聽力課堂TED音頻欄目主要包括TED演講的音頻MP3及中英雙語文稿,供各位英語愛好者學習使用。本文主要內容為演講MP3+雙語文稿:保持謙遜——以及從水的哲學中得到的其他教訓,希望你會喜歡!
【演講人及介紹】Raymond Tang
Raymond Tang,西太平洋銀行的·IT經(jīng)理,致力于研究中國古代哲學道德經(jīng)。
【演講主題】保持謙遜——以及從水的哲學中得到的其他教訓
【演講文稿-中英文】
翻譯者 Danyang Luo 校對 曉蕓 嚴
You may know this feeling: you wake up to multiple unread notifications on your mobile phone. Your calendar is already packed with meetings, sometimes double- or triple-booked. You feel engaged, you feel busy. In fact, you feel productive. But at the end of it all, something still feels missing. You try to figure out what it is. But before you do, the next day starts all over again. That was how I felt two years ago. I felt stressed; I felt anxious. I felt a bit trapped. The world around me was moving very quickly. And I didn't know what to do. I started wondering to myself: How do I keep up with all this? How do we find fulfillment in a world that's literally changing as fast as we can think, or maybe even faster?
你可能有過這種感覺:早晨醒來,看到手機上許多條未讀的通知。你的行程日歷已經(jīng)被各種會議填滿,有時候甚至要同時做兩三件事。你覺得自己很投入,很忙碌。實際上,你還會覺得自己很有效率??梢惶旖Y束后,你卻總是覺得還缺了點什么,并試圖弄清到底少了什么。 但在你想明白前,同樣的日子又已來臨。這就是我兩年前的感受。我覺得壓抑,焦慮,感覺自己陷入了困境。周圍的世界在快速運轉著,我卻不知道該如何應對。我開始問自己:我該怎么做才能跟上世界的步伐?我們應該怎么做才能在這個飛速變換的世界里找到滿足感?
I started looking for answers. I spoke to many people, I spoke to my friends, I spoke to my family. I even read many self-help books. But I couldn't find anything satisfactory. In fact, the more self-help books I read, the more stressed and anxious I became.
我開始尋找答案。我和許多人聊過這個話題,包括朋友,家人。我甚至讀了很多勵志的書, 但一直找不到讓自己滿意的答案。說實話,讀過的勵志書越多,我就變得越壓抑,越焦慮。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
It was like I was feeding my mind with junk food, and I was becoming mentally obese.
這就像是在喂我的大腦吃垃圾食品,然后自己變得“心智肥胖”了。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
I was about to give up, until one day, I found this. "The Tao Te Ching: The Book of the Way and Its Virtue." This is an ancient Chinese philosophy classic that was written more than 2,600 years ago. And it was by far the thinnest and the smallest book on the bookshelf. It only had 81 pages. And each page had a short poem. I remember I flipped to one particular poem.
我差點就要放棄了。直到有一天,我發(fā)現(xiàn)了這本書。《道德經(jīng)》:一本闡釋道德品行的書。它是中國古代哲學經(jīng)典,大概成書于2600年前。它也是目前書架上最薄,最小的一本書,只有81頁。 每頁上都有一首小詩。我記得當時翻看到了這樣一首詩。
"The supreme goodness is like water. It benefits all things without contention. In dwelling, it stays grounded. In being, it flows to depths. In expression, it is honest. In confrontation, it stays gentle. In governance, it does not control. In action, it aligns to timing. It is content with its nature and therefore cannot be faulted."
“上善若水。水善利萬物而不爭,處眾人之所惡。居,善地;心,善淵;言,善信;與,善仁;政,善治;動,善時。夫唯不爭,故無憂?!?/p>
Wow! I remember when I first read this passage. I felt the biggest chills down my spine. I still feel that today, reading it to you guys. My anxiety and stress just suddenly disappeared. Ever since that day, I've been trying to apply the concepts in this passage to my day-to-day life. And today, I'd like to share with you three lessons I learned so far from this philosophy of water -- three lessons that I believe have helped me find greater fulfillment in almost everything that I do.
我記得當時看完這段文字后感到脊背發(fā)涼,醍醐灌頂。讀完剛才這一遍,我依然有那種感覺。我的焦慮和壓抑感瞬間消失了。 從那天起, 我就試著將這篇文章中的理念運用到日常生活中。今天,我想和你們分享,目前為止我從水之道中所學到的三個道理——是它們,讓我在做每一件事時都獲得了更大的滿足感。
The first lesson is about humility. If we think about water flowing in a river, it is always staying low. It helps all the plants grow and keeps all the animals alive. It doesn't actually draw any attention to itself, nor does it need any reward or recognition. It is humble. But without water's humble contribution, life as we know it may not exist. Water's humility taught me a few important things. It taught me that instead of acting like I know what I'm doing or I have all the answers, it's perfectly OK to say, "I don't know. I want to learn more, and I need your help."
第一個道理,是要保持謙遜的態(tài)度。試想,河流中的水總是在低處汩汩流淌。有了水,植物才能生長,動物才能存活??伤鼌s從不居功自傲,也不需要塵世的褒獎和認可。它很謙遜。 如果沒有水這樣不求回報的貢獻,現(xiàn)今世界上的生命可能就不復存在了。水的謙遜讓我明白了以下幾點。其實我不必表現(xiàn)得像個萬事通,一副什么都知道的樣子,說出“我不知道,我想要學習更多,我需要你的幫助?!睕]什么丟人的。
It also taught me that, instead of promoting my glory and success, it is so much more satisfying to promote the success and glory of others. It taught me that, instead of doing things where I can get ahead, it so much more fulfilling and meaningful to help other people overcome their challenges so they can succeed. With a humble mindset, I was able to form a lot richer connections with the people around me. I became genuinely interested in the stories and experiences that make them unique and magical. Life became a lot more fun, because every day I'd discover new quirks, new ideas and new solutions to problems I didn't know before, all thanks to the ideas and help from others. All streams eventually flow to the ocean because it is lower than them. Humility gives water its power. But I think it gives us the capacity to remain grounded, to be present, to learn from and be transformed by the stories of the people around us.
水的謙遜還讓我明白,為自己尋求成功之道遠不如幫助他人成功來得快樂和滿足。與個人的成功相比,幫助他人克服困難,走向成功才是更有滿足感,更有意義的事。懷著一顆謙遜的心, 我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己能和身邊的人建立更深厚的聯(lián)系。我想聆聽他們的故事和經(jīng)歷,正是這些經(jīng)歷,讓他們成為了現(xiàn)在獨特的自己。我發(fā)現(xiàn)生活變得更有趣了,因為每天我都能發(fā)掘新點子,新想法,還有之前從來不知道的解決問題的新方法,多虧了身邊的人給我的建議和幫助。 百川最終匯入廣闊的大海,因為大海在低處。謙遜賦予了水以力量。不過我想到的是,謙虛使我們能腳踏實地,活在當下,取人之長,補己之短。
The second lesson I learned is about harmony. If we think about water flowing towards a rock, it will just flow around it. It doesn't get upset, it doesn't get angry, it doesn't get agitated. In fact, it doesn't feel much at all. When faced with an obstacle, somehow water finds a solution, without force, without conflict. When I was thinking through this, I began to understand why I was feeling stressed out in the first place. Instead of working in harmony with my environment, I was working against it. I was forcing things to change because I was consumed by the need to succeed or to prove myself. In the end, nothing did. And I got more frustrated. By simply shifting my focus from trying to achieve more success to trying to achieve more harmony, I was immediately able to feel calm and focused again.
我所學到的第二個道理,是保持平和的心態(tài)。想想看,如果水為石頭所阻,它會繞過那塊石頭。它不會沮喪,不會憤怒,不會被激怒。實際上,它不會有任何情緒。當障礙擺在面前時, 水總能找到解決辦法,不借助武力,也不引起沖突。當我想明白這些時,我開始懂得為什么之前的自己會感到壓抑。當時的我并沒有與周邊的環(huán)境和諧相處,而是站在了它的對立面。 我強迫身邊的事物改變,因為我想通過成功證明自己。到最后,事與愿違,于是我變得更加沮喪。從追求更多的成功到追求更多的和諧,我很快感到了內心的平靜,專注度也提高了。
I started asking questions like: Will this action bring me greater harmony and bring more harmony to my environment? Does this align with my nature? I became more comfortable simply being who I am, rather than who I'm supposed to be or expected to be. Work actually became easier, because I stopped focusing on things that I cannot control and only on the things that I can. I stopped fighting with myself, and I learned to work with my environment to solve its problems.
我開始問自己:如果這樣做,我的內心會更加平和嗎?我能和外界和諧相處嗎?這符合我的天性嗎?做真實的自己讓我感到很坦然,不需要迎合別人的期待。工作也變得簡單起來,因為我不再糾結于在我掌控之外的事。而只專注于我力所能及的事。我不再與自我抗衡,也學會了和所置身的環(huán)境和平相處,解決其中的問題。
Nature does not hurry. Yet, everything is accomplished. That's Tao Te Ching's way of describing the power of harmony. Just as water is able to find a solution without force or conflict, I believe we can find a greater sense of fulfillment in our endeavors by shifting focus from achieving more success to achieving more harmony.
“道恒無為,而無不為“。這是《道德經(jīng)》對“和諧”的力量的描述。就像水解決問題從不 借助武力、引起沖突一樣,我相信,從追求成功轉變?yōu)樽非蠛椭C,能夠讓我們收獲更大的滿足感。
The third lesson I learned from the philosophy of water is about openness. Water is open to change. Depending on the temperature, it can be a liquid, solid or gas. Depending on the medium it's in, it can be a teapot, a cup or a flower vase. In fact, it's water's ability to adapt and change and remain flexible that made it so enduring through the ages, despite all the changes in the environment. We also live in a world today of constant change. We can no longer expect to work to a static job description or follow a single career path. We, too, are expected to constantly reinvent and refresh our skills to stay relevant.
我從水之道學到的第三個哲理,是保持開明的思想。水從不抗拒改變。隨著溫度變化,水可以是 液體、固體或氣體。在不同器皿中,水可以成為茶壺、杯子或花瓶的形狀。事實上,正是水隨機應變,順其自然的特性,使得不論環(huán)境如何變化,水都會經(jīng)久不腐。我們生活在一個不斷變化的世界中。一成不變的工作將不復存在,一輩子只從事一個工作的情況也越來越少。我們需要不斷地更新我們的技能,方能在社會立足。
In our organization, we host a lot of hackathons, where small groups or individuals come together to solve a business problem in a compressed time frame. And what's interesting to me is that the teams that usually win are not the ones with the most experienced team members, but the ones with members who are open to learn, who are open to unlearn and who are open to helping each other navigate through the changing circumstances. Life is like a hackathon in some way. It's calling to each and every one of us to step up, to open up and cause a ripple effect. Now, we can stay behind closed doors and continue to be paralyzed by our self-limiting beliefs, such as: "I will never be able to talk about Chinese philosophy in front of a huge audience."
在我工作的地方曾經(jīng)舉辦了很多次編程馬拉松比賽,個人或小團體聚在一起,在規(guī)定時間內解決商業(yè)問題。我發(fā)現(xiàn)那些獲勝的隊伍并非擁有經(jīng)驗豐富的成員,但它們的成員大多樂意學習,甘于放棄,相互幫助,共同適應環(huán)境的變化。人生在某種程度上就像一場競賽。需要我們每個人邁步向前,敞開心扉,由此引發(fā)積極的連鎖反應。我們大可以緊鎖心門,麻木不仁, 用自己的執(zhí)念限制自己,例如: “我永遠無法在這么多觀眾面前談論中國哲學?!?/p>
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
Or we can just open up and enjoy the ride. It can only be an amazing experience. So humility, harmony and openness. Those are the three lessons I learned from the philosophy of water so far. They nicely abbreviate to H-H-O, or H2O.
又或者,我們可以敞開大門,享受這段旅程,這將是一次無與倫比的體驗。謙遜、平和、開明,這是迄今為止我從水之道中悟出的哲學。它們可以簡稱為H-H-O,(謙遜=H,平和=H,開明=O)或是H2O(即水的化學表達式)。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
And they have become my guiding principles in life. So nowadays, whenever I feel stressed, unfulfilled, anxious or just not sure what to do, I simply ask the question: What would water do?
它們已經(jīng)成為我的人生指導原則。現(xiàn)在,每當我感到壓抑,不滿,焦慮,或是無所適從的時候,我就會問問自己: 水會怎么做?
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
This simple and powerful question inspired by a book written long before the days of bitcoin, fintech and digital technology has changed my life for the better. Try it, and let me know how it works for you. I would love to hear from you.
這個簡單而有力的問題是受一本書的啟發(fā),一本古籍,遠在比特幣、科技金融和數(shù)字技術出現(xiàn)前就誕生了,卻使我的生活變得更美好。嘗試一下,看看它對你將有什么樣的影響。我將洗耳恭聽。
Thank you.
謝謝你們
(Applause)
(掌聲)