Chapter 30: Perception

As revealed to God’s Messenger Marshall Vian Summers on September 12, 1988 in Seattle, WA
1988年9月12日，在华盛顿州西雅图(Seattle, WA)，向上帝的信使马歇尔・维安・萨默斯(Marshall Vian Summers)揭示

In The Greater Community Way of Knowledge, answers are not always easy to find. Things are not always immediately accessible. This is because you must go deeper. You must penetrate things that are simple and obvious to find what is really at the heart of your life and what accounts for the mystery of your life. In The Way of Knowledge, we take people through many stages of development. There are other Teachers who are disseminating information at various levels to help people on their way, but our role is a little bit different. We actually present a curriculum for training in Knowledge according to the ancient schools in the Greater Community.

在大社区内识之路中，答案并不总是容易找到的。答案并不总是可以立即得到的。这是因为你必须深入了解。你必须穿透那些简单而明显的答案，找到你生命中真正的核心，找到你生命中的神秘所在。在内识之路中，我们带领人们经历许多发展阶段。还有其他老师在不同层级上传播信息，帮助人们走上道路，但我们的角色有点不同。我们实际上是根据大社区的古老学校提出了一个内识培训的课程。

Now I will speak about perception, reality and Knowledge. First of all, I would like to say a few things about Knowledge so that you will know what I am talking about. At the very surface of Knowledge is the experience of profound intuition, the experience of profound insight and knowing. That is at the surface of Knowledge. Beyond the surface is the total experience of life in this world and beyond this world for you to have while you are still here. That is what reassociates you with life beyond and enables you to fully be a contributor while you are in the world. In all practical aspects, this is complete fulfillment while you are here.

现在我将谈一谈感知、现实和内识。首先，我想说一些关于内识的事情，这样你们就会知道我在说什么。在内识的表面，是深刻的直觉的经历，深刻的洞察力和知道的经历。这是在内识的表面。在表面之外，是你在这个世界和这个世界之外的全部生活经历，当你还在这里的时候，你就可以拥有。这就是使你与超越世界的生命重新连接起来，使你在这个世界上时能够完全成为一个贡献者。在所有实际方面，这是你在这里时的完全满足感。

We do not speak of enlightenment because enlightenment is entirely relative to various stages of development. When you reach a state of enlightenment, you will find you are a beginner in the next stage. So, when people talk about total enlightenment, they are talking about reaching the climax of the stage that they are in. There are great turning points within physical life that very few people achieve—these are generally regarded to be enlightenment.

我们不谈开悟，因为开悟完全是相对于各种发展阶段而言的。当你达到一个开悟的状态时，你会发现你是下一个阶段的初学者。所以，当人们谈论完全开悟时，他们是在谈论达到他们所处阶段的高潮。在物质生活中，有一些重大的转折点，很少有人能达到——这些一般被认为是开悟。

Because a great deal of public teaching is going on now, public teaching from sources that are beyond the world— or beyond your range of perception, let us say—it is important to note that those instructors who are most popular are disseminating information to the largest numbers of people. Disseminating information is a very different role from being an initiator. It is a different function to fulfill. Disseminating information alone requires a great deal of verbal skill and a facility in working with people individually and collectively. This in itself is a complete role. Beyond this, there are instructors who actually carry on the initiation process but rarely take a public stance. They have very few students because there are very few who are actually prepared to take the journey in its advanced stages. Those Teachers that disseminate information prepare those who eventually will begin the actual reclamation of Knowledge. They prepare the way.

因为现在正在进行大量的公开教学，公开教学的来源超越了世界——或者说超越了你的感知范围——所以必须注意，那些最受欢迎的导师正在向最多的人传播信息。传播信息是一个非常不同的角色，与作为一个发起人是不同的。这是一个需要履行的不同职能。仅仅是传播信息就需要大量的语言技巧和与人单独或集体合作的能力。这本身就是一个完整的角色。除此以外，还有一些教员实际上进行了启动过程，但很少公开表态。他们的学生很少，因为很少有人真正准备好参加高级阶段的旅程。那些传播信息的老师为那些最终将开始内识的实际开垦的人做准备。他们准备好了道路。

Therefore, much of what is said by the Teachers who are disseminating information is only preparatory. In other words, it is to orient you in a correct direction. What is given are not statements of ultimate truth. It is merely a beginning, like preparing the soil for planting great seeds. When you are preparing the soil, you realize that that is the stage you are in, and you do not confuse it with later stages of development. So, disseminating information is preparing the mental soil, preparing minds to receive Knowledge.

因此，传播信息的老师所讲的大部分内容只是准备性的。换句话说，它是为了给你指引一个正确的方向。所给的不是终极真理的陈述。它只是一个开始，就像为种植伟大的种子准备土壤。当你在准备土壤时，你会意识到这是你所处的阶段，你不会把它与后来的发展阶段混淆。所以，传播信息是在准备心理的土壤，准备接受内识的心智。

When we speak of perception, we speak of your interpretation of the reality that you can experience. Let me say that again. When we speak of perception, we are speaking of your interpretation of the reality that you can experience. What you experience is interpretive. It is very rare that people have a direct experience of anything! Direct experience means that you are experiencing a reality that is beyond your interpretation. A very rare and great experience this is. It could be the common denominator of your experience, but in fact it is quite rare and phenomenal because 99.9% of your experience is interpretation of the reality that you can experience. When I say “the reality that you can experience,” I mean that you can only experience a little bit of reality because of your limited capacity and range of perception. So, it is not merely the interpretation of reality at large; it is interpretation of the reality that you can experience.

当我们说到感知时，我们说的是你对你能经历的现实的解释。让我再说一遍。当我们说到感知时，我们说的是你对你能经历的现实的解释。你所经历的是解释性的。人们对任何事物都有直接的经历，这是非常罕见的直接经历意味着你正在经历一个超越你解释的现实。这是一个非常罕见和伟大的经历。它可能是你经历的共同点，但事实上它是相当罕见和惊人的，因为你99.9%的经历是对你能经历到的现实的解释。当我说”你能经历的现实”时，我的意思是，由于你的能力和感知范围有限，你只能经历到现实的一小部分。因此，它不仅仅是对整个现实的解释；它是对你能经历的现实的解释。

That is why people live in their minds and not in life. This is the source of all of your difficulties. You are more engaged with your ideas than you are with life. Being engaged with life means that you are directly involved and are having a direct experience. Now, obviously, you can sit and be totally involved with your own mind and be totally uninvolved with everything around you, unaware of forces that are influencing you—forces that are helpful for you and forces that are not helpful for you. This is a profound disadvantage! This is why people are having problems.

这就是为什么人们生活在自己的心智中而不是在生命中。这是你所有困难的根源。你更多地与你的想法打交道，而不是与生命打交道。与生命打交道意味着你直接参与其中，有直接的经历。现在，很明显，你可以坐在那里，完全参与你自己的心智，完全不参与你周围的一切，不知道有什么力量在影响你——对你有帮助的力量和对你没有帮助的力量。这是一个深刻的缺点！这就是为什么人们有问题。

There is not a problem with reality, but there is a great problem with interpretation and self-absorption. At the very beginning of true learning, then, each person must become aware of their self-absorption—how much they are involved with their own mind and how little they are involved in life. Often it can seem very upsetting or disappointing and even insulting when you find out that you are actually experiencing very little of life and thinking a great deal. Because we value true experience, that is what we wish to orient you towards.

现实没有问题，但解释和自我陶醉有很大问题。那么，在真正学习的一开始，每个人都必须意识到他们的自我吸收——他们对自己的心智参与得多，对生命参与得少。通常情况下，当你发现你实际上对生命的经历很少，而思考的东西很多时，会显得非常不高兴或失望，甚至是侮辱。因为我们重视真实的经历，这就是我们希望为你提供的方向。

There are many Teachers who are disseminating information and there are a few Teachers, such as myself, who are initiating students. It is a different role. It is not necessarily better; it is just a different role. It means that my responsibility is to prepare a handful of individuals for Knowledge. In the process of doing this, I will, of course, disseminate a great deal of information, but disseminating information is a very small part of my role.

有许多老师在传播信息，也有少数老师，如我，在启动学生。这是一个不同的角色。它不一定更好；它只是一个不同的角色。这意味着我的责任是为少数人准备内识。在这样做的过程中，我当然会传播大量的信息，但传播信息是我角色中非常小的一部分。

The problem, then, is that people are involved with their thoughts and not with life. This creates a very great gulf in your experience. So when people say, “You create your own reality,” what does this mean? It is only meaningful in the realm of your own thoughts. It assumes, if you think about it, that there is no reality beyond your own thoughts. In the beginning—the very beginning—people are told, “You create your own reality. You must change your thoughts to have a different reality.” Isn’t that what you have read? Yet, this is only a first step. This requires that you look at your thoughts to see how fully involved with them you really are. There is reality beyond your thoughts. In fact, beyond your thoughts is the only reality because your thoughts can only interpret. There is a reality within you that actually creates, but it is entirely beyond your mind. If your mind is open and has become balanced and whole, then the reality that creates can create through you. This is the greatest experience of satisfaction and fulfillment in the world.

因此，问题在于人们专注于他们的思维而非生命本身。这在你的体验中造成了一道巨大的鸿沟。所以当人们说：“你创造自己的现实”，这意味着什么呢？这只在你自己的思维领域内有意义。如果你仔细思考，这假设了除了你自己的思维之外并不存在现实。在最开始——就是最开始——人们被告知：“你创造自己的现实。你必须改变你的思维才能拥有不同的现实。”这不就是你读到的吗？然而，这只是第一步。这要求你审视你的思维，看看你到底有多深陷其中。除了你的思维之外存在着现实。事实上，你的思维之外才是唯一的现实，因为你的思维只能解释。在你内在存在着一个实际上创造的现实，但它完全超越了你的心智。如果你的心灵开放并变得平衡完整，那么创造现实的力量就能通过你创造。这是世界上最大的满足和成就的体验。

In contrast to this creative reality, your personal problems are very small, just requiring certain adjustments here and there. Like maneuvering a car down the street, it requires that you steer a little here and push a button there and make adjustments along the way. Even with the great responsibility of driving a car down the street and all the terrible things that could happen to you, you don’t think about it much, do you? You just do it! You learn how and you do it! So it is that Knowledge is so much greater than personal problems that personal problems become easier to solve. In fact, all personal problems are very easy to solve. The problem is that people want the problem and not the solution. The frustrating thing about teaching is always the ambivalence about learning. That is why the initiation process takes a long time. It is not an easy path. It is not a difficult path, either.

与这种创造性的现实相比，你的个人问题非常小，只是需要在这里和那里进行某些调整。就像操纵一辆汽车在街上行驶，需要你在这里打一点方向盘，在那里按一个按钮，沿途作出调整。即使有驾驶汽车上街的巨大责任和所有可能发生在你身上的可怕事件，你也不会多想，不是吗？你只是去做!你学会了如何做，你就去做!因此，内识比个人问题大得多，个人问题变得更容易解决。事实上，所有的个人问题都很容易解决。问题是，人们想要的是问题而不是解决方案。教学中令人沮丧的事情始终是对学习的矛盾心理。这就是为什么启动过程需要很长的时间。这不是一条容易的路。它也不是一条困难的道路。

Therefore, when you say, “I create my reality,” what you are saying is that you are creating an interpretation of what you can experience. If you can only experience this much of life, and it is all your interpretation, then you see your range of perception is very limited. But your Knowledge, which you carry within yourself, is capable of opening up your perception completely. Without so much incessant thinking, wondering, asking, pondering, manipulating, planning and scheming, and so forth, the greater part of your mind, your Knowledge, can begin to show you things.

因此，当你说”我创造了我的现实”时，你所说的是你在创造对你能经历现实的解释。如果你只能经历到这么多的生活，而且都是你的解释，那么你看到你的感知范围是非常有限的。但是你的内识，也就是你自己携带的内识，能够完全打开你的感知。如果没有那么多不间断的思考、疑惑、询问、思索、操纵、计划和阴谋等等，你心智的大部分，你的内识，可以开始向你展示现实。

It is not difficult to have direct experience. You simply must not be doing anything else. Having direct experience means you are not doing anything else. So, then, true preparation requires that you learn to be still, to become observant, to disassociate yourself to a certain degree from your own judgment of things, to become open to the presence of intimacy and love, to accept true relationship, and to begin to accept at least the idea that there is something greater than your own thoughts. Not a bad deal!

要有直接经历并不难。你只要不做其他事情就可以了。拥有直接经历意味着你没有做任何其他事情。所以，那么，真实的准备要求你学会静止，成为观察者，在一定程度上脱离你自己对事物的判断，对亲密关系和爱的存在开放，接受真实的关系，至少开始接受有比你自己的想法更重要的内识思想。这不是一笔糟糕的交易!

The fact is you only create interpretations of reality. A better interpretation may be more pleasant temporarily, but you are still disassociated from yourself and life. It is this disassociation that must be bridged. Life is happening all around you, an incredible panorama. But you cannot experience it. Your Inner Teachers are with you, helping you in amazing ways, but you do not know that they are there. There are genuine relationships waiting for you in life, waiting for you to be ready and desirous of them, but you must have the capability and the desire.

事实是你只创造了对现实的解释。一个更好的解释可能暂时更令人愉快，但你仍然与自己和生命脱节。必须弥合的正是这种脱离关系。生命就在你周围发生，是一个不可思议的全景。但你无法经历它。你的内在老师与你同在，以惊人的方式帮助你，但你不知道他们就在那里。生命中有真实的关系在等着你，等着你准备好并渴望它们，但你必须有这个能力和渴望。

There is a reality that creates beyond the interpretation that you create. You do not need to create reality. It is created for you. You can enjoy its creation. Therefore, it is very important to become a happy recipient of reality. Then you will see that you have brought something from beyond the world to give to the world. It is not good to come to the world and say, “Give me reality, world! Give me what I had from beyond! Give me intrinsic relationships! Give me peace of mind! Give me equanimity! Give me meaning! Give me purpose! Give me direction!” The world cannot do any of these things. These are things that you bring to the world. It is like being a parent and asking the child to take care of you! You are the parent. The world is where you have come to contribute. It cannot give much because it is only a child. In this you find your responsibility. You begin to accept your true worth and the resources that you have brought with you.

存在着一个超越你所创造的解释的创造现实。你不需要创造现实。它是为你创造的。你可以享受它的创造。因此，成为现实的快乐接受者非常重要。然后你会发现你从世界之外带来了一些礼物来奉献给世界。来到这个世界上并说：“给我现实，世界！给我从超越世界带来的礼物！给我内在的关系！给我心灵的平静！给我心境平和！给我意义！给我目的！给我方向！”是不好的。世界无法做到这些。这些是你带给世界的礼物。这就像是作为父母并要求孩子照顾你一样！你是父母。世界是你来贡献的地方。它无法给予太多，因为它只是一个孩子。在这里，你发现了你的责任。你开始接受你真实的价值和你所带来的资源。

Why is the world such a difficult place for human beings? Because they have come from beyond. It is not so difficult for plants and animals, but it is difficult for people because they come from beyond. They have come from a much more pure reality. This makes it very difficult, then, to adjust to being here. You do not need to change the world. But you do need to find out who you are, why you have come and what you have brought with you. You are only here for a brief time, after all. Before you know it, you are back Home, like nothing changed! It is always the same there.

为什么世界对人类来说是如此艰难的地方呢？因为他们来自世界之外。对于植物和动物来说并不那么困难，但对人类来说却很困难，因为他们来自世界之外。他们来自一个更为纯净的现实。这使得适应此处变得非常困难。你无需改变世界。但你确实需要找出你是谁，你为何而来，以及你带来了什么。毕竟，你只在这里停留了很短的时间。在你意识到之前，你就会回到家，就像什么都没变过一样！在那里永远都是一样的。

What people are seeking for in life is purpose, meaning and direction. They have brought these with them. The world is waiting to receive them, but people are looking for them in the world. Do you see the complication here? It is like the parent saying, “Take care of me, baby! Be my daddy and mommy.”

人们在生活中所寻求的是目的、意义和方向。他们已经带来了这些。世界正在等待接受它们，但人们正在世界中寻找它们。你看到这里的复杂性了吗？这就像父母说：”照顾我，宝贝! 做我的爸爸和妈妈”。

Becoming a true contributor in life, guided by your own Knowledge and unfettered by your own interpretation of reality, is the greatest achievement possible and one that will make you a great resource for everyone you come in contact with and for people whom you will never see. Your mind, being open, will provide an opening for other minds. This is entirely natural and is actually more an unlearning than a learning process. All the books, all the lectures, all the ideas and all the processes—you must leave them all at the temple gate, the outer gate, to enter in. You simply enter and your Teachers are there to take you in. They have successfully completed the development of Knowledge in physical life. Therefore, they are prepared to enable you to do so as well. That is the great promise.

成为生命中真实的贡献者，以你自己的内识为指导，不受你自己对现实的解释的约束，是可能的最大成就，它将使你成为你所接触到的每个人和你永远不会看到的人的伟大资源。你的心智是开放的，将为其他心灵提供一个开口。这是完全自然的，实际上与其说是学习的过程，不如说是一种解脱。所有的书、所有的讲座、所有的想法和所有的过程——你必须把它们都留在庙门，即外门，才能进入。你只要进入，你的老师就在那里带你进去。他们已经成功地完成了物质生活中的内识发展。因此，他们已经准备好让你也能这样做。这就是伟大的承诺。

Not all the seeds that are thrown onto the ground from the tree will hatch, but some will. You will always find that the most direct way does not attract great crowds because people find the requirement is too great. “I just wanted some information. I don’t want to have to do anything!” Ideas are simple. They require very little of you. They also give very little to you. But relationships require a great deal and provide a great deal. Having a meaningful marriage and raising children requires a great deal and provides a great deal.

不是所有从树上掉落到地上的种子都会发芽，但有些会。你总是会发现，最直接的方式并不能吸引大量的人群，因为人们发现要求太大。”我只是想要一些信息。我不想做任何事！”想法很简单。它们对你的要求很少。它们也给你很少。但是关系需要很多，并且提供了很多。拥有一段有意义的婚姻并抚养孩子需要很多，但也提供了很多。

The emphasis here is Knowledge. It is not your personal Knowledge because there is no personal Knowledge. In Knowledge there is only individual expression. There is no individual reality. Drawing from a Greater Reality means that you have passed beyond your own interpretations sufficiently that you can now have a direct experience of life. You can see in a new way, hear in a new way, speak in a new way and experience life in a new way.

这里的重点是内识。这不是你个人的内识，因为不存在个人的内识。在内识中，只有个人的表达。没有个人的现实。从更大的现实中汲取意味着你已经充分超越了你自己的解释，你现在可以对生命有直接的经历。你能以一种新的方式看，以一种新的方式听，以一种新的方式说，以一种新的方式经历生命。

Therefore, when you hear others talking about “creating their own reality,” see this only as a sign pointing in the right direction. What this means for you is that you must take responsibility for the content of your mind. What are you thinking at this moment? What you are thinking is relevant to what you are experiencing. This is accurate. But beyond this is reality, and that is the great gift. Achieving this, then, is more a settling down than a building up. It is the result of becoming still and observant so that you can penetrate your own interpretation. A still mind is a mind that is collecting its own power. It can direct its full resources in any direction, and that is the definition of power in the world.

因此，当你听到别人谈论”创造自己的现实”时，只把它看作是一个指向正确方向的信号。这对你来说意味着，你必须对你心灵的内容负责。此刻你在想什么？你所想的与你正在经历的事情有关。这是准确的。但在这之外就是现实，这就是伟大的礼物。那么，实现这一点，与其说是建立起来，不如说是沉淀下来。它是变得静止和观察的结果，以便你能穿透你自己的解释。一个静止的心是一个正在收集自己力量的心智。它可以将其全部资源导向任何方向，这就是世界上力量的定义。

Concentration is power. A more concentrated mind will have a great effect on less concentrated minds. If that mind is concentrated on evil or destruction, it will still have a great effect on less concentrated minds. That is why we have said in recent discourses that great wars are perpetrated only by individuals who are dedicated to those wars. Their influence on less concentrated minds is quite apparent.

专注就是力量。一个比较集中的心会对不太集中的心产生很大的影响。如果这种心智集中于邪恶或破坏，它仍然会对不太集中的心智产生巨大影响。这就是为什么我们在最近的论述中说，巨大的战争只由那些致力于这些战争的人实施。他们对不太集中的心智的影响是相当明显的。

Yet, a mind that is concentrated on good is even more powerful. That is why the Wise are hidden and do not make a show of themselves. They do not want to have too great an impact. They don’t want to attract too much attention from the wrong people. They save themselves for certain individuals whom they realize are actually prepared for their gifts.

然而，一个专注于善的心智甚至更有力量。这就是为什么智者是隐蔽的，不显露自己。他们不希望有太大的影响。他们不想从错误的人那里吸引太多注意力。他们把自己留给某些人，他们意识到这些人实际上是为他们的礼物做好准备的。

You see, I am painting a bigger picture here. Do not be satisfied with ideas or little truths. Knowledge is still within you. It is sleeping like a giant. Until it becomes manifest in your life, your life is still interpretive. You are not in direct relationship with life yet. Life is relationship. That’s all life really is. If you are feeling lonely, you are not experiencing this relationship. The only thing that you can experience apart from life is your own ideas, yes? After all, life is everything. It is very hard not to experience it. To do that you must create your own internal reality that is interpretive, and you must be in relationship with it.

你看，我在这里描绘了一幅更大的画面。不要满足于想法或小真理。内识仍然在你体内。它像一个巨人一样沉睡着。直到它在你的生命中显现出来，你的生命仍然是解释性的。你还没有与生命发生直接关系。生命就是关系。这就是生命真正的全部。如果你感到孤独，你就没有经历到这种关系。除了生命之外，你能经历到的唯一关系就是你自己的想法，是吗？毕竟，生命就是一切。不去经历它是很难的。要做到这一点，你必须创造你自己的内部现实，这是解释性的，你必须与它建立关系。

The Teacher of Knowledge brings you out of relationship with ideas and into relationship with life. That is the process. Each step of the way renders great rewards. It leaves you freer and more lighthearted. In Knowledge, everything is very simple. In fact, your life is so simple that you can devote yourself to other lives, helping and caring for others because your life is so simple. You are free, then, to participate beyond your own self. This is the great happiness, and this enables you to be in meaningful relationships.

内识的老师把你从与想法的关系中带出来，进入与生命的关系。这就是过程。这条路的每一步都会带来巨大的回报。它让你更自由，更轻松。在内识中，一切都非常简单。事实上，你的生命是如此简单，以至于你可以把自己投入到其他的生活中，帮助和关心他人，因为你的生命是如此简单。那么，你就可以自由地参与，超越你自己。这就是巨大的幸福，这使你能够处于有意义的关系之中。