干法·我们为什么而工作

我们为什么而工作

为什么而工作？工作是为了获得生活的食粮。很多人是这么想的。
他们认为，为了吃饭获取报酬，就是劳动的价值，就是工作首要的意义。
Why do we work ? Work is to get food for life. A lot of people think so.
They believe that getting paid for eating is the value of labor, the primary meaning of work.

诚然，为了获得生活的食粮，是工作的重要理由之一，这没有错。然而，我们拼命工作，难道仅仅为了吃饭这一个目的吗？
It is true that there is nothing wrong with getting food for life as one of the important reasons for work. But do we work hard just for the purpose of eating?

人工作的目的是为了提升自己的心志—这是我的观点。
The purpose of human work is to raise one's mind—that's my point of view.
人工作的目的是为了提升自己的心志—这是我的观点。
The purpose of human work is to raise one's mind—that's my point of view.

提升心志是一件非常困难的事情，有的僧人经历长期严格的修行，也未必能够做到。但是，在工作中却隐藏着可以达到这个目的的巨大力量。工作的意义正在于此。
Raising one's mind is a very difficult thing, and some monks who have experienced long-term and rigorous practice may not be able to do so. However, there is a great power hidden in the work that can achieve this goal. That's what work is about.

日复一日勤奋地工作，可以起到锻炼我们的心志、提升人性的了不起的作用。
Working diligently day after day can play a great role in exercising our minds and enhancing our humanity.


我曾在一个电视访谈节目中听过一位修建神社的木匠师傅的话，很受感动。他说：树木里宿着生命。工作时必须倾听这生命发出的呼声—在使用千年树龄的木料时，我们工作的精湛必须经得起千年日月的考验。
I once heard about a master carpenter who built a shrine on a TV talk show and was very moved. He said: There is life in the trees. We must listen to the cry of this life when we work—when using thousand-year-old wood, the sophistication of our work must stand the test of the millennium sun and moon.

这种动人心魄的语言，只有终身努力、埋头工作的人才说得出来。
This kind of touching language can only be spoken by people who have worked hard all their lives and immersed in their work.

木匠工作的意义在哪里？它的意义不仅在于使用工具修筑漂亮的房屋，不仅在于提高木工技能，更在于磨炼人的心志，塑造人的灵魂—我在这位师傅的肺腑之言中听出了这样的意蕴。
What is the significance of carpenter's work? Its significance lies not only in the use of tools to build beautiful houses, not only in improving carpentry skills, but also in tempering people's minds and shaping people's souls—I heard this meaning in the heartfelt words of this master.

他已70多岁，只有小学毕业，职业生涯一直就是修建神社。几十年间只从事这一项工作，又苦又累，不胜厌烦，有时也想辞职不干，但他还是承受和克服了这种种劳苦，勤奋工作，潜心钻研。
He is in his 70s, has only graduated from elementary school, and has been building shrines all his life. He has only been engaged in this work for decades, bitter and tired, tired of it, and sometimes wants to quit his job, but he still bears and overcomes this kind of labor, works hard, and dives into it.

在这样的过程中孕育了他厚重的人格，所以才能说出如此语重心长的人生体验。
In such a process, he has given birth to a thick personality, which is why he can say such a serious and long life experience.

像这位木工师傅一样，将自己的一生奉献给一门职业，埋头苦干，孜孜不倦，这样的人最有魅力，也最能打动我的心弦。只有通过长时间不懈的工作，磨砺了心志，才会具备厚重的人格，在生活中沉稳而不摇摆。每次与这样的人接触，就能引起我的重新思索，思索工作这一行为的神圣性。
Like this carpenter, who dedicated his life to a profession, immersed in hard work and tireless work, such a person is the most attractive and can also touch my heartstrings the most. Only through a long period of unremitting work, sharpening the mind, will have a thick personality, calm in life without wavering. Every contact with such a person can cause me to rethink the sanctity of the act of work.

只有通过长时间不懈的工作，磨砺了心志，才会具备厚重的人格，在生活中沉稳而不摇摆。
Only through a long period of unremitting work, sharpening the mind, will have a thick personality, calm in life without wavering.

同时我衷心希望，生活在现代的年轻人，你们承担着对未来的责任，在工作中切不可好逸恶劳，不要逃避困难。
At the same time, I sincerely hope that young people living in modern times, you take the responsibility for the future, and you must not be lazy and bad in your work, and do not run away from difficulties.

希望你们秉持一颗纯朴的心，全身心地投入到工作中去。有时你们或许会感到疑惑：“工作到底是为了什么？”
I hope that you will uphold a simple heart and devote yourself to your work. Sometimes you may wonder, "What is the purpose of the work?" 

每当此时，希望你们记住下面这句话：工作能够锻炼人性、磨砺心志，工作是人生最尊贵、最重要、最有价值的行为。
Whenever this happens, I hope you will remember the following sentence: Work can exercise human nature, sharpen the mind, and work is the most noble, most important, and most valuable behavior in life.