Chapter 8: Preparing for the Future

Preparing for the Future – How Not to Worry About the Future
为未来做准备——如何不为未来而担忧

As revealed to God’s Messenger Marshall Vian Summers on June 26, 1987 in the USA
1987年6月26日，在美国(USA)，向上帝的信使马歇尔・维安・萨默斯(Marshall Vian Summers)揭示

The future is very tantalizing, you know. People want to know a great deal about it, but at the same time they do not want to know about it, either. They want to make sure that everything they have will be guaranteed to them and that more will be given in a future that is to their liking, as if you can secure a guarantee.

未来是非常诱人的，你知道。人们想知道关于它的许多事情，但同时他们也不想知道它。他们想确保他们所拥有的一切都能得到保证，并且在未来会得到更多符合他们心意的东西，就好像你能确保有保证一样。

Your future draws you away from the present. If the present seems secure, there is no guarantee the future will be, so you think you must secure the future to assure the present. This of course leads to tremendous unhappiness since the present is never secure because the future is never secure. You hope that someone like me can provide a guarantee of the future so that you can have more peace of mind in the moment. But, of course, I will not provide you that guarantee. What I will provide, however, is an invitation to learn to be able to provide for the future and to respond to the present. This is true preparation.

你的未来让你远离现在。如果现在看起来是安全的，就不能保证未来会是安全的，所以你认为你必须确保未来才能保证现在。这当然会导致巨大的不快乐，因为现在永远不会安全，就如同未来也永远不会安全。你希望像我这样的人能够提供未来的保证，这样你就能在当下有更多的安心。但是，当然，我不会为你提供这种保证。然而，我将提供的是一个邀请，让你学会能够为未来做准备，并对现在做出回应。这就是真实的准备。

Having certainty about future events is always illusory because you cannot have complete certainty about the future. Even if your Knowledge indicates a future event, it will not be exactly like that when the event occurs. Any precognitive experience you might have of the future will only be a part of what will actually occur.

对未来事件的确定性总是虚幻的，因为你不可能对未来有完全的确定性。即使你的内识表明了未来的事件，当事件发生时也不会完全是这样。你对未来可能有的任何预知的经历都只是实际发生的一部分。

The future is being created right now. It is being formed. How can you prepare for something that does not exist? How can you secure that which is not yet manifest? Life is always preparing for the future. You cannot take the other position and say, “There is no future. I shall live completely in the moment, without concern.” This seems like a tremendous relief from the terrible anxiety that hangs over you. If the moment is absolutely adequate and there is no future to be concerned with, true happiness does seem to be possible.

未来的存在现在正在被创造。它正在形成。你怎么能为不存在的未来做准备？你怎么能确保尚未显现的事件呢？生命总是在为未来做准备。你不能采取另一种立场，说：”没有未来。我将完全活在当下，没有任何顾虑”。这似乎是对笼罩在你头上的可怕焦虑的巨大缓解。如果当下是绝对充分的，而且没有未来需要关注，那么真正的幸福似乎确实是可能的。

This is very tantalizing, but it is not complete for some very important reasons. The present is the preparation for the future and you, whether you accept the responsibility for this preparation or not, are in preparation for the future as well. This time will lead to the next time and will prepare it. So it is a matter of whether you want to be responsible for preparing for the future or not. If you are irresponsible, the future will terrify you because it will overwhelm you, shock you and deprive you, and you will not be prepared for it.

这非常诱人，但由于一些非常重要的原因，它并不完整。现在是对未来的准备，而你，无论你是否接受这种准备的责任，也在为未来做准备。这个时间将导致下一个时间，并将为它做准备。所以这是一个你是否愿意负责为未来做准备的问题。如果你不负责任，未来将使你感到恐惧，因为它将压倒你，震惊你，剥夺你，你将不会为它做好准备。

If you are without preference of any kind and have no desire whatsoever, it is theoretically possible that you could enjoy the moment regardless of what happens. But, of course, this is not the case with human beings because the process of life is a preparation. Your being in this world is for preparation. You are not here simply to be here for the moment only. You are here for a purpose, and your purpose is preparation.

如果你没有任何形式的偏好，没有任何欲望，理论上你有可能享受当下，不管发生什么。但是，人当然不是这样，因为生命的过程是一种准备。你在这个世界上的存在是为了准备。你在这里并不是简单地只为当下而存在。你在这里是为了一个目的，你的目的是准备。

So, you cannot escape the future, but you need not dwell upon it fearfully either. The only way you can live in the moment successfully is to live in Knowledge, for Knowledge is completely in the moment and is completely preparing for the future all at the same time. It accounts for the past, the present and the future. It lives only in the present, yet it paves the way for the future and guides you forward.

所以，你不能逃避未来，但你也不需要恐惧地纠缠于它。你能成功地活在当下的唯一方法是生活在内识中，因为内识是完全在当下的，同时也是完全为未来做准备的。它考虑到了过去、现在和未来。它只生活在当下，但它为未来铺平道路，引导你前进。

You cannot prepare for the future by securing it or making it predictable. It will never be predictable and if you attempt to make it so, your life will become very dull and empty. Your need for comfort and your desire for reprieve against your own fear cannot be accomplished by eliminating all possible change from your life.

你不能通过确保未来或使其可预测来为未来做准备。它永远不会是可预测的，如果你试图使它成为可预测的，你的生命将变得非常沉闷和空洞。你对舒适的需要和你对自己恐惧缓和的渴望，不能通过消除你生活中所有可能的变化来实现。

Your greatest concern is that you will not accomplish what you came here to do. If you truly examined your mind and undertook the reclamation of Knowledge, you would realize that this is your greatest concern. There is nothing the world could do to you that would be a greater concern because you are only here for a little bit of time, and whatever the world could do to you would only be for brief moments in your great span of life. But not fulfilling your destiny here leads to disappointment and requires your return. This is more uncomfortable in the long term.

你最担心的是你无法完成你来这里要做的事情。如果你真正审视自己的心智，进行内识的开垦，你会意识到这是你最大的担忧。这个世界对你做的任何事情都不会让你更担心，因为你在这里只有一点点的时间，无论世界能对你做什么，都只是在你漫长的生命跨度中的短暂时刻。但在这里没有完成你的命运会导致失望，需要你返回。从长远来看，这更让人不舒服。

Once Knowledge has been recognized within your own life, you will see that your drive and your desire to fulfill it are stronger than anything else. Eventually, this will overcome your need for safety and security, your need to have a predictable future and your need to have all the things that you feel are absolutely vital for your happiness. There will only be this desire to express and complete your purpose. That is when your life will be uniform and when you will have true power. Then the future cannot threaten you because you will express and complete your purpose regardless of what happens. Each new situation simply gives a new opportunity to fulfill your purpose. It is not seen as a possible loss. It is seen as a possible opportunity. If times get worse, that does not diminish your opportunity. If times get better, that does not diminish your opportunity. Doors may close. Others may open. You are intent on doing something, and you will use whatever your circumstances may be to accomplish that.

一旦内识在你自己的生命中得到承认，你会看到你的动力和你对实现它的渴望比任何事情都要强烈。最终，这将克服你对安全和保障的需要，你对可预测的未来的需要，以及你对所有你认为对你的幸福绝对重要关系的需要。只会有这种表达和完成你目的的愿望。这时你的生命将是统一的，你将拥有真正的力量。那么未来就不能威胁到你，因为无论发生什么，你都会表达和完成你的目的。每一个新情况只是给了一个新的机会来实现你的目的。它不被看作是一个可能的损失。它被看作是一个可能的机会。如果情况变得更糟，这并不会减少你的机会。如果情况变好，也不会减少你的机会。门可能会关闭。其他门可能会打开。你打算做一些事情，你将利用你的任何情况来完成这个目的。

If your purpose has not been discovered, then survival is your main concern, and out of fearfulness you will attempt to secure a future that is predictable and prepare yourself for it. This will destroy your experience of the present and lead you into some very erratic and compulsive behavior. It will make you profoundly unhappy with very little relief, for here the future will always elude you and disappoint you in certain ways.

如果你的目的还没有被发现，那么生存是你主要关心的问题，出于恐惧，你会试图确保一个可预测的未来，并为之做好准备。这将破坏你对现在的经历，并导致你陷入一些非常不稳定和强迫性的行为。它将使你极度不快乐，几乎没有缓解的机会，因为在这里，未来将总是躲避你，并在某些方面让你失望。

So, I will not guarantee your future. I cannot. How can I? If I tell you anything about your future, it is but one facet of your future, and it is possible it may not occur given your own decisions in the interim. So, what is the value of making predictions? Occasionally, predictions are very important to incite responsibility and constructive action in people. If there is something important or difficult that is about to happen and people need to know about it, a prediction is quite essential, but this is fairly rare.

所以，我不会保证你的未来。我不能。我怎么能？如果我告诉你关于你未来的任何事情，它只是你未来的一个方面，而且鉴于你自己在这期间的决定，它有可能不会发生。那么，做出预测的价值是什么？偶尔，预测对于激发人们的责任感和建设性行动是非常重要的。如果有一些重要或困难的事情即将发生，人们需要知道它，预测是相当必要的，但这是相当罕见的。

Your role here is not simply to prepare for disaster or to find a safer, more secure hiding place so that the storms of this world will not overtake you. You have not come all the way here to hide out. You do not want to hide out. You will even destroy your own security if it becomes too overbearing. Why do people destroy all that they have created that makes them so secure? Because it is imprisoning them, and they cannot stand it anymore. They would rather start all over again. So, if your own stability begins to eliminate your possibility for progress, you will destroy it. You will destroy your financial state, your health, your relationships—whatever seems to be infringing upon you.

你在这里的作用不只是为灾难做准备，或找到一个更安全、更可靠的藏身之处，这样这个世界的风暴就不会超过你。你千辛万苦来到这里不是为了躲避。你并不想躲藏。如果你的安全感变得过于强大，你甚至会破坏自己的安全感。为什么人们会破坏他们所创造的、使他们如此安全的一切？因为它正在禁锢他们，他们无法再忍受。他们宁愿从头再来。所以，如果你自己的稳定开始消除你进步的可能性，你会摧毁它。你会毁掉你的财务状况、你的健康、你的关系——任何似乎侵犯你的关系。

This is not for freedom’s sake, for freedom without purpose is quite meaningless. What is the value of freedom if there is no purpose? It is only license to be chaotic. But the true meaning of freedom is so that true purpose may continue to be discovered and expressed. To have this freedom, you must learn to live in Knowledge and to use Knowledge. If you do not use Knowledge, you will only have your thoughts to guide you, and they are remarkably chaotic. They are so temporary, sporadic and conflicted that they make a very poor guide for you.

这并不是为了自由而自由，因为没有目的的自由是相当没有意义的。如果没有目的，自由的价值何在？它只不过是混乱的许可。但自由的真实意义在于，真实的目的可以继续被发现和表达。为了拥有这种自由，你必须学会生活在内识中，并使用内识。如果你不使用内识，你将只有你的思想来指导你，而它们是非常混乱的。它们是如此临时、零星和冲突，以至于它们对你来说是一个非常糟糕的指导。

Therefore, you must learn how to prepare for the future since you are preparing anyway, like it or not. That is the great thing about life. It is the way it is. Your perspective only enables you to become engaged more effectively. It does not change your true circumstances.

因此，你必须学会如何为未来做准备，因为无论如何你都在准备，不管你喜欢与否。这就是生命的伟大之处。这就是它的方式。你的观点只是使你能够更有效地参与。它并不改变你的真实情况。

This gets very confusing for advancing students of Knowledge because they thought they were here to make the world a perfect place or at least a better place, but now they are not so sure. If you follow Knowledge, it does not always seem to lead in this direction. It does not always meet your criteria for improvement for yourself or for others. You find out that much of your desire for self-improvement is simply to have a better appearance, to look better to yourself and to others. “Look at me. I am doing well.”

这让内识的进步者非常困惑，因为他们认为他们在这里是为了让世界成为一个完美的地方，或者至少是一个更好的地方，但现在他们不那么肯定了。如果你跟随内识，它似乎并不总是朝这个方向引导。它并不总是符合你为自己或为他人改善的标准。你会发现，你对自我改善的许多愿望只是为了拥有更好的外表，让自己和他人看起来更好。”看看我。我做得很好”。

When you follow Knowledge, it does not have this emphasis, yet it breathes life into you increasingly until you are filled with life. Then you are no longer a person estranged by ideas. You are now a person who is filled with life. Your ideas are secondary. You will have them because you have a mind that thinks, but it is the Spiritual Presence around you and with you that will influence people.

当你跟随内识时，它没有这种强调，但它却越来越多地将生命注入你，直到你充满了生命。然后，你就不再是一个被想法隔绝的人了。你现在是一个充满生命的人。你的想法是次要的。你会有它们，因为你有一个会思考的心智，但在你周围和与你在一起的精神存在才会影响人们。

So, how do you prepare for the future? It is quite obvious that you are living in a time of unprecedented change. You yourself are undergoing unprecedented change, which is quite related to the times in which you live. You prepare for the future by being able to respond to it. Knowledge will indicate what things you must develop and how you must prepare for your own specific role. Some of you will need to go into the future with no money at all. Others will need to go into the future with a great deal. Given a human value system, this seems very inconsistent, yet it is related to what you are meant to do. Some people will never undertake their purpose if their hands are full of money. Others will never undertake their purpose if their hands are empty. Who can say? Who can determine what will give each person the best opportunity?

那么，你如何为未来做准备？很明显，你正生活在一个前所未有的变革时代。你自己也在经历着前所未有的变化，这与你所处的时期有很大关系。你通过能够对未来做出反应来准备。内识将表明你必须发展哪些能力，以及你必须如何为自己的特定角色做准备。你们中的一些人将需要在完全没有钱的情况下走向未来。其他人将需要带着大量的钱进入未来。考虑到人类的价值体系，这似乎非常不一致，然而这与你们的目的有关。有些人如果手中充满了钱，就永远不会实现他们的目的。另一些人如果双手空空，就永远不会实现他们的目的。谁能说？谁能确定什么能给每个人最好的机会？

If you give people lots of money, you know, they fall apart. If you take money away from people, they fall apart. There is no social ethic or moral philosophy that can account for the evolution of life. Life is not about these things, yet it can be profoundly experienced. In fact, it is the only thing that can be profoundly experienced. Can you profoundly experience an idea? If you experience an idea profoundly, there is no more idea. You have evaporated it because ideas are not experience, though they may lead to experience.

如果你给人们很多钱，你知道，他们会崩溃。如果你把钱从人们身上拿走，他们也会崩溃。没有任何社会伦理或道德哲学可以解释生命的进化。生命与这些解释无关，但它可以被深刻地经历。事实上，它是唯一可以被深刻经历的关系。你能深刻地经历一个想法吗？如果你深刻地经历一个想法，就没有什么想法了。你已经把它蒸发掉了，因为想法不是经验，尽管它们可能导致经历。

Your preparation is to be able to respond to the future and to what the preparation is at this moment. You have been given the blueprint for your own development. It is within you. You cannot cultivate it alone because a major part of your advancement is realizing you are not alone and that you are part of a Greater Community.

你的准备是能够回应未来，回应此刻的准备是什么。你已经得到了你自己发展的蓝图。它就在你里面。你不能独自培养它，因为你进步的一个主要部分是认识到你并不孤单，你是大社区的一部分。

You cannot say, “Give me the blueprint and I will carry it out,” because, you see, you only have part of the blueprint. Your Teachers have part of the blueprint. People in your life have part of the blueprint. People you have not even met yet have part of the blueprint. Therefore, do not be idealistic and say, “Tell me the plan and I will go forward. Tell me who I will be and I will prepare now.”

你不能说，”把蓝图给我，我就能实现它。”因为，你看，你只拥有蓝图的一部分。你的老师拥有蓝图的一部分。你生命中的人也有部分的蓝图。你甚至还没见过的人也有蓝图的一部分。因此，不要理想化地说：”告诉我计划，我就会向前走。告诉我我将成为谁，我现在就准备”。

If I told people what they would be, from their current standpoint it would look either impossible or personally not preferred. Sometimes I tell people what they want to be so they can realize it is not what they want to be. Sometimes I tell people what they want to be so that they will finally support themselves and take responsibility for what they know and move forward aggressively.

如果我告诉人们他们将成为什么，从他们目前的立场来看，这看起来不是不可能，就是个人不喜欢。有时我告诉人们他们想成为什么，这样他们就能意识到这不是他们想成为的。有时我告诉人们他们想成为什么样的人，这样他们就会最终支持自己，为他们知道的事情负责，并积极地向前迈进。

Therefore, how are you to be able to respond? Being response-able is a very good concept. If you are fixed in your viewpoint about who you are, what life must be, how everything must happen, who God is and what God is doing here, then obviously you can only respond to your fixed position, and you will insist that the world support your fixed position, which, of course, it does not.

因此，你要如何做到有求必应？可回应是一个非常好的概念。如果你对自己是谁、生命必须是什么、一切必须如何发生、上帝是谁以及上帝在这里做什么的观点是固定的，那么显然你只能回应你的固定立场，你会坚持让世界支持你的固定立场，当然，它并没有。

You are not working with life then. You are trying to direct life to fortify your own identity. Your real identity is quite safe. It is established by God and does not need you to invent it, uphold it and make the world agree it is true. Yet the identity that God created is hidden and must be discovered. As it is discovered, it will dissolve all other identities within you. Your identity will be experienced by carrying out your purpose because identity is life in action. It is experiencing yourself living a life that is vital, essential and real. It is observing the results of your actions and the relationships that are developed as a result, for who God created in you is not an individual; it is part of a greater fabric.

那么你就不是在与生命一起工作。你是在试图引导生命来强化你自己的身份。你的真实身份是相当安全的。它是由上帝建立的，不需要你去发明它，维护它，让世界认同它是真的。然而，上帝创造的身份是隐藏的，必须被发现。当它被发现时，它将溶解你内在所有其他的身份。你的身份将通过执行你的目的得到经历，因为身份是行动中的生命。它是经历你自己过着一种重要的、必不可少的和真实的生命。它是观察你行动的结果和因此而发展的关系，因为上帝在你身上创造的人不是一个个体；它是一个更伟大结构的一部分。

So, you can look at yourself alone and say, “Who am I? I must be something very mysterious because I know I am not merely a body. I am not merely my ideas. I am not merely my name and history. I know I continue after death. I know I have been somewhere before coming here.” These ideas, of course, are obvious to anyone who is open to them. But who is this individual? You see, your purpose reveals your self in its relationship to others. You did not come here just to grow up. You came here to get something done. This world is in a lot of trouble. It is created that way so that people who need to get something done can do it!

所以，你可以单独看一下自己，然后说：”我是谁？我一定是非常神秘的人，因为我知道我不仅仅是一个身体。我不仅仅是我的想法。我不仅仅是我的名字和历史。我知道我在死后继续存在。我知道在来到这里之前，我已经去过某个地方。”当然，这些想法对任何对它们开放的人来说都是显而易见的。但这个人是谁呢？你看，你的目的在与他人的关系中揭示了你的自我。你来这里不是为了成长。你来这里是为了完成一些事情。这个世界有很多麻烦。它是这样被创造出来的，以便需要完成某些事情的人能够做到！这就是为什么世界上的人都是这样的。

Why doesn’t the world become a perfect place when people are so intelligent and so loving in their true nature? Why isn’t the world the way it is supposed to be? Because it is an environment where people who have not accepted the responsibility for service can have an opportunity to do so. If there were no improvements to be made here, you would be quite lost because your stage in life is to contribute. If you think your life is just for your own growth, you will become self-absorbed and miss the whole point. We wish to take you out of being self-absorbed so that you can be engaged with life. That will produce all the growth you can handle and will rekindle relationship, a sense of belonging and a sense of place that are so fundamental.

当人们如此聪明、如此有爱的真性情时，为什么这个世界不成为一个完美的地方？为什么世界不是它应该有的样子？因为它是一个环境，没有接受服务责任的人可以有机会这样做。如果这里没有改进，你会相当失落，因为你的生命阶段就是要做出贡献。如果你认为你的生命只是为了你自己的成长，你会变得自我陶醉，错过了整个意义。我们希望把你从自我陶醉中带出来，以便你能参与到生命中去。这将产生你能处理的所有成长，并将重新点燃关系、归属感和地方感，这些都是非常重要的。

People say, “I want relationship and I want career and I want the promise of longevity and I want all these things as soon as possible.” Well, there are people who have all these things, you know, and they are not doing much better than you are. That is evident. People who are not in relationship do not want to hang out with people who are because they do not want to see that what they want is probably not sufficient to their need. They want to be a have-not and envy those who have. And so, they go to movies and watch people in relationship falling in love, but they do not want to go into households with lots of kids and see what marriage is really like.

人们说，”我想要关系，我想要事业，我想要长寿的承诺，我想尽快得到所有这些东西”。那么，有些人拥有所有这些东西，你知道，他们做得并不比你好多少。这是很明显的。没有关系的人不愿意与有关系的人交往，因为他们不想看到他们想要的关系可能不足以满足他们的需要。他们想成为一个没有的人，羡慕那些有的人。因此，他们去看电影，看恋爱中的人谈恋爱，但他们不想进入有很多孩子的家庭，看看婚姻到底是什么样子。

Relationship is very important, of course, but even it is not the primary thing. If you go into the future wanting relationship so desperately—“Just give me a relationship. That’s all I want!”—you are at great risk of disappointment. You are not coming from Knowledge now.

当然，关系是非常重要的，但即使是关系也不是主要的。如果你进入未来，如此急切地想要关系——“只要给我一个关系。这就是我想要的一切！”——你就有很大的风险会失望。你现在不是来自内识。

When you are with Knowledge, you will understand the future because the future is to bring forth your Knowledge. Times may get worse. That is okay. It brings forth Knowledge. Times may get better. That is okay. It brings forth Knowledge.

当你与内识在一起时，你会理解未来，因为未来是为了带来你的内识。时间可能会变得更糟。那也没关系。它带来了内识。时代可能会变得更好。那也没关系。它带来了内识。

You work diligently to improve the quality of life here, but it is more mysterious than simply making everything look better, making all people look better and making all pain seem to go away. People did not come here to be painless. That is like going to the ocean and refusing to get wet. If you wish to get involved, you must accept some degree of discomfort. There are painful circumstances here. You will have little aches and pains even if you live an immaculate life. Yet when you are living with Knowledge, these irritations are not sufficient to overcome your awareness. They are simply seen as indigenous to this environment, not big pains but little pains. You have already given up the big pains to enter the life of Knowledge, for what is a big pain but living without Knowledge?

你努力工作以提高这里的生命质量，但它比简单地使一切看起来更好，使所有的人看起来更好，使所有的痛苦似乎消失更神秘。人们来到这里并不是为了没有痛苦。这就像到了海里却拒绝淋雨。如果你想参与，你必须接受某种程度的不适。这里有痛苦的环境。即使你过着无暇的生命，你也会有小的痛楚。然而，当你和内识一起生活时，这些刺激并不足以克服你的意识。它们只是被看作是这个环境的本土，不是大痛苦而是小痛苦。你已经放弃了大痛苦，进入内识的生活，因为除了没有内识的生命，巨大的痛苦是什么？

Therefore, do not go into the future with your list of demands because you will be very frightened that you may be disappointed, and that fear will haunt you. And as you get older and you see that certain things have not been fulfilled, you will be extremely anxious for yourself and ill prepared to deal with what the future holds. The future holds promise, but if you have your demand list, you will not see the promise.

因此，不要带着你的要求清单进入未来，因为你会非常害怕你可能会失望，而这种恐惧会困扰着你。而且随着你年龄的增长，你看到某些事情没有得到实现，你会为自己感到非常焦虑，没有做好准备来应对未来的事情。未来是有希望的，但如果你有你的需求清单，你就不会看到希望。

How do you prepare to be able to respond? By developing Knowledge in the moment now. There is so much for you to do with Knowledge right now! It does not mean that you know who you are or what you will be twenty years from now or that the future is secure or that your identity is fully established or that you will have all the things that you have ever wanted.

你如何准备能够作出回应？通过发展当下的内识。现在就有这么多的内识供你使用！这并不意味着你知道是谁。这并不意味着你知道你是谁，或者你二十年后会是什么，或者未来是安全的，或者你的身份已经完全确立，或者你将拥有所有你曾经想要的东西。

What it does mean is that your life is being revitalized. Knowledge is breathing life back into you. You have become forlorn, and as life is breathed back into you, you do not have to worry about direction because you are moving now. You are not standing at the sidelines asking, “Who am I? What am I? Why am I here? Where am I going?” You are just going and now that you are going, you realize you have a sense of direction. You cannot experience direction if you are standing still. When you are moving, you are moving in a certain direction. That is how direction is discerned.

它确实意味着你的生命正在恢复焕然一新。内识正在将生命重新注入你。你已经变得惆怅，随着生命被重新注入你，你不必担心方向问题，因为你现在正在前进。你不是站在边上问：”我是谁？我是什么？我为什么在这里？我要去哪里？”你只是在走，现在你正在行走，你意识到你有方向感。如果你站在原地，你就无法经历到方向感。当你在移动时，你是在向某个方向移动。这就是辨别方向的方法。

When you begin preparing in Steps to Knowledge, we want to get you moving. We do not want you sitting around, looking at your ideas and saying, “Where is the truth now?” We want to get you moving because when you have traveled a little bit, then you will be able to discern your direction. “I was back there. Now I am here. This is my direction.” You must be moving to experience purpose. You cannot be stagnant.

当你开始准备内识的阶梯时，我们想让你移动。我们不希望你坐在那里，看着你的想法，说：”现在真理在哪里？”我们想让你动起来，因为当你走了一段路后，你就能分辨出你的方向。”我刚才在那里。现在我在这里。这是我的方向。” 你必须移动以经历目的。你不能停滞不前。

Therefore, I don’t say, “Don’t worry about the future.” If you are not with Knowledge, all you can do with the future is worry about it! We do not say, “Escape into the moment. There is no future,” because this is merely irresponsible. I say, “Develop Knowledge now. Use it effectively now and realize you are here for a purpose, even if it is ill defined.”

因此，我不说，”不要担心未来”。如果你不与内识在一起，你对未来能做的就是担心它！”。我们不说：”逃到当下。因为这只是不负责任的做法。我说，”现在发展内识。现在就有效地使用它，并意识到你在这里是有目的的，即使它定义不清。

You see, you will not have a full understanding of your purpose until your life is over. Then you will look back and say, “This is what actually happened.” You may have a very consistent and substantiated idea of purpose, but it will not be complete until you are at the end of your journey here looking back and saying, “Yes, now I understand my purpose.” Why do you understand it then? Because it has brought you to the juncture between this life and your Spiritual Family that awaits you beyond this life. You cannot have a full sense of purpose while you are in the world because this is only half the picture. The other half is on the other side of the veil.

你看，直到你的生命结束，你才会对你的目的有充分的理解。然后你会回过头来，说：”这就是实际发生的事情。”你可能对目的有一个非常一致的、有根据的想法，但它不会是完整的，直到你在这里的旅程结束时回头看，说：”是的，现在我明白了我的目的。”那你为什么会理解它呢？因为它把你带到了今生和今生之后等待你的精神家庭之间的关口。当你在这个世界上时，你不可能有一个完整的目的感，因为这只是画面的一半。另一半是在面纱的另一边。

Therefore, do not spend your life seeking for definitions. To understand half the story of your purpose is to be a person of remarkable Wisdom. To accept the limits of awareness here enables you to have Knowledge in the world. Now you are in a position to contribute because your demands are not so great. You are not saying to life, “Give me a complete definition of who I am. Give me complete satisfaction. Give me complete fulfillment. Give me. Give me. Give me!” You are not standing at the side of the road complaining. You are actually moving now and you can contribute. This is how you realize your gifts. That is why we want to get everyone moving in a meaningful way. With movement comes vitality and a sense of direction.

因此，不要用你的生命去寻求定义。理解你目的的一半，就是成为一个具有非凡智慧的人。在这里接受意识的限制，使你能够在这个世界上拥有内识。现在你有能力做出贡献，因为你的要求没有那么大。你不是在对生命说：”给我一个关于我是谁的完整定义。给我完全的满足。给我完全的实现。给我。给我。给我把！”你不是站在路边抱怨。你现在实际上正在移动，你可以做出贡献。这就是你实现你礼物的方式。这就是为什么我们想让每个人以有意义的方式运动。随着运动带来活力和一种方向感。

There is a great deal of emphasis now on revitalizing the past, understanding everything that has happened in childhood and going back into past incarnations and experiencing yourself as a King of England (There are so many people who have experienced themselves as the King of England that it is remarkable!)

现在非常强调振兴过去，理解童年时发生的一切，回到过去的身份中，把自己当作英国国王来经历（有很多人把自己当作英国国王来经历，这很了不起！）。

There are times when your past lives must be re-experienced, but you do not need to seek them out. They simply arise. There is a wave of emotion and then it is gone. It is the emotion that needs to be released. It does not matter what you did before. It is over. Likewise, only in rare cases do people need to resurrect their early years so that they can release their emotion so that they may come back into present time.

有些时候，你的前世必须被重新经历，但你不需要去寻找它们。它们只是出现。有一波情绪，然后它就消失了。这就是需要释放的情绪。你以前做了什么并不重要。它已经结束了。同样，只有在极少数情况下，人们才需要重复他们早年的生活，以便释放他们的情绪，使他们可以回到现在的时间。

All you have at any moment in this life is your Knowledge, discovered or undiscovered, used or unused. Therefore, you must look to the moment no matter what your difficulties or obstructions. Take stock of what you are doing that is essential, vital and real and what is not, where you are using Knowledge and where you are not. This kind of life inventory is essential because you have finally arrived at a beginning place. Before this, you were merely trying to convince yourself that you were better off or worse off than you were before. Now there is no need to convince yourself because you are looking.

在这一生的任何时刻，你所拥有的都是你的内识，不管是已发现的还是未发现的，不管是已使用的还是未使用的。因此，无论你有什么困难或障碍，你都必须着眼于当下。盘点一下你正在做的是什么，哪些是必要的、重要的、真实的，哪些不是，你在哪里使用内识，在哪里没有使用。这种生命的盘点是必不可少的，因为你终于来到了一个开始的地方。在这之前，你只是试图说服自己，你比以前过得更好或更差。现在不需要说服自己了，因为你正在寻找。

This is preparation for the future because the future will confront you with things, and you must be available. If you are self-absorbed, how can you be available when events occur?

这是为未来做准备，因为未来会让你面对一些事情，而你必须要有准备。如果你自我陶醉，当事件发生时，你怎么能随时准备好？

“What if there is another earthquake?” Many people want to know. “When is it going to happen?” What difference does it make? The only important thing is how will you be prepared for it. You could say, “Well, an earthquake is coming to this town. I am going to move to the next town.” So, you pack up everything, move to the next town and get killed in an automobile accident as soon as you enter the new town! No earthquakes there, but you get wiped out. So much for safety.

“如果再发生地震怎么办？”许多人想知道。”什么时候会发生？”这有什么区别呢？唯一重要的是你将如何为它做好准备。你可以说，”好吧，这个镇子要发生地震了。我打算搬到下一个镇。”于是，你收拾好一切，搬到下一个镇子，一进入新镇子就在一场车祸中丧生！在那里没有地震，但你却被送到了医院。那里没有地震，但是你被消灭了。安全就这么多。

It is pointless to try to be safe. It is hopeless. Life will get you sooner or later. Being safe as a main emphasis makes you far more vulnerable because you are far less able to deal with change and circumstances. You do not meet them; you avoid them, and so they overtake you. If you are running from life, it will seem to overtake you. If you are running to life, it will embrace you. Then you will be vital in your time in history, and you will leave this world with your accomplishments made.

试图保持安全是毫无意义的。它是无望的。生命迟早会找上你。以安全为主要重点使你更加脆弱，因为你处理变化和环境的能力要差得多。你不去迎接它们；你回避它们，所以它们会超越你。如果你在逃避生命，它似乎就会超越你。如果你向生命奔跑，它就会拥抱你。那么你将在你的历史时期至关重要，你将带着你的成就离开这个世界。

It is this ability to prepare that is your genius because this will engage you meaningfully in every moment while preparing you for the future. Therefore, do not worry about future events. Be current with yourself now and do whatever your Knowledge indicates. This is preparation. It is living in the moment in a vital way and preparing for the future in a meaningful way. Then there is a present and a future all together. You have a sense of destiny which indicates a future. You have a sense of purpose which indicates a future. Do not be without a future, or you will simply be lying to yourself. You will have one, like it or not. The future is coming!

正是这种准备能力是你的才能，因为这将使你有意义地参与每一个时刻，同时为你的未来做好准备。因此，不要担心未来的事件。现在就和自己在一起，做你的内识所指示的任何事情。这就是准备。它是以一种重要的方式活在当下，以一种有意义的方式为未来做准备。然后有一个现在和一个未来。你有一种命运感，表明有一个未来。你有一种目的感，这表明有一个未来。不要没有未来，否则你只是在欺骗自己。你会有一个，不管你喜欢与否。未来就在眼前。

As for relationship, you cannot guarantee yourself partnership, but if your life is meaningful and vital and you are really engaged, how can there not be relationship in your life? When you are vital in life, you will attract people by your vitality and your direction. When you are moving, people see you and respond to you. You have to respond to someone who is moving because they have power. When you cease moving, you cease having power and you become like an invisible person.

至于关系，你不能保证自己的伙伴关系，但如果你的生命是有意义的，是活力的，你真的参与其中，你的生命中怎么可能没有关系呢？当你的生命有活力时，你会以你的活力和方向吸引人们。当你有活力时，人们就会看到你并对你做出反应。你必须对正在移动的人做出回应，因为他们有力量。当你停止移动时，你就不再有力量，你就像一个隐形人。

This requires great faith, of course. You cannot experience Knowledge at every moment. It will be intermittent, but even in an intermittent phase, it will be substantial. Here you must have faith and abide by it. If Knowledge last indicated that you must do something, then continue to do it until Knowledge indicates otherwise. You do not have to go back every five minutes and say, “Well, let me re-evaluate the situation. Am I still supposed to be doing this?” When you do that, you start to stop. Living with Knowledge will take you from juncture to juncture, bringing forth all your best abilities and minimizing all your difficult or negative acquisitions. It is Knowledge that we always advocate. It is mysterious and profound, yet it is absolutely essential.

当然，这需要极大的信仰。你不可能在每个时刻都经历到内识。它将是断断续续的，但即使在断断续续的阶段，它也将是实质性的。在这里，你必须有信仰并遵守它。如果内识最后表明你必须做某事，那么就继续做下去，直到内识表示不一样。你不必每隔五分钟就回去说，”好吧，让我重新评估一下情况。我还应该这样做吗？”当你这样做时，你就开始停止了。带着内识生活将把你从一个关口带到另一个关口，发挥出你所有的最佳能力，并将你所有的困难或负面收购降到最低。我们一直倡导的是内识。它是神秘而深刻的，但它是绝对必要的。

We have spoken before of events to come, the nature of the time and era that you live in and the kind of preparation that is required. You live at a time when the world is being forced to unify itself, not because this is its moral prerogative but because you are emerging into the Greater Community of Worlds. You are venturing into space, and your neighbors from beyond are venturing into your realm increasingly. This is the larger picture.

我们以前说过即将发生的事件，你所处的时间和时期的性质，以及所需的那种准备。你生活在一个世界被迫统一的时期，不是因为这是它的道德特权，而是因为你们正在出现在世界的大社区中。你们正在向太空进军，而你们的邻居们也在越来越多地进入你们的领域。这是更大的画面。

Your Knowledge will account for this, but your personal wishes may not. If you are still having your demands that life give you all these specific things, how can you attend to these greater forces? How can you see the movement of things within a larger context? You only see them in terms of whether they give you a greater promise or a greater liability in fulfilling your wishes.

你的内识会说明这一点，但你的个人愿望可能不会。如果你仍然有你的要求，要求生命给你所有这些特定的东西，你怎么能注意到这些更强大的力量？你怎么能在更大的背景下看到生命的运动呢？你只看到它们在实现你的愿望方面是否给你更大的承诺或更大的责任。

That is why it is so easy to misinterpret current events because you see them from such a limited perspective. You are very afraid that changes in your economy or your politics may limit your freedoms and your acquisitions. Yet these forces will continue. If you are to successfully move with them and serve them, you cannot be fighting against them. You cannot be fighting those things you are meant to serve.

这就是为什么很容易误解当前的事件，因为你从如此有限的角度看它们。你非常害怕你的经济或政治的变化会限制你的自由和你的获得。然而这些力量将继续下去。如果你要成功地与他们一起行动并为他们服务，你就不能与他们对抗。你不能与你要进行服务的世界对抗。

You see, knowing that the world is emerging into the Greater Community gives you such a greater perspective on events that it allows you to be compassionate with people. It gives you a perspective that is very essential. We say these things because it helps people prepare for the future. Now they can begin to escape their own personal viewpoint that confines their perspective and begin to see things in a larger way.

你看，知道世界正在进入大社区，给了你一个对事件的更大视角，使你能够对人有同情心。它给了你一个非常重要的视角。我们说这些事情是因为它帮助人们为未来做准备。现在他们可以开始摆脱自己的个人观点，这种观点限制了他们的视角，并开始以更大的方式看待事物。

When it is essential for you to have new information that is crucial to your future, this will come to you through Knowledge. You will end up in places not exactly knowing why. Perhaps you have reasons, but that is not important. What is important is there is something there for you. And tomorrow, if there is something you need that will help prepare you, you will go there. The more that you can respond to this natural inner guidance, the more your life will be vital and meaningful. And you will be very excited—not because everything is wonderful, but because you know you are here to serve a purpose.

当你必须拥有对你的未来至关重要的新信息时，这将通过内识来到你身边。你会在一些不完全知道原因的地方结束。也许你有理由，但这并不重要。重要的是那里有适合你的东西。而明天，如果有你需要的东西会帮助你准备，你会去那里。你越能对这种自然的内在指导做出反应，你的生命就越有活力和意义。而且你会非常兴奋——不是因为一切都很美好，而是因为你知道你在这里是为了服务一个宗旨。