Chapter 24: Work

Work – Spiritual Growth Gives Purpose and Meaning to Work
工作——精神成长赋予工作以目的和意义

As revealed to God’s Messenger Marshall Vian Summers on May 13, 1993 in Boulder, CO
1993年5月13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

Work is the essential activity of life. What you do for work, who you work with and for what purpose you work determine the essential value that you will experience in life. Work is natural. It is necessary, and it is the foundation of your existence here. To think otherwise is to miss the point about life. It is to misunderstand your purpose for coming here, the value that you bring with you and the opportunity for relationship that your work provides for you.

工作是生命的重要活动。你做什么工作，和谁一起工作，为了什么目的工作，决定了你将在生命中经历的根本价值。工作是自然的。它是必要的，它是你在这里存在的基础。如果不这样想，就是错过了生命的重点。这是误解了你来这里的目的，误解了你带来的价值和你的工作为你提供的关系机会。

Just because most people do not find value in their employment does not mean that it is not the source of great meaning in their lives. But to understand work, one must have a sense of having a greater purpose, and one must bring into right order many things that constitute the essential elements of living here.

大多数人在工作中找不到价值，并不意味着工作不是他们生命中巨大意义的来源。但是要理解工作，就必须有一种拥有更大目的的感觉，而且必须把构成这里生命的重要要素的许多事情带入正确的秩序。

There is much that you would be able to learn from your neighbors in the Greater Community since they have traveled far beyond the stage that humanity is in at this time. They could give you an idea of what is up ahead and what will be expected of you in the future.

你可以从大社区的邻居那里学到很多事情，因为他们已经远远超越了人类此时所处的阶段。他们可以给你一个概念，告诉你前面是什么，以及未来对你的期望是什么。

Work, like most other things that are natural and fundamental, has been greatly misconstrued and, therefore, misapplied here. Work is seen in your culture primarily as a way of making money to provide for essential needs, and beyond the provision of essential needs, money is used for personal enhancements. But what is work really if it is merely a way of collecting income? Not much is expected of it here in terms of real value and meaning. Of course, people hope that their pursuit of money will be meaningful because it requires so much of their time and energy. But in essence work fulfills a greater purpose and a greater need as well.

工作，就像大多数自然和基本的事物一样，在这里被极大地误解和错误应用。在你的文化中，工作主要被视为赚取金钱来满足基本需求的一种方式，而在满足基本需求之外，金钱则用于个人提升。但如果工作只是获取收入的一种方式，那它到底是什么呢？在真正的价值和意义方面，这里对它的期望并不高。当然，人们希望他们对金钱的追求是有意义的，因为这需要他们投入大量的时间和精力。但实际上，工作也满足了一个更大的目的和需求。

Let us start at the beginning. The beginning is this: You were sent to the world to work. The world is a place of work. Work is the natural activity of life. Work is the focal point for your relationships. When I say work, I do not simply mean earning enough money to get by or earning enough money to enrich yourself with personal enhancements. I am talking about the essential activity of life that provides the meaning for your existence, the justification for your past learning and the foundation for your meaningful relationships. It would be accurate to say that purpose and work are the same. When you ask, “What is my purpose?” you are really asking, “What is my work?” If you do not include work in your idea of purpose, then your idea of purpose is pure speculation and won’t yield anything of real value. People think that their purpose has to do with their identity, but this is not accurate either. Your true identity transcends your work activity in the world. Though your work activity will define your role in the world, your true identity is something beyond this altogether.

让我们从头开始。一切的起点就是：你被派遣到这个世界来工作。世界是一个工作的地方。工作是生命的自然活动。工作是你关系的焦点。当我说工作时，我并不仅指赚够钱以维持生计，或者赚够钱以提升个人境况。我所说的是生命的基本活动，它为你的存在提供意义，为你过去的学习提供理由，为你有意义的关系打下基础。可以说，目的和工作是一回事。当你问“我的目的是什么？”时，实际上你在问“我的工作是什么？”如果你的目的中不包括工作，那么你的目的就纯属推测，不会产生真正的价值。人们认为他们的目的与他们的身份有关，但这也不准确。你真实的身份超越了你在世界中的工作活动。尽管你的工作活动会定义你在世界中的角色，但你真实的身份远不止于此。

Therefore, we must place work in a larger sphere. Your work is not simply doing one thing. Your work is all of your productive activity in life. Everything that you enjoy and rely upon is a product of work. If work is done with a larger idea in mind and a greater purpose to serve, then its value will extend far beyond the products, services and results of the effort itself.

因此，我们必须将工作置于更广阔的领域。你的工作不仅仅是做一件事。你的工作是你生命中所有的创造性活动。你所享受和依赖的一切都是工作的产物。如果工作是在心灵中有一个更宏大的理念和更伟大的目的来进行的，那么它的价值将远远超出努力本身的产品、服务和成果。

It is true to say that in recent generations people have been losing their ability to work. They are losing the value of work because there is so much pleasure and so much leisure time for so many people now. In this, there is a great misfortune. Because your work requires so much from you, it cultivates you. It enhances you. It demands things of you. It places responsibilities on your shoulders. It provides balance, structure and the opportunity for greater meaning. If these are avoided or neglected, the results will truly be pathetic—anger, depression, chronic confusion, self-denial and self-abuse. All these are the result of not responding to a call for work in the world and not fulfilling that response.

可以说，近几代以来，人们一直在失去工作的能力。他们正在失去工作的价值，因为现在有这么多的人有这么多的乐趣和这么多的休闲时间。在这一点上，存在着巨大的不幸。因为你的工作需要你做这么多，它培养了你。它提高了你的能力。它对你有要求。它把责任放在你的肩上。它提供平衡、结构和获得更大意义的机会。如果这些都被回避或忽视，其结果将是真正可悲的——愤怒、抑郁、长期混乱、自我否定和自我虐待。所有这些都是没有响应世界上的工作号召，没有实现这种响应的结果。

Many people do not work; others work and are very unhappy. Therefore, to gain a greater sense of what work means, we must put it in a larger context. Work is not simply what you do to get by to earn enough money to meet whatever needs you define to be necessary and important for yourself. Work is what you are here to do. It includes great activities, but it is largely made up of small activities—mundane things that have to be done every day, simple tasks that once fulfilled give you the opportunity to do greater things in service to humanity.

许多人不工作；有些人工作了，却非常不快乐。因此，为了更好地理解工作的意义，我们必须把它放在一个更大的背景下。工作不仅仅是你为了赚取足够的钱来满足你自己定义的任何必要和重要的需求而做的事情。工作是你在这里要做的事情。它包括伟大的活动，但它在很大程度上是由小活动组成的——每天必须完成的平凡的事情，简单的任务，一旦完成，你就有机会做更大的事情，为人类服务。

What is your real work in the world? Well, to find your real work you must go through a long process of refinement, for it is the same as asking, “What is my real purpose?” Can I tell you your purpose by a simple definition? Well, yes, I can, but it will not mean that much to you until you are in a position to experience it, apply it and live its reality.

你在这个世界上真正的工作是什么？好吧，要找到你真正的工作，你必须经历一个漫长的提炼过程，因为这就等于问：”我真正的目的是什么？”我可以通过一个简单的定义告诉你你的目的吗？嗯，是的，我可以，但它对你来说并不意味着什么，除非你能够经历它，应用它，活出它的现实。

To gain access to your real work, or your real purpose, you must begin to value work itself and to build upon what you do today in order to expand it and to broaden its scope and application. To simply go to a job and endure it and then come home to rest and recreate will not bring you to the great realization of what you are here to do and what you are equipped to contribute.

为了获得你真正的工作，或你真正的目的，你必须开始重视工作本身，并在你今天所做的基础上，扩大它，扩大它的范围和应用。仅仅是去上班，忍受工作，然后回家休息和娱乐，并不会让你认识到你在这里的使命以及你能够做出的贡献。

It is true that following The Greater Community Way of Knowledge brings you to your true work, but it does so gradually, stage by stage. Likewise, it brings you to your true purpose, but it does so stage by stage. You see, having a greater purpose or greater work is not simply taking on more work responsibilities. It is having a larger understanding of what your work is and what it can do and then being able to bring into balance all the important components of your life—your health, your financial responsibilities, your primary relationships and your spiritual development. These are the Four Pillars of successful existence here.

的确，遵循大社区内识之路会把你带到你真正的工作中，但它是逐步的，一个阶段一个阶段的。同样，它把你带到你真正的目的，但它是一个阶段一个阶段地进行的。你看，有一个更伟大的目的或更伟大的工作，并不只是承担更多的工作责任。它是对你的工作是什么以及它能做什么有更大的理解，然后能够平衡你生命中的所有重要组成部分——你的健康、你的财务责任、你的主要关系和你的精神发展。这些是这里成功存在的四大支柱。

The fact that most people can only focus on one pillar to the exclusion of the others is quite evident. Occasionally, you will see someone who can do two of the four, but that seems rare. Beyond this, it is a rare individual indeed who can be competent in all four of these areas. By competent, I do not mean that they are expert. I mean that they are competent. Competent means that they can carry out things, progress and maintain something beyond their own personal needs. This is all the result of work. Relationships require work. Gaining financial stability requires work. Proper health maintenance requires work. Spiritual development requires work. If insufficient effort is expended in any of these areas, the results will fall far short of what they are intended to be.

大多数人只能专注于一个支柱而忽略了其他支柱，这是非常明显的事实。偶尔，你会看到有人能做到这四个中的两个，但这似乎很罕见。除此之外，能在这四个方面都胜任的人确实很罕见。我所说的能力，并不是指他们是专家。我的意思是，他们有能力。有能力的意思是，他们可以开展工作，取得进展，并保持一些超越他们个人需求的东西。这都是工作的结果。关系需要工作。获得财务稳定需要工作。适当的健康维护需要工作。精神的发展需要工作。如果在这些领域中的任何一个方面花费的努力不够，结果将远远达不到预期的效果。

You might ask now, “Does this mean I have to work all the time?” The answer is yes, you will be working all the time, with periods of rest and carefree enjoyment sprinkled here and there. The rest is all work. You have a long time to rest when you leave this world and return to your Spiritual Family. In the interim you are here to work, to accomplish tasks, to complete things and to develop as a worker and contributor to life.

你现在可能会问，”这是否意味着我必须一直工作？”答案是肯定的，你将一直在工作，在这里和那里洒下休息和无忧无虑的享受的时期。其余的都是工作。当你离开这个世界，回到你的精神家庭时，你有很长一段时间可以休息。在这期间，你在这里是为了工作，为了完成任务，为了完成工作，为了发展成为一个工作者和生命的贡献者。

If you think about what I am saying, you will realize that it is absolutely true. Everything that you see around you has been the product of people’s efforts—the product of their work. Let us say here that work is a combination of effort, direction and determination. If you focus on achieving something, you aim yourself in a certain direction so that achievement can be made. You expend effort consistently. You learn, you make mistakes, you grow, you change and you re-evaluate all along the way. It is all a process of work.

如果你想一想我说的话，你会意识到这是绝对真实的。你所看到的周围的一切，都是人们努力的产物——他们工作的产物。让我们在这里说，工作是努力、方向和决心的结合。如果你专注于实现某件事情，你就会把自己瞄准某个方向，这样就能取得成就。你持续地花费努力。你会学习，你会犯错，你会成长，你会改变，你会在这一路上重新评估。这都是一个工作的过程。

A leisure society is a society that is dying. And, indeed, much of the decadence that you see in your culture here is directly attributable to the emphasis on leisure and pleasure. Leisure and pleasure are natural benefits of a life that is meaningful and filled with work. Work hard and you will enjoy your leisure. If you do not work hard, your leisure will seem like a weight upon you, something that you do not want to lose but which gives you little or no value within itself.

一个休闲的社会是一个正在死亡的社会。而且，事实上，你在这里看到的文化中的许多颓废现象，直接归因于对休闲和快乐的强调。休闲和快乐是有意义的、充满工作的生活的自然好处。努力工作，你将享受你的休闲。如果你不努力工作，你的闲暇就会像你身上的重担，你不想失去的东西，但它本身给你的价值却很少或没有。

There is satisfaction with accomplishment. There is satisfaction in relationships that are geared towards accomplishment. The fact that these values have been eroded or are associated with earlier times or with old ideas is truly unfortunate. It means that people are requiring more from life but are diminishing the very thing that will give them what they want. People want more leisure and more pleasure, but they are cutting out the very thing that vitalizes them, that keeps them awake, aware and moving. You did not come to the world to fall asleep by the side of the road. Life is not a beach. Life is a project and a process with all the Mystery and manifestation built in.

有成就感就有满足感。在以成就为目标的关系中，也有满足感。这些价值已经被侵蚀，或与早期的时代或旧观念相关联，这确实是不幸的事实。这意味着人们从生活中要求更多，但却在减少能给他们带来想要的东西。人们想要更多的休闲和快乐，但他们正在削减使他们充满活力的工作，使他们保持清醒、意识和运动。你来到这个世界不是为了在路边睡着的。生命不是一个海滩。生命是一个项目和一个过程，其中包含了所有的神秘和表现。

When you think of work, think of what you must do to maintain financial stability, to maintain your primary relationships which require time and effort, to maintain adequate health so that your body can serve you and to further your spiritual growth. All of these require work. They require effort, direction and determination. This does not leave a lot of time for confusion or ambivalence or wandering around aimlessly. Now you do not have time for things that only frustrate and confuse you because you have a greater set of needs, and these provide definition for you and give your life direction.

当你想到工作时，想想你必须做的事情，以保持经济稳定，维持你的主要关系，这需要时间和努力，保持足够的健康，使你的身体能够为你服务，并进一步促进你的精神成长。所有这些都需要工作。它们需要努力、方向和决心。这并没有为困惑或矛盾或漫无目的的游荡留下很多时间。现在你没有时间去做那些只会让你感到沮丧和困惑的事情，因为你有一套更大的需求，这些需求为你提供了定义，并给你的生命指明了方向。

Every activity that is meaningful is a form of work. Developing stillness is work. Here effort is extended to produce a state of mind where there is no effort, yet it is work nonetheless. We refer to having faith in Knowledge and the study of Steps to Knowledge as “the work.” People say they are involved with the work because it is work. People have difficulty with practice and often give up far too soon because they are not accustomed to work. They think the work is to be a pleasure, a refuge and a retreat from life—time off. The Way of Knowledge is not a beach. It is not a refuge. It is work. It is choosing a direction to which you apply yourself with determination. In this, you become aware of what you need to work on in your life, and you begin to work on these things.

每一项有意义的活动都是一种工作形式。发展静止就是工作。在这里，努力被扩展到产生一种没有努力的心灵状态，但它仍然是工作。我们把对内识的信仰和对内识步骤的研究称为”工作”。人们说他们参与了这项工作，因为它是工作。人们在实践中遇到困难，常常过早地放弃，因为他们不习惯工作。他们认为工作是一种乐趣，是一种避难所，是一种远离生命的退缩。内识之路不是海滩。它不是一个避难所。它是工作。它是选择一个方向，你要坚定地运用自己。在这一点上，你会意识到你在生命中需要努力的工作，并且你开始为这些工作而努力。

Now, let me give you a very important distinction. Many people think that they must work on themselves to change, correct or improve themselves. This idea is correct but only in a certain way. You must work on yourself but only insofar as it enables you to work on the Four Pillars that I have mentioned. To work on yourself for any other reason is meaningless. In fact, it is an escape from work. To be able to work on developing financial stability, adequate health, primary relationships and spiritual growth—that is the work! You make corrections within yourself and you analyze yourself only insofar as it enables you to participate actively in these areas.

现在，让我给你一个非常重要的区别。许多人认为，他们必须在自己身上下功夫，以改变、纠正或提高自己。这种想法是正确的，但只是在某种程度上。你必须在自己身上下功夫，但只有在它能使你在我提到的四大支柱上下功夫的情况下。出于任何其他原因对自己进行努力是毫无意义的。事实上，这是对工作的一种逃避。能够致力于发展财务稳定、充分的健康、主要的关系和精神成长——这才是工作！你要在自己的内心进行修正，你分析自己，只有在它使你能够积极参与这些领域的时候。

The only value of personal retreat is so that you can learn to work better. But in fact, people use retreat in order to try to improve themselves. You cannot improve yourself. You can only give yourself to something. There is no self-improvement that can be the focus of your life. You will be improved as your work becomes better—more complete, more effective, more nurturing to others and more meaningful to you. The only work you do on yourself is to enable you to work in the world. Trying to improve your personality or arrest unwanted habits or behaviors will not lead to success. Life will purify you if you involve yourself with it correctly. You do not purify yourself so that you can be involved in life, for in this you have taken yourself out of life and are attempting to do for yourself what only life itself can do for you.

个人静修的唯一价值是使你能学会更好地工作。但事实上，人们利用静修来试图改善自己。你不能改善自己。你只能把自己交给某些工作。没有什么自我改善可以成为你生命的重点。当你的工作变得更好时，你会得到改善——更完整、更有效、对他人更有养分、对你更有意义。你在自己身上做的唯一工作是为了使你能够在这个世界上工作。试图改善你的个性或逮捕不需要的习惯或行为，不会导致成功。如果你正确地参与其中，生命会净化你。你不是为了让自己参与到生命中而净化自己，因为这样你就把自己从生命中抽离出来，并试图为自己做只有生命它本身才能为你做的事情。

Let us say that you receive what you give in life. This is a familiar idea, but if you apply it within this larger context, you will see how true it is. If you work very little and give very little of yourself, if there is very little devotion in your life to anything beyond fulfilling your own personal desires, you will feel empty, and no amount of new stimulation or pleasure or relationship or excitement will offset the terrible emptiness that haunts you. People who find meaning are people who find an engagement in the world where they are needed. When you realize you are needed for something, this provides meaning and value to your life. In the world, your life does not have meaning apart from your work. To proclaim that you have a universal meaning regardless of what you do is in fact a meaningless exercise because it does not enable you to justify why you have come into the world. To say, “I am a Divine Being no matter what I do or where I go,” will not offset the gnawing sense that you must respond to something important and give yourself to it.

让我们说，你在生命中付出什么，就会得到什么。这是一个熟悉的想法，但如果你在这个大背景下应用它，你会发现它是多么真实。如果你工作很少，付出很少，如果你的生命中除了满足你自己的个人欲望之外，几乎没有任何奉献，你就会感到空虚，无论多少新的刺激、快乐、关系或兴奋都会抵消萦绕在你身上的可怕的空虚感。找到意义的人是在这个世界上找到需要他们的地方的人。当你意识到你被需要的时候，这为你的生命提供了意义和价值。在这个世界上，除了你的工作之外，你的生命并没有意义。宣称无论你做什么，你都有普遍的意义，实际上是一种毫无意义的做法，因为它不能使你证明你为什么来到这个世界。说”无论我做什么或去哪里，我都是一个神圣的存在”，这不会抵消你必须对重要的工作作出回应并全身心投入的痛苦感觉。

When we talk about our work, we talk about our shared endeavor. It is not only for your personal fulfillment; it is to enable you to give something to the world. Now, the world does not necessarily want what you may want to give. What the world wants is what the world needs from you. Let us say this in different words. People think that their great work is what they want to give, so then they try to figure out what they want to give. Here they get all tied up with themselves trying to figure out if they want this or if they want that, what will give more pleasure, what they really want.

当我们谈论我们的工作时，我们谈论的是我们共同的努力。它不仅是为了你个人的成就；它是为了使你能够为世界做出贡献。现在，世界不一定想要你可能想要给予的东西。世界想要的是世界需要你提供的东西。让我们用不同的话来说说这一点。人们认为他们的伟大工作是他们想要给予的东西，所以他们试图弄清楚他们想要给予什么。在这里，他们被自己捆绑起来，试图弄清楚他们是想要这个还是想要那个，什么会带来更多的快乐，他们真正想要什么。

This is not the way. Find out where you are needed and give there. And if you have found the right place, you will give more than you had planned to give, and you will receive more than you had planned to receive. What you may end up giving may not at all resemble what you thought you had wanted to do. That is why the path of personal fulfillment is the path of darkness. You will never be able to fulfill yourself. You will never be able to have enough pleasure, delight, sensation, recognition, appreciation, glory, fame—whatever you might want to call it. You will never have enough. In fact, this is really a desperate attempt to offset the pain of emptiness and the pain of isolation.

这不是办法。找出需要你的地方，并在那里给予。如果你找到了正确的地方，你将给予比你计划的更多，你将得到比你计划的更多。你最终给予的东西可能与你认为你想做的事情完全不一样。这就是为什么个人成就的道路是黑暗的道路。你将永远无法实现自己。你将永远无法拥有足够的快乐、喜悦、感觉、认可、赞赏、荣耀、名声——无论你想称之为什么。你将永远不会有足够的东西。事实上，这确实是一种绝望的尝试，以抵消空虚的痛苦和孤立的痛苦。

When you put yourself in a position to give, and it is the correct position and the correct situation, you will give. And you will find that you have to give much more than you had planned, without guarantees of fame, glory, love, pleasure or wealth—without any of these things. And in this, your work can become focused on the Four Pillars that I have mentioned. But this can only happen if you have the correct engagements and the correct understanding.

当你把自己放在一个可以给予的位置上，而且是正确的位置和正确的情况，你就会给予。而且你会发现，你必须给予的比你计划的要多得多，没有名声、荣耀、爱情、快乐或财富的保证——没有任何这些保证。在这一点上，你的工作可以集中在我提到的四大支柱上。但这只有在你有正确的参与和正确的理解时才能发生。

Let us make another important point. Many people think that everything they do is for their spiritual growth. This is not true. Spiritual growth is only one of the Four Pillars of life in the world. Most people will not want to admit that they do everything just to make money. Most people would not think that they do everything just to enhance their health. A few people think that they do everything for their primary relationships to the exclusion of everything else. So, why think that everything is for your spiritual growth?

让我们提出另一个重要观点。许多人认为他们所做的一切是为了他们的精神成长。这并不正确。精神成长只是世界上生命的四大支柱之一。大多数人不会愿意承认，他们所做的一切只是为了挣钱。大多数人不会认为他们所做的一切只是为了增强他们的健康。少数人认为他们所做的一切都是为了他们的主要关系，而排除了其他一切。那么，为什么认为每件事都是为了你的精神成长？

Spiritual growth serves the other three Pillars as the other three Pillars serve spiritual growth. If you are financially unstable, you will not be able to begin your spiritual development because you will be so hampered by external problems and irresolutions. If your health is compromised and you are ill, it is very difficult to be wholeheartedly involved in a spiritual practice. If your primary relationships are chaotic and in disarray, how will you be able to approach your spiritual growth? All of these must work together.

精神成长为其他三大支柱服务，因为其他三大支柱为精神成长服务。如果你经济不稳定，你将无法开始你的精神发展，因为你会被外部问题和不解决的问题所阻碍。如果你的健康受到影响，你生病了，就很难全心全意地投入到精神练习中。如果你的主要关系混乱无序，你将如何能够接近你的精神成长？所有这些都必须一起工作。

Spiritual growth gives purpose and meaning to your work and to earning money. It gives purpose and meaning to your relationships. It gives purpose and meaning to your health. You cannot have good employment in the world if your health is compromised. You see, they are all interdependent. You don’t choose one to the exclusion of the others. This is not to say that everyone has to maintain the same level of health, the same level of financial stability, the same kind of relationships or even the same pursuits in their spiritual growth. But it does mean that the Four Pillars all work together and must all be areas of work.

精神成长给你的工作和挣钱带来目的和意义。它给你的关系带来目的和意义。它给你的健康带来目的和意义。如果你的健康受到影响，你就不可能在这个世界上有好的工作。你看，它们都是相互依存的。你不能选择一个而排斥其他。这并不是说每个人都必须保持同样的健康水平，同样的经济稳定水平，同样的人际关系，甚至在精神成长方面有同样的追求。但这确实意味着四大支柱都是一起工作的，而且必须都是工作的领域。

When you develop your relationships, you will experience spiritual growth. If you develop your work in the world, you will have greater health. Advancement in any one area, as long as it is in keeping with your overall purpose and focus, benefits all of the others. Now, if you neglect your relationships because you want to make a lot of money, or if you neglect making an adequate amount of money because you are consumed with your relationships, this will produce instability, and your work will become misappropriated. We are talking about achieving a balance, a balance that Knowledge will promote, a balance that you will naturally and instinctively feel. When imbalance exists, you will feel that imbalance. You will feel the urge to do something about it, particularly when the opportunity is at hand.

当你发展你的人际关系时，你将经历到精神的成长。如果你在世界范围内发展你的工作，你就会有更大的健康。任何一个领域的进步，只要符合你的总体目标和重点，都会使其他领域受益。现在，如果你因为想赚很多钱而忽视了你的人际关系，或者如果你因为沉迷于你的人际关系而忽视了赚足够多的钱，这将产生不稳定，你的工作将被挪用。我们谈论的是实现一种平衡，一种内识会促进的平衡，一种你会自然和本能地感受到的平衡。当不平衡存在时，你会感觉到这种不平衡。你会感觉到做点什么的冲动，特别是当机会就在眼前的时候。

Commit yourself to work because everything that is important will be realized through the process of work and the results of work. The focus of your work, the understanding of your work, the application of your work and the engagement of your work—these are the things that are significant for you. You leave a little time for pleasure and time off for rest and introspection. If you are a student of Steps to Knowledge, you have time in your practices—quality time—to integrate all that you are doing and to learn how to feel the presence of Knowledge and to express Knowledge in different situations.

承诺自己的工作，因为一切重要的东西都将通过工作的过程和工作的结果来实现。你工作的重点，你工作的理解，你工作的应用和你工作的参与——这些都是对你有意义的事情。你留出一点时间来享受，留出时间来休息和反省。如果你是《内识的阶梯》的学生，你在实践中就有时间——高质量的时间来整合你所做的一切，学习如何感受内识的存在，并在不同情况下表达内识。

Most of your activities are work. You do not get the ultimate job right up front. You start out with a little job, and then you move on to something more complete. All of these steps help to shape you, to define you and to bring you in touch with your deeper needs.

你的大部分活动都是工作。你并不是一开始就得到最终的工作。你从一个小工作开始，然后转向更完整的工作。所有这些步骤都有助于塑造你，定义你，并使你接触到你更深层次的需求。

Do not ever think that you are only going to work as much as is necessary and that the rest of your time is for fun. This is a great mistake, for you will lose the means for generating vitality and meaning, and your fun will be a burden—more like an addiction or an escape than something that is truly meaningful to you.

千万不要认为你只做必要的工作，其余的时间是用来玩的。这是一个巨大的错误，因为你将失去产生活力和意义的手段，你的乐趣将成为一种负担——更像是一种成瘾或逃避，而不是对你真正有意义的东西。

The world has tremendous needs, and these needs will grow. People are wandering around, not knowing what to do, not knowing how to find value in life. You see this everywhere. Do you see here where the connection is not being realized? Do you see here where the need and the response are not coming together, where the question and the answer are not meeting each other?

这个世界有巨大的需求，而且这些需求会越来越多。人们四处游荡，不知道该做什么，不知道如何找到生命的价值。你到处都能看到这种情况。你在这里看到哪里的联系没有被实现吗？你是否看到这里的需求和回应没有走到一起，问题和答案没有相互满足？

Your work is your purpose. It is who you are and what you do in the world. It is not your ultimate reality, but it is your purpose for coming here. All forms of work, most of which will be very mundane, all serve this. You build a foundation of work. You do not want to retire from work; you want to expand your work and rededicate your work. This keeps you vital; this keeps providing meaning. Do not believe that escape from work will lead to any kind of satisfaction. Though you may be tired of your current employment, think of expanding your work into new areas. Think, “Where could I be helpful to others, given what I know?”

你的工作是你的目的。它是你是谁，你在这个世界上做什么。它不是你的最终现实，但它是你来到这里的目的。所有形式的工作，其中大部分将是非常平凡的，都是为这个服务的。你建立了一个工作的基础。你不想从工作中退休；你想扩大你的工作，重新奉献你的工作。这使你保持活力；这不断提供意义。不要相信逃离工作会带来任何形式的满足。虽然你可能对目前的工作感到厌倦，但要考虑将你的工作扩展到新的领域。想一想，”鉴于我所知道的，我在哪里可以对别人有所帮助？”

In your society, you have many older people who have tremendous life experience and who are being put out to pasture. They are not needed anymore. Many of them put themselves out to pasture, and many others are simply neglected. This is a great misfortune because the Wisdom of life is not being passed on. When giving stops, meaning stops. You only find your gift through giving. And giving is work; it is what you give yourself to. The value of that work will be determined by your inner nature and by what the world is requiring from you. Where these two realities meet—the reality of your inner life and the reality of your outer life—is where purpose is found in the world.

在你的社会中，你有许多年长的人，他们有极大的生活经历，但他们正在被放养。他们不再被需要了。他们中的许多人把自己放到了牧场上，还有许多人只是被忽视了。这是一个巨大的不幸，因为生命的智慧没有被传递下去。当给予停止时，意义也就停止了。你只有通过给予才能找到你的礼物。而给予是工作；它是你为之付出的工作。这项工作的价值将由你的内在本质和世界对你的要求决定。这两个现实的交汇处——你内在生活的现实和你外在生活的现实——就是在这个世界上找到目的的地方。

Therefore, do not think about retirement. Do not think about escaping to a pleasurable, non-demanding life. Do not think about getting out from under your responsibilities. Instead, think about changing what you are doing and finding new opportunities to work and apply yourself. Always apply yourself. This will keep your battery recharged, and this will keep you advancing to meet your mundane responsibilities and your divine responsibilities, for they are inseparable.

因此，不要考虑退休问题。不要想逃到一个愉快的、没有要求的生命中去。不要考虑从你的责任下摆脱出来。相反，要考虑改变你正在做的事情，寻找新的机会来工作和应用自己。总是应用自己。这将使你的电池不断充电，这将使你不断前进，以满足你的世俗责任和神圣的责任，因为它们是不可分割的。