10. Our Efforts in Constructing
10. 我們在建造上的努力

July 21, 1925

1925 年 7 月 21 日

My Blessed Mureeds,

我蒙福的門徒們：

The Universel
普世聖殿

I wish to say a few words on the subject of our efforts in constructing something (The Universel). We have come together, brought together by destiny in friendship, in sympathy, in love, and this must have a special meaning. And that special meaning is that we are constructing something, we are building something in the air. And this building is not a building for a certain time. This building is built for centuries to come. And once we begin to look at it from this point of view, we no longer can call or compare the Sufi Movement with any other intellectual, philanthropical, or spiritual institution. And those of my mureeds who do not see this way do not yet realize the meaning of this building. This is where God’s Message will be treasured, a temple in which the future generations will find what they seek.

我想就我們努力建造某樣事物（普世聖殿）這個主題說幾句話。我們聚集在一起，由命運使我們在友誼、同感與愛之中相聚，這必定有其特殊的意義。而這個特殊的意義，就是我們正在建造某樣東西，我們正在空中建造某樣東西。這座建築並不是為某一段時期而建。它是為未來數百年而建造的。一旦我們開始從這個觀點來看，就再也不能把蘇菲運動稱為、或拿它與任何其他知識性、慈善性或靈性機構相比。我的門徒之中，還沒有這樣看的人，也還沒有體會到這座建築的意義。神的神聖訊息將珍藏於此；這是一座聖殿，未來的世代將在其中找到他們所尋求的。

And how is it designed, and how is it to be constructed? It is designed by the hand of God, and it is to be constructed by our thoughts of harmony, of love, of beauty. It is our thoughts and our feelings which will serve in this temple as stones and bricks and tiles, and it is our feelings which will hold this temple for centuries to come. This opens up a different thought before my mureeds; and at the same time it wakens them to their duty and to that obligation which is attached to it. Every mureed has a contribution to make to this temple, and the best contribution he can make is his devotion, his faith in the Message, his sincere service to the Cause, his sympathy, his friendship with Murshid.

那麼，它是如何設計的，又要如何建造呢？它是由神之手所設計，並要用我們關於和諧、愛與美的思想來建造。我們的思想與感受，將在這座聖殿中成為石頭、磚塊與瓦片；而我們的感受，將使這座聖殿在未來數百年屹立不搖。這使我的門徒面前展開一種不同的思考；同時，也喚醒他們看見自己的責任，以及隨之而來的義務。每一位門徒都能對這座聖殿有所貢獻，而他所能作出的最好貢獻，就是他的奉獻、他對神聖訊息的信心、他對這份志業真誠的服務、他的同感，以及他與穆希德（Murshid）的友誼。

Never say, “Murshid has many friends.” They can never be many. The laudable object that we have to carry in the world, the difficulties, that requires many more friends. And friends are never sufficient.

永遠不要說：「穆希德已經有很多朋友了。」朋友永遠不會太多。我們必須在世上承擔的這個值得讚許的目標，以及其中的種種困難，都需要更多的朋友。而朋友永遠都不會足夠。

An Earthly Temple
地上的聖殿

But then one begins to think, “Why is it that there is so much talk about a temple to be made on the earth?” The answer is that everything that is to be built on a spiritual plane is finished when it is also built on the physical plane. But then one asks, “If that is the only reason, why must we have a temple; will any little thing not do? Why must we dream of big things and great things?” But any of my sincere mureeds who have deep devotion to the Cause and in whose hearts the dignity of the Message has been wakened — can they ever imagine such a thing, that there could be something too good for the Message of love, harmony, and beauty.

但是接著，我們開始會想：「為什麼總是這麼多次談到要在地上建造一座聖殿？」答案是，凡是在靈性層面上要建造的事物，當它也在物質層面上被建造出來時，才算完成。但接著又有人問：「如果只是為了這個原因，為什麼一定要有一座聖殿？隨便一個小小的東西難道不行嗎？為什麼一定要夢想宏大的事物、偉大的事物？」但是，我那些真誠的門徒，對這份志業懷有深切的奉獻，而且心中已經喚醒了對神聖訊息之尊嚴的感受，他們是否能想像，竟然會有某樣東西好到配不上愛、和諧與美的神聖訊息？

When we stand in the physical world there is dignity to be considered. I am content with anything simple. Give me a hut of straw to speak in; I shall be glad to do so, I shall be quite content. But will your sense of dignity be content to imagine the Message of love, harmony, and beauty given in a garage? It is not at all desired by us that it must be made like a palace of Pharaoh, nor is it necessary. But at the same time we must not spare to contribute, to add to it beauty in whatever form we may be able to give it. For it will remain on the plane of the earth a little souvenir: a souvenir of your devotion for the Cause, a souvenir of that struggle and fight through which you have to go and are going in this pioneer work, that people will see your devotion after centuries, how you worked for it even on the physical plane, proving your devotion by having constructed that building on the spiritual plane also.

當我們立於物質世界時，便有一份尊嚴需要顧及。我對任何簡樸的東西都能滿足。給我一間茅草屋讓我在裡面講話，我也會很樂意，我會完全滿足。但是，你們對尊嚴的感受，能否滿足於想像愛、和諧與美的神聖訊息是在一間車庫裡傳達的？我們完全不是想要把它建得像法老的宮殿一樣，這也沒有必要。但同時，我們也不應吝於貢獻，以我們所能做到的任何形式，為它增添美。因為它將作為一份小小的紀念留存在地上：紀念你們對這份志業的奉獻，紀念你們在這項開創性的工作中必須經歷、也正在經歷的那些奮鬥與抗爭；使人們在數百年後，仍能看見你們的奉獻，看見你們甚至如何在物質層面為它努力，並以也在靈性層面建造了這座建築，來證明你們的奉獻。

Location
地點

Someone asked me, “But why must it be in a place like Suresnes? We do not like it.” A friend will not say to his beloved friend, a pupil will not say to his revered teacher, a dutiful son will not say to his venerated father, a devotee will not say to his prophet, “I love you, but I do not like the place you live.”

有人問我：「可是，為什麼一定要在敘雷訥這樣的地方？我們不喜歡這裡。」一位朋友不會對自己摯愛的朋友說，一個學生不會對自己敬重的老師說，一個盡責的兒子不會對自己敬愛的父親說，一位奉獻者也不會對他的先知說：「我愛你，但是我不喜歡你住的地方。」

Mecca, a place in a most uninteresting desert, which offers no earthly comforts or conveniences–neither is the ground fertile nor the climate desirable–has been the place of pilgrimage of those who went to get the blessing of that place. Perhaps they came from beautiful gardens, perhaps they lived in beautiful nature, perhaps they stayed in palaces, but when going to Mecca they did not think what kind of place it was. They only thought that it was Mecca, and that was quite sufficient.

麥加位在一片極其乏味的沙漠之中，沒有任何世俗的舒適與便利——土地既不肥沃，氣候也不宜人——然而，那些前去尋求此地祝福的人，世世代代都以它為朝聖之地。他們也許來自美麗的花園，也許住在優美的自然環境中，也許曾居住於宮殿；但是當他們前往麥加時，並不會去想那是一個怎樣的地方。他們只想到那是麥加，而這就完全足夠了。

This is not a story of the past; it is the story of the present also. My mureeds, those who go for a change, a holiday, can go to riversides, they can go to mountains; beautiful places there are, one better than the other. There are many places. But if they sacrifice all that to come to a place which perhaps is not as interesting as the other places, they must find some interest somewhere, and they really are attracted to the Message. The proof is their coming and their sacrifice of all that beauty which is sought.

這不只是過去的故事，也是現在的故事。我的門徒們，那些想換個環境、度個假期的人，可以去河邊，也可以去山裡；美麗的地方很多，一處比一處更好。有許許多多的地方。但是，如果他們捨棄這一切，來到一個也許不像其他地方那麼有趣的地方，那麼他們必定是在某處找到了某種吸引力，而他們真正受到吸引的，是神聖訊息。他們來到這裡，並放棄了人們所尋求的那些美景，這本身就是證明。

But then one will say, “Why must we not have beauty? The Message of God is beautiful, and if the place were beautiful also, it would be double beauty.” You can double earthly beauty, but not the Message of God. Earthly beauty is limited, and the Message of the Unlimited One, how can one compare it with that beauty?

但有人會說：「為什麼我們不能擁有美呢？神的神聖訊息是美的，如果這個地方也很美，那豈不是雙倍的美？」你可以使世俗的美加倍，卻不能使神的神聖訊息加倍。世俗之美是有限的，而無限者的神聖訊息，又怎麼能與那種美相比？

If Murshid was not a mystic, and if there was a thought of making the Movement popular, Murshid would have been the first to say, “Yes, let us go to a place where thousands of travelers come in the summer. Or perhaps a place where people would come, if not for the Message, at least for a change. In that way we can catch them.” There are some who seek beauty in the place; there are others who make the beauty in the place.

如果穆希德不是一位祕士，如果心裡想的是如何讓這個運動受到歡迎，那麼穆希德一定會第一個說：「是的，讓我們去一個夏天有成千上萬旅客造訪的地方。或者去一個人們即使不是為了神聖訊息，至少也會為了換個環境而來的地方。這樣我們就能把他們吸引過來。」有些人在一個地方尋找美；另一些人則使一個地方產生美。

My blessed mureeds, when you look at things from a mystical point of view, you will realize the meaning of that verse in the scripture that says, “Not one atom moves without the command of God.” When your Murshid was brought here, destiny settled him here. Spirits were moved to take this piece of ground, that a temple be made here. It is not without meaning. Our practical head will say, “No, this is not the right place for this business; this is not commerce.”

我蒙福的門徒們，當你們從祕士的觀點來看事物，就會明白經典中那句話的意義：「沒有一個原子不是依神的命令而運動。」當你們的穆希德被帶到這裡時，是命運使他安居於此。有人在靈性的感召之下取得這片土地，好讓一座聖殿建於此處。這並不是沒有意義的。我們實際的頭腦會說：「不，這不是做這件事的適當地點；這不是做生意。」

If there is a beauty, it must create its own beauty. Many may have read in the books of the ancient mystics, of saints, of prophets, that they did not go out to show a miracle, a phenomenon. If there was a phenomenon it was themselves, their being; places flourished where they lived, the sky changed its light, the atmosphere changed. And the centuries changed it continually, the worst places growing into the best places, ordinary places turning into places of pilgrimage.

如果有一種美，它就必須創造出自己的美。許多人也許曾在古代祕士、聖者與先知的書中讀到，他們並不四處去展示奇蹟或異象。如果真有什麼異象，那就是他們自己，就是他們的存在；他們居住的地方會繁盛起來，天空的光會改變，氣氛也會改變。而隨著一個又一個世紀過去，這些地方持續地改變；最差的地方逐漸成為最好的地方，平凡之地轉變為朝聖之地。

If the Sufi Message sought from a practical point of view what is best for its earthly progress, certainly we should ignore that mystical significance which is working behind our efforts. Never think that if Murshid was offered the sultan’s palace in Constantinople he would change it for his hut in Suresnes. Where a mystic sits, he sits; where he stands, he stands. There is a mystical outlook, there is a mystical significance, there is a mystical point of view which is different from that which we call a practical point of view. Things of great significance are beyond what we call our practical point of view.

如果蘇菲的神聖訊息，是從實際的觀點去尋求最有利於它在世間發展的條件，那麼我們當然就會忽略在我們種種努力背後運作的祕士意義。千萬不要以為，如果有人把君士坦丁堡蘇丹的宮殿給穆希德，他就會拿它來交換自己在敘雷訥的小屋。祕士坐在哪裡，就坐在哪裡；他站在哪裡，就站在哪裡。有一種祕士的眼光，有一種祕士的意義，有一種祕士的觀點；它不同於我們所謂的實際觀點。具有重大意義的事物，超越了我們所謂的實際觀點。

And now in conclusion I would like to say that we shall be content with the temple that one day will be built, and that we shall never think that the temple intended to be built can be too good or can be too beautiful for us. God Bless You.

最後，我想說的是，我們將會滿足於那座有一天將被建起來的聖殿；而我們永遠不應認為，那座預定要建造的聖殿，可能好得過了頭，或美得過了頭，以至於不適合我們。願神祝福你們。

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