英語美文朗讀 第405期 Bless your life，by letting go of your ego

What is the ego? The ego is a self-generated identity consisting of every belief we believe about who and what we are. This includes our personality, our talents and our likes and dislikes. The ego is what keeps us locked away in our minds in an endless cycle of chatter, separated from the present moment. It is the identity created and reinforced by the story we tell ourselves.

 

什么是自我？自我，是一種我們自己創(chuàng)造的身份，它由我們的信念組成，這些信念與我們對自己的認(rèn)知有關(guān)。這包括了我們的人格，我們的天賦，我們的喜好。自我，把我們緊禁錮在自己的思想里，它讓我們不斷地評判自己，讓我們遠(yuǎn)離當(dāng)下的生活。自我，就是一種我們不斷地向自己強(qiáng)調(diào)的身份。

 

Our stories are, however, just that. Stories. They do not make up who we are. Eckhart Tolle says, "the most common ego identifications have to do with possessions, the work you do, social status and recognition, knowledge and education, physical appearance, special abilities, relationships, personal and family history, belief systems, and often nationalistic, racial, religious, and other collective identifications. None of these are you."

而那些我們不斷告訴自己的事情，就僅僅是一些事情而已，沒什么大不了的。它們并不是我們的一部分。Eckhart Tolle說過，最常見的自我，跟人們擁有的東西有關(guān)，比如你的工作，社會地位，獲得的認(rèn)可，知識和教育背景，外貌，特殊的能力，人際關(guān)系，個人故事，家庭故事，信念體系，以及常見的民族主義，種族主義，宗教，以及其他的集體概念。

 

While the ego is an aspect of the human condition, it is not the true essence of who we are. When we operate from ego, we are generally obsessed with right and wrong, blame and shame. We are not acting from a loving place, but a judgmental place. We are not acting from a place of "how can I serve" or "how can I give". Rather, "what do I get", and "how do I look." Learning to identify the traits and behaviors of the ego, and then working to consciously make a different choice will drastically change your life.

自我是人的一部分，但它不是我們的本質(zhì)。當(dāng)我們遵從自我時，我們常常糾結(jié)對錯和是非。我們并不是懷著愛意去做事，而是懷著審視的態(tài)度去做事。我們想的不是如何服務(wù)他人或者如何付出，而是自己能得到什么和自己看起來怎么樣。學(xué)會分辨出自我的特點和行為，努力做出不一樣的選擇，這會極大地改變你的生活。

 

Here are 3 tips on managing your ego to create a more peaceful, loving Life! Number 1. Stop taking things personally. The ego loves to get offended. It loves to feel wounded and it thrives on pain and conflict. When we choose to be offended over things, we are actively choosing to allow the ego to take hold of our lives and create pain. In order to disassociate from this decision and make a different choice, we must recognize that love is our natural state. Humans actually want to connect and feel joy, not misery.

以下是三個建議，幫助你管理自我，創(chuàng)造更加平靜的，充滿愛的生活！第一，事情發(fā)生時，不要太往心里去。我們的自我很容易被冒犯，而且貌似它很喜歡這樣。它常常覺得自己受到了傷害，而且，痛苦越多，沖突越多，它就越激動。當(dāng)我們被一些事情冒犯時，我們就是選擇了讓自我控制我們的生活，制造更多痛苦。為了讓我們不再做這樣的選擇，做出改變，我們必須明白，愛，是我們最自然的狀態(tài)。實際上，人類都想和其他人建立聯(lián)系，感受到快樂，而不是去感受痛苦。

 

If someone does or says something that makes you feel any negative emotion, you have two choices. You can react and engage in conflict, or you can recognize that the trigger within you is an opportunity for your own growth. You can choose to recognize that anything negative said or done from another, is likely a projection of their own ego. Don't waste your energy on ego battles. Save it for love and service.

如果有人說的話或者做的事讓你感受到消極情緒，那么你有兩種選擇。你可以做出回應(yīng)，與此人發(fā)生沖突。你也可以把這個情況視為自我成長的機(jī)會。你可以有自己的選擇，清楚地認(rèn)識到，一個人說的任何話，做的任何事，都折射出他的自我。不要把你的精力浪費在跟自我有關(guān)的斗爭上，而是要把精力放在愛和付出上面。

 

Number 2. Forgive. The ego loves being right. It sustains itself in this way. The problem is it also keeps you from doing what you need to do to move closer to love and truth. The ego is sort of like a weed in this way. It may have pretty flowers for your inner garden, but if left unattended, it will choke out all of your other plants and leave you in a big mess. When you forgive, you allow your heart to open and you separate from the need to be "right" and instead choose love. This is functioning from your true self. Forgive others and forgive yourself too.

第二，學(xué)會原諒。自我很喜歡證明自己是對的，這樣它才能生存下去。問題在于，同時它讓你無法做自己需要做的事情，讓你無法靠近愛，無法靠近真相。這樣說來，自我就像棵雜草。它可能會在你的院子里開出花朵，但是，如果你不理會它，它會把你的其他植物都趕盡殺絕，留下滿地狼藉。你選擇原諒的時候，你讓自己敞開心扉，你不在執(zhí)著于證明自己是對的，而是選擇去愛，這是才是最真實的你。原諒他人，放過自己。

 

Number 3. Let go and observe. Let go of trying to be right, trying to win, trying to be seen, trying to be heard. Instead, observe. The ego wants to prove itself and jump up and down to gain love and validation. Our higher self doesn't need validation. Our higher self knows that it is love. By becoming aware of the ego, and its need to be seen, heard and acknowledged, you open up space to be seen and heard without expectation.

第三，學(xué)會放下，學(xué)會觀察。隨它去吧，不要再執(zhí)著于證明自己是對的，不要再執(zhí)著于爭強(qiáng)好勝，不要再執(zhí)著于讓別人注意到自己，而是要去觀察。自我很想證明自己，用盡手段去得到愛和認(rèn)可。更高層次的自己，不需要認(rèn)可。更高層次的自己，它知道，自己本身就是愛的體現(xiàn)。通過認(rèn)清自我，認(rèn)清它那種對關(guān)注和認(rèn)可的渴望，你就能自然而然地?fù)碛袆e人的關(guān)注。

 

By observing without expectation, you then see things as they are. You see people as they are, rather than through a projected sense of lack, because they are not matching up to your ego's demands. In this space, there is also an opportunity to sit back and observe as to who or who is not functioning from a place where they can offer themselves up emotionally to give love, acceptance, adoration to you. This means we let go of controlling people in an attempt to have our needs met. This is freedom.

不帶期望地觀察，你就能看見事情的真實面目。這樣，你就能看見最真實的人們，而不是讓自己內(nèi)心的缺憾投射到他人身上，因為他們沒有滿足你的自我的要求。這樣，你就有機(jī)會置身事外，客觀地觀察，看看人們是否能夠自愿為你服務(wù)，給你愛，接納，和欣賞。這意味著，我們不再執(zhí)著于控制他人，想讓他人滿足我們的需求。這就是自由。

 

Eckhart Tolle said, "the moment you become aware of the ego in you, it is strictly no longer the ego but just an old-conditioned mind pattern. Ego implies unawareness. Awareness and ego cannot coexist." There is no denying that the ego serves its purpose. But when the ego becomes the dominant process of your mind, you fall out of alignment with your true self. With practice, you can learn how to manage your ego better, and create a life that feels more peaceful, loving and authentic.

Eckhart Tolle說，你認(rèn)清自我的那一瞬間，自我就不再是自我，而是一種陳舊的思維模式，因為自我的存在意味著我們還沒有覺醒，覺醒和自我是不能同時存在的。毫無疑問，自我有它的目的和理由，但是當(dāng)它控制了你的思想的時候，你就不是真實的你了。慢慢練習(xí)，你就能學(xué)會如何更好地管理自我，創(chuàng)造更加平靜，更充滿愛意，更真實的生活。

 

As Gandhi said, "when the ego dies, the soul awakens." Let your ego die, a little more each day, so your own soul can awaken and grow. So, your freedom and joy can grow. So, your peace can come forward. Bless your life, by letting go of your ego.

正如甘地所言，自我死去，靈魂方可覺醒。讓你的自我慢慢死去，這樣，你的靈魂才能覺醒，才能成長。那樣，你會擁有更多自由，快樂，和內(nèi)心的平靜。放下自我，讓你的生活更美好。