对生活的评注 3-10

IT WAS VERY early in the morning of a sunlit day, limpid and clear, and the restless sea was quiet, gently lapping the white shore. There was hardly any movement of the vast waters which were intensely blue as though some artificial colour had been added. There was a sparkle in the sea, and a gaiety; it was bluer than the blue sky, and it was old and full of joy. Last week the waters had been violent and threatening, with a strong current that would have carried one far out; but now they were all but still, with only a whisper of movement. The wind had exhausted itself after days of heavy blowing, and there wasn’t even a breeze. The smoke of a steamer far out at sea was going almost straight up in the cloudless sky. It was so quiet that one could hear the sound of a train, still several miles away, as it came along the low cliff overlooking the sea. The faint rumble grew into a roar, and soon the earth shook as the long freight train, a hundred steel cars pulled by a spanking new diesel, passed swiftly overhead. The driver waved his hand and smiled. Soon the train was out of sight, and once again there was quiet by the blue sea. Miles to the north, one could just see rows of carefully-planted palm trees, with green lawns, where the town came down to the edge of the sea; but here it was very peaceful. There were hundreds of seagulls on the beach. One evidently had a broken wing, for it was standing apart its wing hanging down; further along, a dead gull was almost covered by the shifting sands. A large dog came along, a lovely creature in the sun, and the whole flock of birds flew out to sea, made a wide half-circle, and landed on the sand again, some distance behind the dog. With a frightened cry, the injured gull moved towards the water, dragging its wing; the dog saw it, but paying no attention, went on its way, chasing the small crabs that came out of the wet sands.

清晨，阳光灿烂、清澈而洁净，不眠的大海很安静，轻轻拍打着白色的海岸线。广阔的海水几乎没有任何运动，这些水域是强烈的蓝色，好像添加了一些人造色。海里闪耀着光芒、喜悦；它比蓝天更蓝，它很古老，充满了欢乐。上周，这些水域是暴力和威胁性的，强大的潮涌会把一个人卷入遥远的地方。但现在，它们几乎静止了，只有一种低语的动静。经过几天的猛烈吹刮，风已经耗尽了，甚至一丝微风也不剩。远在海上的一艘轮船的烟雾，几乎直冲无云的天空。它如此安静，以至于人可以听到远在几英里之外的火车声，它沿着悬崖下方而来，俯瞰着大海。微弱的隆隆声变成了咆哮声，很快，大地震动了，因为长长的货运列车，一百辆钢制车厢被飞驰的崭新的柴油机头拉扯，迅速从头顶经过。司机挥动着手，笑着。很快，火车就看不见了，蓝色的大海又一次安静下来。在北面数英里处，人可以看到一排排精心种植的棕榈树林、绿色的草坪，城镇一直延伸到海边；但这里非常宁静。海滩上有数百只海鸥。其中一只显然有一只断了的翅膀，因为它站立的时候，翅膀下垂着。再往前走，一只死去的海鸥几乎被流沙覆盖。一只大狗走了过来，阳光下一只可爱的生物，整群鸟儿飞向大海，划出一个宽阔的半圆，再次降落在沙滩上，远离身后的狗，有了相当一段距离。随着一声惊恐的哭声，受伤的海鸥向水面移动，拖着它的翅膀；狗看到了它，但没有注意，继续走它的路，追逐着从湿沙中出来的小螃蟹。

A clerk in some office, he was grave and very earnest, with bright, serious eyes and a ready smile. prices had gone up he said, and living had become so expensive that it was difficult to make ends meet. Although still quite young, in his thirties, he was anxious about the future, for he had responsibilities – no children, he explained, but a wife and an old mother to provide for. “What is the purpose of life, of this monotonous, routine existence?” he suddenly asked. “I have always been seeking something or other: seeking a job when I got through college, seeking pleasure with my wife, seeking to bring about a better world by joining the Communist party – which I soon left, incidentally, because it’s just an organized religion, like any other; and now I am seeking God. By nature I am not a pessimist, but everything in life has saddened me. We seek and seek, and we never seem to find. I have read the books that most educated people read, but intellectual stimulation soon becomes wearisome. I must find, and my life is beginning to shorten. I want to talk most seriously with you, for I feel that you may be of help in my search”

他是某个办公室的文员，他很严肃，非常认真，有明亮的、严肃的眼睛和准备好的微笑。他说，物价上涨了，生活变得如此昂贵，以至于很难维持生计。虽然他还很年轻，但三十多岁的他，对未来感到焦虑，因为他有责任 —— 他解释说，没有孩子，只有妻子和老母亲要养活。 “生命的目的是什么，这种单调的、例行公事的存在是什么？” 他突然问道。 “我一直在寻找一些东西或其它东西：在我大学毕业后，找了一份工作，寻求与妻子的快乐，寻求通过加入共产党来带来一个更美好的世界 —— 顺便说一句，我很快就离开了，因为它只是一个有组织的宗教，就像任何其他宗教一样；现在我正在寻求上帝。从本质上讲，我不是一个悲观主义者，但生命中的一切都让我感到悲伤。我们寻求和寻求，我们似乎从未找到。我读过大多数受过教育的人读过的书，但智力上的刺激很快就会变得令人厌倦。我必须找到，我的生命开始缩短。我想和你最认真地谈话，因为我觉得你对我的搜索可能会有所帮助。”

Can we go slowly and patiently into this movement called search? There are those who assert that they have sought and found, and being satisfied with what they have found, they have their reward. You say you are seeking. Do you know why you are seeking, and what it is you seek? “Like everyone else, I have sought many things, most of which have passed away; but, like some disease that has no cure, the search goes on.”

我们能否缓慢而耐心地进入这个叫做搜索的运动？有些人断言，他们已经找到和发现，并且对他们发现的东西感到满意，他们有他们的回报。你说，你在寻找。你知道你为什么寻求，你在寻找什么？ “像其他人一样，我寻求过很多东西，其中大部分已经消逝了。但是，就像一些无法治愈的疾病一样，搜索仍在继续。”

Before we go into the whole question of what it is we seek, let’s find out what we mean by that word ‘seeking’. What is the state of the mind that is seeking?

在我们进入‘我们在寻求什么’的整个问题之前，让我们找出‘寻求’这个词的含义。在寻求的头脑处于什么状态？

“It is a state of effort in which the mind is trying to get away from a painful or conflicting situation, and to find a pleasurable, comforting one.”

“这是一种努力的状态，在这种状态下，头脑试图摆脱痛苦或冲突的局面，并寻找一个愉快的、安慰的环境。”

Is such a mind really seeking? What the mind seeks it will find, but what it finds will be its own projection. Is there true search, if search is the outcome of a motive? Must all search have a motive, or is there a search which has no motive whatsoever? Can the mind exist without the movement of search? Is search as we know it merely another means by which the mind escapes from itself? If so what is it that is driving the mind to escape? Without understanding the full content of the mind that is seeking search has little significance.

这样的头脑真的是在寻求吗？头脑寻求的东西会找到，但它所发现的，将会是它自己的投影。如果搜索是动机的结果，那么是否有真正的搜索？所有搜索都必定有一个动机，或者，存在一种没有任何动机的探索？没有这种搜索运动，头脑还存在吗？我们所知道的搜索仅仅是头脑从自身中逃跑的另一种途径吗？如果是这样，是什么在驱使头脑逃跑？没有理解正在寻找的头脑的全部内容，搜索就没什么意义。

“I am afraid, sir, all this is a bit too much for me. Could you make it simpler?”

“恐怕，先生，这一切对我来说有点太难了。你能把它变得更简单吗？”

Let’s begin with the process we know. Why do you seek, and what are you seeking? “One is seeking so many things: happiness, security, comfort, permanency, God, a society which is not everlastingly at war with itself, and so on.”

让我们从我们所知道的过程开始。你为什么寻求，你在寻找什么？“人正在寻求很多东西：快乐、安全、舒适、永恒、上帝，一个不会永远与自己打仗的人类社会，等等。”

The state you are actually in, and the end you are seeking, are both creations of the mind, are they not?

你实际所处的状态，以及你所寻求的终点，都是头脑创造出来的，不是吗？

“Please, sir, don’t make it too difficult. I know I suffer, and I want to find a way out of it I want to move towards a state in which there will be no sorrow.”

“拜托，先生，不要让它变得太难。我知道我在受苦，我想找到一条出路，我想走向一种没有悲伤的状态。”

But the end you are seeking is still the projection of a mind that doesn’t want to be disturbed; isn’t that so? And there may be no such thing, it may be a myth. “If that is a myth, then there must be something else which is real, and which I must find.”

但你所寻求的终点，依然是一个不想被打扰的头脑的投影；难道不是那样吗？也许并没有那种东西，它可能是一个神话。 “如果那是一个神话，那么一定还有其他真实的东西，我必须找到它。”

We are trying to understand, aren’t we?, the total significance of search, not how to find the real. We may come upon that presently. For the moment we are concerned with what we mean when we say we are seeking, so let’s inquire into the whole implication of that word.

我们试图理解，不是吗？搜索的全部意义，而不是如何找到真实的东西。我们现在可能会遇到它。从这一刻开始，当我们说‘我们正在寻求’的时候，我们关心的是这个‘寻求’的动作，所以让我们来探究这个词的整个含义。

Being unhappy, you are seeking happiness, are you not? One man sees happiness in power, position prestige, another in wealth or knowledge, another in God, another in the ideal State, the perfect Utopia, and so on. As a man who is ambitious in the worldly sense pursues the path of his fulfilment, in which there is ruthlessness, frustration, fear, perhaps covered over with sweet-sounding words, so you also are seeking to fulfil your desire, even though it be for the highest; and when you already know what the end is, is there search?

由于不快乐，你在寻求幸福，不是吗？一个人在权力、地位、声望中，看到了幸福，另一个人在财富或知识中，另一个人在上帝身上，另一个人在理想国，完美的乌托邦中，等等。作为一个在世俗意义上的雄心勃勃的人追求他成就的道路，其中有无情、挫折、恐惧，也许被甜美的话语所覆盖，所以，你也在寻求满足你的欲望，即使它是为了最高的；当你已经知道目的是什么的时候，有探索吗？

“Surely sir, God or bliss cannot be known beforehand; it must be sought out.”

“先生，上帝或幸福当然不能事先知道；必须被找出。“

How can you seek out that which you do not know? You know, or think you know, what God is, and you know according to your conditioning, or according to your own experience, which is based on your conditioning; so, having formulated what God is, you proceed to ‘discover’ that which your mind has projected. This is obviously not search; you are merely pursuing what you already know. Search ceases when you know, because knowing is a process of recognition, and to recognize is an action of the past, of the known.

你怎么能找到你不知道的东西呢？你知道，或者你认为你知道‘什么是上帝’，你根据你的局限，或者根据你自己的体验，也就是你的限制条件；所以，在制定出‘什么是上帝’之后，你开始去‘发现’你的头脑所投射出的东西。这显然不是探索；你只是在追求你已经知道的东西。当你知道的时候，探索就停止了，因为知道是一个识别的过程，而识别是一种过去的、已知的行为。

“But I am really seeking God, by whatever name He may be called.”

“但我真的在寻求上帝，无论他叫什么名字。”

You are seeking God, as others are seeking happiness through drink, through the acquisition of power, and so on. These are all well-known and well-established motives. Motive brings about the desired end. But is there search when there is a motive? “I think I am beginning to see what you mean. please go on, sir.”

你在寻求上帝，就像其他人通过喝酒、通过获得权力等等来寻求幸福一样。这些都是众所周知和既定的动机。动机带来了预期的目标。但是，当有动机时，会有探索吗？ “我想我开始明白你的意思了。请继续，先生。”

If you are really earnest, the moment you perceive that in this whole pattern of so-called search, there is no search at all, you abandon it. But the cause of your search still remains. You may set aside pattern A, which is the search after that which the mind has projected; but then you will turn to pattern B, which is the idea that you must not pursue pattern A; and if it is not pattern B it will be pattern C, N, or Z. The core of your mind has not understood the whole problem of seeking, and that is why it moves from one pattern to another, from one ideal to another, from one guru or leader to another. It is ever moving in the net of the known.

如果你真的认真，一旦你察觉到，在所谓的搜索的整个模式中，根本没有探索，你就放弃了它。但是您探索的原因仍然存在。你可能放弃搜索模式甲，它是头脑的投影；但随后你会转向模式乙，那是‘你一定不能追求模式甲’的观念；如果它不是模式乙，它会是模式丙、丁或癸。你头脑的核心并没有理解寻求的整个问题，这就是为什么它从一种模式转移到另一种模式，从一种理想转移到另一种理想，从一个上师或领导者转移到另一个上师或领袖。它永远在已知的网络中移动。

Now, can the mind remain without seeking? Is there the mind, the seeker, when this movement of search is not? The mind swing from one movement of search to another, ever groping, ever seeking, ever caught in the net of experience. This movement is always towards the ‘more: more stimulation, more experience, wider and deeper knowledge. The hunter is ever projecting the hunted. Does the mind seek, once it is aware of the significance of this whole process of seeking? And when the mind is not seeking, is there an experiencer to experience?

现在，头脑能不去寻求吗？当这种搜索行为不存在时，有没有这个头脑、这个寻求者？头脑从一个寻找运动转移到另一个运动，永远摸索，永远寻找，永远陷入体验的网络。这种运动总是朝着‘更多’：更多的刺激、更多的体验、更广泛和更深入的知识。猎人总是投射出被猎者。一旦头脑意识到这整个寻求过程的意义，它会去寻求吗？而当头脑不寻求时，有没有一个体验者在体验呢？

“What do you mean by the experiencer?”

“你说的体验者是什么意思？”

As long as there is a seeker and a thing sought, there must be the experiencer, the one who recognizes, and this is the core of the mind’s self-centred movement. From this centre, all activities take place, whether noble or ignoble: the desire for wealth and power, the compulsion to be content with what is, the urge to seek God, to bring about reforms, and so on.

只要有一个寻求者和一个寻求的东西，就一定有体验者，一个识别的人，这是头脑以自我为中心的运动核心。这个中心，是所有活动的发源地，无论活动是高尚的还是卑鄙的：是对财富和权力的渴望，对现有事物的满足感还是对寻求上帝的冲动、进行改革，等等。

“I see in myself the truth of what you are saying. I have approached the whole thing wrongly.”

“我在自己身上看到了你所说的真实性。我错误地处理了整个事情。”

Does this mean you are going to approach it ‘rightly’? Or are you aware that any approach to the problem, ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, is self-centred activity, which only strengthens, subtly or grossly, the experiencer? “How cunning the mind is, how quick and subtle in its movement to maintain itself! I see that very clearly.”

这是否意味着您将‘正确’地接近它？或者你是否意识到，任何解决问题的方法，无论是‘对’还是‘错’，都是以自我为中心的活动，只会微妙地或严重地加强体验者？ “头脑是多么狡猾，它的运动是多么的快速和微妙地维护着自己！我看得非常清楚。”