八喜电子书 > 经管其他电子书 > lectures16+17 >

第6部分

lectures16+17-第6部分

小说: lectures16+17 字数: 每页4000字

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!






midnight。  I had a long drive in a hansom to my lodging。  My



mind; deeply under the influence of the ideas; images; and



emotions called up by the reading and talk; was calm and



peaceful。  I was in a state of quiet; almost passive enjoyment;



not actually thinking; but letting ideas; images; and emotions



flow of themselves; as it were; through my mind。  All at once;



without warning of any kind; I found myself wrapped in a



flame…colored cloud。  For an instant I thought of fire; an



immense conflagration somewhere close by in that great city; the



next; I knew that the fire was within myself。  Directly afterward



there came upon me a sense of exultation; of immense joyousness



accompanied or immediately followed by an intellectual



illumination impossible to describe。  Among other things; I did



not merely come to believe; but I saw that the universe is not



composed of dead matter; but is; on the contrary; a living



Presence; I became conscious in myself of eternal life。  It was



not a conviction that I would have eternal life; but a



consciousness that I possessed eternal life then; I saw that all



men are immortal; that the cosmic order is such that without any



peradventure all things work together for the good of each and



all; that the foundation principle of the world; of all the



worlds; is what we call love; and that the happiness of each and



all is in the long run  absolutely certain。  The vision



lasted a few seconds and was gone; but the memory of it and the



sense of the reality of what it taught has remained during the



quarter of a century which has since elapsed。  I knew that what



the vision showed was true。  I had attained to a point of view



from which I saw that it must be true。  That view; that



conviction; I may say that consciousness; has never; even during



periods of the deepest depression; been lost。〃'244'







'244' Loc。 cit。; pp。 7; 8。  My quotation follows the privately



printed pamphlet which preceded Dr。 Bucke's larger work; and



differs verbally a little from the text of the latter。















We have now seen enough of this cosmic or mystic consciousness;



as it comes sporadically。  We must next pass to its methodical



cultivation as an element of the religious life。  Hindus;



Buddhists; Mohammedans; and Christians all have cultivated it



methodically。







In India; training in mystical insight has been known from time



immemorial under the name of yoga。  Yoga means the experimental



union of the individual with the divine。  It is based on



persevering exercise; and the diet; posture; breathing;



intellectual concentration; and moral discipline vary slightly in



the different systems which teach it。  The yogi; or disciple; who



has by these means overcome the obscurations of his lower nature



sufficiently; enters into the condition termed samadhi; 〃and



comes face to face with facts which no instinct or reason can



ever know。〃  He learns







〃That the mind itself has a higher state of existence; beyond



reason; a superconscious state; and that when the mind gets to



that higher state; then this knowledge beyond reasoning comes。 。



。 。 All the different steps in yoga are intended to bring us



scientifically to the superconscious state or Samadhi。 。 。 。 



Just as unconscious work is beneath consciousness; so there is



another work which is above consciousness; and which; also; is



not accompanied with the feeling of egoism 。 。 。 。 There is no



feeling of I; and yet the mind works; desireless; free from



restlessness; objectless; bodiless。  Then the Truth shines in its



full effulgence; and we know ourselvesfor Samadhi lies



potential in us allfor what we truly are; free; immortal;



omnipotent; loosed from the finite; and its contrasts of good and



evil altogether; and identical with the Atman or Universal



Soul。〃'245'







'245' My quotations are from Vivekananda; Raja Yoga; London;



1896。  The completest source of information on Yoga is the work



translated by Vihari Lala Mtra:  Yoga Vasishta Maha Ramayana。 4



vols。  Calcutta; 1891…99。















The Vedantists say that one may stumble into superconsciousness



sporadically; without the previous discipline; but it is then



impure。  Their test of its purity; like our test of religion's



value; is empirical:  its fruits must be good for life。 When a



man comes out of Samadhi; they assure us that he remains



〃enlightened; a sage; a prophet; a saint; his whole character



changed; his life changed; illumined。〃'246'







'246' A European witness; after carefully comparing the results



of Yoga with those of the hypnotic or dreamy states artificially



producible by us; says:  〃It makes of its true disciples good;



healthy; and happy men。 。 。 。 Through the mastery which the yogi



attains over his thoughts and his body; he grows into a



'character。' By the subjection of his impulses and propensities



to his will; and the fixing of the latter upon the ideal of



goodness; he becomes a 'personality' hard to influence by others;



and thus almost the opposite of what we usually imagine a medium



so…called; or psychic subject to be。  Karl Kellner:  Yoga:  Eine



Skizze; Munchen; 1896; p。 21。















The Buddhists used the word 〃samadhi〃 as well as the Hindus; but



〃dhyana〃 is their special word for higher states of



contemplation。  There seem to be four stages recognized in



dhyana。  The first stage comes through concentration of the mind



upon one point。  It excludes desire; but not discernment or



judgment:  it is still intellectual。  In the second stage the



intellectual functions drop off; and the satisfied sense of unity



remains。  In the third stage the satisfaction departs; and



indifference begins; along with memory a self…consciousness。  In



the fourth stage the indifference; memory; and self…consciousness



are perfected。  'Just what 〃memory〃 and 〃self…consciousness〃 mean



in this connection is doubtful。  They cannot be the faculties



familiar to us in the lower life。' Higher stages still of



contemplation are mentioneda region where there exists nothing;



and where the mediator says:  〃There exists absolutely nothing;〃



and stops。 Then he reaches another region where he says:  〃There



are neither ideas nor absence of ideas;〃 and stops again。  Then



another region where; 〃having reached the end of both idea and



perception; he stops finally。〃  This would seem to be; not yet



Nirvana; but as close an approach to it as this life



affords。'247'







'247' I follow the account in C。 F。 Koeppen:  Die Religion des



Buddha; Berlin; 1857; i。 585 ff。















In the Mohammedan world the Sufi sect and various dervish bodies



are the possessors of the mystical tradition。  The Sufis have



existed in Persia from the earliest times; and as their pantheism



is so at variance with the hot and rigid monotheism of the Arab



mind; it has been suggested that Sufism must have been inoculated



into Islam by Hindu influences。 We Christians know little of



Sufism; for its secrets are disclosed only to those initiated。 



To give its existence a certain liveliness in your minds; I will



quote a Moslem document; and pass away from the subject。







Al…Ghazzali; a Persian philosopher and theologian; who flourished



in the eleventh century; and ranks as one of the greatest doctors



of the Moslem church; has left us one of the few autobiographies



to be found outside of Christian literature。  Strange that a



species of book so abundant among ourselves should be so little



represented elsewherethe absence of strictly personal



confessions is the chief difficulty to the purely literary



student who would like to become acquainted with the inwardness



of religions other than the Christian。 M。 Schmolders has



translated a part of Al…Ghazzali's autobiography into



French:'248'







'248' For a full account of him; see D。 B。 Macdonald:  The Life



Of Al…Ghazzali; in the Journal of the American Oriental Society;



1899; vol。 xx。; p。 71。















〃The Science of the Sufis;〃 says the Moslem author; 〃aims at



detaching the heart from all that is not God; and at giving to it



for sole occupation the meditation of the divine being。  Theory



being more easy for me than practice; I read 'certain books'



until I understood all that can be learned by study and hearsay。



Then I recognized that what pertains most exclusively to their



method is just what no study can grasp; but only transport;



ecstasy; and the transformation of the soul。  How great; for



example; is the difference between knowing the definitions of



health; of satiety; with their causes and conditions; and being



really healthy or filled。  How different to know in what



drunkenness consistsas being a state occasioned by a vapor that



rises from the stomachand BEING drunk effectively。  Without



doubt; the drunken man knows neither the definition of



drunkenness nor what makes it interesting for science。  Being



drunk; he knows nothing; whilst the physician; although not drunk



knows well in what drunkenness consists; and what are its



predisposing conditions。  Similarly there is a difference between



knowing the nature of abstinence; and BEING abstinent or having



one's soul detached from the world。Thus I had learned what



words could teach of Sufism; but what was left could be learned



neither by study nor through the ears; but solel

返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 0

你可能喜欢的