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2016/11

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(2)

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

。。。承接上集

斯瓦米对此已阐述多次了，

‘我是神。。。你也是神。’

如想成为虔敬神的人，你肯定必须具备一些神圣的素质和属性。在唇舌上念诵名号之余，如果你训练智力以静虑于你选择的神圣形相的典范或属性，那么，慢慢地但肯定地，智力会获得其中一个方面的蓝图，即便得不到全面完整的圆满与理想，你还是应该尽力而为。智力然后把蓝图传给心念。

斯瓦米已说了，

‘心念采取它所执着的客体的形相。如果它固定于一些小事物，它就变小了；如果它固定于大事物，它就变大了。’

老师总得和学生打成一片，说同一语言。基于怜悯之心，斯瓦米降低到我们的层次以便对同样的要点作更深入地阐释。

斯瓦米说，

‘当空气被注入气球后，它采取气球的形相 —— 椭圆形、圆柱形、球形或扁球形。同样，心念采取它所执着的客体形相。是故，人应该心系于高尚思想，因为，如果心念固定于小事物，它就变得微不足道了。’

是故，心念现在具有完美的理想或目标，它应该照着主的名和相的指示向前迈进。人的思想是什么，人就是什么。因此，随着习性改变，人格也跟着改变，同时也迫使个性改变。

斯瓦米，按照他自己的方式，把如何有效地利用念诵圣号之技术的要点举出来。斯瓦米说，

‘你们大家都具备伟大的爱和崇敬斯瓦米，但如果你忽视斯瓦米的教导，那爱与崇敬是没有用的。就算你不崇拜，如果你相信他所说的话的真实性，并在你的日常生活中加以推行，那么斯瓦米的恩典总会在你生命中陪伴着你。如果你只随意念诵主的名号而不追随主带来的真善美的事物，一切皆枉然。这等同于发高烧时，你只叫喊盘尼西林的药名一样。只有服下盘尼西林之后，烧才会退。饿时，你不能叫喊一些食物的名字，如马铃薯和印度麦饼等，你就可以充饥。吃了才能充饥。如果只聆听，于事无补。你务必尝试去牢记每个月你听到的讲道，把它们付诸实行，并根据人生阅历和人情事故来作自我判断，看自己到底成就了多少。’

斯瓦米因此强调说，神的属性和本质不能只是加以念诵但必须据之而行。斯瓦米从《罗摩衍那》的美丽故事中举例说明这一点。

‘。。。知道了母亲是如何的愚昧，坚持罗摩流放森林，的这件事，婆罗多就立即去追赶他亲爱的哥哥，斯里罗摩。他试图进谏斯里罗摩回到阿逾陀（Ayodhya），但斯里罗摩坚持说，一个儿子的责任就是孝顺父母，因此，他应该在森林里度过14年约定的时间。婆罗多知道哥哥坚毅爽朗的性格，去意已决，谁也改不了，于是，他就放弃规劝而回来。至少他获得哥哥给他的一双拖鞋，他已感到心满意足。接下来的14年，这拖鞋一直保存在王位处，并且，婆罗多在上朝听政前，一定先膜拜拖鞋。他目睹拖鞋并想象有如斯里罗摩在治理国事者然。婆罗多大公无私地治理阿逾陀并且以关心和爱心去治理之，几乎跟斯里罗摩治理的没有分别。好不容易地等到14年过去了，婆罗多从宫殿里冲出来，迫不及待地赶去会见他哥哥。当他们见面时，彼此难掩激动之情，泪流满脸。于是两人同乘一辆战车回到阿逾陀。在战车上，大家谈笑风生，互诉多年的离别情况。听说，阿逾陀的老百姓分辨不出谁是斯里罗摩，谁是婆罗多，因为婆罗多的体型外貌已长得跟斯里罗摩很相似。婆罗多，主体，变得像斯里罗摩，因为他的强烈的渴望以及不断的履行其职责与义务于斯里罗摩之名下，改造他成为被膜拜的客体。’

故事举例说明峇峇已多次讲过的哲理，

‘若你想起尘埃，你就是尘埃；若你想起神，你就是神。。。思想是事物，你想什么，你就成为什么。’

然而，记得并念诵主的名号需要的是足够的时间而尤其是在现代的文明世界里，汲汲营营，忙忙碌碌，为了迎合责任与承诺，一个人很难抽出时间给那样的修行，而年轻人更多的是，延迟修行至更大的年纪才进行。

斯瓦米很迅速地提醒我们，

‘光阴荏苒，岁月如梭。有如一冰块，它很快地就溶化而像盛在漏壶里的水一样，一滴一滴地流出去。人一生中所分配到的时间很快就过去了。所以，要提高警觉，要戒备，要机灵和觉知。要寻求主的庇护并改造每一瞬间为一个圣洁的庆祝。’

在另一次的致辞中，斯瓦米警告我们，

‘临命终时，嘴上仍挂着主的名号，这并非卑微的成就。这需要多年的修习，基于根深蒂固的信心。这需要坚定的性格，没有憎恨或恶意，因为神的思维是不能在骄横与贪婪中存留的。而你怎么知道哪一个瞬间是最后的？死神阎摩（Yama）不会事先通知你，他的到来。’

念诵或背诵圣号的修习必须从年轻时开始，

斯瓦米劝导我们，

‘不要等到你步入中年才进行持名的灵性修习。有些父母告诉他们的孩子，他们可以到老年时才开始宗教的修行。然而，一株笔直的植物意味着它能长成一株笔直的树木；一株弯曲的植物绝不能长成一株笔直的树木。所以灵性修行必须从早年开始。’

有一些爬山者尝试攀登高山，而过了一段时间，他们放弃攀登，回到他们原来开始的起点。同理，不一以贯之的持名修习不能带来结果。斯瓦米很快地提醒我们，

‘持念（Smaran）必须始终如一，持之以恒。如果你用一块铁摩擦坚硬的表面，它就会产生热。如果你继续用力摩擦，它就变得火热。如果摩擦过程在时间上有间隔，铁块会变冷而你所有的努力都会付诸东流。工作必须再次重复。’

所以薄伽梵在歌曲的第二行里指明，一个人从峇赞中得到的平和与快乐可以借坚持主的名号，更进一步地扎根于至福上（而在此过程中彰显名号的神圣素质）。那由寺庙里的祭司在每一天的祈祷所阐述的，赞美斯瓦米108个名号以及印度教诸神明不同的名号，品质与属性，就是助长求道者心念里的自动暗示的过程。这提高他自己的自尊和形象至完美和高贵的境界，把他自己从他的受限制的自我中释放出来，从而充分地，彻底地体验至福。

这时，探索者可能还有一个疑问。。。‘是的，我同意，斯瓦米，但肯定地这方法是给那些已经修得某种平静或某种已经找到的慰藉。然而我的心太过起伏不定了。我的船因我粗心的掌舵而撞到岩石和巨石，造成船身破洞累累而开始漏水。就在这时，薄伽梵，去维持平和并且默默地从我的精神热衷中退出是不可能的。’

导师必须能够为持有不同情绪和性情的不同的求道者提供解决问题的方法。对一个智力稍显优势而已拥有一个Satva Guna（好的属性）基调的求道者，导师推荐的‘坚持主的名号’就变得有效和方便多了。那样的爬山者会不断地向上眺望山峰以获得鼓舞，继续攀登。其余的人，其心念被过去的习性与倾向所迷惑，并且充满着激质和翳质的属性，大多数都向下看（过去），他们会感到失望和哀伤，而向上看高山（未来）则会使他们感到恐惧和惊慌失措。他们忘记了峇峇的不断提醒，

‘往者已矣 -- 忘掉吧！来者不确定 -- 别恐惧。活在当下 -- 因为当下是无所不在的。’

这样的个人，在他们日常的任务中，是不能获得满足（Uddhar）的。就像那只鹿一样，一直跑离斯里罗摩，逃入更深的森林去，我们的心念绝望地游荡于激情与欲望的感官森林里，增强其动荡于既有的焦虑的心念中。无物能取悦他们，而一个外在的、予以满足的客体，在它带领至另一个客体前，只能抚慰这样的一个心念于短暂的一瞬间。这种内在满足与快乐的缺乏使到他们到处拜访寺庙与导师，求神解决他们的问题，求神赐他们以平和安详以及他们渴望的客体，因此而使他们体验到满足。

对缺乏一种稳定与缺乏一种目的意识于他们灵道中的那样的爬山者，以及，对那些一曝十寒，歇息太久太常的爬山者，这首歌大声呼唤。。。

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

by Professor Dr. Suresh Govind

Chapter 2 (2)

Hari Naam Bina Anand Nahi

…Continue from Part 1

Swami has numerous times mentioned that,

‘I am God…You are also God.’

To become godly surely must mean to acquire divine qualities and attributes. If the intellect is trained to contemplate on the ideals or attributes of the divine form chosen while the lips utter the name, then slowly but surely the intellect gains a blue print of a facet if not the total perfection and ideals, that one should strive for. The intellect passes the blue-print to the mind.

Swami has said,

‘The mind assumes the form of the objects with which it is attached. If it gets fixed on small things, it becomes small; when fixed on grand things, then it becomes grand.’

The teacher must always speak the language of the student and Swami in his compassionate mood comes down to our level to explain further the same point.

Swami says,

‘When air fills a balloon, it takes the form of the balloon-oval, sausage shaped, spherical or spheroid. Likewise, mind assumes the form of the objects with which it is attached. Hence, man should dwell on high thoughts, as the mind becomes petty if it gets fixed on small things.’

Hence the mind now assumes the perfect ideal or goal it should move towards indicated by the name and the form of the lord. As the thought so the man and therefore as the habits change, character also change forcing the personality to also change.

Swami brings out the point of how to use the technique of chanting the Lord’s name effectively in his own style. Swami says,

‘All of you have great love and adore Swami but that love and adoration are of no use if you ignore the teachings of Swami. Even if you do not adore, if you believe in the truth of the word and enforce it in your daily life, Swami’s grace will always be with you in your life. It is no use if you simply utter the name of the Lord and do not follow the good things that go with the Lord. It is just like uttering the name of penicillin when you are running a high temperature. Only when you take in the penicillin will the temperature come down. When you are hungry, the hunger cannot be satisfied by uttering words like potato and chapatti. If you eat them, it will be satisfied. It is no use if you only listen. You must try to remember the discourses you have listened to during the month, put them into practise and judge for yourself how far you have acted according to the world.’

Swami therefore stresses that attributes and qualities of Gods must not just be chanted but lived. Swami illustrates this point in a beautiful story from the Ramayan,

‘……Bharat runs after his beloved brother Sri Ram after realising the foolishness of how his mother had banished Sri Ram into the forest. He tries to persuade Sri Ram to return to Ayodhya but Sri Ram insisted that a sons duty is to listen to his parents and therefore he should spent the stipulated time of 14 years in the forest. Bharat knowing that his brothers determined nature had to give up his persuasion and returned contended that he at least has his brother’s sandals. For the next 14 years these sandals were kept on the throne and worshipped first before the execution of any order was made by Bharat. He would look to the sandals and imagine as if Sri Ram was ruling the land. Bharat ruled Ayodhya justly and with great care and love almost how Sri Ram would have ruled. When 14 years passed Bharat rushed out from the palace with great speed and rode out to meet his brother. When finally they did, tears were exchanged and both rode back to Ayodhya in the same chariot laughing and exchanging news of all those lost years. It is said that the people of Ayodhya could not differentiate who was Sri Ram and who was Bharat for Bharat had grown to be so physically alike to Sri Ram. Bharat the subject became like Sri Ram, for his intense yearning and constant discharge of obligations and duties in the name of Sri Ram transformed him to be the object of worship.’

The story illustrates what Baba has said many times,

‘Dust if you think of,, dust you are, God if you think of, God you are…thoughts are things, as you think you become.’

But to remember and chant the Lord’s name needs time and especially in the modern world of rush and dash to meet obligations and commitments one has hardly any time for such practises and most often the younger ones will postpone the practise to an older age.

Swami is quick to remind us that,

‘Time flies fast. Like a block of ice, it melts soon and flows away like water held in a leaky pot, drop by drop. The time allotted for one’s life passes off quite soon. So, be vigilant, be warned. Be alert and aware. Seek the shelter of the lord and transform every moment into a sacred celebration’.

In another speech Swami warns us,

`It is no mean achievement to get the Name of the Lord on one’s tongue at the last breath. It needs practice of many years based on deep-seated faith. It needs a strong character, without hatred or malice, for the thought of God cannot survive in the climate of pride and greed. And how do you know which moment is the last? Yama, the God of death, does not give notice of his arrival.’

The practise of chanting or reciting the name must begin when one is young.

Swami advises us,

‘Do not wait until you are past middle age to practise the Sadhana of Naamsmaran. There are some parents who tell their children that they can take up religious practises in their old age. But a straight plant means a straight tree; a bent plant can never grow into a straight tree. So the Sadhana has to be followed from a tender age.’

There are some mountain climbers who try to climb and after some time they give up the climb and slip back to the original point where they started. In the same way inconsistent practise of reciting the name cannot bring results. Swami is quick to remind us that,

‘The Smaran has to be constant. If you rub a bit of iron on a hard surface, it develops heat. If you continue to rub it vigorously it can be red hot. If you do so between intervals, the iron will become cold and all the effort up till then is waste. The work has to be repeated over again.’

Hence Bhagavan in the second line of the song indicates that the peace and happiness one gains from Bhajans can be further anchored into bliss by `holding on’ to the name of the Lord (and in the process manifesting the Divine qualities of the Name). The 108 names glorifying Swami and the different names, qualities and attributes of the Hindu gods and goddess uttered by the priest every day during prayers in the temples is to facilitate an auto-suggestive process in the mind of the seeker. This raises his own self-esteem and image to perfection and grandeur, liberating himself from his limited ego, experiencing bliss to the fullest.

The seeker at this point may still have a doubt…`yes I agree Swami but surely this methodology is for those who have gained some quietude or some already-found solace. But my mind is far too stormy. My boat is already leaking with many holes punctured as a result of my careless steering into sharp edges of rocks and boulders. At this point Bhagavan, to maintain equipoise and silently withdraw from my mental pre-occupation is not possible’.

A teacher must be able to provide a solution to different seekers with different moods and temperaments. For a seeker whose intelligence is slightly more predominant and already possessing an ambience of Satva Guna, the teacher’s recommendation of `holding on to the Lords name’ becomes more valid. Such mountain climbers will constantly look up to the peak of the mountain to gain inspiration to continue the climb. The rest of the people whose mind is riddled by past habits and trends and is full of rajasic and tamasic gunas mostly continue to look down (i.e. the past) is disappointed and sorrow and look up the mountains (the future) with fear and trepidation. They forget Baba’s constant reminder,

‘The past is gone-forget it! The future is uncertain-do not have fear. Live in the present-for the present is omnipresent.’

Such individuals in their daily undertakings cannot find fulfilment (Uddhar). Like the deer that kept running away from Sri Ram, into the deeper portions of the jungle, our minds wander hopelessly into the sensuous jungles of passion and desire, enhancing the turbulence in the already agitated mind. Nothing pleases them and external object of gratification can appease such a mind only for a moment before it leads to another object. This lack of inner satisfaction and happiness makes them temple and guru hoppers, begging God to solve their problems, asking God to grant them peace and their desired objects so that fulfilment can be experienced.

To such mountain climbers who lacks a steadiness and a sense of purpose in their journey and to those who take too frequent breaks with long intervals between the climb upwards, the song cries out…