December 12

【作者】Eileen Caddy
【翻譯】熊倩涵
【編輯】顏士寶

When you realise the hours of practice a good pianist has to put in each day before performing a superb concert, you will begin to understand why you have to keep ever on the alert to be able to live this spiritual life the way it should be lived. It does not mean you have to strain, but it does mean you have to be constantly on the alert and aware of what is happening, especially at first. Like the pianist practising for perfection having to go over and over a certain difficult piece before reaching a feeling of satisfaction, so do you have to go over and over the same ground, learning the same lessons until they have become so much a part of you that you cannot separate yourself from them, for they are ingrained. Remember, no one else can live this life for you; no one else can do your practising for you. Only you can do it. So why not start doing it now?

　　當我意識到在呈現一場一流的演奏會之前，一名優秀的鋼琴家每天需要花多少個小時練習時，我就會開始理解為什麼我需要保持機警，才能按照它應該被活出的樣子活出這靈性生活。

　　這並不意味著我要緊張起來，但它確實意味著我需要時刻保持機警，對正在發生著些什麼有覺察，特別是在一開始時。就像為了完美去練習的鋼琴家，在達到一種滿足感之前，需要一遍又一遍地練習某首有難度的曲目一樣，我也需要一遍又一遍地經歷，學習同樣的課題，直到它們成為了我的一部分，我無法將自己與它們分離，因為它們已經根深蒂固了。

　　記住，沒有任何人能替我活出這生活；沒有任何人能替我練習。只有我能這麼做。因此為什麼不現在就開始這樣做呢？