4. The Realization of the Inner Life
4. 內在生活的體認

The principle of the one who experiences the inner life, is to become all things to all men throughout his life. In every situation, in every capacity, he answers the demand of the moment. Often people think that the spiritual person must be a man with sad looks, with a long face, with a serious expression, and with a melancholy atmosphere. Really speaking, that picture is the exact contrary of the real spiritual person. In all capacities the one who lives the inner life has to act outwardly as he ought in order to fit the occasion; he must act according to the circumstances, and he must speak to everyone in his own language, standing upon the same level, and yet realizing the inner life.

經驗內在生活之人的原則，是在一生當中，對所有人成為一切他們所需要的樣子。在每一種處境、每一種角色裡，他都回應當下的要求。人們常以為，一個有靈性的人必然是一副憂鬱的面容、拉長著臉、一臉嚴肅，周身帶著哀傷的氣息。事實上，這幅圖像正好與真正的靈性之人相反。在所有外在角色中，過內在生活的人，必須在外表的行為上做出當下所應有的樣子，好讓自己與情境相契合；他必須隨著環境行事，並且在與每一個人同一個水平上，用對方聽得懂的語言跟他說話，而同時他在內裡仍然清醒地活在內在生活之中。

For the knower of truth, the one who has attained spiritual knowledge and who lives the inner life, there is no occupation in life which is too difficult; as a business man, a professional man, a king; as a ruler, a poor man, a worldly man; as a priest or monk, in all aspects he is different from what people know and see of him.

對一位真理的覺知者——已獲得靈性知識並過著內在生活的人——來說，生命中沒有任何一種職業是「太困難而做不到」的。無論他是商人、專業人士、國王、統治者、窮人、世俗之人、祭司或僧侶，在這一切身分的各個面向上，他都與人們所認識、所看見的那個表面形象不同。

To the one who lives the inner life the world is a stage; on this he is the actor who has to act a part in which he has sometimes to be angry and sometimes loving, and in which he has to take part both in tragedy and comedy. So also the one who has realized the inner life acts constantly; and, like the actor who does not feel the emotions he assumes, the spiritual man has to fill fittingly the place in which life has placed him. There he performs everything thoroughly and rightly, in order to fulfill his outer commission in life.

對那個過內在生活的人來說，世界是一個舞台；在這舞台上，他是一位演員，必須扮演一個角色，有時得發怒，有時得充滿愛意，既要在悲劇中演出，也要在喜劇裡登場。同樣地，那個體認了內在生活的人，時時刻刻都在行動；就像演員並不真正感受他在舞台上所呈現的那些情緒一樣，靈性之人必須恰如其分地站在生命所安排給他的那個位置上。在那裡，他徹底而正確地完成每一件事，為的是要履行他在今生外在層面上所受託付的使命。

He is a friend to his friend, a relative to his relatives. With all to whom he is outwardly related he keeps the right relationship with thought, with consideration; and yet in his realization he is above all relationships. He is in the crowd and in the solitude at the same time. He may be very much amused, and at the same time he is very serious. He may seem very sad, and yet there is joy welling up from his heart.

他對朋友就是朋友，對親人就是親人。對所有在外表上與他有所關係的人，他以覺察與體諒維持著恰當的關係；然而在他的體認裡，他又超越所有關係。他同時在群眾之中，也在孤獨之中。他看來也許非常愉快，而同時他又極為嚴肅。他看似十分悲傷，然而他心中卻有喜悅不斷湧出。

Therefore the one who has realized the inner life is a mystery to everyone; no one can fathom the depth of that person, except that he promises sincerity, he emits love, he commands trust, he spreads goodness, and he gives an impression of God and the truth. For the man who has realized the inner life every act is his meditation; if he is walking in the street it is his meditation; if he is working as a carpenter, as a goldsmith or in any other trade or business, that is his meditation. It does not matter if he is looking at heaven or at the earth, he is looking at the object that he worships. East or west or north or south, upon all sides is his God. In form, in principle, nothing restricts him. He may know things and yet may not speak; for if a man who lives the inner life were to speak of his experiences it would confuse many minds.

因此，那個體認了內在生活的人，對所有人來說都是一個謎；沒有人能測度這個人的深度，只能看見：他保證真誠，他散發愛，他贏得信任，他傳遞良善，而他給人的印象，是關於神與真理。對一個體認內在生活的人而言，他每一個行動都是他的冥想；當他走在街上，那是他的冥想；當他做木工、當他做金匠，或者從事任何行業、任何工作，那都是他的冥想。無論他是抬頭看天，或是低頭看地，他看見的都是他所敬拜的對象。東也好、西也好、南也好、北也好，四面八方都是他的神。在形式上、在原則上，沒有任何事物能限制他。他也許知道許多事，卻可能完全不說；因為如果一個過內在生活的人要把自己的經驗說出來，會讓許多人的心智陷入混亂。

There are individuals in the world who from morning until evening have their eyes and their ears focused on every dark comer, wanting to listen, or to see what they can find out; and they find out nothing. If someone were to tell such people wonders, he would have a very good occupation, the whole world would seek him. But such is not the work of the self-realized man. He sees, and yet does not look; if he were to look, how much he would see! There is so much to be seen by one whose every glance, wherever it is cast, breaks through every object and discovers its depth and its secret. And if he were to look at things and find out their secrets and depths, where would it end, and of what interest is it to him?

世上有些人，從早到晚眼睛和耳朵都專注在各種陰暗角落，想要聽、想要看，看看能打聽到什麼；然而他們最後什麼也得不到。如果有人肯對這樣的人說一些奇事，他就會有一份「很好的職業」，全世界都會來找他。但這並不是自我覺悟之人的工作。他「看見」，卻又不「刻意去看」；因為如果他真要去看，他會看見多少事呢！對一個人來說，只要他的每一次目光，無論落在何處，都能穿透每一樣事物，探入其深處和祕密，那麼他所能看見的實在太多了。如果他真要去看每樣事物、挖出每一個祕密和深度，那將何時才有盡頭？而這些，對他又有什麼意義呢？

The inner life, therefore, is seeing all things and yet not seeing them; feeling all things and not expressing them, for they cannot be fully expressed; understanding all things and not explaining. How far can such a man explain, and how much can another understand? Each according to the capacity he has, no more. The inner life is not lived by closing the eyes; one need not close one’s eyes from this world in order to live it, one can just as well open them.

因此，內在生活是：看見一切，卻又彷彿不看見；感受一切，卻不加以表達，因為這些感受無法被完全表達；理解一切，卻不急於解說。這樣的人，就算想說，他能說到多深？而另一個人又能理解多少？每個人只能依照自己所具有的容量來領受，不會再多。內在生活並不是靠閉上眼睛來過的；要過內在生活，並不需要把眼睛從這個世界關起來，同樣可以睜著眼過內在生活。

The exact meaning of the inner life is not only to live in the body, but also to live in the heart, to live in the soul.

內在生活真正的意義，不只是活在身體裡，而是活在心裡，活在靈魂裡。

Why, then, does not the average man live an inner life when he too has a heart and a soul? It is because he has a heart, and yet is not conscious of it; he has a soul, and knows not what it is. When he lives in the captivity of the body, limited by that body, he can only feel a thing by touching it, he sees only by looking through his eyes, he hears only by hearing with his ears. How much can the ears hear and the eyes see? All this experience obtained by the outer senses is limited. When man lives in this limitation he does not know that another part of his being exists, which is much higher, more wonderful, more living, and more exalted. Once he begins to know this, then the body becomes his tool, for he lives in his heart. And then later he passes on and lives in his soul. He experiences life independently of his body; and that is called the inner life.

那麼，既然普通人也有心也有靈魂，為什麼他卻不過內在生活呢？原因在於，他雖然有心，卻沒有對自己的心有意識；他有靈魂，卻不知道那是什麼。當他活在身體的囚籠之中，被身體所限制時，他只能透過觸摸來感覺一件事物，只能藉著眼睛看見、藉著耳朵聽見。耳朵能聽多少？眼睛能看多少？由外在感官所取得的一切經驗都是有限的。當人活在這樣的侷限裡，他就不知道，自己的存在其實還有另一個部分——更高、更奇妙、更鮮活、也更崇高。一旦他開始認識到這一點，身體就成了他的工具，因為他開始活在心裡；而進一步，他又活在靈魂裡。他在脫離身體的情況下經驗生命；這就叫做內在生活。

Once man has experienced the inner life, the fear of death has expired; because he knows death comes to the body, not to his inner being. When once he begins to realize life in his heart and in his soul, then he looks upon his body as a coat. If the coat is old he puts it away and takes a new one, for his being does not depend upon his coat. The fear of death lasts only so long as man has not realized that his real being does not depend upon his body.

一旦人經驗過內在生活，對死亡的恐懼就消失了；因為他知道，死亡臨到的是身體，而不是他內在的存有。一旦他開始在心裡、在靈魂裡覺察生命，他就會把身體看作一件外衣；當這件外衣破舊了，他就把它脫下、換上一件新的，因為他的存在並不依賴這件外衣。對死亡的恐懼，只會存在於一個尚未體認到「真正的自己並不依賴肉身」的人身上。

The joy, therefore, of the one who experiences the inner life is beyond comparison greater than that of the average man living only as a captive in his mortal body. Yet the inner life does not necessitate man’s adopting a certain way of living, or living an ascetic or a religious life. Whatever his outer occupation be it does not matter; the man who lives the inner life lives it through all. Man always looks for a spiritual person in a religious person, or perhaps in what he calls a good person, or in someone with a philosophical mind, but that is not necessarily the case. A person may be religious, even philosophical, he may be religious or good, and yet he may not live the inner life.

因此，那個經驗內在生活之人的喜樂，遠遠超過那個只把自己當作被囚禁在必死身體裡的普通人。然而，內在生活並不要求人必須採取某一種特定的生活方式，或過苦行的生活、宗教性的生活。無論他外在的職業是什麼，都沒有關係；過內在生活的人，是透過一切來活出這內在生活的。人總是試著在某個宗教人士身上，或者在他所謂的「好人」、甚至是在某個有哲學頭腦的人身上，去尋找一位靈性之人，但事實不一定如此。一個人可以很有宗教性，甚至很有哲學性，他也可能是宗教的、是善良的，然而他仍然未必過著內在生活。

There is no distinct outward appearance which can prove a person to be living the inner life, except one thing. When a child grows towards youth, you can see in the expression of that child a light beaming. out, a certain new consciousness arising, a new knowledge coming which the child has not known before. That is the sign of youth, yet the child does not say so; he cannot say it, even if he wanted to, he cannot explain it. And yet you can see it from every movement that the child makes; from his every expression, you can find that he is realizing life now. And so it is with the soul. When the soul begins to realize the life above and beyond this life, it begins to show; and although the man who realizes this may refrain from purposely showing it, yet from his expression, his movement, his glance, his voice, from every action and from every attitude, the wise can grasp and the others can feel that he is conscious of some mystery.

沒有任何明顯的外在特徵，能證明一個人正在過內在生活，只有一件事例外。當一個孩子邁向青春期時，你可以從孩子的神情裡看見一種光正在透出來，一種新的意識正在出現，一種他從未有過的新認知正在到來。這就是青春的徵兆，然而孩子並不這樣說；就算他想說，他也說不出來，無法解釋出來。可是你可以從他每一個動作、每一個表情中看出來：他現在開始在體會生命了。靈魂也是如此。當靈魂開始體認到一種超越此生的生命時，這也會顯現出來；而那個體認到這一點的人，或許會刻意不去展現它，然而從他的神情、他的動作、他的目光、他的聲音，從他每一個行動、每一種姿態裡，智者可以讀出來，其他人也能感覺到：他對某種奧祕是有意識的。

The inner life is a birth of the soul; as Christ said, that unless the soul is born again it cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore the realization of the inner life is entering the kingdom of heaven; and this consciousness when it comes to the human being shows itself as a new birth, and with this new birth there comes the assurance of everlasting life.

內在生活是靈魂的一次誕生；正如基督所說，靈魂若不重生，就不能進入天國。因此，對內在生活的體認，就是進入天國；而當這樣的意識臨到人時，它會顯現為一次新的出生，伴隨這新生而來的，是對永恆生命的確據。