双语有声阅读：你的思想 才是世界的主宰

 You're shut down and frightened, the world seems hostile; when you love what is, everything in the world becomes the beloved. Inside and outside always match -- they're reflections of each other. The world is the mirror image of your mind.

当你脑子停滞放空、被恐惧笼罩着，你就会觉得整个世界都不怀好意；当你爱上这个世界本身，你就会觉得世上的每样东西都值得你爱。心中所想和外物所现总是息息相关，它们互相映衬，外界就是你内心的镜像。

Not believing your own thoughts, you're free from the primal¹ desire: the thought that reality should be different than it is. You realize the wordless, the unthinkable. You understand that any mystery is only what you yourself have created. In fact, there's no mystery. Everything is as clear as day. It's simple, because there really isn't anything. There's only the story appearing now. And not even that.

如果你不相信自己的想法，那么你就可以免受原始欲望的驱使：因为你所想的现实往往不是其真实的样子。你意识到默默无言的和无法置信的，你会明白一切的神秘只是你自己在故弄玄虚。事实上每件事都是一清二楚，很容易就可以明白，因为并没有发生什么事。现在只是发生了一件事，它甚至不算是事。

When you realize that you can only see the world as you believe it to be, you look from a new perspective. The world is an optical illusion. In the end, it's just you, crazed and miserable², or you, delighted and at peace. Everything happens for you, not to you.

当你意识到你只能看到你所相信的世界时，你便从新的角度看待这个世界了。世界是一种错觉，到最后，世界就是你，那个疯狂又痛苦的你或是愉快又平和的你，每件事都是为你发生，而不是发生于你。

I have questioned my thoughts, and I've seen that it's crazy to argue with what is. I don't ever want anything to happen except what's happening. For example, a man sticks a pistol into my stomach, pulls the hammer back, and says, "I'm going to kill you." I am shocked that he is taking his thoughts so seriously. To someone identified as an I, the thought of killing³ causes guilt⁴ that leads to a life of suffering, so I ask him, as kindly⁵ as I can, not to do it.

我曾经质疑过我的思想，然后我明白了与此纠缠是不切实际的。除了正在发生的事情以外，我从未想过有什么事要发生。举个例子，有人拿枪指着我的肚子，把扳机往下扣，说：“我要杀了你。”我很吃惊，因为他这么认真地执行了他的思想。对于任何一个将自己定义为“我”的人，杀人的想法会使之感到罪孽深重、一辈子饱受煎熬。于是我用尽可能善良的态度请求他不要杀人。

 I don't tell him that it's his suffering I'm thinking of. He says that he has to do it, and I understand; I remember believing that I had to do things in my old life. I thank him for doing the best he can, and I notice that I'm fascinated. Is this how she dies? Is this how the story ends? And as joy continues to fill me, I find it miraculous⁶ that the story is still going on. You can never know the ending, even as it ends. I am very moved at the sight of sky, clouds, and moonlit trees. I love that I don't miss one moment, one breath, of this amazing life. I wait. And wait. And in the end, he doesn't pull the trigger. He doesn't do that to himself.

我并没有告诉他，我所考虑的一切关乎他会受到的煎熬。他说他必须得这么做，我能理解，我想起我相信晚年要做的事。我要为他已经尽他所能而感谢他，我还注意到，我为此心驰神往。这就是她的死因吗？这就是故事的终结吗？当这种愉快的感觉不停地充斥着全身时，我发现神奇的是故事并未结束。你根本就猜不中结局，即使故事完结了，你也猜不中。我感动于视野所及的蓝天、白云、还有月色下的树林，我很高兴的是，我没有错过这美妙生命中的每时每刻、每次呼吸。我等啊、等啊，等到了最后，他没有按下扳机，他并没有对他自己做那件事。

What we call "bad" and what we call "good" both come from the same place. The Tao Te Ching says that the source of everything is called "darkness." What a beautiful name (if we must have a name)! Darkness is our source. In the end, it embraces everything. Its nature is love, and in our confusion we name it terror and ugliness, the unacceptable, the unbearable⁷. All our stress results from what we imagine is in that darkness. We imagine darkness as separate from ourselves, and we project something terrible onto it. But in reality, the darkness is always benevolent⁸.

我们称之为“好”和我们称之为“坏”的事物都来自同一个地方。《道德经》上说，事物的本源称之为“虚无”。这称呼多美（如果我们一定要给个称呼）！虚无是我们的本源，最后，虚无成为了所有事物，它的本质是爱，而我们出于困惑，称它为恐惧、丑恶，认为它无法接受、无法忍受。我们的压力都是源于我们对虚无的想象，我们想象着把虚无从我们身上剥离出来，我们还把一些可怕的事物投影到虚无上面。但是实际上，虚无一直是亲切仁慈的。

Darkness is the mind that doesn't know a thing. This don't-know mind is the center of the universe -- it is the universe -- there's nothing outside it. And it's the gateway⁹ to all understanding. Once the darkness is understood, you're clear that nothing is separate from you. No name, no thought, can possibly be true in an ultimate sense. It's all provisional; it's all changing. The dark, the nameless, the unthinkable -- that is what you can absolutely trust. It doesn't change, and it's benevolent. When you realize this, you just have to laugh. There's nothing serious about life or death.

虚无只是一颗不谙世事的心。这颗“未知”的心是宇宙的中心，它就是宇宙，除它以外别无他物，它还是通往全知的必经之路。一旦你懂得虚无，你就会明白，没有什么可以从你身上剥离出来。没有什么名字或思想可以成为终极意义上的真实。一切从未停止，一切一直在变。无知、无名、无思——这是你能完全相信的。这一点从未改变，非常亲切仁慈。当你意识到这点时，你只需一笑置之，是生是死，都不那么重要了。

1 primal   

adj.原始的；最重要的

参考例句：

• Jealousy is a primal emotion.嫉妒是最原始的情感。
• Money was a primal necessity to them.对于他们，钱是主要的需要。

2 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

5 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

6 miraculous   

adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的

参考例句：

• The wounded man made a miraculous recovery.伤员奇迹般地痊愈了。
• They won a miraculous victory over much stronger enemy.他们战胜了远比自己强大的敌人，赢得了非凡的胜利。

7 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

8 benevolent   

adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的

参考例句：

• His benevolent nature prevented him from refusing any beggar who accosted him.他乐善好施的本性使他不会拒绝走上前向他行乞的任何一个乞丐。
• He was a benevolent old man and he wouldn't hurt a fly.他是一个仁慈的老人，连只苍蝇都不愿伤害。

9 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。