No Title

主	页

\|-	文	章

	\|-	峇	峇	开	示

	\|-	每	月	精	选

	\|-	其	它

主页 >> 文章 >> 每月精选

2016/10

Hari Bhajan Bina...攀登人生高峰的灵性秘诀

作者：苏蕾士哥文达教授

第二章(1)

Hari Naam Bina Anand Nahi
( 若不念诵圣号，福乐岂能洋溢）

念诵主的名号，自古以来，一直得到人们的认同与修习，一代一代地传下去，协助训练心念，使之专注。仅只机械式的念诵无助于引领我们达至目标。斯瓦米采用一个美丽的故事来说明这一点，

“遨游山林的一个贤者看到一个猎人设下陷阱，捕捉鹦鹉。他迅速地跑去告诉附近的一只鹦鹉，说 ‘猎人，猎人来了。。。快跑。。。’鹦鹉学会了这句话并且无误地重复整句话。不久，得见那只鹦鹉在附近飞绕着并大声喊叫贤者传给牠的那句话。贤者感到满意，森林中的其他鹦鹉很快地就能得悉他传给那只鹦鹉的信息。于是，他继续上路。两天后，贤者回到原来的地方。他看到猎人背着一大包东西。仔细一瞧，很惊讶地看到一大群美丽的鹦鹉被置于网子里。当猎人正要离去时，贤者听到鹦鹉的尖叫声，‘ 猎人，猎人来了。。。快跑。。。’贤者自忖，鹦鹉多蠢啊。。。牠们继续念诵警语但却不采取行动以免掉入陷阱。”

这故事几乎是反响圣者Adi Shankar（阿迪商羯罗）所著的有名的诗‘Bhaj Govindam ’里的第一节；他在诗中严厉批评一部分社区只对梵文词汇及梵字读音感兴趣而不探讨所念诵的Shlokas（有宗教背景的诗歌章节，或，诗律）和 mantras（真言）的内在意义。。。商羯罗说，仅只文法不能从你临命终时挽回你的生命。斯瓦米再一次强调同样的要点，

“有些人浪费太多时间于机械化的念诵 ‘Ram ’（罗姆）这名号或根据一定的时间表有系统地阅读整部 Ramayan（罗摩衍那），还有一些人，他们膜拜 Sri Ram，Sita（悉多），Lakshman（勒斯曼那）和 Hanuman （哈努曼），作为每天的祭礼并且大声炫耀自己，然而就如一个人把脚伸出去只是为了再把脚回缩一样，一年一年的过去，依然故我，丝毫没有进步。在没有得到思想和意图的净化与恻隐之心的敦促去服务社会人群之下，这些外在的表达和展现仅是自欺欺人而已，为了让社会把你视为一个伟大信徒来赞赏。你的观点一定要成为开悟；它一定要转向内在，并用之于净化与澄清。”

斯瓦米已多次警告我们，有关人们寻求快乐的错误方法，

“人不应该认为快乐在于拥有一所住满孩子，设备齐全的房子，过着舒适的生活。”

有好多次我们去找斯瓦米，要求他解除我们的痛苦。斯瓦米在他的一次讲演中已说过，

“无人能解放你，因为无人把你给绑起来。你紧握着世俗欢乐的烦恼而你为之哭泣，就如被一群乌鸦追逐的鸢鸟一样，只要牠口里还啣着鱼，乌鸦就会不停地追逐牠；一旦鸢鸟放下鱼，牠立即获得自由。是故，你也应该放弃对感官的执着；那么，悲伤和担忧就不再纠缠着你，而你就能快乐地过日子了。”

所以获得持久的福乐看来就是人生的目标。

斯瓦米在他其中的一场讲道中提及，

“人人渴望获得福乐。福乐得自何处？只有信心，才能获得福乐。平和只能通过信心获得：信心是喜悦的动力。但现在，只要我们放眼一瞧，我们到处都看到痛苦。这为什么会发生？因为人已丧失信心，对他自己没有信心。那他又怎能获得福乐？一个不具备足够信心去快乐地生活几天的人，如何能赢取神的恩典。”

因此，要对他自己培育起信心，要获得一种尊敬与自信的新的意识，要采取他自己的一个崭新的意象，他就应该培育对潜能的理解以便执行其任务。是故，作为导师的斯瓦米从歌曲的第二行带出方法论，以使一个人开始拥有这潜在力。‘Hari Naam’意谓持名（即对名号的效应深具信心 -- 因为名号唤出形相）于人生的每一个阶段。

斯瓦米已说了，

“神圣的名号是世上所有疾病的万能药。最温馨的莫过于这名号了。念诵名号是达至主的最方便法门。你可以在没有任何障碍下抵达目标。这名号人人皆可获得，不论他是罪人或圣者，学生或老师，男性或女性，大家都一律平等，没有差别。凭借爱与虔诚，持名是最简易和最圣洁的法门。如果你继续念颂圣号而陶醉于名号的温馨之中，神甚至会因此而起舞。”

在此关键时刻，一个求道者或许会问‘仅只重复念诵主的名号如何能带来任何利益？’，这是很自然的事。

斯瓦米解释，

“有一串念珠在手轮流拨动，就如日常生活中的例常公事一样的机械化地，准时地和谨慎地，或者，如它应该这样的完成一般 -- 重复神圣名号，不管目标次数，老念着它所代表的形相以及它所意味的神圣属性，可以品尝之，陶醉于之，享受各种情况和名号的关联，并且领略其滋味。”

对一个要用智能去窥探这过程的机制的热衷求道者，作为科学家的大师解释说，

“不断地重复念诵神的一个名号是纠正和净化人的心念的最佳法门。这个名号是数以百万计的名号之一，全都是人用他的想像力和智力去认同的。”

智能扮演的是什么角色？斯瓦米已重复了好多次，说人基本上是由多个身（或鞘）所构成的，如食所成身，气息所成身，念所成身，智所成身，及福所成身。以下是一个简化的图表以标明‘福所成身’是人个性中最内在的核心。

为了更好地理解，斯瓦米在其中的一个讲道中做下列的解释，

“在人世间的一切行动及其结果源自头脑，而这一切都与心念外驰之道（Pravrutti Marg或外在之道）不无关联，而那些发自内心者则与心念内驰之道（Nivrutti Marg或内在之道）相关联，在感觉上如平静、仁慈、怜悯、容忍和爱等是。考虑你内心这块田地的情况：它生满欲望、嗔怒、贪婪和嫉妒的荆棘与草丛。要除掉它们，将它们连根拔起。切莫让田地荒芜。借持续善良的工作去耕犁田地并且以爱的水灌溉之。要选择你所心仪的圣名种子并散播于田地上。纪律或苦行是一种力量，维护成长中的农作物，免受牛群的糟蹋。道德是杀虫剂。以最细心的照顾去培育和滋养田地，这样你就可以把可贵的收成 -- 福乐，带回家了。”

心念外驰之道是经文中所描述的一种途径，人在这个路程上招致了自我的膨胀。这是由过去的倾向与习性所决定的行为方向 -- 在此，‘自我’催促人去抢占和囤积，渴望和占有，从而把‘我’，‘自我’养的白白胖胖的 --为了在生活竞争中生存下去。这样的一个人也许易陷于焦躁不安，嗔怒及其他负面的习性。他会缺乏文化的敏感性，缺乏对自然的鉴赏力，并且缺乏智能去质问和探索他自己的内在和外在世界的奇观。人已从本来就是他本质的至福的生命源泉中走出来，进入外在粗俗的世界，而现在戴着自负的面具把自己纠缠于他自设的罗网之中。他现在呼求至福。【图中从至福指向食所成身的箭头就表示站在个性层面的外在之道（Pravrutti Marg）】。

就在此时此刻，由于神的恩典，人在生活之湖里的自我泡沫达到它的最大的分量，于是爆裂并因此而开启他的回程路，从外在的粗俗世界回到内在的至福源泉。这内在的途径被称为心念内驰之道（Nivrutti Marg内在之道），如图中箭头所示，从粗体所成身至内在的福所成身。因此，深深地去穿透人格的层面而触及内在的至福核心，似乎成了嘹亮的号召。最接近至福的要算是智所成身了，而

斯瓦米已经说了，

“‘菩提’是人至高无上的能力而其卓越之处就在于它与阿特玛的接近。低于智力的是心念；低于感官的是肉身。实际上，智力应该常常加以训练以控制心念而心念则控制感官。然而今天，倒行逆施正出现，因此，所有混乱也都出现了。”

印度教徒远在5千年前就已经认识这个单纯的真理或真相了。象鼻拥有特别的过滤污垢的能力而从一池脏水中，吸入的只是纯净的水。因此，在印度的万神殿，干巴迪（Ganpati），象头神代表明辨是非的智慧之神，被尊为最重要的神明。

斯瓦米已说了，

“得此人身或基本人的配备就够了，如肉身的，精神的，和情绪的配备。凭借明辨是非的智力的协助，一个人必须把它带到完美的境界，就如一个雕塑家之所为，当石头已达到一个具体的造型之后。”

待续。。。

Hari Bhajan Bina...Spiritual Tips to climb the mountain of life

by Professor Dr. Suresh Govind

Chapter 2 (1)

Hari Naam Bina Anand Nahi

Recitations of names of the Lord have been an ancient practise passed down from generation to generation to help train the mind to focus. Mere mechanical chanting cannot bring us to our goal. Swami uses a beautiful story to illustrate the point,

‘A sage who was travelling through forest saw a hunter setting a trap to catch parrots. Quickly he ran to a near-by parrot and told it that `hunter, hunter is coming ...run. Run away…’ The parrot learnt the message and could repeat the entire message without a mistake. Soon the parrot was seen flying around screaming away the message that the sage has passed on. The sage too continued his journey satisfied that the parrots in the jungle would soon be able to hear the message he had passed on to the parrot. After two days when the sage walked back through the jungle again he saw the hunter with a big bundle behind his back. He looked closely and to his astonishment he saw a large number of beautiful parrots bundled into a net. As the hunter was walking away the sage could hear the parrots screaming away `hunter, hunter is coming ...run…run away…’. The sage thought to himself how silly the parrots were…they continue to chant the warning but did not take any action to prevent from being trapped.’

The story almost echoes the first verse of the famous poem `Bhaj Govindam’ by the sage Adi Shankar where he hits out at the section of the community only interested in the vocabulary of Sanskrit and the pronunciation of words without understanding the inner significance of the Shlokas or mantras chanted.. Shankar states that mere grammar rules cannot save one from his appointed time of death. Swami stresses again the same point,

‘There are those who spend much time in mechanically reciting the name `Ram’ or systematically reading the entire Ramayan according to a fixed time table or who worship the images of Sri Ram, Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman as a daily ritual, with noisy pomp and pedantry, but like the person who puts a foot forward only to draw it back again, these persons do not progress at all as the years elapse. Without gaining purity of thought and intention, compassion and the urge to serve, these outward expressions and exhibitions are but ways of cheating yourself for having the society applaud you as a great devotee. Your sight must become insight; it must be turned within, and used for purifying and clarifying.’

Swami has warned us many a time the mistaken way in which people seek happiness,

‘Man should not consider that happiness consists in having a house full of children and equipped with all the amenities for comfortable living.’

Many a time we have approached Swami and asked him to relieve us from pain and suffering. Swami in one of his speeches has said,

‘No one can liberate you, for no one has bound you. You hold on to the nettle of worldly pleasure and you weep, like the kite is pursued by the crows so long as it carries the fish in its beak; once the kite drops the fish, immediately it is free. So you too should give up attachment to the senses; then sorrow and anxiety can harass you no more, and you can be happy.’

Hence to acquire everlasting Anand or bliss appears to be the purpose of life.

Swami in one of his discourses states that,

`Every man desires to acquire Anand. From where can Anand be acquired? Faith alone can win Anand. Peace can be got only through faith: Faith is the spring of joy. But now we see sorrow, wherever we cast our eyes. Why does this happen? Because man has lost faith, he has no faith in himself. How then he can acquire Anand? How can a person who has not got faith enough to live happily for a few days win the grace of God’.

Hence to develop faith in himself, to acquire a new sense of esteem and confidence, to adopt a new image of himself possessing the realisation of the potential to execute should be developed. Hence the teacher in Swami brings out the methodology in the second line of how one can one begin to have this potential. `Hari Naam’ means to hold on to the name of the Lord (i.e. to have full faith in the efficiency of the Name- for the Name evokes the form) in all phases of life.

Swami has said,

`The divine name is the panacea for all diseases in the world. There is nothing sweeter than this name. To chant the name is the easiest path to reach the Lord. Without any obstacles you can reach the goal. This name is equally available to the sinner and the saint, to the student and the teacher, man and woman, without any distinction whatsoever. Through love and devotion, chanting the name of the Lord is the easiest and most sacred path. If you go on chanting the name and become mad with the sweetness of the name, even God starts dancing.’

It is only natural that a seeker at this juncture might ask `how can mere recitation of the name of the Lord bring any benefit?’

Swami explains,

‘With a Japmala turning the beads automatically around, just as mechanically and as punctually and as carefully as any other routine act of daily life, or as it ought to be done - repeating the Name irrespective of the target number, dwelling deep on the form it represents and on the divine attributes connoted by it, tasting it, revelling in it, enjoying the contexts and associations of the Name, relishing its sweetness.’

To an ardent seeker whose intelligence wants to discover the mechanism of this process, the scientist in the master explains,

‘The constant recital of the name of God, from amongst any of the million names by which he is identified by human imagination or intelligence, is the best means of correcting and cleansing the mind of man.’

What part does intelligence play? Swami has repeated many times that man is basically composed of sheaths, namely the food sheath, vital air sheath, mind sheath, intelligence sheath and the bliss sheath. The simplistic diagram below illustrates that the bliss sheath is the innermost core of the human personality.

To understand better, Swami in one his speeches states the following,

‘All actions in the world and their consequences originate in the head and these relate to the external path (Pravrutti Marg) and those which arise from the heart relate to the inward path (Nivrutti Marg), in feelings like peace, kindness, compassion, forbearance and love. Consider the condition of the field of your heart: it is overgrown with thorn and bush of lust, anger, greed and envy. Remove them, root and all. Do not allow the land to turn fallow. By continuous good work, plough the field and fill the field with the water of Prema. Select the Naam-seed that appeals to you and sow it in the field. Discipline is the force which will guard the growing crop against cattle. Virtue is the pesticide. Fostering the field with greater care, you can bring home the precious harvest of Anand.’

Pravrutti Marg is the path pointed out in scriptures to indicate the journey man takes which involves the expansion of ego. It is the course of direction determined by past trends and habits where the ego urges man to grab and horde, want and possess feeding and fattening the I, the ego, in order to survive the competition of life. Such an individual may be prone to restlessness, anger and other negative habits. He will be devoid of cultural sensitivity, unappreciative of nature and will not possess the intellectual capacity to question and fathom the wonderment of his own inner and outer world. Man has emerged from the life spring of Anand which was once his nature, to the outer gross world, and now wearing pretentious masks he gets entangled in the webs he himself has created. He now cries for Anand. (The arrow drawn in the figure from bliss to food sheath indicates at the personality level the Pravrutti Marg).

It is at this time due to the Grace of God that the ego-bubble of man in the lake of life has reached its maximum size, bursts and thus commences his return journey from the outer gross world to the inner fountain of Anand. This inward path is called Nivrutti Marg shown by the arrow pointing from the gross body sheath to the inner bliss sheath. Hence to penetrate deep into the layers of personality and to touch the inner core of Anand seems to be the clarion call. The closest sheath to bliss is the intellect sheath and

Swami has said,

‘Buddhi is the most superior faculty of man and its pre-eminence, is due to its proximity to the Atma. Below intellect is the mind; below the sensory organs is the body. In actual fact, intellect should always exercise control over the mind and the mind over the senses. But today mostly the reverse is occurring and hence all the chaos.’

This simple truth the Hindus realised more than 5000 years ago. The trunk of the elephant has the unique ability to filter dirt and suck in only pure clean water from a pool of dirty water. Hence in the Hindu pantheon, Ganpati, the Elephant God representing intellectual discrimination is worshipped as the principal deity.

Swami has said,

‘It is enough if one has human form or the basic human equipment, physical, mental and emotional. With the help of discriminating intellect, one must bring it to perfection, as a sculptor does after the stone is brought to a definite shape.’

to be continued ….