Awareness:Every pore of the skin has to become an eye
覺知:每個皮膚的毛細孔都必須為眼睛
We think of intelligence and perception as taking place exclusively in our brains, but yoga teaches us that awareness and intelligence must permeate the body. Each part of the body literally has to be engulfed by the intelligence. We must create a marriage between the awareness of the body and that of the mind. When the two parties do not cooperate, there is unhappiness on both sides. This leads to a sense of fragmentation and "dis-ease." For example, we should eat only when our mouths spontaneously salivate', as it is the body's intelligence telling us that we are truly hungry. If not, we are force-feeding ourselves and disease will surely follow.
我們一般都認為所謂人的智慧和察覺力只會發生在大腦裡。但瑜伽卻教導我們必須將覺知與智慧融入身體之中。身體的每個部位必須確實地被智慧融入其中，我們必須在身體的敏覺性與心智的理解力上創造一個連結。一旦這兩者無法合作協調時，那麼彼此都不會愉悅，這將會導致身體連結的分裂以及產生所謂的疾病，舉例來說，當我們的口腔開始不由自主地流口水時，我們就應該進食。這也就是身體正在傳達出，我們真的餓了。如果不藉由這樣的察覺力，我們就會不斷的餵食我們自己，然後疾病就會跟著到來。
Many moderns use their bodies so little that they lose the sensitivity of this bodily awareness. They move from bed to car to desk to car to couch to bed, but there is no awareness in their movement, no intelligence. There is no action. Action is movement with intelligence. The world is filled with movement. What the world needs is more conscious movement, more action. Yoga teaches us how to infuse our movements with intelligence, transforming them into action. In fact action that is introduced in an asana should excite the intelligence, whereas normally the mind gets caught and excited in motion alone. An example of the latter is when you get passionately caught up in watching a football game. That is not yoga. Yoga is when you initiate an action in asana, and somewhere else in the body, something else moves without your permission. The intelligence questions this and asks, "Is that right or wrong? If wrong, what can I do to change it?"
許多的現代人不太曉得該如何運用身體，這導致他們失去了對身體敏銳的察覺力。人們在床、車子、書桌、沙發再到床之間移動著，卻在這移動過程中沒有察覺，沒有感受，只是移動著，事實上這其中並沒有動作(註釋)，有智慧才會有動作。世界充滿著移動。世界需要更多有意識的移動，更多的動作。事實上，體位上所採用的動作應該要會激起智慧，一般來說，心智會在這樣的動作中而被察覺和激發。舉另一個例子來說，你在熱情地享受著觀賞著足球，但那卻不是瑜伽。瑜伽是當你在體位上產生一個動作，在身體上某些其它地方，產生某些事，並不須要經由你的允許。心智會質疑並且問道，"這到底是對還是錯?如果是錯的，我能做什麼來應對處理？
How does one develop this intelligence in the body? How do we learn to turn our movement into action? Asana can begin to teach us. We are developing such an intense sensitivity that each pore of the skin acts as an inner eye. We become sensitive to the interface between skin and flesh. In this way, our awareness is diffused throughout the periphery of our body and is able to sense whether in a particular asana our body is in alignment. You can adjust and balance the body gently from within with the help of these eyes. This is different from seeing with your normal two eyes. Instead you are feeling; you are sensing the position of your body. When you stand in the warrior pose with your arms extended, you can see the fingers of your hand in front of you, but you can also feel them. You can sense their position and their ex-tension right to the tips of your fingers. You can also sense the placement of your back leg and tell whether it is straight or not without looking back or in a mirror. You must observe and correct the body position (adjusting it from both sides) with the help of the trillions of eyes that you have in the form of cells. This is how you begin to bring awareness to your body and fuse the intelligence of brain and brawn. This intelligence should exist everywhere in your body and throughout the asana. The, moment you lose the feeling in the skin, the asana becomes dull, arid the flow or current of the intelligence is lost.
人們如何在身體中發展智慧?我們如何學習將動作轉化成內在功能?瑜伽體位會開始教導我們，我們正在提升強化這樣的敏銳度，以致於肌膚的每個毛細孔的觸覺就像眼睛一樣。我們在肌膚與肉體間的接合處會變得更敏銳。這樣的方式，我們的察覺力會更擴散貫穿到身體的每個部位，並且在特別的體位中能感受到，身體是否有適當的排列在組合上。透過這些眼睛的協助，你能夠溫和地調整和平衡。這不同於你用一般的兩隻眼睛在看，取而代之是你的感受，你正在感受身體的姿勢；當你以勇者的姿勢站著，你不但能看到你拉長你的手臂延伸到你的手指，你也能感覺得到，你能感受到這動作的姿勢以及藉由動作延伸到指尖，你能感受到後腿的位置，而不用透過往後看或透過鏡子，就能知道它們是否有伸直。你必須觀察和修正身體的姿勢(調整它各個方面)，藉由億萬個像細胞一樣的毛細孔協助替代你的眼睛。你開始帶著覺知進入身體，並且融入大腦和肌肉的敏銳體會力中，這個體會能力應該存在你身體的每個地方，並貫穿整個體位。當下,你的敏銳度失去感覺，體位便會遲鈍,而智慧的流動或脈動就將失去。
The sensitive awareness of the body and the intelligence of the brain and heart should be in harmony. The brain may instruct the body to do a posture, but the heart has to feel it too. The head is the seat of intelligence; the heart is the seat of emotion. Both have to work in cooperation with the body.
身體敏銳的覺知，以及大腦和心智的智慧，必須處在合諧的狀態。大腦指揮著身體做一個姿勢時，心智也必須感受到。智慧座落在頭腦裡面，而情緒座落在心中。這兩者必須跟身體相互合作。
There is an exercise of will, but the brain must be willing to listen to the body and see what is reasonable and prudent within the body's capacity. The intelligence of the body is a fact. It is real. The intelligence of the brain is only imagination. So the imagination has to be made real. The brain may dream of doing a difficult back bend today, but it cannot force the impossible even' onto a willing body. We are always trying to progress, but inner cooperation is essential
有種意識的練習，然而頭腦一定要有傾聽身體的意識能力，並了解到在身體能力範圍內，什麼是合理的及謹慎的。身體的智慧是存在的，它是真實的。頭腦的智能只是想像，所以想像必須成真。大腦可能想像著要做一個困難的後彎，但它卻不能強迫，這不可能的事發生在這有意識的身體中，我們總是這樣的嘗試，但必須記得要在這之間相互合作。
Your brain may say, "We can do it." But the knee may say, "Who are you to dictate to me? It is for me to say whether I can do it or not." So you have to listen to what the body says. Sometimes the body cooperates with you, and sometimes it thinks things over. If necessary, use your intelligence to reflect. Solutions will present themselves even though this is initially through trial and error. Then you will have true understanding between the body and the mind, but this requires the humility of the brain and also understanding in the body. The brain does not know everything. If the brain receives knowledge from the body, it will be able to increase the intelligence of the body later. In this way, the body and the brain begin working together to master the asana.
你的大腦可能說:我們能做到，但膝蓋可能會說:你憑什麼命令我?對我而言就像是說，我是否能做到，所以你一定得要傾聽身體在說什麼。有時候，身體會和你相互協調合作，但有時它會想更多。如果有必要，就要運用智慧達到內省。踓然，最初會歷經試驗和錯誤，但答案將會自己呈現出來。屆時,你將會在身體和心智中獲得真實的理解力。但這需要大腦的謙卑，並同時認識身體。頭腦並不知道每件事，如果頭腦先接受來自身體的知識，它便能夠提升身體的智慧，以這種方式讓身體和大腦開始一起合作，便能掌握體位。
This is the process of interweaving and interpenetration, when the sheaths or layers of being work in harmony with one another. By interweaving, I mean that all the threads and fibers of our being at every level are drawn into contact and communication with each other. This is how the body and the mind learn to work together. The skin pro-vides our outermost layer of intelligence. At our core lies our innermost wisdom. So the knowledge from outer perception and inner wisdom should always be in contact in your postures. At that time there is no duality; you are one; you are complete. You exist, without the feeling of existence. The challenge from the skin should tap the Self, our Soul, and the Self has to ask, "What more have I to do?" The external knowledge incites the Self to act.
這是相互交織並相互貫通的過程進展，當生命各階層彼此間和諧地運作。藉由互相交織，我的意思是說:我們生命中所有的思緒和肉體，在每個階段裡，彼此間要相互聯繫和交流，這就是要讓身體和心智學習如何一起運作。肌膚提供最外部的智能，我們的本質核心處於最深處的智慧裡，所以知識來自於外部的知覺觸覺，而內部的智慧覺察能力通常藉由你的姿勢所牽動著。這時，沒有所謂二元性；你即是一；你是完整的。你的存在，並不須藉由存在的感覺來證明；外部身體的挑戰性在於喚醒神聖的自我。我們的靈魂，必定會反問自己:還有什麼是我必須做的?外在的理解力激勵內在神聖自我的行為。
As I have said, while doing yoga, the body must tell one what to do, not the brain. Brain has to cooperate with the message it receives from the body. I will often say to a student, "Your brain is not in your body! That is why you can't get the asana." I mean of course that his intelligence is in his head and not filling his body. It may be that your brain moves faster than your body or your body may fail to fulfill the instructions of your brain owing to lack of right guidance from your intelligence. You must learn to move the brain a bit more slowly so that it follows the body, or you have to make the body move faster to match the intelligence of the brain. Let the body be the doer, the brain the observer.
誠如我所說，做體位時，身體必定要告知該做什麼,而不是由大腦，大腦必定協調從身體所接收的訊息。我經常告知學生，你的腦不在你的身體上，這就是為何你無法進入體位。當然我明白智慧在頭部，卻不是充滿他的身體，有可能大腦行動快過於身體，或者你的身體可能拒絕服從你大腦的指示，由於你的智能缺乏正確的引導。你必須學習放慢大腦的速度，以致於身體才能跟上，或者你必須使身體有著快速的反應力來配合大腦的智能。讓身體成為實行者，而頭腦成為觀察者。
After acting, reflect on what you have done. Has the brain interpreted the action correctly? If the brain does not observe correctly, then there is confusion in action. The duty of the brain is to receive knowledge from the body and then guide the body to further refine the action. Pause and reflect between each movement. This is progression in attention. Then in the stillness, you can be filled with awareness.. Ask yourself, "Has every part of me done its job?" The Self has to find out whether this has been done well or not.
動作結束後，省思你已經做完的，大腦已經詮釋理解的動作是對的嗎?如果大腦沒有觀察正確，那麼在動作中就會有困惑。大腦的責任在於接受來自身體的知識，並且引導身體來做更精鍊的動作，暫停和自我省思著每個動作，這就是專心的發展過程，然後在靜止穩定中，你會充滿覺知。問問你自己：我的每個部位，已經完成自己的工作了嗎?而內在的神聖自我，必定會指出是否已經做好了。
Pausing to reflect on your movement does not mean that you are not reflecting throughout the movement. There should be constant analysis throughout the action, not just afterward. This leads to true understanding. The real meaning of knowledge is that action and analysis synchronize. Slow motion allows reflective intelligence. It allows our minds to watch the movement and leads to a skillful action. .The art of yoga lies in the acuity of observation.
暫停是為了沈思你的動作，這不是意謂著，你沒有將自我內省貫穿在動作中。而是在動作進行中要持續不斷地分析，而不是只有在動作完成之後才自省。這將會讓你真實的明白理解，知識的真實意義在於同時進行著動作和分析。透過慢動作來察覺自我理解力，這樣能讓我們的心智看著自己所要做的行動並且引導出熟練的動作。瑜伽的藝術在於敏銳的觀察。
When we ask ourselves, "What am I doing?" and "Why am I doing it?" our minds open. This is self-awareness. However, it is necessary to point out that students should be self-aware, not self-conscious. Self-consciousness is when the mind constantly worries and wonders about itself, doubting and being self-absorbed. It is like having the devil and angel sitting on your shoulders constantly arguing over what you should do. When you are self-conscious, you are going to exhaust yourself. You are also going to strain the muscles unnecessarily because you are thinking about the asana and how far you want to stretch and not experiencing the asana and stretching according to your capacity.
當我們問自己:我正在做什麼呢?為什麼我正做著它呢?我們的心智就會打開，這就是自我的覺知。然而，有必要指出學生應該是自我的覺知，而不是自我的意識。自我意識是那種在心智持續不安定時，就會陷入自我胡同懷疑中。就像是分別坐在你肩膀兩邊的惡魔與天使，不斷持續地爭執著你應該做什麼。當你處於自我意識時，你將會精疲力竭。你將會過度壓迫肌肉，因為你正想著體位，還有想要伸展多遠，卻不是體驗體位，和根據自我的能力來伸展。
Self-awareness is the opposite of self-consciousness. When you are self-aware, you are fully within yourself, not outside yourself looking in. You are aware of what you are doing without ego or pride. When you cannot hold the body still, you cannot hold the brain still. If you do not know the silence of the body, you cannot understand the silence of the mind. Action and silence have to go together. If there is action, there must also be silence. If there is silence, there can be conscious action and not just motion. When action and silence combine like the two plates of a car's clutch, it means that intelligence is in gear.
自我覺知為自我意識的相反對立。當你處於自我覺知，你完全地融入自己，而不是由外向內看你自己。你覺知到你正在做什麼，沒有伴隨自我或驕傲。當你無法穩住身體平靜，也就無法平靜大腦。如果你不認識身體的平靜，你不能明瞭心智的沈靜。動作和沈靜必須在一起，如果這裡有動作，那也必須有沉靜，如果這裡有沉靜，這裡會意識的動作，而不僅僅只是動。當動作和沉靜結合，猶如車子離合器的二塊踏板，它意謂著智慧在傳動裝置。
While doing the postures, your mind should be in an interior conscious state that does not mean sleeps it means silence, emptiness, space that can then be filled with an acute awareness of the sensations given by the posture. You watch yourself from inside. It is a full silence. Maintain a detached attitude toward the body and, at the same time,. do not neglect any part of the body or show haste but remain alert while doing the asana. Rushing saps the strength, whether you are in Delhi or New York. Do things rhythmically with a calm mind.
當在做體位時，你的心智應該處在內部的意識狀態中，這狀態不是指睡覺，這是指藉由姿勢，獲得沉靜、寬廣的空間，並且在其中感受到敏銳的覺知。你從內部中觀察自己時，它是完全沉靜的，維持著對身體超然公正的態度。同時，做體位時，你不會忽略身體的任何部位，換句話說，你能快速地警覺出問題所在。無論你在德里或紐約，急躁將會削弱你的力量。用平靜安穩的心智並且有節奏地做事。
It is difficult to speak of bodily knowledge in words. It is much easier to experience it, to discover what it feels like. It is as if the rays of light of your intelligence were shining through your body, out your arms to your fingertips and down your legs and out through the soles of your feet. As this happens, the mind becomes passive and begins to relax. This is an alert passivity and not a dull, empty one. The state of alert depose regenerates the mind and purifies the body.
談及身體的知識，用文字的敍述是困難的。要發掘身體到底像什麼，去體驗身體的知識會比較容易些。它就像放射中的光線閃爍著你的智慧，穿透你的身體延伸到手臂到指尖，延伸到腿到腳掌。當這個時刻來臨時，你的心智就會變得開始放鬆，這是一種觸動，不是模糊的，也不是虛空的，而是一種敏銳的，會振興心智並淨化身體的狀態。
As you are doing an asana, you have to recharge your intellectual awareness all the time; that means the attention flows without interruption. The moment you collapse, you do not recharge, and the attention .is dispersed. Then, the practice of the asana is a habit, not an invigorating creative practice. The moment you bring attention, you are creating something, and creation has life and energy. Awareness allows us to overcome tiredness and exhaustion in our poses and in our lives. For yogis who go out of their way to help those who come to them, fatigue always eats at us. It is an occupational hazard of a yoga teacher. So we have to accept the fatigue and reapply ourselves with intense awareness to regenerate the body and to gain back energy. Awareness in action brings back energy and rejuvenates the body and mind. Awareness brings life. Life is dynamic and so therefore the asanas should also be.
當你在做體位時，你必須在整個階段不斷地擷取你的智慧；這意謂著你的專注是流動的而不是被阻斷的。反之，若你在當下鬆懈了下來，你就無法恢復你的精力，而且你的專注力將會分散。體位的練習是種習慣,並不是在鼓舞創造性的練習。當練習的瞬間專注將會伴隨著你，你正創造某些事，而創造力是有生命的、有能量的。覺知允許我們克服在體位上和在生活中的疲倦和耗竭。對我們這些願意面對來到面前求助者的瑜伽士而言，疲勞總是蠶食著我們。疲勞是瑜伽老師的職業風險，所以我們必須接受疲勞和以強烈的覺知應用在自己的身上，以便恢復和重新獲得身體的能量。動作中的覺知能帶來能量，並且使我們的身體與心智恢復完整。覺知帶來生命。生命是流動的，所以體位也應該是流動的。
本文節選自B.K.S.Iyengar大師的著作Light on Life第2章第28頁~第33頁
翻譯者:王育誠 校閱訂正 Jeff
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