做你真實(shí)的自己

I heard a story once about an eagle’s egg that had been lost or abandoned and was found by chickens. When the eagle hatched， it was loved and cared for by the chickens， brought up to act and behave as if it was a chicken. It knew nothing else until one day， the eagle was with his brothers and sisters pecking at the ground—like a chicken —when something made him look up to the sky. High above he saw a majestic sight， a beautiful bird soaring gracefully. Something was stirred inside him， a recognition of ‘ome’.

He asked the chickens， “What is that beautiful bird up there?” The chickens looked up.“Oh that，”they said， “What’s an eagle， king of the birds. But forget about him. You are one of us， you are a chicken.” I don’t know how the story ended and， to me， it is not a case of an eagle being superior to a chicken. The same story has been told about a duck’s egg; and one day the duck arrives at a great lake and it just swims. “Because he can. It’s natural” leaving his family on the shore.

As I understand it， it’s all about remembering who or what we really are， regardless of what we’ve been told by others or how we have been brought up. A rose will grow into a rose even if it’s in the middle of a field of tulips.

There is an ancient Indian word “Dharma”， which has two meanings. The first is， “Your nature， your true， real， essential nature.” The second is， “Your purpose in life.” To me， the two cannot be separated. I believe the word literally translates as “Yruth.”

“You are what your deep driving desire is; as your desire is， so is your will; as your will is， so is your deed; as your deed is， so is your destiny.” —Upanishads， India

Or， like they said in ancient Greece， “Character is fate.”

Whatever we are at our most fundamental level， at our most base， whether that be something metaphysical， or something like DNA， I believe that to discover， or remember it is our ‘raison d’etre’ And to live in harmony with our deepest selves is the meaning of success.

It’s been said that when we die and go back home to ‘our maker’ we will never be asked why we didn’t cure the common cold， why we never made a billion pounds or anything else like that， but simply be asked， “Why didn’t you just be yourself?”

我聽說過一個(gè)故事，講的是一只丟失或被遺棄的鷹蛋被群雞發(fā)現(xiàn)。小鷹破殼后，受到群雞的愛護(hù)和照料，長大后行為舉止與別的雞無異。它對外界一無所知，直到有一天，這只鷹與兄弟姐妹們在地上啄食—像雞一樣—忽然天上某樣?xùn)|西讓它抬頭。它看到高高在上的一個(gè)奇觀：一只美麗的鳥優(yōu)雅地飛翔而過。它內(nèi)心起了波動，想到了自己的根。

它問群雞：“天上那美麗的鳥叫什么？”群雞抬起頭。“噢那個(gè)呀，”它們說，“那是一只鷹，是百鳥之王。但是別想它了，你是我們的一員，你是一只雞。”我不知道故事的結(jié)局，但我不認(rèn)為它宣揚(yáng)的是鷹比雞優(yōu)秀。有個(gè)相同的關(guān)于鴨蛋的故事；里面的鴨子有一天來到大湖邊，便開始鳧水了，把同伴都落在岸上——“因?yàn)樗鼤D水，這是天生的能力。”

我把故事的含義理解為，不論其他人讓我們怎樣做，或我們在成長期接受了何種教育，我們都要記住自己的真實(shí)本性。玫瑰終將長成玫瑰，即使它在一片郁金香叢中也是如此。

古印度語有一個(gè)詞“dharma”，它有兩層含義。其一是“你的天性，你的真切、實(shí)在、本質(zhì)的天性。”其二是“你生活的目的”。對于我，這兩層含義不可分離。我相信這個(gè)詞按字面應(yīng)翻譯為“真實(shí)”。

“你即是內(nèi)心深處牽引你的欲望；你的欲望如何，意志亦當(dāng)如何；你的意志如何，行為亦如何；行為如何，命運(yùn)如何。”

—《奧義書》，印度

又或者像古希臘的哲言說的那樣：“性格即命運(yùn)。”

不論我們在最根本、最基礎(chǔ)的層面上是什么，不論這種東西是玄虛的還是像DNA一樣實(shí)在的，我相信，發(fā)現(xiàn)它、記住它乃是我們“生存的理由”。與我們內(nèi)心最深處的自我和諧共存，這就是成功的含義。

據(jù)說，當(dāng)我們死后回到造物主那里，他從來不會問我們?yōu)槭裁吹挚共涣烁忻埃瑸槭裁磼瓴坏饺f貫家財(cái)之類的問題，他只會簡單地問：“為什么你就沒有做自己呢？”