《先知》(The Prophet) 祈禱

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."

祈禱

隨后一位女祭司說，請給我們談談祈禱。

他回答道：

你們在痛苦或需要時祈禱;希望你們在快樂的滿足中、在富足的日子里也會祈禱。

因為你們的祈禱不就是你們的自我向生命的太空的延伸么?

如果將你們的黑暗傾入太空是為了你們的舒解，那么將你們的曙光傾入太空是為了你們的欣悅。

如果你們的靈魂召喚你們時你們只能哭泣，那么她會在哭泣中一再鞭策你們，直到你們歡笑。

在祈禱中你們將升舉云天，從而見到同在祈禱的人，以及那些除了祈禱時你們永遠不會見面的人。

因此讓你們對無形圣殿的造訪，成為純粹的欣喜和甜美的交流。

因為你們若只為尋求而造訪圣殿，你們將不會被接待;

你們若為貶抑自己而來，你們也不會被提升;

甚或你們是為他人祈福而進入圣殿，你們也不會被傾聽。

你們只要隱匿地進入圣殿，這就足夠了。

我不能教給你們用言語祈禱。

上帝不會傾聽你們的言語，除非是他自己引導你們從唇間吐出的話語。

我也無法教給你們海洋、森林和山巒的祈禱。

但你們，生于海、生于林、生于山的你們，可以在你們的心中找到它們的祈禱。

倘若你們在夜的寂靜中傾聽，你們就會聽到它們在沉默中說：

"我們的上帝，也就是我們生翼的自我，是你的意志在我們體內行使意志。

"是你的愿望在我們的體內表達愿望。

"是你在我們體內的沖動，想把我們的，實際是你的黑夜，變?yōu)槲覀兊?，實際是你的白晝。

"我們不能向你索求什么，因為早在這需求在我們心中形成之前，你就已經(jīng)洞悉了它。

"你就是我們的需求;當你把自己更多地給予我們時，你已將一切給予我們了。"