《美食祈禱和戀愛》Chapter 66 (147):人人追求的東西
This is what everyone has come here for.
這正是人人來此追求的東西。When I initially wrote that sentence, what I meant by it was: "This is why these one hundred retreat participants from all over the world have come to this Ashram in India." But actually, the Yogic saints and philosophers would have agreed with the broadness of my original statement: "This is what everyone has come here for." According to the mystics, this search for divine bliss is the entire purpose of a human life. This is why we all chose to be born, and this is why all the suffering and pain of life on earth is worthwhile—just for the chance to experience this infinite love. And once you have found this divinity within, can you hold it? Because if you can . . . bliss.
最初寫下這個句子，我的意思是：“這正是來自全球各地的一百名靜修成員來這個印度道場所追求的東西。”事實上，瑜伽聖哲也會贊同我這句廣義的原始敘述：“這正是人人來此追求的東西”。神祕主義學說認爲，追尋此種天堂之樂，是人生的目標。這正是我們選擇出生，也是人生在世值得受苦的原因——只爲了有機會體驗此種無限之愛。一旦你找到了內心的神，你能否牢牢抓住？你若抓得住……就是福氣。I spend the entire retreat in the back of the temple, watching over the participants as they meditate in the half-dark and total quiet. It is my job to be concerned about their comfort, paying careful attention to see if anyone is in trouble or need. They've all taken vows of silence for the duration of the retreat, and every day I can feel them descending deeper into that silence until the entire Ashram is saturated with their stillness. Out of respect to the retreat participants, we are all tiptoeing through our days now, even eating our meals in silence. All traces of chatter are gone. Even I am quiet. There is a middle-of-the-night silence around here now, the hushed timelessness you generally only experience around 3:00 AM when you're totally alone—yet it's carried through the broad daylight and held by the whole Ashram.
整個靜修期間，我待在寺院後方，觀察學員在昏暗的靜默中禪坐。我的任務是關照他們，留意誰遇上麻煩或有任何需要。他們都已發誓在靜修期間保持沉默，每天我都感覺到他們進入更深的靜默，直到整個道場沉浸在他們的沉靜中。出於對靜修成員的尊重，我們整天踮着腳尖走路，甚至用餐時亦沉默不語。聽不見任何人聊天，連我也安安靜靜的。午夜的寂靜瀰漫此地。一種超越時間的靜謐，通常在凌晨三時獨自一人的時候才體驗得到——然而此種靜謐持續整個大白天，充塞整個道場。
As these hundred souls meditate, I have no idea what they're thinking or feeling, but I know what they want to experience, and I find myself in a constant state of prayer to God on their behalf, making odd bargains for them like, Please give these wonderful people any blessings you might have originally set aside for me. It's not my intention to go into meditation at the same time the retreat participants are meditating; I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on them, not worrying about my own spiritual journey. But I find myself every day lifted on the waves of their collective devotional intention, much the same way that certain scavenging birds can ride the thermal heat waves which rise off the earth, taking them much higher in the air than they ever could have flown on their own wing-power. So it's probably not surprising that this is when it happens. One Thursday afternoon in the back of the temple, right in the midst of my Key Hostess duties, wearing my name-tag and everything—I am suddenly transported through the portal of the universe and taken to the center of God's palm. Eat, Pray, Love
在這一百個人禪坐之時，我不知道他們想些什麼或感覺什麼，但我知道他們想體驗什麼；我經常替他們向神禱告，爲他們做奇怪的交易，比方說，“請你把原本留給我的祝福，給予這些了不起的人吧”。我無意在靜修學員禪坐的同時進行禪坐；我本該照看他們，不該顧及自己的心靈之旅。然而我發現自己每天都在他們集體的奉獻意向中提升，類似某些掠食鳥類依靠地面上升的熱流高飛天際，比依賴翅膀的力量飛得更高。所以我會有這樣的感覺，也許也沒什麼好驚訝的。而某週四下午，在寺院後方，就在我佩戴名牌執行“主招待”職責之際——我忽然穿越宇宙之門，被送往神的掌心。
