Chapter 31: Concentration

As revealed to God’s Messenger Marshall Vian Summers on May 18, 1993 in Boulder, CO
1993年5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

We have said in many different ways at many times that concentration is power and that it is a necessary skill to develop over time to achieve a goal of any signifcance. Concentration is something that everyone who approaches Knowledge must develop because it takes strength of mind and conviction, focus and determination to pass through the thresholds on the way to Knowledge.

我们曾多次以不同的方式说过，专注是一种力量，它是一种必要的技能，随着时间的推移而发展，以达到任何有意义的目标。专注力是每个接近内识的人都必须培养的品质，因为它需要心灵和信念的力量，需要专注和决心来通过内识道路上的门槛。

But what is concentration? What does it feel like? How is it practiced and applied? Let us address these questions because they are important for you who are considering taking the path to Knowledge. Concentration is focusing the mind on one thing, one goal or one activity to the exclusion of everything else. It is a special activity of the mind and not something that you do at every moment. But it is necessary in order to penetrate both the mysteries and the lies that surround all the great truths of life.

但什么是专注？它的感觉是什么？如何练习和应用它？让我们来谈谈这些问题，因为它们对正在考虑走上内识之路的你很重要。专注力是指将心灵集中在一件事、一个目标或一项活动上，而不考虑其他一切。它是一种特殊的思维活动，不是你每时每刻都能做到的。但它是必要的，以便穿透围绕生命中所有伟大真理的神秘和谎言。

Thinking about one thing, observing one thing or working on one thing for any prolonged period of time produces a result that could not be achieved otherwise. Any craftsperson knows this. Any artisan knows this. Any composer of music knows this. Any builder knows this. You must concentrate on what you are doing. Work demands this concentration. That is why work is redeeming to people. Real concentration is consciously directed. The world can demand your attention for great periods of time, but that does not necessarily cultivate the kind of skills that we are referring to. To develop these skills, the motivation must come from within you, and you must have adequate support on the outside to assist you.

思考一件事，观察一件事，或在一件事上长期工作，都会产生其他方式无法实现的结果。任何手工艺人都知道这一点。任何工匠都知道这一点。任何音乐的作曲家都知道这一点。任何建设者都知道这一点。你必须专注于你正在做的事情。工作需要这种专注。这就是为什么工作对人有救赎作用。真正的专注是有意识地引导的。世界可以要求你长时间地关注，但这不一定能培养出我们所说的那种技能。要培养这些技能，动力必须来自你的内心，而且你必须有足够的外部支持来帮助你。

The Steps to Knowledge Program provides the structure and the focus for reclaiming and regaining your relationship with Knowledge. In order to follow these steps and to apply the practices adequately, you must develop your concentration. The motivation for this must come from within you. No one is standing over you telling you to do it. No one is demanding it of you and threatening you with the loss of your job or security if you fail. The motivation must come from within you.

通往内识的阶梯计划提供了结构和重点，让你重拾和恢复与内识的关系。为了遵循这些步骤并充分应用这些实践，你必须发展你的注意力。这方面的动力必须来自于你的内心。没有人站在你头上告诉你要这样做。没有人要求你这样做，也没有人威胁你，如果你失败了，你就会失去工作或安全。动机必须来自于你的内心。

Concentration is an experience of single-mindedness in present time. You can contemplate something in the future, but it must have to do with something that relates to a present need. You can concentrate upon something of a practical and material nature, or you may concentrate on an idea, a possibility, an event or a decision you are about to make and its possible outcomes.

专注是一种在当下时间内全神贯注的体验。你可以思考未来的某件事，但它必须与当前的需求有关。你可以专注于某个实际和物质的事物，或者你可以专注于一个想法、一种可能性、一个事件或你即将做出的决定及其可能的结果。

Concentration is work. In fact, it is the very essence of work. Concentration, matched with skill and appropriate planning, produces results. It produces the results of work. When we speak of concentration, we are speaking of work for the mind. When the mind is worked and is internally motivated, then great inner strength can be developed. The mind then becomes more powerful, more focused, more dedicated and more determined. This determination and this dedication can be focused in many different directions. If they are focused upon good—upon producing meaning and value for people and upon solving problems in the world in service to humanity—their benefit can have no boundaries.

专注是一种工作。事实上，它是工作的本质。专注力，加上技巧和适当的计划，会产生结果。它产生工作的结果。当我们说到专注时，我们是在说心灵的工作。当心灵被工作并被内部激励时，就可以发展出巨大的内在力量。心灵就会变得更加强大，更加集中，更加专注，更加坚定。这种决心和奉献精神可以集中在许多不同的方向上。如果他们专注于善，专注于为人们创造意义和价值，专注于解决世界上的问题，为人类服务，他们的利益就没有界限。

The concentration of one mind affects other minds and stimulates concentration within these minds. It activates the deeper instincts in others—the desire for contribution, accomplishment, value and meaning. These can all be stimulated by the concentration of one mind. In fact, all great people are always surrounded by people of lesser concentration seeking to benefit from the presence and the productivity of that one concentrated mind. It is natural for people to gravitate towards individuals who are concentrated, for these individuals generate power, meaning and productivity.

一个心灵的集中会影响其他心灵，并刺激这些心灵的集中。它激活了其他人的更深层本能——对贡献、成就、价值和意义的渴望。这些都可以通过一个人的心灵集中来刺激。事实上，所有伟大的人身边总是有一些专注度较低的人，他们寻求从那颗专注的心灵的存在和生产力中获益。人们自然会倾向于那些专注的人，因为这些人产生了力量、意义和生产力。

Developing concentration requires the ability to release your thoughts and to control your thinking. Because life is filled with so many different kinds of stimulation and presents so many different kinds of problems to consider, it is increasingly difficult to become focused on one thing. Your attention is always being pulled away by many different elements and forces. It is so easily captured by stimulating presentations in the media and events in your immediate environment. Greater and greater problems are presented for you to consider—global problems, community problems, problems in relationships and problems that are psychological in nature. With so much to consider and to think about and with so many stimulations and concerns, how can the mind be focused on one thing?

培养专注力需要有能力释放你的思想并控制你的思维。因为生命中充满了许多不同的刺激，呈现出许多不同类型的问题需要考虑，所以越来越难以专注于一件事。你的注意力总是被许多不同的元素和力量拉走。它很容易被媒体的刺激性介绍和你周围环境中的事件所吸引。越来越多的问题被提出来供你考虑——全球问题、社区问题、人际关系问题和心理性质的问题。有这么多需要考虑和思考的问题，有这么多的刺激和关注，心灵怎么能集中在一件事上？

Instinctively, people know that concentration is valuable. People climb mountains in order to experience concentration. They dedicate themselves to the arts, music or dance, they build things, they invent things—all to have this experience of concentration, this experience of being completely present with no past and no future for those moments in which their mind is fully engaged. This produces relief from the constant vexations of the mind, and it produces inspiration.

本能地，人们知道专注是有价值的。人们爬山是为了经历专注。他们献身于艺术、音乐或舞蹈，他们建造房子，他们发明东西——所有这些都是为了获得这种专注的经历，这种完全在场的经历，在他们心灵完全投入的那些时刻，没有过去，没有未来。这能使人从心灵的不断困扰中解脱出来，并能产生灵感。

Give the mind one thing to dedicate itself to. This produces equanimity because when the mind is focused, it becomes still—even when it is working very hard. This gives you freedom from past regrets and from future anxieties. It takes you away from fear and into a concentrated state of mind. It generates activity, observation and many other specific tasks.

给予心灵一件事来奉献自己。这产生了平静，因为当心灵被集中时，它变得静止——即使它正在非常努力地工作。这使你摆脱了过去的遗憾和未来的焦虑。它使你远离恐惧，进入一种集中的心智状态。它能产生活动、观察和许多其他具体的任务。

When the mind is focused, it gains greater strength. It is more penetrating. It is more creative. And it is more effective. The importance of concentration can be immediately seen when you realize how much you must apply yourself in life, how much time and energy will be required of you and how focused and determined you must be to resolve the many problems that are genuine in nature and that require your attention.

当心灵集中时，它获得更大的力量。它更有穿透力。它更有创造力。而且它更有效。当你意识到你必须在生命中应用多少事情，将需要多少时间和能量，以及你必须多么专注和坚定地解决许多本质上真正需要你关注的问题时，就可以立即看到专注的重要性。

Consider this, because we are preparing you for the Greater Community. Consider the concentration of those who are joined together in singular purpose and are visiting the world at this time. You cannot yet match their concentration. You are much too distracted. Yet, your visitors can provide motivation for you in this regard: They have achieved concentration. Even if their motives are not pure or beneficial, they have achieved concentration. Only very few people here have achieved this level of concentration. Some of these have been concentrated on good, and some have been concentrated on destruction. Yet, in all cases, they are more powerful and more effective than those around them. They have had an impact on the world. Great conflicts in the world—wars, cultural conflicts and competition for land and resources have all been waged by powerful individuals. Everyone else just goes along or tries to hide and escape.

考虑到这一点，因为我们正在为你准备大社区。考虑一下那些在单一目的中结合在一起并在这个时候访问世界的外星生命的专注。你还不能与他们的注意力相提并论。你太分心了。然而，你的访客可以在这方面为你提供动力。他们已经实现了专注。即使他们的动机并不纯粹或有益，但他们已经实现了专注。这里只有极少数人达到了这种专注的程度。其中有些人一直专注于善，有些人一直专注于破坏。然而，在所有情况下，他们都比周围的人更有力量，更有效。他们已经对世界产生了影响。世界上的巨大冲突——战争、文化冲突以及对土地和资源的争夺，都是由强大的个人发动的。其他人只是顺其自然，或试图躲藏和逃避。

The world that you live in is governed by individuals. A very small percentage of the population impacts humanity and determines its activities. If you think about this, you will realize that it is true. How important it is, therefore, for you to become a concentrated person—not only for the personal, spiritual and psychological benefits but also to make a difference in the world, to be a force for good and to be a vehicle for Knowledge. You must be concentrated in order for Knowledge to emerge within you. Otherwise, Knowledge will seem too powerful, too threatening or too overwhelming for you to experience.

你所生活的世界是由个体管理的。很小比例的人影响着人类，决定着人类的活动。如果你想一想，你会意识到这是事实。因此，对你来说，成为一个专注的人是多么重要——不仅是为了个人、精神和心理上的益处，也是为了改变世界，成为一种善的力量，成为内识的载体。你必须集中能量，以使内识在你体内出现。否则，内识就会显得太强大、太有威胁性或太令人难以承受，让你无法经历。

Those who will visit your world from the Greater Community and those who have visited your world already represent a level of concentration that should incite within you a commitment to develop your mind. Knowledge will direct your mind towards what is good and will purify your motives, clarify your vision and give you direction. But you must desire Knowledge in order to apply yourself. This is not a casual pursuit. This is not being in the receiving line. This is not spiritual welfare. This is the real preparation and accomplishment.

那些将从大社区访问你们世界的外星生命，以及那些已经访问过你们世界的外族，代表了一种集中的水平，应该在你的内心深处激发出对发展你心智的承诺。内识将引导你的心智走向美好的事物，并将净化你的动机，澄清你的视野，给你提供方向。但你必须渴望内识，以便应用自己。这不是一个随意的追求。这不是在接收线上。这不是精神上的福利。这才是真正的准备和成就。

You would not be able to think clearly around a Greater Community presence. You would not be able to make your own decisions. You would not be able to discern the actions and motives of others. You would lose both your concentration and your composure in the presence of a more powerful and focused mind. This is not to say that you are deficient or stupid; it is simply to clarify an important law in life—stronger minds influence and dominate weaker minds, and their strength is a function of concentration and motivation.

在大社区存在的周围，你将无法清晰地思考。你将无法做出自己的决定。你将无法辨别外星生命的行动和动机。在一个更强大和集中的心灵面前，你会失去你的注意力和镇定。这并不是说你有缺陷或愚蠢；这只是为了澄清生命中的一个重要法则——强大的心灵会影响和支配弱小的心灵，而他们的力量是专注和动力的诱因。

If you are to make a difference within the human community, and if you are to succeed and be self-determined in the Greater Community, you must develop this concentration. Perhaps the Greater Community aspect of this Teaching seems beyond your experience or concern. Yet, given even your individual and personal needs, concentration is a necessary requirement. But you must see that there are greater problems and greater opportunities that call upon you. These give you the adequate motivation to develop yourself and to receive the preparation that has been given to you to develop Greater Community Knowledge and Wisdom.

如果你想在人类社会中有所作为，如果你想在大社区中获得成功并自我决定，你就必须发展这种专注。也许这个教学的大社区方面似乎超出了你的经历或关切。然而，即使考虑到你的个人和个人需求，专注也是一个必要的要求。但你必须看到，有更大的问题和更大的机会在召唤你。这些给了你们充分的动力来发展自己，并接受已经给予你的准备，以发展大社区内识和智慧。

You were not trained to concentrate in your education in the world. You were trained to memorize information for brief periods of time in order to meet certain educational requirements, and then most of these things were forgotten. You were taught to pass tests to meet temporary or expedient needs. You were not taught patience or concentration. You were not taught contemplation or how to abide with greater problems for longer periods of time. You were not taught how to be single minded. Indeed, you were prepared to deal with complexities, but in a very superficial way. Developing the greater powers of mind is not encouraged in your culture. Indeed, the sheer weight of sensory stimulation that you experience every day—being bombarded with images, suggestions and ideas from everywhere—denies you from having access to the greater capabilities that you possess and that you need at this time.

你没有接受过集中在世界范围内的教育的训练。你被训练在短暂的时间内记住信息，以满足某些教育要求，然后这些信息大多被遗忘。你被教导要通过考试以满足暂时或权宜之计的需要。没有人教你耐心或专注。没有人教你沉思，也没有人教你如何在更长时间内忍受更大的问题。没有人教你如何一心一意。的确，你已经准备好处理复杂的问题，但只是非常肤浅的方式。在你的文化中不鼓励发展更大心智的力量。事实上，你每天经历的感官刺激的重量——被来自各地的图像、建议和想法轰炸——使你无法获得你拥有的和你此时需要的更大能力。

To progress, you must work hard and concentrate. You must stay focused on things. Too much pleasure, too much indulgence or too much stimulation dulls the mind, weakens your perceptual abilities and your discernment and renders you weak and impotent in the face of the events that mark the great turning points and great opportunities in your life. Life gives you this challenge—the challenge to live in the world and the challenge to live in the Greater Community.

为了进步，你必须努力工作，集中能量。你必须保持对工作的专注。太多的快乐、太多的放纵或太多的刺激使人头脑迟钝，削弱你的感知能力和辨别力，使你在面对标志着你生命中伟大转折点和伟大机会的事件时变得软弱无能。生命给了你这个挑战——生活在这个世界上的挑战和生活在大社区的挑战。

How will you understand a Greater Community intelligence? How will you understand what each Greater Community group is doing here and what their purpose is? You will have no possibility of success in finding an answer here if you approach these questions in a casual manner or if you merely attach yourself to pleasing or comforting ideas. You will have to concentrate on, contemplate and live with these questions without an immediate answer. This is how greater truths are revealed and greater discoveries are made. It is possible to know these things, but only with adequate preparation and self-application.

你将如何理解一个大社区的智能？你将如何理解每个大社区团体在这里做什么，他们的目的是什么？如果你以随意的方式来处理这些问题，或者仅仅依附于讨好或安慰的想法，你将没有可能在这里成功找到答案。你必须集中能量，思考这些问题，并带着这些问题生活，而不能立即得到答案。这就是更伟大的真理被揭示和更大发现的方式。认识这些事情是可能的，但只有在充分准备和自我应用的情况下。

In the Greater Community, the power of concentration is well recognized amongst societies that travel and trade because they have to interact and compete with each other. Here telepathic abilities become important; strength of conviction becomes important; powers of discernment become important and the ability to communicate effectively becomes important. These are all valuable skills, though they are not always used for good purposes. Developing these skills is part of the challenge facing humanity at this time. The challenge is not about personal enhancement. It is not about finding greater satisfaction in life. It is about adapting and surviving. It is a fundamental need. The problems within your world are now too great to solve in easy or convenient ways. They require greater concentration, greater activity and more determination than most people are capable of giving or willing to give at this time.

在大社区，专注的力量在那些进行旅行和贸易的社会中得到了高度认可，因为他们必须相互交流和竞争。在这里，心灵感应的能力变得很重要；信念的力量变得很重要；辨别力变得很重要，有效沟通的能力变得很重要。这些都是有价值的技能，尽管它们并不总是被用于好的目的。发展这些技能是人类此时面临的挑战的一部分。这个挑战不是关于个人的提升。它不是为了在生活中找到更大的满足感。它是关于适应和生存。这是一个基本需求。你们世界中的问题现在太过复杂，无法通过简单或方便的方式解决。它们需要比大多数人目前所能给予或愿意给予的更多的专注、更大的活动量和更强的决心。

Concentration is an act of giving yourself to something. If you are holding yourself back in life, afraid to make a commitment to anyone or anything, how can you develop concentration or mental power? You will not be able to mount a sufficient effort mentally or physically to get anything done or to comprehend anything of great importance. Because you were not taught concentration in school, it is important that you learn it now. It is necessary for your spiritual development, and it is necessary to get anything done in your life. This is not an easy task because your world is so distracting.

专注是一种为某事付出的行为。如果你在生活中束手束脚，不敢对任何人或任何事做出承诺，你怎么能发展专注或心理能力？你将无法在心理上或身体上做出足够的努力来完成任何事情，也无法理解任何重要的事情。因为在学校里没有人教你集中注意力，所以你现在就必须学习它。这对你的精神发展是必要的，对你的生活中完成任何事情也是必要的。这不是一件容易的事，因为你的世界是如此令人分心。

How do you develop concentration? You must have the right preparation, the right instruction and the right relationships. Let us discuss these now. First, the right preparation is vital. Not only must it teach you concentration, it must aim you towards the source of Wisdom within you and within others. Seeking power alone is not good. Power needs restraint, discernment and wise application. The Greater Community Way of Knowledge is not a path of power. It is a path of Wisdom. Wisdom requires power, but power must be dedicated to the right cause. It must be guided by a greater intelligence within you, which we call Knowledge. It must be inclusive in life rather than exclusive. And it must bring you into life rather than cast you further away.

你如何培养专注？你必须有正确的准备，正确的指导和正确的关系。现在让我们来讨论这些。首先，正确的准备是至关重要的。它不仅必须教你集中注意力，还必须把你引向你和他人内在的智慧之源。仅仅寻求力量是不行的。力量需要克制、辨别和明智的应用。大社区内识之路不是一条力量之路。它是一条智慧之路。智慧需要力量，但力量必须献给正确的事业。它必须由你内在的更伟大的智慧来指导，我们称之为内识。它必须在生命中具有包容性，而不是排斥性。而且它必须把你带入生命，而不是把你抛得更远。

There are many genuine preparations, and they all have certain things in common. What they have in common is teaching you to concentrate your mind on something beyond your personal sphere—on something bigger than you. They all teach you to quiet your mind and to become more receptive and more discerning. They all advocate that you value your deeper experiences and learn over time how to interpret them and apply their meaning.

有许多真正的准备，它们都有某些共同点。它们的共同点是教你把心智放在超越你个人范围的事情上——放在比你更伟大的事情之上。它们都教你安静你的心，变得更容易接受和更有识别力。它们都主张你重视你的更深层的经历，并随着时间的推移学习如何解释它们和应用它们的意义。

The Greater Community Way of Knowledge focuses upon a larger context of life where concentration has increasing value and merit. It is a unique preparation. It teaches concentration because it teaches you how to focus your mind. It teaches concentration because it teaches you to still your mind, which takes great concentration. It teaches you to think constructively, and it teaches you the art of contemplation, where you learn how to think about something in a gradual and penetrating way. These are all part of learning concentration.

大社区内识之路关注的是更大的生命背景，在那里，专注的价值和优点越来越多。它是一种独特的准备。它教人专注，因为它教你如何集中你的心智。它教人专注，因为它教你静止你的心灵，这需要极大的专注。它教你建设性地思考，它教你沉思的艺术，在那里你学会如何以渐进和深入的方式思考一些问题。这些都是学习注意力的一部分。

To follow a preparation that you did not invent for yourself, you must follow it explicitly and not alter its methods or its prescriptions to meet or satisfy old habits or beliefs. It is not something that you pick apart, keeping the parts that you like and discarding the rest. This never leads to success. This will keep you where you are and disable you from going anywhere else.

要遵循一个不是你自己发明的准备，你必须明确地遵循它，而不是改变它的方法或处方，以满足或满足旧的习惯或信仰。它不是你挑剔的东西，保留你喜欢的部分，丢弃其余部分。这永远不会导致成功。这将使你留在原地，使你无法去其他地方。

To successfully follow Steps to Knowledge, follow it as it is given and learn how to work with it as you go along. The preparation does not demand perfection or absolute success. It requires perseverance and determination. You learn to develop these as you learn to concentrate. When you concentrate your mind, you become free of the many little preoccupations that require great amounts of energy but provide little value. You become free of the distractions of the world because you do not have time for them, and you do not choose to devote your energy to them. You become free of your own confusion and ambivalence because you don’t have time for these either. You become free of disabling relationships because you recognize they will take you nowhere and will rob you of your vitality and direction.

要想成功地遵循内识的阶梯，就要按照它所提供的内容去做，并在前进的过程中学习如何使用它。准备工作并不要求完美或绝对成功。它需要毅力和决心。当你学会集中注意力时，你就会学会发展这些。当你集中注意力时，你就能摆脱许多需要大量能量但却没有什么价值的小杂念。你会摆脱世界上的干扰，因为你没有时间去做这些事，你也不会选择把你的能量用在这些事上。你会从自己的困惑和矛盾中解脱出来，因为你也没有时间处理这些问题。你会摆脱不利的关系，因为你认识到它们会使你无路可走，会夺走你的活力和方向。

A mind that is concentrated is free of many of the tribulations and distractions of the world because it is concentrated on something. But a mind that is not concentrated can be captured by anything and held in bondage by random impulses and great anxieties.

一个专注的心灵可以摆脱世界上的许多磨难和干扰，因为它专注于某些事情。但是，一个不集中的心灵会被任何事物所俘虏，被随机的冲动和巨大的焦虑所束缚。

Making the mind whole requires concentration in order to bring all of its resources to bear, to develop these resources and to keep them focused on a greater goal. This translates immediately into developing greater abilities in the mundane activities of life. Many things that were difficult before become easier now. Many things that were problems before are not even thought of now. Many things that distracted you before go unnoticed now.

使心灵完整需要专注，以便将其所有资源集中起来，发展这些资源并将它们集中在一个更大的目标上。这直接转化为在日常生活的活动中发展更强的能力。许多以前困难的事情现在变得容易了。许多以前的问题现在甚至不再被考虑。许多以前分散你注意力的事情现在被忽略了。

You can experience this for yourself if you associate with those who are concentrated on a task that you admire. Notice the difference between their activity, their concerns, their experience and yours. They do not have time for the things that plague you. They have other problems to solve. Those who are dedicated to serving the world do not have time for the debilitating ideas and preoccupations that keep others in a diffracted and confused state. They are going somewhere while others are standing still. They are concentrated on their goals while others are lost in past recollections or in musings about the future.

如果你与那些专注于你所钦佩的任务的人交往，你可以亲自经历到这一点。注意他们的活动、他们的关注、他们的经历与你的不同。他们没有时间处理困扰你的事情。他们有其他问题要解决。那些致力于为世界服务的人没有时间处理那些使人衰弱的想法和心事，这些想法和心事使其他人处于分散和迷惑的状态。他们要去某个地方，而其他人却在原地踏步。他们专注于自己的目标，而其他人则迷失在过去的回忆或对未来的思索中。

As you think about these things, you will begin to see that there is a greater possibility for you. For this possibility to be realized, you will need to receive a preparation and you will need to stay with it. You will need to go past all the thresholds where you quit or gave up on yourself before—past the thresholds where you judged and separated yourself from something that was valuable. The preparation gives you the structure and the focus to do this, but you must generate the effort to proceed.

当你思考这些事情时，你会开始看到你有一个更大的可能性。为了实现这种可能性，你将需要接受一个准备，你将需要坚持下去。你将需要越过所有你以前放弃或放弃自己的门槛——越过你判断和将自己与有价值的工作分开的门槛。准备工作为你提供了结构和重点，但你必须产生努力来进行。

Development in The Way of Knowledge and in concentration requires instruction. Here it is important to be around individuals who are more concentrated than you are. And they must be significantly more concentrated than you are in order to lift you upwards and to have an effect upon you. Because your lack of concentration will affect them, their impact on you must be greater than your impact on them. They must show you through demonstration what is possible, and if they are true teachers, they will be able to treat you as a unique individual and not as a projection of themselves. They will be able to recognize your path and course of development as unique. You will need individuals such as these as mentors and as companions. Without them, you will try to teach yourself, and that will have only very limited results. True development requires someone else to demand things of you, to demonstrate the path for you and to set the pace at which you must learn to travel. If you select your own path and set your own pace, you will not advance. Someone else must demand things of you and discern the greatness that is within you—things which you cannot do adequately for yourself. Accept this limitation, for it exists. You will need to be around people who are more advanced than you are, not to rob them of their energy or to take advantage of their skill, but to learn from their example.

在内识之路和专注方面的发展需要指导。在这里，与那些比你更专注的人在一起是很重要的。他们必须比你明显更专注，才能提升你，对你产生影响。因为你的不集中会影响他们，他们对你的影响必须大于你对他们的影响。他们必须通过示范向你展示什么是可能的，如果他们是真实的老师，他们将能够把你当作一个独特的个体，而不是自己的投影。他们将能够认识到你的道路和发展过程是独一无二的。你将需要像这样的人作为导师和同伴。没有他们，你将尝试自己教自己，而这只会产生非常有限的结果。真实的发展需要他人对你提出要求，为你展示道路，并设定你必须学习的步伐。如果你选择自己的道路和设定自己的步伐，你将不会进步。他人必须对你提出要求，辨别你内心的伟大——那些你自己无法充分做到的事情。接受这种限制，因为它的存在。你将需要和比你更先进的人在一起，不是为了夺取他们的能量或利用他们的技能，而是为了从他们的榜样中学习。

Next, you will need true companionship. Here you will need people of equal or greater concentration than yourself to be your companions. They will demand things of you, demonstrate things for you and keep you moving forward. Do not choose companions who are less concentrated than you are, for they will take things away from you. They will dilute your focus. They will confuse you. They will generate uncertainty within you, cloud your vision and erode your ability to stay concentrated on your path in life. There are many of these people, and many of them are very charming and lovable, but you must choose your companions wisely. You will not go any further than the weakest relationship that you cherish.

接下来，你将需要真实的伴侣关系。在这里，你将需要比你自己更专注的人做你的同伴。他们会对你提出要求，为你示范，并使你继续前进。不要选择比你注意力不集中的同伴，因为他们会抢走你的注意力。他们会冲淡你的注意力。他们会迷惑你。他们会在你内心产生不确定性，蒙蔽你的视野，侵蚀你在生命道路上保持专注的能力。这些人有很多，他们中的许多人都非常有魅力和可爱，但你必须明智地选择你的同伴。你不会比你珍视的最薄弱的关系走得更远。

Therefore, all of your close relationships need to be strong and dedicated. Here is where most people falter. Here is where they make their compromises. It is easier and more self-assuring to be around someone who has less strength and concentration than yourself. That may make you look good in comparison, but what value does it give you? If you choose to have weaker companions, make sure that they are committed to the truth so that they may benefit from your presence. Then, whatever you give to them will bear fruit and will be carried on.

因此，你所有的亲密关系都需要强大而专注。这里是大多数人动摇的地方。这里是他们做出妥协的地方。在一个力量和专注度不如自己的人身边，更容易也更能得到自我安慰。这可能使你在比较中看起来不错，但它给你带来什么价值？如果你选择有较弱的同伴，确保他们致力于真理，以便他们可以从你的存在中受益。然后，你给他们的任何东西都会结出果实，都会被传承下去。

You will need very strong companions. You will need people who are dedicated to the truth, to Knowledge and to a greater purpose in life. If this is not the case, you will be fighting a losing battle. For this, you must exercise your inner authority. For this, you must discern that which is valuable in others from that which is not and call upon Knowledge to guide you. Here you will need to exercise concentration and determination. Stronger companions will make you stronger. Weaker companions will make you weaker. The choice is yours. Choose well. There is no exception to this rule. Companions of equal strength and ability will be worthy, but you will still need stronger individuals to instruct and motivate you.

你将需要非常强大的同伴。你将需要那些致力于真理、内识和更大生命目标的人。如果不是这样，你将打一场失败的仗。为此，你必须行使你的内在权威。为此，你必须辨别他人身上有价值的东西和没有价值的东西，并呼唤内识来指导你。在这里，你将需要锻炼注意力和决心。较强的同伴会使你更强大。较弱的同伴将使你变得更弱。选择权在你。好好选择。这条规则没有例外。力量和能力相当的同伴将是有价值的，但你仍然需要更强大的个人来指导和激励你。

It is an unfortunate tendency in your world that people tend to do things for themselves, on their own, at their own pace and in their own way. This is called “personal freedom,” but it is really an exercise in futility because you cannot lead yourself into new territory. You cannot educate yourself. You cannot uplift yourself. You cannot prepare yourself. You cannot initiate yourself in anything beyond your past experience. To accomplish these, you will need Knowledge, which represents the Greater Power that lives within you and which represents your promise for redemption. You will also need strong individuals who can challenge you and require you to step beyond your former boundaries and assumptions. And lastly, you will need a preparation that you did not invent for yourself to prepare you for a future life of greater magnitude and dimensions beyond what you have known before.

在你的世界里，人们倾向于为自己做事，以自己的速度和方式，这是一个不幸的趋势。这被称为”个人自由”，但它实际上是一种徒劳的练习，因为你无法带领自己进入新领域。你不能教育自己。你不能提升自己。你不能为自己做好准备。你不能让自己开始接触任何超越你过去经历的事物。为了实现这些，你将需要内识，它代表着住在你内在的更伟大的力量，它代表着你对救赎的承诺。你还将需要强大的个体，他们可以挑战你，要求你超越你以前的界限和假设。最后，你将需要一种你没有为自己发明的准备，为你未来的生命做好准备，使你的规模和维度超越你以前的知道。

The Greater Community Way of Knowledge provides the preparation and the foundation for genuine relationships. It produces a learning environment where you can grow and develop if you share it with others and if you apply its principles and its practices adequately and wisely. It will enable you to become a person with greater concentration. If your purpose is genuine and your motivations are born of Knowledge, then your concentration will be a great benefit for the world. During this preparation, you will have times when you will feel very alone, either because others are not with you or because others do not share your growing perception and understanding. But true companions will find you, will be with you and will strengthen you along the way.

大社区内识之路为真正的关系提供了准备和基础。它产生了一个学习环境，如果你与他人分享它，如果你充分和明智地应用它的原则和做法，你就能在这里成长和发展。它将使你成为一个有更大专注力的人。如果你的目的是真实的，你的动机是源于内识，那么你的专注将为世界带来巨大的利益。在这个准备过程中，你会有感觉非常孤独的时候，要么是因为别人没有和你在一起，要么是因为别人没有分享你不断增长的感知和理解。但真实的同伴会找到你，与你在一起，并在这一路上加强你。

To become a man or a woman of Knowledge requires this greater preparation, this greater concentration and this greater dedication. These requirements cannot be escaped. There are no shortcuts. There is no way around them. There are no deals that you can make with the Creator in order to get ahead of everyone else without having to take the journey yourself.

要成为内识的男人或女人，需要这种更多的准备，这种更多的集中和这种更多的奉献。这些要求是无法逃避的。没有捷径。没有办法绕过它们。没有任何交易可以让你与造物主达成，以便比其他人更快，而不必亲自走这条路。

We emphasize concentration here because it makes peace, true strength and greater self-application possible. It is one of the necessary ingredients, one of the fundamental and underlying abilities that has to be present in order for greatness to work through you and for you to find greatness for yourself.

我们在这里强调专注，因为它使和平、真实的力量和更大的自我应用成为可能。它是必要的成分之一，是必须存在的基本和潜在的能力之一，以便伟大的力量通过你发挥作用，并让你为自己找到伟大的力量。

We are concentrated on your well-being and advancement and encourage you to share our concentration. Our concentration is genuine. It is nurturing and empowering for you. As you receive this, you will be able to give it because whatever you receive, you can give. This represents your promise for the world, for you have come from a place from beyond the world where concentration is natural to a place where concentration is lacking. You have come from a place where relationship is natural to a place where relationship is lacking. You have come from a place where natural affinity is ever present to a place where it is lacking. You have come to give something here. What you have to give is with you now. It is your task to find it. To find it, you will need the preparation, instruction and companionship that are necessary. Even with these, you will need to dedicate yourself, which represents an act of concentration.

我们专注于你的福祉和进步，并鼓励你分享我们的专注。我们的专注是真实的。它对你来说是滋养和授权的。当你接受这些时，你将能够给予它，因为无论你接受什么，你都能给予。这代表了你对世界的承诺，因为你已经从一个超越世界的地方来到一个缺乏专注的地方，那里的专注是自然的。你从一个关系自然的地方来到了一个缺乏关系的地方。你从一个自然亲和力永远存在的地方来到一个缺乏亲和力的地方。你来这里是为了给予一些东西。你要给予的内识现在就在你身边。你的任务是找到它。为了找到它，你将需要必要的准备、指导和陪伴。即使有了这些，你也需要奉献自己，这代表了一种专注的行为。