I was once at an international conference on how to alleviate poverty on the planet.There were several eminent participants in positions of public responsibility,including a generous sprinkling of Nobel laureates.
我曾經參與一場國際會議，探討如何紓解地球上的貧困問題。在與會者當中，不乏擔負社會責任的知名人士，其中包括多位諾貝爾獎得主。
At one point,a participant said,"Why are we trying to solve these problems?Isn't all this divine will?"
And I said,"Yes,if someone else is dying,somebody else is hungry,it must be divine will.But if your stomach is empty,if your child is dying of hunger,you'll have your own plan,won't you?"
在某個時候，一位與會者說：「為什麼我們要試圖解決這些問題？難道這不全都是天意？」
於是我說：「是的，如果其他人餓得奄奄一息或整天飢腸轆轆，那麼，它一定是天意，但如果是你食不果腹或你的孩子瀕臨餓死，你就會擬出計劃，不是嗎？」
Whenever we have had to do something about our lives,we have taken it into our hands.Whenever it comes to other people's misfortunes,we have a word to explain it:destiny.
每當我們必須為自己的人生做點事情時，我們就會親自處理。每當面對不幸的是別人時，我們就會以「命運」這個詞來解釋。
And what a convenient word that is.Destiny has become a popular scapegoat,a way to deal with failure,a fatalistic ruse to reconcile ourselves to all kinds of uncomfortable situations.But turning inward is the first step from passivity to agency---from being a victim toward becoming a master of your own destiny.
這是多麼方便好用的一個詞彙呀！「命運」已經成為一個普遍流行的代罪羔羊，一種處理失敗的方式，一種讓自己接受各種令人不自在情況的宿命論花招。但是，「轉向內在」則是讓我們從消極轉變為積極活躍，從一個受害者轉變成為掌握自身命運之主人的第一步。
A variety of diseases that people believed to be "God's will"until a hundred years ago,are in our hands today.This is because we have taken charge of certain situations.Polio is an example.The very word "polio"would strike terror in the hearts of many in recent history.When I was growing up,I saw quite a few polio-afflicted people about my age,in school and in my neighborhood,who were doomed to live out their lives in wheelchairs.It was a common sight,and it was an ackonwledged fact that they would never be able to walk in their lives.Their affliction was usually seen as an act of God or destiny.
在一百年前，人們仍然相信各種疾病是出自「神的旨意」，而在今日，我們已經能控制這些疾病。這是我們已經掌控某些情況的緣故，小兒麻痺症即是一例。在近代的人類歷史上，「小兒麻痺症」這個詞彙會使許多人心驚肉跳，驚恐萬狀。在成長的過程中，我在學校和街坊看見相當多年紀相仿的人罹患小兒麻痺症，他們註定一輩子要坐輪椅。這是常見的現象，也是公認的事實——他們一輩子都無法走路，而他們的痛苦常常被視為是神的旨意或命運。
At the start of the twentieth century,polio was the most feared ailment in industrialized countries,irreversibly paralyzing thousands of children.Effective vaccines helped practically eliminate this disease in the 1950s and '60s.When it was recognized as a major problem in developing countries,immunization programs were introduced.In 1988,polio afflicted 350,000 children around the world in a single year;in 2013,the number had dropped to 416.By 2012,India was no longer on the list of polio-endemic countries.A combination of political advocacy,public and private partnerships,effective reasonably priced vaccines,community participation,and teams of global healthcare workers,proved that despite all the obstacles,even in a country as vast and challenging as India,eradication was possible.
在二十世紀初的工業化國家中，小兒麻痺症是最令人恐懼的疾病，無可逆轉地癱瘓了數千名孩童。到了一九五零和六零年代，有效的疫苗幾乎根除了這個疾病。當人們認識到，小兒麻痺症是開發中國家的重大問題時，於是引進「免疫接種」的程序。光是在一九八八年這一年，全世界有三十五萬名孩童罹患小兒麻痺症；二零一三年，病童數量已經降到四一六人，印度於二零一二年已經從小兒麻痺症流行猖獗的國家名單上除名。在政治宣導、政府與民間合作、全球醫療團隊的組合之下，證明了儘管面對所有的障礙，即使在如印度這般幅員遼闊、具挑戰性的國家，教育都是有可能的。
To be human means you can mold situations you are living in the way you want them.But today most people in the world are molded by the situations in which they exist.This is simply because they live in reaction to situations they are placed in.The inevitable question is,"Why was I placed in such a situation?Isn't it my destiny?"Whatever we do not want to take responsibility for,whatever we cannot make sense of logically,we label "destiny."It is a consoling word,but disempowering.
「身而為人」意指你可以把生活情況形塑成為自己想要的樣子，但是在今日的世界，大多數人都被生活情境所形塑，這純粹是因為他們對其置身的情境生起反應的緣故。不可避免的問題是：「為什麼我身處這種情境？難道它不是我的命運嗎？」在我們面對自己不想要負責、在邏輯上不合情理的事情時，我們就把它貼上「命運」的標籤。這是一個令人感到安慰的字眼，卻也使人失去力量。
瑜伽究竟是什麼？它是一門能讓你與生命達成完美協調的科學。透過瑜伽，我們可以提升並協調我們在身體、頭腦、能量三個層面的能力，以達到與生命本身合一的終極喜悅狀態。
薩古魯為你擘畫了一個非常精細的瑜伽士的智慧書計劃，教你如何獲得喜悅與自由，那就是：
一 善用自己的身體去作為靈性成長的工具；
二 善用頭腦所具備的覺知智力去辨別真實與虛幻；
三 啟動自我能量系統，體驗身心運作的過程。
這個有著清晰指引藍圖的內在心靈工程，同時搭配有二十五項靈性修持的方法，藉由適當的靈性修持，每個人都能為自己寫下一個喜悅和幸福的軟體，最終它將帶領我們揭開最深奧的生命之謎。
One man's "magic" is
another man's engineering.
---Robert A. Heinlein
你所謂的奇蹟，也許是
另一個人按部就班且精心實踐的結果。
---羅伯特●海萊因
本文節選自臺版圖書：《一個瑜伽士的內在喜悅工程：轉心向內，即是出路》（英文版《Inner Engineering:A Yogi's Guide to Joy》）薩古魯（Sadhguru）著；項慧齡譯。初版：臺北市地平線文化，漫遊者文化出版；大雁文化發行，2017年10月。