蒙达卡奥义书
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中文
蒙达卡奥义书（Mundaka Upanishad）
（《新发现》第三卷，第557-568页）
【一八九六年一月二十九日于纽约的智慧瑜伽（Jnana Yoga）课程，由乔赛亚·J·古德温先生记录】
在上一次智慧瑜伽（参见《全集》第二卷）的讲座中，我们读了一篇奥义书；现在我们来读另一篇——蒙达卡奥义书。梵天（Brahma）是众天神中的第一位，是这一劫期的主宰和守护者。他将梵的智慧——一切知识的精髓——传授给他的儿子阿达尔万（Atharvan）。后者又将其传给自己的儿子安吉拉斯（Angiras），安吉拉斯传给他的儿子婆罗堕阇（Bharadvaja），如此代代相传。
有一个名叫绍纳卡（Shaunaka）的人，是一位非常富有的人，他以求学者的身份去拜见安吉拉斯。他走近导师（Guru），问了一个问题："先生，请告诉我，什么是那种一旦被了知，一切便皆可了知的东西？"
一种知识是至上的，另一种是低等的。《梨俱吠陀》（Rig-Veda）是吠陀（Vedas）不同部分之一的名称。"式叉"（Shiksha）是另一部分的名称。一切不同的学科都是低等的。那么，什么是至上的学问？唯有那门至上的学问，能让我们达到那不变的太一。然而，那太一不可见、不可感知、不可界定。无色、无眼、无耳、无鼻、无足——永恒者、遍在者、"无所不入者"、绝对者——万物皆从他而出。圣人们见到了他，这便是至上的知识。
正如乌尔纳那毗（Urnanabhi）——一种蜘蛛，从自己的身体中吐出蛛丝又将其收回；正如植物依其自性而生长；所有这些事物虽各自分离、看似不同（心脏可以说不同于人体的其他部分；植物不同于大地；蛛丝不同于蜘蛛——然而大地、蜘蛛等等才是根本的原因，万物在其中运作），同样，从这不变的太一中产生了这个宇宙。
首先，从梵中生出欲求的知识，由此产生造物主，即"金胎"。从金胎中生出智力，从智力中生出物质以及所有这些不同的世界。
这就是真理——对于那些想要获得拯救或者获取其他享乐的人，吠陀中教导了种种不同的途径。
接下来，蒙达卡奥义书继续说明他们将如何获得这些福祉。当他们死后，将通过太阳的光线前往那些极为美丽的地方，死后他们将升入天堂并在那里住上一段时间，但从那里他们还会再次堕落。
这里有两个词——"祭祀所作"（Ishtam）和"积福所成"（Purtam）。祭祀及其他仪式被称为"祭祀所作"，而"积福所成"则是指修路、建医院等善行。"愚者以为仪式和善行就是最高的，认为没有什么比这更高的了。"他们得到所欲求的，升入天堂，但一切享乐与一切苦痛终有尽时。因此那一切也会终结，他们不断堕落，再次成为人类，甚至沦为更低的存在。那些舍弃世俗、学会控制感官的人则隐居于森林之中。通过太阳的光线，他们达到那不朽之境，那里居住着绝对者。
如此，圣人审视一切善恶之业的欲望，抛弃一切义务，只求了知那——得到之后便不再有轮回、不再有变迁的东西。为了了知那，他手持薪柴前往导师处。
在我们的国家有一个传统，求学者手持薪柴前往导师处，作为帮助导师进行祭祀的象征，因为导师不接受馈赠。
谁是导师？是通晓经典奥秘的人，是灵魂已归入梵的人，是不执著于功业、不执著于升天、不执著于一切此类事物的人。
对于这样的弟子——已经控制了自己的心灵、已经变得平静安宁、已经放弃了心中由欲望激起的种种巨浪（"我要做这个、做那个"，以及所有那些充其量只会造成纷扰的欲望，诸如名声与荣誉之类，驱使人类做出种种行为的东西）——对于这样一位已将内心一切烦扰之欲平息的弟子，导师传授那条道路，即梵的学问，借此他便能认识那永不变易、即是真理本身的太一。
接下来便是安吉拉斯所教授的内容：
这便是真理。啊，温和的人，正如从一团熊熊燃烧的烈焰中，无数火花从中飞出，与火同一本性；同样，从这不变的太一中，一切形相、一切观念、一切造化皆由此而出；并且万物最终又回归于他。
但那永恒者是常存的、无形的、无始的，在一切存在的内外——超越一切生命、超越一切心识，是那纯净者，甚至超越不变者，超越一切。 从他生出生命之本源。从他产生心识。从他产生一切感官之器。从他而来空气、光、水和这承载万有的大地。诸天可谓是他的头颅；太阳与月亮是他的双眼。四方可谓是他的双耳。吠陀的永恒知识可谓是他显现的言语。他的生命是空气。他的心脏是这个宇宙；他的双足，是这个世界。他是一切存在的永恒真我（Atman）。
从他产生了不同的吠陀。从他产生了萨提亚（Sadhyas）之神。后者是远高于常人、与天神极为相似的高等存在。
从他产生了一切人类。从他产生了一切动物。从他产生了一切生命；从他产生了心中的一切力量；从他产生了一切真理、一切贞洁。 七种器官皆从他而来。七种感知的对象从他而来；七种感知的行为从他而来。 从他而来的是七个世界，生命之流在其中流淌。从他而来的是所有这些海洋与汪洋。从他而来的是一切流入大海的河川；从他而来的是一切植物与一切液体。
他在内里。他是一切存在的内在灵魂。这伟大的神我（Purusha），这伟大的太一——他就是这个宇宙，他就是功业，他就是祭祀。他是梵，他是三位一体。了知他的人便将自己的灵魂从无明的束缚中解放出来，获得自由。
他是光明者。他在每一个人的灵魂深处。一切名与色皆从他而来；一切动物与人类皆从他而来。他是至上的太一。了知他的人便获得自由。
如何了知他？取这张弓来——它就是奥义书，吠檀多（Vedanta）的知识；在那弓上放置崇拜的利箭；以什么来拉开这张弓？——以使心灵与他合一的方式，以了知你就是他的方式。如此射出这一箭；以此箭射向那梵。这太一便是弓。这人类的心灵便是箭。梵是我们要射中的目标。这目标需要通过专注心灵来射中。正当箭射中目标之时，箭便穿入目标与之融为一体——合而为一。同样，这灵魂——这箭——应当射向那目标，使之与之合一——在他之中有诸天、大地与苍穹，在他之中有心识与一切生灵。
在奥义书中有某些段落被称为"大语"（Mahavakya），它们时常被引用和参照。
在他之中，那太一——唯有在真我之中——存在着所有其他的世界。其他一切言谈又有什么用呢？唯独了知他。这便是跨越此生、通往普遍存在的桥梁。
安吉拉斯继续展示一条实际的道路。到此为止的描述都十分形象化。
正如车轮的一切辐条汇聚于轮轴，同样，在这身体中，有一个地方，一切脉络从那里流出，又在那里汇聚。在那里，冥想心中的唵。愿你成功。 愿这温和的人成功到达目标。愿你超越一切黑暗，达到那全知者、遍知者。他的荣光在天上、在大地、在一切处。
他——已成为心识、成为气（Prana）的，他——身体中的引领者，他——安住于食物中的生命之能量。通过至上的智慧，圣人们见到他，他的本性是至乐，他如不朽之光辉闪耀。（《蒙达卡奥义书》2.2.8）（这也是一句经常被引用的话。）
这里有两个词：一个是"智慧"（Jnana），另一个是"证悟"（Vijnana）。智慧可译为"学问"——这仅指理智上的知识——而证悟则是"亲证"。神不能通过理智的知识来感知。那已经通过至上的智慧亲证了真我的人——他将会怎样？
心中一切结缚都将被斩断。当你见到了真理，一切黑暗将永远消逝。
你怎还能怀疑？你将觉得这些不同科学、不同哲学之间的争斗和纷争是多么愚蠢和幼稚，你会对它们一笑置之。一切疑惑将消逝，一切业行将消退。一切业行都将消逝。
在那之上，有金色的鞘——没有任何不净、不可分割的——他，梵。那光辉是他的，是一切光中之光——真我的知者们如此亲证他。 而当你做到了这一点，太阳便不能照亮那处，月亮也不能，星辰也不能。一道闪电也无法照亮那里；那是精神层面的——深远地，深入在心灵之中。他放光之时，万物皆放光；当他在内里闪耀，整个人都放光。这个宇宙因他的光辉而闪耀。
日后研习奥义书时，请记取这些篇章。
印度人的思维方式与欧洲人的思维方式之间的区别在于：西方通过考察个别事物来达到真理，而印度人则采取相反的路径。没有哪种形而上学的崇高能比得上奥义书。
蒙达卡奥义书引领你超越感官——无限地崇高于日月星辰。安吉拉斯首先试图以感官的崇高来描述神——他的双足是大地，他的头颅是苍天。但那并不能表达他想说的。那在某种意义上是崇高的。他先将那个概念传授给学生，然后慢慢引导他超越，直到他给出最高的理念——否定的理念——崇高到无法描述。
他是不朽的，他在我们面前，他在我们身后，他在右边，他在左边，他在上方，他在下方。
在同一棵树上，有两只长着最美丽翅膀的鸟，这两只鸟总是一同飞翔——总是一同栖息。其中一只在吃树上的果实；另一只并不吃，只是在旁观看。 同样，在这个身体中，两只鸟总是一同前行。两者有着相同的形态和美丽的翅膀。一只是人的灵魂，在吃那些果实；另一只是神本身，与之同一本性。他也在这个身体中，是我们灵魂的灵魂。他既不吃善果，也不吃恶果，只是站在那里观看。
但那下面的鸟知道自己是弱小的、渺小的、卑微的，便说出种种谎言。他说自己是女人，或者是男人或者是男孩。他说自己要行善或者作恶；他要升天，还要做上百种事情。在谵妄中他说着、做着，而他谵妄的核心观念就是：他是弱小的。
因此他承受了一切苦难，因为他以为自己是无名小卒。他是一个被造的渺小存在。他是某个人的奴隶；他被某个神或诸神所统治，因此不幸福。
但当他与神合一之时，当他成为一个瑜伽（Yoga）行者之时，他看到了那另一只鸟——那主——正是他自己的荣光。"为什么，我所称为神的原来正是我自己的荣光，而这个小'我'，这一切苦难，全是幻觉；它从未存在过。我从来不是女人，从来不是男人，从来不是那些东西中的任何一个。"于是他放下了一切悲苦。
当这金色的太一被看见——那造物主、那主宰者、那神我、这个宇宙的神——那时圣人便洗净了善业与恶业的一切污渍。（善业与恶业同样都是污渍。）于是他达到与那纯净者的完全同一。 圣人知道，那万灵之灵——这真我——照彻一切。
他是男人、是女人、是牛、是狗——在一切动物中，在罪恶中，在罪人之中。他是游方僧（Sannyasin），他在统治者之中，他无处不在。
了知这一切的圣人便不再言说。（他放弃了批评任何人、责骂任何人、对任何人生起恶念。）他的欲望已融入真我之中。这便是最伟大的梵的知者们的标志——他们除了他之外什么也看不见。
他在一切事物中嬉戏。从最高的天神到最低的虫豸——种种形相皆是他。这些观念需要加以阐明。
首先，作者向我们展示了这样一个理念：如果我们想要上天堂以及到达所有那些地方，我们就会到达那里。也就是说，用吠陀的语言来表达，一个人想要什么，他就会看见什么。
正如我在以前的讲座中告诉你们的那样，真我既不来也不去。它既无生也无死。你们都是遍在的，你们就是真我。你们此刻就在天堂，也在最黑暗的地方。你们无处不在。你们不在何处呢？因此你们怎能去往任何地方？这些来来去去都是虚幻的——真我永远既不来也不去。
这些境界是变化的。当心处于某种特定的状态时，它便看到某种景象，做某种梦。因此在这种状态下，我们所有人都在看到这个世界、这些人类和动物以及所有这些事物。但就在这同一个地方，这种状态会改变。而我们现在看到的是大地的东西，我们将看到它是天堂，或者我们可能看到它是相反的地方，或者看到它是我们喜欢的任何地方。
这一切都取决于我们的欲望。但这个梦不可能是永恒的，正如我们知道夜间的任何梦境终会破灭一样。这些梦境没有一个是永恒的。我们梦到我们认为自己将要做的事情。因此，那些在此生中总是想着升天堂、与亲友重逢的人，一旦他们此生的梦结束，就会得到那一切。他们将被此生的欲望所驱使，去看到那些其他的梦境。而那些迷信的、被恐吓而产生地狱等观念的人，会梦到自己身处烈火之中。那些在此生中观念粗鄙的人——死后将变成猪、变成野猪以及所有这些东西。对于每一个人来说，他欲求什么，他就会发现什么。
这部经典一开始就告诉我们，那些除了修路或建医院之类善行之外不知道更高事物的人，死后会做一个美好的梦。他们会梦到自己在一个地方，拥有天人的身体，想吃什么就吃什么，到处跳跃，穿墙而过等等，有时还会下来吓唬某个人。
在我们的神话中有天神，居住在天界；还有天魔，与天神大体相似，只是稍微邪恶一些。天神类似你们的天使，只不过其中一些会不时地变得邪恶，发现人间的女子美好可爱。我们的神灵以此类事迹闻名。你又能对他们有何期待呢？他们不过是——建造医院的人——并不比其他凡人拥有更多的智慧。他们做了一些善事，因而成为天神。他们行善是为了声名或某种回报，并获得了这种回报，在梦中以为自己身处天界，做着那些种种事情。
还有恶魔，在此生作恶多端。但我们的经典说，这些梦不会持续太久，然后他们要么重新回来，再度进入人类的旧梦，要么堕入更差的境地。因此，依照这些经典，每一个明理的、正确思考的人，都应当一劳永逸地将天堂与地狱这些愚蠢的观念扫到一边。
世间存在两样东西——梦与实相。我们所称的生命不过是一连串的梦——梦中有梦。一个梦叫做天堂，另一个叫做人间，再一个叫做地狱，如此等等。一个梦叫做人的身体，另一个叫做动物的身体，如此等等——皆是梦幻。那实相便是所谓的梵——那个存在、知识、极乐的大有。
他便是导师（Guru）——那位想要摆脱一切梦幻、站到一旁认识自身本性的圣者——那位想要超越这种自我催眠的人。
当我们欲求之时，我们便是在催眠自己。正如我一旦欲求"我要上天堂"，便催眠了自己，一死便开始发现自己身在天堂，看见天使和形形色色的东西。我见过约五十位从死亡边缘回来的人，他们都给我讲述身处天堂的故事。这些便是我们国家的种种神话，这恰恰说明一切皆是催眠。
西方人犯下大错的地方正在于此。就你们关于天堂和地狱的种种观念而言，我们赞同你们。但你们说这个世界是真实的，这却不可能。如果这个世界是真实的，天堂和地狱也是真实的，因为每一个的证据都是相同的。如果其中一个是催眠状态，那整体都必然如此。
吠檀多（Vedanta）学者说，不仅天堂是催眠的，这个生命以及这里的一切也是如此。有些人想从一种催眠状态转到另一种催眠状态，这些人便是我们所说的世间愚者——轮回者，从梦到梦、从一种催眠恍惚到另一种催眠恍惚的旅者。五十年间，他们沉浸于自己是男人或女人的观念中。
这是何等荒谬——灵魂中有什么男人或女人？这是可怕的催眠。灵魂怎么会有性别？这是自我催眠。你们催眠了自己，以为自己是男是女。如果我们是愚者，就会再度催眠自己，妄想上天堂，听那些关于诸神诸女神的种种废话和各式荒唐之论，然后跪下祈祷，拥有数以百万计的神像端坐宝座供人膜拜。到头来，我们又不得不再度催眠自己。
我们在此都同在一条船上，同船之人彼此可见。站到一旁吧——自由地超越梦幻与催眠。一些愚者催眠自己，以为自己有身体、有妻子和种种事物。我同样是愚者，催眠自己以为自己有感官和种种事物。所以我们都在同一条船上，彼此可见。或许有数百万的存在就在这里，我们却看不见、触不到、感觉不到他们。正如在催眠术中，你面前或许摆着三本书，但你被催眠了，被告知其中一本不存在。你可能在那种状态下生活一年，却从未看到它。假设三十个人处于同样的催眠影响之下，被告知这本书不存在，那些处于这种状态的人都将看不到这本书。男人、女人、动物全都被催眠了，全都看到这个梦，因为他们都在同一条船上。
吠檀多哲学说，整个宇宙——精神的、物质的、道德的——都是催眠的。谁是这催眠的原因？要怪就怪你自己。这般哭泣、哀嚎，把头撞到墙角上，对你毫无益处。
然而，把一切催眠之物当头痛击，便是所谓的无执；而紧抓更多催眠不放，便是执著。这就是为什么在一切宗教中，你都能发现他们想要弃绝尘世，尽管许多人并不理解其中含义。那些修行者过去常在森林中挨饿，然后看见魔鬼向他们走来。
你们听说过那些关于印度的奇妙故事——那些魔术师如何能让人看到一根绳子从地面升向天空。我自己没有见过。莫卧儿皇帝贾汉吉尔曾提到此事。他说："真主啊，这些魔人干了什么？他们取一根绳子或链条，那链条被抛上去、再抛上去，直到固定住——仿佛挂在什么东西上。然后他们让一只猫沿链条爬上去——接着是一只狗，然后是一只狼，然后是一只老虎，然后是一只狮子。全都沿链条走上去，消失不见。有时他们会让人沿链条上去。两个人上去后开始打斗，然后两人都消失了。过了一会儿，你听到打斗的声音——然后一颗头颅、一只手、一只脚掉了下来。而且请注意，在场有两三千人。表演者身上只穿着一条腰布。"他们说这就是催眠——在观众头上撒下一张网。
这便是他们所谓的学问。它存在于某个范围之内。但如果你超出这个范围或走到范围之内，你就看不到它。那个表演的人自己什么也看不见。所以如果你站在他近旁，你也什么都看不见。此处的催眠就是如此。
因此，我们首先要做的，要么是超越催眠的圈子——智慧（Jnana）之道，要么是站在催眠圈子之内——虔信（Bhakti）之道——与神同在，那位伟大的导演正在上演这一切——整个宇宙都是他的投射。
一幕接一幕，来了又去。这便是所谓的幻（Maya），创造所有这些不可思议之事的力量。掌控这幻力者，便是神；被幻力支配者，便是灵魂。正如那根链条的例子——站在中心的人拥有力量而不被迷惑，但全场观众都被幻力所支配。所以真我（Atman）中掌控幻力的那一部分被称为神，而被幻力迷惑的真我的微小碎片则被称为灵魂——你和我。
虔信者说：一步步向催眠师靠近，当你到达中心时，你什么也看不到了——你便清醒了。
智慧者则不屑经历这一切烦扰——这是一条危险的道路。除非一个人疯了，否则当他发现自己满身是泥时，难道会再拿泥来洗自己吗？那为什么要增加催眠呢？走出那个圈子，斩断它，获得自由。当你自由了，你也能够游戏其中，而不会被困住。现在你是被困的，到那时你将成为那个掌控者——区别仅此而已。
因此，在这部经典的第一部分中，我们被告知必须放弃天堂、生死等一切观念。这些全是荒谬之论；从来没有人真正出生过，也从来没有人真正死亡过。他们都在催眠之中。所谓的永生以及这些种种废话亦然。天堂是催眠，人间也是催眠。
并非如唯物主义者所言：天堂是迷信，神是迷信，唯独他自己不是迷信。如果一个是迷信——如果链条中有一环不存在——那整条链条都不存在。整条链条的存在依赖于一环的存在——而一环的存在依赖于整体。
如果没有天堂，就没有人间；如果没有神，就没有人。你处在这催眠之下；只要你还在其中，你就不得不看到神、自然和灵魂。而当你超越这催眠之时，神将消失——自然也将消失，灵魂也将消失。
因此，首先，我们必须放弃关于神、关于天堂、关于享受其果报的一切观念；所有上天堂的念想不过又是一场梦。
接下来，在阐明这些道理之后，经典继续告诉我们如何走出这催眠。贯穿所有这些论述的一个核心理念是：与那宇宙大有合一。那显现出来的——宇宙大有——并非这些东西中的任何一个；这些都是荒谬之论——幻。（斯瓦米（Swami）一直在讨论幻的两个方面。在前一页，即前面几段中，他将幻描述为梵的力量；而在此处，他所指的幻是世界的表象。）然而那个一切事物在其上演出的——那张画布、那个写满图像的背景——便是我们自己；我们与那宇宙大有是一体的。你知道你与他是一体的，只是你必须证悟这一点。
他给了我们两个词：一个是知识上的理解，另一个是证悟。也就是说，知识上的认同包含在这个证悟之内，而证悟则超越于它。因此仅有知识上的认同是不够的。
每个人都能说这个理论是对的，但那不是证悟；他必须去证悟它。我们都能说我们明白这是催眠，但那不是证悟。证悟将在催眠破除之时到来——哪怕只是一瞬间。它会如闪电般降临；它必然会来。如果你不断努力，它就会来。
当催眠消失之时，关于身体的一切观念也将随之而去——你有性别或身体的观念——就像一盏灯被吹灭。那时你将变成什么？如果你还有一些残余的业，这个世界会再次出现——但不再具有同样的力量。你已经认识到它的本质；你将不再有束缚。只要你还有眼睛，你就不得不看；还有耳朵，你就不得不听——但不再具有同样的力量。
关于海市蜃楼，我曾读过各种各样的描述，但直到大约四年前在印度西部旅行时，我才亲眼看到。当然，作为一名游方僧（Sannyasin），我是徒步旅行的，行进缓慢。所以我用了大约一个月的时间穿越那片地区。每天我都看到如此美丽的湖泊，湖岸上树木的倒影，整个画面在微风中轻轻摇曳——还有飞鸟和走兽。每天我都看到这些，心想这是多么美丽的地方啊。但当我到达某个村庄时，发现那里全是黄沙。我说，怎么回事？
有一天我非常口渴，想到湖边喝点水。但当我走近时，湖泊消失了，一个念头如闪电般划过我的脑海："这就是我一辈子读到的海市蜃楼。"但奇怪的是，我旅行了一个月，却从未认出那是海市蜃楼——而在一瞬间它便消散了。我非常高兴地知道了这就是我一辈子读到的海市蜃楼。
第二天早晨，我又看到了那个湖泊，伴随而来的是这个念头："那是海市蜃楼。"在整整一个月中，我一直看着海市蜃楼，却无法分辨实相与幻象。但在那一瞬间，我领悟了。
从那以后，每当我看到海市蜃楼，我会说："那是海市蜃楼"，而不再为之所惑。这个世界也将如此——当整个幻象消失一次之后；此后，即使你不得不了结过去的业，你也不会再被欺骗。
拿一辆有两个轮子的马车来说。假设我把其中一个轮子从车轴上卸下。另一个轮子会因过去的动力继续转动一阵，然后停下来。身体是一个轮子，灵魂是另一个轮子；它们由妄执的车轴连接在一起。知识便是砍断车轴的斧头，灵魂将立刻停止——放弃一切虚妄的梦幻。
但身体上还有过去的动力，它会继续运转一阵，做这做那，然后停下来。但留存的只会是善的动力，那个身体只能行善。这是提醒你不要把一个恶棍误认为自由之人。那个自由之人将不可能作恶。所以你们不可被蒙蔽。
当你获得自由时，全部催眠已经消散，你认清了实相与幻象之间的分别。幻象将不再是束缚。最可怕的事情也不能使你畏惧。纵使一座山压在你身上，你也毫不在意。你知道那不过是海市蜃楼。
English
THE MUNDAKA UPANISHAD
(New Discoveries, Vol. 3, pp. 557-68)
[A Jnâna-Yoga class delivered in New York, January 29, 1896, and recorded by Mr. Josiah J. Goodwin]
In the last Jnana-Yoga (Vide [6]Complete Works, II.) lecture, we read one of the Upanishads; we will read another [the Mundaka Upanishad]. Brahmâ was the first of the Devas, the Lord of this cycle and its protector. He gave this knowledge of Brahman, which is the essence of all knowledge, to his son Atharvan. The latter handed it over to his son Angiras, he to his son, Bharadvâja, and so on.
There was a man called Shaunaka, a very rich man, who went to this Angiras as a learner. He approached the teacher and asked him a question. "Tell me, sir, what is that which, being known, everything else is known?"
One [knowledge] is supreme and the other is inferior. The Rig-Veda is the name of one of the different parts of the Vedas. Shikshâ is the name of another part. All different sciences are inferior. What is the supreme science? That is the only science, the supreme science, by which we reach the Unchangeable One. But that cannot be seen, cannot be sensed, cannot be specified. Without colour, without eyes, without ears, without nose, without feet — the Eternal, the Omnipresent, the "Omnipenetrating", the Absolute — He from whom everything comes. The sages see Him, and that is the supreme knowledge.
Just as the Urnanâbhi, a species of spider, creates a thread out of his own body and takes it back, just as the plants grow by their own nature, and all these things are yet separate and apparently different (the heart is, as it were, different from the other parts of a man's body; the plants are different from the earth; the thread is different from the spider — yet they [the earth, the spider and so on] were the causes, and in them these things act), so from this Unchangeable One has come this universe.
First, out of Brahman comes the knowledge of desire and from that comes the manifestation of Creator, or the Golden Womb. From that comes intelligence, from that, matter and all these different worlds.
This is the truth — that for those who want to come to salvation or attain to other enjoyments, various ways are toldin the Vedas.
Then it [the Mundaka Upanishad] goes on to say how they will reach these blessings. When they die they will go through the sun's rays to places which are very beautiful, where after death they will go to heaven and live for some time, but from there they will again fall.
Here are two words — Ishtam and Purtam. Sacrificial and other rituals are called Ishtam, and Purtam is making roads, building hospitals and so on. "Fools are they who think that rituals and doing good work are high and that there is nothing higher." They get what they desire and go to heaven, but every enjoyment and every sorrow must have an end. And so that ends, and they fall back and back and become men again, or still lower. Those that give up the world and learn to control the senses live in a forest. Through the rays of the sun they reach that immortality where lives He who is the Absolute.
Thus the sage, examining all desires of good or evil works, throws away all duties and wants to know that, getting which there is no more return, no more change. And to know that, he goes to the Guru, the teacher, with fuel in his hand.
There is a myth in our country about going to the Guru with fuel in one's hands as a sign of helping him in making sacrifices, as he will not take presents.
Who is a teacher? He who knows the secrets of the scriptures, he whose soul has gone unto Brahman, who does not care for works or going to heaven or all these things.
Unto such a disciple, who has controlled his mind, has become peaceful and calm, has given up all this tremendous wave that rises in the mind by desire ("I will do this and that" and all those desires which are at best only disturbing, such as name and fame, which impel mankind to do all sorts of things) — to that disciple in whom all these vexatious desires have been calmed down, the teacher teaches the way which is the science of Brahman, by which he can know that One who never changes and who is the Truth.
Then comes what he [Angiras] taught:
This is the truth, O gentle one, as from a mass of burning flame myriads of sparks come out of the same nature as the fire, even so from this Unchangeable One all these forms, all these ideas, all this creation, come out; and unto Him it [the creation] goes back.
But the Eternal One is everlasting, formless, without beginning, inside and outside of every being — beyond all life, beyond all mind, the Pure One, beyond even the unchangeable, beyond everything. From Him is born the vital principle. From Him comes the mind. From Him come all organs of the senses. From Him are air, light, water and this earth which holds all beings. These heavens are, as it were, His head; His eyes, the sun and moon. The cardinal points are, as it were, His ears. The eternal knowledge of the Vedas is, as it were, His manifested speech. His life is the air. His heart is this universe; His feet, this world. He is the Eternal Self of every being.
From Him have come the different Vedas. From Him have come the gods of the Sâdhyas. The latter are superior men, much higher than ordinary men and very much like the gods.
From Him are all men. From Him are all animals. From Him is all life; from Him, all the forces in the mind; from Him all truth, all chastity. The seven organs are all from Him. The seven objects of perception are from him; the seven actions of perception are from Him. From Him are the seven worlds in which the life currents flow. From Him are all these seas and oceans. From Him are all rivers that roll into the sea; from Him are all plants and all liquids.
He is the inside. He is the inner Soul of every being. This great Purusha, this great One — He is this universe, He is the work, He is the sacrifice. He is Brahman, and He is the trinity. He who knows Him frees his own soul from the bond of ignorance and becomes free.
He is the bright one. He is inside every human soul. From Him are all name and form; all the animals and men are from Him. He is the one Supreme. He who knows Him becomes free.
How to know Him? Take this bow, which is the Upanishad, the knowledge of the Vedanta; place upon that bow the sharpened rod [arrow] of worship; stretch that bow by what? — by making the mind of the same form as He, by knowing that you are He. Thus strike at it; strike at that Brahman with this rod. This One is the bow. This human mind is the rod [arrow]. Brahman is the object which we want to hit. This object is to be hit by concentrating the mind. And just when the rod has hit [its mark], the rod penetrates into the object and becomes one with it — a unity. Even so, this soul, the rod, is to be thrown upon the object so that it will become one with It — in Whom are the heavens, this earth and the skies, in Whom are the mind and all that lives.
In the Upanishads there are certain passages which are called the great words,[7]* which are always quoted and referred to.
In Him, that One — in Him alone, the Atman — exist all other worlds. What is the use of all other talk? Know Him alone. This is the bridge over this life to reach universality.
He [Angiras] goes on to show a practical way. So far it is very figurative.
Just as all the spokes of a wheel meet at the axle, even so in this body is that place from which all the arteries flow and at which they all meet. There, meditate upon the Om that is in the heart. May thou succeed. May the gentle one with success attain the goal. May you go beyond all darkness to Him who is omniscient, the All-Knowing. His glory is in heaven, on earth and everywhere.
He who has become the mind, the Prânâ, He who is the leader in the body, He who is established in the food, the energy of life. By supreme knowledge the sages see Him whose nature is bliss, who shines as immortality.(Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.8.) (This is another of the sentences very much quoted.)
There are two words: one is Jnâna, the other Vijnâna. Jnana may be translated as science — this means intellectual [knowledge] only — and Vijnana as realization. God cannot be perceived by intellectual knowledge. He who has realized [the Self] by that supreme knowledge — what will become of that man?
All the knots of the heart will be cut asunder. All darkness will vanish forever when you have seen the Truth.
How can you doubt? How foolish and childish you will think these fights and quarrels of different sciences and different philosophies and all this. You will smile at them. All doubts will vanish, and all work will go away. All work will vanish.
Beyond, the golden sheath is there — without any impurity, without parts [indivisible] — He, the Brahman. His is the brightness, the Light of all light — the knowers of the Atman realize Him as such. And when you have done that, the sun cannot illumine, nor the moon, nor the stars. A flash of lightning cannot illumine the place; it is mental — away, deep in the mind. He shining, everything else shines; when He shines within, the whole man shines. This universe shines through His light.
Take such passages [for memorizing] later on, when studying the Upanishads.
The difference between the Hindu mind and the European mind is that whereas in the West truths are arrived at by examining the particular, the Hindu takes the opposite course. There is no [such] metaphysical sublimity as in the Upanishads.
It [the Mundaka Upanishad] leads you on, beyond the senses — infinitely more sublime than the suns and stars. First Angiras tried to describe God by sense sublimities — that His feet are the earth, His head the heavens. But that did not express what he wanted to say. It was in a sense sublime. He first gave that idea to the student and then slowly took him beyond, until he gave him the highest idea — the negative — too high to describe.
He is immortal, He is before us, He is behind us, He is on the right side, He is on the left, He is above, He is beneath.
Upon the same tree there are two birds with most beautiful wings, and the two birds always go together — always live together. Of these, one is eating the fruits of the tree; the other, without eating, is looking on. So in this body are the two birds always going together. Both have the same form and beautiful wings. One is the human soul, eating the fruits; the other is God Himself, of the same nature. He is also in this body, the Soul of our soul. He eats neither good nor evil fruits, but stands and looks on.
But the lower bird knows that he is weak and small and humble, and tells all sorts of lies. He says he is a woman, or he is a man or a boy. He says he will do good or do bad; he will go to heaven and will do a hundred sorts of things. In delirium he talks and works, and the central idea of his delirium is that he is weak.
Thus he gets all the misery because he thinks he is nobody. He is a created little being. He is a slave to somebody; he is governed by some god or gods, and so is unhappy.
But when he becomes joined with God, when he becomes a Yogi, he sees that the other bird, the Lord, is his own glory. "Why, it was my own glory whom I called God, and this little "I", this misery, was all hallucination; it never existed. I was never a woman, never a man, never any one of these things." Then he gives up all his sorrow.
When this Golden One, who is to be seen, is seen — the Creator, the Lord, the Purusha, the God of this universe — then the sage has washed off all stains of good and bad deeds. (Good deeds are as much stains as bad deeds.) Then he attains to total sameness with the Pure One. The sage knows that He who is the Soul of all souls — this Atman — shines through all.
He is the man, the woman, the cow, the dog — in all animals, in the sin and in the sinner. He is the Sannyâsin, He is in the ruler, He is everywhere.
Knowing this the sage speaks not. (He gives up criticizing anyone, scolding anyone, thinking evil of anyone.) His desires have gone into the Atman. This is the sign of the greatest knowers of Brahman — that they see nothing else but Him.
He is playing through all these things. Various forms — from the highest gods to the lowest worms — are all He. The ideas want to be illustrated.
First of all the writer showed us the idea that if we want to get to heaven and all these places, we will get there. That is to say, in the language of the Vedas, whatever one desires that he sees.
As I have told you in previous lectures, the Atman neither comes nor goes. It has neither birth nor death. You are all omnipresent, you are the Atman. You are at this moment in heaven and in the darkest places too. You are everywhere. Where are you not? Therefore how can you go anywhere? These comings and goings are all fictions — the Atman can never come nor go.
These visions change. When the mind is in a particular condition it sees a certain vision, dreams a certain dream. So in this condition, we are all seeing this world and man and animals and all these things. But in this very place, this condition will change. And the very thing we are seeing as earth, we shall see as heaven, or we may see it as the opposite place or as any place we like.
All this depends on our desires. But this dream cannot be permanent, just as we know that any dream in the night must break. Not one of these dreams will be permanent. We dream that which we think we will do. So these people who are always thinking in this life of going to heaven and meeting their friends, will have that as soon as their dream of this life is ended. And they will be compelled by their desires of this life to see these other dreams. And those who are superstitious and are frightened into all such ideas as hell will dream that they are in the hot place. Those whose ideas in this life are brutal — when they die, will become pigs and hogs and all these things. With each one, what he desires he finds.
This book starts by telling us that those who know nothing better than a little road-making or hospital-building and such good works will have a good dream when they die. They will dream that they are in a place where they will have god-bodies and can eat anything they like, jump about, go through walls and so on, and sometimes come down and startle someone.
In our mythology there are the Devas, who live in heaven, and the Devakas, who are very much the same but a little more wicked. The Devas are like your angels, only some of them from time to time become wicked and find that the daughters of men are good. Our deities are celebrated for this sort of thing. What can you expect of them? They are here — simply hospital-makers — and have no more knowledge than other men. They do some good work with the result that they become Devas. They do their good work for fame or name or some reward and get this reward, dreaming that they are in heaven and doing all these things.
Then there are demons who have done evil in this life. But our books say that these dreams will not last very long, and then they will either come back and take the old dream again as human beings, or still worse. Therefore, according to these books, it behooves every sensible, right-thinking man, once and for all, to brush aside all such foolish ideas as heavens and hells.
Two things exist in the world — dream and reality. What we call life is a succession of dreams — dream within dream. One dream is called heaven, another earth, another hell, and so on. One dream is called the human body, another the animal body, and so on — all are dreams. The reality is what is called Brahman, that Being who is Existence, Knowledge, Bliss.
He is the Guru — the sage who wants to get rid of all these dreams, to stand aside and know his own nature — who wants to go beyond this self-hypnotism.
When we desire, we are hypnotizing ourselves. Just as I desire "I will go to heaven", that hypnotizes me, and I begin to find I am in heaven directly I die, and will see angels and all sorts of things. I have seen about fifty people who have come from death's door, and they all have told me stories about being in heaven. These are the mythologies of our country, and it shows that it is all hypnotism.
Where Western people make a great mistake is here. So far as you have these ideas of heaven and hell, we agree with you. But you say this earth is real. That cannot be. If this is real, heavens and hells are real, because the proof of each of these is the same. If one is a hypnotic condition, the whole of it must be so.
Vedantists say that not only are heavens hypnotic, but so is this life and everything here. Some people want to go from one hypnotic condition to another, and these are what we call the fools of the world — the Samsârins, the travellers who go from dream to dream, from one hypnotic trance to another. For fifty years they are under the idea that they are men and women.
What nonsense is [this — ] a man or a woman in the soul? It is terrible hypnotism. How can the soul have any sex? It is self-hypnotism. You have hypnotized yourself and think you are men and women. If we are fools, we will again hypnotize ourselves and want to go to heaven, and hear all this trash of gods and goddesses and all sorts of humbug, and will kneel down and pray, and have god-bodies by the millions to worship on thrones. At the end, we have to hypnotize ourselves again.
We are all in the same boat here, and all who are in the same boat see each other. Stand aside — free, beyond dream and hypnotism. Some fools have hypnotized themselves that they have bodies and wives and all these things. I also am a fool and have hypnotized myself that I have senses and all these things. So we are all in the same boat and see each other. Millions of people may be here whom we do not see, touch or feel. Just as in hypnotism there may be three books before you, but you are hypnotized and are told that one of them does not exist. And you may live for a year in that condition and never see it. Suppose thirty men are under the same hypnotic influence and are told that this book does not exist. Those who are in this condition will all fail to see the book. Men, women, animals are all hypnotized, and all see this dream because they are all in the same boat.
The Vedanta philosophy says that this whole universe — mental, physical, moral — is hypnotic. Who is the cause of this hypnotism? You yourself are to blame. This weeping and wailing and knocking your heads into corners [against brick walls, as it were] will not do you the least good.
However, knocking everything [that is hypnotic] on the head [leads to] what is called non-attachment; and clinging to more and more hypnotism is attachment. That is why in all religions you will find they wanted to give up the world, although many of them do not understand it. These fellows used to starve themselves in a forest and see the devil coming to them.
You have heard those wonderful stories of India — of how those magicians can make a man see a rope rise from the ground to the skies. I have not seen any of them. One of the Mogul emperors, Jahangir, mentions it. He says, "Allah, what do these devils do? They take a rope or a chain, and the chain is thrown up and up until it becomes firm — as if it were stuck to something. Then they let a cat go up the chain — then a dog, then a wolf, then a tiger, then a lion. All walk up the chain and vanish. Sometimes they will send men up the chain. Two men will go up and begin to fight, and then both of them vanish. And after a while you hear a noise of fighting — and [then] a head, a hand, and a foot fall. And, mind you, there are two or three thousand people present. The fellow showing it has only a loincloth on". They say this is hypnotism — throwing a net over the audience.
That is what they call their science. It exists within a certain limit. But if you go beyond this limit or come within it, you do not see it. The man who is playing does not see anything. So if you stand near him, you do not see anything. Such is the hypnotism here.
So we have first to get beyond the circle (Jnana) or stand within the circle of the hypnotism (Bhakti) with God, the great Player who is playing all these things — the whole universe He projects.
Chapter after chapter comes and goes. This is called Mâyâ, the power which creates all these tremendous things. He who is the ruler of this Maya, is God; and he who is ruled by Maya [is the soul]. Just as in the case of that chain — so the man who was standing in the centre had the power and was not deluded, but all that audience was governed by Maya. So that portion of Atman which rules Maya is called God, and the little bits of the Atman deluded by it are called souls — you and I.
The Bhakta says, Crawl nearer and nearer to the hypnotist, and when you get to the centre you do not see anything. You get clear of it.
The Jnâni does not care to undergo all this trouble — it is a dangerous way. Unless a man becomes a lunatic, when he finds himself covered with mud, will he take more mud to wash himself? So why increase the hypnotism? Get out of the circle; cut it off and be free. When you are free you will be able to play, even without being caught yourself. Now you are caught, then you will catch — that will be all the difference.
Therefore in the first part of this book, we are told that we must give up all this idea of heaven and of birth and death and so on. It is all nonsense; no man was ever born or ever died. They are all in hypnotism. So is eternal life and all this nonsense. Heaven is hypnotism and so is earth.
It is not as materialists say: that heaven is a superstition and God is a superstition, but he himself is not a superstition. If one is superstition — if one link is nonexistent — the whole chain is nonexistent. The existence of the whole chain depends on the existence of one link — and that of one link, on the whole.
If there is no heaven, there is no earth; and if there is no God, there is no man. You are under this hypnotism; and as long as you are under it, you will have to see God and nature and the soul. And when you are beyond this hypnotism, God will vanish[8]* — so will nature, and so will the soul.
Therefore, first of all, we will have to give up all these ideas of God and heaven and enjoying the fruits of these; and all that going to heaven will be one more dream.
Next, after showing these things, the book goes on to tell us how to get out of this hypnotism. And the one idea that is brought out through all these ideas is to be one with that Universal Being. The thing manifested — the Universal Being — is not anything of these; these are all nonsense — Maya. (The Swami has been discussing the two aspects of Maya. On the previous page, ([9]a few paragraphs earlier) he described Maya as the power of Brahman; here he is referring to Maya as the world-appearance.) But that upon which all these things are being played — the background upon which all this picture is written — [is we ourselves]; we are one with Him [that Universal Being]. You know you are one with Him, only you must realize it.
He gave us two words: one is intellectual knowledge, and the other is realization. That is to say, intellectual assent is within this realization, and realization is beyond it. Therefore intellectual assent is not sufficient.
Every man can say this theory is right, but that is not realization; he must realize it. We can all say we understand that this is hypnotism, but that is not realization. That will be when the hypnotism will break — even for a moment. It will come in a flash; it must come. If you struggle it will come.
When it does vanish, all idea of body will go along with it — that you have sex or body — just as a lamp blows out. Then what will become of you? If some part of your Karma remains, this world will come back again — but not with the same force. You have known that it is what it is; you will know no more bondage. So long as you have eyes you will have to see; or ears [you will have to] hear — but not with the same force.
I had read all sorts of things about the mirage, but had never seen it before until about four years ago when I was travelling in western India. Of course, as a Sannyasin I was travelling on foot, making my slow marches. So it took me about a month to travel through that country. Every day I saw such beautiful lakes and the shadows of trees on the shores of those lakes, and the whole thing was quivering in the breeze — and birds flying, and animals. Every day I saw this and thought what a beautiful country it was. But when I reached some village, I found it was all sand. I said, How is it?
One day I was very thirsty and thought I would drink a little water at the lake. But when I approached, it disappeared, and with a flash [the thought] came into my mind: "This is the mirage about which I read all my life". But the strange thing is that I was travelling for a month and could never recognize that it was a mirage — and in one moment it vanished. I was very glad to know this was the mirage about which I had read all my life.
Next morning I saw the lake again, and along with it came the idea: "That is the mirage". All that month I had been seeing the mirage and could not distinguish between reality and mirage. But in that one moment I caught the idea.
From that time, when I see a mirage, I will say, "That is a mirage", and never feel it. Such will it be with this world when the whole thing will vanish once; and after that, if you have to live out your past work, you will not be deceived.
Take a carriage with two wheels. Suppose I cut one of the wheels from the axle. The other wheel will run for some time by its past momentum and will then fall. The body is one wheel, and the soul another; and they are joined by the axle of delusion. Knowledge is the axe which will cut the axle, and the soul will stop immediately — will give up all these vain dreams.
But upon the body is that past momentum, and it will run a little, doing this and that, and then it will fall down. But only good momentum will be left, and that body can only do good. This is to warn you not to mistake a rascal for a free man. It will be impossible for that [free] man to do evil. So you must not be cheated.
When you become free the whole hypnotism has vanished and you know the distinction between the reality and the mirage. [The mirage] will no more be a bondage. The most terrible things will not be able to daunt you. A mountain [could] fall upon you, but you will not care. You will know it for a mirage.
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。