Jackie Tabick: The balancing act of compassion

翻译人员: elyse lin 校对人员: Heidi Haibin Xu

One of my favorite cartoon characters is Snoopy.

史努比是我最喜爱的卡通人物之一

I love the way he sits and lies on his kennel and contemplates the great things of life.

我喜欢看它坐在或躺在窝里，思考人生。

So when I thought about compassion,

所以当我想到同情这个词

my mind immediately went to one of the cartoon strips,

我的脑海中立马就浮现出一幅漫画

where he's lying there and he says,

史努比躺在那，自言自语

"I really understand, and I really appreciate

“我十分了解并且十分欣赏

how one should love one's neighbor as one love's oneself.

一个人应该爱他的邻居就像爱他自己一样

The only trouble is the people next door; I can't stand them."

但问题是，我不能忍受我的隔壁邻居。”

This, in a way, is one of the challenges

这个,从某种程度上来说，就是一个挑战

of how to interpret a really good idea.

是如何诠释一个相当妙的想法的挑战

We all, I think, believe in compassion.

我想大家都认可同情之心。

If you look at all the world religions, all the main world religions,

如果你试着了解世界上所有的主流宗教信仰

you'll find within them some teaching concerning compassion.

你会发现其中一部分宗教有关于同情心的教义

So in Judaism, we have, from our Torah,

例如，犹太教的托拉（犹太教圣经）

that you should love your neighbor as you love yourself.

要求我们要爱我们的邻居如同爱我们自己一样。

And within Jewish teachings, the rabbinic teachings, we have Hillel,

根据犹太教教义，犹太教教士希利

who taught that you shouldn't do to others what you don't like being done to yourself.

教导我们己所不欲勿施于人

And all the main religions have similar teachings.

基本上所有的主流宗教都有类似的教义

And again, within Judaism,

另外，犹太教还有一条教义

we have a teaching about God,

是关于上帝的

who is called the compassionate one, Ha-rachaman.

教义称上帝具有同情之心，被称作ha-rachaman

After all, how could the world exist without God being compassionate?

毕竟，如果连上帝都没有同情心，这个世界如何存在？

And we, as taught within the Torah that we are made in the image of God,

托拉中提到，我们都是以上帝为样本创造的

so we too have to be compassionate.

因此，我们也必须具有同情之心

But what does it mean? How does it impact on our everyday life?

但这又意味着什么，又是如何影响我们的日常生活呢？

Sometimes, of course, being compassionate

有时候，富于同情之心肯定

can produce feelings within us that are very difficult to control.

会衍生出一些我们自身都难以控制的情绪。

I know there are many times when I've gone and conducted a funeral,

有很多次当我参加或主持葬礼

or when I have been sitting with the bereaved, or with people who are dying,

或者待在死者或是即将逝世的人们身旁

and I am overwhelmed by the sadness, by the difficulty,

悲痛就会将我团团包围，让我不知所措

the challenge that is there for the family, for the person.

更别说死者家属亲人有多么难过

And I'm touched, so that tears come to my eyes.

我的心受到触动，眼泪忍不住涌出

And yet, if I just allowed myself to be overwhelmed by these feelings,

但如果我不控制自己的情绪，放任悲痛继续

I wouldn't be doing my job --

我就没法正常工作了

because I have to actually be there for them

因为我的工作就是帮助死者超度

and make sure that rituals happen, that practicalities are seen to.

给他们主持仪式，并确保仪式的正常进行

And yet, on the other hand, if I didn't feel this compassion,

而如果，相反我没有同情之心

then I feel that it would be time for me to hang up my robe

那么我就不配穿上这身礼袍

and give up being a rabbi.

不配做一个拉比

And these same feelings are there for all of us as we face the world.

当面对这个大千世界的种种，我们每一个人都会有这样的感受

Who cannot be touched by compassion

有谁可能不被同情之心触动，

when we see the terrible horrors of the results of war,

在目睹了战争

or famine, or earthquakes, or tsunamis?

饥荒、地震、海啸肆虐后的景象？

I know some people who say

我知道有些人会说

"Well, you know there's just so much out there -- I can't do anything,

“这样的悲剧日日上演，我对此无能为力，

I'm not going to even begin to try."

我也不会试着去帮助。”

And there are some charity workers who call this compassion fatigue.

慈善工作者称这种看法为同情疲软

There are others who feel they can't confront compassion anymore,

还有一些人则感觉他们再也无法面对同情心带给他们的困境，

and so they turn off the television and don't watch.

所以他们选择关掉电视机，不看任何节目

In Judaism, though, we tend to always say, there has to be a middle way.

但犹太教一直倡导应该在这二者中取得平衡

You have to, of course, be aware of the needs of others,

当然，你必须要清楚他人的需要

but you have to be aware in such a way that you can carry on with your life

但这种清楚是要建立在你的生活能够正常进行的基础上

and be of help to people.

然后给予他人帮助

So part of compassion has to be an understanding of what makes people tick.

因此，同情的部分意义在于了解人们为什么做一件事的原因

And, of course, you can't do that unless you understand yourself a bit more.

而且，显而易见，你不可能做到了解他人除非你稍微多了解一下你自己。

And there's a lovely rabbinic interpretation of the beginnings of creation,

犹太教教义巧妙地解释了创世纪的由来

which says that when God created the world,

在上帝创造这个世界的时候

God thought that it would be best to create the world

他认为最佳做法就是

only with the divine attribute of justice.

仅赋予这个世界正义这个神圣的属性

Because, after all, God is just.

因为上帝是正义的。

Therefore, there should be justice throughout the world.

理所当然整个世界都应该是正义的

And then God looked to the future and realized,

但上帝看了看未来

if the world was created just with justice, the world couldn't exist.

发现如果世界只有正义，那么世界就不会存在

So, God thought, "Nope, I'm going to create the world just with compassion."

于是他想了想：“算了，我还是只赋予世界同情之心吧。”

And then God looked to the future and realized that,

然后上帝又看了看未来

in fact, if the world were just filled with compassion,

结果发现如果世界只有同情

there would be anarchy and chaos.

那将是一片混乱

There had to be limits to all things.

任何事物都必须有限度

The rabbis describe this as being like a king

拉比认为这就像做一个一国之王

who has a beautiful, fragile glass bowl.

他拥有一个精美易碎的玻璃碗

If you put too much cold water in, it will shatter.

如果加入过多冷水，碗就会碎

If you put boiling water in, it will shatter.

如果加入沸水，碗也会碎

What do you have to do? Put in a mixture of the two.

那要怎么办？加入两者混合后的温水。

And so God put both of these possibilities into the world.

因此，上帝同时赋予了世界正义和同情。

There is something more though that has to be there.

除此之外，我们还要考虑更多

And that is the translation of the feelings

关于一些情绪的表达

that we may have about compassion

当我们有同情心时所产生的情绪

into the wider world, into action.

将这些情绪投入到更广阔的世界里，化为行动

So, like Snoopy, we can't just lie there

我们不能像史努比那样光躺在那

and think great thoughts about our neighbors.

幻想着如何友好对待我们的邻居

We actually have to do something about it.

而应该付诸行动

And so there is also, within Judaism, this notion of love and kindness

犹太教也倡导爱与宽容

that becomes very important: "chesed."

这两点非常重要，还有慈悲为怀

All these three things, then, have to be melded together.

爱、宽容以及慈悲应该相互融合

The idea of justice, which gives boundaries to our lives

正义界定了我们的生活

and gives us a feeling of what's right about life, what's right about living,

让我们明辨是非

what should we be doing, social justice.

让我们明白应该做什么，这就是社会的正义

There has to be a willingness to do good deeds,

我们要乐于行善

but not, of course, at the expense of our own sanity.

但同时应保持我们的理智

You know, there's no way that you can do anything for anyone

你不可能为任何人做任何事

if you overdo things.

而没有任何限制，不计代价

And balancing them all in the middle is this notion of compassion,

保持平衡使之适中，就是这里同情心的概念。

which has to be there, if you like, at our very roots.

我们的本质就该如此

This idea of compassion comes to us

我们有同情之心

because we're made in the image of God,

因为我们是以上帝为样本创造的

who is ultimately the compassionate one.

而上帝正是最具同情心的

What does this compassion entail?

同情意味着什么

It entails understanding the pain of the other.

意味着了解他人的痛苦

But even more than that,

但还不止这点

it means understanding one's connection to the whole of creation:

还意味着了解个人同世界万物的联系

understanding that one is part of that creation,

了解个人是世界万物的一部分

that there is a unity that underlies all that we see,

我们所看到

all that we hear, all that we feel.

听到以及感觉到的一切事物是一个统一的整体

I call that unity God.

我称之为统一的神

And that unity is something that connects all of creation.

这种统一性联结了世界万物

And, of course, in the modern world, with the environmental movement,

在现代社会中，伴随着环保运动

we're becoming even more aware of the connectivity of things,

我们更加意识到事物之间的联系

that something I do here actually does matter in Africa,

我在这做的事真的会对非洲产生影响

that if I use too much of my carbon allowance,

如果我过多使用我的碳排放额度，

it seems to be that we are causing

那么可能会造成

a great lack of rain in central and eastern Africa.

非洲中部和东部极度缺乏雨水

So there is a connectivity,

这就是所谓的联系

and I have to understand that -- as part of the creation,

我意识到作为世界万物的一小个组成部分

as part of me being made in the image of God.

作为以上帝为样本创造的我

And I have to understand that my needs

我必须了解我个人的需求

sometimes have to be sublimated to other needs.

有时候要升华成其他更重要的需求

This "18 minutes" business, I find quite fascinating.

这个18分钟的演讲，我觉得十分具有吸引力

Because in Judaism, the number 18, in Hebrew letters,

因为在犹太教里，希伯来数字18

stands for life -- the word "life."

代表生命，生命这个词。

So, in a sense, the 18 minutes is challenging me to say,

因此，从某种意义上来说，这18分钟对我是个挑战，让我说

"In life, this is what's important in terms of compassion."

在生活中，这就是为什么具有同情心很重要

But, something else as well:

但还有一些其他的东西也很重要

actually, 18 minutes is important.

实际上，18分钟是很关键的

Because at Passover, when we have to eat unleavened bread,

因为在逾越节（犹太人的宗教节日），我们必须吃无酵面包

the rabbis say, what is the difference between dough that is made into bread,

拉比会告诉我们用于制作普通面包的生面团

and dough that is made into unleavened bread, or "matzah"?

和制作无酵面包，也就是酵饼的生面团的区别

And they say "It's 18 minutes."

他们说就是18分钟。

Because that's how long they say it takes for this dough to become leaven.

即生面团发酵所需的时间

What does it mean, "dough becomes leaven"?

这又意味着什么呢，面团发酵？

It means it gets filled with hot air.

它意味着面团内里被热空气填满

What's matzah? What's unleavened bread? You don't get it.

什么是酵饼？ 什么是无酵面包？ 你不知道。

Symbolically, what the rabbis say is that at Passover,

从象征意义上来说，就是在逾越节上

what we have to do is try to get rid of our hot air -- our pride,

我们必须试着摆脱我们的热气，骄傲，

our feeling that we are the most important people in the whole entire world,

以及我们的良好自我感觉，就是我们是整个世界上最重要的人

and that everything should revolve round us.

地球就围着我们转动

So we try and get rid of those,

这些就是我们要试着摆脱的

and so doing, try to get rid of the habits, the emotions, the ideas

付诸行动，试着摆脱这些习惯、情绪、想法

that enslave us, that make our eyes closed, give us tunnel vision

这些东西控制了我们，蒙蔽了我们的双眼，让我们变成井底之蛙

so we don't see the needs of others --

以致我们无法看到他人的需求

and free ourselves and free ourselves from that.

我们必须摆脱这些，让自己解脱

And that too is a basis for having compassion,

这也是具有同情心的基础

for understanding our place in the world.

让我们看清自己在世界的定位

Now there is, in Judaism, a gorgeous story

犹太教里有一个美丽的故事

of a rich man who sat in synagogue one day.

有一天，一个富人坐在犹太教堂中

And, as many people do, he was dozing off during the sermon.

像很多人一样，他也在布道的过程中打瞌睡

And as he was dozing off, they were reading from the book of Leviticus in the Torah.

他打瞌睡的时候，正念到托拉中的利未记

And they were saying that in the ancient times in the temple in Jerusalem,

“在古代，耶路撒冷的寺庙中

the priests used to have bread,

祭司一度是有面包的

which they used to place into a special table in the temple in Jerusalem.

他们把面包放在耶路撒冷的寺庙中一个专用的桌子上”

The man was asleep, but he heard the words bread, temple, God, and he woke up.

那个富人正睡着，但他听到了其中的几个词，面包，寺庙，上帝，就醒了

He said, "God wants bread. That's it. God wants bread. I know what God wants."

他自言自语：“上帝需要面包，对，就是这样。我知道上帝要什么了。”

And he rushed home. And after the Sabbath, he made 12 loaves of bread,

于是他飞奔回家。安息日过后，他做了12条面包

took them to the synagogue, went into the synagogue,

并把面包带到教堂里

opened the ark and said, "God, I don't know why you want this bread, but here you are."

他打开约柜(藏于古犹太圣殿至圣所内、刻有十诫的两块石板)，说：“上帝，我不知道你为什么要这些面包，但还是给你带来了。”

And he put it in the ark with the scrolls of the Torah.

说完，他将面包和成卷的托拉放入约柜中£

Then he went home.

然后就回家了

The cleaner came into the synagogue.

清洁工来到教堂里

"Oh God, I'm in such trouble. I've got children to feed.

“上帝啊，我的生活不好过，我有孩子需要养

My wife's ill. I've got no money. What can I do?"

我的妻子病了，我没有钱，该怎么办？”

He goes into the synagogue. "God, will you please help me?

他走进教堂，“上帝，你能帮帮我吗？

Ah, what a wonderful smell."

呀，什么味道好香啊。”

He goes to the ark. He opens the ark.

他走到约柜前，打开约柜

"There's bread! God, you've answered my plea. You've answered my question."

“竟然有面包！上帝，你回应了我的请求，你回答了我的问题。”

Takes the bread and goes home.

他带上面包回家了

Meanwhile, the rich man thinks to himself,

与此同时，富人在心里想，

"I'm an idiot. God wants bread?

“我真傻，上帝怎么会要面包？

God, the one who rules the entire universe, wants my bread?"

上帝是整个世界的主宰者，怎么会要我的面包？“

He rushes to the synagogue. "I'll get it out of the ark before anybody finds it."

他冲到教堂，“我要在别人发现之前把面包从约柜中拿出来。”

He goes in there, and it's not there.

他打开约柜，但是面包不见了

And he says, "God, you really did want it. You wanted my bread.

于是他说:“上帝，你真的要我的面包

Next week, with raisins."

下周我会加上葡萄干给你。”

This went on for years.

就这样，过了许多年

Every week, the man would bring bread with raisins,

每周，富人都会带来葡萄干面包

with all sorts of good things, put it into the ark.

还有其他好东西，一并放入约柜中

Every week, the cleaner would come. "God you've answered my plea again."

每周，清洁工都会来：“上帝，你再次回应了我的请求。”

Take the bread. Take it home.

然后将面包带回家

Went on until a new rabbi came. Rabbis always spoil things.

这样一直持续到一个新的拉比上任，拉比总是爱“搞破坏”

The rabbi came in and saw what was going on.

他走进教堂，发现了这件事

And he called the two of them to his office.

然后他把富人和穷人都叫到办公室里

And he said, you know, "This is what's happening."

并告诉他们真相：“这件事就是这样的。”

And the rich man -- oh, dear -- crestfallen.

富人感到十分失望

"You mean God didn't want my bread?"

“你的意思是上帝并不需要我的面包？”

And the poor man said, "And you mean God didn't answer my pleas?"

穷人说：“你的意思是上帝并没有回应我的请求？”

And the rabbi said, "You've misunderstood me.

拉比说：“你们误会我的意思了。”

You've misunderstood totally," he said.

他接着说：“你们完全误会了。"

"Of course, what you are doing," he said to the rich man,

他对富人说“你所做的

"is answering God's plea that we should be compassionate.

正是回应了上帝的请求，请求我们要有同情之心。”

And God," he said to the poor man, "is answering your plea

拉比又对穷人说：“上帝确实回应了你的请求

that people should be compassionate and give."

人们应该有同情心，愿意付出。"

He looked at the rich man. He held the rich man's hands and said,

拉比看了看富人，拉住富人的手，说道：

"Don't you understand?" He said, "These are the hands of God."

“难道你不明白，这就是上帝的双手吗？”

So that is the way I feel:

这就是我的感受

that I can only try to approach this notion of being compassionate,

我只能试着去接近具有同情之心这样一种信念，

of understanding that there is a connectivity, that there is a unity in this world;

通过弄清这个世界存在联系，它是一个统一的整体

that I want to try and serve that unity,

而我想要试着为这种统一服务

and that I can try and do that by understanding, I hope,

这样我就能付诸行动，通过了解，我希望，

trying to understand something of the pain of others;

通过试着了解他人的痛苦♫

but understanding that there are limits, that people have to bear responsibility

但也要明白这是有限度的，人们必须承担责任

for some of the problems that come upon them;

承担有些发生在他们身上的事情的责任

and that I have to understand that there are limits to my energy,

同时我也必须明白我的力量是有限的

to the giving I can give.

我能提供的帮助是有限的

I have to reevaluate them,

我需要重新评估他们

try and separate out the material things

试着找出物质方面的东西

and my emotions that may be enslaving me,

以及可能控制我的各种情绪

so that I can see the world clearly.

只有这样，我才能看清这个世界

And then I have to try to see in what ways

然后我必须试着弄清通过什么方式

I can make these the hands of God.

才能将自己的双手变成上帝的双手

And so try to bring compassion to life in this world.

从而在这个世界上唤醒真正意义上的同情之心。