4. The Different Stages of Spiritual Development
4. 靈性發展的不同階段

In Sanskrit there are three distinct words: Atma, which means the soul, or a soul, an individual, a person; Mahatma, a high soul, an illuminated being, a spiritual personality; and Paramatma, the divine man, the self-realized person, the God-conscious soul. As it is said in the Gayan, ‘If you only explore him, there is a lot in man’, therefore man – and I mean every man – has a very wide scope of development in the spiritual spheres, a scope that an ordinary mind cannot imagine.

梵文中有三個彼此不同的詞：阿特曼 (Atma)，意指靈魂、一個靈魂、一個個體、一個人；聖雄 (Mahatma)，意指崇高的靈魂、受光照的存在、靈性人格；以及至高梵 (Paramatma)，意指神性之人、自我證悟者、具有神之意識的靈魂。正如《伽揚》所說：「只要你深入探索，人之中蘊藏著極其豐富的一切。」因此，人——我的意思是每一個人——在靈性領域中都有極為廣闊的發展空間，遠遠超出一般頭腦所能想像。

The term ‘divine man’ has always been chiefly connected with man, and very few realize that in fact it means God-man. The reason for this is that certain religiously inclined people have separated man so much from God that they have filled the gap between man and God with what they call religion, a faith that stands for ever as a dividing wall between God and man, and in which all sins are attributed to man and all purity to God. It is a good idea, but far from the truth.

「神性之人」這個詞向來主要被理解為一種人的狀態，卻很少有人明白，它真正的意思其實是「神人」。之所以如此，是因為某些具有宗教傾向的人，把人與神分得如此遙遠，以至於用他們所謂的宗教填補了人與神之間的距離；這樣的信仰反而永遠成為神與人之間的一道隔牆，把一切罪歸於人，把一切純淨歸於神。這樣的想法雖有其道理，卻離真理很遠。

Regarding the first word, Atma, mankind can be divided into three principal categories. In one category he is the animal man, in another he can be the devil man, and yet another he can be the human man. A Hindustani poet says, ‘There are many difficulties in life, because even for a man it is difficult to be a person.’

就第一個詞阿特曼而言，人可以分為三個主要類型：一類是動物性的人，一類是魔性的人，另一類則是真正具有人性的人。一位印度斯坦詩人說：「人生有許多困難，因為即使生而為人，要真正成為一個人也並不容易。」

The animal man is the one who concerns himself only with food and drink and whose actions are in no way different from those of an animal, who is content with the satisfaction of his natural appetites. The man who represents devilish qualities is the one in whom the ego, the self, has become so strong and powerful, and therefore so blind, that it has almost wiped out any sense of gentleness, of kindness, of justice. He is the one who takes pleasure in causing harm or hurt to another person, the one who returns evil for the good done to him, the one whose pleasure is to do wrong. The number of those belonging to this category is large.

動物性的人，只關心吃喝，他的行為與動物沒有什麼不同，只要自然本能得到滿足，便覺得心滿意足。至於呈現魔性特質的人，則是因為他的自我、他的「我」變得如此強大而有力，也因此如此盲目，以至於幾乎抹去了所有溫柔、仁慈與公正的感受。他以傷害別人為樂，以惡回報別人對他的善意，並從行惡之中得到快感。屬於這一類的人並不少。

Then there is the human man, in whom sentiment is developed. Perhaps he is not the physician’s idea of a normal person. But from the point of view of the mystic, a person in whom there is a balance between thought and sentiment, who is awakened to the feeling of another, and who is conscientious in everything he does and aware of the effect that it produces on others, is beginning to become human.” In other words, it is not an easy thing even for a man to be a man. Sometimes it takes a lifetime.

然後，還有真正具有人性的人；在他之中，情感已經發展成熟。也許這並不是醫師所謂「正常人」的定義；然而從祕士的觀點來看，一個人的思想與情感之間若能保持平衡，能夠感受到他人的感受，做任何事都有良知，也意識到自己的行為會對別人造成什麼影響，那麼他才開始真正成為一個人。換句話說，即使生而為人，要真正成為一個人也不是容易的事；有時甚至需要一生。

The Mahatma is an illuminated soul. He looks at life from another point of view. He thinks about others more than about himself; his life is devoted to actions of beneficence; he expects no appreciation or reward for all that he can do for others; he does not look for praise and he is not afraid of blame. On one side connected with God and on the other side connected with the world, he lives his life as harmoniously as possible. Why does he tread the path of righteousness and piety? Why does he spend his life teaching and preaching to humanity? He does it because it is natural; every loving and illuminated heart has a desire to see others partake of its vision of glory.

聖雄是受到光照的靈魂。他以另一種眼光看待生命。他想到別人的時候，比想到自己更多；他的一生奉獻於行善，不期待別人對自己所做的一切心懷感激，也不期待任何回報；他不追求讚美，也不害怕責難。他一方面與神相連，一方面與世界相連，並盡可能和諧地生活。為什麼他走在正直與虔敬的道路上？為什麼他用一生去教導人類、向人傳達真理？因為這對他而言是自然的；每一顆充滿愛而受光照的心，都會希望別人也能分享自己所看見的那份榮耀。

There are three categories of Mahatmas.

聖雄可分為三種類型。

1. One is busy struggling with himself and with conditions before him and around him. Why should he struggle? The answer is that there is always a conflict between the person who wishes to go upward and the wind that blows him downward. The wind that blows a person downward is continually felt by anyone who takes a step on the path of progress. This wind is conflict with the self, it is conflict with others, it is conflict with conditions; conflicts that come from all around, till every part of that Mahatma is tested and tried, till his patience is almost exhausted and his ego is crushed. It is a hard rock that is turned into a soft paste.

1. 第一種聖雄，不斷與自己，以及眼前和周遭的環境奮鬥。為什麼他必須奮鬥？因為一個想要向上提升的人，與一股把他往下吹的風之間，始終存在著衝突。任何踏上成長道路的人，都會持續感受到這股向下吹的風。這股風，就是與自己的衝突、與他人的衝突、與環境的衝突；各種衝突從四面八方而來，直到這位聖雄的每一部分都受到試煉，直到他的耐心得到近乎極限的考驗，他的自我被粉碎。就像一塊堅硬的岩石，最後被磨成柔軟的泥漿。

Just as a soldier in war may receive many wounds, and still more impressions which remain in his heart as wounds, so is the condition of this warrior who walks on the spiritual path; for everything is against him; his friends though they may not know it, his foes, conditions, the atmosphere, the self. And the wounds that he has to experience and the impressions that he receives in the struggle, make him into a spiritual personality, a personality which is difficult to resist, which is overwhelming.

正如戰場上的士兵可能身受許多創傷，更有無數印痕留在心中，如同傷口一般；走在靈性道路上的這位戰士也是如此，因為彷彿一切都在與他作對：他的朋友——即使朋友自己並不知道——他的敵人、環境、周遭的氛圍，以及他自己的自我。正是他所經歷的這些創傷，以及在奮鬥中承受的種種印痕，塑造出他的靈性人格；那是一種令人難以抗拒、具有強大感染力的人格。

2. The next category of Mahatma is the one who learns his lesson by passiveness, resignation, sacrifice, love, devotion, and sympathy.

2. 第二種聖雄，則是透過被動、順受、犧牲、愛、奉獻與體恤來學習他的功課。

• There is a kind of love that is like the flame of a candle: blow, and it is gone. It can only remain as long as it is not blown out; it cannot withstand blowing.
  有一種愛，像蠟燭的火焰：風一吹，就熄滅了。只要沒有風吹，它便能持續燃燒；但它經不起風的吹襲。

• And there is a love that is like the sun that rises and reaches the zenith, and then sets and disappears; this love endures longer.
  還有一種愛，像太陽升起，來到中天，而後落下消失；這樣的愛能維持得更久。

• But then there is a love that is like the divine Intelligence, that was and is and will be. The closing and the opening of the eyes will not take away intelligence; the rising and the setting of the sun will not affect intelligence. When that love is created which endures wind and storm, and stands firm through rise and fall, then a person’s language becomes different; the world cannot understand it.
  然而還有一種愛，如同神性智性一般，過去存在、現在存在、未來也始終存在。眼睛的閉合與睜開不會使智性消失；太陽的升起與落下也不會影響智性。當一個人心中生起了這樣的愛——能經受風暴，在起伏盛衰之中依然屹立不搖——他的語言便會變得不同，世人也難以理解他。

When love has once reached the Sovereign of love, it is like the water of the sea that has arisen as vapor and has formed the clouds over the earth and then pours down as rainfall. The continual outpouring of such a heart is unimaginable; not only human beings but even birds and beasts must feel its influence, its effect. It is a love that cannot be put into words, a love that radiates, proving its warmth by the atmosphere it creates. The resigned soul of the Mahatma may appear weak to someone who does not understand him, for he takes praise and blame in the same way, and he accepts all that is given to him, favor or disfavor, pleasure or pain. All that comes he accepts with resignation.

當愛一旦抵達愛的君王，就如海水化作蒸氣升起，在大地上空凝聚成雲，最後化為雨水傾注而下。這樣的一顆心持續流出的愛，是難以想像的；不只人類，就連飛鳥走獸也必然能感受到它的影響與力量。這是一種言語無法表達的愛，一種自然向外放射的愛，並藉著它所形成的氛圍，證明自身的溫暖。聖雄那順受的靈魂，在不了解他的人眼中或許顯得軟弱，因為他以同樣的態度面對讚美與責難，也接受一切來到自己面前的事物——無論恩寵或冷遇、快樂或痛苦。凡是來到他面前的，他都以順受接受。

3. For the third category of these highly evolved souls there is struggle on the one hand and resignation on the other. And this is a most difficult way to progress: to go one step forward, and another step backward, and so on. There is no mobility in the progress because the one thing is contrary to the other. On one side power is working, on the other side love; on one side kingliness, on the other side slavery.

3. 第三種高度發展的靈魂，一方面有奮鬥，另一方面又有順受。這是最困難的一種成長方式：向前一步，又向後一步，如此不斷交替。由於兩者彼此相反，成長便難以順暢推進。一方面是力量在運作，另一方面是愛；一方面是王者之尊，另一方面是奴僕之卑。

As the Emperor Ghasnavi said in a Persian poem, “I as an emperor have thousands of slaves ready at my call. But since love has kindled my heart, I have become the slave of my slaves.”

正如加茲納維皇帝 (Emperor Ghasnavi) 在一首波斯詩中所說：「我身為皇帝，一聲召喚，便有成千上萬的奴僕聽命於我；然而，自從愛點燃了我的心，我反而成了自己奴僕的奴僕。」

On the one hand there is activity, on the other hand passivity.

一方面是主動，另一方面是被動。

The first example of the Mahatma may be called the Master, the next the Saint, and the third the Prophet.

第一類聖雄可稱為大師，第二類可稱為聖者，第三類則可稱為先知。

With the Paramatma we come to the highest stage of the awakening of the consciousness. An ordinary person gives greater importance to the world and less to God; the illuminated one gives greater importance to God and less to the world; but the Paramatma gives, and yet at the same time does not give, importance to God or to the world. He is what he is.

到了至高梵，我們便來到意識覺醒的最高階段。一般人較重視世界，而較少重視神；受光照的人較重視神，而較少重視世界；然而至高梵既重視神與世界，同時又不重視神或世界。他如其本然，只是他所是。

If one says to him, ‘It is all true’, he says, ‘Yes, it is all true.’ If one says, ‘It is not true’, he says, ‘Yes, it is not true.’ If one says, ‘All is both false and true’, he says, ‘Yes, all is false and true.’ His language becomes gibberish and very puzzling to an ordinary person. For it is easier to communicate with someone who speaks our language, but as soon as the sense of someone’s words is different, his language becomes different; it becomes a foreign language compared with one’s everyday speech.

如果有人對他說：「一切都是真的。」他會說：「是的，一切都是真的。」如果有人說：「這一切都不是真的。」他也會說：「是的，一切都不是真的。」如果有人說：「一切既是假，也是真。」他還是會說：「是的，一切既是假，也是真。」對一般人而言，他的語言會變得像是難以理解的囈語，令人十分困惑。因為我們比較容易與說著相同語言的人溝通；然而，一旦一個人話語背後所承載的意義不同，他的語言也就變得不同，與我們日常的語言相比，彷彿成了一種外語。

Words mean nothing to the Paramatma, but only their inner sense. And one cannot even say that he understands the sense: he is the sense; he becomes that which others pursue.

對至高梵而言，文字本身沒有任何意義，真正重要的是其中內在的意涵。甚至不能說他「理解」那個意涵；因為他自己就是那個意涵。他已成為別人仍在追求的那個存在。

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