6. The Desire for Peace
6. 安寧的渴望

The secret behind the whole manifestation is vibration, vibration which may be termed movement. It is the differences of vibration which, when divided by lines, form planes of existence, each plane being different in the rhythm of these vibrations. When we take life as a whole we can draw one line, the beginning and the end, or spirit and matter, or God and man. And we shall find that the rhythm which begins the line is free and without disturbance, and the rhythm which is felt at the end of this line is gross and disturbing. And these two rhythms may be named the life of sensation and the life of peace.

整個顯化背後的祕密是振動，而振動也可以稱為運動。正是振動的差異，一經界線劃分，便形成了不同的存在層面；每一個層面，都有著不同的振動節奏。當我們將生命視為一個整體，可以畫出一條線，代表起點與終點，也就是靈與物質，或神與人。我們會發現，這條線起點的節奏是自由而不受擾動的，而在這條線終點所感受到的節奏，則是粗重而擾動的。這兩種節奏，可以分別稱為感官感受的生命與安寧的生命。

These are two opposite things. The life of sensation gives a momentary joy; the life which is the first aspect of life gives peace and culminates in the everlasting peace. The joy, however great, is rising and falling; it must have its reaction. Besides, it depends upon sensation; and what does sensation depend upon? Sensation depends upon the outer life; there must be something besides you to cause the sensation. But peace is independently felt within oneself; it is not dependent upon the outer sensation. It is something that belongs to one, something that is one’s own self.

這是兩種彼此相反的狀態。感官感受的生命帶來片刻的喜悅；而作為生命最初面向的那種生命，帶來安寧，並最終抵達永恆的安寧。喜悅無論多麼強烈，都有起有落，也必然伴隨相應的反作用。此外，喜悅依賴感官感受；那麼，感官感受又依賴什麼呢？感官感受依賴外在生活；必須有某個自身之外的事物，才能引起感受。然而，安寧是在自身之內獨立感受到的，它不依賴外在的感官感受。它是原本就屬於人的東西，是人自己本有的一部分。

If one were to ask someone who lives continually in a kind of excitement of worldly pleasures, whom Providence has granted all pleasures imaginable, if that person were asked, “What do you wish besides all this that you experience?”, he will say, “To be left alone.” When madness comes, when he is out of balance, he will crave for sensation, but when that passion has gone, what he is longing for in reality is peace. Therefore there is no pleasure in the world, however great, no experience, however interesting, that can give one that satisfaction which peace alone can give. A sovereign may be happy sitting on the throne with his crown, with many attendants before him, but he is only satisfied when he is alone by himself. All else seems to him nothing; it has no value; the most precious thing for him is that moment when he is by himself.

如果去問一個長久沉浸在世俗享樂的興奮之中、蒙天意賜予一切可想像享樂的人：「除了你所經驗的這一切之外，你還希望得到什麼？」他會說：「讓我獨自一人。」當狂亂來臨、當他失去平衡時，他會渴求感官感受；然而，當那股激情消退之後，他真正渴望的其實是安寧。因此，世上沒有任何享樂，無論多麼強烈；也沒有任何經驗，無論多麼有趣，能夠給人唯有安寧才能帶來的那種滿足。一位君王頭戴王冠坐在王座上，面前侍從眾多，也許會感到快樂；然而，唯有獨自一人時，他才真正感到滿足。除此之外的一切，對他而言似乎都算不了什麼，也沒有真正的價值；對他而言，最珍貴的正是獨處的那一刻。

I have once seen the Nizam, a great ruler, in all his grandeur, enjoying the royal splendor around him, and then again I saw the same sovereign sitting alone on a little carpet; and it was at that time that he was himself. It is the same thing with everyone. Delicious dishes, sweet fragrance, music, all other pleasures of line and color, beauty in all its aspects, which seem to answer one’s life’s demands, fail in the end when compared with that satisfaction which a soul experiences in itself, which it feels its own property, its own belonging; something that one need not seek outside oneself, that one can find within oneself, and something which is incomparably greater and more valuable than anything else in the world; something which cannot be bought nor sold, something which cannot be robbed by anyone, and something which is more sacred and holy than religion or prayer. For all prayer and devotion is to attain to this peace.

我曾見過尼扎姆這位偉大的統治者，在盛大的威儀之中，享受著環繞身旁的王室榮華；後來，我又看見同一位君王獨自坐在一張小地毯上，而正是在那個時候，他才真正是他自己。每一個人都是如此。美味佳餚、芬芳香氣、音樂，以及線條與色彩所帶來的種種愉悅，各種面貌的美，似乎都能滿足生命的需求；然而，若與靈魂在自身之中所經驗的那份滿足相比，這一切最終都顯得不足。那份滿足，是靈魂感到真正由自己所擁有、真正屬於自己的東西；人不需要向自身之外尋求，在自己之內便能找到。它遠比世上的任何事物都更加偉大、更有價值；它無法買賣，也無法被任何人奪走，而且比宗教或祈禱更加神聖。因為一切祈禱與虔敬，都是為了抵達這份安寧。

A man good and kind, a person most learned and qualified, strong and powerful, with all these attributes, cannot be spiritual if his soul has not attained that rhythm which is a natural rhythm of its being, a rhythm in which alone exists life’s satisfaction. Peace is not a knowledge, peace is not a power, peace is not a happiness, but peace is all these; and, besides, peace is productive of happiness, peace inspires one with knowledge of the seen and unseen, and in peace is to be found the divine Presence. It is not the excited one who conquers in this continual battle of life; it is the peaceful one who tolerates all, who forgives all, who understands all, who assimilates all things.

一個人即使善良仁慈、博學多才、強健有力，具備所有這些特質，若他的靈魂尚未達到其存在本有的自然節奏──那種唯有其中才有生命真正滿足的節奏──他仍不能稱為靈性之人。安寧不是知識，安寧不是力量，安寧也不是幸福；然而，安寧又同時是這一切。不僅如此，安寧能孕育幸福，能啟發人認識可見與不可見之事，而在安寧之中，也能找到神聖臨在。在這場持續不斷的生命之戰中，獲得勝利的並不是激動的人，而是安寧的人──能包容一切、寬恕一切、理解一切，也能吸納一切的人。

The one who lacks peace, with all his possessions, the property of this earth or quality of mind, is poor even with both. He has not got that wealth which may be called divine and without which man’s life is useless. For true life is in peace, a life which will not be robbed by death. The secret of mysticism, the mystery of philosophy, all is to be attained after the attainment of peace. You cannot refuse to recognize the divine in a person who is a person of peace. It is not the talkative, it is not the argumentative one, who proves to be wise. He may have intellect, worldly wisdom, and yet may not have pure intelligence, which is real wisdom. True wisdom is to be found in the peaceful, for peacefulness is the sign of wisdom. It is the peaceful one who is observant; it is peace that gives him the power to observe keenly. It is the peaceful one, therefore, who can conceive, for peace helps him to conceive. It is the peaceful who can contemplate; one who has no peace cannot contemplate properly. Therefore all things pertaining to spiritual progress in life depend upon peace.

一個缺乏安寧的人，即使同時擁有世間的財富與頭腦的種種才具，依然是貧乏的。他尚未擁有那種可以稱為神聖的財富；而缺少這份財富，人的生命便失去了真正的意義。因為真正的生命存在於安寧之中，那是一種不會被死亡奪走的生命。神祕主義的祕密、哲學的奧祕，都要在獲得安寧之後才能抵達。對一個內在安寧的人，你不能不承認他身上的神性。真正顯出智慧的，並不是多話的人，也不是好辯的人。他或許擁有智力與世俗智慧，卻仍可能缺少純粹的智性，而那才是真正的智慧。真正的智慧存在於安寧的人身上，因為安寧正是智慧的標誌。安寧的人善於觀察，因為安寧賦予他敏銳觀察的能力。因此，也唯有安寧的人能夠真正領會，因為安寧幫助他領會；唯有安寧的人能夠觀想，缺乏安寧的人無法真正進入觀想。因此，生命中一切與靈性進展有關的事，都取決於安寧。

And now the question is, what makes one lack peace? The answer is, love of sensation. A person who is always seeking to experience life in movement, in activity, in whatever form, wants more and more of that experience. In the end he becomes dependent upon the life which is outside, and so he loses in the end his peace, the peace which is his real self. When a person says about someone, “That person has lost his soul”, the soul is not lost; the soul has lost its peace. Absorption in the outer life, every moment of the day and night, thinking and worrying and working and fighting, struggling along, in the end robs one of one’s soul. Even if one gains as the price of that fighting something which is outside oneself, someone who is a greater fighter still will snatch it from our grasp one day.

現在的問題是：什麼使人失去安寧？答案是：對感官感受的迷戀。一個總想透過各種運動、活動與形式來經驗生命的人，會不斷想要獲得更多這樣的經驗。到最後，他便開始依賴外在生活，也因此失去了自己的安寧──而這份安寧，正是他真正的自己。當人說某人「失去了靈魂」時，靈魂其實並沒有失去；真正失去的，是靈魂的安寧。日夜每一刻都全然投入外在生活，不斷思考、憂慮、工作、爭鬥與掙扎，最終會使人彷彿失去了自己的靈魂。即使一個人以這種爭鬥為代價，獲得了某些自身之外的東西，終有一天，也會有一個比他更善鬥的人，將它從他的手中奪走。

One might ask if it is not our necessity in life that keeps us absorbed in the outer life and does not give us a moment to experience peace. In answer to this I must say: suppose the outer life has taken ten hours of the day, you still have two hours; if sleep has taken ten hours of the day, you still have two hours to spare. To attain peace, what one has to do is to seek that rhythm which is in the depth of our being. It is just like the sea: the surface of the sea is ever-moving; the depth of the sea is still. And so it is with our life. If our life is thrown into the sea of activity, it is on the surface; we still live in the profound depths, in that peace. But the thing is to become conscious of that peace which can be found within ourselves.

有人或許會問：難道不是生命中的種種需要，使我們不得不全心投入外在生活，以致連片刻體驗安寧的時間都沒有嗎？對此我必須說：假設外在生活占去一天中的十個小時，你仍然還有兩個小時；即使睡眠占去一天中的十個小時，你仍有兩個小時可以運用。要獲得安寧，人所需要做的，是尋找那存在於我們自身深處的節奏。這就像大海：海面永遠在動，而海的深處卻是寧靜的。我們的生命也是如此。即使我們的生命被投入活動之海，那也只發生在表面；在生命深邃的底層，我們仍然活在那份安寧之中。真正重要的，是要覺察那份存在於我們自身之內的安寧。

It is this which can bring us the answer to all our problems. If not, when we want to solve one problem, there is another difficult problem coming. There is no end to our problems; there is no end to the difficulties of the outer life. And if we get excited over them, we shall never be able to solve them. Some think, “We might wait; perhaps the conditions will become better; we shall see then what to do.” But when will the conditions become better? They will become still worse! Whether the conditions become better or worse, the first thing is to seek the kingdom of God within ourselves, in which there is our peace. As soon as we have found that, we have found our support, we have found our self. And in spite of all the activity and movement on the surface we shall be able to keep that peace undisturbed if only we hold it fast by becoming conscious of it.

正是這一點，能為我們所有的問題帶來答案。否則，當我們想要解決一個問題時，另一個更困難的問題又會接踵而來。我們的問題沒有盡頭，外在生活的困難也沒有盡頭；如果我們因這些問題而激動不安，就永遠無法真正解決它們。有些人會想：「也許我們可以等等，或許情況會變好，到時再看看該怎麼辦。」但情況究竟什麼時候才會變好？它們只會變得更糟！無論情況變好或變壞，首先要做的，都是在自身之內尋求神的國，而我們的安寧就在其中。一旦找到它，我們便找到了自己的依靠，也找到了真正的自己。即使表面仍充滿各種活動與變動，只要我們藉由持續覺察那份安寧而牢牢守住它，就能使它始終不受擾動。

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