Title: Soul 人性靈

Question Discused: Can we learn about our soul? And How?

探討問題: 我們可以認識靈魂嗎? 如何去認識?

So the other human realities are souls, which, like the moon, acquire their light from the sun, but that sanctified Reality is luminous in and of itself. (Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions)

「靈魂是人類的實在之一，就像月亮一樣，它從太陽獲取光，但那(靈魂)神聖化的本質是光明的。 」（阿博都巴哈）

The connection of the spirit with the body is like that of the sun with the mirror. ……the spirit with the utmost greatness rules in the world of the body; and its power and influence, like the bounty of the sun in the mirror, are apparent and visible. But when the mirror becomes dusty or breaks, it will cease to reflect the rays of the sun. (Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions 61)

「靈與肉體的關係就像太陽與鏡子的關係。……靈在肉體世界裡起著至為偉大的主宰作用；其力量和影響就像鏡中太陽的光芒一樣明顯可見。但是當明鏡蒙塵或破損時，它就不會反射陽光了。」(阿博都巴哈，已答之問61)

When these souls are delivered from the darkness of these vices through the light of faith, when they are illumined by the rays of the Sun of Truth and endowed with every human virtue, they reckon this as the greatest reward and regard it as the true paradise. (Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions 60)

「當人性靈通過信仰之光從這些罪惡的深淵裡被解救出來，並藉著真理之陽的光輝而變得明達，藉著一切美德而變得高尚的時候，他們便把這當作了最大的獎賞，也明白了這才是真正的極樂之園。」 (阿博都巴哈，已答之問60)

When a soul has in it the life of the spirit, then does it bring forth good fruit and become a divine tree….

「一旦靈魂擁有了精神的生命，它就會結出豐碩之果，從而成為一棵神聖之樹……」

If the human spirit will rejoice and be attracted to the Kingdom of God, if the inner sight becomes opened, and the spiritual hearing strengthened, and the spiritual feelings predominant, he will see the immortality of the spirit as clearly as he sees the sun, and the glad tidings and signs of God will encompass him. (Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions 60)

「如果人性靈滿懷喜悅地為上帝王國所吸引，如果內在的視覺洞開，靈性的聽覺加強，靈性感覺敏銳的話，他便會見到靈之不滅，猶如見到太陽一樣明了，而上帝的表徵和喜訊就會將他環繞包圍。」(阿博都巴哈，已答之問60)

Summarize 簡結：

• A moon needs the light from the sun in order to shine. A human soul needs the light from the Sun of Truth to shine that light in Creation. To learn about the light from our soul, first we need to turn our soul to the Sun of Truth. Then, through inner observation to eliminate idle fancy and vain imagination which blocks the light from our soul, our body can reflect the energy and the good qualities from soul. This makes a healthier body and produces good deeds. ── 月亮要有太陽的光輝才能看見光明，靈魂要接受聖陽光輝的照耀，才能反射靈魂的光輝。認識自身靈魂的光輝，首先要轉向真理之陽。然後，藉由內觀去認識遮蔽靈魂光輝的妄想妄念，學習放下意識心的妄想妄念，這樣靈魂的本來特質就能展現在良善的心思意念與言行舉止，維持肉體生命的能量也不會被阻礙。
• From the spiritual qualities it shows we can see the condition of the soul. The spiritual qualities are the refection of our inner condition. ── 從靈性品質，我們可以認識靈魂健康的狀態 ，靈性品質是內在靈魂狀態的外顯。
• The purpose of spiritual practice in cultivating our inner life is to learn about our own nature, our human soul. Inner observation is a method for us to draw our attention away from the world outside to our inner self, to promote our spiritual senses, to open our spiritural insight and to strengthen our spiritural hearing. In this way we can be attracted to the Kingdom of God. The purpose is to perceive the immortality of the human soul with insight and let our soul be encompassed by the glad tidings and signs of God. 內在生活是為了認識自己的靈魂，內觀是藉著覺知的訓練，去加強內在視覺與聽覺的能力，提高靈性感覺的敏銳度。靈性敏銳度的提升，可以幫助我們被上帝王國所吸引，最終目標是看見自己靈魂的不朽，並使靈魂被上帝的表徵和喜訊所環繞包圍。

Inner-observation 內觀:

What we practice in meditation is observing the sensations of our body and the feeling of our heart. We start with the awareness of ourselves inside, instead of focusing our mind outward. We start building this awareness while we sit in meditation. Hopefully, we can gradually have this awareness in all conditions of our daily life.

今天我們練習觀身體感覺與心的感受，把時時在注意外面事情的心轉向注意內在的狀況覺知。在靜坐中練習覺知，希望覺知能漸漸養成習慣，漸漸能在日常生活中也時時有覺知。