Chapter Two快乐的人生不自负（1/2）

快乐人生要远离自负 Learng to Get Out of the Way

Uand these new words before you read this article.

1. fite [f?t] adj. 无限的，无穷的

2. profound [pr?ufaund] adj. 深厚的；意义深远的

3. egotis [i:ɡ?tiz?] n. 自负

4. devise [divaiz] v. 设计；想出

5. trsically [trsik?li] adv. 本质地

6. hygiene [haid?i:n] n. 卫生；卫生学

In every one of the higher religions there is a stra of fite optiis on the one hand, and oher, of a profound pessiis. In the depths of , they all teach, there is an ner high—but an ner Light which otis keeps, for ost of the ti,a state of ore or less plete eclipse. If, however, it so desires, the egoget out of the way, so to speak,dis-eclipse the Light and bee identified with its dive source. Hehe unliited optiis of the traditional religions. Their pessiis sprgs fro the observed fact that, though all are called, few are chosen—for the suffit reason that few choose to be chosen.

To , this older ion of an’s nature ay sees ore realistic, ore nearlyaord with the given facts, than any for of odern uianis.

In the Lord’s Prayer we are taught to ask for the blessg whisistsnot beg led to teptation. The reason is only too obvio. Wheions are very great or unduly prolonged, ost persons suub to the. To devise a perfect social order is probably beyond our powers; but I believe that it is perfectly possible forto reduce the nuber of daeptations to a level far below that which is tolerated at the present ti.

A society sed that there shall be a iu of daeptations—this is the end towards which, as a citizen, I have to strive. In y efforts to that end, Iake e of a great variety of ans. Do good ends jtify the e of trsically bad ans? On the level of theory, the potbe argued defitely. In practice, anwhile, I fd that the ans eployed variably detere the nature of the end achieved. Indeed, as Mahata Gandhi was ired of sistg, the ans are the endits preliary stages. Men have put forth enoro efforts to ake their world a better pce to live ; but exceptregard to gadgets, pbg and hygieheir suess has been pathetically sall.“Hell,”as the proverb has it,“is paved with good tentions.”And so long as we goto realize our ideals by bad or rely appropriate ans, ood tentions will e to the sa bad ends. In this nsists the tragedy and the irony of history.

I, as an dividual, do anythg to ake future history a little less tragid less ironic than history past and present? I believe I . As a citizen, Ie all y telligend all y good will to develop political ans that shall be of the sa kd and quality as the ideal ends which I a tryg to achieve. And as a person, as a psychophysical anis, Ilearn how to get out of the way, so that the dive source of y life and nsesse out of eclipse and she through .

每种高级宗教的信仰都包含两种对立的存在：一种是无穷的乐观精神，另一种是深刻的悲观主义。它们告诉我们，人类的自负多多少少遮盖了存在于自身的一道光芒，这道光芒就存在于每个人的心灵深处。然而，只要我们愿意做，我们就可以让自负远离自己，或者说，重新让这道光芒闪现出来，并与创造它的神融合为一体，于是传统宗教的乐观主义就产生了。尽管每个人都受到了召唤，然而因为很少有人愿意被选中，所以也就只有很少的一部分人受到青睐，于是悲观主义就产生了。

我认为，比任何形式的现代乌托邦主义更现实、更符合既成事实的就是更加古老的人性和命运的观念。

显而易见的是，假如**很大或持续的时间过长，大多数人就会屈从。因此，主祷文告诉我们，要祈求上帝的保佑，不要让自己被**牵着鼻子走。或许，营造一个完美的社会秩序超出了我们的能力范围。然而，我相信，把危险的**降到我们当前的能力范围之内，是完全有可能实现的。

作为一个社会公民，我们应该树立这样的目标：构建一个能把危险**降到最低程度的社会。我们可以使用各种方式去实现这个目标。然而，是否因为目标是正当的，我们就可以使用本质上并不正当的手段呢？对于这个问题，我们在理论上可以广泛地发表自己的看法。然而，我发现，我们使用的手段无一例外地决定了所实现目标的本质。正如马哈特玛·甘地孜孜不倦地强调：“手段是目标的初始阶段。”为了把自己生活的世界建设得更美好，人们付出了巨大的努力，然而，除了小工具、管道和卫生之外，取得的成就真是少之又少。正如一句谚语所说的那样：“通往地狱的道路是用善意铺成的。”然而，只要我们意识到我们使用的手段是卑劣的，或仅仅是不当的，却还要试图继续下去，那么善意同样会导致恶果，并成为具有讽刺意味的悲剧。

我个人能否做些事情，让未来的历史少一些当前和已成历史的所有悲剧和讽刺味道呢？我相信，我能够做到。作为一个公民，我能够运用自己所有的智慧和美好的愿望，形成与所要实现的理想目标具有相同性质的政治手段。作为一个拥有灵魂与肉体的人，我能够从自负中挣脱出来，让给予生命和意识的神的光芒重现，照亮我的全身。

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