[囚牢]
很多人以為我們只是生活在一個物質世界之中，
殊不知我們一切的行為，
不單只是被物質世界所限制，
亦被行為背後的概念世界所操縱。
這個概念世界來自社會對我們潛移默化了的意識形態，
來自家庭、團體、長輩、同儕、朋友的影響，
來自我們自己的智力及性格和外界互動之後而產生的價值觀。
如果一個人從來都沒有懷疑過自己價值觀的來源，
如果一個人從來都沒有批判過自己的價值取向，
那麼他算是一個自由的人嗎？
We are all tattooed in our cradles
with the beliefs of our tribe.
( Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Poet at the Breakfast Table, 1872 )
一個人如果渴望自由，
首先就必須明白任何人在覺醒之前，
其實一直是住在囚牢之內！
他的思考其實是別人代替他在思考，
他的價值觀其實是別人加在他身上的價值觀！
You can’t escape from a prison until you recognize
you are in one. People who have chosen to live with
the limits of their old beliefs continue to have the
same experiences. It takes effort and commitment
to break old patterns.
( Bob Proctor )
「自我教育」有如一把鑰匙，
除了將我們從個人的無知、愚昧、偏見、謬見，
及眾多經不起批判的信念中釋放出來之外，
亦將我們從社會潛移默化的囚牢裡釋放出來：
You see, all reformers──it does not matter who
they are──are merely concerned with bettering the
conditions within the prison. They never tell you
not to conform, they never say, “Break through
the wall of tradition and authority, shake off the
conditioning that holds the mind”. And that is
real education : not merely to require you to pass
examinations for which you have crammed, or to
write out something which you have learnt by heart,
but to help you to see the walls of this prison in
which the mind is held…But you see, most of us are
concerned with revolt within the prison; we want
better food, a little more light, a larger window so
that we can see a little more of the sky…so we
remain prisoners, and there is no freedom in prison.
Freedom lies outside the walls, outside the pattern
of society; but to be free of that pattern you have to
understand the whole content of it, which is to
understand your own mind. It is the mind that has
created the present civilization, this tradition-bound
culture of society and, without understanding your
own mind, merely to revolt as a communist,
a socialist, this or that, has very little meaning.
That is why it is very important to have
self-knowledge, to be aware of all your activities,
your thoughts and feelings; and this is education,
is it not？
( Jiddu Krishnamurti )
雖然梁啟超先生的思考是從民主政治出發，
未必有上述這種領悟，但梁啟超先生曾經說過的這一句話，
十分適合挪來這裡用：
「若有欲求真自由者，其必自除心中的奴隸始。」
None are more hopelessly enslaved than
those who falsely believe they are free.
( Johann Wolfgang von Goethe )
It is truth that liberates, not your effort to be free.
( Jiddu Krishnamurti )
To find yourself, think for yourself.
( Socrates )
Without self knowledge, without understanding
the working and functions of his machine,
man cannot be free, he cannot govern himself
and he will always remain a slave.
( G. I. Gurdjieff )
Only as you do know yourself can your brain
serve you as a sharp and efficient tool.
Know your own failings, passions, and prejudices
so you can separate them from what you see.
( Bernard Baruch )
To be fully alive, fully human, and
completely awake is to be continually
thrown out of the nest. To live fully
is to be always in no-man’s-land,
to experience each moment as completely
new and fresh. To live is to be willing
to die over and over again.
( Pema Chodron )
那些願意自我批判，願意撇清腦中偏見和謬見，
成為真正自由的思考者，
托爾斯泰稱之為「思考自由的人」freethinkers。
Freethinkers are those who are willing to use
their minds without prejudice and without
fearing to understand things that clash with
their own customs, privileges, or beliefs.
This state of mind is not common, but it is
essential for right thinking; where it is absent,
discussion is apt to become worse than useless.
( Leo Tolstoy )
每一個人或多或少都是一個囚犯，
從「身體 body」的角度來看，我們是荷爾蒙的囚犯；
從「我 ego」的角度來看，
我們是社會制度和人性弱點交配之後而出現的囚犯；
而「心靈 soul」力量弱的人，
往往是過往失敗、挫折和創傷歷史的囚犯；
未接受過批判思維訓練或者懶於思考的人，
一般都是迷信和信念的囚犯，是社會意識形態的囚犯，
是別人思想的囚犯，或者是錯誤歸納和判斷以往個人經歷的囚犯。
Why do you stay in prison
When the door is so wide open？
( Jalaluddin Mevlana Rumi )
自我教育，必然是選擇回歸心靈之後，經歷自我批判，
自我批判的目的，就是戰勝自己，把自己的思想從囚牢裡釋放出來，
有如蝴蝶破繭而出，有如火鳳凰浴火化為灰燼之後重獲新生。
簡而言之，回歸心靈之後勇猛精進的人，才有機會浴火重生，
至於一個討厭懷疑和批判精神，一個拒絕自我批判的人，
永遠是一個囚犯，一旦學火鳳凰浴火就會變成灰燼，甚至灰飛煙滅。
囚犯只可能有擁有信念，沒有可能擁有信仰，
所以根本沒有可能得到心靈的自由，達到心靈的和諧及寧靜。
囚犯往往用吃喝玩樂、色情和酒精來麻醉自己，得過且過地生活。
To really be free, you need to be free in the mind.
( Alexander Loutsis )
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our minds.
( Bob Marley, Redemption song )
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from
being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will
be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price
is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.
( Friedrich Nietzsche )
對心靈來說，智慧方面的飢餓，思考方面的顛沛流離，
與及最後產生自我批判的勇氣，
才是一生人中最寶貴享用不盡的資產！
The most common lie is that which one lies to himself;
lying to others is relatively an exception.
( Friedrich Nietzsche )
It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.
( Edmund Hillary )
只有征服了自己的人才會達到內心的平安和喜悅，
西方人亦喜歡不求甚解地就對人說
be at peace with yourself，
說的人故作高深，其實往往並不知道自己在說甚麼，
亦沒有意圖向聽者解釋清楚這句曖昧的說話！
試問：
不經歷過內心的交戰，如何能夠戰勝自己？
不能夠戰勝自己，如何可以達到心境的寧靜？
參考：《我 ego》(二)
We were not born critical of existing society. There was
a moment in our lives (or a month, or a year) when
certain facts appeared before us, startled us, and then
caused us to question beliefs that were strongly fixed
in our consciousness──embedded there by years of
family prejudices, orthodox schooling, imbibing of
newspapers, radio, and television. This would seem to
lead to a simple conclusion: that we all have an
enormous responsibility to bring to the attention of
others information they do not have, which has the
potential of causing them to rethink long-held ideas.
( Howard Zinn )