世界小史 第93期:梵天

　　For the divine breath of Brahma is the essence of all things.

　　因为神圣的梵天(波罗贺摩)的气息是万物的精华。

　　To help their pupils understand this, Indian priests had a lovely formula which you may turn over in your mind.

　　为使他们的弟子们明白这一点，印度的祭司们有一个简单的公式，你可以很容易记住。

　　All they said was "This is you", by which they meant that everything around you – all the animals and plants and your fellow human beings – are, with you yourself, part of the breath of God.

　　他们说的就是"这是你"，这意思就是说你所见到的一切——动物和植物以及你周围的人，包括你自己，都是神的一丝气息。

　　The priests had invented an extraordinary way of actually feeling this all-embracing unity¹.

　　为了正确感悟这种伟大的一致性，印度的祭司们想出了一个奇特的方法。

　　They would sit down somewhere in the depths of the ancient Indian forest and think about it, and nothing else, for hours, days, weeks, months, years.

　　他们在印度原始森林里的某处坐下，一门心思地思考这个问题，接连几小时，几天，几个星期，几个月，甚至几年之久。

　　They sat on the ground, upright and still, their legs crossed and their eyes lowered.

　　他们直挺挺地静悄悄地坐在地上，盘着腿，垂着眼。

　　They breathed as little as possible and they ate as little as possible,他们尽量少呼吸，尽量少吃,

　　indeed, some of them even tormented² themselves in special ways to purify themselves and help them sense the divine breath within them.

　　是的，他们之中的某些人还以特殊的方式折磨自己，净化自己，从而帮助他们感受他们身体内的神的气息。

 

1 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

2 tormented   

饱受折磨的

参考例句：

• The knowledge of his guilt tormented him. 知道了自己的罪责使他非常痛苦。
• He had lain awake all night, tormented by jealousy. 他彻夜未眠，深受嫉妒的折磨。