MEDITATION IS a very important action in life; perhaps it is the action that has the greatest and deepest significance. It is a perfume that cannot easily be caught; it is not to be bought through striving and practice. A system can yield only the fruit it offers, and the system, the method, is based on envy and greed. Not to be able to meditate is not to be able to see the sunlight, the dark shadows, the sparkling waters and the tender leaf. But how few see these things! Meditation has nothing to offer; you may not come begging with folded hands. It doesn't save you from any pain. It makes things abundantly clear and simple; but to perceive this simplicity the mind must free itself, without any cause or motive, from all the things it has gathered through cause and motive. This is the whole issue in meditation. Meditation is the purgation of the known. To pursue the known in different forms is a game of self-deception, and then the meditator is the master, there is not the simple act of meditation. The meditator can act only in the field of the known; he must cease to act for the unknown to be. The unknowable doesn't invite you, and you cannot invite it. It comes and goes as the wind, and you cannot capture it and store it away for your benefit, for your use. It has no utilitarian value, but without it life is measurelessly empty.
冥想是生命中非常重要的行动； 也许正是这种行动，才具有最大和最深刻的意义。 它是一种不容易被抓住的香芬； 它并非是通过努力和实践而购买的。 一个系统只能产生它提供的果实， 而系统、方法，是基于嫉妒和贪婪的。 不能冥想，就不能看到阳光、黑暗的阴影、波光粼粼的水域和娇嫩的叶子。 但是，很少有人看到这些东西！ 冥想没有什么可以供应的；你也许不会叠起手来乞讨。 它不能使您免于任何痛苦。 它使事物变得异常地清晰和简单； 但是，要感知这种简单性，头脑必须自由， 不带任何原因或动机地，将自己从它通过原因和动机所收集的一切东西里解放出来。 这就是冥想的整个情景。 冥想是对已知的净化。 以不同的形式去追求已知，是一种自我欺骗的游戏， 然后冥想者就成了主人；这其中，并没有属于冥想的简洁的行动。 冥想者只能在已知的领域内行动； 为了让未知存在，他必须停下。 未知不会邀请你，你也不能邀请它。 它像风一样来来去去， 你不能为了你的利益，为了你的用途而捕捉它，保存它。 它没有功利价值，但没有它，生命就无限的空荡。
The question is not how to meditate, what system to follow, but what is meditation? The 'how' can only produce what the method offers, but the very inquiry into what is meditation will open the door to meditation. The inquiry does not lie outside of the mind, but within the movement of the mind itself. In pursuing that inquiry, what becomes all-important is to understand the seeker himself, and not what he seeks. What he seeks is the projection of his own craving, of his own compulsions, desires. When this fact is seen, all searching ceases, which in itself is enormously significant. Then the mind is no longer grasping at something beyond itself, there is no outward movement with its reaction inwards; but when seeking has entirely stopped, there is a movement of the mind which is neither outward nor inward. Seeking does not come to an end by any act of will, or by a complex process of conclusions. To stop seeking demands great understanding. The ending of search is the beginning of a still mind.
问题不在于如何冥想，遵循什么系统，而在于什么是冥想？ 询问‘如何’只能产生方法所提供的东西， 但探究什么是冥想，将打开冥想的大门。 探究不在头脑之外，而在头脑本身的运动。 在进行这种调查时，最重要的是理解追寻者 —— 他自己， 而不是他所寻求的东西。 他所寻求的，是他自己的渴望，他自己的冲动和欲望的投影。 当这个事实被看见，所有的搜寻都停下了，这样，他自身就有了非常重大的意义。 那么，头脑不再抓取某些超越自身的东西， 没有外在的运动，及其内在的反应； 但是，当追寻完全地停止时， 有一种既不向外也不向内的头脑的运动。 追寻不会因为任何意志的行为或复杂的论证过程而结束。 追寻的终结需要极其地理解。 搜寻的结束，是一个安静的头脑的开端。
A mind that is capable of concentration is not necessarily able to meditate. Self-interest does bring about concentration, like any other interest, but such concentration implies a motive, a cause, conscious or unconscious; there is always a thing to be gained or set aside, an effort to comprehend to get to the other shore. Attention with an aim is concerned with accumulation. The attention that comes with this movement towards or away from something is the attraction of pleasure or the repulsion of pain, but meditation is that extraordinary attention in which there is no maker of effort, no end or object to be gained. Effort is part of the acquisitive process, it is the gathering of experience by the experiencer. The experiencer may concentrate, pay attention, be aware; but the craving of the experiencer for experience must wholly cease, for the experiencer is merely an accumulation of the known.
一个能够集中注意力的头脑不一定能够冥想。 像任何其他利益一样，自我利益确实会带来集中， 但这种集中意味着一个动机、一种原因，无论它是有意的或者无意的； 总有一件东西要去获取或抛弃， 总有一种努力要去领悟以到达彼岸。 有目的性的关注，与积累相关。 这种朝向或远离某个东西的关注 是源于快乐的吸引力或对痛苦的排斥力， 但冥想是一种非凡的关注，在这种关注中， 没有努力的制造者，没有目的或东西去获取。 努力是获取过程的一部分， 是体验者在积累体验。 体验者可以集中注意力，去关注，保持清醒； 但是体验者对体验的渴望必须完全停止， 因为体验者只不过是已知事物的堆积物。
There is great bliss in meditation.
在冥想中，有伟大的祝福。
He explained that he had studied philosophy and psychology, and had read what Patanjali had to say. He considered Christian thought rather superficial and given to mere reformation, so he had gone to the East, had practiced some kind of yoga, and was fairly familiar with Hindu thought. "I have read something of what you have been saying and I think I can follow it up to a certain point. I see the importance of not condemning, though I find it extremely difficult not to condemn; but I cannot understand at all when you say, 'Do not evaluate, do not judge'. All thinking, it seems to me, is a process of evaluation. Our life, our whole outlook, is based on choice, on values, on good and bad, and so on. Without values we would just disintegrate, and surely you do not mean that. I have tried to empty my mind of all norm or value, and for me at least it is impossible."
他解释说，他学过哲学和心理学， 读过帕坦伽利说的话。 他认为基督教思想相当肤浅，仅仅是一种转换， 所以他去了东方，练习某种瑜伽， 并且对印度教思想相当熟悉。 “我已经读过你一直在讲的某些东西， 我想我可以跟进到一定的程度。 我看到了不谴责的重要性，尽管我发现极难不去谴责； 但是当你说‘不要评估，不要判断’时，我根本无法理解。 在我看来，所有的思考都是一个评估的过程。 我们的生命，我们的整个观点，都是基于选择、价值观、好与坏，等等。 没有价值观，我们只会瓦解，你肯定不是这个意思。 我尝试去清空我脑海中所有的规范或价值，但至少对我来说，这是不可能的。”
Is there thinking without verbalization, without symbols? Are words necessary to thinking? If there were no symbols, referents, would there be what we call thinking? Is all thinking verbal, or is there thinking without words? "I do not know, I have never considered the matter. As far as I can perceive, without images and words there would be nothing."
有没有一种没有被语言化的、没有符号的思考？ 言语是思考所必需的吗？ 如果没有符号、参考物，会有我们所说的思考吗？ 所有的思考都是言语化的吗，有没有不需要言语的思考？ “我不知道，我从来没有考虑过这件事。 据我所知，没有了图像和文字，什么都不会有。”
Shouldn't we find out the truth of this matter now, while we are here talking about it? Is it not possible to find out for oneself whether or not there is thinking without words and symbols?
当我们在这里谈论它，难道现在不应该找出这件事的真相吗？ 难道没有可能亲自找出不使用文字和符号的思考吗？
"But in what way is this related to evaluation?"
“但这与评估有什么关系呢？”
The mind is made up of referents associations, images and words. Evaluation comes from this background. Words like God, love, Socialism, Communism, and so on, play an extraordinarily important part in our lives. Neurologically as well as psychologically words have significance according to the culture in which we are brought up. To a Christian certain words and symbols have enormous significance, and to a Moslem another set of words and symbols has an equally vital significance. Evaluation takes place within this area.
头脑是由相关的联想、图像和文字组成的。 评估发源于这个背景。 像‘上帝’、‘爱’、‘社会主义’、‘共产主义’等等的词语， 在我们的生活中扮演着极其重要的角色。 根据我们成长的文化， 在神经学和心理学上，词语都具有重要的意义。 对基督徒来说，某些词语和符号具有重大的意义， 而对于穆斯林来说，另一组词语和符号也具有同样重要的意义。 评估发源于这些领域。
"Can one go beyond this area? And even if one can, why should one?"
“一个人能超越这个领域吗？即使可以，人为什么要这样做呢？”
Thinking is always conditioned; there is no such thing as freedom of thought. You may think what you like, but your thinking is and will always be limited. Evaluation is a process of thinking, of choice. If the mind is content, as it generally is, to remain within an enclosure, wide or narrow, then it is not bothered with any fundamental issue; it has its own reward. But if it would find out whether there is something beyond thought, then all evaluation must cease; the thinking process must come to an end.
思考总是有条件的；没有所谓的‘思想自由’这样的东西。 你可能会思考你喜欢什么，但你的想法是，而且总是受限的。 评估是一个思考的过程，一个选择的过程。 如果头脑得到了满足，就像它平常所处的状态， 处于一个围墙之内，无论宽窄， 那么它就不会被任何根本性的问题所困扰；它有自己的奖赏。 但是，如果它能发现，是否存在某种超出思想范围的东西， 那么所有的评估都必须停止；思考过程必须结束。
"But the mind itself is part and parcel of this process of thinking, so by what effort or practice can thought be brought to an end?"
“但头脑本身就是这个思考过程的一部分， 那么通过什么努力或实践可以结束思想呢？”
Evaluation condemnation, comparison, is the way of thought, and when you ask through what effort or method can the process of thinking be brought to an end, are you not seeking to gain something? This urge to practise a method or to make further effort is the outcome of evaluation, and is still a process of the mind. Neither by the practice of a method nor by any effort whatsoever can thought be brought to an end. Why do we make an effort?
评价、谴责、比较，是思考方式， 当你问自己通过怎样的努力或方法可以结束思考过程时， 你不是在寻求获得某个东西吗？ 这种实践一种方法或进一步努力的冲动，是评估的产物， 仍然是头脑的运作过程。 无论是通过一种方法的实践，还是通过任何努力， 都无法使思想结束。我们为什么要去努力？
"For the very simple reason that if we did not make an effort we would stagnate and die. Everything makes an effort, all nature struggles to survive."
“原因很简单，如果我们不努力，我们就会停滞不前并死亡。 一切都在努力，所有的大自然都在为生存而挣扎。”
Do we struggle just to survive, or do we struggle to survive within a certain psychological or ideological pattern? We want to be something; the urge of ambition, of fulfilment, of fear, shapes our struggle within the pattern of a society which has come about through the collective ambition, fulfilment and fear. We make effort to gain or to avoid. If we were concerned only with survival, then our whole outlook would be fundamentally different. Effort implies choice; choice is comparison, evaluation, condemnation. Thought is made up of these struggles and contradictions; and can such thought free itself from its own self-perpetuating barriers?
我们是仅仅为了生存而挣扎， 还是在某种心理或意识形态模式中挣扎求生？ 在这个通过集体的野心、成就和恐惧而产生的社会模式中， 我们想成为某种人物； 这种对野心、成就、恐惧的冲动， 塑造了我们的挣扎。 我们努力去获取或避免。 如果我们只关心生存， 那么我们的整个视野将从根本上产生转变。 努力意味着选择；选择即是比较、评估、谴责。 思想是由这些挣扎与矛盾组成的； 这种思想能从自身的持续性的栅栏中解脱吗？
"Then there must be an outside agency, call it divine grace or what you will, that steps in and puts an end to the self-enclosing ways of the mind. Is this what you are indicating?"
“那么必须有一个外部机构，称之为神圣的恩典或你所想的， 它介入并结束头脑的自我封闭方式。 这是你的意思吗？”
How eagerly we want to achieve a satisfying state! If one may point out, sir, are you not concerned with arrival with achievement, with freeing the mind from a particular condition? The mind is caught in the prison of its own making, of its own desires and efforts, and every movement it makes, in any direction, is within the prison; but it is not aware of this, so in its pain and conflict it prays, it seeks an outside agency which will liberate it. It generally finds what it seeks, but what it has found is the outcome of its own movement. The mind is still a prisoner, only in a new prison which is more gratifying and comforting.
我们多么渴望达到一个令人满意的状态！ 如果有人可以指出，先生，你难道不关心 成就的达成，把头脑从特定条件中解放出来吗？ 头脑被困在它自己创造的监狱中，困在它自己的欲望和努力中， 它在任何方向上所做的每一个动作，都在监狱之内； 但是它却没有意识到这一点， 所以在它的痛苦和冲突中，它祈祷，它寻求一个外部机构来解放它。 通常地，它找到它所寻求的东西， 但它所发现的，是它自身行为的产物。 头脑仍然是一个囚犯，只是走进一个新的监狱里，这里更加令人满意和安慰。
"But what in the name of heaven is one to do? If every movement of the mind is an extension of its own prison, then all hope must be abandoned."
“但是，看在上帝的份上，一个人该怎么办？ 如果头脑的每一个动作都是它自己监狱的扩展， 那么所有的希望都必须被抛弃。”
Hope is another movement of thought caught in despair. Hope and despair are words that cripple the mind with their emotional content, with their seemingly opposing and contradictory urges. Is it not possible to stay in the state of despair, or any similar state, without rushing away from it to an opposite idea, or desperately clinging to the state which is called joyous hopeful, and so on? Conflict comes into being when the mind takes flight from the state called misery, pain, into another called hope, happiness. To understand the state in which one is, is not to accept it. Both acceptance and denial are within the area of evaluation.
希望是另一个陷入绝望的思想运动。 希望和绝望是一类脑残的词语， 里面所包含的情绪，以及看似对立和矛盾的冲动摧残着头脑。 难道不能处于绝望或任何类似的状态中， 而不去匆忙地离开它，到一个相反的观念， 或者拼命地紧紧抓住那个被称为欢乐的、充满希望的等等的状态吗？ 当头脑从被称之为悲惨、痛苦的状态中逃逸， 逃进另一种称之为希望，快乐的状态时，冲突就产生了。 理解一个人所处的状态，而不是去接受它。 接受和拒绝，都在评估的范围之内。
"I am afraid I still do not grasp how thought can come to an end without some kind of action in that direction."
“恐怕我仍然不明白， 如果没有朝着一个方向采取某种行动，思想怎么能走到尽头。”
All action of will, of desire, of compulsive urge, is born of the mind, the mind that is evaluating, comparing, condemning. If the mind perceives the truth of this, not through argumentation, conviction, or belief, but through being simple and attentive, then thought comes to an end. The ending of thought is not sleep, a weakening of life a state of negation; it is an entirely different state.
所有意志、欲望、强迫性的冲动，都发源于头脑， 那个头脑在评估、比较、谴责。 如果头脑感知到这件事情的真实性， 不是通过辩论、信念或信仰， 而是通过简单和关注，那么思想就会结束。 思想的终结不是打瞌睡，不是生命的孱弱，不是拒绝的状态； 它是一种完全不同的状态。
"Our talk together has shown me that I have not thought very deeply about all this. Though I have read a great deal, I have only assimilated what others have said. I feel that for the first time I am experiencing the state of my own thinking and am perhaps able to listen to something more than mere words."
“我们在一起的谈话告诉我，我还没有对这一切进行过非常深入的思考。 虽然我读了很多书，但我只是吸收了别人说的话。 我第一次感觉到，我正在体验自己的思考状态， 也许，我听到的东西不仅仅是言语。”