THERE HAD BEEN heavy rains, several inches a day for over a week, and the river was running very high. It was already over its banks, and some of the villages were flooded. The fields were under water, and the cattle had to be moved to higher ground. A few more inches and it would be over the bridge, and then there would really be trouble; but just as it was reaching the danger point, the rains stopped and the river began to go down. Some monkeys who had taken refuge in the trees were isolated, and they would have to remain there for a day or so.
一个多星期以来，每天都有数英寸的大雨， 河水涨得非常高。 它已经越过了河岸，一些村庄被洪水淹没了。 田野淹没在水下，牛群不得不移动到地势较高的地方。 再多几英寸，它就会越过桥，那样的话，麻烦就大了； 但就在它快要到达危险点时， 雨停了，河水开始下降。 一些躲在树上的猴子被隔离开来， 它们不得不在那里待上一天左右。
Early one morning, when the waters had subsided, we set out across the open country, which was flat almost up to the foot of the mountains. The road went past village after village, and past farms equipped with modern machines. It was spring, and along the road the fruit trees were in bloom. The car was running smoothly. There was the purr of the motor, and the hum of rubber tires on the road; and yet there was an extraordinary silence everywhere, among the trees, on the river, and over the planted earth.
一天清晨，当水位消退时， 我们出发穿过开阔的乡村，那里几乎是平坦的山脚。 这条路经过一个又一个村庄，经过配备有现代机械的农场。 那是春季，沿路的果树盛开。 汽车运行平稳。 有电机的呼噜声，路面上橡胶轮胎的嗡嗡声； 然而，到处都是非同寻常的静， 在树林中，在河上，在耕种的土地上。
The mind is silent only with the abundance of energy, when there is that attention in which all contradiction the pulling of desire in different directions, has ceased. The struggle of desire to be silent does not make for silence. Silence is not to be bought through any form of compulsion; it is not the reward of suppression or even sublimation. But the mind that is not silent is never free; and it is only to the silent mind that the heavens are opened. The bliss which the mind seeks is not found through its seeking, nor does it lie in faith. Only the silent mind can receive that blessing which is not of church or belief. For the mind to be silent, all its contradictory corners must come together and be fused in the flame of understanding. The silent mind is not a reflective mind. To reflect, there must be the watcher and the watched, The experiencer heavy with the past. In the silent mind there is no centre from which to become, to be, or to think. All desire is contradiction, for every centre of desire is opposed to another centre. The silence of the total mind is meditation.
头脑的静止，只有带着充沛的能量， 出现了关注时，在那里， 在不同方向上相互拉扯的欲望而生出的矛盾，都消逝了。 想要保持静止的努力，并不能产生静止。 静不是通过任何形式的强迫来换取的； 它不是压制甚至升华的奖励。 但是，不安静的头脑永远不自由。 只有对静止的头脑，天堂才被打开。 头脑所寻求的至乐不是通过它的寻求而找到的，也不在信仰中。 只有静止的头脑才能接受那不属于教会或信仰的祝福。 为了头脑的静， 它所有矛盾的角落必须一起熔化在理解的火焰中。 宁静的头脑不是一个反省的头脑。 要反省，必须有观察者和被观察者，观察者背负着沉重的过去。 在安静的头脑中，没有一个中心在成为、保持或思考。 所有的欲望都是矛盾，因为每一个欲望的中心都与另一个中心相对立。 整个头脑的静止，即是冥想。
He was a youngish man, with a large head, clear eyes and capable-looking hands. He spoke with ease and self-assurance, and he had brought along his wife, a dignified lady who evidently wasn’t going to say anything. She had probably come under his persuasion, and preferred to listen. “I have always been interested in religious matters,” he said, “and early in the morning, before the children are up and the household bustle begins, I spend a considerable period of time in the practice of meditation. I find meditation very helpful in gaining control of the mind and in cultivating certain necessary virtues. I heard your discourse on meditation a few days ago, but as I am new to your teachings, I was not quite able to follow it. But that’s not what I came to talk about. I came to talk about time – time as a means to the realization of the Supreme. As far as I can see, time is necessary for the cultivation of those qualities and sensibilities of mind which are essential, if enlightenment is to be attained. This is so, isn’t it?”
他是一个年轻人，有一个大脑袋、清晰的眼睛和能干的手。 他说话轻松自在，自信满满， 他带上他的妻子， 一位有尊严的女士，显然什么都不会说。 她可能听从了他的劝说，宁愿来听。 “我一直对宗教事务感兴趣，” 他说， “清晨，在孩子们起床和家务忙碌开始之前， 我花了相当长的一段时间来练习冥想。 我发现冥想对控制头脑 和培养某些必要的美德非常有帮助。 几天前，我听到你们关于冥想的论述， 但由于我对你的教诲刚接触，我无法完全遵循它。 但那不是我要谈论的。我过来是谈论时间 —— 时间作为一种实现至尊的手段。 据我所知， 时间对于培养头脑的那些品质和敏感性 是必要的，如果要获得开悟，这些品质和敏感性是必不可少的。 就是这样，不是吗？”
If one begins by assuming certain things, is it then possible to seek out the truth of the matter? Do not conclusions prevent clarity of thought? “I have always taken it for granted that time is necessary to attain liberation. This is what most of the religious books maintain, and I have never questioned it. One gathers that individuals here and there have realized that exalted state instantaneously; but they are only the few, the very few. The rest of us must have time, short or long, in which to prepare the mind to receive that bliss. But I quite see what you mean when you say that to think clearly, the mind must be free of conclusions.”
如果一个人从假设开始， 那么有可能找出事情的真相吗？ 结论不会妨碍思想的清明吗？ “我一直想当然地认为，时间是获得解脱所必需的。 这是大多数宗教书籍所坚持的，我从未质疑过它。 从翻过的书籍中所收集到的信息来看， 某些地方的某些人，已经突然地意识到了这种崇高的状态； 但他们只是少数，极少数。 我们其他人必须花费时间，无论时间的短或长， 为头脑迎接这种至乐而作准备。 但是我完全明白你的意思， 当你说要清晰地思考，头脑必须没有结论。”
And it is extremely arduous to be free of them, is it not?
要摆脱它们，是非常艰巨的，不是吗？
Now, what do we mean by time? There is time by the clock, time as the past, the present and the future. There is time as memory, time as distance journeying from here to there, and time as achievement, the process of becoming something. All this is what we mean by time. And is it ever possible for the mind to be free of time, to go beyond its limitations? Let’s begin with chronological time. Can one ever be free of time in the factual, chronological sense?
现在，我们所说的时间是什么意思？ 时间与时钟有关，与过去、现在和未来有关。 有作为回忆的时光，作为从这里到那里的距离的时间， 作为获取成功、成为某个人物的整个过程的时间。 所有这些，都是我们所说的时间。 头脑有没有可能自由地脱离时间，超越它的局限？ 让我们从作为顺序的时间开始。 一个人能够摆脱作为实际的、秩序性的时间吗？
“Not if one wants to catch a train! To be sanely active in this world, and to maintain some kind of order, chronological time is essential.”
“如果一个人想赶火车，就不行！ 为了理性地活跃在这个世界上，为了保持某种秩序， 作为秩序性的时间是必不可少的。”
Then there is time as memory, habit, tradition; and time as effort to achieve, to fulfil, to become. It obviously takes time to learn a profession, or acquire a technique. But is time also necessary for the realization of the Supreme? “It seems to me that it is.”
然后是作为记忆、习惯、传统的时间； 和作为获取、满足、达成的时间。 显然，学习一种职业知识或获得一种技术需要时间。 但是，对于实现至尊，也需要时间吗？ “在我看来，是那样的。”
What is it that is achieving, realizing?
那么，要去获取、实现的东西是什么？
“I suppose it’s what you call the ‘me’.”
“我想这就是你所说的'我'。”
Which is a bundle of memories and associations, both conscious and unconscious. It’s the entity who enjoys and suffers, who has practiced virtues, acquired knowledge, gathered experience, the entity who has known fulfilment and frustration, and who thinks there is the soul, the Atman, the Higher Self. This entity, this ‘me’, this ego, is the product of time. Its very substance is time. It thinks in time, functions in time and builds itself up in time. This ‘me’, which is memory, thinks that through time it will reach the Supreme. But its ‘Supreme’ is something it has formulated, and is therefore also within the field of time, is it not?
也就是一捆记忆和联想，包括有意识和无意识。 它是享乐和受苦的实体， 是它在实践美德，获得知识，收集经验， 是这个实体知道实现和挫折， 是他认为有灵魂、阿特曼、更高的自我。 这个实体，这个‘我’，这个自我，是时间的产物。 它的材质是时间。 它在时间中思考，在时间中发挥作用，并在时间中建立自己。 这个‘我’，也就是记忆，认为随着时间的推移，它会达到至尊。 但它的‘至尊’是它创立的东西， 因此也在时间的领域之内，不是吗？
“The way you unfold it, it does seem that the maker of effort and the end for which he is striving are equally within the sphere of time.”
“你展开了它的纹路， 似乎努力的制造者和他所争取的目标 同样也在时间的范围内。”
Through time you can achieve only that which time has created. Thought is the response of memory, and thought can realize only that which thought has put together. “Are you saying, sir, that the mind must be free from memory, and from the desire to achieve to realize?”
通过时间，你只能获取时间所创造的东西。 思想是记忆的回应， 思想只能意识到思想组装起来的东西。 “先生，你是说，头脑必须从记忆中解脱， 从达成、实现的欲望中解放出来吗？”
We shall come to that presently. If we may, let us approach the problem differently. Take violence, for example, and the ideal of non-violence. It’s said that the ideal of non-violence is a deterrent to violence. But is it? Let’s say I am violent, and my ideal is not to be violent. There is an interval, a gap between what I actually am, and what I should be, the ideal. To cover this intervening distance takes time; the ideal is to be achieved gradually, and during this interval of the gradual approach I have the opportunity to indulge in the pleasure of violence. The ideal is the opposite of what I am, and all opposites contain the seeds of their own opposites. The ideal is a projection of thought, which is memory, and the practising of the ideal is a self-centred activity, just as violence is. It has been said for centuries, and we go on repeating, that time is necessary to be free from violence; but it’s a mere habit, and there’s no wisdom behind it. We are still violent. So time is not the factor of freedom; the ideal of non-violence does not free the mind from violence. And cannot violence just cease – not tomorrow or ten years hence?
我们现在将讨论这个问题。如果可以的话，让我们不同地着手这个问题。 以暴力和非暴力的理想为例。 据说，非暴力的理想是对暴力的威慑。但它是真的吗？ 假设我是暴力的，我的理想是不要暴力。 在我实际的样子和我应该成为的理想之间，有一个间隔，一个差距。 要覆盖这个差距，需要时间； 理想是逐步实现的， 在逐步覆盖这个差距的时间内， 我有机会沉迷于暴力的乐趣。 理想与我的现状相反， 所有对立面都包含着它们自己对立面的种子。 理想是思想的投影，也就是记忆， 而理想的实践是一种以自我为中心的活动，就像暴力一样。 几个世纪以来，人们一直这样说，而我们在继续重复它 —— 要摆脱暴力，时间是必要的； 但这只是一种习惯，背后没有智慧。 我们仍然是暴力的。 因此，时间不是自由的因素； 非暴力的理想并不能使头脑从暴力中解脱。 难道暴力就不能仅仅地停下吗？ —— 不是在明天或十年后。
“Do you mean instantaneously?”
“你是说瞬间吗？”
When you use that word, aren’t you still thinking or feeling in terms of time? Can violence cease, that’s all, not in any given moment? “Is such a thing possible?”
当你使用这个词时，你不还是在思考或感受时间吗？ 暴力能消逝吗，仅此而已，而不是在任何特定时刻？ “这样的事情可能吗？”
Only with the understanding of time. We are used to ideals, we are in the habit of resisting, suppressing, sublimating, substituting, all of which involves effort and struggle through time. The mind thinks in habits; it is conditioned to gradualism, and has come to regard time as a means of achieving freedom from violence. With the understanding of the falseness of that whole process, the truth of violence is seen, and this is the liberating factor, not the ideal, or time.
只能伴随着对时间的理解。 我们习惯了各种各样的理想， 我们养成了抗拒、压抑、升华、替代的习性， 所有这些都涉及到通过时间，去努力和抗争。 头脑在习惯中思考； 它局限于渐进主义， 并开始将‘时间’作为实现‘从暴力中解放’的手段。 理解整个过程的虚假性， 暴力的真相就被看到，这就是解放的因子，而不是理想，不是时间。
“I think I understand what you are saying, or rather, I feel the truth of it. But isn’t it very difficult to free the mind from habit?”
“我想我理解你所说的， 或者更确切地说，我感受到了它的真实性。 但是，要把头脑从习惯中解放出来，不是很困难吗？”
It is difficult only when you fight habit. Take the habit of smoking. To fight that habit is to give it life. Habit is mechanical, and to resist it is only to feed the machine give more power to it. But if you consider the mind and observe the formation of its habits, then with the understanding of the larger issue, the lesser becomes insignificant and drops away. “Why does the mind form habits?”
只有当你与习惯作斗争时，它才是困难的。比如吸烟的习惯。 与这种习惯作斗争就是赋予它生命。 习惯是机械化的，去抵抗它，只是在给机器提供更多的动力。 但是，如果你考虑头脑并观察它习惯的形成， 那么随着对更大的问题的理解， 较小的问题变得微不足道并消失。 “为什么头脑会养成习惯？”
Be aware of the ways of your own mind, and you will discover why. The mind forms habits in order to be secure, safe, certain, undisturbed, in order to have continuity. Memory is habit. To speak a particular language is a process of memory, habit; but what is expressed in the language, a series of thoughts and feelings, is also habitual, based on what you have been told, on tradition, and so on. The mind moves from the known to the known, from one certainty to another; so there’s never freedom from the known.
要注意你自己头脑的运作方式，你就会发现为什么。 头脑形成习惯，以便安全、有保障、确定、不被打扰， 以便具有延续性。记忆就是习惯。 说一种特定的语言是一个回忆、习惯的过程； 而用语言表达出来的东西，一系列的思想和感受，也是习惯性的， 基于你被告知的东西，基于传统，等等。 头脑从已知移动到已知，从一种确定性移动到另一种确定性； 所以，它从来没有从已知中解脱。
This brings us back to what we started with. It’s assumed that time is necessary for the realization of the Supreme. But what thought can think about is still within the field of time. The mind cannot possibly formulate the unknown. It can speculate about the unknown, but its speculation is not the unknown. “Then the problem arises, how is one to realize the Supreme?”
这让我们回到了我们开始的问题。 这个假设：时间对于实现至尊是必要的。 但思想能想到的，还在时间的范畴之内。 头脑不可能创立未知的东西。 它可以推测未知，但它的推测不是未知。 “那么问题来了，一个人如何实现至尊？”
Not by any method. To practise a method is to cultivate another set of time-binding memories; but realization is possible only when the mind is no longer in bondage to time.
不是通过任何方法。 练习一种方法就是培养另一套受时间束缚的记忆； 但只有当头脑不再受时间束缚时，实现才有可能。
“Can the mind free itself from its self-created bondage? Is not an outside agency necessary?”
“头脑能从自己创造的束缚中解脱吗？ 难道不需要外面的中介吗？”
When you look to an outside agency, you are back again in your conditioning, in your conclusions. Our only concern is with the question, “Can the mind free itself from its self-created bondage?” All other questions are irrelevant and prevent the mind from attending to that one question. There is no attention when there’s a motive, the pressure to achieve, to realize; that is, when the mind is seeking a result, an end. The mind will discover the solution of this problem, not through arguments, opinions, convictions or beliefs, but through the very intensity of the question itself.
当你向外面的中介求助时， 你又回到了你的局限中，又回到了你的结论中。 我们唯一关心的问题是， “头脑能从它自己创造的束缚中解脱吗？” 所有其他问题都是无关紧要的， 并且阻止头脑关注这个问题。 当有动机、实现、达成的压力时，就没有关注； 也就是说，那时的头脑在寻求一个结果，一个目的。 头脑会发现这个问题的解决方案， 不是通过争论、观念、信念或信仰， 而是通过问题本身的强度。