On Reason & Passion

And the priestess spoke again and said:

"Speak to us of Reason and Passion."

And he answered saying:

Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against passion and your appetite.

Would that I could be the peacemaker in your soul, that I might turn the discord and the rivalry of your elements into oneness and melody.

But how shall I, unless you yourselves be also the peacemakers, nay, the lovers of all your elements?

Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul.

If either your sails or our rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas.

For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction.

Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion; that it may sing;

And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes.

I would have you consider your judgment and your appetite even as you would two loved guests in your house.

Surely you would not honour one guest above the other; for he who is more mindful of one loses the love and the faith of both.

Among the hills, when you sit in the cool shade of the white poplars, sharing the peace and serenity of distant fields and meadows - then let your heart say in silence, "God rests in reason."

And when the storm comes, and the mighty wind shakes the forest, and thunder and lightning proclaim the majesty of the sky, - then let your heart say in awe, "God moves in passion."

And since you are a breath In God's sphere, and a leaf in God's forest, you too should rest in reason and move in passion.

理性与热情

　　于是那位女祭司又开口说道：请给我们讲讲理性与热情。

　　他回答道：

　　你们的心灵常常是战场，在此你们的理性与判断同你们的热情与欲望彼此交锋。

　　我多么希望自己成为你们心灵和平的缔造者，将你们心中对立相争的成分变为和谐一致的旋律。

　　如果你们不是自身要素的和平缔造者，甚至不是钟爱自身要素的人，我又怎么能够做到？

　　你们的理性与热情，是你们航行中的灵魂的舵与帆。

　　假如你们的舵或帆被损坏，你们就只能在海上颠沛流离，或滞留海上。

　　理性独自弄权，是一种压制的力量；热情自由放纵，是燃烧一切直至焚毁自我的火焰。

　　因此，让你们的灵魂将理性提升至热情的极致，它将歌唱；

　　让你们的灵魂以理性引导热情的方向，这样你们的热情才会经历每日的复活，宛若凤凰从自己的灰烬中再生。

　　我希望你们把自己的判断和欲望视作你们家中两位深爱的客人。

　　你们显然不会厚此薄彼；因为过于偏重其中一位会使你同时失去他俩的友爱和信任。

　　在山中，当你们坐在白杨树荫下，分享远方田野的和平与宁静，----让你们的心在寂静中说："上帝寄寓于理性。"

　　当暴风雨来临，狂风震撼森林，电闪雷鸣宣示云天的庄严宏阔，----让你们的心在敬畏中说："上帝运行于热情。"

　　既然你们是上帝畛域中的一道气息，上帝森林里的一片树叶，那你们也应当寄身于理性，运行于热情。

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