There is a city by the magnificent river; wide and long steps lead down to the water’s edge, and the world seems to live on those steps. From early morning till well after dark, they are always crowded and noisy; almost level with the water are little projecting steps on which people sit and are lost in their hopes and longings, in their gods and chants. The temple bells are ringing, the muezzin is calling; someone is singing, and a huge crowd has gathered, listening in appreciative silence.
在壮丽的河流边，有一座城市； 宽而长的台阶通向水边， 世界似乎生活在这些台阶上。 从清晨到入夜，他们总是拥挤和嘈杂； 人们坐在几乎与水面齐平的凸起的小台阶上， 迷失在他们的希望和渴望中，迷失在他们的神灵和圣歌中。 寺庙的钟声响起，(召唤信徒做礼拜的)宣礼员在召唤； 有人在吟诵，一大群人聚集在一起，在感激的沉默中聆听。
Beyond all this, round the bend and higher up the river, there is a pile of buildings. With their avenues of trees and wide roads, they stretch several miles inland; and along the river, through a narrow and dirty lane, one enters into this scattered field of learning. So many students from all over the country are there, eager, active and noisy. The teachers are pompous, intriguing for better positions and salaries. No one seems to be greatly concerned with what happens to the students after they leave. The teachers impart certain knowledge and techniques which the clever ones quickly absorb; and when they graduate, that is that. The teachers have assured jobs, they have families and security; but when the students leave, they have to face the turmoil and the insecurity of life. There are such buildings, such teachers and students all over the land. Some students achieve fame and position in the world; others breed, struggle and die. The State wants competent technicians, administrators to guide and to rule; and there is always the army, the church, and business. All the world over, it is the same.
除此之外，绕过河弯，在河的更高处，有一簇建筑群。 其间的林荫大道路面宽阔，向内城延伸了几英里。 沿着河流，穿过一条狭窄而肮脏的小巷， 人进入了这个稀疏的学习片区。 来自全国各地的许多学生都在那里，热切、活跃和喧闹。 老师们很浮夸，对更好的职位和薪水很感兴趣。 似乎没有人非常关心学生离开后会发生什么。 老师传授某些知识和技术，聪明的人很快就会吸收； 当他们毕业时，就是这样。 教师有工作保障，他们有家庭和安全； 但当学生离开时，他们不得不面对生活的动荡和不安。 这片土地上，到处都是这样的建筑、这样的老师和学生。 一些学生在世界上获得了声誉和地位；其他人繁殖、挣扎和死亡。 政府希望有称职的技术人员、行政人员来指导和统治； 总是有军队、教会和企业。 世界各地，都是这样。
It is to learn a technique and to have a job, a profession, that we go through this process of having the upper mind stuffed with facts and knowledge, is it not? Obviously, in the modern world, a good technician has a better chance of earning a livelihood; but then what? Is one who is a technician better able to face the complex problem of living than one who is not? A profession is only a part of life; but there are also those parts which are hidden, subtle and mysterious. To emphasize the one and to deny or neglect the rest must inevitably lead to very lopsided and disintegrating activity. This is precisely what is taking place in the world today, with ever mounting conflict, confusion and misery. Of course there are a few exceptions, the creative, the happy, those who are in touch with something that is not man-made, who are not dependent on the things of the mind.
为了学习一种技能，拥有一份工作，一种职业， 我们才完成了这个流程 —— 让头脑的上表层塞满事实和知识，不是吗？ 显然，在现代世界， 一个好的技术人员有更好的谋生机会；但那又如何呢？ 相对于那些没有技术的人，一个技术人员能更好地面对复杂的生活问题吗？ 职业只是生活的一部分； 但也有那些隐藏的、微妙的和神秘的部分。 强调某个部分，而否认或忽视其余部分， 必然会导致非常不平衡的和不完整的活动。 这正是当今世界正在发生的事情， 总是伴随着增加的冲突、困惑与苦难。 当然也有一些例外， 那些创造性的、快乐的、与非人造的东西接触的、 不依恋于属于头脑的东西的人们。
You and I have intrinsically the capacity to be happy, to be creative, to be in touch with something that is beyond the clutches of time. Creative happiness is not a gift reserved for the few; and why is it that the vast majority do not know that happiness? Why do some seem to keep in touch with the profound in spite of circumstances and accidents, while others are destroyed by them? Why are some resilient, pliable, while others remain unyielding and are destroyed? In spite of knowledge, some keep the door open to that which no person and no book can offer, while others are smothered by technique and authority. Why? It is fairly clear that the mind wants to be caught and made certain in some kind of activity, disregarding wider and deeper issues, for it is then on safer ground; so its education, its exercises its activities are encouraged and sustained on that level, and excuses are found for not going beyond it.
你和我天生就是快乐的、有创造性的， 能接触与那个无法被时间掌控的东西。 创造性的快乐，不是留给少数人的礼物； 为什么绝大多数人不知道那种快乐呢？ 为什么有些人似乎能够与那深邃的相接触，不受环境和事件的影响， 而另一些人却被它们摧毁了？ 为什么有些人有韧性、柔软，而另一些却总是不屈而被摧毁？ 尽管拥有知识， 有些人仍然向任何人和任何书籍都无法提供的东西，敞开着大门， 而另一些人则被技术和权威所扼杀。为什么？ 相当清楚的是， 头脑希望在某种活动中被固定，并变得确定， 而忽视更广泛和更深层次的事情， 因为那时的它，已经处于更安全的地方了； 因此，它的教育、它的训练、它的活动 在这个层面上得到了鼓励和维持， 并且找到了不必出去的借口。
Before they are contaminated by so-called education, many children are in touch with the unknown; they show this in so many ways. But environment soon begins to close around them, and after a certain age they lose that light, that beauty which is not found in any book or school. Why? Do not say that life is too much for them, that they have to face hard realities, that it is their karma, that it is their fathers sin; this is all nonsense. Creative happiness is for all and not for the few alone. You may express it in one way and I in another, but it is for all. Creative happiness has no value on the market; it is not a commodity to be sold to the highest bidder, but it is the one thing that can be for all.
在被所谓的教育污染之前， 许多儿童接触到未知的东西；他们以多种方式展示了这一点。 但是，环境很快就开始靠近他们， 在一定年龄之后，他们失去了那种光，那种美 —— 那种在任何书籍或学校中，都找不到的东西。为什么？ 不要说生活对他们来说太过分了， 他们必须面对残酷的现实， 这是他们的业障，这是他们父辈们的罪业； 这都是无稽之谈。 创造性的快乐是给所有人的，而不是只提供给少数人。 你可以用一种方式表达它，而我用另一种方式来表达，但它是属于所有人。 创造性的快乐在市场上没有价值； 它不是卖给出价最高的人的商品， 却是一个可以属于所有人的东西。
Is creative happiness realizable? That is, can the mind keep in touch with that which is the source of all happiness? Can this openness be sustained in spite of knowledge and technique, in spite of education and the crowding in of life? It can be, but only when the educator is educated to this reality, only when he who teaches is himself in touch with the source of creative happiness. So our problem is not the pupil, the child, but the teacher and the parent. Education is a vicious circle only when we do not see the importance, the essential necessity above all else, of this supreme happiness. After all, to be open to the source of all happiness is the highest religion; but to realize this happiness, you must give right attention to it, as you do to business. The teacher’s profession is not a mere routine job, but the expression of beauty and joy, which cannot be measured in terms of achievement and success.
创造性的快乐是可以被实现吗？ 也就是说，头脑能与作为一切快乐之源的东西保持接触吗？ 不论知识和技术，不论教育和生活中的拥挤， 这种开放性能维持吗？ 它能，但只有当教育者被教育而真实的时候， 只有当教育者本人接触到创造性快乐的源泉的时候。 因此，我们的问题不在于学生、孩子，而在于老师和父母。 正是由于我们看不见那种重要的、 高于一切的、至乐的、根本性的必需品的时候 教育才变成了一个恶性循环。 毕竟，开放所有快乐的源头，即是最高的宗教。 但要实现这种快乐， 你必须对它给予正确的关注，就像你对待生意一样。 教师的职业不仅仅是一项例行公事， 而是美和欢乐的展现， 是无法用术语‘成就’和‘成功’来衡量的。
The light of reality and its bliss are destroyed when the mind, which is the seat of self, assumes control. Self-knowledge is the beginning of wisdom; without self-knowledge, learning leads to ignorance, strife and sorrow.
真理之光和它的至乐被摧毁了， 当头脑，也就是自我的座驾，登基之时。 自我认识是智慧的开始； 没有自我认识，学习会导致无知、冲突和悲伤。