3. What is the Message?
3. 什麼是神聖訊息？

August 6, 1923

1923 年 8 月 6 日

What is the Message? Where does it come from? How is it received by the souls who deliver it? These questions often arise in inquiring minds. And the answer is that the Message is like the rain, and the rain falls where it is needed and when it is needed. But does the rain come from above? It seems to come from above, but it rises from below first, as the vapor, forming into clouds as ideas, and again falling from above as the rain.

神聖訊息是什麼？它從何而來？那些傳遞它的靈魂又是如何領受它的？這些問題常浮現在探究者的頭腦中。答案是，神聖訊息就像雨水，雨在需要之處、需要之時降下。然而，雨是從上方來的嗎？它看起來是從上方而來，但它首先從下方以水氣的形式升起，形成思想的雲，再從上方如雨般落下。

There are so many names for the seas and rivers and streams, but they all contain water. And there are various names of religions, but they all contain the Truth, spoken in different forms, and in different ways. There is a lightning, there is a thunder when the rain falls, and there are wars and disasters before the Message comes. Storms are very often warnings of what follows, and so are different kinds of battles and revolutions warnings before the coming of the time of peace.

海洋、河流與溪水有那麼多不同的名稱，但其中所含的都是水。宗教也有各種不同的名稱，但其中都含有真理，只是以不同的形式、不同的方式說出。雨落下時，有閃電，也有雷鳴；而在神聖訊息到來之前，也會有戰爭與災難。暴風雨往往是後來之事的預警，同樣地，各種戰鬥與革命，也是和平時代來臨之前的預警。

Often a person says, “If it is the same water, then I have no need of receiving a new Message, I already hold a certain faith or belief. Is it not the same?” Certainly it is the same, and yet it is not quite the same. The water of last week, which has been in the jug, compared with the fresh water is different, and yet it is water. And one does not reject the water of last week by drinking the fresh water, for it is water all the same.

人常會說：「如果是同樣的水，那麼我就沒有必要領受新的神聖訊息；我已經持有某種信仰或信念了。這不都是一樣的嗎？」當然是一樣的，然而又不完全一樣。上星期留在水壺裡的水，與新鮮的水相比，是不同的，然而它仍然是水。而飲用新鮮的水，並不表示因此否定上星期的水，因為它們畢竟都是水。

Every element turns into its own element, and comes again afresh. When the fire is extinguished, it has become absorbed in its own element. It has gone and joined the heat. So is water and earth. So is the air. Every element goes back to its own element in the end and comes again afresh. And such is the law of the Divine Message.

每一種元素都會回歸自身所屬的元素，而後再次以嶄新的形式出現。火熄滅時，它便被吸收回自己的元素之中；它離去了，與熱融為一體。水與土也是如此，空氣也是如此。每一種元素最終都會回歸自身所屬的元素，然後再次以嶄新的形式出現。神聖訊息的法則也是如此。

Numberless religions have been taught. Various prophets and masters have come to waken humanity, and those of them we know are only a few which we could count on the fingers. But where are the other religions gone? What about all the other teachers? It would be like asking, “Where is all the water that fell? Where has the rain gone?” It has gone nowhere; it has gone to its own source, only to come afresh again with new life, with new magnetism, with new strength and vigor. And yet it is the same water of life, the drinking of which gives souls immortality.

世上曾傳授過無數宗教。各種先知與大師曾來到世間喚醒人類，而我們所知道的，也只是屈指可數的少數幾位。然而，其他那些宗教到哪裡去了？其他所有的老師又如何了？這就像在問：「所有降下的水到哪裡去了？雨到哪裡去了？」它並沒有去任何地方；它回到了自己的源頭，只為再次以嶄新的形式而來，帶著新的生命、新的磁力、新的力量與活力。然而，它仍是同樣的生命之水，飲下它，便能賦予靈魂不朽。

Many intellectual people with their very many ideas differ from one another in their opinions and in their way of looking at things, in their speculations. But do the prophets differ from one another? They cannot differ. The reason is that it is the various minds which differ, not the soul. The one who lives in his mind is conscious of mind. The one who lives in his soul is conscious of the soul.

許多偏重智性的人有著許許多多的觀念，彼此在意見、看待事物的角度以及推測上各不相同。然而，先知們彼此會不同嗎？他們不可能不同。因為有所不同的是各種不同的頭腦，而不是靈魂。活在頭腦之中的人，覺知的是頭腦；活在靈魂之中的人，覺知的是靈魂。

What does the word “spiritual” mean? It means “soul-conscious” or “spirit-conscious.” There is a line of a song, “Night has a thousand eyes, the day has but one.” When a person lives in his mind, he is living through the darkness of night. The moment one rises above one’s mind and wakens in the light of the soul, one becomes spiritual. And if a thousand spiritual people will speak, they will say the same thing, perhaps in different words, but with one meaning. For they have one sight, the same sight. It is therefore that spiritual realization is called the Truth.

「靈性的」這個詞是什麼意思？它的意思是「對靈魂有所覺知」，或「對靈有所覺知」。有一首歌中有一句：「夜有千眼，白晝卻只有一眼。」當一個人活在頭腦之中，他便活在黑夜的幽暗之中。當我們超越頭腦，在靈魂之光中醒來的那一刻，我們便成為靈性的人。即使有一千個靈性之人開口，他們所說的也會是同一件事；也許用的是不同的話語，意義卻是一樣的。因為他們有著同一種視見，相同的視見。因此，靈性的證悟被稱為真理。

There are many facts, but there is one Truth. Facts can be put into words, but not the Truth. For God is Truth, the real self of man is Truth. Truth is unlimited and incomparable. Therefore Truth alone knows, enjoys, and realizes its own existence.

事實有許多，真理卻只有一個。事實可以訴諸言語，真理卻不能。因為神就是真理，人的真實自我也是真理。真理是無限的，也是無可比擬的。因此，唯有真理本身，才能知曉、享受並證悟其自身的存在。

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