Chapter 3: What is Life Force?

As revealed to God’s Messenger Marshall Vian Summers on September 21, 1993 in Boulder, CO
1993年9月21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 introduce the term Life Force here. However, before we speak about it, we would like to bring it into a greater context, a Greater Community context. These words are familiar to some people, and there is a great deal of idealism and speculation about what Life Force really is and what it can do. But again, when we use familiar words or terminology, we must bring them into a greater context. If you can enter into this greater context, then everything that we are saying will be illuminating and very useful and valuable. If you cannot enter into this greater perception and perspective, then you will continue to interpret things according to your own interests, ideas and understanding.

我们在此介绍生命力一词。然而，在我们谈论它之前，我们想把它带入一个更大的背景，一个大社区背景。这个词对一些人来说很熟悉，对于生命力到底是什么，它能做什么，有大量的理想主义和猜测。但同样，当我们使用熟悉的词语或术语时，我们必须把它们带入一个更大的背景。如果你能进入这个更大的背景，那么我们所说的一切将是有启发性的，非常有用和有价值。如果你不能进入这个更大的感知和视角，那么你将继续按照自己的兴趣、想法和理解来解释事情。

Life Force is an energy which exists in all living things. This is a familiar idea to many who read these words. However, in the Greater Community, Life Force has a greater value. It is an actual power that is cultivated, used and developed by certain races for certain purposes. Because there are adept individuals in all societies throughout the Greater Community, there are always demonstrations of greater skill, greater awareness and greater ability. However, if these are discovered by the powers that rule these societies, then these powers and abilities are put to work either as a defense or as a tool for controlling others.

生命力是一种存在于所有生物的能量。对许多读到这些文字的人来说，这是个熟悉的想法。然而，在大社区，生命力具有更大的价值。它是一种实际的力量，被某些种族为了某些目的而培养、使用和发展。因为在整个大社区的所有社会中都有精明的个体，总是有更大的技能、更强的意识和更大的能力的展示。然而，如果这些被统治这些社会的力量发现，那么这些力量和能力就会被用来作为一种防御或控制他人的工具。

The discovery of greater powers, abilities and awareness becomes a liability for any society once these powers have a popular application and are seen as useful in dominating or controlling others. That is why the Wise remain hidden: to remain alive and to maintain those greater powers and abilities that they have discovered. These powers and abilities have a real usefulness in the hands of the Wise, yet once these powers become used for political or military purposes, then their usefulness declines, and they can become weapons that are used against others. This is demonstrated in many places in the Greater Community. Finer and more subtle abilities exist within all individuals, and greater powers exist within particular individuals and within particular cultures or races. These can all be exploited for political or military value. Therefore, there is a great burden in carrying Knowledge and Wisdom: the burden of keeping them hidden, knowing who to share them with and how much to share.

一旦这些力量有了普遍的应用，并被视为对支配或控制他人有用，发现更大的力量、能力和意识就会成为任何社会的负担。这就是为什么智者保持隐秘的原因：为了保持生命力和维持他们所发现的那些更大的力量和能力。这些力量和能力在智者手中有真正的用处，然而一旦这些力量被用于政治或军事目的，那么它们的用处就会下降，它们会成为用来对付他人的武器。这在大社区的许多地方都得到了证明。更精细和更微妙的能力存在于所有个体之中，更强大的力量存在于特定的个体和特定的文化或种族之中。这些都可以被利用来实现政治或军事价值。因此，携带内识和智慧有一个很大的负担：要把它们藏起来，知道与谁分享，分享多少。

This is why popular teachings about Life Force are fundamentally in error. Even the good intention to share something of value with others is often born of ignorance. Power must be accompanied by Wisdom and restraint if it is to be useful and effective.

这就是为什么关于生命力的流行教导从根本上是错误的。即使是与他人分享有价值的东西的良好意图，也往往是出于无知。力量必须伴随着智慧和克制，如果它是有用和有效的。

All that we speak of in the Books of Knowledge represent a mystery and a great opportunity for you, but they are not easily accessible. You must study and prepare, and you must pass certain tests in life. You must demonstrate your sincerity, your humility and your self-honesty in order to advance and to gain access to the greater powers that we speak of, which are meant for you.

我们在内识的书籍中谈到的所有内容对你来说是一个神秘和巨大的机会，但它们并不容易获得。你必须学习和准备，你必须在生命中通过某些测试。你必须表现出你的真诚、你的谦逊和你的自我诚实，才能进步，才能获得我们所说的更大的力量，这是为你准备的。

Life Force is a power. It is within you, but you cannot gain control of it. It is possible to use it in certain situations, but to actually have authority over it requires a highly developed and adept mind. This is important because in physical life you have the potential for power, ability and awareness. If these are cultivated wisely and applied appropriately, they become beneficial for you and for others. However, if they are used for other purposes—if they are used for defense or if they are used for conquest, manipulation or control—then in essence they become evil, something that is inherently destructive and counterproductive to the greater purpose of life, which is bringing all beings towards union and realization.

生命力是一种力量。它在你体内，但你无法获得对它的控制。在某些情况下有可能使用它，但要真正拥有对它的控制权，需要一个高度发达和熟练的心智。这很重要，因为在物质生命中，你有力量、能力和意识的潜力。如果这些被明智地培养并适当地应用，它们会成为对你和他人有益的服务。然而，如果它们被用于其他目的——如果它们被用于防御，或者被用于征服、操纵或控制——那么在本质上它们就变成了邪恶的破坏，是固有的破坏性的，对生命的更伟大的目的有反作用，而生命的更伟大的目的就是使所有众生走向联合和实现。

Life Force is important because it represents part of your experience of being in the world. It is a power that runs through your body. It is neutral. It is neither inherently good nor bad. The question then is, how will you use it? For what purpose will you use it? Will you invent your own purpose and apply it there? Will you justify your attempt to harness it based upon your own high ideals, your great thoughts or your altruistic ambitions? If so, it will elude you and deceive you. It will corrupt you and work against you.

生命力很重要，因为它代表了你在这个世界上的部分经历。它是一种贯穿你身体的力量。它是中性的。它在本质上既不是好的也不是坏的。那么问题是，你将如何使用它？你将为了什么目的而使用它？你会发明你自己的目的并在那里运用它吗？你会根据你自己的崇高理想、伟大的思想或利他主义的野心来证明你利用它的企图吗？如果是这样，它将躲避你，欺骗你。它将腐蚀你，与你作对。

We speak of Life Force here because it represents power in the world. And what we have to say about the discovery and cultivation of this power applies to all forms of power in the world. Life Force can be harnessed and directed. It is neutral, so it does not have a will. If it is cultivated according to the guidance of Knowledge, the greater Knowing Mind within you, then like all forms of power, all abilities, and all forms of awareness, it will find a good purpose here.

我们在这里谈到生命力，因为它代表了世界上的力量。而我们所要说的关于发现和培养这种力量的内容，适用于世界上所有形式的力量。生命力可以被驾驭和引导。它是中性的，所以它没有意志。如果它是根据内识的指导来培养的，也就是你内在更大的知道心智，就像所有形式的力量、所有能力和所有形式的意识一样，它将在这里找到一个好的目的。

Here you must stop and ask yourself these questions: “Why do I wish to know about this? What does it mean for me? What are my ambitions regarding it? Am I willing to train and prepare slowly and gradually in order to find these greater abilities that are being spoken of here?” Ask yourself these questions, but do not give a ready answer. Instead, abide with these questions so that a deeper understanding may emerge within you over time.

在这里，你必须停下来，问自己这些问题。”我为什么希望知道这个？它对我有什么意义？我对它的抱负是什么？我是否愿意慢慢地训练和准备，以便找到这里所说的这些更大的能力？”问自己这些问题，但不要给出一个现成的答案。相反，要带着这些问题，以便随着时间的推移，你内心可能会出现更深的理解。

All that is great in life will elude you if you seek it for selfish purposes. All that is genuine and meaningful will turn sour if it is sought to fulfill your ambitions or personal goals. Thus, the Wise remain hidden to nurture their development, to give their gifts appropriately and to protect themselves from the usury of the world. The more you know, the more discreet you must be. The more you have, the more discerning you must be. The greater your capability, the more restraint you must exercise. This requires great self-purification.

如果你为了自私的目的而寻求它，生命中所有伟大的关系都会与你失之交臂。如果为了实现你的野心或个人目标，所有真正的和有意义的关系都会变味。因此，智者保持隐秘，以培养他们的发展，适当地给予他们的礼物，并保护自己免受世界的高利盘剥。你知道的越多，你必须越谨慎。你拥有的越多，你就必须更有辨别力。你的能力越大，你就必须更加克制。这需要极大的自我净化。

In the Greater Community, Life Force has been harnessed successfully by individuals and small groups of individuals who serve a greater network of the Wise. This network is called the Harim. This word, which is from the Septoral language, speaks of those who uphold Knowledge in all worlds. Their purpose is not local or ambitious. They represent a universal purpose that bonds them with others very different from themselves. This has created an association of the Wise who are unlikely ever to encounter each other face to face in manifest life. It extends the whole network and fabric of genuine relationship beyond the visual realm. Here heaven and earth overlap. Within these overlapping boundaries, there exists a greater bond of relationship, a greater awareness and a greater experience of life.

在大社区中，生命力已经被个体和小团体成功地驾驭，他们为一个更伟大的智者网络服务。这个网络被称为”Harim（哈里姆）”。这个词来自塞普托尔语，说的是那些在所有世界维护内识的个体。他们的目的不是地方性的或雄心勃勃的。他们代表着一个普遍的目的，将他们与其他与自己非常不同的个体联系在一起。这创造了一个智者的联盟，他们不太可能在显现的生命中面对面地遇到对方。它将整个网络和真正关系的结构延伸到视觉领域之外。在这里，天和地是重叠的。在这些重叠的边界内，存在着更大的关系纽带，更多的意识和更多的生命经验。

Knowledge within you will guide you to utilize all aspects of yourself appropriately and harmoniously and will lead you to develop certain aspects of yourself for certain specific purposes. It will not guide you to cultivate all aspects of yourself because this is unrealistic. It will not ask you to develop all of your capabilities to a high-functioning level because this is not possible. However, it will direct you to develop certain inherent abilities and certain skills that are relevant to your specific purpose in the world at this time. This is why there can be no ambition on your part if you seek to gain access to Greater Community Knowledge and Wisdom.

你内心的内识将引导你适当地、和谐地利用自己的所有方面，并将引导你为某些特定的目的发展自己的某些方面。它不会引导你培养自己的所有方面，因为这是不现实的。它不会要求你将自己的所有能力发展到高功能水平，因为这是不可能的。然而，它将指导你发展某些固有的能力和某些技能，这些能力与你此时在世界上的特定目的有关。这就是为什么如果你寻求获得大社区内识和智慧，你不能有野心。

Even if your motives are pure, should others discover your growing abilities, they will attempt to use you for their own purposes. Some will idolize you; some will try to follow you; some will glorify you; and still others will try to steal from you. Some will try to destroy you. Many will malign you.

即使你的动机是纯洁的，如果其他人发现你不断增长的能力，他们会试图利用你来达到自己的目的。有些人会崇拜你；有些人会试图跟随你；有些人会荣耀你；还有一些人会试图从你那里偷走东西。有些人将试图摧毁你。许多人将恶意攻击你。

This truth comes as a great shock to the developing student of Knowledge who discovers early on that their quest for Knowledge is not shared by others, even those whom they love and value. Later they discover that their development alters people’s perceptions of them, and people begin to act in very strange ways around them. Eventually, they will see that their gift, which is now slowly emerging within their own awareness, must be protected and safeguarded and given with great specificity to certain individuals at certain times. This requires tremendous restraint, for each person is eager for power and control to offset his or her sense of insecurity in physical life. Ambition exists within each person. Within the student of Knowledge, it must be discovered and arrested in all of its manifestations.

这个事实对正在发展中的内识学生来说是一个巨大的冲击，他们很早就发现自己对内识的追求并不为他人所认同，甚至是那些他们所爱和重视的人。后来他们发现，他们的发展改变了人们对他们的看法，人们开始在他们周围以非常奇怪的方式行事。最终，他们会看到，他们的礼物，现在正在他们自己的意识中慢慢出现，必须得到保护和保障，并在某些时候非常特定地给予某些人。这需要极大的克制，因为每个人都渴望力量和控制，以抵消他或她在物质生命中的不安全感。野心存在于每个人的内心。在学习内识的学生中，必须发现并制止其所有的表现形式。

It is not power that you must focus on; it is your approach to power. It is not your abilities that you must claim; it is your understanding of them that must be cultivated. Once this has been accomplished, and this indeed may take a great deal of time, then things can be given to you. Then they will bear fruit within you, and they will find their rightful recipients within the sphere of your relationships. You will give to some and not to others. You will speak to this person but not to that person. You will give your gift here but withhold it elsewhere. This understanding is not comprehensible to the casual observer or even the critical observer, for they see things only according to a set of assumptions which they themselves have not challenged or faced.

你必须关注的不是力量，而是你对力量的态度。你必须要求的不是你的能力；必须培养的是你对它们的理解。一旦完成了这一点，而这确实可能需要大量的时间，那么力量就可以被赋予你了。然后，它们将在你内心结出果实，它们将在你的关系范围内找到它们应有的接收者。你会给一些人而不给其他人。你会对这个人说话，但不是对那个人。你将在这里给予你的礼物，却在其他地方扣留它。这种理解对于不经意的观察者甚至批判性的观察者来说是无法理解的，因为他们只是根据他们自己没有挑战或面对的一套假设来看待关系。

Life Force within you can exert an actual physical effect. It can have an impact in the physical environment. In the mental environment, it can take the form of thoughts, forces of energy, powerful and self-sustaining ideas, and so forth. It is a power. Life Force is not the same as Knowledge because Life Force is not intelligent. It is like clay—you shape it, you form it and you use it for specific purposes. It is subtle, so most people are unaware of it. It is pervasive, so it is very effective. It is everywhere, so it can be harnessed and used. It abides in all living beings, so its application is universal.

你体内的生命力可以发挥实际的物理效果。它可以在物理环境中产生影响。在心理环境中，它可以采取思想的形式，能量的力量，强大和自我维持的想法，等等。它是一种力量。生命力与内识不同，因为生命力没有智慧。它就像粘土——你塑造它，你形成它，你为特定的目的使用它。它是微妙的，所以大多数人都没有意识到它。它是普遍存在的，所以它非常有效。它无处不在，所以它可以被驾驭和使用。它存在于所有的生命体中，所以它的应用是普遍的。

Should you be directed to develop Life Force within yourself, you will have to learn great restraint. It will turn against you if you use it for selfish purposes to fulfill your goals or ambitions. Here it will turn against you even if you want to use it to help humanity. Unless Knowledge is your guide, your counsel and your restraint, you will create discord, confusion, despair and failure. You cannot use the power of the universe for personal reasons and hope to achieve anything of real merit or value. This is a truth that is universal. It affects all intelligent beings everywhere. With power and control come great responsibility and the need for restraint. When these are lacking, power is destructive. When these are present, power carries on a greater and more beneficial effort that can have great and lasting impact wherever it is applied.

如果你被指示在自己体内发展生命力，你将不得不学会极大的克制。如果你把它用于自私的目的来实现你的目的或野心，它就会与你作对。在这里，即使你想用它来帮助人类，它也会反过来对付你。除非内识是你的指导，你的建议和你的克制，否则你将创造不和谐、混乱、绝望和失败。你不能因为个人原因而使用宇宙的力量，并希望取得任何真正的功绩或价值。这是一个普遍的真理。它影响到世界各地的所有智慧生命。有了力量和控制权，就有了巨大的责任和克制的需要。当这些都缺乏的时候，力量是破坏性的。当这些都存在时，力量就会进行更大、更有益的努力，无论在哪里应用，都能产生巨大而持久的影响。

Should you become a real student of Knowledge, you will begin to feel things consistently that you only rarely felt before. You will be able to experience life on a more subtle level as you prepare in Steps to Knowledge. Here you will need true instruction because you will need to identify and clarify your ambitions, both those that are known to you and those that will emerge within you as you develop. Here temptation can be very great. Here you cannot teach yourself. Here you must give yourself to your instructor and trust your instructor to guide you and to prepare you, to hold you back and to send you forward.

如果你成为一名真正的内识学生，你将开始持续感受到以前很少感受到的内识。当你在内识的阶梯中做准备时，你将能够在一个更微妙的层面上经历生命。在这里，你将需要真实的指导，因为你将需要识别和澄清你的野心，包括那些你已知的野心和那些随着你的发展将在你内心出现的野心。这里的诱惑可能非常大。在这里你不能自己教自己。在这里，你必须把自己交给你的老师，相信你的老师会引导你，为你做准备，让你后退，让你前进。

In the Greater Community, Life Force is a power that is used. It can have great influence over the unknowing. Its equivalent in the mental environment is the power of projected forms of thought. In the physical environment, Life Force exerts an actual force that moves things and creates an impact and a reaction. Someone can knock you down with Life Force even if they are standing across the room. Someone can weaken you physically using Life Force even if they are across the street.

在大社区，生命力是一种被使用的力量。它可以对不知情的个体产生巨大影响。它在心理环境中的对应物是思想的投射形式的力量。在物理环境中，生命力是一种实际的力量，它可以移动事物，产生影响和反应。有人可以用生命力把你击倒，即使他们站在房间的另一边。有人可以用生命力削弱你的身体，即使他们就在街对面。

Life Force is not as effective in the physical environment as it is in the mental environment, where thoughts can be directed at an individual thousands, even millions, of miles away and have an impact. This is true because in the mental environment there is no resistance except the resistance of countering ideas. In the physical environment, there is a great deal of resistance, such as the resistance encountered by a moving object. In the mental environment, there is nothing that affects the velocity of a moving thought except a countering thought. And a countering thought must be born of a mind that is aware of what is impacting it and can arouse within itself power in the mental environment to counter, obstruct or prevent the accelerating thought from reaching it. We call this mental screening. It is a great ability. You cannot use this ability constructively unless you are selected by the Wise and prepare for a very long time. You must begin to learn about Life Force now because it represents part of what affects you individually and what shapes your world.

生命力在物理环境中没有在心理环境中那么有效，在心理环境中，思想可以指向数千甚至数百万英里之外的个体，并产生影响。这是真实的，因为在心理环境中，除了反驳想法的阻力外，没有任何阻力。在物理环境中，有大量的阻力，例如一个移动的物体所遇到的阻力。在心理环境中，除了反驳的想法外，没有任何东西能影响运动心灵的速度。而反击的思想必须诞生于一个意识到影响它的内识，并能在心理环境中唤起自身的力量来反击、阻挠或阻止加速的思想到达它。我们把这称为心理筛选。这是一种伟大的能力。除非你被智者选中并准备了很长时间，否则你无法建设性地使用这种能力。你现在必须开始学习生命力，因为它代表了影响你个人和塑造你世界的部分内容。

As Greater Community influences gain a greater stronghold in your world, their abilities, their power and their awareness will exert an ever greater impact on all aspects of your life. Some of these are very manifest, but many are quite subtle. Often they cannot be seen. However, they can be discerned because you can feel them.

随着大社区的影响在你的世界中获得更大的据点，他们的能力、力量和意识将对你生命的各个方面产生越来越大的影响。其中一些是非常明显的，但许多是相当微妙的。通常，他们不能被看到。然而，它们可以被辨别出来，因为你可以感觉到它们。

Why is this important in the context of spirituality? Because it represents the world into which the Creator has sent you. Given a real understanding of your purpose and a real experience of its meaning, you will see that everything fits within this theological context because of the nature of your origin and your destiny—where you have come from and where you are going. The world is a place that you are in temporarily. Therefore, where you have come from and where you are going provide the real meaning of your existence here.

为什么这在精神性方面很重要？因为它代表了造物主派你进入的世界。鉴于对你的目的的真正理解和对其意义的真正经验，你会看到一切都符合这个神学背景，因为你的起源和你的命运的性质——你从哪里来，你要去哪里。世界是一个你暂时身处的地方。因此，你从哪里来，你要去哪里，提供了你在这里存在的真正意义。

Life Force is power that few have ever discovered and fewer still have ever learned to use constructively. There are those in the Greater Community who can use it in certain situations, but this does not mean that they can control it. There is a very great difference between use and control. For example, you use electricity, but the ability to control it, redirect it and guide it represents a greater set of skills and abilities. You use the power of the sun to grow food, but can you harness the power of the sun? Can you control it?

生命力是很少有人发现的力量，更少有人学会建设性地使用。在大社区里有一些个体可以在某些情况下使用它，但这并不意味着他们可以控制它。使用和控制之间有非常大的区别。例如，你使用电，但控制它的能力，重新定向它和引导它的能力代表了一套更大的技能和能力。你使用太阳的力量来种植食物，但你能驾驭太阳的力量吗？你能控制它吗？

Let us give you this understanding: No one in physical life can control the mechanism of the universe. No one in physical life can control time. They can use time, but they cannot fully control it. The Wise know the limits of control and exercise their abilities appropriately. The foolish think that there are no limits, that everything is there for them to acquire, to conquer or to obtain. No one individual or group of individuals can gain control of the physical universe because everyone exists within limits.

让我们给你这样的理解。在物理生活中没有个体能够控制宇宙的机制。在物理生活中没有个体可以控制时间。他们可以利用时间，但他们不能完全控制它。智者知道控制的限度并适当地行使他们的能力。愚蠢的人认为没有限制，一切都在那里等着他们去获取，去征服或去获得。没有一个人或一群人可以获得对物理宇宙的控制，因为每个个体都存在于限制之中。

It may appear that you have great power and ability compared to other people. However, seen in a larger context, you have significant limits. Knowing your limits represents an aspect of Wisdom. Knowing what you can develop and what is beyond your reach represents an aspect of Wisdom. These are learned as you proceed in The Way of Knowledge because here you are beginning to distinguish greater powers from lesser powers.

与其他人相比，你可能看起来有很大的力量和能力。然而，从更大的范围来看，你有很大的限制。知道自己的极限代表了智慧的一个方面。知道什么是你可以发展的，什么是你无法企及的，也是智慧的一个方面。这些都是你在内识之路中学习到的，因为在这里你开始区分更伟大的力量和更渺小的力量。

You cannot control Knowledge, the Knowing Mind within you. You cannot direct it to give you what you want. You cannot focus it to produce the results you want. You cannot use it to influence others. Why? Because it is more powerful than you are. You can enter into relationship with it; you can reclaim it in your awareness; you can learn to reassociate with it by taking the steps to Knowledge, but you cannot control it. You can only control your expression of it, and this is within your range of responsibility. However, do not think for a moment that this is a small responsibility. It is actually very great and represents consummate learning in the human environment.

你无法控制内识，即你内在知道的心智。你不能指挥它给你你想要的东西。你不能集中它来产生你想要的结果。你不能用它来影响他人。为什么？因为它比你更强大。你可以与它建立关系；你可以在你的意识中重新获得它；你可以通过采取内识的阶梯学会与它重新联系，但你不能控制它。你只能控制你对它的表达，而这在你的责任范围之内。然而，不要以为这是个小责任。它实际上是非常伟大的，代表了人类环境中的完美学习。

It is an interesting fact of life in the Greater Community that the Wise are all very similar, and the unwise are all very different from each other. The Wise from your world and the Wise from other worlds have so much in common. However, the unwise are so distinct. The Wise in all worlds have a means of communicating with each other through Knowledge, yet the unwise cannot recognize or communicate with each other. The Wise see what is the same; the unwise see what is different. The Wise identify with what is the same; the unwise identify with what is different.

在大社区的生活中，一个有趣的事实是，智者都非常相似，而非智者则彼此迥异。你们世界的智者和其他世界的智者有很多共同点。然而，不明智的人却截然不同。所有世界的智者都能通过内识相互交流，而非智者却无法相互识别或交流。智者看到的是相同的内识，而非智者看到的是不同的东西。智者识别相同的内识，而非智者识别不同的事物。

In order for humanity to have any advantage in the Greater Community, certain individuals here must become wise within a larger context in life. And others must support these individuals because for every individual that advances, it takes a great deal of support from others. This is how Knowledge is kept alive in the world. And this provides a means for Knowledge to be communicated in the world through a network of relationships all supporting a central focus. This is how greater things are communicated throughout the Greater Community, throughout all manifest life and indeed even beyond manifest life.

为了使人类在大社区有任何优势，这里的某些人必须在更大的生命范围内成为智者。而其他人必须支持这些人，因为每个人的进步都需要其他人的大力支持。这就是内识在这个世界上保持活力的方式。这也为内识在世界范围内的传播提供了一个途径，即通过一个支持中心焦点的关系网络。这就是更伟大的内识在整个大社区，在所有的显现生命中，甚至在显现生命之外被传达的方式。

Real Wisdom is passed on through a network of relationships. Like water seeping downward through the soil, Wisdom finds its real channels and its path of least resistance. It creates pathways where Knowledge can be passed on, transmitted and initiated from person to person through a means that is both wonderful and mysterious.

真正的智慧是通过一个关系网络来传递的。就像水在土壤中往下渗透一样，智慧找到了它真正的渠道和阻力最小的路径。它创造了内识可以通过一种既奇妙又神秘的方式在人与人之间传递、传送和启动的路径。

The pursuit of Knowledge and Wisdom is not an individual quest; it is a collective effort. For anyone to advance requires meaningful involvement with many other people. Developing this understanding indeed is part of the education of going from a singular approach to a community approach, going from a singular viewpoint of life to a Greater Community understanding of life. This is a part of your education. This is a part of the transition from being lost in your individuality to being embodied in the Greater reality.

对内识和智慧的追求不是一个人的追求，而是一种集体的努力。任何人要想进步，都需要与其他许多人有意义的参与。培养这种理解确实是教育的一部分，从单一的方法到社区的方法，从单一的生命观点到大社区对生命的理解。这是你教育的一部分。这是从迷失在你的个体性中到体现在更大现实中的过渡的一部分。

Life Force means something different at either end of the spectrum, and your understanding of it will change as you pass through the spectrum on the way to a Greater reality. Indeed, all that we are presenting in Greater Community Spirituality is important because it takes you to a Greater reality. It cannot be used within an individual reality. The Greater Community Way of Knowledge invites you to find escape from your own isolation, escape from being lost in your own individuality and escape from being a prisoner of your own mind. It invites you to rediscover your intrinsic relationship with all life and the specific purpose which is yours to reclaim and to contribute in this life, at this time, in this world.

生命力在光谱的两端意味着不同的东西，你对它的理解将随着你在通往更大现实的路上通过光谱而改变。事实上，我们在大社区精神性中提出的所有内容都很重要，因为它将你带到一个更大的现实。它不能在个人的现实中使用。大社区内识之路邀请你从自己的孤立中找到解脱，从迷失在自己的个体性中找到解脱，从成为自己心灵的俘虏中找到解脱。它邀请你重新发现你与所有生命的内在关系，以及你在此生、此刻、此世所要找回和贡献的特定目的。

You will need Life Force to progress, to advance and to carry on your preparation and your contribution. The extent to which you will need to use it and how you will need to use it depends on the role that you are here to play. Your role here is predetermined, but how it will be carried out and the time it takes to carry it out—especially the time it takes to discover it and to prepare for it—can vary considerably. In this, your decision making has great importance, and indeed you will determine if the outcome can be achieved. What greater responsibility would you ever want to assume for yourself?

你将需要生命力来进步，来推进，来继续你的准备和你的贡献。你需要使用它的程度以及你需要如何使用它，取决于你在这里要扮演的角色。你在这里的角色是预先确定的，但如何进行和进行的时间——特别是发现它和准备它的时间——可能有很大的不同。在这一点上，你的决策具有非常重要的意义，事实上，你将决定结果是否能够实现。你还想为自己承担什么更大的责任？

People who think that they can create their own destiny and who call this their freedom have no idea of the burden that they are placing upon their own shoulders. This burden is great because it guarantees failure. You cannot control your greater destiny, but you can experience it, and you can find a way to express it. In this, you will have to make many decisions; in this you will have to assume greater responsibilities; in this, you will find your power; and in this, you will assume authority in your life.

那些认为他们可以创造自己的命运，并称这是他们的自由的人，根本不知道他们在自己的肩上所承受的负担。这种负担是巨大的，因为它保证了失败。你无法控制你更伟大的命运，但你可以经历它，你可以找到表达它的方法。在这一点上，你将不得不做出许多决定；在这一点上，你将不得不承担更大的责任；在这一点上，你将找到你的力量；在这一点上，你将在你的生命中承担权威。

You are the captain of your ship, but it is not up to you to determine where it is sailing and for what purpose. Even what your ship contains is beyond your authority. Consider these words carefully and do not make a mistake here. To become the captain of your ship is a responsibility and a power that few people have ever assumed. To become a true captain means that you are aware of everything concerning the protection, maintenance and well-being of your vessel and that you have respect for its secret cargo and its true destiny. While many people proclaim that they are the captain of their own lives, they have no idea what this means.

你是自己这艘船的船长，但并不是由你来决定这艘船要驶向何方，为了什么目的。甚至你的船所装载的内识也不是你所能决定的。仔细考虑这些话，不要在这里犯错误。成为船长是一种责任，也是一种权力，很少有人能够承担这种责任和权力。要成为一名真正的船长，就意味着你要了解与你的船的保护、维护和福祉有关的一切，你要尊重它的秘密货物和它的真实命运。虽然许多人都宣称他们是自己生命的船长，但他们并不知道这意味着什么。

In the Greater Community, personal freedom has a different context and a different value. Advanced technological societies are highly organized. Individuals are not free to do whatever they please whenever they please without regard for others. The Greater Community is a competitive environment on a scale and a magnitude that you cannot even imagine. Therefore, to become effective and competitive in this environment, and, beyond this, to gain Greater Community Knowledge and Wisdom, you must over time reassess all of your values and assumptions. Personal freedom is chaos without Knowledge. It is the source of everyone’s mental and physical illness. Contrast will show you this as you learn to associate with those who are beginning to discover a greater purpose and meaning in life and as you yourself begin your own discovery of this.

在大社区，个人自由有不同的背景和不同的价值。先进的技术社会是高度组织化的。个人不能自由地随时随地做他们喜欢的事情而不顾及他人的感受。大社区是一个竞争环境，其规模和程度是你无法想象的。因此，为了在这个环境中变得有效和有竞争力，并且，除此之外，为了获得大社区的内识和智慧，你必须随着时间的推移重新评估你所有的价值观和假设。没有内识的个人自由是混乱的。它是每个人心理和身体疾病的根源。当你学会与那些开始发现生命中更伟大的目的和意义的人交往时，以及当你自己开始发现这一点时，对比将向你展示这一点。

The contrast will be marked. You will see yourself going in a different direction from everyone else. You will see yourself valuing experience more than ideas, insight more than assumptions, patience more than acquisition and affinity more than possessions. You will travel a different path, and the discrepancy between your growing understanding and the assumptions of your nation, of your culture, of your group and even of your family will become greater and greater. Such is the burden and the promise of discovering Knowledge throughout the Greater Community.

对比将是明显的。你会看到自己的发展方向与其他人不同。你会看到自己重视经验胜过想法，重视洞察力胜过假设，重视耐心胜过获取，重视亲和力胜过财产。你将走一条不同的路，而你日益增长的理解与你的国家、你的文化、你的团体甚至你的家庭的假设之间的差距将变得越来越大。这就是在整个大社区发现内识的负担和承诺。

Life Force is within you. You can feel it at this moment. It is breathing your body; it is moving your blood; it is keeping your nerves alive; it is sparking your mental awareness. It is here right now, and it will grow in scope, meaning and value for you as you progress in The Way of Knowledge. It will grow as you leave your ideas, beliefs and assumptions at the outer gate of the temple and enter in where True Wisdom and Knowledge can be imparted to you.

生命力就在你体内。此时此刻，你可以感受到它。它在你的身体里呼吸；它在你的血液里流动；它在保持你的神经活力；它在激发你的心理意识。它现在就在这里，随着你在内识之路上的进步，它对你的范围、意义和价值都会增长。当你把你的想法、信仰和假设留在寺庙的外门，进入真实的智慧和内识可以传授给你的地方时，它就会增长。