THE OTHER DAY three pious egoists came to see me. The first was a sannyasi, a man who had renounced the world; the second was an orientalist and a great believer in brotherhood; and the third was a confirmed worker for a marvellous Utopia. Each of the three was strenuous in his own work and looked down on the others’ attitudes and activities, and each was strengthened by his own conviction. Each was ardently attached to his particular form of belief, and all were in a strange way ruthless.

前些天，三个虔诚的自我主义者来看我。 第一个是桑雅生，一个声明抛弃这人世间的人； 第二位是东方学者，一个兄弟会的忠实信徒； 第三个是一个为奇妙的乌托邦而奋斗的坚定工作者。 三人各自在自己的工作中不辞艰辛， 同时瞧不起别人的态度和活动， 他们每个人都因自己的信仰而更加坚强。 每个人都火焰般地依附于他特别的信仰形式， 都在践行一种奇怪的方式，展示出他们的无情。

They told me, especially the Utopian, that they were ready to deny or sacrifice themselves and their friends for what they believed. They appeared meek and gentle, particularly the man of brotherhood, but there was a hardness of heart and that peculiar intolerance which is characteristic of the superior. They were the chosen, the interpreters; they knew and were certain.

他们告诉我，尤其是这位乌托邦主义者， 他们准备为了自己的信仰而无视或牺牲他们自己以及他们的朋友们。 他们看起来温顺而文雅，特别是那位兄弟会的， 但心里有一种坚硬 那是一种罕见的零容忍，高高在上的特质。 他们是被选中的，是上天派来的使者；他们已经知晓并且确信。

The sannyasi said, in the course of a serious talk, that he was preparing himself for his next life. This life, he declared, had very little to offer him, for he had seen through all the illusions of worldliness and had forsaken worldly ways. He had some personal weaknesses and certain difficulties in concentration, he added, but in his next life he would be the ideal which he had set for himself.

这位桑雅生在一次严肃的谈话中说， 他正在为他的来世做准备。 这一世，他宣称，对他来说是微不足道的， 因为他看穿了所有世俗中的幻觉，抛弃了世俗的方式。 他有某些私人的弱点和某种专注力的困难，他补充道， 但在他的来世，他将成为他为自己定制出的理想人物。

His whole interest and vitality lay in his conviction that he was to be something in his next life. We talked at some length, and his emphasis was always on the tomorrow, on the future. The past existed, he said, but always in relation to the future; the present was merely a passage to the future, and today was interesting only because of tomorrow. If there were no tomorrow, he asked, then why make an effort? One might just as well vegetate or be like the pacific cow.

他所有的兴趣和活力都在于他坚信 —— 他将在来世成为某种人物。 我们聊了很久，他总是在强调明天、未来。 过去是存在的，他说，但总是与未来关联。 现在只是通往未来的一条走廊， 而今天之所以有趣，只是因为有明天。 如果没有明天，他问，为什么还要努力呢？ 一个人可能就如同植物人，或者像一只温和的奶牛。

The whole of life was one continuous movement from the past through the momentary present to the future. We should use the present, he said, to be something in the future: to be wise, to be strong, to be compassionate. Both the present and the future were transient, but tomorrow ripened the fruit. He insisted that today is but a steppingstone, and that we should not be too anxious or too particular about it; we should keep clear the ideal of tomorrow and make the journey successfully. Altogether, he was impatient of the present.

生命的整体，是一个连续的运动， 始于过去，通过短暂的现在，抵达未来。 我们应该利用现在，他说，去成就未来： 变得智慧、坚强、慈悲。 现在和未来都是短暂的，但明天会结出成熟的果实。 他坚持认为，今天只不过是一块垫脚石， 我们不应该对此过于焦虑或过于讲究； 我们要明确明天的理想，让旅程取得圆满的成功。 一句话，他对现在不耐烦。

The man of brotherhood was more learned, and his language more poetic; he was expert in handling words, and was altogether suave and convincing. He too had carved a divine niche for himself in the future. He was to be something. This idea filled his heart, and he had gathered his disciples for that future. Death, he said, was a beautiful thing, for it brought one nearer to that divine niche which was making it possible for him to live in this sorrowful and ugly world.

兄弟会的这位，更有学问，他的语言更诗意； 他擅长遣词造句，而且非常文雅、令人信服。 他也渴望在将来自己有一个神圣的地位。他要成为某种人物。 这个想法填满了他的心，他为那个未来召集他的弟子们。 死亡，他说，是一件美丽的事物， 因为它使人更接近那个神圣的位置， 那个使得他可以在这悲伤和丑陋的世界里活下去。

He was all for changing and beautifying the world, and was working ardently for the brotherhood of man. He considered that ambition, with its attendant cruelties and corruption, was inevitable in a world where you had to get things done; and unfortunately, if you wanted certain organizational activities carried on, you had to be a little bit on the hard side. The work was important because it was helping mankind, and anyone who opposed it had to be put aside – gently, of course. The organization for that work was of the utmost value and must not be hindered. “Others have their paths,” he said, “but ours is essential, and anyone who interferes is not one of us.”

他全力以赴地改变和美化这个世界， 并为人间的友爱而火焰般地工作。 他认为，在这个世界上，要完成这些事情， 野心以及随之而来的残酷和腐败，是不可避免的。 很不幸，如果你想让某些组织性的活动得以执行， 你不得不下点猛药。 这项工作很重要，因为它在帮助人类， 任何反对它的人都必须被排挤到一边 —— 当然了，用力要轻点儿。 执行这项工作的组织机构具有最高的价值，绝不能被阻拦。 “其余的人们有他们自己的路，” 他说道， “而我们的，是最本质的，任何来干扰的人都不是我们中的一员。”

The Utopian was a strange mixture of the idealist and the practical man. His Bible was not the old but the new. He believed in the new implicitly. He knew the outcome of the future, for the new book foretold what it was to be. His plan was to confuse, organize and carry out. The present, he said, was corrupt, it must be destroyed, and out of this destruction the new would be built. The present was to be sacrificed for the future. The future man was all-important, not the present man.

这位乌托邦主义者是理想主义者和务实者的奇怪混合体。 他的圣经不是旧的，而是新的。他相信某种暗含的新事物。 他知道未来的结果，因为这本新书预言了它将会是什么样子。 他的计划是暴动、组织和执行。 现在，他说，是腐败的，它必须被摧毁， 从这毁灭中，将建造出新的。 为了未来，就得牺牲现在。 未来的人是最重要的，而不是现在的人。

“We know how to create that future man,” he said, “we can shape his mind and heart; but we must get into power to do any good. We will sacrifice ourselves and others to bring about a new state. Anyone who stands in the way we will kill, for the means is of no consequence; the end justifies any means.’,

“我们知道如何创造那种未来的人，” 他说， “我们可以塑造他的头脑和心灵；但我们必须掌权才能做任何善事。 我们将牺牲我们自己和别人，以建立一个新的国家。 我们会砍杀任何阻挡道路的人， 因为这种手段是无关紧要的。目的证明了任何的手段都是合理的。”

For ultimate peace, any form of violence could be used; for ultimate individual freedom, tyranny in the present was inevitable. “When we have the power in our hands,” he declared, “we will use every form of compulsion to bring about a new world without class distinctions, without priests. From our central thesis we will never move; we are fixed there, but our strategy and tactics will vary depending upon changing circumstances. We plan, organize and act to destroy the present man for the future man.”

为了最终的和平，可以利用任何形式的暴力； 为了最终的个人自由，现在的暴政是不可避免的。 “当我们掌握了权力，” 他宣称， “我们将使用各种形式的强迫 来创造一个没有阶级划分，没有牧师的新世界。 从我们的核心理论出发，我们永不动摇；我们固守在那里， 但我们的战略和战术将根据不断变化的情况而变化。 我们计划、组织和行动，为了未来的人类而摧毁现在的人类。”

The sannyasi, the man of brotherhood and the Utopian all live for tomorrow, for the future. They are not ambitious in the worldly sense, they do not want high honours, wealth or recognition; but they are ambitious in a much more subtle way. The Utopian has identified himself with a group which he thinks will have the power to reorient the world; the man of brotherhood aspires to be exalted, and the sannyasi to attain his goal. All are consumed with their own becoming, with their own achievement and expansion. They do not see that this desire denies peace, brotherhood and supreme happiness.

这位桑雅生、兄弟会和乌托邦主义者都在为了明天、为了未来而活着。 他们并不是世俗意义上的野心， 他们不想要崇高的荣誉、财富或认可； 但他们有一种更微妙的野心方式。 乌托邦主义者将他自己 与一个他认为有能力重新掌舵这个世界的组织机构相认同。 兄弟会的人渴望被提升，而桑雅生则渴望获取他的目标。 所有人都为他们自己的成就，为他们自己的猎物和扩张而疯狂。 他们没有看到：正是这种欲望拒绝了和平、友爱和至乐。

Ambition in any form – for the group, for individual salvation, or for spiritual achievement – is action postponed. Desire is ever of the future; the desire to become is inaction in the present. The now has greater significance than the tomorrow. In the now is all time, and to understand the now is to be free of time. Becoming is the continuation of time, of sorrow. Becoming does not contain being. Being is always in the present, and being is the highest form of transformation. Becoming is merely modified continuity, and there is radical transformation only in the present, in being.

任何形式的野心 —— 为了组织、为了个人的救赎，或为了灵性的成就 —— 都是对行动的拖延。 欲望永远从属于未来；这种想成为的欲望就是现在的不作为。 现在比明天更重要。 现在是一切时间，理解此刻，即是从时间中解脱。 想要成为，就是时间、是悲伤的延续。 想要成为，是无生命的。 生命总是处于现在，生命即是转变的最高形式。 想要成为，仅仅是修改之后的延续， 只有现在，只有生命，才是根本的转变。