2. The Object of the Journey
2. 旅程的目的

Establish a Relationship with God
與神建立關係

The first and principal thing in the inner life is to establish a relationship with God, making God the object with which we relate ourselves, such as the Creator, Sustainer, Forgiver, Judge, Friend, Father, Mother and Beloved. In every relationship we must place God before us, and become conscious of that relationship so that it will no more remain an imagination; because the first thing a believer does is to imagine.

在內在生命中，第一件也是最根本的事，就是與神建立關係，使神成為我們建立關係的對象，例如創造者、維繫者、寬恕者、審判者、朋友、父親、母親與摯愛。在每一種關係中，我們都必須將神置於自己面前，並覺知這份關係，使它不再只停留於想像；因為有信仰的人最初所做的，就是想像。

He imagines that God is the Creator, and tries to believe that God is the Sustainer, and he makes an effort to think that God is a Friend, and an attempt to feel that he loves God.

他想像神是創造者，並試著相信神是維繫者，努力將神視為朋友，也試著感受自己對神的愛。

But if this imagination is to become a reality, then exactly as one feels for one’s earthly beloved sympathy, love and attachment, so one must feel the same for God. However greatly a person may be pious, good or righteous, yet without this his piety or his goodness is not a reality to him.

但若要使這份想像成為真實，就必須如同人對世間摯愛所感受到的體恤、愛與依戀一樣，也對神有同樣的感受。無論一個人多麼虔誠、善良或正直，若沒有這份感受，他的虔誠或善良對他而言，都還不是真實的。

Make God a Reality
讓神成為真實

The work of the inner life is to make God a reality, so that He is no more an imagination; that this relationship that man has with God may seem to him more real than any other relationship in this world; and when this happens, then all relationships, however near and dear, become less binding.

內在生命的功課，就是讓神成為真實，使祂不再只是想像；使人與神的關係，對他而言比世上任何其他關係都更加真實。當這一點實現時，其他一切關係，無論多麼親近、多麼珍愛，對他的束縛都會減輕。

But at the same time, a person does not thus become cold; he becomes more loving. It is the godless man who is cold, impressed by the selfishness and lovelessness of this world, because he partakes of those conditions in which he lives. But the one who is in love with God, the one who has established his relationship with God, his love becomes living; he is no more cold; he fulfills his duties to those related to him in this world much more than does the godless man.

但同時，一個人並不會因此變得冷漠；相反地，他會變得更有愛。真正冷漠的是那不信神的人；他受到世間自私與無愛的影響，因為他也參與在自己所處的這些狀態之中。然而，那愛著神、已與神建立關係的人，他的愛會變得鮮活；他不再冷漠，而且比不信神的人更充分地履行自己對世間與他有所關係之人的責任。

Now, as to the way in which man establishes this relationship, which is the most desirable to establish with God, what should he imagine? God as Father, as Creator, as Judge, as Forgiver, as Friend, or as Beloved? The answer is, that in every capacity of life we must give God the place that is demanded by the moment.

那麼，人應當如何建立這份關係？與神建立哪一種關係最為適切？他應當如何想像神？是父親、創造者、審判者、寬恕者、朋友，還是摯愛？答案是：在生命的每一種境況中，我們都應讓神居於當下所需要的位置。

The Perfection of Justice
公義的圓滿

When, crushed by the injustice, the coldness of the world, man looks at God, the perfection of Justice, he is no more agitated, his heart is no more disturbed, he consoles himself with the justice of God. He places the just God before him, and by this he learns justice; the sense of justice awakens in his heart, and he sees things in quite a different light.

當人受到世間的不公與冷漠所壓迫時，若他仰望神——公義之圓滿，他便不再躁動不安，心也不再受擾；他在神的公義中得到安慰。他將公義的神置於自己面前，並藉此學習公義；公義之感在他心中甦醒，使他以截然不同的眼光看待事物。

Mother and Father in God
神裡的母親與父親

When man finds himself in this world motherless or fatherless, then he thinks that there is the mother and father in God; and that, even if he were in the presence of his mother and father, these are only related on the earth. The Motherhood and Fatherhood of God is the only real relationship. The mother and father of the earth only reflect a spark of that motherly and fatherly love which God has in fullness and perfection. Then man finds that God can forgive, as the parents can forgive the child if he was in error; then man feels the goodness, kindness, protection, support, sympathy coming from every side; he learns to feel that it comes from God, the Father-Mother, through all.

當人在這世界上發現自己沒有母親或沒有父親時，他便想到，在神之中有母親，也有父親；而即使自己的父母就在身旁，這也只是世間的關係。神的母性與父性，才是唯一真實的關係。世間的父親與母親，只映照出神所圓滿具足的父愛與母愛中的一點火花。於是人發現，神能夠寬恕，就如父母能夠寬恕犯了錯的孩子；他也感受到從四面八方而來的良善、慈愛、保護、扶持與體恤，並逐漸學會感受：這一切都是透過萬有，從那作父又作母的神而來。

God as Judge and Forgiver
神作為審判者與寬恕者

When man pictures God as Forgiver, he finds that there is not only in this world a strict justice, but there is love developed also, there is mercy and compassion, there is that sense of forgiveness; that God is not the servant of law, as is the judge in this world. He is Master of law. He judges when He judges; when He forgives He forgives. He has both powers, He has the power to judge and He has the power to forgive.

當人將神想像為寬恕者時，他便發現，這世界上不只有嚴格的公義，也有愛的展現，有憐憫與慈悲，也有寬恕之心；神並不像世上的審判者那樣，是律法的僕人。祂是律法的主宰。祂若審判，便審判；祂若寬恕，便寬恕。祂同時具有這兩種權能：審判的權能與寬恕的權能。

He is Judge because He does not close His eyes to anything man does; He knows, He weighs, and measures, and He returns what is due to man. And He is Forgiver, because beyond and above His power of justice there is His great power of love and compassion, which is His very being, which is His own nature, and therefore it is more, and in greater proportion, and working with a greater activity than His power of justice.

祂是審判者，因為祂對人所做的一切都不閉眼不見；祂知道，祂衡量、權衡，並將人所應得的歸還給他。祂也是寬恕者，因為在祂公義的權能之上、並超越這權能的，是祂偉大的愛與慈悲之力；那正是祂之所是，也是祂自身的本性。因此，這愛與慈悲之力更為廣大，所佔的分量也更重，並且比祂公義的權能運作得更加活躍。

We, the human beings in this world, if there is a spark of goodness or kindness in our hearts, avoid judging people. We prefer forgiving to judging. Forgiving gives us naturally a greater happiness than taking revenge, unless a man is on quite a different path.

我們這些世上的人，只要心中還有一點良善或慈愛的火花，就會避免審判他人。我們寧願寬恕，也不願審判。寬恕自然比報復帶給我們更大的幸福，除非一個人所走的是截然不同的道路。

God as Friend
神作為朋友

The man who realizes God as a friend is never lonely in the world, neither in this world nor in the hereafter. There is always a friend, a friend in the crowd, a friend in the solitude; or while he is asleep, unconscious of this outer world, and when he is awake and conscious of it. In both cases the friend is there in his thought, in his imagination, in his heart, in his soul.

體認神為朋友的人，在世上永遠不會孤單，無論在今生或來世都是如此。他始終有一位朋友：在人群之中有朋友，在獨處之中也有朋友；當他沉睡、對外在世界失去知覺時如此，當他清醒、覺知外在世界時也是如此。無論哪一種情況，這位朋友都存在於他的思想、想像、心與靈魂之中。

God as Beloved
神作為摯愛

And the man who makes God his Beloved, what more does he want? His heart becomes awakened to all the beauty there is within and without. To him all things appeal, everything unfolds itself, and it is beauty to his eyes, because God is all-pervading, in all names and all forms; therefore his Beloved is never absent. How happy therefore is the one whose Beloved is never absent, because the whole tragedy of life is the absence of the beloved.

而那使神成為自己摯愛的人，還有什麼可求？他的心向內在與外在的一切美甦醒。萬物都能觸動他，一切都向他展露自身，在他眼中無不成為美；因為神無所不在，遍在於一切名與一切形相之中，因此他的摯愛從不缺席。摯愛從不缺席的人是何等幸福，因為人生所有的悲劇，都在於所愛者的缺席。

And to one whose Beloved is always there,

而對那摯愛始終都在的人而言，

when he has closed his eyes the Beloved is within, when he has opened his eyes the Beloved is without. His every sense perceives the Beloved; his eyes see Him, his ears hear His voice.

當他閉上眼睛時，摯愛就在內；當他睜開眼睛時，摯愛就在外。他的每一個感官都感知著摯愛；他的眼睛看見祂，耳朵聽見祂的聲音。

When a person arrives at this realization he, so to speak, lives in the presence of God;

當一個人達到這樣的體認時，可以說，他便活在神的臨在之中；

then to him the different forms and beliefs, faiths and communities do not count. To him God is all-in-all; to him God is everywhere. If he goes to the Christian church, or to the synagogue, to the Buddhist temple, to the Hindu shrine, or to the mosque of the Muslim, there is God. In the wilderness, in the forest, in the crowd, everywhere he sees God.

於是對他而言，不同的形式與信念、信仰與宗教群體都不再重要。對他而言，神是一切中的一切；對他而言，神無所不在。無論他走進基督宗教的教堂、猶太會堂、佛寺、印度教聖所，或穆斯林的清真寺，神都在那裡。在曠野、森林、人群之中，他處處看見神。

The Beloved is everywhere
摯愛無所不在

This shows that the inner life does not consist in closing the eyes and looking inward. The inner life is to look outwardly and inwardly, and to find one’s Beloved everywhere.

這顯示出，內在生命並不只是閉上眼睛向內觀看。內在生命，是向外也向內觀看，並在每一處都尋見自己的摯愛。

But God cannot be made a Beloved unless the love element is awakened sufficiently.

然而，除非愛的元素已充分甦醒，否則神無法真正成為人的摯愛。

The one who hates his enemy and loves his friend cannot call God his Beloved, for he does not know God. When love comes to its fullness, then one looks at the friend with affection, on the enemy with forgiveness, on the stranger with sympathy. There is love in all its aspects expressed when love rises to its fullness; and it is the fullness of love which is worth offering to God. It is then that man recognizes in God his Beloved, his Ideal; and by that, although he rises above the narrow affection of this world, he is the one who really knows how to love even his friend. It is the lover of God who knows love when he rises to that stage of the fullness of love.

一個人若憎恨敵人、只愛朋友，就不能稱神為自己的摯愛，因為他尚未認識神。當愛臻於圓滿時，人便以慈愛看待朋友，以寬恕看待敵人，以體恤看待陌生人。當愛提升至圓滿時，愛的各個面向都得以展現；而唯有這圓滿的愛，才值得奉獻給神。到了那時，人便在神之中認出自己的摯愛、自己的理想；也正因如此，雖然他超越了世間狹隘的情愛，卻成為真正懂得如何去愛的人，甚至懂得如何真正地愛自己的朋友。愛神的人，當他提升到愛的圓滿境界時，才真正懂得何謂愛。

The whole imagery of the Sufi literature in the Persian language, written by great poets, such as Rumi, Hafiz, and Jami, is the relationship between man as the lover and God as the Beloved; and when one reads understanding that, and develops in that affection, then one sees what pictures the mystics have made and to what note their heart has been tuned.

由魯米、哈菲茲、賈米等偉大詩人以波斯語寫成的蘇菲文學，其中所有的意象，都圍繞著人作為愛者、神作為摯愛的這份關係。當人帶著這樣的理解閱讀，並在這份愛中有所發展，便能看見祕士們描繪了怎樣的圖景，以及他們的心被調諧到怎樣的音調。

It is not easy to develop in the heart the love of God, because when one does not see or realize the object of love one cannot love.

要在心中培養對神的愛並不容易，因為當人看不見、也無法體認自己所愛的對象時，就無法去愛。

God must become tangible in order that one may love Him, but once a person has attained to that love he has really entered the journey of the spiritual path.

神必須對人變得可感可知，人才能愛祂；然而，一旦一個人達到這樣的愛，他便真正踏上了靈性道路。