Don’t be too concerned about money, because all it will do is distract you from achieving happiness. And the irony of ironies is that people think they will be happy when they have money. Money has nothing to do with happiness. If you are happy and you have money, you can use it for happiness.

不要太在意金錢，因?yàn)榻疱X只會(huì)對(duì)你追尋幸福的過(guò)程造成干擾。最具諷刺意味的是，人們以為自己擁有金錢就會(huì)幸福。事實(shí)上金錢與幸福毫不相干。如果你感到幸福，同時(shí)又擁有金錢，你可以用金錢來(lái)?yè)Q取幸福。

If you are unhappy and you have money, you will use that money for more unhappiness. Because money is simply a neutral force.

然而如果你沒有感到幸福，卻擁有金錢，那么你的金錢只能換來(lái)更多的不幸。因?yàn)榻疱X只是一種中性的作用力。

Don’t misinterpret me: I am not against money. I am not against anything. Money is a means. Your money will enhance your pattern, whatsoever it is.

請(qǐng)別誤會(huì)：我并非反對(duì)金錢。我不想反對(duì)任何對(duì)象。但是金錢僅僅是一種手段。金錢會(huì)讓你按照已有的生活模式向前邁進(jìn)，無(wú)論你此時(shí)的生活模式是好是壞。

But people keep looking for money as if money is going to bring happiness. People are ready, at any moment, to change their pattern, to change their ways, if more money is available somewhere else.

可是人們還是不停地尋求金錢，似乎金錢能帶給他們幸福似的。任何時(shí)候，如果他們發(fā)現(xiàn)在生活之路的另一個(gè)岔路口上可以找到金錢，他們就會(huì)立刻扭轉(zhuǎn)自己的生活模式，改變自己的生活道路。

Once the money is there, then suddenly you are no longer yourself; you are ready to change.

可是這些人一旦找到了金錢，卻會(huì)立刻迷失自我，因?yàn)橐呀?jīng)準(zhǔn)備好了為金錢而改變自己。

This is the way of the worldly man. Remember, I don’t call a person worldly because he or she has money. I call them worldly if they change their motives for money. This applies to people with no money as well - they may simply be poor. Just being poor is not equivalent to being spiritual; and just being rich is not equivalent to being a materialist. The materialistic pattern of life is one in which money predominates over everything.

這就是世俗中蕓蕓眾生的生活方式。記住，我稱其世俗并非因?yàn)樗麄儞碛薪疱X，而是因?yàn)樗麄優(yōu)榱私疱X而改變了自己的生活目標(biāo)。對(duì)一文不名的人來(lái)說(shuō)同樣如此——或許他們僅僅是貧窮，而不是清貧。貧窮并不等于精神高尚，而富貴也并不等于拜金主義。真正的拜金主義生活方式是讓金錢凌駕于一切之上。

The non-materialistic life is one in which money is just a means: happiness predominates, joy predominates, your own individuality predominates. You know who you are and where you are going, and you are not distracted.

而非拜金主義的生活方式，是將金錢僅僅視作一種手段：幸福、快樂(lè)和你的個(gè)體尊嚴(yán)都是高于金錢的。你知道自己是誰(shuí)，知道自己的目標(biāo)在何處，你不會(huì)受到旁騖的干擾。

Then suddenly you will see your life has a meditative quality to it.

能夠如此，你就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，你的生活忽然有了一種禪意。