8. Communing with God
8. 與神相契

One can always take his questions to God. Of course, one often has his spiritual teacher, his murshid or shaikh near at hand, who may and often must be consulted when doubt arises. The spiritual teacher can best help the mureed when the mureed looks upon the teacher as a link on the chain which connects him to God.

我們隨時都可以把自己的問題帶到神面前。當然，我們身邊往往有自己的靈性老師、穆希德（Murshid）或謝赫（shaikh），在疑惑生起時，可以請教他們，而且往往必須請教他們。當門徒把老師視為連結自己與神的鎖鏈中的一環時，靈性老師最能幫助門徒。

The saints and sages, who have been gifted with insight, often commune with God and through their inner heart-development have been able to achieve God’s purpose in this world. In meditation, one is consulting with God, feeling God. This does not mean that one has a special meditation for every little problem. Keeping fixed periods for communion with God, establishing rhythms, and devoting the whole heart to God at those times helps more than anything else.

那些具有洞見天賦的聖者與聖哲，常常與神相通，並藉由內在之心的發展，得以在這個世界上成就神的目的。在冥想中，我們是在向神請示，也是在感受神。這並不表示每一個小問題都需要有一個特別的冥想。固定安排與神相通的時段，建立節奏，並在那些時刻將整顆心奉獻給神，比任何其他事情都更有幫助。

Especially, early morning meditations are valuable for consulting with God and receiving help. Gradually, this spiritual communion will become such a power, such a reality, that it will continue day and night. The heart will awaken and the intuition tells one how to act, when to move, to travel, to marry, to make any important change in life, or even to meditate or perform extra spiritual deeds. In this condition, gradually all of life takes on a grand unity.

尤其是清晨的冥想，對於向神請示並獲得幫助非常有價值。漸漸地，這種靈性的相通會成為如此強大的力量、如此真實的實相，以至於日夜持續不斷。心將會覺醒，而直覺會告訴我們該如何行動、何時遷移、旅行、結婚、在生命中作出任何重要改變，甚至何時應該冥想或進行額外的靈性行動。在這種狀態中，整個生命逐漸呈現出一種宏大的合一。

The Sufi always meditates before taking any important steps in life. When the mind is clear and passive and the heart awake, God will speak. The Sufi does not enter meditation for something special, for his desire may not be God’s desire. The true lover, the devotee, seeks union rather than reward, and the union is the greatest of all rewards. Yet, meditation is the method by which Allah Himself works, and all great murshids meditated when they had great duties to perform, for they realized that not they but Allah was the real Actor and Performer.

蘇菲祕士在生命中採取任何重要行動之前，總會先冥想。當頭腦清明而被動，心又是覺醒的，神便會說話。蘇菲祕士並不是為了某個特定的東西而進入冥想，因為自己的欲望未必是神的欲望。真正的愛者、奉獻者，尋求的是合一而不是獎賞，而合一本身就是一切獎賞中最大的獎賞。然而，冥想正是阿拉親自運作的方法；所有偉大的穆希德在必須履行重大責任時都會冥想，因為他們明白，真正的行動者與施行者不是自己，而是阿拉。

There are many blessings in meditation, there are many blessings in preparing for meditation, there are many blessings resulting from meditation, but meditation itself is the greatest of blessings.

冥想中有許多祝福，準備冥想也有許多祝福，冥想所帶來的結果之中同樣有許多祝福；然而，冥想本身就是最大的祝福。

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