I'm speaking about compassion from an Islamic point of view, and perhaps my faith is not very well thought of as being one that is grounded in compassion. The truth of the matter is otherwise.
以下我將以伊斯蘭教的角度闡述善心。 別人或者認為我的宗教稱不上 是以善心為本的 但真實卻是相反。
Our holy book, the Koran, consists of 114 chapters, and each chapter begins with what we call the basmala, the saying of "In the name of God, the all compassionate, the all merciful," or, as Sir Richard Burton -- not the Richard Burton who was married to Elizabeth Taylor, but the Sir Richard Burton who lived a century before that and who was a worldwide traveler and translator of many works of literature -- translates it. "In the name of God, the compassionating, the compassionate."
我們神聖的可蘭經共有114章 每章都以我們真主的名義為始 真主的教誨,指所有擁有善心者,擁有仁心者 或者正如李察波頓先生所言 不是伊利莎伯泰萊嫁的那位李察波頓 而是再上一個世紀的那位李察波頓 他周遊列國 翻譯了很多文學名著 翻譯過來意思是「以真主之名,所有行善者,所有善心者。」
And in a saying of the Koran, which to Muslims is God speaking to humanity, God says to his prophet Muhammad -- whom we believe to be the last of a series of prophets, beginning with Adam, including Noah, including Moses, including Abraham, including Jesus Christ, and ending with Muhammad -- that, "We have not sent you, O Muhammad, except as a 'rahmah,' except as a source of compassion to humanity."
而可蘭經的教義,對伊斯蘭教徒來說是上帝給人的箴言 真主向他的先知穆罕默德說 他應該是最後一位先知 從阿當開始,包括諾亞,包括摩西,包括亞伯拉罕 包括耶穌,最後就是穆罕斁德 真主說:「你不是我們的使者,穆罕默德 我們只派你當拉罕,當眾人之中的善心泉源。」
For us human beings, and certainly for us as Muslims, whose mission, and whose purpose in following the path of the prophet is to make ourselves as much like the prophet. And the prophet, in one of his sayings, said, "Adorn yourselves with the attributes of God." And because God Himself said that the primary attribute of his is compassion -- in fact, the Koran says that "God decreed upon himself compassion," or, "reigned himself in by compassion" -- therefore, our objective and our mission must be to be sources of compassion, activators of compassion, actors of compassion and speakers of compassion and doers of compassion.
對我們人類來說,尤其是對我們伊斯蘭教徒來說 我們的任務和目標,就是跟隨先知之道 以先知為效法的榜樣 而這位先知在一則教誨中說: 「以真主特性裝飾你自己。」 因為真主說,他的本源是善心 而可蘭經文說到:「真主的裁決以其善心為依歸」 或者「他以善心統治自己。」 所以我們的目標、我們的任務都必須以善心為本 激發善心、演繹善心 講述善心,和行使善心
That is all well and good, but where do we go wrong, and what is the source of the lack of compassion in the world? For the answer to this, we turn to our spiritual path. In every religious tradition, there is the outer path and the inner path, or the exoteric path and the esoteric path. The esoteric path of Islam is more popularly known as Sufism, or "tasawwuf" in Arabic. And these doctors or these masters, these spiritual masters of the Sufi tradition, refer to teachings and examples of our prophet that teach us where the source of our problems lies.
雖說是好, 但我們出了甚麼問題 這個世界究竟為甚麼缺乏善心? 為了找出答案,就要追溯我們的精神道路。 每個宗教教義都說外在的道路和內在的道路 或者顯白的道路和深奧的道路。 在伊斯蘭教,深奧的道路普遍指蘇非主義,阿拉文是「tasawwuf」。 而這些教授或者大師 這些蘇菲傳統的精神大師 遵循我們先知的教導和故事 教曉我們找出本身問題的源頭。
In one of the battles that the prophet waged, he told his followers, "We are returning from the lesser war to the greater war, to the greater battle."
在一場他發動的抗爭中, 這位先知跟門徒說:「我們正從次要的戰爭, 回到更重要的戰爭,回到更重要的抗爭。」
And they said, "Messenger of God, we are battle-weary. How can we go to a greater battle?"
然後他們說:「真主的信者啊,我們都厭倦了戰鬥 又怎可以去一面對一場更重要戰爭呢?」
He said, "That is the battle of the self, the battle of the ego." The sources of human problems have to do with egotism, "I."
他說:「那是挑戰自我的抗爭,挑戰自負的抗爭。」 人類問題的根源來自自我主義
The famous Sufi master Rumi, who is very well known to most of you, has a story in which he talks of a man who goes to the house of a friend, and he knocks on the door, and a voice answers, "Who's there?"
你們大部分都很熟識的蘇非派大師魯米 他說過一個故事,內容是就一個人到友人的家門 他敲門 然後有把聲音問:「是誰?」
"It's me," or, more grammatically correctly, "It is I," as we might say in English.
「It's me.」(是我),或者應說「It is I.」 用正確英文文法的話
The voice says, "Go away."
那把聲音說:「滾。」
After many years of training, of disciplining, of search and struggle, he comes back. With much greater humility, he knocks again on the door.
經過多年的鍛練、戒律、追尋和掙扎之後 那個人再回來 他以更謙厚的態度,再敲門
The voice asks, "Who is there?"
那把聲音問:「是誰?」
He said, "It is you, O heartbreaker."
他說:「是你啊,傷心的人。」
The door swings open, and the voice says, "Come in, for there is no room in this house for two I's," -- two capital I's, not these eyes -- "for two egos."
然後門開了,那把聲音說: 「請進來,這裡容納不了兩個「I」(我) 兩個大階「i」,不是眼睛的「eyes」,意思指兩個自我的人
And Rumi's stories are metaphors for the spiritual path. In the presence of God, there is no room for more than one "I," and that is the "I" of divinity. In a teaching -- called a "hadith qudsi" in our tradition -- God says that, "My servant," or "My creature, my human creature, does not approach me by anything that is dearer to me than what I have asked them to do." And those of you who are employers know exactly what I mean. You want your employees to do what you ask them to do, and if they've done that, then they can do extra. But don't ignore what you've asked them to do.
魯米的故事比喻精神的道路 在主面前,容納不了多於一個「I」(我) 那是神性的「I」(我) 在我們稱為「a hadith qudsi」的傳統教義當中, 真神說:「我的僕人」或者「我的創造物,我所創造的人 没有任何東西 比我要求他們做的事更能親近我。」 在座的僱主應該很清楚我的意思 你希望僱員按差遣辦事 如果他們做了,代表他們可以做更多 但不要忘記你要他們做了些甚麼。
"And," God says, "my servant continues to get nearer to me, by doing more of what I've asked them to do" -- extra credit, we might call it -- "until I love him or love her. And when I love my servant," God says, "I become the eyes by which he or she sees, the ears by which he or she listens, the hand by which he or she grasps, and the foot by which he or she walks, and the heart by which he or she understands." It is this merging of our self with divinity that is the lesson and purpose of our spiritual path and all of our faith traditions.
真神又說:「我的僕人繼續親近我, 全因他們做了更多我命他們做的事。」 又可叫做額外加分 「直至我愛他或她。 以及當我愛我的僕人時。」神說: 「我成為他或她用來看的眼, 他或她用來聽的耳, 他或她用來抓的手, 他或她用來行走的腿 他或她用來明事理的心。」 那就是自我與神性的融合 也是我們的精神道路和所有信仰傳統的教誨和目的。
Muslims regard Jesus as the master of Sufism, the greatest prophet and messenger who came to emphasize the spiritual path. When he says, "I am the spirit, and I am the way," and when the prophet Muhammad said, "Whoever has seen me has seen God," it is because they became so much an instrument of God, they became part of God's team -- so that God's will was manifest through them, and they were not acting from their own selves and their own egos. Compassion on earth is given, it is in us. All we have to do is to get our egos out of the way, get our egotism out of the way.
伊斯蘭教徒認為耶穌是蘇非派的大師 是重視精神道路的最偉大先知和信者。 當他說:「我是精神,我是道路」 先知穆罕默德說:「見我者就是見神。」 因為他們已成為真主的工具 他們成為真主的一部分 所以真主的意願透過他們表達出來 而不是從他們的自己或自我意識而來的。 善心是與生俱來的,它在我們每個人心中 我們要做的,就是撇開自我 拋開自我中心的心態。
I'm sure, probably all of you here, or certainly the very vast majority of you, have had what you might call a spiritual experience, a moment in your lives when, for a few seconds, a minute perhaps, the boundaries of your ego dissolved. And at that minute, you felt at one with the universe -- one with that jug of water, one with every human being, one with the Creator -- and you felt you were in the presence of power, of awe, of the deepest love, the deepest sense of compassion and mercy that you have ever experienced in your lives.
我深信,可能在座每位,或者你們當中大部分人 都曾有過所謂的精神歷驗 在人生當中有一刻,可能是幾秒,或者一分鐘 你的自我意識煙消雲散。 就在那分鐘,你感覺得與天地同在 與一壺水同在,與所有人類同在 與造物者同在 然後你感受到力量、敬畏 最深切的愛、最深切的善心和寬容 是前所未有的深切感受。
That is a moment which is a gift of God to us -- a gift when, for a moment, he lifts that boundary which makes us insist on "I, I, I, me, me, me," and instead, like the person in Rumi's story, we say, "Oh, this is all you. This is all you. And this is all us. And us, and I, and us are all part of you. O, Creator! O, the Objective! The source of our being and the end of our journey, you are also the breaker of our hearts. You are the one whom we should all be towards, for whose purpose we live, and for whose purpose we shall die, and for whose purpose we shall be resurrected again to account to God to what extent we have been compassionate beings."
那一刻就是真主的恩賜 那刻衪的把邊界移開 令我們拋開我、我、我 然後正如魯米的故事 我們說:「喔,是你。」 這就是你。這就是我們。 而我們、我、我們,全都是你。 全都是造物者、所有事物、萬物的根源 以及我們人生的終結。 你也打開了我們的心。 你說是我們所奔向的,我們的生存目標 我們犧牲性命的理由 我們復活的原因 讓真主見證我們都已是充滿善心的人。
Our message today, and our purpose today, and those of you who are here today, and the purpose of this charter of compassion, is to remind. For the Koran always urges us to remember, to remind each other, because the knowledge of truth is within every human being.
我們今天的訊息,今天的目標 也即是你們在座各位的目標 也是這有關善心的教誨的目標,就是提醒。 可蘭經時常叮囑我們要切記,要互相提醒 因為每個人都知道真理。
We know it all. We have access to it all. Jung may have called it "the subconscious." Through our subconscious, in your dreams -- the Koran calls our state of sleep "the lesser death," "the temporary death" -- in our state of sleep we have dreams, we have visions, we travel even outside of our bodies, for many of us, and we see wonderful things. We travel beyond the limitations of space as we know it, and beyond the limitations of time as we know it. But all this is for us to glorify the name of the creator whose primary name is the compassionating, the compassionate.
我們全都知道。 我們全都擁有。 榮格稱之為潛意識。 透過我們的潛意識,在你的夢中, 即是可蘭經所講的睡眠狀態、較小的死亡 暫時的死亡。 處於睡眠狀態時,我們會有夢境,會有幻象 我們很多人都會,超脫自己的軀殼 看到很多奇妙的東西。 我們超越所認知的空間界限 超越所認知的時間界限。 但我們這樣的是為了歌頌我們的造物者 衪本來的名字是行善者、善心者。
God, Bokh, whatever name you want to call him with, Allah, Ram, Om, whatever the name might be through which you name or access the presence of divinity, it is the locus of absolute being, absolute love and mercy and compassion, and absolute knowledge and wisdom, what Hindus call "satchidananda." The language differs, but the objective is the same.
上帝、Bokh,不論你想怎樣叫,阿拉也好、Ram也好、Om也好 不論你選擇怎樣稱呼他 不論你選擇怎樣感受神性 都是上帝的核心 絕對的愛和寬容和善心 與絕對的知識和智慧 那即是印度教所指的「satchidananda」。 語言不同 但目的一致。
Rumi has another story about three men, a Turk, an Arab and -- and I forget the third person, but for my sake, it could be a Malay. One is asking for angur -- one is, say, an Englishman -- one is asking for eneb, and one is asking for grapes. And they have a fight and an argument because -- "I want grapes." "I want eneb. "I want angur." -- not knowing that the word that they're using refers to the same reality in different languages.
魯米有另一個故事 是關於三個人的,一個是土耳其人,一個是阿拉伯人 另一個我忘記了,但我猜應該是馬拉人。 一個想要「angour」,一個英國人說 一個想要「eneb」,而一個就想要葡萄 他們最後吵起上來,因為 我要葡萄,我要「eneb」,我要「angour」 但他們並不知道他們所用的字 雖然語言不同,但所指的都是一樣。
There's only one absolute reality by definition, one absolute being by definition, because absolute is, by definition, single, and absolute and singular. There's this absolute concentration of being, the absolute concentration of consciousness, awareness, an absolute locus of compassion and love that defines the primary attributes of divinity.
定義來說只有一個絕對的真理 定義來說只是一個絕對的存在 因為絕對的定義是單一的 是絕對的、獨一無二的。 生命絕對的重點只有一個 意識的絕對重點 關注的心、善心與愛的絕對核心 就是神性的根本。
And these should also be the primary attributes of what it means to be human. For what defines humanity, perhaps biologically, is our physiology, but God defines humanity by our spirituality, by our nature.
那亦即是 人道應有的根本。 至於人道的定義,生理學角度來說 是指我們的生理機能 但真主將人道定義為我們的靈性、我們的本質。
And the Koran says, He speaks to the angels and says, "When I have finished the formation of Adam from clay, and breathed into him of my spirit, then, fall in prostration to him." The angels prostrate, not before the human body, but before the human soul. Why? Because the soul, the human soul, embodies a piece of the divine breath, a piece of the divine soul.
可蘭經又說,祂跟天使說: 「當我以泥塑成亞當的結構時, 以我的靈魂呼醒他, 再向他俯拜。」 天使們俯拜了,拜的是不人的肉體, 而是人的靈魂。 為甚麼?因為靈魂,人的靈魂, 是神性靈氣的象徵 是神性的靈魂。
This is also expressed in biblical vocabulary when we are taught that we were created in the divine image. What is the imagery of God? The imagery of God is absolute being, absolute awareness and knowledge and wisdom and absolute compassion and love.
聖經中亦有這樣的記載 說我們是按聖像來塑成的。 甚麼是真主的聖像? 真主的聖像就是絕對的存在, 絕對的關注心、知識和智慧 和絕對的善心和愛。
And therefore, for us to be human -- in the greatest sense of what it means to be human, in the most joyful sense of what it means to be human -- means that we too have to be proper stewards of the breath of divinity within us, and seek to perfect within ourselves the attribute of being, of being alive, of beingness; the attribute of wisdom, of consciousness, of awareness; and the attribute of being compassionate and loving beings.
所以我等要做人 作為人的最大意義 作為人的最大喜悅 就是為心懷內在的神性靈氣 當稱職的僕人 不斷追求改善人生的根源 生存的根源、生命的根源 智慧、意識和關注心的根源 以及擁有善心和熱愛生命的根源。
This is what I understand from my faith tradition, and this is what I understand from my studies of other faith traditions, and this is the common platform on which we must all stand, and when we stand on this platform as such, I am convinced that we can make a wonderful world.
這就是我對我的信仰傳統的理解 而這亦是我對其他信仰傳統的理解 而我們亦必須擁有這個共同的立場 當我們都共同擁有這個立場 我深信我們可令世界更加美好。
And I believe, personally, that we're on the verge and that, with the presence and help of people like you here, we can bring about the prophecy of Isaiah. For he foretold of a period when people shall transform their swords into plowshares and will not learn war or make war anymore.
而我個人相信,我們正處於邊緣 有你們這樣的人存在和伸出援手 我們就可實踐以賽亞的預言。 他曾在預言中提及有朝一日 人們會將劍刃變成犁頭 而且不會再學習打仗,也不會再打仗。
We have reached a stage in human history that we have no option: we must, we must lower our egos, control our egos -- whether it is individual ego, personal ego, family ego, national ego -- and let all be for the glorification of the one.
我們已到了人類史上這一重要的關口,我們已別無他選。 我們必須放低我們的驕傲 控制我們的自負,那管獨特的自負,個人的自負 家族的驕傲,國家的驕傲 所有人都享有上帝的榮耀。
Thank you, and God bless you. (Applause)
多謝,願主保佑你。 (掌聲)