7Octoberоктября · 7-е октября
Можно не называть бога, избегать этого слова, но не признавать его существования нельзя. Ничего нет, если его нет.
We need not name God, we may avoid the word, but we cannot fail to acknowledge his existence. Nothing exists if he does not.
1. Всё, что я знаю, я знаю потому, что есть бог, и я знаю его.
Только на этом можно основаться твердо и в отношениях к людям, и к себе, и к внеземной и вневременной жизни. Я не только не нахожу этого мистичным, но нахожу, что противоположный взгляд есть мистицизм, а что это одна самая понятная и всем доступная реальность. На вопрос: что такое бог? я отвечаю так: бог — это бесконечное, всё, чего я сознаю себя частью.
Бог для меня — это то, к чему я стремлюсь, то, в стремлении к чему состоит моя жизнь, и которое поэтому и есть для меня; но есть непременно такое, чего я понять, назвать не могу. Если бы я его понял, я бы дошел до него, и стремиться бы некуда было и жизни бы не было.
Не могу понять и назвать его, а вместе с тем знаю его, знаю направление к нему и даже из всех моих знаний это самое достоверное. Мне всегда страшно, когда я без него; а только тогда не страшно, когда я с ним.
1. All that I know, I know because there is God and I know him.
Only on this can one take a firm stand, both in one’s relations to people and to oneself, and to the life beyond the earth and beyond time. Not only do I not find this mystical, but I find that the opposite view is mysticism, and that this is the one most comprehensible reality, accessible to all. To the question, What is God? I answer thus: God is the infinite, the all, of which I am conscious of being a part.
For me God is that toward which I strive, that in the striving toward which my life consists, and which therefore does exist for me; but he is, of necessity, something I cannot understand, cannot name. If I understood him, I would have reached him, and there would be nowhere to strive and there would be no life.
I cannot understand him or name him, and yet I know him, I know the direction toward him, and of all my knowledge this is even the most certain. I am always afraid when I am without him; and only when I am with him am I not afraid.
2. Религиозные действия, вытекающие из себялюбивых целей, как молитвы о дожде или жертва для награды в будущем мире, всегда корыстны, и только поступок, совершенный вследствие познания бога, достоин его.
Признавая высший разум во всех существах и вещах, истинный верующий приносит в жертву свой ум, направляя его к духу божьему, и приближается к природе того, кто светит своим собственным светом.
Пусть каждый внимательно рассматривает природу, видимую и невидимую, как существующую в божественном разуме, потому что, созерцая бесконечный мир в божественном разуме он не может уже отдаваться злым помыслам.
2. Religious acts that spring from aims of self-love, such as prayers for rain or sacrifice for a reward in the world to come, are always self-interested, and only an act performed out of the knowledge of God is worthy of him.
Recognizing the supreme reason in all beings and things, the true believer offers up his mind in sacrifice, directing it toward the spirit of God, and draws near to the nature of the one who shines with his own light.
Let each one attentively regard nature, visible and invisible, as existing in the divine reason, because, contemplating the infinite world in the divine reason, he can no longer give himself up to evil thoughts.
From Manusmriti · reworded by Tolstoy .
What changedConway’s “Let every Brahmin” becomes “Let each one,” so a rule for the priestly caste becomes a rule for all; acts from “selfish views” become “always self-interested,” and an act done with a knowledge of God, “abstract and disinterested” in Conway, becomes the only one “worthy of him”; he who “cannot give his heart to iniquity” becomes one who “can no longer give himself up to evil thoughts.”
What Tolstoy read · The Sacred AnthologyA religious act proceeding from selfish views in this world, as a sacrifice for rain, or in the next, …
… but an act performed with a knowledge of God, and without self-love, is abstract and disinterested.
Equally perceiving the supreme mind in all beings, and all things in the supreme mind, the true worshipper sacrifices his own spirit by fixing it on the Spirit of God, and approaches the nature of the One, who shines by his own effulgence.
Let every Brahmin with fixed attention consider all nature, visible and invisible, as existing in the divine mind ; for when he contemplates the boundless universe existing in the divine mind, he cannot give his heart to iniquity.
Source text: archive.orgOriginal · Sanskritइह चामुत्र वा काम्यं प्रवृत्तं कर्म कीर्त्यते
निष्कामं ज्ञातपूर्वं तु निवृत्तं उपदिश्यते
सर्वभूतेषु चात्मानं सर्वभूतानि चात्मनि
सर्वं ह्यात्मनि संपश्यन्नाधर्मे कुरुते मनः
Source text: sa.wikisource.orgIn English · G. Bühler, 1886… acts performed without any desire (for a reward), preceded by (the acquisition) of (true) knowledge, …
He who sacrifices to the Self (alone), equally recognising the Self in all created beings and all created beings in the Self, becomes (independent like) an autocrat and self-luminous.
… for he who recognises the universe in the Self, does not give his heart to unrighteousness.
Source text: archive.orgDetails
The words shown were found, word for word, in the saved source text. Manusmriti (Laws of Manu), XII.89, 91, 118; Conway (1874), p. 81, no. CXXXI, Theism, margin 'Hindu. Code of Manu. (Brighu.)'.
The first three paragraphs of Conway's 'Theism' (no. CXXXI), which are Manu XII.89, 91, and 118 in Sir William Jones's English (Works, 1807, vol. VIII, saved as sources/jones-works-1807-v8/; Conway's list of authorities names Jones's Works), lightly edited: Jones's 'supreme soul' is Conway's 'supreme mind', and his 'that sole divinity' Conway's 'the One'. Tolstoy changes each. (1) 'is concrete and interested; but an act performed with a knowledge of God, and without self-love, is abstract and disinterested' becomes «всегда корыстны, и только поступок, совершенный вследствие познания бога, достоин его» (are always self-seeking, and only an act done from the knowledge of God is worthy of him): 'always' and 'worthy of him' are his, 'without self-love' and the pair concrete/abstract go; 'a sacrifice for rain' becomes «молитвы о дожде» (prayers for rain). (2) 'Equally perceiving the supreme mind in all beings, and all things in the supreme mind' becomes «Признавая высший разум во всех существах и вещах» (recognizing the supreme reason in all beings and things), without the reverse half, and 'sacrifices his own spirit' becomes «приносит в жертву свой ум» (sacrifices his mind). (3) 'Let every Brahmin' becomes «Пусть каждый» (let everyone), and 'he cannot give his heart to iniquity' becomes «он не может уже отдаваться злым помыслам» (he can no longer give himself to evil thoughts). The Sanskrit has no rain and no God: 12.89 calls acts done with desire (kāmya) for this world or the next pravṛtta, and acts without desire, preceded by knowledge, nivṛtta; 12.91 says that he who sees himself in all beings and all beings in himself, sacrificing to the self, attains self-rule (svārājya), Bühler's 'an autocrat and self-luminous', Jones's 'the One, who shines by his own effulgence'; 12.118 asks every one, Bühler's '(every Brâhmana)', to see all things in the self, 'for he who recognises the universe in the Self, does not give his heart to unrighteousness'. Not in Thoughts of Wise Men (1903).
3. Когда я говорю тебе о боге, то ты не думай, что я говорю тебе о каком-нибудь предмете, сделанном из золота или серебра. Тот бог, о котором я тебе говорю, — ты его чувствуешь в своей душе. Ты носишь его в самом себе, и своими нечистыми помыслами и отвратительными поступками оскверняешь его образ в твоей душе. Перед идолом золотым, которого ты почитаешь за бога, ты остерегаешься делать что-либо непристойное, а перед лицом того бога, который в тебе самом и который всё видит и слышит, ты даже не краснеешь, когда предаешься своим гнусным мыслям и поступкам.
Если б только мы постоянно помнили, что бог в нас — свидетель всего того, что мы делаем и думаем, то мы перестали бы грешить, и бог неотлучно пребывал бы в нас. Давайте же вспоминать бога, думать и беседовать о нем как можно чаще.
3. When I speak to you of God, do not think that I am speaking to you of some object made of gold or silver. The God of whom I speak to you — you feel him in your soul. You carry him within yourself, and with your impure thoughts and loathsome deeds you defile his image in your soul. Before a golden idol, which you take for a god, you take care not to do anything unseemly, yet before the face of the God who is within your very self and who sees and hears everything, you do not even blush when you give yourself up to your vile thoughts and deeds.
If only we constantly remembered that God within us is the witness of all that we do and think, we would stop sinning, and God would abide in us unfailingly. Let us, then, call God to mind, think of him, and talk of him as often as we can.
From Discourses · joined by Tolstoy from several places .
Original · Ancient Greek… θεὸν περιφέρεις, τάλας, καὶ ἀγνοεῖς.
… δοκεῖς με λέγειν ἀργυροῦν τινα ἢ χρυσοῦν ἔξωθεν; ἐν σαυτῷ φέρεις αὐτὸν καὶ μολύνων οὐκ αἰσθάνῃ ἀκαθάρτοις μὲν διανοήμασι, ῥυπαραῖς δὲ πράξεσι.
… καὶ ἀγάλματος μὲν τοῦ θεοῦ παρόντος οὐκ ἂν τολμήσαις τι τούτων ποιεῖν ὧν ποιεῖς. αὐτοῦ δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ παρόντος ἔσωθεν καὶ ἐφορῶντος πάντα καὶ ἐπακούοντος οὐκ αἰσχύνῃ ταῦτα ἐνθυμούμενος καὶ ποιῶν, ἀναίσθητε τῆς αὑτοῦ φύσεως καὶ θεοχόλωτε;
Source text: raw.githubusercontent.comIn English · George Long, 1877Wretch, you are carrying about a god with you, and you know it not.
Do you think that I mean some God of silver or of gold, and external? You carry him within yourself, and you perceive not that you are polluting him by impure thoughts and dirty deeds.
And if an image of God were present, you would not dare to do any of the things which you are doing: but when God himself is present within and sees all and hears all, you are not ashamed of thinking such things and doing such things, ignorant as you are of your own nature and subject to the anger of God.
Source text: raw.githubusercontent.comRelated · Fragments of EpictetusThink of God more frequently than you breathe.
If you always remember that whatever you are doing in the soul or in the body, God stands by as an inspector, you will never err (do wrong) in all your prayers and in all your acts, but you will have God dwelling with you.
Source text: en.wikisource.orgTolstoy’s own version · Мысли мудрых людей на каждый деньТы носишь его в самом себе, и своими нечистыми помыслами и отвратительными поступками ты оскверняешь его образ в твоей душе.
Давайте же вспоминать бога, думать и беседовать о нем как можно чаще.
Source text: tolstoy.ruDetails
The words shown were found, word for word, in the saved source text. Discourses; Fragments, Discourses II.8.12–14 (first paragraph); Fragments CXX and CXIX, in Long's numbering (second).
Thoughts of Wise Men (1903), 7 July, word for word but for «оскверняешь» where 1903 has «ты оскверняешь», and «который в тебе самом и который всё видит» where 1903 has «который в тебе самом всё видит». The 1903 Epictetus came from V. G. Chertkov's «Римский мудрец Эпиктет. Его жизнь и учение» (Посредник, first ed. 1889; Jubilee vol. 40 commentary), not seen. The first paragraph is Discourses II.8.12–14: "Wretch, you are carrying about a god with you, and you know it not. Do you think that I mean some God of silver or of gold, and external? You carry him within yourself, and you perceive not that you are polluting him by impure thoughts and dirty deeds. And if an image of God were present, you would not dare to do any of the things which you are doing: but when God himself is present within and sees all and hears all, you are not ashamed of thinking such things and doing such things, ignorant as you are of your own nature and subject to the anger of God." The Russian adds «ты его чувствуешь в своей душе» (you feel him in your soul); has the defiling fall on «его образ в твоей душе» (his image in your soul); and turns the image of the god (ἄγαλμα), whose presence would shame a man, into «идолом золотым, которого ты почитаешь за бога» (a golden idol which you take for God), so that the god's statue becomes an idol wrongly taken for God. "Ignorant as you are of your own nature and subject to the anger of God" (θεοχόλωτε) is left out. The second paragraph joins two of the Fragments, in Long's numbering after Schweighäuser. CXX: "If you always remember that whatever you are doing in the soul or in the body, God stands by as an inspector, you will never err (do wrong) in all your prayers and in all your acts, but you will have God dwelling with you"; the Russian has God «в нас — свидетель» (in us, a witness) for God standing by as an inspector, and «мы перестали бы грешить» (we would cease to sin) for not erring in prayers and acts. CXIX: "Think of God more frequently than you breathe", which becomes «Давайте же вспоминать бога, думать и беседовать о нем как можно чаще» (let us remember God, think and speak of him as often as we can), without the comparison with breathing. Long gives the Fragments in English only; their Greek was not saved.
4. Бог — не идол, которому нужно молиться и льстить; бог — идеал, который должен воплощать человек в своей повседневной жизни.
4. God is not an idol to be prayed to and flattered; God is an ideal that man must embody in his everyday life.
From The World's Advance-Thought and the Universal Republic · reworded by Tolstoy .
What changedMallory’s God is not an idol “to be praised and flattered”; Tolstoy’s is not one “to be prayed to and flattered,” so praise becomes prayer; the ideal “to be made real in the daily life of the individual” becomes one “that man must embody in his everyday life.”
Lucy Mallory’s own wordsGod is not an idol to be praised and flattered, but an Ideal to be made real in the daily life of the individual.
Source text: iapsop.comDetails
The words shown were found, word for word, in the saved source text. The World's Advance-Thought and the Universal Republic (ed. Lucy A. Mallory, Portland, Oregon), vol. XV, New Series, no. 1, March 1902, p. 4, the column 'Key Thoughts', headed 'Lucy A. Mallory', the second paragraph.
Mallory's own, in her column. One word changed: her God is not an idol 'to be praised and flattered'; Tolstoy's is not an idol 'to be prayed to and flattered' (которому нужно молиться и льстить). He repeats 'God' at the head of the second clause (бог — идеал), and 'an Ideal to be made real in the daily life of the individual' becomes 'an ideal which a person must embody in his daily life' (который должен воплощать человек в своей повседневной жизни). The whole thought is in italics in the Jubilee text; Mallory prints it in roman. The same column holds October 13's thought. No printable, for 'praised'.
Translation note. The Russian italic is broken only at the dashes, commas, and semicolon; it is set here as one span.
5. Не тогда, когда я иду к нему, но именно тогда, когда я отворачиваюсь от него, оставляю его, — именно тогда я признаю то, что бог есть. Я говорю «бог», но не знаю наверное, так ли я называю. Вы поймете, что я разумею.
5. Not when I go toward him, but precisely when I turn away from him, leave him — precisely then do I acknowledge that God is. I say “God,” but I do not know for certain whether that is the right name. You will understand what I mean.
From Letter to Harrison Blake, Concord, 3 April 1850 · reworded by Tolstoy .
What changedThoreau’s “You will know whom I mean,” a person, becomes “You will understand what I mean,” and “I discover that God is” becomes “I acknowledge that God is.”
What Tolstoy read · Every Day with Thoreau, in The Coming Day… but when I am just turning away and leaving him alone, that I discover …
You will know whom I mean.
Source text: archive.orgThoreau’s own wordsIt is not when I am going to meet him, but when I am just turning away and leaving him alone, that I discover that God is.
I say, God. I am not sure that that is the name. You will know whom I mean.
Source text: gutenberg.orgDetails
The words shown were found, word for word, in the saved source text. Letter to Harrison Blake, Concord, 3 April 1850 (Familiar Letters, Writings vol. VI, 1906), the paragraph beginning 'Let God alone if need be'.
Close, with two words changed. Tolstoy begins after 'Let God alone if need be. Methinks, if I loved him more, I should keep him--I should keep myself rather--at a more respectful distance', as the calendar 'Every Day with Thoreau' in The Coming Day does for November 8. 'I discover that God is' becomes «я признаю то, что бог есть» (I acknowledge that God is), and 'You will know whom I mean' becomes «Вы поймете, что я разумею» (You will understand what I mean): Thoreau's 'whom', a person, becomes «что», what. 'Leaving him alone' becomes «оставляю его» (leave him), without 'alone', and 'I am not sure that that is the name' becomes «не знаю наверное, так ли я называю» (I do not know for certain whether I name it rightly). The Jubilee list of the Circle's sources names 'Every day with Thoreau', bound sheets from an unidentified book. No printable, because of 'acknowledge' and 'what'; a reviewer may judge them close enough to print Thoreau's words.
6. К богу никогда не надо ходить нарочно: «Дай я пойду к богу, стану жить по-божьи. Жил по-дьявольски, дай поживу по-божьи, попробую, авось не беда»... Это беда, и большая. К богу, вроде того, как жениться, надо идти только тогда, когда и рад бы не пойти и рад бы не жениться, да не могу... И потому всякому не то, что скажу: иди в соблазны нарочно; а тому, кто так поставит вопрос: «А что, не прогадаю ли, если пойду не к черту, а к богу?» закричу во всё горло: «Иди, иди к черту, непременно к черту!» Во сто раз лучше обжечься хорошенько на черте, чем стоять на распутье или лицемерно идти к богу.
6. One should never go to God on purpose: “Let me go to God, let me start living in God’s way. I have lived in the devil’s way; let me live a while in God’s way, I’ll try it, perhaps there’s no harm in it”… There is harm in it, and great harm. One should go to God, as one goes to be married, only when one would gladly not go and gladly not marry, but cannot… And so it is not that I will tell everyone: go into temptations on purpose; but to anyone who puts the question this way: “Well, will I lose out if I go not to the devil but to God?” I will shout at the top of my voice: “Go, go to the devil, to the devil without fail!” It is a hundred times better to get thoroughly burned by the devil than to stand at the crossroads or go to God hypocritically.
7. Если человек и не знает, что он дышит воздухом, он знает, что лишился чего-то, когда задыхается. То же и с человеком, лишившимся бога, хотя бы он и не признавал его.
7. Even if people do not know that they breathe air, they know that they have lost something when they are suffocating. So it is too with people who have lost God, even though they may not acknowledge him.
Помнить бога — великое дело. Не словами поминать его, но жить так, как будто он следит за каждым моим поступком, осуждая или одобряя. Русские крестьяне говорят: или ты бога забыл?
To remember God is a great thing. Not to mention him in words, but to live as though he were watching my every act, condemning or approving. Russian peasants say: what, have you forgotten God?
Tolstoy TodayТолстой сегодня · tolstoytoday.org/october/7