On Prayer

Then a priestess said, "Speak to us of Prayer."

And he answered, saying:

You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.

For what is prayer but the expansion of yourself into the living ether?

And if it is for your comfort to pour your darkness into space, it is also for your delight to pour forth the dawning of your heart.

And if you cannot but weep when your soul summons you to prayer, she should spur you again and yet again, though weeping, until you shall come laughing.

When you pray you rise to meet in the air those who are praying at that very hour, and whom save in prayer you may not meet.

Therefore let your visit to that temple invisible be for naught but ecstasy and sweet communion.

For if you should enter the temple for no other purpose than asking you shall not receive.

And if you should enter into it to humble yourself you shall not be lifted:

Or even if you should enter into it to beg for the good of others you shall not be heard.

It is enough that you enter the temple invisible.

I cannot teach you how to pray in words.

God listens not to your words save when He Himself utters them through your lips.

And I cannot teach you the prayer of the seas and the forests and the mountains.

But you who are born of the mountains and the forests and the seas can find their prayer in your heart,

And if you but listen in the stillness of the night you shall hear them saying in silence,

"Our God, who art our winged self, it is thy will in us that willeth.

It is thy desire in us that desireth.

It is thy urge in us that would turn our nights, which are thine, into days which are thine also.

We cannot ask thee for aught, for thou knowest our needs before they are born in us:

Thou art our need; and in giving us more of thyself thou givest us all."

祈祷

　　随后一位女祭司说，请给我们谈谈祈祷。

　　他回答道：

　　你们在痛苦或需要时祈祷；希望你们在快乐的满足中、在富足的日子里也会祈祷。

　　因为你们的祈祷不就是你们的自我向生命的太空的延伸么？

　　如果将你们的黑暗倾入太空是为了你们的舒解，那么将你们的曙光倾入太空是为了你们的欣悦。

　　如果你们的灵魂召唤你们时你们只能哭泣，那么她会在哭泣中一再鞭策你们，直到你们欢笑。

　　在祈祷中你们将升举云天，从而见到同在祈祷的人，以及那些除了祈祷时你们永远不会见面的人。

　　因此让你们对无形圣殿的造访，成为纯粹的欣喜和甜美的交流。

　　因为你们若只为寻求而造访圣殿，你们将不会被接待；

　　你们若为贬抑自己而来，你们也不会被提升；

　　甚或你们是为他人祈福而进入圣殿，你们也不会被倾听。

　　你们只要隐匿地进入圣殿，这就足够了。

　　我不能教给你们用言语祈祷。

　　上帝不会倾听你们的言语，除非是他自己引导你们从唇间吐出的话语。

　　我也无法教给你们海洋、森林和山峦的祈祷。

　　但你们，生于海、生于林、生于山的你们，可以在你们的心中找到它们的祈祷。

　　倘若你们在夜的寂静中倾听，你们就会听到它们在沉默中说：

　　"我们的上帝，也就是我们生翼的自我，是你的意志在我们体内行使意志。

　　"是你的愿望在我们的体内表达愿望。

　　"是你在我们体内的冲动，想把我们的，实际是你的黑夜，变为我们的，实际是你的白昼。

　　"我们不能向你索求什么，因为早在这需求在我们心中形成之前，你就已经洞悉了它。

　　"你就是我们的需求；当你把自己更多地给予我们时，你已将一切给予我们了。"
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