黃博書
前言：
理察.羅爾 (Fr. Richard Rohr,1943-) 是一位天主教方濟各修會 (Franciscan Order) 的神父。 羅爾神父傳承了基督教神秘主義的深邃智慧，以及行動與默觀(Contemplation) 的傳統。他創建了「行動與默觀中心」 (Center for Action and Contemplation, Albuquerque, New Mexico https://cac.org)，教導上帝的恩典如何引導人經由默觀與行動的操練, 從認識自己開始, 開啟生活的智慧, 使自己成為這個世界上一個愛、和平和正向轉變的工具 (S. Francis’ Prayer) 。 他是多本書籍的作者，包括《The Universal Christ – 普世基督》、《Just This -只此一刻》和《Falling Upward -向上墜落》。這兩篇短文乃擷取自「行動與默觀中心」的網站裡的「 每日沉思」(Daily Meditation), 介紹早期基督教沙漠教父的默觀傳統, 他們如何在獨處靜觀默禱中獲得心靈的平靜與自由。 可見不只是佛教、印度教有靜坐開悟見性的修煉, 基督教的傳統中也有默觀的操練, 可謂殊途同歸。
一. 沙漠中的智慧 – 心識的轉變 理察 羅爾著 黃博書翻譯
理察 羅爾神父強調沙漠隱士不但在㝷找生活方式的改變, 而且在尋求心識的轉變
沙漠教父、教母在耶穌之後初期的幾個世紀出現。儘管他們看似原始且禁慾，但他們經常展現出 對觀察者與被觀察事物之間的關聯的驚人覺知，在這方面，他們與禪宗佛教徒的簡捷、軼事 和洞見有雷同之處。敘利亞一位天主教執事伊瓦格里奧斯·龐提庫斯 (約 345-399 年)，有時被稱為 恩尼亞格拉姆的老教父，說:「當激情在我們非理性的本性中被激發時，它們不會讓智力正常運作。」[1] 他和許多人將這種洞見視為他們理解祈禱科學之基礎。
古代隱士尋求 「不動情」 (Apatheia, dispassion)，指的是透過「平靜的祈禱」而深刻體驗到內心的平靜和滿足，它是築基於耶穌所說的「進入你的內室」和 「不要像異教徒那樣喋喋不休」(馬太福音 6:6-8)。 在早期， 「祈禱」並非指人與上帝之間為了解決某種問題所做的交易，也不是指對著上帝說話，而 是修女們過去常常對我們說的「戴上不同的思考帽子」，它似乎根本不是我們所理 解的「思考」，因為所謂的思考往往只是對現況做出反應或重複的評論。
對於這些沙漠教母與教父來說，他們不認為祈禱是取悅上帝的一種交易 ((祈禱被理解為解決困難) 的看法其實是很晚才形成的)，而是祈禱者的心識轉變，祈禱是內心與上帝對話的覺醒，從上帝的角度而言這個對話從未停止過。這就是為什麼使徒保羅常說要「不住地」祈禱 (帖撒 羅尼迦前書 5:17)，簡單來說，祈禱並非試圖改變上帝對我們或任何其他事物的想法，而是讓上帝改變我們對現況的想法—因為我們通常會迴避或扭曲現實。
沙漠教母、教父認為「不動情」（Apatheia, dispaasion) 就是「自由」和「救贖」，這種看法遠早於我們將救贖降級為被帶到另一個世界的 想法。對今天許多人來說，上帝更常被視為個人後偹計劃中的夥伴，而不是能轉化心智，解放心靈與「愛」邂逅的伴侶（上帝是愛）。這體現在許多基督徒對正義、地球或窮人少之又 少的關懷, 愛的果實對於他們之中的許多人而言，往往並不很清楚，甚至不感興趣。
我相信，我們真正尋求的另一個真實的世界並不在別處或未來，而是在我們自己的心中或腦海裡! 如果我們換上完全不同的心智，那麼天堂就會自顯，事實上，現在就開始了！
1. Wisdom of the Desert – A Change in Consciousness
From Center for Action and Contemplation, Daily Meditations 4/7/2025
https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-change-in-consciousness/
Father Richard Rohr emphasizes how the desert mystics were not just seeking a change in lifestyle but a change in consciousness:
The desert fathers and mothers emerged in the early centuries after Jesus. Despite their seeming primitiveness and asceticism, they often demonstrated an amazing awareness of the connection between the one seeing and what is seen. In this regard, they are similar to Zen Buddhists in their simplicity, stories, and insight. The Syrian deacon Evagrius Ponticus (c. 345–399), who is sometimes called the grandfather of what became the Enneagram, says that “When the passions are aroused in the non-rational part of our nature, they do not allow the intellect to function properly.” [1] He and many others make this insight foundational to their understanding of the science of prayer.
The seeking of “dispassion” or apatheia for ancient solitary monastics referred to the inner peace and contentment that they discovered through their profound experience of what they often called “prayer of quiet,” building on Jesus’ talk of “going to your inner room” and “not babbling on like the pagans do” (see Matthew 6:6–8). In this early period, “prayer” didn’t refer to some kind of problem-solving transaction between humans and God, nor was it about saying words to God. It was quite literally “putting on a different thinking cap,” as the nuns used to say to us. It seems that it wasn’t “thinking” at all, as we now understand it, because such thinking is too often just reacting to or writing repetitive commentaries on the moment.
For these desert mothers and fathers, prayer was understood not as a transaction that somehow pleased God (the problem-solving understanding of prayer that emerged much later), but as a transformation of the consciousness of the one who was doing the praying. Prayer was the awakening of an inner dialogue that, from God’s side, had never stopped. That’s why the Apostle Paul could speak so often of praying “always” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). In simple words, prayer is not changing God’s mind about us or anything else but allowing God to change our mind about the reality right in front of us—which we are usually avoiding or distorting.
“Dispassion” was the desert mothers’ and fathers’ notion of freedom and salvation, long before we devolved into the much-later notion of salvation as being transported to another realm. For many today, God is seen—and used—as a partner in our private evacuation plan more than any Love Encountered that transforms mind or liberates heart. This is revealed in the little, if any, concern that many Christians show for justice, the earth, or the poor. The fruits of love are often not apparent in them, and not even of much interest to many of them.
I now believe that the other reality we are rightly seeking is not elsewhere or in the future but right in our own hearts and heads! If we put on an entirely different mind, then heaven takes care of itself and, in fact, begins now.
References:
[1] Evagrius, On Prayer 51. See The Philokalia, vol. 1, ed. and trans. G. E. H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, Kallistos Ware (Faber and Faber, 1979), 61.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Just This (CAC Publishing, 2017), 15–18.
二．沙漠中的智慧 –培養內在的自由：
沙漠的教父教母，為了擺脫羅馬帝國的經濟、文化和政治結構的敗壞，離開城市來到沙漠過著自由的生活，隱士和修女們知道帝國並非可靠的夥伴，他們認識到必須先從體制中尋求內在的自由，才能以真愛、智慧和自然的心態回歸到原來的體制。時至今日這種脫離與回歸的機制仍在進行，否則的話，我們深層的轉化力量將喪失殆盡，套句現代的語言來説即「文化會把基督教當早餐吃掉」！
如何尋求內在的自由呢？我們都注意到每當我們遭受痛苦時，心智總是傾向於認同事情的負面，一遍又一遍的重播場景，而深深地傷害自己，幾乎所有人都有強烈的傾向，專注於事情的負面，這也是為什麼許多人變得恐懼, 充滿仇恨，並被負面的批評所捆挷。這種錯誤必須及早並明確的被認知。心靈平靜是一個矛盾的詞彙，當我們忙於心智活動時，內心幾乎難以平靜；當我們內心平靜時，我們並非只是安頓了我們的心智活動。早期的基督教隱士和修女們知道這一點，並堅持首先尋找內在的平靜和安寧，以便馴服焦慮不安的心智。
在本篤·沃德 (Benedicta Ward) 的《沙漠隱士箴言》中有一個故事：「一位兄弟來到斯凱蒂斯拜訪摩西隱士，並請求他指點迷津。這位老人對他說：『去，坐在你的小室裡，你的小室會教你一切。』」。 但我們不必有小室，也不必逃避積極生活的責任，才能體驗獨處和寂靜。辛克利蒂卡 (Amma Syncletica) 修女說：「許多人住在山上，卻像在城鎮裡一樣的行事為人，他們浪費光陰。其實，在人群中生活，也可能保持心靈的獨處，而一個孤獨的人也可能是生活在自己繁雜的思緒中。」
獨處對沙漠神秘主義者而言，並非指單純的隱私或受庇護的空間（儘管這也是必要的）。亨利·盧雲(Henri Nouwen)認為沙漠神秘主義者將獨處視為「皈依之地，舊我死亡、新我誕生之地，新的男人/女人的出現之地。」 獨處是在純粹的愛的面前勇敢的面對赤裸裸的、最原始的和最真實的「自我」，這常常可以在人際交往和忙碌的生活中實現。
2. Wisdom of the Desert (2) – Cultivating Inner Freedom – by Richard Rohr
From Center for Action and Contemplation, Daily Meditations 4/10/2025
https://cac.org/daily-meditations/cultivating-inner-freedom/
The desert fathers and mothers withdrew from cities to the desert to live freely, apart from the economic, cultural, and political structure of the Roman Empire. The abbas andammas knew, as should we, that the empire would be an unreliable partner. They recognized that they had to find inner freedom from the system before they could return to it with true love, wisdom, and helpfulness. This is the continuing dynamic to this day, otherwise, “Culture eats Christianity for breakfast” to use a modern turn of phrase, and our deep transformative power is largely lost.
How do we find inner freedom? Notice that whenever we suffer pain, the mind is always quick to identify with the negative aspects of things and replay them over and over again, wounding us deeply. Almost all humans have a compulsion to fixate almost entirely on what’s wrong, which is why so many people become fearful, hate-filled, and wrapped around their negative commentaries. This pattern must be recognized early and definitively. Peace of mind is an oxymoron. When we’re in our mind, we’re hardly ever at peace; when we’re at peace, we’re never only in our mind. The early Christian abbas and ammas knew this and first insisted on finding the inner rest and quiet necessary to tame the obsessive mind.
In a story from Benedicta Ward’s The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: “A brother came to Scetis to visit Abba Moses and asked him for a word. The old man said to him, ‘Go, sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.’” [1] But we don’t have to have a cell, and we don’t have to run away from the responsibilities of an active life, to experience solitude and silence. Amma Syncletica said, “There are many who live in the mountains and behave as if they were in the town, and they are wasting their time. It is possible to be a solitary in one’s mind while living in a crowd, and it is possible for one who is a solitary to live in the crowd of [their] own thoughts.” [2]
By solitude, the desert mystics didn’t mean mere privacy or protected space, although there is a need for that too. The desert mystics saw solitude, in Henri Nouwen’s words, as “the place of conversion, the place where the old self dies and the new self is born, the place where the emergence of the new man and the new woman occurs.” [3] Solitude is a courageous encounter with our naked, most raw and real self, in the presence of pure love. Quite often this can happen right in the midst of human relationships and busy lives.
References:
[1] The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection, trans. Benedicta Ward, rev. ed. (Cistercian Publications, 1984), 139.
[2] Sayings, 234.