BEYOND THE BRIDGE is the sea, blue and distant. There are yellow sands along the curving shore, and spreading palm groves. The city people come here in their cars with their well-dressed children, who shout with the joy of being released from their tight homes and barren streets.
桥之外是大海，蓝色而遥远。 沿着弯曲的海岸边有黄色的砂粒，还有蔓延的棕榈树林。 城里的人们带着他们衣着得体的孩子们，坐车来到这里， 他们带着欢乐，高声喊叫，终于从狭小的家里和贫瘠的街道中解放了。
Early in the morning, just before the sun comes out of the sea, when the dew is heavy on the ground and the stars are still visible, this place is very beautiful. You can sit here alone, with the world of intense silence all about you. The sea is restless and dark, made angry by the moon, its waves rolling in with a fury and a roar. But in spite of the deep thunder of the sea, everything is strangely quiet; there is no breeze, and the birds are still asleep. Your mind has lost its impulse to wander the face of the earth, to move among the old, familiar land-marks, to carry on a silent soliloquy. Suddenly and unexpectedly, all that tremendous energy is drawing together, gathering itself, but not to expend itself in movement. There is movement only with the experiencer, who is seeking, gaining, losing. The gathering together of this energy, free of the pressures and influences of desire, however weakened or heightened, has brought complete inward silence. Your mind is fully lighted, without any shadow, and without casting any shadow. The morning star is very clear, steady and unblinking, and there is a glow in the eastern sky. Your mind has not moved one hair’s-breadth; it is not paralysed, but the light of that inward silence has itself become action, without the words and the images of the mind. Its light is without a centre, the maker of shadow; there is only-light.
一大早，在太阳露出海面之前， 地上的露水很重，星星仍然可见， 这个地方非常美丽。 你可以自在地坐在这儿，强烈的宁静的世界都跟你在一起。 大海是不安分和黑暗的，被月亮激怒了， 它的波浪带着愤怒和咆哮滚滚而来。 但是，尽管大海的轰鸣声很深沉，但一切都出奇地安静； 没有微风，鸟儿们仍在睡觉。 你的头脑已经失去了 在地球的表面上徘徊、 在老旧而熟悉的地标之间移动、 继续开展无声的独白的冲动。 突然，出乎意料， 所有那些巨大的能量同时涌现，自发地聚拢， 在运动中却没有损耗自己。 只有体验者才拥有运动，体验者正在寻求、获得、失败。 这种能量的汇聚， 摆脱了欲望的压力和影响，无论多么的虚弱或剧烈， 带来了完全的内在的灵静。 你的头脑完全被照亮，没有任何阴暗，也没有投射出任何阴影。 晨星非常清晰、笃定、没眨眼，东方的天空中闪耀着一片光芒。 你的头脑没有一丝移动； 它没有瘫痪，而这内在的灵静的光，有它自身出现的行动， 没有头脑的言语和形象。 它的光是没有一个中心，这个阴影的制造者；只有 —— 光。
The morning star is fading away, and soon a golden rim is showing beyond the stirring waters. Across the land, shadows are slowly being cast. Everything is waking up, and a soft breeze is coming from the north. You follow the path that runs by the river and joins the main road. At that hour there are very few people on it, one or two taking their morning stroll; there are almost no cars, and things are fairly quiet. The road goes through a sleepy village, where two small children are using the roadside as their toilet, laughing and talking-away, unaware of the passer-by. A goat is lying down in the middle of the road, and a car goes around it. Some distance beyond the village, you pass through a gate into a well-kept garden, where there are brilliant flowers and a square pond with many lilies in it. The shadows are now deep, but there is still dew on the grass.
晨星正在消失， 很快，在扰乱的水域之外，一个金色的边缘正在显现。 在这片土地上，阴影正在慢慢投射。 一切都在苏醒，一阵和风从北方走来。 您沿着河边的小路行走，并加入主道。 在那个时候，很少有人在路上，一两个人在散步； 几乎没有汽车，周围相当安静。 这条路穿过一个沉睡中的村庄， 两个小孩正在把路边当作厕所， 笑着说话，没有意识到路人。 一只山羊躺在路中间，一辆车绕着它走。 在村庄以外的一段距离内，您穿过一扇门，进入一个保存完好的花园， 那里有灿烂的花朵和一个方形池塘，里面有许多莲花。 现在，阴影变深，但草叶上依然有露水。
He was a middle-aged man from the village, and a lawyer of sorts. He didn’t work very hard, he said, for he had a little property and could give some of his time to other things. At the moment he was writing a book about social conditions in this country. He had met some of the prominent people in the government, and had taken part in the latest movement of land-reform, walking with the others from village to village. His enthusiasm was very marked when he talked about political and social reform, and the whole tone of his voice changed. It became sharp urgent, excited; his head went up, an aggressive look crept into his eyes, and his manner became exertive. Of all this he was entirely unconscious. Words and statistics came to him easily, and he seemed to gather strength as he went along. As one listened without interrupting his flow of explanations and evaluations, he suddenly realized where he was, and awkwardly stopped himself.
他是一个乡下的中年男人，也是一个律师。 他说，他没有艰苦地工作，因为他有一点财产， 可以把一些时间花在其他事情上。 此刻，他正在写一本关于这个国家社会状况的书。 他会见了政府中的一些知名人士， 并参加了最新的土地改革运动， 与其他人一起从一个村庄走到另一个村庄。 当他谈到政治和社会改革时， 他热情高涨，整个语气都变了。 它变得锋刃般的紧逼、兴奋； 他的头抬起来，一种咄咄逼人的眼神悄悄地进入他的眼睛，他的举止变得铿锵。 而这一切，他完全没有意识到。 话语和统计数字很容易来到了他的身边，他似乎在前进中积聚着力量。 当一个人听着，没有打断他的解释和评价的流程时， 他突然意识到自己在哪里，并尴尬地停下了他自己。
“I always get excited when I talk about politics and social reform; I can’t help it. It’s in my blood. It seems to be the same with all of us, at least in this generation: politics are in our blood. Once we have left college, our education continues chiefly through the newspapers, which for the most part are dedicated to politics. I feel that an enormous amount of good can be done through politics, and that’s why I devote a great deal of my time to it. I like it, too; there’s excitement in it.”
“当我谈论政治和社会改革时，我总是感到兴奋； 我忍不住了。它在我的血液中。 似乎我们所有人都一样，至少在这一代人中： 政治在我们的血液中。 一旦我们离开大学， 通过看报纸，我们的教育在继续， 这些报纸在很大程度上致力于政治。 我觉得通过政治可以做大量的好事， 这就是为什么我花了很多时间在政治上。 我也喜欢它。其中有兴奋。”
As there is in drinking, in sex, in eating, in brutality, and so on. Excitement, in whatever form, gives us a sense of living, and we demand it even in religion. “Do you think it’s wrong?”
就像喝酒、性爱、吃饭、野蛮等等一样。 兴奋，无论以何种形式，都会给我们一种生活的感觉， 我们甚至在宗教中也要求它。 “你认为它是错的吗？”
What do you think? Hate and war offer great excitement, don’t they? “Personally, I don’t take politics lightly,” he went on, ignoring the question; “to me it is a very serious matter, because I feel it is a marvellous instrument for bringing about essential reforms. political action does produce results, and not in too distant a future, so there is in it a definite hope for the average man. Most religious people don’t seem to realize the importance of political action, which I think is a great pity; for, as one of our leaders has said, politics must be spiritualized. You agree with this, don’t you?”
你觉得呢？仇恨和战争提供了极大的兴奋，它们没有吗？ “就我个人而言，我不会漠视政治，” 他继续说道，忽略了这个问题。 “对我来说，它是一个非常严重的问题， 因为我觉得这是实现基本改革的奇妙工具。 政治行动确实会产生结果，而且不会在很远的未来， 因此大众有一个明确的希望。 大多数宗教人士似乎没有意识到政治行动的重要性， 我认为这是一个巨大的遗憾； 因为，正如我们的一位领导人所说，政治必须灵性化。 你同意这个，你不同意吗？”
A truly religious man is not concerned with politics; to him there is only action, a total religious action, and not the fragmentary activities which are called political and social. “Are you opposed to bringing religion into politics?”
一个真正的宗教人不关心政治； 对他来说，只有行动，一种完全的宗教行动， 而不是所谓的政治和社会中的零碎的活动。 “你反对把宗教带入政治吗？”
Opposition only breeds antagonism, does it not? Let us consider what we mean by religion. But first of all, what do you mean by politics? “The whole legislative procedure: justice, planning for the welfare of the State, guaranteeing equal opportunity for all its citizens, and so on. It is the function of government to rule wisely and to prevent chaos.”
反对只会滋生敌意，不是吗？ 让我们考虑一下我们所说的宗教是什么意思。 但首先，你说的政治是什么意思？ “整个立法程序：司法、规划国家福利、 保障所有公民的平等机会、等等。 明智的统治和防止混乱，是政府的职能。”
Surely, reform of every kind is also a function of government; it should not be left to the whims and fancies, called ideals, of strong individuals and their groups, for this leads to the fragmentation of the State. In a two-party or multiple-party system, reformers should work either through the government, or as part of the opposition. Why do we need social reformers at all? “Without them, many reforms already achieved would never have come into being. Reformers are necessary because they prod the government. They have greater vision than the average politician and by their example they force the government to bring about needed reforms, or to modify its policy. Fasting is one of the means adopted by the saintly reformers to compel the government to follow their recommendations.”
当然，各种改革也是政府的一项职能； 它不应该留给 因‘冲动和幻想’，所谓的理想，而形成的强壮的个人及其组织， 因为这会导致国家的分裂。 在两党制或多党制中， 改革者应该在政府，或在反对党派中工作。 为什么我们需要社会的改革者？ “没有他们，许多已经实现的改革将永远不会产生。 改革者是必要的，因为他们敦促政府。 他们比一般的政治家有更大的远见， 他们以身作则， 迫使政府进行必要的改革，或修改其政策。 绝食是圣洁的改革者采取的手段之一 以迫使政府遵循他们的建议。”
Which is a sort of blackmail, isn’t it? “Perhaps; but it does force the government to consider and even to carry out necessary reforms.”
那是一种勒索，不是吗？ “也许；但它确实迫使政府考虑 甚至进行必要的改革。”
The saintly reformer may be mistaken, and often he is when he gets involved in politics. Because he has a certain influence with the public, the government may have to yield to his demands – sometimes with disastrous results, as has recently been shown. Since reform of every kind, through various forms of legislation, is essentially the function of a humane, intelligent government, why don’t these politically-minded saints join the government, or create another political party? Is it that they want to play politics, and yet keep aloof from it?
圣洁的改革者可能是错误的，当他参与政治时，他往往是错的。 由于他对公众有一定的影响力， 政府可能不得不屈服于他的要求 —— 有时会产生灾难性的后果，正如最近所表明的那样。 既然通过各种形式的立法进行的各种改革， 本质上都是一个人道的、聪明的政府的职能， 那么为什么这些有政治头脑的圣人不加入政府， 或者创建另一个政党呢？ 难道是他们想玩弄政治，却又疏远它吗？
“I think they want to spiritualize politics.”
“我认为他们想使政治灵性化。”
Can politics ever be spiritualized? politics are concerned with society, which is always in conflict with itself, always deteriorating. The interrelationship of human beings constitutes society, and that relationship is actually based on ambition, frustration, envy. Society knows no compassion. Compassion is the act of a total and integrated individual.
政治能被灵性化吗？ 政治与社会有关， 社会总是与它自身发生冲突，总是在恶化。 人类的相互关系构成了社会， 这种关系实际上扎根于野心、挫折、嫉妒。 社会不懂慈。 慈是一个人的完全和整体性的行为。
Now, each of these political-religious reformers asserts that his is the way to salvation, doesn’t he?
现在，这些政治-宗教改革者都断言， 那是通往救赎的道路，他不是吗？
“Most of them do, but there are a few who are not so assertive.”
“他们中的大多数人都是，但也有少数人不那么自信。”
May they not all be greatly mistaken, caught in their own conditioning with strong prejudices and traditional bias? Is there not a tendency for each saintly political leader, with his group of followers, to bring about a further fragmentation and disintegration of the State? “But isn’t that a risk we must take? Can unity be brought about through mere legislation?”
或许他们都完全地弄错了， 陷入了他们自己强烈的成见和传统偏见的局限之中。 难道每个圣洁的政治领袖以及追随他的群体没有一种倾向， 从而导致国家进一步的分裂和瓦解吗？ “但那难道不是我们必须承担的风险吗？ 仅仅通过立法就能实现团结吗？”
Of course not. There may be a semblance of unity, the outward following of a universal pattern, social or political, but the unity of man can never be brought about through legislation, however enlightened. Where there’s friendship, compassion, the organization of justice is unnecessary; and through the organization of justice, compassion does not necessarily come into being. On the contrary, it may banish compassion. But that’s another matter.
当然不能。 也许有一种团结的表象， 在社会或政治层面上，有一种统一模式的外在遵循， 但人类的团结永远不可能通过立法来实现，无论多么的开明。 在有情谊、慈的地方，正义的组织是不必要的； 通过正义的组织，慈不一定会形成。 相反，它可能会驱逐慈。但那是另一回事了。
As I was saying, why don’t these saintly politicians join the government, or build up a party to carry out their policies? What’s the need of these reformers, outside of the political field? “They have more power outside of the parliament than they would have within it; they act as moral whips to the government. They do divide the people to some extent, it’s true, but that’s a necessary evil out of which good may come.”
正如我所说， 为什么这些圣洁的政客们不加入政府， 或者建立一个政党来执行他们的政策呢？ 在政治领域之外，这些改革者的需求是什么？ “他们在议会之外拥有的权力比他们在议会内拥有的权力更大； 他们充当政府的道德鞭子。 他们确实在某种程度上分裂了人民，那是真的， 但那是一种必要的邪恶，善良可能会从中产生。”
The problem is much deeper than that, isn’t it? Political, economic and social reforms are obviously necessary; but unless we begin to understand the greater issue, which is the totality of man and his total action, such reforms only breed further mischief, necessitating still more reforms, in an endless chain by which man is held.
问题远不止于此，不是吗？ 政治、经济和社会改革显然是必要的； 但是，除非我们开始理解更大的问题， 也就是人的整体性及其整体性的行动， 否则这种改革只会滋生进一步的灾难，需要更多的改革， 在一根无休止的链条中，人类被铐住。
Now, are there not deeper urges which are compelling these ‘saintly’ political leaders to act as they do? Leadership implies power, the power to influence, to guide, to dominate, and subtly or assertively, these leaders are seekers after power. power in any form is evil, and it will inevitably lead to disaster. Most people want to be led, to be told what to do, and in their confusion they bring into being leaders who are as confused as themselves.
现在，难道没有一种更深层的冲动 —— 在迫使这些‘圣洁’的政治领导者们，像他们一样行事？ 领导意味着权力，这种影响、引导、支配的权力， 不论是微妙地或明显地，这些领导者都在追求权力。 任何形式的权力都是邪恶的，它必然会导致灾难。 大多数人都希望被引导，被告知该做什么， 在他们的困惑中， 他们把领导者变成了和他们自己一样困惑的人。
“But why do you say that our leaders are seeking power?” he asked rather sceptically. “They are highly respectable men of good intention and good conduct.”
“但你为什么说我们的领导人正在寻求权力？” 他相当怀疑地问道。 “他们是非常有尊严的人，有良好的意愿和善良的行为。”
The respectable are the conventional; they follow tradition, wide or narrow, acknowledged or unacknowledged. The respectable always have the authority of the book, of the past. They may not consciously seek power, but power comes to them through their position, their activities, and so on; and by this power they are driven. Humility is far from them. They are leaders, they have followers. He who follows another, whether it be the greatest saint or the teacher round the corner, is essentially irreligious.
受到尊敬是出于传统的习俗； 他们遵循传统，无论宽窄，公认或者没有被公认。 受人尊敬的人总是拥有这本书的权威，过去的权威。 他们可能无意识地寻求权力， 但权力通过他们的地位、他们的活动等等而来到了他们身边。 通过这种权力，他们被驱使。 谦卑远离了他们。 他们是领导者，他们有追随者。 追随他人的人，无论是最伟大的圣人还是拐角处的老师， 本质上都是与宗教无关的人。
“I see what you mean, sir; but why do these people seek power?” he asked, more earnestly.
“我明白你的意思，先生； 但是这些人为什么要寻求权力？” 他更认真地问道。
Why do you seek power? Having power over one or over thousands, gives an intense possessive pleasure, does it not? There is a pleasurable feeling of self-importance, of being in a position of authority. “Yes, I know it quite well. I feel that pleasurable sense of authority when I am consulted about legal or political matters.”
你为什么寻求权力？ 拥有驾驭超过一个或数千个人的权力， 会给人一种强烈的占有欲，不是吗？ 有一种愉快的自我尊贵感，处于权威地位的感觉。” “是的，我很清楚。 当我被咨询法律或政治事务时， 我感到那种愉快的权威感。”
Why do we seek and try to maintain this exciting sense of power?
我们为什么要寻求并试图保持这种令人兴奋的权力感？
“It comes so naturally that it seems to be inbred in us.”
“它来得如此地自然，以至于它似乎是我们的天性。”
Such an explanation blocks further and deeper inquiry, doesn’t it? If you would find out the truth of the matter, you must not be satisfied by explanations, however plausible and gratifying.
这样的解释阻碍了进一步深入的调查，不是吗？ 如果你能找到事情的真相， 你一定不能满足于解释，无论这些解释多么合理和令人满意。
Why do we want to be leaders? There must be recognition in order to feel important; if we are not recognized as such, importance has no meaning. Recognition is part of the whole process of leadership. Not only does the leader acquire importance, but also the follower. By asserting that he belongs to such-and-such a movement, led by so-and-so, the follower becomes somebody. Don’t you find this to be true?
我们为什么想成为领导者？ 必须得到赞誉，才能感到尊重； 如果我们不被赞誉，尊重就没有意义。 赞誉是整个领导力过程的一部分。 领导者不仅要获得尊重，而且追随者也获得了尊重。 通过断言他从属于某某的一个运动， 由某某人领导，追随者变成了某种人物。 你没有发现这一点的真实性吗？
“I’m afraid I do.”
“恐怕我看到了。”
As with the follower, so with the leader. Being insufficient in ourselves, empty, we proceed to fill that emptiness with a sense of possession, power, position, or with knowledge, gratifying ideologies, and so on; we crowd it with the things of the mind. This process of filling, of escaping, of becoming whether it be conscious or otherwise, is the net of the self; it is the ego, the ‘me’, the entity that has identified itself with an ideology, with reform, with a certain pattern of action. In this process of becoming, which is self-fulfilment, there is always the shadow of frustration. Unless this fact is deeply understood, so that the mind is free from the act of self-fulfilment, there will ever be this evil of power, with various labels of respectability attached to it.
同追随者一样，领导者也是如此。 由于自己的不足、空虚， 我们继续往里面填充 —— 占有物、权力、地位，或者用知识、令人满意的意识形态，等等； 我们用头脑的东西填满了它。 填充、逃避、有意或无意地‘成为’ —— 这种过程就是自我之网。 它就是自我，是‘我’，是这个 认同于某种意识形态、改革、某种行动模式的实体。 在这个‘成为’的过程，在这个自我满足的路途上， 总是有挫折的阴影。 除非这个事实被深刻地理解， 那样，头脑从自我满足的行为中解脱， 否则就会有这种权力的邪恶，佩戴着各种受人尊敬的标签。
“If I may ask, when you yourself refused, many years ago, to continue as the head of a religious organization, had you thought all this out? You were quite young then, and how did it happen that you were able to do this?”
“如果我可以问， 多年前，当你自己拒绝继续担任宗教组织的负责人时， 你有没有想过这一切？ 那时你还很年轻，你是怎么做到的呢？”
One has an insight, a vague feeling, of what is right, and one does it, without thinking of the consequences. Later comes the reasoned explanation; and because the act is true, the reasons will be adequate and true. But that again is a different matter. We were talking about the inner workings of leaders and followers.
什么是对的？人有一种洞察力，一种模糊的感觉， 一个人做了它，而没有考虑后果。 事后，是这种理性的解释； 因为行动是真实的，所以理由将会是充分和真实的。 但那又是另一回事。 我们谈论的是领导者和追随者的内部运作。
The man who seeks power, or accepts power in any form, is fundamentally irreligious. He may seek power through austerity, through discipline and self-denial, which is called virtue, or through the interpretation of the sacred books; but such a man does not know the immense significance of what may be called religion.
这种寻求权力或接受任何形式的权力的人，根本就与宗教无关。 他可以通过节俭，通过纪律和 自我否定，这被称为美德 或通过对神圣书籍的解释来寻求权力； 但这样的人并不知道所谓的宗教的巨大意义。
“Then what is religion? I now see clearly that politics cannot be spiritualized, but that it has definite significance in its proper place, which includes the world of reform; and about that world I am still enthusiastic. But I am religious by nature, and I want to know from you what religion means.”
“那什么是宗教呢？ 我现在清楚地看到，政治不能被灵性化， 但它在其适当的位置上具有明确的意义， 其中包括这个世界的改革； 关于那个世界，我仍然充满热情。 但我天生就有宗教倾向，我想从你那里知道宗教意味着什么。”
You cannot know it from another; but what does it mean to you? “I was brought up in Hinduism, and what it teaches I accept as religion.”
你不能从别人那里知道它；但这对你来说，它意味着什么？ “我是在印度教中长大的，它所教导的，我接受为宗教。”
That’s what the Christian, the Buddhist, the Moslem also does; each accepts as religion the particular pattern of belief, dogma and ritual in which he happens to have been brought up. Acceptance implies choice, doesn’t it? And is there a choice in the matter of religion?
那就是基督徒、佛教徒和穆斯林所做的。 每个人都接受他碰巧被抚养长大的地方 的信仰、教条和仪式的特殊模式，视其为宗教。 接受意味着选择，不是吗？ 宗教是一个选择题吗？
“When I say that I accept what the religion I belong to teaches, I mean that it appeals to my reason. Is there anything wrong in that?”
“当我说，我接受我所属的宗教所教导的教义时， 我的意思是它迎合了我的理性。那有什么不对吗？”
It’s not a matter of right or wrong, but let’s understand what we’re talking about. From childhood you have been influenced by your parents, and by society, to think in terms of a certain pattern of beliefs and dogmas. Later you may revolt against all that, and take on another pattern of what is called religion; but whether you revolt or not, your reason is based on your desire to be secure, to be ‘spiritually’ safe, and on that urge depends your choice. After all, reason or thought is also the outcome of conditioning, of bias, prejudice, of conscious or unconscious fear, and so on. However logical and efficient one’s reasoning may be, it does not lead to that which is beyond the mind. For that which is beyond the mind to come into being, the mind must be totally still.
这不是对与错的问题，但让我们理解我们在说什么。 从孩提时代起，你就受到父母和社会的影响， 以某种信仰和教条的模式来思考。 之后，你可能会反抗这一切， 并采取另一种所谓的宗教模式。 但无论你反抗与否， 你的理性都是基于你对安全、‘灵性’安全的欲望， 而这种冲动，取决于你的选择。 毕竟，理性或思想也是由 条件、成见、偏见、有意或无意的恐惧等等形成的产物。 无论一个人的推理多么合乎逻辑和有效， 它都不会走出头脑的范围之内，指向非头脑的东西。 要出现超越头脑的东西，头脑必须完全静止。
“But are you against reason?” he demanded.
“但你反对理性吗？” 他紧追着问。
Again, it is a matter of understanding, and not of being for or against something. Although one may have the capacity to think efficiently to the very end of a problem, thought is always limited; reason is incapable of going beyond a certain point. Thought can never be free, because all thinking is the response of memory; without memory, there is no thinking. Memory, or knowledge, is mechanical; being rooted in yesterday, it’s always of the past. All inquiry, reasoning or unreasoning, starts from knowledge, the what has been. As thought is not free, it cannot go far; it moves within the limits of its own conditioning, within the boundaries of its knowledge and experience. Each new experience is interpreted according to the past, and thereby strengthens the past, which is tradition, the conditioned state. So thought is not the way to the understanding of reality.
同样，这是一个理解的问题，而不是支持或反对某个东西的问题。 虽然一个人可能有能力 有效地思考问题，直到最终，但思想总是受限的； 理性无法超越某一点。 思想永远不可能是自由的，因为所有的思考都是记忆的反应； 没有记忆，就没有思考。 记忆或知识是机械性的； 扎根于昨天，它永远属于过去。 所有的调查、推理或非理性，都是从知识、从过去的东西开始的。 因为思想不是自由的，它就不能走得太远。 它在自身条件的限制内， 在它的知识和经验的边境内移动。 每一个新的体验，都是根据过去而解释的， 从而强化了过去，也就是传统，这种局限性的状态。 所以思想不是理解真实的途径。
“If one is not to use one’s mind, how is it possible to find out what religion is?”
“如果一个人不用自己的头脑，怎么可能找出宗教是什么？”
In the very process of using the mind, of thinking clearly, reasoning critically and sanely, one discovers for oneself the limitation of thought. Thought, the response of the mind in human relationship, is tethered to self-interest, positive or negative; it is bound by ambition, envy, by possessiveness, fear, and so on. Only when the mind has shaken off this bondage, which is the self, is the mind free. The understanding of this bondage is self-knowledge.
在运用头脑、清晰思考、批判性和理性推理的过程中， 人自己发现了思想的局限性。 思想，作为头脑在人与人之间的反应， 总是与自我利益捆绑，无论是主动的还是被动的； 它被野心、嫉妒、占有欲、恐惧等等所束缚。 只有当头脑摆脱了这种束缚，也就是自我，头脑才是自由的。 对这种束缚的理解是自我认识。
“You have not yet said what religion is. To me, religion has always been belief in God, with the whole complex of dogmas, rituals, traditions and ideals that go with it.”
“你还没说宗教是什么。 对我来说，宗教一直是对上帝的信仰， 以及相应的教条、仪式、传统和理想的整个复杂体。”
Belief is not the way to reality. Belief and non-belief are a matter of influence, pressure, and a mind that is under pressure, open or hidden, can never fly straight. The mind must be free from influence, from inward compulsions and urges, so that it is alone untrammelled by the past; only then can that which is timeless come into being. There is no path to it. Religion is not a matter of dogma, orthodoxy and ritual; it is not organized belief. Organized belief kills love and friendliness. Religion is the feeling of sacredness, of compassion, of love.
信仰不是通往真实的道路。 信仰和不信仰，都是一件与影响、压力相关的事情， 而一个头脑处于压力之下，无论压力是明显的还是隐藏的，都永远不能直线飞行。 头脑必须不受影响，不受内在的强迫和冲动的影响， 这样它才自在，而不受过去的束缚； 只有这样，非时间的东西才能形成。 没有通往它的路径。 宗教不是一件关于教条、正统和仪式的事情； 它不是有组织的信仰。 有组织的信仰扼杀了爱和友好。 宗教是这种神圣、慈、爱的感觉。
“Must one abandon the beliefs, the ideals, the temple – every thing with which one has been brought up? To do so would be very difficult; one is afraid to stand alone. Is such a thing really possible?”
“一个人必须放弃信仰、理想、庙宇 —— 每一件被培养的东西吗？ 这样做将非常困难。一个人害怕独自一人。 这样的事情真的可能吗？”
It is possible the moment you see the urgent necessity of it. But you cannot be compelled; you must see it for yourself. Beliefs and dogmas have very little value – in fact, they are actively harmful, separating man from man and breeding animosity. What matters is for the mind to free itself from envy, from ambition, from the desire for power, because these destroy compassion. To love, to be compassionate, is of the real.
当你看到它的紧迫性时，它是可能的。 但是你不能被强迫；你必须亲眼看见。 信仰和教条几乎没有价值 —— 事实上，它们是积极地有害，将人与人分开，滋生敌意。 重要的是，头脑要从嫉妒、野心、对权力的渴望中解脱， 因为这些会摧毁慈。爱，慈，属于真实。
“Deep down, what you say has the ring of truth. Most of us live so much on the surface, we are so immature and subject to influence, that the real thing escapes us. And one wants to reform the world! I must begin with myself; I must cleanse my own heart, and not be carried away with the thought of reforming another. Sir, I hope I may come again.”
“在内心深处，你说的话有真实的金石声。 我们大多数人活得如此的肤浅， 我们是如此的不成熟和受制于影响，以至于真实的东西逃离了我们。 而人却想要改革世界！ 我必须从我自己开始； 我必须净化我自己的心， 不要被改造他人的想法所迷惑。 先生，我希望我能再见一面。”