Chapter 33: Provoking Change

As revealed to God’s Messenger Marshall Vian Summers on November 14, 1988 in Tyler, TX
1988年11月14日，在德克萨斯州泰勒市(Tyler, TX)，向上帝的信使马歇尔・维安・萨默斯(Marshall Vian Summers)揭示

Obviously, change is something that is happening all around you, but We want to focus on the kind of change that you yourself must instigate. There is much change that is happening to you that is beyond your control, not only in your environment and your world, but within you as well. Something is happening. You are always in motion in the physical world.

显然，改变是发生在你周围的事情，但我们想把重点放在你自己必须煽动的那种改变上。有许多发生在你身上的改变是你无法控制的，不仅是在你的环境和你的世界，而且在你的内心。有些事情正在发生。你在物理世界中总是在运动。

Yet there is also change that you yourself must be the source of and for which you must take responsibility. If you want to progress and to achieve important things in life, and if you want to grow and to develop, you must take responsibility for conducting yourself according to the true requirements of life as you recognize them. This also means taking responsibility for instigating change with other people. In other words, at times you will need to change the situation.

然而，也有一些改变，你自己必须是这些改变的源头，你必须为之负责。如果你想进步，想在生命中实现重要的事情，如果你想成长和发展，你必须负责按照你所认识到的生命的真正要求进行自己。这也意味着要承担起责任，与其他人一起激起改变。换句话说，有时你将需要改变现状。

Most people are very passive when it comes to change. They will only change on their own accord if moved by desperation. That is a very destructive way to approach life. To instigate change when it is necessary means that you must trust yourself. You must trust what you know in the situation and yet be open to making a mistake because, you see, there are some mistakes you must make. So why try to do everything right when there are mistakes that you must make? They are unavoidable. Many mistakes are avoidable because they only repeat the former mistakes that you needed to make. Therefore, do not think all mistakes are for a good purpose. You get one chance to make a foolish mistake. That is for a good purpose. After that, you can repeat it many times, but the repetitions are not necessary.

当涉及到改变时，大多数人都非常被动。他们只有在被绝望所推动时才会主动改变。这是一种非常具有破坏性的方式来对待生命。在有必要的时候引发改变，意味着你必须相信自己。你必须相信你所知道的情况，但也要对犯错持开放态度，因为，你看，有些错误你必须犯。那么，如果有一些错误是你必须要犯的，为什么还要努力做对一切呢？它们是不可避免的。许多错误是可以避免的，因为它们只是重复以前你需要犯的错误。因此，不要认为所有的错误都是为了一个好的目的。你有一次机会犯愚蠢的错误。那是为了一个好的目的。在那之后，你可以重复很多次，但重复是没有必要的。

We want to encourage you to take the initiative. When there is conflict, it means that something must move, something must progress. People want to be comfortable, and they associate comfort with living in a static situation. Comfort is associated with a state of no change. But when you are not growing, your life is shrinking. The walls are closing in upon you. Here We must qualify Our remarks because many people change things that do not need to be changed. And likewise, they do not change the things that need to be changed. So what should be changed and what should not be changed?

我们想鼓励你采取主动。当有冲突时，这意味着有些事情必须推动，有些东西必须进步。人们想要舒适，他们把舒适与生活在静态情况下联系起来。舒适与没有变化的状态有关。但是当你没有成长的时候，你的生命就在萎缩。墙壁正在向你逼近。在此，我们必须对我们的言论进行限定，因为许多人改变了不需要改变的事情。同样地，他们也没有改变需要改变的事情。那么，什么应该被改变，什么不应该被改变？

There are two arenas for change: There is the change you want to make and there is the change you must make. The must category is the most important, for the things you must do, whether you want to do them or not, are very necessary. Human life and development are very much dependent upon this necessity. That is what keeps things moving forward. It is based upon purpose. All of you have come into the world carrying the seed of God within you, and in this seed is your purpose.

有两个改变的舞台。一种是你想做的改变，一种是你必须做的改变。必须类是最重要的，因为你必须做的事情，无论你想不想做，都是非常必要的。人类的生活和发展在很大程度上取决于这种必要性。这就是让世界不断向前发展的原因。它是基于目的的。你们所有人都是带着上帝的种子来到这个世界的，在这颗种子里是你们的目的。

Now obviously people do not want to think that they have no purpose, so they invent various purposes for themselves. Eventually, their real purpose will have the possibility of emerging. When it begins to emerge, they will realize that they have a responsibility to accept change that is necessary and to instigate change that is necessary. They will also realize that they have a responsibility to maintain themselves in good health and to become aware of their strengths and weaknesses and their favorable and unfavorable tendencies. The emergence of purpose will require change in their thinking, behavior and perception and in their relationships with others as well.

现在，人们显然不愿意认为他们没有目的，所以他们为自己发明了各种目的。最终，他们真正的目的将有可能出现。当它开始出现时，他们会意识到他们有责任接受必要的改变，并引起必要的改变。他们还将意识到，他们有责任保持自己的健康，并意识到自己的长处和短处以及有利和不利的倾向。目的的出现将需要改变他们的思维、行为和感知，也需要改变他们与他人的关系。

Often people become very lazy here because they are waiting for something to change them. Then if it goes wrong, they have someone else to blame. But to take full responsibility means that you are cooperating with life in bringing about the necessary adjustments as you proceed.

通常人们在这里会变得非常懒惰，因为他们在等待一些事情来改变他们。然后，如果出了问题，他们就会有别人来指责。但是，承担全部责任意味着你正在与生命合作，在你前进的过程中带来必要的调整。

Because of the routines of life, people often forget that they are actually trying to go somewhere. You are not just settling down; you are going somewhere. You are doing something. Part of this is in your conscious mind and part of it is in your deeper mind because you are operating in the world both as an individual and as part of a greater collective called the human race. Therefore, you are unconsciously pressing things forward in order for the race to progress. As more people become conscious of this, the evolution advances at a more rapid rate. This is certainly happening. Because this is a collective movement, people must now keep pace with it. This requires that you accept change in your circumstances and instigate change where it is necessary.

由于生活的常规，人们常常忘记他们实际上是在试图去某个地方。你不只是安顿下来；你正在去某个地方。你正在做一些事情。其中一部分是在你意识的心智中，一部分是在你更深层的心智中，因为你既是作为个人，也是作为一个更大的集体——人类的一部分，在这个世界上活动。因此，你正在无意识地推动事件的发展，以使种族得到进步。随着越来越多的人意识到这一点，进化会以更快的速度推进。这当然正在发生。因为这是一个集体运动，人们现在必须跟上它的步伐。这要求你接受你的环境的变化，并在必要时开始改变。

There is change that emanates from your wishes and fears, and then there is change that is a necessity. There are two kinds of necessary change: There is necessary change when you are forced to do something or when you face catastrophe. Then there is necessary change when you know you must do something. Here circumstances are not forcing you into action. Instead, you are motivated by your own Knowledge, a deep and profound intuition.

有一种改变是来自你的愿望和恐惧，然后有一种改变是必要的。有两种必要的改变。当你被迫做某事或面临灾难时，有必要的改变。然后是必要的改变，当你知道你必须做某事时。在这里，环境并没有强迫你采取行动。相反，你是被你自己的内识，一种深刻的直觉所激励。

It is this state of Knowledge that We wish to cultivate in all students of Knowledge to enable them to see the direction of the human race with vision and to be able to be very strong participants in the evolution of the world. To be able to function in this capacity, they must escape most of their personal dilemmas. They must be able to trade little problems for big problems. Since these people are destined to become important contributors in life, they are often very unhappy early in life because they get bogged down in personality conflicts, which they are usually unable to resolve. They have not moved into the proper position in life yet, and so their energy, focus and vitality become oriented to little things, and it is very hard for them.

我们希望在所有内识的学生中培养这种内识状态，使他们能够以远见看到人类的方向，并能够成为世界进化的非常有力的参与者。为了能够以这种身份发挥作用，他们必须摆脱大部分的个人困境。他们必须能够用小问题换取大问题。由于这些人注定要成为生活中的重要贡献者，他们在生活的早期往往非常不快乐，因为他们陷入了人格冲突，而他们通常无法解决这些冲突。他们还没有进入生命的适当位置，所以他们的能量、注意力和生命力变得面向小事，这对他们来说是非常困难的。

We want to remind you that you are living in a very dynamic situation. You have come into the world at a very exciting time. Oh, my God, the change that you will see in your lifetime. Your ancestors could not dream of such things. To keep pace with this change and not merely be dragged along, resisting and complaining, and to be able to actively participate in this and make a positive contribution, you will need to base your sense of security on something far more tangible than money or political stability and so forth. You must have a greater foundation within yourself.

我们想提醒你，你生活在一个非常动态的环境中。你是在一个非常激动人心的时刻来到这个世界的。哦，我的上帝，你将在你们的生活中看到这个改变。你们的祖先做梦也想不到这样的事情。为了跟上这种变化的步伐，而不仅仅是被拖着走，抵制和抱怨，为了能够积极参与其中并做出积极的贡献，你将需要把你的安全感建立在远比金钱或政治稳定等更实在的基础之上。你必须在自己内心有一个更大的基础。

Your life is attempting to move into true position. All personal growth is only for this purpose and not simply for self-indulgence. In fact, personal growth is really not even for you personally. All of this self-exploration and development of skills—they are not for you. Why would you need to do all that? You would be happier sitting on a beach. Many people do that, you know, but not you because you must advance forward. There is nothing for you to hold onto.

你的生命正试图进入真实的位置。所有的个人成长都只是为了这个目的，而不是简单地为了自我放纵。事实上，个人成长实际上甚至不是为了你个人。所有这些自我探索和技能发展——它们都不是为了你。你为什么需要做这一切呢？你坐在沙滩上会更开心。许多人都这样做，你知道，但你不是，因为你必须向前推进。没有什么可以让你坚持的。

Your world is changing faster than you can even imagine. In your lifetime, you will see change that you would have a hard time accepting as possible at this present time. We are not only speaking of calamities or catastrophes, but also the progress of human beings. Things are advancing very fast. It is not correct to say that you are responsible for it. You are indeed responsible for a part of it, but it was set in motion by your predecessors. Everyone now and in the past is responsible. What you are doing in life now is setting the stage for your offspring in future generations.

你的世界变化之快甚至超过你的想象。在你的有生之年，你将看到你很难接受的变化，在目前这个时候是可能的。我们说的不仅是灾难或灾祸，也是人类的进步。世界发展得非常快。说你要对它负责是不对的。你确实要对它的一部分负责，但它是由你的祖先启动的。现在和过去的每个人都有责任。你现在在生活中所做的，是为你的后代创造舞台。

Not all change is good. Not all change is healthy. However, as a whole, your race must become united, not in spirit because that is far too advanced for the human race yet. But you will be politically and economically fused together out of necessity. If you can see this happening, you will understand the trends now, and you will see that you will need to have a new relationship with change. You will see change not as something that has to be forced upon you and that you accept as a last resort, but as something you can wholeheartedly promote. Things are going to change with or without your help, but if you help, you can generate a positive result.

不是所有的改变都是好的。不是所有的改变都是健康的。然而，作为一个整体，你们的种族必须变得团结，不是在精神上，因为那对人类来说还太先进。但是你们将在政治上和经济上出于需要而融合在一起。如果你能看到这种情况的发生，你会理解现在的趋势，你会看到你将需要与改变有一种新的关系。你将看到改变不是必须强加给你的、你作为最后手段接受的事情，而是你可以全心全意地推动的事情。不管有没有你的帮助，事情都会发生改变，但如果你帮助，你就能产生积极的结果。

There are certain things that are destined for the human race because they are evolutionary, but how things turn out—for better or for worse—is dependent upon your contribution. People think, “Well, I can do so little individually,” but if they do not contribute, things will be worse. Things are only as good as they are today because someone gave something of value before. Your prosperity, whatever you may have, is the result of what other people have accomplished. The car you drive, the conveniences of your home—people made contributions and sacrifices so you could have these things. You are walking on the ground that other people have laid out for you. They had to change to do this.

有些事情对人类来说是注定的，因为它们是进化的，但世界的结果如何——无论好坏——都取决于你的贡献。人们认为，”嗯，我个人能做的太少了，”但如果他们不做贡献，世界就会变得更糟。世界之所以像今天这样好，是因为之前有人给予了有价值的东西。你们的繁荣，无论你拥有什么，都是其他人所成就的结果。你开的车，你家里的便利设施——人们做出了贡献和牺牲，所以你可以拥有这些东西。你正走在其他人为你铺设的土地上。他们必须改变才能做到这一点。

Like the trees that grow from the soil of their own ancestors, you are now growing in the soil of your own ancestors, too. This is a wonderful thing to think about because it stimulates gratitude. It lifts you out of your personal preference about your life—what you want, what you are afraid of and your personal interests in the matter—and you see that you are a part of something bigger that is moving and changing and advancing.

就像从自己祖先的土壤中生长的树木一样，你现在也在自己祖先的土壤中生长。这是一件值得思考的美妙事情，因为它激发了感恩之心。它把你从关于你的生命的个人偏好中提升出来——你想要什么，你害怕什么，以及你在这个问题上的个人利益——你看到你是一个更大关系的一部分，这个生命正在移动、改变和前进。

People rarely change their behavior or thinking for themselves alone. They change because it is necessary for them to do something important in life for other people. When you are thinking of yourself alone, the difficulty in self-purification does not seem quite worth the effort. It is very hard to give your development the energy that it requires. But if it is for something greater, then you give more than you would for yourself alone, if your giving is true. If people are only giving to themselves, they give themselves aggravation.

人们很少仅仅为了自己而改变他们的行为或思维。他们改变是因为他们有必要为其他人做一些生活中的重要事情。当你只为自己考虑时，自我净化的困难似乎不太值得努力。给你的发展提供它所需要的能量是非常困难的。但如果是为了更大的生命，那么你的给予就会比只为自己给予更多，如果你的给予是真的。如果人们只为自己给予，他们就会给自己带来加重。

Your first challenge regarding change will be with yourself. That is the most important challenge. It will begin with yourself and in your primary relationships: your partner, your loved ones, your family and so forth. If you feel a spiritual emergence arising within you that you must respond to, you will have to change your relationship with your family. You cannot undergo this change and not have relationships around you adjust themselves to it. You must do it and not wait for someone else to do it for you.

你关于改变的第一个挑战将是与你自己。这是最重要的挑战。它将从你自己和你的主要关系开始：你的伴侣、你的爱人、你的家庭等等。如果你感觉到你体内出现了一种你必须回应的精神涌现，你将不得不改变你与家人的关系。你不可能在没有周围关系的情况下经历这种改变，也不能调整自己来适应它。你必须做这件事，而不是等待别人为你做这件事。

If you wish to have true authority in your life, the authority that God has given you to exercise, then you must claim that which is yours to claim and not claim what is beyond your capacity. It is not within your authority to determine the fate of the human race. It is not within your authority to determine the fate of another person. But it is within your authority to orient your life to Knowledge to the best of your ability.

如果你希望在你的生命中拥有真实的权威，即上帝赋予你的权威，那么你必须主张属于你的权利，而不是要求超出你能力范围的权利。决定人类的命运不在你的权力范围之内。决定他人命运也不在你的权力范围之内。但是，将你的生命定向于内识，尽你的能力去做，这是在你的权力范围之内的。

Why improve your health? You do it for everyone. Why resolve a financial difficulty? You do it for everyone. Perhaps it meets a personal need and that is the most pressing thing, but you do it for everyone. Why give up bad habits? So the burden on humanity will be less. Why meet a challenging situation in marriage? So that people will be happier as a result. Therefore, you see, instigating change and service to humanity are very related.

为什么要改善你的健康？你为每个人都这样做。为什么要解决财务困难？你为每个人做这件事。也许它能满足个人的需要，这是最紧迫的事情，但你是为所有人做的。为什么要放弃坏习惯？这样人类的负担就会减少。为什么要满足婚姻中的挑战情况？这样人们就会因此而更加幸福。因此，你看，激起改变和为人类服务是非常相关的。

There is a great deal of confusion in the world about the “authority problem.” Who has the authority? Where does the authority reside? Where does it come from? Some people are very passive, thinking God is going to do everything for them like a servant, like a handmaiden. Some people insist that no one can do anything for them and that they are going to do it all and not let anyone else have decision-making capabilities within their own sphere. Some people will not let the government be the government. Other people will not take any authority, thinking that the government will do everything for them.

世界上有很多关于”权威问题”的困惑。谁有权力？权威存在于哪里？它从哪里来？有些人非常被动，认为上帝会像仆人一样为他们做一切事情，就像一位婢女。有些人坚持认为没有人可以为他们做任何事情，他们要做所有的事情，不让他人在自己的范围内有决策能力。有些人不会让政府成为政府。另一些人不会接受任何权力，认为政府会为他们做一切事情。

What is your arena of authority and what is not? We can only give you a greater perspective on this. You must find out for yourself where your authority can be established and where it cannot be established. You are responsible for your behavior and for your thinking. You are responsible for the demonstration that your life makes. However, you are not responsible for who you are. You are not responsible for the destiny of the world, though in some respects you share this responsibility because it gives you direction. It is quite enough for human beings to manage themselves in their primary relationships with honesty, tolerance and determination. Very few people have done that.

什么是你的权威领域，什么不是？我们只能给你一个更大的视角来看待这个问题。你必须自己找出你的权威在哪里可以建立，在哪里不能建立。你要对你的行为和你的思维负责。你要对你的生活所做的示范负责。然而，你并不对你是谁负责。你不对世界的命运负责，尽管在某些方面你分担这个责任，因为它给了你方向。对人类来说，在他们的主要关系中用诚实、宽容和决心来管理自己就很足够了。很少有人做到这一点。

Sooner or later you will do what you must do, either in this life or in the life to come. Situations keep presenting themselves to give you this opportunity. What gives you the strength and the power to make decisions is God and your Spiritual Family, who are devoted to your spiritual emergence. But still, the power of decision must be utilized by you. It is very hard to understand the idea that the world is moving in the direction that it must and you are moving there too—willingly or unwillingly. Your contribution is to give what is good to that movement and destiny. You cannot control the overall outcome, but you can give what is good to it.

迟早你会做你必须做的事，无论是在今生还是在来世。形势不断呈现，给你这个机会。给你做决定的力量和权力的是上帝和你的精神家庭，他们致力于你的精神崛起。但是，决定的力量仍然必须由你来采用。很难理解这样的想法：世界正朝着它必须的方向发展，而你也在向那里发展——不管是自愿的还是不自愿的。你的贡献是为这一运动和命运给予美好的礼物。你无法控制总体结果，但你可以给它带来美好的礼物。

Often when people come to this Teaching, they find out that their situation in life is not very complex. It is just that they are not sure if they want to take responsibility for what must happen. One of Our first tasks is to unburden people by simplifying their dilemma. What makes a dilemma complex is when people want resolution and harmony, but they are unwilling to do what is necessary to achieve them. They create a great deal of speculation about themselves and their involvement and other people’s involvement and who is at fault and so forth. It is as if you drop a glass of milk on the floor, and it breaks, and you stand there wondering how it could have happened and why it always happens to you and if you should be the one to clean it up. After awhile, the glass of milk on the floor is the least of your problems. Now you are entertaining your self-doubt, conflict and judgment, and it becomes a big issue beyond what happened initially.

通常，当人们来到这个教学点时，他们会发现他们的生命状况并不十分复杂。只是他们不确定自己是否愿意为必须发生的事情负责。我们的首要任务之一是通过简化人们的两难处境来减轻他们的负担。使困境变得复杂的是，人们希望得到解决和和谐，但他们不愿意做实现这些目标的必要工作。他们对自己和自己的参与以及其他人的参与产生了大量的猜测，以及谁有错等等。这就像你的一杯牛奶掉在地上，杯子碎了，你站在那里想，这怎么可能发生，为什么它总是发生在你身上，你是否应该是那个清理它的人。一段时间后，地板上的牛奶杯是你的最小问题。现在你正在招待你的自我怀疑、冲突和判断，它变成了一个超越最初发生的大问题。

Then someone wise comes along and says, “You should clean that up. Then you can go on and do something else.” And you say, “Oh, my God! You are so wise. What a magnificent teacher! All I have to do is clean it up and I can go do something else?” Yes.

然后，一个明智的人走过来，说：”你应该把它清理干净。然后你可以继续做别的事情。”而你说，”哦，我的上帝！”。你太有智慧了。多么伟大的老师啊！我所要做的就是清理它。我所要做的就是把它清理干净，我就可以去做别的事情了？” 是的。

We are concerned with what is essential and not with what is non-essential. When you are dealing with what is essential, all of your actions have great impact. To do this, however, you must trust something deeper inside of yourself which you have learned to discover. We call this Knowledge, the power of Spirit expressing itself in your life. It is not an alien spirit. It is not from somewhere else. It is the truth about you. You are an expression of God. Do not think that you are God. That leads to some very grievous mistakes in perception and understanding. But you are very important to God.

我们关注的是什么是必要的，而不是什么是不必要的。当你处理必要的事情时，你的所有行动都会产生巨大的影响。然而，要做到这一点，你必须信任自己内心更深处的东西，这是你学会发现的。我们称之为内识，是精神在你生命中表达自己的力量。它不是外来的灵魂。它不来自别处。它是关于你的真理。你是上帝的表达。不要认为你就是上帝。这会导致一些非常严重的感知和理解错误。但是你对上帝来说非常重要。

Everyone here has things they know they must do. There are things you must change. Procrastination here is simply a form of self-neglect. To realize your strength, you must exercise your authority. You have great strength that is latent within you, but you must use it in the face of things that intimidate you in order to understand that it is there. Then you will understand that most complaining—not all but most—is because the people involved are neglecting what is essential and are procrastinating. When you are entertaining things that do not need to be changed, and they are competing for your attention with things that do need to be changed, it all becomes very complex. This leads you to become passive because, after all, you cannot change it all. So you sink back into reverie about it.

这里的每个人都有他们知道自己必须做的事情。有一些事情你必须改变。拖延在这里只是一种自我忽视的形式。为了实现你的力量，你必须行使你的权威。你有潜藏在你体内的巨大力量，但你必须在面对恐吓你的事情时使用它，以理解它的存在。然后你就会明白，大多数的抱怨——不是全部，而是大多数——是因为相关的人忽视了重要的东西，并且在拖延。当你在招待那些不需要改变的事情，而它们与那些确实需要改变的事情争夺你的注意力时，一切都变得非常复杂。这导致你变得被动，因为毕竟你不能改变这一切。所以你又沉浸在对它的遐想中。

The man or woman of Knowledge who has cultivated Knowledge is not concerned with what is non-essential. Everything in life is very pronounced. It is very active. Even in meditation, things are very active. These people live in a vibrant world, not a world of dull pain and weak hopes.

培养了内识的男人或女人不关心非必要的事物。生命中的一切都非常明显。它是非常活跃的。即使在冥想中，生命也是非常活跃的。这些人生活在一个充满活力的世界，而不是一个沉闷的痛苦和微弱的希望的世界。

That is why if you wish to make advancements, you must cultivate your capabilities—your powers of discernment, honest communication, discrimination, humility, authority and above all an abiding willingness to be wrong. You will be wrong. That is because the only way that you can find out and learn discernment is to make some of the mistakes that are waiting for you to make. If being wrong is associated with failure, if it is seen as an expression of your weakness or lack of worth, you will not be in a position to learn or to progress. You will simply use your life to keep yourself from attacking yourself. Here you are strangling yourself and cannot go anywhere. That is when the broken glass of milk is on the floor, and you are thinking about what kind of person you are. You do not know enough about yourself to condemn yourself. It is not within your authority to determine your worth. When you start thinking like this, you are in error from beginning to end.

这就是为什么如果你想取得进步，你必须培养你的能力——你的辨别力、诚实的沟通、辨别力、谦逊、权威，以及最重要的是持久地愿意犯错。你会犯错的。这是因为，你能够发现和学习辨别力的唯一途径是犯一些等待你去犯的错误。如果犯错与失败有关，如果它被看作是你的弱点或缺乏价值的表现，你就不会有机会学习或进步。你将只是用你的生命来阻止自己攻击自己。在这里，你是在扼杀自己，不能去任何地方。这时，破碎的牛奶杯就在地板上，你在思考自己是个什么样的人。你对自己的知道还不足以谴责自己。确定你的价值不在你的权限之内。当你开始这样想的时候，你从头到尾都在犯错。

Most mistakes that people make are made because they are not looking. They are not present in the situation. They do not know how they got on the railroad tracks, and now the train is coming. The only reason you cannot look or be present in a situation is because you are consumed with your own thoughts. Why does the man or woman of Knowledge who drops the milk and makes the mess clean it up just like that? Because they have something important to do in life. They do not have time to contemplate their value.

人们所犯的大多数错误都是因为他们没有注意。他们没有置身于这种情况之中。他们不知道自己是如何走上铁轨的，而现在火车已经来了。你不能观察或置身于某种情况中的唯一原因是你被自己的思想所吞噬。为什么掉了牛奶、弄得一团糟的内识男女就这样清理了？因为他们在生活中有重要的事情要做。他们没有时间去思考自己的价值。

When you are doing what you need to be doing in life, you will feel your self-worth. You may not admit it, but you will feel it. If you are not doing what you need to do in life, you will not feel good about yourself, not because you are a bad person but simply because you are not meeting a need. You have an internal as well as an external need to progress. Indeed, your internal need is even stronger than your external need. When your external need is as great as your internal need, then life is matching you. Do not resist this. When you resist this, you are not present to the situation. Making a wise decision then becomes very hard.

当你在做你在生命中需要做的事情时，你会感到你的自我价值。你可能不承认，但你会感觉到它。如果你没有做你在生命中需要做的事，你会对自己感觉不好，不是因为你是一个坏人，而只是因为你没有满足一个需求。你有内在和外在的需要，需要进步。事实上，你的内部需求甚至比你的外部需求更强烈。当你的外部需要和你的内部需要一样大时，那么生命就会与你相匹配。不要抵制这一点。当你抵制这一点时，你就没有参与到这个情况中。作出明智的决定就会变得非常困难。

Some change is very hard to make. It brings forth emotional pain and takes great courage because you must override all other arguments and tendencies to do what must be done. You do not need to create change and exercise your authority as some sort of spiritual practice. There is always enough content in your life for real application. Sometimes when you identify the change that must happen and separate that from all the things that you think you should have or do, your whole life becomes clear. Then if you can accept what you must do, everything begins to make sense.

有些改变是很难做出的。它带来情感上的痛苦，需要极大的勇气，因为你必须克服所有其他的争论和倾向，去做必须做的事情。你不需要把创造改变和行使你的权威作为某种精神实践。在你的生命中总有足够的内容供你真正应用。有时，当你确定必须发生的改变，并将其与你认为应该拥有或做的所有事情分开，你的整个生命就会变得清晰。然后，如果你能接受你必须做的事情，一切就开始变得有意义了。

Now We will speak about leadership. Everyone here must become a leader of his or her own life. But one thing important about a leader is that every leader is a follower. You are not the source of leadership. You can only express it as it emerges in your own life. Either the Creator is guiding you in your leadership or something else is guiding you—anger, desire for power, grief or vengeance. They provide leadership too. All leaders must serve something. Be it God or be it their own ideas or ambition, they are serving something. They are not the source of their own leadership. When you realize this, it will make it possible for bad tendencies to be corrected and for you to gain the moderation you need to lead wisely. It will give you perspective and humility in difficult situations so that you do not overstep your authority.

现在我们将谈谈领导力。这里的每个人都必须成为他或她自己生活的领导者。但是，关于领导者的一件事很重要，那就是每个领导者都是一名追随者。你不是领导力的来源。你只能表达它，因为它在你自己的生命中出现了。要么是造物主在引导你的领导力，要么是其他东西在引导你——愤怒、对权力的渴望、悲伤或复仇。它们也提供了领导力。所有的领导人都必须服务于某些东西。无论是上帝还是他们自己的想法或野心，他们都在服务于某些东西。他们不是自己的领导力的来源。当你意识到这一点时，它将使坏的倾向得到纠正，并使你获得明智的领导所需的节制。它将使你在困难的情况下具有洞察力和谦逊，使你不至于超越你的权威。

God wants to lift you up, but for this to happen, you must be prepared. It is not something that happens like the wave of a hand and you are lifted up. People are raised the way a house is constructed. It does not simply appear. Why is this? Because people must exercise their authority and learn their true relationship with life. God can exercise authority, but if you do not exercise yours in conjunction with God’s, then you will not advance. That is why when you are passive about God’s Presence in your life and think that God will do everything for you and you can go merrily along, you do not understand your relationship with God. You are here to be raised up so that you can be able to serve the world. When you are raised up, what is raised up is the power of Knowledge within you. It is not a form of self-aggrandizement. Here you do not become inflated with yourself and start telling lies about yourself.

上帝想提升你，但要实现这一点，你必须做好准备。这不是像挥一挥手，你就被提升的事情。人被提升就像房子被建造一样。它不是简单地出现。这是为什么呢？因为人们必须行使他们的权威，学习他们与生命的真实关系。上帝可以行使权威，但如果你不结合上帝的权威来行使你的权威，那么你就不会进步。这就是为什么当你对上帝在你生命中的存在感到被动，认为上帝会为你做一切事情，你可以快乐地走下去时，你并不理解你与上帝的关系。你在这里是为了被提升，以便你能够为世界服务。当你被提升的时候，被提升的是你内在内识的力量。这不是一种自我吹嘘的形式。在这里，你不会变得自我膨胀，并开始说自己的谎言。

Fortunately, being human is always subject to error and comedy. It is very hard to become too significant about yourself on this level. You have a personality, you have a body and you have Knowledge. Obviously, you cannot become too significant about having a body. It is full of flaws and is always growing old. If the body is your emphasis, you will suffer greatly for it. Likewise, the personality, like the body, can be trained to serve a higher purpose, but in and of itself it is hardly worth the devotion of your life. That is why so many people are complacent about self-development. They think it is either for the body or for their self-image. It is not worth the effort. But when you serve something greater, then it is worth it because this is an act of profound love for the world and the regeneration of your self-respect.

幸运的是，作为人总是会有错误和喜剧。在这个层面上很难对自己变得过于重要。你有一个人格，你有一个身体，你有内识。很明显，你不能对拥有一个身体变得太有意义。它充满了缺陷，总是在变老。如果身体是你的重点，你将为它遭受巨大的痛苦。同样，人格，像身体一样，可以被训练来为更高的宗旨服务，但它本身不值得你付出生命。这就是为什么许多人对自我发展感到自满。他们认为这不是为了身体，就是为了自我形象。这不值得努力。但是，当你为更大的宗旨服务时，就值得了，因为这是对世界的深爱和你的自尊的再生。

People who read Our words are often disappointed because We do not speak about metaphysical things. That is because We speak about important things. Occasionally, metaphysical ideas are useful tools for wise practitioners, but in the hands of the ignorant they become sources of superstition. Why become concerned about metaphysical things if your life is calling for your action and decision making? Why indulge in things that in the hands of the powerful can have real meaning but are not necessarily germane to your immediate needs?

阅读我们的文字的人经常感到失望，因为我们不谈论形而上的事情。这是因为我们讲的是重要的事情。偶尔，形而上学的想法对明智的实践者来说是有用的工具，但在无知的人手中，它们就成了迷信的来源。如果你的生活需要你的行动和决策，为什么要关心形而上学的事情？为什么要沉迷于那些在强者手中有真正意义但不一定与你的直接需求相关的事情？

People progress because they must. It is rarely because of curiosity. Do you not live in a world of great necessity? Is it not a perfect environment for advancement? Sometimes people read these words and they say, “Oh, my God! This Teaching is overbearing. I thought we were going to talk about spiritual things, and now this is telling me I must do this and that I must face that. Oh, my God, I’m getting out of here!” So, these people go back to their metaphysical books, and they read about things that are far away from them.

人们进步是因为他们必须这样做。它很少是因为好奇心。你不是生活在一个非常必要的世界里吗？难道这不是一个完美的进步环境吗？有时人们读到这些话，他们会说：”哦，我的上帝！这条教导太霸道了。这个教导太霸道了。我以为我们要谈的是精神的事情，现在这是在告诉我，我必须做这个，我必须面对那个。哦，我的上帝，我要离开这里！”所以，这些人又回到了他们的形而上学书籍中，他们读的是离他们很远的事情。

It is necessary to focus on things that are present now. Everyone has their own laboratory in life. You are either here not knowing why you are here, or you are actively working on things that are important. Not only are they important, they are necessary. It is this necessity that is so important. It is necessary either because your outer life says it is or because your own Knowledge says it is. Either way, necessity calls for you to respond. If something is called for, do it. You will not know what is going to happen.

有必要专注于现在的事情。每个人在生活中都有自己的实验室。你要么在这里不知道你为什么在这里，要么你在积极努力做一些重要的事情。它们不仅是重要的，而且是必要的。正是这种必要性才如此重要。它是必要的，要么是因为你的外部生活说它是，要么是因为你自己的内识说它是。无论哪种方式，必要性都要求你做出反应。如果需要做什么，就去做。你将不知道会发生什么。

It is very hard to be reasonable about change or use logic regarding change. Change is often illogical, particularly regarding your relationships. Sometimes things do not work anymore, and you must leave them. Nobody has to be blamed for this.

对于改变，很难做到理智，也很难用逻辑来看待改变。改变往往是不合逻辑的，特别是关于你的关系。有时关系不再有效，你必须离开它们。没有人需要为此受到指责。

You have been given the greatest gift that God could ever give you, even greater than God’s Presence in your life. You have been given Knowledge to guide you—a perfect guiding, functioning reality within yourself. The less preference you have or insistence from your personal mind, the more you will be able to experience Knowledge and have it express itself through you. That is the greatest privilege and satisfaction. It has nothing to do with the human problems of identity, conflicts of interest and issues of authority.

你已经得到了上帝所能给予你的最大礼物，甚至比上帝在你生命中的临在还要大。你已经得到了内识来指导你——一个完美的指导，在你自己内部运作的现实。你的偏好越少，或来自你个人心智的坚持越少，你就越能经历到内识，并让它通过你来表达自己。这就是最大的特权和满足。它与人类的身份问题、利益冲突和权威问题没有关系。

It is very good to equate happiness with simplicity. Why is this? Because when something is simple, it does not fall apart very easily. It is more integrated. To be simple, however, does not mean that you do not have depth. It just means that you are uniform. When human beings become uniform, their power increases. Their range of perception and understanding increases. The effect of their life on life around them increases because power is concentration. The more concentrated you are as a human being, the greater the power you will have. For good or for ill, this is the case. But when your power is concentrated on what is good, you will exemplify that good. Then you will not be afraid of change because you will be able to trust yourself.

把幸福与简单等同起来是非常好的。为什么这样说呢？因为当一个生活是简单的，它就不容易崩溃。它更具有综合性。然而，简单并不意味着你没有深度。它只是意味着你是统一的。当人类变得统一时，他们的力量就会增加。他们的感知和理解的范围会增加。他们的生命对周围生命的影响也会增加，因为力量就是集中。作为一个人，你的注意力越集中，你的力量就越大。无论好坏，情况都是如此。但是，当你的力量集中在好的方面时，你就会以身作则，体现出这种好。然后你就不会害怕改变，因为你将能够信任自己。

It does not do any good if you trust God and think that you are a rat! “I am a rat. God is wonderful. I am a rat.” What can God do for you? God cannot raise you up now. You do not glorify God’s Creation by being a terrible, lowly thing. But some people are in error and think that they can become God. They are either nothing or they are everything. Neither of these is correct. You are part of something. You have a role to fulfill at a certain level of reality. Do not make this level or this role absolute. It is not absolute. It is relative to where you are in time and space.

如果你相信上帝却认为自己是一只老鼠，那是没有好处的！“我是一只老鼠。上帝是美好的。我是一只老鼠。”上帝能为你做什么呢？上帝现在无法让你提升。你不能通过成为一个可怕、卑微的存在来荣耀上帝的创造。但有些人错误地认为他们可以成为上帝。他们要么是虚无的，要么是一切。这两种都不正确。你是某种关系的一部分。你在某个现实水平上有一个要履行的角色。不要将这个水平或这个角色绝对化。它不是绝对的。它是相对于你在时间和空间中所处的位置的。

It is very exciting when someone is doing something that is absolutely necessary. It is not very exciting when people are doing something merely out of frustration or boredom, nervousness or compulsion. If you can see your life as part of a greater life here in the world and your contribution as part of the movement of your race, then will you have a perspective that will allow you to contribute and to initiate change without so much personal tribulation.

当有人在做绝对必要的事情时，是非常令人兴奋的。当人们仅仅是出于挫折或无聊、紧张或强迫而做某事时，就不是很激动。如果你能把你的生命看作是世界上更伟大的生命的一部分，把你的贡献看作是你的种族运动的一部分，那么你就会有一个视角，使你能够做出贡献，激起改变，而不会有那么多的个人磨难。

You are only as safe as your race. People think of personal safety only in terms of their personal lives. Yet you are only as safe as your race. That is part of the context in which you live. Why are you able to eat food at dinner time? Because someone provided it for you. Everyone is taking care of everyone, making a few mistakes along the way, but that is really what is happening. Likewise, if you want to do something for the race, you also must take care of your immediate requirements and development. You cannot escape into serving the race if your life is a mess. The race is then no better than your life. If your life is a mess, then the race is a mess.

你的安全程度取决于你所属的种族。人们只考虑个人生活中的个人安全。然而，你的安全程度取决于你所属的种族。这是你生活的背景之一。为什么你能在晚餐时间吃饭？因为有人为你提供了食物。每个人都在照顾彼此，在路上犯一些错误，但这确实是正在发生的事情。同样，如果你想为种族做点什么，你也必须照顾好自己的即时需求和发展。如果你的生活一团糟，你无法逃避去为种族服务。那种族对你的生活也没有什么帮助。如果你的生活一团糟，那么种族也会一团糟。

People are unhappy because they do not see that they are a part of something. They do not feel their responsibilities. They only feel responsibilities that are not their responsibilities. People think that the advancement of the race is making everything look nice—everything pretty, no frowns on the faces, no bad appearances, spruce everything up. But really advancement has to do with the quality of relationship between people and their sense of identity together.

人们之所以不快乐，是因为他们没有看到他们是某件事的一部分。他们感觉不到自己的责任。他们只感觉到不是他们的责任的责任。人们认为，种族的进步就是让一切看起来都很好，一切都很美，脸上没有皱纹，没有不好的外表，把一切都弄得漂漂亮亮。但实际上，进步与人们之间的关系质量和他们的认同感有关。

You must make the change and then you find the open door. Otherwise, it is all playing it safe, you see. If no one is ever at risk, nothing is ever opened. People want to know and then do. But it is not like that. You do and then know! Regarding substantial change in personal life, you do and then know.

你必须做出改变，然后你就能找到开放的大门。否则，这都是在玩安全游戏，你看。如果没有人处于危险之中，就不会有任何门被打开。人们想知道，然后做。但事实并非如此。你先做，然后再知道！”。关于个人生命的实质性改变，你先做，然后知道。

When you serve something greater, you are greater. When you serve something less, you are less. You are what you serve. And service involves change: accepting change, directing change and provoking change.

当你服务于更伟大的事物时，你也变得更伟大。当你服务于更低微的事物时，你也变得更低微。你就是你所服务的对象。而服务涉及到改变：接受改变，引导改变和促使改变。