39. Stages of Belief in God
39. 信仰的不同階段

The next question is belief in God. There are four stages of belief in God. Each stage is as essential and important as the other. And if one does not go stage by stage, gradually evolving towards the realization of God, one does not arrive at anything. It must be remembered that belief is a step on the ladder. Belief is the means and not the end. It leads to realization; it is not that we advance towards a belief. If a man’s foot is nailed on the ladder, that is not the object; the object is that he should climb upward on the ladder step by step. If he stands still on the ladder he defeats the object for which he journeys on the spiritual path. Those therefore who believe in a particular creed, in a religion, in God, in the hereafter, in the soul, in a certain dogma, are no doubt blessed by their belief and think they have something; but if they remain there, there will be no progress. If the only thing necessary was to have a religious belief, then thousands and millions of people in the world today who have a certain religious belief could have been most advanced people. But they are not. They go on year after year believing something that people have believed perhaps for many generations, and still they continue with it and remain there just like a man standing on a staircase, which is a place not made for him to stand on but to climb up. When he stays there he comes to nothing.

接下來的問題，是對神的信念。對神的信念有四個階段，每一個階段都同樣不可或缺，也同樣重要。若我們不一步一步地經過這些階段，逐漸朝向對神的證悟發展，便無法真正抵達任何地方。我們必須記得，信念只是梯子上的一步；信念是方法，而不是終點。它引領我們走向證悟，而不是讓我們以抵達某種信念為目標。若一個人的腳被釘在梯子上，那便失去了梯子的用意；真正的目的，是要一步一步向上攀登。如果我們停留在梯子上不再前進，也就辜負了踏上靈性道路的目的。因此，那些相信某種信條、某個宗教、神、來世、靈魂或某種教義的人，無疑會因自己的信念而蒙受祝福，也會覺得自己已經有所獲得；然而，如果只是停留在那裡，就不會有任何進展。假使我們所需要的只是擁有宗教信仰，那麼今日世上成千上萬、乃至數以百萬計懷有某種宗教信仰的人，理應都是最為進步的人了。但事實並非如此。他們年復一年地相信著某些或許已流傳許多世代的觀念，一直守著它們，停留在原處，就像一個人站在樓梯上；然而樓梯並不是供我們站立不動的地方，而是讓我們向上攀登的。若一直停留在那裡，最終便一無所至。

1. Mass-Belief
群體信念

The first belief is the mass-belief. If someone says, “There is a God”, then everyone repeats after him, “Yes, there is a God.” One might think that today, at this stage of civilization, people are too advanced to have mass-beliefs, but that would be a great mistake. People are the same today as they were a thousand years ago, perhaps worse if it comes to spiritual questions. Someone who is called “the man of the day” in a nation, is for the time being supported by the whole nation; thousands and millions lift him up, hold him high; but for how long? Until some still more powerful person says, “No, it is not so.” Then the whole country lets him down.

第一種信念是群體信念。如果有人說：「有一位神。」於是所有人便跟著重複：「是的，有一位神。」我們或許會以為，以今日的文明程度而言，人們早已進步到不會再有這種群體信念了；但那將是極大的誤解。今日的人與一千年前並沒有什麼不同；若談到靈性的問題，甚至可能更糟。一個在某個國家被視為「當代風雲人物」的人，一時之間會得到整個國家的支持；成千上萬、數以百萬計的人將他高高捧起。然而，這能維持多久？直到另一個更有力量的人出現，說：「不，事情不是這樣。」於是整個國家又把他拉了下來。

Just before the war I was visiting Russia. In every shop one saw a picture of the Czar and Czarina, held in high esteem. It was a sacred thing for people. There was a religious ideal attached to the emperor as he was the Head of the Church. And they used to be filled with joy when they saw the Czar and Czarina passing in the street; it was a religious upliftment for them. But not long afterwards they themselves had processions in the streets when at each step they broke the czarist emblems. It did not take them one moment to change their belief. Why? Because it was a mass belief.

戰爭爆發前不久，我曾造訪俄羅斯。每一家商店裡都可以看見沙皇與皇后的肖像，受到人們高度尊崇。對人們而言，那是神聖的事物。由於皇帝也是教會之首，人們將一種宗教性的理想寄託在他身上。當他們看見沙皇與皇后從街上經過時，往往滿心喜悅；那對他們而言，是一種宗教上的振奮。然而沒過多久，也正是這些人走上街頭遊行，一路摧毀沙皇制度的象徵。他們改變自己的信念，連一刻也不需要。為什麼？因為那原本就是群體信念。

It is a very powerful belief. It changes nations. It throws them down and raises them up; it brings war. But what is it after all? A mad belief. And yet no one will admit it. If you ask an individual, he says, “I am not one of them.” Yet at the same time all move together when an impulse comes for good or bad.

這是一種非常強大的信念。它可以改變國家，可以將一個國家推倒，也可以將它抬起；它甚至會帶來戰爭。然而歸根究柢，它究竟是什麼？是一種瘋狂的信念。但沒有人願意承認這一點。如果你問其中任何一個人，他會說：「我不是他們那種人。」可是當某種衝動出現時，不論它導向善或惡，所有人仍會一起跟著行動。

2. Belief in Authority
權威信念

Then there is a second step towards belief, and that is belief in an authority, as with people at the time of a dictatorship. They believe in a leader. They say, “I will not believe in the ordinary man, in my neighbor, in my colleague; I believe in that man whom I trust.” This belief is one step higher, because it is a belief in somebody in whom one has trust. When a person says, “I am a Christian”, it means a belief in Jesus Christ and his teaching. It is a belief in someone, not in an abstraction. One might think that people do not believe in authority today, but this is not so. For instance everyone accepts a discovery made by a scientist before having made investigations about it. Investigations come afterwards. When somebody comes forward and says he has discovered something, everyone accepts it. Perhaps another scientist will produce something else one may believe, but the one who says a thing with authority is believed by the multitude.

接著，信念還有第二個階段，那就是對權威的信念，就如獨裁統治時期的人們相信一位領袖。他們會說：「我不相信一般人，不相信我的鄰居，也不相信我的同事；我相信那個我所信任的人。」這種信念又高了一步，因為我們所相信的，是一個自己信任的人。當一個人說：「我是基督徒。」這意味著他相信耶穌基督及其教導。這是對某個人的信念，而不是對抽象概念的信念。我們或許以為今日的人已經不再相信權威，但事實並非如此。譬如，一位科學家宣布某項發現時，每個人在自己進行研究之前，便已先接受了它；研究往往是在之後才進行。只要有人站出來宣稱自己發現了某件事，眾人便接受了。或許日後另一位科學家又提出另一種說法，人們便轉而相信那個說法；但只要一個人帶著權威說出某件事，群眾便會相信他。

3. Belief of Reason
理性信念

Then there is a third stage of belief, a further stage, and this belief makes man still greater. It is the belief of reason, and it means that one does not believe in any authority, nor in what everybody else believes, but that one has reasoned it out; that one sees reason in it. This belief is stronger still; for of the beliefs I have explained before one cannot give proof, but in this case one can stand up and say, “Yes, I have reasoned it out.”

接著是信念的第三個階段，又向前了一步；這種信念使我們更加成長。這就是理性信念。它意味著我們不再因為某個權威而相信，也不再因為所有人都相信而相信，而是自己經過推理，並在其中看見了道理。這種信念更加堅定；因為先前所說的那些信念，我們無法提出證明，但到了這個階段，我們可以站出來說：「是的，這是我自己推理所得的結論。」

This, however, also has its limitation. Since reason is the slave of the mind, reason is as changeable as the weather; reason obeys our impressions. If we have an impulse to insult a person, or to fight with him, we can produce many reasons for it. It may be that afterwards there will be contrary reasons; but at the time, while we have this impulse, right or wrong, there is always a reason which supports it. Have the criminals put in jail committed crimes without a reason? No, they have a reason too. It does not fit in with the law perhaps, it does not satisfy society, but if we ask them, they have a reason. The reason we have today we may perhaps change next week, but nevertheless this third belief makes us stand on our own feet, for that moment if not always; and it gives us a greater power to defend our belief.

然而，這同樣有其侷限。由於頭腦理性是心智的僕人，頭腦就像天氣一樣善變；它會服從我們所受到的印象。如果我們一時衝動，想要侮辱某個人，或與他爭鬥，我們可以為此找出許多理由。之後或許又會出現完全相反的理由；但在那個當下，只要那股衝動仍在，不論對錯，總會有某個理由支持它。那些被關進監獄的罪犯，難道是在毫無理由的情況下犯罪嗎？不，他們也有自己的理由。那些理由或許不符合法律，也無法為社會所接受；然而若去詢問他們，他們自有一套理由。我們今日所持的理由，下星期或許就會改變；但即使如此，這第三種信念仍使我們得以依靠自己而站立——即使不能永遠如此，至少在那個當下如此；而它也使我們更有力量捍衛自己的信念。

4. Belief of Conviction
確信的信念

And then again there is a fourth belief. That belief is a belief of conviction, which stands above reason. The conviction in man is not discovered for some time in life; but there comes a time when it is discovered; and that is a blessed day. Then there arises an idea, an idea which no reason can break, a feeling which is not a passing feeling but is a conviction. However high the idea may be, one seems to be an eyewitness of that idea; one is as strong, as confident, as a person who has seen with his own eyes. One can be convinced of ideas so subtle that they cannot even be expressed in words, and one is more convinced of them than if one had seen them with one’s own eyes. It is this belief which is called by the Sufis and Persian mystics Iman, which means conviction.

然後還有第四種信念。那是一種出於確信的信念，超越了理性。在生命中的一段時間裡，我們尚未發現自己內在的這份確信；但終有一天，它會被發現，而那是蒙受祝福的一天。此時，一個念頭會從內在升起，一個任何理性都無法摧毀的念頭；一種感受也會升起，它不是稍縱即逝的感受，而是一份確信。不論那個觀念多麼崇高，我們彷彿都親眼見證了它；我們會像親眼看見某件事的人一樣堅定而篤定。我們甚至能夠對某些極其細微、連語言都無法表達的觀念懷有確信，而且這份確信，比親眼看見還要更加堅定。蘇菲與波斯祕士將這種信念稱為 Iman，意即「確信」。

I remember the blessing my spiritual teacher, my murshid, used to give me every time I parted from him. And that blessing was, “May your Iman be strengthened.” At that time I had not thought about the word Iman; on the contrary I thought as a young man, is my faith so weak that my teacher requires it to be stronger? I would have preferred it if he had said, may you become illuminated, or may your powers be great, or may your influence spread, or may you rise higher and higher, or become perfect. But this simple thing, may your faith be strengthened, what did it mean? I did not criticize but I pondered and pondered upon the subject. And in the end I came to realize that no blessing is more valuable and important than this. For every blessing is attached to a conviction. Where there is no conviction there is nothing. The secret of healing, the mystery of evolving, the power of all attainments, and the way to spiritual realization, all come from the strengthening of that belief which is a conviction, so that nothing can ever change it.

我記得，每一次與我的靈性老師、我的穆希德（murshid）分別時，他總會給我一個祝福。那個祝福是：「願你的信仰（Iman）更加堅固。」當時我從未仔細思考過 Iman 這個詞；相反地，年輕的我心裡想：難道我的信仰如此薄弱，以至於老師認為它還需要更加堅固嗎？如果他祝福我「願你得到光啟」，或「願你的力量變得強大」，或「願你的影響力擴展」，或「願你不斷有所提升」，又或者「願你達成圓滿」，我或許還會更喜歡。然而，這麼簡單的一句「願你的信仰更加堅固」，究竟意味著什麼？我並沒有批判它，而是不斷地思索、不斷地思索。最後我終於明白，沒有任何祝福比這個祝福更加珍貴、更加重要。因為每一種祝福，都繫於一份確信。沒有確信之處，就什麼也沒有。療癒的祕密、成長的奧祕、一切成就的力量，以及通往靈性證悟的道路，全都來自於強化這種作為確信的信念，直到再也沒有任何事物能夠動搖它。

And now we come again to the question of God. Because this is the important question we must first make it clear in our minds before we take a further step in spiritual progress. Since to analyze God means to dethrone God, the less said on the subject the better; but at the same time, the seekers for truth who want to tread the spiritual path with open eyes and whose intellect is hungering for knowledge, should know something about it.

現在，我們再次回到神的問題。這是一個重要的問題；在靈性的進展上繼續向前一步之前，我們必須先讓自己的頭腦對此有所明白。由於分析神，就等於把神從祂的寶座上拉下來，因此對這個主題說得越少越好；然而另一方面，那些渴求真理、希望睜著眼睛行走於靈性道路上，並且理智渴望知識的尋求者，仍應當對此有所了解。

There is a Hebrew story that once Moses was walking near the bank of a river. And he saw a shepherd boy speaking to himself. Moses was interested and halted there to listen to what he was saying. The shepherd boy was saying, “O God, I have heard so much of You. You are so beautiful, You are so lovely, You are so kind, that if You ever came to me I would clothe You with my mantle, and I would guard You night and day; I would protect You from the cruel animals of this forest, and bathe You in this river, and bring to You all good things, milk and buttermilk. I would bring You a special bread; I love You so much. I would not let anyone cast his glance upon You. I would be all the time near You. I love You so much! If only I could see You once, God, I would give all I have.”

有一則希伯來故事說，有一次摩西走在河岸附近，看見一個牧童正自言自語。摩西感到好奇，便停下來聽他在說些什麼。那個牧童說：「喔，神啊，我聽過那麼多關於祢的事。祢如此美麗，如此可愛，如此仁慈；如果祢有一天來到我身邊，我會把自己的斗篷披在祢身上，日日夜夜守護祢。我會保護祢，不讓森林裡凶猛的野獸傷害祢；我會在這條河裡替祢沐浴，帶各種好東西給祢，帶牛奶和酪乳給祢。我還會特別為祢帶一種麵包來。我是如此愛祢。我不會讓任何人的目光落在祢身上，我會時時刻刻待在祢身邊。我是如此愛祢！神啊，只要能讓我見祢一次，我願意把自己所有的一切都獻出來。」

Moses said, “What are you saying?” The boy looked at Moses and trembled and was afraid. “Did I say anything wrong?” he asked. Moses said, “God, the Protector of all beings, you think of protecting Him, of giving Him bread? He gives bread to the whole universe. You say you would bathe Him in the river. He is the purest of all pure things. And how can you say that you will guard Him who guards all beings?”

摩西說：「你在說什麼？」牧童看著摩西，害怕得發抖。他問：「我說錯了什麼嗎？」摩西說：「神是一切眾生的守護者，你竟然想要保護祂、給祂麵包？祂供給整個宇宙食物。你說你要在河裡替祂沐浴，但祂是一切純淨之中最純淨的。你又怎麼能說，你要守護那位守護一切眾生的神呢？」

And the boy trembled. He thought, what a terrible thing I have done! He seemed to be lost. But as Moses went a few steps further there came a voice, “Moses, what did you do! We sent you to bring our friends to Us, and now you have separated one. No matter how he thought of Us, he thought of Us just the same. You should have let him think the way he was thinking about Us; you should not have interfered with him!” Everyone has his own imagination of God. It is best if everyone is left to his own imagination.

牧童顫抖起來，心想：我做了一件多麼可怕的事！他彷彿完全迷失了。然而，摩西才往前走了幾步，便有一個聲音傳來：「摩西，你做了什麼！我們派你去把我們的朋友帶到我們身邊，如今你卻使其中一個與我們分離了。無論他如何想像我們，他終究是在想念我們。你應當讓他按照自己的方式來想像我們；你不該干涉他！」每個人都有自己對神的想像。最好讓每個人都保有自己的想像。

In our daily life we may hate someone, yet the same one is loved by someone else. We may criticize, and the same one is praised by someone else. If this is so then the conception of everyone is different. The same person is considered a saint by one and Satan by another. The God we know, or can know, is nothing but our conception, a picture that we have made of God for our own self, our own use. It is the greatest mistake for anyone to interfere with the conception of God held by another, or to think that another should have the same conception of God as he has himself. It is impossible. Many different artists have painted the picture of Christ, yet each one is different. And since we allow every artist to have his own conception of Christ so we should allow every person to have his own conception of God.

在日常生活中，我們可能憎惡某個人，而同一個人卻受到另一個人的愛。我們可能批評某個人，而另一個人卻讚美他。既然如此，每個人的觀念自然都不相同。同一個人，在某個人眼中可能是聖者，在另一個人眼中卻可能是撒旦。我們所認識、或所能認識的神，其實不外乎是我們自己的觀念，是我們為自己、為自己的需要所形成的一幅神的圖像。去干涉另一個人對神的觀念，或認為別人也應當像自己一樣理解神，是最大的錯誤。這是不可能的。許多不同的藝術家都曾畫過基督的形象，但每一幅都不相同。既然我們容許每一位藝術家對基督有自己的理解，也應當容許每一個人對神有自己的理解。

We need not blame the ancient Chinese and Greeks and Indians who believed in many gods. Many gods is too small a number. In reality every single person has his own God. Besides all the different conceptions are really nothing but covers over one God. Let them call God by any name, or think of Him with whatever imagination they have: it is after all the highest ideal. And the ideal of each one is as high as his imagination can make it. Urging upon someone that God is abstract and formless and pure, and that God is nameless, all these things do not help that person to evolve; for the first step on the path of God is to make a conception of God. It is simply to help the seekers after God that the wise in all ages have sometimes made a small statue and called it a god or goddess. They said, “Here is God; here is a shrine. Come there.” And to the one who was not satisfied with this, they said, “Walk two hundred times round the shrine before you enter, then you will be blessed.” When the worshipper got tired he naturally felt exaltation because he walked in the path of God.

我們無須責怪古代相信多神的中國人、希臘人與印度人。說有許多神，其實數目還太少了。事實上，每一個人都有屬於自己的神。更進一步說，所有這些不同的觀念，其實都只是在同一位神之外覆上的不同外衣。讓人們以任何名字稱呼神，讓他們按照自己的想像來思想祂；歸根究柢，那都是他們所能懷抱的最高理想。而每個人的理想所能達到的高度，也正取決於他的想像所能抵達的高度。若一味向某個人強調神是抽象的、無形的、純淨的，神沒有名字，這些說法都無助於他的成長；因為走向神的道路上，第一步正是形成一個對神的觀念。歷代的智者有時造出一尊小小的神像，稱它為神或女神，所為的只是幫助那些尋求神的人。他們說：「神就在這裡；這裡有一座聖所，到這裡來吧。」而對那些仍不滿足於此的人，他們便說：「在進去之前，先繞著聖所走兩百圈，那麼你便會蒙受祝福。」當敬拜者走得疲累時，自然會感受到一種精神上的提升，因為他一直行走在通向神的道路上。

But, one might ask, if we leave everyone with his particular imagination ideal of God, will he then progress and one day come to the realization of the self which is the highest attainment taught by all great teachers of humanity? The answer is yes.

然而，我們或許會問：如果任由每個人保有自己對神特有的想像與理想，他是否仍會有所進展，並在有一天抵達對自身本性的證悟——這所有偉大的人類導師所教導的最高成就？答案是：會的。

There are three stages on the way to spiritual perfection. Those who are unaware of the possibility of spiritual perfection are greatly mistaken when they say that man is imperfect and cannot be perfect. They are mistaken for the reason that they have seen only man in man. They have not seen God in man.

通往靈性圓滿的道路上有三個階段。那些不知道靈性圓滿是可能的人，若說我們是不完美的，因此不可能達至圓滿，便大錯特錯了。他們之所以錯，是因為他們在我們之中只看見了人的部分，卻沒有看見我們之中的神。

Christ has said, “Be ye perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

基督曾說：「你們要完全，正如你們在天上的父是完全的。」

This shows that there is the possibility of perfection. It is also true that man cannot be perfect; but man is not man alone; in man there is also God. Therefore though man remains imperfect the God part in man seeks for perfection. That is what the world was created for.

這顯示了圓滿確實是可能的。說我們自身無法達至圓滿，也的確沒有錯；然而，我們並不只有屬於人的部分，在我們之中也有神。因此，即使屬於人的部分仍然不完美，我們內在屬於神的那一部分卻不斷尋求圓滿。世界正是為此而被創造。

Man is here on earth for this one purpose, that he may bring forth that spirit of God in him and thus discover his own perfection.

我們來到世上，正是為了這唯一的目的：使內在那神的靈得以顯現，並由此發現自身的圓滿。

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