Chapter 23: Becoming Wise

Becoming Wise – What is Wisdom and How to Be Wise?
成为智者——什么是智者，如何成为智者？

As revealed to God’s Messenger Marshall Vian Summers on April 18, 1992 in Boulder, CO
1992年4月18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

What does it mean to become wise? How do you discern Wisdom in another? What are the results of achieving this state of mind and readiness? Of course, people have many images associated with Wisdom. It is often associated with asceticism or self-sacrifice, loneliness, suffering, mystery or an inexplicable quality in others. It is often held in very high regard, but in such a way that people feel that it is quite remote from them and quite beyond their reach or grasp.

成为智者是什么意思？你如何在他人身上辨别智慧？达到这种心智状态和准备状态的结果是什么？当然，人们有许多与智慧相关的形象。它常常与禁欲主义或自我牺牲、孤独、苦难、神秘或他人身上无法解释的品质相关联。它常常被赋予很高的位置，但在这种方式下，人们觉得智慧离他们相当遥远，相当超出他们的能力或掌握。

Let us, then, not approach Wisdom as an ultimate state of mind or as what people generally think of as enlightenment, as if one reaches this great threshold and arrives at a complete and fulfilled state and after that everything takes care of itself. It is important to realize that enlightenment is relative to where you stand in the overall evolution of life. There are very great thresholds in all learning, and in learning the reality of life there are great thresholds as well. There are many of them, not just one. So, let us not consider Wisdom as an ultimate achievement, but as something that you cultivate as you go along.

那么，让我们不要把智慧当作一种终极的心智状态，或者当作人们通常认为的开悟，好像一个人达到了这个伟大的门槛，到达了一个完整和满足的状态，之后一切都会自己解决。重要的是要认识到，开悟是相对于你在整个生命进化过程中的位置而言的。在所有的学习中都有非常大的门槛，在学习生命的现实中，也有很大的门槛。有许多门槛，而不仅仅是一个。因此，让我们不要把智慧看作是一个最终的成就，而是作为你在前进过程中培养的东西。

Therefore, it is possible for you to be wise today, if perhaps only for a few moments. It is possible for you to be wise tomorrow, if perhaps only for a few moments. This is quite valid because it is okay if you are only wise for a few moments. In fact, that is magnificent! That is a great achievement, for if you are wise for a few moments today, then perhaps you will choose Wisdom tomorrow and be wise for a few more moments.

因此，你今天有可能成为智者，哪怕只是几秒钟。你有可能在明天成为一个有智慧的人，也许只是片刻。这是很有道理的，因为如果你只有片刻的智慧也没关系。事实上，这是很伟大的！这是一个伟大的成就。这是一个伟大的成就，因为如果你今天有片刻的智慧，那么也许你明天会选择智慧，并有更多片刻的智慧。

The experience of Wisdom builds upon itself. You must have this experience in order to value it and to see how much it is in contrast with your normal state of mind. Even though Wisdom is different from insight, it should be considered in the same way. If you have a moment of real insight today or tomorrow, it is for a moment. Don’t expect yourself to have an insight every single moment.

智慧的经历是建立在它自身之上的。你必须有这种经历，才能重视内识，才能看到它与你的正常心智状态有多大的反差。尽管智慧与洞察力不同，但应该以同样的方式考虑它。如果你今天或明天有片刻的真正洞察力，那也只是片刻。不要期望自己每时每刻都有洞察力。

The difference between insight and Wisdom is that with insight you have an understanding of something. You penetrate the mystery of something, and you have a very brief but significant understanding of it. Wisdom deals more with your approach to life. It is more a state of mind rather than any piece of information you might gain or any understanding that you might derive from a specific situation.

洞察力和智慧的区别在于，有了洞察力，你就对某件事有了理解。你穿透了某些东西的奥秘，你对它有一个非常简短但重要的理解。智慧更多涉及你对生命的态度。它更多的是一种心智状态，而不是你可能获得的任何信息或你可能从特定情况下获得的任何理解。

Therefore, do not discount Wisdom by holding it far above you or by reserving it only for rare individuals who, given great sacrifices and a superhuman will, have achieved a magnificent height. This is not a healthy approach. Wisdom is available to you. It is available to you because Knowledge, the Great Mind, lives within you. Being with Knowledge is Wisdom. Being without Knowledge is being without Wisdom. Both give a very different experience and account of life. Both create a very different perception. The Wise see a different world from everyone else, for however long they are experiencing Wisdom. Some people are wise only a few times in their entire life. Others are wise more frequently. Fewer still are wise on a consistent basis.

因此，不要把智慧打折扣，把它远远凌驾于你之上，或者只保留给那些做出巨大牺牲和具有超人意志的罕见的人，他们已经达到了一个宏伟的高度。这不是一个健康的方法。智慧对你来说是可用的。它对你来说是可用的，因为内识，伟大的心智，住在你里面。有内识的存在就是智慧。没有内识的存在就是没有智慧的存在。两者都给人一种非常不同的生命经历和描述。两者都创造了一个非常不同的感知。智者看到的世界与其他人不同，无论他们经历了多久的智慧。有些人在其一生中只有几次智慧。另一些人则更频繁地拥有智慧。更少的人是在持续的基础上有智慧。

The question, then, is not whether you want to be wise or not, for most people would say, “Yes, that would be wonderful.” However, they would say “yes” with great trepidation and doubt, considering all that they may associate with Wisdom. The question is how often do you want to be wise? That is the more useful and practical question. Your response will be conditioned by how you view Wisdom and what you think Wisdom will do for you. Many associate Wisdom with asceticism, so they think Wisdom will deprive them of all their little pleasures, to which they give such great devotion. Or they think Wisdom will lead them into some kind of dangerous set of encounters in the world where they will be persecuted and crucified, and that does not look like a very happy outcome. So, perhaps people will say, “Not today. Some other time.”

那么，问题不在于你是否想成为智者，因为大多数人会说，”是的，那将是非常好的”。然而，考虑到他们可能与智慧有关的一切，他们会带着极大的恐惧和怀疑说”是”。问题是，你想多长时间变得有智慧？这是更有用和实际的问题。你的反应将受制于你对智慧的看法，以及你认为智慧将为你做什么。许多人将智慧与禁欲主义联系在一起，所以他们认为智慧会剥夺他们所有的小乐趣，而他们对这些小乐趣是如此的虔诚。或者他们认为智慧会把他们带入世界上某种危险的遭遇中，在那里他们会受到迫害，被钉在十字架上，这看起来并不是一个很好的结果。所以，也许人们会说，”今天不行。改天吧”。

Each person needs a very small experience of Wisdom in order to learn about it. You have to learn about Wisdom. You cannot just say, “Yes, I want Wisdom!” It does not mean anything to say that unless you really want it and value it, and you will value it when you have experienced it and have seen it to be gracious and redeeming. In fact, should you pursue the study of The Greater Community Way of Knowledge, you will find over time that it is only Wisdom that will give you what you want. It is only Wisdom that will provide a real sense of certainty, true self-respect and the ability to love. It is only Wisdom that will give you the resources and the approach necessary to live your life to the fullest and to give to others in such a way that your value is emphasized and theirs is as well.

每个人都需要对智慧有一个非常小的经历，以便了解它。你必须要学习智慧。你不能只是说：”是的，我想要智慧！”除非你真的想要它并重视它，否则这么说没有任何意义，而当你经历了它并看到它的恩惠和救赎时，你会重视它。事实上，如果你追求大社区内识之路的研究，随着时间的推移，你会发现只有智慧才会给你想要的东西。只有智慧才能提供真正的确定感、真正的自尊和爱的能力。只有智慧才能给你必要的资源和方法，使你的生命更加充实，并以强调你的价值和他们的价值的方式给予他人。

So, let us talk about experiencing moments of Wisdom. This is possible for you. This is not beyond your reach. When I say Wisdom is being with Knowledge, what I mean is that Wisdom is abiding with a Spiritual Presence and sharing in its perception and understanding of life. People are afraid of Wisdom or are ambivalent about it because they are afraid that they will want to change, not that something will change them. When you are with Wisdom, you are perceiving something of greater magnitude in life. You are waiting for that spark of truth that runs like a current through humanity, and you are opening yourself so that it may run through you, so that you may conduct it and be a terminal for its expression.

因此，让我们谈谈经历智慧的时刻。这对你来说是可能的。这并不是你无法企及的。当我说智慧是与内识同在时，我的意思是，智慧是与精神的存在同在，并分享它对生命的感知和理解。人们害怕智慧，或者对它感到矛盾，因为他们害怕自己会想要改变，而不是害怕某种东西会改变他们。当你与智慧在一起时，你正在感知生命中更伟大的东西。你在等待那像电流一样贯穿人类的真理火花，而你正在开放自己，让它可以贯穿你，让你可以引导它，成为它表达的终端。

The experience of Wisdom is far beyond any pleasure that you might try to acquire for yourself in the world. It supersedes your normal range of needs. It is ecstatic. It is energizing like great electricity. It is deep and penetrating. It dispels fear. It takes you beyond the ambivalence that permeates normal thinking. It is life changing indeed, even if it is experienced momentarily, because it creates such a contrast. You know now what is possible. It is possible to have this experience! And you will come back to it.

智慧的经历远远超出了你在这个世界上可能试图为自己获得的任何快乐。它超越了你的正常需求范围。它是狂喜的。它像巨大的电流一样使人充满活力。它是深邃的，有穿透力的。它消除了恐惧。它使你超越了弥漫在正常思维中的矛盾心理。它确实改变了生命，即使是一时的经历，因为它创造了这样的对比。你现在知道什么是可能的。有这种经验是可能的！而且你会回来的。你会想回来。

Sometimes people have an experience of Wisdom, and it is so different. It creates such contrast and brings up such issues and questions that they seek to avoid it. They may say, “Well, it was a magnificent experience, but I don’t think I want to have it again.” But in time they will come back because it is natural to do that and because they will realize that all they are seeking in their other endeavors can be attained or fulfilled in this state of mind.

有时人们有一种智慧的经历，它是如此不同。它产生了如此大的反差，带来了如此多的问题和疑问，以至于他们试图回避它。他们可能会说，”好吧，这是一个伟大的经历，但我不认为我想再次拥有它”。但是到时候他们会回来，因为这样做是很自然的，而且他们会意识到，他们在其他工作中所追求的一切都可以在这种心智状态中得到实现或满足。

The experience of Wisdom is profound. But it can be confusing because it creates a tremendous contrast. Here you realize that who you thought you were perhaps isn’t who you really are. What you thought the world is perhaps isn’t what the world really is. This calls for a tremendous re-evaluation. Often, people do not want to undertake this. It is too uncomfortable. They would rather be secure in their current assumptions, associations and beliefs. Yet, they will, in time, come back to this, for once the great door is open a crack, you will want to open it further. You will return because it is natural for you to do so. It is the yearning of the heart rather than the anxieties of the mind that will bring you back to open the great door a little further. You want to see. You want to know. You want to be secure. You want to feel included. You want to have purpose, meaning and direction. This brings you back to Knowledge and to the experience of Wisdom, which is being with Knowledge in the world.

智慧的经历是深刻的。但它也会令人困惑，因为它创造了巨大的反差。在这里你会意识到，你认为的自己也许并不是真正的自己。你认为世界是什么，也许不是世界真正的样子。这就需要进行巨大的重新评估。通常情况下，人们不愿意承担这些。它太让人不舒服了。他们宁愿在他们目前的假设、联想和信仰中保持安全。然而，到时候他们会回到这一点上，因为一旦这扇大门开了一条缝，你会想进一步打开它。你会回来，因为这样做对你来说是自然的。是内心的渴望，而不是心灵的焦虑，会让你回来把这扇大门再打开一点。你想看。你想知道。你想获得安全。你想感到被包容。你想拥有目的、意义和方向。这使你回到了内识和智慧的经历，也就是在这个世界上与内识在一起。

So, what is the experience of Wisdom like? It is so great I can only describe it in its various aspects. No definition in words can contain it, and any words which might be used would seem so magnanimous that you would perhaps think, “Nothing could be that good. Nothing could be that wonderful.” But, indeed, it is. When you are experiencing Wisdom, you are like an empty vessel through which a great power or current can flow. The mind, then, instead of being filled with its own complexities, becomes, in a sense, empty. Here you become far more observant and aware of your surroundings because your mind is free to do this rather than being embroiled in its own wants and confusion. Here there is great potency because your mind can be completely focused, and it will naturally do this. Here you enter into present time because you are not living in anxiety about the future or trying to reconcile the past, which of course cannot be reconciled.

那么，智慧的经历是什么样子的？它是如此之大，我只能从它的各个方面来描述它。任何词语的定义都无法包含它，任何可能使用的词语都显得如此宽宏大量，以至于你可能会想，”没有什么可以这么好。没有什么能如此美妙”。但是，事实上，它是。当你在经历智慧时，你就像一个空的容器，一个巨大的力量或电流可以流过。那么，心灵就不会被其自身的复杂性所填满，而是在某种意义上变得空虚。在这里，你会变得更有观察力，对周围的环境更有意识，因为你的心智可以自由地这样做，而不是被自己的欲望和困惑所牵绊。这里有很大的效力，因为你的心智可以完全集中，而且它自然会这样做。在这里，你进入了当下，因为你没有生活在对未来的焦虑中，也没有试图调和过去，当然这是不可能调和的。

When you are in present time and your mind is being completely focused, you will have tremendous insight. Here you can penetrate the reality of things. Here you are not seeking for answers as much as you are seeking for experience. Here you are able to exercise real stillness, which allows the mind to concentrate, and the mind will concentrate because this is one of its natural functions. Here you will be able to be with each situation as a participant and an observer. You will feel a timeless quality as if you had known this state before, but it has been so long. You won’t know who you are or where you are, but you will know that you are in the correct place.

当你在当下，你的心智被完全集中，你将有巨大的洞察力。在这里你可以穿透世界的现实。在这里，你不是在寻求答案，而是在寻求经历。在这里，你能够锻炼真正的静止，这使心智能够集中，而心智会集中，因为这是它的自然功能之一。在这里，你将能够以参与者和观察者的身份与每种情况相处。你会感觉到一种永恒的品质，仿佛你以前就知道这种状态，但已经很久了。你将不知道你是谁，你在哪里，但你将知道你在正确的地方。

Being able to give up the need for self-definition will allow you to experience the magnitude of life in a very concentrated way. In this state, perhaps you will have insights, perhaps you will not, but the experience itself will be important and memorable. You will recall it at a later time in terms of how it felt rather than what came into your mind.

能够放弃对自我定义的需要，将使你能够以一种非常集中的方式经历生命的巨大。在这种状态下，也许你会有洞察力，也许你不会，但这种经历本身将是重要的和令人难忘的。你会在以后的时间里以它的感觉而不是以进入你心灵的想法来回忆它。

Just because you have intuitive impulses or gain insights does not mean you are experiencing Wisdom. That is a very important distinction. Wisdom is being in a certain state of mind. Here insights will come to you if it is necessary. If it is not necessary, there will be no insights.

仅仅因为你有直觉冲动或获得洞察力，并不意味着你正在经历智慧。这是一个非常重要的区别。智慧是处于一种特定的心智状态。如果有必要，这里的洞察力会向你走来。如果没有必要，就不会有洞察力。

In this state of mind there is relief from the constant attempt to get things, to have things and to understand things. This striving, which is to offset fear and anxiety, is a chronic condition in people’s normal state of mind. You are given a relief from this, and a tremendous relief it is! Even if your experience of Wisdom is only for a moment, the relief is so great that you will have an experience that will be unforgettable. Here you are not asking questions, and you don’t need to ask questions. When Knowledge arises in the mind, all questions cease; when Knowledge is lost in the mind, or is hidden by the mind, all questions emerge.

在这种心智状态中，可以从不断试图得到东西、拥有东西和理解东西中解脱出来。这种努力是为了抵消恐惧和焦虑，是人们正常心态中的一种慢性状态。你得到的是一种解脱，而且是一种巨大的解脱！你可以从这一点上得到解脱。即使你对智慧的经历只是一瞬间，但这种解脱是如此之大，以至于你将有一个难忘的经历。在这里，你没有问问题，你也不需要问问题。当内识在心灵中产生时，所有的问题都会停止；当内识在心灵中丢失，或被心灵隐藏时，所有的问题都会出现。

The experience of Wisdom is necessary to give you true insight into everything that I have said in all of these discourses. As I have said before, you will not be able to understand these things from a normal state of mind. Though much that I have said will seem sensible and meaningful, a greater comprehension must come from a greater perception and a greater capacity. Having momentary or fragmentary experiences won’t be enough.

智慧的经历是必要的，它能让你真正洞察到我在所有这些论述中所说的一切。正如我之前所说，你无法从正常的心智状态中理解这些事情。虽然我说的很多事情看起来是合理的和有意义的，但更大的理解力必须来自于更大的感知和更大的能力。有瞬间或零碎的经历是不够的。

Wisdom is not something that simply happens to you periodically, though this is how many people experience it. For example, they may wake up one morning and their mind is clear and they are just present—they hear sounds, and they experience being alive in a very poignant way. This is Wisdom. And then it passes or they shake it off and go on, saying, “I had such a wonderful moment this morning. I felt so good.” They don’t know why they had that experience. Why did it come? Why can’t it come again?

智慧不是简单地定期发生在你身上的东西，尽管许多人是这样经历的。例如，他们可能在某天早上醒来，头脑清晰，他们只是在场——他们听到了声音，他们以一种非常强烈的方式经历到了活着。这就是智慧。然后它就过去了，或者他们把它甩掉，继续说：”今天早上我有一个如此美妙的时刻。我感觉很好。”他们不知道为什么会有这种经历。它为什么会出现？为什么它不能再次出现？

Sometimes people have a profound experience of Wisdom and they try to regain it by going back to the same place and doing the same thing, by having the same conversation or the same stimulation. But they cannot get it back. Perhaps they have a moment like this in practicing meditation, so they practice again very hard, but they cannot get it back.

有时人们有一种深刻的智慧经历，他们试图通过回到同一个地方，做同样的事情，进行同样的对话或同样的刺激来恢复它。但是他们不能把它找回来。也许他们在练习冥想时有过这样的时刻，所以他们又非常努力地练习，但他们无法找回它。

Perhaps these moments seem like they just happen to you out of the blue, but indeed something is stimulating you. It is not the normal things. It is not the lovely place you were. It is not the wonderful thing you ate. It is not the charming person you were with. It is a different kind of stimulation. It is Knowledge in another stimulating Knowledge in you. Perhaps the other is not a person in physical life. Could it be a Spiritual Presence? Could it be a person on the other side of the world who entered that state, and you entered it with him or her? How can you account for this influence? How can you recreate it? You cannot. It is a great mystery how minds affect minds. Stimulation in the mental environment in its more subtle manifestations is so pervasive and complex that no one in the world could understand it.

也许这些时刻看起来就像突然发生在你身上，但确实有东西在刺激你。它不是正常的东西。它不是你所在的那个可爱的地方。它不是你吃过的美妙食物。也不是和你在一起的那个迷人的人。这是一种不同的刺激。它是另一个人的内识刺激了你的内识。也许另一个人不是物质生命中的人。它可能是一个精神的存在？会不会是一个在世界另一端的人进入了那个状态，而你和他或她一起进入了那个状态？你怎么能解释这种影响呢？你怎么能重新创造它呢？你不能。心灵如何影响心灵，这是一个巨大的谜团。心理环境中的刺激在其更微妙的表现中是如此普遍和复杂，以至于世界上没有人能够理解它。

Think of the mental environment like this: a highly-charged field through which electricity flows in a myriad of ways. Though it appears to be random and confusing, it is following natural and significant patterns in life. Or, think of it as a great electronic circuit board through which electricity flows from one thing to another in ways that are pre-established but which would seem confounding to an observer.

把心理环境想成这样：一个高度带电的领域，电流以无数种方式流过。虽然它看起来是随机的、混乱的，但它是在遵循自然的、重要的生命模式。或者，把它看作是一个巨大的电子线路板，电流以预先确定的方式从一个地方流向另一个地方，但在观察者看来却令人困惑。

To fully have the experience of Wisdom, momentary and random experiences will not be enough after awhile. You will want to return to the great door and have it open further for you—not opened all at once, for that would be too much. Just a little crack at a time. You will be nourished through this experience, so after awhile you will always want to come back to it. This will lead you to seek methods of practice and preparation which will enable you to cultivate the opportunity and the receptivity for this experience to return in an increasing manner and in ways that are relevant to your current life and needs.

要完全拥有智慧的经历，一时的和随机的经历在一段时间后将是不够的。你会想要回到那扇大门前，让它为你进一步打开——不是一下子打开，因为那会太多。一次只开一个小缝。你将通过这种经历得到滋养，所以一段时间后你会一直想回到它身边。这将导致你寻求练习和准备的方法，这将使你能够培养机会和接受能力，使这种经历以越来越多的方式和与你当前生命和需要相关的方式回来。

Sooner or later you must come to practice. Just like people who dabble with a musical instrument and, though frustrated, have moments of delight with it, sooner or later they will say to themselves, “I really want to learn to play this instrument! I like playing this instrument, but I can’t play it yet.” And they will seek preparation. They will not try to teach themselves if they are smart. They will seek instruction. They will seek assistance. They will seek correction.

迟早你必须来练习。就像那些涉猎乐器的人，虽然受到挫折，但也有高兴的时刻，他们迟早会对自己说：”我真的想学弹这个乐器！”。我喜欢弹这个乐器，但我还不会弹”。然后他们会寻求准备。如果他们是聪明人，他们不会尝试自学。他们会寻求指导。他们会寻求帮助。他们会寻求纠正。

Should you be drawn to the great mystery and beneficence of life, you too will sooner or later seek real preparation because this will give you the greatest access to Wisdom and to Knowledge. Remember, I have said that having great insights is not Wisdom, even if the insights prove to be very accurate and true. Knowledge lives within you, whether you recognize it or not, whether you can experience it or not, and whether it has any avenue of expression through you or not. It is there. It does not come and go when you come and go. It does not fade away when you are blind or preoccupied. Wisdom is learning to identify Knowledge, to receive Knowledge and to ultimately become a vehicle for its expression. This is Wisdom.

如果你被生命的伟大奥秘和恩惠所吸引，你也会迟早寻求真正的准备，因为这将使你最有机会获得智慧和内识。记住，我曾说过，拥有伟大的洞察力并不是智慧，即使这些洞察力被证明是非常准确和真实的。内识存在于你的内心，无论你是否认识到它，无论你是否能经历到它，无论它是否有任何途径通过你来表达。它就在那里。它不会随着你的到来和离去而到来和离去。它不会在你盲目或专注的时候消失。智慧是学习识别内识，接受内识，并最终成为表达内识的载体。这就是智慧。

Preparation is very important, not only to enable you to achieve the state of Wisdom and to increase its presence in your life, but also to realize and to learn all that prevents the recognition and the expression of Knowledge. Unlearning here is as important as learning. Do you want to unravel the restraints and the complexities that keep you preoccupied and lost in your own thoughts? This is how you do it. This is how you begin to unravel or take apart all that keeps you fused within yourself and unable to relate to anyone or anything directly on any kind of consistent basis.

准备工作非常重要，不仅要让你达到智慧的状态，增加它在你生命中的存在，而且要意识到并学习所有阻碍识别和表达内识的事情。在这里，解开学习与学习同样重要。你想要解开束缚和复杂问题，这些问题让你在自己的思想中心与世隔绝并且无法与他人或任何事物建立直接和一致的联系？这就是你应该做的。这就是你开始解开或分解一切困扰你、让你无法在任何情况下直接与任何人或事物建立联系的方法。

In achieving the rewards of Wisdom, you learn the essential virtues, and you learn to recognize what prevents Wisdom in others. This is so important. You will need to know this in order to work effectively with people and to relate to them in such a way that you will be able to contribute to them and to receive their contribution as well. Here your perception will change, your understanding will change and your abilities will emerge. You will learn how to adjust your behavior and gain control over your conscious mind. You will have insight and understanding, and with these compassion as well. Compassion will emerge because you will find that the preparation is far more difficult than you thought. It is not something you learn in a weekend.

在获得智慧的回报时，你学会了基本的美德，你也学会了识别什么会阻碍他人的智慧。这一点非常重要。你将需要知道这一点，以便有效地与人合作，并以这样一种方式与他们交往，你将能够为他们做出贡献，也能接受他们的贡献。在这里，你的看法会改变，你的理解会改变，你的能力会显现出来。你将学会如何调整自己的行为，获得对自己有意识心智的控制。你将有洞察力和理解力，同时也会有同情心。同情心会出现，因为你会发现，准备工作远比你想象的要困难。这不是你在一个周末就能学到的东西。

Over time, you will have compassion because you will learn that you must be compassionate with yourself. Here you learn to become a good teacher for yourself, a trusted friend, instead of a constant critic—a demanding, irritable, harsh, judgmental critic. The critic within you is eventually replaced by an abiding counselor, as you learn to remind yourself of the important things—patience, perseverance, openness, acceptance and the return to Knowledge. All the things that a wise counselor or teacher would tell you as you proceed, you learn to tell yourself. Here you will learn restraint, forbearance and tenderness with yourself—compassion. These are necessary qualities. They enable you to give in the world. They enable you to establish a meaningful and workable relationship with yourself.

随着时间的推移，你会有同情心，因为你将学会你必须对自己有同情心。在这里，你学会成为自己的好老师，一个值得信赖的朋友，而不是一个不断的批评者——一个苛刻的、易怒的、严厉的、批判性的批评者。你内心的批评者最终会被一个持久的顾问所取代，因为你学会提醒自己重要的事情——耐心、毅力、开放、接受和回归内识。所有明智的辅导员或老师在你前进过程中会告诉你的事情，你要学会告诉自己。在这里，你将学会克制、忍耐和对自己的温柔——同情心。这些都是必要的品质。它们使你能够在这个世界上给予。它们使你能够与自己建立一种有意义的、可行的关系。

Preparation creates this. You will come to preparation because sooner or later you will want to find the source of your meaning, purpose and direction. You will return to Knowledge because, like a great instinctual homecoming, it will draw you back. You will increasingly find that the pleasures of the world are momentary and tasteless for you. There is something else emerging in your life that is drawing you and calling upon you. This is natural. This is the great spiritual emergence within you. It happens very slowly and gradually so that you can receive it within your own capacity and make the proper adjustments so that you can develop your capacity over time.

准备工作创造了这一点。你会来做准备，因为你迟早会想找到你的意义、目的和方向的来源。你会回到内识，因为就像一个伟大的本能归宿，它将吸引你回来。你会越来越发现，世界上的快乐对你来说是短暂的、无味的。在你的生命中，有其他东西正在出现，吸引着你，召唤着你。这是很自然的。这是你内心伟大的精神出现。它发生得非常缓慢和渐进，以便你能在自己的能力范围内接受它，并做出适当的调整，以便你能随着时间的推移发展你的能力。

The great door of life is not thrown open. It is opened very, very gradually. Why is it gradual? Because it is governed by Wisdom and by the Wise. Consider how long it took them to learn and to unlearn, to evaluate and to re-evaluate, to receive, to accept and to give. They know something about learning here. They have learned to learn, and this is part of their Wisdom. Wisdom, then, is not only being with Knowledge; it is learning to become a vehicle for Knowledge—to abide with Knowledge, to allow Knowledge to express itself through you, to join in the stillness of Knowledge and to utilize the perception of Knowledge.

伟大的生命之门不是被推开的。它是非常、非常逐渐地打开的。为什么它是渐进的？因为它是由智慧和智者所管理的。想想他们花了多长时间来学习和解除学习，评估和重新评估，得到、接受和给予。他们对这里的学习有所知道。他们已经学会了学习，这就是他们智慧的一部分。那么，智慧不仅是与内识同在；它是学习成为内识的载体——与内识同在，允许内识通过你表达自己，加入内识的静止，使用内识的感知。

Learning to do this is the great education. It is what could wisely be called Higher Education. People learn this very fearfully and falteringly at first. They are not sure they even want to learn it. It seems so strange, yet so wonderful. They are perhaps afraid that they will lose interest in the things they have given themselves to, and they are afraid of the sense of guilt and waste that must surely arise as they realize that they had formerly invested themselves poorly and ignorantly, having given their life, time, energy and resources to pursuits that had little or no value or promise. This is a very difficult thing to face, yet you will face it because you must seek that which is truly meaningful.

学习这样做是伟大的教育。它是可以明智地称为高等教育的学习。人们一开始学这个的时候非常害怕，而且摇摇晃晃的。他们甚至不确定自己是否想要学习它。它看起来如此陌生，却又如此美妙。他们也许害怕他们会对自己所付出的东西失去兴趣，他们也害怕当他们意识到自己以前的投资是拙劣的、无知的，把自己的生命、时间、精力和资源给了那些没有什么价值或前景的追求时，肯定会产生内疚感和浪费感。这是一个非常难以面对的事情，然而你将面对它，因为你必须寻求那真正有意义的内识。

The pursuit of Wisdom and Knowledge is relentless. If you do not make it in this tour of duty in the world, you will certainly return again because when you go home to your Spiritual Family, you will realize that this is the only thing that matters. Once you are there, you will say to yourself, “I completely forgot myself down there. I must go back.” You will come back, and you will forget yourself and once again go through the process of self-reclamation within the context of your humanity. Without the great garment of humanity, this understanding is so clear, but you must have this perception while you are in the human experience for this understanding to be an effective means of contribution here.

对智慧和内识的追求是无情的。如果你在这个世界上的这次任务没有成功，你一定会再次回来，因为当你回到你的精神家庭时，你会意识到这是唯一重要的事情。一旦你在那里，你会对自己说：”我在下面完全忘记了自己。我必须回去。”你会回来，你会忘记自己，再次在你的人性范围内经历自我救赎的过程。如果没有人类的大衣，这种理解是如此清晰，但你必须在人类的经历中拥有这种感知，这种理解才能成为在此贡献的有效手段。

Therefore, Wisdom and the approach to Knowledge constitute the great education. The journey here is the essential thing. Wisdom is not just a great final reward of life. It is the ability to be with life as it is occurring, to engage with it directly and meaningfully and to be able to draw upon Knowledge that you carry within you, which previously only seemed to be an idea or a potentiality.

因此，智慧和对内识的接近构成了伟大的教育。这里的旅程是至关重要的事情。智慧不仅仅是生命的伟大最终回报。它是一种能力，能够与正在发生的生命在一起，直接和有意义地参与其中，并能够使用你内在的内识，而内识以前似乎只是一个想法或一种潜能。

At a certain juncture, approaching Wisdom requires a very formal preparation. For instance, people who are practicing in Steps to Knowledge are preparing for Wisdom. They enter this preparation perhaps thinking they are going to get some other things—love, wealth, recognition or security. They may hope to cavort with angels and to rise above the world and escape its difficulties. But they find that the preparation is really quite different. The Way leads them in a different direction. Perhaps the mountain that they are seeking to reach is the same one that Knowledge is taking them too, but the path leads a different way. And they say, “I thought we had to go this way,” but the preparation is taking them in a different direction.

在某一时刻，接近智慧需要一个非常正式的准备。例如，在《内识的阶梯》中练习的人是在为智慧做准备。他们进入这个准备阶段时，也许认为自己会得到一些其他东西——爱情、财富、认可或安全。他们可能希望与天使共舞，希望超越世界，逃离世界的困境。但他们发现，准备工作其实是完全不同的。道路将他们引向一个不同的方向。也许他们所要到达的山是内识所要带他们去的那座山，但道路却引向不同的方向。他们说，”我以为我们必须走这条路，”但准备工作却把他们带到了不同的方向。

You could say that the approach to Knowledge is a series of great re-evaluations, born of necessity not curiosity. These re-evaluations are necessary because you have reached a juncture where you must re-evaluate or rethink your position and your assumptions. No one is forcing you to do this. You have simply reached a place where you must do this because it is clear that you need a new position in life. You will see it, you will feel it, you will know it and it will be demonstrated in your life. These are minor thresholds, though they will seem great in the moment. They might even seem cataclysmic, but they are minor. Even though they are minor, they are necessary and are very important for you to progress.

你可以说，对内识的接近是一系列重大的重新评估，源于必要性而非好奇心。这些重新评估是必要的，因为你已经到了一个必须重新评估或重新思考你的立场和假设的关口。没有人强迫你这样做。你只是到了一个必须这样做的地方，因为很明显，你需要一个新的人生定位。你会看到它，你会感觉到它，你会知道它，它将在你的生命中得到证明。这些都是小门槛，尽管它们在当下看起来很巨大。它们甚至可能看起来是灾难性的，但它们是小事。尽管它们是次要的，但它们是必要的，对你的进步非常重要。

Learning to direct the mind rather than being dominated by the mind, to use the mental environment, to use your mental resources, to use the physical environment and your physical resources rather than simply being lost in them requires a great deal of preparation. Some aspects of the preparation make great sense, while other aspects seem very confusing and inexplicable.

学会引导心灵而不是被心灵支配，使用心理环境，使用你的心理资源，使用物理环境和你的物质资源，而不是简单地迷失在其中，需要大量的准备。准备工作的某些方面非常有意义，而其他方面似乎非常混乱，无法解释。

For example, people wonder about the emphasis on stillness. They think, “I am trying to get something done! I am trying to learn something! I am trying to acquire Knowledge. I am trying to figure things out! Why deal with stillness? Well, all right, I’ll practice stillness because if I practice stillness, I’ll get the answers, yes?” No, you get stillness. People don’t see that stillness in itself is the reward. They think stillness is being stupid and passive. The emphasis on stillness, then, seems inexplicable. Its only value to people is that maybe if they are still, they can get what they want. They are still into getting and having and acquiring. They bring their madness to the preparation and try to use the preparation to satisfy their madness and the demands of their madness. But the preparation is such that it will relieve you of your madness, not fulfill it, for madness cannot be fulfilled. That is why it is madness.

例如，人们对强调静止感到奇怪。他们认为，”我在努力完成一些事情！我在努力学习一些东西！”。我在努力学习一些东西!我在试图获得内识。我在试图弄清事情！”。为什么要处理静止的问题？好吧，我会练习静止，因为如果我练习静止，我就会得到答案，是吗？”不，你会得到静止。人们没有看到，静止本身就是一种回报。他们认为静止是愚蠢和被动的。那么，对静止的强调似乎是不可理解的。它对人们的唯一价值是，也许如果他们静止，他们可以得到他们想要的东西。他们仍然喜欢得到、拥有和获得。他们把他们的疯狂带到准备工作中，并试图利用准备工作来满足他们的疯狂和他们疯狂的要求。但是准备工作是这样的，它将缓解你的疯狂，而不是满足它，因为疯狂不能被满足。这就是为什么它是疯狂的。

At the outset and for quite awhile in real preparation, the students are at variance with the preparation itself. Perhaps they will go along thinking it is wonderful, but at some point they will really begin to wonder. Here people will often abandon the preparation and go seek for something new. They will say, “I am not going anywhere with this. Things are not happening for me. I need results.” Then they abandon the preparation and go seek something else. What they don’t understand here is that their approach to themselves, to life and to their preparation, which is all the same, is at variance with the preparation itself.

在真正的准备工作开始时和相当长的一段时间内，学生们与准备工作本身是不一致的。也许他们会认为这很好，但在某些时候他们真的会开始怀疑。在这里，人们往往会放弃准备，去寻找新的东西。他们会说：”我在这上面没有任何进展。事情没有发生在我身上。我需要结果。”然后他们放弃准备工作，去寻求其他东西。他们不明白的是，他们对自己、对生命和对准备工作的态度，都是一样的，与准备工作本身是不一致的。

The preparation is a cure for madness. Steps to Knowledge is a cure for madness, the madness that everyone in the world lives with to varying degrees. Do you want to have Wisdom? You must be relieved of madness. You don’t know what that will mean, what it will require or what it will be like. Here is where people have images of asceticism. “Giving up madness is living in a hut with a bowl. I certainly don’t want to live like that! So, rather than seeking Wisdom, I’ll just be around someone who is wise and I will be able to get my answers from them.” This is ridiculous. You have not the slightest idea what life will look like when Wisdom is abiding with you consistently. You are just ambivalent about whether you want to give up the madness. You still think the madness is going to work for you and give you what you want. People are actively participating in their madness. It is not something that takes them over, like a disease they cannot shake off. They have invested in it and continue to invest in it.

准备工作是对疯狂的治疗。通往内识的步骤是治疗疯狂的方法，世界上每个人都在不同程度上生活着的疯狂。你想拥有智慧吗？你必须从疯狂中解脱出来。你不知道这将意味着什么，需要什么，会是什么样子。这里是人们对禁欲主义的印象所在。”放弃疯狂是住在一个有碗的小屋里。我当然不想那样生活！”。所以，与其寻求智慧，不如让我呆在有智慧的人身边，我就能从他们那里得到答案”。这是很荒谬的。你丝毫不知道当智慧持续与你同在时，生命会是什么样子。你只是对自己是否要放弃疯狂的想法感到矛盾。你仍然认为疯狂会对你起作用，给你你想要的东西。人们正在积极地参与他们的疯狂。这不是一种占据他们的东西，就像一种他们无法摆脱的疾病。他们已经投资于它，并继续投资于它。

The preparation for Knowledge, which seems confusing, inexplicable and perhaps undesirable, will cultivate real Wisdom because it will teach you what Knowledge is and how to abide with it. It is not here to give you what you want. It is here to give you what you know. You are not sure that what you know is what you want, so this must be demonstrated and proven to you over time. This requires a long preparation.

对内识的准备，似乎令人困惑，无法解释，也许是不可取的，将培养真正的智慧，因为它将教你什么是内识，以及如何与它共存。它在这里不是为了给你你想要的东西。它在这里是给你你所知道的。你不确定你所知道的就是你想要的，所以这必须在一段时间内向你展示和证明。这需要长期的准备。

Your madness is engendered by wanting something that you do not know and that you do not really want. This is the madness of the world. This is what keeps all of humanity in a state of prolonged misery. Part of the suffering of being in the world is in living a physical life where death and harm are very present and possible. Yet, the vast majority of human suffering is in the mind. This is madness. Facing this madness will lead you to ask greater questions and seek greater relief. Seeking relief is part of what motivates you towards Knowledge. But this cannot be your only motivation, for you must also seek, at least according to your current understanding, what Knowledge possesses.

你的疯狂是由于想要一些你不知道和你并不真正想要的东西而产生的。这就是世界的疯狂。这就是使全人类处于长期痛苦状态的原因。存在于这个世界上的部分痛苦在于过着物质的生命，死亡和伤害是非常存在和可能的。然而，人类绝大部分的痛苦是在心灵中。这就是疯狂。面对这种疯狂，将导致你提出更大的问题，寻求更大的救济。寻求解脱是促使你走向内识的部分原因。但这不能成为你唯一的动机，因为你还必须寻求，至少根据你目前的理解，内识所拥有的品质。

You cannot escape into Knowledge because Knowledge will bring you back into life. You cannot seek only comfort in Knowledge because Knowledge requires change and work. You cannot seek only confirmation in Knowledge because Knowledge recognizes something else in you than that which you are seeking to have confirmed. Knowledge is not a holiday. Knowledge is bringing you into the world and teaching you how to be in the world wisely.

你不能逃避内识，因为内识会把你带回生命之中。你不能只在内识中寻求舒适，因为内识需要改变和工作。你不能只在内识中寻求确认，因为内识认识到你身上的其他东西，而不是你正在寻求确认的东西。内识不是一个假期。内识是把你带入这个世界，教你如何明智地置身于这个世界。

You learn to be still because stillness enables you to know things, to penetrate things through your perception and to assimilate things as well. It gives you the presence of mind to recognize that which is beneficial and that which is not, and it does this without condemnation. Stillness gives you the freedom to have peace, but it also gives you the potency for action. Here you are reserving your mental resources and energy. Knowledge is like the archer who exerts effort in pulling back the bow so that when the moment to release the arrow comes, it has real power and direction.

你要学会静止，因为静止使你能够知道事物，通过你的感知穿透事物，也能吸收事物。静止给你心灵的存在感，让你能够辨别有益的和无益的，而这一切都没有谴责。静止给你自由去获得平静，但也赋予你行动的力量。在这里，你保留了你的心理资源和能量。内识就像弓箭手，他用力拉开弓弦，这样在放箭的那一刻，它就具备真正的力量和方向。

Therefore, as you learn how Knowledge functions, you are able to abide with it and to express it in the world. This is Wisdom. Wisdom is not having all the answers, like the wise man on top of the mountain. The man and woman of Knowledge at any moment may not have any answers for anyone, but they are having an experience that is beyond the seeming reach of everyone around them. Possessing Wisdom does not mean that you are happy all the time, for you will indeed experience the suffering of the world very sharply at times.

因此，当你学习内识的功能时，你就能与它共存，并在世界中表达它。这就是智慧。智慧不是拥有所有的答案，就像山顶上的智者。掌握内识的男人和女人在任何时候都可能没有任何答案，但他们有一种经验，是他们周围的人似乎都无法达到的。拥有智慧并不意味着你一直都很快乐，因为你有时确实会非常尖锐地经历到世界的痛苦。

With Wisdom, you are always giving. You realize you do not understand how you give, although you do understand certain things you can do where giving can occur, and you will be inclined to do those things. But how giving functions through you is a mystery and a gracious experience.

有了智慧，你总是在给予。你意识到你不明白你是如何给予的，尽管你明白你可以做某些事情，在那里可以发生给予，而且你会倾向于做这些事情。但是，给予是如何通过你发挥作用的，这是一个神秘，也是一种亲切的经历。