Your Mind Is a Garden　心如花園

Your Mind Is a Garden　心如花園

◎ Rochman Reese

Some time ago, Sofan and I were visiting some friends in the country. We were staying a beautiful little guest cabin, surrounded by fruit trees, flowers and even a few goats. Painted above the doorway in brightly colored, flowing letters were the words:

前段時間，我和蘇凡到鄉(xiāng)下拜訪朋友。我們待在一個環(huán)境優(yōu)美的小客房，周圍被果樹鮮花環(huán)抱，甚至還有幾只山羊。門口處用色彩艷麗的油漆涂著幾句話：

Your mind is a garden.

你的心靈是一座花園，

Your thoughts are the seeds.

思想是種子，

You can grow flowers or

你可以種植鮮花，

You can grow weeds...

也可以播種雜草……

Little did we know it at the time, but this little poem was to have a profound affect both on our thought patterns as well as our Artworks.

那時我們幾乎什么也不懂，但是那首小詩卻對我們的思想和作品產(chǎn)生了深遠(yuǎn)的影響。

It started almost as a kind of game. We decided to make a real effort to watch our thoughts and see exactly what it was that we were planting in our own “Mind Gardens”. It was difficult at first, but gradually, we began to pay more and more attention to what thoughts were repeatedly flashing across our minds.

一開始我們只是像玩游戲一樣，后來才下定決心去留意我們的思想，看看植入我們“精神花園”的到底是什么。一開始真的很艱難，慢慢地，我們開始越來越重視那些重復(fù)閃現(xiàn)在我們腦海中的念頭。

How disturbing it was to discover that many of these “seeds” were extremely negative thoughts destined to grow patches of thorny thistles and stinging nettles in our daily lives!

我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，思想花園里的種子很多都是消極的，注定要在我們以后的生活中繁茂生長，鋪滿荊棘，我們很失落。

We gradually came to see how so many of the problems and difficulties we were encountering in our lives had their beginnings in the seeds of doubt, fear and anxiety that we were continually planting in our minds.

我們逐漸看到，生活中很多困難和問題在一開始都源于懷疑、恐懼和不安，然后由這些種子慢慢發(fā)芽而成。

It does take effort, but like anything else it gets easier with practice, and the amazing thing is, as we became more and more aware of these negative thoughts we are able to say:

我們確實花了大力氣，就像其他事情一樣熟能生巧，令人驚奇的是，我們越是意識到思想的消極性，我們越能大膽地說：

“No! I will not plant this weed in the garden of my mind.”

“不行！我決不把這消極的種子種在我的思想花園！”

I will consciously choose to plant something better. The results are truly spectacular.

我下意識地選擇一些好的種子播種，結(jié)果果然十分壯觀。

When you start to consciously cultivate your own mind garden, you will truly be amazed at the changes which begin to happen in your life. Obstacles disappear, barriers fall away, and things that you once thought were either impossible or very far away will suddenly come into view.

當(dāng)你開始下意識地播種你的思想花園，你會驚奇地發(fā)現(xiàn)你的生活發(fā)生著神奇的變化。障礙被清除，屏障被移除，那些你意想不到或無法完成的事情，會突然來到了你的面前，成為現(xiàn)實。

Any garden is an ongoing process. It’s not enough to just plant a single seed of happiness and then forget about it. Your frail little seedling would soon be choked by weeds. It is necessary to continuously pull out and throw away those weeds of fear, doubt and anxiety as soon as they appear.

任何花園都需要不斷地被照顧。僅僅播下幸福的種子是遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不夠的，那脆弱的生命很快會被雜草扼殺。一旦出現(xiàn)恐懼、懷疑和不安的雜草，要立即清除，這是很必要的。

Love, happiness and tranquility are all contagious. People who are continuously planting these seeds in their own minds are also planting them in other people’s.

愛，幸福和安逸是會傳染的。這些思想可以從一個人的心靈移植到另一個人的心靈中。

Remember,

記住，

Your mind is a garden.

你的思想是一座花園，

Your thoughts are the seeds.

思想是種子，

You can grow flowers or

你可以種植鮮花，

You can grow weeds...

也可以播種雜草……

So ask yourself, what are you going to grow in the glorious garden of your mind? May your life be filled with love, happiness and inspiration?

所以捫心自問，在你出色的思想花園中，你到底想播種什么？你的人生會充滿愛、幸福和靈感嗎？

超多雙語閱讀，盡在聽力課堂