Essay Reading 75

金钱能买来幸福吗？

Don't be too concerned about money, because all it will do is distracting you from achieving happiness. And the irony（反语，讽刺） 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.

不要太在意金钱，因为金钱只会对你追寻幸福的过程造成干扰。最讽刺的是，人们以为自己拥有金钱就会幸福。事实上金钱与幸福毫不相干。如果你感到幸福，同时又拥有金钱，你可以用金钱来换取幸福。

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

然而如果你没有感到幸福，却拥有金钱，那么你的金钱只能换来更多的不幸。因为金钱只是一种中性的作用力。

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（无论如何） it is.

请别误会：我并非反对金钱。我没有反对任何东西。但是金钱仅仅是一种手段。金钱会让你按照已有的生活模式向前迈进，无论你此时的生活模式是好是坏。

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.

可是人们还是不停地寻求金钱，似乎金钱能带给他们幸福似的。任何时候，如果他们发现在生活之路的另一个岔路口上可以找到金钱，他们就会立刻扭转自己的生活模式，改变自己的生活道路。

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

可是这些人一旦找到了金钱，却会立刻迷失自我，因为他们已经准备好了为金钱而改变自己。

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（唯物的） pattern of life is one in which money predominates over everything.

这就是世俗中芸芸众生的生活方式。记住，我称其世俗并非因为他们拥有金钱，而是因为他们为了金钱而改变了自己的生活目标。对一文不名的人来说同样如此——或许他们仅仅是贫穷。贫穷并不等于精神高尚，而富贵也并不等于拜金主义。真正的拜金主义生活方式是让金钱凌驾于一切之上。

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.

而非拜金主义的生活方式，是将金钱仅仅视作一种手段：幸福、快乐和你的个体尊严都是高于金钱的。你知道自己是谁，知道自己的目标在何处，你不会受到旁骛的干扰。

Then suddenly you will see your life has a meditative(沉思的。冥想的) quality to it.

能够如此，你就会发现，你的生活忽然有了一种禅意。

文章来源：沪江英语

图片来源：Pexels