2. Free Will and Destiny in the Message
2. 神聖訊息中的自由意志與命運

Free Will and Destiny in the Message

神聖訊息中的自由意志與命運

August 2, 1923

1923 年 8 月 2 日

The law of nature works in the life of an individual and in the life of the multitude more or less in the same way. When one sees this law and finds out its secret, one admits the truth of both the opposite doctrines, fate and free will. There is such a thing as fate and there is such a thing as free will; sometimes they clash and sometimes they work harmoniously, and sometimes one overpowers the other. Every nation has its destiny, every race has its life designed; also every individual and every Message that has ever come to humanity. The prophets have brought the Divine Message from time to time. It took so many years for them to deliver it to the world, and so many years for it to spread after those who brought it had passed. So many years it took for the people to practice it and to get benefit out of it.

自然法則在個人的生命中與群體的生命中，運作的方式大致相同。當我們看見這法則，並發現其中的祕密時，就會承認命運與自由意志這兩種看似相反的學說，都有其真實之處。命運確實存在，自由意志也確實存在；有時兩者彼此衝突，有時和諧地共同運作，有時則是一方勝過另一方。每一個國家都有其命運，每一個種族的生命都有其既定的安排；每一個人，以及每一個曾經來到人類之中的神聖訊息，也是如此。先知們不時將神聖訊息帶到世上。他們需要經過許多年，才能將它傳遞給世界；而在帶來訊息的人離世之後，又需要許多年，它才逐漸傳播開來。人們也需要許多年，才能實踐它，並從中受益。

And many more years it took for the same to become corrupted, which has always caused the decline of religions. No doubt that that ended that cycle, and a new cycle began with the same process all over again. History repeats itself, and the wonderful thing in this that is to be noticed is that no sooner was God’s Message declared, than even the nearest and dearest friends of the deliverer of that Message became his worst enemies. No doubt he at the same time appealed to the souls standing far off from him, who were drawn much closer to him than his own people, although the difficulty of the prophet remained just the same.

而它又經過更多年月逐漸遭到敗壞，這也一向造成宗教的衰落。毫無疑問，到了這一步，那個週期便告結束，而新的週期又以同樣的過程重新開始。歷史一再重演，而其中值得注意的奇妙之處是：神的訊息一經宣告，就連那位訊息傳遞者最親近、最摯愛的朋友，也很快成了他最強烈的敵人。毫無疑問，與此同時，他卻能感召那些原本離他很遠的靈魂，使他們被吸引到比他自己身邊的人更為親近的位置；然而，先知所面臨的困難仍然沒有改變。

As Rumi says, “Many sympathize and become my friends, yet they know not the secret of my pain nor can they understand why they are drawn to me.”

正如魯米所說：「許多人同情我，成為我的朋友；然而他們不知道我痛苦的祕密，也無法明白自己為何受到吸引而來到我身邊。」

The Sufi Message, besides its philosophical, religious, and mystical aspect, is the Message, His Message Who has always sent His Message to the world whenever it was needed. And the fulfillment of this Message is certain, there is not the slightest doubt about it. Among us who serve this Movement, if there were few or if there were many, the Message will surely spread and answer its purpose. Only when we think of the free will in which we share the part of the Creator then we realize the responsibility of our lives, that by reason of having free will we to a great extent are responsible for its fulfillment.

蘇菲訊息除了具有哲學、宗教與神祕主義的面向之外，它本身就是那神聖訊息——是祂的訊息；每當世界有所需要時，祂總是將祂的訊息送到世上。這神聖訊息必定會得到實現，對此絲毫不必懷疑。在我們這些服務於這場運動的人當中，無論人數是少是多，神聖訊息都必然會傳播開來，並完成它的目的。唯有當我們想到，自由意志使我們得以分享造物主所具有的一分創造能力時，我們才會明白自己生命所承擔的責任；正因為我們擁有自由意志，所以神聖訊息能否實現，在很大的程度上我們也負有責任。

Besides this, now the question is what must we do in helping the Message towards fulfillment? We can do a great deal if we balance our willingness with wisdom. For it has often happened that, adversaries apart, friends with their good will and devotion may cause difficulties in the furtherance of the Cause, only by lack of prudence. Therefore, besides enthusiasm and willingness to work in the Cause, it is necessary that a wider outlook must be developed; and there is one way of developing it, and that is by forgetting the self. There is only one condition for becoming the real server and that is to forget the self, for it is the thought of the self which blocks one’s own path and the way of that movement the fulfillment of which will be a blessing for the whole humanity.

除此之外，現在的問題是：為了幫助神聖訊息走向實現，我們必須做些什麼？如果能使我們的熱忱意願與智慧取得平衡，我們就能做很多事。因為屢屢發生這樣的情況：且不說敵對者，即使是懷著善意與奉獻之心的朋友，也可能僅僅因為缺乏審慎，而為這項事業的推進造成困難。因此，除了投入這項事業的熱忱與意願之外，也必須培養更寬廣的眼界；而培養這種眼界有一個方法，就是忘卻自我。要成為真正的服務者，只有一個條件，那就是忘卻自我；因為正是對自我的掛念，阻擋了我們自己的道路，也阻擋了這場運動前進的道路，而它的實現將為全人類帶來祝福。

The deeper we think, the more we shall realize that every moment of our life, especially in the work of the world cause, is beyond price, and every next moment that follows becomes more valuable. Once this is realized, we shall not say that, “I will do tomorrow what can be done today,” and we shall not say, “I will not do it, for there are many others who can.” But we shall consider it our greatest privilege in life to use our life and effort to its best advantage in the service of God and humanity.

我們思考得越深，就越會體會到，生命中的每一刻，尤其是在為這世界性的事業工作時，都是無價的，而隨後而來的每一刻都變得更加珍貴。一旦明白這一點，我們便不會再說：「今天能做的事，我明天再做。」也不會說：「我不做，因為還有很多別人可以做。」相反地，我們會把生命中最大的殊榮，視為能夠善用自己的生命與努力，使之在服務神與人類之中發揮最大的價值。

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