第87篇		Paper 87
鬼魂崇拜		The Ghost Cults
87:0.1 (958.1) 鬼魂崇拜作为对坏运气所产生危害的一种补偿而演化出来了；其原始的宗教仪式是担忧坏运气和过分畏惧死者的结果。这些早期的宗教与承认神灵和尊崇超人没有任何关系；它们的仪式大多是消极的，旨在躲避、驱开或是逼迫鬼魂。鬼魂崇拜与抵御灾难的保险没什么两样；它与求得更高未来回报的投入没有任何关系。		87:0.1 (958.1) THE ghost cult evolved as an offset to the hazards of bad luck; its primitive religious observances were the outgrowth of anxiety about bad luck and of the inordinate fear of the dead. None of these early religions had much to do with the recognition of Deity or with reverence for the superhuman; their rites were mostly negative, designed to avoid, expel, or coerce ghosts. The ghost cult was nothing more nor less than insurance against disaster; it had nothing to do with investment for higher and future returns.
87:0.2 (958.2) 人类与鬼魂崇拜曾有过一段漫长而痛苦的斗争。人类历史中再没有什么比人类受到鬼神恐惧可怜奴役这一画面激发出更多同情的事情了。伴随着这种恐惧的诞生，人类便开始了宗教演化的升级。人类的想象力从自我之岸启航，直到它达成了真正神灵、即真神的观念，它才算再次找到锚点。		87:0.2 (958.2) Man has had a long and bitter struggle with the ghost cult. Nothing in human history is designed to excite more pity than this picture of man’s abject slavery to ghost-spirit fear. With the birth of this very fear mankind started on the upgrade of religious evolution. Human imagination cast off from the shores of self and will not again find anchor until it arrives at the concept of a true Deity, a real God.
1. 鬼魂恐惧 ^top		1. Ghost Fear ^top
87:1.1 (958.3) 死亡曾让人恐惧，因为死亡意味着又一个鬼魂从其肉体中释放出来了。古代人竭尽全力去阻止死亡，以避免不得不去应付一个新鬼魂的大麻烦。他们总是急于诱导鬼魂离开死亡现场，令其踏上前往死亡之地的旅程。鬼魂最令人恐惧的时候，是在其死时出现与其后来离开前往鬼国之间的所谓过渡期，鬼国是一种模糊而又原始的伪天国观念。		87:1.1 (958.3) Death was feared because death meant the liberation of another ghost from its physical body. The ancients did their best to prevent death, to avoid the trouble of having to contend with a new ghost. They were always anxious to induce the ghost to leave the scene of death, to embark on the journey to deadland. The ghost was feared most of all during the supposed transition period between its emergence at the time of death and its later departure for the ghost homeland, a vague and primitive concept of pseudo heaven.
87:1.2 (958.4) 尽管野蛮人相信鬼魂有着超自然的能力，但他却几乎没有把它们想象为拥有超自然的智力。许多花招和计谋都被用来蒙蔽和欺骗鬼魂；文明人仍寄信于这样一种希望上，即外在的虔诚表现在一定程度上甚至会蒙蔽无所不知的神灵。		87:1.2 (958.4) Though the savage credited ghosts with supernatural powers, he hardly conceived of them as having supernatural intelligence. Many tricks and stratagems were practiced in an effort to hoodwink and deceive the ghosts; civilized man still pins much faith on the hope that an outward manifestation of piety will in some manner deceive even an omniscient Deity.
87:1.3 (958.5) 原始人恐惧疾病，因为他们观察到它常常是一种死亡的预兆。如果部落的巫医没能医治好一个受病痛折磨的人，那么这个病人通常会被移出家族棚屋，被放到一个更小的屋子里去，或是留在露天地里任其独自死去。死过人的房子通常会被毁掉；若没有毁掉，它也会一直被回避，这种恐惧阻止了早期人类去建造大量的住所。这也阻碍了永久性村庄和城市的建立。		87:1.3 (958.5) The primitives feared sickness because they observed it was often a harbinger of death. If the tribal medicine man failed to cure an afflicted individual, the sick man was usually removed from the family hut, being taken to a smaller one or left in the open air to die alone. A house in which death had occurred was usually destroyed; if not, it was always avoided, and this fear prevented early man from building substantial dwellings. It also militated against the establishment of permanent villages and cities.
87:1.4 (958.6) 当氏族的一个成员死去的时候，野蛮人会坐一整夜聊天；他们害怕如果自己在一具尸体旁睡着，那么自己也会死去。来自尸体的传染病证实了对死者的恐惧，所有的民族都曾采用过精细的净化仪式，旨在清洁与死者有过接触的个人。古人相信必须要为尸体提供照明；决不允许死尸留在黑暗之中。在二十世纪，死者房间中仍要燃烧蜡烛，人们仍要熬夜照看死者。所谓的文明人，也还没有从其人生哲学中彻底清除对死尸的恐惧。		87:1.4 (958.6) The savages sat up all night and talked when a member of the clan died; they feared they too would die if they fell asleep in the vicinity of a corpse. Contagion from the corpse substantiated the fear of the dead, and all peoples, at one time or another, have employed elaborate purification ceremonies designed to cleanse an individual after contact with the dead. The ancients believed that light must be provided for a corpse; a dead body was never permitted to remain in the dark. In the twentieth century, candles are still burned in death chambers, and men still sit up with the dead. So-called civilized man has hardly yet completely eliminated the fear of dead bodies from his philosophy of life.
87:1.5 (959.1) 不过尽管有这一切恐惧，人们却仍试图哄骗鬼魂。若死者的小屋还没毁掉，尸体则会通过一个墙洞而移出，从不会经过门。采取这些措施是为了迷惑鬼魂，阻止其逗留，防止其返回。送葬者们也会经由一条不同的道路从葬礼返回，以防鬼魂跟随。由原路返回以及许多其它计策也被用来确保鬼魂不会从坟墓中回来。两性曾经常互换衣服来蒙骗鬼魂。丧服原曾被设计用来伪装活人；后来才为了向死者表示尊敬，以此来安抚鬼魂。		87:1.5 (959.1) But despite all this fear, men still sought to trick the ghost. If the death hut was not destroyed, the corpse was removed through a hole in the wall, never by way of the door. These measures were taken to confuse the ghost, to prevent its tarrying, and to insure against its return. Mourners also returned from a funeral by a different road, lest the ghost follow. Backtracking and scores of other tactics were practiced to insure that the ghost would not return from the grave. The sexes often exchanged clothes in order to deceive the ghost. Mourning costumes were designed to disguise survivors; later on, to show respect for the dead and thus appease the ghosts.
2. 鬼魂抚慰 ^top		2. Ghost Placation ^top
87:2.1 (959.2) 在宗教中，消极的鬼魂抚慰打算远早于积极的鬼神逼迫及祈请打算。最初的人类崇拜行为是些防御现象，而非崇敬。现代人认为防火保险是明智的；原始人同样认为提供保险来防止鬼运气也是更为明智之举。确保这种保护的努力，构成了鬼魂崇拜的诸多方法和仪式。		87:2.1 (959.2) In religion the negative program of ghost placation long preceded the positive program of spirit coercion and supplication. The first acts of human worship were phenomena of defense, not reverence. Modern man deems it wise to insure against fire; so the savage thought it the better part of wisdom to provide insurance against ghost bad luck. The effort to secure this protection constituted the techniques and rituals of the ghost cult.
87:2.2 (959.3) 人们一度曾认为，鬼魂的最大愿望是想得到尽快“安顿”，这样它可以安详地前往死亡之地。生者在安顿鬼魂的仪式中所犯的任何错误和疏忽，必定会耽搁其前往鬼国的进程。人们相信这一切对鬼魂来说是极其不悦的，而一个愤怒的鬼魂被认为是灾难、不幸和苦恼的来源。		87:2.2 (959.3) It was once thought that the great desire of a ghost was to be quickly “laid” so that it might proceed undisturbed to deadland. Any error of commission or omission in the acts of the living in the ritual of laying the ghost was sure to delay its progress to ghostland. This was believed to be displeasing to the ghost, and an angered ghost was supposed to be a source of calamity, misfortune, and unhappiness.
87:2.3 (959.4) 葬礼服务源自人诱导鬼魂前往其未来家园的努力，而葬礼布道原本就是用来指引新鬼如何到那儿。为鬼的旅程提供食物和衣物曾是一种习俗，这些物品被放在坟墓里或是坟墓附近。野蛮人相信，需要三天到一年的时间来“安顿鬼魂” -- 即让它从坟墓周围离开。爱斯基摩人仍还相信，灵魂会与尸体在一起呆三天。		87:2.3 (959.4) The funeral service originated in man’s effort to induce the ghost soul to depart for its future home, and the funeral sermon was originally designed to instruct the new ghost how to get there. It was the custom to provide food and clothes for the ghost’s journey, these articles being placed in or near the grave. The savage believed that it required from three days to a year to “lay the ghost”—to get it away from the vicinity of the grave. The Eskimos still believe that the soul stays with the body three days.
87:2.4 (959.5) 在有人死后要遵守沉默或哀悼，这样鬼魂才不会被吸引回家。自我折磨 -- 即伤痛，是一种常见的哀悼形式。很多先进的导师曾试图阻止这一切，但他们失败了。斋戒及其它形式的克己，都被认为是来取悦鬼魂的，它们在实际前往死亡之地以前的潜伏过渡时期以生者的不安为乐。		87:2.4 (959.5) Silence or mourning was observed after a death so that the ghost would not be attracted back home. Self-torture—wounds—was a common form of mourning. Many advanced teachers tried to stop this, but they failed. Fasting and other forms of self-denial were thought to be pleasing to the ghosts, who took pleasure in the discomfort of the living during the transition period of lurking about before their actual departure for deadland.
87:2.5 (959.6) 长期而频繁的哀悼无为时期，是文明进步的一大障碍。实际上，每年中有数周乃至数月都被浪费在这种没有任何成果的无用哀悼中了。职业哀悼者曾受雇来参加葬礼场合的事实，表明了哀悼曾是一种仪式，而不是一种悲痛的证据。现代人哀悼死者或许是出于尊敬，或许是出于丧亲之痛，但古代人这样做却是出于恐惧。		87:2.5 (959.6) Long and frequent periods of mourning inactivity were one of the great obstacles to civilization’s advancement. Weeks and even months of each year were literally wasted in this nonproductive and useless mourning. The fact that professional mourners were hired for funeral occasions indicates that mourning was a ritual, not an evidence of sorrow. Moderns may mourn the dead out of respect and because of bereavement, but the ancients did this because of fear.
87:2.6 (959.7) 死者的名字决不再被提起。事实上，它们通常从语言中被排除出去了。这些名字成了禁忌，各种语言就这样被不断耗减了。这最终产生了越来越多的象征说法和比喻用法，例如“讳名或是讳日。”		87:2.6 (959.7) The names of the dead were never spoken. In fact, they were often banished from the language. These names became taboo, and in this way the languages were constantly impoverished. This eventually produced a multiplication of symbolic speech and figurative expression, such as “the name or day one never mentions.”
87:2.7 (960.1) 古人是如此急于摆脱鬼魂，以至他们给了它一切生前想要的东西。鬼魂想要妻子和仆人；一个富裕的野蛮人期待他死时至少要活埋一个奴妻。这在后来就变成了寡妇要在其夫坟上自杀的习俗。在孩子夭折时，母亲、姨母或是祖母通常要被勒死，这样一个成年鬼魂可以伴随照顾幼年鬼魂。那些因此放弃生命的人通常是自愿那样做；实际上，若她们违反习俗而活下去，那么她们对鬼魂发怒的恐惧，将会剥夺作为原始人所享有的那点生活乐趣。		87:2.7 (960.1) The ancients were so anxious to get rid of a ghost that they offered it everything which might have been desired during life. Ghosts wanted wives and servants; a well-to-do savage expected that at least one slave wife would be buried alive at his death. It later became the custom for a widow to commit suicide on her husband’s grave. When a child died, the mother, aunt, or grandmother was often strangled in order that an adult ghost might accompany and care for the child ghost. And those who thus gave up their lives usually did so willingly; indeed, had they lived in violation of custom, their fear of ghost wrath would have denuded life of such few pleasures as the primitives enjoyed.
87:2.8 (960.2) 处决一大批臣民去陪伴死去的首领陪葬曾是合乎习俗的；奴隶在其主人死去时会被杀掉，以使他们可在鬼国侍候他。婆罗洲人还会提供一个信使同伴；一名奴隶会被矛刺死，以让这个鬼魂与其已故的主人同行。人们相信被杀之人的鬼魂会很高兴让其谋杀者的鬼魂作奴隶；这种观念激发了人们去猎头。		87:2.8 (960.2) It was customary to dispatch a large number of subjects to accompany a dead chief; slaves were killed when their master died that they might serve him in ghostland. The Borneans still provide a courier companion; a slave is speared to death to make the ghost journey with his deceased master. Ghosts of murdered persons were believed to be delighted to have the ghosts of their murderers as slaves; this notion motivated men to head hunting.
87:2.9 (960.3) 鬼魂据称喜欢食物的味道；丧筵上的食物供品一度曾是普遍性的。原始方式的饭前祷告，就是在吃饭之前将一点食物扔到火中以飨鬼神，同时还叨念魔咒。		87:2.9 (960.3) Ghosts supposedly enjoyed the smell of food; food offerings at funeral feasts were once universal. The primitive method of saying grace was, before eating, to throw a bit of food into the fire for the purpose of appeasing the spirits, while mumbling a magic formula.
87:2.10 (960.4) 死者据信可以使用他们生前所属工具和武器的鬼魂。击碎一件物品就是“弄死它”，这样就释放了其鬼魂前往鬼国去服役。财产祭品也会通过焚烧或掩埋来完成。古代丧葬的浪费是巨大的。后来各民族制作了纸质模型和替代画像来取代这些死亡祭品中的真实物品和个人。当亲属继承财产取代了焚烧和掩埋财产时，这在文明中是一大进步。易洛魁印第安人在丧葬浪费方面进行了很多改革。这种对财产的保留使他们成为了北方红种人中最强大的民族。现代人按理不应惧怕鬼魂了，但习俗如此强大，以致很多世间财富仍被消耗在丧葬仪式和死亡典礼上。		87:2.10 (960.4) The dead were supposed to use the ghosts of the tools and weapons that were theirs in life. To break an article was to “kill it,” thus releasing its ghost to pass on for service in ghostland. Property sacrifices were also made by burning or burying. Ancient funeral wastes were enormous. Later races made paper models and substituted drawings for real objects and persons in these death sacrifices. It was a great advance in civilization when the inheritance of kin replaced the burning and burying of property. The Iroquois Indians made many reforms in funeral waste. And this conservation of property enabled them to become the most powerful of the northern red men. Modern man is not supposed to fear ghosts, but custom is strong, and much terrestrial wealth is still consumed on funeral rituals and death ceremonies.
3. 祖先崇拜 ^top		3. Ancestor Worship ^top
87:3.1 (960.5) 不断进步的鬼魂崇拜使得祖先崇拜成为必然，因为后者成了普通鬼魂与更高等鬼神、即演进诸神之间的联系环节。早期的诸神不过是受享荣耀的故去之人。		87:3.1 (960.5) The advancing ghost cult made ancestor worship inevitable since it became the connecting link between common ghosts and the higher spirits, the evolving gods. The early gods were simply glorified departed humans.
87:3.2 (960.6) 最初，祖先崇拜与其说是一种崇拜，毋宁说是一种恐惧，但这种信仰的确明确促成了鬼魂恐惧与崇拜的进一步传播。早期祖先-鬼魂崇拜的信徒们甚至害怕打呵欠，唯恐恶鬼会在此时进入他们的身体。		87:3.2 (960.6) Ancestor worship was originally more of a fear than a worship, but such beliefs did definitely contribute to the further spread of ghost fear and worship. Devotees of the early ancestor-ghost cults even feared to yawn lest a malignant ghost enter their bodies at such a time.
87:3.3 (960.7) 收养孩子的习俗，是为了确保有个人会在死后为灵魂的安宁与前途提供献祭。野蛮人活在对其同伴鬼魂的恐惧当中，并花出其空闲时间为死后自己鬼魂的安全通行做打算。		87:3.3 (960.7) The custom of adopting children was to make sure that someone would provide offerings after death for the peace and progress of the soul. The savage lived in fear of the ghosts of his fellows and spent his spare time planning for the safe conduct of his own ghost after death.
87:3.4 (960.8) 大多部落至少每年一次举行一场万魂筵。罗马人每年举行十二场鬼筵及相应仪式。一年中有半数日子都被投入到与这些崇拜相关的某种仪式当中了。一位罗马皇帝设法革新了这些习俗，将筵席的天数减至每年135天。		87:3.4 (960.8) Most tribes instituted an all-souls’ feast at least once a year. The Romans had twelve ghost feasts and accompanying ceremonies each year. Half the days of the year were dedicated to some sort of ceremony associated with these ancient cults. One Roman emperor tried to reform these practices by reducing the number of feast days to 135 a year.
87:3.5 (961.1) 鬼魂崇拜也在不断的演变中。随着鬼魂被想象为由不完满的存在阶段过渡到更高等的存在阶段，这种崇拜也最终进展到了对诸灵乃至诸神的崇拜阶段。但不管有多少种对更为先进鬼神的信仰，但所有的部落和种族一度都曾相信过鬼魂。		87:3.5 (961.1) The ghost cult was in continuous evolution. As ghosts were envisioned as passing from the incomplete to the higher phase of existence, so did the cult eventually progress to the worship of spirits, and even gods. But regardless of varying beliefs in more advanced spirits, all tribes and races once believed in ghosts.
4. 善灵鬼与恶灵鬼 ^top		4. Good and Bad Spirit Ghosts ^top
87:4.1 (961.2) 鬼魂恐惧是所有世界宗教的源头；长久以来很多部落都抓住对一类鬼魂的古老信仰不放。他们曾教导过，鬼魂高兴时人就会有好运气，而当他被激怒时，人就有坏运气。		87:4.1 (961.2) Ghost fear was the fountainhead of all world religion; and for ages many tribes clung to the old belief in one class of ghosts. They taught that man had good luck when the ghost was pleased, bad luck when he was angered.
87:4.2 (961.3) 随着鬼魂恐惧膜拜的扩展，产生了对更高类型鬼神、即不明确与任何单个人相等同之鬼神的承认。他们是进展到了鬼国领域以外而前往更高灵界的毕业类鬼魂或是受享荣耀类鬼魂。		87:4.2 (961.3) As the cult of ghost fear expanded, there came about the recognition of higher types of spirits, spirits not definitely identifiable with any individual human. They were graduate or glorified ghosts who had progressed beyond the domain of ghostland to the higher realms of spiritland.
87:4.3 (961.4) 两种灵鬼的观念在全世界范围内取得了缓慢而确实的进展。这种新的二元灵论并非从部落传播到部落；它从世界各地独立地出现了。在影响和扩展进化类心智方面，观念的力量并不在于其真实性和合理性，而在于其生动性及其现成简单的应用所具有的普适性。		87:4.3 (961.4) The notion of two kinds of spirit ghosts made slow but sure progress throughout the world. This new dual spiritism did not have to spread from tribe to tribe; it sprang up independently all over the world. In influencing the expanding evolutionary mind, the power of an idea lies not in its reality or reasonableness but rather in its vividness and the universality of its ready and simple application.
87:4.4 (961.5) 再后来，人类的想象力预想出了善与恶两种超自然代理者的观念；某些鬼魂决不会演进到善灵的层次。早期源于鬼魂恐惧的一元灵论逐渐演变成了二元灵论，即一种对世间事务之不可见控制的新观念。最终，好运气与坏运气就被想象为有其各自的控制者。在这两个分类中，人们相信带来坏运气的那一类更为活跃和多样。		87:4.4 (961.5) Still later the imagination of man envisioned the concept of both good and bad supernatural agencies; some ghosts never evolved to the level of good spirits. The early monospiritism of ghost fear was gradually evolving into a dual spiritism, a new concept of the invisible control of earthly affairs. At last good luck and bad luck were pictured as having their respective controllers. And of the two classes, the group that brought bad luck were believed to be the more active and numerous.
87:4.5 (961.6) 当善灵与恶灵的学说最终成熟时，它便成为了所有宗教信仰中最广泛和最持久的。这种二元论代表了宗教哲学的一大进步，因为它使人类能对好运气与坏运气做出了解释，与此同时相信在某种程度上与其行为相称的超凡存有。诸灵可被指望成为善灵或恶灵；它们不像大多原始宗教一元灵论中早期鬼魂那样，而被认为是彻底喜怒无常的了。人类最终得以构想出行为上一贯的超凡力量了，这在整个宗教演化历史和人类哲学扩展中是对真理的最重大发现之一。		87:4.5 (961.6) When the doctrine of good and bad spirits finally matured, it became the most widespread and persistent of all religious beliefs. This dualism represented a great religio-philosophic advance because it enabled man to account for both good luck and bad luck while at the same time believing in supermortal beings who were to some extent consistent in their behavior. The spirits could be counted on to be either good or bad; they were not thought of as being completely temperamental as the early ghosts of the monospiritism of most primitive religions had been conceived to be. Man was at last able to conceive of supermortal forces that were consistent in behavior, and this was one of the most momentous discoveries of truth in the entire history of the evolution of religion and in the expansion of human philosophy.
87:4.6 (961.7) 然而，进化类宗教却为二元灵论的观念付出了惨痛的代价。人类早期哲学只能通过假设有善灵和恶灵两类灵，来使灵的不变性与世间运气的兴衰变迁相调和。尽管这种信仰确实使人类将变化无常的运气与一种稳定不变的超凡力观念调和到了一起，但自那以后，这种教义却使宗教家们难以构想出宇宙的统一性。进化类宗教中的诸神，一般会遭到黑暗势力的反对。		87:4.6 (961.7) Evolutionary religion has, however, paid a terrible price for the concept of dual spiritism. Man’s early philosophy was able to reconcile spirit constancy with the vicissitudes of temporal fortune only by postulating two kinds of spirits, one good and the other bad. And while this belief did enable man to reconcile the variables of chance with a concept of unchanging supermortal forces, this doctrine has ever since made it difficult for religionists to conceive of cosmic unity. The gods of evolutionary religion have generally been opposed by the forces of darkness.
87:4.7 (962.1) 所有这一切悲剧都在于以下事实，即当这些观念逐渐在人的原始心智中扎根时，整个世界实际上并没有什么恶灵或是不和谐的灵。这样一种不幸的情形直到卡里迦夏反叛之后才发展出来，而且也只持续到五旬节。善与恶作为宇宙并列物的观念即便在二十世纪仍活跃于人类的哲学之中；该世界的大多宗教仍然带有远古时代出现的鬼魂崇拜这种文化胎记。		87:4.7 (962.1) The tragedy of all this lies in the fact that, when these ideas were taking root in the primitive mind of man, there really were no bad or disharmonious spirits in all the world. Such an unfortunate situation did not develop until after the Caligastic rebellion and only persisted until Pentecost. The concept of good and evil as cosmic co-ordinates is, even in the twentieth century, very much alive in human philosophy; most of the world’s religions still carry this cultural birthmark of the long-gone days of the emerging ghost cults.
5. 逐渐进步的鬼魂崇拜 ^top		5. The Advancing Ghost Cult ^top
87:5.1 (962.2) 原始人认为鬼神拥有几近无限的权利，但却没有任何义务；并认为鬼神将人类视为拥有多重义务，但却没有任何权利。人们认为鬼神看不起人类，因为他时常未能履行其灵性义务。人类的普遍信仰是，鬼魂会征收一种持续不断的服役纳贡，作为不干预人类事务的代价，一丁点儿的不幸也会被归为鬼魂的活动。早期人类如此害怕他们或许会忽略了诸神应得的某些尊重，以至于在他们向所有已知的鬼神献完祭后，他们还会向“未知诸神”做另一轮献祭，仅是为了确保万全。		87:5.1 (962.2) Primitive man viewed the spirits and ghosts as having almost unlimited rights but no duties; the spirits were thought to regard man as having manifold duties but no rights. The spirits were believed to look down upon man as constantly failing in the discharge of his spiritual duties. It was the general belief of mankind that ghosts levied a continuous tribute of service as the price of noninterference in human affairs, and the least mischance was laid to ghost activities. Early humans were so afraid they might overlook some honor due the gods that, after they had sacrificed to all known spirits, they did another turn to the “unknown gods,” just to be thoroughly safe.
87:5.2 (962.3) 而此时跟随简单的鬼魂崇拜之后的，则是更为进步且相对复杂的灵-鬼崇拜习俗，即随着更高等鬼神在人类的原始想象力中演进而产生的侍候和崇拜。宗教仪式必须要与灵性的演化进展保持同步，这种扩展了的崇拜，不过是关涉超自然生灵信仰所实施的自我维持技艺，即针对鬼神环境的自我调适。产业组织和军事组织则是针对自然环境和社会环境所做的调适。正如婚姻是为了满足两性的需求而产生的，宗教也是响应更高灵性力量和灵性存有的信仰而演化出来的。宗教代表了人类对其机会之谜幻觉的调适。鬼神恐惧及随后的崇拜，作为抵御不幸的保险，也作为昌盛的方针而被采用了。		87:5.2 (962.3) And now the simple ghost cult is followed by the practices of the more advanced and relatively complex spirit-ghost cult, the service and worship of the higher spirits as they evolved in man’s primitive imagination. Religious ceremonial must keep pace with spirit evolution and progress. The expanded cult was but the art of self-maintenance practiced in relation to belief in supernatural beings, self-adjustment to spirit environment. Industrial and military organizations were adjustments to natural and social environments. And as marriage arose to meet the demands of bisexuality, so did religious organization evolve in response to the belief in higher spirit forces and spiritual beings. Religion represents man’s adjustment to his illusions of the mystery of chance. Spirit fear and subsequent worship were adopted as insurance against misfortune, as prosperity policies.
87:5.3 (962.4) 野蛮人将善灵想象为忙自己的事，不向人类索要什么。正是恶鬼和恶灵必须要让其保持好心情。相应地，原始人更加留意其恶鬼，而非留意其善灵。		87:5.3 (962.4) The savage visualizes the good spirits as going about their business, requiring little from human beings. It is the bad ghosts and spirits who must be kept in good humor. Accordingly, primitive peoples paid more attention to their malevolent ghosts than to their benign spirits.
87:5.4 (962.5) 人类财产据称尤能够激发邪灵的忌妒，它们报复的方法是通过一个人类代理者反击，还会通过“邪眼”的手段。与避灵有关的那方面崇拜大多与邪眼的阴谋诡计有关。对它的恐惧几乎变成世界范围的。美丽女人被迫蒙上面纱，是为了保护她们免于遭受邪眼；后来很多希望被认为是美丽的女人都采用了这一做法。出于对恶灵的这种恐惧，孩子们很少获允在天黑后出门，而早期的祈祷总是包括以下祈求：“让我们摆脱邪眼吧。”		87:5.4 (962.5) Human prosperity was supposed to be especially provocative of the envy of evil spirits, and their method of retaliation was to strike back through a human agency and by the technique of the evil eye. That phase of the cult which had to do with spirit avoidance was much concerned with the machinations of the evil eye. The fear of it became almost world-wide. Pretty women were veiled to protect them from the evil eye; subsequently many women who desired to be considered beautiful adopted this practice. Because of this fear of bad spirits, children were seldom allowed out after dark, and the early prayers always included the petition, “deliver us from the evil eye.”
87:5.5 (962.6) 古兰经包含了一整章关于邪眼和魔咒的，而犹太人也完全相信它们。整个的阳物崇拜作为一种对抗邪眼的防御措施而逐渐形成。人们认为生殖器官是可以使其无能为力的唯一物神。邪眼也导致了有关婴儿胎记、即母性印记之最早迷信的产生，这种崇拜在一段时期内几乎是普遍性的。		87:5.5 (962.6) The Koran contains a whole chapter devoted to the evil eye and magic spells, and the Jews fully believed in them. The whole phallic cult grew up as a defense against the evil eye. The organs of reproduction were thought to be the only fetish which could render it powerless. The evil eye gave origin to the first superstitions respecting prenatal marking of children, maternal impressions, and the cult was at one time well-nigh universal.
87:5.6 (963.1) 忌妒是一种根深蒂固的人类特征；因此原始人也曾将它归因于其早期诸神。由于人类一度曾将欺骗施到鬼魂身上，他很快便开始欺骗诸灵。他曾说过，“如果诸灵妒忌我们的美丽和昌盛，我们就把自己弄难看，并少言我们的成功。” 因此，早期的谦卑并不是对自我的贬低，而是一种阻挠和欺骗忌妒诸灵的企图。		87:5.6 (963.1) Envy is a deep-seated human trait; therefore did primitive man ascribe it to his early gods. And since man had once practiced deception upon the ghosts, he soon began to deceive the spirits. Said he, “If the spirits are jealous of our beauty and prosperity, we will disfigure ourselves and speak lightly of our success.” Early humility was not, therefore, debasement of ego but rather an attempt to foil and deceive the envious spirits.
87:5.7 (963.2) 为防止诸灵妒忌人类昌盛所采用的方法，是去滥骂某些幸运或极为可爱的人或事。贬抑与自己或家庭相关赞美之词的习俗由此而来，它最终演变成文明谦虚、克制有礼。为了与这同样的动机保持一致，扮丑也成了时尚。美丽会引起诸灵的忌妒；它也表示了罪恶的人类骄傲感。野蛮人曾寻求丑陋的名字。这种崇拜特色曾是艺术进步的一大阻碍，它曾长期使世界处于阴沉丑陋当中。		87:5.7 (963.2) The method adopted to prevent the spirits from becoming jealous of human prosperity was to heap vituperation upon some lucky or much loved thing or person. The custom of depreciating complimentary remarks regarding oneself or family had its origin in this way, and it eventually evolved into civilized modesty, restraint, and courtesy. In keeping with the same motive, it became the fashion to look ugly. Beauty aroused the envy of spirits; it betokened sinful human pride. The savage sought for an ugly name. This feature of the cult was a great handicap to the advancement of art, and it long kept the world somber and ugly.
87:5.8 (963.3) 在这种鬼神崇拜下，生命充其量是一场赌博，是鬼神控制的结果。一个人的将来不是努力、勤勉或是才能之所得，除非它们可被用来影响鬼神。安抚鬼神的诸多仪式成了一种沉重的负担，致使生命变得沉闷乏味，乃至几近让人难以忍受。世代以来，一个又一个民族试图改善这种超级鬼魂的教义，但没有一代人敢于完全摒弃它。		87:5.8 (963.3) Under the spirit cult, life was at best a gamble, the result of spirit control. One’s future was not the result of effort, industry, or talent except as they might be utilized to influence the spirits. The ceremonies of spirit propitiation constituted a heavy burden, rendering life tedious and virtually unendurable. From age to age and from generation to generation, race after race has sought to improve this superghost doctrine, but no generation has ever yet dared to wholly reject it.
87:5.9 (963.4) 鬼神的意图和旨意曾通过各种预兆、神谕和迹象来加以揣摩。这些鬼神信息曾通过占卜、预言、魔法、神判和占星术来加以阐释。整个崇拜就是通过这种变相贿赂来抚慰、满足和收买鬼神的一种计划。		87:5.9 (963.4) The intention and will of the spirits were studied by means of omens, oracles, and signs. And these spirit messages were interpreted by divination, soothsaying, magic, ordeals, and astrology. The whole cult was a scheme designed to placate, satisfy, and buy off the spirits through this disguised bribery.
87:5.10 (963.5) 由此逐渐形成了一种新的、扩展开来的世界观，包含如下内容：		87:5.10 (963.5) And thus there grew up a new and expanded world philosophy consisting in:
87:5.11 (963.6) 1. 义务观 -- 必须要完成一些事情来让鬼神保持好心情，至少是中立的。		87:5.11 (963.6) 1. Duty—those things which must be done to keep the spirits favorably disposed, at least neutral.
87:5.12 (963.7) 2. 权利观 -- 旨在赢得鬼神对个人利益积极护持的一些正确行为和仪式。		87:5.12 (963.7) 2. Right—the correct conduct and ceremonies designed to win the spirits actively to one’s interests.
87:5.13 (963.8) 3. 真理观 -- 对鬼神、亦即对生死的正确理解和正确态度。		87:5.13 (963.8) 3. Truth—the correct understanding of, and attitude toward, spirits, and hence toward life and death.
87:5.14 (963.9) 古人并非仅是出于好奇心才试图想知晓未来；他们想要避开厄运。占卜只是一种想要避开麻烦的尝试。在这些时代期间，梦境被视为是预言性的，而每样不同寻常的事物都被认为是一种预兆。即便是今天，诸多文明民族仍为迹象、前兆信仰及其它古时渐进鬼魂崇拜之迷信残余所苦。人类要放弃那些手段是非常非常缓慢的，他凭借它们那样逐渐而又那样痛苦地攀爬在进化类生命阶梯上。		87:5.14 (963.9) It was not merely out of curiosity that the ancients sought to know the future; they wanted to dodge ill luck. Divination was simply an attempt to avoid trouble. During these times, dreams were regarded as prophetic, while everything out of the ordinary was considered an omen. And even today the civilized races are cursed with the belief in signs, tokens, and other superstitious remnants of the advancing ghost cult of old. Slow, very slow, is man to abandon those methods whereby he so gradually and painfully ascended the evolutionary scale of life.
6. 镇鬼与驱魔 ^top		6. Coercion and Exorcism ^top
87:6.1 (963.10) 当人类只相信鬼魂时，宗教仪式更多是个人性的，而非组织化的，但对更高等鬼神的承认使得采用“更高等灵性手段”来应对它们成为了必要。这种改进鬼神安抚手段并使之细化的尝试，直接导致防御鬼神手段的形成。人类曾在世俗生活中不可抗力的运作面前感到束手无策，他的这种自卑感驱使他尝试去找到某种补偿调整，去找到某种手段来抵消人与天对抗的一边倒斗争中所处的劣势。		87:6.1 (963.10) When men believed in ghosts only, religious ritual was more personal, less organized, but the recognition of higher spirits necessitated the employment of “higher spiritual methods” in dealing with them. This attempt to improve upon, and to elaborate, the technique of spirit propitiation led directly to the creation of defenses against the spirits. Man felt helpless indeed before the uncontrollable forces operating in terrestrial life, and his feeling of inferiority drove him to attempt to find some compensating adjustment, some technique for evening the odds in the one-sided struggle of man versus the cosmos.
87:6.2 (964.1) 在早期的崇拜时代，人试图影响鬼魂活动的努力仅限于安抚，即通过贿赂来摆脱厄运的企图。随着鬼魂崇拜的演变进展到了善灵与恶灵的观念阶段，这些仪式就转向了具有更积极本质的企图，即试图赢得好运的努力。人类的宗教不再完全是抗拒性的，他也不再止于试图赢得好运的努力；他不久便开始去设想一些他可以藉之迫使鬼神合作的计划。宗教家在其自身设想出来的鬼神幻象所提出的无穷无尽要求面前不再是毫无防备；野蛮人开始发明出武器，他藉以镇伏鬼神活动，迫使鬼神协助。		87:6.2 (964.1) In the early days of the cult, man’s efforts to influence ghost action were confined to propitiation, attempts by bribery to buy off ill luck. As the evolution of the ghost cult progressed to the concept of good as well as bad spirits, these ceremonies turned toward attempts of a more positive nature, efforts to win good luck. Man’s religion no longer was completely negativistic, nor did he stop with the effort to win good luck; he shortly began to devise schemes whereby he could compel spirit co-operation. No longer does the religionist stand defenseless before the unceasing demands of the spirit phantasms of his own devising; the savage is beginning to invent weapons wherewith he may coerce spirit action and compel spirit assistance.
87:6.3 (964.2) 人类防卫的最初努力是指向鬼魂的。随着时代更替，生者开始设想出抵御死者的方法。许多手段得以发展出来，用以恐吓鬼魂和赶走它们，当中可被援引的如下所示：		87:6.3 (964.2) Man’s first efforts at defense were directed against the ghosts. As the ages passed, the living began to devise methods of resisting the dead. Many techniques were developed for frightening ghosts and driving them away, among which may be cited the following:
87:6.4 (964.3) 1. 砍下头并将尸体捆缚起来放入坟墓。		87:6.4 (964.3) 1. Cutting off the head and tying up the body in the grave.
87:6.5 (964.4) 2. 用石块砌筑阴宅。		87:6.5 (964.4) 2. Stoning the death house.
87:6.6 (964.5) 3. 阉割或是打断尸体双腿。		87:6.6 (964.5) 3. Castration or breaking the legs of the corpse.
87:6.7 (964.6) 4. 埋于石头下，这也是现代墓碑的起源之一。		87:6.7 (964.6) 4. Burying under stones, one origin of the modern tombstone.
87:6.8 (964.7) 5. 火葬，防止鬼魂纠缠的一种后来发明。		87:6.8 (964.7) 5. Cremation, a later-day invention to prevent ghost trouble.
87:6.9 (964.8) 6. 将尸体扔进海中。		87:6.9 (964.8) 6. Casting the body into the sea.
87:6.10 (964.9) 7. 暴尸荒野来让野兽吃掉。		87:6.10 (964.9) 7. Exposure of the body to be eaten by wild animals.
87:6.11 (964.10) 鬼魂据信可被噪音所扰乱和吓怕；喊叫、钟声和鼓声可以将它们从生者身边驱离；这些古老的方法在为死者“守夜”时仍十分流行。恶臭的混合物可被用来驱逐讨厌的鬼神。鬼神的丑恶形象得以构建出来，这样它们在看到自己时便会匆忙逃窜。人们相信狗能探测到鬼魂的到来，它们通过嚎叫以示警告；公鸡会在它们来到时打鸣。用公鸡作为风向标，便是这种迷信的延续。		87:6.11 (964.10) Ghosts were supposed to be disturbed and frightened by noise; shouting, bells, and drums drove them away from the living; and these ancient methods are still in vogue at “wakes” for the dead. Foul-smelling concoctions were utilized to banish unwelcome spirits. Hideous images of the spirits were constructed so that they would flee in haste when they beheld themselves. It was believed that dogs could detect the approach of ghosts, and that they gave warning by howling; that cocks would crow when they were near. The use of a cock as a weather vane is in perpetuation of this superstition.
87:6.12 (964.11) 水被视为是对付鬼魂的最好防卫。圣水，即祭司们的洗脚水，胜过所有其它形式的水。火和水都被认为对鬼魂构成了无法穿越的障碍。罗马人曾在尸体四周洒水三次；在二十世纪，尸体被洒上圣水，并在墓地洗手仍是犹太人的仪式。洗礼是后来水仪式的一种特色；原始的沐浴也曾是一种宗教仪式。仅在近代，沐浴才成为一种卫生习惯。		87:6.12 (964.11) Water was regarded as the best protection against ghosts. Holy water was superior to all other forms, water in which the priests had washed their feet. Both fire and water were believed to constitute impassable barriers to ghosts. The Romans carried water three times around the corpse; in the twentieth century the body is sprinkled with holy water, and hand washing at the cemetery is still a Jewish ritual. Baptism was a feature of the later water ritual; primitive bathing was a religious ceremony. Only in recent times has bathing become a sanitary practice.
87:6.13 (964.12) 但人们并未止于镇伏鬼魂；通过宗教仪式及其它做法，他不久便尝试去迫使鬼神行动。驱魔便是利用一个鬼神去控制或驱逐另一个，这些策略也被用来恐吓鬼神们。善恶两种力量所产生的二元灵论观念为人提供了充足的机会，去尝试利用一个代理者排挤另一个，因为既然一个强有力的人可以打败一个更弱的人，那么一个强大的鬼神也势必能主掌一个低等的鬼魂。原始的诅咒曾是一种用来威慑小鬼的镇伏做法。后来，这种习俗扩展到了将诅咒发到仇人身上。		87:6.13 (964.12) But man did not stop with ghost coercion; through religious ritual and other practices he was soon attempting to compel spirit action. Exorcism was the employment of one spirit to control or banish another, and these tactics were also utilized for frightening ghosts and spirits. The dual-spiritism concept of good and bad forces offered man ample opportunity to attempt to pit one agency against another, for, if a powerful man could vanquish a weaker one, then certainly a strong spirit could dominate an inferior ghost. Primitive cursing was a coercive practice designed to overawe minor spirits. Later this custom expanded into the pronouncing of curses upon enemies.
87:6.14 (965.1) 长期以来人们相信，通过复归到更古老习俗的使用，便可以迫使鬼神及半仙就范。现代人也有同样的做法。你们以普通、日常语言彼此交谈，但当你们进行祷告时，你们则会采用另一代人更为古老的风格，即所谓的庄重风格。		87:6.14 (965.1) It was long believed that by reverting to the usages of the more ancient mores the spirits and demigods could be forced into desirable action. Modern man is guilty of the same procedure. You address one another in common, everyday language, but when you engage in prayer, you resort to the older style of another generation, the so-called solemn style.
87:6.15 (965.2) 这一教义也解释了许多具有性内涵的宗教仪式复归，比如庙妓。这些对原始习俗的复归被认为是抵挡很多灾难的可靠防护。对于这些头脑简单的民族来说，所有这些行为都全非现代人所谓的淫乱行为。		87:6.15 (965.2) This doctrine also explains many religious-ritual reversions of a sex nature, such as temple prostitution. These reversions to primitive customs were considered sure guards against many calamities. And with these simple-minded peoples all such performances were entirely free from what modern man would term promiscuity.
87:6.16 (965.3) 接着到来的是仪式性誓约的习俗，紧接其后的是宗教立誓和神圣誓约。这些誓约大多都伴随着自我折磨和自我伤害；后来则伴随着斋戒和祷告。其后，自我克制被视为是一种可靠的镇伏；这在性压抑方面尤为真确。就这样，原始人很早便在其宗教习俗中发展出了一种明确的禁欲之风，深信自我折磨和自我克制的功效，它们作为仪式能迫使那些不情愿的鬼神们来对所有这些痛苦和剥夺做出于有利的反应。		87:6.16 (965.3) Next came the practice of ritual vows, soon to be followed by religious pledges and sacred oaths. Most of these oaths were accompanied by self-torture and self-mutilation; later on, by fasting and prayer. Self-denial was subsequently looked upon as being a sure coercive; this was especially true in the matter of sex suppression. And so primitive man early developed a decided austerity in his religious practices, a belief in the efficacy of self-torture and self-denial as rituals capable of coercing the unwilling spirits to react favorably toward all such suffering and deprivation.
87:6.17 (965.4) 现代人不再公开尝试去强迫鬼神，尽管他仍表现出一种想与神灵讨价还价的倾向。他仍然发誓，敲击木头，交叉手指，还在吐唾沫之后说某种套话；它一度曾是一种魔咒。		87:6.17 (965.4) Modern man no longer attempts openly to coerce the spirits, though he still evinces a disposition to bargain with Deity. And he still swears, knocks on wood, crosses his fingers, and follows expectoration with some trite phrase; once it was a magical formula.
7. 教派崇拜的本质 ^top		7. Nature of Cultism ^top
87:7.1 (965.5) 教派类型的社会组织之所以会存续下来，是因为它为道德情感和宗教忠诚之保留与激励提供了一种象征体系。教派出自于“古老家族”的传统，并作为一种既定的制度而被保持下来；所有的家族都有某种形式的崇拜。每一种鼓舞人心的理念都要掌握某种长存的象征体系 -- 即寻求某种文化呈现的手段，它将会确保存续、增强认知 -- 而教派通过培养和满足情感而达到了这一目标。		87:7.1 (965.5) The cult type of social organization persisted because it provided a symbolism for the preservation and stimulation of moral sentiments and religious loyalties. The cult grew out of the traditions of “old families” and was perpetuated as an established institution; all families have a cult of some sort. Every inspiring ideal grasps for some perpetuating symbolism—seeks some technique for cultural manifestation which will insure survival and augment realization—and the cult achieves this end by fostering and gratifying emotion.
87:7.2 (965.6) 从文明发端以来，社会文化或宗教进步中每一次引人入胜的运动都发展出了一种仪式，一种象征性的典礼。这种仪式越是无意之中形成，它越是能更强抓住其信徒的心。教派保持了情操，并满足了情感，但它对于社会重建和灵性进步来说却始终是最大的障碍。		87:7.2 (965.6) From the dawn of civilization every appealing movement in social culture or religious advancement has developed a ritual, a symbolic ceremonial. The more this ritual has been an unconscious growth, the stronger it has gripped its devotees. The cult preserved sentiment and satisfied emotion, but it has always been the greatest obstacle to social reconstruction and spiritual progress.
87:7.3 (965.7) 尽管教派总是阻碍了社会进步，但令人遗憾的是，有那么多道德规范和灵性理念的现代信奉者们，并没有任何适当的象征体系 -- 即没有任何可提供相互支持的教派 -- 亦即无所皈依。但宗教教派却又无法被制造出来；它必须要逐渐形成。没有任何两个群体的人会是完全一致的，除非他们的仪式由权威所强行标准化了。		87:7.3 (965.7) Notwithstanding that the cult has always retarded social progress, it is regrettable that so many modern believers in moral standards and spiritual ideals have no adequate symbolism—no cult of mutual support—nothing to belong to. But a religious cult cannot be manufactured; it must grow. And those of no two groups will be identical unless their rituals are arbitrarily standardized by authority.
87:7.4 (965.8) 早期的基督教派是人类所创建或设想出的所有仪式中最为有效、最富魅力且最为持久的，但它的大多价值在科学时代因其原本潜存宗旨受到的大量破坏而被摧毁了。基督教派因许多基本理念的丧失而被夺去了生命力。		87:7.4 (965.8) The early Christian cult was the most effective, appealing, and enduring of any ritual ever conceived or devised, but much of its value has been destroyed in a scientific age by the destruction of so many of its original underlying tenets. The Christian cult has been devitalized by the loss of many fundamental ideas.
87:7.5 (965.9) 在过去，当教派有弹性、即该象征体系有可扩张性时，真理曾快速形成并自由扩展。丰富的真理和灵活的教派能加速社会前进。当一种毫无意义的教派试图排斥哲学并奴役理性时，它就会损害宗教；真正的教派则会逐渐形成。		87:7.5 (965.9) In the past, truth has grown rapidly and expanded freely when the cult has been elastic, the symbolism expansile. Abundant truth and an adjustable cult have favored rapidity of social progression. A meaningless cult vitiates religion when it attempts to supplant philosophy and to enslave reason; a genuine cult grows.
87:7.6 (966.1) 不管有多少障碍和不利因素，每一次新的真理启示都会引发一种新的教派，甚至对耶稣宗教的重述也必定会发展出一套新而适合的象征体系。现代人必定会为其新的扩展理念、理想和虔诚找到某种适当的象征体系。这种改善了的象征必定会出自于宗教生活、即灵性体验。更高等文明的这种更高等象征体系，必定要基于神之父性身份这一概念，也要孕以人类兄弟情谊这一强大理想。		87:7.6 (966.1) Regardless of the drawbacks and handicaps, every new revelation of truth has given rise to a new cult, and even the restatement of the religion of Jesus must develop a new and appropriate symbolism. Modern man must find some adequate symbolism for his new and expanding ideas, ideals, and loyalties. This enhanced symbol must arise out of religious living, spiritual experience. And this higher symbolism of a higher civilization must be predicated on the concept of the Fatherhood of God and be pregnant with the mighty ideal of the brotherhood of man.
87:7.7 (966.2) 旧的教派过于以自我为中心；新的教派则必定是施出之爱的产物。新的教派必定也要像旧的一样去培养情操，满足情感，促进忠诚；但它必定会做出更多：它必定会促进灵性进步，提升宇宙意涵，增进道德价值，鼓励社会发展，激发一种崇高类型的个人宗教生活。新的教派必定会提供至高的生活目标，它们既是现世的，又是永恒的 -- 亦即既是社会性的，又是灵性的。		87:7.7 (966.2) The old cults were too egocentric; the new must be the outgrowth of applied love. The new cult must, like the old, foster sentiment, satisfy emotion, and promote loyalty; but it must do more: It must facilitate spiritual progress, enhance cosmic meanings, augment moral values, encourage social development, and stimulate a high type of personal religious living. The new cult must provide supreme goals of living which are both temporal and eternal—social and spiritual.
87:7.8 (966.3) 若教派未以家庭之生物性、社会性和宗教性意义为基础，那它便不会持久，也不会为社会文明的进步和个人的灵性达成做出贡献。一种存续下来的教派，必定会把在不断变化中所存的不变事物象征化；它必定会荣耀那一统合了不断变化的社会转变潮流的事物。它必定会承认真正意涵，提升美好关系，荣耀真正高贵的善性价值。		87:7.8 (966.3) No cult can endure and contribute to the progress of social civilization and individual spiritual attainment unless it is based on the biologic, sociologic, and religious significance of the home. A surviving cult must symbolize that which is permanent in the presence of unceasing change; it must glorify that which unifies the stream of ever-changing social metamorphosis. It must recognize true meanings, exalt beautiful relations, and glorify the good values of real nobility.
87:7.9 (966.4) 但找到一种全新而又满意的象征体系之所以极为困难，是因为现代人作为一个群体，坚持科学态度，避开迷信，憎恨无知；而作为个人，他们又都渴望神秘物，尊崇未知物。仅当一种教派既体现了某种精彩的神秘物，又隐含了某种有价值的未达成物，它才能存续下去。此外，新的象征体系必定不仅要对群体极为重要，对于个人也要同样有意义。任何有用的象征体系形式，必定会是那些既可由个人主动实施，也可与众人共同分享的形式。如果新的教派可以是动态的，而非仅是静态的，那么它或许真能为人类的世俗和灵性进步贡献某种有价值的东西。		87:7.9 (966.4) But the great difficulty of finding a new and satisfying symbolism is because modern men, as a group, adhere to the scientific attitude, eschew superstition, and abhor ignorance, while as individuals they all crave mystery and venerate the unknown. No cult can survive unless it embodies some masterful mystery and conceals some worthful unattainable. Again, the new symbolism must not only be significant for the group but also meaningful to the individual. The forms of any serviceable symbolism must be those which the individual can carry out on his own initiative, and which he can also enjoy with his fellows. If the new cult could only be dynamic instead of static, it might really contribute something worth while to the progress of mankind, both temporal and spiritual.
87:7.10 (966.5) 但一种教派 -- 即一种包含了仪式、口号或是目标的象征体系 -- 如果过于复杂，那它就发挥不了什么作用。它必定会要求人们投身其中，并响应以忠诚。每一种有效的宗教都会准确无误地发展出一套相称的象征体系，而其信众会明智地防止这种仪式僵化而变成难解的、扭曲的和沉闷刻板的礼节，它们只能阻碍社会性、道德性和灵性的进步。如果一种教派延滞了道德的发展，未能促进灵性的进步，那么它就无法存续下去。教派是骨架结构，在其周围个人灵性体验这一鲜活而动态的机体会成长起来 -- 后者才算是真正的宗教。		87:7.10 (966.5) But a cult—a symbolism of rituals, slogans, or goals—will not function if it is too complex. And there must be the demand for devotion, the response of loyalty. Every effective religion unerringly develops a worthy symbolism, and its devotees would do well to prevent the crystallization of such a ritual into cramping, deforming, and stifling stereotyped ceremonials which can only handicap and retard all social, moral, and spiritual progress. No cult can survive if it retards moral growth and fails to foster spiritual progress. The cult is the skeletal structure around which grows the living and dynamic body of personal spiritual experience—true religion.
87:7.11 (966.6) [由内巴顿(Nebadon)的一位闪耀昏星所呈献。]		87:7.11 (966.6) [Presented by a Brilliant Evening Star of Nebadon.]