5. Inner Study
5. 內在修習

1. Self-Realization
對自身本性的證悟

Why do Sufis study esoteric subjects? Is it for the acquisition of spiritual powers or inspiration, to bring about phenomena, or out of curiosity? If this were so it would be wrong. Is it in order to accomplish something material or for worldly success? That is not desirable. Self-realization, to know what we are, should be the Sufi’s aim.

蘇菲為什麼研習祕傳的學問？是為了獲得靈性力量或啟示，為了產生神異現象，還是出於好奇？如果是這樣，那便錯了。是為了成就某種物質上的目的，或取得世俗的成功嗎？那也不是值得追求的。蘇菲的目標，應當是對自身本性的證悟，也就是認識我們究竟是什麼。

Some people who admire piety and goodness want everyone to be an angel, and discovering that this is impossible they are full of criticism. Man has in him both a devil and an angel; he is at once human and animal. It is the devil in man that drives him to do harm without a motive, by instinct, and the first step should be to abandon this attitude. Although nowadays hardly anyone believes that his particular demon can be a manifestation of the devil, who can say that he is free from such an evil spirit? We can be under the power of a spell, but we must overcome such a power; we must liberate ourselves from evil. Everyone can fight.

有些仰慕虔誠與善良的人，希望每個人都像天使一樣；當他們發現這是不可能的，心中便充滿批判。我們之內既有魔鬼，也有天使；既有人性的一面，也有動物性的一面。當我們毫無理由、只是出於本能而傷害他人時，所顯現的正是內在的魔性；第一步，就是放下這樣的傾向。如今幾乎沒有人相信，自己內在某種特殊的惡性可能是魔鬼的一種顯現；然而，誰又能說自己完全不受這樣的邪惡力量影響呢？我們可能受某種力量所制，但我們必須克服它；我們必須使自己從邪惡中解脫出來。每個人都有能力與之奮戰。

We must discover at which times we have manifested our devil or our animal spirit. We want a human spirit, and self-realization is the search for this human spirit; everything must become human in us. But how should we accomplish this? Read the Bible and other holy scriptures? All these books tell us what we should do, but we must also find the store of goodness that is within us, in our heart. As we cultivate our heart it rises. By asceticism one can develop one’s soul and reach ecstasy, but what is the use of Samadhi if we are not first human? If we want to live in this world we must be human. The ascetic should live in the forest.

我們必須看見，自己是在什麼時候顯現出魔性或動物性的那一面。我們所要尋求的是人的靈性，而對自身本性的證悟，就是尋找這份人的靈性；我們內在的一切，都必須逐漸成為真正屬於人的。那麼，我們要如何做到這一點？是去讀《聖經》和其他神聖經典嗎？這些書都告訴我們應當做什麼，但我們也必須在自己之內、在自己的心中，找到那原已存在的善之寶藏。當我們培養自己的心，心便會提升。透過苦行，我們可以發展靈魂，甚至達到狂喜的境界；但如果我們首先還沒有成為真正的人，那麼三摩地（Samadhi）又有什麼用呢？如果我們要生活在這個世界上，就必須先成為真正的人。苦行者才應當住在森林裡。

How should we cultivate the heart, the feeling? There is no doubt that harmlessness, devotion, and kindness are necessary; but there is something besides these. It is the awakening of certain centers which make one sensitive, not only externally but also mentally. There are two kinds of people: one will be struck by the beauty of music or other manifestations of beauty; another is as dull as a stone to all this. Why? Because something in his heart and mind is not awakened. We have five senses, but we also have inner senses, and these can enjoy life much more keenly. Some people will say that they need no inner senses, that the outer senses satisfy them completely. They would speak differently if, for instance, they lost their eyesight or another of their five senses. In order to be complete a human being must also develop his inner senses; but first of all he should develop his inner feeling.

我們要如何培養心，培養感受呢？毫無疑問，不傷害、虔敬與慈愛都是必要的；但除此之外，還有另一件事，就是喚醒某些內在中心，使我們不只對外在感受更加敏銳，在心智上也更加敏銳。有些人會深受音樂之美，或其他美的顯現所觸動；另一些人面對這一切，卻像石頭一樣遲鈍。為什麼？因為他們的心與頭腦中，有些部分尚未甦醒。我們有五種外在感官，也有內在的感官，而這些內在感官能使我們更深刻地感受生命。有些人會說，他們並不需要內在感官，外在的五感已經完全足夠。然而，如果有一天他們失去了視力，或失去了五感中的任何一種，他們或許就不會這麼說了。若要成為完整的人，我們也必須發展內在的感官；而首先要發展的，是內在的感受。

Intellectual study may last the whole of one’s life; there is no end to it, and this is why the teacher does not encourage speculation. A doctrine means a separation from other doctrines. The Sufi belongs to every religion, and thus he has no special beliefs and speculations. There can for instance be one Sufi who believes in reincarnation, and another who realizes heaven and hell. The work of the Sufi is personal development. It is what one practices that is important rather than what the teacher says, though the teacher can give protection.

理智上的研究可以持續一生，而且永遠沒有盡頭；因此，老師並不鼓勵我們陷入思辨。任何一套教義，都意味著它與其他教義有所區隔。蘇菲屬於一切宗教，因此並沒有一套特定的信念或思辨。例如，一位蘇菲可能相信輪迴，另一位則體悟天堂與地獄。蘇菲真正的工作，是自身的發展。重要的是我們實際修持了什麼，而不只是老師說了什麼；儘管老師能給予保護。

Initiation contains several degrees. It is a trust given to one by the teacher, but the real initiation is the work of God. No teacher can or will judge. The real pupil is he whom the teacher knows he can trust, though all are welcome to him. Spiritually he is both father and mother to the pupil. The life of the teacher is often a sacrifice; he is often persecuted and suffers much, but what little help he can give, he will give.

啟蒙有不同的程度。它是老師所交付的一份信任，但真正的啟蒙，是神所成就的工作。沒有任何老師能夠，也不會去論斷一個人。真正的學生，是老師知道自己能夠信任的人；儘管如此，所有人來到老師面前，都會受到歡迎。在靈性上，老師對學生而言既是父親，也是母親。老師的一生往往是一種犧牲；他常受到迫害，也承受許多痛苦，但凡是能給的一點幫助，他都會給予。

No special qualification is needed in order to become a pupil. The teacher gives; the pupil can take it or leave it. The teaching is like a precious jewel hidden in a stone; it is for the pupil to break the stone and find the jewel. In the East this inner teaching is part of religion, whereas in the West it is often looked upon merely as a form of education. It ought to be a sacred education. In the East the murshid gives the lesson and the pupil practices it for a month or a year; he cannot have a different practice every week. My grandfather practiced one meditation for forty years, then a miracle happened to him. One should not be ambitious to do other exercises before having had a result from the first one.

成為學生並不需要任何特殊資格。老師給予，學生可以接受，也可以不接受。教導就像一顆藏在石頭裡的珍貴寶石；學生要做的，是親自敲開石頭，找到其中的寶石。在東方，這種內在教導本就是宗教的一部分；在西方，它卻往往只被看作一種教育。其實，它應當是一種神聖的教育。在東方，穆希德（murshid）給予一項修持，學生會持續練習一個月，甚至一年；不會每個星期就換一種不同的練習。我的祖父曾持續修習同一種冥想四十年，之後有一件奇蹟發生在他身上。在第一項練習尚未有所成果之前，我們不應急著追求其他練習。

2. Different Degrees
不同的程度

There are different degrees, but they are not to be discussed on this path. Because, after all, different stages are the conceptions, the speculations of some wise people. It is just the same as with music: there are seven notes of music, because the musician has accepted that there are seven, but a scale can be made to contain more notes or less notes if the musician wishes to make it so. We distinguish stages, although in reality it is impossible to do so. It is a spontaneous development on the spiritual path which may be called treading the path of initiation.

雖然有不同的程度，但在這條道路上，我們並不討論它們。因為說到底，各種不同的階段，只是某些智者所形成的概念與思辨。這就像音樂一樣：音樂之所以分成七個音，是因為音樂家接受了七音的劃分；但如果音樂家願意，一個音階也可以包含更多或更少的音。我們會區分不同階段，然而實際上，這些階段不可能真正被清楚劃分。靈性道路上的發展是自然展開的，而這個過程，可以稱為行走於啟蒙之道。

How can one explain spiritual progress? What is it? What is it like? Spiritual progress is the changing of the point of view. There is only one way to recognize this progress, and that is to see the progress in one’s own outlook on life, to ask oneself the question, “How do I look at life?” This one can do by not judging others, but by being only concerned with one’s own outlook; as long as a person is concerned with the faults of others, as long as he criticizes others, he is not yet ready to make his sight clear enough to see if his outlook on life is right.

我們要如何說明靈性的進展？它究竟是什麼？又是什麼樣子？靈性的進展，就是看待事物的觀點發生改變。要辨認這種進展，只有一個方法：看看我們自己看待生命的方式是否有所改變，並問自己：「我是如何看待生命的？」要做到這一點，就不要忙著論斷別人，而只是關照自己的眼光。只要我們仍然專注於別人的缺點，只要仍在批評別人，我們的視野就還沒有澄清到足以看見：自己看待生命的方式究竟是否正確。

What in reality are the different initiations? Is one better than the other, or higher than the other? In what way are they to be distinguished? By knowing some more mysteries, or by knowing some secrets, or by studying something very wonderful, or by communicating with something unseen? Nothing whatever of this kind, not one of these things, can assure one of a higher initiation, of greater progress in the spiritual life. In the first place we need not strive for mystery, for life itself is a mystery. All that seems simple to us, all that presents no mystery, becomes mysterious as soon as the outlook on life is changed. Secrecy is to be found in simplicity; it is the simple life which is full of secrets. A person may study a whole library, may write fifty books and may read a thousand, yet all this leads him nowhere.

那麼，不同的啟蒙究竟是什麼？其中一個比另一個更好，或更高嗎？又要如何區分它們？是因為知道了更多奧祕，知道了某些祕密，研習了某些極其奇妙的事物，或能夠與不可見的存在溝通嗎？這一切都不是。沒有任何一件這類事情，能夠證明我們得到了更高的啟蒙，或在靈性生活中有了更大的進展。首先，我們根本不必追求奧祕，因為生命本身就是奧祕。所有在我們眼中看似簡單、毫無神祕之處的事物，一旦看待生命的眼光改變了，都會顯露出其中的奧祕。祕密就在單純之中；正是單純的生命，充滿了祕密。一個人可以研究整座圖書館，可以寫五十本書，也可以讀上一千本書，然而這一切仍可能無法帶他前進。

If any study is required we need not go anywhere else; our life itself is study, if we will only study it. For one who studies, life offers every opportunity; from morning to evening, every moment of the day, in the home, outside, at work, in leisure, in all things there is something to study. No book can give the joy and the pleasure that human nature itself can give.

如果真有什麼值得研習，我們不必到別處去尋找；只要我們願意研究，生命本身就是我們的研究。對真正願意學習的人而言，生命隨時都提供機會：從早到晚，一天中的每一刻，在家裡、在外面、工作時、閒暇時，一切事物中都有值得我們研究之處。沒有任何一本書，能帶給我們像研究人的本性本身所能帶來的那份喜悅與樂趣。

The wise, the foolish, the good, the weak, whom we meet every day with their tendencies and their attitude, are all the greatest material for study. Besides, there is so much to study in success and failure, in sorrows and pleasures, and in all things in life whether unfavorable or favorable. All that we do right, all that we do wrong, everything is a lesson, everything is a study if we take it as such. But the important thing is this, that the one who is life’s student, the one who is really initiated, studies himself before studying others.

我們每天遇見的智者、愚者、善良的人、軟弱的人，以及他們各自的傾向與態度，都是極其豐富的研究材料。此外，成功與失敗、悲傷與喜悅，以及生命中一切順境與逆境，都有許多值得我們研究之處。我們所做對的事、所做錯的事，只要我們願意如此看待，每一件事都是一堂課，每一件事都是一種研究。然而最重要的是：真正以生命為學問的人，真正接受了啟蒙的人，在研究別人之前，先研究自己。

3. What does the Initiator Teach?
啟蒙者教導什麼？

Does an initiator teach the truth? No man has the power to teach another the truth; man must discover it himself. What the initiator can do from his side is to say, “This is the path, do not go astray.” The initiator will put his pupil on that path where the further he goes the more he will receive at every step; it is like a hand raising him upward. But the first step is the most difficult, and that step is taken by the help of an initiator on the earth.

啟蒙者所教導的是真理嗎？沒有人有能力把真理教給另一個人；真理必須由我們自己發現。啟蒙者所能做的，只是告訴我們：「這就是道路，不要走偏。」啟蒙者會把學生引上那條道路，使他愈往前走，在每一步上都能領受到更多；就像有一隻手扶著他向上。然而，第一步總是最困難的，而這一步，是在世間的啟蒙者幫助之下踏出的。

What is it that the initiator teaches the initiated one? He tells the initiated one the truth of his own being. He does not tell him something new or something different. He tells him something which his soul already knows but which his mind has forgotten. There is a fable which illustrates this.

那麼，啟蒙者究竟教導接受啟蒙的人什麼？他向對方指出的，是其自身存在的真實。他並不是告訴對方某種全新的、不同的東西。他所說的，是靈魂早已知道、但頭腦已經遺忘的事。有一則寓言可以說明這一點。

A lion walking through the desert found a little lion-cub playing with some sheep. It happened that the little lion had been reared with the sheep, and so it had never had a chance or an occasion to realize what it was. The lion was greatly surprised to see a lion-cub running away and being just as afraid of a lion as sheep are.

一頭獅子走過荒野時，看見一隻小獅子和一群羊在一起玩耍。原來，這隻小獅子從小便由羊群養大，因此從來沒有機會認識自己究竟是什麼。那頭獅子非常驚訝地看到，一隻小獅子竟然和羊一樣逃跑，也和羊一樣害怕獅子。

The lion jumped in among the flock of sheep and said, “Halt, halt!” But the sheep ran away and the little lion ran too. The lion only pursued the lion-cub, not the sheep, and when it caught up with it the lion said, “I wish to speak to you.” The cub said, “I tremble, I am afraid, I cannot stand before you.” The lion said, “Why are you running about with the sheep? you yourself are a little lion!” “No,” said the little one. “I am a sheep; let me go, let me go with the sheep.”

獅子跳進羊群中喊道：「停下來，停下來！」羊群全都跑走了，小獅子也跟著逃跑。獅子沒有追逐羊群，只追那隻小獅子。追上牠之後，獅子說：「我想和你說話。」小獅子回答：「我在發抖，我很害怕，我不敢站在你面前。」獅子說：「你為什麼跟著羊群到處跑？你自己就是一隻小獅子啊！」小獅子說：「不，我是一隻羊；放我走吧，讓我回到羊群裡去。」

“Come along,” said the lion, “come with me and I will show you what you are before I let you go.” Trembling and yet helpless, the cub followed the lion to a pool of water. Pointing at their reflections in the pool the lion said, “Look at me and look at yourself. Do we not resemble each other closely? You are not like the sheep, you are like me!’

「跟我來，」獅子說，「你跟我來，在讓你離開之前，我要讓你看見自己究竟是什麼。」小獅子一邊發抖，卻又無可奈何，只好跟著獅子來到一池水邊。獅子指著水中映出的兩個身影，說：「看看我，再看看你自己。我們不是非常相像嗎？你不像那些羊，你像我！」

This lion is symbolical of the souls who become God-conscious, the souls who have realized the truth. And when they see the same divine spirit in another soul, their first thought is to take that soul by the hand and to show it that in it also there is the same divine spark which they possess. Therefore although outwardly it is an aristocratic picture, inwardly it is leading to democracy. The command of the lion to that lion-cub is apparently aristocratic, but what is the intention of the lion? It is democracy, it wants to make the little lion conscious of the same grandeur that the lion has. And that is the path of spirituality. Its outward appearance may not seem so, but its inner intention and its culmination are democracy.

這頭獅子象徵著那些已覺醒於神性意識、已證悟真理的靈魂。當他們在另一個靈魂中看見同樣的神性之靈時，第一個念頭，就是牽起那個靈魂的手，讓他看見：在他之內，同樣有著自己所擁有的那一道神性火花。因此，儘管從外在看來，這幅圖景似乎帶有貴族式的意味，但它內在所導向的卻是民主。獅子對小獅子發號施令，表面上看來是貴族式的；然而獅子的真正意圖是什麼？是民主。牠要讓小獅子意識到，自己也擁有與獅子相同的尊貴與偉大。這就是靈性的道路。它的外在形式或許看來並非如此，但其內在的意圖，以及最後所達到的境地，都是民主。

4. Initiations Beyond
更高層次的啟蒙

The initiations beyond those I have spoken of are greater still. Some people, although not all, will tell you of their experiences, and how at different times in their life a sudden change of outlook came to them. It is not our usual experience to wake up suddenly one day from sleep and find that our point of view has changed; but it is no exaggeration to say that it takes but one moment to change one’s outlook on life entirely. This is what an initiation is, an initiation which is above the initiations of the earth as we know them.

在我所談過的這些啟蒙之外，還有更高層次的啟蒙。有些人——雖然不是所有人——會談起自己的經驗：在人生中的某些時刻，他們看待生命的眼光忽然發生了改變。我們通常不會有這樣的經驗：某一天從睡夢中醒來，突然發現自己的觀點已經不同了。然而，說一個人的整個生命觀只需要一瞬間便可能徹底改變，並不是誇張。這就是啟蒙，是超越我們所熟知的世間啟蒙之上的啟蒙。

One thing leads to another, and so we go on in life from one initiation to the next; and each step on the ladder that seems to be standing before us, for us to climb, becomes an initiation. And each step on that ladder changes our point of view if only we hold on to the ladder and do not drop down; for there is always the possibility of going either forward or backward.

一件事引向另一件事，我們就這樣在人生中從一次啟蒙走向下一次啟蒙。眼前彷彿立著一架等待我們攀登的梯子，而梯子上的每一步，都成為一次啟蒙。只要我們牢牢抓住梯子，不讓自己跌落，那梯子上的每一步都會改變我們看待生命的眼光；因為我們始終都有可能向前，也有可能向後。

Nevertheless, the one anxious to go forward will never go backward. Even if the whole world pulled him back by a chain attached to his feet, he would still go forward, because his desire to go forward is more powerful than all the forces of the world.

然而，真正渴望向前的人是不會後退的。即使全世界用鎖鏈纏住他的雙腳，把他往後拉，他仍會向前；因為他向前的渴望，比世上一切阻擋他的力量都更加強大。

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