5. The Desire for Happiness
5. 幸福的渴望

Happiness, which is sought after by every soul, has its secret in the knowledge of the self. Man seeks for happiness, not because happiness is his sustenance, but because happiness is his own being. Therefore, in seeking for happiness, man is seeking for himself.

每一個靈魂所追尋的幸福，其祕密就在於對自身的認識。人之所以追求幸福，並不是因為幸福是他的維生之物，而是因為幸福就是他自身的存在。因此，人在追尋幸福時，其實是在尋找自己。

What gives man inclination to seek for happiness is the feeling of having lost something which he had always owned, which belonged to him, which was his own self. The absence of happiness, which a soul has experienced from the day it has come on earth and which has increased every day more and more, makes man forget that his own being is happiness. He thinks happiness is something which is acquired.

使人傾向於追尋幸福的，是一種彷彿失去了某樣東西的感覺──那是他原本一直擁有的、原本屬於他的，也就是他真正的自己。靈魂自從來到世上的那一天起，便經驗到幸福的缺失，而這份缺失日復一日愈加強烈，使人逐漸忘記：他自身的存在就是幸福。於是，他以為幸福是某種必須獲得的東西。

As man thinks that happiness is something which is acquired, he continually strives in every direction to attain to it. In the end, after all his striving, he finds that the real happiness does not lie in what he calls pleasures. Pleasures may be a shadow of happiness; there is an illusion of happiness, because all the illusion which stands beside reality is more interesting for the average man than reality itself.

因為人以為幸福是某種必須獲得的東西，所以他不斷朝各個方向努力追求它。然而到了最後，在經歷一切努力之後，他終究會發現，真正的幸福並不在那些他所稱的享樂之中。享樂或許是幸福的影子，其中帶著幸福的幻象；因為對一般人而言，凡是與真實並列的幻象，往往都比真實本身更有吸引力。

A happiness which is momentary, a happiness which depends upon something outside of oneself, is called pleasure. Very often we confuse, in our everyday language, the distinction between pleasure and happiness. A pastime, an amusement, merriment, gaiety that take one’s thoughts away from the responsibilities and worries and limitations of life and give one a moment’s consolation — one begins by thinking that these are the ways of happiness. But as one cannot hold them, and as one often finds that, seeking for what may be called a pleasure, the loss is greater than the gain.

一種短暫的幸福，一種依賴自身之外某些事物而存在的幸福，就稱為享樂。在日常語言中，我們常常混淆享樂與幸福之間的差別。消遣、娛樂、歡愉與嬉樂，能使人的思想暫時離開生命中的責任、憂慮與限制，並帶來片刻的慰藉；起初，人會以為這些就是通往幸福的道路。然而，人既無法將它們留住，也常會發現，在追求那些所謂的享樂時，所失去的往往比所得到的更多。

Then one begins to look for something that will really be the means of happiness. It is this, very often, that wakens a soul to look for the mystery of religion, for the sense in philosophy, for the secret of mysticism, in case he can find some happiness there. But even all these things only help one to find happiness; they are not happiness themselves. It is the soul which is happiness itself, not all outer things which man seeks after and which he thinks will give him happiness.

於是，人開始尋找真正能引向幸福的途徑。也正是這樣的追尋，往往會喚醒一個靈魂，使他開始探索宗教的奧祕、哲學的意義與神祕主義的祕密，希望能在其中找到幸福。然而，即使這一切，也只是幫助人找到幸福；它們本身並不是幸福。真正就是幸福本身的，是靈魂，而不是人所追逐、並以為能帶給自己幸福的那些外在事物。

The very fact that man is continually craving for happiness shows that the real element, which may be called man’s real being, is not what has formed his body and what has composed his mind, but what he is in himself. The mind and body are vehicles. Through the mind and body man experiences life more fully, more clearly; but they are not happiness in themselves, nor does what is experienced through them give the real happiness.

人持續不斷地渴望幸福這件事本身，就顯示出：那個真正的本質，也就是可以稱為人真正存在的部分，並不是構成他身體的東西，也不是組成他頭腦的東西，而是他自身真正的所是。頭腦與身體只是載具。人透過頭腦與身體，更完整、更清楚地經驗生命；然而，它們本身並不是幸福，透過它們所經驗到的事物，也無法給予人真正的幸福。

What he experiences through them is just pleasure, an illusion of happiness for a time. It is not only that the pleasures cost more than they are worth, but very often in the path of pleasure, when a person is seeking after happiness, as he goes further, he creates more and more unhappiness for himself. Very often it happens. Every way he turns, everything he does, every plan he carries out, thinking that this will give him happiness, only produces a greater trouble, because he is seeking after happiness in a wrong direction.

人透過它們所經驗到的，只是享樂──一種暫時的幸福幻象。享樂不僅往往使人付出超過其本身價值的代價；更常見的是，當一個人在享樂的道路上追尋幸福時，走得越遠，反而為自己製造越來越多的不幸。這種情況經常發生。無論他轉向哪裡、做些什麼、實行什麼計畫，都以為那會帶給自己幸福，結果卻只是造成更大的困擾，因為他是在錯誤的方向上尋找幸福。

A person might ask, “Is, then, the secret of happiness in the way of the ascetics, in tormenting, in torturing oneself as they have done for ages?” Even that does not give happiness; it is only a distraction from the worldly pleasures which produce illusion. The ascetic shuts himself up in order to have an opportunity of taking another direction.

有人或許會問：「那麼，幸福的祕密是否存在於苦行者的道路之中？存在於像他們千百年來那樣折磨自己、苦待自己的方式裡？」即使如此，也不能帶來幸福；這只是一種使人離開那些會產生幻象的世俗享樂、將注意力轉向別處的方法。苦行者將自己隔離起來，是為了讓自己有機會轉往另一個方向。

But very often it so happens that the one who lives an ascetic life is himself unaware of what he is doing and what it is intended for. And therefore even if he lives his whole life as an ascetic, he cannot derive a full benefit from it. His loss is then greater than his gain. For even asceticism is not a happiness; it is only a means of self-discipline; it is a drill in order to fight against temptations which draw one continually in life and which hinder one’s path to happiness. Not understanding this, a person may go on living an ascetic life but can never be benefited by it, like a soldier who has drilled all his life and never fought. Many have understood self-denial as the way to happiness, and they interpret self-denial in the form of asceticism, to deny oneself all pleasures which are momentary.

然而，很多時候，過著苦行生活的人自己並不知道正在做什麼，也不知道這麼做究竟是為了什麼。因此，即使他終其一生都過著苦行者的生活，也無法從中得到完整的益處；如此一來，他所失去的便會多於所得。因為苦行本身也不是幸福；它只是一種自我鍛鍊的方法，是為了對抗那些在生命中不斷吸引人、阻礙人走向幸福的誘惑而進行的操練。若不了解這一點，一個人即使一直過著苦行生活，也永遠無法真正從中受益；就像一個士兵操練了一輩子，卻從未真正上過戰場。許多人將捨己理解為通往幸福的道路，並把捨己詮釋為苦行，也就是拒絕一切短暫的享樂。

There is another point from which to look at it: the creation is not intended to be renounced. We read in the Quran that God has made all that is in the heavens and on the earth subservient to man. Wherefore, all that is beautiful and pleasing, all that gives joy and pleasure, is not to be renounced. The secret of all this is that what is made for man, man may hold but he must not be held by it.

我們還可以從另一個角度來看這件事：受造世界並不是要讓人棄絕的。我們在《古蘭經》中讀到，神已使天上與地上的一切供人使用。因此，一切美好的、令人愉悅的事物，一切帶來喜悅與享樂的事物，都不是要人棄絕的。其中的祕密在於：凡是為人而造之物，人可以掌握它，卻不可反過來受它掌控。

When man renounces the path of happiness, real happiness, in order to pursue pleasures, it is then that he does wrong. If in the pursuit of happiness which is the ultimate happiness, he goes on through life, then for him to be an ascetic and deny himself all pleasures is not necessary.

當人為了追逐享樂，而放棄了通往幸福──真正幸福──的道路時，他才是走錯了路。若一個人一生都沿著追求幸福、也就是終極幸福的道路前行，那麼，他便不需要成為苦行者，也不需要拒絕自己所有的享樂。

There is a story told of Solomon, that he had a vision that God revealed Himself to him and said, “Ask what I shall give thee.” Solomon said, “Give me an understanding heart, wisdom and knowledge.” And God said to him, “Because thou hast asked this thing and hast not asked long life for thyself, neither hast thou asked riches for thyself, but hast asked for thyself understanding, behold, I have done according to thy word; I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honor, and I will lengthen thy days.”

有一則關於所羅門的故事：他曾在異象中看見神向他顯現，對他說：「你求吧，我該賜給你什麼？」所羅門說：「求你賜我一顆明辨的心，以及智慧與知識。」神對他說：「因為你求的是這件事，沒有為自己求長壽，也沒有為自己求財富，而是為自己求明辨；看啊，我已照你的話成就了。我已賜給你一顆智慧而明辨的心。我也將你沒有求的賜給你，就是財富與尊榮，並且我要延長你的年日。」

This shows that the true way is not the renouncing of things, but it is making the best use of them, making the right use of them; it is not going away from life, but being among the crowd, being in the midst of life, and yet not being attached to it. One might say, that it would be a cruel thing to be detached from anybody who wants our love and kindness and sympathy. You can attach yourself to the whole world if you will not be of the world.

這顯示出，真正的道路並不是棄絕事物，而是善用它們、正確地運用它們；不是離開生命，而是身處人群之中、置身生命之中，卻不受生命中的事物所束縛。有人或許會說，如果對那些需要我們的愛、善意與體恤的人保持疏離，豈不是十分殘酷？只要你不屬於這個世界，你便可以與整個世界相連。

If one keeps one’s thoughts centered upon the idea of the real happiness which is attained by the realization of the self, and if one does not allow anything to hinder that, then in the end one arrives at that happiness which is the purpose of the coming on earth of every soul.

如果一個人始終將思想集中於真正的幸福──那種透過對自身的體悟而獲得的幸福──並且不讓任何事物阻礙這份追尋，那麼最終，他便會抵達那份幸福；而那正是每一個靈魂來到世上的目的。

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