Essential Truths about the Greater Community

As received by Marshall Vian Summers on January 30, 1997 in Boulder, Colorado
1997年1月30日，在科罗拉多州博尔德(Boulder, Colorado)，向上帝的信使马歇尔・维安・萨默斯(Marshall Vian Summers)揭示

In presenting the reality of the Greater Community and its overall importance to humanity at this time, We realize that We challenge many of the most preferred ideas and cherished ideas in human cultures today. We stimulate many questions and perhaps a great deal of confusion. But this is the reality that must be presented, and people must find a way to understand what it means and to outgrow their former ideas if they prevent them from doing this.

在呈现大社区的现实及其对当今人类的整体重要性时，我们意识到我们挑战了当今人类文化中许多最受欢迎的想法和珍视的观念。我们激发了许多问题，或许还引发了大量的困惑。但这是必须呈现的现实，人们必须找到一种方法来理解它的含义，如果他们以前的想法阻碍了他们这样做，他们就必须摆脱这种想法。

Because humanity is in a very adolescent stage in its development, it is filled with many ideals and superstitions that have nothing to do with reality. Instead, they represent the desires and fears of human consciousness. So strongly can these be adhered to that it can be very difficult for people to hear something new. It can be very difficult for them to see clearly and understand clearly what is being presented in this book.

由于人类的发展还处于一种非常青春期的阶段，因此充斥着许多与现实无关的理想和迷信。相反，它们代表了人类意识中的欲望和恐惧。这些观念和迷信被如此强烈地坚持，以至于人们很难听到新的事物。他们很难看清并理解这本书中呈现的内容。

We understand these difficulties, and We will attempt to clarify the realities that We are presenting as clearly as possible. Yet you must still understand that you have to do the work to gain the vantage point where you can see for yourself. It is not enough simply to believe what is being presented in this book. You must experience it for yourself, and you must be able to see it clearly. In this, you do most of the work.

我们理解这些困难，我们将努力尽可能清楚地阐明我们所呈现的现实。然而，你仍然必须理解，你必须努力工作才能获得可以亲眼看见的观测位置。仅仅相信这本书中呈现的内容是不够的。你必须亲身体验，你必须能够清楚地看到它。在这一点上，大部分工作由你来做。

If you stay immersed in your preoccupations, if you stay immersed in human ideals and beliefs, you will not be able to see the bigger picture, and you will not be able to recognize the greater forces, both within yourself and within the world around you, that are shaping your life and your destiny. Therefore, We bring a great challenge with Our message. We understand how great it is.

如果你一直沉浸在你的心事，如果你一直沉浸在人类的理想和信仰，你将无法看到整体背景，你将无法认识到你自己和周围世界中正在塑造你生命和天命的更强大势力。因此，我们的讯息带来了一种伟大的挑战。我们理解它有多么伟大。

Humanity is but one more race emerging into the Greater Community. Across the vast network of societies and cultures in the Greater Community, there are at this moment other races that are in various stages of emerging into the Greater Community. Some of them are ahead of where you are now. Others are far behind.

人类不过是大社区中新出现的又一个种族。此时此刻，在大社区庞大的社会和文化网络中，还有其他种族正处于进入大社区的不同阶段。其中一些比你们现在所处的阶段要早。另一些则远远落在后面。

So this is a very natural process, as it is a very natural process to grow from adolescence into adulthood. As you personally have an evolutionary progression in your life, so humanity as a race has an evolutionary progression. This is manifested in human society, human culture, human ideas and human education.

因此，这是一个非常自然的过程，它就像从青少年成长为成年人一样。正如你个人的生命有一个进化的过程一样，人类作为一个种族也有一个进化的过程。这体现在人类社会、人类文化、人类想法和人类教育中。

This is going on everywhere in the universe. By its very nature, intelligent life must grow and expand. This is what sets it apart from other forms of life, which play a different role in the great fabric of the universe.

这种情况在宇宙中无处不在。就其本质而言，智能生命必须成长和扩展。这就是智能生命与其他生命形式的不同之处，其他生命形式在宇宙的庞大结构中扮演着不同的角色。

Both within yourself and within the world are great forces moving this evolution forward. To keep pace with this, you must be able to go beyond your former education and set aside ideas, even if they have served you thus far. For what is education but learning something new, going beyond what you knew before, experiencing new revelations and so forth?

无论是你自己还是这个世界，都有伟大的力量在推动着这种进化。为了跟上这个进程，你必须能够超越你以前所受的教育，抛开各种想法，即使这些想法迄今为止一直在为你服务。因为除了学习新的事物、超越你以前所知道的、体验新的启示等等，还有什么是教育呢？

Therefore, as We present the Greater Community reality to you and its tremendous importance to you and to humanity as well, We also are presenting a greater learning opportunity, the most important learning opportunity that you could have at this time.

因此，当我们向你呈现大社区的现实及其对你和人类的极大重要性时，我们也在向你呈现一个更大的学习机会，一个你目前可能拥有的最重要的学习机会。

In order for you to begin this process of education, to begin the process of gaining a greater vantage point in life from which you can see what you could not see before and know what you could not know before, We must present certain essential truths about the Greater Community, about your world and about your essential spiritual nature, for they are all directly connected. What We are about to present may seem difficult to understand at first. Even if you think you can understand it right away, you still do not yet have the vantage point from which you can see it and know it fully.

为了让你开始这个教育过程，开始获得生命中一种更伟大的观测位置，从这个观测位置你可以看到以前看不到的事情，知道以前不知道的事情，我们必须呈现关于大社区、关于你的世界以及关于你不可或缺的精神自然的特定基本真理，因为它们都是直接相关的。我们将要呈现的内容乍一看可能很难理解。即使你认为你可以马上理解它，你也仍然还没有达到能够充分看到它和知道它的观测位置。

In order to prepare you for the Greater Community, there are certain things you must understand. If these things are not recognized and understood, if they are not seriously considered, then you will not be able to understand the Greater Community, and you will not be able to prepare for it.

为了让你为大社区做好准备，有些事情你必须理解。如果这些事情没有被认出和理解，如果它们没有被认真思考，那么你将无法理解大社区，你将无法为它做好准备。

First of all, the Greater Community that We are speaking of primarily represents life in the physical universe, though it also includes the greater spiritual panorama which We shall speak on later. At this point We are primarily concerned with physical reality.

首先，我们所说的大社区主要代表物质宇宙中的生命，尽管它也包括我们稍后将谈到的更大的精神全景。在这一点上，我们主要关注的是物质现实。

When We speak of life, therefore, in the Greater Community, We are speaking of physical life and physical existence. We are talking about intelligent life in the physical universe. It is necessary to understand that Greater Community encompasses intelligent life at all stages of evolution—cultures in a state of early emergence, early development, adulthood and decay.

因此，当我们谈论大社区中的生命时，我们谈论的是物质生命和物质存在。我们谈论的是物质宇宙中的智能生命。有必要理解，大社区涵盖了进化各个阶段的智能生命——处于早期出现、早期发展、成年和衰亡状态的文化。

We are not talking about enlightened beings. We are not talking about angelic forces. We are talking about real physical beings such as yourself, who have grown up and emerged in environments far different from your own and who have had to face the same difficulties in life: the difficulties of survival, competition and relationship.

我们不是在谈论开悟的存在。我们不是在谈论天使的力量。我们谈论的是像你自己一样的实际物质存在，他们在与你自己截然不同的环境中成长、崛起，他们不得不面对同样的生命困难：生存困难、竞争困难和关系困难。

The very fact that they have dealt with this in very different ways accounts for the different results that they experience. But it is important for you to know that there are certain things you hold in common with them and with all intelligent life in the physical universe.

他们以截然不同的方式处理这个问题，正是这个事实导致了他们所经历的不同结果。但重要的是，你要知道，你与他们以及物质宇宙中的所有智能生命都有特定的共同之处。

It is very important not to confuse the physical and the spiritual realities. This is frequently done, and as a result your ability to discern clearly what you are dealing with becomes greatly obstructed. The physical reality is quite different from the spiritual reality. It operates according to different laws. It has different manifestations and a different purpose.

不要混淆物质现实和精神现实是非常重要的。这种情况经常发生，结果会极大地妨碍你清晰地辨别你所面对的现实。物质现实与精神现实截然不同。它根据不同的法则运作。它有不同的表现形式和不同的目的。

One is temporary. The other is permanent. One is primarily focused on education and service. The other is primarily focused on contribution. One is the realm of doing. The other is the realm of being. One requires tremendous forces of conflict and competition, and in the other these things do not exist.

一个是暂时的，另一个是永久的。一个主要关注教育和服务，另一个主要关注贡献。一个是行动的领域，另一个是存在的领域。一个需要极大的冲突和竞争力量，而另一个则不存在这些。

This is such a primary area of confusion for people that We must emphasize again and again that you are dealing with physical forces and physical beings. The fact that you will need to call upon greater spiritual forces to assist you is essential, but do not confuse them with the forces from the Greater Community with which you must learn to contend.

这是一个人们最主要困惑的领域，我们必须再三强调，你所面对的是物质力量和物质存在。你需要呼唤更伟大的精神力量来协助你，这一点至关重要，但千万不要将它们与来自大社区的力量相混淆，而你必须学会应对这些力量。

Next, it is important to understand that when We use the [term] Greater Community, We are not talking about a unified community, a great brotherhood out there in the universe. We are talking about a vast array of individual cultures and individual worlds that have developed and, to certain degrees, have had to interact with each other. Some of this interaction is peaceful and harmonious. Some of it is contentious and full of adversity.

其次，重要的是要理解，当我们使用大社区这个术语时，我们并不是在谈论一个统一的社区，不是一个宇宙中的伟大兄弟情谊。我们谈论的是大量已经发展起来的、并且在一定程度上必须相互互动的个体文化和个体世界。其中一些互动是和平与和谐的。一些互动是充满争议和逆境的。

This is so very important because for centuries people have looked to the skies for salvation, thinking that out there there must be a better life, there must be a resolution to all of their problems, there must be a way of living where the problems of greed, violence and hatred simply do not exist. But this only exists in your Ancient Home, from which you have come and to which you will return. And it only exists in the Greater Community amongst very small and isolated communities of Knowledge.

这一点非常重要，因为几个世纪以来，人们一直仰望天空寻求救赎，认为那里一定有更好的生命，一定有解决他们所有问题的方法，一定有一种根本不存在贪婪、暴力和仇恨等问题的生活方式。但这只存在于你的古老家园，你来自那里，你也将回归那里。它只存在于大社区中非常小而孤立的内识社区。

Great technological societies rarely possess and demonstrate real spiritual Knowledge and advancement. Their focus is on control and uniformity. Individual freedom is rarely prized in such societies. Rather, they seek to create a one-dimensional form of interaction, highly regimented and regulated.

大型技术社会很少拥有和展示真正的精神内识和精神进步。他们关注的是控制和统一。在这样的社会中，个人自由很少受到重视。相反，它们寻求创造一种高度规范化和标准化的单向互动形式。

For many who read this book, this will be profoundly disappointing, for they have thought: “There must be idyllic worlds out there somewhere, and those from the idyllic worlds will come to teach us how to be idyllic ourselves.”

对于许多读过这本书的人来说，这将深感失望，因为他们曾想过：“外面一定存在着田园诗般的世界，而来自田园诗般世界的生命会来教会我们如何过上田园诗般的生活。”

This is a very deep-seated hope and expectation, but it must be corrected at the outset, or you will be blind to what is happening in the world, and you will misconstrue your own experiences as well as the experiences of others.

这是一种非常根深蒂固的希望和期待，但必须在一开始就加以纠正，否则你就会对世界上正在发生的事情视而不见，你就会误解你自己的经历以及他人的经历。

There are societies that have achieved a high level of spiritual awareness and intellectual capability, but they are rare. They are the exception. Do not confuse this with technological advancement.

有些社会在精神觉知和智力能力方面达到了很高的水平，但这种社会并不多见。这些社会是例外。不要把这与技术进步混为一谈。

Technological advancement and spiritual advancement and achievement are not at all the same. This is so easily confused, for if someone has a technological capability that seems magical to you, you will tend to think that they are magical beings, or that they are very highly evolved, or that they are very altruistic, or that they have great compassion and love. But this is not the case.

技术进步与精神进步的成就是完全不同的。这一点很容易混淆，因为如果有人拥有对你来说似乎是魔法般的技术能力，你就会倾向于认为他们是神奇的存在，或者他们是高度进化的，或者他们是非常无私的，或者他们有极大的同情心和爱心。但是事实并非如此。

After all, human beings today have great technological advantages that were unthinkable only a couple of centuries ago, and yet has humanity evolved significantly in a spiritual way? Has violence been erased from the human experience? Has greed been corrected? Has cooperation and compassion manifested throughout human societies? The answer to these is obvious. And yet technologically, humanity has far exceeded even its own expectations.

毕竟，当今人类拥有的巨大技术优势在几个世纪前是不可想象的，然而人类在精神层面上是否已经取得了显著的进步？暴力是否已从人类经验中消除？贪婪是否已经得到纠正？合作与同情是否已在整个人类社会中得到体现？这些问题的答案是显而易见的。然而，从技术上讲，人类甚至远远超出了它自己的预期。

Therefore, there are great technological societies in the Greater Community, and there are many of them, for technology can be learned and traded and exchanged and brought into the realm of commerce.

因此，大社区中存在着卓越的科技社会，而且有许多这样的社会，因为技术可以学习、交易、交换，并被带入商业领域。

But development in The Way of Knowledge, which in the Greater Community means spiritual development, is rare, just as it is rare within your world. For instance, every person can own a computer, perhaps, but how many people understand the inner workings of the human spirit or have the scope to realize the great dynamics in human relations or the mental environment which affects their thinking? Therefore, an essential truth is to understand that technological advancement and capability is not the same as spiritual advancement and capability.

但是内识之路的发展，在大社区中意味着精神的发展，是罕见的，就像在你们的世界里一样罕见。例如，每个人或许都可以拥有一台计算机，但有多少人理解人类精神的内在运作，或者有能力意识到关系中的伟大动态，或影响他们思维的心理环境？因此，一个基本真理就是，技术进步和技术能力与精神进步和精神能力并不是相同的。

Understand as well that you are dealing with real, physical, mortal beings. They have not mastered death. And because there are limits to what technology can do in the physical universe, they are not omnipotent. They may seem godlike to you in certain respects because of what they are able to achieve, but they are no more godlike than you are and in fact are beset by the same kinds of psychological and cultural conditions that limit and restrict your ability.

你也要理解，你面对的是真实的、有形的、会死的生命体。他们还没有掌握死亡。而且，由于技术在物质宇宙中所能做的事情是有限的，他们并不是无所不能的。在某些方面，由于他们所能达到的成就，他们在你看来可能就像神一样，但他们并不比你更像神，事实上，他们也受到同样的心理和文化条件的困扰，限制和制约着你们的能力。

Next, it is essential to realize that the presence of the Greater Community in the world, and their arrival at this time, and their work and activity in the world have nothing to do with human spiritual evolution. In other words, they are not here to fulfill human mandates or human destiny directly. The fact that human destiny prescribes that humanity must eventually emerge into the Greater Community does not mean that the Greater Community forces who are here support that.

其次，有必须意识到，大社区在世界上的存在、他们此时的到来以及他们在世界上的工作和活动与人类精神进化无关。换句话说，他们来到这里不是为了直接履行人类的使命或人类的天命。人类的天命规定人类最终必须进入大社区，但这并不意味着在这里的大社区势力会支持人类的天命。

As We have said, they are here for their own purposes. This also is a very difficult idea for people to understand because they think that anything from the skies must be angelic or demonic, and must have something to do with fulfilling ancient human prophecies, and must be about humanity because from a purely human viewpoint, humanity is the center of the universe and everything revolves around that. And if there is Greater Community here, it must be about humanity; it must have come to support humanity or do something for humanity.

正如我们所说的，它们是为了他们自己的目的而来的。这对人们来说也是一个很难理解的想法，因为人们认为来自天空的任何一切都必须是天使或恶魔，必须与实现人类古老的预言有关，必须与人类有关，因为从纯粹的人类观点来看，人类是宇宙的中心，一切都围绕着人类。如果这里有大社区，它一定与人类有关；它一定是来支持人类或为人类做某事的。

This is a fatal error. Do not make this mistake. The Greater Community’s presence in the world today is the result of their own activities, motivations and projects and humanity’s emergence as a technological society with capabilities to go beyond its own borders.

这是一个致命的错误。不要犯这个错误。大社区在当今世界的存在是他们自己的活动、动机和项目的结果，也是人类作为一个能够超越它自身边界的技术社会崛起的结果。

The attempt to control human destiny now from the outside has to do with this evolutionary stage, but it is not about human spiritual advancement per se. Human spiritual advancement will be the result of preparing for the Greater Community. And it will be the result of becoming a greater and more compassionate and effective human society.

现在从外部控制人类天命的企图与这个进化阶段有关，但它并不直接涉及人类的精神进步。人类的精神进步将是为大社区做准备的结果。它将是成为一个更伟大、更富有同情心和更有效的人类社会的结果。

Your visitors will not give this to you. As a matter of fact, most of your visitors are not even as spiritually advanced as you are. They have greater technology and social cohesion, but they do not have the rich spiritual traditions that humanity has here on Earth for the most part. They are here for more prosaic reasons.

你们的来访这不会把这些给予你们。事实上，你们的大多数来访者在精神上甚至不如你们先进。他们拥有更先进的技术和社会凝聚力，但在大多数情况下，他们并没有人类在地球上所拥有的丰富精神传统。他们来这里是为了更平凡的原因。

Often people try to incorporate their awareness of the Greater Community, however small it may be, into their world vision or their spiritual understanding of life. Here there is a great deal of confusion between levels, a great deal of confusion between the spiritual and the physical. People try to make everything one and the same. Life is one, but it operates differently at different levels of existence, and you cannot confuse the levels if you have any hope of understanding what exists within them.

人们常常试图将他们对大社区的觉知，无论这种觉知是多么渺小，融入他们的世界观或他们对生命的精神理解中。在这里，不同层面之间存在着巨大的混淆，精神和物质之间存在着巨大的混淆。人们试图把一切都归为一体。生命是一个整体，但它在不同的存在层面上以不同的方式运作，如果你希望理解存在于这些层面中的事物，你就不能混淆这些层面。

Next, you will not be able to understand Greater Community intelligence, Greater Community motivations, or the Greater Community reality from a purely human perspective. You must gain a greater vantage point.

其次，你将无法从纯粹的人类视角来理解大社区的智能、大社区的动机或大社区的现实。你必须获得一种更伟大的观测点。

This is possible because of what the Creator has given you. If you look at this purely from your own human ideas, you will not understand. That is why a preparation is necessary—a stairway to take you to a higher plane, to a higher vantage point on the mountain of life so you can see the lay of the land, so you can see beyond the treetops, so you can see where you really stand and what is really happening.

这是可能的，因为造物主赋予了你内识。如果你纯粹从你自己的人类观念来看待这个问题，你将无法理解。这就是为什么有必要做好准备工作——一个阶梯，带你来到一个更高的层面，带你来到生命之山上的一个更高的制高点，这样你就能看清大地的布局，这样你就能看到树梢之外，这样你就能看到你实际的位置和实际发生的事情。

I could not expect you simply to understand everything We are presenting here in this book, but you must have a certain understanding to begin—to begin that journey, to find that higher vantage point.

我不能指望你简单地理解我们在本书中介绍的所有内容，但你必须有一定的理解才能开始——开始这段旅程，找到更高的观测位置。

Likewise, you cannot turn to human religion to provide the answers for this, for these are religions that were established in a state of isolation and cannot account for a Greater Community of life.

同样，你无法求助于人类宗教来提供这个问题的答案，因为这些宗教都是在孤立的状态下建立的，无法解释一个生命大社区。

The great spiritual teachers in human history, though predominant within the world, though outstanding in their performance and demonstration, are, within a Greater Community context, very small figures. For the Greater Community also represents a greater spiritual reality. And your whole notion of who the Divine is and how the Divine functions in manifest life will undergo profound changes as you gain a Greater Community perspective and understanding.

人类历史上那些伟大的精神老师，虽然在世界范围内占据主导地位，虽然他们的表现和示范都非常杰出，但在大社区的背景下，他们都是非常渺小的人物。因为大社区也代表着一个更伟大的精神现实。随着你获得大社区的视角和理解，你对神圣是谁，以及神圣如何在显化生命中运作的整个概念都将发生深刻的改变。

Therefore, do not turn to the ancient texts to try to understand the meaning of the Greater Community or why it is here, for they cannot tell you. That was not the learning at that time. That was not the message that was needed at that time.

因此，不要翻阅古籍，试图理解大社区的含义或它为什么会在这里，因为它们无法告诉你。那不是当时的学习。那不是当时需要的讯息。

The ancient traditions, though rich with virtue, were primarily concerned with establishing compassion and cooperation as the foundation of civilization. They were not focused on preparing humanity for its emergence into the Greater Community. Instead, they were focused on enabling humanity to even begin to prepare for the Greater Community. In other words, they laid the foundation for where you are now. But this is a new beginning. This is a new threshold.

古老传统虽然富有美德，但主要关注的是建立同情心与合作作为文明的基础。它们并不专注于帮助人类为进入大社区做好准备。相反，它们专注于让人类开始为大社区做准备。换句话说，它们为你们现在所处的位置奠定了基础。但这是一个新的开始。这是一个新的门槛。

Next, understand that in the Greater Community all races are dealing with survival issues, as is humanity. Highly technological societies in the universe often destroy their own natural environment, such as humanity is doing now. This requires that they travel to other worlds to gain resources and begin the process of engaging in certain contexts for trade and commerce. This profoundly affects their cultures. In many cases, they are overtaken by stronger races. In other cases, they are able to survive and to maintain their own identity. They have not mastered the physical requirements of life, such as is so hoped for here in the world. They must deal with their own physical requirements. They must deal with security issues regarding other races. And they must become functional in the mental environment, which is something that We shall speak about later on.

其次，要理解在大社区中，所有种族都在应对生存问题，人类也是如此。宇宙中高度技术化的社会常常破坏他们自己的自然环境，比如人类现在正在做的事情。这就要求他们前往其他世界获取资源，并开始在特定环境中进行贸易和商业活动。这对他们的文化产生了深远的影响。在许多情况下，他们被更强大的种族超越。在其他情况下，他们能够生存下来并保持他们自己的身份。他们还没有掌握生命对物质的需求，而这正是这个世界所希望的。他们必须满足他们自身的生理需求。他们必须处理与其他种族有关的安全问题。他们还必须在心理环境中运作，这是我们稍后将要谈论的事情。

In fact, the physical requirements have become greater because they need more resources. They need greater insulation in the Greater Community. They often have to rely upon other races to provide primary materials. It is a more challenging and difficult existence in many ways.

事实上，由于他们需要更多的资源，因此对物质的需求也变得更大。他们需要在大社区中拥有更大的隔离。他们经常需要依靠其他种族提供主要材料。在许多方面，这是一种更具挑战性和更加困难的生存方式。

Despite the fact that technology can solve many little problems, it creates many more big ones. That is why in the Greater Community, the Wise remain hidden for the most part and do not engage in a great deal of travel and trade. There are some very fundamental reasons for this, which We shall speak about later.

尽管技术可以解决许多小问题，但它也会带来更多的大问题。这就是为什么在大社区中，智者大部分时间都保持隐匿，不进行大量的旅行和贸易活动。这其中有一些非常根本的原因，我们将在后面谈到。

But for now, it is important for you to understand that the races that you will be encountering, in fact most of the races in the Greater Community, are not thoroughly self-sufficient and have to deal with tremendous problems in terms of relations with other cultures and environmental problems of their own.

但是现在，重要的是你要理解，你们将要遇到的种族，事实上是大社区里的大多数种族，并不是完全自给自足的，他们必须处理与其他文化关系方面的巨大问题，以及他们自身的环境问题。

This is a crucial understanding because here you begin to realize why they might be here in the world. They are not traveling around the universe doing good works. They are looking for things that they need. They are looking to extend their power, their security, their resources and so forth.

理解这一点至关重要，因为在这里你开始意识到他们为什么会来到这个世界。他们并不是在环游宇宙做善事。他们在寻找他们需要的资源。他们在寻求扩展他们的权力、他们的安全性、他们的资源等等。

And because this world has been an important resource for many local cultures [in the Greater Community] over a very long period of time, it has great attractiveness and importance. And because it is in a highly populated area of the Greater Community, relatively speaking, it also has a strategic importance, of which humanity has no awareness at all.

由于这个世界在很长一段时间内一直是许多地方文化（在大社区中）的重要资源，因此它具有巨大的吸引力和重要性。同时，由于它位于大社区的人口密集地区，相对而言，它也具有战略重要性，而人类对此完全没有觉知。

Consider the analogy of the little tribe in the jungle. Do they have any understanding of how important their location or their resources might be to an outside culture? And yet this has been the motivating factor for these cultures being discovered, polluted and forever changed. We have such a situation now.

想象一下丛林中的小部落。他们是否理解他们的地理位置或资源对于外来文化有多么重要？然而，这正是这些文化被发现、被污染并永远改变的动机。我们现在就面临着这样的情况。

Therefore, what has motivated your visitors is not care and concern for human happiness, but the need for resources, the need for security and the need for power. The only exception to this is your Allies, who are fundamentally concerned with your integrity and your ability to survive in a Greater Community context. But they do not represent [the forces] who are in the world today, as they do not represent the majority of forces in the Greater Community.

因此，你们来访者的动机并非对人类幸福的关心和关注，而是对资源的需求、对安全的需求和对权力的需求。唯一的例外是你们的盟友，他们从根本上关心你们的完整性以及你们在大社区背景下的生存能力。但他们并不代表当今世界的[势力]，因为他们并不代表大社区的大多数势力。

This is an essential part of your Greater Community education, and it may be very difficult to consider at first. For there is so much hope and expectation, so much belief and fantasy considering the reality of other forms of life and their hoped-for benefit for humanity that this can be a very difficult thing to consider.

这是你大社区教育的一个重要组成部分，起初可能很难去考虑。因为考虑到其他生命形式的现实及其对人类的期望利益，有如此多的希望和期待，如此多的信仰和幻想，以至于这可能是一件很难考虑的事情。

But this brings with it the need for self-reliance, the need for development, the need for education and the need to become stronger and more competent, mentally and physically. This is what humanity needs. And this is what is required.

但这同时也带来了自力更生的需求、发展的需求、教育的需求，以及在心理上和生理上变得更强大和更有能力的需求。这正是人类所需要的。这也是必需的。

There are greater spiritual forces that are here to help humanity to prepare, but they do not constitute your real [physical] visitors from the Greater Community.

有更伟大的精神势力在这里帮助人类进行准备，但他们并不是来自大社区的真正[物质]来访者。

The Greater Community is a vast network of communities—some of which are involved in commerce and trade and some of which are not. Some live in isolation in remote parts of the galaxy; others live in more highly inhabited areas.

大社区是一个庞大的社区网络——其中一些社区参与商业和贸易，而另一些则不参与。有些社区孤立地生活在银河系的偏远地区；另一些社区则生活在人口稠密的地区。

It is not expected that you can understand how vast this network is or how it functions, but it is vital that you understand that certain realities exist in the Greater Community and will have direct bearing upon the future of humanity.

我们不指望你能够理解这个网络有多么庞大，或者它如何运作，但至关重要的是，你要理解大社区里存在着一些现实，这些现实将对人类的未来产生直接影响。

Let Us say again that when We present these ideas, We are dealing with a set of expectations and beliefs that do not exist within the human culture, which make it very hard to understand or see these things clearly.

让我们再说一遍，当我们呈现这些想法时，我们所讨论的是一组在当前人类文化中不存在的期望和信念，这使得理解或清晰地看待这些事情变得非常困难。

Some people think that there are terrible forces out there, warlike and destructive. Others believe that they are all angelic brothers who are here to help humanity into a new dimension. And between these extreme points of view, there are all kinds of different interpretations.

有些人认为，外面存在着可怕的势力，好战且具有破坏性。另一些人则相信他们都是天使般的兄弟，来到这里帮助人类进入一个新的维度。在这些极端观点之间，存在着各种不同的解释。

But you must learn to see clearly and to understand clearly. It is not [a choice] between having a loving perception and a fearful one. Again, We say it is about whether you can see or not.

但你必须学会清晰地看待和理解。它不是在拥有一种爱的感知和一种恐惧的感知之间做出的一种选择。我们再次强调，它取决于你是否可以看见。

At all great events in human history that have been recorded and that have existed, certain people could see what was happening and many people could not. Certain people could see the emergence of a great conflict; many could not. Some could see the outcome of a great conflict; many could not. Some could act accordingly and responsibly and take a positive and contributing role; many could not.

在人类历史上所有已记录和已发生的重大事件中，有些人能够看到正在发生的事情，而许多人却无法做到。某些人能预见到一个重大冲突的出现，而许多人则无法察觉。有些人能够预测重大冲突的结果，许多人则不能。有些人能够采取相应且负责任的行动，发挥积极和有贡献角色，而许多人则无法做到。

Such will be the case now. As the Greater Community reality becomes more evident in the world, people will become more polarized in their positions and in their attitudes. There will be greater opposition, greater denial, greater fantasy because so many people will not be prepared to deal with this greater reality. They will retreat into their old ideas and habits, and some will deny its existence altogether. But it has always been like this in human affairs.

现在就是这种情况。随着大社区现实在世界上变得更加明显，人们的立场和态度将变得更加两极化。将会有更大的反对、更大的否认、更大的幻想，因为如此多的人不会准备好应对这个更大的现实。他们将退回到他们的旧观念和习惯中，有些人将完全否认它的存在。但在人类事务中，这种情况一直存在。

However, it is essential that a certain number of people become educated about the Greater Community and learn how to approach it wisely and with discernment. That will make all the difference in the outcome.

然而，至关重要的是，一定数量的人要接受关于大社区的教育，学会如何明智而有辨别力地接近这个现实。这将对结果产生重大影响。

The next essential thing to realize is that humanity at present is not prepared for the Greater Community. It is not prepared psychologically. It is not prepared politically. It is not prepared in terms of its religious traditions, which within this context, tend to hold people back.

下一个需要意识到的重要事情是，人类目前还没有为大社区做好准备。它没有在心理上做好准备，它没有在政治上做好准备，它没有在宗教传统方面做好准备，而宗教传统在这个背景下往往会阻碍人们的前进。

The need for this preparation is so great and so profound, and many people feel the need to do something to prepare, to take a positive course of action, to become stronger and more competent, to become wiser and more discerning. But until now there has been no preparation for the Greater Community.

这种准备的需求是如此伟大、如此深刻，许多人感觉到有必要采取一些积极的行动来准备，使自己变得更强大、更有能力，变得更明智、更具有辨别力。但迄今为止，还没有为大社区做出任何准备。

For as We have said, you cannot use human religion, you cannot use human psychology to learn about life in a greater panorama. You need a Teaching from the Greater Community about the Greater Community. You need a Teaching whose source is from the Creator to guarantee its purity, its power and its necessity in life.

因为正如我们所说的，你无法使用人类的宗教、人类的心理学来学习一种更大全景中的生命。你需要来自大社区的关于大社区的教导。你需要一种源自造物主的教导，以保证它的纯粹性、它的力量以及它在生命中的必要性。

The preparation is here now. But the question is, “Will people prepare? Will you prepare?” Or will you fall away to go find a place to hide, to go live in a happy place in the world where everything seems pleasant and content, to surround yourself with beautiful objects, beautiful sights and sounds and think beautiful thoughts about the world that is entering into a dire situation?

现在，准备工作就在这里。但问题是：“人们会做好准备吗？你会做好准备吗？”或者，你会退缩，寻找一个地方躲藏起来，去世界上一个快乐的地方生活，在那里，一切看起来是快乐和满足的，围绕着美丽的事物、美丽的景象和声音，心里想着关于这个正面临危机的世界的美好想法？

Even if the Greater Community were not here, this would still be the case. For the world is in decline, and humanity has not taken responsibility for this. But because the Greater Community is here, it changes the entire situation and provides the impetus that people everywhere will need to rise above their preoccupations, to rise above the tendencies for denial and fantasy, to grasp a real situation. And because the preparation is here in the form of The Greater Community Way of Knowledge, people finally have the means to prepare and to prepare directly.

即使大社区不在这里，情况仍会如此。因为世界正在衰落，而人类对此并没有承担责任。但因为大社区在这里，它改变了整个局势，并提供了世界各地的人们需要的动力，促使他们超越他们的心事，超越否认和幻想的倾向，去把握实际的情况。并且因为这种准备以大社区内识之路的形式在这里，人们终于具备了直接准备的方法。

Humanity is not prepared. If you think about this, if you look about and see where people are investing themselves; what preoccupies people everywhere; where they devote their time, their energy and their resources; what they think is important and what predominates their attention, you will see that very few people can yet bear witness to the great events that are occurring now and that will come.

人类还没有做好准备。如果你思考这一点，如果你环顾四周，看看人们把他们自己投入到了哪里；世界各地的人们都在关注着什么；他们把他们的时间、他们的能量和他们的资源奉献在哪里；他们认为什么是重要的以及什么占据了他们的注意力，你将看到，只有极少数人能够见证现在正在发生和即将到来的伟大事件。

Another essential truth that must be recognized is that the Greater Community will not give humanity technology unless it wants humanity to become dependent. This is an essential idea. Again, many people who have thought about this think that the visitors will bring life-saving technology to humanity, which will solve so many of humanity’s problems because technology is seen now as the saving grace. In earlier times, providence was considered the saving grace. Now it is technology.

另一个必须认识到的必要真理是，大社区不会给人类提供技术，除非它希望人类变得依赖它。这是一个重要的想法。同样，许多考虑过这个问题的人认为，来访者会给人类带来拯救生命的技术，从而解决人类的许多问题，因为现在技术被视为拯救的恩典。在早期，天意被认为是拯救的恩典。现在则是技术。

However, technology tends to create more problems than it solves. But it is important for you to understand at the outset that should any technology be given to human governments, for example, it will not be for the benefit of humanity as much as it will be an appliance or an avenue to gain control over human affairs. After all, if a great piece of technology were given to humanity and humanity needed it and became reliant upon it, but its source were from outside the world, then you see you have given away a great deal for really very little.

然而，技术往往会带来更多的问题，而不是解决问题。但重要的是，你从一开始就要理解，举例来说，如果将任何技术交给人类政府，它将不是为了造福人类，而只是一种控制人类事务的工具或途径。毕竟，如果人类得到了一项伟大的技术，而且人类需要它并依赖于它，但它的来源却来自于世界之外，那么你就会看到，你们付出了巨大的代价，却只得到了实际上很少的利益。

The real gift that the Greater Community has to give to people is the reality of its presence and the reality of its intention. This is a call to awaken and to prepare. It is not a sign that more free things will be given to humanity. Humanity must awake from its slumber and become mature, become adults in a Greater Community of life.

大社区要送给人们的真正礼物是其存在的现实和其意图的现实。这是一个唤醒和准备的呼唤。它并不预示着人类将获得更多自由的事物。人类必须从沉睡中醒来，变得成熟，成为生命大社区中的成年人。

Greater Community forces will not come and solve the world’s problems, at least not for humanity. They will emphasize the preservation of the physical environment, but that is for their use and not for yours primarily. Attempts are being made now and have been underway for decades to replicate human, plant and animal forms, to preserve them for future use.

大社区的势力不会来解决世界的问题，至少不会为人类解决问题。他们会强调保护物质环境，但这主要是为他们所用，而不是为你们所用。现在，他们正在尝试复制人类、植物和动物的形态，以保存它们供未来使用，这种尝试已经进行了几十年。

Therefore, do not come to the Greater Community forces with open hands, begging and pleading, greedy for their power, greedy for their technology, for this will trap you and this will blind you. Here you will lose your free will.

因此，不要张开双手，乞求和恳求，贪图他们的权力，贪图他们的技术，来到大社区势力的面前，因为这将困住你，这将蒙蔽你。在这里，你将失去自由意志。

Next, it is important to understand that Greater Community influences will be focused on the governments of the world primarily. We shall speak in depth on this when We give Our discourse on the mental environment. But it is important for you to know that the influence will not likely be directed upon you as an individual because you do not have that much influence in the world as a whole, but [it will be directed] upon world leaders, upon influential people, upon those who possess tangible forms of power. They will be the focus of the influence. That is not to say that all authorities, all governments, are under the influence directly, but this is the focus. This is where the influence will be focused and is being focused now.

接下来，重要的是要理解大社区影响力将主要集中在世界各国政府身上。当我们讨论心理环境时，我们将深入讨论这一点。但重要的是你要知道，这种影响可能不会针对你个人，因为你对整个世界并没有那么大的影响力，但它将针对世界的领导人、有影响力的人、那些拥有实实在在权力的人。他们将成为影响的焦点。这并不是说所有权威、所有政府都会直接受到这种影响，但这是焦点。这就是影响力将集中的地方，现在也正在集中。

Now there are other manifestations of this that We will describe later on, but it is important for you to understand this. If you can realize that the Greater Community forces in the world today are being driven by their own needs, needs that you can also relate to and understand, this will give you a much clearer understanding of why they are here. Then you will not see them merely as good or bad; you will be able to understand what drives them and what their concerns are. Here we get out of a romantic view of the universe and come into a real relationship.

现在，还有其他表现形式，我们将在后面描述，但理解这一点对你来说很重要。如果你能意识到当今世界上的大社区势力是由他们自己的需求驱动的，而这些需求你也能感同身受并理解，这将让你更清楚地理解他们为什么在这里。然后，你就不会仅仅把它们看作是好或是坏；你将能够理解是什么驱动着他们，它们所关心的问题是什么。在这里，我们摆脱了对宇宙的浪漫看法，进入了一种真正的关系。

Next, it is important for you to understand that all intelligent life has a spiritual nature, but this spiritual nature can be as latent and undeveloped in them as it can be in human beings. In many highly technological societies, which are often the societies involved in travel and trade, this spiritual reality can be very subdued and very controlled.

其次，重要的是你要理解，所有智能生命都拥有一种精神的自然，但这种精神自然在他们身上可能像在人类身上一样是潜伏的和未开发的。在许多高度技术化的社会中，也就是经常参与旅行和贸易的社会中，这种精神现实可能非常受压制和控制。

After all, a highly technological society that must coordinate their activities over vast [distances] cannot be run by highly individualistic beings who have their own personal motivations to guide them. The manifestation of this varies considerably throughout the Greater Community.

毕竟，一个高度技术化的社会需要在广阔的距离上协调他们的活动，而这样的社会不可能由那些高度个人主义并以他们自己的个人动机为指引的个体来运行。在大社区中，这种表现形式有着相当大的差异。

Here again it is essential to realize that those who have traveled here to visit you physically do not represent highly evolved spiritual beings—intelligent, capable, technological, powerful in the mental environment, capable of mental persuasion, yes. But spiritually advanced, no.

在这里，我们再次强调，你必须意识到，那些来到这里以物质形式来访问你们的智能生命并不代表高度进化的精神存在——是的，他们是智能的、能力出众的、技术先进的，在心理环境中是强大的，并具备心灵的说服力。但在精神上却并不先进。

Here you can begin to gain an understanding that the Greater Community is like the world except vastly larger with many of the same problems. Rather than being a saving reality that simply gives you everything you want and solves all of the problems of the world, it creates a whole new set of problems and a whole new set of opportunities. Its opportunities are what are saving. That is its saving grace. But you can only take advantage of these if you prepare accordingly.

在这里，你可以开始理解，大社区就像世界一样，只不过大得多，但也有许多同样的问题。它不是一个简单地给你想要的一切并解决世界上所有问题的拯救现实，而是创造了一系列新的问题和一系列全新的机会。它的机会就是拯救。这就是它的拯救恩典。但你只有做好相应的准备，才能利用好这些机会。

Next, it is essential to understand that the primary focus of Greater Community activity in the world today is in two primary areas. We have already mentioned that there will be a focus on world governments. The second is on world religions.

其次，有必要理解，当今世界大社区活动的主要焦点在两个主要领域。我们已经提到，一个焦点是世界政府。第二个焦点是世界宗教。

It is in the realm of religion that people are most vulnerable, the least objective, the most easily persuaded. It is here that people will act against their best interests for inexplicable reasons. Do not think that these reasons and these motivations cannot be discerned and used.

在宗教领域，人们最脆弱、最不客观、最容易被说服。正是在这里，人们会因为无法解释的原因而做出违背他们最大利益的行为。不要认为这些原因和动机是无法辨别和利用的。

There are forces in the world today from the Greater Community that could create the image of Jesus appearing at the foot of your bed. How would you discern if it were real or not? They could produce the mental image and project it into your mind. How would you know if it were real or not? Many would simply follow, yield, fall down on their knees, give in, dedicate themselves to whatever the image directed them to do.

当今世界，来自大社区的势力可以创造出耶稣出现在你床脚的形象。你如何辨别它是真实的还是虚假的？他们可以制造出心理影像，并将其投射到你的心灵中。你如何知道它是真实的还是虚假的？许多人会简单地跟随、屈服、跪下、投降，献身于形象指示他们做的任何事情。

Who has the discernment? Who has the capability to recognize reality from simple projections such as this? Who has the capability to recognize what is real and distinguish it from what is not? Everyone in the world has this potential. You have this potential. But is it developed sufficiently? Will you become an individual who simply cannot be fooled regardless of how persuasive the presentation may be?

谁有这种辨别力？谁有能力从诸如此类的简单投射中辨别真假？谁有能力识别什么是真实的，并将其与什么不是真实的区分开来？世界上每个人都有这种潜力。你也有这种潜力。但这种潜能是否得到了充分开发？你是否会成为一个无论表现形式多么有说服力都无法被愚弄的人呢？

Human religion is the wellspring of greater virtue and greater promise for humanity. But it is also the arena of greater superstition, greater mistrust and misunderstanding.

人类宗教是人类更伟大美德和更伟大承诺的源泉。但它也是更严重的迷信、更多不信任和错误理解的舞台。

As governments use religions for their own purposes, the Greater Community can use religions for their own purposes. This will be focused on very large denominations of religions that have tremendous impact over many, many people. Here you need only influence a few to influence the many. Do not think it is difficult to do this. From a Greater Community standpoint, it is not difficult.

正如政府利用宗教达到他们自己的目的一样，大社区也可以利用宗教达到他们自己的目的。这将集中在对许多人有巨大影响的大型宗教教派上。在这里，你只需要影响少数人就能影响多数人。不要认为做到这一点是困难的。从大社区的角度来看，它并不困难。

That is why in the Greater Community itself, those cultures and nations that have been able to preserve or cultivate any spiritual tradition at all have had to guard it carefully against the intrusion of others. This is a reality in the Greater Community. It is a reality that you must come to understand.

正因为如此，在大社区中，那些能够保存或培养任何精神传统的文化和国家，必须小心翼翼地守护它，防止他人的入侵。这是大社区的一个现实。这是你必须理解的一个现实。

All that We are presenting in this discourse is to give you a foundation, to give you a foundation in truth and understanding. It is not to frighten you. It is to give you a solid foundation, which is actually very difficult to have in the world.

我们在本篇演讲中所呈现的一切，都是为了给你奠定基础，给你奠定真理和理解的基础。这并不是要吓唬你。它是为了给你打下坚实的基础​​，而这在世界上其实是很难拥有的。

Most people cannot distinguish between reality and fantasy. They cannot discern the nature of their own thoughts. And they do not know what is influencing them in the mental environment.

大多数人无法区分现实和幻想。他们无法辨别他们自己思想的自然。他们也不知道是什么在心理环境中影响着他们。

Therefore, We understand that this is challenging, but it must be given simply and clearly as it really is, or you will succumb to persuasions that you cannot possibly understand, and you will not be able to distinguish what is happening within you, within your thoughts and emotions, nor what is happening in the world around you.

因此，我们理解这很有挑战性，但必须简单、清楚地给出它的实际真理，否则你就会屈服于你不可能理解的说服，你将无法区分你的内心、你的思想和情感中正在发生的事情，也无法区分你周围的世界正在发生的事情。

You must think in a very big way with very clear eyes. You must hear clearly without coloring the information to make it more favorable or pleasant. It is obvious that this is necessary, but it is so difficult for so many people. And everyone has some difficulty with this.

你必须用一双非常清晰的眼睛，以非常广阔的视野来思考。你必须听得清清楚楚，不对信息着色，使其更加有利或令人愉快。显然，这是必要的，但对于许多人来说却是困难的。每个人在这方面都会遇到一些困难。

The world is emerging into a very real situation. What has been going on in the Greater Community has been going on since before humanity as a race even existed in this world.

世界正在进入一种非常实际的局面。大社区所发生的一切，早在人类作为一个种族出现在这个世界上之前就已经开始了。

And the spiritual work that the Creator has been undertaking throughout the Greater Community has been going on since before, long before, human religious traditions were ever started.

造物主在整个大社区开展的精神工作，早在人类宗教传统创立之前就已经开始了。

Because the Greater Community represents such a formidable set of circumstances, the Creator has set in motion a formidable set of powers and abilities and has generated a great network of service, both within manifest physical reality and beyond it as well.

因为大社区代表着如此强大的一系列环境，造物主启动了一系列强大的力量和能力，并产生了一个伟大的服务网络，既在显化的物质现实之内，也在它之外。

If you can come to deal with these Greater Community realities, with these essential truths, then you put yourself in a position to begin to learn about the nature of the Creator’s Work in the world and why you are the way you are.

如果你能够应对这些大社区的现实、面对这些基本的真理，那么你就能让你自己处于一个能够开始学习关于造物主在世界中的工作性质，以及你为何会是这样的人的位置。