1. Mysticism in Life
1. 生命中的神祕主義

Mysticism may be considered as the essence of all knowledge. It may be likened to the perfume of a flower, for it has a fragrance of its own. We do not see the perfume, but we see the flower, and so we will not hear many words from the mystic to explain mysticism, but we can perceive that mysticism in his atmosphere. Mysticism may also be likened to honey. Honey is purifying and so is mysticism; it purifies man of his infirmities, and it is the sweetest of all the different aspects of knowledge that exist.

神祕主義可以被視為一切知識的精髓。它可以比作花的香氣，因為它自有其芬芳。我們看不見香氣，卻看得見花；同樣地，我們不會聽見祕士用許多言語來解釋神祕主義，卻能從他的氛圍中感受到神祕主義。神祕主義也可以比作蜂蜜。蜂蜜能淨化，神祕主義也是如此；它能淨化人的種種弱點，而在一切不同形式的知識中，它是最甘美的。

To a mystic the outward forms such as rituals and ceremonies are not of the first importance; yet a mystic will take part in them, whereas the half-wise man who says, “I have advanced too far. I cannot tolerate the outer forms any more,” will rebel against them. The mystic can tolerate anything, for he interprets life according to his own stage of development. He can enjoy the meaning of ritual, which is something that even the people who are officiating do not always know. He may interpret a ceremony according to his own wisdom, and give an interpretation which those who perform that ceremony or those who watch it would never even have dreamed of. He sees all that he wishes to see and he knows all that he wishes to know, in the outer form as well as in the inner form.

對祕士而言，儀式與典禮等外在形式並非首要之事；然而，祕士仍會參與其中。反倒是一知半解的人會說：「我已經走得太遠了，再也無法忍受這些外在形式。」而起而反抗。祕士能包容一切，因為他會依照自己所達到的發展階段來理解生命。他能領會儀式的意義，而這甚至是主持儀式的人自己也未必總是明白的。他可以依自己的智慧來詮釋一場典禮，所作出的詮釋，甚至可能是舉行典禮的人或觀看典禮的人從未想像過的。無論在外在形式或內在形式之中，他都能看見自己所欲看見的一切，也能知道自己所欲知道的一切。

It is a fact that mysticism cannot be defined in words in the form of doctrines, theories, or philosophical statements, for mysticism is an inner experience. In order to know an inner experience one must arrive at that experience. If we say to a person who has never had a headache in his life, “I have a headache,” he will never understand it; he will not know what it is. Therefore the word mysticism means nothing; it is through the inner experience that one realizes its meaning in all its fullness. Naturally, therefore, we can find many books on psychology or philosophy, but seldom anything on mysticism; and the few there are on mysticism are generally about something quite different from what mysticism really is. The reason is that it cannot be put into a book; it cannot be expressed in words. But the very reason why it is so vague is why it so valuable, for if there is any knowledge that is worth while, if there is any science which is precious, it is the knowledge and science which one can get out of one’s mystical experiences.

事實上，神祕主義無法以教義、理論或哲學陳述的形式，用語言加以界定，因為神祕主義是一種內在經驗。要知道何謂內在經驗，一個人必須親自抵達那個經驗。如果我們對一個一生從未頭痛過的人說：「我頭痛。」他永遠無法理解，也不會知道那究竟是什麼。因此，「神祕主義」這個詞本身並沒有意義；唯有透過內在經驗，一個人才會充分領悟它的意義。自然而然地，我們可以找到許多心理學或哲學的書籍，卻很少找到真正關於神祕主義的書；即使有少數談論神祕主義的書，其中所談的，通常也與神祕主義真正的本質頗為不同。原因在於，它無法被寫進書裡，也無法以言語表達。然而，它之所以如此難以言明，也正是它如此珍貴的原因；因為如果有任何知識真正值得獲得，有任何科學真正珍貴，那便是人能從自身神祕體驗中獲得的知識與科學。

The difficulty is that there are half-mystics and quarter-mystics, and yet all of them are regarded as mystics, and this causes confusion. When a person says, “I am a Christian mystic, or a Jewish or a Muslim mystic,” he has not yet arrived at mysticism. Mysticism cannot be divided into different sects, and the one who says, “My mysticism is different from your mysticism”, has not yet arrived there, for true mystics cannot differ. Because inner experiences cannot be changed. Their experience is one and the same; all changes belong to the outer experiences of life.

困難在於，世上有半個祕士，也有四分之一個祕士，而所有這些人都被當作祕士，因而造成了混淆。當一個人說：「我是基督教的祕士，或猶太教的祕士，或伊斯蘭教的祕士。」他其實還沒有抵達神祕主義。神祕主義無法被劃分為不同宗派；而一個說「我的神祕主義與你的神祕主義不同」的人，也尚未抵達那裡，因為真正的祕士之間不會有所不同。內在經驗不會改變，他們的經驗是一而相同的；所有的變化，都屬於生命的外在經驗。

The further one progresses on the spiritual path, the more experiences one has which are similar to those of others in that advanced stage. All ideas such as that of the inner body or the hereafter are actual experiences of mystics; they are not speculations. The power of the mystic belongs to his own experience; the speculator is never satisfied with his knowledge, he is always doubting himself and wondering whether he is right or wrong.

一個人在靈性道路上愈向前進，所具有的經驗，就愈會與其他抵達同樣進階階段的人相似。內在身體、來世等種種觀念，都是祕士的實際經驗，並非思辨推測。祕士的力量來自他自身的經驗；思辨者卻永遠無法滿足於自己的知識，總是在懷疑自己，不斷思索自己究竟是對還是錯。

There are seekers after mystical truth who have perhaps devoted twenty years or more to discovering some key to mysticism, and they have come back through the same door by which they entered in, saying, “I have found nothing; I have closed my eyes for years, but all in vain. Tell me what am I to see, what am I to find there?” The reason is that not only did such a person go on his search with his eyes closed, but he also closed his soul. Instead of receiving a revelation he had a double loss; he could have done much better with open eyes. Although he did not want to fool himself, which is always worth while, yet he did not want his imagination to make an effort, so his mind and his heart were closed even before he shut his eyes, and consequently nothing was open.

有些追尋神祕真理的人，或許花了二十年甚至更長的時間，試圖找到神祕主義的某把鑰匙，最後卻又從當初進入的那扇門走了回來，說：「我什麼也沒有找到；我閉著眼睛這麼多年，一切都是徒勞。請告訴我，我究竟應該看見什麼？又應該在那裡找到什麼？」原因在於，這樣的人不僅閉著眼睛尋求，也同時關閉了自己的靈魂。他不但沒有得到啟示，反而蒙受雙重損失；若是睜著眼睛，他原本可以體驗到更多。固然，他不願欺騙自己——這總是一件可取的事——但他也不願讓自己的想像力有所運作，因此甚至在閉上雙眼之前，他的頭腦與心就已經關閉了，結果沒有任何東西是敞開的。

Imagination should not be discarded. Imagination becomes a ladder on the path of the mystic. Besides, if it were not for imagination there would have been no art, there would have been no literature, there would have been no music; these are all an outcome of imagination. When imagination can produce beauty outwardly in the form of poetry, music, art, or literature, it can produce beauty of much higher and greater value when it is directed inward. Someone may say, “If there is a God He should appear before me so that I may believe. I do not wish to take the trouble to imagine that there is one,” yet if he lived on earth for thousands of years, he would remain where he is. First his imagination must help him to form an idea of the deity; then he will have made an abode for the deity to abide in. As Voltaire has said, “If God did not exist one would have to invent Him.”

想像力不應被捨棄。想像力會成為祕士道路上的一座梯子。再者，如果沒有想像力，就不會有藝術，不會有文學，也不會有音樂；這一切都是想像力的產物。想像力既然能向外產生詩歌、音樂、藝術或文學之美，那麼當它轉向內在時，便能產生價值更高、更偉大的美。有人或許會說：「如果真有神，祂就應該出現在我面前，讓我能夠相信。我不想費心去想像有一位神存在。」然而，即使他在世上活上幾千年，仍會停留在原地。首先，他的想像力必須幫助他形成對神的觀念；如此，他才算為神造出了一個居所，使祂得以安住其中。正如伏爾泰所說：「如果神不存在，就有必要創造出祂來。」

Naturally the mystic begins his work with the ladder of imagination, and actual experience follows. What experience does a mystic have? Does he see colors, does he communicate with spirits, does he wander in the higher worlds, does he read thoughts, does he recognize objects by psychometry, does he perform wonders? To a mystic all these things are elementary, and those who do them are half-mystics, quarter-mystics. To a mystic who is a thorough mystic it is all child’s play. These things are not beyond his power; the power of the mystic can be so great and his insight can be so keen that an ordinary man cannot imagine it, yet for this very reason a mystic, who looks no different from an ordinary man, cannot profess to see or feel or know or understand any better.

祕士自然是從想像力這座梯子開始，而後才有實際的經驗。那麼，祕士會有什麼樣的經驗？他會看見色彩嗎？會與靈溝通嗎？會遊歷更高的世界嗎？會讀取思想嗎？會藉由觸物感知來辨識物件嗎？會行奇蹟嗎？對祕士而言，所有這些都只是初步的事，而做到這些的人，只能算是半個祕士或四分之一個祕士。對一位真正徹底的祕士而言，這一切都只是兒戲。這些事並未超出他的能力；祕士的力量可以如此強大，洞察可以如此敏銳，遠非一般人所能想像。然而也正因如此，一位外表看來與常人無異的祕士，不會宣稱自己看見、感受到、知道或理解得比別人更多。

Naturally, therefore, the real mystic who has arrived at a certain point of understanding makes the greatest effort to keep his power and insight hidden from the eyes of all. It is the false mystic who comes forward and claims perfection and prophetic powers, and who suggests that he can work wonders.

因此，真正的祕士一旦抵達某種理解的境界，便自然會竭盡所能，不讓任何人看見自己的力量與洞察。反倒是虛假的祕士才會站出來，宣稱自己已臻完美、具有先知的力量，並暗示自己能行奇蹟。

Mysticism changes man’s outlook on life. The higher a mystic reaches, the wider becomes his outlook. It is therefore very difficult for a mystic to adjust himself to the limited life of the world. He must continually speak and act differently from what he feels and knows. It is just like an actor on the stage: when he has to be a king then he acts as a king and speaks as a king, and when he takes the part of a servant he acts that part, but all the time he knows and feels that he is neither a king nor a servant; that he is an actor. And thus the feeling of a mystic is one thing, and his outer affirmation is another.

神祕主義會改變一個人看待生命的眼光。祕士所抵達的境界愈高，他的眼界就愈寬廣。因此，祕士很難使自己適應世間有限的生活；他必須不斷地以不同於自己內在所感受、所知道的方式來說話與行動。這就像舞台上的演員：當他要扮演君王時，他便如君王般行動、如君王般說話；當他扮演僕人時，他便演好僕人的角色。但自始至終，他都知道也感覺到，自己既不是君王，也不是僕人，而是一名演員。同樣地，祕士內在的感受是一回事，他在外在所表現的又是另一回事。

Is this a right thing to do? Is it not a kind of hypocrisy? An outspoken person would say, “I say what I mean,” just as he might say, “I tell the truth whether you like it or not, I don’t mind.” But it cannot be helped. In order to get away from this hypocrisy some mystics have closed their lips and have not spoken throughout their whole life; they have retired into the forest in order to get away from it. But when they live in the midst of the world they can only adopt this method: feel and know the truth, while speaking and acting as everybody else does. And if someone says that this is not right, the answer is that in the case of other people most things are wrong: knowing, acting, as well as speaking; whereas in the case of the mystic only one thing is wrong. The mystic at least feels and knows rightly; that much is to his advantage.

這樣做是對的嗎？這難道不是一種虛偽嗎？一個直言不諱的人可能會說：「我心裡怎麼想，就怎麼說。」就像他也可能會說：「不管你喜不喜歡，我只說真話，我不在乎。」然而，這是無可避免的。為了擺脫這種虛偽，有些祕士選擇閉口不言，一生保持沉默；有些人則退隱森林，以求遠離這種處境。但只要生活在人群之中，他們就只能採取這樣的方式：在內在感受並知道真理，而說話與行動則如同其他人一樣。如果有人說這樣是不對的，那麼答案是：對一般人而言，往往有許多事情都是錯的——所知、所行以及所言皆可能有誤；而對祕士而言，只有一件事是錯的。至少祕士的感受與認知是正確的；這一點便是他的優勢。

Imparting mysticism to a seeking soul is an automatic action on the part of the pupil and also on the part of the mystic, for what the mystic gives to the pupil is not his own, it is God’s, and the pupil is a kind of vessel that receives this blessing. If the vessel is not ready or if it is filled with something else, with every desire on the part of the mystic to fill it he cannot. Therefore the whole training of mysticism is first to clean this vessel, to make it ready for the mystic to pour into it the divine knowledge which comes from within.

將神祕主義傳授給一個尋求中的靈魂，無論對學生或祕士而言，都是自然而然發生的過程；因為祕士給予學生的並不屬於他自己，而是屬於神，學生則如同一個承接這份祝福的容器。如果容器尚未準備好，或其中已盛滿了其他東西，那麼無論祕士多麼想將其注滿，也無法做到。因此，神祕主義的整個修習，首先就在於清理這個容器，使它準備好承接祕士所注入、從內在而來的神聖知識。

One might wonder whether life in the West has become too confused for real mystics to develop there. As there are tall people and short people in all parts of the world, so there are wise people and foolish people everywhere. The mystic is born with a tendency towards mysticism, and there are many who are born like this in the West. Only, in the East there are many who are interested in giving a stimulus to this tendency, whereas in the West it is the contrary; for when a person shows that tendency people laugh at him, they think it is something abnormal and they do not allow this gift with which he was born to develop in life. That is why one finds far fewer mystics in the West than in the East.

有人或許會懷疑，西方的生活是否已變得太過紛亂，以致真正的祕士難以在那裡發展。然而，正如世界各地都有高個子與矮個子，到處也都有智者與愚者。祕士天生便帶有神祕主義的傾向，而西方也有許多人如此。只是在東方，有許多人願意鼓勵這種傾向的發展；西方卻正好相反。當一個人顯露出這種傾向時，人們會嘲笑他，認為那是不正常的，也不容許他與生俱來的這份天賦在生命中發展。因此，在西方所能見到的祕士，要比東方少得多。

Besides, when a youth has a mystical tendency in the East he finds a teacher, a guide who can help him on, whereas in the West this is very difficult. Then generally nobody in his family knows anything about mysticism, and so they discourage him or disapprove of his tendency; and it is the same with his friends. So from all around he is pulled back instead of finding encouragement on the path. Nevertheless, a person born with a mystical tendency, however much he is pulled back, will always sooner or later try to find what he is looking for. He cannot feel satisfied because of that innate yearning.

此外，在東方，當一個年輕人具有神祕主義的傾向時，他能找到一位老師、一位引路者，幫助他繼續前行；但在西方，這就十分困難。通常他的家人對神祕主義一無所知，因此會勸阻他，或不認同他的這種傾向；朋友也是如此。於是，他非但無法在這條道路上得到鼓勵，反而從四面八方被往回拉。然而，一個天生具有神祕主義傾向的人，無論受到多少阻礙，遲早仍會設法尋找自己所追尋的事物。那份與生俱來的渴求，使他無法感到滿足。

People often ask what is the difference between mysticism and occultism. In point of fact occultism is that which the mystic shows as the result of his experience, as the outcome of his insight, as the expression of divine law. Nowadays we often hear occultism spoken of as something distinct from mysticism, but that is not so. Often a man who is a half-mystic comes forward, and then if people say that he is not a mystic, he will call himself an occultist; he must be something. This gives him a position too.

人們常問，神祕主義與祕術究竟有什麼不同。事實上，祕術是祕士由自身經驗所呈現出的結果、由洞察所產生的成果，也是神聖法則的表達。如今，我們常聽人把祕術說成某種與神祕主義截然不同的事物，但事實並非如此。常有一個半吊子的祕士站出來；如果人們說他不是祕士，他便稱自己為祕術家——他總得算是某種人物。如此一來，他也就有了一個身分。

There is a story that three horsemen were coming from Delhi, and behind them there was a man riding on a donkey. Someone on the road addressed them and said, “Riders, where do you come from?” Before the three horsemen could answer, this man on the donkey said, “We four riders are coming from Delhi.”

有一個故事說，三名騎馬的人從德里而來，身後還跟著一個騎驢的人。路上有人向他們問道：「騎士們，你們從哪裡來？」三名騎馬的人還來不及回答，那個騎驢的人便搶先說：「我們四位騎士都是從德里來的。」

To give another example: clever and wise are not the same. It is not right to say that the wise man is not clever, though his wisdom weighs more than his cleverness. A person cannot be wise if he is not clever, only his wisdom gives his cleverness such dignity that it would be an offence to call a wise man clever. Thus a mystic is an occultist, but to call a mystic an occultist is to bring him down to a lower level; it is like calling a wise man clever. Occultism is the result of the mystic’s experience. He fathoms the laws of the unseen world, and he interprets them in ordinary language; that is occultism.

再舉一個例子：聰明與智慧並不是同一回事。我們不能說智者並不聰明，只是他的智慧比他的聰明更有分量。一個人若不聰明，也無法成為智者；只是他的智慧賦予他的聰明如此的尊嚴，以至於只稱一位智者為「聰明人」，反而近乎失禮。同樣地，祕士也是祕術家，但若只稱一位祕士為祕術家，就是把他降低到較低的層次；這就如同只稱一位智者為聰明人一樣。祕術是祕士經驗的結果。他洞悉無形世界的法則，並以日常語言加以詮釋；這便是祕術。

The untranslatable pun is on “savar”, a word which means both “knight” and “rider.” The claim of the man on the donkey in the story, who was a low-caste potter, became a Hindustani proverb: “Chharon savar dillise a rahe hen.”

這裡有一個無法直接譯出的雙關語，關鍵在於 savar 這個字，它同時有「騎士」與「騎乘者」兩種意思。故事中騎驢的那個人是一名低種姓的陶工，而他所說的那句話後來成了一句印度斯坦語諺語：「Chharon savar dillise a rahe hen.」意思是：「四位騎士都是從德里來的。」

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