19 心靈發電廠

Fear is a powerful form of thought. It paralyzes the nerve centers, thus affecting the circulation of the blood. This, in turn, paralyzes the muscular system, so that fear affects the entire being, body, brain and nerve, physical, mental, and muscular. 恐懼是一種強而有力的思想形式，會麻痹神經中樞，進而影響血液循環。這個過程又會反過來癱瘓肌肉系統，以至於最終影響整個人體，包括身體、大腦和神經，生理、心理與肌肉。

Of course the way to overcome fear is to become conscious of power. What is this mysterious vital force which we call power? We do not know, but then, neither do we know what electricity is. But we do know that by conforming to the requirements of the law by which electricity is governed, it will be our obedient servant; that it will light our homes, our cities, run our machinery, and serve us in many useful capacities. 當然，克服恐懼的方式就是自發自覺地認識力量。這股我們稱為力量的神祕重要外力究竟是什麼，至今我們一無所知。不過話說回來，前人也不知道什麼是電力。但是現在我們都知道，如果遵循電力運作法則，它就可以成為百依百順的僕人，不僅可以照亮我們的屋舍和城市、運轉機器設備，還可以為我們提供許多其他服務。

And so it is with vital force. Although we do not know what it is, and possibly may never know, we do know that it is a primary force which manifests through living bodies, and that by complying with the laws and principles by which it is governed, we can open ourselves to a more abundant inflow of this vital energy, and thus express the highest possible degree of mental, moral, and spiritual efficiency. 同理，生命力也是如此。雖然我們不明白它到底是何物，甚至可能永遠無法一窺究竟，不過我們確實知道，它是一股在生命體中運作的重要力量，我們只要依循這股力量的法則和原理行事，就足以讓它的能量有如排山倒海般充塞胸臆，並進一步最大程度地釋放精神、道德和心靈的運作效率。

This part tells of a very simply way of developing this vital force. If you put into practice the information outlined in this lesson you will soon develop the sense of power which has ever been the distinguishing mark of genius. 本週課程將簡述提升這股生命潛能的超簡易方法。倘若你能付諸實踐本課的資訊，很快就可以培養出力量感──就是天才獨樹一格的標誌。

PART NINETEEN

1. The search for truth is no longer a haphazard adventure, but it is a systematic process, and is logical in its operation. Every kind of experience is given a voice in shaping its decision. 探索真理不是瞎子摸象一般的探險，而是一套系統化的進程，本身的運作合乎邏輯。人生的每一種際遇都有跡可循。
2. In seeking the truth we are seeking ultimate cause; we know that every human experience is an effect; then if we may ascertain the cause, and if we shall find that this cause is one which we can consciously control, the effect or the experience will be within our control also. 尋找真理的過程就是一趟探尋終極起因的旅程。因為我們知道，每種際遇都是一個結果，要是我們可以確認起因，且可以自發自覺地控制它，隨之而來的後果或際遇也就盡在我們的掌握之中了。
3. Human experience will then no longer be the football of fate; a man will not be the child of fortune, but destiny. Fate and fortune will be controlled as readily as a captain controls his ship, or an engineer his train. 若此，我們的人生經歷將不再是一場命定的球賽，也不是機遇的產物，而我們將成為命中注定的寵兒。我們應該像船長掌舵船艦、像列車司機控制火車一般穩穩地掌控命運和機遇。
4. All things are finally resolvable into the same element and as they are thus translatable, one into the other, they must ever be in relation and may never be in opposition to one another. 萬事萬物最終都可以歸結在同一元素中，由於它們之間具有接二連三相互轉化的關係，因此必定是互相牽連，而非互相對立。
5. In the physical world there are innumerable contrasts, and these may for convenience sake, be designated by distinctive names. There are sizes, colors, shades or ends to all things. There is a North Pole, and a South Pole, an inside and an outside, a seen and an unseen, but these expressions merely serve to place extremes in contrast. 在實體世界裡，到處有不勝枚舉的對立事物，或許是為了方便之故，全都被賦予不同的名稱，從尺寸、顏色、形狀到萬物的終極；有「北極」、「南極」；有「內在」、「外在」；「實體」、「虛擬」等。但是所有這些詞彙，都只是用來描述這些極端對比的狀態而已。
6. They are names given to two different parts of one quantity. The two extremes are relative; they are not separate entities, but are two parts or aspects of the whole. 所有獨立事物的兩大面向都擁有各自的名稱，然而，這兩大面向卻互有關連；它們並非截然分開的實體，而是一體的兩面。
7. In the mental world we find the same law; we speak of knowledge and ignorance, but ignorance is but a lack of knowledge and is therefore found to be simply a word to express the absence of knowledge; it has no principle in itself. 我們發現，精神世界的法則也是如此。我們會說人「有知識」和「無知」，但「無知」不過就是缺乏知識，只是用來表達知識不足的詞彙；就本質而言，它並不具備任何法則。
8. In the Moral World we again find the same law; we speak of good and evil, but Good is a reality, something tangible, while Evil is found to be simply a negative condition, the absence of Good. Evil is sometimes thought to be a very real condition, but it has no principle, no vitality, no life; we know this because it can always be destroyed by Good; just as Truth destroys Error and light destroys darkness, so Evil vanishes when Good appears; there is therefore but one principle in the Moral World. 我們也發現，道德世界的法則也一樣。我們會說「善」與「惡」，所謂「善」多半是事實，是明確行為；而所謂「惡」不過就只是反過來的狀態，也就是「無善」。「惡」看似是一種真實的存在，其實沒有規則可循，沒有生命也沒有活力。我們會這麼確定是因為邪不勝正，就像真理永遠都會戰勝謬誤、光明永遠驅散黑暗一般。由此可知，在道德世界中只有一個法則。
9. We find exactly the same law obtaining in the Spiritual world; we speak of Mind and Matter as two separate entities, but clearer insight makes it evident that there is but one operative principle and that is Mind. 心靈世界中也有同樣精確的道理。我們以為「心智」與「物質」就像獨立的兩大實體，但如果具有明晰深刻的洞見，就會發現精神世界中其實只有一個運作法則，即心智法則。
10. Mind is the real and the eternal. Matter is forever changing; we know that in the eons of time a hundred years is but as a day. If we stand in any large city and let the eye rest on the innumerable large and magnificent buildings, the vast array of modern automobiles, cellular telephones, the electric lights, and all the other conveniences of modern civilization, we may remember that not one of them was there just over a century ago, and if we could stand on the same spot in a hundred years from now, in all probability we should find that but few of them remained. 心智真實存在、永恆不滅；物質則是千變萬化、日新月異。我們知道，在無限浩瀚的時間長河中，百年或一日幾無區別。假使我們置身任何一座大都市，目光駐留不計其數的宏偉高樓，它們是現代物質文明帶來的便利，我們可能會突然想起，這幅畫面並非一百年前的人類所能想像的景況。假使我們可以穿越到從現在開始計算的一百年後，我們應該也會發現，屆時早已物非人非了。
11. In the animal kingdom we find the same law of change. The millions and millions of animals come and go, a few years constituting their span of life. In the plant world the change is still more rapid. Many plants and nearly all grasses come and go in a single year. When we pass to the inorganic, we expect to find something more substantial, but as we gaze on the apparently solid continent, we are told that it arose from the ocean; we see the giant mountain and are told that the place where it now stands was once a lake; and as we stand in awe before the great cliffs in the Yosemite Valley we can easily trace the path of the glaciers which carried all before them. 我們在動物王國中發現了相同的變化法則。幾億隻動物都歷經生死榮衰，終其一生不過短短十多年；植物世界的生命週期就更短了，許多植物都是綠意盎然地展現風華，只一年內就枯萎凋零。當我們觀察無機物的世界，期望從中找到比較真實永久的存在，但有人告訴我們，腳下踩踏的堅實大地曾經是波濤洶湧的大洋、巍峨高山曾經是平靜湖泊；當我們敬畏地站在優勝美地峽谷區（Yosemite Valley）的險峻懸崖前方，可以輕易地追踪冰河鑿刻留下的斑斑路徑。
12. We are in the presence of continual change, and we know that this change is but the evolution of the Universal Mind, the grand process whereby all things are continually being created anew, and we come to know that matter is but a form which Mind takes and is therefore simply a condition. Matter has no principle; Mind is the only principle. 我們置身瞬息萬變之中，知道這一切變化不過就是宇宙心智的演變，萬事萬物都在這個恢弘壯觀的過程中不斷更新；我們也因此知道，物質不過是心智彰顯在外的一種形式，因此只是一種型態。物質本身沒有原法則可言，心智是唯一法則。
13. We have then come to know that Mind is the only principle which is operative in the physical, mental, moral and spiritual world. 若此，我們就會知道，心智是運行於物質、精神、道德和心靈世界的唯一法則。
14. We also know that this mind is static, mind at rest, we also know that the ability of the individual to think is his ability to act upon the Universal Mind and convert it into dynamic mind, or mind in motion. 我們也知道，心智靜如止水，處於靜止狀態；我們還知道，人類個體的思考能力可以對宇宙心智產生作用，並將它轉化為動態心智的能力，或者可以說是運行中的心智。
15. In order to do this fuel must be applied in the form of food, for man cannot think without eating, and so we find that even a spiritual activity such as thinking cannot be converted into sources of pleasure and profit except by making use of material means. 我們若想達成上述目標，就必須吃飽喝足，因為食物就是我們的動力燃料。我們若是粒米未進就無法思考，所以我們發現，如果不能善用物質提供的好處，我們就無法將思考這類精神活動轉化為快樂和福祉的來源。
16. It requires energy of some kind to collect electricity and convert it into a dynamic power, it requires the rays of the sun to give the necessary energy to sustain plant life, so it also requires energy in the form of food to enable the individual to think and thereby act upon the Universal Mind. 我們需要利用某種形式的能量才能轉化電力為動態能量，就像植物生長茁壯，必得需要陽光提供必要能量，因此當我們充分思考後依據宇宙心智法則採取行動，必得要先進食以便產生能量。
17. You may know that thought constantly, eternally is taking form, is forever seeking expression, or you may not, but the fact remains that if your thought is powerful, constructive, and positive, this will be plainly evident in the state of your health, your business and your environment; if your thought is weak, critical, destructive and negative generally, it will manifest in your body as fear, worry and nervousness, in your finance as lack and limitation, and in discordant conditions in your environment. 你或許知道，思想會不斷地自我塑型、尋求表達之道，或者其實你還沒意識到這一點，但不變的事實是，如果你的思想力量強大、具有建設性，而且正面積極，它就會體現在你的健康狀態、事業表現以及生活環境等面向；反之，要是你的思想偏向軟弱、苛刻、具有破壞性，而且負面，就會體現恐懼、憂慮、緊張在你的身體狀況；體現匱乏、局促在你的財務狀況，也體現不和諧在你的外部環境上。
18. All wealth is the offspring of power; possessions are of value only as they confer power. Events are significant only as they affect power; all things represent certain forms and degrees of power. 所有財富都是力量的產物，事物唯有被賦予力量才具有真正價值；事件唯有產生影響力才顯得出分量。萬事萬物各自代表特定形態和程度的力量。
19. A knowledge of cause and effect as shown by the laws governing steam, electricity, chemical affinity and gravitation enables men to plan courageously and to execute fearlessly. These laws are called Natural Laws, because they govern the physical world, but all power is not physical power; there is also mental power, and there is moral and spiritual power. 我們明白，因果循環的道理充分體現在蒸汽、電力、化學力、重力原理中，能協助我們勇敢地制定並執行計畫。這些法則統稱為「自然法則」，因為它們掌理物理世界。不過並非所有力量都是物理力量，也有精神力量、道德力量與心靈力量。
20. What are our schools, our universities, but mental powerhouses, places where mental power is being developed? 我們的中、小學及大專院校除了是心靈力量的發電站，即培育精神力量的場所，還有其他作用嗎？
21. As there are many mighty powerhouses for the application of power to ponderous machinery, whereby raw material is collected and converted into the necessities and comforts of life, so the mental powerhouses collect the raw material and cultivate and develop it into a power which is infinitely superior to all the forces of nature, marvelous though they may be. 許多馬力強大的發電站應用電力就可以推動重型機械運轉，因此我們得以蒐集大量原料，並將其轉化成生活必需品及更進階的舒適享受。同理，心靈力量發電站也會蒐集大量原料，悉心培育並發展成一股力量。儘管大自然中有許多神奇美妙的外力存在，但我們的精神力量具備了更無窮無盡的優勢。
22. What is this raw material which is being collected in these thousands of mental powerhouses all over the world and developed into a power which is evidently controlling every other power? In its static form it is Mind - in its dynamic form, it is Thought. 那麼，被蒐集到全世界成千上萬座精神力量發電站，進一步被開發成足以控制其他力量的能量，其「原料」究竟是何物？它的靜態形式就是心智，動態形式則為思想。
23. This power is superior because it exists on a higher plane, because it has enabled man to discover the law by which these wonderful forces of Nature could be harnessed and made to do the work of hundreds and thousands of men. It has enabled man to discover laws whereby time and space have been annihilated, and the law of gravitation overcome. 這種力量凌駕一切，因為它高踞在更崇高的層次，因為它讓人類得以發現自然界的各種法則，進而納用這些力量取代成千上萬人辛苦勞作，終而超越時空距離，戰勝重力原理。
24. Thought is the vital force or energy which is being developed and which has produced such startling results in the last half century as to bring about a world which would be absolutely inconceivable to a man existing only 50 or 25 years ago. If such results have been secured by organizing these mental powerhouses in 50 years, what may not be expected in another 50 years? 思想是一種至關重要的力量和能量，近半個世紀以來已經創造了令人嘖嘖稱奇的成果，這些成果都是五十年或甚至二十五年的人類無法想像的奇蹟。要是短短五十年間組織這些精神發電站就獲得如此斐然的成果，再過個五十年之後還有什麼是我們無法達成的呢？
25. The substance from which all things are created is infinite in quantity; we know that light travels at the rate of 186,000 miles per second, and we know that there are stars so remote that it takes light 2,000 years to reach us, and we know that such starts exist in all parts of the heaven; we know, too, that this light comes in waves, so that if the ether on which these waves travel was not continuous the light would fail to reach us; we can then only come to the conclusion that this substance, or ether, or raw material, is universally present. 用來創造萬事萬物的原始物質是無窮無盡的。我們知道，光行速度每秒十八萬六千英里；我們知道，遠在天際的星辰散發光芒也得花上兩千年才能傳到地球；我們知道，星辰密布蒼穹；我們也知道，光速是以波浪形式傳播，因此要是傳播光線的乙太（ether，譯註：一種充滿宇宙的可流動微粒，也稱第五元素）不連續，光線根本無法穿越漫長距離抵達地球。於是我們只能歸納出以下結論，乙太這種物質就是一種原始材料，充斥整個宇宙。
26. How, then, does it manifest in form? In electrical science a battery is formed by connecting the opposite poles of zinc and copper, which causes a current to flow from one to the other and so provides energy. This same process is repeated in respect to every polarity, and as all form simply depends upon the rate of vibration and consequent relations of atoms to each other, if we wish to change the form of manifestation we must change the polarity. This is the principle of causation. 這麼說來，它又是何種形式體現呢？就電力科學而言，連接電池的正、負兩極就會形成電路，一旦有電流通過就會產生能量。同理適用於任何帶有兩極的物體。由於所有事物的外在形態皆取決於共振頻率導致的原子之間的互相連結，如果我們期望改變有形世界中的形體，就必須先改變兩極。這就是所謂因果法則的原理。
27. 【本週練習】For your exercise this week, concentrate, and when I use the word concentrate, I mean all that the word implies; become so absorbed in the object of your thought that you are conscious of nothing else, and do this a few minutes every day. You take the necessary time to eat in order that the body may be nourished, why not take the time to assimilate your mental food? 本週，你的練習作業就是集中心念，當我強調「集中心念」這四個字，完全意指字面上的意思，也就是身、心、靈完全沉浸在思維目標中，以至於渾然忘我，不察周遭。請務必每天花幾分鐘練習。你花費必要的時間吃飽喝足，就是為了供給身體充足養分，何不也花些時間吸收精神食糧？
28. Let the thought rest on the fact that appearances are deceptive. The earth is not flat, neither is it stationary; the sky is not a dome, the sun does not move, the stars are not small specks of light, and matter which was once supposed to be fixed has been found to be in a state of perpetual flux. 且讓思想停駐在這個事實──所有表象皆虛無；地球不是平的，也不是靜止不動；天空不是一顆圓頂半球，太陽其實靜如泰山，星辰並非僅發出微弱光芒，物質也不如我們所想那般恆定不變，甚至它其實一直都是處於恆動狀態。
29. Try to realize that the day is fast approaching -- its dawn is now at hand -- when modes of thought and action must be adjusted to rapidly increasing knowledge of the operation of eternal principles. 請試圖理解，此刻正是破曉時分，這一天很快就會來到，屆時我們將會明白越來越多永恆運行的宇宙原理，所有思想、行為模式都會據此自我調整。

"Silent thought, is, after all, the mightiest agent in human affairs." - Channing

"靜默的思想終究是人類生活中最強大的手段。" ──美國傳教士威廉．艾勒里．錢寧（William Ellery Channing）

Study Questions with Answers

1. How are extremes placed in contrast? They are designated by distinctive names, such as inside and outside, top and bottom, light and dark, good and bad. Q1：各種極端情況如何形成對比？A：人為賦予它們不同的名稱，好比內、外；上、下；深、淺；善、惡。
2. Are these separate entities? No, they are parts or aspects of one Whole. Q2：它們都是獨立實體嗎？A：不，他們都是同一整體的不同面向。
3. What is the one creative Principle in the physical, mental and spiritual world? The Universal Mind, or the Eternal Energy from which all things proceed. Q3：身、心、靈世界中唯一的創造性原則為何？A：宇宙心智，或稱為萬事萬物賴以運行的永恆能量。
4. How are we related to this creative Principle? By our ability to think. Q4：我們如何與這個創造性原則產生關連？A：借助我們的思考能力。
5. How does this creative Principle become operative? Thought is the seed, which results in action and action results in form. Q5：這個創造性原則如何運作？A：思想是種籽，會帶來行動和行動所產生的結果。
6. Upon what does form depend? Upon the rate of vibration. Q6：各種有形實體的樣貌取決於哪種因素？A：依據共振的頻率。
7. How may the rate of vibration be changed? By mental action. Q7：如何改變共振的速度？A：借助心靈層面的行動。
8. Upon what does mental action depend? Upon polarity, action and reaction, between the individual and the Universal. Q8：心靈層面的行動取決於何物？A：端賴「極性」──個人和宇宙之間的相互作用。
9. Does the creative energy originate in the individual or the Universal? In the Universal, but the Universal can manifest only through the individual. Q9：創造性能量源於個人還是宇宙？A：宇宙，但宇宙唯有透過個人的思考才得以體現。
10. Why is the individual necessary? Because the Universal is static, and requires energy to start it in motion. This is furnished by food which is converted into energy, which in turn enables the individual to think. When the individual stops eating he stops thinking; then he no longer acts upon the Universal; there is consequently no longer any action or reaction; the Universal is then only pure mind in static form -- mind at rest. Q10：為何個體是不可或缺的？A：因為宇宙處於靜止狀態，需要能量才能讓它動起來。人的思想就是動態的心智，如果個體停止攝取食物，他就停止思考；停止思考就無法作用宇宙；也就沒有了宇宙與個體的互動；那麼宇宙就只是靜態的心靈能量。