在这个八集的系列中 In this eight part series
我讨论了哲学和宗教上常见的问题 I discussed problems common to the philosophy and to religion
我现在重点讨论人类与虚无主义的斗争 My focus is now our struggle with nihilism
这种恐惧来自于人类的生命 The fear that our lives
和世界本身或许是没有意义的 and world itself may be meaningless
在第三部分中 In this third part
我将讲述人类精神史上的主要方向 I address major directions in the spiritual history of mankind
宗教世界史里 主要存在三种大方向 Three orientations have prevailed in the world history of religion
第一个方向 可以被标作 对世界的超越 The first orientation could be labeled the overcoming of the world
最重要的例证是原始佛教 The most important example is original Buddhism together with
和古印度哲学的诸多刘培 many strands of ancient Indian philosophy
西方哲学史最重要的例证是 The most important examples in the history of western philosophy
叔本华哲学和柏拉图哲学 are the philosophy of Schopenhauer and the philosophy of Plato
超越世界的中心理念是 The central idea of the overcoming of the world is that
区别和改变的体验是一种错觉 the experience of distinction and of change is illusory
真实现实是统一的 也是隐藏的 True reality is both unified and hidden
通过将自身 对这种隐藏的现实打开 By opening up access to this underlying reality
我们可以达到内心的平静和同情 we can achieve both serenity and compassion
第二个主要的导向 是对世界的人性化说 The second major orientation is the humanization of the world
最有代表意义的是古典儒家学说 The most significant example is classical Confucianism
根据世界的人性化说 人类社会 For the humanization of the world society
存在于一种无意义的自然虚空中 exists in a meaningless natural void
但我们可以在这种无意义的虚空中创造意义 In this meaningless void however we can create meaning
我们的任务就是 Our task is to
发展一种文明 刻上人类的印记 develop a civilization that bears the imprint of our humanity
这种文明的组织方式 It should be organized
应当是基于相互间平等互惠的 on the basis of a reciprocal obligation to one another
并基于一种想象的能力 and an ability to imagine one another
世界史上的第三个主要方向 The third major orientation in the history of the world is
是与世界作斗争 the struggle with the world
它的例证 一方面是通过苏美尔人的救赎宗教 It is exemplified on one side by the Semitic religions
犹太教 基督教和伊斯兰教来证明 of salvation Judaism, Christianity and Islam
另一方面通过人类解放的现代世俗计划来验证 and on the other side by the modern, secular projects of emancipation
民主主义 自由主义和社会主义的政治规划 The political programs of democracy, liberalism and socialism
和还有个人解放的文化革命性规划 but also the cultural revolutionary program of personal emancipation
都是通过 大众 高端的浪漫主义 来表现的 represented by the high and popular cultures of romanticism
与世界作斗争的理念是 The message of the struggle with the world is that
我们可以走上一条圣人的道路 we can ensured embark on a trajectory of a saint
使我们自身接近于神 that makes us more godlike
这条道路的推进 在于 This trajectory may be impelled by an interaction
一名至高无上的神 插手历史 between the saving work of a transcendent god
试图拯救人类的努力 who intervenes in history
和人类自我构建的努力之间的互动 with our own efforts at self-construction
要么就是只借助人类本身的力量 Or maybe wholly within our own power
没有神性的帮助 without the help of such a deity
宗教世界史上的这三个主要代表方向 The religions representing these major orientations in world history
都是在基督出生前后的 arouse in a period of several centuries
几个世纪期间发展起来的 before and after the birth of Christ
哲学家卡尔·雅斯贝尔斯称之为 轴心时代 that the philosopher Karl Jaspers called the Axial Age
一系列连续的宗教革命之间 This connected series of religious revolutions
具有许多共同的深层特性 have many deep traits in common
尽管这三个方向之间有巨大的不同 Despite the immense differences among these three directions
还是有明显的四个共同点 Four sets of similarity stand up
第一点 是所有这些宗教都建立了 The first is that all these religions established
神的超验性和普在性之间的辩证关系 a dialectic between transcendence and imminence
它们否定自然是神圣的 They deny that nature was divine
并且 神性存在于自然之上 and projected the divine beyond nature
然而 这种超验的神性 The transcendent divine however must then
在世界中寻找化身 seek embodiment in the world
尤其是在我们的社会体验中寻找化身 and above all in our experience of society
甚至儒家学说 Even Confucianism
承认超验性和普在性之间的辩证时 recognizes this dialectic of transcendence and imminence
也是通过把神性定位于个人体验 by locating the sacred in the experience of the personal
和人际际遇之中 and interpersonal encounter
而不是在自然界中 rather than in nature
这些宗教革命的第二点共同特性 The second common trait of these religious revolutions was
是否认现实的自主性 to deny the automate reality
以及人类各分支 and authority of
即阶级 部落 种族 性别之中 all the divisions within mankind
存在的权威 of class, of cast, of race of gender
这种观点承认人类的普遍性 To affirm the universality of our human nature
并认为人类不存在这些分歧 against these divisions
这些宗教革命的第三点共通特性是 The third shared attribute of these religious revolutions was that
它们都拒绝这种曾占主导地位的伦理 they all rejected what have been the predominant ethics
即尚武勇士和自我主张 of martial valor and self-assertion
当时农业官僚帝国中 统治阶级 The ethos of the fighting and ruling classes that
和武力阶级崇尚的这种伦理观 governed the agrarian bureaucratic empires
这两个阶级是产生 the main entities in the societies
这种宗教的社会中的主要构成 in which these religions arouse
为了取代这种尚武伦理 宗教 In place of this ethic
提出了一种弃绝的伦理 they offered an ethic of renunciation
一种对全人类的怜悯 of universal empathy
一种为了同胞的牺牲精神 of sacrificial fellow-feeling
这些宗教革命的 The forth shared characteristic
第个点共同的特性是 of these religious revolutions is that
实际上它们每一种都像是一张票的两面 each of them presented what was in a fact a two-sided ticket
一面是 One side of the ticket was a license to
一张逃离这个世界和历史梦魇的通行证 escape from this world, from the nightmare of history
另一面则是挑衅的言辞 激励人类去改变世界 The other side of the ticket was a provocation to change the world
所有这些共通的特性之间 There is an ambiguity
自始至终都存在一种歧义性 that runs through all of these shared characteristics
因此三种主要的精神方向之间也是如此 and therefore through the three major spiritual directions
它们究竟只是这个世界的重新写照 Are they simply a re-description of the world
还是一种世界转型的方案？ or are they a program for the transformation of the world
三个方向中的一个 与世界作斗争 One of the three directions, the struggle with the world
它的世俗形式表现为 in its secular form of the projects
政治与个人的解放计划 of political and personal emancipation
长达两个世纪以来 has set the whole world on fire
这个理论一直动摇着整个世界 for over two centuries
它唤起了普通大众心中 It has aroused in the heart
关于伟大的希望 of ordinary humanity the hope of greatness
唤起了我们心中共享的神性 the desire to expand our share
激励我们扩展这种神性 in the attributes of the divine
这种觉醒 是一场全新的 This arousal is the point of departure
历史宗教革命的出发点 for a new religious revolution in history