第四章 沙漠-5

Nobody can spare themselves the waiting and most will be unable to bear this torment, but will throw themselves with greed back at men, things, and thoughts, whose slaves they will become from then on. Since then it will have been clearly proved that this man is in capable of enduring beyond things, men, and thoughts, and they will hence become his master and he will become their fool, since he cannot be without them, not until even his soul has become a fruitful field. Also he whose soul is a garden, needs things, men, and thoughts, but he is their friend and not their slave and fool.

没有人能够免于等待，但是大多数人不能够承受这种折磨，他们又带着贪婪堕落到人伦、世事和思虑之中，从那时起，他们将变成这些东西的奴隶。因此，这样的人显然不能够忍受超越人伦、世事和思虑的折磨，那么他们就将成为他的主人，而他将成为他们的愚人。即使他的灵魂变成富饶之地，他也不能没有它们；如果他的灵魂是一个花园，他还是需要人伦、世事和思虑，但是他将成为他们的朋友，而非奴隶或者愚人。

Everything to come was already in images: to find their soul, the ancients went into the desert.75 This is an image. The ancients lived their symbols, since the world had not yet become real for them. Thus they went into the solitude of the desert to teach us that the place of the soul is a lonely desert. There they found the abundance of visions, the fruits of the desert, the wondrous flowers of the soul. Think diligently about the images that the ancients have left behind. They show the way of what is to come. Look back at the collapse of empires, of growth and death, of the desert and monasteries, they are the images of what is to come. Everything has been foretold. But who knows how to interpret it?

所有未来的一切都以意象（images：包括图形、声音之类具象，也包括氛围、感觉等精神层面的东西）出现：为找到他们的灵魂，古人进入沙漠。这是一个意象，古人活在象征中，因为对他们而言，世界还没有变成那么真实（古人对于世界的林林总总，没有也根本不需要那么清晰的认知，鲜花意味着美丽，大自然必要敬畏，善恶美丑，如如分明，如是如是）。因此他们进入沙漠的孤独，让我们知道灵魂的所在地就是一片孤寂的沙漠。他们在那里看到大量的幻象，找到沙漠中的果实和奇妙的灵魂之花。请尽力思考古人留下的意象。他们呈现出来者的路。请仔细回顾王朝的兴衰，生长和消亡，沙漠和修道院的变迁，它们都是来者的具相。一切都已经被预言，但有谁知道如何去诠释？

When you say that the place of the soul is not, then it is not. But if you say that it is, then it is. Notice what the ancients said in images: the word is a creative act. The ancients said: in the beginning was the Word. Consider this and think upon it.

如果你说这里不是灵魂的所在，那么它就不是；如果你说它是，它就是。请注意古代人用意象所说的话：道就是创造性行为。（大道非凭言语，图像、纯粹的声音（更类似于自然界的风声、水声）往往具有更强的诠释能力，可以直接投入内心，表现神的意志，而语言常常显得苍白无力，甚至错谬颠倒。言语皆妄，开口便乖。但初发心人，必要有所凭依，渡过一条条溪流，登上一级级台阶，除非大圆满者，“作意”、“语言文字”，必不可少，不必勉强，勉强才是执着，只要放下，再放下，淡然一贯，久而久之，方向正确，慢慢就能入道，所谓理解的方式渐渐转为直觉，无须假借，直接契入“道”，这个时候，意识、语言，就真得显得累赘了。）“太初有道，道与神同在，道就是神”《约翰福音1章1节》。请细细揣摩，认真思考这句话。

（每个人的道路，似乎大相径庭，顺逆优劣，但都是同样的方便，都是必要的羯磨，其实无二无别，朝向成就，朝向堕落，一念之间。现代人最大的问题，在于对于大千世界，失去了应有的敬畏。而对于科技，对于自己，越来越盲目自大、刚强难化。我们的力量似乎在不断扩张，我们越来越变得无所不能，我们把自己当做了创造者、改造者，当做了这个世界的主宰。但是，人类意识可及的所谓“真理”，不断被证伪，越是有知，越是无知，越是自大，越是自卑。而无知和自卑，越要用张扬和“力量”来抵抗，所以，这个世界被搅得越来越丑恶，越来越不像样子，人类也越来越成为一种负面的生物，甚至慢慢成为世界和所有众生共同的敌人。）