April 3:
How Many People Can Make a Lucid Choice?
in human life, we must always have a noble mind and spirit and attitude. We must be this way toward power, toward money,toward rank, While everyone in the world is scrambling them, you must give them a slight smile.
If you have this mind and spirit that is not bound by desires, then you will naturally be able to live freely and independently.
This is because what is called"independence” is not being trapped by thoughts and apparent forms, and you must not deliberately tie up and constrain your own mind.(page 72)
People all think that bondage is something the external world forces on them, and so they are accustomed to looking for the external world to change.
But Buddhists think that bondage is the many clingings and attachments that arise from recognizing the false as true, and is something that people impose upon themselves.
This is why what genuine Buddhist practitioners yearn for and seek always a transformation of their own minds,and not a change in the external world.
In their eyes, to genuinely get free from bondage, " they must leave behind all clingings and attachments(page 73)
~An excerpt from The World is a Reflection of the Mind.
Author: Xuemo, translated by J.C.Cleary
人的一生里，总该有一种高贵的心灵和姿态，对权力，对金钱，对地位，都应该这样。当满世界都趋之若鹜时，你应该对它淡淡一笑。只要你有了这样一颗不被欲望所缚的心灵，你就自然能活得自由自在。因为，所谓的“自在”，就是不为念头和现象所困，也不要刻意去束缚和压抑自己的心。(58-59页）
人们总是认为，束缚是外部世界强加在自己身上的东西，所以他们习惯于要求外部世界发生改变；而佛家则认为，束缚是人们认假成真后生起的诸多执著，是自己施加给自己的东西。所以，真正的佛家行者向往且追求的，永远都是自心的改变，而不是外部世界的改变。在他们的眼中，真正的“摆脱束缚”，应该是放下一切执著。（59页）
摘自《世界是心的倒影》，雪漠著
Golden sentence:
If you have this mind and spirit that is not bound by desires, then you will naturally be able to live freely and independently.
只要你有了这样一颗不被欲望所缚的心灵，你就自然能活得自由自在。
Words:
rank /ræŋk/ :N-VAR Someone's rank is the position or grade that they have in an organization. 职位; 级别 例：He eventually rose to the rank of captain.他最终升到了船长的职位。N-VAR Someone's rank is the social class, especially the high social class, that they belong to. (尤指较高的) 社会地位 例：He must be treated as a hostage of high rank, not as a common prisoner.他一定要作为一个高级人质而不是一般囚徒来对待。
scramble /ˈskræmbəl/ V-T/V-I If a number of people scramble for something, they compete energetically with each other for it. 争夺 例：More than three million fans are expected to scramble for tickets.预计会有三百万以上的歌迷抢购门票。
rushing about hastily in an undignified way
trap /træp/
V-T If you are trapped somewhere, something falls onto you or blocks your way and prevents you from moving or escaping. 困住
例：
The train was trapped underground by a fire.
列车被一场大火困在了地下。
deliberate [di'libərət]ADJ If you do something that is deliberate, you planned or decided to do it beforehand, and so it happens on purpose rather than by chance. 故意的 例：Witnesses say the firing was deliberate and sustained.目击者说这次射击是蓄意的，而且还持续了一段时间。
constrain /kənˈstreɪn/ V-T To constrain someone or something means to limit their development or force them to behave in a particular way. 限制; 迫使 例：Women are too often constrained by family commitments and by low expectations.女性往往受家庭职责及低期望值约束。
tie up :PHRASAL VERB When you tie something up, you fasten string or rope around it so that it is firm or secure. 系牢; 扎紧 例：He tied up the bag and took it outside.他把袋子扎紧，然后拿到了外面。
bondage /ˈbɒndɪdʒ/
N-UNCOUNT Bondage is the condition of not being free because you are strongly influenced by something or someone. 束缚
例：
All people, she said, lived their lives in bondage to hunger, pain and lust.
她说所有人都生活在饥饿、痛苦和欲望的束缚之中。
force /fɔːs/
V-T If someone forces something on or upon you, they make you accept or use it when you would prefer not to. 强加 例：To force this agreement on the nation is wrong.把这项协议强加于这个国家是错误的。
impose /ɪmˈpəʊz/ V-T If you impose your opinions or beliefs on other people, you try and make people accept them as a rule or as a model to copy. 把 (观点、信仰等) 强加于
例：
Parents should beware of imposing their own tastes on their children.
父母应该提防把自己的兴趣强加给孩子。
attachment /əˈtætʃmənt/ N-VAR If you have an attachment to someone or something, you are fond of them or loyal to them. 爱慕; 忠诚
例：As a teenager she formed a strong attachment to one of her teachers.十几岁时她曾对自己的一位老师产生了强烈的爱慕之情。
bound /baʊnd/
V-T PASSIVE If someone's life or situation is bounded by certain things, those are its most important aspects and it is limited or restricted by them. 约束 例：Our lives are bounded by work, family and television.我们的生活受到工作、家庭及电视的约束。
Remarks:
Only slaves seek for freedom.
The question is
We are the slaves to whom and what?
Is there really something and someone forces their wills on you,
You have no choice, but either obey or rebel?
(^_^)(^_^)(^_^)