BATHED IN THE light of the evening sun a fisherman came swinging down the road with a smile on his face. He wore a piece of cloth attached to a string around his waist, but was otherwise completely naked. He had a magnificent body, and you could see that he was very proud of it. A car went by, driven by a chauffeur, and the lady inside was all dressed up. She must have been going to some party. She had jewels round her neck and in her ears, and there were flowers in her dark hair. The chauffeur was doing all the driving, and she was absorbed in herself. She didn’t even look at the fisherman, nor was she aware of anything else about her; but the fisherman looked at the car as it went by, to see if he was noticed. He was walking quite fast, with a long easy stride, never slackening his pace; but as each car passed he turned his head. Just before reaching the village he took a newly-made road of bright red earth, which in the last rays of the setting sun was redder than ever. passing through a palm grove and along a canal, where there were some light barges loaded with fire-wood, the fisherman crossed a bridge and took a narrow path that led to the river.
沐浴在夕阳下， 一个渔夫摇摇晃晃地在路上走，脸带微笑。 他衣着一块布，用绳子捆绑在腰上， 但除此之外，他完全的裸露。 他有一个雄壮的身体，你可以看到他为此感到非常自豪。 一辆车经过，司机在驾驶，里面的那位女士全身打扮。 她一定是去参加某个聚会。 她的脖子上和耳朵上都挂有珠宝，黑发上插有花。 司机正在忙于驾驶，她迷失于她自己之中。 她甚至没有看那个渔夫，也没有意识到她的周围。 但是渔夫看着汽车经过，看看他是否被注意到了。 他走得很快，跨着长而从容的步子，从不松懈。 但当每辆车经过时，他会转头。 就在到达村子之前，他走了一条新近建成的鲜艳的红土路， 在夕阳的最后一缕阳光下，这条路比以往任何时候都更加红。 穿过一片棕榈树林，沿着一条运河， 那里有一些装满木柴的轻型驳船， 渔夫穿过一座桥，走了一条通往河流的狭窄小径。
It was very quiet by the river, for there were no houses nearby, and the noise of traffic didn’t come that far. Land crabs had made large round holes in the damp mud, and a few cattle were about. The breeze was playing with the palms, and they were stately in their movement; they were all dancing, as if to music.
河边非常安静， 因为附近没有房子，交通噪音也没有传递得那么远。 陆蟹在潮湿的泥土上开了大圆孔，还有几头牛在附近。 微风吹着棕榈叶，它们的摆动很庄严。 它们都在跳舞，仿佛踩踏着音乐。
Meditation is not for the meditator. The meditator can think, reason, build up or tear down, but he will never know meditation; and without meditation, his life is as empty as the shell by the sea. Something can be put in that emptiness, but it is not meditation. Meditation is not an act whose worth can be weighed in the market place; it has its own action, which cannot be measured. The meditator knows only the action of the market place, with its noise of exchange; and through this noise, the noiseless action of meditation can never be found. The action of cause becoming effect, and effect becoming cause, is an everlasting chain that binds the meditator. Such action, being within the walls of his own prison, is not meditation. The meditator can never know meditation which is just beyond his walls. It’s only the walls that the meditator himself has built, high or low, thick or thin, that divide him from meditation.
冥想不是为冥想者准备的。 冥想者可以思考、推理、建立或拆除，但他永远不会知道冥想； 没有冥想，他的生活就像海边的贝壳一样空虚。 有些东西可以放在那个空虚中，它却不是冥想。 冥想不是一种可以在市场上权衡定价的行动； 它有自己的行动，这是无法衡量的。 冥想者只知道市场上的行动，以及它交易时的噪音； 通过这种噪音，永远无法找到冥想的无噪音的行动。 行动的原因变成结果，结果变成原因， 那条永恒的链条，将冥想者缠缚。 那种行动，在他自己监狱的围墙内，不是冥想。 冥想者永远无法知道在他墙壁之外的冥想。 冥想者只知道自己建造的墙壁，或高或低，或厚或薄， 那墙垣，将他与冥想分开。
He was a young man, just out of college and full of high spirits. Moved by an urge to do good, he had recently joined some movement in order to be more effective, and would like to have devoted his whole life to it; but unfortunately his father was an invalid, and he had to support his parents. He saw the drawbacks of the movement as well as its merits, but the good outweighed the bad. He was not married, he said, and would never be. His smile was friendly, and he was eager to express himself.
他是一个年轻人，刚从大学毕业，精神抖擞。 他被一种做好事的冲动所感动， 为了提高效率，他最近加入了一些运动， 并希望为此奉献他的一生； 但不幸的是，他的父亲是一个残疾人，他不得不养活他的父母。 他看到了这场运动的弊端及其优点，但好事胜过坏事。 他说，他没有结婚，也可能永不结婚。 他的笑容很友好，他渴望表达自己。
“The other day I was present at your talk, in which you were saying that truth cannot be organized, and that no organization can lead one to truth. You were very definite about it, but to me your explanation was not altogether satisfactory, and I want to talk it over with you. I know that you were once the head of a large organization, the Order of the Star, which you dissolved, and if I may ask, was this because of a personal whim, or was it motivated by a principle?”
“前几天，我听了你的讲话， 你说真理是无法组织的， 任何组织都不能把一个人引向真理。 你对此非常肯定， 但对我来说，你的解释并不完全令人满意， 我想和你谈谈。 我知道你曾经是一个大型组织的负责人， 也就是你解散了的明星社，如果我可以问， 这是出于个人的心血来潮，还是出于某个原则？”
Neither. If there is a cause for action is it action? If you renounce because of a principle, an idea, a conclusion, is it renunciation? If you give up one thing for the sake of something greater, or for some person, is that giving up? “Reason doesn’t play a part in giving up anything; is that what you mean?”
都不是。如果行动有一个原因，它是行动吗？ 如果你因为一个原则、一个想法、一个结论而放弃，是放弃吗？ 如果你为了某个更伟大的东西或某个人，而放弃一个东西， 那是放弃吗？ “对任何东西的放弃，理由是没用的；那是你的意思吗？”
Reason can make one behave in this manner or in that; but what reason has put together, reason can undo. If reason is the criterion of action, then the mind can never be free to act. Reason, however subtle and logical, is a process of thinking, and thinking is ever influenced, conditioned by personal fancy, by desire, or by an idea, a conclusion, whether imposed or self-induced.
理由可以使一个人以这种方式或那种方式行事； 但理由的捏造者，可以撤销理由。 如果理由是行动的标准，那么头脑就永远不能自由地行动。 理由，无论多么微妙和合乎逻辑，都是一个思想过程， 而思考总是受影响的，受限于 个人的幻想、欲望或一个观念、一个结论，无论是强加的还是自我诱导的。
“If it wasn’t reason, principle or personal desire that made you do it, then was it something outside of yourself, a superior or divine agency?”
“如果不是理由、原则或个人的欲望促使你那样做， 那么，它是你自己之外的东西，是一个超人还是神圣的代理者？”
No. But perhaps it will be clear if we can approach it differently. What is your problem? “You said that truth cannot be organized, and that no organization can lead man to truth. The organization to which I belong maintain that man can be led to truth through certain principles of action, through right personal endeavour giving oneself to good works, and so on. My problem is, am I on the right path?”
不是。但也许，如果我们能以不同的方式处理它，它就会很清楚。 您的问题是什么？ “你说真理不能被组织， 任何组织都不能把人引向真理。 我所属的组织坚持认为， 通过某些行动原则，通过正确的个人奋斗， 将自己奉献给善行，等等，人可以被引向真理。 我的问题是，我走在正确的道路上吗？”
Do you think there’s a path to truth? “If I didn’t think there were, I wouldn’t belong to this organization. According to our leaders, this organization is based on truth; it’s dedicated to the well-being of all, and it will help the villager as well as people who are highly educated and who hold responsible positions. However, when I heard you the other day, I was disturbed, and so took the first opportunity to come to see you. I hope you understand my difficulty.”
你认为有通往真理的道路吗？ “如果我不认为有，我就不属于这个组织。 据我们的领导人说，这个组织是建立在真理基础上的。 它致力于所有人的福祉， 它将帮助农民 以及受过高等教育并承担着职位的重大责任的人民。 然而，前几天当我听到你的声音时，我感到不安， 所以趁机来看你。我希望你理解我的困难。”
Let’s go into the matter slowly, step by step. First, is there a path to truth? A path implies going from one fixed point to another. As a living entity, you are changing, reshaping, pushing, questioning yourself, hoping to find a permanent, immutable truth. Isn’t that so? “Yes. I want to find truth, or God, in order to do good,” he answered eagerly.
让我们慢慢地，一步一步地进入这个问题。 首先，有没有通往真理的道路？ 道路意味着从一个固定点到另一个固定点。 作为一个活生生的实体，你正在改变、重塑、推动、质疑你自己， 希望找到一个永久的、不变的真理。不是吗？ “是的。我想找到真理，或者上帝，以便于行善，” 他急切地回答。
Surely, there’s nothing permanent about you except what you think is permanent; but your thinking is also transient, is it not? And has truth a fixed place, without any movement?
当然，除了你认为的永恒之外，你身上没有什么东西是永恒的。 但你的想法也是短暂的，它不是吗？ 真理有一个固定的地方，会待在那儿，一动不动吗？
“I don’t know. One sees so much poverty, so much misery and confusion in the world, and in one’s desire to do good, one accepts a leader or a philosophy that offers some hope. Otherwise life would be terrible.”
“我不知道。 一个人看到世界上有那么多的贫穷、那么多的痛苦和困惑， 在一个人做好事的欲望中， 他接受了一个领导者或一种提供某些希望的哲学。 否则生活会很糟糕。”
All decent people want to do good, but most of us don’t think the problem through. We say that we cannot think it through for ourselves, or that the leaders know better. But do they? Look at the various political leaders, the so-called religious leaders and the leaders of social and economic reform. They all have schemes, each saying that his scheme is the way to salvation, to the eradication of poverty, and so on; and individuals like you, who want to act in the face of all this misery and chaos, get caught in the net of propaganda and dogmatic assertions. Haven’t you noticed that this very action breeds further misery and chaos?
所有正派的人都想做好事，但我们大多数人都没有把问题想清楚。 我们说我们无法自己想清楚，或者说领导者知道得更多。 但是他们真地知道吗？看看各种政治领袖们， 所谓的宗教领袖们和社会经济改革的领导者们。 他们都有计划，每个人都说 他的计划是拯救、消除贫困的途径，等等； 而像你这样的人，想要面对所有这些痛苦和混乱采取行动， 就会陷入宣传和教条主义的网罟中。 难道你没注意吗，正是这种行动滋生了进一步的痛苦和混乱？
Truth has no fixed abode; it’s a living thing, more alive, more dynamic than anything the mind can think of, so there can be no path to it. “I think I see that, sir. But are you against all organizations?”
真理没有固定的居所； 它是一个活生生的东西，比头脑所能想到的任何东西都更有活力， 所以不可能有通往它的路。 “我想我看到了那一点，先生。 但是你反对所有的组织机构吗？”
It would obviously be silly to be ‘against’ the postal or other similar organizations. But you are not referring to such organizations, are you?
‘反对’邮政或其他类似的组织，显然是愚蠢的。 但你所说的不是这样的组织，你是吗？
“No. I am talking about churches, spiritual groups, religious societies, and so on. The organization to which I belong embrace all religions, and anyone who is concerned with the physical and spiritual improvement of man may be a member. Of course, such organizations always have their leaders who say they know the truth, or who lead saintly lives.”
“不，我说的是教会、精神团体、宗教团体等等。 我所属的组织拥抱所有的宗教， 任何关心人类身体和灵性进步的人都可能是其中的一员。 当然，这样的组织总是有他们的领导人， 他们说他们知道真理，或者过着圣洁的生活。”
Can truth be organized, with a president and secretary, or with high priests and interpreters? “If I understand you correctly, it looks as though it can’t be. Then why do these saintly leaders say that their organizations are necessary?”
真理可以被组织， 并拥有总统和秘书，或者大祭司和代理人吗？ “如果我对你的理解是正确的，看起来好像不可能。 那么，为什么这些圣洁的领导们说‘他们的组织是必要的’呢？”
It doesn’t matter what the leaders say, for they are as blind as their followers, otherwise they wouldn’t be leaders. What do you think, apart from your leaders? Are such organizations necessary? “They may not be strictly necessary, but one does find comfort in belonging to such an organization, and in working with others of the same mind.”
领导说什么并不重要， 因为他们和他们的追随者一样盲目，否则他们就不会成为领导者。 抛弃你的领导，你是怎么想的？ 这类组织是必要的吗？ “它们可能不是绝对必要的， 但人确实在属于这样一个组织， 并在与具有相同思想的其他人的合作中，找到了安慰。”
That’s right. And there is also a sense of security in being told what to do, is there not? The leader knows, and you, the follower, do not; so under his direction you feel you can do the right thing. To have an authority over you, someone to guide you, is very comforting, especially when on all sides there is so much chaos and misery. That is why you become, not exactly a slave, but a follower, carrying out the plan laid down by the leader. It is you, the human being who have made all this mess in the world, but you are not important; only the plan is important. But the plan is mechanical, it needs human beings to make it operate; therefore you become useful to the plan.
没错。 在被告知该做什么的时候，也有一种安全感，不是吗？ 领导知道，而你，这个追随者不知道； 所以在他的指导下，你觉得你可以做正确的事情。 你有一个权威，有人来引导你，这是非常令人欣慰的， 特别是在各方面都存在着如此多的混乱和痛苦时。 这就是为什么你会成为，虽然不完全是一个奴隶，一个追随者， 执行着领导制定的计划。 是你这种人，在世界上制造了所有这些混乱， 但你却不重要；重要的只是计划。 但这个计划是机械的，它需要人类来使它运转； 因此，对计划来说，你是有用的。
Then there are the priests, with their divine authority to save your soul, and from childhood you are conditioned by them to think in a certain way. Again, you as a human being are not important; it is not your freedom, not your love, that matters, but your soul, which has to be saved in accordance with the dogmas of a particular church or sect. “I see the truth of this, all right, as you explain it. Then what is important in the midst of all this confusion?”
那么，有了牧师们，用他们神圣的权威来拯救你的灵魂， 从小你就被他们约束，以某种方式去思考。 再说一遍，作为一个人类的你，并不重要； 重要的不是你的自由、不是你的爱， 而是你的灵魂，必须按照某个教会或教派的教条来被拯救。 “我看见了这一点的真实性，好吧，正如你所说。 那么，在所有这些困惑中，什么才是重要的呢？”
The important thing is to free your mind of envy, hate and violence; and for that you don’t need an organization, do you? So-called religious organizations never liberate the mind, they only make it conform to a certain creed or belief.
重要的是把你的头脑从嫉妒、仇恨和暴力中解放出来。 为此，您不需要一个组织，对吗？ 所谓的宗教组织从来没有解放头脑， 他们只会让它符合某种教条或信仰。
“I need to change; there must be love in me, I must cease to be envious, and then I shall always act rightly. I won’t have to be told what right action is. I see now that this is the only thing that matters, not what organization I belong to.”
“我需要改变； 我里面一定要有爱，我必须停止嫉妒，然后我才能永远正确地行动。 我不必被告知什么是正确的行动。 我现在明白，这是唯一重要的事情，而不是我属于哪个组织。”
One may follow what is generally considered to be right action, or be told what right action is; but that does not bring about love, does it. “No it quite obviously does not; one is merely pursuing a pattern created by the mind. Again, I see this very clearly, sir, and I now understand why you dissolved the organization of which you were the head. One has to be a light unto oneself; following the light of another, other only leads one into darkness.”
一个人可能追随通常被认为是正确的行为， 或者被告知什么是正确的行为；但那不会带来爱，它会吗。 “不，它显然不会；一个人只是在追求一种由头脑创造出的模式。 我再一次非常清楚地看到这一点，先生， 我现在理解你为什么解散你所领导的组织。 一个人必须是自己的光； 追随另一个人的光，只会把人引向黑暗。”