That is a common human fact. Human beings, right from the beginning of time, have been frightened. And they have never solved the problem. If you were not frightened at all, there would be no gods, no rituals, no prayers. It is our fear that has created all the gods, all the deities, and the gurus with their absurdities. So can we go into the question of why human beings live in fear and whether it is possible to be free of it entirely, not occasionally, not sporadically? Can you be aware of the objects of fear and also the inward causes of fear? You may say, ‘I am not afraid’, but all your background is structured on fear.

造成我們生活在支離破碎中的一個因素，就是恐懼?？謶质侨祟惞灿械囊粋€事實，人類從時間伊始就已經(jīng)心存恐懼了，但他們從未解決這個問題。如果你根本不恐懼，就不會有各種神明、儀式和祈禱。正是我們的恐懼制造了所有的上帝、所有的神明和所有的古魯，以及它們荒唐的一切。所以，我們能不能探究一下這些問題：為什么人類生活在恐懼中？有沒有可能徹底而不是有時候、偶爾地擺脫恐懼？你能不能覺察到恐懼的對象以及恐懼的內(nèi)在根源？你也許會說，“我不害怕”，但你的所有背景都構(gòu)筑在恐懼之上。

What is fear? Are you not afraid? If you are really honest, for a change, will you not say, ‘I am afraid’? Afraid of death.Afraid of losing a job.Afraid of your wife or husband.Afraid of public opinion.Afraid of not being recognized by your guru as a great disciple.Afraid of the dark.Afraid of so many things. We are not talking about the objects of fear, fear of something. We are inquiring into fear perse, in itself. So we are asking: What is the cause of fear, and what is fear without a cause? Is there such a thing as fear without a cause? Or does the word ‘fear’, the sound of fear, evokes in us fear? For example, when you hear the word ‘communism’, you would react to it, if you are a capitalist or even if you are a socialist. And when you hear the word ‘fear’, you react to it, don’t you? Of course you do.

恐懼是什么？你難道不害怕嗎？我們換個說法，如果你真正誠實的話，你難道不會說“我害怕”嗎？害怕死亡，害怕失業(yè)，害怕你的妻子或丈夫，害怕公眾輿論，害怕沒有被你的古魯認(rèn)可為一名出色的弟子，害怕黑暗，害怕如此之多的事情。我們談的不是恐懼的對象，不是對什么的恐懼，我們探究的是恐懼本身。所以我們問：恐懼的根源是什么？沒有原因的恐懼又是什么？存在沒有原因的恐懼這回事嗎？還是說，“恐懼”這個詞，恐懼的聲音，在我們內(nèi)心喚起了恐懼？比如說，當(dāng)你聽到“共產(chǎn)主義”這個詞，如果你是一個資本主義者，或如果你是一個社會主義者，你都會對它作出反應(yīng)。而當(dāng)你聽到“恐懼”這個詞，你也會對它作出反應(yīng)，不是嗎？你當(dāng)然會。

Thought and time are the two factors of fear. You cannot do anything about it. Don’t ask, ‘How am I to stop thinking?’ It is too silly a question. Because you have got to think—to go from here to your house, to drive a car, to speak a language. But time may not be necessary at all psychologically, inwardly. So we are saying fear exists because of the two major factors of time and thought, in which is involved reward and punishment. Now, I have heard this statement made by you. And I have listened to it so immensely because it is a tremendous problem which man has not solved at all and which, therefore, is creating havoc in the world. I have listened to you, listened to the statement. And you have also told me: Don’t do anything about it; just put the question and live with it, as a woman bears the seed in her womb. So you have put the question. Let that question flower. In the flowering of that question, there is also the withering away of that question. It is not the flowering and then the ending—the very flowering is the ending. Do you understand what we are talking about?

思想和時間是恐懼的兩個要素。你對它們什么也不能做。不要問：“我該如何停止思考？”這是個太過愚蠢的問題，因為你必須得思考——從這里走到你的房子，開車，說一門語言，都需要思考。但是從心理上、從內(nèi)在來說，也許根本不需要時間。所以我們說，恐懼之所以存在，是因為兩個主要的因素——時間和思想，其中涉及了獎賞和懲罰?，F(xiàn)在，我聽到了你說的這句話。我如此全神貫注地傾聽了你說的話，因為恐懼是人類從未解決的一個巨大問題，并因此在世界上制造了可怕的破壞。我傾聽了你，聽到了那句話。同時你又告訴我：對它什么也不要做；只是提出這個問題并與之共處，就像一個女人的子宮里孕育著那顆種子一樣。于是你提出了那個問題，讓它自己綻放。在綻放之中，那個問題同時也在枯萎。不是先有綻放，然后再終結(jié)——綻放本身就是終結(jié)。你明白我們在說什么嗎？