4. The Four Paths
4. 四條道路

There are four paths by which man can attain to his highest goal.

人可以循四條道路，抵達自己最高的目標。

The Intellectual
才智之道

One is for the intellectual, the intelligent. By studying himself and the world, by understanding what he is, whence he has come and where he will ultimately go, man attains to perfection.

其中一條道路，是為善於思考、富有才智的人而設。透過探究自己與世界，了解自己究竟是什麼、從何而來、最終將往何處去，人便能臻於圓滿。

Abstinence
克己之道

The second path is the way of abstinence. Those who follow this way detach themselves from all things in life; they renounce all the pleasures and comforts of life. They have no friendship, no attachment for anyone; they withstand all natural tendencies and inclinations. Those who have been in India may have seen some followers of this path, sometimes among the crowd, their body covered with ashes, sometimes in the solitude remote from all: by this their psychic power becomes very great.

第二條道路是克己之道。走這條路的人，使自己不依附於生命中的一切事物；他們捨棄人生的一切享樂與舒適，不與人交友，也不依附任何人；他們抵抗一切本能的傾向與欲求。去過印度的人，或許見過這條路的修行者：有時置身人群之中，全身覆滿灰燼；有時則遠離一切，獨居於荒僻之處。藉由這種修持，他們的靈能力量會變得極為強大。

Righteousness in the World
世間正直之道

The third way is that of those who live the life of the world and by their righteousness, by their piety become as a saint, a sage.

第三條道路，是屬於那些生活於世間，並藉由正直與虔敬而成為聖者、聖哲的人。

Devotion
奉獻之道

The fourth way is the path of love, of devotion. The whole universe has been made through love. The intelligence itself in the next step towards evolution has become love. It is love that has directed the Intelligence; if not, the Intelligence would be spread all over, not directed in any direction in particular. All that is done in the world is done by love. One could not study the flower on the mantelpiece if love did not direct the intelligence towards the flower, to admire it and to know what it is. Therefore the mystics have understood that this power of love that has brought all into manifestation must be able to lead back from the seen world to the unseen.

第四條道路是愛之道，也是奉獻之道。整個宇宙都是由愛所形成的。智性本身，在演化的下一階段成為了愛。正是愛為智性指引方向；若非如此，智性便會四散開來，而不會朝向任何特定的方向。世間所做的一切，都是由愛而成的。若不是愛將智性引向壁爐架上的那朵花，使人欣賞它，並想知道它究竟是什麼，人便不會去研究那朵花。因此，祕士明白：既然是這股愛的力量使一切進入顯現，它也必定能引領人從可見的世界返回不可見的世界。

Love is the sign of intelligence. Where there is no intelligence there is no love. Rocks have no intelligence and there is no love in them. Plants and trees have awakened to life and show some attachment. If we have a plant and care for it, it will respond to our care and flourish. Animals have more intelligence and show much affection and attachment. Pet animals in the house grow to have much affection and sympathy for their master; they are happy in his joy and become sad in his sorrow. Horses too show much affection. It is told that the horse of an Arab who had been wounded in battle stayed beside him for three days and nights, until his comrades came and rescued him. Man has the most intelligence, and he has the most love in his nature.

愛是智性的徵兆。沒有智性的地方，也就沒有愛。岩石沒有智性，其中也沒有愛。植物與樹木已經甦醒於生命，並展現出某種依戀。如果我們有一株植物，悉心照料它，它也會回應我們的照料而茁壯生長。動物具有更多的智性，也會展現出更多的感情與依戀。家中的寵物會逐漸對主人產生深厚的感情與同感；主人喜悅時，牠們也歡喜，主人悲傷時，牠們也跟著哀傷。馬同樣會展現深厚的感情。據說，有一位阿拉伯人在戰場上受傷後，他的馬在身旁守候了三天三夜，直到他的同伴前來將他救走。人的智性最高，而人的本性中，愛也最為豐富。

Someone may say, “But animals are cruel also.” So is man. Is man not far more cruel than the animals?

有人也許會說：「可是動物也很殘忍。」人也是如此。人難道不是比動物殘忍得多嗎？

There are three sorts of mystics: Yogis, Buddhists and Sufis, and most of these have chosen the path of devotion, because it has beauty and gives a satisfaction that nothing else can give. Sufis may take the way of renunciation, the way of wisdom, but most of them have especially chosen this path of devotion.

祕士可分為三類：瑜伽士、佛教徒與蘇菲，而其中大多數都選擇了奉獻之道，因為這條道路具有美，並能帶來其他任何事物都無法給予的滿足。蘇菲也可能走捨離之道或智慧之道，但其中大多數尤其選擇了這條奉獻之道。

Devotion is like fire, it has a magnetism, a warmth like fire. When the atmosphere is so cold that our body is chilled, we like to turn to the fire and draw near to it. In this cold world where nothing but cold and selfish hearts are all about us, each person caring only for himself, where there is a heart that has love in it, it has such a warmth, such a radiance that all are drawn to it, all want to be near it.

奉獻如同火焰，具有一種磁力，也有火一般的溫暖。當四周冷得令我們全身發寒時，我們自然會轉向火焰，靠近它取暖。在這個冰冷的世界裡，四周盡是冷漠而自私的心，每個人只顧自己；然而，只要有一顆心中懷著愛，它便會散發出那樣的溫暖與光輝，使所有人都受到吸引，都渴望靠近它。

He who works through the intellect may have a little intellectual attraction satisfying the desire of the mind for a little explanation of things. I have traveled for eight years all over India and have been in remote and inaccessible places where there was danger of robbers. I traveled to see the sages and mystics, and I have seen what charm had the atmosphere of those who were devotees, what fragrance had their presence.

一個透過才智修持的人，或許會有一些才智上的吸引力，稍稍滿足頭腦想要得到一些事理解釋的渴望。我曾在印度各地旅行八年，也曾深入偏遠難行、甚至有盜匪出沒之虞的地方。我四處旅行，為的是拜訪聖哲與祕士；而我親眼見過那些全心奉獻之人，他們周遭的氛圍何等動人，他們的臨在又散發著何等芬芳。

We all know love to some small extent. There are many who have begun to love and then say, “I loved someone, but the one I loved did not prove to be my ideal.” They are disappointed, they cast love aside and by doing so they cast aside the only thing that could lead them towards God, they break off the bridge that could unite them with God. Love is the only thing that takes away the selfishness which is the only barrier between man and God.

我們每個人都多少懂得一點愛。許多人開始去愛，後來卻說：「我曾愛過一個人，但我所愛的人後來並不如我心中的理想。」於是他們失望了，把愛拋到一旁；而這麼做，也就是把唯一能引領他們走向神的事物一併拋棄，斬斷了那座能使他們與神合一的橋。唯有愛能除去自私，而自私正是人與神之間唯一的障礙。

Love alone illuminates the heart. The heart is in the center of the being. When it is illumined the whole being becomes light; when it is dark the whole being is in darkness. The soul has its light, because the soul is light, but it cannot give its light to the external being if the heart that is between them is darkened, nor can the body give its experiences to the soul.

唯有愛能照亮心。心位於整個存在的中心。當心被照亮時，整個存在便成為光明；當心陷入黑暗時，整個存在也都在黑暗之中。靈魂有它自身的光，因為靈魂本身就是光；然而，如果介於靈魂與外在存在之間的心陷入黑暗，靈魂便無法將它的光傳達給外在的存在，而身體也無法將自身的經驗傳達給靈魂。

Then there are disappointed people who say, “There is nothing on earth worth loving.” Of course it is true because the soul which is from God is perfect as He is perfect and seeks perfection. Man does not wish to prove himself perfect, but he seeks perfection in another. That perfection is only in God, the Unlimited, but man seeks it in the human being, in the limited being full of faults and imperfections.

還有一些失望的人會說：「世上沒有任何事物值得去愛。」從這個意義上說，這當然是真的，因為來自神的靈魂，如同神一般圓滿，因此它所尋求的也是圓滿。人並不急於證明自己是圓滿的，卻總是在另一個人身上尋求圓滿。然而，那份圓滿只存在於神——那無限者——之中，人卻在人身上，在這個充滿缺點與不圓滿的有限存在之中尋找它。

Now you may ask, “How can we love God whom we do not see, whom we have never known?” You cannot love God only because it has been said in ancient times that there is a God and that we should love Him, or because it is written in a book. If someone says that you should love God because he is the Creator, you cannot praise Him as Creator; for we have always seen that the piano is created by the piano manufacturer and Pears’ soap is created by Mr. Pears, and we know that the carpenter creates the chair and the table.

此刻你也許會問：「我們怎能愛那看不見、也從未認識過的神呢？」你不可能只因古人曾說有一位神，而且我們應當愛祂，或只因書上如此寫著，就真正愛神。如果有人說，你應當因祂是造物主而愛神，你也無法僅僅因為祂是造物主便讚美祂；因為我們一向都看見，鋼琴是鋼琴製造商製造的，皮爾斯香皂是皮爾斯先生製造的，而我們也知道，椅子與桌子是木匠製作的。

A person once said to me, “I have a horror of the idea of God. When I think that God may suddenly seize me and call me to account for everything I have done, I have a horror. I have quite enough to interest me here. I do not want to think of God.” I was rather amused and I could not blame him. The mistake is that the ideal of God is given before idealism is developed.

曾有人對我說：「我對『神』這個觀念感到恐懼。一想到神可能忽然抓住我，要我為自己所做的一切交代，我就害怕。這世上已經有夠多事情讓我感興趣了，我不想去想神。」我聽了倒覺得有些好笑，也不能責怪他。問題就在於：一個人的理想性尚未發展起來之前，就先把神的理想交給了他。

A child wishes to give its doll a piano, a chair, a table, all kinds of things, and so much ado is made about the doll. When the child has grown up it has perhaps forgotten the doll. If the child has accomplished anything by this, if it has achieved anything in life, it is that idealism has been learned.

孩子會想給自己的洋娃娃一架鋼琴、一張椅子、一張桌子，以及各式各樣的東西，為了這個娃娃忙個不停。等孩子長大之後，也許早已把娃娃忘了。然而，如果孩子從這件事中得到了什麼，如果這對他的人生有任何成就可言，那就是他從中學會了理想化，也培養出了理想性。

One should have the ideal of devotion which one admires, to which one aspires, which appeals to one’s own degree of evolution. If a person wishes to raise himself, to be powerful in the world, he should think of President Wilson who has raised himself from the position of a doctor to be President of the United States. If he wishes to be great in politics he should think of the Prime Minister who has raised himself from his small position to be Prime Minister.

一個人應當有一個可供奉獻的理想——一個自己所敬仰、所嚮往，並與自身演化程度相契的理想。如果一個人想提升自己，在世間成為有力量的人，他可以想想威爾遜總統：他從博士學者的身分一路提升自己，成為美國總統。如果他希望在政治上成就非凡，他可以想想一位從卑微地位逐步提升自己、最後成為首相的人。

We cannot love God in heaven if we do not love man on earth. Christ taught first love of our fellow-man. Enemies apart, to love our fellow-man is the first thing necessary. Those who take this way have devotion and love for the Murshid, or they may love a teacher, or a hero, a saint, a prophet, and that love must be kept.

如果我們不愛地上的人，就不可能愛天上的神。基督首先教導的，正是愛我們的同胞。暫且不談仇敵，首先不可或缺的，就是愛我們身邊的人。走這條道路的人，會對穆希德（導師中的導師）懷有奉獻與愛；他們也可能愛一位老師、一位英雄、一位聖者或一位先知，而這份愛必須持守下去。

If you say, “I have love for Buddha, but he did not believe in the soul and I do not like that, and he did this and that,” such is not love or devotion. Keep the devotion for the ideal, with his disbelief in the soul and all! From this man rises to the degree of fana-fi-Rasul, devotion for the unseen ideal, for the holiness, the goodness, the kindness of the being whom he has not seen. It is your idealization which produces in you the ideal. Buddha’s body is lost in the earth long ago. You have made the Buddha.

如果你說：「我愛佛陀，可是他不相信靈魂，我不喜歡這一點；而且他還做過這個、做過那個。」那便不是愛，也不是奉獻。即使連他不相信靈魂這件事，以及其他一切都包括在內，你仍要守住自己對那個理想的奉獻！人由此提升至「消融於使者」（fana-fi-Rasul）的境界：奉獻於那不可見的理想，奉獻於那位自己從未見過之人的聖潔、良善與慈愛。正是你自己的理想化，使那個理想在你之中形成。佛陀的肉身早已歸於塵土；你心中的佛陀，是由你所塑造的。

But all this is idolatry as long as there is not the ideal of God. As long as there is devotion for the limited ideal there is idolatry and as long as man has not broken away from idolatry to the unlimited ideal, he has not reached his highest goal. The ideal has attracted, has drawn out your love by his holiness, his goodness, his saintliness, but then love itself springs forth and is for the Unlimited. Then a person will not say, “I have seen injustice in God, I have seen unkindness in God.” He sees and loves Him with His kindness and unkindness, His power and Justice and might, with all and everything and nothing.

然而，只要神的理想尚未建立，這一切仍然是偶像崇拜。只要奉獻所指向的仍是一個有限的理想，就仍屬偶像崇拜；而只要人尚未超越偶像崇拜，從有限的理想走向無限的理想，他就還沒有抵達自己最高的目標。那個理想以其聖潔、良善與聖者般的品格吸引了你，引出了你的愛；但到了後來，愛本身便由內在湧出，流向那無限者。此時，一個人不再會說：「我在神之中看見不公義，我在神之中看見不仁慈。」他看見祂，也愛祂——連同祂的仁慈與不仁慈、祂的力量、公義與威能；在一切之中，在萬有之中，也在空無之中，都看見祂、愛祂。

When that is reached then this highest goal of attainment is reached; then man is perfect.

當一個人抵達這一步，也就抵達了所能成就的最高目標；那時，人便臻於圓滿。

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