3. The Sufi’s Aim
3. 蘇菲的目標

The Sufi’s aim in life is not to differ from any religion, nor to abuse any society. Whatever it be, Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, or any other religion, whether it be the Theosophical Society, New Thought, or Christian Science, he does not see what weaknesses, what faults may be in them, but he sees the good in all; for every being in the world does what is best for him, if not, at least he thinks he is doing so. The Sufi’s aim is the aim of the whole world: knowledge; but at the same time he wants to harmonize and to unite with others, not to seek differences. Thus his aim is to see not duality but unity, and this is in fact the aim of all religions; the only difference being that this aim has been declared either more or less plainly at different stages of the world’s evolution.

蘇菲一生的目標，並不是要與任何宗教有所分別，也不是要批判任何團體。無論是基督宗教、佛教、猶太教、印度教，或任何其他宗教；無論是神智學會 (Theosophical Society)、新思想運動 (New Thought)，或基督教科學派 (Christian Science)，他所看的不是其中有什麼弱點或缺失，而是看見一切之中的美好；因為世上的每一個人，都在做自己認為最好的事，即使實際上並非如此，至少他自己相信如此。蘇菲的目標，也是全世界共同的目標：求知。然而與此同時，他希望與他人和諧相處、彼此合一，而不是尋找差異。因此，他的目標不是看見二元，而是看見合一；事實上，這也是所有宗教的目標。唯一的差別，只在於世界演化的不同階段中，這個目標有時被表達得較為清楚，有時較不明顯。

God exists as the inactive, perfect Consciousness, whose perfection lies in His self-sufficiency; He appears active in manifestation. There also the Sufi sees the unity of God. He keeps God always before his eyes. Any kindness he receives, from friends, from father or mother, he recognizes as having been received from God: God is working through the father and the mother or the friend. Any obligation, any gratitude he feels, he feels towards God. The friendship, the love that he feels for his parents, relations, friends, or beloved, he attributes to God.

神以不活動而圓滿的意識存在，其圓滿就在於祂的自足；而在顯化之中，祂則呈現為活動。蘇菲在這裡同樣看見神的一體性。他始終將神置於眼前。無論他從朋友、父親或母親那裡領受到任何善意，他都明白那是從神而來：神透過父親、母親或朋友而運作。他所感受到的任何虧欠與感恩，也都是向著神而生。他對父母、親人、朋友或所愛之人所感受到的友誼與愛，也都歸於神。

In the poems of the Sufi poets the curls of the beloved are often referred to. The poet sees God appearing as the beloved. He recognizes God appearing as the parent or the friend. With every breath he repeats the name of God, and therefore he thinks every breath so valuable that nothing in the world can equal it. One may say, ‘Why repeat the same thought a million times? If there were some variation in thought it might be better!’ But it is only by one thought, by the same thought, that a person can unite with his origin.

在蘇菲詩人的作品中，經常會提到所愛之人的捲髮。詩人看見神以所愛之人的形象顯現，也認出神以父母或朋友的形象顯現。他每一次呼吸都重複神的名，因此在他看來，每一口呼吸都無比珍貴，世間沒有任何事物可以與之相比。有人或許會說：「為什麼要把同一個意念重複千百萬次？如果意念能有些變化，不是更好嗎？」然而，唯有藉著一個意念、同一個意念，一個人才能與自己的本源合一。

The question may arise as to whether the Sufi aims at becoming a healer or clairvoyant, at communicating with spirits, at analyzing the world of phenomena, or whether he wishes to attach himself to any prophet or master; whether he seeks the presence of God or wishes to reach heaven, or whether he follows a certain religion. The answer is, he does not aim at any of these things.

有人或許會問，蘇菲的目標是否在於成為療癒者或靈視者，與靈體溝通，分析現象世界；或是想依附於某位先知或大師；是否尋求神的臨在、希望抵達天堂，或追隨某一特定宗教。答案是：這些都不是他的目標。

There are many who desire mystical knowledge so that they may become healers, so that they may heal themselves and their friends without presenting a doctor’s bill, and may be cured without the help of a physician. These things may come to a Sufi on his path towards a higher aim. He may encounter them all upon his journey, but to remain among them would be just as if one intended to go to the station to meet a friend, but stopped on the way to talk to other acquaintances and so arrived at the station too late.

有許多人渴望獲得神祕知識，是為了成為療癒者，好讓自己和朋友不必收到醫生的帳單，也能在沒有醫師協助的情況下得到療癒。蘇菲在朝向更高目標的道路上，或許也會獲得這些能力；旅途中，他可能會遇見這一切。然而，如果停留在這些事物之中，就如同一個人原本要到車站迎接朋友，卻一路停下來與熟人交談，最後反而太晚抵達車站。

Does the Sufi seek the presence of God? Does he depend upon the mediation of any prophet or master? To this also the answer is no. He does not seek the presence of God, because where there is a presence there is duality, and his aim is unity. In unity there can be no presence. He does not seek to attach himself to any master for ever. He has no wish to go to heaven, because he sees that heaven is everywhere.

蘇菲是否尋求神的臨在？他是否依靠任何先知或大師作為中介？答案同樣是否定的。他不尋求神的臨在，因為只要還有「臨在」，就仍然存在二元，而他的目標是合一。在合一之中，不再有所謂的臨在。他也不尋求永遠依附於任何一位大師。他不渴望前往天堂，因為他看見天堂無處不在。

Once imagination has helped a man to bring the presence of God before him, God is awakened in his own heart. Then before he utters a word it is heard by God; when he is praying in a room, he is not alone: he is there with God. To him God is not in the highest heaven, but beside him, before him, in him; then heaven is on earth and earth is heaven; then no one is as living to him as God, as intelligible to him as God, and the names and forms before his consciousness are all covered by Him. Then every word of prayer he utters is a living word. It not only brings a blessing to him, but it brings blessings to all those around him. This kind of prayer is the only true way of praying, and by it the object that is to be fulfilled by prayer is accomplished.

一旦想像力幫助一個人將神的臨在帶到自己面前，神便在他的心中甦醒。此後，他尚未說出一句話，神便已聽見；當他獨自在房間裡祈禱時，他其實並不孤單，而是與神同在。對他而言，神不在至高的天堂，而是在他身旁、在他面前、也在他之內；此時，天堂就在大地，大地也成為天堂。再也沒有誰比神對他而言更加鮮活，也沒有誰比神更能為他所領會；而他意識之前的一切名稱與形相，都被神所覆滿。於是，他所說出的每一句禱詞都成為活生生的話語。它不僅為他自己帶來祝福，也為周圍所有的人帶來祝福。這樣的祈禱才是真正的祈禱之道，而祈禱所要成就的目的，也藉此得以實現。

What then is his aim? He seeks to reach that experience in which there is no experience in the usual sense of the word. There are two tendencies: the tendency towards manifestation which has brought us to this world of variety, and the tendency towards inactivity which takes us back to the state from which we have come. Perfection is not in the unmanifested alone, nor in manifestation alone, but in the union of both.

那麼，蘇菲的目標究竟是什麼？他所尋求的，是抵達一種經驗——在那裡，已不再有通常意義上的「經驗」。存在著兩種趨勢：一種是朝向顯化的趨勢，它將我們帶到這個萬象紛呈的世界；另一種則是朝向不活動的趨勢，它將我們帶回原初所來自的狀態。圓滿既不只存在於未顯化之中，也不只存在於顯化之中，而存在於兩者的合一。

The soul upon its way towards manifestation has gathered around it on all the different planes the vibrations with which it has come in contact, from the finest vibrations to the grossest physical vibrations. But this also is the perfection of the Creator. We could not enjoy the higher if it were not for the lower; we could not enjoy the sweet if it were not for the bitter. If all were best, we would not enjoy the best. If there were only one color, we would not enjoy any color. I remember the words of a poet who says, ‘Lord, let me not live in this world where camphor, cotton, and bone are all considered white!’ The more colors there are, the more shades, the greater is our enjoyment. A thousand, a hundred thousand imperfections are created in order that one whole perfection may be made. It is just like an artist painting a picture. He has his colors and his brushes; he draws the figure; and either at the first stroke or at the tenth, the hundredth, or the thousandth he makes it right.

靈魂在朝向顯化的途中，於各個不同層面上，將一路接觸到的種種振動聚集在自己周圍，從最精微的振動，一直到最粗重的物質振動。然而，這同樣也是造物主的圓滿。若沒有較低的，我們便無法欣賞較高的；若沒有苦味，我們也無法品嘗甜味。如果一切都是最好的，我們反而無法體會何謂最好。如果世上只有一種顏色，我們也無從欣賞任何色彩。我記得有位詩人曾說：「主啊，別讓我活在一個把樟腦、棉花和骨頭全都只看作白色的世界！」色彩愈多，深淺層次愈豐富，我們所能得到的欣賞與喜悅也愈大。千百乃至十萬種不圓滿被創造出來，正是為了成就一個完整的圓滿。這就像藝術家作畫。他有顏料，也有畫筆；他畫出形體，或許第一筆便畫對了，也可能要到第十筆、第一百筆，甚至第一千筆，才終於使它完整。

The task of the Sufi is to remove covers. One’s soul is so covered with different vibrations that it cannot see itself. The Sufi by his meditations, by his practices, first takes off the physical body, and observes what he can see without it. Then he rids himself of the astral plane, where man lives in his thoughts and feelings, and he sees what he is conscious of without that plane. The consciousness is like a curtain before which one stands with a small lantern. The reflection of the lantern is cast upon the curtain and it detaches or it limits a certain part of the curtain which receives the impressions.

蘇菲的工作，是一層層揭去覆蓋。人的靈魂被各種不同的振動層層包覆，以至於無法看見自己。蘇菲透過冥想與修持，首先卸下對肉身的認同，觀察當肉身不在其中時，他還能看見什麼；接著，他又超越星光界 (astral plane)——人在那裡活於自己的思想與感受之中——並觀察離開這個層面之後，自己還能意識到什麼。意識就像一道帷幕，而人拿著一盞小燈站在帷幕之前。燈光投映在帷幕上，從整幅帷幕中劃出、也限制出某一小片範圍，而各種印象便落在這片範圍之上。

The Sufi strives for self-realization, and he arrives at this self-realization by means of his divine ideal, his God. By this he touches that truth which is the ultimate goal, and which is the yearning of every soul. It is not only realization; it is a happiness which words cannot explain. It is a peace, the peace which is yearned for by every soul.

蘇菲所努力追求的是自我證悟 (self-realization)，而他藉著自己的神聖理想、藉著他的神，抵達這份自我證悟。透過它，他觸及那作為終極目標的真理，也就是每一個靈魂深深渴望的真理。那不只是證悟，更是一種言語無法說明的幸福；那是一份安寧，是每一個靈魂所渴望的安寧。

And how does he attain to it? By practicing the presence of God; by realizing the oneness of the whole being; by working every moment of the day, consciously or subconsciously, holding the truth before his vision in spite of the waves of illusion which arise continually, diverting his glance from the absolute truth. And no matter what any sect, cult, or creed may be called, as long as souls are striving towards that object, to a Sufi they are all Sufis. The attitude of the Sufi towards all the different religions is one of respect. His religion is the service of humanity, and his only object of attainment is the realization of truth.

那麼，他如何抵達這個境界？藉由修習神的臨在；藉由體悟一切存在的一體性；也藉由日復一日、每時每刻地努力——無論有意識或無意識，都始終將真理置於眼前，即使幻象的浪潮不斷湧現，一再使他的目光偏離絕對真理。無論任何宗派、團體或信條以什麼名稱自稱，只要其中的靈魂正在朝向這個目標努力，在蘇菲眼中，他們都是蘇菲。蘇菲對所有不同宗教所抱持的態度，是尊重。他的宗教是服務人類，而他唯一所追求的，是對真理的證悟。

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