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.

神秘主義可以被視為所有知識的精華。它就像花朵的香氣，有著屬於自己的芬芳。我們看得見花，卻看不見香氣；同樣地，你可能聽不到神秘者滔滔不絕地講述什麼是神秘主義，但你能在他周圍的氛圍裡，感覺到那份神秘的氣息。神祕主義也可以被比作蜂蜜。蜂蜜具有淨化的力量，神祕主義亦然；它能淨化人內在的病弱，而在所有不同層面的知識中，它是最甜美的一種。

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 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 dreamt 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.

對一位真正的秘士而言，外在的形式，例如儀式、典禮，並不是最重要的；然而，秘士依然會參與其中。反而是那種「似懂非懂」的人會說：「我已經提升到不需要這些外在形式了，我再也受不了那些儀式。」而開始反抗、排斥。祕士能容納任何事物，因為他依照自己靈性成熟的程度來理解萬事萬物。他能享受儀式的內在意義，而這往往是連儀式主持者本身也未必明白的。他可能依自己的智慧來理解一場典禮，並給出一種詮釋──這種詮釋是無論主持儀式者或旁觀者都從未想過的。在外在形式與內在形式中，他都能看到他所願意看到的一切，也能知道他所願意知道的一切。

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，神祕主義無法用語言、教義、理論，或任何哲學式的論述來界定，因為神祕主義本質上是一種內在經驗。而要理解一種內在經驗，唯一的方法，就是親自抵達那個經驗。就像對一個一輩子從未頭痛過的人說：「我的頭好痛。」，他永遠無法真正領會那是什麼感覺。因此，神祕主義這個詞本身其實毫無意義；唯有透過內在的體驗，人才能真正理解它完整、深廣的意涵。也因此，我們可以找到大量心理學或哲學的書籍，但真正談神祕主義的書卻非常稀少；而少數那些以神祕主義為名的書，往往內容也和真正的神祕主義相去甚遠。原因很簡單：神祕的體驗無法被寫進書裡，無法被語言完整表達。然而，也正因為它如此模糊，才格外珍貴。如果這世界上有什麼真正值得追求的知識，如果有什麼科學是真正寶貴的，那必然是我們從自身的神祕體驗中所獲得的知識與洞見。

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，這世上有「半個祕士」與「四分之一的祕士」，但他們仍常被視為真正的秘士，這正是造成混亂的原因。當一個人說：「我是基督教的祕士、猶太教的祕士、伊斯蘭的祕士」，他其實還沒有成為秘士。神祕主義並不能被分割成不同宗派；而那個說「我的神祕主義和你的不同」的人，顯然也還沒抵達真正的境地，真正的神祕者之間不會有所差異。因為內在的體驗是不會改變的，真正觸及到內在的人，所經歷到的其實都是同一種本質。所有的差別，只存在於人生的外在經驗之中。

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走得越遠，他所經歷的種種內在體驗，就越會與其他同樣走到更深入階段的人相似。像內在身體或來世這些概念，其實都是秘士的真實經驗，並不是憑空推測。秘士的力量，來自他自己切身的體驗；而思辨者則永遠無法滿足於自己的知識，他總是自我懷疑、反覆質疑自己到底對不對。

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.

有些人在追尋神祕真理的路上，可能花了二十年或更久的時間，想要找到一把通往神祕之門的鑰匙。但最後，他們卻從原本走入的那扇門走了回來，說著：「我什麼都沒有找到；我閉著眼睛好多年了，卻一點收穫也沒有。請告訴我，我到底該看見什麼？又該在那裡找到什麼？」原因在於，這樣的人不只是閉上了眼睛去尋找，他同時也把自己的靈魂關閉起來了。結果，他沒有得到啟示，反而承受了雙重的損失；其實，他若睜著眼睛去生活、去體驗，反而會得到更多。雖然他並不想欺騙自己——這一點本身是可貴的；但他也不願意去努力付出自己的想像力。於是在他閉上眼睛之前，他的心與他的頭腦早就已經關閉了。到最後，一切仍然是封閉的，什麼也進不來。

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.”

想像力不該被丟棄。對秘士來說，想像力其實是靈性道路上的一座梯子。如果沒有想像力，世界上就不會有藝術，不會有文學，也不會有音樂。這些全都是想像力所創造的成果。想像力能在外在世界化為詩、音樂、藝術或文學這些美的形式，而當它轉向內在世界，它所能孕育出的，將是價值更高深、更宏大的美。有些人會說：「如果真的有神，祂就該直接出現在我面前，我才願意相信。我不想費心去想像祂的存在。」但事實是，就算這個人活在世上幾千年，他仍然會停留在原地，什麼也不會改變。第一步，必須先讓想像力幫助他，在心中形成一個對神性的概念；當這個概念誕生時，他才算為神性準備好一個可以安住的所在。正如伏爾泰所說：「如果神不存在，我們便必須創造出神。」

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.

自然來說，秘士是從想像力這座梯子開始工作，而真實體驗則會在後面慢慢跟上。那麼，秘士到底有什麼樣的體驗呢？他會看見色彩嗎？會與靈界溝通嗎？會在更高的世界中來去嗎？會讀懂他人的念頭嗎？能夠碰觸到物品就接收到其訊息嗎？會展現各種奇異的能力嗎？對真正的秘士來說，這些都只是最初階、最表層的東西。能做到這些的人，不過是半個秘士，甚至只是四分之一的秘士。對一位真正的秘士而言，這一切都像是孩子的遊戲。不是因為這些能力超出他的力量，恰恰相反——秘士的力量可以非常巨大，他的洞察力可以非常敏銳，敏銳到一般人根本無法想像。但也正因為如此，一位真正的秘士，外表看起來與普通人毫無不同，他不會去宣稱自己看得比較多、感覺比較深或是理解得更透徹。

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.

所以，很自然地，真正的秘士，當他的理解已經到達某一個深度時，反而會盡最大的努力，把自己的力量與洞察力，隱藏在眾人的眼前。虛假的秘士才會站到前面來，宣稱自己已經圓滿、已經完美，自稱擁有先知般的能力，甚至暗示自己能夠行各種奇蹟。

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 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方式。秘士所到達的層次越高，他的眼界就越寬廣開闊。也正因如此，對一位秘士來說，要適應這個侷限、狹小的世俗生活，其實是非常不容易的。他常常必須說一些與自己內心感受不同的話，做一些與自己真正理解不完全一致的事。這情形就像一位站在舞台上的演員：當他演國王時，他就說國王的話、做國王的事；當他演僕人時，他就表現得像個僕人。但在整個過程中，他心裡很清楚地知道自己既不是國王，也不是僕人。同樣地，他在內在感受到自己是祕士是一回事，他在外在世界所呈現的，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.

那麼，這樣做是對的嗎？這難道不是一種虛偽嗎？直言不諱的人可能會說：「我心裡怎麼想，就怎麼說。」就像他也會說：「我說的就是實話，不管你喜不喜歡，我不在乎。」但事情並沒有那麼簡單。為了逃離這種看似虛偽的狀態，有些秘士選擇了終身靜默，一輩子不再開口說話；他們退隱山林，遠離人群，只為了不必面對這樣的矛盾。然而，只要仍活在世間，秘士就只能採取這樣的方式：在內在真實地感受真理、清楚地知道真理，而外在的說話、行動則如同一般人一樣。如果有人說這樣不對，那麼，回答是：一般人在很多事情上本來就是錯的——想的錯、做的錯、說的也錯。而對秘士來說，只有一件事不對。至少，他在內心的感受與認知上，是正確的。而這一點，正是他真正的優勢所在。

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.

傳授神祕主義給正在尋求的靈魂，對尋求的學生本身和秘士來說都是自然而然的事。因為，秘士傳授給學生的，並不屬於他自己，而是來自於神。而學生就像是一個容器，用來裝盛這份祝福。但如果這個容器還沒有準備好，或者裡面已經裝滿了其他東西，那麼不論秘士多麼渴望去填充這個容器，他也無法做到。因此，整個神祕主義修行訓練的第一步，是先把這個容器淨空，讓它準備好能盛裝那份從內在湧現的神聖知識。

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，西方的生活是否變得太過紛亂，以致真正的秘士難以在那樣的環境中發展。但其實，就像世界各地都有高個子與矮個子一樣，同樣地在各處都有智者與愚者。秘士往往是帶著對神祕主義的傾向而出生的；在西方有許多人天生具備這樣的特質。差別只在於在東方，有許多人願意去滋養、鼓勵這種內在的傾向；但在西方，情況卻剛好相反。當一個人在西方表現出神祕主義傾向時，人們往往會嘲笑他，覺得那是不正常的事；於是，這份他與生俱來的禮物根本無法在生命中開展。因為如此，在西方能遇見的秘士遠比在東方來得少。

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.

再說，在東方，當一個年輕人天生帶著神祕的傾向時，他往往能遇到老師、遇到引導者可以幫助他在這條路上前行。但在西方，這卻非常困難。通常，他的家人對神祕主義一無所知，於是便勸阻他、反對他的這個傾向；他的朋友也是如此。結果，他不是得到鼓勵，而是從四面八方被阻礙。話雖如此，一個天生具有神祕傾向的人，無論被勸阻多少次，遲早都會再次去尋找他內心真正渴望的東西。因為那份與生俱來的強烈渴望，會讓他始終無法感到滿足。

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.

人們常常會問，神祕主義和祕術 (occultism) 到底有什麼不同？事實上，祕術只是祕士在有了親身體驗之後，所展現出來的結果而已，是他洞察之後的成果，也是神聖法則的一種表達。只是到了今日，人們常把祕術與神祕主義當成完全不同的東西來談，其實並非如此。很多時候，當半個祕士站了出來，而別人說他還稱不上是真正的祕士時，他便改口稱自己是「祕術家」；他總得有個稱號，這也為他自己找了一個定位。

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.”

有一個故事是這樣的:三位騎著馬的人從德里而來，在他們後面，還有一個人騎著一頭驢子。路上有人向他們問道：「騎士們，你們是從哪裡來的？」那三位騎馬的人還來不及回答，騎驢子的那個人就搶先說：「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.

再舉一個例子來說：聰明和有智慧並不相同。我們不能說一個有智慧的人不聰明；只是他的智慧，遠比他的聰明有意義得多。一個人若不聰明，是不可能有智慧的；只是智慧賦予了聰明一種尊貴的品質，以至於稱一位智者聰明，反而成了一種失禮。同樣的道理，秘士本身也包含了祕術家的層面，但若只稱祕士為祕術家，其實是把他拉低到較低的層次——就像把一位智者只叫做聰明人一樣。祕術，是秘士經驗過神秘體驗後所顯現的結果。他深入洞察那看不見的世界，再用通俗的語言將其表達出來；這就叫作祕術。

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.”

這個故事裡有一個無法直譯的雙關語，關鍵在於 「savar」 這個字——它同時有「騎士」(knight) 與「騎乘的人」(rider) 兩種意思。故事中那位騎驢子的人，其實是一名低階種姓的陶工，而他說的那句話，後來成了一句印度斯坦語的諺語：「Chharon savar dillise a rahe hen.」（譯註：意思是「四位騎士都是從德里來的。」）