23. The Freedom of the Soul (2)
23. 靈魂的自由（2）

1. Seeking Freedom
尋求自由

Man seeks freedom and pursues captivity. There is not one single person whom the word “freedom” does not touch; and there is not one person who does not long for freedom. At the same time, if we look closely at human life we see that man pursues captivity in some form or other, whether he seeks freedom or not.

我們尋求自由，卻追逐著束縛。沒有一個人不會被「自由」這個詞所觸動，也沒有一個人不渴望自由。然而同時，若我們仔細觀察人類的生活，就會發現，無論是否在尋求自由，我們總以某種形式追逐著束縛。

The soul of man is a dweller in heaven.

人的靈魂居於天上。

• it is able to see more than the eyes can see;
  
  它所能看見的，比眼睛所能看見的更多；

• it is able to hear more than the ears can hear.
  
  它所能聽見的，比耳朵所能聽見的更多。

• The soul is able to expand further than man can journey;
  
  靈魂所能延展的，比我們所能行至的地方更遠；

• the soul is able to dive deeper than any depths that man can ever touch;
  
  靈魂所能深入的，比我們所能觸及的任何深處都更深；

• the soul is able to reach higher than man can reach by any means.
  
  靈魂所能抵達的高度，超越我們藉任何方式所能到達之處。

• Its life is freedom, it knows nothing but joy and sees nothing but beauty.
  
  它的生命就是自由；它所知的只有喜悅，所見的只有美。

• Its own nature is peace, and its being is life itself.
  
  它自身的本性是安寧，而它的存在就是生命本身。

• It is not intelligent; it is intelligence itself.
  
  它並非只是具有覺知；它本身就是覺知。

• It is spirit; its nature is not human but divine.
  
  它是靈；它的本性不是人的，而是神性的。

It is for this reason that the soul feels a limitation, continually all through life, as a fish would feel when it is out of water and a bird when its wings are clipped.

正因如此，靈魂一生始終感受到限制，就像魚離開了水，或鳥的翅膀被剪去時所感受到的一樣。

If someone asked, what is the reason of pain, the answer would be that if we were to summarize in one word the reason of all the pain we see in the world, it is limitation. And where does this limitation come from? From a heavenly being turning into an earthly being. There is nothing to be surprised at, when we see that hardly anyone seems to be perfectly happy in life. A rich man has his tale to tell, a poor man has his story; a wise man has his complaint to make, a foolish man has his own legend. And so everyone has something to say; and what they all have to say is the same thing and that is: limitation.

若有人問，痛苦的原因是什麼，答案是：如果要用一個詞概括我們在世上所見一切痛苦的原因，那就是「限制」。而這種限制從何而來？來自一個天上的存有轉變成了地上的存有。因此，當我們看見人生中幾乎沒有人似乎能夠完全幸福，也就不足為奇。富人有他的故事，窮人也有他的故事；智者有他的苦衷，愚者也有自己的一番遭遇。於是，每個人都有話要說，而他們所說的其實都是同一件事，那就是：限制。

What one pursues, what one seeks after, is a feeling of freedom; and yet nearly everyone pursues freedom wrongly. The nature of life is such that whenever a person thinks, “that will make me free”, that in itself makes him more captive, though he cannot realize this until he gets it. As long as he has not got it he believes it will make him free. And so life goes on. Man goes on in the pursuit of freedom and what he gets is captivity. With all the talk about freedom today life is more a life of captivity than ever before. Man lives in captivity because he does not think enough about the real meaning of freedom. The more he thinks the more he will find that as he pursues the path of freedom, every step brings him closer to captivity.

我們所追逐、所尋求的，是一種自由的感受；然而幾乎每個人追求自由的方式都錯了。生命的本質就是如此：每當我們認為「那會使我自由」，那件事本身往往反而使我們受到更多束縛，只是在真正得到它以前，我們無法察覺。只要還沒有得到它，我們就相信它會使自己自由。生命於是如此繼續下去。我們不斷追求自由，所得的卻是束縛。今日人們儘管如此頻繁地談論自由，生活卻比以往更加受到束縛。我們活在束縛之中，是因為沒有充分思考自由真正的意義。思考得越深，我們便越會發現，在自己所追求的自由之路上，每一步反而都使我們更接近束縛。

2. The Soul
靈魂

Today in this world of science, where materialism mostly prevails, there are fewer every day who believe in such a thing as the soul. They say, “The only thing we know about is the body; if there is a soul, we have never seen it.”

今日，在這個科學的世界裡，物質主義大多居於主導地位，相信靈魂這回事的人一天比一天少。他們說：「我們唯一知道的是身體；就算有靈魂，我們也從未見過它。」

It is true that nothing comes out of nothing, but their idea is that as the human being is the flower of this tree of manifestation, intelligence must have developed gradually through the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms until it manifested more fully in man. But how can matter develop into intelligence? It is intelligence which is the source of all, but it is the captivity of intelligence in matter which we see; that is why it seems to us that manifestation begins from matter, and as it manifests in man we think man is a development of matter.

的確，沒有任何事物能從虛無中產生；然而他們的想法是：既然人類是這棵顯現之樹所開出的花，那麼覺知必定是經由礦物界、植物界與動物界逐漸發展，直到在人身上得到更完整的顯現。但物質怎麼可能發展出覺知？其實，覺知才是一切的源頭；我們所看見的，是覺知受困於物質之中。正因如此，在我們看來，顯現彷彿始於物質；而當覺知在人身上顯現時，我們便以為人是由物質發展而來的。

In reality man identifies himself wrongly with the material part of his being, for the body is only a cover over the real man. Real man is soul itself. And when one says, “I do not see the soul, I see my body,” my answer is that the eyes can never see themselves, though they can see all other things; and as the soul is intelligence it can see all other things but it cannot see itself.

其實，我們錯把自己認同為自身存在中的物質部分，因為身體只是覆蓋在真正的我們之上的外衣。真正的我們就是靈魂本身。當有人說：「我看不見靈魂，我只看得見我的身體。」我的回答是：眼睛雖能看見其他一切，卻永遠無法直接看見自己；同樣地，靈魂既是覺知，它能看見其他一切，卻無法看見自己。

The very fact that it cannot see itself makes it the real self. Besides, all things that we can point out, which are intelligible to ourselves, we call “mine”; and so we call our body “my” body. Naturally the body is not the self, but as man does not know himself he thinks it is. If an actor were to play on the stage with a mask on, those who saw him would recognize the mask, but they would not know what was behind it. So it is with the soul.

正因為它無法看見自己，它才是真正的自我。此外，凡是我們能夠指出、能夠認知的事物，我們都稱之為「我的」；因此，我們也說「我的身體」。很自然地，身體並不是自我；但由於我們並不認識自己，便以為身體就是自己。就像一位演員戴著面具登台，觀眾看見並認得的是面具，卻不知道面具之後是誰。靈魂也是如此。

The manifestation of the soul is only seen through the body; therefore one identifies oneself with the body, and this keeps one ignorant of the soul.

靈魂的顯現只能透過身體被看見；因此，我們便把自己認同為身體，而這使我們始終不認識靈魂。

3. The Intelligent One
覺知者

If the soul is intelligence, where does it come from, what is it in essence? All the scriptures of the past agree, as well as most philosophers, that the source and goal of all things is the Intelligent One.

如果靈魂就是覺知，那麼它從何而來？它的本質又是什麼？過去所有的經典，以及大多數哲學家，都一致認為：一切事物的源頭與歸宿，就是那位覺知者。

But if it is the intelligence itself, why call it the “Intelligent One”? Because it is a being; it is not a thing, nor is it a condition. It is first a being, and then it is all conditions and all things.

但既然祂就是覺知本身，為什麼又稱祂為「覺知者」？因為祂是一個存有；祂不是一件事物，也不是一種狀態。祂首先是一個存有，而後才是一切狀態與一切事物。

It is a great mistake when a man considers himself as a being, a person, recognizing his own personality, and when it comes to the source and goal of all things he calls it a “force,” an “intelligence.” People want so much to get away from the idea of a Person behind all, that they prefer to say “gods” instead of “God.” Instead of calling Him the divine Being they say “forces”; they would like to turn into plurality the source and goal which remains one and the same through the whole process and all stages of evolution. The oneness of the Spirit is so great that even in this world of variety there is one spirit and one being.

當我們把自己看作一個存有、一個人，承認自己具有獨特的風範，然而談到一切事物的源頭與歸宿時，卻只稱祂為一股「力量」或一種「覺知」，這是一個很大的錯誤。人們如此想要擺脫在萬有背後有一位位格存有的觀念，以至於寧願說「眾神」，而不願說「神」。他們不稱祂為神聖的存有，反而稱之為「各種力量」；他們想把那在整個過程與一切演化階段中始終同一的源頭與歸宿化為多數。靈的一體性如此深廣，以至於即使在這個充滿萬象差異的世界裡，仍只有一個靈、一個存有。

4. Captivity
束縛

In all ages prophets and masters, thinkers and philosophers, have taught that the ultimate aim of philosophy and mysticism is to attain to the freedom of the soul. This truth is disclosed in many different ceremonies, sacred legends, and philosophies. Whatever be man’s longing in life, whatever his life’s pursuit, his object of attainment, behind it all there is only one pursuit and that is the craving of the soul to become free from all bondage.

歷來各個時代的先知與導師、思想家與哲學家，都教導我們：哲學與祕學的最終目標，是獲得靈魂的自由。這個真理以許多不同的儀式、神聖傳說與哲學形式被揭示出來。無論我們在人生中渴望什麼、追求什麼，又想要得到什麼，在這一切背後其實只有一個追求，那就是靈魂渴望從所有束縛中得到自由。

Man does not want to think about that which will make him free when he is absorbed in getting things in life; he does not give a thought to freedom but only to what he pursues for that moment. Perhaps if he gave a thought to the real condition of life he would become different, his attitude would change, his outlook would become wider, and he would not attach so much importance to the things he usually thinks important.

當我們一心忙著在人生中取得種種事物時，並不願去思考什麼才真正能使自己自由；我們想的不是自由，而只是當下所追求的東西。也許，如果我們願意思考生命真正的處境，自己便會有所不同；態度會改變，眼界會變得更寬廣，也不會再如此重視那些平常以為十分重要的事物。

If one asks what kind of captivity it is, the answer is that for a spider the thin threads of the web are a captivity, and for an elephant iron chains are a captivity. The stronger a person is the greater the captivity; the greater power he has the greater are his difficulties; the stronger the soul is the heavier the load it has to carry. Therefore in captivity we are all equal.

若問這究竟是怎樣的束縛，答案是：對蜘蛛而言，細細的蛛絲就是束縛；對大象而言，鐵鍊才是束縛。一個人越強大，他的束縛也越大；擁有的力量越多，所面對的困難也越大；靈魂越強壯，所要承擔的重量也越重。因此，在束縛之中，我們都是平等的。

When a person sees only the surface, it appears as if one has an easy life and another has to toil all day; as if one has a gay life and another is miserable. But that is the outside. When we look deeply into life, in some way or another, whether a person looks cheerful or sad, some captivity is always hidden there. We do not know. In order to understand their life’s situation it is not enough to cast a glance at people from the outside. We only see the prisoners; if we saw the prisons we would be shocked.

當我們只看表面時，似乎有人過得輕鬆，有人卻終日辛勞；有人生活愉快，有人則十分悲苦。但那只是外在。當我們深入觀看生命，便會發現，無論一個人看起來快樂或悲傷，以某種形式存在的束縛總隱藏其中，只是我們並不知道。若想了解一個人的生命處境，僅僅從外面看他一眼是不夠的。我們只看見囚徒；若能看見他們各自的牢獄，我們將會震驚。

I have met numberless people who do not know what they want to do next week; they only think of today. Life is becoming uncertain, and its burden greater. They say that we are progressing. But towards what? Freedom? No, towards captivity. A greater and greater load of duty and responsibility is put on our shoulders. Perhaps it is worse in the West, perhaps it is worse in the East; but the cause of it all is the lack of understanding of freedom.

我遇過無數人，他們不知道下星期自己要做什麼，只想到今天。生命變得越來越不確定，負擔也越來越沉重。人們說我們正在進步。但我們正朝哪裡前進？朝向自由嗎？不，是朝向束縛。越來越沉重的義務與責任被放在我們肩上。也許西方的情況更嚴重，也許東方更嚴重；但這一切的原因，都在於我們不明白自由。

5. Die Before Death
在死亡之前死去

One must look in another direction to see the sun or the moon; one must not look at the earth. How to die before death is something that man today does not know; and he does not care to know. The central theme of life today is self-assertion. When a person speaks about himself he wants to make himself ten times more important than he is. He cannot help it; if he does not do so the others will not understand. I even heard one man say to another, “Your modesty is your greatest misfortune.”

若要看見太陽或月亮，就必須望向另一個方向，而不能一直看著地面。如何在死亡之前死去，是今日的人所不知道的事，而他也無意了解。今日生活的核心主題是自我彰顯。一個人談起自己時，總想讓自己顯得比實際重要十倍。他也無可奈何；因為若不這麼做，別人便不會明白。我甚至曾聽見一個人對另一個人說：「你的謙遜，就是你最大的不幸。」

Every man has to be self-asserting, continually guarding his interests in order to live. There are many who toil from morning till evening, guarding their self-interest and thinking about nothing else. And what is it all for? In order to exist. But even germs and grubs exist and enjoy life much better! Birds fly in the air and are quite happy; but man is loading his heart with a thousand troubles, making his responsibilities greater and greater. And in the end he gains nothing; his health is spoiled, his spirit wrecked. He does not know any more where he is, nor where his spirit is; and if he has nothing here he has nothing in the hereafter. Many die without ever having given a thought to the deeper side of life. Not that they did not care for it; but they could not find time for it; they had too much to do in life.

為了生活，每個人都不得不彰顯自己，不斷維護自己的利益。有許多人從早到晚辛苦勞作，只顧著維護自身利益，除此之外什麼也不想。而這一切究竟是為了什麼？只是為了生存。然而，就連細菌和蟲子也都活著，而且享受生命的程度還要好得多！鳥兒在空中飛翔，十分自在；人卻把千百種煩惱壓在心上，使自己的責任越來越沉重。到頭來，他什麼也沒有得到；健康被損害了，靈也被摧殘了。他不再知道自己身在何處，也不知道自己的靈身在何處；若他在此世一無所得，在來世也同樣一無所有。許多人直到死去，都從未真正想過生命更深的一面。並不是他們毫不在意，而是根本找不到時間；生命中有太多事情要忙。

One might ask, why is this condition so tragic, why can it not be improved? The answer is that it is natural. What is man? Man is a process; manifestation is a process through which the spirit goes from one condition to another condition, from one pole to another pole. And through this whole process the attempt of the spirit is to find itself. In that process the spirit first loses its freedom; freedom is lost in order to arrive at freedom. That is the tragedy. Yet in the end there is happiness, for the whole of creation was intended for the fulfillment of this object.

有人或許會問，為什麼這種處境如此悲劇？為什麼不能有所改善？答案是：這是自然的。人是什麼？人是一個過程；顯現也是一個過程，靈藉此從一種狀態走向另一種狀態，從一極走向另一極。在整個過程中，靈所努力尋找的就是它自己。在這個過程裡，靈首先失去了自由；自由必須先失去，才能重新抵達自由。這就是悲劇之所在。然而最終仍有幸福，因為整個創造，原本就是為了成就這個目的。

To every thinking soul, to every feeling heart, tragedy appeals. Why? Because tragedy is going on continually. Man would like to get away from tragedy, but it appeals to him because the soul is always in that condition; it is longing for freedom though it does not know what it is.

對每一個會思考的靈魂、每一顆有所感受的心而言，悲劇都有一種吸引力。為什麼？因為悲劇始終都在發生。我們想要逃離悲劇，卻又會受到它的吸引，因為靈魂本身始終處於這樣的境況之中；它渴望自由，卻不知道自由究竟是什麼。

6. The Highest Freedom
最高的自由

The highest perception of freedom comes when a person has freed himself from the false ego, when he is no longer what he was. All the different kinds of freedom will give a momentary sensation of being free, but true freedom is in ourselves. When one’s soul is free, then there is nothing in this world that binds one; everywhere one will breathe freedom, in heaven and on earth.

當一個人從虛假的自我中解脫，不再是從前的自己時，便會體會到最高層次的自由。各種不同形式的自由，都只能帶來片刻的自由感；真正的自由卻在我們自身之中。當靈魂自由了，這個世界便再沒有任何事物能束縛我們；無論在天上或地上，我們所呼吸的處處都是自由。

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