第三章：乐趣

Chapter 3: Pleasure

Pleasure – True Direction Brings Greater Pleasures
乐趣——真实的方向会带来更巨大的快乐

As revealed to God’s Messenger Marshall Vian Summers on March 10, 1992 in Boulder, CO
1992年3月10日，在科罗拉多州博尔德(Boulder, CO)，向上帝的信使马歇尔・维安・萨默斯(Marshall Vian Summers)揭示

Pleasure is a focal point of most people’s minds. It requires attention. Like possessions, pleasure is something that dominates people’s awareness, time and energy. Like possessions, pleasure is something that can be bad. Again, you must look at what pleasure is and where you draw the boundaries that determine whether you participate in something that is truly pleasurable or whether you do not.

乐趣是大多数人心中的一个焦点。它需要关注。像财产一样，乐趣是支配人们的意识、时间和精力的东西。和财产一样，乐趣也是一种可能是坏事的东西。同样，你必须看看什么是乐趣，以及你在哪里划定界限，决定你是否参与真正的乐趣的东西，或者你是否不参与。

It is a pleasure for us to speak and to convey to you a greater body of Knowledge as well as a Greater Community perspective, which you and your race will need in order to progress. Our pleasure in this is born of the fact that a gift is being given to you through us. This is the greatest pleasure. This is the pleasure that has no boundaries and does not wear off. It is a pleasure that can be conveyed and resonated through many minds. Therefore, it grows rather than diminishes as it is passed along. It is a pleasure born of Knowledge. It amplifies itself. It is a pleasure unlike any other pleasure that you can find.

我们很高兴发言并向你传达更多的内识和大社区观点，你和你的种族需要这些内识和观点来取得进步。我们在这方面的乐趣是源于这样一个事实，即通过我们向你提供了一份礼物。这是最大的乐趣。这是一种没有界限、不会消逝的快乐。它是一种可以通过许多人的心灵传达和共鸣的快乐。因此，当它被传递时，它是增长而不是减少的。这是一种诞生于内识的快乐。它能自我放大。它是一种不同于你能找到的任何其他乐趣的快乐。

All other pleasures weaken once they are broadcast. They diminish. Like a pebble thrown into a pool, the rippling effect becomes weaker and weaker as it spreads out. The pleasure that we speak of, however, has the reverse effect. It is more like planting seeds. As these seeds take hold in minds that are fertile with the desire for Knowledge and the recognition of the need for Knowledge, they grow and flourish there to bear fruit, once again spreading their seeds to new minds that are fertile for Knowledge. They in turn bear fruit, and so on. Therefore, this greater pleasure propagates itself and yields ever greater fruits as it is given and received.

所有其他的乐趣一旦播出就会减弱。它们会减少。就像扔进池子里的鹅卵石一样，涟漪效应随着扩散而变得越来越弱。然而，我们所说的快乐却产生了相反的效果。这更像是种下种子。当这些种子在对内识的渴望和对内识的需求的认知中扎根于肥沃的心灵中时，它们在那里生长并茁壮成长，结出硕果，再次将种子传播给对内识肥沃的新心灵中。它们反过来会结出果实，以此类推。因此，这种更大的快乐会自我传播，并在给予和接受的过程中结出更多的果实。

But what about the pleasures of the world and all the myriad pursuits that are undertaken to acquire them, to keep them and to ward off their dissipation? What of these? Clearly, given the excesses that you see about you, the pursuit of pleasure can be seen as utterly destructive and demeaning. Examples of this are so common and take so many forms that you need but look at human life around you to see their many expressions. So, do you say to yourself, “I will eschew pleasure altogether”? The problem with this approach is that you do this for pleasure. Here you are merely changing your avenue or kind of attempt for pleasure. If it is a pleasure to give up pleasure, how do you give up pleasure? Is pleasure only an avoidance of pain? If so, pain will attend you and follow you like a shadow, for pleasure and pain are very associated. Therefore, if you seek pleasure to avoid pain, you produce more pain, which requires more attempts at pleasure, which produces more pain, and so forth. Is pleasure always associated with pain?

但是，世界上的快乐和所有为了获得它们、保持它们和避免它们的消散而进行的无数追求呢？这些是什么？显然，鉴于你所看到的过度行为，对快乐的追求可以被视为完全的破坏性和贬低性。这方面的例子非常普遍，形式也非常多，你只需看看你周围的人类生活，就能看到它们的许多表现形式。那么，你是否对自己说，”我将完全放弃快乐”？这种做法的问题在于，你这样做是为了享受。在这里，你只是改变了你追求快乐的途径或种类的尝试。如果放弃快乐是一种快乐，那么你是如何放弃快乐的？快乐只是对痛苦的一种回避吗？如果是这样，痛苦就会像影子一样跟着你，因为快乐和痛苦是非常相关的。因此，如果你为了避免痛苦而寻求快乐，你就会产生更多的痛苦，这就需要更多的尝试快乐，而快乐又会产生更多的痛苦，如此类推。快乐总是与痛苦相关联吗？

These are all very important questions to consider. Your basis for considering them is to take stock of your life and to evaluate your investment in pleasure and what it is costing you. This evaluation can only take place when you can view things and review your own experience objectively. The desires, fantasies and philosophies regarding the acquisition of pleasure are so ever present, so inflated and so subjective that it is very difficult to gain any kind of honest appraisal. However, your experience will not betray you if you are able to interpret it correctly, which you can do if your desire for truth is strong and if you are willing to review or re-evaluate anything that is necessary, even if it is painful to do so. The pain of re-evaluation is not nearly as great as the pain of avoidance. The pain of recognition is minute compared to the pain of seeking substitutes or trying to lose yourself in pursuits that can only mask or conceal your deeper needs and the suffering that is the result of their denial.

这些都是需要考虑的非常重要的问题。你考虑这些问题的基础是总结你的生命，评估你对快乐的投资以及它对你的损失。这种评估只有在你能客观地看待事物和回顾自己的经验时才能进行。关于获得快乐的欲望、幻想和哲学是如此的永远存在，如此的膨胀，如此的主观，以至于很难获得任何一种诚实的评估。然而，如果你能够正确地解释它，你的经验就不会背叛你，如果你对真理的渴望很强烈，如果你愿意审查或重新评价任何必要的事情，即使这样做是痛苦的，你也能做到。重新评估的痛苦还不如回避的痛苦大。与寻求替代品或试图在追求中迷失自我的痛苦相比，承认的痛苦是微不足道的，而这些追求只能掩盖或隐瞒你更深层次的需要以及因其被否定而带来的痛苦。

So, what are the criteria for determining which pleasures are worthwhile and which are not? Let us give you an idea to consider, for you must consider ideas. Simple answers can never satisfy this inquiry. We give you an invitation for study and contemplation, appraisal and re-evaluation. These are answers that mean something because they take you somewhere. They do not merely pacify you. They actually lead you into a new arena of understanding. Regarding any pleasure that you find attractive and are thinking of pursuing, consider the cost involved. This is particularly important regarding pleasures in the world, which constitute most of the pleasures that you can think of. We shall speak of these and then we shall speak about the pleasure of Knowledge, which is very different from the pleasures of the world.

那么，确定哪些快乐值得，哪些不值得的标准是什么呢？让我们给你一个想法来考虑，因为你必须考虑想法。简单的答案永远无法满足这种询问。我们给你一个研究和沉思、评估和重新评价的邀请。这些答案是有意义的，因为它们把你带到某个地方。它们不只是安抚你。它们实际上引导你进入一个新的理解领域。对于任何你认为有吸引力并正在考虑追求的快乐，要考虑其中的成本。这对于世界上的快乐尤其重要，这些快乐构成了你能想到的大多数快乐。我们将谈论这些，然后我们将谈论内识的快乐，它与世界上的快乐非常不同。

Like possessions, you need some pleasures in the world. Whether it is possession of things, ideas or relationships, you need some of them. Yet, they need to be important. They need to yield something of real value to you, and the value that they yield must be greater than your investment in them. This holds true for any kind of pleasure that you find attractive or wish to pursue. Given the investment of time and energy—which includes money, of course, for this represents time and energy—how much does that pleasure yield to you? How great are its fruits? Pleasure is an investment. What does it yield? An honest appraisal of your own experience will provide genuine guidelines for this, as will the promptings of Knowledge within you, which will seek to engage you in those activities that are most beneficial, forsaking all others that merely rob you of your time, energy and attention.

就像占有一样，你需要世界上的一些快乐。无论是对事物、想法或关系的占有，你都需要其中的一些。然而，它们需要是重要的。它们需要产生对你有真正价值的关系，而且它们产生的价值必须大于你对它们的投资。这对于你发现有吸引力或希望追求的任何一种快乐都是如此。考虑到时间和精力的投资——当然包括金钱，因为这代表着时间和能量——这种快乐能给你带来多少？它的成果有多大？快乐是一种投资。它能产生什么？对你自己的经验进行诚实的评估将提供真正的指导方针，就像内识在你体内的提示一样，它将寻求让你参与那些最有益的活动，放弃所有其他只是掠夺你的时间、能量和注意力的活动。

Simple pleasures are valuable if the investment in them is not too great and if they yield something of real value. Let us give you an example. It may be a great pleasure to stand by a beautiful river as it passes by. That is a simple pleasure, small in comparison to the pleasure of Knowledge, but genuine nonetheless. However, if you must travel halfway around the world to have this experience, then the investment in this simple, momentary pleasure is clearly inappropriate. Yet, people travel halfway around the world to observe some natural feature or to see some spectacle in order to have a pleasurable moment. Their reward is very small in comparison to their great investment.

简单的快乐是有价值的，如果对它们的投资不是太大，如果它们产生真正的价值。让我们给你举个例子。当一条美丽的河流经过时，站在它旁边可能是一种很大的乐趣。这是一种简单的快乐，与内识的快乐相比是很小的，但仍然是真实的。然而，如果你必须绕行半个地球才能获得这种体验，那么对这种简单的、短暂的快乐的投资显然是不合适的。然而，人们为了观察一些自然特征或看到一些奇观而绕行半个地球，以获得一个愉快的时刻。与他们的巨大投资相比，他们的回报是非常小的。

Most of the pleasures that are damaging to people are damaging because the investment is great and the reward is very small. In many cases, there is no reward at all. There is only investment and reinvestment. Here we have the contrast between fantasy regarding the pleasure and the real experience. How often have you been disappointed by the real experience of something because the anticipation was so great and so inflated and you had invested so much? Then the real experience came, and it really was not that fine after all. Observe little children around Christmas, how their anticipation and their expectations are so great. The investment of time, energy and attention is so great, but after the gifts are all unwrapped, there is disappointment. The investment is great. The reward is small. Consider how many times you were disappointed by things that you had hoped would be wonderful and magnificent. Why the disappointment? Because the investment was great and the reward was small. Recall experiences where you made an investment of yourself and there was no reward at all.

大多数对人有害的快乐都是有害的，因为投资很大，而回报却很小。在许多情况下，根本就没有回报。只有投资和再投资。这里我们有关于快乐的幻想和真实经历之间的对比。你有多少次对某件事情的真实经历感到失望，因为预期是如此之大，如此之膨胀，而且你已经投入了这么多？然后真正的经历到来，毕竟它真的不是那么好。观察一下圣诞节前后的小孩子，他们的期待和期望是如此之大。对时间、能量和注意力的投资是如此之大，但在礼物全部拆开后，却有失望。投资是巨大的。回报却很小。想想有多少次你对那些你曾希望是美妙和宏伟的事情感到失望。为什么失望？因为投资很大，而回报却很小。回想一下你为自己做了投资却没有任何回报的经历。

Often the cost of pursuing a pleasure cannot be accounted for at the outset because when the pursuit robs you of your awareness of yourself, of your interaction with life and of your appreciation of your own existence, such a great price goes unnoticed. Yet, people pay it because they are depressed and angry and lack value and meaning in their lives. They are paying the price all the time. They often associate their suffering with other things, so they seek greater pleasures, which exact great prices, and their dilemma and depression become deeper. In fact, their depression can become so deep that it is like a dark cell with no windows where no light can penetrate.

追求快乐的代价往往在一开始就无法计算，因为当追求剥夺了你对自己的认识，剥夺了你与生命的互动，剥夺了你对自己存在的欣赏，这样巨大的代价就会被忽略。然而，人们之所以付出这样的代价，是因为他们感到沮丧和愤怒，在他们的生活中缺乏价值和意义。他们一直在付出这个代价。他们经常把自己的痛苦与其他事情联系起来，所以他们寻求更大的快乐，这需要付出巨大的代价，他们的困境和抑郁变得更深。事实上，他们的抑郁会变得如此之深，就像一个没有窗户的黑暗牢房，没有光线可以穿透。

High expectations and great disappointments can dominate a person’s life. The expectation of romance in relationship exacts an exorbitant price, both immediately in terms of time, energy and attention and in a long-range sense. People lose so much over this pursuit and how little is their reward—a few moments of self-inflated pleasure or self-abandonment or a few moments of physical sensation, none of which can be maintained for long. The reality of the relationship can seem very depressing in contrast to the thrill of romance. That is because people invest in the romance and not in the relationship. If you invest a great deal in something that yields very little, you will suffer and your pain will be great. If you invest in something that can yield a great deal, has lasting value and will grow as a result of your participation, then your pains will be small and your investment will be good.

高期望值和巨大的失望会支配一个人的生命。对关系中的浪漫的期望需要付出高昂的代价，无论是在时间、精力和注意力方面，还是在长期的意义上。人们在这种追求中失去了很多，而他们的回报却很少——自我膨胀的片刻快乐或自我放弃，或片刻的身体感觉，这些都不能长期维持。与浪漫的快感相比，关系的现实可能显得非常压抑。这是因为人们投资于浪漫，而不是投资于这段关系。如果你在收益甚微的事情上投入大量资金，你就会受苦，你的痛苦会很大。如果你投资的东西能产生很大的收益，有持久的价值，并且会因为你的参与而成长，那么你的痛苦会很小，你的投资会很好。

The question then isn’t, “What should I do to make myself happy?” The question can be cast in a different way. Consider another question, for example, “Where can I invest myself that will yield the greatest results for myself and others?” This is a much more objective question, for it requires an appraisal based upon your own experience. If the appraisal is based only upon your expectations, you will have no basis for appraisal. Expectations are hope based upon disappointment. How can this be an honest appraisal? But if you ask yourself, “How can I invest myself in such a way that it produces the greatest results or the most value for myself and other people?” it will orient you more towards an objective approach than if you only ask, “How can I make myself happy?” If you don’t know how to make yourself happy, your approach will be much more subjective and will be fraught with great expectations. It is more difficult to get an honest appraisal with this approach.

那么问题就不是，”我应该做什么来使自己快乐？”这个问题可以用另一种方式来投射。考虑另一个问题，例如，”我在哪里投资自己可以为自己和他人带来最大的结果？”这是一个更客观的问题，因为它需要根据你自己的经验进行评估。如果评估只基于你的期望，你将没有评估的基础。期望是基于失望的希望。这怎么可能是一个诚实的评价呢？但是，如果你问自己：”我怎样才能以这样的方式投资自己，为自己和其他人产生最大的结果或最大的价值？”这将使你更倾向于客观的方法，而不是只问：”我怎样才能使自己快乐？”如果你不知道如何使自己快乐，你的方法将更加主观，并充满了巨大的期望。用这种方法更难得到一个诚实的评价。

Investment is in terms of time, energy and awareness. You want your reward to give you greater awareness, greater affinity with life and a greater sense of your value and purpose in the world—not the value and purpose that you invent for your own delights, but the value and purpose that are intrinsic to your being here. This value cannot be exhausted. It will not leave you and will only grow as greater attention, time and energy are devoted to its expression and experience. Our pleasure is great. Our pains are small. Your pleasures are small. Your pains are great. It is a matter of investment and appraisal. Preparation in The Greater Community Way of Knowledge reverses this trend. It goes against the ways of the world and sets a new example for human development and achievement.

投资是指时间、能量和意识方面的投资。你希望你的回报能让你有更大的意识，与生命有更大的亲和力，对你在这个世界上的价值和目的有更大的感觉——不是你为自己的乐趣而发明的价值和目的，而是你在这里所固有的价值和目的。这种价值不能被耗尽。它不会离开你，只会随着更多的注意力、时间和能量投入到它的表达和经历中而增长。我们的快乐是巨大的。我们的痛苦是微小的。你的快乐是微小的。你的痛苦却是巨大的。这是一个投资和评估的问题。在大社区内识之路中的准备工作扭转了这种趋势。它违背了世界的方式，为人类的发展和成就树立了一个新的榜样。

Now, let me introduce another idea regarding pleasure. This relates to the idea that true value offers a reward that grows and yields benefits for yourself and others. Real pleasure is associated with achievement. You cannot escape this. It is a fact. Things are valued because they are useful according to the purpose that you hold. If something yields value according to your purpose as you understand it, you will value it. Even if your purpose is false and self-deceiving, you will value it nonetheless. Value and pleasure are therefore highly associated. You cannot separate them. If something does not serve a purpose that you value, then it will not yield pleasure for you. Even if it yields happy sensations and a momentary reprieve from the stress of being in the world, it will not be greatly valued. Something that is greatly valued yields a deeper kind of pleasure because it is life affirming. If the value is genuine and if the purpose with which it is associated is genuine, it will yield a greater and more lasting value.

现在，让我介绍另一个关于快乐的想法。这与真实的价值提供了一种奖励，为自己和他人带来了成长和收益的想法有关。真正的快乐是与成就相关的。你无法逃避这一点。这是一个事实。事物之所以有价值，是因为根据你所持有的目的，它们是有用的。如果某样东西按照你理解的目的产生价值，你就会重视它。即使你的目的是错误的和自欺欺人的，你也会重视它。因此，价值和快乐是高度相关的。你不能把它们分开。如果某样东西没有服务于你所珍视的目的，那么它就不会为你带来快乐。即使它能产生快乐的感觉，并能暂时缓解在这个世界上的压力，它也不会被高度重视。被高度重视的东西会产生一种更深的快乐，因为它是对生命的肯定。如果价值是真实的，如果与之相关的目的是真实的，它将产生更大和更持久的价值。

For example, recall in your life those brief moments or interludes where you experienced your own worth, not in a self-congratulatory way but in a genuine way. In spite of your efforts or denials, you experienced your own value—a moment of experiencing affinity with life. The value of these experiences is so great in contrast to all other experiences that they stand out in your memory like sharp points of light against a backdrop of empty space. Like the heavens above you, they are brilliant in contrast to the mundane level of experience. They outshine all of the momentary pleasures that you have accumulated over time. They yield more value in their momentary expression than years and years of attempting to derive value from other things. The investment in them was small. The reward is great and expanding.

例如，回忆一下你生命中那些短暂的时刻或插曲，在那里你经历到自己的价值，不是以自我安慰的方式，而是以真诚的方式。尽管你努力或否认，你还是经历到了自己的价值——经历到与生命亲和的时刻。这些经历的价值与所有其他经历相比是如此之大，以至于它们在你的记忆中像空旷背景下的尖锐光点一样突出。就像你头顶上的天国一样，它们与世俗的经历水平形成了鲜明的对比。它们胜过你长期积累的所有短暂的快乐。它们在瞬间的表达中产生的价值比多年来试图从其他事物中获得的价值更多。对它们的投资是很小的。回报是巨大的，而且不断扩大。

Therefore, the path of true fulfillment reinvests you in things that produce great value for you and for others. Here your approach must transcend your own personal wishes and needs because if your pursuit is selfish, it cannot yield greater rewards. It is being identified with little things and little pleasures which exact great prices, both immediately and residually over time. They darken your life, cast clouds over your mind and obstruct the greater possibilities that are waiting for you.

因此，真实的成就之路是将你再投资于为你和他人产生巨大价值的事情。在这里，你的方法必须超越你个人的愿望和需要，因为如果你的追求是自私的，就不能产生更大的回报。它被认定为小事和小乐趣，而这些小事和小乐趣需要付出巨大的代价，无论是立即还是长期的残留。它们使你的生命变得黑暗，在你的心灵中投下乌云，阻碍了等待你的更大的可能性。

How do you know what a great or small pleasure is? Your experience will tell you if you are able to view it honestly with a willingness to change or readjust things in your life. Knowledge is the barometer here. Even if you are uncertain what Knowledge is, you nonetheless feel drawn towards certain things and resist other things. You can resist Knowledge and be drawn towards things that are of no value, but this happens at the surface of your mind. Your deeper feelings and deeper experiences will always orient you in a true direction. Even if you misinterpret the direction, even if you resist going there, your deeper nature will take you towards that which is most beneficial for you. You will feel greater pleasure as you move in this direction and greater confusion, anger and disappointment as you move away from it.

你怎么知道什么是大的或小的快乐？你的经验会告诉你，如果你能够诚实地看待它，愿意改变或重新调整你生命中的事情。内识是这里的晴雨表。即使你不确定内识是什么，你还是会感到被某些事情吸引，而抵制其他事情。你可以抵制内识，被那些没有价值的东西吸引，但这发生在你心灵的表面。你更深层的感受和更深层的经验将永远把你引向一个真实的方向。即使你误解了方向，即使你抵制去那里，你的更深层本性也会带你走向对你最有利的地方。当你朝着这个方向前进时，你会感到更大的快乐，而当你远离这个方向时，你会感到更大的困惑、愤怒和失望。

You see, underneath all of your desires and attempts at self-gratification you have a natural homing device within you that brings you towards those individuals, experiences and involvements that are essential for your development. These things yield greater rewards. Whatever difficulties you may encounter in pursuing them, those difficulties are small in contrast to the rewards which they produce. As you approach these things, you will need to hold this in faith because you have not yet experienced the rewards themselves, and at times the investment can seem too great or too burdensome. In fact, it is very small. You must find this out through experience. This requires time and faith. So, you say to yourself, “Following in this direction is very difficult, but I have a sense that it will yield something of great value. I cannot tell you what that will look like, but I must follow it because I know I must.”

你看，在你所有的愿望和自我满足的尝试之下，你内心有一个自然的归宿装置，把你带到那些对你的发展至关重要的个人、经验和参与。这些参与会产生更大的回报。无论你在追求它们的过程中遇到什么困难，与它们产生的回报相比，这些困难是很微小的。当你接近这些事情时，你将需要抱着信心，因为你还没有经历到回报本身，有时投资可能看起来太大或者太累。事实上，它是非常小的。你必须通过经历发现这一点。这需要时间和信心。所以，你对自己说：”沿着这个方向走是非常困难的，但我有一种感觉，它将产生巨大价值的东西。我不能告诉自己那会是什么样子，但我必须跟随它，因为我知道我必须这样做。”

Remember, only Knowledge will take you to Knowledge. Other motives will become revealed and must be altered or abandoned. Knowledge will take you to Knowledge. A sense of true value will take you to those things of true value. A sense of greater pleasure will take you to things that produce greater pleasure. They all lead away from the many other things which can only mock the greater meaning that only a greater pleasure and a greater value can yield. Here you step out of the seemingly hopeless predicament in which humanity is mired.

记住，只有内识才能带你走向内识。其他的动机会暴露出来，必须加以改变或放弃。内识将把你带向内识。真正的价值感会把你带到那些真实有价值的事情上。对更大快乐的感觉会把你带到产生更大快乐的事情上。它们都会引导你远离许多其他的事情，而这些事情只能嘲弄更大的意义，只有更大的快乐和更大的价值才能产生。在这里，你走出了人类所陷入的看似无望的困境。

At times the way seems lonely and uncertain, but something in you is guiding you forward. Here you must follow a greater calling, a calling you cannot understand, a calling you have not yet learned to appreciate, a calling whose trials and tribulations, though seemingly large in the moment, are in fact small compared to the greater rewards awaiting you. How can you be certain that you are doing the right thing? How can you be certain? You can only be certain because you know you must proceed. This knowing comes from deep within you. It does not happen in the realm of your personality. It is not a compulsion. It is not a violent or persistent personal need. It is something greater within you.

有时，这条道路似乎是孤独和不确定的，但你心中的某种东西在引导你前进。在这里，你必须遵循一个更伟大的召唤，一个你无法理解的召唤，一个你还没有学会欣赏的召唤，一个其考验和磨难虽然在当下看起来很大，但实际上与等待你的更大的回报相比是很小的。你怎么能确定你在做正确的事情？你怎么能确定呢？你只能确定，因为你知道你必须继续。这种认识来自于你的内心深处。它不是发生在你的人格领域。它不是一种强制力。它不是一种猛烈的或持续的个人需要。它是你内心更伟大的内识。

As small pleasures and things of no pleasure are abandoned, you will find that there will be emptiness in your life. Allow the emptiness to be there. Do not fill it in with new things. Part of your life should always be empty. This creates a vacuum effect, allowing greater experiences to come to you, allowing your boundaries to be expanded, enabling you to progress forward and to develop your true capabilities. Small pleasures fill up the mind entirely so there is no room for anything to enter. Great pleasures always create more space, so there is always room for new experience and a deepening of the understanding of the meaning of your life.

当小的快乐和不快乐的事情被放弃时，你会发现你的生命中会有空虚。允许空虚存在。不要用新的东西来填补它。你生命的一部分应该始终是空的。这创造了一种真空效应，让更大的经历来到你身边，让你的边界得到扩展，使你能够向前迈进，发展你真实的能力。小的快乐完全填满了心灵，所以没有空间让任何东西进入。大的快乐总是创造更多的空间，所以总是有空间让你获得新的经历，加深对你生命意义的理解。

To study The Greater Community Way of Knowledge is to reorient yourself to the true meaning of your life. You will take many small steps along the way as you proceed. Your other motives and your other attachments will become sharply contrasted so that you will be able to perceive them in a more objective manner. This takes faith, for here you are walking away from things that you have believed before to be of great value, and you are moving in a direction that you cannot yet justify. You are going there because something in you is telling you that you must.

学习大社区内识之路是为了重新定位你的生命的真实意义。在你前进的过程中，你会在这条路上迈出许多小步。你的其他动机和你的其他执着将成为鲜明的对比，这样你就能以更客观的方式感知它们。这需要信仰，因为在这里，你正在远离你以前认为很有价值的东西，你正在朝着一个你还不能证明的方向前进。你要去那里，因为你内心的内识告诉你，你必须去。

You can only find the rewards by achieving them, for rewards are based upon achievement. With momentary pleasure, there is no achievement; there is only a great price for a moment of satisfaction, a moment of self-abandonment or a moment of delight. You only have to look at the human condition around you and in your own life to see the complete demonstration of this.

你只有通过实现它们才能找到回报，因为回报是基于成就的。对于一时的快乐，没有成就；只有为一时的满足、一时的自我放弃或一时的快乐付出巨大代价。你只需看看你周围和你自己生活中的人类状况，就能看到这一点的完整证明。

If you seek great pleasure, then seek great value. Invest yourself in that which yields a greater reward. How do you know what this is? This is demonstrated by the needs of the world and by your own inner need. People stand around saying, “Who am I? What should I do in my life? I don’t know what to do.” They are looking at themselves personally. If you look at the world, the world needs you. It needs talent, ability and contribution. It needs genuine relationships. It needs investment. The world, if it is attended to, will call this out of you and eventually you will find the avenue of expression and contribution that is yours to claim.

如果你寻求巨大的快乐，那么就寻求巨大的价值。把自己投入到能产生更大回报的事情中。你怎么知道这是什么？这是由世界的需要和你自己的内在需要所证明的。人们站在周围说：”我是谁？我在生活中应该做什么？我不知道该怎么做”。他们是在看自己个人。如果你看一下这个世界，这个世界需要你。它需要人才、能力和贡献。它需要真正的关系。它需要投资。这个世界，如果它被关注的话，会呼唤你的这些，最终你会找到属于你的表达和贡献的途径。

This invests you in that which produces a greater value and a greater pleasure. Here pleasure is a deep satisfaction and confirmation of your life. Yet, it transcends even this definition because it has a resonating effect within you and beyond you as well. So, do not look at yourself personally and say, “Well, what do I want and how will it make me happy?” Look at the world and ask, “What does the world need and what can I give?” Within your personal mind, you will not understand your own meaning and you will not recognize the greater calling for your contributions to be given. But the world demonstrates this. When the outer need and your inner need converge and join, then you will be able to recognize the avenue that you should pursue.

这使你投资于产生更大价值和更大乐趣的事物。这里的快乐是对你生命的深深满足和确认。然而，它甚至超越了这个定义，因为它在你体内和你之外也有一种共鸣的效果。因此，不要看自己个人，说：”好吧，我想要什么，它将如何使我快乐？”看看这个世界，问：”这个世界需要什么，我可以给予什么？”在你个人心智中，你不会理解你自己的意义，你也不会认识到你的贡献所带来的更伟大的召唤。但世界证明了这一点。当外在的需要和你内在的需要汇合在一起，那么你就能认识到你应该追求的途径。

A true life draws 100% of a person’s energy, but it does this gradually because people are not capable yet of giving 100%, even if they hold this to be a valuable thing to do. Gradually, your investment will deepen and the rewards will be greater. This will draw you away from other pursuits and interests which yield very little and require a great investment. Only those little pleasures that require a small investment will be able to survive. They can have a valuable role to play. It is still a pleasure to look at the stars or stand by the stream or enjoy your garden or enjoy something that you do that is pleasurable. The reward is small, but it has not taken the place of your greater pursuit in life.

真实的生命会吸引一个人100%的精力，但它是逐步进行的，因为人们还没有能力给予100%，即使他们认为这是一件有价值的事情。渐渐地，你的投资会加深，回报也会更大。这将吸引你远离其他的追求和兴趣，这些追求和兴趣收益很小，需要很大的投资。只有那些需要少量投资的小乐趣才能生存。它们可以发挥有价值的作用。看星星或站在小河边或享受你的花园或享受你所做的一些令人愉快的事情，仍然是一种乐趣。奖励是小的，但它没有取代你在生命中更大的追求。

Following The Greater Community Way of Knowledge readjusts all things so that you are able to devote yourself to great values and great rewards and yet have those small pleasures that are necessary for your momentary convenience and personal value. There is no conflict here. However, going from a life of small pleasure and great investment to a life of great pleasure and small investment represents a complete reversal. This reversal must be carried on gradually. Within this is a tremendous period of re-evaluation and rededication that will affect every aspect of your life and everything that you value or hold dear. This is very confusing at times, for you no longer identify with things that were formerly pleasurable to you, but you do not know what will take their place. If you are wise, you will not attempt to replace them but will allow the changing focus and direction of your life to illustrate to you the greater value that is awaiting you.

遵循大社区内识之路重新调整了所有的事情，使你能够将自己投入到伟大的价值和巨大的回报中去，同时又拥有那些为你一时的便利和个人价值所必需的小乐趣。这里没有冲突。然而，从小快乐和大投资的生命到大快乐和小投资的生命，代表了一种完全的逆转。这种逆转必须逐步进行。这里面有一个巨大的重新评估和重新奉献的时期，这将影响到你生命的每一个方面，以及你所重视或珍视的一切。这有时非常令人困惑，因为你不再认同那些以前让你感到愉悦的事物，但你不知道什么会取代它们。如果你是明智的，你不会试图取代它们，而是让你的生命重点和方向的变化向你说明等待你的更大价值。

This is going from poverty to wealth, for wealth is investing yourself in that which yields the greatest benefit for yourself and others. Poverty is investing greatly in things that yield little or no pleasure or value. Wealth and poverty are not about how big your house is or what kind of automobile you drive or how much money is in your pocket or what your wardrobe looks like. Wealth and poverty are very different here. In this different light, the wealthy seem poor and often the poor seem wealthy. This, then, gives you a genuine reference point with which to gauge value in the world. Again, your life is part of the demonstration and the demonstration is being carried on all around you. Here you will see such great investment in things that yield little or no value and exact such an enormous price. Look, listen and observe, but do not yet come to conclusions because there is more looking and observing to do.

这就是从贫穷到财富，因为财富是将自己投资于为自己和他人带来最大利益的东西。贫穷是在那些产生很少或没有快乐或价值的事情上进行大量投资。财富和贫穷不是指你的房子有多大，或你开什么样的汽车，或你口袋里有多少钱，或你的衣柜是什么样子。财富和贫穷在这里是非常不同的。在这种不同的光线下，富人看起来很穷，而穷人往往看起来很富有。因此，这给了你一个真正的参考点，用来衡量世界上的价值。同样，你的生命是示范的一部分，而示范就在你周围进行着。在这里，你会看到对那些几乎不产生价值的东西进行如此巨大的投资，却要付出如此巨大的代价。去看、去听、去观察，但还不要下结论，因为还有更多的看和观察要做。

We wish to share with you the greater pleasure that we experience in keeping Knowledge alive in the world and in reinforcing Knowledge within you. Our presence, then, provides a contrast. This Teaching provides a contrast. Contrast is necessary for you to be able to discern that which is meaningful from that which is not. This discernment is necessary to have in order for you to re-evaluate your life and to set yourself in a new direction born of your true inner need and the needs of the world. This produces a greater pleasure almost immediately because it confirms the meaning of your life. Here you do not need to deceive yourself to have what you want. The relief that this provides is both immediate and long term. It is life affirming. Here the value that you seek is not for you alone, for it transcends your personal needs. Here the emphasis is on giving and not on taking from life, and so the rewards are far greater.

我们希望与你分享我们在保持内识在世界中的生命力和加强内识在你心中的地位时所经历到的更大乐趣。因此，我们的存在提供了一种对比。这项教学提供了一种对比。对比是必要的，以便你能够辨别那些有意义的东西和没有意义的东西。这种辨别力是必要的，以便你重新评估你的生命，并根据你真实的内在需要和世界的需要，把自己放在一个新的方向上。这几乎会立即产生更大的快乐，因为它确认了你生命的意义。在这里，你不需要欺骗自己来拥有你想要的东西。这所提供的解脱既是直接的，也是长期的。它是对生命的肯定。在这里，你所寻求的价值不是只为你自己，因为它超越了你的个人需求。这里强调的是给予，而不是从生命中索取，因此回报要大得多。

So, review your own investment in pleasure. Itemize the things that you are attempting to acquire or secure for yourself. Look at the investment. Look at the reward. Ask yourself, “Is this reward worthy of the investment?” Do not deceive yourself in thinking that you can circumvent the investment. There is a price for everything. All rewards, all value and all achievements require an investment. Some people are greatly invested in confusion so that they won’t have to commit themselves to anything. To them, commitment is pain and confusion is a kind of relief even though it produces no value. Here the emphasis needs to move away from survival to achievement, which is a revolution that takes place within the mind.

所以，回顾一下你自己对快乐的投资。逐项列出你试图为自己获得或保证的东西。看一下投资。看看回报。问问自己，”这个回报值得投资吗？”不要自欺欺人地认为你可以避开投资。一切都是有代价的。所有的奖赏、所有的价值和所有的成就都需要投资。有些人大肆投资于困惑，这样他们就不必对任何事情作出承诺。对他们来说，承诺就是痛苦，而困惑是一种解脱，尽管它不产生价值。在这里，重点需要从生存转移到成就，这是一场发生在心灵深处的革命。

As the world teaches you what not to value, your Knowledge and the exemplary life of certain individuals provide a contrast. Studying The Greater Community Way of Knowledge provides a contrast. Once the contrast is recognized, you will have no doubt which way to choose. Once the choices are made plain to you and you can see them as they really are, there is no choice at all. When we say that freedom is no choice, it does not mean that there is no choice. It just means that the choice is so obvious that it is as if there were no choice at all.

当世界教你什么是不值得重视的，你的内识和某些人的模范生命提供了一个对比。学习大社区内识之路提供了一个对比。一旦认识到这种对比，你就会毫不犹豫地选择哪条路。一旦这些选择对你来说是明明白白的，你可以看到它们的真实面目，就根本没有选择。当我们说自由就是没有选择时，这并不意味着没有选择。它只是意味着选择是如此明显，以至于就像根本没有选择一样。

When you are attempting to choose between two things that are alluring and you cannot decide, then you have not yet come to recognize the investment and the reward. Often people are bogged down because they are trying to choose between two things, neither of which is the way to go, and so they go back and forth, back and forth, trying to weigh the benefits and the liabilities, and so forth. They cannot proceed by doing this.

当你试图在两件诱人的事情之间做出选择，而你却无法决定，那么你还没有认识到投资和回报。人们常常陷入困境，因为他们试图在两件事情中做出选择，而这两件事情都不是应该走的道路，所以他们来回走动，来回走动，试图权衡利益和责任，等等。他们不能通过这样做来进行。

If you want to know what real value is and how it can be attained, learn about and associate with individuals who are demonstrating it in the world. You cannot find it on your own. Become a student of Knowledge if you wish to have Knowledge. You cannot get it any other way. You cannot purchase it with money. You cannot learn it through simple ideas. You must develop a capacity for it, a desire for it and learn to receive it and apply it wisely. This is investing yourself in the greatest pleasure, which is the greatest achievement.

如果你想知道什么是真正的价值，以及如何实现它，请学习并与那些在世界范围内展示它的人交往。你不可能靠自己找到它。如果你想拥有内识，就要成为内识的学生。你无法以其他方式获得它。你不能用钱购买它。你不能通过简单的想法来学习它。你必须发展对它的能力，对它的渴望，学会接受它并明智地应用它。这是投资自己最大的快乐，这是最大的成就。