THE EVENING SUN was on the green rice fields and on the tall palms. The fields curved around the palm groves and a stream, running through the fields and the groves, caught the golden glow and became alive. The earth was very rich. It had rained a great deal, and the vegetation was thick; even the fence-posts were putting out green leaves. The sea was full of fish, and there was no starvation in the land; the people were well-fed, the cattle fat and indolent. There were children everywhere, with little on, and the sun had made them dark.
夕阳落在绿色的稻田和高大的棕榈树上。 田野的周边，围绕着棕榈树丛， 一条小溪，穿行于田野和树丛中， 捕捉到金色的光芒，格外的灵动。 大地非常富饶。下了很多雨，植被很茂密。 甚至栅栏柱也冒出了绿叶。 海里到处都是鱼，地上没有饥荒； 人们吃得好，牛肥而慵懒。 到处都是孩子们，带有一点点太阳晒成的黑。
It was a lovely evening, cool after the hot, sunny day. A breeze was coming across the hills, and the waving palms gave shape and beauty to the sky. The little car was chugging up a hill, and the small child sharing the front seat had made herself comfortable. She was too shy to say a word, but she was all eyes, taking everything in. There were many people on the road, some well-covered and others almost naked. A man wearing only a string and a piece of cloth was standing in the stream near the bank. He ducked under the water several times, rubbed himself, ducked some more, and came out. Soon it was quite dark, and the headlights of the car lighted up the people and the trees.
这是一个可爱的夜晚，经历了炎热而耀眼的白天，送来了凉爽。 一阵微风穿越山丘而来，摇曳的棕榈树为天空增添了形状与美丽。 小小的汽车缓慢地上山， 小孩子坐在前排，以使自己感到舒适。 她害羞得一句话也说不出，但她睁大眼睛，把一切都装了进去。 路上有很多人，有些人遮盖得很好，有些人几乎赤身裸体。 一个只穿了一条绳子和一块布的男人站在溪水边。 他几次跳入水中，擦了擦身子，又跳了好几次，然后了离开了。 很快天就黑了，汽车的前灯照亮了行人和树木。
It’s strange how the mind is always occupied with its own thoughts, with watching and listening. It is never really empty; and if by chance it seems so, it’s only blank, or day-dreaming. It may be occupied with wanting to be empty, but it’s never empty; and being so completely full, no other movement is possible. Becoming aware of its state of constant occupation, it tries to be unoccupied empty. The method, the practice, which promises peace, becomes the new occupation of the mind. Some thought – of the office, of the family, of the future – perpetually fills the mind. It’s always crowded, cluttered up with the things of its own or another’s making; there is a ceaseless movement which has little significance.
奇怪的是， 头脑总是被自己的思想、观察和倾听所占据。 它从来都不是真正地空； 如果碰巧看起来是这样，它只是空白，或者白日梦。 它可能占据一个想空的欲望，但它从来都不空； 它被完全地塞满，就丧失了另一个运动的可能性。 意识到自己不断被占据的状态，它试图不被占据、腾空。 承诺和平的方法、训练，成为了头脑新的占据物。 某些思想 —— 办公室、家庭、前途 —— 持续地填塞着头脑。 它总是很拥挤，处处都是自己或别人制造出来的物什； 这就是一个琐碎的无休止的运动。
An occupied mind is a petty mind, whether its occupation is with God, with envy, or with sex. Loneliness, the self-centred movement of the mind, is a deeper occupation, and this is covered over with activity. The mind is never rich in complete emptiness; there is always a corner which is active, planning, chattering, busy.
一个被占据的头脑 无论它是被上帝、嫉妒、还是被性欲占领，都是狭隘的。 孤独，头脑的以自我为中心的运动，是一个更深沉的占据者， 它被掩盖在活动之下。 头脑从来不会充盈着完全的空； 总有一个角落处于活跃的状态：计划、闲聊、忙碌。
The total emptiness of the mind, when even its darkest recesses are exposed, has an intensity which is not the fury of being occupied, and it is not diminished by the resistance which occupation brings. There being nothing to resist or overcome, this intensity is effortless silence. The occupied mind does not know this silence. Even those moments when it is not occupied are only breaks in the activity of its occupation, which are soon mended. This silence of emptiness is not the opposite of occupation. All opposites are within the pattern of struggle. It is not a result, an effect, for it has no motive, no cause. All cause-effect is within the sphere of self-centred activity. The self, with its occupation, can never know this intensity of silence, nor what is in it and beyond it.
头脑完全的空，甚至显露它最黑暗的凹陷， 有一种强烈，它不是被占据的愤怒， 也不会因抵抗而减弱。 没有东西去抵抗或克服，这种强烈是毫不费力的静。 被占据的头脑不知道这种静。 即使是那些没有被占据的时刻， 也只是它的占据活动的中断，而这些活动很快就会得以修复。 这种空静并不是占据的对立物。 所有的对立物都在挣扎的模式之内。 它不是一个结果，一种效应，因为它没有动机，没有原因。 所有的因果，都在以自我为中心的活动范围之内。 自我，携带着它的占据物，永远无法知道这种静的强烈， 也不知道它的里面和外面。
Three men had come from the distant town by train and bus. One, considerably older than the other two, with a well-kept beard, was the spokesman, though the others were in no way subservient to him. Slow and deliberate in speech, he was able to quote freely from the well-established authorities. He was never impatient, and there was an air of tolerance about him. Of the two younger men, one was nearly bald, and the other had heavy hair. The balding one seemed not yet to have made up his mind about serious matters and was willing to examine what was said; but here and there definite patterns of thought could be noticed. He smiled widely as he talked, but did not gesticulate. The other was rather shy, and spoke very little.
三名男子从遥远的城镇，乘火车和公共汽车赶来。 其中一位比另外两人的年龄大得多，留着一副修剪得很好的胡须， 是代言人，尽管其他人绝不服从他。 他说话缓慢而深思熟虑， 能够自由地引用知名权威的话。 他从不急躁，他有一种宽容的气氛。 在两个年轻人中，有一个几乎秃顶，另一个头发浓密。 秃头的人似乎还没有对严肃的事情下定论， 愿意检查所说的话； 但这里和那里，明确的思想模式可以被看到。 他说话时笑得很灿烂，却没有打手势。 另一个很害羞，说话很少。
“Is it not possible to find God through the established religious organizations?” inquired the older man.
“难道不可能通过已建立的宗教机构找到上帝吗？” 老人问道。
If one may ask, why are you putting this question? Is it a serious problem in itself, or merely an opening to a serious problem? If there’s a more serious problem behind it, wouldn’t it be simpler to proceed directly to that? “For the present this question is quite a serious one, at least for us. We all heard you two years ago, when last you were here, and it then seemed to us that you were far too drastic in your reasoning about organized religions. My two friends and I belong to one; but it has slowly dawned upon us that you may be right, and we want to talk it over with you seriously.”
如果有人可以问，你为什么要提出这个问题？ 它本身是一个严肃的问题呢， 还是一块敲门砖，以叩开一个严肃的问题？ 如果它背后有一个更严肃的问题， 那么，直接进入不是更简单吗？ “就目前而言，这个问题是一个相当严肃的问题，至少对我们来说是这样。 两年前，当你最后一次来到这里时，我们都听到了你的声音， 当时，我们认为， 你对有组织的宗教的推理过于激烈。 我和我的两个朋友属于一个宗教机构； 但慢慢地，我们意识到你可能是对的， 我们想和你严肃地谈谈。”
First of all, what does it mean to be serious? We are serious, in a passing way, about so many things. Since you have all taken the trouble to come here, wouldn’t it be well to begin by understanding what we mean by seriousness? “Perhaps we are not as serious as you would want us to be, but we do give as much time as possible to the search for God.”
首先，严肃是什么意思？ 我们一路走来，对很多事情都是严肃的。 既然你们都费尽心思来到这里， 那么从理解我们所说的严肃性开始，不是很好吗？ “也许我们不像你所指的那么严肃， 但我们确实给了尽可能多的时间来寻找上帝。”
Is time spent in doing something an indication of seriousness? The business man, the office worker, the scientist, the carpenter – they all give a great deal of time to their respective occupations. You would consider them serious, would you not?
把时间花在做某件事上，是否意味着严肃？ 商人、上班族、科学家、木匠 —— 他们都为各自的职业付出了大量时间。 你会认为他们是严肃的，不是吗？
“In a way, yes. But the seriousness with which we carry on the search for God is entirely different. It’s difficult to put into words.”
“在某种程度上，是的。 但是，我们继续寻找上帝的严肃性是完全不同的。 它很难用言语表达。”
Seriousness in the one case is outer, superficial, whereas in the other, it is inner, deeper, requiring far greater insight, and so on; is that it? “That’s more or less what he means,” put in the balding one. “We devote as much time as possible to meditation, to reading the sacred books and attending religious gatherings. In short, we are very serious in our search for God.”
在一种情况下，严肃性是外在的、肤浅的， 而在另一种情况下，它是内在的，更深刻的，需要更深刻的洞察力，等等； 是那样吗？“那或多或少就是他的意思，” 秃顶的那个说。 “我们尽可能多地花时间冥想， 阅读神圣的书籍和参加宗教聚会。 简而言之，我们非常严肃地寻找上帝。”
Again, is time the factor of seriousness? Or does seriousness depend on the state of the mind? “I don’t quite understand what you mean by ‘the state of the mind’.”
再说一遍，时间是严肃性的因素吗？ 还是严肃性取决于头脑的状态？ “我不太明白你说的'头脑的状态'是什么意思。”
However serious a petty or immature mind may be, it is ever limited, shallow dependent, subject to influence. To be concerned with only a part of life is to be only partially serious; but the mind that is concerned with the totality of life will approach all things with serious intent. Such a mind is totally serious, earnest.
一个琐碎或不成熟的头脑，无论有多么严肃， 它都是受限的，有着肤浅的依赖性，受制于影响。 只关心生活的一部分，就只有局部的严肃性； 但是关心生活整体的头脑 会带着严肃的意图对待一切。 这样的头脑是完全严肃的、热心的。
“I think you mean that we never approach life as a whole,” said the older one, “and I’m afraid you’re right.”
“我想你的意思是，我们从来不把生活看作一个整体，” 年长的人说， “恐怕你是对的。”
The partial approach finds a partial answer, and however serious one may be, one’s seriousness will always be fragmentary. Such a mind cannot find the truth of anything. “Then how is one to have this total seriousness?”
片面的方法找到一个片面的答案， 无论一个人多么严肃，一个人的严肃性将永远是零碎的。 这样的头脑找不到任何的真实。 “那如何才能拥有这种完全的严肃性呢？”
The ‘how’ is not at all important. There is no method or practice that can awaken this feeling – the feeling of the mind intent upon understanding the totality of its own being. We will come upon this hope, as we proceed with our talk. But you began by asking if God can be found through organized religion.
‘如何’根本不重要。 没有任何方法或实践可以唤醒这种感觉 —— 头脑意图理解它自己整个存在的感觉。 在我们继续我们的谈话时，希望我们会遇到这种感觉。 但你一开始在问，上帝是否可以通过有组织的宗教找到。
“Yes, that was our question,” the balding one replied. “All we know of religion is what has been drilled into us from childhood. Throughout the centuries, organized religions have taught us to believe in this or that. practically every saint we know of has followed the religion of his fathers and depended on the authority of its sacred books. The three of us here belong to one of the traditional religious organizations, but since listening to you, we have come to doubt – or at least, I have come to doubt – the point of belonging to any religious organization at all. This is what we would like to talk about.”
“是的，那是我们的问题，” 秃头的人回答。 “我们对宗教的了解只是从小就钻进我们体内的东西。 几个世纪以来，有组织的宗教教导我们相信这个或那个。 实际上，我们所知道的每一位圣人都遵循了他先祖的宗教， 并依赖于其神圣书籍的权威。 我们这里的三个人属于传统的宗教机构之一， 但自从听到你的话以来，我们已经怀疑了 —— 或者至少，我已经怀疑了 —— 属于任何宗教机构的意义。 这就是我们想谈的。”
What does organization imply? We organize in order to co-operate in doing something. Organization is necessary for effective action if you and I wish to do something together. We have to organize, put ourselves in right relationship, if we are to carry out effectively some political, social, or economic plan. Are religious organizations on the same or a similar footing? And what do you mean by religion?
组织意味着什么？我们组织起来是为了合作做某事。 如果你和我希望一起做点什么，组织对于采取有效的行动是必要的。 我们必须组织起来，把自己置于正确的关系中， 如果我们要有效地执行一些政治、社会或经济计划。 宗教机构是否处于相同或相似的地位？ 你说的宗教是什么意思？
“To me, religion is the way of life,” replied the third one. “The way of life is laid down for us by our spiritual teachers and the sacred books, and the following of it in our daily life constitutes religion.”
“对我来说，宗教是生活方式，” 第三个回答。 “生活方式是由我们的灵性导师和神圣的书籍为我们铺设的， 在我们的日常生活中遵循它，这样，构成了宗教。”
Is religion a matter of following a pattern laid down by another, however great? To follow is merely to conform, to imitate, in the hope of receiving a comforting reward; and surely that is not religion. The releasing of the individual from envy, greed and violence, from the desire for success and power, so that his mind is freed from self-contradictions, conflicts, frustrations – is not this the way of religion? And only such a mind can discover the true, the real. Such a mind is in no way influenced, it is not under any pressure, and so it is able to be still; and it is only when the mind is totally still that there is a possibility of the coming into being of that which is beyond the measure of the mind. But organized religions merely condition the mind to a particular pattern of thought.
宗教是跟随另一个人制定的模式吗，无论这人多么地伟大？ 跟随只是顺从、模仿， 希望得到一个安逸的报酬； 当然，那不是宗教。 将个人从嫉妒、贪婪和暴力中解脱， 从对成功和权力的欲望中解放出来， 那样，他的头脑摆脱了自我矛盾、冲突、挫折 —— 这难道不是宗教的路吗？ 只有这样的头脑才能发现真实、真理。 这样的头脑绝不会受到影响， 它不在任何压力之下，因此它能够安静； 只有当头脑完全安静时， 才有可能出现超越头脑衡量的东西。 但是，有组织的宗教只是将头脑限制在一种特定的思想模式里。
“But we were brought up to think within the pattern with its code of morality,” said the balding one. “The temple or the church, with its worship, its ceremonies, its beliefs and dogmas – to us, this has always been religion, and you are destroying it without putting anything in its place.”
“但我们从小就被培养成在这种模式及其道德准则中思考，” 秃头的人说。 “寺庙或教堂，它的崇拜，它的仪式，它的信仰和教条 —— 对我们来说，这一直是宗教， 你正在摧毁它，而没有把任何东西放在它的位置上。”
What is false must be put away if what is true is to be. The aloneness of the mind is essential; and the way of religion is the disentanglement of the mind from the pattern which is put together by the collective, by the past. At present the mind is caught in the collective morality, with its acquisitiveness, its ambition, its respectability and pursuit of power. The understanding of all this has its own action, which frees the mind-feeling from the collective, and then it is capable of love, compassion. Only then is there the sublime.
伪劣品必须收起来，如果要让真的东西出现。 头脑的自在是基础； 而宗教的方式是解开头脑的‘金箍’ —— 那个由群体，由过去所形成的模式。 限制，这个头脑陷入了群体的道德之中， 它具有贪婪、野心、它的尊贵和对权力的追逐。 理解这一切，就有自发性的行动， 就把头脑-感觉，从群体中解放出来， 然后它能爱，慈。只有这样，才有庄严。
“But we are not yet capable of such immense understanding,” said the older one. “We still need the cooperation and guidance of others to help us along in the right direction. This cooperation and guidance is provided by what we call organized religion.”
“但我们还没有如此巨大的理解力，” 年长的那个说。 “我们仍然需要他人的合作和指导， 帮助我们朝着正确的方向前进。 这种合作和指导是由我们所谓的有组织的宗教提供。”
Do you actually need the help of another to be free from envy, ambition? And when you do have the help of another, is there freedom? Or does freedom come only with self-knowledge? Is self-knowledge a matter of guidance, of organized help? Or are the ways of the self to be discovered from moment to moment in our daily relationships? Dependence on another, or on an organization, breeds fear, does it not?
你真地需要别人的帮助才能摆脱嫉妒、野心吗？ 当你得到别人的帮助时，有自由吗？ 还是自由只能出于自我认识呢？ 自我认识是一件可指导、可组织化帮助的事情吗？ 还是需要我们在日常关系中，在每时每刻中，都去发现自我的方式？ 依赖于别人或一个组织，滋养着恐惧，不是吗？
“There may be a few who are strong enough to stand alone and combat the world, but the vast majority of us need the comforting supports of organized religion. Our lives, on the whole, are empty, dull, without much significance, and it seems better to fill this emptiness with religious beliefs, rather than to fill it with stupid amusements, or with the sophistication of worldly thoughts and desires.”
“可能有一些人足够强大，可以独自一人与世界作斗争， 但我们绝大多数人需要宗教机构的安慰。 总的来说，我们的生活是空虚的、沉闷的，没多大意义， 似乎最好用宗教信仰来填补这种空虚， 而不是用愚蠢的娱乐来填补它， 或者用世俗的思想和欲望来填补它。”
In filling that emptiness with religious beliefs, you have filled it with words, haven’t you? “We are supposed to be educated people,” said the balding one. “We have been to college, we have fairly good jobs, and all the rest of it. Moreover religion has always been of the deepest interest to us. But I see now that what we considered to be religion is not religion at all. On the other hand, to break out of this prison of the collective requires more energy and understanding than most of us possess; so what are we to do? If we left the religious organization to which we belong, we would feel lost, and sooner or later we would pick up another belief with which to deceive ourselves and fill our own emptiness. The attraction of the old way is strong, and we lazily follow it. But in talking all this over, certain things have become clear to me as never before; and perhaps that very clarity will produce its own action.”
在用宗教信仰填补这种空虚时， 你已经用文字填充了它，不是吗？ “我们都被认为是受过教育的人，” 秃头的人说。 “我们上过大学，我们有相当好的工作，等等。 此外，宗教一直是我们最感兴趣的。 但我现在明白，我们所认为的宗教根本不是宗教。 另一方面，要摆脱集体的这个牢笼， 需要比我们大多数人拥有的更多的精力和理解。 那么我们该怎么办呢？ 如果我们离开了我们所属的宗教机构，我们会感到迷茫， 迟早我们会拿起另一种信仰来欺骗自己， 来填补我们自己的空虚。 习惯的吸引力很强，我们懒洋洋地跟着走。 但是，在重温这一切时，某些事情对我来说比以往任何时候都更加清晰。 也许这种清晰度产生它自身的行动。”