对生活的评注 3-31

The large black ants had made a path through the grass, across a stretch of sand, over a pile of rubble and through the gap in an ancient wall. A little beyond the wall was a hole which was their home. There was an extraordinary coming and going on that path, an incessant bustle in both directions. Each ant would hesitate a second as it went by another; their heads would touch, and on they would go again. There must have been thousands of them. Only when the sun was directly overhead was that path deserted, and then all activity would be centred around their nest near the wall; they were excavating, each ant bringing out a grain of sand, a pebble or a bit of earth. When you gently knocked on the ground nearby, there was a general scramble. They would pour out of the hole, looking for the aggressor; but soon they would settle down and resume their work. As soon as the sun was on its westerly course and the evening breeze blew pleasantly cool from the mountains, they would march out again on their path, populating the silent world of the grass, the sand and the rubble. They went along that path for quite a distance, hunting, and they would find so many things: the leg of a grasshopper, a dead frog, the remains of a bird, a half-eaten lizard or some grain. Everything was attacked with fury; what couldn’t be carried away was eaten on the spot, or taken home in pieces. Only rain stopped their constant activity, and with the last drops they were out again. If you put your finger on their path, they would feel all around the tip, and a few would climb up it, only to come down again.

大黑蚂蚁们穿过草地，穿过一片沙滩，越过一堆瓦砾，穿过一堵古墙的缝隙。墙外有一个洞，那是它们的家。在那条小路上，有一种非凡的来来往往，在两个方向上无休止的喧嚣。每只蚂蚁都会犹豫一秒钟，当它经过另一只蚂蚁时；它们的头会相互触碰，然后它们继续走路。它们一定有成千上万只。只有当太阳直接在头顶上时，那条小路才荒无人烟，然后所有的活动都会集中在它们靠近墙壁的巢穴周围；它们正在挖掘，每只蚂蚁都带出一粒沙子、一块石粒或一点泥土。当你轻柔地敲打附近的地面时，就有一场全体总动员。它们会从洞里涌出来，寻找侵略者；但很快，它们就安定下来，恢复工作。一旦太阳向西移动，傍晚的微风从山上吹来令人愉悦的凉爽，它们就会再次沿着自己的道路前进，聚集在草地、沙滩和瓦砾的寂静世界中。它们沿着这条路，走了很长的距离，去打猎，它们会发现很多东西：蚱蜢的腿、死青蛙、鸟的遗骸、啃了一半的蜥蜴或一些谷物。一切都受到狂暴的攻击；不能带走的东西当场吃掉，或者撕成碎片带回家。只有雨水能阻止它们不停的活动，随着最后一滴水的消失，它们又出来了。如果你把你的手指放在它们的小路上，它们会感觉到指尖的周围，有些蚂蚁会爬上去，然后又下来。

The ancient wall had a life of its own. Near the top there were holes in which bright green parrots, with curving red beaks, had made their nests. They were a shy lot, and didn’t like you to come too near. Screeching and clinging to the crumbling red bricks, they would wait to see what you were going to do. If you didn’t come any nearer, they would wriggle into the holes, leaving only their pale green tail feathers sticking out; there would then be another wriggle, the feathers would disappear, and their red beaks and shapely green heads would be showing. They were settling down for the night.

古城墙有自己的生命。在顶部附近有一些洞，里面有明亮的绿鹦鹉，它们有弯曲的红色喙，已经在那里筑巢了。他们很害羞，不喜欢你离得太近。他们尖叫着，紧紧抓住摇摇欲坠的红砖，他们会等着，看你要做什么。如果你没有靠近，他们会扭转到洞里，只留下淡绿色的尾羽伸在外面；然后会有另一个扭转，羽毛会消失，他们的红色喙和形状清晰的绿色头部将显露出来。他们正安顿下来，准备过夜。

The wall enclosed an ancient tomb whose dome, catching the last rays of the setting sun, glowed as if someone had turned on a light from within. The whole structure was well-built and splendidly proportioned; it had not a line that could jar you, and it stood out against the evening sky, seemingly freed from the earth. All things were intensely alive, and all things – the ancient tomb, the crumbling red bricks, the green parrots, the busy ants, the whistle of a distant train, the silence and the stars – were merged into the totality of life. It was a benediction.

墙包围着一座古老的坟墓，它的穹顶捕捉住夕阳最后一缕阳光，散发出光芒，仿佛有人从里面打开了一盏灯。整个结构建造精良，比例匀称。它没有一条可以让你感到刺耳的线条，它在傍晚的天空中脱颖而出，似乎从地球上解脱了。所有的一切都强烈地活泼，所有的东西 —— 古墓、摇摇欲坠的红砖、绿鹦鹉、忙碌的蚂蚁、远处火车的汽笛声、寂静和星星 —— 都融合到了生命的整体中。这，是一种祝福。

Although it was late, they had wanted to come, so we all went into the room. Lanterns had to be lit, and in the hurry one was broken, but the remaining two gave enough light for us to see each other as we sat in a circle on the floor. One of those who had come was a clerk in some office; he was small and nervous, and his hands were never still. Another must have had a little more money, for he owned a shop and had the air of a man who was making his way in the world. Heavily built and rather fat, he was inclined to easy laughter, but was now serious. The third visitor was an old man, and being retired, he explained, he had more time to study the Scriptures and perform puja, a religious ceremony. The fourth was an artist with long hair, who watched with a steady eye every movement, every gesture we made; he wasn’t going to miss anything. We were all silent for a while. Through the open window one or two stars could be seen, and the strong perfume of jasmine came into the room.

虽然很晚了，但他们想过来，所以我们都进了房间。灯笼必须点燃，匆忙间，一盏灯笼坏了，但剩下的两盏灯笼给了我们足够的光线，让我们在地板上围成一圈坐着时，能看到对方。其中一个来访者，他是某个办公室的一名办事员。他小巧而紧张，他的手从来都没停过。另一个人一定赚的钱多一点，因为他拥有一家商店，并且有一种正在世界上打拼的人的气息。他身材魁梧，相当肥胖，倾向于轻松的大笑，但现在很认真。第三位来访者是一位老人，他解释说，退休后，他有更多的时间学习圣经并进行膜拜，一种宗教仪式。第四位是一位留着长发的艺术家，他用沉稳的眼神看着我们的每一个动作、每一个手势；他不会错过任何东西。我们都沉默了一会儿。透过敞开的窗户，可以看到一两颗星星，浓郁的茉莉花香味进入了房间。

“I would like to sit quietly like this for a longer period,” said the merchant. “It’s a blessing to feel this quality of silence, it has a healing effect; but I don’t want to waste time explaining my immediate feelings, and I suppose I had better get on with what I came to talk about. I have had a very strenuous life, more so than most people; and while I am not by any means a rich man, I am now comfortably well off. I have always tried to lead a religious life. I haven’t been too covetous, I have been charitable, and I haven’t deceived others unnecessarily; but when you are in business, you have sometimes to avoid telling the exact truth. I could have made a great deal more money, but I denied myself that pleasure. I amuse myself in simple ways but on the whole I have led a serious life; it could have been better, but it really hasn’t been bad. I am married, and have two children. Briefly, sir, that’s my personal history. I have read some of your books and attended your discourses, and I have come here to be instructed in how to lead a more deeply religious life. But I must let the other gentlemen talk.”

“我想像这样安静地坐更长的时间，” 商人说。 “感受到这种安静的品质是一种祝福，它具有治愈的功效；但我不想浪费时间来解释我的直接感受，我想，我最好继续说说我来谈论的事情。我过着非常艰苦的生活，比大多数人都要艰苦。虽然我绝不是一个有钱人，但我现在过得很富裕。我一直试图过宗教生活。我不太贪婪，我一直很慈善，不必要的时候，我不去欺骗别人；但是当你在做生意时，你有时要避免说出确切的真相。我本可以赚更多的钱，但我自己拒绝了这种快乐。我以简单的方式取悦于自己，但总的来说，我过着严肃的生活。它本来可以更好，但也确实不错。我已婚，有两个孩子。简而言之，先生，这是我的个人历史。我读过你的一些书，参加过你的讲话，我来到这里，是为了学习如何过上更深刻的宗教生活。但我必须让其他先生们说话。”

“My work is a rather tiresome routine, but I am not qualified for any other job,” said the clerk. “My own needs are few, and I am not married; but I have to support my parents, and I am also helping my younger brother through college. I am not at all religious in the orthodox sense, but the religious life appeals to me very strongly. I am often tempted to give up everything and become a sannyasi, but a sense of responsibility to my parents and my brother makes me hesitate. I have meditated every day for many years, and since hearing your explanation of what real meditation is, I have tried to follow it; but it’s very difficult, at least for me, and I can’t seem to get into the way of it. Also, my position as a clerk, which requires me to work all day long at something in which I have not the slightest interest, is hardly conducive to higher thought. But I deeply crave to find the truth, if it’s ever possible for me to do so, and while I am young I want to set a right course for the rest of my life; so here I am.”

“我的工作是一种相当烦人的例行公事，但我没有资格从事任何其他工作，” 办事员说。 “我自己的需求很少，我没结婚。但我必须养我的父母，我也在帮助我的弟弟上完大学。我根本不是正统意义上的宗教徒，但宗教生活对我非常有吸引力。我常常忍不住放弃一切，成为一名桑雅生，但对父母和弟弟的责任感让我犹豫不决。多年来，我每天都在冥想，自从听到你对什么是真正的冥想的解释后，我一直试图遵循它。但这非常困难，至少对我来说是这样，我似乎无法进入它的方式。此外，我作为办事员的职位，要求我整天在我没有丝毫兴趣的事情上工作，这很难促进更高的思想。但是我非常渴望找到真理，如果有可能的话，当我年轻的时候，我想为我的余生设定一个正确的方向；所以我来这里。”

“For my part,” said the old man, “I am fairly familiar with the Scriptures, and since retiring as a government official several years ago, my time is my own. I have no responsibilities; all my children are grown up and married, so I am free to meditate, to read, and to talk of serious things. I have always been interested in the religious life. From time to time I have listened attentively to one or other of the various teachers, but I have never been satisfied. In some cases their teachings are utterly childish, while others are dogmatic, orthodox and merely explanatory. I have recently been attending some of your talks and discussions. I follow a great deal of what you say, but there are certain points with which I cannot agree – or rather, which I don’t understand. Agreement, as you have explained, can exist with regard to opinions, conclusions, ideas, but there can be no ‘agreement’ with regard to truth; either one sees it, or one does not. Specifically, I would like further clarification on the ending of thought.”

“就我而言，” 老人说，“我对圣经相当熟悉，自从几年前作为政府官员退休以来，我的时间就属于我自己。我没有责任；我所有的孩子都长大了，结婚了，所以我可以自由地冥想、阅读和谈论严肃的事情。我一直对宗教生活感兴趣。我不时地认真聆听各种老师中的一位或另一位，但我从不满意。在某些情况下，他们的教义是完全幼稚的，而另一些则是教条主义的、正统的、仅仅是解释性的。我最近参加了你的一些会谈和讨论。我遵循你说的很多话，但有些观点我不能同意 —— 或者更确切地说，我不明白。正如你所解释的，同意可以存在于意见、结论、想法上，但真理不必‘同意’；要么看见，要么看不见。具体来说，我想进一步澄清思想的结束。”

“I am an artist, but not yet a very good one,” said the man with the long hair. “I hope one day to go to Europe to study art; here we have mediocre teachers. To me, beauty in any form is an expression of reality; it’s an aspect of the divine. Before I start to paint I meditate, like the ancients, on the deeper beauty of life. I try to drink at the spring of all beauty, to catch a glimpse of the sublime, and only then do I begin my day’s painting. Sometimes it comes through, but more often it doesn’t; however hard I try, nothing seems to happen, and whole days, even weeks, are wasted. I have also tried fasting, along with various exercises, both physical and intellectual, hoping to awaken the creative feeling; but all to no avail. Everything else is secondary to that feeling, without which one cannot be a true artist, and I will go to the ends of the earth to find it. That is why I have come here.”

“我是一名艺术家，但还不是一个很好的艺术家，” 长发男子说。 “我希望有一天能去欧洲学习艺术；在这里，我们有平庸的老师。对我来说，任何形式的美都是对真实的表达。它是神圣的一个切面。在我开始绘画之前，我像古人一样，对生命更深层次的美进行冥想。我试着春天在所有的美景里喝酒，瞥见崇高，只有这样我才开始我一天的绘画。有时它有效，但更多的时候，它不起作用；无论我多么努力，似乎什么都没有发生，整整几天，甚至几周，都被浪费了。我还尝试了斋戒，以及各种身体和智力练习，希望唤醒创造性的感觉；但一切都无济于事。对于这种感觉，其它一切都是次要的，没有了它，就不可能成为一名真正的艺术家，我会去天涯海角寻找它。那就是我来这里的原因。”

All of us sat quietly for a time, each with his own thoughts.

我们所有人都静静地坐了一会儿，每个人都有自己的想法。

Are your several problems different, or are they similar, though they may appear to be different? Is it not possible that there is one basic issue underlying them all? “I am not sure that my problem is in any way related to that of the artist,” said the merchant. “He is after inspiration, the creative feeling, but I want to lead a more deeply spiritual life.” “That’s precisely what I want to do too,” replied the artist, “only I have expressed it differently.”

你们的几个问题是否不同，或者它们是否相似，尽管它们可能看起来不同？难道不可能有一个基本问题围绕着所有这些问题吗？ “我不确定我的问题是否与艺术家的问题有任何关系，” 商人说。“他追求的是灵感，创造性的感觉，但我想过一种更深层的灵性生活。 “这也正是我想做的，” 艺术家回答说， “只是我表达得不同。”

We like to think that our particular problem is exclusive, that our sorrow is entirely different from that of others; we want to remain separate at all costs. But sorrow is sorrow, whether it is yours or mine. If we don’t understand this, we cannot proceed; we shall feel cheated, disappointed, frustrated. Surely, all of us here are after the same thing; the problem of each is essentially the problem of all. If we really feel the truth of this, then we have already gone a long way in our understanding, and we can inquire together; we can help each other, listen to and learn from each other. Then the authority of a teacher has no meaning, it becomes silly. Your problem is the problem of another; your sorrow is the sorrow of another. Love is not exclusive. If this is clear, sirs, let us proceed.

我们喜欢认为我们的特定问题是排它性的，我们的悲伤与他人的悲伤完全地不同；我们希望不惜一切代价保持分离。但悲伤就是悲伤，不管它是你的还是我的。如果我们不理解这一点，我们就无法继续；我们会感到被欺骗、失望、沮丧。当然，我们所有的人都在追求同样的东西。每个人的问题，在本质上，都是所有人的问题。如果我们真的感受到了这一点的真实性，那么在理解的道路上，我们已经走了很长一截，而我们可以一起询问；我们可以互相帮助、互相倾听、互相学习。那么老师的权威性就没有意义，就变得可笑了。你的问题是另一个人的问题；你的悲伤是另一个人的悲伤。爱是没有排它性的，如果这一点很清楚，先生们，让我们继续。

“I think we all now see that our problems are not unrelated,” replied the old man, and the others nodded in approval.

“我想我们现在都看到我们的问题不是没有关联的，” 老人回答说，其他人点头表示赞同。

Then what is our common problem? please don’t answer immediately, but let us consider.

那么我们的共同问题是什么呢？请不要立即回答，但让我们考虑一下。

Is it not, sirs, that there must be a fundamental transformation in oneself? Without this transformation, inspiration is always transitory, and there is a constant struggle to recapture it; without this transformation, any effort to lead a spiritual life can only be very superficial, a matter of rituals, of the bell and the book; without this transformation, meditation becomes a means of escape, a form of self-hypnosis.

先生们，一个人必须有一个根本性的转变，难道不是它吗？没有这种转变，灵感总是短暂的，并且需要不断挣扎着去重新获取它；没有这种转变，任何对灵性生活的努力都只能是非常肤浅的、一种仪式化的、有关钟声和书本的事情；没有这种转变，冥想就变成了一种逃避的手段，一种自我催眠的形式。

“That is so,” said the old man. “Without a deep inward change, all effort to be religious or spiritual is a mere scratching on the surface.” “I am entirely one with you, sir,” added the man from the office. “I do feel that there must be a fundamental change in me, otherwise I shall go on like this for the rest of my life, groping, asking and doubting. But how is one to bring about this change?” “I also can see that there must be an explosive change within myself if that which I am groping after is to come into being,” said the artist. “A radical transformation in oneself is obviously essential. But, as that gentleman has already asked, how is such a change to be brought about?”

“就是那样，” 老人说， “如果没有深刻的内在改变，所有虔诚或灵性上的努力，都只是在表面上刻画。” “我完全认同你，先生，” 办公室的人补充道。 “我确实觉得我必须有一个根本性的改变，否则我会在我的余生中继续这样，摸索，询问和怀疑。但是，如何带来这种改变呢？” “我也可以看到，如果我正在摸索的东西要产生，那么我内心一定有爆炸性的改变，” 艺术家说。 “自我的根本转变显然是必不可少的。但是，正如那位先生已经问过的那样，如何带来这样一种改变？”

Let us give our minds and hearts to the discovery of the manner of its happening. What is important, surely, is to feel the urgent necessity of changing fundamentally, and not merely be persuaded by the words of another that you ought to change. An exciting description may stimulate you to feel that you must change, but such a feeling is very superficial, and it will pass away when the stimulant is gone. But if you yourself see the importance of change, if you feel, without any form of compulsion, without any motivation or influence that radical transformation is essential, then this very feeling is the action of transformation.

让我们用我们的头脑和心灵来发现它发生的方式。当然，重要的是，感受到从根本上改变的紧迫性、必要性，而不仅仅是被别人的话说服，你应该改变。一个激动人心的描述可能会刺激你，使你觉得你必须改变，但这种感觉是非常肤浅的，当刺激物消失时，它就会消失。但是，如果你自己看到改变的重要性，如果你感受到，没有任何形式的强迫，没有任何动机或外在的影响，彻底的转变是必不可少的，那么这种感觉就是转变的行为。

“But how is one to have this feeling?” asked the merchant.

“但是如何才能有这种感觉呢？” 商人问。

What do you mean by the word ‘how’? “Since I have not got this feeling for change, how can I cultivate it?”

‘如何’这个词是什么意思？ “既然我没有这种改变的感觉，我该如何培养它？”

Can you cultivate this feeling? Must it not arise spontaneously from your own direct perception of the utter necessity for a radical transformation? The feeling creates its own means of action. By logical reasoning you may come to the conclusion that a fundamental change is necessary, but such intellectual or verbal comprehension does not bring about the action of change.

你能培养这种感觉吗？它难道不是自发地产生于你自己对彻底转变的绝对必要性的直接感知吗？这种感觉创造出它自己的行动方式。通过逻辑推理，你可能会得出这样的结论：根本性的改变是必要的，但这种智力或言语的理解并不能带来改变的行动。

“Why not?” asked the old man.

“为什么不能？” 老人问。

Is not intellectual or verbal comprehension a superficial response? You hear, you reason, but your whole being does not enter into it. Your surface mind may agree that a change is necessary, but the totality of your mind is not giving its complete attention; it’s divided in itself. “Do you mean, sir, that the action of change takes place only when there’s total attention?” asked the artist.

智力或言语上的理解不是一个肤浅的回应吗？你听，你推理，但你的整个存在并没有进入它。你的表层意识可能同意改变是必要的，但你整个头脑并没有给予它完全的关注力；它本身就是分裂的。 “先生，你的意思是，只有当人全神贯注时，改变的行动才会发生吗？” 艺术家问道。

Let’s consider it. One part of the mind is convinced that this fundamental change is necessary, but the rest of the mind is unconcerned; it may be in abeyance, or asleep, or actively opposed to such a change. When this happens, there’s a contradiction within the mind, one part wanting change, and the other being indifferent or opposed to change. The resulting conflict, in which that part of the mind which wants change is trying to overcome the recalcitrant part, is called discipline, sublimation, suppression; it is also called following the ideal. An attempt is being made to build a bridge over the gap of self-contradiction. There is the ideal, the intellectual or verbal comprehension that there must be a fundamental transformation and the vague but actual feeling of not wanting to be bothered, the desire to let things go on as they are the fear of change, of insecurity. So there’s a division in the mind; and the pursuit of the ideal is an attempt to bring together the two contradictory parts, which is an impossibility. We pursue the ideal because it doesn’t demand immediate action; the ideal is an accepted and respected postponement.

让我们来考虑它。头脑的一部分确信这种根本的改变是必要的，但头脑的其余部分并不关心；它可能处于暂停状态，或处于睡眠状态，或积极地反对这种改变。当这种情况发生时，头脑中存在着矛盾，一部分想要改变，另一部分则无动于衷或反对改变。由此产生的冲突，在头脑中想要改变的那部分试图克服顽固的部分，这被称之为‘纪律’、‘升华’、‘压制’；也被称之为‘追求理想’。有人正试图在自我矛盾的裂隙上架起一座桥梁。有一种理想，一种智力或语言上的理解，即必须有根本的转变，并有一种模糊但实际的感觉，不想被打扰，有让事情继续下去的欲望，因为它们害怕改变，害怕不安全。所以在头脑中有一种分裂；而对理想的追求，就是试图将两个相互矛盾的部分结合起来，而这是不可能的。我们追求理想，因为它不需要立即采取行动；这种理想，是一种接受，然后被恭敬地推迟。

“Then is trying to change oneself always a form of postponement?” asked the man from the office.

“那么，试图改变自己，总是一种拖延的形式吗？” 来自于办公室的男人问。

Isn’t it? Haven’t you noticed that when you say, “I will try to change,” you have no intention of changing at all? You either change, or you don’t; trying to change has actually very little significance. pursuing the ideal, attempting to change, compelling the two contradictory parts of the mind to come together by the action of the will, practising a method or a discipline to achieve such a unification, and so on – all this is useless and wasteful effort which actually prevents any fundamental transformation of the centre, the self, the ego.

不是吗？你有没有注意到，当你说， “我会试图改变”时，你根本没有改变的意图？你要么改变，要么不改变；试图改变，实际上意义不大。追求理想，试图改变，迫使头脑的两个矛盾部分通过意志的行动走到一起，练习一种方法或一门学科来实现这样的统一，等等 —— 所有这些，都是没有用的，是内耗性的努力，实质上，是在阻止这个中心、‘我’、自我的任何根本性的转变。

“I think I understand what you are conveying,” said the artist. “We are playing around with the idea of change, but never changing. Change requires drastic, unified action.”

“我想我明白你在传达什么，” 艺术家说。 “我们正在玩弄改变的想法，但永远不会改变。变革需要采取剧烈的、统一的行动。”

Yes; and unified or integrated action cannot take place as long as there’s a conflict between opposing parts of the mind. “I see that, I really do!” exclaimed the man from the office. “No amount of idealism, of logical reasoning, no convictions or conclusions, can bring about the change we are talking about. But then what will?”

是的；只要头脑内对立的部分之间存在着冲突，统一或完整的行动就不可能发生。 “我看到了，我真的看到了！” 来自办公室的人喊道。 “再多的理想主义、逻辑推理、一切的信念或结论，都不能带来我们正在谈论的改变。但是，那又会怎样呢？”

Are you not, by that very question, preventing yourself from discovering the action of change? We are so eager for results that we do not pause between what we have just discovered to be true or false, and the uncovering of another fact. We hasten forward without fully understanding what we have already found.

难道你没有通过问这个问题来阻止自己发现改变的行动吗？我们对结果如此地急切，以至于我们不会在我们刚才所发现的是真是假，和揭露另一个事实之间停留。在没有完全理解我们已经发现的东西的情况下，我们加快了步伐。

We have seen that reasoning and logical conclusions will not bring about this change, this fundamental transformation of the centre. But before we ask ourselves what factor will bring it about, we must be fully aware of the tricks that the mind uses to convince itself that change is gradual and must be effected through the pursuit of ideals, and so on. Having seen the truth or the falseness of that whole process, we can proceed to ask ourselves what is the factor necessary for this radical change.

我们已经看到，推理和逻辑结论不会带来这种改变，这种中心的根本性转变。但是，在我们问自己什么因素会带来改变之前，我们必须充分意识到头脑用来说服它自己的花招 —— 改变是渐进的，必须通过追求理想来实现，等等。在看到整个过程的真伪之后，我们可以继续问自己，这种根本性改变的必要因素是什么。

Now, what is it that makes you move, act? “Any strong feeling. Intense anger makes me act; I may afterwards regret it, but the feeling explodes into action.”

现在，是什么在驱使你移动、行动？ “任何强烈的感觉。强烈的愤怒使我采取行动；事后我可能会后悔，但这种感觉会爆发出行动。”

That is, your whole being is in it; you forget or disregard danger, you are lost to your own safety, security. The very feeling is action; there is no gap between the feeling and the act. The gap is created by the so-called reasoning process, a weighing of the pros and the cons according to one’s convictions, prejudices, fears, and so on. Action is then political, it is stripped of spontaneity, of all humanity. The men who are seeking power, whether for themselves, their group or their country, act in this manner, and such action only breeds further misery and confusion.

那就是说，你的整个存在都在它里面。你忘记或无视危险，你扔掉了自己的安全、防护罩。感觉本身就是行动；感觉和行为之间没有缝隙。这种缝隙的存在，是源于所谓的推理过程 —— 根据一个人的信念、偏见、恐惧等权衡利弊。然后，行动是政治性的，它被剥夺了自发性，被剥夺了全人类的自发性。那些寻求权力的人们，无论是为自己、为他们的群体还是他们的国家，都是以这种方式行动，而这种行动只会滋生进一步的痛苦和困惑。

“Actually,” went on the man from the office, “even a strong feeling for fundamental change is soon erased by self-protective reasoning, by thinking what would happen if such a change took place in one, and so on.”

“实际上，” 来自办公室的那个人说， “即使是对根本性变革的强烈感觉，也很快就会被自我保护的推理所抹杀，通过思考：如果这种改变发生在一个人身上，会发生什么结果？等等。”

The feeling is then hedged about by ideas, by words, is it not? There is a contradictory reaction, born of the desire not to be disturbed. If that is the case, then continue in your old way; don’t deceive yourself by following the ideal, by saying that you are trying to change, and all the rest of it. Be simple with the fact that you don’t want to change. The realization of this truth is in itself sufficient.

然后，这种感觉被想法、被言语所阻拦，不是吗？有一种互相矛盾的反应，源于不被打扰的欲望。如果是这样的话，那就继续你的旧方式；不要欺骗自己，不要做下面的傻事：遵循理想，说你正在努力改变，以及所有其它的。简单地与事实相处：你不想改变。认识到这种真实，就足够了。

“But I do want to change.”

“但我确实想改变。”

Then change; but don’t talk unfeelingly about the necessity of changing. It has no meaning. “At my age,” said the old man, “I have nothing to lose in the outward sense; but to give up the old ideas and conclusions is quite another matter. I now see at least one thing: that there can be no fundamental change without an awakening of the feeling for it. Reasoning is necessary, but it’s not the instrument of action. To know is not necessarily to act.”

那就改变；但不要厚颜无耻地谈论改变的必要性。它没有意义。 “在我这个年纪，” 老人说，“我没有什么外在的意义上可以失去的。但放弃旧的想法和结论是另一回事。我现在至少看到一件事：如果不唤醒对它的感觉，就不可能有根本的改变。推理是必要的，但它不是行动的工具。知道并不一定是行动的必要因素。”

But the action of feeling is also the action of knowing, the two are not separate; they are separate only when reason, knowledge, conclusion or belief induces action. “I am beginning to see this very clearly, and my knowledge of the Scriptures, as a basis for action, is already losing its grip on my mind.”

但感受的动作，也是知觉的动作，两者是不是分离的；只有当推理、知识、结论或信仰促使我采取行动时，它们才是分离的， “我开始非常清楚地看到这一点，而我把圣经的知识，当作行动的基础，它对我头脑的控制已经消散了。”

Action based on authority is no action at all; it is mere imitation, repetition. “And most of us are caught in that process. But one can break away from it. I have understood a great deal this evening.”

基于权威的行动根本不是行动；它只是模仿、重复。 “我们大多数人都陷入了这个过程。但人可以摆脱它。今天晚上我理解了很多。”

“So have I,” said the artist. “To me, this discussion has been highly stimulating, and I don’t think the stimulation will admit of any reaction. I have seen something very clearly, and I am going to pursue it, not knowing where it will lead.” “My life has been respectable,” said the merchant, “and respectability is not conducive to change, especially of the fundamental kind we have been talking about. I have cultivated very earnestly the idealistic desire to change, and to lead a more genuinely religious life; but I now see that meditation upon life and the ways of change is far more essential.”

“我也是，” 艺术家说。 “对我来说，这种讨论非常刺激，我不认为这种刺激会承认任何反应。我已经非常清楚地看到了一些东西，我将追求它，不论它会走向何方。” “我的生活是体面的，” 商人说， “受人尊敬不利于改变，特别是我们一直在谈论的这种根本性的转变。我非常认真地培养着这种关于改变的理想化的欲望，并朝向更真诚的宗教生活；但我现在看到，在生活上的冥想和生活方式的改变，是更加重要的。”