HE ASSERTED THAT he was not greedy, that he was satisfied with little, and that life had been good to him, though he suffered the usual miseries of human existence. He was a quiet man, unobtrusive, hoping not to be disturbed from his easy ways. He said that he was not ambitious, but prayed to God for the things he had, for his family, and for the even flow of his life. He was thankful not to be plunged into problems and conflicts, as his friends and relations were. He was rapidly becoming very respectable and happy in the thought that he was one of the elite. He was not attracted to other women, and he had a peaceful family life, though there were the usual wrangles of husband and wife. He had no special vices, prayed often and worshipped God. “What is the matter with me,” he asked,“as I have no problems?” He did not wait for a reply, but smiling in a satisfied and somewhat mournful way proceeded to tell of his past, what he was doing, and what kind of education he was giving to his children. He went on to say that he was not generous, but gave a little here and there. He was certain that each one must struggle to make a position for himself in the world.
他声称他不贪婪：有一丁点儿，他就满意了， 生活对他来说很好，尽管他也遭受了人类生存的日常苦难。 他是一个安静的人，不引人注目，希望他简易的生活方式不被打扰。 他说他没什么雄心壮志， 只向上帝祈祷，祝愿他所拥有的、他的家人、他的生活一帆风顺。 他很感激没有像他的朋友和亲戚那样， 陷入问题与冲突之中。 他很快就变得非常受人尊敬和爱戴， 因为他是精英之一。 他没有被其他女人吸引，他有一个和谐的家庭生活， 尽管夫妻之间有一些小打小闹。 他没有特别的恶习，经常祷告，敬拜神。 “我有什么问题呢？”他问到，“是因为我没有遇到问题吗？” 他没有等待答复，只是露出笑容 带着一种满意、一丝忧伤，讲述他的过去， 他曾经做过什么，以及他正在给他的孩子们怎样的教育。 他接着说，他并不慷慨，但会随处施舍一些。 他确信，每个人都必须去打拼，为自己在这个世界上占据一席之地。
Respectability is a curse; it is an “evil” that corrodes the mind and heart. It creeps upon one unknowingly and destroys love. To be respectable is to feel successful to carve for oneself a position in the world, to build around oneself a was of certainty, of that assurance which comes with money, power, success, capacity or virtue. This exclusiveness of assurance breeds hatred and antagonism in human relationship, which in society. The respectable are always the cream of society, and so they are ever the cause of strife and misery. The respectable, like the despised, are always at the mercy of circumstances; the influences of environment and the weight of tradition are vastly important to them, for these hide their inward power. The respectable are on the defensive, fearful and suspicious. Fear is in their hearts, so anger is their righteousness; their virtue and piety are their defence. They are as the drum, empty within but loud when beaten. The respectable can never be open to reality, for, like the despised, they are enclosed in the concern for their own self-improvement. Happiness is denied to them, for they avoid truth.
尊敬是一种诅咒，一种腐蚀头脑和心灵的‘邪恶’。 在不知不觉中，它悄悄地爬到人的身上，并毁灭了爱。 受人尊敬， 就是感受成功，渴望自己在世界上占据一个地位， 在自己的周围竖立一道坚硬的屏障 —— 利用金钱、权力、成功、能力或美德来防卫。 防卫的这种排他性 滋生出人与人之间的仇恨和对抗，形成了社会。 受人尊敬的人永远是社会的奶酪， 因此他们永远是冲突和痛苦的根源。 受人尊敬的人，就像被鄙视的人一样，总是受制于环境； 环境的影响和传统的重量对他们来说非常重要， 因为这里隐藏着他们内在的力量。 受人尊敬的人处于防卫、恐惧和怀疑之中。 恐惧驻扎在他们心里， 所以，愤怒是他们的正义； 他们的美德和虔诚是他们的盾牌。 他们就像一面鼓，里面空空如也，被敲打的时候，却很响亮。 受人尊敬的人永远不可能对真实敞开心扉， 如同那些被鄙视的人，自囿于‘自我进步’。 他们拒绝了快乐，因为他们逃避真实。
To be non-greedy and not to be generous are closely related. Both are a self-enclosing process, a negative form of self-centredness. To be greedy, you must be active, outgoing; you must strive, compete, be aggressive. If you have not this drive, you are not free of greed, but only self-enclosed. Outgoing is a disturbance, a painful struggle, so self-centredness is covered over by the word non-greedy. To be generous with the hand is one thing, but to be generous of heart is another. Generosity of the hand is a fairly simple affair, depending upon the cultural pattern and so on; but generosity of the heart is of vastly deeper significance, demanding extensional awareness and understanding.
不贪婪和不大方是密切相关的。 两者都是一个自我封闭的过程，是一种以自我为中心的拒绝。 要贪婪，你必须主动，向外奔走；你必须努力、竞争、积极进取。 如果你没有这种驱动，你就不能摆脱贪婪，就在自我封闭。 向外奔走，是一种干扰，一种痛苦的挣扎， 所以这个作为中心的‘自我’被‘不贪婪’这个词所遮蔽。 ‘出手大方’是一回事，而‘心灵大方’又是另一回事。 ‘出手大方’是一件相当简单的事情， 取决于文化模式等等； 但‘心灵大方’具有更深的意义， 需要无边地意识与理解。
Not to be generous is again a pleasant and blind self-absorption, in which there is no outward-going. This self-absorbed state has its own activities, like those of a dreamer, but they never wake you up. The waking-up process is a painful one, and so, young or old, you would rather be left alone to become respectable, to die.
再来看‘不大方’，它一种愉快而盲目的自我沉溺， 其中没有外向的奔走。 这种自我沉迷的状态，有它自己的活动， 如同那些做梦的人，他们却永远不会醒。 清醒的过程，是一种痛苦， 因此，无论年幼还是年长，你都宁愿独自一人变得受人尊敬，直到死去。
Like generosity of the heart, generosity of the hand is an outgoing movement, but it is often painful, deceptive and self-revealing. Generosity of the hand is easy to come by; but generosity of heart is not a thing to be cultivated, it is freedom from all accumulation. To forgive there must have been a wound; and to be wounded, there must have been the gatherings of pride. There is no generosity of heart as long as there is a referential memory, the “me” and the “mine.”
就像心灵的大方一样， ‘出手大方’是一种外向的动作，但它往往是痛苦的、欺骗性的和自我揭露的。 ‘出手大方’很容易做出； 但‘心灵大方’不是一件需要培养的东西，它是从一切积累中解脱出来的自由。 要原谅，必定有一个伤害存在； 要受伤，一定有骄傲的收集者。 只要有与之相关的记忆：‘我’和‘我的’ 就没有心灵的大方。