There is no method for self-knowledge. Seeking a method invariably implies the desire to attain some result—and that is what we all want. We follow authority—if not that of a person, then of a system, of an ideology— because we want a result that will be satisfactory, which will give us security. We really do not want to understand ourselves, our impulses and reactions, the whole process of our thinking, the conscious as well as the unconscious; we would rather pursue a system that assures us of a result. But the pursuit of a system is invariably the outcome of our desire for security, for certainty, and the result is obviously not the understanding of oneself. When we follow a method, we must have authorities—the teacher, the guru, the savior, the Master—who will guarantee us what we desire; and surely that is not the way to self-knowledge.
自我认知不存在什么法门。寻求方法必然意味着对某种结果的渴望 - 这恰是所有人都想要获取的。我们遵循权威 - 不是某个人的权威，就是某种体系或意识形态的权威 - 因为我们都想获取令自己满意的结果，那会让我们有安全感。我们并不想真正地了解自己，了解我们的冲动和反应，还有我们思维的过程，以及我们的意识和无意识；我们宁愿追寻某种能够给我提供结果的体系。但是对某一体系的追求总是来自于我们对安全感、确定性的渴望，而这一追求的结果必然不会是自我认知。当我们遵循某种方法时，就必然会造就权威 - 导师、上师、救星或大师的权威 - 因为他们能满足我们的渴望；当然，这绝非通向自我认知之路。
Authority prevents the understanding of oneself, does it not? Under the shelter of an authority, a guide, you may have temporarily a sense of security, a sense of well-being, but that is not the understanding of the total process of oneself. Authority in its very nature prevents the full awareness of oneself and therefore ultimately destroys freedom; in freedom alone can there be creativeness. There can be creativeness only through self-knowledge.
权威会阻止认知自我，不是吗？在某个权威或某个导师的庇护之下，你可能会暂时获得安全感、富足感，但那绝不是对自我的整个过程的认知。权威的本质必然会阻止自我的全然觉醒，因此它在根本上破坏了自由；只有在自由之中才存在创造性。而创造性只能通过自我认知来获得。