24. The Freedom of the Soul (3)
24. 靈魂的自由（3）

1. Desire for Freedom
對自由的渴望

In the East it is said that the reason why an infant cries immediately after its birth is because it grieves over the loss it experiences, and this loss is the loss of freedom. The soul which was once free and could float into the spheres higher than the birds, and could expand and live as light and life, has become captive in this limited body of flesh and bones when it came to earth, a sphere which is quite new and strange to the infant. Neither has it yet made any connection with earthly beings nor with the earthly atmosphere. That is why the first thing a soul does is to cry. The Sufis, all mystics, have recognized this fact and have founded their philosophy on this theory, that through every condition in life man is consciously or unconsciously seeking for freedom.

東方有一種說法，嬰兒出生後立刻哭泣，是因為他為自己所經歷的失落而悲傷，而這份失落，就是失去了自由。靈魂原本是自由的，可以飄向比鳥兒所能飛翔更高的境界，可以伸展自己，並以光與生命的方式存在；然而當它來到地上，便被囚禁在這由血肉與骨骼構成的有限身體裡。對嬰兒而言，這個世界全然陌生而新奇，他尚未與地上的眾生建立任何連結，也還未適應塵世的氛圍。因此，靈魂所做的第一件事便是哭泣。蘇菲與所有祕士都認識到這一點，並以此建立他們的哲學：在人生的每一種境遇中，我們都有意識或無意識地尋求著自由。

It may be that one is seeking freedom from having to work; another may be seeking freedom by getting away from some influence which surrounds him; perhaps another seeks freedom from a national point of view. But they each and all strive continually for freedom, and what gives the incentive to strive after freedom is the unconscious craving which the infant feels from the moment of its birth. That is why man is continually striving, knowingly or unknowingly, to attain to that freedom.

有人想要擺脫工作的束縛而獲得自由；有人想離開周遭某種影響，以尋求自由；也有人可能從國家的立場尋求自由。然而，每一個人都在不斷為自由而努力，而驅使我們追求自由的，正是嬰兒從出生那一刻便感受到的那份無意識渴望。因此，我們始終在有意識或無意識之中，努力想要抵達那份自由。

Our despair, our depression, our sorrow, our worries may have innumerable causes. But at the back of all these is one and the same cause, and that is that our soul is striving every day for freedom, which is something that perhaps only death will give us. People very often commit suicide hoping they will obtain freedom by it. Sometimes people think that getting away from everybody will give them this freedom, but they do not know that whatever effort one makes to get out of a situation, one will still not be free, for it is one’s own self which is in captivity. Apart from all outward situations which give us the impression of imprisonment, even our own self is captive; we are a captive in ourselves.

我們的絕望、低落、悲傷與憂慮，或許有數不清的原因；然而在這一切背後，其實有著同一個原因：我們的靈魂每天都在努力尋求自由，而那自由似乎只有死亡才能帶給我們。人有時會以自殺來企圖獲得自由；有時則以為只要遠離所有人，便能得到自由。然而我們沒有看見，無論怎樣設法離開某種處境，仍然不會真正自由，因為真正受囚禁的，是我們自己的自我。除了那些使我們感到受困的外在處境之外，就連我們自己的自我也受著囚禁；我們被困在自己之中。

2. The Soul and the Body
靈魂與身體

The relation between the soul and the body is that of the spark and the charcoal. When the spark of the fire touches the charcoal then it is caught by the charcoal. The saying “it has caught fire” means that the fire, which was apart from it, has been caught by it; and so the soul is caught by the body. One can also look at it in another way: that the body is caught by the soul, or better, that the body is used by the soul. And as the charcoal turns into ashes, so the body in the end is destroyed. But the fire is not lost, it has disappeared to its own element, which is heat.

靈魂與身體之間的關係，就像火星與木炭。當火星觸及木炭時，火便被木炭抓住了。我們說「它著火了」，意思就是原本與它分離的火，如今被它承接住了；同樣地，靈魂也被身體所承接。也可以從另一個角度來看：是身體被靈魂抓住了；或者更準確地說，身體被靈魂所使用。正如木炭最終化為灰燼，身體最後也會毀壞。然而火並沒有失去，它只是回歸了自己的元素——熱。

3. Spirit and Soul
靈與靈魂

It is the sun which is in electricity and gaslight and in all forms of heat; it is the sun which manifests through different processes. It is the same with the spirit which, like the sun, has appeared through different processes as souls. One has become many in different forms, although it is not many in reality. Light appears as a fire in a room, or as six or as a hundred different lights, but in reality it is one light. It is only in appearance, because there are so many globes, that each light is limited. In the same way each human body has absorbed divine light and shows it as a separate light; and all these lights seen in many globes are called souls. But we may call them the light itself, for it is one spirit seen in different globes as different souls. All human beings are part of one consciousness, they have one source and one goal, although the spirit is caught by different vehicles.

存在於電力、煤氣燈以及一切形式的熱之中的，都是太陽；只是太陽透過不同的過程顯現出來。靈也是如此。它就像太陽一樣，經由不同的過程而顯現為許多靈魂。一者以不同形式成為了眾多，然而在真實之中，它並不是眾多。光可以在一個房間裡顯現為一盞燈、六盞燈，或一百盞燈，但實際上仍然只有一個光。只是因為有許多不同的燈泡，所以在外表上，每一道光看起來都受到限制。同樣地，每一個人的身體都吸收了神性的光，並將它顯現為一道分別的光；而這些透過許多燈泡顯現的光，就被稱為靈魂。然而，我們也可以直接稱它們為光本身，因為那其實是同一個靈，透過不同的燈泡而被看見為不同的靈魂。所有人都是同一個意識的一部分，有著同一個源頭與同一個目標，儘管靈被不同的載體所承載。

4. Dying
死亡

The condition is that the body holds the soul and the soul holds the body. The soul holds the body in order to accomplish its purpose, and the body holds the soul because when the soul leaves, it will turn into nothing. Therefore the body is continually striving to keep the soul, because it is made for the soul and lives for it; it is the body’s continual desire that the soul should live in it. That being so, it is only when the soul feels it has finished its work and should no longer exist in the body, that it leaves the body; or perhaps the body has become so feeble that it can no longer hold the soul. This is the way it happens, and as a result there is death.

實際的情形是：身體維繫著靈魂，而靈魂也維繫著身體。靈魂維繫身體，是為了完成自己的目的；身體維繫靈魂，則是因為一旦靈魂離開，身體便將歸於消亡。因此，身體始終努力留住靈魂，因為它是為靈魂而形成，也是為靈魂而活；身體始終渴望靈魂能夠住在其中。因此，只有當靈魂感到自己的工作已經完成，不再需要存在於身體之中時，它才會離開身體；或者，身體已經衰弱到再也無法留住靈魂。死亡就是這樣發生的。

Very often there are people who wish to die and do not die. The reason is that it is the mind which wishes death, but the body is still clinging to the soul and the soul is still using the body for its purpose, although the mind is against it; that is why death does not come. Sometimes one thinks that the body is too feeble, that it can no longer hold the soul, and yet the mind says, “I have not finished; I have not seen my friend, or my husband, or my daughter, I would like to live until I see them”; and it goes on living because the soul, having the impression that something is not finished, keeps holding on to that body which can no longer hold the soul. It holds on as long as that particular desire lasts.

常常有人想死，卻仍然沒有死。原因在於，想要死亡的是頭腦，但身體仍緊緊維繫著靈魂，而靈魂也仍在為自己的目的使用這個身體；即使頭腦反對，死亡仍不會來臨。有時我們以為身體已經太過衰弱，似乎再也無法留住靈魂，然而頭腦卻說：「我的事情還沒有完成；我還沒有見到我的朋友、丈夫或女兒，我希望能活到再見他們一面。」於是生命便繼續下去，因為靈魂仍感到某件事情尚未完成，便繼續維繫著那個已經無力留住靈魂的身體。只要那個特定的願望仍然存在，靈魂便會繼續維繫著它。

5. Awakening
覺醒

After the soul has been caught by the physical body, there comes a time when the soul awakens. As long as it is asleep it is in a kind of dream in the physical body. That is the condition of the average man: a kind of dream. The mystic is the one who is awakened. The amusing thing is that the average man will call the mystic a dreamer, whereas in reality it is he himself who is dreaming! During this dream the soul knows nothing except what appears before it, for instance desires, habits, wishes, experiences, environment, actions, thoughts, and impressions. All these are like a dream which a soul dreams. One person will perhaps dream all his life; there is another who will wake at an early age or in his youth; but there are souls, as in the case of Jesus Christ, who from childhood begin to manifest their awakened condition. Therefore it does not depend upon a certain age; even an infant may be awakened. And it may be that a person will live all his life in a dream and may leave this world in the same dream; yet though there is a subconscious awakening when something begins to say, “You are dreaming; there is something else for you to know!” often one does not listen to it.

當靈魂被肉身承接之後，總有一個時刻，靈魂會開始覺醒。只要它還沉睡著，在肉身之中便如同活在一場夢裡。一般人的狀態就是如此——像在一場夢中。祕士則是已經醒來的人。有趣的是，一般人反而會稱祕士為夢想家，而實際上正在作夢的，正是他自己！在這場夢裡，靈魂除了眼前所顯現的事物之外，什麼也不知道，例如欲望、習慣、願望、經驗、環境、行動、思想與印象。這一切就像靈魂所作的一場夢。有些人或許一生都在夢中；另一些人則在年紀尚輕時，甚至青年時期便醒了過來；也有一些靈魂，如耶穌基督，從童年便開始顯現出覺醒的狀態。因此，覺醒並不取決於某個特定年齡；甚至嬰兒也可能是覺醒的。一個人也可能終其一生都活在夢裡，並在同一場夢中離開世界。然而，在潛意識深處仍可能有某種覺醒，有一個聲音開始說：「你正在作夢；還有別的事物等著你去認識！」只是我們往往沒有聽見它。

But sooner or later that time may come in our lives when we waken from the dream. And as soon as we wake from this dream our first thought is, “What is it all about? Why are we here? What are we doing here? Where are we to go? What is the purpose of our life?” And when this thought comes, then a person begins to feel a little less interested in the things of daily life. This does not mean that he is less capable of doing them, on the contrary, an awakened person can accomplish greater worldly things than the one who dreams, and in a better way. If our politicians today, and our great merchants and wealthy men, educationists and scientists, were spiritual persons, the world would become different; and they themselves would not be any less than they are; indeed they would accomplish greater things.

然而，遲早有一天，我們的生命中可能會來到這樣一個時刻：我們從夢中醒來。一旦從這場夢中醒來，我們第一個念頭便是：「這一切究竟是怎麼回事？我們為什麼在這裡？我們在這裡做什麼？我們要往哪裡去？我們生命的目的是什麼？」當這樣的念頭出現時，我們便開始對日常生活中的事物少了一些興趣。但這並不意味著我們做這些事情的能力變差了。恰恰相反，一個覺醒的人能比仍在夢中的人成就更大的世間之事，而且做得更好。如果今日的政治人物、大商人與富有之人、教育家與科學家都是有靈性的人，這個世界便會有所不同；而他們自身的能力不會因此減少，反而能成就更大的事情。

Do you think if the generals of today and the politicians and statesmen and business people were awakened souls, we should have had wars? By this time we should be past those days of stupidity when people killed one another; we are in a different stage of evolution, and today there should be no need for war. Humanity is grown up, it is no longer an infant. But even after a war there is no security of peace. We do not know what will happen tomorrow, and that shows that there is something missing. And what is missing is the realization of the dream; people think they are awakened, that they have common sense, and yet they are still asleep. We must be wakened from this dream we are in; the soul must come to the realization of what it is; then a better day will come for us.

你們想想，如果今日的將領、政治人物、政治領袖與商人都是覺醒的靈魂，我們還會有戰爭嗎？到了今天，我們本應早已走過那個人們彼此殺戮的愚昧時代；我們已經來到另一個進化階段，今日本不應再有戰爭的需要。人類已經長大，不再是嬰兒。然而即使戰爭結束之後，和平仍沒有保障。我們不知道明天會發生什麼，而這正顯示出有某樣東西仍然欠缺。所欠缺的，就是看清這是一場夢。人們以為自己已經醒著，以為自己擁有常識，然而其實仍在沉睡。我們必須從眼前這場夢中醒來；靈魂必須體悟自己究竟是什麼。到了那時，更好的日子才會來臨。

6. Signs of Awakening
覺醒的徵象

1. The first sign one notices after the awakening of the soul, is that one begins to see from two points of view. One begins to see the right of the wrong and the wrong of the right. One begins to see the good of the bad and the bad of the good. One begins to see that everything is reflected in its opposite.
   
   靈魂覺醒之後，我們首先會注意到的一個徵象，是開始能夠從兩個角度看事情。我們開始看見錯誤之中有其正確之處，也看見正確之中有其錯誤之處；看見壞之中有好，也看見好之中有壞。我們開始看見，一切事物都映照在它的相反面之中。

2. In this way one rises above intellectuality which then begins to appear as a primitive or elementary knowledge. One sees the dark in the bright and the light in the dark, death in birth and birth in death. It is a kind of double view of things. And when one has reached this, then reason has made way for higher reasoning. No doubt one’s language will become gibberish to others; people will not understand it. They will be confused by what one says. To some it will be too simple, to others too subtle; too simple for those who only hear words without meaning, and too subtle for those who strive to understand the meaning and do not reach it.
   
   以這種方式，我們超越了智性的層次；到了那時，單純的智性便顯得只是較原初、較基礎的知識。我們能在明亮中看見黑暗，在黑暗中看見光明；在出生中看見死亡，也在死亡中看見出生。這是一種同時從兩面觀看事物的能力。當我們來到這個階段，普通的理性便讓位給更高的理性。毫無疑問，我們所說的話在別人聽來可能變得難以理解；人們不明白，甚至會因我們所說的話而困惑。對某些人而言，它太簡單；對另一些人而言，它又太微妙。對那些只聽見字句而聽不見其中意義的人來說，它太簡單；對那些努力想理解其中意義卻仍無法觸及的人來說，它又太微妙。

3. At the same time, in spite of all this there comes a deeper feeling. An advanced person is more susceptible to hurts than the one who is not advanced, because his heart becomes tender and he feels acutely; he is living. A rock would not feel it. This awakening of the soul gives fineness on one hand, and strength to sustain shocks on the other.
   
   與此同時，在這一切之中，也會生起更深的感受。一個較為成熟的人，比尚未走到這一步的人更容易受到傷害，因為他的心變得柔軟，感受也更加敏銳；因為他是真正活著的。一塊石頭是不會感受到傷害的。靈魂的覺醒，一方面帶來細膩，另一方面也帶來承受衝擊的力量。

4. And then we come to another stage that develops after the awakening of the soul, and that is the desire for freedom. People think they can attain this by retiring from the affairs of the world. No doubt that is a temptation; a spiritual person regards it as temptation. An awakened soul no longer considers the dream important, and yet he will say, “When I retire I shall still work, because I shall still be able to be useful.” That is the thought when one is less selfish.
   
   接著，我們來到靈魂覺醒之後所發展出的另一個階段，那就是對自由的渴望。人們以為，只要從世間事務中退隱，便能得到這份自由。毫無疑問，這是一種誘惑；有靈性的人也會把它視為一種誘惑。覺醒的靈魂已不再把這場夢看得那麼重要，然而他仍會說：「即使退隱之後，我還是會工作，因為我仍然能夠有所助益。」當一個人不再那麼以自我為中心時，便會有這樣的想法。

7. Practices
練習

The ultimate freedom of the soul is gained by:

靈魂最終的自由，是透過以下四者而獲得：

• Concentration,
  
  專注，

• Contemplation,
  
  觀想，

• Meditation, and
  
  冥想，以及

• Realization.
  
  體悟。

What concentration is needed for the freedom of the soul? The concentration on that object which is prescribed by one’s spiritual teacher, that by the thought of that particular object one may be able to forget oneself for a moment.

要使靈魂獲得自由，需要怎樣的專注？就是專注於靈性老師所指定的對象，使我們藉由專注於那個特定對象，能有片刻忘卻自己。

And then what contemplation is necessary? The contemplation that “this, my limited self, is no longer myself but God’s own instrument, God’s temple which is made in order that the Name of God be glorified.”

那麼，需要怎樣的觀想？就是觀想這個念頭：「這個有限的自我已不再是我自己，而是神自己的工具，是神的殿堂；它之所以被造，是為了使神之名得到榮耀。」

What meditation is required? The meditation on the thought of God, the Being of God, forgetting absolutely one’s limited self.

需要怎樣的冥想？就是冥想神、神的存在，並完全忘卻自己有限的自我。

And the realization is this, that then whatever voice comes to one is God’s voice, every guidance is God’s guidance, every impulse is divine impulse, every action is done by God.

而體悟則是：到了那時，無論有什麼聲音來到我們心中，都是神的聲音；每一個指引都是神的指引，每一個驅力都是神性驅力，每一個行動都是由神而行。

It is in this way that the soul is made free, and in the freedom of the soul lies the purpose of life.

靈魂就是以這樣的方式獲得自由；而生命的目的，就在靈魂的自由之中。

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