IN THE OPPOSITE seat sat a man of position and authority. He was well aware of this, for his looks, his gestures, his attitude proclaimed his importance. He was very high up in the Government, and the people about him were very obsequious. He was saying in a loud voice to somebody that it was outrageous to disturb him about some minor official task. He was rumbling about the doings of his workers, and the listeners looked nervous and apprehensive. We were flying far above the clouds, eighteen thousand feet, and through the gaps in the clouds was the blue sea. When the clouds somewhat opened up, there were the mountains covered with snow, the islands and the wide, open bays. How far away and how beautiful were the solitary houses and the small villages! A river came down to the sea from the mountains. It flowed past a very large town, smoky and dull, where its waters became polluted, but a little farther on they were again clean and sparkling. A few seats away was an officer in uniform, his chest covered with ribbons, confident and aloof. He belonged to a separate class that exists all over the world.
对面的座位上坐着一个有地位和权威的人。 他非常清楚这一点， 从他的外表、他的手势、他的态度都表露出他的重要性。 他在政府中的地位很高，而对于他来说，人民是非常愚昧的。 他大声斥责某些人， 用这些小小的政事来打扰他，真是太无礼了。 他咕噜咕噜地谈论他手下工人的工作， 听众们看起来很紧张和担忧。 我们飞得很高，远在云层之上，一万八千英尺的高度， 穿过云层的缝隙，是蓝色的大海。 当云层开时， 露出了积雪覆盖的山脉、岛屿和宽广而开阔的海湾。 一个个的房屋和小村庄是多么遥远、多么美！ 一条河从山上流入大海。 它流经一个非常大的城镇，烟雾缭绕而沉闷，河水被污染了， 但再远一点，它们又干净了，闪闪发光。 几个座位外，是一名身穿制服的军官， 他的胸前布满了缎带，自信而冷漠。 他属于一个特殊阶级，存在于世界各地。
Why is it that we crave to be recognized, to be made much of, to be encouraged? Why is it that we are such snobs? Why is it that we cling to our exclusiveness of name, position, acquisition? Is anonymity degrading, and to be unknown despicable? Why do we pursue the famous, the popular? Why is it that we are not content to be ourselves? Are we frightened and ashamed of what we are, that name, position and acquisition become so all-important? It is curious how strong is the desire to be recognized, to be applauded. In the excitement of a battle, one does incredible things for which one is honoured; one becomes a hero for killing a fellow man. Through privilege, cleverness, or capacity and efficiency, one arrives somewhere near the top – though the top is never the top, for there is always more and more in the intoxication of success. The country or the business is yourself; on you depend the issues, you are the power. Organized religion offers position, prestige and honour; there too you are somebody, apart and important. Or again you become the disciple of a teacher, of a guru or Master, or you co-operate with them in their work. You are still important, you represent them, you share their responsibility, you have and others receive. Though in their name, you are still the means. You may put on a loincloth or the monk’s robe, but it is you who are making the gesture, it is you who are renouncing.
为什么我们渴望得到认可、做得很多、被鼓励？ 为什么我们这么势利？ 为什么我们执着于自己对名誉、地位和收获的孤傲？ 匿名是有辱人格的吗，不为人知是卑鄙的吗？ 我们为什么追求名声、流行？为什么我们不满足于我们自己？ 我们对我们的样子感到害怕和羞愧吗， 那些名声、地位和收获有那么重要吗？ 令人好奇的是，想得到认可、赞同的欲望是多么地强烈。 在战斗的兴奋中，一个人做了不可思议的事情，为此他被表彰； 一个人因为杀死一个同胞而成为英雄。 通过特权、聪明或能力和效率， 一个人到达了接近顶端的地方 —— 尽管顶端从来都不是顶端， 因为在成功的陶醉中，总会有越来越多的顶端。 国家或事业是你自己； 事情依赖于你，你就是权力。 组织化的宗教提供了地位、声望和荣誉； 在那里，你也是某个人物，是分离的和重要的。 或者你再次成为老师、上师或大师的弟子， 或者你参与到他们的工作中。 你仍然很重要， 你代表他们，你分担他们的责任，你提供，而别人接受。 尽管用了他们的名义，你仍然是手段。 你可能穿上腰布或僧侣的长袍， 但是，是你在做出这个姿态，是你在放弃。
In one way or another, subtly or grossly, the self is nourished and sustained. Apart from its antisocial and harmful activities, why has the self to maintain itself? Though we are in turmoil and sorrow, with passing pleasures, why does the self cling to outer and inner gratifications, to pursuits that inevitably bring pain and misery? The thirst for positive activity as opposed to negation makes us strive to be; our striving makes us feel that we are alive, that there is a purpose to our life, that we shall progressively throw off the causes of conflict and sorrow. We feel that if our activity stopped, we would be nothing, we would be lost, life would have no meaning at all; so we keep going in conflict, in confusion, in antagonism. But we are also aware that there is something more, that there is an otherness which is above and beyond all this misery. Thus we are in constant battle within ourselves.
以这样或那样的方式，微妙地或严重地，自我被滋养和维持。 剥除了它的反社会性的和有害的活动，为什么这个自我要维持它自己？ 虽然我们处于动荡和悲伤之中，伴随着短暂的快乐， 为什么自我执着于外在和内在的满足， 去追求那些不可避免地带来痛苦与悲伤的东西？ 渴望用主动性的活动去反对它的对立面，促使我们努力去达成； 我们的努力使我们感到我们活着， 我们的生命有一个目的， 我们会逐渐摆脱冲突与悲伤的根源。 我们觉得，如果我们的活动停下，我们什么都不是， 我们会迷茫，生命将毫无意义； 所以在冲突中、在困惑中、在敌对中，我们继续前进。 但我们也意识到，还有更多的东西， 有超越所有这些痛苦的另一个。 因此，我们内心在不断地争战。
The greater the outward show, the greater the inward poverty; but freedom from this poverty is not the loincloth. The cause of this inward emptiness is the desire to become; and, do what you will, this emptiness can never be filled. You may escape from it in a crude way, or with refinement; but it is as near to you as your shadow. You may not want to look into this emptiness, but nevertheless it is there. The adornments and the renunciations that the self assumes can never cover this inward poverty. By its activities, inner and outer, the self tries to find enrichment, calling it experience or giving it a different name according to its convenience and gratification. The self can never be anonymous; it may take on a new robe, assume a different name, but identity is its very substance. This identifying process prevents the awareness of its own nature. The cumulative process of identification builds up the self, positively or negatively; and its activity is always self-enclosing, however wide the enclosure. Every effort of the self to be or not to be —— is a movement away from what it is. Apart from its name, attributes, idiosyncrasies, possessions, what is the self? Is there the “I,” the self, when its qualities are taken away? It is this fear of being nothing that drives the self into activity; but it is nothing, it is an emptiness.
外在的表现越大，内在的贫困就越严重； 但摆脱这种贫困，不是靠腰布。 这种内在空虚的原因是想要‘成为’的欲望； 然而，尽管去做你想做的事情，这种空虚永远无法填补。 你可以用粗暴的方式或精妙的方式逃避它； 但它就像你的影子一样在你附近。 你可能不想深入这种空虚，但它仍然在那里。 自我的装潢、自我声称的抛弃 永远无法掩盖这种内在的贫困。 通过它的活动，无论是内在的，还是外在的活动 自我试图找到富裕，把它称之为体验， 或者根据它的方便和喜好，给它取一个不同的名字。 自我永远不可能是匿名的；它可能会穿上新的长袍， 给自己换个名字，但‘认同’是它的本质。 这种认同行为，阻止了对其自身本性的意识。 这种认同的累积过程构建出自我，无论是主动的还是被动的； 它的活动总是自封闭的，无论这个区域有多宽。 自我的每一次造作 —— ‘做’或‘不做’ —— 是一次远离现状的动作。 除了它的名字、属性、特质、占据物，什么是自我？ 当它的品质被夺走时，是否存在‘我’，这个自我？ 正是对这种空虚的恐惧，驱使自我参与活动； 但它什么都不是，它是一种虚幻。
If we are able to face that emptiness, to be with that aching loneliness, then fear altogether disappears and a fundamental transformation takes place. For this to happen, there must be the experiencing of that nothingness – which is prevented if there is an experiencer. If there is a desire for the experiencing of that emptiness in order to overcome it, to go above and beyond it, then there is no experiencing; for the self, as an identity, continues. If the experiencer has an experience, there is no longer the state of experiencing. It is the experiencing of what is without naming it that brings about freedom from what is.
如果我们能够面对这种空虚，与那痛苦的孤独相处， 那么恐惧就会完全消失，根本性的转变就会发生。 要让这种转变发生，必须有对这种空虚的体验 —— 如果有体验者，转变就被阻止。 如果有一种想要体验这种空虚的欲望， 以便于克服它、超越、摆脱它，那么就不存在体验； 因为自我，作为一种认同的身份，还在。 如果这个体验者有一种体验，体验的状态就不再了。 体验在，没取名字，即是自在。