評論
打印
I have a dear friend whose first child was born right after his beloved mother died. After this confluence of miracle and loss, my friend felt a desire to have some kind of sacred place to go, or some ritual to perform, in order to sort through all the emotion. My friend was a Catholic by upbringing, but couldn't stomach returning to the church as an adult. ("I can't buy it anymore," he said, "knowing what I know.") Of course, he'd be embarrassed to become a Hindu or a Buddhist or something wacky like that. So what could he do? As he told me, "You don't want to go cherry-picking a religion."
我有個親密的朋友，是他母親的頭一胎，而他親愛的母親卻在生產中過世，他則順利出生。經歷奇跡與失落的交集后，我的朋友渴望前往某種圣地，或執行某種儀式，藉以整理自己的感情。我的朋友生來是天主教徒，成年之后卻無法忍受去教會（“了解自己知道的事后，”他說“讓我再也無法認同。”）當然，成為印度教徒或佛教徒對他來說是尷尬古怪的事。因此他能做什么？他告訴我說：“誰都不想隨便挑個宗教去信。”
Which is a sentiment I completely respect except for the fact that I totally disagree. I think you have every right to cherry-pick when it comes to moving your spirit and finding peace in God. I think you are free to search for any metaphor whatsoever which will take you across the worldly divide whenever you need to be transported or comforted. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. It's the history of mankind's search for holiness. If humanity never evolved in its exploration of the divine, a lot of us would still be worshipping golden Egyptian statues of cats. And this evolution of religious thinking does involve a fair bit of cherry-picking. You take whatever works from wherever you can find it, and you keep moving toward the light.
我完全尊重他的觀點，只不過我并不完全同意。我認為你有權去挑選任何觸動你的心靈、在神當中找到平靜的東西。我認為在你需要慰藉之時，你有自由追求帶自己跨越世間分水嶺的任何隱喻。這沒啥好難為情。這是人類尋求神圣的歷史。倘若人類未曾在探求神靈中進化，我們許多人至今還在祭拜古埃及的金貓雕像。此種宗教思維確實涉及挑選。你從自己能找到的任何地方挑選任何著作，持續朝光的方向移動。
The Hopi Indians thought that the world's religions each contained one spiritual thread, and that these threads are always seeking each other, wanting to join. When all the threads are finally woven together they will form a rope that will pull us out of this dark cycle of history and into the next realm. More contemporarily, the Dalai Lama has repeated the same idea, assuring his Western students repeatedly that they needn't become Tibetan Buddhists in order to be his pupils. He welcomes them to take whatever ideas they like out of Tibetan Buddhism and integrate these ideas into their own religious practices. Even in the most unlikely and conservative of places, you can find sometimes this glimmering idea that God might be bigger than our limited religious doctrines have taught us. In 1954, Pope Pius XI, of all people, sent some Vatican delegates on a trip to Libya with these written instructions: "Do NOT think that you are going among Infidels. Muslims attain salvation, too. The ways of Providence are infinite."
霍皮族（Hopi）印第安人認為世界上每種宗教都包含一條心靈線，這些線一直在找尋彼此，匯合在一起。這些線最終編織成一條繩索，將我們拉出黑暗的歷史循環，進入下一個空間。近代的達賴喇嘛重述過同樣的觀念，屢次向他的西方弟子擔保，想成為他的學生無須成為西藏佛教徒。他歡迎他們從西藏佛教擷取自己喜歡的觀念，將這些觀念與自己的宗教活動相結合。即使在最不可能、最因循守舊的地方，有時也能發現這個閃閃發光的觀念：神可能大過有限的宗教教條所給予的教導。1954年，教宗派厄斯十一世（PiuXI）派遣梵蒂岡代表前往利比亞，帶去書面說明：“切勿以為汝等前往異教徒之國。穆斯林人亦能得救。上天之路無邊無際。”
But doesn't that make sense? That the infinite would be, indeed . . . infinite? That even the most holy amongst us would only be able to see scattered pieces of the eternal picture at any given time? And that maybe if we could collect those pieces and compare them, a story about God would begin to emerge that resembles and includes everyone? And isn't our individual longing for transcendence all just part of this larger human search for divinity? Don't we each have the right to not stop seeking until we get as close to the source of wonder as possible? Even if it means coming to India and kissing trees in the moonlight for a while?
這難道不成道理？蒼穹莫不是無邊無際？即使最虔誠之人也只能在某一特定時刻看見片段的永恒圖畫？或許如能搜集這些片段加以比較，一個有關神的故事即可慢慢成形，相似于每個人，并將每個人包含在內？每個人對于超越的渴望，難道不都只是廣大人類尋求神性的一部分？人人不都有權利不斷追尋，直到盡可能接近神奇之源？即使意味著前來印度，在月光中親吻樹林片刻？
That's me in the corner, in other words. That's me in the spotlight. Choosing my religion. Eat, Pray, Love
換言之，這是在角落里的我。在聚光燈下的我。我選擇自己的宗教。
