HE SAID HE had gone into the question very thoroughly, had read as much as he could of what had been written on the subject, and he was convinced that there were Masters in different parts of the world. They did not show themselves physically except to their special disciples, but they were in communication with others through other means. They exerted a beneficent influence and guided the leaders of the world’s thought and action, though the leaders themselves were unaware of it; and they brought about revolution and peace. He was convinced, he said, that each continent had a group of Masters, shaping its destiny and giving it their blessing. He had known several pupils of the Masters – at least they had told him they were, he added guardedly. He was entirely earnest and desired more knowledge about the Masters. Was it possible to have direct experience, direct contact with them?
他说，他已经非常透彻地探讨了这个问题， 尽可能多地阅读了关于这个主题的著作， 他确信世界不同地区都有大师。 除了他们的特殊弟子之外，他们没有向外界显露自己， 但他们通过其他方式与他人交流。 他们发挥了仁慈的影响，并指导全球领导层的思想和行动， 尽管领导人自己没有意识到这一点； 他们带来了革命与和平。 他说，他确信每个大陆都有一群大师， 塑造着它的命运，并给予它祝福。 他认识几位大师的学生 —— 至少他们声称他们是，他谨慎地补充道。 他非常认真，并希望更多地了解大师们。 有没有可能直接体验，直接与他们接触？
How still the river was! Two brilliant little kingfishers were flying up and down close to the bank and just above the surface; there were some bees gathering water for their hives, and a fisherman’s boat lay in the middle of the stream. The trees along the river were thick with leaves, and their shadows were heavy and dark, in the fields the newly planted rice was a vivid green, and there were white ricebirds calling. It was a very peaceful scene, and it seemed a pity to talk over our petty little problems. The sky was the tender blue of evening. The noisy towns were far away; there was a village across the river, and a winding path went meandering along the bank, A boy was singing in a clear, high voice which did not disturb the tranquillity of the place.
河水是多么平静！ 两只伶俐的小翠鸟 在岸边和水面上不断地上下飞跃。 一些蜜蜂为它们的蜂巢收集水， 一艘渔船躺在河水中央。 岸边的树叶茂密，树影深暗， 田间新长出的水稻，有鲜艳的绿色， 有白禾雀在鸣叫。 这是一个非常和平的场景，谈论我们琐碎的问题似乎很可惜。 天空是柔和的暮色蓝。 嘈杂的城镇很遥远； 河对岸有一个村庄，一条弯曲的小路沿着岸边蜿蜒， 一个男孩以清澈、高亢的音色歌唱，却没有打扰到这片土地的宁静。
We are an odd people; we wander in search of something in far-off places when it is so close to us. Beauty is ever there, never here; truth is never in our homes but in some distant place. We go to the other side of the world to find the Master, and we are not aware of the servant; we do not understand the common things of life, the everyday struggles and joys, and yet we attempt to grasp the mysterious and the hidden. We do not know ourselves, but we are willing to serve or follow him who promises a reward, a hope, a Utopia. As long as we are confused, what we choose must also be confused. We cannot perceive clearly when we are half-blind; and what we then see is only partial and so not real. We know all this, and yet our desires, our cravings are so strong that they drive us into illusions and endless miseries.
我们是一群奇怪的人； 我们游荡于遥远的地方，寻找某些东西，而它却离我们如此之近。 美永远在那里，从不在这里； 真理永远不在我们的家中，而是在某个遥远的地方。 我们到世界的另一边去找大师，却忽视这位仆人。 我们不理解生活中的日常、每天的挣扎和欢乐， 但我们试图抓住那些神秘和隐藏的东西。 我们不知道自己， 但我们愿意服侍或追随那个允诺了一个奖赏、一个希望、一个乌托邦的人。 只要我们是条糊涂虫，我们的选择也一定是糊涂。 当我们半瞎时，我们无法清晰地感知； 而我们所看到的只是部分，所以不是真理。 我们知道这一切，然而我们的欲望，我们的渴望是如此强烈， 以至于它们把我们推向了幻想和无尽的苦难。
Belief in the Master creates the Master, and experience is shaped by belief. Belief in a particular pattern of action, or in an ideology, does produce what is longed for; but at what cost and at what suffering! If an individual has capacity, then belief becomes a potent thing in his hands, a weapon more dangerous than a gun. For most of us, belief has greater meaning than actuality. The understanding of what is does not require belief; on the contrary, belief, idea, prejudice, is a definite hindrance to understanding. But we prefer our beliefs, our dogmas; they warm us, they promise, they encourage. If we understood the way of our beliefs and why we cling to them, one of the major causes of antagonism would disappear.
对大师的信仰创造了大师，而体验是由信仰塑造的。 对特定行动模式或意识形态的信仰， 的确会产生人们渴望的东西；但是付出了什么代价，付出了多少痛楚！ 如果一个人有能力， 那么信仰就会在他手中成为一种强有力的东西，一种比枪更危险的武器。 对于我们大多数人来说，信仰比现实更有意义。 对现状的理解不需要信仰； 相反，信仰、观念、偏见，无疑是理解的一个确凿的障碍物。 但是，我们更喜欢我们的信仰，我们的教条； 他们温暖我们，他们承诺，他们鼓励。 如果我们理解我们信仰的方式，以及为什么我们依仗它们， 那么，敌对的一个主要因素，就会消失。
The desire to gain, individually or for a group, leads to ignorance and illusion, to destruction and misery. This desire is not only for more and more physical comforts, but also for power: the power of money, of knowledge, of identification. The craving for more is the beginning of conflict and misery. We try to escape from this misery through every form of self-deception, through suppression, substitution and sublimation; but craving continues, perhaps at a different level. Craving at any level is still conflict and pain. One of the easiest of escapes is the guru, the Master. Some escape through a political ideology with its activities, others through the sensations of ritual and discipline, and still others through the Master. Then the means of escape become all-important, and fear and obstinacy guard the means. Then it does not matter what you are; it is the Master who is important. You are important only as a server, whatever that may mean, or as a disciple. To become one of these, you have to do certain things, conform to certain patterns, undergo certain hardships. You are willing to do all this and more, for identification gives pleasure and power. In the name of the Master, pleasure and power have become respectable. You are no longer lonely, confused, lost; you belong to him, to the party, to the idea. You are safe.
为私人或集体而收割的欲望 导致无知和幻想、破坏与痛苦。 这种欲望不仅是为了越来越多的身体舒适， 也是为了权力：金钱、知识、身份认同的权力。 对更多的渴望，是冲突和苦难的开端。 我们试图通过各种形式的自我欺骗， 通过镇压、替代和升华，来逃避这种痛苦； 但渴望仍在持续，也许在不同的层面。 任何层次的渴望，仍然是冲突与痛苦。 一个最简单的逃避就是上师、大师。 有些人通过政治意识形态及其活动来逃避， 其他人通过仪式和纪律的感觉逃避，还有一些人通过大师。 接着，逃避的手段变得至关重要，而恐惧和顽固保卫着手段。 那样一来，不管你是谁，你并不重要；重要的是大师。 只有当你成为一个仆人，不管它是什么意思，或者成为一个弟子的时候，才会变得重要。 要成为其中之一，你必须做某些事情， 遵守某些模式，经历一定的艰辛。 你愿意做这一切，甚至更多，因为认同会给人带来快乐和力量。 以大师的名义，快乐和权力已经变得受人尊敬。 你不再孤独、困惑、迷茫； 你属于他，属于党，属于这个观念。你是安全的。
After all, that is what most of us want: to be safe, to be secure. To be lost with the many is a form of psychological security; to be identified with a group or with an idea, secular or spiritual, is to feel safe. That is why most of us cling to nationalism, even though it brings; increasing destruction and misery; that is why organized religion has such a strong hold on people, even though it divides and breeds antagonism. The craving for individual or group security brings on destruction, and to be safe psychologically engenders illusion. Our life is illusion and misery, with rare moments of clarity and joy, so anything that promises a haven we eagerly accept. Some see the futility of political Utopias and so turn religious, which is to find security and hope in Masters, in dogmas, in ideas. As belief shapes experience, the Masters become an inescapable reality. Once it has experienced the pleasure which identification brings, the mind is firmly entrenched and nothing can shake it; for its criterion is experience.
毕竟，那就是我们大多数人想要的：安全、可靠。 与大家一起迷茫，有一种心理上的可靠感； 与一个群体或一个想法认同，不论是世俗的还是高尚的，就感到安全。 那就是为什么我们大多数人坚持民族主义， 尽管它带来了日益严重的破坏和苦难； 那就是为什么组织化的宗教对人们有如此强烈的控制， 尽管它分化和滋养了敌对。 个人或群体对安全的渴望，带来了毁灭， 心理上的安全，产生出幻觉。 我们的生活是幻觉与痛苦，难得有清明和欢乐的时光， 因此，我们会热切地接受任何一个承诺提供避风港的东西。 有些人看到政治乌托邦是无用的，因此转向宗教， 也就是在大师、教条、观念中寻找安全和希望。 随着信仰塑造体验，大师们成为不容忽视的真理。 一旦它体验到认同带来的快乐， 头脑就坚决地保卫它，没有什么能动摇它；因为它的标准是体验。
But experience is not reality. Reality cannot be experienced. It is. If the experiencer thinks he experiences reality, then he knows only illusion. All knowledge of reality is illusion. Knowledge or experience must cease for the being of reality. Experience cannot meet reality. Experience shapes knowledge, and knowledge bends experience; they must both cease for reality to be.
但体验不是真理。 真理无法被体验。它在。 如果体验者认为他体验了真理，那么他只知道幻觉。 所有关于真理的知识都是幻觉。 知识或体验必须消失，才能出现真理。 体验无法与真理相遇。 体验塑造知识，知识弯曲体验； 要真实到来，它们都必须消失。