Chapter 27: What is the evolution of religion in the world?

As revealed to God’s Messenger Marshall Vian Summers on November 6, 1993 in Boulder, CO
1993年11月6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

Religion evolves because it is meant to serve evolving worlds. Evolution is a process of change. It is a process of renewal and rejuvenation and also a process of adaptation and application. In order for religion to be meaningful in any world, it must serve that world through its various stages of development. Religion itself goes through stages of development. It has phases of growth and phases of decay. However, it has the possibility for regeneration if it can adapt itself to new circumstances and to greater ideas. In this, each religion must be flexible. The theologies and philosophies upon which each religion is built must be adaptable and responsive to a growing panorama of life and to a changing set of circumstances that represent the evolution of a race.

宗教的演变是因为它要为不断进化的世界服务。进化是一个变化的过程。它是一个更新和恢复活力的过程，也是一个适应和应用的过程。为了使宗教在任何世界都有意义，它必须通过不同的发展阶段为这个世界服务。宗教它本身也会经历发展阶段。它有成长的阶段和衰败的阶段。然而，如果它能适应新的环境和更大的想法，它就有再生的可能。在这一点上，每个宗教都必须是灵活的。每种宗教所依据的神学和哲学必须能够适应和回应不断增长的生命全景和代表一个种族进化的一系列变化的环境。

Let us begin by talking about the evolution of intelligent life in the world, and then we shall speak about the evolution of religion. Intelligent life was seeded in your world. This was a gift from the Greater Community. It was a gift of greater intelligence so that your ancestors could accelerate their development within a relatively short period of time. This gave birth to the modern human race as you know it now. Intelligence was seeded in a few places and then it dispersed throughout the world.

让我们先谈谈世界上智能生命的演变，然后再谈谈宗教的演变。智能生命是在你们的世界里播种的。这是大社区的礼物。这是一份更大的智能礼物，以便你们的祖先能够在相对较短的时间内加速发展。这就诞生了你们现在所知的现代人类。智能生命在几个地方被播种，然后分散到世界各地。

Most of human history in the world has been one of tribal existence, where very small groups of people lived in isolation with minimal contact between cultures. This system was able to work for a long time. However, with the development of greater intellectual abilities and the development of agriculture and social organization, local human communities grew in size and began to compete with each other increasingly.

世界上大多数的人类历史都是部落式的存在，非常小的一群人生活在孤立的环境中，文化之间的接触很少。这种系统能够长期发挥作用。然而，随着智能的提高和农业及社会组织的发展，当地人类社区的规模不断扩大，并开始越来越多地相互竞争。

This follows a natural pattern. From this pattern, one can see what happens in all worlds where greater intelligence has either migrated or has been introduced into the native species. Cultures start out small and isolated and then grow from there. According to the natural pattern of development, greater and greater establishments are made, with greater and greater contact between groups within a given world. This leads to tribal states. Tribal states intermingle, have conflict and influence one another. This leads to greater establishments and eventually to international societies, which is where the human race is now.

这遵循了一种自然模式。从这一模式中，人们可以看到在所有的世界中发生的事情，在这些世界中，更高的智能要么被迁移，要么被引入到本地物种中。文化一开始是小而孤立的，然后从那里发展。根据自然的发展模式，越来越多的机构被建立起来，在一个特定的世界里，群体之间的接触越来越多。这就导致了部落国家。部落国家相互交融，发生冲突并相互影响。这导致了更大的建立，并最终形成国际社会，这就是人类现在的状况。

The human race is at a terminal point, the terminal end of the cycle of the development of international societies. This is where tribes and groups have grown so great, have overlapped so much and are having such an impact upon the environment that they must learn new ways of cooperation. They must join forces. They must grow into a new stage of development, which is represented by a one-world community. It is this stage upon which humanity is now embarking. Regardless of the strife and difficulty that still exist between tribes, cultures, groups and nations, this is the direction of human evolution. This is the course it must follow, for better or for worse.

人类正处于一个终端点，即国际社会发展周期的终端。这时，部落和群体已经发展得如此之大，重叠得如此之多，对环境的影响如此之大，他们必须学习新的合作方式。他们必须联合起来。他们必须成长为一个新的发展阶段，也就是由一个世界社区来代表。人类现在所处的正是这个阶段。不管部落、文化、团体和国家之间仍然存在冲突和困难，这就是人类进化的方向。这是它必须遵循的路线，无论好坏。

Races that have evolved within their own worlds reach the establishment of international communities and then become a one-world community. The development of a one-world community coincides with interaction with the Greater Community. Here having a one world community becomes a necessity for survival and development. In worlds where intelligent life has migrated from another world, a one world community occurs much sooner because often there is only one establishment which gains the dominant position within that world.

在它们自己的世界里进化的种族达到国际社区的建立，然后成为一个世界社区。一个世界社区的发展与大社区的互动相一致。在这里，拥有一个世界社区成为生存和发展的必要条件。在那些智能生命来自另一个世界的星球上，一个世界社区往往会更早形成，因为通常只有一个建立者在该世界内占据主导地位。

However, in a world such as yours, which has gone through a very long and protracted period of tribal social development and which has accelerated in recent centuries into large tribal and then international societies, you have now reached the great threshold where the world must become one community. Perhaps at this moment it seems incomprehensible that this could be brought about given the current state of the world and people­’s current attitudes regarding cooperation. However, we are speaking of evolution and not the wishes and will of the people. For even greater than the wishes and the will of the people in any world are their destiny and their relationship with life on a larger scale­—both within physical reality and within spiritual reality.

然而，在像你们这样的世界，已经经历了一个非常漫长和持久的部落社会发展时期，并在最近几个世纪加速进入大型部落和国际社会，你们现在已经达到了世界必须成为一个社区的巨大门槛。也许此时此刻，鉴于世界的现状和人们目前对合作的态度，这似乎是不可理解的。然而，我们说的是进化，而不是人民的愿望和意志。因为在任何世界上，比人们的愿望和意志更重要的是他们的天命和他们与更大范围内的生命的关系——在物理现实和精神现实中。

Life is moving. It is going somewhere. It is developing and cultivating itself. Think of it like this: In your development as a human being, you go through stages of growth. You begin as an infant, you become a young child, you grow into adolescence and to young adulthood, and then to adulthood, middle age and old age. Each stage is different and requires different skills and a different understanding. Each builds upon the stage before it, but each is different and unique within itself.

生命在运动。它正在走向某个地方。它正在发展和培养自己。这样想吧。在你作为一个人的发展中，你经历了成长的阶段。你从婴儿开始，成为幼儿，成长为青春期和年轻的成年人，然后是成年、中年和老年。每个阶段都是不同的，需要不同的技能和不同的理解。每一个阶段都建立在之前的阶段之上，但每一个阶段都是不同的，本身也是独特的。

All human beings go through these stages regardless of their attitudes, preferences or beliefs. This represents the evolution of their own individual life in the world. This evolution will happen, no matter what may be believed and no matter what the prevailing attitudes may be. You will go through the stages of life as an individual. This is also true with nations and even with entire races. They will go through stages of development as well.

所有的人都会经历这些阶段，不管他们的态度、喜好或信仰如何。这代表了他们自己在这个世界上的个人生命的演变。这种进化会发生，不管人们可能相信什么，也不管普遍的态度是什么。你将作为一个个体经历生命的各个阶段。国家，甚至整个种族也是如此。他们也会经历发展的阶段。

From a Greater Community perspective, humanity at this point is in a very early stage of adolescence. Humanity is beginning to realize its power, but it does not have the responsibility, the understanding of life, or any accountability beyond itself to gain a real foundation for using its newfound abilities in a constructive way. From a Greater Community perspective, then, humanity is reckless and aggressive. It is violent and inconsistent. It does not understand itself, its environment or the nature of its real responsibilities and relationships. However, humanity is moving towards adulthood as a race. This adulthood places it within a larger community, gives it purpose and accountability there and engenders within it greater responsibilities and a greater concern for others.

从大社区的角度来看，人类此时正处于一个非常早期的青春期阶段。人类开始认识到自己的力量，但它没有责任，没有对生命的理解，也没有超越自身的责任感，无法为以建设性方式使用其新发现的能力打下真正的基础。那么，从大社区的角度来看，人类是鲁莽的、有侵略性的。它是暴力的和不一致的。它不理解它自身，不理解环境，也不理解其真正的责任和关系的性质。然而，作为一个种族，人类正在走向成年。这种成人状态将其置身于大社区之中，赋予其目标和责任，并在其内部产生更大的责任和对他人的更大关注。

Just as the individual grows from adolescence into adulthood, your race must grow from its current adolescence into its adulthood. It must learn to use its newfound powers and abilities effectively and constructively, not only for immediate gain but for its future well-being as well. This greater sense and perspective regarding the future and the results of your current actions upon the future represents maturity, both within yourself as an individual and within the thinking of your entire race. You are gaining this very slowly, and it is needed with great emphasis now in order to preserve your environment and to promote real social development according to the stage of life in which you are currently living. Humanity is developing into a one-world community and is also emerging into the Greater Community of Worlds. Together, this represents the greater context for individual and collective development. This is the context that you have come from beyond the world to serve.

就像个人从青春期成长为成年人一样，你们的种族必须从目前的青春期成长为成年人。它必须学会有效和建设性地使用其新发现的力量和能力，不仅是为了眼前的利益，也是为了它未来的福祉。这种对未来和你当下的行动对未来的结果的更大的意识和观点代表了成熟，无论是在你自己作为个人还是在你整个种族的思维中。你们正在缓慢地获得这一点，现在需要非常强调这一点，以保护你们的环境，并根据你们目前所处的生活阶段促进真正的社会发展。人类正在发展成为一个世界社区，同时也正出现在世界的大社区之中。这一起代表了个人和集体发展的大背景。这就是你从世界之外来到这里服务的背景。

Religion plays a fundamental role here, but it too must evolve. The religion of a millennium ago cannot be effective in the modern world without changing and adapting. Again we must emphasize the distinction between spirituality and religion. Think of it like this: Spirituality is the spark. It is the essence of religious experience. Religious institutions, traditions and so forth are established in order to provide a vehicle or a mechanism for people to have religious experience. This is their pure and fundamental goal. In reality, though, once religions are established, they have other goals and purposes as well­—survival, the acquisition of power and competition for attention. However, from a greater perspective, the purpose of religion is essentially to create a method and a means for people to have religious experience and for this to be possible within a cultural and societal context.

宗教在这里发挥着基本作用，但它也必须发展。一千年前的宗教如果不改变和适应，就不可能在现代世界有效。我们必须再次强调精神性和宗教之间的区别。这样想吧。精神性是火花。它是宗教经历的实质。宗教机构、传统等的建立是为了给人们提供一个载体或机制，让人们获得宗教经历。这是他们纯粹和根本的目标。但实际上，一旦宗教建立起来，它们也有其他目标和目的——生存、获得权力和争夺注意力。然而，从更大的角度来看，宗教的目的本质上是为人们创造一种方法和方式来获得宗教经验，并使之在文化和社会背景下成为可能。

The Creator is bringing essence into the world continuously, but as soon as it emerges, it slowly hardens and calcifies into form. However, the essence is being introduced constantly. Think of it like this: It is like bringing fresh water into a frozen environment. As soon as the water merges with the environment, it begins to freeze and become immobile. The more that form is associated with religion, the more religion will be bound by form and the more inflexible it will be. That is why in the Greater Community religion must minimize form and all of its pageantry so that the essence may be constantly emphasized. This provides the greatest possibility for religious experience to be rendered, both to the participants in that tradition and to their world at large.

创造不断地将精华带入世界，但它一出现，就会慢慢变硬并钙化为形式。然而，实质是不断被引入的。这样想吧。这就像把淡水带入一个冰冻的环境。一旦水与环境融合，它就开始结冰，变得无法动弹。形式越是与宗教联系在一起，宗教就越是被形式所束缚，就越是不灵活。这就是为什么在大社区里，宗教必须最大限度地减少形式和其所有的盛况，以便不断强调实质。这为宗教经历的呈现提供了最大的可能性，无论是对该传统的参与者还是对他们的整个世界。

Essence is being sent into your world now to an even greater degree because of the stage of evolution that you are in. This has brought The Greater Community Way of Knowledge into the world. It represents a new foundation for religious understanding. This foundation is presented with a minimum of structure and ritual. The structure and ritual that it does contain has to do with its methods of preparation and with very simple forms of devotional practice. These are both necessary and helpful and are quite adaptable to changing circumstances. The preparation in The Greater Community Way of Knowledge can be practiced anywhere under any circumstances, and it will be as relevant three hundred years from now as it is today.

现在，由于你们所处的进化阶段，精华正以更大的程度被送入你们的世界。这将大社区的内识之路带入世界。它代表了宗教理解的新基础。这个基础是以最少的结构和仪式呈现的。它所包含的结构和仪式与它的准备方法和非常简单的虔诚实践形式有关。这些都是必要的和有帮助的，并且可以适应不断变化的环境。大社区内识之路中的准备工作可以在任何地方、任何情况下进行，而且从现在起三百年后也会像今天一样有意义。

The evolution of religion requires adaptability­—adapting methods of practice and vehicles of expression for greater religious experience­—in order for religion to survive and to have a place in the world. This meets the greater needs of people and serves humanity at large by fortifying the ideas of peace, cooperation, understanding and tolerance. Without this presence and without this constant emphasis, humanity would lead itself towards destruction very rapidly. Selfish pursuits, quests for power and domination, the competition for resources and the isolation of different tribes and groups would lead to an increasing state of destruction and chaos. To temper this and to give humanity greater promise and the possibility of new life and renewal, the Creator is bringing the essence of spirituality into the world constantly and is reinforcing both the old traditions and the new expressions of spirituality that hold promise for humanity, for the present and for the future.

宗教的演变需要适应性——适应实践的方法和表达的载体，以获得更多的宗教经验——这样宗教才能生存，才能在世界中占有一席之地。这满足了人们的更大需求，并通过强化和平、合作、理解和宽容的理念为整个人类服务。如果没有这种存在，没有这种持续的强调，人类会很快地把自己带向毁灭。自私的追求，对权力和统治的追求，对资源的竞争，以及不同部落和群体的孤立，将导致越来越多的破坏和混乱。为了缓和这种情况，并给人类带来更大的希望和新的生命和更新的可能性，创造不断地将精神性的实质带入世界，并加强旧的传统和新的精神性表达，为人类、为现在和未来带来希望。

Therefore, the emphasis here is on renewing religion­—giving it new life and impetus. Religious experience transcends all theological boundaries and then returns to life to give new structure and meaning to religion and new opportunities for religious experience to be shared and translated to others. It is as if the world were a garden that is constantly being watered. It is constantly drying out, and it is constantly being watered. Even those who have developed within the context of the world­’s religions must break new ground. They too must come back to what is essential. And they too must fortify those practices and traditions that enable them to translate their experience to others. However, this must be done with a clear understanding of the difference between the means and the essence of religion itself.

因此，这里的重点是更新宗教——赋予它新的生命和动力。宗教经历超越了所有的神学界限，然后回归生命，赋予宗教新的结构和意义，并为宗教经历的分享和转化提供新的机会。这就好像世界是一个不断被浇灌的花园。它不断地干涸，也不断地被浇灌。即使是那些在世界宗教背景下发展起来的人，也必须开辟新的天地。他们也必须回到根本的内识上。他们也必须加强那些使他们能够将自己的经历转化给他人的实践和传统。然而，在这样做的时候，必须清晰地理解宗教它本身的方式和实质之间的区别。

A Greater Community Theology is necessary now because you need to experience and to practice a translatable spirituality­—not a spirituality that is bound to one culture or another, that is bound to one philosophy or another, or that is bound to one temperament or another, but something that can be translated to people everywhere. It must be something that is very essential, very useful and very relevant to the evolution and development of your world at this time and as it will be in the coming centuries.

现在，大社区神学是必要的，因为你需要经验和实践一种可转化的精神性——不是束缚在一种文化或另一种文化中的精神性，不是束缚在一种哲学或另一种哲学中的精神性，也不是束缚在一种气质中的精神性，而是可以转化给世界各地的人的内识。它必须是非常必要的、非常有用的、与你们的世界在此时和未来几个世纪的进化和发展非常相关的精神性。

Remember, you are preparing for the future, not only for yourself but for others in your race. Like all creatures in nature, you give so that others may have the opportunity to live. This is a truth that is rarely understood and rarely experienced in the human family at this time. People seem to live for themselves alone, or only for those whom they regard around them, but in essence they live for future generations because they pave the way for the future. And the legacy that they leave for future generations will be the substance of what they gave and what they did not give, what they established and what they did not establish.

记住，你在为未来做准备，不仅为自己，也为你种族中的其他人。像自然界的所有生物一样，你的给予是为了让其他人有机会活下去。这是一个目前在人类大家庭中很少被理解和很少被经历的真理。人们似乎只为自己而活，或者只为他们周围的人而活，但实质上他们是为后代而活，因为他们为未来铺平了道路。而他们留给后代的遗产将是他们所给予的和没有给予的，他们所建立的和没有建立的的实质。

Religion, then, is a growing and evolving understanding and experience. And its methodologies and instruction must grow and adapt as well. Spirituality must be relevant within the context of life in which it is experienced and expressed. With this understanding, you can see more clearly how religion has evolved within the world. The religion of a tribe whose radius of experience is perhaps only a few miles will have a different religious emphasis and a different theology from a religion that has to be practiced and understood within the context of an entire world. The differences here are great.

因此，宗教是一种不断发展和演变的理解和经历。它的方法和指导也必须成长和适应。精神性必须在它所经历和表达的生命背景中具有相关性。有了这种理解，你可以更清晰地看到宗教是如何在世界范围内演变的。一个经历半径可能只有几英里的部落的宗教，会有不同的宗教重点和不同的神学，而一个宗教必须在整个世界的背景下进行实践和理解。这里的差异是很大的。

Consider the difference between religion within a tribal context, where religious imagery and practices are relevant to the immediate environment, and the emphasis of a world religion, whose practices and application must be adapted to many very different environments and to many different people who do not regularly interact with each other or who may have no access to each other at all. A world religion must account for events within the whole world, and it must be adaptable to change that exists within the whole world­—change that is much more rapid, difficult and tumultuous than the kind of change that a tribal society is likely to experience if it is living in isolation.

考虑一下部落背景下的宗教与世界宗教之间的区别，前者的宗教形象和实践与直接环境有关，后者的实践和应用必须适应许多非常不同的环境和许多不同的人，他们不经常相互交流，或者根本没有机会相互交流。一个世界性的宗教必须考虑到整个世界的事件，而且它必须能够适应整个世界的变化——这种变化比一个部落社会在孤立状态下可能经历的那种变化要迅速、困难和动荡得多。

When you consider the differences here, then you can begin to appreciate the difference between a world religion and a religion of the Greater Community. However, there are some very important things that distinguish this example from the one that we have just given. Most essential is the understanding that humanity is but one more evolving race in the Greater Community. It is not the centerpiece of God­’s creation. It is not a privileged race or a race that is more blessed than others. Humanity has certain advantages and certain liabilities. It has certain strengths and certain weaknesses and flaws. However, it is not greater, more important, more significant or more emphasized than other developing races in the Greater Community.

当你考虑到这里的差异，那么你就可以开始理解世界宗教和大社区宗教之间的差异。然而，有一些非常重要的事情使这个例子与我们刚才的例子不同。最重要的是理解到人类只是大社区中一个不断发展的种族。它不是上帝创造的核心。它不是一个有特权的种族，也不是一个比别人更被祝福的种族。人类有某些优势和某些责任。它有某些长处，也有某些弱点和缺陷。然而，它并不比大社区中其他发展中的种族更伟大、更重要、更有意义或更受重视。

The move away from an anthropocentric viewpoint to a universal understanding is so great that it will change your values, your thinking and your emphasis in life. The difference between an isolated tribal society and a world society is primarily one of magnitude. In both, the emphasis is still on human experience, human expression and human aspirations. However, when you are living in a Greater Community context that extends far beyond human awareness, then your understanding of spirituality enters a much greater panorama. Here the idea of God becomes very different. Here the understanding of how God functions in the world and how God influences, blesses and enables individuals within the human family and within other families as well becomes far greater and more genuine to the true nature and comprehensiveness of life.

从人类中心主义的观点转向普遍的理解是如此之大，以至于它将改变你的价值观、你的思维和你在生命中的重点。一个孤立的部落社会与世界社会之间的差异主要在于规模。在这两者中，重点仍然是人类的经验、人类的表达和人类的愿望。然而，当你生活在一个远远超出人类意识的大社区环境中时，你对精神性的理解就进入了一个更大的全景。在这里，上帝的概念变得非常不同。在这里，对上帝如何在这个世界上发挥作用，以及上帝如何影响、祝福和帮助人类家庭和其他家庭中的个体的理解，变得更加广泛，更加真实地反映出生命的真实本质和全面性。

To be able to prepare for the Greater Community and to learn Greater Community Spirituality within a relatively short period of time represent a tremendous advancement for humanity. This is a great challenge. It is as if your evolution were being fast-forwarded. You do not have centuries to develop this understanding because the evolution of the world is moving quickly now, and you are behind in your preparation. It took until recent years for The Greater Community Way of Knowledge to be introduced because there has not been a sufficient global understanding. There has not been a sufficient realization of the need for truth. There has not been the impetus for change and development. And until recently, there has not been the ability to adapt.

能够在相对较短的时间内为大社区做准备并学习大社区精神性，对人类来说是巨大的进步。这是一个巨大的挑战。这就像你的进化被快进了一样。你们没有几个世纪的时间来发展这种理解，因为现在世界的进化正在快速发展，而你们的准备工作已经落后。直到最近几年，大社区的内识之路才被引入，因为全球还没有足够的理解。没有充分认识到对真理的需求。没有改变和发展的动力。而且直到最近，还没有适应的能力。

Humanity has only recently emerged from its tribal societies. In fact, tribal societies are still very common in the world. You have just stepped into a modern age. Think of the difference of your life now and of life only one hundred years ago­—a very small segment of time. You will see that you have freshly arrived on new shores. This has changed your attitude, your understanding, your emphasis, your goals and your aspirations. This has given you greater opportunities for education, self-expression and creativity, but it has also given you greater problems and difficulties to solve and an ever-increasing interaction with other people of different temperaments, cultures, races, languages and so forth.

人类最近才从部落社会中走出来。事实上，部落社会在世界范围内仍然非常普遍。你们刚刚步入了一个现代化的时代。想想你现在的生活和一百年前的生活有什么不同——一个非常小的时间片段。你会看到，你刚刚抵达新的海岸。这已经改变了你的态度，你的理解，你的重点，你的目标和愿望。这给了你们更多教育、自我表达和创造的机会，但也给了你们更多需要解决的问题和困难，以及与其他不同气质、文化、种族、语言等的种族越来越多的互动。

In the world at this time, cultures are melting into each other, even as they resist and fight each other. No matter how much they attempt to separate themselves from their neighbors in the future, they will be forced together and fused together by a growing sense of interdependence and a growing need for cooperation in order to meet the problems that are shared by everyone.

在此时的世界上，各种文化正在相互融化，甚至在相互抵制和争斗中。无论他们将来如何试图将自己与邻居分开，他们都会因为日益增长的相互依存感和日益增长的合作需求而被迫走到一起，融合在一起，以解决大家共同的问题。

Introduce into this situation the growing presence of the Greater Community, and you will see that humanity is rapidly approaching a great threshold. The impact of this threshold will be primarily experienced at the level of human understanding and in the breakdown of old traditions and ideas. This will happen rapidly from one generation to the next. Every decade, new ideas will be proposed, and new ideas will be accepted. What seems outrageous today, twenty years from now will seem like common knowledge. If the idea of the Greater Community seems revolutionary or difficult to comprehend, twenty years from now it will be on everyone­’s mind. That is how fast things are progressing. And that is why your ability to respond to the present, to respond to Knowledge within yourself, and to face life directly with a greater ability and a greater understanding are so essential in order for you to lead a fulfilling life and to contribute something meaningful for the future.

在这种情况下，引入大社区的日益增长的存在，你会看到人类正在迅速接近一个巨大的门槛。这个门槛的影响将主要体现在人类理解的层面上，以及旧的传统和观念的瓦解上。这将迅速从一代发生到另一代。每十年都会有新的想法被提出，新的想法也会被接受。今天看起来很离谱的事情，二十年后将看起来像常识。如果大社区的想法似乎是革命性的或难以理解的，二十年后，它将成为每个人的想法。这就是事情发展的速度。这就是为什么你对现在做出回应的能力，对自己内心的内识做出回应的能力，以及以更大的能力和更大的理解直接面对生命的能力，对于你过上充实的生命和为未来做出有意义的贡献是如此重要。

The evolution of life represents an expanding context for life. For example, the isolated tribal culture may remain static in its development for a very long time, but once it encounters other societies and grows beyond its initial boundaries, it will have to change and to adapt. This will change its emphasis, its culture and its religious expression to a very great degree. Its boundaries and its scope have expanded.

生命的进化代表着生命背景的扩展。例如，孤立的部落文化可能在很长一段时间内保持静止的发展，但一旦它遇到其他社会，发展到超出其最初的界限，它将不得不改变和适应。这将在很大程度上改变它的重点、它的文化和它的宗教表达。它的边界和范围已经扩大。

This expansion is the essence of evolution. It is not only expanding consciousness and awareness, it is an expanding involvement with others. Here greater influences are introduced, greater conflicts are generated and greater solutions are required. If you read human history, you will see how evident this is and how human societies which were once isolated have encountered each other, have grown into each other, have impacted each other, have conflicted with each other and have had to find a common ground of experience and tolerance with each other. This is still occurring, and there are many failures to instruct you.

这种扩展是进化的实质。它不仅是扩展意识和觉知，而且是扩大与他人的交往。这里引入了更大的影响，产生了更大的冲突，需要更大的解决方案。如果你阅读人类历史，你会看到这一点是多么明显，曾经孤立无援的人类社会是如何相互遭遇，相互成长，相互影响，相互冲突，并且不得不找到共同的经验和宽容的基础。这种情况仍在发生，有许多失败的例子可以供你借鉴。

Now think about the world­’s emergence into the Greater Community and about the impact of foreign races upon the human race, and you will see how much greater the scope and impact of this will be and how much greater the effect of its change. This will change your religions more than anything else, for no longer can you have a religion simply for humanity. This would be tribal within a Greater Community context. No longer can you have only a human god preoccupied with human affairs, for that would be tribal in the Greater Community.

现在，思考世界进入大社区以及外来种族对人类种族的影响，你就会发现这将是多么大的范围和影响，其变化的效果会更为显著。这将比其他任何事情都更多地改变你们的宗教，因为你再也不能仅仅拥有一个为人类而设的宗教。在大社区的背景下，这将是部落性的。你也不能再只拥有一个专注于人类事务的神，因为在大社区中，这也是部落性的。

In reality, the Creator is no more concerned with human beings than with any other beings. The work of the Divine in the world has always had this approach and this emphasis. Therefore, gaining a Greater Community perspective and learning a Greater Community Theology will bring you closer to the real nature and mind of the Creator. Here you will be able to understand more completely how the Creator has worked in the world in the past and how the Creator works in the world in the present moment. And the idea of Knowledge, which is so fundamental to understanding and learning Greater Community Spirituality, will become something that you can embrace.

在现实中，创造对人类的关注并不比对任何其他种族的关注更多。上帝在世界的工作一直都有这种方法和重点。因此，获得大社区的视角，学习大社区神学，将使你更接近创造的真正性质和创造心智。在这里，你将能够更全面地理解创造过去是如何在世界中工作的，以及创造当下是如何在世界中工作的。而作为理解和学习大社区精神性的根本的内识想法，也将成为你可以接受的关系。

At first, you must develop an intellectual capacity for Knowledge and an openness to its reality. Then you can find the way to it by taking the steps to Knowledge and by learning The Way of Knowledge. This will give you a foundation that will enable you to adapt to new situations as they occur. This will enable your mind to change, to renew itself and to regenerate its power in the ever-increasing presence of new experiences, new sensations and new difficulties.

首先，你必须培养对内识智力上的理解能力，并对其现实性保持开放态度。然后，通过采取通往内识的步骤和学习内识之路，你可以找到通向它的道路。这将为你提供一个基础，使你能够在新情况出现时进行适应。这将使你的心灵得以改变、更新和在不断增加的新经验、新感受和新困难的存在中再生其力量。

Only the man and woman of Knowledge will have this great adaptive capability. In essence, they will be bringing spirituality into the world constantly, without the great burden of past traditions, interpretations or ecclesiastical studies or practices. They will not be carrying the past with them, like a great weight upon their shoulders. They will be able to step into the future, and what they bring into the future will be immediate and necessary. This will give the greatest possibility for success.

只有内识的男人和女人会有这种巨大的适应能力。从实质上讲，他们将不断地把精神性带入世界，而没有过去的传统、解释或教会研究或做法的巨大负担。她们将不会把过去的经历带在身边，像一个巨大的重量压在肩上。他们将能够步入未来，而他们带入未来的内识将是直接和必要的。这将为成功提供最大的可能性。

The greater the development of Knowledge in the world today, the greater will be the possibility for humanity­’s successful emergence into the Greater Community. This will assure your independence as a race in the Greater Community. This will assure your ability to learn from the Greater Community and to defend yourself against it when that becomes necessary. The Greater Community offers tremendous lessons regarding every aspect of life. Its successes and its failures will be available for you to learn, if you are able to learn them and if you can have a mind that is renewed and not bound to past associations. This requires a remarkable development in a human being­—a development that has only been seen in the past within rare and gifted individuals. Now it must be fostered in many people, not only because of the wonderful rewards that it can engender for the race as a whole, but because it is needed. That is why The Greater Community Way of Knowledge is being brought into the world.

今天世界上内识的发展越大，人类成功进入大社区的可能性就越大。这将保证你们作为一个种族在大社区中的独立性。这将确保你们有能力从大社区中学习，并在必要时保护自己免受其害。大社区在生命的每个方面都提供了巨大的教训。它的成功和失败将供你学习，如果你能够学习它们，如果你能有一个更新的心灵，不被过去的关联所束缚。这需要人类的非凡发展——这种发展在过去只在罕见的有天赋的个人身上看到过。现在，它必须在许多人身上得到培养，不仅是因为它可以为整个种族带来美妙的回报，而且是因为它是需要的。这就是为什么大社区内识之路要被带到这个世界上的原因。

You will not be able to understand the Greater Community from an anthropocentric viewpoint. You will not be able to adapt to the Greater Community with this attitude and this belief as your foundation. With an anthropocentric viewpoint, you make yourself vulnerable to deception and manipulation. You weaken your great abilities of insight. You limit your skills. You close your eyes to what must be seen, and you disable yourself from doing what must be done.

从人类中心主义的观点来看，你将无法理解大社区。以这种态度和信仰为基础，你将无法适应大社区。以人类为中心的观点，你会使自己容易受到欺骗和操纵。你削弱了自己巨大的洞察能力。你限制了自己的技能。你对必须看见的事情视而不见，你使自己无法做必须做的工作。

You need a new foundation now, a foundation that you, as an evolving modern race, are capable of developing. The world has already shown you again and again that you have to expand your attitude, your understanding and the scope of your own perception. Your failures to do this in the past have led to difficulty, destruction and downfall. It is ­“adapt and survive­” in the Greater Community, as it is in your own world. As you learn to enter into a Greater Community context and learn the ways of the Greater Community, you will have to adapt to survive. Once you survive, you can advance. However, in order to advance, you need to learn about the circumstances and the intelligences within this greater context. You will also need to learn what spirituality means within this greater context. And more than ever you will need to rely upon a Greater Power in life to enable you, to motivate you and to give you greater insight, greater depth and greater ability.

你们现在需要一个新的基础，一个你们作为一个不断发展的现代种族有能力发展的基础。世界已经一再向你们表明，你们必须扩大自己的态度、理解和自己的感知范围。你们过去没有做到这一点，导致了苦难、破坏和衰败。在大社区里是”适应和生存”，就像在你们自己的世界里一样。当你学会进入大社区的背景，学习大社区的方式，你将不得不适应生存。一旦你生存下来，你就可以进步。然而，为了进步，你需要理解这个大背景下的环境和智能生命。你还需要学习在这个大背景下的精神性意味着什么。在生命中，你比以往任何时候都更需要依靠一种更伟大的力量，这种力量能使你获得能力，激励你，并赋予你更多的洞察力、更深的理解力和更强的能力。

As God works in the world, unacknowledged and unrecognized, everyone benefits. Such will be the case in the future, for the Creator will take you into the Greater Community. The Creator will enable you to learn Greater Community Spirituality and will provide you the methods of practice and study to enable you to have a greater religious experience and to learn its essential application in the changing circumstances of your life.

当上帝在这个世界上工作时，不被承认，不被认可，每个人都受益。未来的情况也是如此，因为创造将带你进入大社区。创造将使你学习大社区的精神性，并为你提供实践和学习的方法，使你能有更大的宗教经历，并学习它在你生命中不断变化的环境中的基本应用。

Therefore, look forward not backward. Bring forward what can be brought forward, and leave behind what cannot be brought forward. In this way, you will build upon the Wisdom that your race has established already, but you will not be limited by it. You will be able to add to it, expand its application and develop your ability to understand its reality in your life.

因此，要向前看，不要向后看。带上能带上的，留下不能带上的。这样，你将建立在你的种族已经建立的智慧之上，但你不会被它所限制。你将能够在此基础上增加新的智慧，扩展它的应用，发展你的能力，在你的生命中理解它的现实。

The essence of spirituality, which lives within Knowledge within you, cannot be governed or dominated by you. You are meant to become its recipient. Once you can receive it, you can give it. And if you can give it, then you can transmit it and demonstrate it.

精神性的实质，生活在你内心的内识中，不能被你控制或支配。而你是要成为它的接收者。一旦你能收到它，你就能给予它。如果你能给予它，那么你就能传递它，并展示它。

It is time now to look forward. It is time now to look with greater eyes, beyond all the desires and fears that hold you within your own mind. It is time to look beyond your ideas­—not with hope and not with fear, not with ambition and not with expectation­—in order to see what is occurring now and what will occur next.

现在是展望未来的时候了。现在是用更广阔的眼光去看待的时候，超越所有的欲望和恐惧，这些欲望和恐惧把你关在你自己的心灵里。现在是时候超越你的想法了——不是带着希望，也不是带着恐惧，不是带着野心，也不是带着期望——以便看到现在正在发生的事情和接下来将发生的事情。

The great waves of change in life build, and you can feel them building. They do not crash upon the shore without building up. They can be seen on the horizon once you learn to read the ways of the world. Learning The Way of Knowledge will teach you to read the ways of the world because Knowledge within you understands this. As you read the waves that crash upon the shore, you will see how they build, how they crash and which ones are coming next. You can see this by looking into the world, without projecting your hopes or your fears, without interpreting things positively or negatively, but simply by looking, seeing and understanding.

生活中变革的巨浪正在形成，你可以感觉到它们正在形成。它们不会在没有任何征兆的情况下冲击到岸上。只要你学会解读世界的方式，你就能在地平线上看到它们的迹象。学习内识之路会教你读懂世界的方式，因为你内心的内识会理解这一点。当你读懂那些冲击到岸上的浪潮时，你会看到它们是如何形成的，如何冲击的，以及接下来会出现哪些浪潮。你可以通过观察世界看到这一切，而不是投射你的希望或恐惧，不是正面或负面地解读世界，而只是单纯地观察、看到和理解。

Look out on the horizon of your life. See what is coming, for waves of change are building there. And even though they might seem tremendous to you, if you can develop, you will have the capability to meet them. If you have this capability, you will be able to share it with others. If you can share it with others, it will be translated into the world.

在你生活的地平线上向外看。看看什么正在到来，因为变革的巨浪正在那里形成。即使它们对你来说可能是巨大的，如果你能发展，你将有能力迎接它们。如果你有这种能力，你将能够与他人分享。如果你能与他人分享，它将被转化为世界。

Wisdom is handed down from person to person through a network as ancient as time. This is how the Creator gives the gift to the weakest person, for it has been handed down. If you look for it, you will find it, for it is there. If you look out onto the horizon of your life, you will see the waves building there. Look without fear. Look without hope. Look openly. Look clearly. Knowledge within you is prepared to deal with the changing circumstances of your life and with the great challenges that lie ahead. Thus, as you learn to reclaim your relationship with Knowledge, you reclaim your ability to interact with life as it is and as it will be. Without this, life will overwhelm you, and you will seek to escape it. Without this, life will threaten your current possessions and understanding, and you will resist it and seek to thwart it. There is no happiness and no satisfaction, no contribution and no meaning in resisting or avoiding life.

智慧通过像时间一样古老的网络在人与人之间流传。创造就是这样把礼物送给最弱小的人，因为它已经被传下来了。如果你寻找它，你会发现它，因为它就在那里。如果你向你生活的地平线看去，你会看到那里的波浪正在形成。看的时候不要害怕。不抱希望地看。公开地看。清晰地看。你内心的内识已经准备好应对你生命中不断变化的环境和未来的巨大挑战。因此，当你学会恢复你与内识的关系时，你就恢复了与生命互动的能力，因为它是现在和未来的。如果没有这一点，生活将会压倒你，你会想逃避它。没有这一点，生活将会威胁到你当前的财产和理解，你会抗拒它并试图阻止它。抵制或逃避生活中没有幸福、没有满足、没有贡献和没有意义。

You have come into the world at this time to serve a world in transition. You were designed to meet the great problems and to utilize the great opportunities. You were designed to learn a Greater Community Way of Knowledge because you have come into the world at this time. You are meant to learn about a greater panorama of life. You are meant to see beyond the immediate circumstances of your life and to look beyond all of the assumptions which seem to assure you that the future will be like the present in order to see a greater expansion of human experience and the greater need for human development and contribution. This demonstrates the advancement and evolution of religion and the advancement and evolution of your race, for they are intertwined and cannot be separated.

你在这个时候来到这个世界，为一个处于过渡时期的世界服务。你被设计来应对巨大的问题并善用巨大的机遇。你被设计来学习一个大社区的内识之路，因为你在这个时候来到这个世界。你的目的是要学习更大的生命全景。你注定要超越你生活中的即时环境，并超越所有那些似乎让你相信未来会像现在一样的假设，以便看到人类经历的更大扩展和人类发展与贡献的更大需求。这表明了宗教的进步和进化以及你们种族的进步和进化，因为它们是交织在一起的，不能分开。

The Creator has created a Plan that works. It works because it is relevant to the present and to the future. Your life is about the present and the future though your mind is oriented in the past. You have come here to serve the present and the future even though your ideas are rooted in the past. To receive Knowledge, to experience Knowledge, to follow Knowledge and to follow the steps to Knowledge will free you from the constraints of your past. This will enable your mind with all of its great strength and possibility to focus on what must be done now and to gain a greater perception and understanding of what will come and how to prepare for it.

造物主已经创造了一个可行的计划。它之所以有效是因为它与现在和未来有关。你的生命是关于现在和未来的，尽管你的心智是以过去为导向的。你来到这里是为了服务于现在和未来，尽管你的想法扎根于过去。接收内识、经历内识、追随内识和遵循内识的步骤，将使你摆脱过去的束缚。这将使你的心智以其所有的巨大力量和可能性，专注于现在必须做的事情，并对即将到来的事情和如何准备它获得更大的感知和理解。

If you can hear these words, you will understand their great meaning and bearing on your life, for you are not apart from the evolution of the world. The assumptions that you rely upon and the establishments of society that you rely upon for your safety, security and continuance will be challenged and will change. The ground will move beneath your feet again and again. Walk lightly. Keep your eyes open. Greater Wisdom within you can teach you how to negotiate the changing circumstances of your life—­not only how to negotiate them but how to contribute to them so that this great period of transition into the Greater Community and towards a one-world society may be accomplished with minimal stress, danger and destruction.

如果你能听到这些话，你将理解它们对你生命的巨大意义和影响，因为你并没有脱离世界的进化。你所依赖的假设和社会的建立，它们为你的安全、保障和延续提供支持，将会受到挑战，并将改变。地面将在你的脚下一次又一次地移动。轻松行走，保持眼睛睁开。你内在的更大智慧可以教你如何应对你生活中不断变化的环境——不仅是如何应对它们，而且是如何对它们作出贡献，以便这个过渡到大社区和走向一个世界社会的伟大时期可以在最小的压力、危险和破坏中完成。

The greatest promise for humanity lies ahead. The greatest challenges and risks for humanity lie ahead. These are imminent. They are not far in the future. Like waves that are soon to crash, they are building. These waves have come from far away. They represent the currents of life, both within your world and within the Greater Community. The deeper currents that exist in Knowledge within you are related to these greater currents of life.

人类最大的希望就在前方。人类面临的最大挑战和风险也在前方。这些都是迫在眉睫的。而不是在遥远的未来。就像即将冲击的浪潮，它们正在形成。这些浪潮来自遥远的地方。它们代表了你们世界内和大社区内的生命潮流。存在于你内部内识中的更深层面的潮流，与这些更大的生命潮流有关。

The Creator loves the world and loves the universe and is united with them even though they are not united with the Creator. This greater understanding, which extends so far beyond your current thinking, lives with you today­—within you in your Knowledge and between you in your relationships.

造物主爱这个世界，爱这个宇宙，并与它们合而为一，尽管他们没有与造物主结合在一起。这种超越你当前思维的更大理解，今天与你同在——在你的内识中，在你与他人的关系中。

The greatest gift that can be given to you is Knowledge—­a perfect guiding Wisdom within you, a bond and a timeless foundation that you have now. It is intelligent and can guide you through changing circumstances with a Wisdom, a certainty, a determination and a sense of direction that you alone could never create. The greatest gifts will be realized in meeting the greatest challenges. The greatest possibilities will emerge in facing the greatest change. The greatest demonstration of Grace, purpose, meaning and direction will be discovered as you meet a greater challenge and a greater opportunity in life.

能给你的最大礼物是内识——在你体内的完美指导性智慧，是你现在拥有的纽带和永恒的基础。它是智能的，可以引导你通过不断变化的环境，拥有你自己永远无法创造的智慧、确定性、决心和方向感。最大的礼物将在迎接最大的挑战中实现。最大的可能性将在面对最大的变化时出现。最大的恩典、目的、意义和方向的展示将在你迎接更大的挑战和更伟大的生命机会时被发现。

Greater Community Spirituality represents the evolution of religion in the world. It represents the evolution of your race and your intrinsic relationship with the Greater Community. It represents your relationship with your Creator and with all in the physical universe who serve the Creator in many, many capacities. It demonstrates an essential and translatable spirituality that you can learn, that you can utilize and that you can give to others. It represents a gift, not only from your Creator, but from the Wise Ones in the Greater Community who seek to restore and to preserve Knowledge as a living force in physical existence. Their achievements and their contribution are reflected in a Greater Community Theology and in a Greater Community Way of Knowledge. Their methods of learning and their achievements in this regard are demonstrated in Steps to Knowledge in its adaptation into human life.

大社区精神性代表了世界上宗教的演变。它代表了你的种族的演变以及你与大社区的内在关系。它代表了你与造物主的关系，以及与物理宇宙中所有以许多身份为造物主服务的个体的关系。它展示了一种根本的、可转化的精神性，你可以学习，可以善用，可以给予他人。它代表了一份礼物，不仅来自于你们的造物主，而且来自于大社区的智者，他们试图恢复和保护内识，使之成为物理存在的一种活的力量。他们的成就和贡献反映在大社区的神学和大社区的内识之路中。他们的学习方法和他们在这方面的成就体现在《内识的阶梯》中，以适应人类生活。

You are blessed, then, by those who walk ahead of you, by those who are more advanced. You are blessed by changing circumstances, which will bring you into a greater panorama and experience of life. And you are blessed because you are free to release your past and to only carry forward that which is essential and necessary for you to live in the moment and to prepare for the future. If you can live in the moment and prepare for the future, your life will be fulfilled and your journey here will be justified.

因此，你受到那些走在你前面的人们的祝福，他们更加先进。你受到不断变化的环境的祝福，这将使你进入更广阔的生命全景和体验。你受到祝福，因为你可以自由地释放过去，只带着那些对你当下生活和未来准备至关重要的关系前行。如果你能活在当下并为未来做好准备，你的生命将会圆满，你在这里的旅程将会得到正当的理由。