5. The Education of Children
兒童的教育（整體考量）
i.
On the education of children depends the future of nations. To consider the education of children is to prepare for future generations. The heart of the child is like a photographic plate without any impressions on it, ready to reflect all that it is exposed to. All the good qualities which help to fulfill the purpose of life are the natural inheritance that every soul brings to the earth; and almost all the bad traits that mankind shows in its nature are as a rule acquired after birth. This shows that goodness is natural and badness unnatural. Therefore the child who has not yet had the opportunity of acquiring bad traits in life can, if helped, develop the natural goodness that is in its soul.
國家的未來，有賴於兒童的教育。思考兒童的教育，便是在為未來的世代作準備。孩子的心，就像一張尚未留下任何影像的感光板，準備好映照它所接觸到的一切。凡是幫助完成生命目的的一切美善品質，都是每個靈魂帶到人世間來的自然承繼；而人類天性中所顯出的幾乎所有壞習性，通常都是出生之後才獲得的。這說明了，善是自然的，惡反而是不自然的。因此，一個尚未有機會在生命中習得壞習性的孩子，若能得到適當的幫助，便能發展出其靈魂中本有的自然善良。
Education is not necessarily a qualification for making one’s life successful, nor for safeguarding one’s own interests; it is really a qualification for a fuller life, a life of thought for oneself and of consideration for others. Education is that which gradually expands in its length and breadth, horizontally and perpendicularly. We may further explain this as being the knowledge of oneself and of one’s surroundings; the knowledge of others, both those who are known to us and those who are unknown and away; the knowledge of the conditions of human nature and of life’s demands; and the knowledge of cause and effect, which leads in the end to the knowledge of the world within and without.
教育並不必然只是使一個人獲得人生成功、或保全自身利益的資格；它真正的意義，是獲得使生命更為豐盛的資格，是使人既能為自己而思，也能為他人而顧念的生命。教育乃是一種在長與寬上、在水平與垂直方向上，逐漸擴展開來的東西。我們可以進一步說，這是對自己與周遭環境的認識；對他人的認識，不論是我們所認識的，還是陌生而遙遠的；對人性的狀態與生命要求的認識；以及對因與果的認識，而這最終會引人進入對內在世界與外在世界的認識。
No doubt it is difficult to think of vast knowledge of life in connection with a child, but we must remember that as a rule the grown-ups underestimate the capacity of a child’s mind, which is very often more eager to understand and more capable of comprehension than that of a grown-up person. Although you cannot start with a deep subject at the beginning of a child’s education, you can always keep before you the large design you have in view and wish to reach.
毫無疑問，要把廣大的生命知識與一個孩子聯繫起來思考，似乎並不容易；但我們必須記得，一般而言，成人常常低估了孩子頭腦的能力。孩子的頭腦，往往比成人更渴望理解，也更有領會的能力。雖然在孩子教育的起始階段，你不能一開始就從深奧的主題著手，但你始終可以把自己所懷抱、所希望達到的宏大藍圖，放在眼前。
The reason why the earliest remembrances of childhood have such a peculiarly vivid significance, is that we repeat after coming to the earth the same process through which the soul has passed. As the child grows it loses its innocence, so that it seems removed from the world of the angels. Infancy is still expressive of the angelic sphere; childhood expresses the sphere of the jinns; youth is the expression of the human world. And when one goes on one comes closer again to the higher spheres.
童年最早期的記憶之所以具有那樣一種特別鮮明的意義，是因為我們來到地上之後，會重新經歷一遍靈魂曾經走過的同樣過程。當孩子漸漸長大，他會失去那份天真，因此看起來也就漸漸遠離了天使的世界。嬰兒期仍然表達著天使層界；兒童期表達的是精靈 (Jinn) 的層界；青年期則是人類世界的表達。而當人繼續往前走，又會再一次靠近較高的層界。
The child is more open to perceive, as its mind is free from worries and the excitement of life. The child is more willing to believe, for its mind is free from any preconceived idea. The child can look at things rightly, because its mind is not yet fixed on strong likes and dislikes. The child has already an inclination towards friendship, for animosity is unknown to it; and therefore the moral which should be the central theme of education, and which from beginning to end teaches the lesson of friendship, has full scope in the heart of a child.
孩子更能敞開自己去感知，因為他的頭腦尚未被憂慮與生活的激動所佔據。孩子也更願意相信，因為他的頭腦尚未帶著任何先入為主的觀念。孩子能較正確地看待事物，因為他的頭腦還沒有固定在強烈的喜惡上。孩子已經自然傾向於友誼，因為敵意對他而言仍是陌生的；因此，那個本應成為教育中心主題、並且自始至終教導友誼功課的道德，在孩子的心中有著最充分的空間可以開展。
The great fault of modern education has been that, with all its advanced methods of training children, it has missed what is most important: namely the lesson of unselfishness. Man thinks that an unselfish person is incapable of guarding his own interests in life; but however much it may appear so it is not so in reality. A selfish person is a disappointment to others, and in the end a disadvantage to himself. Mankind is interdependent, and the happiness of each depends upon the happiness of all, and it is this lesson that humanity has to learn today as the first and the last lesson.
現代教育的一大缺失在於，它雖然擁有各種先進的兒童訓練方法，卻錯失了最重要的一課：也就是「無私」的教誨。人總以為，一個無私的人便無法在生命中保護自己的利益；但無論表面上看來多麼像是如此，事實上卻並非如此。自私的人讓別人失望，到頭來對自己也不利。人類彼此相依，而每一個人的幸福都依賴於所有人的幸福；而這正是今日人類必須學習的第一課，也是最後一課。
Music is the basis of the whole of creation. In reality the whole of creation is music, and what we call music is simply a miniature of the original music, which is creation itself, expressed in tone and rhythm. The Hindus call tone, or sound, Nada Brahma, which means Sound-Creator. No scientist can deny the truth that the entire creation is movement. The nature of movement is expressed in tone and rhythm. There is no movement which is not also a sound, although it may not be audible to the human ear, and there is no movement without rhythm; for there cannot be a movement unless it marks two, just as no straight line can be without two ends. With every movement one counts its first activity as one and the next as two. As the conductor’s baton marks time for the orchestra: one-two, one-two, so one can mark the movement of every activity.
音樂乃是整個創造的基礎。事實上，整個創造本身就是音樂，而我們所稱的音樂，只不過是原初音樂的一個縮影；那原初音樂，就是創造本身，以音調與節奏表達出來。印度人稱音調或聲音為 Nada Brahma，意即「聲音的創造者」。任何科學家都無法否認這個真理：整個創造都是運動。運動的本質表達於音調與節奏之中。沒有一種運動不同時也是聲音，雖然它未必能被人耳聽見；也沒有一種運動是沒有節奏的，因為若沒有兩個記點，就不可能形成運動，正如一條直線不可能沒有兩端。每一個運動，我們都能把它的第一個活動數作一，下一個數作二。正如指揮的指揮棒為樂團打拍子：一、二，一、二；同樣地，我們也可以為一切活動的運動打拍子。
The whole of nature, in the change of seasons and of night and day, expresses rhythm; and the entire cosmic system shows in its working the law of rhythm. The ever-moving sea and the tides are examples of nature’s rhythm. The entire universe being created on these two principles, the greatest appeal that can be made to a living creature is by means of tone and rhythm. The whole mechanism of man’s body and the pulsation of his heart, all follow rhythm; this proves that every activity of life is an expression of tone and rhythm. Tone and rhythm constitute music; therefore music should be the principal means of perfecting the education of a child.
整個自然界，無論在四季的更替，還是晝夜的循環之中，都在表達節奏；而整個宇宙系統在其運作中，也顯示出節奏的法則。永不止息的海洋與潮汐，都是自然節奏的例子。整個宇宙既然建立在這兩個原則之上，那麼，對一切有生命的存在而言，最深的呼喚便是透過音調與節奏來發出的。人的整個身體機制，以及心臟的搏動，都遵循節奏；這證明了，生命的一切活動都是音調與節奏的表達。音調與節奏構成音樂；因此，音樂應當成為使兒童教育圓滿的主要途徑。
The infant begins its first activity in life by making a noise, trying to speak or moving its hands and legs to a certain rhythm. If the same faculty which every infant shows naturally is taken as the basis of his education, one can educate even an infant. The education given at the earliest age is invaluable to the child, for as the child grows, it acquires certain habits by itself; and once it has become fixed in its way of looking at things and thinking and behaving, these habits are hard to change. It is just like letting the rainwater make its own way instead of digging a canal to take the water to the farm or garden. In this way a child’s tendency to learn and to act can be used to the best advantage, if the parents only know how. The Indians say that the mother is the first Guru; this should be realized by all parents. Education begins at home, and it is this first education which is the foundation of all that a child may learn in the future.
嬰兒生命中的第一個活動，便是發出聲音、試著說話，或以某種節奏揮動手腳。若把每一個嬰兒天生所顯出的這種能力，作為其教育的基礎，那麼，連嬰兒都是可以被教育的。最早年齡所給予的教育，對孩子而言是無價的；因為當孩子漸漸長大，他會自行形成某些習慣；而一旦他看待事物、思考與行為的方式固定下來，這些習慣就很難改變。這就像任由雨水自己沖出路徑，而不是先挖好一道水渠，把水引到農田或花園一樣。若父母懂得方法，孩子那種學習與行動的傾向，便能被運用到最好的地步。印度人說，母親是第一位導師；這一點，所有父母都應當明白。教育始於家中，而這最初的教育，正是孩子未來一切學習的根基。
Health depends upon the music of one’s life. When the mechanism of the body is regular in its rhythm and true in its tone, that is what is called health; and it is irregularity of rhythm and dissonance of tone which is called illness, and which physicians examine by counting the pulse, the beating of the heart, and by sounding the back and listening to the tone. They do these things in their capacity as physicians, not as musicians whose ears are trained to test the rhythm and tone.
健康取決於一個人生命的音樂性。當身體的機制在節奏上規律，在音調上純正時，這就叫作健康；而所謂疾病，則是節奏的不規律與音調的不和諧。醫師藉著數脈搏、聽心跳、叩背、辨聽音色，來檢查這些情況。他們是以醫師的身分在做這些事，而不是以受過訓練、能檢驗節奏與音調的音樂家之耳來進行。
The seer, the deep thinker, the knower of human nature, acts also as a musician by finding in people’s actions their tone and rhythm. He notices in an untimely action, caused by ignorance or impatience, the irregularity of the rhythm; and in a word or action that has a harder or softer effect than it should have he sees the false tone, the false note. He also feels consonant or dissonant chords. When two people meet the dissonant chord of their evolution keeps them distant from one another in thought, although they may be sitting near together; and often a third person comes who either harmonizes the dissonant chord or produces disharmony in the consonant chord.
有洞見的人、深思者、了解人性的人，也會像音樂家一樣，從人的行為之中辨認其音調與節奏。他會在一個不合時宜的舉動中，看見由無知或不耐煩所造成的節奏失衡；也會在一句話或一個行動中，若其影響比應有的更強硬或更柔弱時，看出其中錯誤的音調、錯誤的音符。他也能感受到調和與不調和的和弦。當兩個人相遇時，若其演化中的和弦是不調和的，便會使他們在思想上彼此疏遠，即便他們坐得很近；而常常又會有第三個人出現，不是使那不調和的和弦得到和諧，就是在原本調和的和弦中製造出不和諧。
This shows that the whole of life is music. Wagner said, “Who knows sound knows all things.” If music could be the foundation of the training of children, every life would be built on a good foundation. Life is rhythm and life is tone; and so is music. When a child learns music it learns the divine language; whatever be its work later in life if the child has intuition it will express in some way or other what has been the foundation of its character. It is not necessary for every child to be trained as a musician, for many musicians are not an ideal example to humanity, although in the East there was a time when kings chose musicians to be their companions. It was not that they enjoyed only their music, but also what was expressed in their lives, in their feelings, thought, manner, and action as an outcome of their constant contemplation of music. Also in the Western world the company of true musicians has always been an attraction.
這顯示出，整個生命本身就是音樂。華格納曾說：「知道聲音的人，便知道一切。」若音樂能成為兒童訓練的基礎，那麼，每一個生命都會建立在美好的基礎之上。生命是節奏，生命也是音調；音樂亦然。當孩子學習音樂時，他學的是神聖的語言；無論他日後從事什麼工作，只要孩子具有直覺，他終究都會以某種方式表達出曾經作為其性格根基的東西。並不是每個孩子都必須被訓練成音樂家，因為許多音樂家本身並不是人類理想的榜樣；然而在東方，曾有一段時期，國王會選擇音樂家作為自己的伴侶。這並不只是因為他們享受音樂家的音樂，也因為音樂家在其生命、情感、思想、風度與行為中，展現出一種由持續觀照音樂所帶來的結果。而在西方世界，真正音樂家的陪伴，也始終具有吸引力。
Man is the fruit of the whole of creation, the source of which is absolute beauty. The purpose of creation is beauty. Nature in all its various aspects develops towards beauty, and therefore it is plain that the purpose of life is to evolve towards beauty. In giving education to children the first consideration should be that the seeds of beauty are sown in their hearts. When the plant grows it must be tenderly reared. The thriving of the plant is to the credit of the gardener; so the children’s development is in the first instance to the credit of their parents.
人是整個創造所結出的果實，而創造的源頭乃是絕對的美。創造的目的就是美。自然在其各種不同的樣貌中，都朝向美而發展，因此很明白，生命的目的便是朝向美而演化。在給予兒童教育時，第一個考量應當是：把美的種子播撒在他們心中。當植物生長時，必須被溫柔地撫育。植物的繁茂，歸功於園丁；同樣地，兒童的發展，首先也應歸功於其父母。
The parents must themselves learn to be examples for their children. No theory has influence without practice. It is natural that parents, however taken up by the wickedness or folly of life, should wish their children to be different and better than themselves. But it is difficult; the child is impressionable and it develops that impression which it first received. Once the child sees in its parents a tendency towards drink or any other form of degeneration, it takes it for granted as it grows up that it must be the right or natural thing; for it says, “If these things were not right my parents would not have done them.” In life the wrong thing attracts quickly, though the seeking of the soul is for what is right.
父母必須先學會成為孩子的榜樣。沒有被實踐的理論，是不會有影響力的。無論父母自己多麼深陷於生命中的邪惡或愚昧之中，他們自然都希望孩子與自己不同，並且比自己更好。但這是困難的；因為孩子極易受印象影響，而他會發展出自己最初所接受到的那個印象。一旦孩子在父母身上看見酗酒的傾向，或任何其他形式的墮落，他在成長過程中便會理所當然地認為，那一定是正確的，或至少是自然的；因為他會想：「如果這些事不對，我的父母就不會做。」在生命中，錯的事總是很快就吸引人，雖然靈魂真正所尋求的其實是對的事。
Parents are often anxious to collect wealth or property for their children; but there cannot be a greater wealth nor a better property than the impression they have left behind on the hearts of their children; the love and kindness they have spread in their circle of life multiplies in time, like the interest in the bank, and comes to the help of their children when they grow up in the form of love, kindness, and goodness from all sides.
父母常常焦急地想為孩子累積財富與產業；但沒有任何財富，也沒有任何產業，能比他們留在孩子心中的印象更大、更好。他們在生命中所散播的愛與和善，會隨著時間倍增，就像銀行裡的利息一般；而當孩子長大後，這些便會以四面八方而來的愛、善意與美善，成為他們的幫助。
The first education a child needs is to harmonize its thought, speech, and action. All things external have their reaction in one’s inner life, and the inner has its reaction on the exterior. Therefore some knowledge of tone and rhythm is essential at the beginning of the child’s education. A child should be taught the elements of music with regard to the pitch in which it should get in touch with its friends, with strangers, with its parents, while playing or at table; in every varying condition it should feel that the pitch is different. The child should be taught how to make its choice of words when speaking to different people, to strangers, to its friends, to its parents, to the servants in the house; making the voice softer or louder must be done with understanding.
孩子所需要的第一種教育，就是使其思想、言語與行動達到和諧。一切外在事物都會在人的內在生命中引起反應，而內在也會對外在產生反應。因此，在兒童教育的起始階段，某種關於音調與節奏的認識是必要的。應該教孩子音樂的基本元素，使他明白，在與朋友、陌生人、父母接觸時，在玩耍時、在餐桌旁時，所應使用的音高是不同的；在每一種不同的情境中，他都應當感受到音高的差異。也應該教孩子，當他對不同的人說話時，如何選擇自己的用詞；對陌生人、對朋友、對父母、對家中的僕人，聲音該柔和些，還是響亮些，都必須出於理解而為之。
The child is most energetic when it is growing, and every action, sitting, standing, walking, or running, every movement it makes, should be corrected and directed towards harmony and beauty. For the nature of life is intoxicating, and every action deepens the intoxication of life in a child, who is still ignorant of the outcome of every action; it knows little of the consequences and is only interested in the action. By nature a child is more enthusiastic and excitable than a grown-up person, and if its actions are not corrected or controlled it will mostly speak and act without consideration of harmony and beauty; for the nature of the child is like water which runs downwards and it needs a fountain to raise it upwards. Education is that fountain.
孩子在成長時期最富有精力，而他的每一個動作，不論是坐、站、走、跑，他所做的一切舉動，都應當被修正並引導向和諧與美。因為生命的本性本就帶著一種令人陶醉的力量，而每一個行動都會加深孩子對生命的陶醉；孩子尚不知道每一個行動的結果，對其後果所知甚少，只是對行動本身感興趣。孩子的天性原本就比成人更熱情、更容易被激起；因此，如果他的行動不被修正或節制，他大多會在不顧及和諧與美的情況下說話與行事。因為孩子的本性像水一樣，總是往下流，需要一座噴泉把它向上提起。教育，就是那座噴泉。
ii
A child should be taught to speak and act according to the conditions prevailing at the moment: laughter at the time of laughter, seriousness at the moment when seriousness is required of it. In everything it does it must consider the conditions; it must watch for the opportunity to say and do the things it wishes. For instance if a child makes a noise when the parents are at work or when friends are visiting them, if a child brings its complaints to its parents when it ought to be silent, if it cries or laughs at the wrong moment, it commits a fault against the law of rhythm. Rhythm is the consideration of time and condition, and this is most necessary. It is a great pity that at this present time, when the cry for freedom seems to be so dormant, people often think, “Why should not the children have their freedom?” But it must be understood that it is not the path of freedom which leads to the goal of freedom. Liberty is not an ideal to begin life with, it is a stage of perfect freedom which must be kept in view in order to arrive at the desired end. Narrow is the way and strait is the gate, says the Bible of the road leading to the goal of freedom.
應當教孩子依照當下存在的情況來說話與行動：該笑的時候笑，該莊重的時候莊重。在他所做的一切事上，都必須顧及當時的條件；他必須留心適當的時機，來說他想說的話、做他想做的事。譬如，若父母正在工作，或有朋友來訪時，孩子卻吵鬧；若他在應當安靜的時候，把自己的抱怨拿來向父母訴說；若他在不合時宜的時刻哭泣或大笑，那他就是違反了節奏的法則。所謂節奏，就是對時間與情境的體察，而這是極其必要的。很可惜的是，在現今這個時代，當人們對自由的呼聲似乎變得像是睡著一般靜止時，大家卻會想：「為什麼孩子不應該有他們的自由呢？」但人們必須明白，自由的道路並不能帶我們通往自由目標。自由，並不是人生一開始時就應實踐的理想；所謂的自由實是一種圓滿自在的境界，人必須將它放在眼前，才能抵達那所渴望的終點。《聖經》說，通向自由目標的道路，是窄的，道門也是狹的。
Next, a child must be taught to understand the beauty of word and action; which action is agreeable to itself and to others, and which is disagreeable; what word is pleasing and what word is displeasing. This is the true sight-reading and ear-training a child needs. It should be taught to sense its words and the words of others; whether they are graceful or devoid of grace. It must be able to recognize what action is beautiful, which manner is graceful; it must know and feel when its movements or manners are not up to the mark. In short it should be educated to be its own judge and to dislike what is ungraceful in itself; yet it should tolerate the lack of beautiful manner in others by realizing that it is itself subject to errors, and that annoyance on its part would in itself be bad manners.
接下來，孩子必須被教導去理解言語與行動之美；哪一種行動對自己與對他人都是愉悅的，哪一種卻令人不悅；什麼樣的話語令人舒心，什麼樣的話語令人難受。這才是孩子真正需要的視覺閱讀與聽覺訓練。他應當被教導去感受自己的話語與別人的話語，是優雅的，還是毫無風度的。他必須能辨認什麼樣的行動是美的，什麼樣的舉止是優雅的；也必須知道並感受到，何時自己的動作或風度尚未達到應有的分寸。簡言之，應當教育他成為自己的審判者，並對自己身上不優雅的部分生出不喜；然而，對他人缺乏美好風度之處，他又應當能夠容忍，因為他明白自己也同樣會犯錯，而自己若因此生出煩惱，本身也就是一種失禮。
If the child does not show interest in beauty it is only because something is closed in it. In every soul, however wicked it might seem, however stupid it might seem, beauty is hidden; and it is trust and confidence that will help us to draw out this beauty. However, the difficulty for everyone is to have patience. The lack of beauty in some people strikes us so hard that we lose patience because of it. In doing so we encourage them to become still worse; but if we could have the patience to endure and trust them, we could dig that beauty out; and some day we will, by the Fatherhood of God.
如果孩子對美沒有顯出興趣，那只是因為他裡面有某個部分被關閉了。每一個靈魂之中，無論它看起來多麼邪惡，多麼愚鈍，都隱藏著美；而能幫助我們把這美帶出來的，正是信任與信心。然而，對每個人而言，困難之處在於是否有耐心。有些人身上的不美，會那樣強烈地刺痛我們，以致我們因此失去耐心。而當我們如此做時，其實是在鼓勵他們變得更糟；但若我們能有耐心去忍耐，去信任他們，我們便能把那份美挖掘出來；而總有一天，藉著神如父親一般地看護，我們必會做到。
By trusting in the goodness of every person we will develop that beauty in ourselves. We do not, however, develop that beauty while thinking, “I have it, but the other one has not!” but by forgetting ourselves and realizing that another person has got beauty in him although we do not always see it. And it is a weakness to turn our back upon anyone, child or grown-up, who seems to be lacking in the beauty that we expect. By opening ourselves to beauty we shall find it coming to life.
當我們信任每一個人內在的善時，我們也會在自己裡面發展出那份美。然而，這份美並不是藉著這樣的想法而成長的：「我有，而別人沒有！」相反地，它是藉著忘記自己，並且明白：即使我們未必總能看見，另一個人裡面仍然擁有美。若我們對任何一個人，不論孩子或成人，只因他看似缺少我們所期待的美，便轉身背對他，那乃是一種軟弱。當我們向美敞開自己時，便會發現美開始甦醒。
Consideration is the greatest of all virtues, for in consideration all virtues are born. Veneration for God, courtesy towards others, respect for those who deserve it, kindness to those who are weak and feeble, sympathy with those who need it, all these come from consideration.
體恤是一切德行中最偉大的一種，因為所有德行都誕生於體恤之中。對神的崇敬，對他人的禮貌，對值得尊重者的敬重，對軟弱者與衰弱者的和善，對有需要之人的同理心，這一切都出自體恤。
All complaints that are made by friend about friend, or in the relations between husband and wife, master and servant, or between partners in business, show want of consideration. Everything man does which is called wrong, evil, or sin, is nothing but inconsiderateness. Consideration is a faculty which it is most necessary to develop in the child from the beginning; for once it has become inconsiderate, it is difficult to give it the sense of consideration. Consideration cannot be taught; it must come by itself; but the duty of the parents is to help it to rise in the child. They can very well accomplish this in a pleasant manner, without becoming a bore to the innocent mind of the child, by showing it where consideration is needed in different situations of life.
朋友對朋友的埋怨，夫妻之間的抱怨，主人與僕人之間的衝突，或商業夥伴之間的紛爭，無不顯示出體恤的不足。人所做的一切被稱為錯誤、邪惡或罪的事，無非都只是缺乏體恤而已。體恤是一種最需要從一開始就在孩子身上培養的能力；因為一旦孩子變得不體恤，就很難再給他體恤的感覺。體恤本身不能被直接教出來；它必須自己生起；但父母的責任，是幫助它在孩子裡面升起。他們完全可以用一種愉快的方式做到這件事，不致讓孩子純真的心感到厭煩；只要在生命不同的情境中，指給孩子看：哪裡需要體恤。
It is easy to accuse a child of inconsiderateness, but that does not always profit it. On the contrary, the child will often become annoyed at such accusations and hardened in its faults, defending its actions against the accusations of others, which is a natural human tendency. The way of the wise is to show appreciation whenever the child shows consideration, and to make it conscious of that virtue, so that it may be able to enjoy its beauty. This develops in the child a taste for virtue; it feels happy to act rightly, instead of always being forced to do so. It is on strength of mind that the entire life of the child depends, and strength of mind can be developed in the child by making it self-confident in all it thinks, says, or does; it must get to know something instead of being forced to believe it. Faith, which is taught as the most important lesson in many religions, does not necessarily mean faith in what another person says, thinks, or does, but in what one says, thinks, or does oneself. True faith is self-confidence.
責備孩子缺乏體恤是很容易的，但那不一定真正對他有益。相反地，孩子常常會因這樣的指責而感到惱怒，並在自己的過失中變得更加僵硬，進而替自己的行為辯護，對抗別人的指控；這是很自然的人性傾向。智慧之道則是：每當孩子顯出體恤時，就給予欣賞，並使他對那種德行有所覺知，好讓他能享受其中的美。這會在孩子裡面培養對德行的品味；他會因行得正確而感到快樂，而不只是一直被迫去做。孩子整個生命所依賴的，是頭腦的力量；而這種頭腦的力量，可以藉著使他在自己所想、所說、所做的一切上具有自信而被發展出來。他必須是去知道某件事，而不是被迫去相信它。許多宗教所教導為最重要課題的信仰，並不必然是相信別人所說、所想、所做的，而是相信自己所說、所想、所做的。真正的信仰，就是自信。
Every effort should be made to help the child to have confidence in itself. This can be done by removing from its nature confusion, indecision, and doubt, for these are the cause of all failure in life. Self-confidence and single-mindedness are the key to all success. The child should be encouraged to think or act not only because it is taught to do so, but because it knows already that it is right to think, speak, or act in a certain way; otherwise it will only be a machine which works without knowledge of the purpose or result of the work. The whole tragedy of life is that so many minds work mechanically like machines; only rarely some few act with knowledge, certainty, and self-confidence.
應當盡一切努力幫助孩子對自己有信心。這可以藉著去除他天性中的混亂、猶疑與懷疑來做到，因為這些乃是一切人生失敗的原因。自信與專一，是所有成功的鑰匙。應當鼓勵孩子去思考與行動，不只是因為有人教他如此做，而是因為他自己已經知道，以某種方式去想、去說、去做，是對的；否則，他就只是一部機器，不知道自己工作的目的與結果，卻照樣運作。生命最大的悲劇就在於：有那麼多頭腦像機器一樣機械地運轉；只有極少數的人，是帶著認識、確信與自信而行動。
The child’s mind is naturally more active than a grown-up person’s, for two reasons. Firstly, the child’s mind is growing with great energy, which makes it active during its growth. Furthermore, energy is active in its rise and loses power in its descent; it is for this reason that the child is restless in its thought and action. One child in the room can make one feel there are a hundred children. The child is never still, it delights in occupying its mental and physical energy in some way or other all the time.
孩子的頭腦天生比成人更活躍，原因有二。第一，孩子的頭腦在成長時帶著極大的能量，因此在成長過程中顯得特別活躍。再者，能量在上升時是活躍的，在下降時則失去力量；也正因如此，孩子在思想與行動上總是無法靜止的。房間裡只要有一個孩子，就會讓人覺得彷彿有一百個孩子。孩子從不靜止；他總是喜歡以這樣那樣的方式，不斷運用自己的心智能量與身體能量。
It must be remembered that no time in man’s life is so productive of action, both mental and physical, as childhood; but usually it happens that this most important period of the life of man is wasted in play which mostly brings no result. If this activity of mind and body which is exerted in play were used in educating the child without in the least straining its mind or body, it would be of great value in its life. But what we generally find in the world is quite the contrary. People say that early childhood is the time for a child to play. No doubt this is true; but it must be remembered that in every action, work or play, one spends a certain amount of energy; the difference is that work is what one is obliged to do and play what one does for one’s pleasure.
必須記得，在人的一生中，無論是心智上還是身體上，沒有哪一個時期像童年這樣，能產生如此多的行動；然而通常發生的卻是，這個人生最重要的時期，往往被耗費在大多不帶來結果的遊戲之中。若這種在遊戲中所發揮的心智與身體活動，能在絲毫不使孩子的頭腦與身體緊張的情況下，被運用於教育孩子，那對他的一生將有極大的價值。但我們在世界上通常所見的，卻恰恰相反。人們說，幼年時期本來就是孩子玩耍的時間。這固然不錯；但也必須記得，每一個行動，不論是工作還是遊戲，都會耗用一定的能量；差別只在於，工作是人被要求去做的事，而遊戲則是人為了愉悅而做的事。
But it is altogether a wrong principle, for children as well as for grown-ups, to divide work and play thus. Play should be useful and should be work at the same time; and work should be made like play, in order that it may not be a tedious task but a pleasure in life; if this idea were worked out well it would solve a great many labor problems which disturb the peace and order of humanity so much today.
但是，無論對孩子還是成人而言，把工作與遊戲如此劃分，乃是一個全然錯誤的原則。遊戲應當是有益的，同時也應當是一種工作；而工作則應當被安排得像遊戲一樣，使它不成為令人厭倦的任務，而成為生命中的愉悅。若這個觀念能被好好實踐，便能解決許多今日如此擾亂人類和平與秩序的勞動問題。
It can best be done by teaching children to play and work at the same time, so that when they are grown-up work and play will continue to be the same. All that one does with pleasure is done well and produces a good effect. Doing depends upon the attitude of mind. When the mind is not in a good state, whatever be the work, however interesting, it will not be well done. To bring about peace and order in the world it is very necessary that all work should be made pleasant, and that all pleasure should be turned into work, so that in taking pleasure no work is lost and there is pleasure in working. The central theme in the education of children should be the occupying of every moment of their life in doing quite willingly something which is pleasurable and at the same time useful. Life is a great opportunity, and no moment of life should be lost.
做到這一點最好的方式，就是教孩子同時遊戲與工作，如此一來，等他們長大之後，工作與遊戲仍會保持一致。凡是一個人帶著愉悅所做的事，都會做得好，也會產生好的效果。做事的品質，取決於頭腦的狀態。當頭腦不在好的狀態中，無論工作是什麼，無論它多麼有趣，都不會做得好。若要在世界上帶來和平與秩序，就極其需要使一切工作都變得愉快，也使一切愉悅都轉化為工作；如此一來，在享受愉悅時，不會失去工作，而在工作時，也能有愉悅。兒童教育的中心主題，應當是：讓他們生命中的每一刻，都心甘情願地在做某件既愉快又有益的事。生命是一個偉大的機會，而生命中的每一刻都不應被浪費。
The great fault of the modern system of education is that it only qualifies a man to obtain what he desires in life; and he tries to obtain this by every means, right or wrong, often with no regard for what losses or pain he causes others. The consequence of this is that life has become full of competition in trade, in the professions, and in the State. In order that one may gain another must surely lose. In this way the shadow changes its position from morning to evening; in the end the shadow must prove to be only a shadow, and one realizes it matters little which direction the shadow takes.
現代教育制度的一大缺失，在於它只使一個人具備獲取自己人生慾望之物的能力；而他會用盡各種手段去取得，不論是對是錯，往往毫不顧及他給別人帶來了多少損失與痛苦。其結果便是，生命充滿了競爭：在商業中、在專業中、在國家之中皆然。為了使一個人得益，另一個人便必定要失去。在這樣的方式中，影子從早到晚不斷改變位置；而到最後，影子終究證明自己不過只是影子，於是人便明白：影子朝哪個方向去，其實並不那麼重要。
A child should begin to learn rivalry in goodness and competition in charity. Life is the outcome of reciprocity and reciprocity can be created by changing the attitude from a selfish to an unselfish one. The only hope of creating in the future a better spirit in the world, is to teach the ideal of unselfishness to the children, making this the spirit of the coming world.
孩子應當開始學習在良善中彼此勉勵，在慈善中彼此競爭。生命乃是互惠的結果，而互惠則可以藉著把態度從自私轉變為無私而被創造出來。若要在未來的世界中創造出一種更好的靈，唯一的希望，就是把無私的理想教給孩子們，使之成為未來世界的精神。
The education of children should be considered from five different points of view: physical, mental, moral, social, and spiritual. If one side is developed and not the other sides, naturally the child will show some lack in its education.
兒童的教育，應當從五個不同的觀點來加以思考：身體的、心智的、道德的、社會的，以及靈性的。若只發展其中一面，而其他各面都未發展，那麼孩子的教育自然就會顯出某種缺失。
There ought to be a standard of education for everyone in the country, rich or poor. It is the principal thing necessary for the order and peace of the community and the nation. No one, however poor his circumstances, should be deprived of education in his childhood, which is the only opportunity in life for a soul to acquire knowledge. It should be considered that every child is the child of the community. The idea that only the rich can afford to educate their children will not prove satisfactory in this epoch, for it shows the selfishness and negligence of one part of the community towards the other part. The neglected part must sooner or later rebel against it, as soon as they realize that they have been kept back by those with means, so that they cannot receive education and be prosperous in their lives. It is this revolt which has brought about a feeling of bitterness and indignation in the people; and this feeling will increase, to the great disadvantage of society, if not sufficient attention is given to public education.
國家中每一個人，不論貧富，都應當擁有同樣的教育標準。這是維繫社群與國家秩序與和平最主要的必要條件。無論一個人的環境多麼貧困，他都不應在童年時被剝奪教育；因為童年乃是靈魂在生命中獲得知識的唯一機會。人應當明白，每一個孩子都是社群的孩子。認為只有富人才能負擔教育自己孩子的觀念，在這個時代將不可能令人滿意；因為這顯示出社群的一部分對另一部分的自私與忽視。那些被忽略的人遲早會起而反抗；一旦他們意識到，正是那些有資源的人把他們壓制在後，使他們無法受教育，也無法在生命中昌盛。正是這樣的反抗，已經在人們心中帶來苦澀與憤慨；若不對公共教育給予足夠的重視，這種感受還會加深，並對社會造成極大的不利。
The State is certainly responsible for the education of the people. It should be arranged that one and the same education is given to rich and poor alike in a course which consists of the five above-mentioned aspects of knowledge. Once that course is finished, then the children may take up any profession they like. If they want further education they may receive it from their private means if they can afford it, but the necessary education must be given to every child of the community. The course of education can certainly be compressed and made into a course of general education; the child should not only be taught to read and write but to have an all-round idea of life and how it can best be lived.
國家當然對人民的教育負有責任。應當安排一套相同的教育，無論富人或窮人，都同樣接受；而這套課程應當包含上述五個知識面向。一旦這套課程完成之後，孩子們便可以從事任何自己喜歡的職業。若他們想繼續深造，而自己又有能力負擔，當然可以由私人資源去接受進一步教育；但必要的教育，必須提供給社群中的每一個孩子。教育課程當然可以被濃縮成一套通識教育；孩子不應只被教導讀與寫，也應獲得對生命及其最佳生活方式的全面觀念。
iii
Physical education can be given, even from infancy, with the help of music. An infant should be made to move its hands and feet up and down, and as it grows it should be taught to do it rhythmically. When a child grows up, when it can dance and play different games, gymnastics should be taught, in such a way that the child may benefit by them but that they do not become a tedious work but a recreation.
身體教育甚至可以從嬰兒期就藉著音樂來進行。應當讓嬰兒把手腳上下活動，而當他漸漸長大，便應教他有節奏地做這些動作。當孩子長大一些，能跳舞、能玩各種遊戲時，也應教他體操；而且要以一種使孩子能從中受益、卻不致使之變成乏味工作的方式來教，而要讓它仍然是娛樂。
Regularity is desirable in the building up of the personality of a child. It is habit which forms nature, but nature has no habit. It is always beneficial for a child to eat when hungry, to rest when tired. In this way the child makes its own nature instead of becoming subject to habits. Pure and nourishing food is necessary for a child while it grows. It needs all kinds of food to nourish its growth; also a child must have good long hours of sleep according to the needs of each child. At the same time a certain part of the day must be kept for the child to rest, and it must be done in such a manner that the child, whose natural tendency is to be active, may gladly take this rest. This can be done by telling it a story or giving it some work of art to look at, or by letting the child hear some music.
在建立孩子人格的過程中，規律是可取的。是習慣形成了性情，但性情本身並沒有習慣。對孩子而言，餓了就吃，累了就休息，總是有益的。如此一來，孩子是在形成自己的自然性，而不是受制於習慣。純淨且有滋養的食物，對成長中的孩子是必要的。他需要各種食物來滋養其成長；同時，每個孩子也都必須依照自己的需要，擁有充足而長時間的睡眠。除此之外，每天也應保留一段時間讓孩子休息，而且必須以一種方式來進行，使這個天性喜愛活動的孩子，也能樂於接受這段休息。這可以藉由給他講一個故事、給他看一件藝術作品，或讓孩子聽一些音樂來做到。
It is a popular belief that the childhood diseases most children go through are more or less inevitable. This is not so; they are caused by the artificiality of life.
一般人相信，多數孩子在童年中會經歷的那些疾病，多少都是不可避免的。但事實並非如此；它們乃是由生活的人為造作所引起的。
A great deal of excitement, crying or laughing naturally upsets the rhythm of a child’s body and mind. It is always wise to give the child, for its equilibrium, scope for action and reaction in everything it does. If a child is afraid of something, the best way to help it is to make it acquainted with the thing it is afraid of.
過多的激動、哭泣或大笑，自然都會擾亂孩子身體與頭腦的節奏。為了維持孩子的平衡，在他所做的一切事上，總應智慧地給他行動與回應的空間。若孩子害怕某樣東西，幫助他的最好方式，就是讓他漸漸熟悉他所害怕的那個東西。
It is not advisable that the child should be taught always in the house, nor always at school. The study should be divided, partly indoors and partly outdoors. The teaching given to a child indoors should be different from the study given out of doors. The outdoor study should concern all that the child sees; one can then include the practice or the experience of what it has learned indoors. In short, a child’s health must be considered as part of its education; study and health go together.
不宜讓孩子總是在家中受教，也不宜總是在學校裡受教。學習應當分成一部分在室內，一部分在戶外。室內給孩子的教導，應當與戶外所給予的學習不同。戶外的學習，應當與孩子所看見的一切有關；如此，便可以把他在室內所學到的東西，帶入實踐與經驗之中。總而言之，孩子的健康必須被看作教育的一部分；學習與健康是並行的。
Together with physical culture, mental training is very necessary for a child. There are two things which ought to be remembered: one is to develop the mental power of the child, the other to give fineness to a child’s mentality. Very often the development in a certain direction hinders the progress in some other direction. In the first place, to make its mentality strong, the child should be taught to concentrate its mind through study and play. It should be given some enterprise which takes most of its attention in one direction, making the child single-minded.
除了身體的培養，心智的訓練對孩子也極其必要。有兩件事應當被記住：其一，是發展孩子頭腦的力量；其二，是使孩子的心智具有細緻性。很多時候，某一方向上的發展，反而會妨礙另一方向的進步。首先，若要使孩子的心智能夠堅強，便應教他藉著學習與遊戲來集中自己的頭腦。應當給他某種能把他大部分注意力引向單一方向的事，使孩子學會「專注」。
The child must be kept from excitement or passion of any kind, for it is tranquillity of mind which gives a child strength, balance, self-control, self-confidence, and determination. It also strengthens the child’s mentality, and it is certainly on the strength of the mentality that success in life chiefly depends. But strong mentality does not suffice for every purpose of life; besides strength, fineness is necessary. In order to develop this fineness in a child, every help must be given to sharpen its wits. Wit needs an opportunity to develop and that opportunity can be given by training a child to grasp things. A certain amount of encouragement can also be given to stimulate its wits. A child must be helped to perceive keenly what time is suitable for a certain action, what it can say or do at one time and what it should not say and do at another time. Great care should be taken in teaching good manners to a child, so that in time it may become natural to show in its manner the beauty hidden in its soul. Fine mentality can be seen in keen perception, in love of subtlety, and in the gracefulness and refinement of manner which complete mental culture.
必須使孩子遠離各種激動與激情，因為唯有頭腦的安寧，才能給孩子力量、平衡、自制、自信與果斷。這也會強化孩子的心智，而人生的成功，主要確實取決於心智的力量。然而，堅強的心智並不足以應付生命的一切目的；除了力量之外，細緻性也是必要的。為了在孩子身上發展這份細緻性，必須盡一切幫助來磨利他的理智。理智需要機會才能發展，而這機會可以藉著訓練孩子去迅速掌握事物而給予。也可以給予某種程度的鼓勵，來刺激他的理智。必須幫助孩子敏銳地覺察：什麼時候適合某種行動，某個時候可以說什麼、做什麼，而另一個時候又不應說什麼、做什麼。教導孩子良好的禮儀時，必須格外用心，使他最終能自然地在自己的舉止中顯露出其靈魂所隱藏的美。細緻的心智，可以在敏銳的感知、對微妙之美的喜愛，以及那成全心智文化的優雅與細緻的風度中被看見。
Moral education depends upon three things: the right direction of love, a keen sense of harmony, and the proper understanding of beauty. The child should be taught to make the right use of its emotional and sentimental faculties; and the right use is to show its charity of heart in generous actions, and first to its immediate surroundings. The child must learn that love means sacrifice; also it must know that love is best expressed in service of any kind; that emotion is best used in kind action, and sentiment in creating harmony. A child must understand that love should be shown by being considerate, and its sentiment must teach it respect and consideration for others.
道德教育取決於三件事：「愛的正確方向、敏銳的和諧感，以及對美的適當理解」。應當教孩子正確運用他的情感能力與感受能力；而所謂正確的運用，就是先在他最直接的生活環境中，藉著慷慨的行動表現出心中的慈愛。孩子必須學會：愛意味著犧牲；也必須知道，愛最好是透過各種形式的服務來表達；情感最好是被用在和善的行動之中，而感受則最好是被用來創造和諧。孩子必須明白，愛應當藉由體恤而表現出來；而他的感受能力，也必須教導他去尊重並體恤他人。
A child is a growing plant and it needs not only bodily nourishment, but also the nourishment of the heart; and that is best taught by loving the child and by reciprocating its love. And yet it must be taught balance, to keep its emotion within certain bounds and limitations. A child must be taught the use of love through the expression of sweetness in its thought, speech, and action. A wrongly given love spoils the child by making it rude, vain, and indifferent. One must not show all one’s love to one’s children, especially not in any emotional form. One must have a certain amount of reserve in one’s own self, for the child to take example by and to follow. An excessive amount of reserve may imply want of love, which is fruitless at times; a balance of love and reserve in dealing with a child is the right thing.
孩子是一株正在生長的植物，他不只需要身體的滋養，也需要心的滋養；而這最好的教法，就是去愛孩子，並回應他的愛。然而，同時也必須教他平衡，使他的情感保持在某些界限與分寸之內。應當藉著思想、言語與行動中甜美的表達，教孩子如何運用愛。給予錯誤的愛，會把孩子寵壞，使他變得粗魯、虛榮而冷漠。人不該把自己全部的愛都毫無保留地展示給孩子，尤其不該以過度情緒化的方式如此做。人自身必須保有某種程度的節制與保留，好讓孩子能以此為榜樣，學著跟隨。然而，過多的保留又可能顯出缺乏愛，而那有時是徒然無益的；因此，在對待孩子時，愛與保留之間的平衡，才是正確的。
It is very important to cultivate the spirit of generosity in the child’s heart. Generosity does not necessarily mean extravagance or lack of consideration for things one possesses. The real spirit of generosity is best expressed in charity of heart. Obeying, respecting, serving, learning, responding, all this comes from charity of heart, and it grows by developing generosity of nature.
在孩子的心中培養慷慨的精神，是非常重要的。慷慨並不必然意味著揮霍，或對自己所擁有之物缺乏珍惜。真正的慷慨精神，最好是表現為心中的慈愛。順從、尊重、服務、學習、回應，這一切都出自心中的慈愛，而它會藉著天性中慷慨的發展而成長。
One must protect the child against the inclination to be led astray by others, for a generous child is often subject to misleading influences. Also it must be kept from being generous with other people’s things, even with the possessions of its own parents. Generosity on the part of a child is only the opening of the heart. When the heart of a child is closed, the child is deprived of expression; and when once it has started in this way its entire Life develops on the same lines. It is the generosity of the heart which is the mystery of genius, for to give expression to art or science, poetry or music, the heart must be opened first; and this can only be accomplished by the generosity of the heart. Tolerance, forgiveness, endurance, fortitude, are all the outcome of this virtue.
人們必須保護孩子，不讓他有被別人帶偏的傾向，因為一個慷慨的孩子常常也容易受到誤導的影響。同時，也必須防止孩子拿別人的東西來表現慷慨，即使那是自己父母的財物也不例外。孩子的慷慨，其實只是心的開啟而已。當孩子的心關閉時，他就失去了表達的能力；而一旦他在這樣的方式上開始發展，他整個生命便會沿著同樣的路線展開。心的慷慨，正是天才的奧祕；因為要在藝術、科學、詩或音樂中有所表達，首先必須打開心；而這只能藉著心的慷慨來完成。寬容、饒恕、忍耐、堅毅，都是這項德行的結果。
A friendly spirit is the natural spirit of the soul. Nothing in the child should be encouraged which forms an obstacle to its friendly tendency; but it is the responsibility of the parents to watch with whom the child wants to be friends, and to keep the child always in the company of desirable children. The guardian must not make the child feel that it is deprived of the choice of its friends, but it should be guided in order to keep it among desirable friends.
友善的精神，是靈魂自然的表現。孩子身上不應鼓勵任何阻礙其展現友善的東西；但父母有責任留意孩子想與誰交朋友，並使孩子總是與適合的孩子為伍。監護人不應讓孩子覺得自己被剝奪了選擇朋友的自由；但應當加以引導，使他保持在合宜的朋友之中。
The freedom of the child must always be considered; it should never be forced but only guided gently. One should produce in a child the desire to choose as its friends those whom it feels to be congenial. As soon as the liberty of a child is interfered with, the child begins to feel itself captive and the lantern of its conscience becomes dim. Therefore the duty of the parents is to guide the child constantly, yet freeing it gradually to make a choice in everything in life. Parents who do not understand this and do not attach sufficient importance to it, very often cause the child to go astray while trying to guide it.
孩子的自由必須始終被顧念；永遠不應強迫，只能溫柔地引導。人應當在孩子裡面喚起一種願望，讓他選擇那些自己感到氣味相投的人作為朋友。一旦孩子的自由受到干涉，他便開始覺得自己像個俘虜，而其良知之燈也會變得昏暗。因此，父母的責任，是不斷地引導孩子，同時又逐漸釋放他，使他在生命中的一切事上學會作選擇。不明白這一點、也不重視這一點的父母，常常在想要引導孩子時，反而使孩子走偏。
A child should learn to recognize its relation and duty to all those around it. One should let it know what is expected of it by its father, mother, brothers, and sisters; for the recognition of relationship is the sign of human character which is not seen among animals. A son who has not been a good son to his mother will not be a good husband to his wife, for he has missed his first chance of developing thoughtfulness and the love quality. But as the child grows it must be led to have some idea of the further relationship between human beings. For the world is a family, and the right attitude of a young soul must be to see in every man his brother and in every woman his sister; he must look on aged people as he would on his father or mother.
孩子應當學會認識自己與周遭所有人之間的關係與責任。應當讓他知道，父親、母親、兄弟姊妹對他有何期待；因為關係的認識，正是我們性格的一種記號，而這是在動物身上看不見的。一個沒有對母親成為好兒子的人，也不會成為妻子的好丈夫，因為他錯失了自己第一個發展體貼與愛的品質的機會。然而，當孩子漸漸長大，也必須被引導去對人與人之間更廣大的關係有所認識。因為世界本是一個家庭，而一個年輕靈魂正確的態度，便是把每一位男人看作自己的兄弟，把每一位女人看作自己的姊妹；他也必須像看待自己的父親母親一般，看待年長的人。
The betterment of the world mostly depends upon the development of the coming generation. The ideal of human brotherhood should be taught at home; this does not mean that the child must recognize human brotherhood before recognizing the relationship with his own brothers and sisters; but the relationship at home must be the first lesson in human brotherhood which the child may reach by realizing the brotherhood of the nation, of the race, and then of the world. It is a fault when a person does not progress in the path of brotherhood. The child should be taught to picture first its own town as a family, then its nation as a family, and then the entire continent as a family, in order to arrive at the idea that the whole world is a family.
世界的改善，大半取決於下一代的發展。人類四海之內皆兄弟的理想，應當先在家中被教導；這並不是說，孩子必須先認識人類的兄弟情誼，才去認識自己與親兄弟姊妹的關係；而是說，家中的關係，應當成為人類兄弟情誼的第一課，而孩子也可以藉著體會國家的兄弟情誼、族群的兄弟情誼，進而達到世界的兄弟情誼。若一個人在兄弟情誼的道路上沒有前進，那便是一種缺失。應當教孩子先把自己的城鎮看成一個家庭，再把自己的國家看成一個家庭，然後把整個陸塊看成一個家庭，好使他最終抵達「整個世界乃是一個家庭」的觀念。
A child should know the moral of give and take; it must know that it should give to others what it wishes to receive from them. The great fault of humanity today is that everyone seeks to get the better of others, by which one is often caught in one’s own net. Fair dealing in business and in a profession and the honoring of one’s word are most necessary today. It is the spirit of brotherhood which will solve the problems of business and professions, as of education and politics, which are so difficult to solve at present owing to the absence of brotherly feeling.
孩子應當知道給予與領受的道德；他必須知道，自己希望從別人那裡得到什麼，也就應當先給別人什麼。今日人類的一大缺失在於，每個人都想佔別人的便宜，而人往往也因此落入自己所設的網中。商業中的公平交易、專業中的誠信，以及對自己言語的尊重，在今日是極其必要的。正是兄弟情誼的精神，能解決商業、專業、教育與政治中的問題；而這些問題之所以在當下如此難解，正是因為缺少了兄弟般的情感。
The education of the younger generation needs the spiritual ideal more than anything else. Since the world has become so materialistic man has almost lost sight of the main object of life, which is the spiritual ideal. Spiritual ideal does not mean that children should necessarily be attached to any particular faith, or that any particular Church should be forced upon them. What is needed is simply to give some ideal to the child to look forward to, some high ideal, yet one which the chad’s mind can conceive. The divine ideal has been given to mankind for spiritual attainment in all periods of the world’s history, and humanity will never outgrow that ideal.
年輕世代的教育，比任何事都更需要靈性的理想。自從世界變得如此物質化之後，人幾乎已經失去了對生命主要目標的視野，而那主要目標正是靈性的理想。所謂靈性的理想，並不是指孩子一定要歸屬於某一特定信仰，或被強加某一特定的教會。真正需要的，只是給孩子某種可以向前仰望的理想，一種高遠的理想，但同時又是孩子的頭腦所能領會的。神聖的理想，在世界歷史的各個時期都已被賜給人類，以達到靈性成就，而人類永遠不會超越這個理想。
Whatever be the stage of human progress, the divine ideal will be the only ideal which will help both old and young to steer their way through the sea of life. It is the loss of divine ideal which causes the breakdown in the life of individuals and of humanity in general; the cause of paralysis in modern progress is no other than the loss of divine ideal. Man, revolting against existing religion or religious authority, has naturally forgotten the divine ideal, which is really the one yearning of his soul. A time has come when man has neither his ancestors” religion nor a religion of his own.
無論人類進步到哪一個階段，神聖的理想都將是唯一能幫助老人與青年，在生命之海中掌舵前行的理想。個人生命與整體人類生命之所以崩解，正是因為失去了神聖的理想；現代進步之所以陷入麻痺，原因也無非就是神聖理想的失落。人因反抗既有的宗教或宗教權威，自然也遺忘了神聖的理想；而那其實正是他靈魂唯一的渴望。如今已來到這樣一個時代：人既沒有祖先的宗教，也沒有屬於自己的宗教。
A child must learn that there is some ideal; that towards that ideal the whole of humanity is unconsciously or consciously progressing. The child must know that it is responsible for all it does, not only to its fellow-men, but to someone who watches it constantly and from whom nothing can be hidden; that however much justice may seem to be suffering in the world, there is somewhere the balance of justice which in time must balance things; and that death is only a bridge by which the soul passes from one sphere to another. The child which respects age, which is considerate for the elderly in its surroundings, and which imagines them to be an ideal that is to be followed, shows it has religion in itself.
孩子必須學會：有某種理想存在；而全人類，不論有意識或無意識，都正朝著那個理想前進。孩子必須知道，自己對所做的一切都負有責任；不只是對同胞負責，也是對那位時時注視著他、而任何事都無法向其隱藏的存在負責。他也必須知道：無論公義在世上看來遭受了多少苦難，在某個地方始終存在著公義的天平，而時間終將使萬事回到平衡；並且，死亡只是一座橋，使靈魂從一個層界通往另一個層界。那懂得尊敬長者、能體恤周遭老人、並把他們想像為自己應當跟隨之理想的孩子，已經在他裡面擁有宗教了。
Spiritual ideal is the natural inclination of every soul. It needs no great effort to guide a child towards spirituality; it is more difficult to keep a child from it, which many parents do today who are anxious about their child being drawn towards spiritual ideals. No doubt, too much religion is not good for a child; it makes the child fixed in its ideas, and takes away the liquidity that every soul naturally possesses. Giving the child ideas of spirits or ghosts or of heaven and hell is not desirable. The child’s imagination should be kept within the range of its reasoning, and yet reason must not be made an obstacle in the way of the child’s imagination. For very often the child’s imagination goes further than that of its parents, and it would be cruel to hinder it by limiting the child to one’s own religious and material ideas. The principal thing in spirituality is gentleness of life; in other words: sincerity. The child must be taught to say what it means. If it is by nature artistic in its expression, which is often seen in exceptionally intelligent children, then the child must be kept close to reality, in order that it may not be led astray by the art of its intelligent expression.
靈性的理想，是每個靈魂自然的傾向。要引導孩子走向靈性，其實並不需要多大的努力；更困難的，反而是阻止孩子走向靈性，而今日許多父母正是如此做，因為他們擔心自己的孩子被靈性的理想所吸引。毫無疑問，過多的宗教對孩子並不好；那會使孩子的觀念變得僵固，並奪去每個靈魂本來自然擁有的流動性。向孩子灌輸亡靈、鬼魂、天堂與地獄之類的觀念，並不可取。孩子的想像力應當保持在其理性所及的範圍之內；但同時，又不應讓理性成為孩子想像力道路上的障礙。因為很多時候，孩子的想像力比父母走得更遠，而若以自己宗教性與物質性的觀念去限制孩子，那將是一種殘酷。靈性生活中最主要的事，就是生命的溫柔；換句話說，就是「真誠」。必須教孩子說出自己真正所意指的話。若孩子天生在表達上具有藝術性，而這在特別聰慧的孩子身上常常可以看見，那麼，也必須使孩子貼近現實，免得他被自己聰明表達的藝術性所帶偏。
Before the child goes to bed, it should be taught, in some form or other, to think gratefully of the One from whom all goodness comes and to whom all is known. The child may also be taught to wish good to all in the name of the One who has created all. What a child should wish for its parents or for others is good health, long life, right guidance from above, prosperity, success, happiness, and love.
在孩子上床睡覺之前，應當用某種方式教他，以感恩的心去思想那位一切美善所從來、而一切也都為祂所知的「一」。也可以教孩子奉那位創造萬有者之名，向一切存在送出善願。孩子應當為自己的父母，或為他人所祝願的，是健康、長壽、來自上方的正確引導、昌盛、成功、幸福與愛。