THE HEAVENS OPENED, and there was rain; it covered the earth. It came down in sheets, flooding the roads and visibly filling the lily-pond. The trees bent down under the weight of it. The crows were soaked and could hardly fly, and many little birds took shelter under the veranda roof. Suddenly, from nowhere, came the frogs, large and small. Those with long legs made prodigious jumps with the greatest ease. Some were brown, some had green stripes, while others were almost entirely green, and they all had bright eyes, black, round and large. When you took one in your hand, it remained there, its beady eyes looking at you; and when you put it down again, it still didn’t move, but sat as though glued to the spot. The rain was still coming down; everywhere there were running streams, and the water on the path was now ankle-deep. There was no wind, but just heavy rain. In a few seconds all your clothes were soaked, and they clung to your body uncomfortably; but it was warm, and you really didn’t mind getting completely wet. You looked down to keep the water out of your eyes; but the heavy drops were painful on your scalp, and you would soon have to go in. A pale purple lily, with a bright golden heart, was being torn by the force of the rain; it couldn’t stand much more of such heavy beating. A green snake as thick as your finger was clinging to a branch; you could hardly see it, for it was almost the colour of the leaves, only a brighter green, with a chemical artificiality about it. It had no eyelids, and its black eyes were exposed. It didn’t move as you approached, but you could feel it was uncomfortable with you so close. It was of a harmless variety, about eighteen inches long, plump and amazingly supple. Even when you moved away, it still remained motionless and watchful, and from a short distance you couldn’t see it at all.
天开了，雨来了，覆盖着大地。 它成片地倾倒，淹没了道路，明显地填满了荷花池。 树木在它的重量下弯腰。乌鸦浑身湿透，几乎不会飞， 许多小鸟躲在阳台的屋顶下。 突然，从哪里冒出来了青蛙，大大小小的青蛙。 那些长腿的以最大的轻松方式进行了惊人的跳跃。 有些有棕色的，有些有绿色的条纹，而另一些几乎完全是绿色的， 它们都有明亮的眼睛、黑黑的、圆圆的、大大的。 当你拿起一个在手里，它仍然在那里，它珠子般的眼睛看着你； 当你再次放下它时， 它仍然没有动，而是坐着，好像粘在原地上一样。 雨还在下。到处都淌着的流水， 路上的水现在已经有脚踝深了。没有风，只有大雨。 几秒钟后，你所有的衣服都湿透了，它们不舒服地粘在你的身体上。 但它很温暖，你真的不介意完全地湿透。 你低头，不让水流进你的眼睛里。 但是重重的雨滴打得你的头皮很痛，你很快就要进去了。 一朵淡紫色的荷花，有着一颗明亮的金色心，正在被雨水的力量撕裂。 它无法忍受如此沉重的殴打。 一条像你手指一样粗的绿色蛇紧紧抓住一根树枝； 你几乎看不到它，因为它几乎是叶子的颜色， 只是一种更亮的绿色，带有人工化学成分。 它没有眼睑，黑色的眼睛暴露在外。 当你走近时，它没有移动，但你可以感觉到当你这么靠近，它很不舒服。 它是一种无害的品种，长约十八英寸，丰满且非常柔软。 即使你远离了它，它仍然保持一动不动和警惕， 走出一小段距离观看，你根本看不见它。
The leaves of the banana-plants were being torn to shreds, the flowers were being knocked off, and it still went on raining as furiously as ever. The delicate white jasmines were on the ground, and they were quickly becoming the colour of the earth; in death they still had their goodly perfume, but only when you came near them; a little further away there was only the smell of the rain and of penetrating dampness. A bedraggled crow had taken refuge on the veranda; thoroughly soaked, its wings were touching the floor, and the bluish-white skin was showing. It couldn’t fly, and it looked at you asking you not to come near. Its sharp, black beak was the only thing hard and powerful about it; everything else was soft and weak. The roar of the sea could not be heard above the patter of the rain on the roof, on the leaves, and on the fan-shaped palm. But you could feel that this noise was slowly coming to an end. Already it was raining less heavily, and you could hear the frogs croaking. Other noises became audible: voices calling, a dog barking, a car coming down the road. Everything was becoming normal again. You were of the earth, of the leaves, of the dying lily, and you too were washed clean.
香蕉树的叶子被撕成碎片， 花朵被打掉，雨仍然像原先一样猛烈地下。 精致的白色茉莉花在地上， 它们迅速成为大地的颜色； 在死亡中，它们仍然有它们良好的芳香，但只有当你靠近它们时； 再远离一点，只有雨水和渗入性潮湿的气味。 一只满是泥水的乌鸦在阳台上避难。 彻底浸透，它的翅膀碰到了地板，蓝白色的皮肤露了出来。 它不能飞，它看着你，要求你别靠近。 它锋利的黑色喙是它唯一坚硬而有力的东西。 其它的一切都软弱无力。 在屋顶、树叶和扇形香蕉树上的雨水拍打声中， 无法听到大海的咆哮声。 但你可以感觉到，这种声音正在慢慢结束。 雨已经减轻了，你可以听到青蛙的呱呱声。 其他声音变得清晰可闻：呼唤的声音、狗吠叫、一辆车从路上驶来。 一切又恢复了正常。 你属于大地、叶子、逝去的茉莉花，你也被洗干净了。
He was an old man, known for his generous nature, and for his hard work. Lean and austere, he went about the country by rail, bus or on foot, talking on religious matters, and there was about him the dignity of thought and meditation. He had a beard, clean and well trimmed, and long hair. His hands were long and thin, and he had a pleasant, friendly smile. “Though I do not wear the saffron robe, I am a sannyasi, and have been all over the land, talking to many people and questioning the religious teachers everywhere. As you see, I am an old man, my beard is white, but I have tried to keep my heart young and my head clear. I left home at the age of fifteen in search of God.” He smiled gently at past remembrances. “That was many years ago; and though I have read, worshipped, meditated, I have not found God. I have listened attentively to the most famous of the saintly leaders, who incessantly talk of God – listened to them, not once, but many times; I have watched their work, their social reform, not patronizingly, but with openness of heart to see their goodness. I am neither tolerant nor intolerant. I have prayed with the crowd, and I have prayed inwardly, quietly, in solitude. As a young man, I wanted to become a social reformer, and I willingly turned my hand to good works; but I found that good works have significance only within the great whole, which is God, and while I see that social reform is necessary, it is not my all-consuming interest.
他是一个老人，以慷慨的天性和勤奋而闻名。 他瘦削而朴素，乘着火车、公共汽车或步行在全国各地走动， 谈论宗教事务， 身上有思想和冥想的尊严。 他留着胡子，干净，修剪整齐，和一头长发。 他的手又长又细，他有一个愉快、友好的笑容。 “虽然我不穿藏红花长袍，但我是一个桑雅生， 走遍了全国各地， 与许多人交谈，并质疑各地的宗教教师。 如你所见，我是一个老人，我胡子白了， 但我试图保持心灵的年轻和头脑清醒。 我十五岁离开家，去寻找上帝。” 他对过去的回忆微微一笑。“那是很多年前的事了。 虽然我读过，敬拜过，冥想过，但我还没有找到上帝。 我认真地听了最有名的圣洁领袖们， 他们不停地谈论上帝 —— 我听过他们的话，不是一次，而是很多次。 我看过他们的工作，他们的社会改革， 不是居高临下，而是敞开心扉，看到他们的善良。 我既不容忍，也不非容忍。 我和众人一起祷告，我向内祷告，安静地、寂静地祷告。 作为一个年轻人，我想成为一名社会改革者， 我心甘情愿地把手转向做好事； 但我发现做好事只有在伟大的整体中才有意义，那就是上帝， 虽然我看到社会改革是必要的，但它不是我的全部兴趣。
“It was not with a dry heart that I listened to these ‘leaders of the people’, as they are called,” he went on; “but their God is not the God I am seeking. Their God is action; they preach, exhort, fast, organize political meetings; they serve as the heads of committees, write articles, edit papers, and mingle with the great of the land. They are active, but they know not silence. I have sought God with them, but have not found Him. Long before the names of these men began to appear in the papers, I was seeking God alone, in caves and in the open spaces; but I have not found Him.
“我不是怀着干巴巴的心听这些'人民的领袖们'， 当他们那样称呼的时候，” 他继续说道； “但他们的上帝不是我所寻求的上帝。他们的上帝是行动； 他们布道、劝勉、斋戒、组织政治会议； 他们担任委员会的负责人，撰写文章，编辑论文， 并与这片伟大的土地打成一片。 他们很活跃，但他们不知道安静。 我与他们一起寻求上帝，但没有找到他。 早在这些人的名字开始出现在报纸上之前， 我就在洞穴和开阔的空地里，独自寻求上帝。但我没有找到他。
“Now I am an old man, and I have only a few years left. Shall I find Him? Or is He non-existent? I don’t want an opinion, or the cunning arguments of a polished mind. I must know. I have listened to you many times, in the north as well as in the south, and you do not speak of God as others do, nor are you in the religious-political arena. You explain what God is not, but you do not say what He is – which is as it should be. But you give no way to Him, and that is hard to understand. I have known of you from your very young days, and I often used to wonder how it would all turn out. If it had turned out otherwise, I wouldn’t be here. This is not a compliment. I want to know the truth before I leave this world.”
“现在我是个老人了，只剩下几年的时光。我能找到他吗？ 还是他不存在？我不想要一个观点，或者一个精明的头脑的狡猾论点。 我必须知道。我在北方和南方都听过你很多次， 你不像别人那样谈论上帝，你也不在宗教政治舞台上。 你解释上帝不是什么，但你没有说他是什么 —— 它是应该那样的。 但是你没有提供任何找到他的路，这很难理解。 我从你很小的时候就认识你， 我经常想知道结果会如何。 如果不是这样，我就不会在这里。这不是恭维。 在我离开这个世界之前，我想知道真相。”
He sat quietly, his eyes closed. There was not about him the harshness of doubt, nor the brutality of cynicism, nor the intolerance which tries to be tolerant. He was a man who had come to the end of his seeking, and still wanted to know.
他静静地坐着，闭着眼睛。 关于他，没有严厉的怀疑，也没有愤世嫉俗的残酷， 也没有试图宽容的不宽容。 他是一个已经走到了他寻找终点的人，仍然想知道。
There was a strange silence in the room.
房间里有一种奇怪的寂静。
Sir, is there humility when we seek? Seeking is never born of humility, is it? “Then is it born of arrogance?”
先生，当我们寻求时，有谦卑吗？ 寻求从来都不是谦卑的，不是吗？ “那么，它诞生于傲慢吗？”
Isn’t it? The desire to achieve, to arrive, is part of the pride which conceals itself in seeking. A way must be found to bring about the efficient and equitable distribution of man’s physical necessities; and it will be found, because technology will force us to find it, now or tomorrow. But apart from seeking the physical well-being of man, why do we seek at all? “I have sought ever since my childhood because this world has very little meaning; its significance can be seen with the naked eye. I don’t say it’s an illusion, as some do. This world is as real as pain and sorrow. Illusion exists only in the mind, and the power to create illusion can come to an end. The mind can be cleansed of its impurities by the breath of compassion; but the cleansing of the mind is not the finding of God. I have sought Him, but have found Him not.”
它不是吗？ 实现的欲望，到达的欲望，是隐藏在寻求中的傲慢的一部分。 必须找到一种方法，以有效和公平地分配人的物质必需品； 它就会被发现，因为技术会迫使我们现在或明天找到它。 但是，除了寻求人的身体健康之外，我们为什么还要寻求呢？ “我从小就一直在寻找，因为这个世界几乎没有意义； 它的意义可以用肉眼看到。 我并不是说它是一种幻觉，就像有些人所做的那样。 这个世界就像痛苦与悲伤一样真实。 幻觉只存在于头脑中，创造幻觉的力量可以结束。 头脑可以通过慈悲的气息来净化它的杂质； 但头脑的洁净不是对上帝的发现。 我寻求过他，却没有找到他。”
This daily living is a transitory thing, and one seeks permanency; or in the midst of all this madness, one hopes for something rational, sane; or one is after some kind of personal immortality; or one is pursuing fulfilment in something infinitely greater than the enrichment of passing desire. Now, all this seeking is a form of arrogance, is it not? And how are you to know reality? Will you be able to recognize it, fathom it? Is it within the measure of the mind?
这种日常生活是短暂的，而人在寻求永恒； 或者在所有这些疯狂中，人们希望拥有某些理性的、理智的东西； 或者一个人追求某种个人的不朽； 或者一个人正在追求比逝去的欲望更加丰富的东西的满足。 现在，所有的这些寻求，都是一种傲慢，不是吗？ 你怎么知道真实？你能认出它，理解它吗？ 它是否在头脑的衡量范围之内？
“Will God come to us without our seeking Him?”
“上帝不会因为对他的寻求，而来到我们这里吗？”
Seeking is confined to the area of thought; all seeking and finding is within the borders of the mind, is it not? The mind can imagine, speculate, can hear the noise of its own chattering, but it cannot find that which is outside of itself. Its seeking is limited to the space of its own measuring. “Then have I only been measuring, and not really seeking?”
寻求仅局限于思想的领域； 所有的寻求和寻找都在头脑的边界内，它不是吗？ 头脑可以想像，推测，可以听到自己喋喋不休的声音， 但它找不到自身之外的东西。 它的追求仅限于其自身衡量的空间。 “那我只是在衡量，而不是真正地寻求？”
Seeking is always measuring, sir. There’s no seeking if the mind ceases to measure, compare.
寻求总是在衡量，先生。 如果头脑停止衡量，就没有寻求、比较。
“Are you telling me that my years of seeking have been in vain?”
“你是在告诉我，我多年的寻求是徒劳的吗？”
It’s not for another to say. But the movement of the mind that sets out on the journey of seeking is ever within the wide or narrow confines of itself. “I have sought to silence the mind, but in that too there has been no finality.”
它不是别人告诉的。 但是，头脑从寻求而出发的旅程中 永远在自身的广阔的或狭隘的领域之内。 “我试图让头脑安静，但在那样做，也没有最终结果。”
A mind that has been made silent is not a silent mind. It’s a dead mind. Anything that has been brought to a finality by force has to be conquered again and again; there’s no end to it. Only that which has an ending is beyond the reach of time.
被安静的头脑不是一个安静的头脑。它是一个死寂的头脑。 任何以强迫的力最终实现的东西，都必须一次又一次地被征服。 它是无休止的。 只有在那结束中，才有时间所不能及的。
“Is not silence to be sought? Surely, a mind that wanders must be checked and brought under control.”
“难道不去寻求安静吗？ 当然，必须检查并控制一个游荡的头脑。
Can silence be sought? Is it a thing to be cultivated and gathered? To seek silence of the mind, one must already know what it is. And do we know what that silence is? We may know it through the description of another; but can it be described? Knowing is only a verbal condition, a process of recognition; and what is recognized is not silence, which is always new. “I have known the silence of the mountains and the caves, and I have put away all thoughts save the thought of silence; but the silence of the mind I have never known. You have wisely said that speculation is empty. But there must be a state of silence; and how is that state to come into being?”
可以寻求安静吗？它是一个需要培养和聚敛的东西吗？ 要寻求头脑的安静，一个人必须已经知道它是什么。 我们知道这种安静是什么吗？ 我们可以通过对另一个人的描述来认识它；但它可以被描述吗？ 认识只是一种言语上的限定，一种认出的过程； 而被认出来的东西，不是安静，它总是新的。 “我知道山和洞穴的安静， 我放下了所有的思想，以保持安静； 但是我从来不知道头脑的安静。 你明智地说过，推测是空洞的。 但是，必然有一种安静的状态；这种状态是如何形成的？”
Is there a method for the coming into being of that which is not the product of imagination of that which is not put together by the mind? “No, I suppose there isn’t. The only silence I have experienced is that which arises when my mind is completely under control; but you say this is not silence. I have tutored my mind to obedience, and have pleased it only under watchful care; it has been trained and made sharp through study, through argumentation, through meditation and deep thought; but the silence of which you speak has not come within the field of my experience. How is that silence to be experienced? What am I to do?”
是否存在一种方法，通过这种方法而进入那种状态， 那并非想象出来的、不是由头脑捏造的状态？ “不，我想没有。我经历过的唯一的安静是 当我的头脑完全受控时出现的。 但你说这不是安静。 我辅导我的头脑服从，只有在细心地照看下才能取悦它； 它通过学习，通过论证，通过冥想和深入思考 它被训练，并变得敏锐； 但你所说的安静并不在我的体验范围内。 如何体验这种安静？我该怎么办？”
Sir, the experiencer must cease for silence to be. The experiencer is always seeking more experiences; he wants to have new sensations, or to repeat old ones; he craves to fulfil himself, to be or become something. The experiencer is the motive-maker; and as long as there’s a motive, however subtle, there’s only the buying of silence; but it’s not silence. “Then how is silence to happen? Is it an accident of life? Is it a gift?”
先生，体验者必须停止，才能出现安静。 体验者总是在寻求更多的体验； 他想有新的感觉，或者重复旧的感觉； 他渴望满足自己，渴望处于或成为某个人物。 体验者是动机的制造者； 只要有动机，无论多么的微妙，都只有被收买的安静； 但它不是安静。 “那么安静是如何发生的呢？它是生命的一个意外吗？它是一种天赋吗？”
Let’s consider together the whole issue. We are always seeking something, and we use that word ‘seeking’ so easily. The fact that we are seeking is all-important, and not what is being sought. What one seeks is the projection of one’s own desire. Seeking is not the state of search; it is a reaction, a process of denial and assertion with regard to an idea made by the mind. To seek the proverbial needle in a haystack, there must already be knowledge of the needle. Similarly, to seek God, happiness, silence, or what you will, is already to have known, formulated or imagined it. Seeking, as it’s called, is always for something known. Finding is recognizing, and recognition is based on previous knowledge. This process of seeking is not the state of search. The mind that’s seeking is waiting, expecting, desiring, and what it finds is recognizable, therefore already known. Seeking is the action of the past. But the state of search is entirely different, it’s in no way similar to seeking; and it’s not a reaction, the opposite of seeking. The two are not related in any way.
让我们一起考虑整个事情。 我们总是在寻求某些东西，我们很容易使用‘寻求’这个词。 事实是，我们正在寻求的东西是最重要的，而不是正在寻求的行动。 一个人所寻求的是自己投射出的欲望。 寻求不是探索的状态； 它是一种反应，一种对头脑所造出的想法的否定和肯定的过程。 为了在大海捞针中寻找众所周知的针，必定拥有了针的知识。 同样地，寻求上帝、快乐、安静，或你能想出的一切， 是已经知道的、表露或想像出来的东西。 寻求，正如它所称呼的那样，总是为了某些已知的东西。 寻找就是识别，而识别是基于以前的知识。 这种寻求的过程，不是探索的状态。 正在寻求的头脑正在等待、期盼、渴望， 它所发现的东西是可识别的，因此是已经知道的。 寻求是过去的行为。 但是探索的状态是完全不同的，它与寻求完全不同； 它不是一种反应，而是寻求的对立面。这两者没有任何关系。
“Then what is the state of search?”
“那么探索的状态是什么？”
It cannot be described, but it is possible to be in that state if there is an understanding of what seeking is. We seek, out of discontent, unhappiness, fear, do we not? Seeking is a network of activities in which there’s no freedom. This network has to be understood. “What do you mean by understanding?”
它无法被描述， 但如果理解了‘什么是寻求’，就有可能处于那种状态。 我们寻求，出于不满、不快乐、恐惧，不是吗？ 寻求是一张没有自由的活动之网。 这张网必须被理解。“你说的理解是什么意思？”
Is not understanding a state of mind in which knowledge, memory, or recognition, is not immediately functioning? To understand, the mind must be still; the activities of knowledge must be in abeyance. This stillness of the mind takes place spontaneously when the teacher or the parent really wants to understand the child. When there’s the intention to understand, there is attention without the distraction of the desire to attend. Then the mind is not disciplined, controlled, pulled together and made to be still. Its stillness is natural when there’s the intention to understand. No effort, no conflict, is involved in understanding. With the understanding of the full significance of seeking, the state of search comes into being. It cannot be sought and found.
理解不是一种头脑的状态吗， 在这种状态下，知识、记忆或识别不会立即地运转？ 要理解，头脑必须停下；知识的活动必须被搁置。 当老师或父母真正想要理解一个孩子时， 这种头脑的停止是自发的。 当有理解的意图时， 就会有注意力，而不会被出现的欲望所分散。 那么，头脑就不必受纪律、控制的拉扯而揉捏在一起，以变得静止。 当有理解的意图时，它的静止是很自然的。 在理解中，不涉及任何努力，任何冲突。 随着对寻求的全部意义的理解， 探索的状态出现。它无法被寻求和找到。
“As I have listened to you explaining, there has been a close watching of the mind. I now see the truth of what is called seeking, and I perceive that it is possible not to seek; yet the state of search is not.”
“当我听你的解释时，有在密切的观察头脑。 我现在看到了所谓的寻求的本质， 我感知到它没有能力去寻找；然而，那探索的状态不是。”
Why say it is not, or it is? Being aware of the truth and the falseness of seeking, the mind is no longer caught in the machinery of seeking. There’s a feeling of being unburdened, a sense of relief. The mind is still; it’s no longer making effort striving after something; but it’s not asleep, nor is it waiting, expecting. It’s simply quiet, awake. Isn’t that so, sir?
为什么说它不是，或者说它是？ 意识到寻求的真伪， 头脑不再被困在寻求的机器中。 有一种没有负担的感觉，一种释放感。 头脑是静止的；它不再努力地追求某个东西； 但它没有睡着，也没有等待、期盼。 它只是简单地安静，清醒。难道不是那样吗，先生？
“Please do not call me ‘sir’. I am the one being instructed. What you say appears to be true.”
“请不要叫我'先生'。 我是被指示的人。你说的似乎是真的。”
This awakened mind is the state of search. It’s no longer seeking from a motive; there’s no objective to be gained. The mind has not been made still; there’s no pressure on it to be still, and so it’s still. Its stillness is not that of a leaf which is ready to dance with the next breeze; it’s not a plaything of desire. “There’s awareness of a movement in that stillness.”
这种唤醒的头脑就是那个探索的状态。 它不再从一个动机出发而去寻求；没有目标可以获得。 头脑不再被镇压；没有压力去强迫它静止不动，所以它停下了。 它的静止不像那一片叶子，准备与下一阵微风一起跳舞； 它不是欲望的玩物。 “在那种静止中，人意识到了一个移动。”
Is this awareness not silence? We are describing, but not as the experiencer would describe. The experiencer is brought into being through many causes; he is an effect, who in turn becomes the cause of still another effect. The experiencer is both cause and effect in a never-ending series of causes and effects. To perceive the truth of this sets the mind free. There is no freedom within the network of cause-effect. Freedom is not being free from the net, but freedom is when the net is not. Freedom from something is not freedom; it’s only a reaction, the opposite of bondage. Freedom is when bondage is understood. Truth is not something permanent, fixed therefore it cannot be sought; truth is a living thing, it is the state of search.
这种意识不是安静吗？ 我们正在描述，但不是体验者在描述。 体验者是通过许多原因而形成的； 他是一个结果，而结果又成为另一个结果的原因。 体验者既是因，也是果，是永无止境的因果链。 感知到这一点的真实，就解放了头脑。 在因果网络中，没有自由。 自由不是从网中解脱出来，而是当网不是时。 从某物中解脱，不是自由； 它只是一种反应，束缚的对立物。 自由是理解束缚的时候。 真理不是永久的，固定的，因此它不能被寻求； 真理是一个活的东西，它就是探索的状态。
“That state of search is God. There is no end to be gained and held. The seeking without finding which has gone on all these years has not brought bitterness to the heart, nor is there regret over these spent years. We are taught, we do not learn, and therein lies our misery. Understanding abolishes time and age, it sweeps away the difference between the teacher and the taught. I understand and feel greatly. We shall meet again.”
“那种头脑的状态就是上帝。没有目的可以获得和持有。 这些年来一直没有找到的寻求 并没有给心灵带来苦涩， 也没有为这些年而感到遗憾。 我们被教导，我们不学习，这就是我们的悲伤。 理解废除了时间和年龄， 它扫除了老师和被教导者之间的差异。 我理解并非常感动。我们会再见面的。”