给学校的信，1978年9月15日 - 善
善——为了达到至善之美，自由是必不可少的Goodness can flower only in freedom. It cannot bloom in the soil of persuasion in any form, nor under compulsion, nor is it the outcome of reward. It does not reveal itself when there is any kind of imitation or conformity, and naturally it cannot exist when there is fear. Goodness shows itself in behaviour and this behaviour is based on sensitivity. This goodness is expressed in action. The whole movement of thought is not goodness. Thought, which is so very complex, must be understood, but the very understanding of it awakens thought to its own limitation.
善只会在自由中绽放。它不会在“说服”的土壤中生长，也无法被强迫，也不是追求回报的结果。只要存在任何模仿或服从，它就不会显现。只要有恐惧它就不会存在。善是通过行为体现的，而这样的行为是基于敏感。善是在行动中表达的。整个思想运动都不是善。思想这个复杂的东西需要被理解，而正是这个理解，让思想意识到它自身的局限性。
Goodness has no opposite. Most of us consider goodness as the opposite of the bad or evil and so throughout history in any culture goodness has been considered the other face of that which is brutal. So man has always struggled against evil in order to be good; but goodness can never come into being if there is any form of violence or struggle.
善没有对立面。我们大多数人都把善看作恶的对立面，因此在整个历史中，在每一种文化里，善都被认为是野蛮的反面。所以人类总是为了善而与恶进行斗争。但是只要有任何形式的暴力或斗争，善就永远不会到来。
Goodness shows itself in behaviour and action and in relationship. Generally our daily behaviour is based on either the following of certain patterns - mechanical and therefore superficial - or according to very carefully thought-out motive, based on reward or punishment. So our behaviour, consciously or unconsciously, is calculated. This is not good behaviour. When one realizes this, not merely intellectually or by putting words together, then out of this total negation comes true behaviour.
善是通过行为和行动，在关系中体现的。通常，我们的日常行为要么是出于对模式的遵循——这是机械的，因而也是肤浅的，要么是出于对利弊得失进行仔细考虑后得出的动机。因此我们的行为都是经过计算的，或有意或无意地。这不是善的行为。当你认识到这一点，不仅是在理智上或口头上，那么通过否定它所不是的东西，善的行为就会出现。
Good behaviour is in essence the absence of the self, the me. It shows itself in politeness, in consideration for others, yielding without losing integrity. So behaviour becomes extraordinarily important. It is not a casual affair to be slurred over or a plaything of a sophisticated mind. It comes out of the depth of your being and is part of your daily existence.
善行本质上就是没有自我。它通过礼貌、为别人着想、谦让而不失原则体现出来。行为是非常重要的，它不是一件随便的、可以含糊的事情，也不是世故头脑的玩具。它来自你生命的深处，也是你日常生活的一部分。
Goodness shows itself in action. We must differentiate between action and behaviour. Probably they are both the same thing but for clarity they must be separated and examined. To act correctly is one of the most difficult things to do. It is very complex and must be examined very closely without impatience or jumping to any conclusion.
善体现在行动中。正确地行动是最困难的事情之一。它是非常复杂的，需要被非常仔细地审视，不急噪，不直接跳到任何的结论。
In our daily lives action is a continuous movement from the past, broken up occasionally with a new set of conclusions; these conclusions then become the past and one acts accordingly. One acts according to preconceived ideas or ideals, so one is acting always from either accumulated knowledge, which is the past, or from an idealistic future, a utopia.
在我们的日常生活中，行动是基于过去的连续运动，偶尔被一套新的结论打破。这些结论又会成为过去，于是你依照既有的思想或理想行动。人的行动总是基于累积的知识，即过去，或基于一个理想化的未来，一个乌托邦。
We accept such action as normal. Is it? We question it after it has taken place or before doing it but this questioning is based on previous conclusions or future reward or punishment. If I do this - I will get that, and so on. So we are now questioning the whole accepted idea of action.
我们把这样的行动看作正常的，对吗？我们在它发生之后或在行动之前质疑它，但这个质疑是建立在以前的结论，或对将来的奖惩的预期上的——“如果我做这个，我会得到那个。”我们现在要质疑被大家普遍接受的关于行为的观念。
Action takes place after having accumulated knowledge or experience; or we act and learn from that action, pleasant or unpleasant, and this learning again becomes the accumulation of knowledge. So both actions are based on knowledge; they are not different. Knowledge is always the past and so our actions are always mechanical.
我们基于既有的知识或经验行动，或者我们从那个行动出发去行动和学习，也许愉快，也许不愉快。这种学习还是在积累知识。因此这两种行动都是基于知识，它们并没有不同。知识永远属于过去，所以我们的行动总是机械的。
Is there an action that is not mechanical, non-repetitive, non-routine and so without regret? This is really important for us to understand for where there is freedom and the flowering of goodness, action can never be mechanical. Writing is mechanical, learning a language, driving a car is mechanical; acquiring any kind of technical knowledge and acting according to that is mechanistic. Again in this mechanical activity there might be a break and in that break a new conclusion is formed which again becomes mechanical. One must bear in mind constantly that freedom is essential for the beauty of goodness. There is a non-mechanistic action but you have to discover it. You cannot be told about it, you cannot be instructed in it, you cannot learn from examples, for then it becomes imitation and conformity. Then you have lost freedom completely and there is no goodness.
有没有一种行动，它不是机械的、重复的、例行公事的，因而也是没有遗憾的？对我们来说，理解这一点非常重要，因为如果有自由，有善的绽放，行动就永远不会是机械的。写字是机械的，学一种语言，驾驶汽车是机械的，获取任何一种专业知识并应用它是机械的。这个机械活动也许会发生中断，此时可能会形成新的结论，然后它又变得机械了。我们应该时常记得，为了达到善的美好，自由是必不可少的。有一种不机械的行动，但是你必须去发现。别人无法告诉你，无法传授给你，你也不能从榜样那里学到它，因为那样就成了模仿和服从。那么你就完全失去了自由，而善也就不存在了。
I think that is enough in this letter, but we will continue in our next letter with the flowering of goodness in relationship.
绿草园翻译工作室
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