the principles of Mohammedanism, Mohammedans will think the same; because concrete ideas, the lives of great men and prophets, have entirely overshadowed the principles.
In Vedanta the chief advantage is that it was not the work of one single man; and therefore, naturally, unlike Buddhism, or Christianity, or Mohammedanism, the prophet or teacher did not entirely swallow up or overshadow the principles. The principles live, and the prophets, as it were, form a secondary group, unknown to Vedanta. The Upanishads speak of no particular prophet, but they speak of various prophets and prophetesses. The old Hebrews had something of that idea; yet we find Moses occupying most of the space of the Hebrew literature. Of course I do not mean that it is bad that these prophets should take religious hold of a nation; but it certainly is very injurious if the whole field of principles is lost sight of. We can very much agree as to principles, but not very much as to persons. The persons appeal to our emotions; and the principles, to something higher, to our calm judgement. Principles must conquer in the long run, for that is the manhood of man. Emotions many times drag us down to the level of animals. Emotions have more connection with the senses than with the faculty of reason; and, therefore, when principles are entirely lost sight of and emotions prevail, religions degenerate into fanaticism and sectarianism. They are no better than party politics and such things. The most horribly ignorant notions will be taken up, and for these ideas thousands will be ready to cut the throats of their brethren. This is the reason that, though these great personalities and prophets are tremendous motive powers for good, at the same time their lives are altogether dangerous when they lead to the disregard of the principles they represent. That has always led to fanaticism, and has deluged the world in blood. Vedanta can avoid this difficulty, because it has not one special prophet. It has many Seers, who are called Rishis or sages. Seers—that is the literal translation—those who see these truths, the Mantras.
The word Mantra means "thought out", cogitated by the mind; and the Rishi is the seer of these thoughts. They are neither the property of particular persons, nor the exclusive property of any man or woman, however great he or she may be; nor even the exclusive property of the greatest spirits—the Buddhas or Christs—whom the world has produced. They are as much the property of the lowest of the low, as they are the property of a Buddha, and as much the property of the smallest worm that crawls as of the Christ, because they are universal principles. They were never created. These principles have existed throughout time; and they will exist. They are non-create—uncreated by any laws which science teaches us today. They remain covered and become discovered, but are existing through all eternity in nature. If Newton had not been born, the law of gravitation would have remained all the same and would have worked all the same. It was Newton's genius which formulated it, discovered it, brought it into consciousness, made it a conscious thing to the human race. So are these religious laws, the grand truths of spirituality. They are working all the time. If all the Vedas and the Bibles and the Korans did not exist at all, if seers and prophets had never been born, yet these laws would exist. They are only held in abeyance, and slowly but surely would work to raise the human race, to raise human nature. But they are the prophets who see them, discover them, and such prophets are discoverers in the field of spirituality. As Newton and Galileo were prophets of physical science, so are they prophets of spirituality. They can claim no exclusive right to any one of these laws; they are the common property of all nature.
The Vedas, as the Hindus say, are eternal. We now understand what they mean by their being eternal, i.e. that the laws have neither beginning nor end, just as nature has neither beginning nor end. Earth after earth, system after system, will evolve, run for a certain time, and then dissolve back again into chaos; but the universe remains the same. Millions and millions of systems are being born, while millions are being destroyed. The universe remains the same. The beginning and the end of time can be told as regards a certain planet; but as regards the universe, time has no meaning at all. So are the laws of nature, the physical laws, the mental laws, the spiritual laws. Without beginning and without end are they; and it is within a few years, comparatively speaking, a few thousand years at best, that man has tried to reveal them. The infinite mass remains before us. Therefore the one great lesson that we learn from the Vedas, at the start, is that religion has just begun. The infinite ocean of spiritual truth lies before us to be worked on, to be discovered, to be brought into our lives. The world has seen thousands of prophets, and the world has yet to see millions.
There were times in olden days when prophets were many in every society. The time is to come when prophets will walk through every street in every city in the world. In olden times, particular, peculiar persons were, so to speak, selected by the operations of the laws of society to become prophets. The time is coming when we shall understand that to become religious means to become a prophet, that none can become religious until he or she becomes a prophet. We shall come to understand that the secret of religion is not being able to think and say all these thoughts; but, as the Vedas teach, to realise them, to realise newer and higher one than have ever been realised, to discover them, bring them to society; and the study of religion should be the training to make prophets. The schools and colleges should be training grounds for prophets. The whole universe must become prophets; and until a man becomes a prophet, religion is a mockery and a byword unto him. We must see religion, feel it, realise it in a thousand times more intense a sense than that in which we see the wall.
But there is one principle which underlies all these various manifestations of religion and which has been already mapped out for us. Every science must end where it finds a unity, because we cannot go any further. When a perfect unity is reached, that science has nothing more of principles to tell us. All the work that religions have to do is to work out the details. Take any science, chemistry, for example. Suppose we can find one element out of which we can manufacture all the other elements. Then chemistry, as a science, will have become perfect. What will remain for us is to discover every day new combinations of that one material and the application of those combinations for all the purposes of life. So with religion. The gigantic principles, the scope, the plan of religion were already discovered ages ago when man found the last words, as they are called, of the Vedas—"I am He" —that there is that One in whom this whole universe of matter and mind finds its unity, whom they call God, or Brahman, or Allah, or Jehovah, or any other name. We cannot go beyond that. The grand principle has been already mapped out for us. Our work lies in filling it in, working it out, applying it to every part of our lives. We have to work now so that every one will become a prophet. There is a great work before us.
In old times, many did not understand what a prophet meant. They thought it was something by chance, that just by a fiat of will or some superior intelligence, a man gained superior knowledge. In modern times, we are prepared to demonstrate that this knowledge is the birthright of every living being, whosoever and wheresoever he be, and that there is no chance in this universe. Every man who, we think, gets something by chance, has been working for it slowly and surely through ages. And the whole question devolves upon us: "Do we want to be prophets?" If we want, we shall be.
This, the training of prophets, is the great work that lies before us; and, consciously or unconsciously, all the great systems of religion are working toward this one great goal, only with this difference, that in many religions you will find they declare that this direct perception of spirituality is not to be had in this life, that man must die, and after his death there will come a time in another world, when he will have visions of spirituality, when he will realise things which now he must believe. But Vedanta will ask all people who make such assertions, "Then how do you know that spirituality exists?" And they will have to answer that there must have been always certain particular people who, even in this life, have got a glimpse of things which are unknown and unknowable.
Even this makes a difficulty. If they were peculiar people, having this power simply by chance, we have no right to believe in them. It would be a sin to believe in anything that is by chance, because we cannot know it. What is meant by knowledge? Destruction of peculiarity. Suppose a boy goes into a street or a menagerie, and sees a peculiarly shaped animal. He does not know what it is. Then he goes to a country where there are hundreds like that one, and he is satisfied, he knows what the species is. Our knowledge is knowing the principle. Our non-knowledge is finding the particular without reference to principle. When we find one case or a few cases separate from the principle, without any reference to the principle, we are in darkness and do not know. Now, if these prophets, as they say, were peculiar persons who alone had the right to catch a glimpse of that which is beyond and no one else has the right, we should not believe in these prophets, because they are peculiar cases without any reference to a principle. We can only believe in them if we ourselves become prophets.
You, all of you, hear about the various jokes that get into the newspapers about the sea-serpent; and why should it be so? Because a few persons, at long intervals, came and told their stories about the sea-serpent, and others never see it. They have no particular principle to which to refer, and therefore the world does not believe. If a man comes to me and says a prophet disappeared into the air and went through it, I have the right to see that. I ask him, "Did your father or grandfather see it?" "Oh, no," he replies, "but five thousand years ago such a thing happened." And if I do not believe it, I have to be barbecued through eternity!
What a mass of superstition this is! And its effect is to degrade man from his divine nature to that of brutes. Why was reason given us if we have to believe? Is it not tremendously blasphemous to believe against reason? What right have we not to use the greatest gift that God has given to us? I am sure God will pardon a man who will use his reason and cannot believe, rather than a man who believes blindly instead of using the faculties He has given him. He simply degrades his nature and goes down to the level of the beasts—degrades his senses and dies. We must reason; and when reason proves to us the truth of these prophets and great men about whom the ancient books speak in every country, we shall believe in them. We shall believe in them when we see such prophets among ourselves. We shall then find that they were not peculiar men, but only illustrations of certain principles. They worked, and that principle expressed itself naturally, and we shall have to work to express that principle in us. They were prophets, we shall believe, when we become prophets. They were seers of things divine. They could go beyond the bounds of senses and catch a glimpse of that which is beyond. We shall believe that when we are able to do it ourselves and not before.
That is the one principle of Vedanta. Vedanta declares that religion is here and now, because the question of this life and that life, of life and death, this world and that world, is merely one of superstition and prejudice. There is no break in time beyond what we make. What difference is there between ten and twelve o'clock, except what we make by certain changes in nature? Time flows on the same. So what is meant by this life or that life? It is only a question of time, and what is lost in time may be made up by speed in work. So, says Vedanta, religion is to be realised now. And for you to become religious means that you will start without any religion work your way up and realise things, see things for yourself; and when you have done that, then, and then alone, you have religion. Before that you are no better than atheists, or worse, because the atheist is sincere—he stands up and says, "I do not know about these things—while those others do not know but go about the world, saying, "We arc very religious people." What religion they have no one knows, because they have swallowed some grandmother's story, and priests have asked them to believe these things; if they do not, then let them take care. That is how it is going.
Realisation of religion is the only way. Each one of us will have to discover. Of what use are these books, then, these Bibles of the world? They are of great use, just as maps are of a country. I have seen maps of England all my life before I came here, and they were great helps to me informing some sort of conception of England. Yet, when I arrived in this country, what a difference between the maps and the country itself! So is the difference between realisation and the scriptures. These books are only the maps, the experiences of past men, as a motive power to us to dare to make the same experiences and discover in the same way, if not better.
This is the first principle of Vedanta, that realisation is religion, and he who realises is the religious man; and he who does not is no better than he who says, "I do not know", if not worse, because the other says, "I do not know", and is sincere. In this realisation, again, we shall be helped very much by these books, not only as guides, but as giving instructions and exercises; for every science has its own particular method of investigation. You will find many persons in this world who will say. "I wanted to become religious, I wanted to realise these things, but I have not been able, so I do not believe anything." Even among the educated you will find these. Large numbers of people will tell you, "I have tried to be religious all my life, but there is nothing in it." At the same time you will find this phenomenon: Suppose a man is a chemist, a great scientific man. He comes and tells you this. If you say to him, "I do not believe anything about chemistry, because I have all my life tried to become a chemist and do not find anything in it", he will ask, "When did you try?" "When I went to bed, I repeated, 'O chemistry, come to me', and it never came." That is the very same thing. The chemist laughs at you and says, "Oh, that is not the way. Why did you not go to the laboratory and get all the acids and alkalis and burn your hands from time to time? That alone would have taught you." Do you take the same trouble with religion? Every science has its own method of learning, and religion is to be learnt the same way. It has its own methods, and here is something we can learn, and must learn, from all the ancient prophets of the world, every one who has found something, who has realised religion. They will give us the methods, the particular methods, through which alone we shall be able to realise the truths of religion. They struggled all their lives, discovered particular methods of mental culture, bringing the mind to a certain state, the finest perception, and through that they perceived the truths of religion. To become religious, to perceive religion, feel it, to become a prophet, we have to take these methods and practice them; and then if we find nothing, we shall have the right to say, "There is nothing in religion, for I have tried and failed."
This is the practical side of all religions. You will find it in every Bible in the world. Not only do they teach principles and doctrines, but in the lives of the saints you find practices; and when it is not expressly laid down as a rule of conduct, you will always find in the lives of these prophets that even they regulated their eating and drinking sometimes. Their whole living, their practice, their method, everything was different from the masses who surrounded them; and these were the causes that gave them the higher light, the vision of the Divine. And we, if we want to have this vision, must be ready to take up these methods. It is practice, work, that will bring us up to that. The plan of Vedanta, therefore, is: first, to lay down the principles, map out for us the goal, and then to teach us the method by which to arrive at the goal, to understand and realise religion.
Again, these methods must be various. Seeing that we are so various in our natures, the same method can scarcely be applied to any two of us in the same manner. We have idiosyncrasies in our minds, each one of us; so the method ought to be varied. Some, you will find, are very emotional in their nature; some very philosophical, rational; others cling to all sorts of ritualistic forms—want things which are concrete. You will find that one man does not care for any ceremony or form or anything of the sort; they are like death to him. And another man carries a load of amulets all over his body; he is so fond of these symbols! Another man who is emotional in his nature wants to show acts of charity to everyone; he weeps, he laughs, and so on. And all of these certainly cannot have the same method. If there were only one method to arrive at truth, it would be death for everyone else who is not similarly constituted. Therefore the methods should be various. Vedanta understands that and wants to lay before the world different methods through which we can work. Take up any one you like; and if one does not suit you, another may. From this standpoint we see how glorious it is that there are so many religions in the world, how good it is that there are so many teachers and prophets, instead of there being only one, as many persons would like to have it. The Mohammedans want to have the whole world Mohammedan; the Christians, Christian; and the Buddhists, Buddhist; but Vedanta says, "Let each person in the world be separate, if you will; the one principle, the units will be behind. The more prophets there are, the more books, the more seers, the more methods, so much the better for the world." Just as in social life the greater the number of occupations in every society, the better for that society, the more chance is there for everyone of that society to make a living; so in the world of thought and of religion. How much better it is today when we have so many divisions of science—how much more is it possible for everyone to have great mental culture, with this great variety before us! How much better it is, even on the physical plane, to have the opportunity of so many various things spread before us, so that we may choose any one we like, the one which suits us best! So it is with the world of religions. It is a most glorious dispensation of the Lord that there are so many religions in the world; and would to God that these would increase every day, until every man had a religion unto himself!
Vedanta understands that and therefore preaches the one principle and admits various methods. It has nothing to say against anyone—whether you are a Christian, or a Buddhist, or a Jew, or a Hindu, whatever mythology you believe, whether you owe allegiance to the prophet of Nazareth, or of Mecca, or of India, or of anywhere else, whether you yourself are a prophet—it has nothing to say. It only preaches the principle which is the background of every religion and of which all the prophets and saints and seers are but illustrations and manifestations. Multiply your prophets if you like; it has no objection. It only preaches the principle, and the method it leaves to you. Take any path you like; follow any prophet you like; but have only that method which suits your own nature, so that you will be sure to progress.
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。