Chapter 22: Money

As revealed to God’s Messenger Marshall Vian Summers on April 17, 1992 in Boulder, CO
1992年4月17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

Money is a subject that is on most people’s minds. It is a subject that will naturally arise when you consider attempting something of greater importance and magnitude in life. So, what about money?

金钱是大多数人都会想到的话题。当你考虑尝试生命中更重要和更大的事情时，它是一个自然会出现的话题。那么，钱是怎么回事？

First of all, as with everything else, you must gain a new relationship with this resource and learn to treat it as a resource. In order to have a new relationship with yourself and with life, you must re-evaluate your relationship with many important specific elements that make up your practical existence in the world—your relationship with love, your relationship with friends, your relationship with your mind and your body and your relationship with money.

首先，就像其他东西一样，你必须与这种资源建立一种新的关系，并学会把它当作一种资源。为了与自己和生命建立新的关系，你必须重新评估你与许多重要的具体元素的关系，这些元素构成了你在世界上的实际存在——你与爱的关系，你与朋友的关系，你与你的心灵和身体的关系以及你与钱的关系。

Money is a fact of your life; you cannot escape it. You will have to contend with it at least to some degree, even if you assume a very ascetic existence. It is a practical necessity in your life. It presents its own problems, many of which you can avoid and some of which are unavoidable. Money is a resource to which people give great meaning and significance.

钱是你生命中的一个事实；你无法逃避它。你将不得不至少在某种程度上与它抗争，即使你采取非常禁欲的生活方式。钱也是你生活中的一种实际需要。它带来了自己的问题，其中许多是你可以避免的，有些则是不可避免的。钱是一种资源，人们赋予它巨大的意义和重要性。

Money, then, is not the problem. It is the use of money. Here you must look at your motives, your nature and your preparation. Your motives with money will determine how you perceive it, what qualities you attribute to it, how you arrange it in the priorities of your life and what you attempt to do with it. Your nature will determine your predispositions and will color to a very great degree how you perceive money and what role you feel it will play and should play in your life. Your preparation is very important because this will determine how mature you are in your dealing with this resource and how and for what purpose you attempt to use it.

那么，钱不是问题。问题在于对金钱的使用。在这里，你必须看看你的动机，你的性质和你的准备。你对金钱的动机将决定你如何看待它，你赋予它什么品质，你如何安排它在你生命中的优先次序，以及你试图用它做什么。你的天性将决定你的倾向性，并在很大程度上影响你对金钱的看法，以及你觉得它将在你的生命中扮演和应该扮演什么角色。你的准备是非常重要的，因为这将决定你在处理这一资源时有多成熟，以及你试图使用它的方式和目的是什么。

Therefore, there is your motive, there is your nature and there is your preparation. The more prepared you are and the further advanced you are in The Way of Knowledge, the more you will use money as a resource and not attempt to use it to build your survival or well-being, your position in society or any advantages you are seeking to claim over others.

因此，有你的动机，有你的本性，有你的准备。你准备得越充分，在内识之路上走得越远，你就越会把钱作为一种资源，而不是试图用它来建立你的生存或福祉，你在社会中的地位，或你试图对他人的任何优势。

Here we come back again to motive. To look at money, you must look at yourself and ask some very important questions. In fact, eventually you will have to ask the most important questions, which are, “Why am I here? What do I serve? What do I have to give?” and “What do I want to communicate?” Until you reach these fundamental questions about your life, you will use money for a mixture of reasons, which will make your perception and understanding of it very confusing, and at times even contradictory. You will use it for survival; you will use it for pleasure; you will use it to impress others; you will use it to acquire things; you will use it to get rid of things. Money is a resource that serves your motives. It demonstrates what you value.

这里我们再次回到动机。要审视金钱，你必须审视自己，问一些非常重要的问题。事实上，最终你将不得不问最重要的问题，那就是：”我为什么在这里？我为什么服务？我有什么可以给予的？”和”我想传达什么？”在你达到这些关于你生命的基本问题之前，你会出于各种原因使用金钱，这将使你对它的看法和理解非常混乱，有时甚至是矛盾的。你会用它来生存；你会用它来享乐；你会用它来打动他人；你会用它来获取东西；你会用它来摆脱东西。钱是一种资源，为你的动机服务。它显示了你的价值。

Some people make great claims about the meaning and value of money. Others deny it altogether, thinking that it is an evil substance, something that corrupts or leads one astray, entangling one in dangerous and unfortunate circumstances. Money is given magical powers by some and demonic powers by others. Some consider it to be a divine substance; others consider it to be something that can only corrupt a person’s well-being and integrity.

有些人对金钱的意义和价值提出了很高的要求。另一些人则完全否认它，认为它是一种邪恶的物质，会使人堕落或误入歧途，使人陷入危险和不幸的境地。有些人赋予金钱神奇的力量，有些人则赋予金钱恶魔般的力量。一些人认为它是一种神圣的物质；另一些人认为它是一种只能腐蚀人的福祉和诚信的东西。

However, money is not the problem, for money is merely a means of conveyance to carry out what one values and what one intends to do in life. Here it is the nature of the individuals and their own maturity that will determine their motives and what they value. Money will be used to serve this. It is wise, then, to consider money to be a neutral substance, at least as far as you are concerned. Here you must understand what values you place upon it. You cannot simply claim, “Money is neutral.” You must understand how you view it presently and undertake to change this view by withdrawing the significance that was formerly given to it and by recognizing money as an important resource that can be used for a variety of purposes.

然而，钱不是问题，因为钱只是一种运输手段，用来实现一个人在生命中的价值和打算做什么。在这里，是个人的性质和他们自己的成熟度将决定他们的动机和他们的价值。金钱将被用来为此服务。那么，将金钱视为一种中性物质是明智的，至少在你看来是这样。在这里，你必须明白你对它的价值是什么。你不能简单地声称，”钱是中性的”。你必须了解你目前是如何看待它的，并承诺改变这种看法，取消以前赋予它的意义，承认金钱是一种重要的资源，可以用于各种目的。

Now, an important thing to remember here is that other people will continue to give money an inordinate amount of significance and attribute great powers to it, either divine or demonic. Therefore, even if you consider money to be a neutral substance, you must recognize that the rest of the world does not, and you will have to deal with it with great care and consideration. Money represents power in the world. It is a power that has claimed many lives and will continue to do so. Therefore, even if you feel that your relationship with money has finally reached a basis of true understanding, you will still have to deal with it very carefully in the world.

现在，在这里要记住的一件重要事情是，其他人会继续赋予金钱过多的意义，并将巨大的力量赋予它，无论是神圣的还是魔鬼的。因此，即使你认为金钱是一种中性物质，你也必须认识到，世界上的其他人并不这么认为，你将不得不非常谨慎地对待它。钱在这个世界上代表着力量。它是一种已经夺去许多人生命的力量，并将继续这样做。因此，即使你觉得你与金钱的关系终于达到了真实理解的基础，你仍然要在这个世界上非常谨慎地处理它。

Money is an important resource because it can fuel the accomplishment of many valuable things. Therefore, it is unwise to think that it is meaningless or without merit. Again, it is in whose hands it is placed, what purpose it serves and what values it demonstrates that are the important considerations. You will need it to accomplish anything. You will need it to provide for yourself because money is a means of conveyance for what is needed to live in the world. It is meant to be given and received.

金钱是一种重要的资源，因为它可以为许多有价值的事情的完成提供动力。因此，认为它毫无意义或没有价值是不明智的。同样，重要的是考虑它在谁的手中，它的目的是什么，它所展示的价值是什么。你将需要它来完成任何事情。你需要它来养活你自己，因为钱是传达生活在这个世界上所需要的东西的一种手段。它是用来被给予和得到的。

Therefore, when we speak about money, we are addressing a very confused and entangled subject fraught with a great deal of significance that is attributed to it—tremendous fear, misunderstanding, desires and ambitions. Some of these associations are recognized and acknowledged while others are secretive and cast their influence without an individual’s recognition. It is not a simple subject. In many ways, money represents the confusion of mind that is the causative agent and the natural by-product of much of the suffering and misery in the world. It is the result of people living without Knowledge.

因此，当我们谈论金钱时，我们正在处理一个非常混乱和纠结的话题，它充满了大量的意义，被赋予了巨大的恐惧、误解、欲望和野心。这些关联中的一些是被认可和承认的，而另一些则是隐秘的，在个人不承认的情况下施加影响。这不是一个简单的主题。在许多方面，金钱代表了心灵的混乱，它是世界上许多痛苦和不幸的致病因素和自然副产品。它是人们没有内识而生活的结果。

When we speak of your relationship with money, we are speaking about your condition of life. We are talking about your motives, which represent what you value and what you are trying to do. This is all based upon who you think you are and what you think you must do in life to secure well-being for yourself. So, when we speak of money, we speak of you in the deepest kind of way.

当我们谈到你与金钱的关系时，我们正在谈论你的生命状况。我们谈论的是你的动机，它代表了你的价值和你想做的事情。这一切都基于你认为你是谁，以及你认为你必须在生命中做什么来确保你的福祉。因此，当我们谈到钱的时候，我们是以最深刻的方式谈论你。

Re-evaluating your relationship with money is a process of introspection and self-analysis. If this can be carried out without condemnation and as objectively as possible, great insight can be derived and an important understanding can be established that will enable you to deal far more wisely with yourself, with the necessary resources in life, such as money, and with other people’s approach to you.

重新评估你与金钱的关系是一个自省和自我分析的过程。如果能在不受谴责的情况下尽可能客观地进行，就能得到很好的洞察力，并建立一种重要的理解，使你能更明智地对待自己，对待生命中的必要资源，如金钱，以及对待其他人对你的态度。

Now I will give some general ideas about how to utilize money effectively. The starting point here is to recreate your relationship with money. For this, you need to know where you stand with it currently. Your understanding of this must be based upon a very honest evaluation. In other words, you must recognize how you really stand with it—not how you want to stand with it or how you think you should stand with it, but how you really stand with it. If there is fear and anxiety surrounding money, this must be acknowledged. If you are greedy or selfish with money, this must be acknowledged. If you avoid money and do not want to deal with it, thinking it is too powerful or too confusing, this must be acknowledged. Here you must have a realistic starting point. Otherwise, you cannot proceed. You cannot re-evaluate anything unless you know your current position and use this as a starting point.

现在我将给出一些关于如何有效使用金钱的一般想法。这里的出发点是重新建立你与金钱的关系。为此，你需要知道你目前与它的关系。你对这一点的理解必须建立在一个非常诚实的评估之上。换句话说，你必须认识到你与它的真正关系——不是你想与它保持怎样的关系，也不是你认为你应该与它保持怎样的关系，而是你与它的真正关系。如果围绕着金钱有恐惧和焦虑，这一点必须被承认。如果你对金钱贪婪或自私，这必须被承认。如果你逃避金钱，不想与它打交道，认为它太强大或太混乱，这一点必须被承认。在这里，你必须有一个现实的出发点。否则，你就无法继续。除非你知道你目前的位置，并以此为起点，否则你无法重新评估任何事情。

Now, for most people, too much or too little money is not good. Remember, money is a resource. If you have too little of it, you are always in need of it and it gains too much significance in your life. If you have too much of it, then you spend your life protecting it, managing it and keeping it away from other people. Indeed, in this situation, other people’s approach to money is a constant interference and can endanger your life and make money far more of a burden than it would be otherwise. That is why the rich are generally dominated by their relationship with money. Yet, the poor are also dominated by their relationship with money.

现在，对大多数人来说，钱太多或太少都不是好事。记住，钱是一种资源。如果你有太少的钱，你总是需要它，它在你的生命中获得太多的意义。如果你有太多的钱，那么你就会用你的生命来保护它，管理它，让它远离其他人。事实上，在这种情况下，其他人对金钱的态度是一种持续的干扰，会危及你的生命，并使金钱成为远远超过它的负担。这就是为什么富人通常被他们与金钱的关系所支配。然而，穷人也被他们与金钱的关系所支配。

Here it is important that one seek to develop a meaningful balance. How much is enough? What degree of ownership of money will enable it to be a useful resource without becoming a dominating influence? Here you must determine what you know rather than what you want. If you can follow what you know, this will give you real insight and will balance your relationship with money. What you want here will always exceed your needs. Much of what people want is based upon their present fear of loss, their past experience of loss and their anxieties about future loss. They want to buffer themselves against the harsh reality of life at the expense of their Knowledge, their sense of themselves and their honesty.

在这里，重要的是，人们要寻求发展一种有意义的平衡。多少钱才够？多大程度的金钱所有权才能使它成为有用的资源，而不会成为一种支配性的影响？在这里，你必须确定你知道什么，而不是你想要什么。如果你能遵循你所知道的，这将给你带来真正的洞察力，并将平衡你与金钱的关系。在这里，你想要的东西总是会超过你的需求。人们想要的很多东西都是基于他们现在对失去的恐惧，他们过去的失去经历和对未来损失的焦虑。他们想以牺牲自己的内识、自己的感觉和诚实为代价，来缓冲生命的残酷现实。

Therefore, the first fundamental question to ask yourself is, “Where do I stand in my relationship with money at this moment?” To answer this question, you need to review your past experiences and to view yourself with as much objectivity as possible. Here you will need to ask yourself, “What meaning do I give money? What purpose does money serve for me? How can I use money effectively to support myself and to contribute to the world?” This is all part of the question, “Where do I stand in my relationship with money at this moment?”

因此，要问自己的第一个基本问题是：”此刻我在与金钱的关系中处于什么位置？”为了回答这个问题，你需要回顾你过去的经历，并尽可能客观地看待自己。在这里，你需要问自己：”我赋予金钱什么意义？钱对我来说有什么用途？我怎样才能有效地使用金钱来支持自己，并为世界做出贡献？” 这都是问题的一部分，”此刻我在与金钱的关系中处于什么位置？”

The second important question to ask yourself is, “How much money do I really need?” To be able to respond to this question effectively, you must have a deeper sense and experience of knowing within yourself. Otherwise, your wants will dictate the answer and once again you will be bound to try to fulfill your goals and expectations based upon your desires, which will once again set you in the wrong relationship with money.

要问自己的第二个重要问题是：”我到底需要多少钱？”为了能够有效地回答这个问题，你必须对自己的内心有一个更深的知道和经历。否则，你的欲望将决定答案，你将再次受到约束，试图根据你的欲望来实现你的目标和期望，这将再次使你与金钱建立错误的关系。

How much is enough? If you seriously take on this question, you must go to the third important question, which is, “What am I trying to accomplish?” This, of course, is a very important question. In fact, it is one of the essential questions. “What am I trying to accomplish?” The answer to this question will determine how much money you need and what kind of relationship with money you will have to have. Some people need very little money to carry out their real contribution in the world, just enough to keep them alive—food, shelter, clothing, a little bit for recreation and a little bit for the future. They don’t need a great deal. Others will need more. Perhaps they are going to raise a family. Perhaps they are going to start some kind of business enterprise. Perhaps they are going to become an advocate for something important in the world. Their need for money here is greater, for they must provide for other people. They must provide for their business establishment. Or they must provide for their advocacy in the world.

多少钱才够？如果你认真对待这个问题，你必须进入第三个重要的问题，那就是”我想要完成什么？”当然，这也是一个非常重要的问题。事实上，它是关键问题之一。”我试图完成什么？”这个问题的答案将决定你需要多少钱，以及你必须与钱建立什么样的关系。有些人需要很少的钱来完成他们在这个世界上的真正贡献，只需要足够的钱来维持他们的生命——食物，住所，衣服，一点点的娱乐和一点点的未来。他们不需要太多。其他人将需要更多。也许他们要养家糊口。也许他们要创办某种商业企业。也许他们将成为世界上重要事情的倡导者。他们在这里对钱的需求更大，因为他们必须供养其他人。他们必须为他们的商业机构提供资金。或者他们必须为他们在世界上的宣传提供资金。

The range of need can vary considerably. If you are trying to raise money for an important activity in life to support a mission or an advocacy, then you may need far more than you would personally require, yet you do not want to be encumbered by money. Therefore, the personal requirement for money varies greatly, even for those who are learning to live a real and genuine life.

需求的范围可以有很大的不同。如果你想为生活中的一项重要活动筹集资金，以支持一项任务或宣传，那么你需要的资金可能远远超过你个人的需求，但你又不想被金钱所束缚。因此，个人对金钱的要求差别很大，即使是那些正在学习过真实和真正生命的人。

When you ask the question, “What am I trying to accomplish?” you must always realize that the answer to this question is something that will develop and change. But your answer must be solid enough that you can stand upon it and use it as a reference. It must be a foundation, even as it evolves and changes through the process of your life. It cannot merely be a form of speculation, a set of hopeful fantasies or some magnificent personal goals. It must be something very solid.

当你问到”我想要完成什么？”这个问题时，你必须始终意识到，这个问题的答案是会发展和变化的。但你的答案必须足够坚实，你可以站在它上面，把它作为一个参考。它必须是一个基础，即使它在你的生命过程中不断发展和变化。它不能仅仅是一种猜测，一组充满希望的幻想或一些值得赞扬的个人目标。它必须是非常坚实的内识。

Again, you have to assess where you are now. If you establish that you are going to do something that is far beyond your reach and current preparation, then your assessment of what you are trying to accomplish will not be useful to you. Therefore, the answer to this question should reflect where you are now and what you are doing now. Perhaps you are working towards something greater that you understand or, as is often the case, something that you don’t understand. But you still are where you are now, and you have a set of problems to solve in life now. The things you know you must do, some of which you are doing and some of which you are neglecting or denying, are what you have to do now. So, this is not an ultimate question that only the future can answer. It is a practical question for now.

同样，你必须评估你现在的位置。如果你确定你要做的事情远远超出了你的能力和目前的准备，那么你对你要完成的事情的评估将对你没有用处。因此，对这个问题的回答应该反映你现在的位置和你现在正在做的事情。也许你正在努力实现你所理解的更伟大的目的，或者像通常情况一样，你不理解的东西。但你仍然在你现在所在的地方，你现在有一系列的问题需要解决，在生活中。你知道你必须做的事情，其中有些你正在做，有些你正在忽视或否认，是你现在必须做的。所以，这不是一个只有未来才能回答的终极问题。它是目前的一个实际问题。

Determining what you must accomplish will help you to determine what your motives are. If you recreate your motives based upon this understanding, then you will be able to recast your relationship with money. People always have motives, but they are rarely responsible for their creation. They just accept them from the environment around them. They absorb them from the cultural values that they share with others. They go along with what everyone else thinks and wants and what everyone else is trying to be, do and have, and so forth. Here you have an opportunity to re-establish your definition of yourself based upon what is known and what is real for you.

确定你必须完成的事情将帮助你确定你的动机是什么。如果你在这种理解的基础上重新创建你的动机，那么你将能够重新塑造你与金钱的关系。人总是有动机的，但他们很少对动机的产生负责。他们只是从他们周围的环境中接受它们。他们从与他人共享的文化价值观中吸收它们。他们顺应其他人的想法和愿望，以及其他人试图成为的人、做和拥有的东西，等等。在这里，你有机会在已知的和真实的基础上重新建立你对自己的定义。

Money is a resource to serve a purpose. What is the purpose it is serving? Well, you may say that money is necessary to live in the world. You have to eat and have shelter and have clothes. Yes, but this does not account for a great deal of people’s investment and involvement with earning, protecting and spending money. You could live a very simple life, have enough to eat, have adequate shelter, good clothing, and a little leftover. People around the world are living on a fraction of what you are living on. And many of them are not suffering for it. But when you want to be more than you are, then it becomes an emphasis of constantly having more and acquiring more, and then you feel that you have to protect what you have already, and you have to maintain it. That requires more and more money. So, having more becomes an ever-increasing emphasis, and money becomes a greater and darker burden and shadow for you.

金钱是一种资源，为某种目的服务。它所服务的目的是什么？嗯，你可能会说，钱是生活在这个世界上所必需的。你必须要吃饭，有住所，有衣服。是的，但这并不能说明人们对挣钱、保护钱和花钱的大量投资和参与。你可以过一种非常简单的生命，有足够的食物，有足够的住所，有好的衣服，还有一点剩余的。世界各地的人们的生活水平只有你的一小部分。而且他们中的许多人并没有因此而受苦。但是，当你想成为比你更多的人时，就会变成强调不断拥有更多和获得更多，然后你就会觉得你必须保护你已经拥有的东西，你必须维持它。这需要越来越多的钱。所以，拥有更多的东西变成了一个越来越大的重点，钱对你来说变成了一个越来越大的负担和阴影。

Even the rich sometimes feel they can barely keep up with things financially. Their expenditures are so great that they have to work harder and spend more time protecting their money, more time investing it, securing it and preventing its loss or dissipation. But for a purely subsistence, survival level, you need very little money. This is obvious when you think about it, but then you may say, “I would not be happy living such a simple life.” Many people will say that. But I say, why not? What are you trying to accomplish? Do you simply want to be more comfortable, have more personal diversions, have more things to play with, always have a bigger house or better house, more clothes? More, more, more. Here money becomes a great burden for you, and you cannot use it objectively. It is feeding a set of desires, ambitions and self-imposed requirements that may have little to do with why you are in the world or what you are really trying to accomplish.

即使是富人有时也会觉得他们在财务上几乎跟不上形势。他们的支出是如此之大，以至于他们不得不更加努力工作，花更多的时间来保护他们的钱，更多的时间来投资它，保证它，防止它的损失或耗散。但对于纯粹的生存，生存水平，你需要很少的钱。当你想到这一点时，这是显而易见的，但随后你可能会说，”我如果过着如此简单的生命，是不会快乐的。”许多人会这样说。但我说，为什么不呢？你想达到什么目的？你是否只是想更舒适，有更多的个人消遣，有更多的东西可以玩，总是有一个更大的房子或更好的房子，更多的衣服？更多，更多，更多。在这里，金钱成为你的巨大负担，你不能客观地使用它。它在满足一系列的欲望、野心和自我要求，而这些要求可能与你为什么在这个世界上或你真正想要完成的事情没有什么关系。

Some people go hot and cold in their relationship with money. They get hot with it, and they want to have it, and they are going to earn it, and they are going to secure it, and they are going to make a lot of it, and it is going to work for them, and they have it all figured out. Then they begin to realize over time that the investment is consuming more and more of their attention, their energy, their focus, their well-being and their time. It is eroding their relationships. It is dominating their focus and priorities. Then, they turn away from money saying, “I am going to do something very different.” So, they try to live without money or they deny it. But this is how a person tries to reposition himself or herself with something that has become an addiction. Look at the behavior of the person engaged in addiction. They are going hot and cold with their addiction. They are giving themselves to it with all kinds of explanations and justifications, and then they are denying it and claiming that they are going to free themselves. Then they say, “Oh, I can’t do it. Why bother?” And they give in once again.

有些人在与金钱的关系上忽冷忽热。他们对钱很热衷，他们想拥有它，他们要赚取它，他们要确保它，他们要赚很多钱，它要为他们工作，他们已经想好了一切。然后他们开始意识到，随着时间的推移，这项投资正在消耗他们越来越多的注意力，他们的精力，他们的注意力，他们的福祉和时间。它正在侵蚀他们的关系。它正在支配着他们的注意力和优先权。然后，他们远离金钱，说：”我要做一些非常不同的事情。”因此，他们试图在没有钱的情况下生活，或者否认它。但这就是一个人试图用已经成为一种瘾的东西来重新定位自己。看看从事上瘾的人的行为。他们对自己的毒瘾忽冷忽热。他们用各种解释和理由把自己交给它，然后他们又否认它，声称他们要释放自己。然后他们说，”哦，我做不到。何必呢？” 然后他们再一次屈服。

Money is a tool. Beyond meeting basic survival needs, it is a tool. What purpose does it serve? What are you trying to accomplish with it? Here you must not only look at your own goals, priorities and values, you must look at what the world is requiring. If you are sincerely seeking to realize a greater purpose in life, do not look to yourself alone. Look to yourself and to the world. The world says, “I need this, and I need this, and I need this.” Which need can you fulfill? Indeed, it takes the recognition of real need and suffering in the world to bring people out of their intoxication with what they want and what they don’t want—their self-absorption.

钱是一种工具。除了满足基本的生存需求，它还是一种工具。它的目的是什么？你想用它来完成什么？在这里，你不仅要看你自己的目标、优先事项和价值观，你还必须看这个世界在要求什么。如果你真诚地寻求实现生命的更伟大目的，不要只看自己。要看自己，也要看世界。世界说，”我需要这个，我需要这个，我需要这个”。你能满足哪种需要？事实上，需要认识到世界上真正的需求和痛苦，才能把人们从对他们想要的和不想要的东西的陶醉中带出来——他们的自我陶醉。

It sometimes takes a very rude awakening. Either something very powerful happens to you that shakes you out of this dream state you live in regarding what you want and what you must have and all this, or you become engaged with someone whose needs are so real and so much more genuine than yours that it shakes you out of this fog. This dream state is really a form of intoxication. For example, you might be considering buying your next pleasurable object or a new wardrobe of clothes or a new car, and then you meet someone who needs money for food or who has a medical problem that they cannot attend to because they do not have the financial resources. Their need is so much more legitimate and real and compelling than yours. You are spending a fortune on trivia, and they need money for basic and important things. It takes this kind of encounter with life to shake you out of your own self-absorption and to make you feel like you have something important to give.

这有时需要一个非常粗暴的醒来。要么是发生在你身上的非常强大的事情，把你从你所生活的关于你想要什么、你必须拥有什么以及所有这些的梦境中摇醒，要么是你与某个需求如此真实、比你的需求更真实的人交往，把你从这个迷雾中摇醒。这种梦的状态实际上是一种醉酒的形式。例如，你可能正在考虑购买你的下一个快乐物品或新衣柜或新车，然后你遇到一个需要钱买食物或有医疗问题的人，他们因为没有经济来源而无法照顾。他们的需求比你的需求更合理、更真实、更有说服力。你在琐事上花了一大笔钱，而他们需要钱做基本和重要的事情。需要这种与生命的相遇，才能把你从自我陶醉中摇醒，让你觉得你有重要的东西可以给予。

People who are only committed to their self-gratification are so profoundly unhappy and so driven and so addicted that though they can demonstrate beauty, power, influence and sophistication, as human beings they are really pathetic. They have invested in that which cannot yield anything of real merit for them or for others.

只致力于自我满足的人是如此深刻地不快乐，如此被驱使，如此沉迷，尽管他们可以表现出美丽、权力、影响和成熟，但作为人，他们真的很可悲。他们投资于那些不能为自己或他人带来任何真正益处的事情。

The question here is not whether one has money or not. The question is, “Is money serving a real need? Is money being a useful resource?” Look at your society. The youth want money for fun and play. The elderly want money to meet their great medical needs and, if they can afford it, more fun and play. There is all this emphasis on fun and play.

这里的问题不是一个人是否有钱。问题是，”金钱是否满足了真正的需要？钱是有用的资源吗？”看看你们的社会。年轻人想要钱来玩耍和游戏。老年人想要钱来满足他们巨大的医疗需求，如果他们有能力的话，还想要更多的乐趣和游戏。有所有这些强调乐趣和游戏。

So, when we deal with money, we deal with purpose. When we deal with purpose, we deal with what people value and what people are aware of. Bringing people back into a real engagement with life, renewing their sense that they are here to contribute something, to give something of value and to leave an important legacy—that is the emphasis. Unless that is the emphasis, money will be a problem and not a solution. Money will be a god or a demon, a curse or a benediction. It will be imbued with magical and mystical powers, and people will be profoundly confused about what it is and what can be done with it.

因此，当我们处理金钱问题时，我们处理的是目的。当我们处理目的时，我们处理的是人们的价值和人们意识到的东西。让人们回到真正的生命中来，重新认识到他们在这里是为了贡献一些东西，给予一些有价值的东西，并留下重要的遗产，这就是重点。除非这是重点，否则金钱将是一个问题而不是一个解决方案。金钱将是一个上帝或一个魔鬼，一个诅咒或一个祝福。它将被赋予神奇和神秘的力量，而人们将对它是什么以及能用它做什么感到深深的困惑。

Your needs are small. The world’s needs are great. When you come to this realization, then you will be in a position to give and to recognize what you have to give. It will be pulled out of you. Instead of going through life asking, “Who am I? What do I want? How can I be happy? What should I do? What shouldn’t I do?” you become a person who looks into the world and says, “I can’t do this, but I can do that. I feel I can help here. I can do something meaningful here.”

你的需求很小。世界的需求是巨大的。当你认识到这一点，那么你就会有能力给予，并认识到你所要给予的东西。它将从你身上被拉出来。而不是在生命中问：”我是谁？我想要什么？我怎样才能快乐？我应该做什么？我不应该做什么？”你成为一个看着世界说：”我不能做这个，但我可以做那个。我觉得我可以帮助这里。我可以在这里做一些有意义的事情”。

Do you want to experience real spirituality? Do you want to have meaningful relationships? Do you want to have a sense of direction in life? Do you want to have a sense of your own value? Then contribution must be your emphasis. Sickness in the mind is born of self-absorption. It is born of selfishness. When money serves this, it is part of the affliction. You only have to look about you to see the myriad demonstrations of this. Everyone is trying to have more, and yet they are feeling miserable, afraid to be with themselves, afraid to be with anyone else, afraid of stillness, afraid of silence, afraid of intimacy, and driven to have more and more and more, far beyond their legitimate needs.

你想经历真正的精神性吗？你想拥有有意义的关系吗？你想拥有生命的方向感吗？你想有自己的价值感吗？那么贡献必须是你的重点。心灵上的疾病是由自我陶醉而来。它诞生于自私自利。当金钱服务于此时，它就是痛苦的一部分。你只要看看你周围，就会发现这一点的无数表现。每个人都试图拥有更多，但他们感到痛苦，害怕与自己在一起，害怕与其他人在一起，害怕静止，害怕沉默，害怕亲密关系，并被驱使拥有越来越多，远远超过他们的合理需求。

In many of the discourses in this book, I have spoken of the condition of the world—what is changing in the world and the greater influences that are at work in the world today, which are determining the world’s evolution and are governing its overall direction. You cannot entertain these things if you are still entrenched in your own self—your wants, your needs, your fears. The answer is not there. The answer is to re-engage with life, with Wisdom, with Knowledge, with inner direction. Many people lose themselves in the affairs of the world, and this is common as well. This is not what I am speaking of. You must do your inner work and you must do your outer work. At a certain point, you cannot do any more inner work, so you must do your outer work. This means that you find a real need in the world and you work on meeting it.

在本书的许多论述中，我谈到了世界的状况——世界上正在发生的变化，以及当今世界上正在发生的更大的影响，这些影响正在决定世界的演变，正在支配世界的总体方向。如果你仍然固守在你自己——你的愿望、你的需要、你的恐惧中，你就不能接受这些状况。答案不在那里。答案是重新接触生命，接触智慧，接触内识，接触内在的方向。许多人在世界事务中失去自我，这也很常见。这不是我说的。你必须做你的内在工作，你必须做你的外在工作。在某一点上，你不能再做任何内在工作，所以你必须做你的外在工作。这意味着你在这个世界上找到一个真正的需求，并努力去满足它。

As I have illustrated the greater movement of the world, you must come to realize that its needs are tremendous. People ask, “What is my calling?” and I say, “Look at the world.” They ask, “What is my purpose?” and I say, “Look at the world!” With big eyes! Not fearfully or fancifully, but with big eyes! Consider the world’s emergence into the Greater Community. Consider the need to reclaim the environment. Consider the immersion of cultures into one another. Consider all of the great and compelling needs of society. Which calls to you?

正如我所说明的世界的更大运动，你必须认识到世界的需求是巨大的。人们问，”我的召唤是什么？”我说，”看看这个世界。”他们问，”我的目的是什么？”我说，”看看这个世界！”睁大眼睛去看!不是害怕或遐想，而是睁大眼睛去看!考虑到世界在大社区中的出现。考虑到恢复环境的需要。考虑文化的相互浸润。考虑社会上所有伟大而引人注目的需求。哪一个呼唤着你？

If you want to lose yourself in luxuries and pleasures, you will find no relief. Along with this, there will be guilt because you are wasting a great resource in the world. It is all right to have pleasure; it is all right to do fun things. But keep your sense of responsibility. You are here to contribute to the world. The world is not here to pamper you and make you secure. You will die. So, what are you going to do to make this life a meaningful experience? Have more fun? Take more vacations? Buy more things? If you think that that will meet your need, then go spend time with people who have more than you do. If you do this, you will certainly be convinced that this is not the way.

如果你想在奢侈品和享乐中迷失自己，你将找不到解脱。随之而来的是内疚，因为你在浪费世界上的巨大资源。享受快乐是对的；做有趣的事情是对的。但要保持你的责任感。你在这里是为了对世界作出贡献。世界不是来宠爱你和让你安全的。你会死亡。所以，你要做什么来使这一生命成为有意义的经历？有更多的乐趣？享受更多的假期？买更多东西？如果你认为这能满足你的需要，那就去和那些比你拥有更多的人相处吧。如果你这样做，你一定会相信这不是办法。

In nature, everything is useful. Nothing is wasted. Everything contributes to everything else. Nothing is squandered. Learn from your natural world. Re-engage with it. You will see. All creatures need certain things for their survival and well-being. But you do not see them laying up great treasures for themselves. All creatures in the world are vulnerable in the world. Beyond their protective instincts and the shelters they may provide for themselves, they are vulnerable to the world. They are engaged in the world.

在大自然中，一切都很有用。没有什么是浪费的。每个生命都对其他生命有贡献。没有什么是浪费的。向你们的自然世界学习。重新与它接触。你会看到。所有的生物都需要某些东西来维持它们的生存和福祉。但你没有看到它们为自己埋下巨大的宝藏。世界上的所有生物在这个世界上都是脆弱的。除了他们的保护本能和他们可能为自己提供的庇护所之外，他们在这个世界上是脆弱的。他们参与到这个世界之中。

Do not get lost in the idea that money is good or money is bad or that pleasure is good or pleasure is bad. This will always lead you astray. Come back to ask, “What must I do?” Here you look at your natural inclinations. You assess your natural abilities, and you look at the needs of the world. You will need to do very simple specific things, perhaps not seemingly related but still contributing and necessary to the world’s emergence into the Greater Community and the unification of human society. Find your role and fulfill it and you will find your fulfillment. There is no other way. If you want to know your value and your gift and your nature, this is the way. Trying to seek transcendental experiences to get out of the world, to get back to God, is not the way. God sent you here to do something, and yet you want to get back to God!

不要迷失在金钱是好的或金钱是坏的想法中，或者快乐是好的或快乐是坏的。这将永远把你引入歧途。回过头来问：”我必须做什么？”在这里，你看一下你的自然倾向。你评估你的自然能力，你看一下世界的需求。你将需要做非常简单的具体事情，也许看起来没有关系，但对世界出现在大社区和人类社会的统一仍有贡献和必要。找到你的角色并履行它，你就会找到你的成就。没有其他方法。如果你想知道你的价值、你的礼物和你的本性，这就是方法。试图寻求超越性的体验来摆脱世界，回到上帝身边，这不是办法。上帝派你到这里来是为了做一些事情，而你却想回到上帝身边！这不是办法。

Being in the world is not simply being in a prison from which you must find an escape. You will not be in the world very long, so your escape is guaranteed. You are not sent here forever. You have come from someplace and are returning to someplace very different from the world. So, your escape is guaranteed. But can you have a sense of your Ancient Home while you are here?

在这个世界上不是简单地被关在一个监狱里，你必须找到逃脱的办法。你不会在这个世界上待很久，所以你的逃脱是有保证的。你不是永远被送到这里。你从某个地方来，要回到与这个世界非常不同的地方。所以，你的逃离是有保证的。但是，当你在这里时，你能对你的古老家园有一种感觉吗？

The person who is healed is the one who gives and finds a place to give. If you know you have to give and have trouble finding a place to give, then start giving to something or someone that needs what you have. It does not have to be the ultimate place where you will give, but it is a starting point. You learn your gift by giving. You do not wait until the ultimate situation comes around, and then maybe you will give if it does not cost too much. You start giving now. There is no relief for neurosis or selfishness other than this. Here you do not give for your glory, even for your spiritual redemption. You give because you are needed. And you will find that place where you are genuinely needed and where you can genuinely give.

被治愈的人是给予和找到给予的地方的人。如果你知道你必须给予，但却难以找到给予的地方，那么就开始给予那些需要你所拥有的东西或人。它不一定是你最终要付出的地方，但它是一个起点。你通过给予学习你的礼物。你不要等到最终的情况出现，然后也许你会给予，如果它不花费太多。你现在就开始给予。除此以外，神经衰弱或自私的问题没有任何缓解。在这里，你不是为了你的荣耀而给予，甚至不是为了你的精神救赎。你给予是因为你被需要。而且你会找到那个真正需要你的地方，在那里你可以真正地给予。

In the future, which will be your future, the needs of the world will become greater and more compelling and people will be forced to share the world’s resources with each other far more than they do now. They will be forced to share their heritage and what they know with each other. The rich will become poorer and the poor will need a great deal more. Many of the great inequities that you see now concerning people’s affluence will be balanced out because the resources will be diminished and the population will be greater. It will become increasingly inappropriate to have great personal wealth. Unless your role in life is to be a benefactor and you end up giving most of it away, it is inappropriate and will become increasingly so.

在未来，也就是你们的未来，世界的需求将变得更大、更引人注目，人们将被迫比现在更多地相互分享世界的资源。他们将被迫与对方分享他们的遗产和他们所知道的事情。富人将变得更穷，穷人将需要更多。你现在看到的关于人们富裕程度的许多巨大的不平等将被平衡，因为资源将减少，人口将增加。拥有巨大的个人财富将变得越来越不合适。除非你在生活中的角色是一个慈善家，而你最终将大部分财富捐出，否则这是不合适的，而且将变得越来越合适。

Remember, giving is not giving up. Giving is directing your resources and your attention to something that needs you. This is what produces well-being and advancement, and your giving will far exceed the specific need to which it is directed. It will enhance the mental environment. It will cast a wave of inspiration on others to give and to escape from their own tragedies.

记住，给予不是放弃。给予是将你的资源和你的注意力引导到需要你的内识上。这就是产生幸福和进步的原因，你的给予将远远超过它所指向的具体需要。它将提高心理环境。它将向其他人投下激励的浪潮，让他们给予并摆脱自己的悲惨处境。

The future that is your future will require more and more of you. This is good for you, though it will not be good for humanity if this need goes unmet. But it is good for you. It offers you the real possibility to redeem your true value, your true meaning and your true abilities. Your future means you will not be able to have all the things you want to have. If something you want is not appropriate, then you will know it. And if you commit yourself to it, you will carry with you a sense of guilt and irresponsibility that no one will be able to alleviate.

作为你的未来，将需要你越来越多的付出。这对你来说是好事，尽管如果这种需求得不到满足，对人类来说也不是好事。但它对你是好的。它为你提供了真正的可能性，以赎回你的真正价值、你的真正意义和你的真正能力。你的未来意味着你将无法拥有所有你想拥有的东西。如果你想要的东西不合适，那么你就会知道它。而如果你承诺了，你将带着一种内疚和不负责任的感觉，没有人能够缓解。

Having too much is as bad as having too little because you are out of balance and your relationship to life and the resources of life are not correct and require change. Being in the right relationship with money means being in the right relationship with your true objectives in life and being in the right relationship with the world around you. If you have too much, you will suffer. Likewise, if you have too little, you will suffer. Both situations require change and readjustment. Your Knowledge knows what is correct—in your relationship with money, with people and with life, and in all of the particulars that are involved within these categories. Being out of balance calls for readjustment, re-evaluation and a new application of yourself. In this light, the rich are as bad off as the poor. Yet, the poor have a greater possibility for happiness than the rich, for often the rich cannot be reached. They have given themselves much too much, and they are too indulged. Perhaps if they became extremely poor all of a sudden, they would be able to relive their life and to awaken and reassess their genuine needs.

拥有太多和拥有太少一样糟糕，因为你失去了平衡，你与生命和生活资源的关系不正确，需要改变。与金钱保持正确的关系意味着与你的真正生命目标保持正确的关系，与你周围的世界保持正确的关系。如果你拥有太多，你就会受苦。同样地，如果你拥有的太少，你也会受苦。这两种情况都需要改变和重新调整。你的内识知道什么是正确的——你与金钱、与人、与生命的关系，以及在这些类别中涉及的所有细节。失去平衡就需要重新调整，重新评估，对自己进行新的应用。从这个角度看，富人和穷人一样处境糟糕。然而，穷人比富人有更大的可能性获得幸福，因为富人往往无法达到。他们给自己的东西太多了，他们太放纵了。也许，如果他们突然变得极其贫穷，他们就能重温自己的生命，唤醒并重新评估自己的真正需求。

Having too much or too little creates imbalance and requires a readjustment. Those who are wealthy and have realized the imbalance can commit themselves to giving their resources away, not to become poor but to become benefactors. The role of the rich is to be benefactors. There is no reason to become rich other than to become a benefactor. If it is your design and role in life to be a benefactor, then you will need a lot of financial resources, a small part of which you will need to carry on your own work and a small part of which you can assign to your pleasures and happiness. But the main focus in using this resource is to give to others and to enable others to give themselves. Why make those living in poverty more affluent? So that they can give! When the rich do not give, they do not set an example for this, and as a result their lives becomes decadent and self-destructive. Giving is what inspires people, and there must be many great examples here. For some, giving will require tremendous education. They must achieve a tremendous practical, academic education. For others, it will require a different kind of education, a different kind of sensitivity.

拥有太多或者太少都会造成不平衡，需要重新调整。那些富有并意识到不平衡的人可以承诺将他们的资源捐出去，不是为了成为穷人，而是为了成为给予者。富人的作用是成为给予者。除了成为捐赠者之外，没有任何理由成为富人。如果你在生命中的设计和角色是成为一名给予者，那么你将需要大量的财政资源，其中一小部分你将需要进行自己的工作，一小部分你可以分配给你的快乐和幸福。但使用这一资源的主要重点是为他人给予，并使他人能够给予自己。为什么要让生活在贫困中的人更加富裕？这样他们就可以给予!当富人不给予时，他们没有为此树立榜样，结果是他们的生命变得颓废和自我毁灭。给予是激励人们的东西，这里一定有许多伟大的例子。对一些人来说，给予将需要巨大的教育。他们必须实现巨大的实践、学术教育。对其他人来说，这将需要一种不同的教育，一种不同的敏感性。

Money, like intelligence, is a resource. If it is used wisely and directed properly, it can be used for a greater spiritual purpose, which will give it real meaning and value. In reality, almost everyone in the world needs to adjust their relationship with money because they need to discover why they are here and what they are trying to accomplish. The answers to these questions are not static definitions; they are a growing realization. Even if you find the truth about your current situation, you will realize that the application of truth will need to be adjusted as you go along. Perhaps your need for money will become greater; perhaps it will become less—depending on what you are working on accomplishing. If you are building a hospital or replanting a forest, you will need quite a bit of money. Here you give others the opportunity to give and to assert true value both in their giving and in what they receive. Other people will simply need to care for the sick and the dying. They may not need as much money. Some will need to counsel. Some will need to build.

钱，像智力与能力一样，是一种资源。如果它被明智地使用和正确地引导，它可以被用于一个更大的精神目的，这将赋予它真正的意义和价值。在现实中，世界上几乎每个人都需要调整他们与金钱的关系，因为他们需要发现他们为什么在这里，他们要完成什么。这些问题的答案并不是静态的定义，而是一种成长的领悟。即使你找到了你目前状况的真相，你也会意识到，随着你的发展，真理的应用也需要调整。也许你对金钱的需求会变得更大；也许会变得更少——取决于你正在努力完成的事情。如果你要建造一所医院或重新种植一片森林，你将需要相当多的钱。在这里，你给了别人一个机会，让他们在给予和得到的东西中体现出真正的价值。其他的人只是需要照顾病人和垂死的人。他们可能不需要那么多钱。有些人需要咨询。有些人需要建设。

There are so many examples, too numerous to mention here. But it is necessary to reaffirm the idea that money is a useful tool to serve a real purpose. If it serves an unreal purpose, it will have an unreal meaning and will be a source of confusion and disability for people. The time for self-indulgent use of money is over. The time for contribution is now. Only this can establish for you a right relationship with money, with other people and with yourself.

有许多例子，在此不胜枚举。但是有必要重申这样一个观点：金钱是一个有用的工具，可以为一个真正的目的服务。如果它服务于一个不真实的目的，它将有一个不真实的意义，并将成为人们困惑和残疾的来源。自我放纵地使用金钱的时代已经过去。现在是贡献的时候了。只有这样才能为你建立与金钱、与他人和与自己的正确关系。

Therefore, money is a vehicle to express a real purpose. In this, it finds its true value. Take this opportunity, then, to assess your current needs and determine as best you can what you are working on accomplishing now. Have this be based upon Knowledge and not simply upon your wish list. Then determine your real need for money. This will determine how much you must work in the world and what you must do to secure the resources that you need. If you ask for more than you need, you will work more than you need, and your life will be out of balance as a result. Sometimes you must make money for an important project, and you must work very hard for it for a period of time. But it is worth it. The question here is not whether it is hard or easy. It is whether it is correct. Here Knowledge is your guide, for within yourself you will know. When things are not right, you will feel it. You will know. When things are correct, you will feel it. You will know. And you need to be exposed both to things that are right and things that are not right in order to have this contrast. Then you can begin to sense or feel this greater part of yourself that knows, this vital reference point within yourself that we call Knowledge.

因此，金钱是一个表达真正目的的工具。在这一点上，它找到了自己的真正价值。那么，借此机会，评估你目前的需求，并尽可能地确定你现在正在努力完成的任务。这要以内识为基础，而不是简单地以你的愿望清单为基础。然后确定你对金钱的真正需求。这将决定你必须在这个世界上工作多少，以及你必须做什么来确保你所需要的资源。如果你要求的比你需要的多，你的工作就会比你需要的多，你的生命会因此而失去平衡。有时你必须为一个重要的项目赚钱，你必须在一段时间内为之付出巨大的努力。但这是值得的。这里的问题不在于它是困难还是容易。而是它是否正确。在这里，内识是你的指南，因为在你的内心，你会知道。当事情不对时，你会感觉到它。你会知道。当事情是正确的，你会感觉到它。你会知道。你需要同时接触正确的事物和不正确的事物，以便有这种对比。然后你就可以开始感觉到或感受到你自己的这一更大的部分，即你自己的这一重要参考点，我们称之为内识。

You will see much that is wrong in the world. Do not condemn it. Have it teach you to reflect on Knowledge within yourself. Have what is correct inspire you. Have what is incorrect reorient you to Knowledge and bring you back to Knowledge. The world contains both what is correct and what is not correct. Both can lead you to true relationship. Having a true relationship with money is the same as having a true relationship with another and having a true relationship with yourself. If it serves a real purpose and meets a real need, then its expression will be real and its value will be confirmed. Such is the truth in relationships of all kinds.

你将看到世界上许多错误的事情。不要谴责它。让它教你反思你自己内部的内识。让正确的东西启发你。让不正确的东西为你重新定位，把你带回内识。这个世界既包含正确的东西，也包含不正确的东西。两者都能引导你建立真实的关系。与金钱建立真实的关系，与他人建立真实的关系并与你自己建立真实的关系是一样的。如果它服务于一个真正的目的，满足一个真正的需求，那么它的表达将是真实的，它的价值将得到确认。这就是各种关系中的真理。