《美食祈祷和恋爱》Chapter 41 (89):平静,微笑地念出来

"Seems I just sit down and shut my eyes," she says, "and all I have to do is think of the mantra and I vanish right into heaven."

“我就坐下来，闭上眼睛，”她说，“只须‘想着’咒语，整个人就消失了，直登天际。”

Hearing this, I am nauseated with envy. Then again, Corella has been practicing Yoga for almost as many years as I've been alive. I ask her if she can show me how exactly she uses Om Namah Shivaya in her meditation practice. Does she take one inhale for every syllable? (When I do this, it feels really interminable and annoying.) Or is it one word for every breath?(But the words are all different lengths! So how do you even it out?) Or does she say the whole mantra once on the inhale, then once again on the exhale? (Because when I try to do that, it gets all speeded up and I get anxious.)

听了这段话，我嫉妒得想吐。再说，科瑞拉已练习多年瑜伽，跟我活着的年岁一样长。我请她教我如何把“唵南嘛湿婆耶”运用在禅修中。她是否每个音节吸一次气？（这么做，老是使我觉得没完没了、心烦气躁。）或者每呼吸一次就念一个字？（但是每个字的长度都不相同！因此如何平均分配？）或者吸气时念整句咒语，吐气时再念一次？（这么做的时候，速度老是加快，使我焦虑起来。）

"I don't know," Corella says. "I just kind of . . . say it."

“我不知道，”科瑞拉说，“我就只是念出来。”

"But do you sing it?" I push, desperate now. "Do you put a beat on it?"

“但你是用吟唱的吗？ ”现已濒于绝望的我继续逼问，“打不打节拍？”

"I just say it."

“我只是念出来。”

"Can you maybe speak aloud for me the way you say it in your head when you're meditating?"

“能不能请你大声念出来，就像你禅坐时在脑子里念一般？”

Indulgently, my roommate closes her eyes and starts saying the mantra aloud, the way it appears in her head. And, indeed, she's just . . . saying it. She says it quietly, normally, smiling slightly. She says it a few times, in fact, until I get restless and cut her off.

我的室友宽容地闭上眼睛，开始大声念咒语，按照她在脑子里念的样子。没错，她只是……念出来。她平静、正常地念出来，绽放微笑。事实上， 她念了几次，直到我焦躁起来，打断她。

"But don't you get bored?" I ask.

“你不感到厌烦吗？”我问。

"Ah," says Corella and opens her eyes, smiling. She looks at her watch. "Ten seconds have passed, Liz. Bored already, are we?"Eat, Pray, Love

“啊，”科瑞拉睁开眼睛，面带微笑。她看了看表。然后说“十秒钟过去了，小莉。厌烦了，是吧？”