The Art of Stillness | Pico Iyer | TED

翻译人员: Geoff Chen 校对人员: Zhiting Chen

I'm a lifelong traveler.

我这辈子都是个旅行者。

Even as a little kid,

即使还是一个小孩子的时候，

I was actually working out that it would be cheaper

我便了解，事实上，

去读英国寄宿学校会比

to go to boarding school in England

than just to the best school down the road from my parents' house in California.

去加州父母家附近 最好的学校就读还来得便宜。

So, from the time I was nine years old

所以，当我 9 岁时，

I was flying alone several times a year

我在一年中，会独自飞行几回，

over the North Pole, just to go to school.

穿越北极，就只是去上学。

And of course the more I flew the more I came to love to fly,

当然，飞得越频繁， 我越是爱上旅行，

so the very week after I graduated from high school,

所以就在我高中毕业后一周，

I got a job mopping tables

我找到一份清理桌子的工作，

so that I could spend every season of my 18th year

为了让自己可以在 18 岁那年，

在地球不同的大陆上， 分别待上一季。

on a different continent.

And then, almost inevitably, I became a travel writer

接着，几乎不可避免地 我成了一个旅游作家，

so my job and my joy could become one.

使我的工作和志趣 可以结合在一块儿。

And I really began to feel that if you were lucky enough

我真的开始发觉 如果你可以幸运地

to walk around the candlelit temples of Tibet

漫步于西藏的烛光寺庙，

or to wander along the seafronts in Havana

或者在音乐的缭绕间

with music passing all around you,

悠然信步于哈瓦那海岸，

you could bring those sounds and the high cobalt skies

你便能将那声音、天际

and the flash of the blue ocean

与靛蓝海洋的闪烁光芒

back to your friends at home,

带给你家乡的朋友，

and really bring some magic

真确地捎来些许神奇，

and clarity to your own life.

点亮自身生命。

Except, as you all know,

除了，如你们所知，

one of the first things you learn when you travel

当旅行时，你学到的第一件事情是

is that nowhere is magical unless you can bring the right eyes to it.

你必须以正确的视角看世界， 否则大地依然黯淡无光。

You take an angry man to the Himalayas,

你带一个易怒的男人爬喜马拉雅山，

he just starts complaining about the food.

他只会抱怨那儿的食物。

And I found that the best way

我发现，有点怪异的是，

that I could develop more attentive and more appreciative eyes

最好的让自己可以培养

更专注和更珍惜世界的视角的诀窍是

was, oddly,

by going nowhere, just by sitting still.

哪儿都不去，静止于原处即可。

And of course sitting still is how many of us get

当然呆在原地正是我们许多人 寻常所得到的东西，

what we most crave and need in our accelerated lives, a break.

我们都渴望在快速的生活中获得休息。

But it was also the only way

但那却是我唯一的方法，

that I could find to sift through the slideshow of my experience

让自己可以重历自身的经验幻灯，

and make sense of the future and the past.

理解未来与过去。

And so, to my great surprise,

如此，我惊异地发现，

I found that going nowhere

我发现无所去处

was at least as exciting as going to Tibet or to Cuba.

和游览西藏或古巴一样，令人兴奋。

And by going nowhere, I mean nothing more intimidating

无所去处，只不过意谓着

than taking a few minutes out of every day

每天花几分钟，

or a few days out of every season,

或每季花几天，

or even, as some people do,

甚至，如同有些人所做的，

a few years out of a life

在生命中花上几年

in order to sit still long enough

长久地静思于某处，

to find out what moves you most,

寻找感动你最多的一瞬，

to recall where your truest happiness lies

回忆你最真实的幸福时刻，

and to remember that sometimes

同时记住，

making a living and making a life

有时候，谋生与生活

point in opposite directions.

彼此是处于光谱线上的两端的。

And of course, this is what wise beings through the centuries

当然，这是明智的众生历经几百年

from every tradition have been telling us.

从每个传统中所告诉我们的。

It's an old idea.

这是一个古老的概念。

More than 2,000 years ago, the Stoics were reminding us

早在两千多年前， 斯多葛学派提醒我们

it's not our experience that makes our lives,

并不是我们的经验 成就了我们的生命，

it's what we do with it.

而是我们用那经验做了什么。

Imagine a hurricane suddenly sweeps through your town

想象一下，一阵飓风 迅速扑向你的城市，

and reduces every last thing to rubble.

将所有一切化为废墟。

One man is traumatized for life.

某个人身心遭受终身顿挫，

But another, maybe even his brother, almost feels liberated,

但另一个人，也许甚至是他的兄弟， 却几乎感觉释怀，

and decides this is a great chance to start his life anew.

并认定，这是一个可以 使自己重获新生的重要机会。

It's exactly the same event,

这是同样的事件，

but radically different responses.

截然不同的回应。

There is nothing either good or bad, as Shakespeare told us in "Hamlet,"

没有什么是绝对的好坏， 正如莎士比亚 在《哈姆雷特》中所告诉我们的，

but thinking makes it so.

好坏由思维决定。

And this has certainly been my experience as a traveler.

这无疑就是我 作为一个旅者的经验。

Twenty-four years ago I took the most mind-bending trip

24 年前，我完成了一次 最不可思议的旅程：

across North Korea.

橫跨朝鮮。

But the trip lasted a few days.

但这次旅行只持续了几天。

What I've done with it sitting still, going back to it in my head,

这经验对于无所去处的我来说， 允许我可以在心思中回朔，

trying to understand it, finding a place for it in my thinking,

试着了解它，让它在我的思维中 寻得一个位置，

that's lasted 24 years already

在那儿，它已存留了 24 年，

and will probably last a lifetime.

而且很可能会在我这生中， 一直持续下去。

The trip, in other words, gave me some amazing sights,

换句话说， 这次旅行， 带给我一些惊人的景致，

but it's only sitting still

但唯有处于静止的状态

that allows me to turn those into lasting insights.

才让我得以将这些风景线 化为更长的见识。

And I sometimes think that so much of our life

我有时会想，我们的生活

takes place inside our heads,

有太多东西发生在 我们自己的脑袋里，

in memory or imagination or interpretation or speculation,

在回忆中，在想象里， 透过诠释，或是猜测，

that if I really want to change my life

如果我真想改变我的生命，

I might best begin by changing my mind.

我可能最好从 改变我的思维开始。

Again, none of this is new;

同样，这一切都不是新想法；

that's why Shakespeare and the Stoics were telling us this centuries ago,

这就是为什么莎士比亚和斯多葛学派 在几个世纪前就告诉我们，

but Shakespeare never had to face 200 emails in a day.

然而，莎士比亚从未面对过 一天收到两百多封电邮的日子。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

The Stoics, as far as I know, were not on Facebook.

据我所知，斯多葛派的学者们 也没待在脸书上。

We all know that in our on-demand lives,

我们都知道，在我们的按需生活中，

one of the things that's most on demand

一种最迫切需要之物

is ourselves.

就是自己。

Wherever we are, any time of night or day,

无论我们处于何处，处于何时， 无论是夜晚或白天中的任何时刻，

our bosses, junk-mailers, our parents can get to us.

我们的老板，垃圾邮件， 我们的父母都能找到我们。

Sociologists have actually found that in recent years

社会学家近年来所发现的是，

Americans are working fewer hours than 50 years ago,

当今美国人的工作时间 竟然比 50 年前还少，

but we feel as if we're working more.

但我们却觉得自己的工时更长。

We have more and more time-saving devices,

我们有越来越多的 可以用来节省时间的设备，

but sometimes, it seems, less and less time.

但有时，时间似乎越来越少。

We can more and more easily make contact with people

我们比以前更容易与

身处地球另一端的人们联系，

on the furthest corners of the planet,

but sometimes in that process

但有时候，在那过程中，

we lose contact with ourselves.

我们与自己断了线。

And one of my biggest surprises as a traveler

作为一个旅行者， 让我最为诧异的事情之一就是

has been to find that often it's exactly the people

我发现，时常，往往那些

who have most enabled us to get anywhere

最使我们能够走向世界各地的人

who are intent on going nowhere.

却最希望身居原处。

In other words, precisely those beings

换句话说，正是那些

who have created the technologies

创造了打破旧时的

that override so many of the limits of old,

限制人出游的科技的人们

are the ones wisest about the need for limits,

才是最具智慧的个体， 他们理解限制的必须，

even when it comes to technology.

甚至在面对科技本身时，亦是如此。

I once went to the Google headquarters

有一次我造访谷歌总部，

and I saw all the things many of you have heard about;

我见到了所有你们听说过的事；

the indoor tree houses, the trampolines,

室内树屋，蹦床，

workers at that time enjoying 20 percent of their paid time free

拥有 20% 属于自己付费工时的员工，

so that they could just let their imaginations go wandering.

允许他们的想象自由漫游。

But what impressed me even more

但更让我感到印象深刻的是，

was that as I was waiting for my digital I.D.,

当我正在等待我的数字身份证时，

one Googler was telling me about the program

有位谷歌员工告诉我一个项目，

that he was about to start to teach the many, many Googlers

说他正打算教许许多多的谷歌员工

who practice yoga to become trainers in it,

来练习瑜伽，并成为训练师，

and the other Googler was telling me about the book that he was about to write

而另外一个谷歌员工 向我阐述了一本他正想写的书，

on the inner search engine,

一本关于内在寻索的书，

and the ways in which science has empirically shown

以及科学如何经验性地证明

that sitting still, or meditation,

打坐，或冥想

can lead not just to better health or to clearer thinking,

不仅能促进健康，明晰思维，

but even to emotional intelligence.

甚至也能增加情绪智慧。

I have another friend in Silicon Valley

我有另一个在硅谷工作的朋友，

who is really one of the most eloquent spokesmen

他的确是当前最前沿科技的

for the latest technologies,

最有说服力的代言人，事实上，

and in fact was one of the founders of Wired magazine, Kevin Kelly.

他是《连线》杂志的 创始人之一，凯文·凯利。

And Kevin wrote his last book on fresh technologies

凯文当时正在写一本有关最新技术的书，

without a smartphone or a laptop or a TV in his home.

但他家里却没有智能手机， 笔记本电脑，或者电视。

And like many in Silicon Valley,

如同许多住在硅谷的人们，

he tries really hard to observe

他非常努力地观察

what they call an Internet sabbath,

那个称为互联网安息日的东西，

whereby for 24 or 48 hours every week

在每个星期，有 24 或 48 小时，

they go completely offline

他们会彻底地下线，

in order to gather the sense of direction

以寻求一点方向感，

and proportion they'll need when they go online again.

用来重新调整，并汲取 他们重新上线时之所需。

The one thing perhaps that technology hasn't always given us

有件科技可能尚未给予我们的是

is a sense of how to make the wisest use of technology.

如何可以更聪明地使用科技。

And when you speak of the sabbath,

谈到休息日，

look at the Ten Commandments --

让我们看看十戒吧，

there's only one word there for which the adjective "holy" is used,

其中只有一个字的形容词涉及“神圣”，

and that's the Sabbath.

而那就是安息日。

I pick up the Jewish holy book of the Torah --

我拿起犹太圣典《托拉》，

its longest chapter, it's on the Sabbath.

它最长的章节，就是关于安息日。

And we all know that it's really one of our greatest luxuries,

我们都知道，这真是 我们所拥有的最大奢侈之一：

the empty space.

空。

In many a piece of music, it's the pause or the rest

在许多音乐作品中，停顿或静默

that gives the piece its beauty and its shape.

赋予了这作品美丽形貌。

And I know I as a writer

我知道，作为一个作家，

will often try to include a lot of empty space on the page

我时常会在页面中留下空白，

so that the reader can complete my thoughts and sentences

让读者可以完整地 领会我的思维与句法，

and so that her imagination has room to breathe.

以留给想象呼吸的空间。

Now, in the physical domain, of course, many people,

现在，在实际的领域中， 当然有很多人，

if they have the resources,

倘若他们稍微富余的话，

will try to get a place in the country, a second home.

会试着在国内拥有第二个家。

I've never begun to have those resources,

我从未有过那些资源，

but I sometimes remember that any time I want,

但我有时记得 任何时候，若我想的话，

I can get a second home in time, if not in space,

我可以给自己放一天假，

just by taking a day off.

来适时地，获得第二个家。

And it's never easy because, of course, whenever I do I spend much of it

当然，这从来就不容易， 每次我这么做，

worried about all the extra stuff

对于所有多出来的

that's going to crash down on me the following day.

会压垮我隔日工作天的忧虑就会出现。

I sometimes think I'd rather give up meat or sex or wine

有时我会觉得，我宁愿 放弃吃肉，性生活，或红酒，

than the chance to check on my emails.

也不愿失去任何一丁点查邮箱的机会。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And every season I do try to take three days off on retreat

每一季，我的确给自己三天假期，

but a part of me still feels guilty to be leaving my poor wife behind

但关于丢下我妻子 以及忽略那些

and to be ignoring all those seemingly urgent emails

老板寄来的看似紧急的邮件，

from my bosses

以及错过一个朋友的派对，

and maybe to be missing a friend's birthday party.

我内心某处仍然觉得有负罪感。

But as soon as I get to a place of real quiet,

但一旦来到某个真正安静的地方，

I realize that it's only by going there

我才了解，只有去那儿，

that I'll have anything fresh or creative or joyful to share

我才能拥有全新的， 有创意的，或快意之事

with my wife or bosses or friends.

和我妻子，上司和朋友分享。

Otherwise, really,

否则，老天，

I'm just foisting on them my exhaustion or my distractedness,

我能够加诸于他们的 仅仅是我的疲惫或分神状态，

which is no blessing at all.

实在无福可言。

And so when I was 29,

所以当我 29 岁时，

I decided to remake my entire life

我决定要重整自己全部的生活，

in the light of going nowhere.

为了获得那无所去处的体验。

One evening I was coming back from the office,

有天晚上，我从办公室回家，

it was after midnight, I was in a taxi driving through Times Square,

当时午夜时分，我正在出租车上， 经过了时代广场，

and I suddenly realized that I was racing around so much

我突然惊觉，自己仓皇度日

I could never catch up with my life.

以至于永远无法赶上自己的生活。

And my life then, as it happened,

而我当时的生活，事实上

was pretty much the one I might have dreamed of as a little boy.

已差不多就和我小时梦想的一般。

I had really interesting friends and colleagues,

我有非常有趣的朋友和同事，

I had a nice apartment on Park Avenue and 20th Street.

我在公园大道和第 20 街交口 有个非常棒的公寓。

I had, to me, a fascinating job writing about world affairs,

我有个对我来说绝佳的工作， 这工作让我得以撰写世界事务，

but I could never separate myself enough from them

但我从来未能将自己和它清楚分开，

to hear myself think --

让自己倾听自己的思绪，

or really, to understand if I was truly happy.

或，去理解是否我真的处于喜乐之中。

And so, I abandoned my dream life

因此，我放弃我梦想中的工作，

for a single room on the backstreets of Kyoto, Japan,

就为了待在一个位于日本京都 某后街里的单间房内，

which was the place that had long exerted a strong,

这地方长久以来产生了一种强烈的

really mysterious gravitational pull on me.

对我来说极为神秘的吸引力。

Even as a child

甚至在我孩提时代，

I would just look at a painting of Kyoto and feel I recognized it;

我会看着一幅京都的画作 并感觉，我认出它来了，

I knew it before I ever laid eyes on it.

在定睛审视它之前，我便知如此。

But it's also, as you all know,

但它也是，如同大家所知，

a beautiful city encircled by hills,

是一个群山环绕的美丽城市，

filled with more than 2,000 temples and shrines,

充满了 2000 多座寺庙和神社，

where people have been sitting still for 800 years or more.

人们在那儿静默了 800 年以上之久。

And quite soon after I moved there, I ended up where I still am

就在我搬到那儿不久，

我与现在的妻儿，

with my wife, formerly our kids,

挤在一个有两间房的公寓里， 在一个不毛之地，

in a two-room apartment in the middle of nowhere

where we have no bicycle, no car,

我们没有自行车，没有车，

no TV I can understand,

没有可以理解的电视节目，

and I still have to support my loved ones

我还得以作家和记者的身份，

as a travel writer and a journalist,

抚养我的至亲家人，

so clearly this is not ideal for job advancement

因此很明显地，这对职业生涯，

or for cultural excitement

对文化探索，

or for social diversion.

或对体验社会文化纷繁来说， 都不是一个理想的规划。

But I realized that it gives me what I prize most,

但我理解，这赋予了我那些

我最珍爱的日子，

which is days

and hours.

与时刻。

I have never once had to use a cell phone there.

我在那儿从未需要使用手机。

I almost never have to look at the time,

我基本上几乎无须看时间，

and every morning when I wake up,

每天早上我醒来时，

really the day stretches in front of me

在我眼前展开来的一天

like an open meadow.

是一片敞开的草地。

And when life throws up one of its nasty surprises,

当生活向你抛出某个重大惊喜时，

as it will, more than once,

它不只会出现一次，

when a doctor comes into my room

当一个医生来到我房里，

wearing a grave expression,

脸上带着肃穆的表情，

or a car suddenly veers in front of mine on the freeway,

或一辆汽车在高速公路上突然改道， 漂移到我车子前方，

I know, in my bones,

我知道，在我骨子里，

that it's the time I've spent going nowhere

正是那无所去处的时光

that is going to sustain me much more

帮助我持续保持平静，

than all the time I've spent racing around to Bhutan or Easter Island.

那比起我在不丹和复活节岛 所度之日都要有帮助。

I'll always be a traveler --

我永远都会是个旅者，

my livelihood depends on it --

那是我生活之所系，

but one of the beauties of travel

然而旅行的美好之处在于，

is that it allows you to bring stillness

它让你保有沉静之心，

into the motion and the commotion of the world.

在这莽撞与躁动的世界之中。

I once got on a plane in Frankfurt, Germany,

有一次，我在德国的法兰克福搭机，

and a young German woman came down and sat next to me

一位年轻的德国女子坐到我身旁，

and engaged me in a very friendly conversation

与我展开非常友善的对谈，

for about 30 minutes,

近 30 分钟，

and then she just turned around

接着，她就转过身去，

and sat still for 12 hours.

静静地坐在那儿 12 有个小时之久。

She didn't once turn on her video monitor,

她未曾打开屏幕，

she never pulled out a book, she didn't even go to sleep,

她也没有拿出书本， 甚至从未睡去，

she just sat still,

就只是静静地坐着，

and something of her clarity and calm really imparted itself to me.

她那明晰和沉静已真正传授于我。

I've noticed more and more people taking conscious measures these days

近来我注意到 有越来越多人刻意地

to try to open up a space inside their lives.

试图在他们的生活中打开一片空间。

Some people go to black-hole resorts

有些人参加黑洞之旅

where they'll spend hundreds of dollars a night

他们会一晚花上几百美元

in order to hand over their cell phone and their laptop

只为了将自己的手机与电脑

to the front desk on arrival.

上缴给度假接待处。

Some people I know, just before they go to sleep,

有些我认识的人

并不会在睡前刷屏看信息，

instead of scrolling through their messages

or checking out YouTube,

或观看 YouTube 视频，

just turn out the lights and listen to some music,

反而就只是关灯，听音乐，

and notice that they sleep much better

他们知道，这样会有更好的睡眠，

and wake up much refreshed.

在隔天一早将更神清气爽。

I was once fortunate enough

我曾经有幸地

to drive into the high, dark mountains behind Los Angeles,

驾驶于洛杉矶旁的 高耸黯黑的群山之中，

where the great poet and singer

那儿曾经住了伟大的诗人乐手 --

and international heartthrob Leonard Cohen

举世皆知的莱纳德·科恩。

was living and working for many years as a full-time monk

他曾在那儿附近作了好几年的僧人，

in the Mount Baldy Zen Center.

就在博帝山禅学中心。

And I wasn't entirely surprised

当他在 77 岁发表了

when the record that he released at the age of 77,

自己的唱片专辑，

to which he gave the deliberately unsexy title of "Old Ideas,"

他故意给这个专辑取了 一个非常不性感的名称 “旧思维”，

went to number one in the charts in 17 nations in the world,

然而这专辑在全球 17 个国家冲上排行榜首位，

hit the top five in nine others.

在另外 9 个国家冲上前 5 名。

Something in us, I think, is crying out

它触动了我们内心里某种东西，

for the sense of intimacy and depth that we get from people like that.

触动了躁动的人们

who take the time and trouble to sit still.

一种亲密、深刻与沉静的思绪。

And I think many of us have the sensation,

我想许多人拥有这种感觉，我当然也是，

I certainly do,

that we're standing about two inches away from a huge screen,

我们站在一个巨大的屏幕前， 距离大约两英寸，

and it's noisy and it's crowded

人声鼎沸，摩肩接踵，

and it's changing with every second,

每一刻都在变动着，

and that screen is our lives.

而那屏幕即为我们自己的人生。

And it's only by stepping back, and then further back,

唯有向后退一步，再回头一步，

and holding still,

静静地屏住气，

that we can begin to see what the canvas means

我们才能开始了解那画布上描绘之物，

and to catch the larger picture.

并以更宽广的眼界洞察世界。

And a few people do that for us by going nowhere.

有些人已如此做了，他们无须来去。

So, in an age of acceleration,

因此，在这个快速转变的时代，

nothing can be more exhilarating than going slow.

没有什么比慢下来还要振奋人心。

And in an age of distraction,

在这个失焦的时代，

nothing is so luxurious as paying attention.

没有什么比凝神专注来得奢侈。

And in an age of constant movement,

在这个不断变动的时代，

nothing is so urgent as sitting still.

没有什么比静思来得急迫了。

So you can go on your next vacation

所以，下一次当你们

to Paris or Hawaii, or New Orleans;

去巴黎，夏威夷或新奥尔良度假时，

I bet you'll have a wonderful time.

我保证你们会有一段美好时光，

But, if you want to come back home alive and full of fresh hope,

但如果你们想回家， 期待满怀全新希望，

in love with the world,

爱这个世界，

I think you might want to try considering going nowhere.

我想，也许你们应该试着哪儿都别去。

Thank you.

谢谢各位。

(Applause)

（掌声）