宁静在说话（第七章：自然）

第七章：自然

Nature

 

We depend on nature not only for our physical survival. We
also need nature to show us the way home, the way out of the prison of our own
minds. We got lost in doing, thinking, remembering, anticipating–lost in a maze
of complexity and a world of problems. 

我们依赖自然，不仅是为了肉体存活的需要，也是为了让它指引我们走出心智囚笼，回归本性。我们迷失在不停地做、不停地想、不停地记存、不停地期待中，我们迷失在一个错综复杂的迷宫和问题重重的世界之中。

 

We have forgotten what rocks, plants, and animals still
know. We have forgotten how to be–to be still, to be ourselves, to be where
life is: Here and Now. 

我们遗忘了那些岩石、植物、动物都还知道的事。我们忘了任何去“活”--如何寂静下来；如何做自己；如何回归生命的本质--就在此地与当下。

 

Whenever you bring your attention to anything natural,
anything that has come into existence without human intervention, you step out
of the prison of conceptualized thinking and, to some extent, participate in
the state of connectedness with Being in which everything natural still
exists. 

每当你把注意力放在任何自然的、非人为造作的事物上时，你就跨出了概念化思考的牢笼；从某种程度来说，你已与依旧存在于这些事物中的生命本质相连接了。

 

To bring your attention to a stone, a tree, or an animal
does not mean to think about it, but simply to perceive it, to hold it in your
awareness. 

把注意力放在一颗石头、一株大树，或一只动物，并不意味着去“思考”它，而是单纯地去感受它，把它纳入自己的觉性里。

 

Something of its essence then transmits itself to you. You
can sense how still it is, and in doing so the same stillness arises within
you. You sense how deeply it rests in Being–completely at one with what it is
and where it is. In realizing this, you too come to a place of rest deep within
yourself.  

接着，它本质里的什么就将它自己传达给你，你将感受到它是如此地寂静，于是，你的内在也将生起同样的寂静。你感受到它是如此深沉地安住于本体之中，完全与它自己，与它所在的地方合而为一。明白这一切，你回到自心深处，安住在那里。

 

When walking or resting in nature, honor that realm by
being there fully. Be still. Look. Listen. See how every animal and every plant
is completely itself. Unlike humans, they have not split themselves in two.
They do not live through mental images of themselves, so they do not need to be
concerned with trying to protect and enhance those images. The deer is itself.
The daffodil is itself. 

在大自然中行走和休息时，以完全融入来礼赞这块大地吧！寂静下来，去看、去听。看看每个动物和每株植物如何全然是它自己，它们和人类不同，没有将自己一分为二，也不仰赖自己塑造的心理形相而活。所以，他们不需要费心去保护与巩固这些形象。鹿就是鹿，黄水仙花就是黄水仙花。

 

All things in nature are not only one with themselves but
also one with the totality. They haven't removed themselves from the fabric of
the whole by claiming a separate existence: “me” and the rest of the universe.

自然界的万物，不只与自己合而为一，同时也与全体合而为一。它们并未将自己从共同的整体中抽离开来，而宣告宇宙中有“我”这个独立个体的存在，以相对于宇宙中其他的存在。

 

The contemplation of nature can free you of that “me,” the
great troublemaker.

寂静下来，深思自然，将使你从那个“我”，那个制造麻烦的高手之中解脱出来。

   

Bring awareness to the many subtle sounds of nature–the
rustling of leaves in the wind, raindrops falling, the humming of an insect,
the first birdsong at dawn. Give yourself completely to the act of listening.
Beyond the sounds there is something greater: a sacredness that cannot be
understood through thought.  

把觉察带到自然里那些细微的声音上--树叶在风中飒飒作响、滴落的雨声、昆虫嗡嗡哼唱、拂晓时第一声鸟鸣。凝神去倾听，超越那些声音之后，有个更伟大的存在：一种无法以思考去理解的神圣。

 

You didn't create your body, nor are you able to control
the body's functions. An intelligence greater than the human mind is at work.
It is the same intelligence that sustains all of nature. You cannot get any
closer to that intelligence than by being aware of your own inner energy
field–by feeling the aliveness, the animating presence within the body.  

你的身体不是你创造的，你也无法控制身体的各种功能，那都是由一个远比人类心智更大的本智所运作的，这本智也育养着自然界的一切。你无法接近这本智，除非你觉察自己内在的能量场，也就是去感受体内那蓬勃的生气，以及那生意盎然的“临在”。

 

The playfulness and joy of a dog, its unconditional love
and readiness to

celebrate life at any moment often contrast sharply with
the inner state of the dog's owner – depressed, anxious, burdened by problems,
lost in thought, not present in the only place and only time there is: Here and
Now. One wonders: living with this person, how does the dog manage to remain so
sane, so joyous?  

狗儿嬉闹玩耍，充满喜悦，牠们对爱毫无保留，并随时准备欢庆生命。而狗主人却经常是沮丧、焦虑、肩负着种种的问题、迷失在思虑中，更无法“临在”于此地、此刻。狗与主人彼此鲜明的对比，让人不禁想问：狗儿与这样的主人相处，是怎么把自己保持得这么正常、这么喜悦呢？

 

When you perceive nature only through the mind, through
thinking, you cannot sense its aliveness, its beingness. You see the form only
and are unaware of the life within the form – the sacred mystery. Thought
reduces nature to a commodity to be used in the pursuit of profit or knowledge
or some other utilitarian purpose. The ancient forest becomes timber, the bird
a research project, the mountain something to be mined or conquered. 

若你只是透过心智，透过思考来感受自然，你将无法感受到它的蓬勃生机、它律动的生命。你只看见外在形体，却觉察不到表相之内的生命--那神圣的奥妙。思考将自然贬抑为只是用来追求利润、知识或其他功利目的的商品，例如古老的森林变成了木材，鸟类变成了研究项目，山丘变成了要被开采或被征服的地方。

 

When you perceive nature, let there be spaces of no
thought, no mind. When you approach nature in this way, it will respond to you
and participate in the evolution of human and planetary consciousness. 

感受自然时，你得让你的内心成为没有念头、没有思考的空间。当你以这样的方式接近自然，它将回应你，并且开始参与人类与地球觉识的进化。

 

Notice how present a flower is, how surrendered to
life.  

去观察一朵花如何“临在”于当下，如何臣服于生命。

 

The plant that you have in your home–have you ever truly
looked at it? Have you allowed that familiar yet mysterious being we call plant
to teach you its secrets? Have you noticed how deeply peaceful it is? How it is
surrounded by a field of stillness? The moment you become aware of a plant's
emanation of stillness and peace, that plant becomes your teacher.  

你曾经认真地观察过自己家中的植物吗？你曾经允许那熟悉却又神秘，被我们称为“植物”的生命体来教导你它的秘密吗？你是否注意到它是多么地深稳平静？是如何地被笼罩在一片寂照之中？当你能觉察到一株植物所散发的寂照与平静，那一刻，这株植物就是你的导师了。

 

Watch an animal, a flower, a tree, and see how it rests in
Being. It is itself. It has enormous dignity, innocence, and holiness. However,
for you to see that, you need to go beyond the mental habit of naming and
labeling. The moment you look beyond mental labels, you feel that ineffable
dimension of nature that cannot be understood by thought or perceived through
the senses. It is a harmony, a sacredness that permeates not only the whole of
nature but is also within you. 

凝视一只动物、一朵花、一棵树，观看它如何安住于本体之中。它“就是”它自己，拥有极大的壮严、纯真与神圣。然而，若你想看到这一切，就必须超越为自然命名与归类的心里习惯，当你跨越贴标签式的观看，那一刻，你将感受到自然里一种难以名状的层面，那层面无法透过思考去了解，也无法通过感观去感受，它是一种和谐，一种不仅弥漫于整个自然之中，同时也充满于你内在的神圣。

 

The air that you breathe is nature, as is the breathing
process itself. 

你呼吸的空气是自然，而呼吸的进行本身也是自然。

 

Bring your attention to your breathing and realize that you
are not doing it. It is the breath of nature. If you had to remember to
breathe, you would soon die, and if you tried to stop breathing, nature would
prevail. 

把你的注意力带到你的呼吸上，你就会了解，不是你在呼吸，是大自然在呼吸。如果得经由提醒你才记得呼吸，那你很快就会死亡；然而，如果你试着停止呼吸，自然可不会让你得逞，它将取得最后的胜利。

 

You reconnect with nature in the most intimate and powerful
way by becoming aware of your breathing and learning to hold your attention
there. This is a healing and deeply empowering thing to do. It brings about a
shift in consciousness from the conceptual world of thought to the inner realm
of unconditioned consciousness.

去观察你的呼吸并专注其上，是与自然重新产生连接最亲密、最有力的方法，它也是一件既具有疗愈功能又可强力加持的事。它带来了觉识的转移，从思维的概念化国度，转移到内在“不受制约觉识”之境。

 

You need nature as your teacher to help you re-connect with
Being. But not only do you need nature, it also needs you. 

你要以自然为师，以便与本体重新连接。但并非你单方面需要自然，自然也需要你。

 

You are not separate from nature. We are all part of the One Life that manifests itself in countless forms throughout the universe, forms that are all completely interconnected. When you recognize the sacredness, the beauty, the incredible stillness and dignity in which a flower or a tree exists, you add something to the flower or the tree. Through your recognition, your awareness, nature too comes to know itself. It comes to know its own beauty and sacredness through you!

你与自然并不是分离的，我们全都是宇宙共同生命的一部分，这共同生命体将自己显化为无以计数的形状事物，彼此紧密相连。当你认出一朵花、一棵树是透过如此神圣、美丽，且不可思议的寂照与壮严而存在时，你便为这树、这花增添了些什么。透过你的认知与你的觉性，自然也慢慢认识它自己。因为你，它开始明白了自己的美丽与神圣。

 

A great silent space holds all of nature in its embrace. It
also holds you.  

一个宏阔的静寂空间，把自然万物纳于它的怀里，其中当然也包括了你。

 

Only when you are still inside do you have access to the
realm of stillness that rocks, plants, and animals inhabit. Only when your
noisy mind subsides can you connect with nature at a deep level and go beyond
the sense of separation created by excessive thinking. 

唯有内在寂静下来，你才可能真正进入岩石、植物、动物所安住的寂照之中；唯有喧闹的心智沉静了，你才可能摆脱过度思考所带来的分离感，并在内心深处与自然真正连接。

 

Thinking is a stage in the evolution of life. Nature exists
in innocent stillness that is prior to the arising of thought. The tree, the
flower, the bird, the rock are unaware of their own beauty and sacredness. When
human beings become still, they go beyond thought. There is an added dimension
of knowing, of awareness, in the stillness that is beyond thought. 

思考是生命演化的一个阶段，自然存在于思维生起前的单纯寂照之中。那树、花、鸟、岩石，并未觉察到自己的美丽与神圣。当人寂静下来，人就超越了思维，就在这超越思维的寂照之中，出现了一个新的境界，一个了悟的、觉知的境界。

 

Nature can bring you to stillness. That is its gift to you.
When you perceive and join with nature in the field of stillness, that field
becomes permeated with your awareness. That is your gift to nature. 

自然可以引你来到寂照之境，那是它送给你的礼物。当你于此寂照中，深刻感受并与自然相结合之后，那里将充满了你的觉性，那是你送给自然的礼物。

 

Through you nature becomes aware of itself. Nature has been
waiting for you, as it were, for millions of years.  

透过你，自然觉察到它自己。千万年来，自然一直在等待着你。