3. The Purpose of Life (1)
3. 人生的目的（1）

Every living being has a purpose in life and it is the knowing of that purpose which enables every soul to fulfil it.

每一個生命都有其生命的目的，而正是對這個目的的認識，使每一個靈魂得以將它實現。

As it is said in the Gayan, “Blessed is he who knoweth his life’s purpose.”

正如《Gayan》中所說：「知道自己生命目的的人是有福的。」

Be not surprised if you find many groping in darkness all through life, doing one thing or another, going from one thing to the other, always dissatisfied, always discontented; and everything they undertake remains without result. The reason is the absence of that knowledge, the knowledge of the purpose of life.

若你發現許多人終其一生都在黑暗中摸索，做著這件事或那件事，從一件事轉向另一件事，總是不滿足，總是不知足，也不必感到驚訝；他們所著手的一切，最後都沒有結果。原因就在於缺少了那份認識——對生命目的的認識。

Individuals apart, every object has its purpose. The mission of science is to discover the purpose in objects, and it is for this that science has come into being. Be it medical science or philosophy, all the various aspects of science are the result of the desire to discover the purpose of things. But the aim of mysticism is to find the purpose in the lives of human beings-the purpose in one’s own life and the purpose in the lives of others. So long as a man has not found this purpose, though he may have success or failure, though he may seem to be happy or unhappy, in reality he does not live; for life begins from the moment a person finds the purpose of his life.

不只個人如此，每一樣事物都有它的目的。科學的使命，就是去發現事物之中的目的，而科學也正是為此而產生的。無論是醫學或哲學，科學的種種面向，都是出於想要發現萬物目的的渴望。然而，神祕主義的目標，是去發現人的生命目的——自己生命的目的，以及他人生命的目的。只要一個人尚未找到這個目的，無論他成功或失敗，無論他看來幸福或不幸，實際上他都還沒有真正活著；因為生命是從一個人找到自己生命目的的那一刻才開始的。

One finds people of great wealth, people who have position and every comfort and convenience, and yet who are missing something, missing the main thing which alone can make them happy: knowledge of the purpose of their life. This is the very thing they miss. And yet at the same time mankind is ignorant of this. A man will be interested in a thousand things, he will be interested first in one thing and then pass on to another, and so on, but he seems never to come to that point where he finds the purpose of his life. Why? Because he does not look for it.

我們會看到一些非常富有的人，擁有地位，也享有一切舒適與便利，然而他們仍然缺少某樣東西；他們缺少的，正是唯一能使他們幸福的那件最重要之事：對自己生命目的的認識。這正是他們所缺少的。然而與此同時，人類對此卻一無所知。一個人會對千百種事情感興趣，先對一件事感興趣，接著又轉向另一件，如此不斷下去；但他似乎始終沒有來到那個能找到自己生命目的的地方。為什麼？因為他並沒有去尋找它。

Coming to children’s education, to the education of youth, very often the parents do not think about this problem. Whatever seems to them beneficial for the child to do, that it must do. They do not pay attention to the fact that it is in one’s childhood that one has to find the purpose of one’s life. How many lives have been ruined for this reason! A child may have been brought up with every facility and yet kept away from the purpose of his life.

談到兒童的教育、年輕人的教育，父母往往沒有想到這個問題。凡是他們認為對孩子有益的事，便要孩子去做。他們沒有留意到，正是在童年時期，一個人就需要找到自己生命的目的。有多少人的生命正因如此而被耽誤了！一個孩子可能在各種優越的條件下長大，卻仍被帶離了自己生命的目的。

However unhappy a man may be, the moment he knows the purpose of his life a switch is turned and the light is on. He may not be able to accomplish anything at once, but the very fact of knowing the purpose gives him all the hope and vigor and inspiration and strength to wait for that day. If he has to strive after that purpose all his life, he does not mind so long as he knows what the purpose is. Ten such persons have much greater power than a thousand people working from morning till evening not knowing the purpose of their life.

無論一個人多麼不幸，當他知道自己生命目的的那一刻，就像開關被打開，燈也隨之亮了起來。他也許無法立刻成就什麼，但僅僅是知道了這個目的，就足以給他希望、活力、靈感與力量，使他能夠等待那一天的到來。即使必須用一生去追求這個目的，只要他知道那個目的是什麼，他也不以為苦。十個這樣的人，其力量遠勝過一千個從早到晚工作、卻不知道自己生命目的的人。

Besides, what we call wrong or right, good or bad, differs according to the purpose of life. The more one studies life, the more one realizes that it is not the action but the purpose that makes things right or wrong, good or bad. And as we progress we become more wide awake, and the greater becomes the purpose before us.

此外，我們所稱的錯與對、善與惡，也會隨著生命的目的而有所不同。我們愈深入探究生命，就愈能明白：使一件事成為對或錯、善或惡的，不是行動本身，而是它的目的。隨著我們向前進展，我們會變得愈來愈清醒，而更大的目的也逐漸展現在我們面前。

Beyond this is the purpose of all, the ultimate purpose. We begin our lives with an individual purpose, but we come to a stage where the purpose of every soul is one and the same. And that can be studied by studying the inclinations of men.

在這之上，還有一切生命共同的目的，也就是最終的目的。我們開始生命時，各自有著個人的目的；但終有一個階段，我們會來到所有靈魂的目的其實同一無二之處。而這一點，可以藉由探究人的種種傾向來了解。

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