HE SAID THAT his guru was too great a man to be described, and that he had been a pupil of his for many years. This teacher, he went on, imparted his teachings through brutal shocks, through foul language, through insults and actions that were contradictory; and he added that many important people were among the followers. The very crudeness of the procedure forced people to think, it made them sit up and take notice, which was considered necessary because most people were asleep and needed to be shaken. This teacher said the most awful things about God, and it seemed that his pupils had to drink a great deal, as the teacher himself drank heavily at most meals. The teachings, however, were profound; they had been kept secret at one time, but now they were being made available to all.
他说，他的上师太伟大了，无法形容， 而且他多年来一直是他的学生。 他接着说，这位老师通过残酷的冲击， 通过粗言秽语，通过侮辱和自相矛盾的行为来传授他的教义； 他补充说，追随者中有许多重要人物。 非常粗暴的操作规程迫使人思考， 它使他们坐起来并产生注意， 这被认为是必要的，因为大多数人都睡着了，需要被摇晃。 这位老师说了关于上帝的最可怕的事情， 似乎他的学生们不得不喝很多酒， 因为老师自己在大多数的饭餐中都喝得很高。 然而，教义是深刻的。 它们曾经被保密，但现在，它们被提供应给所有人。
The late autumnal sun was pouring in through the window, and one could hear the roar of the busy street. The leaves in their death were brilliant, and the air was fresh and keen. As with all cities, there was an atmosphere of depression and unnameable sorrow in contrast to the light of the evening; and the artificial gaiety was even more sorrowful. We seem to have forgotten what it is to be natural, to smile freely; our faces are so closed with worry and anxiety. But the leaves sparkled in the sun and a cloud passed by.
深秋的阳光透过窗户倾泻而下， 人可以听到繁忙街道的轰鸣声。 那些死去的叶子是灿烂的，空气清新而强烈。 与所有城市一样， 与夕阳的光线形成鲜明对比的，是一种沮丧和难以命名的悲伤氛围。 而人造的愉快，更是令人忧伤。 我们似乎已经忘记了什么是自然，什么是自由地微笑； 我们的脸被担忧和焦虑所笼罩。 但是叶子在阳光下闪光，一朵云从中经过。
Even in so-called spiritual movements the social divisions are maintained. How eagerly a titled person is welcomed and given the front seat! How the followers hang around the famous! How hungry we are for distinctions and labels! This craving for distinction becomes what we call spiritual growth: those who are near and those who are far, the hierarchical division as the Master and the initiate, the pupil and the novice. This craving is obvious and somewhat understandable in the everyday world; but when the same attitude is carried over into a world where these stupid distinctions have no meaning whatever, it reveals how deeply we are conditioned by our cravings and appetites. Without understanding these cravings, it is utterly vain to seek to be free from pride.
即使在所谓的灵性运动中，社会的等级划分也得到了维持。 一个有头衔的人，受到多么热切的欢迎，并给予上座！ 追随者如何徘徊在名人周围！我们多么渴望区别和标签！ 这种对区别的渴望，变成了我们所说的灵性成长： 那些靠得较近的人和那些离得较远的人、 那些大师和启蒙者、学生和新手的等级划分。 这种渴望在日常生活中是显而易见的，并且在某种程度上是可以理解的。 但是，当同样的态度被引入到一个 对这些愚蠢的划分没有任何意义的领域时， 它揭露出，我们被我们的渴望和欲望所制约的程度有多么地深。 如果不理解这些渴望，寻求‘从傲慢中解脱’是完全徒劳的。
"But," he continued, "we need guides, gurus, Masters. You may be beyond them, but we ordinary people need them, otherwise we shall be like lost sheep." We choose our leaders, political or spiritual, out of our own confusion, and so they also are confused. We demand to be coaxed and comforted, to be encouraged and gratified, so we choose a teacher who will give us what we crave for. We do not search out reality, but go after gratification and sensation. It is essentially for self-glorification that we create the teacher, the Master; and we feel lost, confused. and anxious when the self is denied. If you have no direct physical teacher, you fabricate one who is far away, hidden and mysterious; the former is dependent on various physical and emotional influences, and the latter is self-projected, a homemade ideal; but both are the outcome of your choice, and choice is inevitably based on bias, prejudice. You may prefer to give a more respectable and comforting name to your prejudice, but it is out of your confusion and appetites that you choose. If you are seeking gratification, you will naturally find what you desire, but do not let us call it truth. Truth comes into being when gratification, the desire for sensation, comes to an end.
“但是，”他继续说， “我们需要向导、导师、大师。 你们也许超越了他们，但我们普通人需要他们， 否则，我们就会像迷失的羔羊一样。” 我们选择我们的领导人，无论是政治上的，还是精神上的，都是出于我们自己的困惑， 所以他们也很困惑。 我们要求被哄骗和安慰，被鼓励和满足， 所以我们选择一位老师，他会给我们我们渴望的东西。 我们不去寻找真实，而是去追求满足和感觉。 从本质上讲，为了自我的荣耀，我们创造出老师、大师; 我们感到迷茫、困惑。 当自我被否认时，会感到焦虑。 如果你没有一个直接的、真实的老师， 你就捏造了一个遥远、隐蔽和神秘的人； 前者依赖于各种身体和情感的影响， 后者是自我投射出的，一种自制的理想； 但两者都是你选择的结果，而所做的选择，不可避免地基于偏心、成见。 你可能更愿意给你的偏见起一个更体面和更舒服的名字， 但你的选择，是出于你的困惑和口味。 如果你在寻求满足， 你自然会找到你想要的，但我们别称它为‘真理’。 当这种满足，这种对感觉的渴望结束时，真理就出现了。
"You have not convinced me that I do not need a Master," he said.
需要上师，”他说。
Truth is not a matter of argumentation and conviction; it is not the outcome of opinion. "But the Master helps me to overcome my greed, my envy," he insisted.
真理不是争论和信不信的问题；它不是某种观念的结果。 “但大师帮助我克服了我的贪婪、我的嫉妒，”他坚持道。
Can another, however great, help to bring about a transformation in yourself he can, you are not transformed; you are merely dominated, influenced. This influence may last a considerable time, but you are not transformed. You have been overcome; and whether you are overcome by envy or by a so-called noble influence, you are still a slave, you are not free. We like to be slavish, to be possessed by someone, whether by a Master or by anyone else, because there is security in this possession; the Master becomes the refuge. To possess is to be possessed, but possession is not freedom from greed.
别人，无论有多么伟大，能够帮助你，使你自身产生改变吗？ 你没有被改变；你只是被支配，被影响。 这种影响可能会持续相当长的时间，但你并没有被改变。 你已经被征服了。 无论你是被嫉妒还是被所谓的高人所影响， 你仍然是一个奴隶，你不是自由的。 我们喜欢被奴役，被某人佔有， 无论是被师父还是被其他人佔有，因为在这种佔有之中，有安全； 大师成为了避难所。 占有就是被占有，但占有并没有摆脱贪婪。
"I must resist greed," he said. "I must fight it, make every effort to destroy it, and only then will it go."
“我必须抵制贪婪，”他说。 “我必须与它作斗争，尽一切努力摧毁它，只有这样它才会消失。”
From what you say, you have been in conflict with greed for a great many years, and yet you are not free from it. Do not say that you have not tried hard enough, which is the obvious response. Can you understand anything through conflict? To conquer is not to understand. What you conquer has to be conquered again and again, but there is freedom from that which is fully understood. To understand, there must be awareness of the process of resistance. To resist is so much easier than to understand; and besides, we are educated to resist. In resistance there need be no observation, no consideration, no communication; resistance is an indication of the dullness of the mind. A mind that resists is self-enclosed and so is incapable of sensitivity, of understanding. To understand the ways of resistance is far more important than to get rid of greed. Actually, you are not listening to what is being said; you are considering your various commitments which have grown out of your years of struggle and resistance. You are now committed, and around your commitments, which you have probably lectured and written about, you have gathered friends; you have an investment in your Master, who has helped you to resist. So your past is preventing you from listening to what is being said.
从你说的话来看，你已经与贪婪发生冲突很多年了， 但你并没有从中解脱。 不要说你不够努力，这是明显的回应。 你能通过冲突来理解任何事物吗？征服不是理解。 你所征服的必须一次又一次地被征服， 如果那被完全地理解，就有自由。 要理解，必须有对抵制过程的意识。 抵制比理解要容易得多。 此外，我们被教育要去抵制。 在抵制中，不需要观察，不需要考虑，不需要沟通； 抵制是这颗头脑的沉闷表现。 一个抗拒的头脑是自我封闭的，因此无法敏感，无法理解。 理解抵制的方式，远比摆脱贪婪更重要。 实际上，你不是在听别人说出的话； 你正在考量你多年的挣扎，以及在抵制中所付出的各种投入。 你现在已经深陷其中，围绕着你的付出， 也就是你说过的话和写过的东西，你已经聚集了一堆朋友； 你对你的上师有付出，而他在帮助你去抵制。 所以，你的过去正阻碍着你去听别人说的话。
"I both agree and disagree with you," he remarked.
意你的观点，”他说。
Which shows that you are not listening. You are weighing your commitments against what is being said, which is not to listen. You are afraid to listen and so you are in conflict, agreeing and at the same time disagreeing. "You are probably right," he said, "but I cannot let go of all that I have gathered: my friends, my knowledge, my experience. I know that I must let go, but I simply cannot, and there it is."
这就表明了你没有在听。 你是在权衡你的付出和现在所说的话，这不是听。 你害怕听，所以你处于冲突之中，同意，同时又不同意。 “你可能是对的，” 他说， “但我不能放弃我所收集的一切： 我的朋友、我的知识、我的体验。 我知道我必须放手，但我根本放不下，就是这样。”
The conflict within him will now be greater than ever; for when once you are aware of what is, however reluctantly, and deny it because of your commitments, deep contradiction is set going. This contradiction is duality. There can be no bridging over of opposing desires; and if a bridge is created, it is resistance, which is consistency. Only in understanding what is is there freedom from what is.
现在，他内心的冲突比以往任何时候都更加严重。 因为，一旦你意识到真实的情况，无论有多么地不情愿， 你却因为你的付出而不愿意承认，那么，深刻的矛盾就会发生。 这种矛盾是二元性。在相互对立的欲望之间，没有桥梁； 如果创建了一座桥，它就是阻碍，被称之为‘一致性’。 只有在理解真实的情况中，才能从中解脱而自由。
It is an odd fact that followers like to be bullied and directed, whether softly or harshly. They think the harsh treatment is part of their training - training in spiritual success. The desire to be hurt, to be rudely shaken, is part of the pleasure of hurting; and this mutual degradation of the leader and the follower is the outcome of the desire for sensation. It is because you want greater sensation that you follow and so create a leader, a guru; and for this new gratification you will sacrifice, put up with discomforts, insults and discouragements. All this is part of mutual exploitation, it has nothing whatever to do with reality and will never lead to happiness.
一个奇怪的事实是， 追随者喜欢被欺负和指导，无论是温柔的，还是严厉的。 他们认为严厉的对待是训练他们的一部分 —— 对灵性成功的训练。 这种想被伤害、被粗鲁地摇晃的欲望，是一种通过被伤害而产生的快感； 而领导者和追随者的这种相互堕落，是对感觉的渴望的结果。 正是因为你想要更强烈的感觉，你才会追随，从而创造一个领导者，一个上师。 为了这种新的满足， 你会牺牲，忍受不舒服、侮辱和气馁。 所有这些，都是相互剥削的一部分， 它与真理无关，永远不会导向快乐。