《原子的意识》The Consciousness of the Atom | Alice A. Bailey

The Consciousness of the Atom

原子的意识

The lectures here presented were delivered in New York during the past winter.  The purpose of this series was to present to their auditors the testimony of science as to the relation of matter and of consciousness; to enable the hearers to observe the identical manifestation of these relations and of certain basic laws in successively higher states of being, and thus to bring to them a realisation of the universality of the evolutionary process and its actuality; and to deal somewhat with the nature of the expanded states of consciousness and the enlarged life toward which all mankind is travelling.  They thus were intended to serve as an introduction to the more detailed study and application of the laws of life and human unfoldment generally included in the term of “occultism.”

这些讲座是去年冬天在纽约举办的。其目的是向大家展示物质和意识的科学探究；从而让听众可以观察到物质的科学和意识的科学是有其相同的展现形态，而且在相继的较高等的存在状态中，也遵循着特定的基本规律。这样，大家就可以意识到，进化过程的普遍性，以及进化的真实存在性，同时也在某种程度上解释了意识拓展的本质，还有全人类走在意识拓展的道路之上的本质。因此，这些讲座旨在对生命法则和人类发展规律进行更详细的研究和应用提供介绍，生命法则和人类发展的研究，通常包含在“秘法学”一词中。

It will be observed that there is in this series a considerable amount of repetition, as each lecture briefly reviews the matters covered in the preceding addresses.  As newcomers were present at each lecture in the series, it was found necessary on each occasion to present a bird’s-eye view of the ground covered and the reasons for the position [6] then taken.  A further advantage was found in the fixing in the minds of the hearers of certain of these basic concepts which were new to many of them, and which helped them to grasp and to receive readily the further expansion of the theme.  In presenting the lectures in book form it has been deemed advisable to retain the complete text of the lectures as given.  Those who are already students of the esoteric wisdom will be able to follow the line of the argument of the lectures without difficulty.  For those, however, who for the first time approach the consideration of the matters here discussed, the occasional repetition of the fundamental points may help to a ready apprehension, and it is for this class of readers that the book is primarily intended.

可以看到，这个系列的讲座有些重复性的内容，因为每堂课都简要地回顾了之前课程中讲到的内容。而且在这系列的内容中，每次讲座都有新人加入，因此有必要在每次课程开始之前去提供以前课程的内容概括，以及所采用的一些前提和说明。这样还有一个好处就是让读者脑中巩固住这些对多数人来说比较新的基本概念，这会帮助他们理解并接受该主题之下内容的进一步拓展。在以书的形式来展示讲座的内容时，保留了当时讲座所使用的完整的文本。对于那些已经学习深奥智慧的学生来说，他们会容易地跟随这些课程的逻辑脉络。不过，对于那些第一次接触到这里所探讨的内容的人来说，对基本知识点的偶尔重复会帮助他们进行理解，这本书面向的读者，主要是第一次接触这些知识的人。

Alice A. Bailey, September, 1922

爱丽丝·贝利，1922年9月

LECTURE I: THE FIELD OF EVOLUTION 第一课：进化的领域

There has probably never been a period in the history of thought entirely resembling the present.  Thinkers everywhere are conscious of two things, first, that the region of mystery has never before been so clearly defined, and secondly, that that region can be entered more easily than has hitherto been the case; it may, therefore, perhaps be induced to render up some of its secrets if investigators of all schools pursue their search with determination.  The problems with which we are faced, as we study the known facts of life and existence, are susceptible of clearer definition than heretofore, and though we do not know the answers to our questions, though we have not as yet discovered the solutions to our problems, though no panacea lies ready to our hand whereby we can remedy the world’s ills, yet the very fact that we can define them, that we can point in the direction in which mystery lies, and that the light of science, of religions, and of philosophy, has been shed upon vast tracts which were earlier [12] considered lands of darkness, is a guarantee of success in the future.  We know so much more than was the case five hundred years ago, save in a few circles of wise men and mystics; we have discovered so many laws of nature, even though as yet we cannot apply them; and the knowledge of “things as they are” (and I choose these words very deliberately) has made immense strides.

在思想的历史上，或许从来没有一个时期像现在这样。全世界的思想者开始意识到两件事情，第一，神秘学从来没有被如此清晰地定义过，第二，这个领域比以往更加容易进入；因此，如果所有学派的探究者下决心去展开他们在这一领域的探索，就可能会发现这一领域的一些奥秘。当我们去研究已知的生命和存在的现实时，我们所面临的问题比以往更容易清晰地定义出来。虽然我们还不知道问题的解答，虽然我们尚未找到解决问题的方法，虽然还没有现成的灵丹妙药摆在我们面前让我们去解决世界的问题，然而，就我们可以定义这些问题这一事实，我们可以指明奥秘所在的地方，科学之光、宗教之光、哲学之光就可以照耀在先前被认为黑暗的领域上，这就是我们将来成功的保证。除了少数的智者和神秘主义者之外，我们比五百年前知道的要多得多；我们已经发现了很多自然规律，虽然我们尚未对它们进行应用；然而，就“事物本来的面目”的知识而言（我特意选用的这些词），已经取得了巨大的进展。

Nevertheless, the mystery land still remains to be opened up, and our problems are still numerous.  There is the problem of our own particular life, whatever that may be; there is the problem of that which is largely termed the “Not-Self,” and which concerns our physical body, our environment, our circumstances, and our life conditions; if we are of an introspective turn of mind, there is the problem of our particular set of emotions, and of the thoughts, desires, and instincts by which we control action.  Group problems are many; why should there be suffering, starvation, and pain?  Why should the world as a whole be in the thrall of direst poverty, of sickness, of discomfort?  What is the purpose underlying all that we see around us, and what will be the outcome of world affairs viewing them as a whole?  What is the destiny of the human race, what is its origin, and what is the key to its present condition?  Is there more than this one life, and is the sole interest to be found in that which [13] is apparent and material?  Such queries pass through all our minds at various times, and have passed through the minds of thinkers right down through the centuries.

There have been many attempts to reply to these questions, and as we study them we find that the answers given fall into three main groups, and that three principal solutions are held out for the consideration of men.  These three solutions are:

不论如何，神秘学的领域还有待探索，我们仍然有很多问题。其中之一就是有关我们自己生命的这个问题，不论它具体是什么；也有一个问题，很大程度上可以被定义为 “非我”，也就是有关我们的肉身、我们的环境、我们所处的境遇、以及我们的生活状况；如果我们去反省自身，又会出现，我们自己特定的情绪状况，特定的想法，欲望或者本能等问题，这些控制着我们的行动。

集体的问题也有很多：为什么会有这么多苦难、饥饿和痛苦？为什么整个世界都处于困乏、疾病和不适的捆绑之中？我们所看到的一切，其背后有什么目的？如果从整体来看，世界的走向会有什么结果？人类的命运是什么，起源又在何处，现在的关键又在哪里？生命之外是否还有其他？那些显而易见的和物质层面的东西应该是唯一的追求吗？这些问题在不同的时间从我们的脑海中出现，并且在几个世纪以来，一直是思想者所思考的问题。

就这些问题的答案而言，已经给出了一些回答。当我们研究它们的时候，我们发现，答案可以归类至三个主要的方面，现在提出这三个主要的解决方案，供大家思考。它们是：

First, Realism.  Another name for this school is that of Materialism.  It teaches that “the presentation which we have in consciousness of an external world is true”; that things are what they seem; that matter and force, as we know them, are the only reality, and that it is not possible for man to get beyond the tangible.  He should be satisfied with facts as he knows them, or as science tells him they are.  This is a perfectly legitimate method of solution, but for some of us it fails in that it does not go far enough.  In refusing to concern itself with anything except that which can be proven and demonstrated it stops short at the very point where the enquirer says, “That is so, but why?”  It leaves out of its calculation much that is known and realised as truth by the average man, even though he may be unable to explain why he knows it to be true.  Men everywhere are recognising the accuracy of [14] the facts of the realistic school, and of material science, yet at the same time they feel innately that there is, underlying the proven objective manifestation, some vitalising force, and some coherent purpose which cannot be accounted for in terms of matter alone.

第一，现实主义。这个学派的另一个名字就是唯物主义。它的教导是“我们意识中的外在世界是真实的”；事物就是它们看上去的样子；正如我们所了解的，物质和力量是唯一的现实，人类不可能去超越有形的事物。人们应该对他所知道的事实，或者说科学所告诉他们的事实，感到满意。这是一种完美的解释得通的解决方案，不过对我们中的一些人来说，它有局限性，因为它并不持久。因为这种解释只接受可以被证明和验证的部分，若是有人质疑：“确实如此，但是为何如此？”这种解释就走不通了。它也忽略了很多常人已知和已经认识到的真理，即便人们无法解释为什么他们知道那些就是真理。世界各地的人们意识到现实主义学派事实的正确性，以及物质科学的正确性，然而与此同时，他们内在感受到，在已被证实的这些客观存在的背后，还存在着某种生命力，某种一致的目的性，而这些仅仅用物质去解释，是解释不通的。

Secondly, there is the point of view which we can best, perhaps, call supernaturalism.  Man becomes conscious that perhaps, after all, things are not exactly what they seem to be, and that there remains much which is inexplicable; he awakens to the realisation that he himself is not simply an accumulation of physical atoms, a material something, and a tangible body, but that latent within him is a consciousness, a power, and a psychic nature which link him to all other members of the human family, and to a power outside himself which he must perforce explain.  This it is which has led, for instance, to the evolution of the Christian and Jewish point of view, which posits a God outside the solar system, Who created it, but was Himself extraneous to it.  These systems of thought teach that the world has been evolved by a Power or Being Who has built the solar system, and Who guides the worlds aright, keeping our little human life in the hollow of His hand, and “sweetly ordering” all things according to some hidden purpose which it is not possible for us, with our finite minds, to glimpse, [15] still less to understand.  This is the religious and supernatural point of view, and is based on the growing self-consciousness of the individual, and in a recognition of his own divinity.  Like the point of view of the realistic school, it embodies only a partial truth, and needs to be complemented.

第二，有一种观点，我们或许可以称之为超自然主义。人类开始意识到，很多事情毕竟不完全是它们看起来的样子，还存在很多无法解释的东西；他也意识到自己不仅仅是物质原子的集合，不仅仅是物质的存在，不仅仅是一具可以触碰的身体，他意识到在内在潜藏着一种意识，一种力量，一种把他和所有其他人类连接起来的精神本质，他意识到对这种外在的力量必然需要去理解。比如，正是由于这一点，导致了基督教和犹太教观点的演化，这两种宗教设想，在太阳系之外存在一位神，神创造了太阳系，然而神并不存在于太阳系之内。这样的思想体系教导说，世界是由建立了太阳系的存有或者力量演化而来，神去正确地去引导这个世界，我们渺小的人类生命掌握在他的手中，而且根据一些隐藏目的，“有爱地引导着”所有事物的演化，这些目的不可能被我们获知，也不可能使用我们有限的头脑去理解，或者是一睹其面貌。

这是宗教和超自然的观点，基于个人不断增长的自我意识，以及对自己神性的认可。如同现实主义学派一样，它只体现了片面的真理，需要加以补充。

The third line of thought we might call the Idealistic.  It posits an evolutionary process within all manifestation and identifies life with the cosmic process.  It is the exact opposite of materialism, and brings the supernatural deity, predicated by the religionist, into the position of a great Entity or Life, Who is evolving through, and by means of, the universe, just as man is evolving consciousness through the medium of an objective physical body.

第三条思路，我们可以称之为理想主义。它假定在所有外在显化中存在一个进化过程，并且将生命等同于宇宙的发展。这恰恰与唯物主义相反，它也把宗教所假定的超自然神灵放置在生命，或者说一个伟大的存有的位置，这些生命或者存有，正在宇宙中进化，并且通过宇宙的发展进化，正如人类通过肉身作为载具来进行意识进化一样。

In these three standpoints—the frankly materialistic, the purely supernatural, and the idealistic—you have the three main lines of thought which have been put forward as explanatory of the cosmic process; all of them are partial truths, yet none of them is complete without the others; all of them, when followed alone, lead into byways and into darkness, and leave the central mystery still unsolved.  When synthesised, when brought together and blended, and when unified, they embody, perhaps (I offer this simply as a suggestion) just as much of the evolutionary truth [16] as it is possible for the human mind to grasp at the present stage of evolution.

这三个解释的观点，分别是，直接的唯物主义，纯粹的超自然主义，以及理想主义。现在，有三个主要的思想线路来解释宇宙发展过程。这三种思路都是部分的正确，缺少一个，其他的观点也变得不完整。若是仅仅跟随其中一条思想线路，会导致偏离，进入黑暗，而且很多中心谜团不能得到解释。但是，当把它们综合起来，聚集在一起，互相融合，把这三种思路进行统一和整合，这种整合的思想或许在当前的进化阶段，可以让人类更好地去理解进化的真实性。这是我在这里所提供的建议。

We are dealing with large problems, and tampering, perhaps, with high and lofty things; we are trespassing into regions which are the recognised domain of metaphysics; and we are endeavouring to sum up in a few brief talks what all the libraries of the world are embodying; we are therefore attempting the impossible.  All that we can do is to take up briefly and cursorily first one aspect of the truth and then another.  All we can possibly accomplish is an outline of the basic lines of evolution, a study of their relationship to each other and to ourselves as conscious entities, and then an endeavour to blend and synthesise the little we can know until some general idea of the process as a whole becomes clearer.

我们正在解释非常浩瀚的问题，或许说，在解释玄虚的事物；我们正在进入公认的形而上学的领域；我们正试图在几场简短的讲座中去概括世界所有图书馆中所收藏的内容；可以说，我们正在尝试不可能的事情。我们现在所能做的，就是先简单粗略地概括真理的一个面向，然后再讨论其他面向。我们所能做的，就是勾勒出进化的基本线路，研究这些进化线路之间的关系，以及作为有意识的存在，它们与我们之间的关系。然后，去融合并整合我们所知晓的极少知识，一直到对这个过程有了一个大概的了解，这样，全局就会变得越来越清晰。

We have to remember in connection with every statement of truth that each is made from a particular point of view.  Until we have further developed our mental processes, and until we are able to think in abstract terms as well as in concrete, it will not be possible for us fully to answer the question, What is the truth?  nor to express any aspect of that truth in a perfectly unbiased way.  Some people have a wider horizon than others, and some can see the unity underlying the different aspects.  Others are prone to think that their outlook and interpretation is the only one. [17] I hope in these talks to broaden somewhat our point of view.  I hope we shall come to the realisation that the man who is only interested in the scientific aspect, and who confines himself to the study of those manifestations which are purely material, is just as much occupied with the study of the divine as is his frankly religious brother who only concerns himself with the spiritual side; and that the philosopher is, after all, occupied in emphasising for us the very necessary aspect of the intelligence which links the matter aspect and the spiritual, and blends them into one coherent whole.  Perhaps by the union of these three lines of science, religion, and philosophy we may get a working knowledge of the truth as it is, remembering at the same time that “truth lies within ourselves.”  No one man’s expression of the truth is the whole expression, and the sole purpose of thought is to enable us to build constructively for ourselves, and to work in mental matter.

我们必须记住，每一个真理都是从特定的观点出发的。我们要不断地去锻炼自己抽象思考的能力，直到我们可以像思考具体事物那样去进行抽象地思考，不然，我们不可能完全回答这个问题：即，什么是真理，若是不能去抽象思考，我们也不可能以一种完全公正的方式去表达真理的任何面向。相比一些人来说，有些人有着更广阔的视野，有些人可以看到不同面向背后的一致性，有些人倾向于认为他们的观点和解释是唯一的。我希望在这些讲座中可以拓展我们的观点。我希望我们可以意识到，如果一个人只关注科学的面向，并且把自己限制在只研究纯粹的物质层面的表现形态时，坦白地说，他们跟那些把自己的注意力只放在灵性层面的宗教弟兄是一样的；哲学家忙于向我们解释，物质与灵性层面连接的必然性是智慧的一个非常必要的面向，并把物质和灵性融合成一个连贯的整体。或许通过科学、宗教和哲学，这三个方面的结合，我们可以获知有关真理的一些知识。同时请记住“真理就在我们心中”。没有人对真理的描述，代表全部的真理表达，思考过程的唯一目的，就是让我们自己进行桥梁的构建，在心智层面进行工作。

I should like to outline my plan this evening, to lay the groundwork for our future talks, and to touch upon the main lines of evolution.  The line that is most apparent is necessarily that which deals with the evolution of substance, with the study of the atom, and the nature of atomic matter.  Next week we will touch upon that.  Science has much to tell us about the evolution of the atom, [18] and has wandered a long way during the past fifty years from the standpoint of the last century.  Then the atom was regarded as an indivisible unit of substance; now it is looked upon as a centre of energy, or electric force.  From the evolution of substance we are led very naturally to the evolution of forms, or of congeries of atoms, and there will then open up to us the interesting consideration of forms other than the purely material,—forms existing in subtler substance, such as forms of thought, and the racial forms, and the forms of organisations.  In this dual study, one of the aspects of deity will be emphasised, should you choose to use the term “deity,” or one of the manifestations of nature, should you prefer that less sectarian expression.

我要概述一下今天晚上的内容，以便为以后的讲座奠定基础，也要讲到进化的主要路线。最明显的那条进化路线，必然涉及到物质的进化，涉及到原子的研究，涉及到原子物质的本性。这部分会在下周讲到。有关原子的进化，科学已经告诉我们了很多，从上个世纪的视角来看，在过去的五十年中已经有了很大进展。后来，原子被认为是组成物质的不可分割的基本单位。

现在，原子被视为能量中心，或者说电子能的中心。研究物质的进化，我们很自然地被引领着去研究形态的进化，或者说，原子集合体的进化，接下来，我们就会对这些形态进行饶有兴趣的思考，而不是把注意力仅仅放在物质上，这些形态也存在于更加细微的层面，比如，思想形态，种族形态，还有组织形态。在这项双重意义的研究之中，神性的一个方面要进行强调，我们可以使用“神性”这个术语，如果你不喜欢这样宗教化的表达，换个词，我们也可以说，自然的一种表现形式。

We shall then be led to the consideration of the evolution of intelligence, or of the factor of mind which is working out as ordered purpose in all that we see around us.  This will reveal to us a world which is not blindly going on its way, but which has back of it some plan, some co-ordinated scheme, some organised concept which is working itself out by means of the material form.  One reason why things appear to us so difficult of comprehension is involved in the fact that we are in the midst of a transition period, and the plan is as yet imperfect; we are too close to the machinery, being ourselves an integral part of the whole. [19] We see a little bit of it here, and another little bit there, but the whole grandeur of the idea is not apparent to us.  We may have a vision, we may have a high moment of revelation, but when we contact the reality on every side, we question the possibility of the ideal materialising, for the intelligent relationship between the form and that which utilises it seems so far from adjustment.

然后，我们会被引领着去研究智能的进化，或者说，把我们所看到的世界架构起来的心智因素的进化。它会向我们揭示这样一个世界：它不是盲目地前进，而是在其背后有一些计划，一些协调性的架构，一些框架性的概念，通过物质形态，这些概念得以表达。我们之所以觉得这些难以理解，原因之一是我们正处于转型期，计划尚不完善；我们远非个体这样简单，我们是一个大的整体的组成部分。我们在这里看到了一点点，在那里看到了一点点，但是这种整体的宏伟性对我们来说并不显著。我们可能有一个愿景，我们在某个时刻可能得到启发，但是当我们在与生活中的各个层面打交道时，我们就开始质疑把那个理想在物质层面进行表达的可能性，因为形态和利用形态进行表达之间的这种智能层面的关系，需要太多的整合。

The recognition of the factor of the intelligence will inevitably lead us to the contemplation of the evolution of consciousness in its many forms, ranging all the way from those types of consciousness which we consider sub-human, through the human, up to what may be logically posited (even if it may not be demonstrated) to be superhuman consciousness.  The next question which will face us will be, What lies back of all these factors?  Is there, behind the objective form and its animating intelligence, an evolution which corresponds to the “I” faculty, to the Ego in man?  Is there in nature, and in all that we see around us, the working out of the purpose of an individualised self-conscious Being?  If there is such a Being, and such a fundamental existence, we should be able to see somewhat His intelligent activities, and to watch His plans working towards fruition.  Even if we cannot prove that God is, and that the Deity exists, it may be possible to say, at least, that the hypothesis that He exists is a reasonable one, a rational suggestion, and a possible solution of all the mysteries we see around us.  But to do that it has to be demonstrated that there is an intelligent purpose working through forms of every kind, through races and nations, and through all that we see manifesting in modern civilisation; the steps that that purpose has taken, and the gradual growth of the plan, will have to be demonstrated, and from that demonstration we shall perhaps be able to see what lies ahead for us in the coming stages.

对智能因素的认知会不可避免地引导我们去思考，意识进化的多样性，即，从类人种进化至人的意识，从人的意识到超级人类意识，超级人类意识虽然无法去证明，但是我们可以在逻辑上假定这样的可能性。然后我们面临的下一个问题就是，存在所有这些因素背后的是什么？在客观形态和生命智能背后，是否存在一种进化，与“我”，与人的“本我”相对应？在自然中，在我们周围所见的一切中，是否存在一个个体化的拥有自我觉知意识的存有在引导这一切？如果存在这样的存有，这样的一个基本的存在，那么我们应该可以看到一些他的智能表达，看到他的计划开花结果。即便我们不能证明上帝或者说神圣的存在，我们至少可以这样说，他的存在，是一个合理的假设，一个符合逻辑的推测，一个可能的解答，来解释我们所看到的所有谜团。但是，要解释这一点，必须要去证明，存在着这样一种智能性的目的，它通过各种形态，通过种族，通过国家，通过我们在现代文明中所看到的所有事物表达了出来；我们也要去证明，实现这样的目的所采取的方法，以及计划的逐步进展。在证明的过程中，我们或许可以看到，在即将到来的时间里，我们会面临着什么。

Let us for the minute consider what we mean by the words “evolutionary process.”  They are constantly being used, and the average man well knows that the word “evolution” suggests an unfolding from within outwards, and the unrolling from an inner centre, but we need to define the idea more clearly, and thus get a better concept.  One of the best definitions which I have come across is that which defines evolution as “the unfolding of a continually increasing power to respond.”  Here we have a definition that is very illuminating as we consider the matter aspect of manifestation.  It involves the conception of vibration, and of response to vibration, and though we may in time have to discard the term “matter,” and employ some such suggestion as “force centre,” the concept still holds good, and the response of the centre to stimulation is even more accurately [21] to be seen.  In considering human consciousness this same definition is of real value.  It involves the idea of a gradually increasing realisation, of the developing response of the subjective life to its environment, and it leads us eventually on and up to the ideal of a unified Existence which will be the synthesis of all the lines of evolution, and to a conception of a central Life, or force, which blends and holds together all the evolving units, whether they are units of matter, such as the atom of the chemist and physicist, or units of consciousness, such as human beings.  This is evolution, the process which unfolds the life within all units, the developing urge which eventually merges all units and all groups, until you have that sumtotal of manifestation which can be called Nature, or God, and which is the aggregate of all the states of consciousness.  This is the God to Whom the Christian refers when he says “in Him we live, and move, and have our being”; this is the force, or energy, which the scientist recognises; and this is the universal mind, or the Oversoul of the philosopher.  This, again, is the intelligent Will which controls, formulates, binds, constructs, develops, and brings all to an ultimate perfection.  This is that Perfection which is inherent in matter itself, and the tendency which is latent in the atom, in man, and in all that is.   This interpretation [22] of the evolutionary process does not look upon it as the result of an outside Deity pouring His energy and wisdom upon a waiting world, but rather as something which is latent within that world itself, that lies hidden at the heart of the atom of chemistry, within the heart of man himself, within the planet, and within the solar system.  It is that something which drives all on toward the goal, and is the force which is gradually bringing order out of chaos; ultimate perfection out of temporary imperfection; good out of seeming evil; and out of darkness and disaster that which we shall some day recognise as beautiful, right, and true.  It is all that we have visioned and conceived of in our highest and best moments.

我们短暂的思考一下，我们所讲的“进化过程”是什么意思。这些词汇一直被使用，一般来说，进化这个词，意味着从内向外展开，从中心向外拓展，但是我们显然需要更加清晰地对它进行定义，从而得到一个更准确的解读。我遇到的最好的定义之一，就是把进化定义为“不断增强的回应能力的展现”。当我们去考虑物质层面显现的事物时，这个定义很有启发性。它涉及到振动的概念，以及对振动的回应。最终，我们要舍弃使用“物质”这个词，而是使用一些，比如“力的中心”这样的词语，这个概念适用性强，对力的中心刺激的回应，可以更准确地被观察到。考虑人类的意识时，这样的定义具有真正的价值。它涉及到了主体不断增强的认知，以及主体对所在环境回应能力的提高，它最终会引领我们走向一个统一存在的理想：那就是所有进化路径的整合，也会带领我们走向中心生命，或者说，生命力的概念，这个中心生命，把所有进化中的所有元素整合并保持在一起，不论这些进化中的个体是物质元素，比如物理和化学研究的原子；或者是意识元素，比如人类。这就是进化，在所有的元素中展开生命的过程，一种发展动力，最终融合所有个体单位和所有团体，直至包含所有显化的一切，你可以把这个总和叫做自然；或者神，也就是所有意识状态的总和。这就是基督徒说“我们活着、行动、生存，都在于他”时，所指的神；这就是科学家所认识到的力量或者能量；这就是哲学家所指的灵魂，或者说，宇宙心智。同时，这也是一种智能的意志，它控制、制定、约束、构建、发展着，让一切到达终极完美。这是物质本身、原子、人类和所有一切内在潜藏的所固有的完美。这种对进化过程的解释不会让我们把进化看作外部的神灵将其智慧和能量倾洒进入一个等待中的世界，而是它看作世界本身暗藏着的某种东西，隐藏在原子的中心，隐藏在人的内心，隐藏在地球和太阳系的核心。它驱使着所有一切朝着目标前进，它是一种力量，逐渐地从混乱中恢复秩序；它是短暂存在的不完美中的终极完美表达；它是看起来邪恶实则为至善的本质；我们最终会从黑暗和灾难中走出，认识到它的美丽、正义和真实。这就是我们在那些受到启发的美好时刻所设想和构想的一切。

Evolution has also been defined as “cyclic development” and this definition brings me to a thought which I am very anxious that we should thoroughly grasp.  Nature repeats continuously until certain definite ends have been reached, certain concrete results have been brought about, and certain responses made to vibration.  It is by the recognition of this accomplishment that the intelligent purpose of indwelling Existence can be demonstrated.  The method whereby this is achieved is that of discrimination, or of intelligent choice.  There are, in the textbooks of different schools, many words which are used to [23] convey the same general idea, such as “natural selection,” or “attraction and repulsion.”  I would like, if possible, to avoid technical terms, because they are used by one school of thought to mean one thing, and by another for something different.  If we can find a word similar in intent, yet not tied to any particular line of thought, we may find fresh light thrown upon our problem.  Attraction and repulsion in the solar system is but the discriminating faculty of the atom or of man demonstrating in the planets and the sun.  It will be found in atoms of all kinds; we can call it adaptation, if we so choose, or the power to grow and to adapt the unit to its environment through the rejection of certain factors and the acceptance of others.  It shows itself in man as free will, or the power to choose, and in the spiritual man it can be seen as the tendency to sacrifice, for a man then chooses a particular line of action in order to benefit the group to which he belongs, and rejects that which is purely selfish.

进化也被定义为“周期性地发展”，这个定义给我带来了一个想法，我非常渴望大家都完全地掌握。大自然不断地重复，直到它达到了某些确定的目的，产生了某些具体的结果，对振动做出了某些回应。通过识别出这个行动，就可以证明出其内在存在的这种智能的目标。达成这个目标所使用的方法是辨别，或者说，明智的选择。在不同学派的教科书中，使用了很多词汇来传达相同的理念，比如“自然选择”，或者“吸引和排斥”。如果可能的话，我想避免使用技术性的术语，因为它们被一种思想流派用来表达一种东西，而被另一种思想用来表达不同的东西。如果我们可以找到一个用意相似，但是与某种特定学派的想法无关的词语，我们就可以找到解决我们问题的启发。太阳系中的吸引力和排斥力，不过是原子，或者是人，在不同的行星和太阳上，所表现出来的辨别能力。它存在于各种原子中，我们也可以把它称之为适应力，或者说，通过拒绝或者接受某些因素来成长和适应环境的能力。它在人的身上体现为自由意志，或者说，选择的力量。对于修为高的人来说，可以看作一种奉献的精神，一个人选择了某种特定的线路，以造福于他所隶属的团体，并拒绝那些纯粹自私的事物。

We might finally define evolution as ordered change and constant mutation. It demonstrates in the ceaseless activity of the unit or the atom, the interaction between groups, and the endless play of one force or type of energy upon another.

终于，我们可以把进化定义为有序的改变和不断地突变。它可以从某个个体，或者是原子无休止的运动中所体现出来，它可以从团体之间的互动体现出来，可以从一种力量或者能量与另一种力量的互相作用中体现出来。

We have seen that evolution, whether it is of matter, of intelligence, of consciousness, or of spirit, consists in an ever-increasing power to [24] respond to vibration, that it progresses through constant change, by the practice of a selective policy or the use of the discriminative faculty, and by the method of cyclic development or repetition.  The stages which distinguish the evolutionary process might be broadly divided into three, corresponding to the stages in the life of a human being:  childhood, adolescence, and maturity.  Where man is concerned these stages can be traced in the human unit or in the race, and as the civilisations pass on and increase, it should surely become possible to trace the same threefold idea in the human family as a whole, and thus ascertain the divine objective through the study of his image, or reflection, MAN.  We might express these three stages in more scientific terms, and link them with the three schools of thought earlier referred to, studying them as

我们已经可以看到，进化，不论是物质的、智能的、意识的，还是精神上的，都包含了不断增强的对振动的回应力量，它通过不断地变化，通过使用选择，或者说辨别能力，以及通过周期性的发展，或者说，重复，来进步。进化过程的阶段大概可以分为三个，对应着人生命中的不同阶段：童年、青春期和成年。人类的这些阶段可以在人类的个体，或者说种族中进行追溯，随着文明的传承和进步，整个人类大家庭都可以追溯到这三个成长阶段，所以，通过研究人，我们可以看到神圣的目标，体现在人类之中。我们可以使用更科学的术语来对这三个阶段进行表达，并与前面所提到的三个思想学派联系起来，去研究它们，它们分别是

a. The stage of atomic energy.原子能量的阶段

b. The stage of group coherency.团体一致性的阶段

c. The stage of unified or synthetic existence.统一，或者整合存在的阶段

Let me see if I can make my meaning clear.  The stage of atomic energy is largely that which concerns the material side of life, and corresponds to the childhood period in the life of a man or a race.  It is the time of realism, of intense activity, of development by action above all else, or pure self-centredness and self-interest.  It produces the [25] materialistic point of view, and leads inevitably to selfishness.  It involves the recognition of the atom as being entirely self-contained, and similarly of the human units as having a separate life apart from all other units, and with no relationship to others.  Such a stage can be seen in the little evolved races of the world, in small children, and in those who are little developed.  They are normally self-centred; their energies are concerned with their own life; they are occupied with the objective and with that which is tangible; they are characterised by a necessary and protective selfishness.  It is a most necessary stage in the development and perpetuation of the race.

我要继续解释想要表达的观点。原子能量的阶段主要是涉及到生命中物质层面的阶段，这对应着一个人或者一个种族的童年时期。这是现实主义的时期，这个时期活动旺盛，通过行动高于一切来进行发展，纯粹的出于自我利益和自我中心。这个时期孕育了唯物主义的观点，自私自利是不可避免的。它把原子认知为独立存在的，把人类这个生命整体与其他生命整体分离地看待，认为他们之间没有关系。这样的阶段可以在世界上进化较低的种族中有所体现，在儿童时期和那些不成熟的人身上体现出来。他们通常以自我为中心，他们的精力都围绕着自己的生活，他们专注于有形的和可以触碰得到的事物。他们有着必要性的和保护性的自私主义。这是种族进行发展和延续最必要的阶段。

Out of this selfish atomic period grows another stage, that of group coherency.  This involves the building up of forms and species until you have something coherent and individualised in itself as a whole, yet which is composed of many lesser individualities and forms.  In connection with the human being it corresponds to his awakening realisation of responsibility, and to his recognition of his place within the group.  It necessitates an ability on his part to recognise a life greater than himself, whether that life is called God, or whether it is simply regarded as the life of the group to which a man, as a unit, belongs, that great Identity of which we are each a part.  This corresponds to the school of thought which we [26] called the supernatural, and it must be succeeded in time by a truer and a wider concept.  As we have already seen, the first or atomic stage developed by means of selfishness, or the self-centred life of the atom (whether the atom of substance or the human atom); the second stage grows to perfection by the sacrifice of the unit to the good of the many, and of the atom to the group in which it has place.  This stage is something which we, as yet, know practically little about, and is what we often vision and hope for.

这个以自私为导向的原子周期会发展至下一阶段，即群体的凝聚性。这个阶段包含了形态和种类的建设，一直到其自身中同时拥有有一些整体性和个性化的因素，它是由很多较小的个体和形态所组成的。把这个阶段与人类联系起来，它对应着认识到自己的责任，以及在团体中的位置。对他而言，需要有一种能力让他意识到存在一种比他自己更伟大的生命，不论这个生命被他称之为神，或者是仅仅地把这种生命认知为他所隶属的群体的更伟大身份的一部分。这个阶段对应着我们所说的超自然学派，而这个学派最终也会被一个更真实和广泛的概念所取代。我们已经看到了，在第一阶段，或者说原子阶段，通过自私主义，或者说自我为中心来进行原子（物质原子，或人类原子）生活的发展；第二阶段则成长到，可以为了大多数人的利益来牺牲个体，为了该个体所在的团体进行自我牺牲。这个阶段是迄今为止我们知之甚少的阶段，也是我们经常去设想，并希望看到的阶段。

The third stage lies a long way ahead, and may be considered by many a vain chimera.  But some of us have a vision. which, even if unattainable at present, is logically possible if our premises are correct, and our foundation is rightly laid.  It is that of unified existence.  Not only will there be the separate units of consciousness, not only the differentiated atoms within the form, not only will there be the group made up of a multiplicity of identities, but we shall have the aggregate of all forms, of all groups, and of all states of consciousness blended, unified, and synthesised into a perfected whole.  This whole you may call the solar system, you may call it nature, or you may call it God.  Names matter not.  It corresponds to the adult stage in the human being; it is analogous to the period of maturity, and to that stage wherein a man is supposed to have a definite purpose and life work, and a clear-cut plan in view, which he is working out by the aid of his intelligence.  In these talks I should like if I can, to show that something like this is going on in the solar system, in the planet, in the human family, and in the atom.  I trust that we can prove that there is an intelligence underlying all; and that from separation will come union, produced through blending and merging into group formation, and that eventually from the many groups will be seen emerging the one perfect, fully conscious whole, composed of myriads of separate identities animated by one purpose and one will.  If this is so, what is the next practical step ahead for those who come to this realisation?  How can we make practical application of this ideal to our own lives, and ascertain our immediate duty so that we may participate in, and consciously further the plan?  In the cosmic process we have our tiny share, and each day of activity should see us playing our part with intelligent understanding.

第三个阶段，还有很长的路要走，很多人认为这是个徒劳的幻想。但是我们中的一些人拥有这样的愿景，即便现在无法实现，但是如果我们的前提是正确的，如果我们的基础是正确的，那么，这个愿景在逻辑上就是可以实现的。它，就是统一的存在。不仅仅会有独立的意识单位，不仅仅在形态中会有不同的原子，不仅仅在团体中有着不同身份的个体，也会拥有所有形态、所有团体、所有不同意识形态混合起来的集合，它被统一化并进行了整合，从而形成一个完美的整体。你可以把这个整体称之为太阳系，你可以把它称为大自然，你可以把它称之为神。名字并不重要。这个阶段，象征着人类的成年阶段；它是成熟期，在这个阶段，人应该拥有明确的目标和生活规划，并拥有明确的计划，他依靠自己的智能来完成规划。在这些讲座中，如果可以，我想展示给大家，太阳系、地球、人类大家族和原子中都在发生着这样的事情。我相信，我们可以证明在这背后一切，隐藏着一种智能，分离最终会带来团结，通过在群体的形态中进行融合和整合，最终，从很多群体之中会孕育出一个完美的、完全有意识的整体，这个整体由无数独立的个体组成，他们拥有相同的目标和意志。如果是这样，意识到这一点之后，下一步可实行的步骤是什么？我们如何把这个理想的目标转化成我们在自己的生活中可以做到的事情，同时找到我们的直接责任，以便我们都可以参与其中，并且有意识地进行推进？在整个宏大的过程中，每个人都有自己很小的份额。我们应该在自己理解的前提下，落实到每天的事物之中，这是我们应尽的职责。

Our first aim should surely be self-realisation through the practice of discrimination; we must learn to think clearly for ourselves, to formulate our own thoughts and to manipulate our own mental processes; we must learn to know what we think and why we think it, to find out the meaning of group consciousness through the study of the law of sacrifice.  Not only must we find [28] ourselves through the primary childhood stage of selfishness (and surely that should lie behind us), not only should we learn to distinguish between the real and the unreal, through the practice of discrimination, but we should endeavour to pass on from that to something very much better.  For us the immediate goal should be to find the group to which we may belong.  We do not belong to all groups, nor can we consciously realise our place in the one great Body, but we can find some group in which we have our place, some body of people with whom we can cooperate and work, some brother or brothers whom we can succour and assist.  It really involves the conscious contacting of the ideal of brotherhood, and—until we have evolved to the stage where our concept is universal—it means finding the particular set of brothers whom we can love and help by means of the law of sacrifice and by the transmutation of selfishness into loving service.  Thus we can co-operate in the general purpose, and participate in the mission of the group.

我们首要的目标，当然是要通过磨练自己的分辨力，进行自我实现；我们必须去学习清晰地思考，形成我们自己的想法，控制我们的思考过程；我们必须知道我们在思考什么，以及为何这样去思考，通过践行奉献法则，去探索集体意识的意义。我们不仅仅要通过自私的初级阶段去找到自己（当然我们自己都要经过这个阶段），我们不仅仅要通过练习辨别去学会区分真假，我们也应该从这里成长起来，到达更好的境地。对于我们来说，当下的目标应该是找到我们所隶属的团体。我们不能属于所有的团体，我们也不能有意识地去认知到我们在一个大的集体中的位置，但是我们可以找到一些团体，并在那里找到我们的位置，我们可以找到一些一起合作的人，一些我们可以帮助和进行合作的兄弟姐妹。它涉及到有意识地践行兄弟情谊的原则，直至我们进化至拥有共同的理念，这也意味着找到一组特定的人，去爱，去互相帮助，我们可以通过奉献法则，通过爱的奉献来转化自私。这样我们就可以在共同的目标上进行合作，并参与到集体的使命中去。

LECTURE II: THE EVOLUTION OF SUBSTANCE 第二课：物质的进化

It is obvious that in such a series of lectures as this it would be impossible to deal adequately in any way with this stupendous subject, even were I equipped to lecture on such a fundamentally scientific matter.  Again, if the conclusions of science were definite upon the evolution of matter, the topic would be, even then, too vast to handle, but they are not, and hence the further complicating of the subject.  Therefore I want to preface my remarks to-night by stating that my aim is to speak particularly for those who have no scientific training of any kind, and to give them a general concept of the usually accepted ideas; I seek, then, to make some suggestions which we may find helpful in adjusting our minds to this great problem of matter.  Usually when the substance aspect of manifestation has been considered, it has been as a thing apart, and it is only lately that what I might call the “psychology of matter” is beginning to come before the mind of the public through the investigations and conclusions of the broader-minded scientists.

很显然，在这样一系列的讲座中，即使我有能力去传授这样基础的科学问题，也不可能找到一种方式去足够地囊括如此庞大的主题。同样地，即便物质进化的科学结论是确定的，那么这个话题也会太广泛而无法着手讲解。然而，有关物质进化结论尚未有解，进一步加强了这个话题的复杂性。因此，我想在今晚开始之前先进行声明，我讲解内容的受众是那些没有接受过任何科学培训的人，给他们提供一些一般性的可以接受的概念；我想提出一些建议，调整我们的思想状态，从而应对这个庞大的物质进化问题。通常来说当我们去考虑物质呈现的方式时，我们是一个一个地去分开看待它们。直到最近，通过那些思维开阔的科学家的调查和分析结论，一种称为“物质心理学“的研究开始出现在大众的视野之中。

[32]You will remember that last week I endeavoured, in a broad and general way, to point out to you that there were three lines of approach to the study of the material universe.  There is the line which considers only the materialistic aspect, and is occupied only with that which can be seen, which is tangible, and which can be proven.  A second line is that of supernaturalism, which recognises not so much the material side of things as that which is called divine; it deals with the life side, and with the spirit aspect, viewing that Life as a power extraneous to the solar system and to man, and positing that power as a great creative Agent, Who creates and guides the objective universe and yet is outside of it.  These two lines of thought can be seen upheld by the frankly materialistic scientist, the orthodox Christian, and the deist of every faith.

你应该还记得上周我试图以一种广泛而笼统的方式向你们指明，研究物质宇宙的三种方法。第一种方法，只考虑物质方面，只考虑那些可以看得见、摸得着、可以被证明的。第二种方法是超自然主义，它不那么认可事物的物质方面，而是认可其神圣面向；它涉及生命和灵性方面，把这种生命看作是独立于太阳系和人类之外的，并把这种力量看作伟大的造物者，造物主创造并指引着宇宙，但是造物主不存在于他创造的系统之中。坦白地说，遵循唯物主义的科学家、正统的基督徒以及所有信仰中的有神论者，都支持这两种思想路线。

I indicated next a third line of approach to the problem, and we called it the idealistic concept.  It recognises the material form, but sees also the life within it, and it posits a Consciousness or Intelligence which is evolving by means of that outer form.  You will find, I think, that that is the line which I shall emphasise and stress in these lectures.  No speaker is able, after all, to dissociate himself entirely from his own point of view, and in these talks I have set myself the task of working along this third line, for to me it [33] synthesises the other two, and adds certain concepts which produce a coherent whole when merged with the other two.  It is for you to decide if this third standpoint is logical, reasonable, and clear.

在这里我也提出解决问题的第三条思路，我称之为理想主义理论。它承认物质形态，同时也看到了其内在的生命。这个理论，假定一种意识或者智能，通过这种外在的形态来进化自身。我想你会发现，这就是在这一系列的讲座中要强调的线路。毕竟，没有演讲者能够完全脱离自己的观点，在这系列的讲座中，我会让自己沿着这第三条思路展开，对于我来说，这种思想综合了其他两种思想，并补充了一些概念，这样一来当这三个理论融合在一起的时候，就会成为一个连贯的整体。由你来决定，第三种观点是否合乎逻辑，思路是否清晰合理。

The most common fact in life for all of us is that of the material world,—that world which we can see and contact by means of the five senses, and which is called by the metaphysical thinkers the “not-self,” or that which is objective to each one of us.  As we all know, the work of the chemist is to reduce all known substances to their very simplest elements, and it was thought not long ago that this had been satisfactorily accomplished.  The conclusions of the chemist placed the number of the known elements between seventy and eighty.  About twenty years ago, however (in 1898), a new element was discovered which was called Radium, and this discovery entirely revolutionised the world’s thought about matter and substance.  If you will go to the textbooks of the last century, or search the old dictionaries, seeking for the definition of the atom, for instance, you will usually find Newton quoted.  He defined the atom as “a hard, indivisible, ultimate particle,” a something which was incapable of further subdivision.  This was considered to be the ultimate atom in the universe, and was called by the scientist of the Victorian era “the foundation stone of the universe”; [34] they considered they had gone as far back as it was possible to go, and that they had discovered what lay back of all manifestation and of objectivity itself.  But when radium, and the other radio-active substances, had been discovered, an entirely new aspect of the situation had to be faced.  It became apparent that what was considered the ultimate particle was not so at all.  As you now have the definition of the atom (I am quoting from the Standard Dictionary) it is:

对我们所有人来说，生活中最常见的是物质世界，即我们可以通过五种感官看到和接触的世界，这个世界被形而上学的思想家称为“无我”，或者说，对我们每个人来说都是客观的事物。众所周知的是，化学的工作是要把所有的物质还原为最基本的元素，这在不久之前已经圆满地完成了。化学得出的结论是，组成物质的最基本元素在七十种至八十种之间。大约20年之前，在1898年，一种新的元素被发现了，它被命名为镭，这一发现彻底改变了世界上关于物质及其组成的思想。如果你查看上个世纪的教科书，或者在旧字典里查找，寻找原子的定义，你会发现牛顿的话被引用了。他把原子定义为“一种坚硬的、不可分割的终极粒子”，这种粒子不能被进一步分割。这曾经被认为是宇宙的终极粒子，维多利亚时代的科学家称呼原子为“宇宙的基石”。他们认为他们在那时已经探索得尽可能远了，他们已经发现了所有显化出来的事物以及客观世界背后的秘密。但是，当镭和其他放射性元素被发现时，人们不得不去面对一个全新的问题。很明显，曾经被定义为终极粒子的原子并不是按照人们设想的那般。现在，原子有了新的定义（我引用《标准词典》中的原话）：

“An atom is a centre of force, a phase of electrical phenomena, a centre of energy, active through its own internal make-up, and giving off energy or heat or radiation.”

“原子是力的中心，是电现象某一阶段，是一种能量的中心，它的内部结构决定了其活跃状态，并释放热量、能量或者辐射。”

Therefore, an atom is (as Lord Kelvin in 1867 thought it would ultimately turn out to be) a “vortex ring,” or centre of force, and not a particle of what we understand as tangible substance.  This ultimate particle of matter is now demonstrated to be composed of a positive nucleus of energy, surrounded—just as is the sun by the planets—with many electrons or negative corpuscles, thus subdividing the atom of earlier science into numerous lesser bodies.  The elements differ according to the number and arrangement of these negative electrons around their positive nucleus, and they rotate or move around this central charge of electricity as our planetary system rotates around the sun.  Professor Soddy, [35] in one of his latest books, has pointed out that in the atom is to be seen an entire solar system,—the central sun can be recognised, with the planets pursuing their orbital paths around it.

因此，原子实际上是一个“漩涡场”，或者是力的中心（正如开尔文勋爵在1867年认为原子最终会被知晓的那般），并不是我们所理解的那种有形的物质。组成物质的终极粒子现在被证明是由一个带正电的电子核，围绕着电子核的是众多电子或者负面粒子，就像太阳被行星包围着一样，因此，把早期科学家定义的原子又细分为更小的粒子。根据围绕着电子核周围电子的数量以及其排列方式，这些元素之间区别于彼此，电子围绕着中心电荷旋转或者移动，就像我们太阳系中的行星围绕着太阳进行运动一样。索迪教授，在他最新的一本著作中指出，在原子中可以看到整个太阳系，可以识别出中央太阳，以及围绕着它在轨道上运行的行星。

It would be apparent to each of us that when this definition of the atom is contemplated and studied an entirely new concept of substance comes before us.  Dogmatic assertions are therefore out of order, for it is realised that perhaps the next discovery may reveal to us the fact that the electrons themselves may be worlds within worlds.  An interesting speculation along these lines is to be found in a book by one of our scientific thinkers in which he suggests that we might be able to divide and subdivide the electron itself into what he calls “psychons,” and thus be led into realms which are not now considered physical.  That may be only a dream, but the thing that I am seeking to impress upon my mind and yours is that we scarcely know where we stand in scientific thought, any more than we know where we stand in the religious and economic world.  Everything is passing through a period of transition; the old order changeth; the old way of looking at things is proving false or inadequate; the old expressions of thought seem futile.  All that the wise man can do just now is to reserve his opinion, ascertain for himself what appeals to him as truth, and endeavour then to synthesise [36] that particular aspect of universal truth with that aspect which has been accepted by his brother.

对于我们中的每个人来说，很显然，当我们考虑和研究原子的定义时，有关物质的全新概念就会出现在我们面前。教条式断言已经没有意义，因为人们意识到，也许下一个发现，就可能向我们揭示，电子本身内部也存在着不同的世界。沿着这条思路，我们中的一位科学思想家会得出一个有趣的推测，他会在书中提出，我们可以把电子继续分割，成为更小的粒子“精神子”，然后我们就被带领进入我们现在所认为的非物质领域。这可能仅仅是一个梦想，但是我试图在我们的脑海中刻画的印象是，在科学的思想之中，我们几乎不能判断我们所在的位置，就像我们不知道我们在这个宗教和经济世界中所处的位置一样。所有的一切都在经历一个过渡期；旧的秩序改变，旧的看待事物的方法被证明是错误且不充分的；旧的思想看起来是无用的。智者所能做的，就是保留他的意见，自己来确定哪些对他来说是真理，然后努力地把普遍真理那个特定面向与所接受的面向结合起来。

The atom, then can be predicated as resolving itself into electrons, and can be expressed in terms of force or energy.  When you have a centre of energy or activity you are involved in a dual concept; you have that which is the cause of movement or energy, and that which it energises or actuates.  This brings us directly into the field of psychology, because energy or force is ever regarded as a quality, and where you have a quality you are really considering the field of psychic phenomena.

原子可以继续分解为电子，可以用力或者能量来进行表达。当有一个能量中心或者力的中心时，就进入了一个双重概念；一个是其带来运动和能量的原因，另一个是它进行激发或者驱动。这就把我们带入了心理学的领域，因为能量或者力一直被看作一种特质，当你拥有一种特质，实际上你在考虑的是心理现象的领域。

There are certain terms in use when considering substance which are continuously appearing, and about which there is a wide diversity of definition.  In looking over one scientific book last week it was discouraging to find the author pointing out that the atom of the chemist, of the physicist, of the mathematician, and of the metaphysician were four totally different things.  That is another reason why it is not possible to be dogmatic in dealing with these questions.  Nevertheless, rightly or wrongly, I have a very definite hypothesis to put before you.  When we talk about radium, we are, in all probability, venturing into the realm of etheric substance, the region of ether, or of protyle.  Protyle was a word coined by Sir William Crookes, and is defined by him as follows:

当考虑不断出现的东西时，会使用一些特定的术语，关于这些术语的定义有很多。上周在查阅一本科学书籍时，我很沮丧地发现，作者指出，化学、物理、数学和形而上学领域研究的原子，是四种完全不同的东西。这就是为什么在处理这些问题的时候，不能使用教条主义的另一原因。然而，不论对错，现在要把一个非常明确的假设摆在你面前。当我们谈到镭元素的时候，我们很可能进入了以太领域，或者说进入物质的原型领域。原型是由威廉·克鲁克斯（William Crookes）爵士发明的词，他对原型进行了如下的定义：

[37]“Protyle is a word analogous to protoplasm, to express the idea of the original primal matter before the evolution of the chemical elements.  The word I have ventured to use for this purpose is compounded of a Greek word ‘earlier than’ and ‘the stuff of which things are made.'”

“原型这个词，类似于原生质，用来表达进化成为化学元素之前的那些原始物质的概念。出于这个目的，我大胆地用希腊单词‘早先于’和‘构成物质的东西’组成了这个词。”

We are, therefore, throwing the concept of matter back to where the Oriental school has always put it, to primordial stuff, to that which the Orientalist calls “primordial ether,” though we must ever remember that the ether of science is many, many removes from the primordial ether of the Oriental occultist.  We are led back to that intangible something which is the basis of the objective thing which you and I can see and touch and handle.  The word “substance” itself means that which “stands under,” or which lies back of things.  All, therefore, that we can predicate in connection with the ether of space is that it is the medium in which energy or force functions, or makes itself felt.  When we are talking in these lectures of energy and force, and of matter and substance, we can separate them in our minds thus:  When we speak about energy and substance we are considering that which is as yet intangible, and we use force in connection with matter when dealing with that aspect of the objective which our scientists are definitely studying.  Substance is the ether in one of its many grades, and is that which lies back of matter itself.

因此，我们把物质的概念再次抛回到东方学派所描述的那般，回到那些原始的东西，那些东方学家称之为“原始以太”的东西，尽管我们必须要记住，以太这门科学，已经移除了很多东方秘法学家描述的原始以太的内容。我们再次被引导至这种无形的东西，而它是你我看到、触碰到和处理的客观事物的根基。“substance”这个词的本意是“站在事物的背后”，或者是物质背后的东西。因此，我们可以推测，以太，是能量或者力发挥作用，或者是让人感觉到其作用的媒介。我们在讲座中讨论力和能量，物质和其背后的东西，我们可以在头脑中这样把它们区分开来：当我们谈论能量和物质背后的东西时，我们考虑的是尚未成型的领域；当我们在处理我们科学家正在研究的客观领域时，它们之间的作用力把物质连接起来。物质背后的东西是以太，它可以细分为不同的等级。

[38]When we speak of energy there must be that which energises, that which is the source of energy and the origin of that force which demonstrates in matter.  It is here that I seek to lay the emphasis.  Whence comes this energy, and what is it?

当我们谈到能量时，一定要考虑到激发它的东西，它是能量的源泉，也是物质中力的源头所在。在这里，我要把重点列出来。这种能量来自哪里？它是什么？

Scientists are recognising ever more clearly that atoms possess qualities, and it would be interesting if one were to take the different scientific books dealing with the subject of atomic matter, and note which of the many and varying terms applied to them could be applied to a human being also.  On a small scale I have attempted this, and found it very illuminating.

科学家越来越清晰认识到，原子拥有不同的特性，如果你愿意阅读有关原子主题的科学书籍，就会注意到，很多描述原子的术语，对人类也同样适用。我在小范围内进行过尝试，发现很有启发意义。

First of all, as we know, the atom is spoken of as possessing energy, and the power to change from one mode of activity to another.  One writer has remarked that “absolute intelligence thrills through every atom in the world.”  In this connection I want to point out to you what Edison is reported by an interviewer as having said in Harper’s Magazine for February 1890, and which is enlarged upon in the Scientific American for October 1920.  In the earlier instance he is quoted as follows:—

首先，正如我们知道的，原子是拥有能量的，以及拥有从一种活动模式转化为另一种活动模式的能力。一位作家评论说“世界上的每一个原子闪耀着绝对的智能。”就这方面，我想向你指明一位采访者在1890年2月的《哈泼斯杂志》上对爱迪生的报道，随后在1920年10月，《科学美国人》又强化了这部分。在先前的报道中，他引述了如下的内容：

“I do not believe that matter is inert, acted upon by an outside force.  To me it seems that every atom is possessed by a certain amount of primitive intelligence.  Look at the thousands of ways in which atoms of hydrogen combine [39] with those of other elements, forming the most diverse substances.  Do you mean to say that they do this without intelligence?  Atoms in harmonious and useful relation assume beautiful or interesting shapes and colours, or give forth a pleasant perfume, as if expressing their satisfaction…gathered together in certain forms, the atoms constitute animals of the lower order.  Finally they combine in man, who represents the total intelligence of all the atoms.”

“我不认为物质是惰性的，受外力作用回应。对我来说，每一个原子都拥有着一种特定的原始智能。去看看氢原子与其他元素结合的上千种方式，形成了最丰富的物质。你的意思是想说，它们可以完成这些组合而不具有智能吗？原子处于和谐的组合关系之中，会呈现出美丽或者有趣的形状和颜色，或者是散发出愉悦的香味，仿佛在表达它们的满足之感一般…它们以特定的方式聚集在了一起，原子构成了低等的动物。终于，它们组合在一起成为了人，人代表了所有原子的智能总和。”

“But where does this intelligence come from originally?” asked the interviewer.

采访者问道：“可是，这个原始的智能起源自哪里呢？”

“From some power greater than ourselves,” Edison answered.

“来自某种比我们更强大的力量。”爱迪生回答。

“Do you believe, then, in an intelligent Creator, a personal God?”

“那么你相信存在智慧的造物主吗，一位拥有着人格的神？”

“Certainly.  The existence of such a God can, to my mind, be proved from chemistry.”

“当然。在我看来，这样的神的存在，可以通过化学来证明。”

In the long interview quoted in the Scientific American, Edison laid down a number of most interesting surmises from which I have culled the following:—

《科学美国人》引述的长篇采访之中，爱迪生提到了一些有趣的推测，我从中挑选出以下几点：

1.Life, like matter, is indestructible.

1.生命就像物质，是不可摧毁的。

2. Our bodies are composed of myriads of infinitesimal entities, each in itself a unit of life; just as the atom is composed of myriads of electrons.

2.我们的身体是由无数个小的实体组成的，每一个实体自身就是一个生命单位；就像原子是由很多电子组成一样。

3. The human being acts as an assemblage rather than as a unit; the body and mind express the vote or voice of the life entities.

3.人是一个集合体而非个体；身体和头脑表达的是生命体的声音。

4. The life entities build according to a plan. [40] If a part of the life organism be mutilated, they rebuild exactly as before….

4.生命体有规划地进行建设。如果生命有机体的一部分被肢解，它会重新打造一个像以前一样的…

5. Science admits the difficulty of drawing the line between the inanimate and the animate; perhaps the life entities extend their activities to crystals and chemicals….

5.科学承认，在有生命和无生命之间去划清界限是困难的；也许生命体将它们的活动拓展至水晶和化学物质之中…

6. The life entities live for ever; so that to this extent at least the eternal life which many of us hope for is a reality.

6.生命体永远存在；因此，至少在这个层面上，很多人所希望的永生，是可以实现的。

In an address given by Sir Clifford Allbut, President of the British Medical Association, as reported in the Literary Digest of February 26th, 1921, he speaks of the ability of the microbe to select and reject, and in the course of his remarks he says:

根据1921 年 2 月 26 日《文学文摘》报道，在英国医学协会主席克利福德·奥尔布特爵士（Sir Clifford Allbut）的讲话中，他谈到了微生物选择和拒绝的能力，并在讲话过程中提到：

“When the microbe finds itself in the host’s body it may be wholly out of tune, or wholly in tune, with any or all cells that it approaches; in either case presumably nothing morbid would happen…morbid happenings would lie between this microbe and body-cells within its range but not in tune with it.  Now there seems to be reason to suppose that a microbe, on its approach to a body-cell only just out of its range, may try this way and that to get a hitch on. If so, the microbe, at first innocuous, would become noxious. So, on the other hand, body-cells may educate themselves to vibrate in harmony with a microbe before dissonant; or there may be mutual interchange and co-adaptation….

“当微生物发现它在寄主体内时，它与靠近自己的所有细胞若是处于协调或者完全不协调的状况中；在任何一种情况下，都不会诱发病变…病变发生的情况介于这两者之间，微生物可以接近该细胞，但是不能与寄主细胞协调相处。现在看上去存在一种合理的假设，一个微生物想要去接近一个恰好在它接触范围的细胞，可以利用这种方式来接近这个细胞，如果是这样的情况，最初无害的微生物会变得有害。不过另一方面，寄主的细胞可以训练自己，在不和谐产生之前与该微生物和谐相处；或者说，它们之间存在相互交换和互相适应…

[41] “But, if things be so, surely we are face to face with a marvellous and far-reaching faculty, the faculty of choice, and this rising from the utter bottom of biology to the summit—formative faculty—’auto-determination,’ or, if you please, ‘mind.'”

“但是，如果事情是这样发生的话，我们肯定会面临一种奇妙而意义深远的能力，即选择的能力，这种能力从生物学的最低端，一直延续到顶端，这是一种发展的能力，你可以称之为“自动选择”，如果你愿意的话，也可以称之为“心智”。

In the year 1895, Sir William Crookes, one of our greatest scientists, gave an interesting lecture before a body of chemists in Great Britain, in which he dealt with the ability of the atom to choose its own path, to reject and to select, and showed that natural selection can be traced in all forms of life, from the then ultimate atom up through all forms of being.

1895 年，我们最伟大的科学家之一，威廉·克鲁克斯爵士（Sir William Crookes）在一群英国化学家面前做了一场有趣的演讲，在演讲中讨论了原子选择自己的路径，拥有拒绝和选择的能力，同时表明自然选择可以追溯到所有生命形式之中，从最小的终极原子到所有形式的存在。

In another scientific article, the atom is further considered as having sensation as well:

“The recent contest as to the nature of atoms, which we must regard as in some form or other the ultimate factors in all physical or chemical processes, seems to be capable of easiest solution by the conception that these very minute masses possess—as centres of force—a persistent soul, that every atom has sensation and power of movement.”

在另一篇科学文章之中，原子被认为是拥有感觉的：

“最近有关原子本质的争论，我们必须意识到，在物理和化学过程中的这些终极因素，看起来最容易解决争论的概念就是，承认这些质量微小的单位 —— 作为力的中心 —— 它们拥有一个持久的灵魂，每一个原子都拥有感觉和运动的能力。”

Tyndall has likewise pointed out that even the very atoms themselves seem to be “instinct with the desire for life.”

廷德尔（Tyndall）同样指出，即使是原子本身，似乎也“拥有对生命渴望的直觉”。

If you take these different qualities of the atom—energy, intelligence, ability to select and reject, to attract and repel, sensation, movement, and [42] desire—you have something which is very much like the psychology of a human being, only within a more limited radius and of a more circumscribed degree.  Have we not, therefore, really got back to what might be termed the “psyche of the atom”?  We have found that the atom is a living entity, a little vibrant world, and that within its sphere of influence other little lives are to be found, and this very much in the same sense that each of us is an entity, or positive nucleus of force or life, holding within our sphere of influence other lesser lives, i.e. the cells of our body.  What can be said of us can be said, in degree, of the atom.

如果你把原子的这些不同的特质 —— 能力、智能、选择和拒绝的能力、吸引力和排斥力、感觉、运动和欲望 —— 你就可以看到这非常接近人类的心理学，原子只是在一个更加受限的范围和程度内表达着自己。因此，难道我们没有回到可以称之为“原子心理”的领域吗？我们发现，原子是一个活着的实体，一个充满活力的小世界，在它的影响范围内还有其他的小生命，这跟我们每个人都是一个实体的事实是相似的，我们每个人都是生命或者力量的核心，围绕着我们的周围还存在其他更小的生命，比如我们身体的细胞等等。可以说对我们适用的，在某种程度上，也适用于原子。

Let us extend our idea of the atom a little further, and touch upon what may be fundamentally the cause, and may hold the solution of the world problems.  This concept of the atom as a positive demonstration of energy, holding within its range of activity its polar opposite, can be extended not only to every type of atom, but also to a human being.  We can view each unit of the human family as a human atom, for in man you have simply a larger atom.  He is a centre of positive force, holding within the periphery of his sphere of influence the cells of his body; he shows discrimination, intelligence, and energy.  The difference lies but in degree.  He is possessed of a wider consciousness, and vibrates to a larger measure than the little atom of the chemist.

让我们进一步拓展原子的概念， 并且去探讨根本性的原因，或许我们可以找到世界问题的解决方案。原子是一种积极的能量展示，并且在它的活动范围之中蕴含着对立的极性，这一概念可以不仅仅适用于每一种类型的原子，也可以拓展至人类。我们可以把每个人类家族的每一份子看作一个人类原子，我们是把人简单地看作一个更大的原子。他是积极的力量中心，在他影响范围内的是他身体的细胞；他展示出分辨力、智力和能量。不同之处在于程度。他拥有更广泛的意识，相比化学研究的小原子来说，人的振动范围更大。

[43] We might extend the idea still further and consider a planet as an atom.  Perhaps there is a life within the planet that holds the substance of the sphere and all forms of life upon it to itself as a coherent whole, and that has a specific extent of influence.  This may sound like a wild speculation, yet, judging from analogy, there may perhaps be within the planetary sphere an Entity Whose consciousness is as far removed from that of man as the consciousness of man is from that of the atom of chemistry.

我们可以进一步地拓展这个概念，把地球看作原子。或许在地球上存在一个生命，这个生命把地球上所有的物质和所有形态的生命看作一个有机整体，并产生特定程度的影响。这听起来像是一种大胆的推测，不过，从类比的视角来看，或许在整个地球范围内存在一个实体，其意识与人类的意识相距甚远，就像人类的意识与化学原子的意识之间差距那么大。

This thought can again be carried still further, till it includes the atom of the solar system.  There, at the heart of the solar system, the sun, you have the positive centre of energy, holding the planets within its sphere of influence.  If you have within the atom, intelligence; if you have within the human being, intelligence; if you have within the planet, an Intelligence controlling all its functions, may it not be logical to extend the idea and predicate a still greater Intelligence back of that larger atom, the solar system?

这个想法还可以进一步拓展，直至它包含了太阳系原子。因此，太阳系的中心，也就是正面的能量核心，把所有的行星控制在它的影响范围内。如果原子内在拥有着智能，如果人类内在拥有着智能；如果地球的内在拥有着智能，一种控制所有功能的智能，那么，拓展这个想法，推测存在一颗更大的原子，也就是太阳系的背后拥有着更伟大的智能，这样不是符合逻辑吗？

This brings us ultimately to the standpoint which the religious world has always held, that of there being a God, or Divine Being.  Where the orthodox Christian would say with reverence, God, the scientist with equal reverence would say, Energy; yet they would both mean the same.  Where the idealistic teacher would speak of “God [44] within” the human form, others with equal accuracy would speak of the “energising faculty” of man, which drives him into activity of a physical, emotional, or mental nature.  Everywhere are to be found centres of force, and the idea can be extended from such a force centre as a chemical atom, on and up through varying grades and groups of such intelligent centres, to man, and thence to the Life which is manifesting through the system.  Thus is demonstrated a marvellous and synthesised Whole.  St. Paul may have had something of this sort in mind when he spoke about the Heavenly Man.  By the “body of Christ” he surely means all those units of the human family who are held within His sphere of influence, and who go to the constitution of His body, as the aggregate of the physical cells form the physical body of the man.  What is needed in these days of religious upheaval is that these fundamental truths of Christianity should be demonstrated to be scientific truths.  We need to make religion scientific.

这最终把我们带领至宗教世界一直以来持有的观点之中，也就是存在着神，或者说，神圣的存有。就是东正基督教带着崇敬之情所说的神，就是科学家带着同样的尊重所说的能量；然而，它们具有相同的含义。理想主义的导师会说，那是人类形态中“内在的神”，其他人会同样准确地描述它为人的“充满活力的能量”，这种能量驱使他的物质身体、情感和心智进行运作。这种力之中心无处不在，这个想法可以进行拓展，从化学原子的力之中心，通过这种智能中心不同的分级和分组，到人类，然后延伸到整个太阳系的生命。这样就证明了存在一个美妙而综合的整体。圣保罗（St. Paul）在说到天人时可能脑中就是这样的想法。他所说的“基督之身”定然是意味着在基督影响范围内人类家族中的所有个体，这些个体组成了他的身体，就像是物质身体的细胞集合形成了人的身体那样。在宗教动荡的日子中，需要把基督教的这些基本真理证明为科学的事实。我们需要让宗教科学化。

There is a very interesting Sanskrit writing, many thousands of years old, which I am venturing to quote here.  It says:

有一篇很有趣的梵文文章，它的历史有千万年之久，我在这里冒昧地引用。它说：

“Every form on earth, and every speck (atom) in space, strives in its efforts towards self-formation, and to follow the model placed for it in the Heavenly Man.  The involution [45] and the evolution of the atom…have all one and the same object: man.”

“地球上的每一种形态，太空中的每一个点（原子），都在朝向自我成型努力，并遵循着天人为它设定的模式。向外表达和进化的原子…拥有同一个相同目标：成为人。”

Do you note what a large hope this concept opens out before us?  Not one atom of matter, showing latent intelligence, discrimination, and selective power, but will, in the course of aeons, reach that more advanced stage of consciousness which we call human.  Surely, then, the human atom may equally be supposed to progress to something still more widely conscious, and eventually reach the stage of development of those great Entities whose bodies are planetary atoms; and for Them, as well, what is there?  Attainment of that all-including state of consciousness which we call God, or the solar Logos.  Surely this teaching is logical and practical.  The old occult injunction which said to a man “Know thyself, for in thyself is to be found all that there is to be known,” is still the rule for the wise student.  If each one of us would scientifically regard ourselves as centres of force, holding the matter of our bodies within our radius of control, and thus working through and in them, we should have a hypothesis whereby the entire cosmic scheme could be interpreted.  If, as Einstein hints, our entire solar system is but a sphere, colouring is given to the deduction that it, in its turn, may be but a cosmic atom; thus we would have a place within a still larger scheme, and have a centre around which our system rotates, and in which it is as the electron [46] to the atom.  We have been told by astronomers that our entire system is probably revolving around a central point in the heavens.

你注意到这个概念在我们面前呈现出多大的希望吗？并不是所有的原子都显示出潜在的智能、分辨力和选择力，但是最终，它们会进化到更加高级的阶段，我们把这个阶段称之为人类。当然，人类原子或者可以被同样地进行假定，可以发展到更广阔的意识阶段，最终达成那些伟大的实体的进化阶段，那些伟大的实体就是我们所谓的行星原子；对它们来说，又会进化到什么阶段呢？达到我们称之为神，或者太阳逻各斯的无所不包的意识阶段。当然，这种教导是合乎逻辑且实用的。古老的神秘教导对一个人说：“了解你自己，因为在你自己身上可以找到所有要知道的东西。”这句话仍然适用于有智慧的学生。如果我们每个人可以科学性地把自己视为力量的中心，把组成我们身体的物质控制在我们可以控制的范围之内，那么通过我们的身体以及在我们身体中工作，我们应该得到一个假设，从而可以理解整个宇宙的构想。正如爱因斯坦所暗示的那样，我们整个太阳系是一个球体，那么就可以推断出，太阳系或许是一个宇宙原子；这样，我们就会在一个更大的构想中占有一席之地，我们所在的太阳系也围绕着一个中心旋转，就像电子跟原子之间的关系那般。天文学家告诉我们，我们整个星系可能是围绕着天空中的一个中心点旋转。

Thus the basic idea which I have sought to emphasise can be traced all the way up, through the atom of the chemist and physicist, through man, through the energising Life of a planet, up to the Logos, the deity of our solar system, the Intelligence or Life which lies back of all manifestation or of nature, and on to some greater scheme in which even our God has to play His part and to find His place.  It is a wonderful picture if true.

因此，我试图强调的这些基本概念可以一直从化学和物理学研究的原子，追溯到人，一颗星球的生命，逻各斯、也就是我们太阳系的神、自然界中所有一切背后的智能或者生命、一直到更大的构想之中，在那里我们太阳系的神也扮演着它的角色，有它的一席之地。如果这一切是真的，那会是多么美妙的画面。

I cannot deal to-night with the different developments of this intelligence animating all atoms, but I should like for a moment to take up what is perhaps the method of their evolution, and this from the human standpoint (which concerns us the most intimately) remembering ever that what is true of any one atom should be true in greater or less degree of all.

今晚我无法去讨论这种激发所有原子智能的不同阶段发展，但是我想花一点时间谈谈它们进化的方法，这是从人类的视角来看的（这与我们关系最密切），要一直记得，任何一个原子的真实状况，不论映射到更宏大还是微小的层面，都应该存在相同的状况。

In considering broadly the atoms of the solar system, including the system itself, there are two things noticeable:  the first is the intense life and activity of the atom itself, and its internal atomic energy; and the second is its interaction with other atoms—repelling some and attracting others.  Perhaps, then, we may deduce from these facts, that the method of evolution for every atom is due to two causes:  the internal life of the [47] atom itself, and its interaction or intercourse with other atoms.  These two stages are apparent in the evolution of the human atom.  The first was emphasised by the Christ when He said:  “The kingdom of God is within you,” thus pointing all human atoms to the centre of life or energy within themselves, and teaching them that from and through that centre they must expand and grow.  Each one of us is conscious of being centred within himself; he considers everything from his own standpoint, and the outer happenings, are mostly interesting just in so far as they concern himself.  We deal with things as they affect us personally, and all that occurs to others at a certain stage of our evolution is important only as it concerns ourselves.  That is the present stage of many and is characteristic of the majority; it is the period of intense individualism, and that in which the “I” concept is of paramount importance.  It involves much internal activity.

从广义上来考虑太阳系原子，包括太阳系本身，有两件事情值得注意：一是原子自身强烈的生命和活动，以及它内在的原子能；其二是它与其他原子之间的互相作用 —— 排斥一些并吸引另一些。那么我们可以从这些事实中推断，每个原子的进化方法来自两个原因：原子内在的生命，以及它与其他原子的相互作用。这两个阶段在人类原子的进化中是显而易见的。第一点是基督强调的，他说：“神之国度在你之内”，从而把所有人类原子指向他们内在的生命或者能量中心，教导他们必须从那个中心拓展和成长。我们每一个人都有意识地以自己为中心；他从自己的视角看待周围的一切，对他而言，外界发生的事情大多是都吸引他。我们处理影响我们个人的事情，在我们进化的某个特定阶段，发生在他人身上的事情只有当涉及到我们时才重要。这是很多人所处的阶段，也是大多数人的特点；这是个人主义强烈的阶段，在这个阶段，“我”的概念至关重要它涉及到很多内在的活动。

The second way the human atom grows is through its interaction with all other atoms, and this is something which is only just beginning to dawn upon the human intelligence, and to assume its just importance.  We are only beginning to realise the relative significance of competition and of co-operation, and are on the verge of realising that we cannot live our life selfishly and apart from the group in which we find a place; we are commencing to learn that if our brother is held [48] back, and is not making progress, and if the other human atoms are not vibrating as they should, every atom in the body corporate is affected.  None of us will be complete until all other units have achieved their fullest and most complete development.

人类原子成长的第二种方法是与其他人类原子互动，这是人类智能中刚刚开始出现的东西，并承载了合理的重要性。我们才刚刚意识到竞争与合作的相对重要性，我们即将意识到我们不能自私地生活，不能脱离我们所在的团体生活；我们开始学习到，如果我们的兄弟受到阻碍，没有获得进步，如果其他人类原子没有按照应有的方式振动，那么人类整体中的每一个原子都会受到影响。在其他个体都达到最充分和完整的发展之前，我们中没有一个人可以获得圆满。

Next week I shall enlarge a little upon this, when I take up the question of form building.  I only seek to-night, in bringing this lecture to a conclusion, to bring to your consciousness an appreciation of the place we each hold in the general scheme, and to enable us to realise the importance of the interaction which goes on between all atoms.  I seek to point out the necessity of finding for ourselves our place in the group to which we naturally belong (in which we are as the electrons to the positive charge), and of our then proceeding to do our work within that larger atom, the group.

下周，当我谈论到形态建设时，我会对此稍加阐述。今晚，在结束此次讲座时，我只想让你们意识到，我们每个人在整体计划中所处的位置，让我们认识到所有原子之间进行的互动的重要性。我想要指出，我们应该找到我们自然归属的团体中的位置（在那里我们对团体而言，我们就像电子之于原子核），然后，我们在这个更大的原子中，也就是团体之内，继续我们的工作。

This makes the entire hypothesis not merely a wild dream, but a practically useful ideal.  If it is true that all the cells of our bodies, for instance, are the electrons which we hold coherently together, and if we are the energising factor within the material form, it is of prime importance that we recognise that fact, and deal rightly and scientifically with those forms and their atoms.  This involves the practical care of the physical body and the wise adaptation of all our energy to the work to be done, and to the [49] nature of our objective; it necessitates the judicious utilisation of that aggregate of cells which is our instrument, or tool, and our sphere of manifestation.  This is something of which we, as yet, know little.  When this thought is developed, and the human being is recognised as a force centre, the attitude of people towards their work and mode of living will be fundamentally altered.  The point of view of the medical world, for instance, will be changed, and people will study the right methods of utilising energy.  Disease through ignorance will no longer exist, and the methods of transmitting force will be studied and followed.  We shall then be truly intelligent atoms—a thing we, as yet, are not.

这让整个假设不仅仅成为一个疯狂的梦想，更是成为一个切实有用的理想。假如这一切是真的：比如，我们身体中所有的细胞，都是连贯地结合在一起的电子，如果我们是物质形态中的能量因子，那么我们认识到这一事实、并恰当且科学地与这些形态和它们的原子打交道是至关重要的。这涉及到对物质身体的实际护理，以及为了将要完成的工作来明智地调整我们所有的能量，为了我们要达成的目标；这需要明智地使用我们的工具、载体，也就是细胞集合体，以及我们显化的领域。这是我们迄今为止知之甚少的地方。当这种思想得以发展的时候，当人们被看作一种力量中心时，人们对待工作和生活方式的态度就会发生根本性的转变。比如，医学界的观点会发生改变，人们会研究正确地使用能量的方法，无明之病将不复存在，力量的传输方法也会被研究遵循。那时我们将成为真正的智能原子 —— 我们目前尚未达到这样的阶段。

Again, we shall not only be practical in the handling of our material bodies, because we understand their constitution, but we shall consciously find our place within the group, and direct our energy to the benefiting of the group, and not, as now, to the furthering of our own ends.  Many atoms have not only an internal life of their own, but also radiate, and as radio-activity is gradually understood, so the study of man as a centre of active radiation will also come into being.  We are standing these days on the verge of wonderful discoveries:  we are nearing a marvellous synthesis of the thought of the world; we are advancing towards that period when science and religion will come to the help of each other, and [50] when philosophy will add its quota to the understanding of the truth.

还有，我们不仅仅要实践掌控我们的物质身体，因为我们理解它们的组成，但是我们也要有意识地去寻找我们在团体中的位置，把我们的能量用于造福群体，而不是像现在这样，从而达成我们生命的目的。很多原子不仅仅有自己内在的生命，也拥有辐射的能力，随着对放射性物质的逐渐了解，人作为辐射中心的研究也会应运而生。这些日子里，我们站在探索奇妙的边缘地带：我们正在接近思想世界中奇妙的整合；我们正在走向科学和宗教彼此互助的时期，此时，哲学也会在对真理的阐述中发挥它的作用。

The use of the imagination will frequently open up a wonderful vision, and if this imagination is based on essentials, and starts with a logical hypothesis, perhaps it will lead us to the solution of some of the mysteries and problems which are distressing the world now.  If things are to us mysterious and inexplicable, may it not be because of that great Entity Who is manifesting through our planet, and Who is working out a definite purpose and plan, just as you and I may be doing in our lives.  At times we carry our physical vehicle into situations, and bring about difficulties in connection with it, which are both painful and distressing; granted the hypothesis upon which we are working, it may, therefore, be logical to surmise that the great Intelligence of our planet is similarly carrying His entire body of manifestation (which includes the human family) into situations which are distressing to the atoms.  Surely it may be logical to suppose that the mystery of all we see around us may be hidden in the will and intelligent purpose of that greater Life, Who works through our planet as man works through the medium of his physical body, and yet Who is Himself but an atom within a still larger sphere, which is indwelt by the solar Logos, the Intelligence Who is the sumtotal of all the lesser lives.

想象力的运用往往会打开一个奇妙的视野，如果这种想象力是基于事物的本质，并以一个符合逻辑的假设开始，那么它或许会带领我们解决一些现在困扰世界的谜团和问题。如果事情对我们来说是神秘莫测且无法解释的，它或许是因为那个伟大的实体正在通过我们的星球进行显化，它正在实现一个确切的目标和计划，就像你我在生活中做事情那样。有的时候我们带着我们的物质载具会遇到一些状况，并伴随着一些困难，让我们感到痛苦和压力；鉴于我们正在研究的这个假设，从而合理地推测，我们星球的伟大智能同样也在携带着他的整个显化出的巨大身躯（这其中包括人类家族）过程中遇到一些状况，这些状况对那些原子来说是痛苦的。当然，我们也可以合理地假设，我们周围所看到的一切奥秘都是那伟大生命隐藏的意志和智能的目的，他通过我们的星球进行工作，就像人类通过他的物质身体工作一样，他自己不过也是隶属于一个更庞大范围的原子，太阳逻各斯居住在那个更大范围内，即所有较小的生命形态总和的智能表达。

LECTURE III: THE EVOLUTION OF FORM, OR GROUP EVOLUTION 第三课：形态或集合体的进化

[53]I WANT to enlarge to-night upon the basic idea of the unity of consciousness, or of intelligence, as developed somewhat in the lecture last week, and to extend the concept still further.  It has been said that all evolution proceeds from the homogeneous, through heterogeneity, back again to homogeneity, and it has been pointed out that:

今晚，我想要继续拓展意识统一或者说是智能统一的基本概念，就像上周铺垫的那样，来进一步拓展这个概念。有一种说法是，所有的进化都是从同质开始，历经异质，又回归至同质，它也指出：

“Evolution is a continually accelerating march of all the particles of the universe which leads them simultaneously, by a path sown with destruction, but uninterrupted and unpausing, from the material atom to that universal consciousness in which omnipotence and omniscience are realised:  in a word, to the full realisation of the Absolute of God.”

“进化是宇宙中所有的粒子在宇宙同步地带领下不断加速前进的过程，沿着一条播种下毁灭的道路，但是永不间断和停歇，从物质的原子一直成长至宇宙的意识，直至实现全知全能：总之就是实现对神的绝对认知。”

This proceeds from those minute diversifications which we call molecules and atoms up to their aggregate as they are built into forms; and continues on through the building of those forms into greater forms, until you have a solar system in its entirety.  All has proceeded under law, and the same basic laws govern the evolution of the [54] atom as the evolution of a solar system.  The macrocosm repeats itself in man, the microcosm, and the microcosm is again reflected in all lesser atoms.

这个过程从我们称之为分子和原子的最小多样化开始，一直到它们的集合体组成的不同形态；并继续通过这些形态来构建更大的形体，直至拥有一个完整的太阳系。所有一切都按照法则进行，就像太阳系的进化一样，同样的法则也支配着原子的进化。这法则在宏观层面也体现在人身上；微观层面体现在所有较小的原子之中。

These remarks and the previous lecture concern themselves primarily with the material manifestation of a solar system, but I shall seek to lay the emphasis in our future talks principally upon what we might call the psychical evolution, or the gradual demonstration and evolutionary unfoldment of that subjective intelligence or consciousness which lies behind the objective manifestation.

这些解说、以及之前的课程主要关注太阳系在物质层面的显化，但是我在将来的演讲中也会着重说明我们称之为心理学的进化，这也是物质显化背后主体智能或者意识的逐渐揭示、进化展开。

As usual, we will handle this lecture in four divisions:  First, we will take the subject of the evolutionary process, which, in this particular case is the evolution of the form, or the group; then the method of group development; next we will consider the stages that are followed during the cycle of evolution, and finally we will conclude with an attempt to be practical, and to gather out of our conclusions some lesson to apply to the daily life.

同之前一样，我们将会从四个方面来展开这次的课程：首先，我们会讨论进化这个主题，在这个特殊的状况中，就是形态或者集体的进化；然后讲到集体进化方法；接下来我们会考虑进化周期中所遵循的阶段，最后我们会结合实际来作为总结，并从我们的结论中收集一些收获以应用于日常生活中。

The first thing necessary for us to do is to consider somewhat the question of what a form really is.  If we turn to a dictionary we will find the word defined as follows:  “The external shape or configuration of a body.”  In this definition the emphasis is laid upon its externality, upon its [55] tangibility and exoteric manifestation.  This thought is also brought out if the root meaning of the word ‘manifestation’ is carefully studied.  It comes from two Latin words, meaning “to touch or handle by the hand” (manus, the hand, and fendere, to touch), and the idea then brought to our minds is the triple thought that that which is manifested is that which can be felt, contacted, and realised as tangible.  Yet in both these interpretations the most vital part of the concept is lost sight of, and we must look elsewhere for a truer definition.  To my mind, Plutarch conveys the idea of the manifestation of the subjective through the medium of the objective form in a much more illuminating way than does the dictionary.  He says:

对我们来说必须要做的第一件事情就是要考虑，形态到底是什么。如果我们查阅字典，我们会发现这个词定义如下：“某个整体的外部形状或者配置。”在这个定义中，重点放在了它的外部性、它的可触碰性、和它有形外在的表达。如果仔细研究“显现”这个词的根本含义，也会有同样的解释。它来自两个拉丁词，意思是“去触碰，或者用手去处理”（manus, 手； fendere, 去触碰），然后我们心智中出现的是一个三重意思，即显现出的东西是可以感觉到、接触到的、有形实物。不过在这两种解释中，这个概念最重要的部分被忽略了，我们必须在别处去寻找更贴切的定义。对于我来说，普鲁塔克（Plutarch）把显现的意思传达了出来，即主体通过客体形态的媒介进行的表达，这要比字典的解释更加具有启发性。他说：

“An idea is a being incorporeal, which has no subsistence by itself, but gives figure and form unto shapeless matter, and becomes the cause of the manifestation.”

“一个想法是一种更精微的存在，它没有所谓的物质形态，但是它赋予无形的物质以形象和形态，从而成为显现的诱因。”

Here you have a most interesting sentence, and one of real occult significance.  It is a sentence which will repay careful study and consideration, for it embodies a concept that concerns itself not only with that little manifestation, the atom of the chemist and the physicist, but of all forms that are constituted by their means, including the manifestation of a human being and of the Deity of a solar system, that great Life, that all-embracing, [56] universal Mind, that vibrant centre of energy, and that great enfolding consciousness Whom we call God, or Force, or the Logos, the Existence Who is expressing Himself through the medium of the solar system.

这里是一种很有趣的描述，而且拥有真正的秘法学意义。这是一个值得仔细思考和研究的句子，因为它体现了一个概念，不仅仅与化学和物理学研究的微小原子有关，而且与它们构成所有的形态有关，包括人类的显现，太阳系之神的显现，以及那伟大的生命、包含所有的宇宙心智的显现，那活跃的能量中心的显现，还有我们称之为神、力量或者逻各斯的伟大万有意识的显现，这个存有以太阳系为媒介来表达自己。

In the Christian Bible the same thought is borne out by St. Paul in a letter to the Church at Ephesus.  In the second chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians he says:  “We are his workmanship.”  Literally, the correct translation from the Greek is:  “We are his poem, or idea,” and the thought in the mind of the apostle is that through the medium of every human life, or in the aggregate of lives which compose a solar system, God is, through the form, whatever it may be, working out an idea, a specific concept, or detailed poem.  A man is an embodied thought, and this is also the concept latent in the definition of Plutarch.  You have therein first the idea of a self-conscious entity, you have then to recognise the thought or purpose which that entity is seeking to express, and finally, you have the body or form which is the sequential result.

在基督教的《圣经》中，圣保罗在给以弗所教会的一封信中，也传达了同样的思想。在《以弗所书》的第二章中，他说：“我们是他的杰作。”从字面意义上看，此句话希腊语的正确翻译是：“我们是他的诗歌，或是想法。”使徒的想法是，通过每一个人类生命作为媒介，或者通过组成一个太阳系所有生命的集合作为媒介，神通过这种形态，不论形态如何，来表达一种想法，一个特定的概念，或者一首详细的诗歌。人是显现出来的思想，这也是普鲁塔克定义中潜在的概念。首先存在拥有一个自我意识实体，然后你意识到这个实体想要表达的想法或者目的，最终出现了身体或者形态，这是随之而来的结果。

The term Logos, translated as the Word, is frequently used in the New Testament, in speaking of the Deity.  The outstanding passage in which this is the case is the first chapter of St. John’s Gospel, where the words occur:  “In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.”  Let us consider for a minute the meaning of the expression.  Its literal translation is ‘the Word,’ and it has been defined as “the rendering in objective expression of a concealed thought.”  If you take any noun, or similar word, for instance, and study its objective significance, you will find that always a definite thought is conveyed to the mind, involving purpose, intent, or perhaps some abstract concept.  If this same method of study can be extended to include the idea of the Deity or the Logos, much light may be gained upon this abstruse question of the manifestation of God, the central Intelligence, by the means of the material form, whether we see Him manifested through the tiny form of a chemical atom, or that gigantic physical body of His we call a solar system.

逻各斯一词，也翻译为“道”，在《新约》中经常用于指代神明。这种情况尤其表现在《圣约翰福音》的第一章，出现了这样的话：“太初有道，道与神同在，道就是神。”让我们仔细地思考这个表达的含义。它被翻译为“道”，它的定义是“一个隐藏思想的客观表达”。比如，你拿任意一个名词或者类似的词举例，去研究它的客观意义，你会发现总是有一个明确的想法被传递给大脑，这包括目的、意图，或者是某些抽象的概念。如果同样的研究方法可以拓展至神或者逻各斯的概念，那么就为理解神、中央智能通过物质形态进行显现这个抽象问题带来很多启发，不论我们看到他是以微小的化学原子显现出来，还是通过我们称之为太阳系的他巨大物质身躯显现出来。

We found in our lecture last week that there was one thing that could be predicated of all atoms, and that scientists everywhere were coming to recognise one distinguishing characteristic.  They have been shown to possess symptoms of mind and a rudimentary form of intelligence.  The atom demonstrates the quality of discrimination, of selective power, and of ability to attract or repel.  It may seem curious to use the word intelligence in connection with an atom of chemistry, for instance, but nevertheless the root meaning of the word embodies this idea perfectly. [58] It comes from two Latin words: inter, between, and legere to choose.  Intelligence, therefore, is the capacity to think or choose, to select, and to discriminate.  It is, in reality, that abstract, inexplicable something which lies back of the great law of attraction and repulsion, one of the basic laws of manifestation.  This fundamental faculty of intelligence characterises all atomic matter, and also governs the building up of forms, or the aggregation of atoms.

我们在上周的讲座中提到，可以预测到所有的原子都表达出一个特征，也就是世界各地的科学家开始意识到的一个显著特征。原子已经被证实拥有心智的特征和基本的智能。原子表达出分辨力、选择力，以及吸引或者排斥的能力。比如，把智能这个词与化学研究的原子联系起来可能看起来很奇怪，但是智能这个词的词根则完美地表达出来这个特征。它来自两个拉丁词：inter是之间，legere是选择。所以，智能的意思就是思考、选择、辨别的能力。事实上，这是一种抽象的、非具象的表达，是隐藏在伟大的吸引和排斥法则，显化的基本法则之一的背后。所有原子都拥有这种智能的基本特征，也支配着各种形态的构建，即原子集合。

We have earlier dealt with the atom per se, but have in no way considered its building into form, or into that totality of forms which we call a kingdom in nature.  We have considered somewhat the essential nature of the atom, and its prime characteristic of intelligence, and have laid our emphasis upon that out of which all the different forms as we know them are built—all forms in the mineral kingdom, in the vegetable kingdom, in the animal kingdom, and in the human kingdom.  In the sumtotal of all forms you have the totality of nature as generally understood.

我们之前已经讨论过原子本身，但是尚未探讨它构建成的形态，或者说，在自然界中我们称之为王国的各种形态的集合。我们已经在某种程度上讨论了原子的本质，它显示出的主要智能特征，并且强调了我们知道它可以构建出不同的形态 —— 所有矿物王国的形态。植物王国、动物王国和人类王国。在所有的形态集合中，就有了我们通常所知的自然界集合。

Let us now extend our idea from the individual forms that go to the constitution of any of these four kingdoms of nature, and view them as providing that still greater form which we call the kingdom itself, and thus view that kingdom as a conscious unit, forming a homogeneous whole.  Thus each kingdom in nature may be considered [59] as providing a form through which a consciousness of some kind or grade can manifest.  Thus, also, the aggregate of animal forms composes that greater form which we designate the kingdom itself, and this animal kingdom likewise has its place within a still greater body.  Through that kingdom a conscious life may be seeking expression, and through the aggregate of kingdoms a still greater subjective Life may be seeking manifestation.

让我们进一步去拓展我们的观点，从个体的形态到组成自然界的四大王国，并把这四大王国看作构成了一个更大的王国，把这个王国看作一个意识整体，形成了一个有机整体。因此，自然界的每个王国都可以看作提供了一种形态，让某种等级的意识状态可以通过形态进行表达。同样地，动物形态的集合组成了更伟大的形态，我们称之为动物王国，这个王国仍然是另一个巨大整体的组成。通过这个王国，一个有意识的生命寻求表达；通过所有王国的集合，一个更伟大的核心意识生命得以显现出来。

In all these kingdoms which we are considering—mineral, vegetable, animal and human—we have three factors again present, provided, of course, that the basis of our reasoning is correct:  first, that the original atom is itself a life; secondly, that all forms are built up of a multiplicity of lives, and thus a coherent whole is provided through which a subjective entity is working out a purpose; thirdly, that the central life within the form is its directing impulse, the source of its energy, the origin of its activity, and that which holds the form together as a unity.

我们正在讨论所有的王国 —— 矿物、植物、动物和人类 —— 三个因素再次出现，当然，前提是我们的推理基础是正确的：第一，最初的原子本身就是一个生命；第二，所有的形态是由多种生命构成的，因此形成了一个连贯的整体，一个核心生命通过作用于这个整体来实现其目标；第三，形态中的核心生命是这个形态的指导原则，它是生命活动的来源，并把所有的形态保持在一起形成一个整体。

This thought can well be worked out in connection with man, for instance.  For the purpose of our lecture, man can be defined as that central energy, life, or intelligence, who works through a material manifestation or form, this form being built up of myriads of lesser lives.  In this connection a curious phenomenon has been frequently [60] noticed at the time of death; it was brought very specially to my notice some years ago by one of the ablest surgical nurses of India. She had for a long time been an atheist, but had begun to question the ground of her unbelief after several times witnessing this phenomenon.  She stated to me that, at the moment of death, in several cases, a flash of light had been seen by her issuing from the top of the head, and that in one particular case (that of a girl of apparently very advanced spiritual development and great purity and holiness of life) the room had appeared to be lit up momentarily by electricity.  Again, not long ago, several of the leading members of the medical profession in a large Middle West city were approached by an interested investigator, by letter, and asked if they would be willing to state if they had noted any peculiar phenomena at the moment of death.  Several replied by saying that they had observed a bluish light issuing from the top of the head, and one or two added that they had heard a snap in the region of the head.  In this last instance we have a corroboration of the statement in Ecclesiastes, where the loosing of the silver cord is mentioned, or the breaking of that magnetic link which unites the indwelling entity or thinker to his vehicle of expression.  In both the types of cases above mentioned can apparently be seen an ocular demonstration of the withdrawal [61] of the central light or life, and the consequent disintegration of the form, and the scattering of the myriad lesser lives.

这个思想可以很好地与人联系起来。比如，就我们讲座的目的而言，人就可以被定义为中央能量、生命或者智能，他通过物质显化、形态进行运作，这个形态是由无数个更小的生命组成的集合。就这方面而言，在死亡时有一个奇怪现象常常被注意到；几年前印度的一个很有能力的外科医生特别引起了我的注意。长久以来她一直是无神论者，但是在多次目睹这种现象后，她的无神论根基开始动摇。她对我说，在一些情况下，死亡那刻到来时，她看到一道闪光从死去的那个人头顶发出，而在一个特殊的情况下（死去的那个女孩显然是一位灵性高度进化、一位伟大纯洁且神圣的生命），瞬间整个房间都被电能照亮了。不久前，一位有兴趣的调查员再次通过信函联系了中西部某个大城市中几位医学界的领军人物，询问他们是否愿意说明他们注意到死亡之时发生的任何特殊的显现。有几个人回复说，他们观察到了头顶上方发出蓝色的光，还有一两个补充说，他们听到了头部区域咔嚓的声响。在这最后的一个说明中，我们证实了《传道书》中的说法，书中提到了银线的松动，或者说磁力链接的断裂，这个链接把居住在表达载体中的思考者或者生命实体与他的载体连接起来。在上述两类案例中，显然可以观察到中央之光、生命的撤离，随之而来的就是形态的瓦解，以及无数较小生命的分散。

It may therefore seem to some of us a logical hypothesis that just as the atom of chemistry is a tiny sphere, or form, with a positive nucleus, which holds rotating around it the negative electrons, so all forms in all the kingdoms of nature are of a similar structure, differing only in degree of consciousness or intelligence.  We can therefore regard the kingdoms themselves as the physical expression of some great subjective life, and can by logical steps come to the recognition that every unit in the human family is an atom in the body of that greater unit who has been called in some of the Scriptures the “Heavenly Man.”  Thus we arrive finally at the concept that the solar system is but the aggregate of all kingdoms and all forms, and the Body of a Being Who is expressing Himself through it, and utilising it in order to work out a definite purpose and central idea.  In all these extensions of our final hypothesis, the same triplicity can be seen; an informing Life or Entity manifesting through a form, or a multiplicity of forms, and demonstrating discriminative intelligence.

因此，对我们中的一些人来说，这看上去是一个合乎逻辑的假设，就像化学原子是一个微小的球体，它有带正电的电子核，带负电的电子围绕着电子核旋转，因此，自然界中所有王国中的所有形态都具有类似的结构，不同之处在于意识或者智能的层次。因此，我们可以把王国自身看作某种更伟大的生命在物质层面的表达，并且可以通过逻辑思考认识到，人类家族中的每一个个体都是那个更大整体中的一个原子，那个更大的整体，在《圣经》的某些章节中被称作“天人”。因此我们终于得到这样一个概念，即太阳系仅仅是所有王国和所有形态的集合，一位存有通过这具身体表达自己，并使用这具巨大的身体来达成某个明确的目的或者展示某个中心思想。在我们最终假设的所有拓展中，同样可以观察到三重特性；一种生命或者实体通过一种形态、多种形态的集合来表达自己，并表现出分辨力。

It is not possible to deal with the method whereby the forms are built up, or to enlarge upon the evolutionary process by means of which atoms [62] are combined into forms, and the forms themselves collected into that greater unity which we call a kingdom in nature. This method might be briefly summed up in three terms—involution, or the involving of the subjective life in matter, the method whereby the indwelling Entity takes to itself its vehicle of expression; evolution, or the utilisation of the form by the subjective life, its gradual perfecting, and the final liberating of the imprisoned life; and the law of attraction and repulsion, whereby matter and spirit are co-ordinated whereby the central life gains experience, expands its consciousness, and, through the use of that particular form attains self-knowledge and self-control.  All is carried forward under this basic law.  In every form you have a central life, or idea, coming into manifestation, involving itself more and more in substance, clothing itself in a form and shape adequate to its need and requirement, utilising that form as a means of expression, and then—in due course of time—liberating itself from the environing form in order to acquire one more suited to its need.  Thus through every grade of form, spirit or life progresses, until the path of return has been traversed and the point of origin achieved.  This is the meaning of evolution and here lies the secret of the cosmic incarnation.  Eventually spirit frees itself from form, and attains liberation plus developed [63] psychical quality and graded expansions of consciousness.

现在尚不可能探讨建立形态的方法，或者是拓展进化的过程，在这个过程中原子整合在一起成为不同形态集合，这些集合再度进一步组成了更伟大整体，我们把这个整体称之为自然的王国。这个方法可以简单地概括为三个方面 —— 向外表达，即中心生命表达在物质层面，内在的实体给自己身上穿上载具的方法；进化，即中心生命对形态的利用，逐渐变得完美，最终让囚禁在载具中的生命获得自由；吸引和排斥法则，物质和灵性互相合作，中心生命获得了体验，拓展了意识，通过对那具载具的使用获得了自我知识和掌控。所有的一切都在这个法则下进行。在每一个形态中存在一个中央生命、一种思想，通过形态得到表达，越来越融入到物质之中，用形态当作自己的外衣，根据其需求和要求对形态进行塑造，使用形态作为一种表达方式，然后 —— 在适当的时候 —— 把自己从包裹着自己的形态中解脱出来，从而获得更符合自己需要的形态。就这样，通过不同的形态等级，灵性、生命进行着发展，直至穿越归途，到达最初的那个点。这就是进化的意义，这里也暗含着宇宙转世的奥秘。最终，神圣的灵把自己从形态中解脱出来，获得了自由，并且让心理特质得到发展，同时获得不同层级的意识拓展。

We might look at these definite stages, and study them very cursorily.  We have in the first case the process of involution.  This is the period in which the limiting of the life within the form or sheath proceeds, and it is a long slow process, covering millions upon millions of years.  This great cycle is participated in by every type of life.  It concerns the life of the Solar Logos manifesting through a solar system.  It is part of the life cycle of the planetary Spirit manifesting through such a sphere as our Earth planet; it includes that life which we call human, and sweeps into the path of its energy the tiny life which functions through an atom of chemistry.  It is the great process of becoming, and that which makes existence and being itself possible.  This period of limitation, of a gradually increasing imprisonment, and of an ever deeper descent into matter, is succeeded by one of adaptation, in which the life and the form become intimately inter-related, and subsequent to this is the period wherein that inner relation becomes perfected.  The form is then adequate to the needs of the life, and can be utilised.  Then, as the life within grows and expands, it is paralleled by the crystallisation of the form, which no longer suffices as a means of expression.  Following upon crystallisation, we [64] have the period of disintegration.  Limitation, adaptation, utilisation, crystallisation, and disintegration,—these are the stages which cover the life of an entity, or embodied idea of greater or less degree, which seeks expression through matter.

我们可以观察这些明确的阶段，并概括地研究它们。第一种情况，是向外表达的过程。这个阶段，形体、外衣中的生命体验到受限的发展，这是个漫长而缓慢的过程，跨越了数百万年。各种生命都参与了这个大循环。它涉及到太阳逻各斯生命通过太阳系来显化自身。这也是地球圣灵的生命通过我们地球这样的球体进行显化的一部分；它包括我们称之为人类的生命，并且把通过化学原子发挥作用的微小生命也带入其能量表达的路径之中。这是成就的伟大过程，也让所有的存在、让其成为自己变得可能。这也是限制的阶段，受到的禁锢逐渐增加的过程，越来越深地沉降到物质层面；随后就是适应期，在这个过程，生命和形态变得密切关联起来；在此之后则是完善期，生命和形态内在的关系变得完美起来。然后形态适应了生命的要求，可以被利用。接下来，随着内在生命的成长和拓展，形态也变得越来越固化，这意味着它不再足以作为一种表达方式。固化之后就是分解期。限制、适应、利用、固化，和分解 —— 这些阶段涵盖了一个实体生命的表达，或者是一个嵌入的或大或小的思想表达，生命、思想通过物质来寻求表达。

Let us carry out this thought in connection with the human being.  The process of limitation can be seen in the taking of a physical form, and in those early rebellious days, when a man is full of desires, aspirations, longings and ideals, which he seems unable to express or to satisfy.  Then comes the period of adaptation, wherein the man begins to utilise what he has, and to express himself as best he may through the medium of those myriads of lesser lives and intelligences which constitute his physical, his emotional, and his mental bodies.  He energises his threefold form, forcing it to carry out his behests and fulfil his purposes, and thus carry out his plan, whether for good or evil.  This is succeeded by the stage in which he utilises the form as far as in him lies, and comes to what we call maturity.  Finally, in the later stages of life, we have the crystallisation of the form, and the man’s realisation of its inadequacy.  Then comes the happy release which we call death, that great moment in which the “spirit in prison” escapes from the confining walls of its physical form.  Our ideas about death [65] have been erroneous; we have looked upon it as the great and ultimate terror, whereas in reality it is the great escape, the entrance into a fuller measure of activity, and the release of the life from the crystallised vehicle and an inadequate form.

让我们结合人类来继续探讨这个观点。限制的过程可以从穿着物质形态的外衣中观察，在早期他表现得叛逆，一个人充满了无法去表达或者满足的欲望、热情、渴望和理想。接下来就是适应期，在这个时期，这个人开始利用他所拥有的，并通过构成他物质身体、情绪身体和心智身体的众多较小生命和智能，把它们作为媒介尽可能地去表达自己。他为这三重形态赋能，强迫它去执行他的意志并实现他的目的，这样他的计划得以实施，不论是邪恶的还是良善的。接下来的阶段，就是利用期，他尽可能地使用这种形态，并到达我们称之为成熟的时期。最终，在生命的终结期，迎来的是形态的固化，以及人对形态不足的认知。然后经历的是我们称之为死亡的快乐解脱，在那个伟大的时刻“囚禁的神圣之灵”从物质形态的围墙中逃离出来。关于死亡，我们一直有着错误的想法；我们把它看作是最伟大且终极的恐怖所在，而事实上这是一种伟大的解脱，进入更活跃生命表达的通道，从固化的载具和不完善的形态中，生命得以释放。

Thoughts similar to these can be worked out in connection with all forms, and not only with those in connection with the physical body of a human being.  These ideas can be applied to forms of government, forms of religions, and forms of scientific or philosophical thought.  It can be seen working out in a peculiarly interesting manner in this cycle in which we live.  Everything is in a state of flux; the old order changeth, and a period of transition is in progress; the old forms, in every department of thought, are disintegrating, but only in order that the life which gave them being may escape, and build for itself that which will be more satisfactory and adequate.  Take, for instance, the old religious form of the Christian faith.  Here I must warn you not to misunderstand me.  I am not trying to prove that the spirit of Christianity is inadequate, and I am not seeking to demonstrate that its well-tried and well-proven truths are erroneous.  I am only trying to point out that the form through which that spirit seeks to express itself has somewhat served its purpose, and is proving a limitation. [66] Those same great truths, and those same basic ideas, require a more adequate vehicle through which to function.  Christian thinkers at this time need to distinguish very carefully between the vital truths of Christianity and the crystallised form of theology.  The living impulse was given by the Christ.  He enunciated these great and eternal truths, and sent them forth to take form and meet the need of a suffering world.  They were limited by the form, and there came a long period wherein that form (religious dogmas and doctrines) gradually grew and took shape.  Centuries ensued wherein the form and the life seemed adapted to each other, and the Christian ideals expressed themselves through the medium of that form.  Now the period of crystallisation has set in, and the expanding Christian consciousness is finding the limitations of the theologians inadequate and restricting.  The great fabric of dogmas and doctrines, as built up by the churchmen and theologians of the ages, must inevitably disintegrate, but only in order that the life within may escape, build for itself a better and more satisfactory means of expression, and thus measure up to the mission upon which it was sent.

与这类似的思想可以联系到所有的形态，不仅仅是那些与人的物质身体相关的形态。这些思想可以应用于政府的形态、宗教的形态、科学或者哲学思想的形态之中。可以看出在我们生活的这个时期，它以一种有趣的方式发挥作用。一切都处于不断地变化之中；旧的秩序在改变，一切处于过渡期；在思想的不同领域，旧的形态处于瓦解之中，目的是为了赋予思想存在的生命得以解脱，从而让生命构建更满意和充分的表达。以基督教信仰的古老宗教形态为例。在这里我必须要提示你们不要误解我。我不是要去证明基督教的灵性是不充足的，也不是要证明那些经过充分考验和充分证明的真理是错误的。我只是想指出，灵性试图通过这种形态来表达自己，以及在某种程度上达成了它的目的，同时也证明了它是一种限制。那些伟大的真理、以及与真理同行的基本思想，需要一个更恰当的载体来发挥作用。基督教的思想家需要非常仔细地区分基督教的重要真理，以及神智学固化的形态。生命的脉动是由基督所赐予的。他阐明了这些伟大且永恒的真理，让这些真理披上外衣得以成形，从而满足受苦世界的需要。它们受制于这些形态的限制，这些形态（宗教教义和教条）在漫长的时间中缓慢成长和成形。随后的几个世纪，这些形态以及背后的生命看上去彼此之间已经相互适应，基督教的理想通过这种形态得以表达。现在已经进入了固化期，不断拓展的基督意识发现神学研究者的限制和不足之处。由历代的教士和神学家建立起来的教义和教导的宏伟结构，必然会瓦解，但这只是为了让内在的生命得到解放，为这生命建立一个更好的、更满意的表达方式，从而满足它要执行任务的标准。

In the different schools of thought everywhere the same thing can be seen.  All of them are expressing some idea by means of a particular [67] form, or set of forms, and it is very necessary for us to remember that the triple life back of all forms is nevertheless but One, though the vehicles of expression are diverse, and ever prove inadequate as times elapses.

在不同的学派中，到处都可以看到同样的事情。他们都通过一种或几种特定的形态来表达某种思想，有必要记住的是，所有形态背后的三重生命，本质上是一个，尽管这些表达的载体是多种多样的，随着时间的流逝，它们也被证明不能够充分地表达所承载的生命。

What, then, is the purpose back of this endless process of form building, and this combining of the lesser forms?  What is the reason of it all, and what will prove to be the goal?  Surely it is the development of quality, the expansion of the consciousness, the development of the faculty of realisation, the production of the powers of the psyche, or the soul, the evolution of intelligence.  Surely it is the gradual demonstration of the basic idea or purpose which that great Entity Whom we call the Logos, or God, is working out through the solar system.  It is the demonstration of His psychic quality, for God is intelligent Love, and the fulfilment of His determined purpose, for God is intelligent loving Will.

那么这种无休止地形态构建过程背后的目的是什么，这种大的形态包含较小的形态背后的目的又是什么？这一切的原因是什么，目的又如何？当然这是一种特质的发展，意识的拓展，觉悟能力的发展，精神或者灵魂力量的产生，智能进化的结果。当然，这是一个基本思想或者目的的逐渐揭示，这个思想就是，一位伟大的实体，我们称之为逻各斯、神，正通过我们的太阳系进行运作。这正是他精神特质的表达，因为神是智能之爱，并且来完成他明确的目的，神是智能的爱之意志。

For all the different grades and types of atoms there is a goal and a purpose also.  There is a goal for the atom of chemistry; there is a point of achievement for the human atom, man; the planetary atom will also some day demonstrate its basic purpose, and the great Idea which lies back of the solar system will some day be revealed.  Is it possible for us in a few brief moments of study to get a sound conception of what [68] that purpose may be?  Perhaps we can get some broad, general idea if we approach the subject with sufficient reverence and sensitiveness of outlook, bearing carefully in mind always that only the ignorant dogmatise, and only the unwise deal in detail when considering these stupendous topics.

对于所有不同等级和类型的原子，也存在着一个目标和目的。化学原子有其目标；人类的原子也有一个达成点；地球原子也会在某一天揭示它的基本目标，太阳系背后的伟大思想有一天也会揭示出来。我们是否可以在这短暂的学习中得到一个清晰的概念，理解其目的可能是什么？如果我们以足够的敬意和敏锐的眼光去看待这个问题，或许我们会得到一些广泛的、一般性的想法。始终牢记，在探讨这样庞大的主题时，只有那些无知的教条主义者、只有那些没有智慧的人才会揪住细节不放。

We have seen that the atom of chemistry, for instance, demonstrates the quality of intelligence; it shows symptoms of discriminative mind, and the rudiments of selective capacity.  Thus the tiny life within the atomic form is demonstrating psychic quality.  The atom is then built into all the different forms at varying times and stages, and each time it gains somewhat according to the force and life of the entity who ensouls that form, and preserves its homogeneity.  Take, for instance, the atom that goes to the building of a form in the mineral kingdom; it shows not only discriminative selective mind, but elasticity.  Then in the vegetable kingdom these two qualities appear, but a third is also found, which we might call sensation of a rudimentary kind.  The initial intelligence of the atom has acquired something during the transition from form to form and from kingdom to kingdom.  Its responsiveness to contact, and its general awareness have increased.  When we come to the study of the evolution of consciousness we can take this up in greater detail; [69] all I am endeavouring to do to-night is to show that in the vegetable kingdom forms built up of atoms show not only discriminative intelligence and elasticity, but also are capable of sensation, or of that which, in the vegetable kingdom, corresponds to emotion or feeling, emotion being but rudimentary love.  Next we have the animal kingdom, in which the animal forms show not only all the above qualities, but to them is added instinct, or that which will some day blossom into mentality.  Finally, we come to the human being, who shows all these qualities in a far greater degree, for the fourth kingdom is but the macrocosm for the three lower.  Man demonstrates intelligent activity, he is capable of emotion or love, and has added yet another factor, that of intelligent will.  He is the deity of his own little system; he is not only conscious, but he is self-conscious.  He builds his own body of manifestation, just as does the Logos, only on a tiny scale; he controls his little system by the great law of attraction and repulsion, as does the Logos, and he energises it and synthesises his threefold nature into a coherent unit.  He is the three in one, and the one in three, just as is the Logos.

我们已经看到了化学的原子，比如它展示出智能的特质；它显示出拥有分辨力的心智，选择能力的萌芽。因此，原子形态中的微小生命正在展示出心理特质。然后这个原子在不同的时间和阶段被构建到不同形态之中，根据使用该形态的实体的能量和生命，它会有所收获，并保持其同质化。比如，如果某个原子用来构建矿物王国中的一种形态，它不仅仅会表达出分辨力，也会表达出适应性。接下来是植物王国，这两种特性同时出现，但是也会出现第三种特性，我们可以称之为原始的感觉。在从形态到形态、王国到王国的过渡过程中，原子最初展现出的智能已经获得了一些新的特质。它对接触进行回应，它的一般意识也有所提高。当我们开始研究意识的进化时，我们会更进一步详细的讨论；今晚我想要证明的就是，在植物王国，由原子构成的形态不仅仅表达出分辨力和适应力，也开始能够感知，或者说，植物界开始对情绪或者感觉做出回应，感觉是最初始的爱意。接下来是动物王国，动物不仅仅表达出上述所有的特性，同时还增加了本能，本能有朝一日会开花结果成为心智的能力。最终，我们来到人类王国，他在更大程度上展示出了所有的这些特质，因为第四王国只是之前三个低等王国的宏观表达。人类表现出智能的活动，他也拥有感受和爱的能力，此外，还增加了另一个特质，就是智能的意志。他是自己小系统的神；他不仅仅有意识，而且拥有自我意识。他构建了自己显化的身体，就像逻各斯一样，只不过是在很小的范围内；通过伟大的吸引和排斥法则，他构建了自己的小体系，就像逻各斯一样，他给这个体系赋予能力，把这三重本性整合成一个连贯的整体。他是三位一体，一体三位，就像逻各斯一样。

There is a future for every atom in the solar system.  Before the ultimate atom there lies a tremendous goal, and as the aeons slip away the [70] life that animates that atom will pass through all the varying kingdoms of nature until it finds its goal in the human kingdom.

太阳系中的每一个原子都在发展。在最小的原子面前也有着一个巨大的目标，随着时间的流逝，赋予原子生命活力的生命将会穿越所有不同的自然王国，直至在人类王国中找到它的目标。

The idea might now be extended somewhat, and we might consider that great Entity Who is the informing life of the planet, and Who holds all the different kingdoms of nature within His consciousness.  May it not be possible that His intelligence, as it informs the totality of all groups and kingdoms, is the goal for man, the human atom?  Perhaps as time progresses the scope of his present realisation may also be ours, and for His, as for all those great Lives Who inform the planets of the solar system, there may be the attainment of that tremendous reach of consciousness which characterises that great Existence Who is the ensouling Life of the solar system.  May it not be true that among the different grades of consciousness, extending, for instance, from the atom of the chemist and physicist, up to the Logos of the solar system, there are no gaps, and no abrupt transitions, but there is ever a gradual expansion and a gradual evolution from one form of intelligent manifestation to another, and always the life within the form gains in quality by means of the experience.

现在这个思想还可能继续拓展下去，我们会考虑那个更伟大的实体，他赋予整个地球生命，他也在自己的意识之中容纳所有不同的自然王国。他的智能，赋予了所有团体所有王国的集合，有没有可能这就是人类的目标，人类原子的目标？或者随着时间的推移，我们可能实现他当前所在的状态；而对于他来说，对于赋予太阳系中所有行星以生命活力的伟大存有来说，可能会达成那崇高的意识领域，即赋予整个太阳系以生命活力的伟大存在。有没有可能这是真的，在这些不同的意识等级中，比如从化学和物理学研究的原子，一直拓展至太阳系的逻各斯，这之间没有间隔，也不存在突然的转变，而是一种逐渐的拓展，一种逐渐的进化，从一种智能显化的形态到另一种形态，形态中的生命通过这些体验，获得了不同的特质。

When we have built this idea into our consciousness, when it is apparent to us that there is purpose and direction underlying everything, [71] when we realise that not a single thing occurs that is not the outcome of the conscious will of some entity, and that all that happens has a definite aim and goal, then we have the clue to ourselves, and to all that we see happening around us in the world.  If, for instance, we realise that we have the building up and care of our physical bodies, that we have the control of our emotional nature, and the responsibility for the development of our mentality, if we realise that we are the energising factors within our bodies, and that when we withdraw from those bodies they disintegrate and fall to pieces; then perhaps we have the clue to what the informing Life of the planet may be doing, as he works through forms of every kind (continents, civilisations, religions, and organisations) upon this earth; to what has gone on in the moon, which is now a disintegrating form, to what is going on in the solar system, and to what will happen in the solar system when the Logos withdraws from that which is, for Him, but a temporary manifestation.

当我们把这样的想法构建进入我们的意识之中，当我们清楚地认识到，所有一切的背后都有其目的性和方向，当我们意识到没有一件事情的发生不是某种实体背后意识的结果，所有发生的一切都有一个明确的目的和目标，那么我们自己就拥有了线索，从而揭示这个世界上我们周围看到的一切。比如，如果我们意识到我们可以构建并照顾我们的物质身体，我们可以控制我们的情绪，我们也肩负着发展自己心智的能力，如果我们意识到我们是我们身体内在的能量因子，当我们从这些身体中撤回，那么这些身体都会瓦解成碎片；那么或许我们就知道了赋予这个星球生命力的存有在做什么了，他通过地球上的每一种形态（大陆、文明、宗教和组织）进行工作；我们会知道，月球曾经经历过这些，它现在处于一种瓦解中的状态；太阳系正在经历这个过程，我们也会知道当逻各斯从太阳系中撤回之后太阳系会经历什么，不过太阳系对于逻各斯来说，只是一种暂时性的显化。

Let us now make practical application of these thoughts.  We are living at this time in a period in which all the forms of thought seem breaking up, in which the religious life of the peoples is no longer what it was, in which dogma and doctrine of every kind come under criticism.  Many of the [72] old forms of scientific thought are likewise disintegrating, and the foundations of the old philosophies seem to be shaken.  Our lot is cast in one of the most difficult periods of the world’s history, a period which is characterised by the breaking up of nations, the smashing of old relationships and ties, and the apparently imminent disruption of civilisation.  We need to encourage ourselves by remembering that all this is occurring just because the life within those forms is becoming so strong that it finds them a prison and a limitation; and we must recollect that this transition period is the time of the greatest promise that the world has ever seen.  There is no room for pessimism and despair, but only for the profoundest optimism.  Many to-day are upset and distraught because the foundations seem to be shaken, the carefully reared and deeply cherished structures of religious thought and belief, and of philosophical finding seem in danger of falling, yet our anxiety exists simply because we have been too much engrossed with the form, and too much occupied with our prison, and if disruption has set in, it is only in order that the life may build for itself new forms and thereby evolve.  The work of the destroyer is as much the work of God as that of the constructor, and the great god of destruction has to smash and rend the forms in order that the work of the builder may [73] become possible, and the spirit able more adequately to express itself.

让我们把这些思想应用在实际中。我们现在生活在一个所有的思想形态似乎都在瓦解的时代，许多人的宗教人士的生活也不再是曾经的样子了，各种教条和教义都受到批评。同样的，很多旧的科学思想也在瓦解，旧的哲学基石似乎也被动摇了。我们的命运处于世界历史上最困难的时期之一，这个时期的特点是，国家的解体，旧关系和纽带的断裂，文明也明显地处于分崩离析之中。我们需要通过记住所有这发生的一切来鼓励自己，因为这些形态中的生命变得如此强大，以至于形态对他们来说成为了监狱和限制；我们必须记住，这个过渡期是世界上最充满希望的时期。没有悲观和绝望，只有最深刻的乐观。现在很多人感到不安和心烦意乱，因为看上去根基似乎被动摇，精心呵护和深受爱护的宗教思想和信念、以及哲学上的发现看上去处于倒塌的危险之中，但是我们之所以存在焦虑，仅仅是因为我们太执着于形态，把注意力都放在了我们的监狱之上，如果破坏已经开始，那是为了生命可以为它构建新的形态，从而进化。毁灭者的工作与建造者的工作一样，都是神的工作，伟大的毁灭之神必须把形态粉碎和撕裂，才能使建造者的工作成为可能，从而让神圣的灵更充分地表达自己。

To many of us these ideas may seem novel, fantastic, and untenable.  Yet even if they are only hypotheses, they may prove interesting and give us a possible clue to the mystery.  We see civilisations disrupted, we see the religious fabrics tottering, we see philosophies successfully attacked, we see the foundations of material science shaken.  Yet, after all, what are civilisations?  What are the religions?  What are the great races?  Simply the forms through which the great threefold central Life, Who informs our planet, seeks to express Himself.  Just as we express ourselves through the medium of a physical, an emotional, and a mental nature, so He expresses Himself through the totality of the kingdoms of nature, and through the nations, races, religions, sciences, and philosophies, in existence at this time.  As His life pulsates through every department of His being, we as cells and atoms within that greater manifestation follow each transition, and are swept along from one stage to another.  As time progresses, and our consciousness expands, we shall enter more and more into a knowledge of His plan as He is working it out, and shall eventually be in a position to collaborate with Him in His essential purpose.

对我们中的很多人来说，这些想法看上去新颖、奇妙且站不住脚。然而，即使他们仅仅是假设，它们也可以被证明是有趣的存在，并给我们提供了一个解释奥秘的线索。我们看到文明被破坏，我们看到宗教的结构摇摇欲坠，看到哲学领域受到攻击，我们看到物质科学的根基被撼动。然而，从根本上说，到底什么是文明？什么是宗教？什么是伟大的种族？它们仅仅是伟大三重中央生命通过形态进行的自我表达，这中央生命让我们的星球充满活力，寻求自我表达。正如我们通过物质身体、情绪体和心智体进行表达一样，他通过整个自然王国来表达自己，通过当前存在的这些国家、宗族、宗教、科学和哲学来表达自己。当他的生命在他存在的每一个领域脉动时，我们作为这个伟大显化整体的细胞和原子也跟着一起转变，从一个阶段进入另一个阶段。随着时间的推移，我们的意识得到拓展，我们越来越了解他正在落实的伟大计划，并最终能够在本质的目的层面跟他合作。

[74] To sum up the central thought of this lecture:  Let us endeavour to realise that there is no such thing as inorganic matter, but that every atom is a life.  Let us realise that all forms are living forms, and that each is but the vehicle of expression for some indwelling entity.  Let us seek to comprehend that this is likewise true of the aggregate of all forms.  Thus we have the clue to ourselves, and perhaps the clue to the mystery of the solar system.

总结这次课程的中心思想：让我们努力地去认识到，不存在无机物质这样的东西，每一个原子都是一个生命。让我们意识到所有的形态都是拥有生命活力的形态，每一种形态都是某种内在实体进行表达的工具。让我们努力地去理解，这原则也适用于所有的形态集合。因此，我们掌握了一些线索，这个线索可能会破解太阳系的奥秘。

LECTURE IV: THE EVOLUTION OF MAN, THE THINKER 第四课：人，思想者的进化

[77]THIS is the fourth in the series of talks which we have had the past month, and perhaps by means of them we have been able to get an idea of one of the fundamental principles which underlie evolution, and which can be seen working out in the solar system.

这是我们在过去的一个月中进行的第四次讲座，或许通过这一系列讲座，我们可以了解进化背后的基本原则，这个原则同样适用于太阳系。

Let us first briefly recapitulate, in order that we may approach our subject to-night with certain ideas clearly formulated. We have seen that our interpretation of the processes of nature necessitates a threefold concept, which concerns itself with the life aspect, with the substance aspect, and with their close interrelation through the faculty of intelligence manifesting as consciousness of some kind or other. This interrelation will produce, finally, the perfected expression (through the medium of matter) of the conscious purpose of some indwelling entity. I seek to emphasise the fact that the goal of my endeavour is to put before you a hypothesis and a suggestion which may have within it the germ of a possible [78] truth, and which seems to some of us the clearest way of explaining the mystery of the universe. We have seen that the three parts of the one great whole are Spirit, or Life, manifesting through a second factor which we call substance or matter, and utilising a third factor, which we call the intelligence. In the gradual synthesis of these three component aspects of deity can be seen the evolution of consciousness.

首先让我们简要地回顾一下，以便在今晚讨论时我们可以使用已经清晰表达出的观点。我们已经看到，我们对自然过程的解释需要使用一个三重概念，它涉及到生命面向、物质面向、以及它们与通过智能表现出来的某种意识形式之间的紧密联系。这种联系最终会产生某种居住在其中实体（通过物质作为媒介）对它意识目的完美的表达。我试图去强调这样一个事实，我努力讲解的目的是在你们面前放置一个假设和建议，它们之中可能包含着真理的萌芽，在我们中的一些人看来，这似乎是解释宇宙奥秘最清晰的方式。我们可以看到，一个大的整体，圣灵或者生命，通过第二个因素显化出来，也就是我们称之为物质的东西，这个过程使用到的是第三个因素，就是我们称之为智能的东西。在神的这三个组成面向逐渐整合之中，我们看到了意识的进化。

We next arrived at a more technical discussion of the subject of substance itself, dealing not with the differentiated substances or elements, but with the concept of a primordial substance, and endeavouring to get back as far as possible toward that which has been called by Sir William Crookes “protyle,” or that which lies back of the tangible, or objective. We considered the atom, and found that its latest definition was that it was in reality a unit of force or energy consisting of a positive charge of electricity energising a number of negative particles. It became apparent to us that the tiny atom of the chemist and the physicist was within itself a solar system, with the same general conformation as the greater system, demonstrating a similar activity and governed by analogous laws. We found that it had a central sun, and that around this central sun, pursuing their definite orbits, might be seen the electrons. We noted, also, the fact that the elements differ [79] only according to the number and the arrangement of these electrons around the central positive charge. From this we passed on to the consideration of the soul, or the psyche, of the atom, and found that scientists recognise the truth that atoms themselves possess quality, show symptoms of mind or intelligence, and can discriminate, select, and choose.

接下来我们探讨的就是物质本身这个话题，技术性更强，不再有区别地区分不同的物质或者元素，而是使用原始物质的概念，并尽可能地接近威廉·克鲁克爵士所定义的“原型”、或者说有形、客观背后的东西。我们研究了原子，发现最它最新的定义是，实际上原子是力或者能量的单位，它有一个正电荷，并为很多负粒子提供能量。对我们来说明显的是，化学和物理学研究的微小原子本身就是一个太阳系，原子与较大的体系有着相同的一般构象，展现出相似的活动，并受到相似法则的约束。我们发现原子有一个中央太阳，围绕着这颗中央太阳，有电子沿着它们特定的轨道运行。我们也注意到，元素之间的差异仅仅取决于中心正电荷周围电子的数量和排列。从这里我们转向对灵魂的研究，或者说原子心理，我们发现科学家们认识到这样的事实：原子自身拥有特质，表现出心智或者智能的特点，可以进行区分、选择和挑选。

We then proceeded to weave what appeared to be a fairy tale. We pictured the human being as an atom, and traced the resemblance of man to an atom; we found that he attracted and held within his sphere of influence the matter of his various bodies, mental, emotional, and physical, in exactly the same way as the electrons were held revolving around their central focal point. The idea proved capable of still further expansion, and we turned our attention to the planet, picturing it as similar in its nature to the human atom, and to the ultimate atom of substance, being but the expression of a life manifesting through a spheroidal form and working out an intelligent purpose. Then we reached our consummation, and viewed the solar system as a cosmic atom, energised by the life of the Logos.

We have, therefore, under consideration, four kinds of atoms:

然后我们继续去演绎，之后的内容看起来像童话故事。我们把人看作一个原子，并探讨了人与原子的相似之处；我们发现人可以吸引不同的身体，心智体、情绪体和物质身体，并让它们处于他的影响范围内，这就是电子围绕着它们的中央焦点旋转一样。这个想法可以在证明之中进一步地拓展，我们把注意力转向这颗星球，认为它在本质上与人类原子、与组成物质的终极原子一致，只是通过一个球形形态来进行生命的表达，并朝着一个智能的目标前进。然后我们以把太阳系看作一个宇宙原子，由逻各斯生命赋予其生命力作为推论的结束。

因此，我们探讨了四种原子：

First, the atom of the chemist and physicist.

其一，化学和物理学研究的原子。

Secondly, the human atom, or man.

其二，人类原子，或者说，人。

[80] Thirdly, the planetary atom, energised by a planetary Logos, or the Heavenly Man.

其三，地球原子，由地球逻各斯、天人赋予生命力。

Fourthly, the solar atom, indwelt by the solar Logos, or the Deity.

其四，太阳原子，太阳逻各斯、神明居住在其中。

If we are right in our fundamental concept, if there is a grain of reality in our hypothesis, and if there is a substratum of truth in our idea of the atom from which the elements are compounded, it is to be recognised as a life working intelligently through the medium of a form. Then it can perhaps be proven that man is equally a life or centre of energy, manifesting through his bodies; then it can perhaps be demonstrated that a planet is also the medium of expression of a still greater centre of energy, and further, under the law of analogy, it may perhaps be proven at some distant time that there is a God or central life back of material nature, and an Entity Who functions consciously through the solar system.

如果我们的基本概念是正确的，如果我们的假设中埋下真相的种子，如果我们有关元素是由原子构成的想法背后存在着一个真实的基础，那么生命通过形态作为媒介来进行智能地运作这个理论就可以被接受。那么或许就可以证明，人同样是一个生命能量中心，通过他的身体显化出来；那么也许可以证明，地球是一个更大的能量中心进行表达的媒介；进一步，通过类比法则，或许在遥远的将来可以证明，在物质层面的大自然背后，存在着神或者中央生命，这位实体通过整个太阳系来有意识地运作。

At our last lecture we took up another phase of manifestation. We studied the atom itself, and considered it as it entered into relationship with other atoms, and through their mutual coherence formed groups or congeries of atoms. In other words, we considered the atom as it was built into the different forms in the various kingdoms of nature, and found that, in the process of evolution atoms themselves gravitate towards other and greater central points, becoming in their turn [81] electrons. Thus, every form is but an aggregate of smaller lives.

在我们上一堂课中，我们讨论了另一个显化的阶段。我们研究了原子本身，认为它与其他原子之间有关联，通过它们之间的共同连贯性，形成了原子集合或者团体。换而言之，我们研究原子，是因为它被构建进入自然界不同王国的形态之中，我们发现，在进化的过程中，原子它们会被吸引到其他更大的中心点，从而成为它们的电子。因此，每一种形态都是较小生命的集合体。

Very briefly then we touched upon the different kingdoms of nature, and traced the development of the soul or the psyche in all of them. Of the atom we have already predicated intelligence, or discriminative power, and we found that in the building up of forms in the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms what we understand as sensation begins to appear, and we then have the rudiments of embryonic emotion, or feeling—the physical plane reflection of love. Thus we have one aspect of the threefold nature of God, intelligence demonstrating through the atom; and through the form we have the love, or attractive quality manifesting. This can also be expressed in the recognition that in these two aspects of the central divine life you have the third person of the Logoic Trinity co-operating with the second; you have the intelligent activity of divinity, or the Holy Spirit aspect, working in connection with the second aspect, or the Son, Who is the builder of forms. This is brought out in an interesting manner in Proverbs viii. where Wisdom cries aloud (Wisdom in the Old Testament representing the Christ aspect), and after pointing out that He was with God before ever there was creation, goes on to say that when “He appointed the foundations of the earth, then I [82] was by Him as the master worker or builder.” Students would do well to study this chapter in connection with the ideas that we are here formulating, being careful to ascertain the exact translation.

然后我们简要地谈及了不同的自然王国，并追溯了所有这些王国灵魂或者心灵的发展。就原子而言，我们已经提到它的智能、辨别能力，我们发现矿物、植物和动物王国建立形态的过程中，我们理解为感觉的东西开始出现，然后就有了处于萌芽情感的雏形，或者说感觉 —— 爱在物质层面的投射。因此，开始出现了神的三重本性的一个面向，即通过原子表现出的智能；通过形态，爱、吸引力的特质体现了出来。这也可以看作中央神圣生命的两个表达面向得到认知，也可以说逻各斯三位一体中的第三位格和第二位格互相合作；也就是神圣的智能活动，或者说圣灵的面向，与圣子，负责构建形态的神圣第二面向联系了起来。这在《箴言》viii那一章以一种有趣的方式呈现了出来，智慧在那里大声呼唤（在《旧约》中智慧代表基督的面向），并指出他在造物之前就与神同在，接着说，当“他立定大地根基之时，他会任命我作为主要的工人或者建造者。”在学习这一章节时，学生最好结合着这里我们提出的观点，并留心以确定准确的翻译。

We now come to the consideration of our subject for to-night, that of the evolution of man, the thinker. We shall see that in man comes in another aspect of divinity. Browning, in “Paracelsus,” covers the subject that we have been considering in a most interesting manner, summing it up as follows:—

现在我们来探讨今晚的主题，即人类，也就是思想者的进化，我们即将看到，在人类之中有着神性的另一个面向。勃朗宁（Browning）在《帕拉塞尔苏斯》中以一种非常有趣的方式概括了我们一直在探讨的主题，总结如下：

“Thus He (God) dwells in all,

From life’s minute beginnings up at last

To man—the consummation of this scheme

Of being, the completion of this sphere

Of life: whose attributes had here and there

Been scattered o’er the visible world before,

Asking to be combined, dim fragments meant

To be united in some wondrous whole,

Imperfect qualities throughout creation,

Suggesting some one creature yet to make,

Some point where all those scattered rays should meet

Convergent in the faculties of man.”

“因此，他（神）住在一切之中，

从最微小的生命开始

一直到人类 —— 这个存在领域的总和，

这个范围中生命的达成：

他的特质无处不在，

曾散落在这个可见的世界上，

把这些暗淡的片段整合起来，意味着

在某个奇妙的整体中组合起来，

存在于创造过程中的那些不完美特质，

暗示了有一个物种尚未诞生，

所有这些散落的光芒相遇之际，

汇聚成了人的各种能力。”

Having, therefore, discovered two aspects of divinity in the atom and in the form, we shall find the triplicity perfected in man. We have been told that man is made in the image of God, and we would therefore expect to see him reflecting [83] the threefold nature of the Logos. He must demonstrate intelligence, he must show forth love, and he must manifest will. Let us consider some of the definitions of man as found in the dictionary and elsewhere. The definition found in the Standard Dictionary is a profoundly uninteresting one, and is as follows: Man is “an individual of the human race,” and then follows a long list of suggestive derivations of the word man, running through every known tongue, and concluding with the statement that many of them are improbable. That derivation which ascribes the definition of man to the Sanskrit root ‘man,’ the one who thinks, is to my mind the most satisfying. Mrs. Besant, in one of her books, gives an exceptionally clear definition as follows: “Man is that being in whom highest spirit and lowest matter are linked together by intelligence.” Man is here pictured as the meeting place for all the three lines of evolution, spirit, matter, and linking intellect; he is shown to be the one who unifies the self, the not-self, and the relation between them, and he is seen to be the knower, that which is known, and knowledge. What is the purpose of the intellect, or of knowledge? Surely its purpose is to adapt the material form to the need and requirements of the indwelling spirit, surely it is to enable the thinker within the body to utilise it intelligently, and for some definite purpose; and surely it exists in order that the central energising unit may constructively control its negative aspect. We are all of us entities, ensouling a form, and through the intelligence endeavouring to utilise that form for a specific purpose which exists within the conscious will of the true self.

因此，在原子和形态中发现神性的两个面向之后，我们将会在人类中发现完整的第三个面向。我们被告知，人类是按照神的形象被创造出来的，因此我们应该在人类身上看到映射出的逻各斯的三重面向。他必须展示出智能，他必须表现出爱，他必须表达出意志。让我们重新考虑一下字典中和其他地方给人类下的定义。《标准词典》中的定义非常无趣，如下：人类是“人类种族的一个个体，”然后是一长串关于单词“人”的暗含性衍生词，在每一种已知的语言中都有描述，并以其中很多是不可能的陈述作为结语。有一个衍生词，把人的定义归结为梵语“人”的词根，即思考者，对我来说这是最令人满意的解释。贝赞特夫人（Mrs. Besant）在她的一本书中给出了一个非常明确的定义：“人是把最高等神圣灵性和最低等物质通过智能连接起来的存在。”在这里，人被描述为三条进化路线的交汇之处：灵性、物质，以及连接两者的智力；他展示出整合自我、非我的能力，以及整合它们之间的关系；他被视为知者、知道的人，和知识。智力或者知识的目的是什么？当然，其目的是让物质形态满足居住在其中神圣的灵的需求和要求，当然，是为了让身体中的思想者能够明智地使用身体，并达成某种特殊的目的；当然，它的存在是为了让中央能量单元能够建设性地控制其负面的面向。我们本质上都是生命实体，赋予形态生命力，通过智能来使用那种形态以达成某个特定的目的，这个目的存在于真实自我意识的意志之中。

In a very old occult book—so old that the date of it cannot be ascertained—can be found a definition of man which is very illuminating, and in line with the thought that we are seeking to develop to-night. Man is there defined as “the Life and the lives.” We have seen that the atom is a life, manifesting by means of the little sphere of which it is the centre. We have seen that all forms are an aggregate of lives, built up into the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms. Now we can pass to the next stage on this great ladder of evolution, and we will then find that the human being is the logical sequence that grows out of all these earlier developments. First, the primordial stuff, essentially intelligent energy; next, atomic matter, in all its varying activity forming the elemental combination; then the form, the aggregate of these atoms, up to the dweller within the form, who is not only active intelligence, not only inherent attraction and love, but is also a purposeful will. This “dweller within” took possession of the form when it had reached a certain stage of preparedness, and when the component [85] lives had reached a certain vibratory capacity; he is now utilising it, and repeating, within his own sphere of influence, the work of the atom of matter; he demonstrates, nevertheless, not in one way, nor in two, but in three. In man, therefore, in deed and in truth, you have what the Christian would term the “image of God.” For, as must be apparent to all thinkers, the only way in which we can know God is through the study of His nature, or His psychic quality. We know that God is intelligence, we know that He is love, or the great attractive force of the solar system, and we know that He is the great will or purpose back of all manifestation. In every Scripture in the world the Deity is pictured under these three aspects, and manifests through nature in this triple manner.

在一本非常古老的秘法书籍中 —— 一本古老到年代都无法确定的书 —— 可以找到一个非常具有启发性的人类定义，而且与我们今晚想要发展的思想一致。在那本书中，人被定义为“生命”。我们看到，原子就是一个生命，通过以它为中心的小球体展示了出来。我们看到所有的形态都是生命的集合，在矿物、植物和动物王国中建立起来。现在我们可以进入这个伟大进化阶梯的下一阶段，然后我们会发现，人类是所有这些之前发展中成长起来的下一个阶段。首先，是最原始的东西，本质上是智能的能量；然后才有了原子物质，在它各种不同的活动中形成了元素；接下来是形态，原子的集合，一直到居住在形态中的居住者，他不仅仅是活跃的智能，不仅仅拥有内在的吸引力和爱，也拥有有目的的意志。当使用形态进行表达的“内在居住者”到达一定的准备阶段，当不同的生命构成到达一个特定的振动频率；他就开始利用它，并且在自己影响的范围内，像原子那样进行运作；然而，他表达出的面向不是一种，也不是两种，而是三种。因此，在人类身上，在行为和事实中，你们会看到基督教所说的“神的形象”。正如所有的思想者都必须明白，我们认识神唯一的方法就是通过研究他的本性，或者说他的精神品质。我们知道神是智能，我们知道他是爱，或者说是太阳系中伟大的吸引力，我们知道他是伟大的意志，或者说所有显化背后的目的或意志。在每一部《圣经》之中，神的描述都是在这三个面向中展开，并通过自然把这三重本性显化出来。

The evolution of substance is a thing of gradual growth; it is in time supplemented by the slow working out of the inner subjective quality of the life of God, and thus His essential nature is demonstrated. First, you have one aspect demonstrating, then another slowly appears, and finally the third can be seen, and you have the stupendous combination and consummation, the human being. He synthesises and blends the three aspects, uniting them in himself. He is the totality of the divine attributes, though as yet they are largely embryonic, and he has to repeat within his cycle [86] of evolution the identical processes that the atom itself has followed. Just as the atom pursues its own internal course, and just as it also has later to be drawn into and to merge and blend with other atoms in the formation of a group, so the human atom equally has to find his place within a greater form.

物质的进化是一个逐渐成长的过程；随着时间的推移，在缓慢地表达神之生命的内在特质过程中，进化得到了加强，因此神的本质得以彰显。首先，一个面向得到表达，然后缓慢地出现另一个面向，最后，可以看到第三个面向，最终有了巨大的组合和达成：人类。人综合并融合了神的三个面向，把它们整合到自己身上。他是神之特性的整体表达，尽管它们在很大程度上还处于萌芽状态，他必须在自己的进化周期之中重复原子本身所遵循的相同过程。正如原子追求它自己内在的过程，正如它后来也被拉入、融合并与其他的原子混合形成一个集体那样，人类原子同样地也要在一个更伟大的形态中发现自己的位置。

Let us, therefore, consider for a little what is the method of the evolutionary process for a human being. We have seen that in him the three lines converge, and that he is a point of synthesis, with one aspect as yet predominant, that of the intelligence, with the second aspect of love-wisdom just beginning to make its presence felt, and with the highest aspect of spiritual will as yet purely embryonic.

因此，让我们短暂地思考一下人类进化使用的方法是什么。我们已经在他身上看到三条线路的汇合，他是一个整合之处，其中一个面向占据主导地位，那就是智能，第二个面向爱-智慧刚刚开始显示出来，最高的面向灵性意志仅仅处于萌芽状态。

We have, nearly all of us, been brought up in the belief in what is called “the fall of man.” There are few these days who believe the story of the fall as it is given in the third chapter of Genesis, and we most of us credit it as having an allegorical interpretation. What is the occult truth underlying this curious story? Simply that the truth about the fall of the spirit into matter is conveyed by means of a picture to the infant mentality of man. The process of the converging of these lines is a twofold one. You have the descent into matter of the entity, of the central life, and the incarnation of spirit, and then you [87] have the working up, out of matter, of that life or spirit, plus all that has been gained through the utilisation of form. By experimenting with matter, by dwelling within the form, by the energising of substance, by the going out of the Garden of Eden (the place where there is no scope for necessary development), and by the wandering of the Prodigal Son in the far country, you have the various stages which are pictured in the Christian Bible where man makes the discovery that he is not the form, but that he is the one who utilises it. He is intelligence, and therefore he is made in the image of the third Person of the Trinity; he is love, and through him the love aspect of the Deity will some day perfectly manifest, and he will be able to say with his elder Brother, the Christ, in reply to the demand “Lord, show us the Father,” that “he that hath seen me, hath seen the Father,” for God is Love; and finally, through him the highest aspect, the will of God will become manifest, and he will be perfect, even as his Father in heaven is perfect.

在成长的过程中，我们中几乎所有的人都相信这样一个说法，即“人类的堕落”。如今，很少有人相信《创世纪》第三章中讲的堕落故事，我们大多数人相信它具有寓言式的阐述。这个奇怪故事背后的神秘真相是什么？简单地说，圣灵沉降到物质这一事实通过一副画作传递给心智处于婴儿时期的人类。把这些线路整合起来的过程是双重的。要有生命实体、中央生命沉降进入物质之中，这就是圣灵的转世；同时还有生命、神圣的灵在物质中向上运作，以及通过对形态的利用积累的收获。通过对物质进行试验，通过居住在形态之中，通过对物质赋予生命力，通过走出伊甸园（在那里没有发展的空间），通过浪子在异国他乡的流浪，在这里有着基督教《圣经》中描绘的各个不同阶段，人们发现，他不是形态，他是在利用形态。他是那智能，因此他是按照神圣三位一体中的第三位格创造出来的；他是爱，通过他，神性的爱之面向终有一天会得到完美的表达，有一天，他会与自己年长的兄弟，基督，一起回答这要求“主，让我们看到天父”，“人们看见了我，就是看到了天父”，因为神就是爱；最终，通过他，最高的面向，神之意志会显化出来，他会变得完美，就像他在天堂中的天父一样完美。

Just as in the evolution of substance three stages could be seen —that of atomic energy, of group coherence, and of eventual synthesis—so in the, evolution of man will the same appear. You will have, in the early stages of human evolution, that which we might call the atomic stage, in which man comes to a gradual recognition that he is a [88] self-conscious unit, with an individuality all his own. Anyone who has brought up children knows that stage well. It can be seen in that constant utterance of “my, my, my,” the stage of appropriation for himself, with no thought of any other self. Children are naturally, advisedly, and wisely selfish. It is the stage of the gradual recognition of separative existence, and of the utilisation ever more potently by the human atom of its own internal atomic force. The infant human being rebels against the enforced guardianship of those who seek to protect it, and considers itself sufficient unto itself. This can be seen in the individual and the race.

正如在物质进化中可以看到三个阶段那样 —— 原子的能量阶段、集体一致性阶段和最终整合阶段 —— 同样，在人类进化中也会出现相同的情况。在人类进化的早期，会度过我们称之为原子能量的阶段，在那个阶段，人们意识到他是一个自我意识的个体，他拥有自己的个性。养过孩子的人都知道这个阶段。从那个不断说出“我的，我的，我的”话语中可以看到，这是占有的阶段，为了自己，不会想到其他人。孩子表现出天生的、故意的、聪明的自私性。这是逐渐接受分离存在的阶段，也是人类原子更有效地利用自身内部原子力量的阶段。婴儿会表现出反抗那些想要保护他们的人的强制监护，他们认为对自己来说已经足够了。我们从个人和整个种族中都可以观察到这一点。

Then, as life goes on, the man passes out of the atomic stage to a higher and a better one, when he becomes cognisant of his group relationships, when he becomes aware that he has group responsibilities, and that he has functions to work out with other separate atoms. The group consciousness begins to make itself felt. Thus the human atom finds its place within the group, the larger unit to which it belongs, and the love aspect begins to show itself. The man has passed out of the atomic stage into that of group coherence.

然后，随着生命的继续，这个人走出了原子阶段，进入了一个更高更好的阶段，他意识到自己与团体之间的关系，他意识到自己有着集体责任，他可以与其他单独的人类原子一起合作。集体意识开始显现。因此，人类原子在群体中找到了自己的位置，这是他所隶属的更大单位，然后爱的面向就开始体现出来。这个人已经走出了原子阶段，进入了团体一致性阶段。

Later comes the stage when the man begins to realise that he has not only responsibilities to the group, but that there is something greater still. [89] He realises that he is a part of a great universal life which underlies all groups, that he is not just a universal atom, that he is not just part of a group, but that, after merging his identity with the group—although never losing it—the group itself has to be blended again with the consciousness of that great Identity Who is the synthesis of them all. Thus he arrives at the final stage of intelligent appreciation of divine unity.

后来发展至下一个阶段，当一个人开始意识到他不仅仅对团体负有责任，而且还存在更伟大的事物。他意识到自己是一个伟大宇宙生命的一部分，这个宇宙生命存在于所有集体背后，他意识到自己不仅仅是一个组成宇宙的原子，他不仅仅是一个团体的组成部分，当他把自己的身份与集体融合之后 —— 个人意识永远不会丢失 —— 他所在的集体也会与那个伟大的意识相融合，那个伟大的意识是所有一切的统一和整合。从而他到达了神圣合一意识理解的最终阶段。

This triple idea can be found summed up in the Bible in a rather interesting phrase, where Jehovah says to Moses, the representative man, “I am that I am.” If you split this verse into its three parts you have what I have been seeking to bring out to-night: First, the atomic consciousness, I AM; then the group, I AM THAT; a consciousness that he is not just a separated individual, not only a self-centred unit, not only a self-conscious entity, but that he is something still greater. Man then reaches the recognition which will lead him to sacrifice his identity in the service of the group, and to merge his consciousness in that of the group. Of such a conscious union we know practically nothing as yet. This is succeeded by the still greater stage, when I AM THAT I AM will be for us not an impossible ideal, and a visionary concept, but a fundamental reality, when man in the aggregate will recognise himself as an expression of the universal life, [90] and the group consciousness itself will be merged in that of the Aggregate of all groups.

这个三重的概念可以在《圣经》中找到一个相当有趣的短语来概括，耶和华对人类的代表摩西说：“我是我所是。”如果你把这表达分成三个部分，你就会领悟到我今晚一直想要表达的东西：其一，原子意识，我是（I AM）；其二：团体意识，我是那（I AM THAT），这时他意识到他不仅仅是一个独立的个体，不仅仅是一个以自我为中心的单位，而是一种更大的存在。然后这个人会到达一种认知，会让他牺牲自己来为团体服务，把自己的意识融入到集体意识之中。对于这种意识的融合我们实际上一无所知。在这之后是一个更伟大的阶段，当“我是我所是”对我们来说不再是一个不可能达成的理想和有一个远见的概念，而是一个基本的现实，当处于集体中的人们意识到他们是合一的宇宙生命表达，集体意识就会融合进入所有团体凝聚的合一意识之中。

We suppose, and we hope, that we are passing rapidly out of the atomic stage, and that our sphere of influence and interest is not bounded by our atomic wall, but that we are becoming (to use a now familiar term) radio-active. When this is the case we shall not be circumscribed and limited within our own shell, and the narrow confines of our own individual life, but we shall begin to radiate, and to contact other atoms, thus reaching the second stage, the attractive.

我们假设、我们希望，我们正在迅速地走出原子能量的阶段，我们的影响和利益范围不再受制于我们原子活动壁垒的限制，我们正在变得（使用现在来说更熟悉的属于）有放射性。在这种情况下，我们不会被限制在我们自己的外壳和我们个人生命狭隘的范围中，我们开始发光，我们开始与其他原子接触，然后我们就到达第二阶段，即吸引力阶段。

What, therefore, is the goal ahead for each one of us? What is the goal for these different atoms with which we are concerning ourselves? We are told in some of the old Eastern Scriptures, that the goal for the atom of substance is self-consciousness. What is, therefore, the goal for the human atom, who is already self-conscious, who is already individualised, and guiding himself by means of his will? What lies ahead for man? Simply the expansion of his consciousness to include the consciousness of the great life, or being, in whose body he is himself a cell. Our physical body is, for instance, made up of innumerable lesser lives, or atoms, each one of them separated from its neighbour, each one of them distinguished by its own inherent activity, and [91] each one forming a sphere which holds within its periphery other lesser spheres or electrons.

所以，对我们每个人来说，目标到底是什么？我们这些不同的原子的目标是什么？一些古老的东方手卷告诉我们，物质原子的目标是自我意识。那么，对于已经拥有自我意识、已经达成个体化的人类原子来说，他们的目标是什么，是由自己的自由意志引导吗？人类的未来是什么？就是拓展他的意识，去包含更伟大生命的意识，或者成为那个更伟大生命身体中的一个细胞般的存在。比如，我们的身体是由无数较小的生命或者原子构成的，它们中的每个都与相邻的个体分离开，每一个都有其独特的内在活动，每一个都形成一个球形的范围，在这个范围之中容纳着其他更小的球体或者电子。

We have seen that man is the positive charge, and holds his multiplicity of atoms, or lesser lives, energised and bound together into coherent forms. At death, when the spirit aspect withdraws itself, the form disintegrates, and is dissolved, and these little conscious lives, having fulfilled their function, dissipate. The consciousness of the atom within the body is a very different thing to the consciousness of a man, and this we can realise with very little thought. If we concede that man is a cell in a greater sphere, may it not be possible that there is a consciousness which is to the man what his consciousness is to the cell in his body? Is it not possible that we may have ahead of us the achievement of that consciousness in the same sense as the atom of substance may some day achieve the consciousness of a human being? May it not be that this is what Browning had in his mind when he said: “Mankind, made up of all the single men; in such a synthesis the story ends.” Here he holds up before us a concept of a greater Man, who is the synthesis or sumtotal of all the lesser units. Perhaps that synthesis may be the great Life or the planetary Entity Who lies back, of our planetary manifestation, and Who is the sumtotal of the group consciousness. I suggest that just as self-consciousness is the goal for all [92] the sub-human forms of life, and as group consciousness, or the consciousness of the Heavenly Man, is the goal for the human being, so for him, also, there may be a goal, and for him the achievement may be the development of God consciousness. So for him comes the struggle to evolve the realisation which is that of the solar Logos.

我们已经看到，人就像电子核一样带正电，他拥有很多原子，或者说较小的生命，这些较小的生命被赋予能量并结合在一起形成整合的形态。死亡之时，当灵性的面向从身体中撤回时，形态就会分解、消散，那些较小的意识生命在完成它们的任务后就会消散。人体中原子的意识与人的意识是完全不同的，这一点我们不需要太多思考就会知道。如果我们承认，人是构成一个更大领域中的细胞，难道没有可能存在一种意识，这种意识对于人来说，就像他的意识之于他身体中的细胞？难道没有可能人将来要达成的那种意识，就像物质的原子将来要达成人类的意识那样吗？难道没有可能这就是勃朗宁说出：“人类，是由所有单一的人构成的；在这种整合之中，故事得以终结”这句话时他脑中的想法吗？在这里，他向我们提出了一个更伟大人类整体的概念，这个更伟大的人就是所有较小个体的综合和总和。也许那个综合是我们地球显化形态背后更伟大的生命，即行星地球实体。我的建议是，正如自我意识是所有低于人类生命形态的目标，正如集体意识，即达成天人意识是人类的目标，那么对于一个人来说，或许也存在着一个目标，对他来说这种达成可能是发展神之意识。所以对他来说要去努力地进化，直至意识达成太阳逻各斯的意识状态。

Thus can be seen the unity of consciousness from the most minute atom up to the Deity Himself. Thus opens up before us a wonderful picture, and a vista of possibility. Thus may the life of God be seen in its essential triple manifestation, working out in an ever-expanding consciousness; demonstrating in the atom of substance, and expanding through the medium of form, until it finds one point of culmination in man, then proceeding on its course till it demonstrates as the planetary consciousness, which is the sumtotal of all the states of consciousness upon our planet, the earth, until we arrive at the fundamental basic Life, Who holds all the planetary evolutions synthesised within His greater sphere, the solar system. Thus, in summing up, we have four states of intelligent activity, which we might term consciousness, self-consciousness, group consciousness, and God consciousness. These demonstrate through four types of atoms: first, the chemical atom and all atomic forms; secondly, the human atom; then, the planetary atom; and [93] finally, the all encompassing solar atom. Ensouling these atomic forms can be seen manifesting all sub-human types of life, from the life of the atom of substance to the informing life of the higher animals, then that life which we call human, that of man, the thinker; next, the Heavenly Man, and then the great Life of the solar system, Whom the Christian calls God, or the Logos.

因此可以看出从最微小的原子到神之间的意识整合。所以摆在我们面前的是一幅美好的画面，以及一种可能性的愿景。我们可以看到神之生命的三重表达，在不断拓展的意识中发挥着作用；在物质的原子中表达，通过形态作为媒介，直至在人的意识状态中到达顶点，然后继续进化，直至表达出行星的意识，这是我们地球上所有意识状态的总和；最终我们会到达太阳系基本的生命存在，它把所有行星的进化整合进入它更伟大的范围之中。因此，总而言之，一共有四种智能活动的状态，我们可以称之为意识、自我意识、集体意识和神之意识。这四种意识通过四种原子表达了出来：其一，化学原子和所有原子的形式；其二，人类原子；其三，地球原子；其四，包含所有一切的太阳原子。赋予这些不同原子形态的生命，可以从所有亚人类生命类型观察到，从物质原子，到较高等动物的生命，然后到人、思想者的生命；接下来就是天人，太阳系这种更伟大的生命，基督教称之为神，或者逻各斯。

Browning expresses this idea of the gradual expansion of the consciousness of a human being into something greater and vaster in the following words:—

勃朗宁用以下的话表达了一个人的意识逐渐拓展至更伟大和更广阔的意识状态：

“When all the race is perfected alike

As man, that is; all tended to mankind,

And, man produced, all has its end thus far;

But in completed man begins anew

A tendency to God. Prognostics told

Man’s near approach; so in man’s self arise

August anticipations, symbols, types

Of a dim splendour ever on before

In that eternal circle life pursues.

For men begin to pass their nature’s bound,

And find new hopes and cares which fast supplant

Their proper joys and griefs; they grow too great

For narrow creeds of right and wrong, which fade

Before the unmeasured thirst for good: while peace

Rises within them ever more and more.

[94] Such men are even now upon the earth

Serene amid the half-formed creatures round

Who should be saved by them and joined with them.”

“当所有的种族都像一个人存在那样完美时，

人类最终会成为一个种族，

人所产生的，到目前为止，一切都结束了；

在圆满之中，人类从全新开始去接近神。

预言告诉人类，即将到来的事情；

曾经暗淡的辉煌象征、符号与期待

会出现在人们自身

那是永恒之中，生命的追求。

因为人们开始超越他们本性的束缚，

找到可以快速取代曾经喜怒哀乐的新希望和关怀

他们变得伟大

那些狭隘的是非信念

在他们对无限美好的渴望中消失

内心中升起越来越多的平和。

这样的人已经出现在地球上

他们处于宁静平和的状态，在他们周围的是那些有待成长半成型物种

他们会加入他们，并获得救赎。”

LECTURE V: THE EVOLUTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS 第五课：意识的进化

[97]Last week we studied, very inadequately, the evolution of man, the thinker, the tenant of the bodies, and the one who uses them during the cycle of evolution.  We saw that he was the summation of the evolutions which had preceded him.  We led up to our study of that evolution in two previous lectures in which we considered first the substance, or atomic matter prior to its building up into a form, or the tiny atom before it was incorporated in a vehicle of some kind.  Then we studied the building of forms by means of the great law of attraction, which gathered the atoms together, causing them to cohere and vibrate in unison, and thus producing a form, or an aggregation of atoms.  We came to the recognition that in atomic substance we had one aspect of the Godhead, of the Deity, and of the central Force or energy of the solar system, manifesting under the aspect of intelligence, and we saw that in the form aspect of nature another quality of the Deity became manifest, that of love or attraction, the cohesive force which holds [98] the form unified.  Then we studied the human being, or man, and noted how in him all the three divine aspects met; and recognised man as a central will manifesting through a form composed of atoms, and demonstrating the three qualities of God, that of intelligence, of love-wisdom, and of will or power.

上周我们非常概括地研究了人、思想者、居住在身体中的住户、也就是在这个进化周期使用这些身体的存有的进化。我们看到，他是他之前所有进化的总和。在之前的两堂课中，我们开始研究这种进化，我们首先讨论了物质，也就是在构建成形态之前的原子物质，或者说是在被纳入成为某种载体组成部分之前的微小原子。然后我们研究了伟大的吸引力法则对形态进行的构建，吸引力法则把众多原子聚集在一起，让它们在整体中聚合并共振，从而产生了形态，也就是原子的聚集体。我们开始意识到，原子物质体现了太阳系的神、中央力量或者能量的一个面向，通过智能显现出来；我们看到，在自然形态中，神的另一个特质得到体现，那就是爱、吸引力、让形态统一起来的凝聚力。接下来我们研究了人类、人，我们注意到人身上也是三个神圣面向相遇之地；我们把人看作一个中央意志，通过原子组成的形态进行表达，并展示出神的三种特质，即智能、爱-智慧、意志或力量。

To-day we are stepping out of the matter aspect of manifestation with which we have been dealing in the previous lectures, into the consideration of the consciousness within the form.  We have seen that the atom may be regarded as the central life, manifesting through a spheroidal form, and showing the quality of mind; but the human atom may also be considered as a central positive life, utilising a form and demonstrating the different qualities we have enumerated; and then we said that, if we were right in our hypothesis about the atom, if we were right in considering the human being as an atom, then we might extend this primary conception to the planet, and say that within the planetary atom there is a great Life, manifesting through a form, and showing specific qualities whilst working out a specified aim; and we extended this same concept also to the great sphere of the solar system, and to the Deity Who indwells it.

今天，我们要走出之前讲座中探讨的显化的物质方面，进入对形态中意识的探索。我们已经看到，原子可以看作一个中央生命通过球体形态进行的显化，并表现出心智的特性；不过人类原子也可以看作一个带正电的中央生命，利用形态，表现出我们已经列举过的几种不同特质；接下来我们继续分析，如果我们对原子的有关假设是正确的，如果我们把人看作原子也是正确的，那么我们可以把这个基本的概念拓展至地球，在地球原子的内部存在着一个伟大的中央生命，通过地球形态进行显化，表现出不同的特质，同时又在实现特定的目标；我们也把这个同样的概念拓展至太阳系这个更大的范围，以及居住在太阳系之内的神明。

Let us take up the question of consciousness itself, and study the problem a little and concern [99] ourselves with the reaction of the life within the form.  If I can thus give you a few general ideas in line with what has been said earlier, I shall be able to lay another stone upon the structure I am endeavouring to build.

让我们继续研究意识本身的问题，稍微研究一下，并关注形态之中生命的反应。如果我延续之前所探讨的给你列举出几条一般性的观点，我就可以继续在我想要构建的架构上再放置一块基石。

The word consciousness comes from two Latin words:  con, with; and scio, to know; and means literally “that with which we know.”  If you take a dictionary and look up this word you will find it defined somewhat as follows.  “The state of being aware,” or the condition of perceiving, the ability to respond to stimuli, the faculty of recognising contacts, and the power to synchronise vibration.  All these phrases might be included in any definition of consciousness, but the one I want to lay emphasis upon this evening is that which the Standard Dictionary gives, and which I have quoted earlier.  The average thinker who takes up the majority of the textbooks dealing with this subject is apt to find them very confusing, for they divide consciousness and the state of being aware into numerous divisions and subdivisions until one is left in a state of complete bewilderment.  To-night we will only touch upon three types of consciousness, which we might enumerate as follows:  Absolute consciousness, universal consciousness, and individual consciousness, and of these three it is only possible, really, to define two in any way with clarity.

意识这个词来源于两个拉丁词：con，与；scio，知道；字面的意思就是“通过它我们知晓”。如果你用字典查一下这个词，你会发现它的定义如下。“知晓的状态”、或者感知的状态、对外界刺激做出回应的能力、进行同步共振的能力。这些短语可能会包含在所有对意识的定义之中，但是今天晚上我想强调的是《标准词典》中给出的一个定义，我之前引用过。一般的思想者在查阅大量教科书处理这个主题时，会发现这些书籍很容易让人陷入困惑，因为它们把意识、觉知的状态细分为无数的分支和部分，直至让人处于完全困惑的状态。今天我们只涉及三种意识，列举如下：绝对意识、普遍意识和个体意识。在这三种意识中，真正可以清晰定义的，只有两种。

[100] Absolute consciousness, to the ordinary thinker, is practically impossible of recognition.  It has been defined in one book as, “That consciousness in which everything is, the possible as well as the actual,” and concerns everything that can be possibly conceived of as having occurred, or occurring, or going to occur.  This is, possibly, absolute consciousness, and from the standpoint of the human being is the consciousness of God, Who contains within Himself the past, the present, and the future.  What, then, is universal consciousness?  It might be defined as consciousness, thinking time and space, consciousness with the idea of location and succession involved within it, or, in reality, group consciousness, the group itself forming either a greater or a lesser unit.  Finally, individual consciousness may be defined as just as much of the universal consciousness as a separated unit can contact and can conceive of for itself.

绝对意识，对于普通的思想者来说，通常是无法认知的。在一本书中它被定义如下，“这种意识是所有的一切，所有一切的可能以及所有一切的现实”。它涵盖了所有可能被认为已经发生的、正在发生的和将要发生的。这或许就是绝对意识，从人类的视角来看，这是神的意识，在神的意识中包含了过去、现在和将来。那么，什么是普遍意识？它或许会被定义为在时间和空间中思考的意识，包含着位置和连续性，实际上可以说，是集体意识，集体自身形成了一个更大或者更小的单位。最后，个体意识或许可以像集体意识那样定义，一个独立的对接触有意识的个体，并拥有自我觉知。

Now, to understand these vague expressions—absolute, universal, and individual consciousness—it might be helpful if I endeavoured somewhat to illustrate.  It might be done as follows:  In our earlier lectures we have seen that we must consider the atom in the human body as a little entity, a tiny, intelligent life, and a microscopic, active sphere.  Now taking that little cell as our starting-point we may get, by its means, some concept of what these three types of consciousness [101] are, by viewing them from the standpoint of the atom and man.  Individual consciousness to the tiny atom in a man’s body would be its own vibratory life, its own internal activity, and all that specifically concerns itself.  Universal consciousness to the little cell might be considered as the consciousness of the entire physical body, viewing it as the unit which incorporates the atom.  Absolute consciousness to the atom might be considered as the consciousness of the thinking man who is energising the body.  That would be to the atom something so remote from its own inner internal life as to be practically inconceivable and unknown, yet it nevertheless sweeps into the line of its will the form and the atom within the form, and all that concerns them.  This idea has only to be extended to man, considered as an atom or cell within the body of a great Entity, and one can then work out along similar lines this conception of a threefold consciousness.  It might here be wise if we were to come down and consider more practical matters than absolute consciousness.

现在，为了理解这些模糊的表达 —— 绝对意识、普遍意识和个体意识 —— 我会努力阐述以帮助大家理解。可以这么说：在我们之前的讲座中，我们已经看到我们必须把人体中的原子看作一个小的生命实体、一个小的智能生命、一个微观活跃的球体。现在把那个小球体作为我们的出发点，通过它运作的方式，从原子和人类的视角来审视，我们或许可以得到一些有关这三种意识是什么的概念。就一个人身体中的微小原子而言，个体意识指的是它自己的振动生命、它自己的内部活动，以及所有与它自身特别相关的东西。就这个微小原子而言，普遍意识可以被看作整个物质身体的意识，把整个身体看作包含原子的单位。对原子来说，绝对意识就是那位思考者的意识，他为整个身体提供生命力。对原子而言，那种意识远远超越它内在的生命，几乎是未知和不可知的，然而，那种意识却把形态、形态中的所有原子、以及跟原子所有相关的一切，都带入它的意志之中。把这个观点拓展至人类，把人类看作是一个伟大生命实体身体中的小原子，人们就可以沿着类似的思路理解这三种意识的概念。如果我们接地气一些，去探讨更实际的问题，而不是绝对意识，就会容易理解很多。

Occidental science is coming gradually to the conclusion of the esoteric philosophy of the East, that consciousness must be predicated not only of the animal and of the human being, but that it must be recognised also as extending through the vegetable on into the mineral kingdom, and that self-consciousness must be regarded as the consummation [102] of the evolutionary growth of consciousness in the three lower kingdoms.  It is not possible in the short time now at my disposal, to go into that most fascinating study of the development of consciousness in the animal kingdom, in the vegetable kingdom, and its appearance also in the mineral kingdom; we should find, should we do so, that even minerals show symptoms of awareness of reaction to stimuli; that they manifest signs of fatigue, and that it is possible to poison a mineral and to murder it, much as you can murder a human being.  The fact that flowers have consciousness is being more readily recognised, and articles of very deep interest have been published on the consciousness of plants, opening up a very wide range of thought.  We have seen that in atomic matter the only thing that we can safely predicate is that it shows intelligence, the power to select, and to discriminate.  This is the predominant feature of consciousness as it manifests through the mineral kingdom.  In the vegetable kingdom another quality appears, that of sensation or feeling of a rudimentary nature.  It is responsive in a different way to the mineral.  In the animal kingdom a third reaction appears; not only is the animal showing signs of sensation in greatly increased degree to the similar response in the vegetable kingdom, but it also shows signs of intellect, or embryo mind.  Instinct is a recognised faculty of all animal units, and [103] the word comes from the same root as the word “instigate.”  When the power to instigate begins within any animal form it is a sign that an embryo mentality is beginning to manifest.  In all these kingdoms you have different grades and types of consciousness showing themselves, whilst in man you have the first symptoms of self-consciousness, or the faculty in man whereby he becomes aware that he is a separated identity, that he is the indwelling impulse within the body, and the one who is in process of becoming aware by means of these bodies.  This has been long taught in the East, and “esoteric philosophy teaches that everything lives and is conscious, but that not all life and consciousness is similar to the human,” and it also emphasises the fact that “vast intervals exist between the consciousness of the atom and of the flower, between that of a flower and a man, between that of a man and a God.”  As Browning has said:  “In man begins anew a tendency to God.”  He is not a God yet, but a God in the making; he is working out the image of God, and will some day produce it in perfection.  He is the one who is seeking to demonstrate the subjective, divine, threefold life through the medium of the objective.

西方科学正逐渐得出东方深奥哲学的结论，认识到不仅仅是动物和人类存在着意识，意识也存在于植物和矿物王国，自我意识要被看作是三个低等王国中意识进化成长的总和。在我可以支配的这短暂时间中，不可能去探讨动物王国、植物王国、以及矿物王国中引人入胜的意识研究；如果我们这么做的话，我们应该会发现，即使矿物也会表现出对刺激回应的意识特征；如果它们表现出惰性的迹象，那么你就可以像毒杀一个人一样去毒杀一种矿物。花朵有意识的事实越来越容易被大众意识到，已发表的那些有关植物意识的文章也有很深入的研究，开辟了非常广阔的思路。我们已经看到，在原子物质中，我们唯一可以确切地说明的是，它表达出智能，选择和分辨的能力。这是通过矿物王国表现出来的意识的主要特征。在植物王国中出现了另一种特征，就是基本的感觉或者情感。与矿物相比，它的反应方式不同。在动物王国出现了第三种反应；与植物王国的反应类似，动物表现出显著增强的感觉迹象，同时，它也表达出了智力，或者处于胚胎期的心智。本能是公认的所有动物个体拥有的能力，这个词与单词”instigate（发起）”起源自同一词根。当动物形态中开始出现发起的能力时，这表明胚胎化的心智开始显化。在所有的这些王国之中，它们都表现出不同等级和类型的意识，与此同时，在人类中最初出现自我的意识，也就是他意识到他是一个独立个体的能力，他是居住在身体中的能量脉冲，通过这些身体，他正在对此变得更加有觉知。这些很早就在东方教导过了，“奥秘哲学教导说，万物皆有生命，万物皆有意识，但是并非所有的生命和意识都与人相似。”它也强调了这样的事实，“原子和花朵的意识之间、花朵和人的意识之间，人和神的意识之间，存在着巨大的间隔。”正如勃朗宁所说：“人类从全新开始去接近神。”他尚未成为神，而是正在成形中的神；他拥有着神的映像，终有一天会完美地表达出来。他是通过利用客体作为媒介，来寻求证明主体的、神圣的三重生命存在的人。

The method of the evolutionary development of consciousness in a human being is but a repetition on a higher turn of the spiral, of the two stages which we noted in the evolution of the atom, that of atomic energy and of group coherence.  In the world at present can be seen the human family at the atomic stage of manifestation, leading on to a goal not yet achieved, the group stage.

人类意识进化的方法仅仅是在进化螺旋的更高转折点上，重复我们之前提到的原子进化的两个阶段，即原子能量阶段和团体一致性的阶段。在当前的世界，可以看作人类大家族正处于原子阶段的显化期，正通向一个尚未实现的目标，即团体阶段。

If there is one thing apparent to all of us who are in any way interested in the faculty of awareness, and who are in the habit of noting that which passes around us, it is that of the different grades of mentality which we meet everywhere, and the different types of consciousness among men.  We meet people who are alert, alive, aware of all that is going on, keenly conscious, responsive to thought currents of various kinds in human affairs, and conscious of contacts of every kind; then we meet people who seem to be asleep; there is apparently so little that interests them; they seem utterly unaware of contact; they are yet in a stage of inertia, and are not capable of responding to much outer stimuli; they are not mentally alive.  One notices it, also, in children; some respond so quickly, while others we call stupid.  It is not really that one is more or less essentially stupid than another; it is simply due to the inner stage of evolution of the child, to its more frequent incarnations, and the longer period that it has been occupied in becoming aware.

对于我们中那些对觉知能力有兴趣、并习惯观察我们周围发生事情的人来说，有一件事情非常明显，那就是我们在不同的地方都会遇到处于不同等级心智中的人，以及人们呈现出不同的意识状态中。我们遇到过警觉的、充满活力的、对周围发生一切都有觉知的人，他们有敏锐的意识，对人类事务中各种各样的思想潮流有回应，有不同程度的意识接触；我们也遇到过看起来很昏沉的人；显然没有什么让他们感兴趣；他们对各种接触也没有意识；他们处于一种惰性阶段，不足以对外部的刺激做出回应；他们在心智上不活跃。一个人也可以在儿童身上注意到这些现象；一些人反应很快，还有一些人我们称他们愚笨。这并不是说一个人在本质上要比另一个人多多少少的愚蠢；这仅仅是因为孩子进化的内在阶段不同，也因为转世的次数更加频繁，在转世中度过了漫长的时间从而变得更加觉知。

Let us now take the two stages, the atomic and the form stage, and see how the consciousness of the human being develops, bearing ever in mind [105] that in the human atom is stored up all that has been gained in the earlier stages in the three lower kingdoms of nature.  Man is the gainer by that vast evolutionary process which lies behind him.  He starts with all that has been gained therein latent within him.  He is self-conscious, and has before him a definite goal, the attainment of group consciousness.  For the atom of substance the goal had been the attainment of self-consciousness.  For the human being the goal is a greater Consciousness, and a wider range of awareness.

现在让我们研究这两个阶段，原子的阶段和形态的阶段，看看人类意识是如何发展的。要牢牢记住的是，在人类原子中储存了早期在三个较低的自然王国所获得的所有体验。在他身后度过的漫长进化过程中，他是收获者。他从收获的潜藏在自己内在的一切开始。他是拥有自我意识的，因此他面前有一个确切的目标，即实现集体意识。对于物质原子来说，它的目标是达成自我意识。对于人类整体来说，目标是更伟大的意识和更广阔的觉知。

The atomic stage which we are now considering is, for us, a peculiarly interesting one, because it is the stage in which the majority of the human family find themselves.  In it we pass through the period (a most necessary one) of self-centredness, that cycle in which the man is principally concerned with his own affairs, with that which primarily interests him, and lives his own intense, internal, vibratory life.  For a long period back of us, and perhaps at the present stage (for I do not believe that many of us would feel insulted if we were not regarded as having attained perfection, or having achieved the goal), we are most of us intensely selfish, and only mentally interested in the things that are going on in the world, and then probably because our hearts are touched, and we do not like being uncomfortable, or we are interested because it is the fashion; and yet, [106] in spite of this mental attitude, our whole attention is focussed upon the things which concern our own individual life.  We are in the atomic stage, intensely active in connection with our own personal problems.  Watch the throngs in the streets of any great city, and you will see everywhere people in the atomic stage, centred entirely in themselves, occupied only with their own business, intent upon their own pleasure getting, desirous only of having a good time, and only incidentally occupied with affairs which concern the group.  This is a necessary and protective stage, and one of essential value to every unit of the human family.  The realisation of this, therefore, will surely lead us all to be patient with our brothers and sisters who may so often irritate us.

我们现在正在探讨的原子阶段，对我们来说是一个很有趣的阶段，因为大多数人类家族发现他们正处于这个阶段。在这个阶段，我们度过了以自我为中心的时期（这是最必要的时期），在这个时期，人们主要关心自己的事务，关心他主要感兴趣的事务，并过着以自我为中心的强烈的、内在的、振动的生活。在我们身后的很长时期，或者说在当前的阶段（我并不认为我们中的人会感到被羞辱，如果我们认为他们没有达成完美、没有达到目标），我们中大多数人都有着强烈的自私，只在心智层面关心那些世界上发生的事情，或许因为我们的内心被触动，我们不喜欢这种不舒服的感觉，或许我们有兴趣是因为那些事情正流行；然而，尽管拥有这种心智上的态度，我们的全部注意力仍然集中在与我们个人生活有关的事务上。我们处于原子阶段，非常活跃地处理我们个人的问题。观察任何一座大城市街道上的人群，你会看到到处都是处于原子阶段的人们，他们完全以自己为中心，只专注于自己的事情，一心只想享受自己的快乐，只想度过一段快乐的时光，只是偶尔忙碌于与团体有关的事务。这是一个必要的保护阶段，对人类家族中的每个单位有着重要价值。因此，认识到这一点，肯定会让我们对那些可能会常常激怒我们的兄弟姐妹们保持耐心。

What are the two factors whereby we evolve in and out of the atomic stage?  In the Orient for many ages the method of evolution has been regarded as a twofold one.  A man has been taught that he evolves and becomes aware first by means of the five senses, and later through the development of the faculty of discrimination, coupled with dispassion.  Here in the West we have primarily emphasised the five senses, and have not taught that discrimination which is so essential.  If you watch the development of a little child you will become aware, for instance, that a baby develops the five senses in a certain [107] ordered sequence, usually.  The first sense it develops is hearing; it will move its head when there is a noise.  Then the next sense to be noted is that of touch, and it begins to feel about with its little hands.  The third sense which seems to awaken is that of sight.  I do not mean by this that a baby cannot see, or that it is born blind, like a kitten, but it is often several weeks before a baby consciously sees and looks with recognition.  The faculty has always been there, but there has been no realisation.  So it is with the graded expansions of consciousness and realisations that lie ahead of man to-day.  In these three paramount, or major senses, hearing, touch, and sight, you have a very interesting analogy to and connection with the threefold manifestation of Deity, the self, the not-self, and the relation between.  The self, occultly, hears and responds to vibration, thus realising Itself.  It becomes aware of the not-self, and of its tangibility, through touch, but it is only when sight or conscious recognition comes in that the relation between the two is established.  Two more senses are utilised by the self in making its contacts, those of taste and smell, but they are not so essential to the development of intelligent awareness as are the other three.  Through these five senses we make every contact that it is possible to make upon the physical plane; through them we learn, we grow, we become aware, and we develop; through them all [108] the great instincts are evolved; they are the great protective senses, not only enabling us to contact our environment, but also protecting us from that environment.

我们进入和走出原子阶段的两个重要因素是什么？在东方，很多世代以来，人们认为进化的方法是双重的。一个人接受这样的教导：先是通过五种感官；之后，通过发展分辨力和冷静，来进化并变得有觉知。在西方，我们主要强调五种感官，并没有教导分辨力的重要性。如果你观察孩子的发展，你就会注意到，比如，婴儿通常以某种特定的顺序来发展五感。他首先发展的是听觉；当有噪音的时候，他会移开他的头。下一个感官是触觉，他会开始用他的小手来感觉。第三个觉醒的感官是视觉。我的意思不是说婴儿看不到，或者说他像小猫一样生来失明，婴儿通常要过几周才会有意识地去看和认识。视觉一直都在，但是并没有有意识的觉知。当前人类面临的意识拓展和认知的不同等级也是如此。在这三种主要的、重要的感官中，听觉、触觉和视觉，与神的三重表达，即自我、非我和自我与非我之间关系有着非常有趣的类比。从秘法学角度来说，自我听到振动，并进行回应，从而意识到他自己。通过触碰，他意识到了非我，外物的可触碰性。但是，只有当视觉、有意识的认知出现时，自我和非我之间的关系才能建立。自我在进行接触时，还是用了另外两种感官，即味觉和嗅觉，但是这两种感官对智能觉知的发展并不像之前那三种重要。通过这五种感官，我们可以在物质层面进行每一种可能的接触；通过它们，我们学习、我们成长、我们变得有觉知、我们发展；通过它们，伟大的本能得到进化；它们是伟大的保护性感官，不仅让我们与环境进行接触，并保护我们不受环境的影响。

Having, then, learnt to be intelligent units by means of these five senses, and having, through their medium, expanded our consciousness, we reach a certain crisis, and another factor comes in, that of intelligent discrimination.  Here I am referring to the discrimination which a self-conscious unit demonstrates.  I refer to that conscious choice which you and I evidence, and which we will be forced to utilise as the power of evolution drives us on to the point where we will learn to distinguish between the self and the not-self, between the real and the unreal, between the life within the form, and the form which it uses, between the knower and that which is known.  Here we have the whole object of evolution, the attainment of the consciousness of the real self through the medium of the not-self.

然后通过这五种感官，我们学习成为智能的个体，也是通过它们，我们拓展了意识；我们到达某个危机点，另一个因素参与进来，那就是智能的分辨力。这里我指的是一个拥有自我意识的单位表现出的分辨力。我指的是你和我表达出的有意识的选择，我们必须要使用这种能力作为进化的力量，推动我们学会分辨自我和非我，分辨真实和虚幻，分辨形态中的生命和生命所使用的形态，分辨知之者和被认知的。这里我们就有了进化的全部目标，即通过非我作为媒介来达成真正自我的意识。

We pass through a long period or cycle of many lives, wherein we identify ourselves with the form, and are so one with the not-self that we recognise no difference, being entirely occupied with the things which are transient and impermanent.  It is this identification with the not-self which leads to all the pain, dissatisfaction, and sorrow in the world, and yet we must remember that through [109] this reaction of the self to the not-self we inevitably learn, and finally break loose from the impermanent and the unreal.  This cycle of identification with the unreal parallels the stage of individual consciousness.  As the atom of substance has to find its way into some form, and add its quota of vitality to a greater unit, so through the evolutionary development of consciousness the human atom has likewise to reach a point where it recognises its place in a greater Whole, and shoulders its responsibility in group activity.  This is the stage which a great number of the human family are now approaching.  Men are realising, as never before, the difference between the real and the unreal, between the permanent and the impermanent; through pain and suffering they are awakening to the recognition that the not-self suffices not, and they are searching without and also within for that which will more adequately meet their needs.  Men are seeking to understand themselves, to find the kingdom of God within themselves, and through Mental Science, New Thought, and the study of psychology they will arrive at certain realisations which will prove invaluable to the human race.  The indication is therefore to be found that the form stage is rapidly approaching, and that men are passing out of the atomic period into something infinitely better and greater.  Man is beginning [110] to sense the vibration of that greater Life within Whose body he is but as an atom, and he is commencing, in a small way, to make a conscious response to that greater call, and to find possible channels whereby he can understand that greater Life which he senses, but as yet does not know.  If he persists in this, he will find the group to which he belongs, and will then change his centre.  No longer will he be limited by his own little atomic wall, but he will pass beyond it, and become, in his turn, a conscious, active, intelligent part of the greater whole.

我们经历了很多生命的漫长周期，在其中我们把自己认同为色相形态，也就是把自己认同为非我，看不到自我和非我之间的区别，从而被短暂和无常的事物占据了全部注意力。正是这种与非我的认同带来了世界上所有的痛苦、不满和悲伤，但是我们必须记住，通过自我和非我之间的互动，我们会不可避免地有所学习，最终会摆脱无常和虚幻。这种与虚假认知的周期与个人意识发展阶段同步进行。正如物质原子必须要找到进入到某种形态中的路径，并在那个更大的单位中增加自己的生命力配额，人类原子意识的进化发展也是如此，他会到达一个状态，认识到自己在一个更伟大整体中的位置，并在集体活动中承担自己的责任。这是人类家族中很多人正在接近的状态。人们前所未有地意识到真实和虚幻之间的区别，永久和短暂无常之间的区别；通过苦难和痛苦，他们正在觉醒进入这样的认知，即非我不能满足自己，他们向外寻找，也正向内寻找更能满足他们需要的东西。人们正在寻求了解自己，在自己身上找到神之国度，通过心智科学、新思想和研究心理学，他们将会达到某些特定的认知，这对整个人类种族来说是非常宝贵的。因此可以得到这样的推论，形态的阶段正在快速接近，人们正在走出原子阶段，进入到更加无限和伟大的事物之中。人们开始感觉到那个更伟大生命的脉动，他们在那个更伟大生命的身体中，就像一个原子；他开始以微小的方式，对伟大的呼唤做出有意识的回应，去发现可能的渠道，从而可以更好地理解他可以感知到但并不了解的那个更伟大生命。如果他持续这么做，他就会找到他所属的团体，然后改变他的活动中心。他将不再受制于自己微小的原子活动壁垒，他会超越这个范围，进而成为一个更伟大整体中有意识的、活跃的、智能的部分。

And how is this change brought about?  The atomic stage was developed by means of the five senses, and through the utilisation of the faculty of discrimination.  The stage at which a man awakens to group realisation, and becomes a conscious participant in the activities of the group, is brought about in two ways:  through meditation, and through a series of initiations.  Now when I use the word “meditation” I do not mean what is perhaps usually understood by that word, a negative, receptive state of mind, or a state of trance.  There is much misconception these days as to what meditation really is, and there is a great deal of so-called meditation which has been truly described by a person not so long ago, as “I shut my eyes, and open my mouth, and wait for something to happen.”  The true meditation [111] is something that requires the most intense application of the mind, the utmost control of thought, and an attitude which is neither negative nor positive, but an equal balance between the two.  In the Eastern Scriptures the man who is attempting meditation and achieving its results, is described as follows—and from a consideration of these words may come much help and illumination to us:  “The Maha Yogi, the great ascetic, in whom is centred the highest perfection of austere penance and abstract meditation, by which the most unlimited powers are attained, marvels and miracles are worked, the highest spiritual knowledge is acquired, and union with the great Spirit of the universe is eventually attained.”  Here this union with the group life is held to be the product of meditation, and there is no other method of attainment.

这种变化是如何发生的？原子的阶段是通过五感、利用分辨力进行发展。一个人觉醒到对集体的认知，成为团体活动中有意识的参与者，通过两种方式到达这样的阶段：通过冥想，通过一系列的启蒙。现在，当我使用“冥想”这个词时，我并不是指大众这个词的理解，一种消极的、接受性的心智，或者说处于一种催眠状态。就冥想真正是什么而言，存在着很多误解，在不久之前还有一个人对所谓的冥想发表了大量言论，比如“我闭上双眼，张开嘴巴，等待着事情发生”这样的说辞。真正的冥想需要强烈地运用心智，是对思想的终极控制，以及用一种处于平衡之中既不消极也不积极的姿态。在东方的古老手卷中，尝试冥想并达到结果的人，被这么描述 —— 对这些话语的思考可能会给我们带来很大的帮助和启发：“摩诃瑜伽士，伟大的苦行者，他以艰苦修行和抽象冥想的至高完美为中心，通过这种方法他获得了最无限的力量，奇迹得以发生，收获了最高等的灵性知识，并最终达成与宇宙伟大圣灵的结合。”这里，与团体生命的结合被看作是冥想的产物，没有其他的达成方法。

True meditation (of which the preliminary stages are concentration upon and application to any particular line of thought) will differ for different people and different types.  The religious man, the mystic, will centre his attention upon the life within the form, upon God, upon Christ, or upon that which embodies for him the ideal.  The business man, or the professional man, who, during his hours of work, is one-pointedly centred upon the matter he has on hand, and who keeps his attention fixed upon the particular problem [112] he has to solve, is learning to meditate.  Later on, when he comes to the more spiritual aspect of meditation, he will find that he has covered the hardest part of the road.  The person who is reading a difficult book, and reads with the full force and power of his brain, getting at that which lies behind the written word, may be meditating as much as it is possible for him to meditate at this time.  I say this for our encouragement, because we live in a cycle in which books about meditation are found.  All of them embody some aspect of the truth, and may be doing much good, but they may not embody that which is best for any particular individual.  We need to find our own way of concentrating, to ascertain our own method of approach to that which lies within, and to study for ourselves this question of meditation.

真正的冥想（冥想的最初阶段是专注于某一特定的思想线路并加以应用）对不同人和不同类型团体有所不同。信仰宗教的人、神秘主义者会把他的注意力集中在形态之中的生命上，也就是神、基督、或者是他认为表达出完美的事物上。商务人士或者专业人士，在工作期间，专注于他手头的事情，把注意力放在他必须解决的特定问题上，这是他们正在学习冥想。之后，当他了解到冥想更加灵性层面的意义时，他会发现自己已经走过了最艰难的道路。阅读一本难理解的书、用全部大脑的力量和能力来阅读一本书的人，试图去了解文字背后的内容，他在此时或许已经尽可能地进行了他可以进行的冥想。我这么说是为了鼓励我们，因为我们生活在一个圈子中，有关冥想的书籍都在这里。所有的书都体现出了真理的某些面向，并且可能写得很好，但是对某个特定的个人来说，它们并没有体现出最佳的帮助。我们需要找到让自己专注的方式，确定我们自己探索内在事物的方法，并为自己学习冥想。

I would like here to sound a word of warning.  Avoid those schools and methods which combine forms of breathing exercises with meditation, which teach different types of physical postures, and teach their students to centre their attention upon physical organs or centres.  Those who follow these methods are heading towards disaster, and apart from the physical dangers involved, and the risk of insanity and nervous disorders, they are occupying themselves with the form, which is limitation, and not with the spirit, which is life.  The goal will not be achieved that way. [113] For most of us the intellectual concentration which results in mind control, and the ability to think clearly and to think only that which we wish to think, must precede true meditation, which is a thing few people know much about.  This true meditation, which it is impossible for me to enlarge upon here, will result in a definite change of polarisation, will open up to man ranges of experiences undreamt of hitherto, will reveal to him contacts that as yet he does not realise, and will enable him to find his place within the group.  He will be no longer confined by the wall of his personal life, but will begin to merge that life within the greater whole.  He will no longer be occupied with the things of selfish interest, but will give his attention to the problems of the group.  He will no longer give his time to the culture of his own identity, but will seek to understand that greater Identity of which he is a part.  This is really what all advanced men are beginning more or less to do.  Little as the average man may realise it, great thinkers, such as Edison and others, arrive at a solution of their problems along the line of meditation.  By a brooding concentration, by a constant recollection, and by strenuous application to the particular line of thought which interests them, they produce results, they tap the inner reservoirs of inspiration and of power, and bring down from [114] the higher levels of the mental plane results which benefit the group.  When we ourselves have done a certain amount of work along the line of meditation, when we are cultivating group interest and not self-interest, when we have developed physical bodies that are strong and clean, and emotional bodies that are controlled, and not swayed by desire, when we have mental bodies that are our instruments and not our masters, then we shall know the true meaning of meditation.

我也想在这里提出警告。要避开那些把不同形式的呼吸练习与冥想结合起来的教派和方法，他们教导不同的体态，教导学生把注意力放在身体的某个器官或者能量中心。遵循这些方法的人正走向灾难，除了会有身体的危险之外，还会有精神错乱和神经紊乱的风险；他们让自己的注意力专注于形态，就是限制；而非灵性，也就是生命。这样就不会达成目标。对于我们大多数人来说，智力上的集中会带来心智的掌控、以及清晰思考和仅仅去思考我们想要思考事物的能力，这一切必须要先于真正的冥想，很少有人知道这一点。这种真正的冥想，我无法在此详细阐述，它会给两极对立的状态带来明确的转变，会向人们敞开迄今为止他们无法想象的各种体验，向人们揭示他们迄今为止尚未意识到的接触，会让人们找到他们在团体中的位置。他将不再受制于个人生活范围的限制，而是把他的生命融入到更伟大的整体中。他不再被自私的事务占据，而是把注意力放在集体的问题上。他不再把时间花在装扮自己的身份上，而是去寻求他所隶属的那个更伟大身份的理解。这确实是所有较高等级的人或多或少开始做的事情。一般人可能很少意识到，伟大的思想家，比如爱迪生等人，会沿着冥想的线路找到解决他们问题的方法。通过深思熟虑，通过不断地回忆，以及通过让他们感兴趣的特定思路的应用，得到了结果；他们挖掘了灵感和内在力量的内在源泉，并从高等心智层把结果带下来，让整个团体受益。当我们沿着某一特定的冥想路线完成了某些特定工作后，当我们培养集体利益而非自我利益，当我们发展出强壮干净的物质身体，当我们的情绪体不受欲望的控制摇摆不定，当我们的心智体成为我们的工具而非我们的主人时，我们就会知道冥想的真正意义。

When a man has made his contact through meditation with the group to which he belongs, and becomes, therefore, ever more and more group conscious, he is then in a position to take what are called a series of initiations.  These initiations are simply expansions of consciousness, brought about with the help of Those Who have already achieved the goal, Who have already identified Themselves with the group, and Who are a conscious part of the body of the Heavenly Man.  With Their assistance, and through Their aid, a man will gradually awaken to the realisation that is Theirs.

当一个人通过冥想，与他所隶属的团体建立了接触，并因此越来越变得有集体意识时，他就可以进入一系列的启蒙之中。这些启蒙不过是意识的拓展，经由那些已经达成这一目标存有的帮助，即那些把自己认同为这个团体的存有、那些知道自己是天人的身体中有意识的存有。通过他们的帮助和协助，一个人会逐渐觉醒并达成像他们一样的意识状态。

There is great interest everywhere to-day in this subject of initiation, and an over-emphasis has been laid upon its ceremonial aspect.  We need to remember that every great unfoldment of consciousness is an initiation.  Every step forward along the path of awareness is an initiation. [115] When an atom of substance was built into the form, it was for that atom an initiation.  It became aware of another type of force, and its range of contact became wider.  When the consciousness of the vegetable and animal kingdom merged, and the life passed from the lower kingdom into the higher, that was an initiation.  When the consciousness of the animal expanded into that of the human being, still another great initiation took place.  All the four kingdoms have been entered by an initiation, or through an expansion of consciousness.  Ahead of the human family lies now the fifth, or spiritual kingdom, and it is likewise entered through a certain initiation, as can be seen by those who intelligently read their New Testament.  And in all these cases these initiations have been brought about by the help of Those who already know.  Thus we have within the evolutionary scheme not great gaps between one kingdom and another, and between one state of awareness and another, but a gradual development of consciousness, and one in which we, each one of us, have had and will have our share.  If we can remember this universality of initiation we shall have a better proportioned point of view in connection with it.  Every time that we become more aware of our environment, and our mental content is increased, it is an initiation on a tiny scale.  Every time [116] our horizon widens, and we think and see more broadly, it is an initiation, and herein to us lies the value of life itself, and the greatness of our opportunity.

现在到处都对启蒙这个话题充满了兴趣，并过分强调它的仪式方面。我们需要记住的是，意识的每一次巨大展开都是一次启蒙。沿着觉知之路前进的每一步都是启蒙。当一个原子被构建到形态之中，对那个原子来说，这是一次启蒙。它觉察到另一种力量，它的接触范围变得更广。当植物和动物王国的意识融合，当生命从较低领域进入较高领域，这就是启蒙。当动物的意识拓展至人类的意识，这又发生了一次伟大的启蒙。都是通过启蒙、通过意识的拓展才进入这四个王国。现在，在人类家族面前的是第五王国，也就是灵性王国，同样是通过一系列特定的启蒙进入，正如那些聪明地阅读《新约圣经》的人看到的那样。在所有的这些情况下，这些启蒙是在那些已经知道的人的帮助下完成的。因此，在进化的领域中，在一个王国与另一个王国之间，一种意识状态与另一种意识状态之间，并没有巨大的鸿沟，而是意识的逐渐发展，在这个意识逐渐拓展的过程中，我们中的每个人都有、也将拥有我们的份额。如果我们可以记住启蒙的普遍存在，我们就会对启蒙有一个更具有比例性的看法。每次当我们对环境变得更加有觉知，我们的心智容量就增加，这是一个小型的启蒙。每次当我们的视野变得开阔，我们可以更广阔地看待问题和思考，这就是一次启蒙。对我们而言，生命本身的价值和我们机遇的伟大之处就在这里。

One point I wish to make here is this:  every initiation has to be self-initiated.  That final stage when definite help is brought to us from outside sources is not achieved because there are great Beings anxious to help us, Who come to us where we are and seek to lift us.  It comes to us because we have done the necessary work, and nothing can stop it coming.  It is our right.  Those who have achieved can and will and do aid and assist us, but Their hands are tied until we have done our share of the undertaking.  Nothing therefore that we do to increase our usefulness in the world, no steps that we take to build better bodies, no effort that we make to gain self-control and to equip our mental body, is ever lost; it is all something which we are adding to the total we are piling up, which will some day bring us to a great revelation, and every hourly, daily effort that we make, swells the tide of energy which will sweep us to the portal of initiation.  The meaning of the word “initiation” is “to go into.”  It means simply that an initiate is one who has taken the first steps into the spiritual kingdom, and has had the first series of spiritual revelations, each one of which is a key to a still greater revelation.

我在此想说明的一点是：每一次的启蒙必须是自发的。当来自外部的明确帮助被带给我们时，我们并没有达成最终阶段，因为总是存在伟大的渴望帮助我们的存有，他们来到我们所在之地并想要提升我们。最终阶段会来到我们身边，是因为我们已经完成了那些必要的工作，没有什么会阻止它到来。这是我们的权利。那些已经达成的人可以并且愿意帮助和协助我们，但是直至我们完成我们应尽的责任之前，他们的帮助会受到束缚。因此，我们为了增加我们服务世界的用处而做出的努力，我们为打造更好的身体采取的措施，我们为了达成自我控制去装备我们的心智，所有这些努力都不会白费；这一切都是我们为了达成总量而不断叠加的积累，总有一天会带给我们伟大的启示。我们在每个小时、每一天的努力，都会壮大能量的浪潮，最终会把我们卷入启蒙的门户中。单词“启蒙”的意思是“进入”。它就是意味着一位启蒙者已经迈出了通往灵性王国的第一步，并获得了最初的一系列灵性启发，每一次启发都是通往更大揭示的钥匙。

LECTURE VI: THE GOAL OF EVOLUTION 第六课：进化的目标

[119] In using such a title as the Goal of Evolution, I feel extremely diffident; I realise that the only thing I can possibly attempt is to put certain suppositions before you, drawing upon my imagination.  Naturally it is not possible for finite mind to gauge accurately the plan of the Deity.  All that we can do is to study the history of the past, to investigate present conditions, and to ascertain somewhat racial and natural tendencies, and thus follow, as logically as may be, the various steps and stages.  All that is permissible for us is to start from the solid basis of acquired facts and knowledge, then put them all together, and from their aggregate form an hypothesis as to what may be the possible goal.  Beyond that it is impossible to go.

在使用进化目标这个标题时，我感到非常心虚；我意识到我唯一可以进行的努力就是把我用想象力构建出来的一些推测放在你面前。当然，有限的心智不可能去准确地衡量神的计划。我们所能做的就是研究过去的历史，调查现在的状况，并确定一些种族的和自然的趋势，从而尽可能合乎逻辑地让不同的步骤和阶段延申。我们所能做的就是从已知事实和知识的坚实基础开始，把它们放在一起，从它们的综合中形成一个可能是最终目标的假设。除此之外，不能再做更多。

In our talks upon evolution, as I mentioned in the first lecture, we have been dealing somewhat with suppositions, and concerning ourselves with possibilities.  Certain things we do know, and certain truths have been ascertained; yet even [120] the conclusions of science, for instance, such as were so much spoken of and insisted upon forty years ago, are no longer regarded as facts, and are not used or promulgated as drastically and as emphatically as they were.  Science itself is finding every year that its knowledge is very relative.  The more a man grasps and knows, the greater is the horizon which opens up before him.  Scientists are now venturing into what are the subtler planes of matter, and therefore into the realms of the unproven, and we should remember that, until recently, science has refused to admit their existence.  We are passing beyond the sphere of what has been called “solid matter,” into such realms as are inferred when we speak about “centres of energy,” “negative and positive force,” and “electrical phenomena”; and the emphasis is being laid more and more upon quality rather than upon what has been called substance.  The further we look ahead, the wider our speculations become, and the more we attempt to account for telepathic, psychic and other phenomena, the more we shall trespass into the realm of what is now the subjective and the subconscious, and the more we shall be forced to express ourselves in terms of quality or of energy.

在我们有关进化的探讨中，正如我在第一堂讲座中提到的那样，我们一直在与假设打交道，我们关心其可能性。我们知道一些事情，一些真理已经得到了确认；然而，即便是科学的结论，比如，那些在四十年前被人们津津乐道和坚持的结论，也不再被看作事实，也不再像以前那样彻底和着重地进行传播和使用。科学每年都会发现它自身的知识是非常相对的。一个人掌握得越多，知道的越多，在他面前打开的视野就越广阔。科学家现正在探索进入更微妙的物质层面，从而进入了尚未证实的领域；我们应该记得，直到最近，科学家还拒绝承认它们的存在。我们正在超越所谓的“坚固的物质”领域，进入我们谈到“能量中心”、“正电和负电”、以及“电现象”时所涉及的领域；重点越来越放在特质上，而不是所谓的实物上。我们越是向前探索，我们的推论就变得越宽阔，我们就越是要去努力揭示心电感应、通灵等其他现象，我们就越是会进入所谓的主体和潜意识的领域，我们就越不得不用能量或者特质的术语来进行表达。

If we succeed at all in accounting for that which is unusual, for that which is as yet inexplicable to us, and in ascertaining the reality of the occult, [121] we shall bring about a condition which might almost be called paradoxical.  We shall gradually make the subjective the objective.

如果我们成功地解释了不同寻常的事情，解释了令我们费解的事情，并且确定了秘法学的真实性，那么我们就会带来一种几乎可以被称作自相矛盾的状况。我们应该逐渐地让主体变成客体。

The topic that I am going to consider now is one that affects us very closely: namely, the attainment by man of that group consciousness which is his goal, and the expansions of his little consciousness until it measures up to that greater one which enfolds it.  You will remember that in trying to explain the difference between self-consciousness, group consciousness, and God consciousness, I illustrated it by pointing out that in the little atom of substance in the physical body, that tiny centralised life which goes to the constitution of the human form, we had a correspondence to the self-consciousness of the human being; that the life of the physical body, considering it in every one of its departments as a whole, is to that little self-contained cell what group consciousness is to us; and that the consciousness of the real man, the informing entity within the body is to that atom what God consciousness is to us, as inexplicable and as far removed.  If we can extend this concept of the atom in our body and its relation to man, the thinker, to the human atom, regarding it as a unit within a still greater body, we may get an understanding of the radical difference between these three rays of consciousness.

我现在要探讨的是对我们有密切影响的话题：人达到了他的目标，也就是集体意识，他拓展了自己的小意识范围，直至他的意识与那个包含他的更大意识相符。你要回忆起来，在解释个人意识、集体意识和神之意识时，我是这么阐述的：与物质身体中的微小原子、构成人体形态的微小中央生命相对应的，是人类的自我意识；如果我们把物质身体中每个部位生命总和看作一个整体，那么物质身体的生命对于微小原子的生命，就是集体意识和个人意识之间的关系；人的意识，也就是赋予整个身体生命力的实体，之于原子，正如神之意识之于我们，无法理解、也遥不可及。如果我们可以把我们身体中原子的概念，与人、思考者之间的关系，拓展至人类原子是更伟大身体中的一个组成单位，我们或许就能理解这三种意识之间的根本差别。

[122]There is a very interesting analogy between the evolution of the atom and of man (and I presume therefore of the planetary Deity and the solar Logos) in the two methods of unfoldment that are followed.  We have seen that the atom has its own atomic life, and that every atom of substance in the solar system is likewise a little system in itself, having a positive centre, or central sun, with the electrons, or the negative aspect, revolving in their orbits around it.  Such is the internal life of the atom, its self-centred aspect.  We noted too, that the atom is now being studied along a newer line, that of radio-activity, and it is becoming apparent in many cases there is an active radiation going on.  Just where this discovery is going to lead it is impossible to tell, for the study of radio-active substances is as yet in its infancy, and little is actually known.  Much of the earlier teaching of physical science has been revolutionised by the discovery of radium, and the more scientists find out, the more it becomes apparent (as they themselves realise), that we are standing on the threshold of very great discoveries, and are on the eve of profound revelations.

在原子和人的进化（同时我推测也是地球之神和太阳逻各斯的进化）之中，存在着很有趣的类比，随后讨论的是两种展开的方法。我们已经看到，原子有自己的原子生命，太阳系中的每一个物质原子本身也是一个小的体系，拥有一个正电中心，也可以称之为中央太阳；有带负电的电子，围绕着中心在它们的轨道上旋转。这就是原子的内在生命，也就是它以自我为中心的一面。我们也注意到，原子的研究现在沿着一条更新的路径展开，即放射性，在很多情况下存在着明显的放射性活动。这一发现究竟会走向何方，我们无法确定，因为对放射性物质的研究还处于起步阶段，知之甚少。许多早期的物理科学教导都因镭的发现而发生了革命性的变化。科学家们发现得越多，我们站在伟大发现门槛之上、以及还会有更多深刻的启示就变得越明显（正如科学家他们意识到的那样）。

In the human being, as he evolves and develops, these two stages can equally be seen.  There is the early or atomic stage, in which a man’s whole centre of interest lies within himself, within his own sphere, where self-centredness is the law of [123] his being, a necessary protective stage of evolution.  He is purely selfish, and concerned primarily with his own affairs.  This is succeeded by a later stage, in which a man’s consciousness begins to expand, his interests begin to lie outside his own particular sphere, and the period arrives in which he is feeling for the group to which he belongs.  This stage might be viewed as corresponding to that of radio-activity.  He is now not only a self-centred life, but he is also beginning to have a definite effect upon his surroundings.  He is turning his attention from his own personal selfish life, and is seeking his greater centre.  From being simply an atom he is, in his turn, becoming an electron, and coming under the influence of the great central Life which holds him within the sphere of Its influence.

就人类而言，随着他的进化和发展，同样可以看到两个阶段。早期的阶段是原子阶段，在这个阶段，一个人的全部兴趣中心都围绕着他自己，他存在的法则就是自我为中心，这是进化过程中必要的保护阶段。他的自私是纯粹的，主要关心自己的事情。这之后是一个后期阶段，此时人的意识开始拓展，他的兴趣开始超出他自己特定的领域，并对他所属的群体产生情感，这样一个阶段会到来。这个阶段可以看作放射性活动的对应阶段。他现在不仅仅以自我为中心，他开始对他周围的环境产生一定的影响。他把注意力从个人自私的生活上移开，并开始寻找他更伟大的中心。他简单地从原子转变成为电子那样的存在，他受到更伟大中央生命的影响，保持在那中央生命的影响范围内。

If this is so, we shall have analogous stages transpiring within the life of the planetary Deity, and this perhaps would account for various vicissitudes and happenings upon the planet.  Often we consider the affairs of the world as due to human activity.  The world war, for instance, is frequently regarded as the result of human mistakes and frailties.  Perhaps this is so, for undoubtedly economic conditions and human ambitions may have been very largely concerned in bringing it about; but perhaps, also, it may have been partly due to the working out of the purpose [124] of the great central Life, Whose consciousness is not as yet our consciousness, Who has His own plans and purposes and ideals, and Who, perhaps, also makes His experiments with life.  On His vaster scale, and on His own high level, this planetary Spirit is learning to live, is learning to contact, and is likewise expanding His consciousness; He is Himself at school, just as you and I are at school.  So again, it may be with the solar system, and so with events of such magnitude that they escape our ken altogether.  Perhaps there are occurrences within the solar system which may be due to the working out of the plans of the Deity or Logos, that central Life Who is the energising source of all there is within the solar system.  I do not know, but it makes an interesting line of thought for us, and it does no harm to speculate if the effect is to give us a broader vision, a wider tolerance, and a greater and wiser optimism.

如果是这样，地球神明的生命也会经历类似的过程，这或许就解释了地球上发生的各种变迁和转变。我们常常认为那些事情是由于人类活动造成的。比如，世界大战常常被认为是人类的错误和弱点导致的结果。或许真的如此，因为毫无疑问，经济状况和人类的野心在很大程度上促成了大战的发生；但是，或许这也可能部分地由于那伟大的中央生命在执行他的计划，我们的意识尚不能达到他的意识状态，他有自己的计划、目标和理想，也许他会使用生命进行他的试验。在他更大的范围内，在他更高的层次上，地球之灵正在学习生活，学习接触，同样在拓展他的意识；他自己就是一所学校，就像你和我都会上学一样。再继续推导，这或许跟太阳系有关，这样的事件规模太过庞大以至于逃脱了我们的视野范围。或许太阳系内发生了一些事情，这些事情的发生是由于整个太阳系能量源泉的中心生命、神明、逻各斯在实施计划。这些我们尚未知晓，但是它为我们提供了一个有趣的思路，如果其效应是给我们带来更广阔的视野、更大的包容、更伟大和明智的乐观态度，那么沿着这样的思路推测也没有害处。

Having seen that the two stages of atomic activity and radio-activity characterise the evolution of all atoms in the solar system, let us now see what are the different developments which may be expected as the consciousness within the human atom evolves.  I should like to centre our attention upon this human type of consciousness, as it is the central evolution in the solar system.  When the three aspects of the divine life are [125] brought together—the indwelling life or spirit, the material form or substantial vehicle, and the factor of intelligent activity—certain specific results will eventuate.  We shall have the gradual working out of consciousness of a particular kind; the development of psychic quality; the effect of the subjective life upon the material form; the utilisation of the form for certain specific ends, and the attainment by the indwelling entity of certain qualities.  The true nature of the central life, be it God or man, will be manifested during a life cycle, whether solar or human.  That is true of you and it is true of me; it is probably true of the planetary Logos, and if true of him, therefore also of a solar Logos.

我们已经看到原子活动和放射性活动，这两个阶段表征了太阳系所有原子的进化，现在让我们看看随着人类原子意识的进化，会出现哪些不同的发展。我想我们应该把注意力集中在人类的意识上，因为这是太阳系核心的进化。此时，神圣生命的三个面向结合在了一起 —— 内在的生命或灵性、物质形态或实物载体、以及智能活动 —— 最终会产生某种特定的结果。我们将会逐渐地研究某种意识的展开；心理特质的发展；主体的生命对客体形态的影响；出于某些特定的目的对形态的使用、让内在居住的生命实体获得某种特质。中央生命的真正本质，不论是神还是人，会在一个生命周期中展开，不论是太阳系的还是人的。你和我也是如此；对地球逻各斯也可能如此；如果地球逻各斯是如此，那么太阳逻各斯也是这样。

Let us try, if we can, to follow some of the different developments in connection with our four types of atoms—the atom of substance, the human atom, the planetary atom, and the cosmic atom.  One of the first and most important developments will be conscious response to every vibration and contact—that is, the ability to respond to the not-self on every plane.  Let me illustrate.  I could go down to certain halls in this city, and gather together an audience composed of the unskilled labourers and illiterates, I could talk to them, and repeat what I have been saying this evening and get no response whatever.  Yet I could go down and give them a talk such as I gave ten years ago, along strictly evangelical or Gospel lines, and meet with a rapid reaction.  Here the question of right or wrong does not enter in, but simply the difference in the ability of different grades and types of men at different stages of evolution to respond to contact and vibration.  It simply means that certain people are at a stage where they can be reached by an emotional appeal, and dealt with along the line of their own personal salvation, being in the earlier atomic stage as yet.  There is another stage which includes that, but which enables one to respond also to a more intellectual appeal, which gives one a certain amount of interest and satisfaction in such discussions as we have pursued, and which means investigation of those matters which concern the group, for instance.  But both stages are equally right.

如果可以的话，让我们以四种类型的原子为出发点 —— 物质原子、人类原子、地球原子和宇宙原子，研究与之相关的不同发展。最初的也是最重要的发展之一，就是对每一个振动和接触有意识的回应 —— 也就是说，在每个层面上对非我做出回应的能力。让我来进行阐述。我可以去这座城市的某些大厅中，聚集起一群由小工和文盲组成的听众，我可以跟他们交谈，重复我今天晚上说的话，却得不到任何回应。然而，我也可以像十年前那样，严格按照福音派的线路给他们做演讲，并得到迅速的回应。这里没有探讨是非对错的问题，而是不同等级和类型的人在不同进化阶段对接触和振动的回应能力不同。也就是说，有些人可以到了使用情感进行接触的阶段，按照个人成长的路线来回应，他们还处于早期原子阶段。还有一个阶段包含这一点，不过它还会让人们对于智力上的诉求进行回应，让人们对我们进行的讨论产生一定的兴趣和满足感，可能这意味着对这些话题的研究与团体有关。不过，这两个阶段同样都合情合理。

We can look at this matter from another angle:  it is quite possible for us to meet great people, wonderful men and women, and fail to be impressed by them; we might pass them by without recognising them, and thus miss that which they have to give us.  This happened in Palestine in connection with the Christ, two thousand years ago.  Why?  Because, we ourselves are not yet great enough to respond to them.  There is something still lacking in us, so that we are unable to realise or feel their particular vibration.  I [127] have heard it said, and I think it is very true, that if the Christ were to come down upon earth again, and walk among men as He did before, He might live His life amongst us day after day and we would not notice anything so very different in Him from the other good and unselfish people whom we know.  We have not yet cultivated within ourselves the ability to respond to the divine in our brother.  We usually see only that which is bad and coarse, and are cognisant principally of our brother’s faults.  We are insensitive, yet, to the best people.

我们可以从另一个角度来看待这个问题：我们很可能遇到伟大的人，优秀的男男女女，却不会对他们留下什么印象；我们可能会路过他们，但是不会对他们产生觉知，从而错过他们给予我们的东西。这在两千年前的巴勒斯坦发生过，与基督有关。为什么？因为我们自己还不足以对他们进行回应。我们之中缺乏某些东西，让我们不能认知、感受到他们特定的振动。我已经说过这一点，我认为这很真实，那就是如果基督再次降临到人世间，像以前一样在人间行走，他可能会日复一日地生活在我们之间，而我们却不会注意到他与我们认识的其他善良无私的人之间有什么区别。我们还没有培养出自己对我们兄弟的神圣进行回应的能力。我们通常只看到坏的和卑劣的，总是去看到我们兄弟的过错。然而，是我们对最优秀的人不够敏感。

Another development will be that we shall be able to function consciously on all planes of being.  We function consciously now on the physical plane, and there are a few people who are able to function equally consciously on the next subtler plane, that which is called the astral plane (a word I very much dislike, as it conveys no real meaning to our minds) or the plane of the emotional nature, on which a man is active when out of the physical body, in the hours of sleep or immediately after death.  Very few human beings can function on the mental plane in fully awakened consciousness, and still fewer upon the spiritual plane.  The object of evolution is that we should consciously function, with full continuity of realisation, upon the physical, emotional, and mental planes.  This is the great achievement which will some day be ours.  We shall then know what we do every hour of the day, and not for just about fourteen hours out of every twenty-four.  At present we remain unconscious of where the real thinking entity is during the hours of sleep.  We do not know what his activities are, nor the condition of his environment.  Some day we shall utilise and employ every minute of every hour of the day.

另一个发展就是，我们会在所有存在的层面上有意识地运作。我们现在有意识地在物质层面运作，还有少数人能够在临近的精微层面上同样有意识地运作，即星光层（我非常不喜欢这个词，因为它不能对我们的心智传达真实意义）或情绪层，人在离开他的物质身体时，也就是睡觉之时或死亡之后片刻，就会活跃在星光层上。极少数人可以在完全清醒的意识中在心智层面运作，灵性层面的就更少了。进化的目标是我们应该有意识地在物质身体、情绪体和心智体中运作，并实现在这些身体中运作的连贯性。这有一天会成为我们的伟大达成。那时我们就会知道我们一天中的每个小时都在做什么，不仅仅只对24小时中的大约14个小时有觉知。现在，我们仍然不知道在睡觉的时候，那个真正思考的实体去到了哪里。我们不知道他的活动，也不知道他所处的环境。终有一天，我们会充分利用一天24小时中的每一分钟。

Another purpose of evolution is a threefold one, and it is that we should have purpose or will, love, and energy co-ordinated.  That is not so as yet.  We have much intelligent energy continuously displayed now, but it is very rare indeed to meet a person whose whole life is animated by a central purpose. which is followed unswervingly, and which is animated and instigated by love working through intelligent activity.  The time is coming, however, when we shall have expanded our consciousness to such an extent, and be so active within ourselves, that we shall become radio-active.  We shall then carry forward a definite purpose which will be the outcome of love, and attain our objective by means of the intelligence.  This is all that God is doing, is it not?  At our present stage of development, we are certainly intelligent, but as yet there is very little love.  We may have a little love for those we contact or meet, and a greater love for our [129] family and immediate friends, but we know practically nothing of group love.  When group love is voiced for us by the great idealists of the race it is nevertheless true that we have reached the stage where we can respond somewhat to it, and feel that it is something we should like to see realised.  It is good to remember that the more we think along such definitely altruistic lines, the more we shall build up something of very great value, and develop by slow and laborious degrees the rudiments of a real group consciousness, which as yet lies far ahead for most of us.

进化的另一个目标是三重的，那就是我们要让目的或意志、爱、和能量之间互相协调。目前还不是这样。现在有很多智能的能量一直表达出来，但是很难遇到一个一生都被一个中央目标所激发的人，这是一个坚定不移的追随目标，它是爱通过智能活动所激发和促使的。然而，拓展我们意识的时间已经到来，我们要让自己的内在非常活跃，从而变得具有辐射性。然后，我们就会推进一个明确的目标，也就是爱的到来，通过智能来达到我们的目标。这就是神所做的一切，不是吗？在我们当前的发展阶段，我们当然是有智力的，但是我们表现出很少的爱。我们或许对我们接触到的、遇到的人有一点爱，对我们的家人和直接的朋友表达出稍多的爱，但是实际上我们对团体之爱一无所知。当人类种族的伟大理想主义者为我们表达出集体之爱时，我们就已经到达了可以对爱做出某种回应的阶段，并感觉到这是我们应该希望实现的东西。最好是要记住，我们越是可以沿着利他主义的线路思考，我们就越是会建立起非常有价值的东西，并通过缓慢而艰苦的方式发展出集体意识的雏形，对我们大多数人来说，这个目标还很遥远。

There are several other developments during the evolutionary process with which we might deal, and which are at present so far ahead that they are practically inconceivable unless we have the peculiar type of brain that can think somewhat abstractly.  There is the stage in which we can transcend time and space, when the consciousness of the group in all parts of the planet, for instance, will be our consciousness, and when it will be just as easy for us to contact the consciousness of a friend in India, Africa, or elsewhere, as it is here; distance and separation will prove no barrier to intercourse.  Symptoms of this can be seen in the ability which some people have to communicate telepathically, or to psychometrise.

在我们探讨的进化过程中，还有一些其他的发展，目前它们处于远远超前的状态，除非我们拥有可以抽象思考的那种特殊类型的大脑，否则我们几乎无法理解那种状态。有一个阶段，我们可以超越时间和空间，比如，当位于地球上各个角落的集体意识成为我们共同的意识，当我们可以像在这里一样很容易地接触到在印度、非洲或者其他地区的朋友，那时距离和空间将不会成为交流的障碍。这样的表现可以在一些拥有心电感应能力的人、会进行心理测量的人身上体现出来。

It is all very well to spend some time visioning this distant goal, and picturing the achievement [130] of the Logos billions of years hence, but the thing of vital interest for us is to get some idea of the immediate stage ahead; and to understand what we may expect to happen in connection with the evolutionary process during the next few thousand years.  Let us consider this idea somewhat.  There are, as we know, three main lines of thought in the world:  the scientific, the religious, and the philosophical.  Now, in these three what have we got?  In the scientific line of thought we have embodied all that concerns matter, the substance aspect of manifestation; it deals with objectivity, and with that which is material, tangible, and seen; literally, with that which can be proven.  In religious thought we have that which is concerned with the life within the form, which deals with the return of spirit to its source, plus all that has been gained by the use of the form; it has reference to the subjective side of nature.  In philosophical thought we have what I might call the utilisation of the intelligence by the indwelling life, in order that the form may be adequately adapted to its need.  Let us consider in this connection certain developments which may be looked for in the immediate future, remembering that all that I say is only intended to be suggestive, and that I speak in no dogmatic spirit.

现在花一些时间来展望这个遥远的目标，并想象数亿年后逻各斯达成的成就是值得的；对我们来说至关重要的事情是对眼前的阶段有所了解；并知道在接下来几千年的进化中会发生些什么。让我们稍微考虑一下这个想法。众所周知，世界上有三种主要的思想线路：科学的、宗教的、哲学的。那么在这三种线路中，我们可以得到什么？在科学的线路中，我们已经展示出所有跟物质有关的事物，即显化的实质层面；它涉及到客观的物体，也就是那些物质的、有形的、可见的；从字面上看，就是可以被证明的。宗教的思想线路涉及到形态中的生命，它探讨灵性回归至源头，以及通过使用形态所收获的一切；它涉及到自然的主体面向。哲学的思想线路涉及到居住在形态中的生命对智力的使用，从而让形态充分地满足生命的需要。让我们考虑一下在不久的将来这方面的某些特定发展，要记得，我所说的一切都是建议性的，而非教条主义。

It is obvious to most thinkers that science, [131] having begun the study of radio-activity, is on the verge of discovering what is the nature of the power within the atom itself; it is very probable that before long we shall harness the energy of atomic matter for every conceivable purpose, for heating, for lighting, and for what I might call the motivation of everything that is carried on in the world.  That force, as some of us know, was nearly discovered in the United States fifty years ago by a man called Keely, but he was not allowed to give it out to the world because of the danger thereby involved.  Men are as yet far too selfish to be trusted with the distribution of atomic energy.  That discovery will probably parallel the development of group consciousness.  Only when man becomes radio-active and can work and think in group terms, will it be safe or wise for him to utilise the power latent in the atom.  Everything in nature is beautifully co-ordinated, and nothing can be discovered or utilised before the right time.  Only as man becomes unselfish will this tremendous power be permitted to pass into his hands.  Nevertheless, we can, I believe, look to science to make tremendous strides in the comprehension of atomic energy.

对于大多数思想者来说都很明显，科学已经开始研究放射性，并即将发现原子本身的能量本质；很可能不久之后，我们将利用原子物质的能量来达成每一个可以想到的目的，用于加热、照明，用于驱动这个世界所有一切。正如我们中一些人知道的那样，这种力量在五十年前的美国，几乎要被一位叫基利（Keely）的人发现了；但是并不允许把它公之于众，因为这其中涉及到了危险。人类目前太过于自私，不能信任他们去对原子的能量进行支配。这种发现可能会与集体意识的发展同时展开。只有当人变得像放射性原子那样，能够以团体的方式进行工作和思考时，他才能安全且明智地使用原子中潜在的能量。自然界中的一切都是完美协调的，在正确时间到来之前，没有什么可以被发现并加以使用。只有当人变得无私时，这种巨大的力量才会被允许传递到他手中。尽管如此，我相信并且期待，科学可以在理解原子能量方面取得重大的进步。

Then paralleling the evolution of the human being again, we can look for man to dominate the air.  There is a great vibratory sphere, or plane, in the solar system, called in some occult books the intuitional plane; it is called in the Eastern literature the Buddhic plane, and its symbol is the air.  Just as man is beginning to find his way through the development of the intuition on to that plane now, so science is beginning to discover how to dominate the air, and as the intuition in man develops and grows, so will his control of the air be developed and grow.  Another thing we can look for (and it is already being recognised somewhat) is the development of the ability to see in subtler matter.  Everywhere there are children being born who see more than you or I can.  I am here referring to something that is based purely on material grounds, and concerns the physical eye.  I refer to etheric vision, which is seeing in the finer matter of the physical plane, or in that which is called the ethers.  Much interesting work has been done along this line by students and scientists in California.  Dr. Frederick Finch Strong has been working along this line in a valuable way, and teaching that the physical eye is capable of seeing etherically, and that etheric vision is the normal function of the eye.  What will the development of this faculty mean?  It will mean that science will have definitely to readjust its point of view as to the subtler planes.  If there come within the range of vision of the normal man or woman within the next one hundred years certain aspects and forms [133] of life that have been regarded hitherto as imaginary, we have broken once and for all that rank materialism which has distinguished us for so long, and if that which is now invisible is recognised along any particular line, who shall say how far forward it will be possible for us to go as time progresses?  Again, the whole trend of evolution is toward synthesis.  As we go down into matter, as we tend toward materialisation, we have heterogeneity; as we work back towards spirit we shall tend towards unity:  so that in the religious world we can look for unity to make its appearance.  There is, even now, a much greater spirit of tolerance abroad than was the case fifty years ago; but the time is rapidly approaching when the great fundamental unity that underlies all the different religions, and the fact that each faith is a necessary part of one great whole, will be recognised by men everywhere, and through this recognition we shall have the simplification of religion.  We shall have the great central facts emphasised and utilised, and the small and petty differences of organisation, and of explanation, overlooked.

接下来再次研究平行于人类的进化，我们可以期待人类会主宰空气。在太阳系中有一个巨大的振动领域、层面，在某些秘法书籍中被称为直觉层；在东方的文献中被称为菩提层，它的象征就是空气。正如人们现在开始通过直觉的发展找到通往那个层面的路径一样，科学家也开始发现如何主导空气，随着人们直觉的增长和发展，他对空气的掌控也会得到发展和壮大。我们可以去看的另一件事情（或许在一定程度上已经被认可了），就是看到更精微物质的能力。到处都有孩子出生，他们生来就可以比你和我看到的更多。说到肉眼相关时，我是指纯粹的基于物质基础的事物。说到以太视力时，就是看到物质层面更精微的物质，我们把那称之为以太。加利福尼亚州的学生和科学家沿着这条线路做了很多有趣的工作。Frederick Finch Strong博士一直在以一种有价值的方式沿着这条线路探索，并教导说，肉眼有能力看到以太，以太视觉是眼睛的正常功能。这门学科的发展意味着什么？它意味着科学必须重新调整它对更精微层面的观点。如果在接下来的一百年中，男男女女正常视觉范围内看到了那些一直以来被认为是想象中生命的某些特定面向和形态，那么我们就彻底打破了长久以来区分物质的标准，因为假如那些现在尚不可见的物质在将来会沿着某一线路被识别出来，谁又能知道随着时间的推移我们可以前进多少？再次，整个进化的趋势是朝着整合的方向。当我们深入到物质时，当我们倾向物质化时，就存在异质性。当我们返回灵性探索时，我们就会趋向于统一：因此在宗教的世界中，我们可以找到统一的生命存在于表相中。即便是现在，到处存在的包容精神要比五十年前多很多；但是，作为所有不同宗教基础的伟大基本统一、以及每一种信念都是一个伟大整体的必要组成部分这一事实，很快就会被世界各地的人认可；通过这种认可，我们就会带来宗教的精简化。我们将会强调和使用重要的核心事实，同时忽略不同的组织和阐述之间的细微差别。

Again, we can look for a very interesting happening in connection with the human family to take place, for the moment group consciousness becomes, on a larger scale, the conscious objective of man, what will occur?  You will have [134] man putting his foot upon what is called in the religious world, “The Path.”  You will have him definitely taking himself in hand, endeavouring to live the life of the spirit, refusing any longer to live a self-centred atomic life; you will have him searching for his place within the greater whole, finding it by means of definite self-initiated endeavour, and then unifying himself with that group.  This is all that is really meant by the teaching given about the Path in the Protestant, Catholic, and Buddhist churches.  They all teach the treading of this Path, calling it by different names, such as the Way, the noble Eightfold Path, the Path of Illumination, or the Path of Holiness.  Yet it is the one Path, that which shineth ever more and more unto the perfect day.

再次，我们可以看到与人类家族有关的非常有趣的事情正在发生，因为在更大的范围内，当集体意识成为人们的目标时，届时会发生什么？就会有人踏上宗教界所谓的“求道之路”。他们会把握住自己，努力过着灵性的生活，拒绝再过以自我为中心的原子生活；你会看到他会在更伟大的整体中寻找自己的位置，通过自我发起的努力找到它，然后把自己和那个团体统一起来。这就是新教、天主教和佛教教会中有关“求道之路”教导的真正含义。它们都教导要去践行这条道路，称其为不同的名称，比如道、八正道、开悟之道或者圣道。然而，都是指的同一条道路，它会越来越闪耀，直至完美。

We can look, too, for the development of the power to think abstractly, and for the awakening of the intuition.  As the great races have succeeded one another upon the planet, there has ever been an ordered, directed unfoldment of the powers of the soul, and a definitely planned sequence.  In the third root race, the Lemurian, the physical aspect of man was carried to a high stage of perfection.  Later in the great race which preceded ours, the Atlantean, and which perished in the flood, the emotional nature of man was developed.  Then in the race to which we belong, the Aryan or fifth race, the development of the [135] concrete or lower mind is the goal, and this we are developing each decade.  A few are also beginning to develop the power to think in abstract terms.

我们也可以观察抽象思维能力的发展以及直觉的觉醒。当伟大的种族在地球上相继出现时，灵魂的力量也一直在有序定向地展开，并且有明确计划的次序。在第三个根种族 —— 利穆尼亚人，人类的物质面向被带到了一个高度完美的阶段。后来在我们之前的另一个伟大种族，在大洪水中灭亡的亚特兰蒂斯人，人类的情绪面向得到了发展。接下来是我们所属的种族中，雅利安人或第五种族，具象心智、低等心智的发展是其目标，我们每十年都有进步。一些人也开始发展出抽象思维的能力。

When this is the case we shall see more of that peculiar, interesting capacity which some people evince, and which we call the ability to be inspired.  I am not here speaking of mediumship, nor do I mean mediumistic ability.  There is nothing more dangerous than that which is usually meant by the term of “medium.”  The average medium is a man of a negative or receptive nature, and usually so loosely co-ordinated in his threefold nature that an extraneous force or entity can use his brain, his hand, or his body.  It is quite a common phenomenon.  Automatic writing, ouija boards, and spiritualistic seances of a low order are rampant these days, and are driving thousands into insanity, or into nervous disorders.  But there is something of which mediumship is simply a distortion, and this something is inspiration.  To be capable of being inspired means that a human mind has reached a stage in his evolution where he is consciously and positively under the control of his own higher self, the God within.  That inner ruler, the real self, can, by definite contact, control his physical brain, and enable the man to make decisions, and to understand the truth, apart from the reasoning faculty altogether; this inner God can enable the man to speak, to write, and to pass on the truth without the use of the lower mind.  Truth lies within ourselves.  When we can contact our own inner God all truth will be revealed to us.  We shall be Knowers.  But this is a positive, not a negative thing, and means the putting of oneself in direct conscious alignment with one’s Ego, or higher self, and not the throwing open of one’s personality to any passing entity or spook.

在这种情况下，我们会看到一些人会表现出那些奇特而有趣的能力，我们称之为受到启发的能力。在这里我不是指通灵，也不是指通灵的能力。没有什么比“媒介”一词所意味的更危险的了。普通的灵媒处于负面或者接受性的状态，他的三重本性很松垮地组织在一起，以至于外来的力量或者实体可以使用他的大脑、他的手或者身体。这是一个常见的现象。如今，自动书写、显灵板和低等级的降神现象变得猖獗，导致成千上万人陷入精神错乱和神经紊乱。不过有的时候，通灵是一种扭曲，而又有的时候是一种启发。能够被启发意味着人类的心智已经在他进化阶梯上到达了一个阶段，他可以有意识地、积极地处于他自己的高我、内在的神的控制之中。那个内在的统治者、真正的自己，可以通过特定的接触，控制他的物质大脑，从而让这个人可以除了可以进行逻辑推理外，还能做出决定，理解真理；内在的神还可以让这个人讲话、书写，在不使用低等心智的情况下把真理传递给他。真理存在于每个人内在。当我们可以接触到我们内在的神时，所有的真理都会揭示给我们。我们就会成为知者。不过，这是一件积极而非消极的事情，这意味着我们把自己置于与我们的灵魂、高我直接有意识的校准中，而不是对任何经过的实体或灵体敞开自己。

This can be seen occurring now, occasionally, but it is not very often that the average man comes in contact with his higher self.  Only in our moments of highest endeavour, only at the great crises of our lives, and only as the result of long discipline and strenuous meditation does this occur.  But some day we shall govern our entire lives, not from the personal, selfish point of view, but from the point of view of the God within, Who is a direct revelation of Spirit on the highest plane.

我们看到现在这种情况只会偶尔发生，但是普通的人并不会经常接触到他的高我。只有在我们最努力的时刻，只有在我们生活发生重大危机时，只有在长期自律和努力的冥想中，这种情况才会发生。但是总有一天，我们会掌管我们整个生命，不是从人格、自私的视角，而是从内在神的视角，内在的神是最高层面灵性的直接揭示。

The final thing I seek to bring out to-night is that the goal for each one of us is the development of the powers of the soul, or of the psyche.  This means that you and I are going to be psychics.  But I am not using this word “psychic” as it is usually understood, nor in its every-day connotation.  The psyche is, literally, the soul within, [137] or the higher self, who emerges from out of the threefold lower self, as the butterfly emerges out of the chrysalis; it is that beautiful reality, which we are going to produce as the result of our life, or lives, down here.  The true psychic powers are those which put us in contact with the group.  The powers of the physical body, which we use every day, put us in contact with individuals, but when we have developed the powers of the soul, and have unfolded its potentialities, we shall be true psychics.  Now what are those powers?  All I can do to-night is to enumerate a few out of the many.

今晚我想提的最后一件事情是，我们每个人的目标是发展灵魂、心灵的力量。这意味着你和我都会拥有灵通力。我并没有像通常理解的那样使用“灵能力”这个词，也不是使用它的普遍含义。字面上看，灵意味着内在的灵魂，或者更高的自我，它从三重的低等自我中出现，就像蝴蝶从蛹中出现那样；这就是作为我们在这里生活的结果所产生的美丽实相。真正的灵力是那些让我们与团体产生接触的力量。我们每天都在使用的物质身体的力量，让我们与不同的个体接触，但是当我们发展了灵魂的力量，并发挥出它的潜力，我们将真正地拥有灵力。这些力量有哪些？今天晚上我能做的，就是列举出其中的几个。

One is the conscious control of matter.  The majority of us control our physical bodies consciously, making them carry out our behests upon the physical plane.  Some of us control our emotions consciously, but very few of us can control the mind.  Most of us are controlled by our desires, and by our thoughts.  But the time is coming when we shall consciously control our threefold lower nature.  Time will then not exist for us at all.  We shall have that continuity of consciousness upon the three planes of being—physical, emotional, and mental—which will enable us to live as does the Logos, in that very metaphysical abstraction, the Eternal Now.

一个是有意识地对物质的掌控。我们中的大多数人会有意识地控制我们的身体，让它们在物质层面执行我们的命令。我们中的一些人可以有意识地控制自己的情绪，但是我们中的很少人能够控制心智。我们中大多数人都被我们的欲望和思想所控制。但是，我们有意识地控制我们三重低等本性的时代即将到来。那时，时间对我们来说将不复存在。我们会在存在的三个层面 —— 物质层、情绪层和心智层 —— 拥有持续的意识，这会让我们像逻各斯一样活着，在那个形而上的抽象层面，永恒的当下中。

Another power of the soul is psychometry.  Now what is psychometry?  It might be defined [138] as the ability to take a tangible something, belonging perhaps to an individual, and through the medium of that, to put oneself en rapport with that individual, or with a group of individuals.  Psychometry is the law of association of ideas applied to the vibratory quality of force for the purpose of obtaining information.

Again, the race will become clairaudient and clairvoyant, which means the capacity to hear and see as clearly and accurately upon the subtler planes as we do upon the physical.  It will involve the ability to hear and see all that concerns the group—that is, to hear and see in the fourth and fifth dimensions.  I am not enough of a mathematician to attempt to explain these dimensions, and am apt myself to get very confused when considering them, but an illustration that was given me may make the whole thing somewhat clearer.  A young Swedish thinker explained it to me thus:

灵魂的另一个力量是心理测量。什么是心理测量？它可以被定义为探测属于某个个体的有形事物的能力，通过它作为媒介，让他融入某个个体或者一个团体。心理测量学是通过力量的振动特质把相关的想法联系起来，从而获取信息。此外，人类种族还会拥有千里耳和千里眼的能力，这意味着他们可以像在物质层面一样在更精微的层面清晰和准确地听到和看到的能力。这涉及到听到和看到与该团体有关一切的能力 —— 也就是在第四和第五维度听到和看到的能力。我还不能够像数学家一样来试图解释这些维度，我自己在考虑它们的时候也会感觉到很困惑，但是有一个例子给予到我，可以让这些变得更清晰。一位年轻的瑞典思想者向我这样解释：

“The fourth dimension is the ability to see through and around a thing.  The fifth dimension is the ability, for instance, to take an eye, and by means of that eye to put oneself en rapport with all other eyes in the solar system.  To see in the sixth dimension might be defined as the power to take a pebble off the beach, and by means of it to put oneself in accord with the entire planet.  Now in the fifth dimension, where you took the eye, you were limited to a particular line of manifestation, but in the case of the sixth dimension, where you took a pebble, you were put in touch with the entire planet.”  This is something very far ahead of us, but it is interesting to speak about, and holds a promise for each and all.

“第四维度是可以看穿事物、和看到事物四周的能力。第五维度的能力，比如，你使用一只眼睛，通过那只眼睛，可以让自己与太阳系所有的其他眼睛融为一体。在第六维度看到的能力，或许可以被定义为，从沙滩上拿起一块鹅卵石，通过它你与整个地球保持一致的能力。又回到第五维度，当你使用那只眼睛，你被限制在特定的显化范围内，但是在第六维度，当你拿起一块鹅卵石时，你就与整个地球建立了连结。”这对我们而言是非常遥远的事情，但是谈论起来很有趣，我们每个人都可以拥有这样的能力。

There is not time to deal with the other powers, nor can I enumerate what they all may be.  Healing by touch will be amongst them.  The manipulation of the magnetic fluids, and conscious creation by means of colour and sound, are others.  All that really concerns us at this time is that we should consciously take ourselves in hand, seek to come ever more and more under control of the inner ruler, endeavour to become radio-active, and to develop group consciousness.

没有时间去探讨其他的能力，我也无法一一列举它们会是什么。触摸治疗会是其中之一。对磁性流体的操控、以及通过颜色和声音进行有意识地创造也是。此时我们真正应该关心的是，我们应该有意识地掌控自己，寻求让内在的统治者处于越来越大的掌控之中，努力变得有放射性，并发展我们的团体意识。

LECTURE VII: COSMIC EVOLUTION 第七课：宇宙的进化

[143]IT might well be considered ridiculous for anyone to undertake to give a lecture on Cosmic Evolution, because, of course, it is a subject which neither I nor any other mortal knows anything about, and consequently we are utterly unable to express ourselves upon it.  Nevertheless, there are certain deductions we can make under the law of analogy which may lead us to very interesting realms of thought.

不论是谁去做一个有关宇宙进化的讲座，都会看起来很荒谬。因为这不是我、也不是任何一个普通人可以获知的主题，因此我们完全不能去表达自己。然而，我们可以根据类比法则做出某些推论，这可能会带领我们进入非常有趣的思想领域。

We have for several weeks been considering the evolution of the atom from stage to stage, until we included the entire solar system under the term “atom.”  We studied first, along general lines, the atom of substance, then we studied the human atom, and later we applied what we knew about both these atoms to the still larger sphere, or atom, a planet, which we called a planetary atom; then we extended the idea still further to the atom of the solar system, predicating it as having a position within a still greater whole.

几个星期以来，我们一直在探讨原子从一个阶段到另一个阶段的进化，直至我们把整个太阳系都囊括在“原子”一词中。我们首先沿着常规的线路，研究了物质原子，接下来研究了人类原子，这之后，我们把我们知道的有关这两种原子的知识应用到一个更大的球体、原子或行星上，我们可以称之为地球原子；然后我们把这个想法进一步拓展至太阳系原子，并推测它在一个更大的整体中占有一席之地。

We studied three methods of evolution, or development, in connection with this subject.  We [144] considered the aspects which were evolved by means of these atoms, their qualities, or psychic nature, and we saw how in the atom of substance the only psychic quality we could postulate about it was the quality of intelligence.  We passed on then to atomic forms, subhuman forms, and saw how the forms in the two kingdoms of nature, the vegetable and animal, demonstrated another quality of the Deity, that of sensation, feeling, or embryo love and emotion; we also found that in the animal kingdom a third quality, that of rudimentary mind, began to show itself, and that when we arrived at the human atom, we had three aspects demonstrating—intelligence, love, and a central will.  We extended this concept to the planet and to the solar system, and found that, working out through the form of the solar system, we had a great Intelligence or Mind; that the object of His utilisation of form was the demonstration of another quality:  love or wisdom, the whole being energised by a great central WILL.  We deduced therefrom that this central Will might be the manifestation of an Entity Who informs the entire system, from the very lowest atom of substance up to that great Life Who energises the planetary scheme.

在这个主题下，我们研究了三种进化、发展的方法。通过这些原子、它们的特质或心理特性，我们讨论了得到发展的面向，我们也看到在物质原子中，我们唯一可以推测它拥有的心理特质就是智能。我们继续讨论了原子形态、亚人类形态，我们看到在自然界的两个王国，植物和动物王国中，体现出了神的另一个特质，就是感觉、情感、处于胚胎期的爱或感情；我们在动物王国还发现了第三个特质，就是初级的心智开始展现；当我们到达人类原子时，三个面向都得到了体现 —— 智能、爱、和核心意志。我们把这个概念拓展至地球和太阳系，我们会发现，存在着一个伟大的智能或心智，通过太阳系的形态进行着工作；他使用这种形态的目的是为了展示出另一种特质：爱或智慧，整个存在都被一个伟大的核心意志激发。我们推测，这种中央意志可能是某个实体的显化，是这个实体赋予整个太阳系生命力，从最小的物质原子，一直到为行星进化赋予能量的伟大生命。

Having laid down these fundamentals we passed on to the consideration of the evolution [145] of the conscious life within the atomic form, finding that a higher type of consciousness is consistently evolved by each atom; that the human consciousness is distinguished from all other lower forms in that it is self-conscious; that man is an intelligent will, consciously performing every action, becoming aware of his surroundings, and working out a definite line of activity with a specific objective in view.  The self-consciousness of man leads on again to something wider still, to the consciousness of the great planetary Spirit, which may perhaps be best expressed in the term ‘group consciousness.’  As evolution proceeds man will pass from the stage of self-consciousness in which you and I now are, to a realisation of what is meant by group consciousness, something as yet practically unknown, except as some beautiful ideal, and a dream which may, at some distant time, materialise.  Group consciousness, again, will logically lead on to that which we, for lack of a better term, might call God consciousness, though I deprecate the use of the word God because of the many quarrels it causes in the world between the different thinkers of the human family.  These differences are founded largely upon differences in phraseology, upon the terms used to express fundamental ideas, and upon varying methods of organisation.  When the scientist, for [146] instance, speaks of force, or energy, and the Christian speaks of God, and the Hindu uses terms analogous to the ‘I am that I am,’ or the Self, they are all speaking of one and the same great life, but have lost much time in endeavouring to prove each other wrong, and to demonstrate the accuracy of their own interpretation.

在奠定了这些基础之后，我们继续探讨原子形态之中有意识生命的进化，我们发现每个原子都在不断地进化出更高等级的意识；人类原子与其他低等形态的区别在于他拥有自我意识；人是拥有智能的意志，有意识地进行每一个行动，对他周围的环境有觉知，以特定目的作为目标，制定出明确的活动路线。人的自我意识也带领它到达伟大的行星灵性意识，或许“集体意识”一词可能是最好的描述。随着进化，人类将从你我当前所处的自我意识阶段过渡到集体意识象征的阶段，这是当前人们尚不知晓的意识，这是一个美丽的理想和梦想，或许在某个遥远的时间会实现。再一次，从逻辑上来说，集体意识会让我们达成一个阶段，或许可以称为神之意识，目前没有一个更好的词语来描述，尽管我想避免使用神这个词，因为它在人类家族不同的思想者之间引发了很多争执。这些差异主要存在于不同的措辞、表达基本观点时所使用的术语、以及不同的组织方法上。比如，当科学家用力量或者能量，基督徒使用上帝，印度教徒使用的是类似于‘我是我所是’、自我等术语，事实上他们都在谈论同一个相同的伟大生命，但是他们花了太多时间来努力证明自己理解的正确性和对方的错误性。

We next saw that, roughly speaking, atomic evolution could be divided into two parts or stages; one stage we called the atomic stage, and another we called, for lack of a better term, the radio-active stage.  The atomic stage is that in which the atom pursues its own self-centred life, is concerned entirely with its own evolution, and the effect of the contacts it makes.  As evolution proceeds, it becomes apparent that in time the atom begins to react to a greater life outside itself, and in this you have the period analogous to that of the form-building stage, in which these atoms of substance are attracted by a greater charge of energy, or positive electrical force (if you like to call it such), which draws them, or attracts them to itself, and builds out of them a form; these atoms of substance, in turn, become then electrons.  We found, then, how in your case and mine, as in the case of every self-conscious unit, the same procedure is followed, and that we have a central life holding within the sphere of its influence the [147] atoms that constitute the different bodies, mental, emotional, and physical; that we manifest, that we move and carry on our life, and work out our purposes, by attracting to ourselves the atoms of substance that are adequate to our needs, and through which we can make the necessary contacts.  These atoms are to us, the central life, what the electrons are to the central positive charge in the atom of substance.  Then we saw that if this is true, namely, that there is a self-centred stage, or purely atomic period, for the atom, and for the human atom, then again for the atom of the planet, indwelt by its central spiritual life, we should be able to predicate logically a similar state of affairs.  Thus we were led into the field of speculation.  We considered then whether all that transpires upon our planet may not be due to the self-centred condition of the Entity Who is working out His purposes by means of it.  Finally we carried forward the same idea in connection with the solar system itself.

接下来我们看到，大致来说，原子进化可以分为两个部分或阶段；一个阶段我们称之为原子阶段，另一个阶段，目前还没有一个更好的术语，称之为放射性阶段。原子阶段是原子追求以自我为中心的生活，完全关注它自己的进化，以及它进行接触的结果。随着进化的推进，明显地随着时间的推移，原子开始对自身之外的更大生命做出回应，这个阶段可以类比于形态建设的阶段，物质原子被更伟大的生命、能量或者正电力（如果你想要这么称呼它）所吸引，这种能量吸引把众多原子吸引到它身边，并从它们中构建出一种形态；在这个过程中，这些物质原子变成了电子般的存在。接下来我们发现，就你和我而言，以及每一个自我意识的个体而言，也遵循着相同的过程，我们拥有一个中央生命，在这个生命影响范围内，是组成这些不同身体的原子，即心智、情绪和物质身体的原子；我们通过把不同的物质原子吸引到我们身边来满足我们的需求，从而进行表达，从而继续前进，过我们的生活并实现我们的目标；也是通过这些原子我们进行必要的接触。这些身体原子之于我们中央生命，就像电子之于物质原子中的中央正电荷一样。然后我们看到，如果这样的推理是真的，也就是说，对原子和人类原子来说，存在着一个自我为中心的阶段、纯粹的原子阶段；那么，对于中央灵性生命所居住的地球原子来说，我们也可以从逻辑上给出类似的推断。就这样，我们进入了推测的领域。我们思考，我们地球上发生的一切是否可能由于那个处于以自我为中心阶段的实体正通过地球原子来实现它的目的。最后，我们继续向前推理，认为这个推导对太阳系本身来说也适用。

We passed on then to the consideration of the second stage, that which the scientist has been studying in connection with the atom of the chemist and physicist for the last twenty years, the radio-active stage; we saw how there was a condition analogous to this in the evolution of the human atom, and that there is a period preceding [148] it which parallels the atomic stage, wherein man is purely selfish, entirely self-centred, and pays no attention to the welfare of the group of which he is a part.  This prior stage is very apparent in the world to-day.  A large percentage of the human family is in the atomic stage, but we must remember that it is a protective and necessary one; it is passed through by every unit of the human family in the process of finding its place within the group, and enables it to develop something of value to give to that group when the second stage is entered.

接下来我们讨论了第二阶段，也就是化学和物理学在过去的二十年中一直对原子进行的研究，即放射性阶段；我们看到人类原子进化的过程中也存在着与此类似的状况，类似放射性阶段之前的原子阶段，人类原子进化过程中也存在着这样的阶段，那时人类纯粹是自私的，完全以自我为中心，不会对他所属团体的利益上心。当前的世界也明显地表现出了这个阶段。人类家族中的很大一部分人处于原子阶段，但是我们必须记住，这是一个保护性和必要的过渡；人类家族中的每一个单位在寻找自己所属的团体时，都会经历这个阶段，并使其发展出一些有价值的东西，从而在进入第二阶段时来贡献给该团体。

In the world to-day there are also units of the human family who are passing into the second stage, they are becoming radio-active and magnetic, they influence other forms and are becoming group conscious; they are passing out of the “I am” stage into the “I am that” realisation; the life and purpose of the great Entity of Whose body they are a part, is beginning to be cognised by them; they are becoming aware of the purpose back of the life of the planetary Spirit Who is the subjective impulse lying behind objective manifestation upon our earth.  They are beginning to co-operate with His plans, to work for the betterment of their group; and the difference between them and other atoms of the human family is that they are now group conscious, they have a wider horizon, a group recognition, and a larger purpose.  At the same time they do not lose their self-consciousness, nor their own individual identity, and their own spheroidal life remains, but they put the whole force and energy which flows through them not into the working out of their own plans, but into an intelligent co-operation with the greater Life of which they are a part.  Such men are few and far between, but when they are more in number, then we can look for a change in world conditions, and for that time to arrive, of which St. Paul speaks when he says:  “There should be no division in the body, but the members should have the same care one for another.  Whether one member suffer, all members suffer with it, or one member be honoured, all rejoice with it…it is the same God which worketh all in all.  There are diversities of gifts but the same spirit; there are differences of ministries (or service) but the same Lord.”  When we are all group conscious, when we are all aware of the purpose which lies back of manifestation upon our planet, when we are consciously active, and throwing all our energy into the working out of group plans, then we shall have what the Christian calls the “millennium.”

在当今世界，也有人类家族的个体正在进入第二阶段，他们正在变得有放射性和磁性，他们影响了其他的形态，正变得有集体意识；他们走出了“我是”的阶段，进入了“我是那”的认知；他们是一个伟大实体身体的组成部分，他们正开始认识到那伟大实体的生命和目的；他们开始到，地球之灵生命背后的目的，地球的圣灵生命是地球客体显化背后的主体生命脉动。他们开始与地球之灵生命的计划进行合作，为了改善他所在的团体而努力；他们和人类家族中其他原子之间的区别在于，他们现在具有群体意识，他们拥有更广阔的视野，即对群体的认同，以及更伟大的目标。与此同时，他们并没有失去自我意识，也没有失去自己的个人身份，他们自己范围的生命活动仍然存在，但是他们并不是把流经他们的全部力量和能量投入到实现自己的计划中，而是与他们组成的更伟大生命进行智能地合作。这样的人零星稀少，但是当这样的人数量变多时，我们就可以期待世界状况发生的转变，以及那个时间的到来，圣保罗这样描述了世界状况的转变：“群体不应该存在分裂，成员之间应该互相关心。当一个人受苦时，所有的人都会受到苦难的拖累；一个人受到荣耀时，所有的人都为之欢呼 … 是同一位神通过他们所有的人进行运作。恩赐有别，但圣灵相同；事工（或服务）有差，但主却是同一位。”当我们都拥有集体意识时，当我们都意识到我们地球显化背后的目的时，当我们都有意识地活动，并把我们所有的精力投入到执行群体计划时，我们就会迎来基督徒所谓的“千禧年”。

Now, if you have in the evolution of the atom of substance, and the human atom, these two stages, if they are the basis of all future development, then within the planetary atom you will [150] have the same two stages, that in which the planetary Life is working out His own plans, and a later one in which He falls in with the greater plans of the Life which animates the solar system.  Not yet being in a position to have an interview with the planetary Spirit, I am unable to tell you whether He is as yet co-operating in the purposes of the solar Logos; but we might be able to get some idea of the general purposes by the study of race evolution and the development of the great international plans within the planet.  We must bear in mind also, that, though we human beings consider ourselves as the highest and greatest manifestation upon the planet, there may be other evolutions through which the central Life may be working, of which we know as yet but little.  We must study not only man, but should consider also the angel evolution, or the deva evolution, as the Hindu calls it.  This opens up for us an immense field of study and speculation.

现在，你看到了在物质原子和人类原子进化中的两个阶段，假如这两个阶段是将来所有发展的基础，那么对地球原子来说，也会有相同的两个阶段，地球的生命正在落实他自己的计划，在稍后的第二个阶段中他会发现进入了让太阳系充满活力的生命的更伟大计划之中。当前我们尚不能与地球圣灵进行面对面地交流，我无法告诉你他现在是否正在参与落实太阳逻各斯的目标；但是通过研究地球上的种族进化以及国际间的伟大计划，我们或许可以对整体目标有一些了解。我们必须记住，尽管我们人类认为自己是地球上最高等和最伟大的显化，但是，中央生命还有可能也作用于其他的进化，不过我们对此知之甚少。我们不仅仅要研究人类的进化，也要研究天使、印度教所谓天神的进化。这为我们开辟了广阔的研究与思考领域。

Again, within the solar system we shall expect to find analogous stages.  We shall find, probably, that the great Life animating the entire solar system, the great Entity Who is using it for the working out of a definite purpose, energises it by means of these great centres of force which we call planetary atoms; that these centres, in their turn, work by means of lesser centres or groups, passing their energy on down through [151] groups of human atoms to the various kingdoms of nature, and thus to the little atom of substance which, in its turn, reflects the entire solar system.  This question of atomic life, if we think it out, is vastly interesting, and leads us into many lines of conjecture.  One of the main points of interest which it opens up is the intimate correlation, and close interaction of the atoms of every kind, and the all-pervading unity which must ultimately be recognised.  If we have found that there comes a stage in the evolution of all atoms of every kind in which they feel and search for their place within the group, and from being positive become negative in regard to a greater life, if it is true in all these manifestations of consciousness there is a self-conscious stage and group-conscious stage, is it not logical and possible that perhaps, after all, our solar system is but an atom within a greater whole?  May there not be for our solar system, and our solar Logos, a central larger life towards which the informing Spirit within the solar sphere is gradually attracted, and towards Whose consciousness our Deity aspires?  Are there anywhere indications of such an attractive force, or goal?  Are there greater spheres of solar life outside our system, that have a definite effect upon it?  This may be but a speculation, but it has its points of interest.  If we study astronomical books, and seek to ascertain whether astronomers say that this is so, we shall meet with a vast amount of contradictory opinion; we shall find that some astronomers say that within the Pleiades is a central point around which our solar system revolves; others say that in the constellation of Hercules is the point of magnetic attraction for our solar system.  On the other hand, you will find this flatly contradicted.  We shall find some astronomers talking about “star-drift,” and saying that the drift or trend, of certain stars is in a specific direction; others argue that the distances are so vast that it is impossible to determine whether certain systems are following a definite orbit or not.

同样地，在太阳系之中我们也能找到类似的阶段。我们也许会发现，赋予整个太阳系活力的伟大生命，通过为那些我们称之为行星原子的伟大力之中心提供能量，那个伟大实体正使用太阳系来实现一个特定的目标；反过来，那些力之中心也通过其他更小的中心或者团体，把它们的能量向下传递，通过人类原子群体传递给各个自然王国，从而传递给了微小的物质原子；而这微小的物质原子则映射出了整个太阳系。如果我们去思考原子生命的问题，它会非常有趣，并且会给我们带来很多思考的线路。它揭示出的主要兴趣点之一是各种原子之间密切的关系和紧密的互动，以及最终必须得到承认的无所不在的统一性。如果我们发现所有种类中的每一个原子在进化过程中都会出现一个阶段，在这个阶段它们会去感觉和寻找它们在群体中的位置，从正电中心变为一个更伟大生命中的电子，如果在所有意识的显化中的确存在一个自我意识阶段和集体意识阶段，那么，我们的太阳系是一个更伟大整体中一个原子的推论，难道不合乎逻辑，难道没有可能吗？对我们太阳系和太阳逻各斯而言，难道没有可能存在一个更伟大的中央生命吗？赋予太阳系领域生命力的圣灵逐渐被这个中央生命所吸引，我们的神明也渴望达成这个中央生命的意识状态。是否有任何迹象表明这种吸引力或目标的存在？在我们太阳系之外，是否存在更大的中央太阳生命领域，对这个目标产生影响？这可能只是一种推测，但是它可以触发研究的兴趣。如果我们研究天文学书籍，并去验证天文学家是否会这样描述，我们将会看到大量互相矛盾的意见；我们会发现，一些天文学家说，在昴宿星团中有一个中心点，我们太阳系围绕着这个中心点旋转；其他天文学家说，大力神星座才是我们太阳系的磁引力点。另一方面，你又会发现这是完全矛盾的。我们会发现一些天文学家在探讨“星漂”，并说一些星星的漂移或者运动趋势是在一个特定方向的；其他人会认为，距离太过遥远，无法确定某些星系是否沿着一个特定的轨道运行。

Nevertheless, if we go to some of the ancient books, those which we call mythological (and a myth may be defined as something which holds a great truth hidden until we are ready to understand it), and if we study the ancient books of the East, we shall find that in all of them there are two or three constellations which are regarded as having a peculiarly intimate relation to our solar system.  Towards these views modern astronomers as yet hold an agnostic attitude, and from the point of view of materialistic science, rightly so.  What I seek to emphasise here is that a topic upon which scientists and astronomers are divided, yet which is nevertheless a subject of [153] contention, and one upon which the Oriental books sound a clear note, must have a basis in fact, and that there is probably an aspect of truth in the assertion.  I would personally suggest here that that aspect of truth will be found, not along physical lines of interpretation, but along the lines of consciousness; that it is the psychic evolution that is going on within all atoms (using psychic in the sense of the subjective consciousness) which is hinted at in these books, and the emphasis is laid upon our having an occult relationship with other solar systems.  Here the truth may perhaps be found.  The life subjective may be one; the energy flowing between them may be one; but in the physical form lies diversity.  Perhaps in the evolution of the intelligence, in the manifestation of love, or group consciousness, and in the development of will or purpose, lies unity, the oneness of the subjective life, and the eventual recognition that within the form, and in the form only, lies separation and differentiation.

然而，如果我们去看一些古老的书籍，那些我们称之为神话的书（神话或许可以被定义为隐藏着的伟大真理，直至我们做好准备去发现它隐藏的奥秘），如果我们研究古老的东方书籍，我们会发现，在所有这些星团中，都会有两到三个星团被认为与我们的太阳系有着密切的关系。对于这些观点，现代天文学家仍然持有不可知论的态度，从唯物主义的科学角度来看，的确如此。我想要强调的是，这里有一个科学家和天文学家存在分歧的主题，它现在仍然是争议的焦点，东方的书籍对这个主题有清晰的基调，这个主题一定存在事实基础；我也想强调，在这个断言中可能存在着真理的某个面向。我个人在这里的建议是，真理的那个面向最终会被发现，不是沿着理解的唯物主义线路，而是沿着意识的线路；那些书中暗示了所有原子内部正在发生的心理进化（使用心理这个词用来代表主体意识），并且强调我们的太阳系与其他太阳系之间的神秘关系。这里或许就可以找到真相。生命的主观面向或许是统一的存在；它们之间的能量流动也是统一的；而物质形态却表现出多样性。或许在智能的进化中，在爱的显化、集体意识中，在意志或目的的发展中，存在着统一、主体生命的合一；在智能、爱、意志的进化中最终会意识到，在形态之中而且只有在形态之中时，才会有分离和不同。

The ancient books of the East point out, in considering this subject, that the seven stars of the Great Bear, the seven stars of the Pleiades, and the sun Sirius, have a very close connection with our solar system, and that they hold an intimate psychic magnetic relation to our solar Logos.

东方古籍在讨论这个问题的时候指出，大熊座七星、昴宿星团七星、恒星天狼星，它们之间与我们的太阳系有非常密切的关系，它们对我们的太阳逻各斯持有一种密切的灵魂磁力连结。

[154]We have seen that the goal for the atom of substance is self-consciousness; and that for the Entity Who is evolving through a planet, the goal may be God consciousness.  Now, of course, when you consider the solar Logos words fail, yet for Him also there must be a goal.  You can call this Absolute Consciousness, if you like.  Let us again illustrate this.  Our body, we have been told, is made up of a multiplicity of little lives, or cells, or atoms, each having its own individual consciousness.  This corresponds to its self-consciousness.  The consciousness of the physical body, viewed as a whole, might, from the atom’s point of view, be regarded as its group consciousness.  Then we have the consciousness of man, the thinker.  He is the one who energises the body, and turns it to his will—that is, to the atom in his body, analogous to what we might call God consciousness.  Our self-conscious realisation is as far removed from that of the atom as the consciousness of the solar Logos is from ours.  Now to the atom in our body that consciousness of the solar Logos might be called Absolute Consciousness, might it not?  This thought can be extended to the human atom, to the planetary atom, and you can further predicate that the solar Logos reaches out to a consciousness beyond His own analogous to that which stretches between the atom in your body and Him.  Here [155] you have a very marvellous vista opening up.  Yet this is, in itself, encouraging; for if we study closely the cell in a physical body, and consider the long road that has been travelled between its consciousness, and that which a man now knows to be his, we have for ourselves the promise and hope of future achievement, and the incentive to persist in our endeavour.

我们已经看到，物质原子的目标是自我意识；而对于通过行星来进化的实体来说，目标可能是神之意识。当然，现在当你思考太阳逻各斯时，词语失去效力，然而对他来说肯定也存在着一个目标。如果你愿意，可以把这个称之为绝对意识。让我们再次说明这一点。我们已经知道，我们的身体是由无数微小的生命、细胞、原子构成的，它们每一个都拥有自己的个体意识。这对应着它们的自我意识。我们把整个物质身体的意识看作一个整体，从原子的角度来看，它就成为了原子的群体意识。接下来，我们讨论了人、思考者的意识。他为整个身体赋予能量，并让他的身体服从于他的意志，这对他身体中的原子来说，就类似于我们所谓的神之意识。原子的意识与我们人的自我意识认知相去甚远，就像我们的意识与太阳逻各斯的意识相去甚远一样，不是吗？这个想法可以拓展至人类原子、地球原子之上，而且你可以进一步推断，太阳逻各斯将会到达一种远远超越他的意识状态，类似于从你身体中的原子意识拓展至太阳逻各斯之间意识状态。这里打开了一个非常奇妙的愿景。它本身就非常鼓舞人心；因为如果我们仔细研究物质身体中的细胞，并思考它的意识和一个人知道的自我意识之间的漫长旅途，我们就拥有了对将来成就之事的承诺和希望，以及我们进行坚持不懈努力的动力。

The old books of the East have held secreted for many ages the truth about much which is only now beginning to sink into the consciousness of the Occidental.  They taught the radio-activity of matter thousands of years ago, and so perhaps, after all, there may be an equal amount of truth in their teaching about the constellations.  Perhaps in the stars that we can see in the distant heavens, and in the life that is evolving within them, we have the objective of our solar Logos, and the influences that are flowing towards him, attracting him towards them, and making him, in due course of time, radio-active.  In the Eastern books they say that in the sun Sirius lies the source of wisdom, and that the influence or the energy of love emanates from there.  Then they say that there is a constellation that is even more closely connected with our solar Logos, the reason being that He is not, as yet, sufficiently evolved so that He can respond completely to Sirius, but He can respond to the influence of the seven sisters of [156] the Pleiades.  This group is a most interesting one.  If you will go to the dictionary and look up the word “electricity,” you will find it suggested that it may be traced back to the star Electra, one of the seven sisters, and supposed by some to be the little lost Pleiad.  The Eastern teachers say that in the mystery of electricity is hidden all knowledge, and that when we have fathomed that we shall know all there is to be known.  What the relationship of the Pleiades to our solar system may be, it is not possible for us to say, but even our Christian Bible recognises it, and Job speaks of “the sweet influences of the Pleiades,” whilst some of the Oriental Scriptures affirm that the connection lies in sound or vibration.  Perhaps the Pleiades are the source of the atomic life of our Logos, the active intelligent aspect, that one which was first developed, and which we might call electrical matter.

古老的东方书籍一直隐藏着很多真理，而这些真理现在才开始沉淀到西方人的意识之中。在几千年前书中就教导了放射性的物质，所以说到底，他们对星座的教导或许含有等量的真理。或许在遥远夜空我们看到的星星中，或许在它们内部进化的生命中，我们可以看到我们太阳逻各斯的目标，以及流向他、把他吸引到它们身边的影响，并让他在适当的时候，变得具有放射性。东方书籍中描述，恒星天狼星是智慧的源泉，爱的能量或影响从那里发射出。书中还说，存在一个星系与我们的太阳逻各斯联系更密切，因为太阳逻各斯目前并没有充分地进化到可以完全地对天狼星进行回应，但是他可以回应昴宿星团的七姐妹星带来的影响。昴宿星团的七颗星是非常有趣。如果你去查字典，查询单词“电力”的意思，你会发现它所暗示的内容或许可以追溯到七姐妹之一的昴宿一，这是七姐妹星之一，一些人把它看作失落的小昴宿。东方的老师说，在电的奥秘中隐藏着所有的知识，当我们洞悉一切后，我们就会知道所有需要知道的。昴宿星团与太阳系之间的关系是什么，我们当前还不能说出，但即便是我们基督教的《圣经》也认识到了这一点，约伯（Job）谈到了“昴宿星团甜蜜的影响”，同时一些东方的手稿也确认，这种连结在于声音或振动之中。或许昴宿星团是我们逻各斯所有原子生命的源泉，是活跃的智能面向，是最先发展起来的那个面向，我们可以把它称之为电物质。

Then there is the Great Bear.  There is much that is interesting said about the relation between the Great Bear and the Pleiades in Oriental writings.  The seven sisters are said to be the seven wives of the seven stars of the Great Bear.  Now what is perhaps the truth back of that legend?  If the Pleiades are the source of the electrical manifestation, the active intelligent aspect of the solar system, and their energy that which animates all matter, they may perhaps [157] represent the negative aspect, whose polar opposite, or the positive aspect, is their seven husbands, the seven stars of the Great Bear.  Perhaps the union of these two is what produces our solar system.  Perhaps these two types of energy, one from the Pleiades and the other from the Great Bear, meet, and in their conjunction produce that blazing forth in the heavens which we call our solar system.

接下来就是大熊座。在东方著作中有很多关于大熊座和昴宿星团之间关系的有趣说法。七姐妹星据说是大熊座七星的七个妻子。这个传说背后的真相可能是什么？如果昴宿星团是电显化、太阳系活跃智能面向的源头，它们的能量赋予所有物质以生命力，它们或许代表了负电的面向；它们的对应极性，正电面向，就是他们的七位丈夫，大熊座的七颗星。或许这两者的结合诞生了我们的太阳系。或许这两种类型的能量的相遇，一种来自昴宿星团，一种来自大熊座，在它们的结合下，诞生了我们所谓的太阳系，在天空中闪耀着光芒。

The relationship of these two constellations, or rather their subjective relationship, must surely have some basis in fact, or we would not have it hinted at in the different mythologies.  There must be something that connects them, out of all the myriads of constellations, with our solar system.  But when we endeavour to give it a purely physical application we go astray.  If we work it out along the lines of the subjective life, and connect it with energy, quality, or force, we are liable to stumble upon truth, and find out some of the reality which may underlie what appears at first sight to be a senseless fable.  Anything that widens our horizon, that enables us to take a broader vision and a clearer view of what is going on in the evolutionary process, is of value to us, not because the accumulation of ascertained facts is of value, but because of what it enables us to do within ourselves; our ability to think in wider and larger terms is increased; [158] we are enabled to look beyond our self-centred point of view, and to include within our consciousness other and different aspects than our own.  In doing this we are developing group consciousness, and we shall realise eventually that the apparently stupendous facts which we fought and died for down the ages, and emphasised as the entire truth, were after all but fragments of a plan, and infinitesimal portions of a gigantic sumtotal.  Perhaps, therefore, when we come back to earth again, and can look back upon the things that interest us now, and which we consider so important, we shall find how erroneous facts were as we then apprehended them.  Facts, after all, do not matter; the facts of the last century are not facts now, and in the next century scientists may laugh at our dogmatic assertions, and wonder how we could have looked upon matter as we did.  It is the development of the life, and the relationship of the life to all that is around, that really matters; and, above all, the effect that we are having upon those with whom we are associated, and the work we do, which affects, for better or for worse, the group in which we find ourselves.

这两个星团之间的关系，或者说它们主体的关系，肯定有一些事实上的依据，否则不会在不同的神话中都有所暗示。在数不尽的星团中，它们与我们太阳系之间一定存在着某种联系。但是当我们试图给它一个纯粹的物质层面的解释时，我们就会误入歧途。如果我们沿着主体生命的线路来研究，并把它与能量、特质或力联系起来，我们很可能会邂逅真理，并找到一些事实真相，这些真相或许藏在那些乍一看似乎是一些毫无意义的寓言背后。任何能拓宽我们视野、任何能让我们对这个进化过程有一个更宽阔的视野和清晰看法的事物，都对我们来说是有价值的。有价值不是因为对已经证实事实的积累，而是因为它使我们能够在自己内在做些什么；我们可以在更大更广范围内进行思考的能力得到提高；我们能够超越以自我为中心的观点，并在我们意识之中融入不同于我们自己的其他面向。通过这么做，我们发展了集体意识，我们最终会意识到，世代以来我们为之奋斗、牺牲并强调说是全部真相的那些惊人巨大事实，竟然是一个大计划的片段，是一个巨大整体的无数微小组成部分。因此，或许当我们的目光再次回到地球，去回顾那些我们感兴趣的事情时，去看待那些我们认为非常重要的事情时，我们会发现我们当时对事实的理解是多么的错误。毕竟，事实并不重要；上个世纪的那些事实现在已经不再是事实了，下一个世纪的科学家或许会嘲笑我们教条般的论断，他们会好奇我们为什么会这样来看待物质。真正重要的，是发展生命、以及生命与它周围所有一切的关系；重要的是，我们对跟我们有联系的那些人所产生的影响、以及我们所做的工作，它们无论好坏，都会影响到我们所属的群体。

In closing this series of lectures, I cannot do better than quote again from St. Paul, where he says:  “I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall he revealed in us…for we are saved by hope…for I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God.”

在结束这一系列讲座之时，我想要再次引用圣保罗的话，他说：“我认为当前的苦难不足以与将要在我们内在揭示出的荣耀相提并论…因为我们会被希望拯救…因为我非常确信，不论生命、死亡，不论天使还是掌权者、不论何种权力，不论当前还是将来要发生的事情，不论身处高处还是低谷，不论其他任何的造物，都不能把我们与神的爱分离开来。”

原文：https://www.lucistrust.org/online_books/obooks_the_consciousness_the_atom

翻译：Soluna