乔布斯传之节选三

Cinderella

from Chapter Three

In late 1972, there was a fundamental shift happening in American campus life. The nation’s involvement in the Vietnam War, and the draft that accompanied it, was winding down. Political activism at colleges receded and in many late-night dorm conversations was replaced by an interest in pathways to personal fulfillment. Jobs found himself deeply influenced by a variety of books on spirituality and enlightenment, most notably Be Here Now, a guide to meditation and the wonders of psychedelic drugs by Baba Ram Dass, born Richard Alpert. “It was profound,” Jobs said. “It transformed me and many of my friends.”

The closest of those friends was another wispy-bearded freshman named Daniel Kottke, who met Jobs a week after they arrived at Reed and shared his interest in Zen, Dylan, and acid.

They created a meditation room in the attic crawl space above Elizabeth Holmes’s room and fixed it up with Indian prints, a dhurrie rug, candles, incense, and meditation cushions. “There was a hatch in the ceiling leading to an attic which had a huge amount of space,” Jobs said. “We took psychedelic drugs there sometimes, but mainly we just meditated.”

Jobs’s engagement with Eastern spirituality, and especially Zen Buddhism, was not just some passing fancy or youthful dabbling. He embraced it with his typical intensity, and it became deeply ingrained in his personality. “Steve is very much Zen,” said Kottke. “It was a deep influence. You see it in his whole approach of stark, minimalist aesthetics, intense focus.” Jobs also became deeply influenced by the emphasis that Buddhism places on intuition. “I began to realize that an intuitive understanding and consciousness was more significant than abstract thinking and intellectual logical analysis,” he later said. His intensity, however, made it difficult for him to achieve inner peace; his Zen awareness was not accompanied by an excess of calm, peace of mind, or interpersonal mellowness.

未泯

1972年下半年,美国的校园生活发生了根本性的转变。美国对越南的战争，以及随之而来的征兵热潮，都在逐渐平息。校园中的政治激进主义渐渐消退，许多宿舍的卧谈会主题都已换成对自我实现的兴趣。乔布斯深受一系列关于精神和启蒙的书籍影响，尤其是《此时此地》 ，这是一本介绍冥想及致幻剂的美妙之处的书，作者是拉姆•达斯导师，本名叫理查德•阿尔拍特。“这本书意义深远，”乔布斯说，“它改造了我和很多朋友。”

这帮朋友里和乔布斯最亲密的是一个留着稀疏胡子的大一新生：丹尼尔•科特基，他是在抵达里德学院一周后见到乔布斯的，和乔布斯一样喜欢佛教禅宗、迪伦和迷幻药。

他们在伊丽莎白•霍姆斯房间屋顶阁楼的狭小空间里开辟了一间冥想室，在里面布置了印度花布、一块手纺纱棉毯、蜡烛、熏香还有冥想坐垫。“天花板上有一扇小门，是通向阁楼的，那里空间很大，”他说，“我们有时候在那里服用迷幻药，但大多数时候我们只是在里面冥想而已。”

乔布斯对东方精神，尤其是佛教禅宗的信奉，并不是心血来潮或年轻人的一时冲动。他投入了他特有的那种激情，这些东西也在他的性格中根深蒂固。“史蒂夫是个十足的禅宗信徒，”科特基说，“禅宗对他的影响非常深。这一点你可以从他极简主义的美学观点和执著的个性上看出来。”佛教对直觉的强调也深深影响了乔布斯。“我开始意识到，基于直觉的理解和意识，比抽象思维和逻辑分析更为重要。”他后来说。然而，他的激情让他很难实现真正的涅槃；内在的平静、内心的平和或者说为人的圆润这些禅修者的特质，并未在他身上有所显现。

Cinderella

Be Here Now (book)

Be Here Now (or Remember, Be Here Now) is a seminal 1971 book on spirituality, yoga and meditation by the Western born yogi and spiritual teacher Ram Dass. The title comes from a statement his guide, Bhagavan Das, made during Ram Dass's journeys in India. The cover features a Mandala incorporating the title, a chair, radial lines, and the word "remember".

The book is divided into four sections:
"Journey: The Transformation: Dr. Richard Alpert, PhD. into Baba Ram Dass"
"From Bindu to Ojas: The Core Book"
"Cookbook for a Sacred Life: A Manual for Conscious Being"
"Painted Cakes: Books"

First section
The first section is a short biography of his life, describing his successes as a psychologist, his research with Timothy Leary into psychedelics at Harvard, and his subsequent anxiety when this research does not resolve his spiritual questions. He then describes his first journey to India and his initiation into a Guru/Chela relationship with Neem Karoli Baba, and spiritual renaming as Baba Ram Dass, or "servant of god". Ram Dass closes the first section of the book with this passage:

        Now, though I am a beginner on the path, I have returned to the West for a time to work out karma or unfulfilled commitment. Part of this commitment is to share what I have learned with those of you who are on a similar journey. One can share a message through telling "our-story" as I have just done, or through the teaching methods of yoga, or singing, or making love. Each of us finds his unique vehicle for sharing with others his bit of wisdom. For me, this story is but a vehicle for sharing with you the true message ... the living faith in what is possible. --OM--

The second section, the largest, is a free-form collection of metaphysical, spiritual and religious aphorisms （格言，警句，静思语）accompanied by illustrations.

The third section is a manual for starting on a yogic or spiritual path, and includes various techniques for yoga, pranayama（调息法，呼吸控制法）, and meditation, as well as quotations from respected teachers of many religions and spiritual traditions.

The last section, also titled "Painted Cakes Do Not Satisfy Hunger" (a Zen commentary on liturgy（基督教的礼拜仪式）) contains a list of recommended books on religion, spirituality, consciousness. The book lists are divided into "Books to hang out with", "Books to visit with now & then", and "Books it's useful to have met".

The book has remained in print since its initial publication, and has sold over a million copies. The work was originally distributed in pamphlet form by Lama Foundation. In 1977, the Lama Foundation gave the copyright and half the proceeds from the book to the Hanuman Foundation in support of its spiritual and humanitarian projects.

Be Here Now is one of the first guides, for those not born as Hindus, to becoming a yogi（瑜伽士）, by a person himself not born a Hindu. For its influence on the Hippie movement and subsequent spiritual movements, it has been described as a "countercultural bible". In addition to introducing its title phrase into common use, the book has influenced numerous other writers and yoga practitioners, including Steve Jobs, Wayne Dyer, and Michael Crichton.

Ram Dass has written two sequels to Be Here Now. The first was Still Here: Aging, Changing, and Dying (2000), and the second was Be Love Now:The Path of the Heart (2011).

From Wikipedia