4. The Desire for Power
4. 力量的渴望

A Natural Desire
自然的渴望

It is the desire for all one wishes to achieve that gives one the desire For power. One desires power in order to hold something, to make something, to attain something, to work out something, to attract something, to use something, to rule something, to assimilate something. If it is a natural desire, there is an answer to this. For there cannot be a desire to which there is no answer; the answer to the desire is in knowing that desire fully.

正是對一切想要達成之事的渴望，使人產生了對力量的渴望。人渴望力量，是為了掌握某些事物、創造某些事物、獲得某些事物、完成某些事情、吸引某些事物、運用某些事物、支配某些事物，以及吸收某些事物。若這是一種自然的渴望，那麼它必然有其答案。因為不可能存在一種全然沒有答案的渴望；而渴望的答案，就在於完整地認識這份渴望。

Outer Power
外在力量

Whatever power is gained by outside efforts in life, however great it may seem for the moment, it proves fatal when it comes to be examined.

凡是在生命中藉由外在努力所獲得的力量，無論當下看起來多麼強大，一旦加以深入檢視，終將顯露出其致命的一面。

Even such great powers as the nations which existed just before the war, took no time to fall to pieces. There was an army, there was a navy, there was property, a state. An empire such as the Empire of Russia, how long it took to build it! But it did not take one moment for it to break up.

即使是戰爭之前那些強盛的國家，也可以在轉瞬之間分崩離析。它們擁有陸軍、海軍、財產，也擁有國家體制。像俄羅斯帝國這樣的帝國，花了多麼漫長的時間才建立起來！然而，它的瓦解卻不需片刻。

If the outer power, in spite of its great appearance for the moment, proves fatal in the end, then there must be some power hidden somewhere, a power which may be called worth-while; and that power is hidden in man.

如果外在力量儘管一時看來如此強大，最終卻證明會帶來毀滅，那麼必然有某種力量隱藏在某處，一種真正值得擁有的力量；而那力量，就隱藏在人自身之中。

A person in the intoxication of outer power that he possesses overlooks the cultivation or the development of inner power, and, depending upon the power that does not belong to him, one day becomes the victim of the very power that he holds. Because, when the outer power becomes greater and the inner smaller, the greater power eats up the inner power. So it is that the heroes, the kings, the emperors, the persons with great power of arms, wealth or outer influence, have become victims to the very power upon which they always depended.

一個人若沉醉於自己所擁有的外在力量，便會忽略內在力量的培養與發展；而當他依賴那其實並不屬於自己的力量時，終有一天，反而會成為自己所掌握之力量的犧牲者。因為當外在力量越來越強，而內在力量越來越弱時，那股較強的力量便會吞噬內在力量。正因如此，歷來的英雄、國王、皇帝，以及那些擁有強大武力、財富或外在影響力的人，最終都成了他們一向依賴之力量的犧牲者。

Inner Power
內在力量

So one thinks, “If the outer power is not to be depended upon, then where is that power to be found upon which one can depend?” And that power is to be found in oneself. What power is it? In the terms of the Sufis that power is called Iman, conviction.

於是人會想：「如果外在力量並不可靠，那麼，那種可以依靠的力量究竟要到哪裡去尋找？」那力量就在自己之中。那是什麼力量？用蘇菲的術語來說，那種力量稱為 Iman，也就是確信。

And how is that power built? That power is built by what the Sufis call Yaqin, which means belief. It is belief that culminates in conviction. The one who has no inclination to believe, will never arrive at a conviction.

那麼，這種力量是如何建立起來的？它是藉由蘇菲所稱的 Yaqin 而建立，意為信念。信念發展到極致，便成為確信。一個毫無相信之傾向的人，永遠無法抵達確信。

But now there is a question. Is even a power developed in one’s personality not a limited power? True, it is a limited power. But by following that teaching which Christ has given in the words, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all things shall be added unto you”, that power is gained which is unlimited power. If not, there is no meaning in calling God “Almighty.” The benefit of this word “Almighty” is in its realization. This teaches us in the first place that all might is one might.

然而，這裡又產生了一個問題：即使是在一個人的人格之中發展出來的力量，不仍然是有限的力量嗎？的確，它是有限的。但是，若依循基督所給予的教導：「你們要先求神的國，這一切都要加給你們。」人便能獲得那無限的力量。若非如此，稱神為「全能者」便毫無意義。「全能者」一詞真正的意義，就在於對它的體證。這首先教導我們：一切大能皆是同一大能。

Almighty Power
全能之力

Although outwardly we see different powers, one greater than the other, either in harmony or in conflict, limited powers working for or against one another, yet by inward realization one finds that there is but one power.

雖然從外在看來，我們看見各種不同的力量，彼此有強弱之別，或相互和諧，或彼此衝突；這些有限的力量相互作用，有時彼此相助，有時彼此對抗。然而，透過內在的體證，人會發現，其實只有一個力量。

In support of this, the Qur’an says that nothing is powerful except it shows the same one Power, the Power of the All-powerful. In other words, in the limited aspect which we see, and in the Absolute Being, there is only one Power. It is, therefore, that there is no might to stand against that Power we call Almighty Power, that there is no power to work against it; that all aspects of strength and power are from it, and in it, and will be assimilated by it in the end.

為了說明這一點，《古蘭經》指出，沒有任何事物本身具有力量，除非它所顯現的正是那同一個力量──全能者之力。換句話說，無論在我們所看見的有限面向，或在絕對存在之中，都只有一個力量。因此，沒有任何大能能夠與我們所稱的全能之力抗衡，也沒有任何力量能夠與它相對而行；一切強度與力量的種種面向，都出於它、存在於它之中，並且最終都將被它所吸納。

Fana (I Am Not)
Fana (自我消融)

Now the question is, “How can one get in touch with that Almighty Power?” As long as one’s little personality stands before one, as long as one cannot get rid of it, as long as one’s own person and all that is connected with it interests one, one will always find limitations. That Power is touched only by one way, and that is the way of self-effacement, which in the Bible is called “self-denial.” People interpret it otherwise. “Self-denial,” they say, “means to deny oneself all the happiness and pleasures of this earth.” If it were to deny the happiness and pleasure of this earth, then why was this earth made? Only to deny? If it was made to deny, it was very cruel, for the continual seeking of man is for happiness.

現在的問題是：「人要如何與那全能之力接觸？」只要那個渺小的個人自我仍橫亙在眼前，只要人無法擺脫它，只要人仍然只對自己以及一切與自己相關的事物感興趣，就必然會處處遇見限制。要觸及那力量，只有一條道路，就是自我消融之道；在《聖經》中，這被稱為「捨己」。然而，人們卻常把它解釋成另一回事。他們說：「捨己，就是不讓自己享有世上的一切幸福與樂趣。」但如果捨己真的是拒絕這世上的幸福與樂趣，那麼這個世界為什麼要被創造？只是為了讓人拒絕它嗎？若創造它只是為了讓人拒絕，那就太殘酷了，因為人始終不斷追求的，正是幸福。

Self-denying is to deny this little personality that creeps into everything, to efface this false ego which prompts one to feel one’s little power in this thing or that thing; to deny the idea of one’s own being, the being which one knows to be oneself, and to affirm God in that place; to deny self and affirm God. That is the perfect humility.

捨己，就是否定這個滲入一切之中的渺小個人自我，消融那個虛假的自我意識──正是它使人覺得自己在這件事或那件事上擁有那一點力量；就是否定對自身存在的認定，也就是否定我們一向認作自己的那個存在，並在那個位置上肯定神；否定自身，肯定神。這就是完全的謙卑。

When a person shows politeness by saying, “I am only a humble little creature”, perhaps he is hiding in his words. It is his vanity, and therefore that humility is of no use. When one completely denies oneself, there are no words to speak. What can one say? Praise and blame become the same to one; there is nothing to be said. And how is this to be attained? It is to be attained, not only by prayer or by worship or by believing in God; it is to be attained by forgetting oneself in God. The belief in God is the first step. By the belief in God is attained the losing oneself in God. If one is able to do it, one has attained a power which is beyond human comprehension.

當一個人客氣地說：「我只是一個卑微渺小的受造物」，也許隱藏在這些話語背後的，正是他的虛榮；因此，這樣的謙卑毫無用處。當一個人徹底否定自己時，便無話可說。還能說什麼呢？讚美與責難對他而言已經沒有分別；再也沒有什麼需要說的。那麼，這要如何達成？它不只是藉由祈禱、敬拜或相信神而達成；它是藉由在神之中忘卻自己而達成。相信神是第一步；藉由對神的信，人便能達到在神之中失去自己。若一個人能夠做到這一點，他便獲得了一種超越人類理解的力量。

The process of attaining this is called Fana by the Sufis. Fana is not necessarily a destruction in God. Fana results in what may be called a resurrection in God, which is symbolized by the picture of Christ. The Christ on the cross is narrative of Fana; it means, “I am not.”

蘇菲將達到這一境界的過程稱為 Fana（自我消融）。Fana 未必意味著在神之中的毀滅；Fana 所帶來的結果，是一種可以稱為「在神之中復活」的狀態，而基督的形象正象徵著這一點。十字架上的基督，正敘說著 Fana；它的意思是：「我不存在。」

Baqa (Thou Art)
Baqa（祢是）

And the idea of resurrection explains the next stage, which is Baqa, and which means, “Thou art”, and this means rising towards All-might. The divine spirit is to be recognized in that rising towards All-might. Fana is not attained by torturing oneself, by tormenting oneself, by giving oneself a great many troubles, as many ascetics do. For even after torturing themselves, they will not come to that realization if they were not meant to.

而復活的概念，說明了下一個階段，也就是 Baqa，其意為：「祢是。」這意味著升向全能。在這升向全能的過程中，人會認出神聖之靈。Fana 並不是藉由折磨自己、苦待自己，或讓自己承受種種苦難而達成的，正如許多苦行者所做的那樣。因為即使如此折磨自己，若他們原本無法抵達那份體悟，仍然不會因此而抵達。

It is by denying one’s little self, the false self which covers one’s real self, in which the essence of divine Being is to be found.

真正的途徑，是否定那個渺小的自己，也就是那個遮蔽真正自己的虛假自我；因為神聖存在的本質，正可以在真正的自己之中找到。

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