第十章：釋放偏見
Chapter 10: Release Prejudice
當我們越來越接近遠方那顆明亮的球體時，我再次感受到阻力。某種新事物正拖慢我的進程，直到我無法再向前走。
As we moved closer to the bright sphere in the distance, I felt resistance again. Something new was slowing my progress until I could not move forward.
我看向 Drake 說：「發生了什麼事？」他回答：「往內深處看看，你看見了什麼？」
I looked to Drake. “What’s happening?” “Look deep inside. What do you see?”
我搜尋自己的靈魂，發現裡面隱藏著一抹黑暗。那黑暗既不猛烈也不深沉，卻如此根深蒂固，以致我甚至未曾察覺它的存在。它正在阻礙我的前行，而若要繼續前進，我必須將它釋放。
I searched my soul and found a darkness there. It wasn’t a strong or deep darkness, but it was so deeply ingrained that I didn’t even realize it was there. It was holding me back, and I had to let it go if I was to move on.
偏見。那是我第一次意識到自己對其他人心中的偏見有多深——不足以讓我徹底憎恨他們，但卻足以讓我僅憑看一眼或聽一聲便急於評判和分類。這讓我感到十分震驚。回首一生，我一直認為自己被養成了寬容並接納所有人，我總以為自己是認識的最不帶偏見的人，可現如今，我的心中竟隱約刺入了一絲黑暗的偏見，我感到既尷尬又羞愧，完全不知道自己竟如此。
Prejudice. For the first time, I realized the depth of my prejudice against other human beings. Not enough for me to hate them, but enough to judge and categorize them by simply looking at or hearing them. I was dismayed. Throughout my life, I thought I had been raised to be tolerant and accepting of everyone. I always felt that I was the least prejudiced person I knew, yet, here I was with a dark sliver of prejudice piercing my heart. I was embarrassed, and ashamed. I’d had no idea.
「我應該怎麼做才能擺脫這種偏見呢？」
“What do I have to do to get rid of this?”
Drake 解釋道：「你的文化、社會和家庭都在你內心深處編程了偏見的弱點。唯一擺脫這一切的方法，就是去理解那最基本的原則。」
“Your culture, society, and family have all programmed the weakness of prejudice deep inside of you,” Drake explained. “The only way to shed this is to understand the most basic principle of all.”
「而那基本原則是什麼？」
“And that is?”
「上帝創造了所有生命。咱們皆為一體——遠比你所想象的還要緊密。當我們對上帝的創造物產生不喜、憎恨或偏見時，其實是在向造物主及向自己傳遞那些能量。憎恨或批判任何人，就等於在憎恨或評判你自己。」
“God created all life. We are all one—far more than you realize. When we feel dislike, hate, or prejudice towards any of God’s creations, we are really directing those energies to our Creator and back to ourselves. To hate or judge anyone is to hate or judge yourself.”
「可是……」我還在試圖為自己的偏見找藉口，想找點藉口來否定那些我不同意、曾傷害我、讓我畏懼的人，正當我這麼想時，我突然領悟了。
“But…” I was still trying to justify my prejudice. I wanted to find some excuse to disapprove of those I didn’t agree with, those who hurt me, those who scared me, those who… and then I saw it.
「偏見，其實就是對愛的保留，對吧？」
“Prejudice is a form of withholding love, isn’t it?”
Drake 微笑著點頭說：「現在你開始明白了。當別人持有錯誤觀念或做出不對的事時，你不必認同他們的行為。我知道，把這種不認同蔓延到個人身上，去對他們的價值、甚至他們的命運做出假設，是相當誘人的。」
Drake smiled and nodded. “Now you’re getting it. When people have wrong ideas, or do wrong things, you don’t have to approve of their actions. I know it’s enticing to let that disapproval spread to the person; to make assumptions about them, their values, even their worth and their destiny.”
「而我們靠著專注於愛，才能戰勝偏見。」我能感覺到我的回答令他滿意。
“And we overcome prejudice by focusing on love.” I could sense that my answer pleased him.
「正是如此。當你無條件地去愛一個人時，你會看到他真正的本質；你會牢記他是上帝的孩子。即使他們有缺陷，他們仍擁有神聖的本性。當你以上帝的眼光看待他們時，你所加在他們身上的所有標籤就會煙消雲散。偏見，其實只不過是標籤，而標籤正是凡人固有的軟弱所在。」
“Exactly. When you love someone unconditionally, you see them as they really are. You keep foremost in your mind that they are a child of God. They have a divine nature, even with their flaws. When you see someone as God sees them, all of the labels that you put on them just fade away. That’s really all prejudice is: labels. And labels are a mortal weakness.”
我仔細檢視自己的內心，努力清除一生中積累的任何偏見判斷。2001 年 9 月 11 日那慘痛的事件仍歷歷在目，我才意識到自己曾因此對某整個族群建立了深深的不信任。我曾以籠統的看法評判無數個靈魂，把少數人的行為，錯誤地歸咎於他們每一個人的本性。
I searched my heart, striving to root out any prejudicial judgments I had made over the course of my life. The horrific events of September 11, 2001, were still fresh in my memory. I realized how much mistrust I had built up against an entire segment of humanity because of that. I had thought of millions of individual souls in broad terms and attributed the actions of a few to the intentions of each and every one of them.
Drake 看到我陷入掙扎，便在我心中傳遞了一幅美好的記憶畫面，那是我在人世間時深藏心底的一段回憶。那時，我的侄子剛剛出生，而我正是第一次將他抱在懷裡。他那嬌小、脆弱、完美無瑕的樣子，就像是從天堂降臨的純真與無限潛能。我的心因此充滿了喜悅，對懷中這奇蹟般的生命溢滿了無盡的愛。
Drake saw that I was struggling and shared an image with my mind, a cherished memory from my time on Earth. My nephew had just been born, and I was holding him for the very first time. He was so small, so fragile, and so perfect. Here was precious innocence and magnificent potential fresh from the realms of heaven. My heart swelled with joy and couldn’t contain the love that I felt for this miracle in my arms.
我感受到 Drake 與我一同分享那份喜悅與溫暖，他問道：「如果你的侄子是在中東出生，而不是美國，你是否還會同樣愛他？」
I felt Drake share in the joy and warmth of that experience. He asked me, “What if your nephew had been born in the Middle East instead of the United States? Would you love him any less?”
我回答：「無論他身在何處，我都會愛他。」
“I would love him no matter where he was,” I said.
「即便他的膚色不同？或者是受著與你截然不同的信仰和教養？」
“Even if he had a different skin color? Or was raised with a different set of beliefs from you?”
我想起那一刻，他那細小的手緊握著我的手指，我對他的純愛油然而生，並回答：「一點也不會改變。」
I thought of the pure love I felt for him as his little hand gripped my finger. “Not one bit.”
「那如果他根本就不是你的侄子呢？這會改變你對他的看法嗎？」
“And what if he wasn’t even your nephew? Would that change his value?”
我試圖在腦海裡浮現另一種可能的答案，但對侄子的愛實在太深厚，我斷然回答：「不會。如果我能像當初見他出生那般認識他，我都會無條件地愛他。」
I tried to consider another answer, just for a fleeting moment, but the love I had for my nephew was too strong. “No. If I could know him as I knew him when he was born, I would love him no matter what.”
「世上每一個創造物都如同你的侄子一般，正是因為缺乏愛，使你從不同角度去看待它們。偏見取代了愛，如同一株醜陋的雜草扼殺了美麗的花朵。上帝從不懷有偏見，你若固執偏見，便無法真正回歸上帝的懷抱。」
“Every single creation is like your nephew. It’s only a lack of love that makes you see them in some other way. Prejudice replaces love. It is like an ugly weed that chokes out a beautiful flower. God has no prejudice. You cannot fully return to God while holding on to prejudice.”
「但是，那些拒絕真理的人呢？」
“But what about people who reject the truth?”
Drake 以深具意味的目光看著我說：「你是指那些拒絕真相的人，還是拒絕你宗教信仰的人呢？」
Drake gave me a knowing look. “Do you mean those who reject the truth, or those who reject your religious beliefs?”
「但這兩者不正是一樣的嗎？」
“But they’re the same thing, aren’t they?”
我意識到我們的前進已完全停滯，我們靜靜漂浮在無垠的太空中。Drake 挽著我的肩膀，在我心中展開一幅圖像，邊解釋道：
I was aware that our progress had completely stopped now, and we floated in the vastness of space. Drake put his arm around me and unfolded an image in my mind as he explained it to me.
「試想像有一百個人正坐在一座翠綠的山坡上，野花爭妍鬥麗。那是一個雨後明媚的春日，太陽剛剛從雲層中露面，伸展出溫暖的光線，在山谷對岸畫出一道完美的彩虹。這一百個人各自拿起紙筆，開始描述這道彩虹。你認為會有多少種截然不同的彩虹描述呢？」
“Imagine one hundred people sitting on a bright green hillside with wildflowers in full bloom. It’s a bright spring day after a fresh rain. The sun emerges from the clouds and stretches out its rays, creating a perfect rainbow on the far side of the valley. Each of those one hundred people grabs a piece of paper and a pen and starts describing that rainbow. How many different versions of that rainbow will be written down?”
「大概會有近一百種吧。」
“Probably close to a hundred.”
「一百種。雖然有些描述彼此間極為相似，但毫無一例會完全相同。不過，問題在於：無論描述得多麼巧妙、多麼詳盡，都無法讓你真正體驗到彩虹的奇妙，因為只有你親眼見過彩虹，才能真正明白它的模樣；而達到這一點的唯一途徑，就是通過上帝的愛。」
“One hundred. Some will be very similar to each other, but none of them will be exactly the same. But here’s the thing: no matter how good the description, no matter how thorough, none of the descriptions can let you fully experience the rainbow. Because the only way you can truly know what the rainbow looks like is to see the rainbow yourself. And the only way to do that is through God’s love.”
「所以，宗教就像那些試圖描述彩虹的人一樣？」
“So, religion is like one of those people trying to describe the rainbow?”
「正是如此。會有少數人能夠準確地描述彩虹，因此若你從未見過彩虹，一旦見到，就能立即辨認出來。」
“Exactly. There will be a few of those people who are going to describe the rainbow accurately, so if you’ve never seen a rainbow before, when you do, you will recognize it.”
「但那麼，為何那些純屬錯誤的教義、甚至跟彩虹毫不相干的描述，卻會滲入宗教之中？」
“But then how do teachings that are just plain wrong, descriptions that aren’t even part of the rainbow, get into religions?”
「凡是在宗教中出現偏見之處，都不是來自上帝。那正是凡人之作悄然滲透的痕跡。這並不意味著該宗教中就毫無真理可尋，只是錯誤的教義，如同園中滋生的雜草，已然生根發芽。文化與真理常常混淆不清，這種情形屢見不鮮，我在地上生活期間也曾親歷此事。此外，這也可能出自某些人借用自身形象，去構築他們心中的理想世界的心智。」
“Anywhere you find prejudice in a religion, it is not from God. That is where the work of mortals has crept in. That does not mean that there is no truth to be found in that religion, just that an untrue teaching has taken root, like a weed in the garden. It’s easy to confuse culture and truth; it happens all the time. I saw it during my own life on Earth. It could also be from the minds of people who are using their own image to create what they think an ideal world would be.”
「我該如何識別這其中的差異呢？」
“How can I recognize the difference?”
「偏見只會從負面情緒中滋長，絕不會來自正面情感。每當你感受到負面情緒——最常見的是羞愧和恐懼——那就不是上帝的訊號；而只要你感受到愛，那便是上帝所在之處。當宗教能夠影響並引導一個靈魂，讓他真誠地去愛上帝所有的創造物，特別是那些身處困境、與眾不同或飽受偏見之苦者，這正是宗教幫助人們提升頻率（Frequency）的時刻。」
“Prejudice only grows from negative emotions, never from positive ones. Any time you find negative emotions—most commonly shame and fear—those are not coming from God. Whenever you find love, that is where you will find God. Where religion influences and guides a soul towards authentically loving every one of God’s creations, especially those who are hurting, or different, or suffering from prejudice, that is when religion works to help people raise their frequency.”
「然後，他們便能親自見證真理。」
“And then they can see the truth themselves.”
「正是如此。不論你信從哪個宗教，你在人生中的首要使命，就是敞開心扉，接納上帝的愛，以便你能辨別出凡人之語與上帝之言。藉此你才能區分文化與上帝的愛，進而選擇愛。」
“Exactly. Your primary job in life, regardless of your religion, is to open your heart to God’s love, so that you can tell the difference between the words of mortals and the words of God. You can then tell the difference between culture and God’s love, and you can choose love.”
那一刻，也許是我人生中第一次真正渴望拋棄內心所有偏見，並以上帝對全人的無私之愛替代它們。幸運的是，我從小由母親扶養長大，學會了去愛每一個人，不論其背景或種族，這在很大程度上抵消了那些潛移默化進入我心靈的文化影響。然而，我仍曾因社會觀念的牽制，以少數人的惡行來評判整個族群。於是，我努力解開這些偏見的枷鎖。
At that moment, maybe for the first time ever, I truly wanted to release all of the prejudice in my heart and replace it with God’s love for everyone. Fortunately, I had been raised by my mother to love everyone, regardless of their background or race, and that had helped to counter much of the cultural influences that had crept into my mind. Still, I had fallen prey to societal influences where I judged many people by the evil actions of a few. I worked to release those prejudices, too.
在這個過程中，當我邀請上帝的光與愛融入自己時，我發現了另一種來自我成長文化環境的偏見——我曾以不同的生活方式來評定某些人的價值，尤其是根據他們的性取向。如今我深明，就算某人的性取向與我不同，也絕不意味著他在上帝眼中有所減損。上帝以同樣的愛看待我們每一個人；祂愛你每一根髮絲，愛你身上每一個皮膚細胞，對我們每一個人都是一視同仁。祂不會坐下來想：「這靈魂不夠好。」而是會說：「我愛這靈魂，我願助其戰勝任何試煉。」
Through the process, as I invited the light and love of God into me, I noticed another prejudice that the culture I was raised in had programmed into me. I had judged the worthiness of those who lived a different lifestyle, particularly one based on a person’s sexuality. Now I understood that, just because someone had a different sexuality than mine, it did not make them in any way less important to God. God loves every single one of us the same. He loves every hair on your head, He loves every skin cell on your body. He loves each and every one of us equally. He doesn’t sit there and think, “This is a bad soul.” He thinks, “I love this soul. I want to help love this soul through any trial it has.”
許多組織，包括某些宗教團體，因宗教、膚色、性取向、生活方式或信仰體系而選擇排擠、疏離他人。這固然是他們的特權，但這種選擇卻並非符合上帝的旨意。
Many organizations, including some religions, choose to ostracize and push away people because of religion, skin color, sexuality, lifestyle, or their belief systems. That’s their prerogative, of course, but that choice is not in accordance with God’s will.
經過一段時日與努力，我終於釋放了那最後束縛著我的偏見。我放下所有標籤，取而代之的是純粹的愛。我能感受到自己的頻率（Frequency）隨著愛意的提升而上升。
It took some time and effort, but I was able to release the last of the prejudice that was holding me back. I let go of all of the labels and replaced them with love. I could feel my frequency elevate to match my love.
Drake 給了我一個擁抱，我們重新踏上前往那顆隨著每一刻流逝而愈發壯大的光明球體的旅程。我開始辨認出它表面上閃爍的綠與藍兩色。
Drake gave me a hug, and we resumed our journey to the sphere of light in the distance that loomed larger with each passing moment. I began to discern greens and blues on the surface.
「那是一顆行星嗎？」我問道。「還是，那就是天堂？」
“Is that a planet?” I asked. “Or, is that heaven?”
「是的，那是一個天堂，」Drake 說，「不止一個，而且它同時也是一顆行星。」
“Yes, it is a heaven,” Drake said. “One of many. It is also a planet.”
「所以，天堂真的是一個實體的地方，而不僅僅是靈性領域嗎？」
“So, heaven is an actual physical place, not just spiritual?”
Drake 微笑著說：「沒錯，那是一個靈性的場所，當然，同時也是個實體存在。」
Drake smiled. “Yes, it is a spiritual place, and yes, of course, it is a physical place.”
「那究竟什麼才是天堂呢？」
“What exactly is heaven, then?”
「天堂是一處供靈魂去療癒、學習以及為進一步成長做好準備的所在。」
“Heaven is a place where souls can go to heal, to learn, and to prepare for further growth.”
「而且不只一個嗎？」
“And there’s more than one?”
「上帝的孩子需要多少個，就有多少個。」
“There are as many as God’s children need.”
第十章：釋放偏見
Chapter 10: Release Prejudice
當我們越來越接近遠處的明亮球體時，我再次感受到抵抗。某種新的力量在減緩我的進步，直到我無法再向前移動。
As we moved closer to the bright sphere in the distance, I felt resistance again. Something new was slowing my progress until I could not move forward.
我看向德瑞克。「發生了什麼事？」 「深入內心看看。你看到了什麼？」
I looked to Drake. “What’s happening?” “Look deep inside. What do you see?”
我搜尋自己的靈魂，發現那裡有一片黑暗。這並不是強烈或深沉的黑暗，但它根深蒂固，以至於我甚至沒有意識到它的存在。它在拖累我，如果我想要繼續前進，就必須放下它。
I searched my soul and found a darkness there. It wasn’t a strong or deep darkness, but it was so deeply ingrained that I didn’t even realize it was there. It was holding me back, and I had to let it go if I was to move on.
偏見。第一次，我意識到自己對其他人類的偏見有多深。這並不足以讓我仇恨他們，但足以讓我僅僅通過看或聽就對他們進行評判和分類。我感到沮喪。在我的一生中，我一直以為自己是被培養成包容和接受每個人的人。我總是覺得自己是我所認識的人中最不偏見的人，但此刻，我卻發現自己心中有一絲黑暗的偏見刺痛著我。我感到尷尬和羞愧。我完全沒有意識到。
Prejudice. For the first time, I realized the depth of my prejudice against other human beings. Not enough for me to hate them, but enough to judge and categorize them by simply looking at or hearing them. I was dismayed. Throughout my life, I thought I had been raised to be tolerant and accepting of everyone. I always felt that I was the least prejudiced person I knew, yet, here I was with a dark sliver of prejudice piercing my heart. I was embarrassed, and ashamed. I’d had no idea.
「我該怎麼做才能擺脫這個？」
“What do I have to do to get rid of this?”
「你的文化、社會和家庭都在你內心深處編程了偏見的弱點，」德瑞克解釋道。「擺脫這些的唯一方法就是理解最基本的原則。」
“Your culture, society, and family have all programmed the weakness of prejudice deep inside of you,” Drake explained. “The only way to shed this is to understand the most basic principle of all.”
「那是什麼？」
“And that is?”
「上帝創造了所有生命。我們都是一體的——遠比你意識到的要多。當我們對上帝的任何創造感到不喜歡、仇恨或偏見時，我們其實是在將這些能量指向我們的創造者，並回到自己身上。仇恨或評判任何人就是在仇恨或評判自己。」
“God created all life. We are all one—far more than you realize. When we feel dislike, hate, or prejudice towards any of God’s creations, we are really directing those energies to our Creator and back to ourselves. To hate or judge anyone is to hate or judge yourself.”
「但是……」我仍然試圖為自己的偏見辯解。我想找到一些藉口來不贊同那些我不同意見的人，那些傷害過我的人，那些讓我害怕的人，然後我看到了它。
“But…” I was still trying to justify my prejudice. I wanted to find some excuse to disapprove of those I didn’t agree with, those who hurt me, those who scared me, those who… and then I saw it.
「偏見是一種拒絕愛的表現，不是嗎？」
“Prejudice is a form of withholding love, isn’t it?”
德瑞克微笑著點頭。「現在你明白了。當人們有錯誤的想法或做錯事時，你不必贊同他們的行為。我知道讓那種不贊同的情緒擴散到那個人身上是很誘人的；對他們、他們的價值觀，甚至他們的價值和命運做出假設。」
Drake smiled and nodded. “Now you’re getting it. When people have wrong ideas, or do wrong things, you don’t have to approve of their actions. I know it’s enticing to let that disapproval spread to the person; to make assumptions about them, their values, even their worth and their destiny.”
「而我們通過專注於愛來克服偏見。」我能感受到我的回答讓他感到滿意。
“And we overcome prejudice by focusing on love.” I could sense that my answer pleased him.
「正是如此。當你無條件地愛某人時，你會看到他們真實的樣子。你始終記得他們是上帝的孩子。他們擁有神聖的本性，即使有缺陷。當你以上帝的眼光看待某人時，你對他們貼上的所有標籤都會消失。這就是偏見的本質：標籤。而標籤是一種凡人的弱點。」
“Exactly. When you love someone unconditionally, you see them as they really are. You keep foremost in your mind that they are a child of God. They have a divine nature, even with their flaws. When you see someone as God sees them, all of the labels that you put on them just fade away. That’s really all prejudice is: labels. And labels are a mortal weakness.”
我搜尋我的內心，努力根除在我一生中所做的任何偏見判斷。2001年9月11日的可怕事件仍然歷歷在目。我意識到因為那件事，我對整個人類的一部分積累了多少不信任。我曾經以廣泛的方式看待數百萬個個體靈魂，並將少數人的行為歸因於他們每一個人的意圖。
I searched my heart, striving to root out any prejudicial judgments I had made over the course of my life. The horrific events of September 11, 2001, were still fresh in my memory. I realized how much mistrust I had built up against an entire segment of humanity because of that. I had thought of millions of individual souls in broad terms and attributed the actions of a few to the intentions of each and every one of them.
德瑞克看到我在掙扎，於是與我的心靈分享了一幅畫面，那是我在地球上的珍貴回憶。我的侄子剛出生，我第一次抱著他。他是如此小巧、脆弱，卻又如此完美。這是來自天堂領域的珍貴純真和壯麗潛力。我的心因喜悅而膨脹，無法抑制我對這個奇蹟的愛。
Drake saw that I was struggling and shared an image with my mind, a cherished memory from my time on Earth. My nephew had just been born, and I was holding him for the very first time. He was so small, so fragile, and so perfect. Here was precious innocence and magnificent potential fresh from the realms of heaven. My heart swelled with joy and couldn’t contain the love that I felt for this miracle in my arms.
我感受到德瑞克也分享著那份喜悅和溫暖。他問我：「如果你的侄子是在中東出生，而不是在美國，你會不會少愛他一點？」
I felt Drake share in the joy and warmth of that experience. He asked me, “What if your nephew had been born in the Middle East instead of the United States? Would you love him any less?”
「無論他在哪裡，我都會愛他，」我說。
“I would love him no matter where he was,” I said.
「即使他的膚色不同？或者他是以與你不同的信仰長大的？」
“Even if he had a different skin color? Or was raised with a different set of beliefs from you?”
我想到當他的小手緊握著我的手指時，我對他的純粹愛。 「一點也不。」
I thought of the pure love I felt for him as his little hand gripped my finger. “Not one bit.”
「如果他甚至不是你的侄子呢？那會改變他的價值嗎？」
“And what if he wasn’t even your nephew? Would that change his value?”
我試著考慮另一個答案，只是一瞬間，但我對侄子的愛太強烈了。「不。如果我能像知道他出生時那樣認識他，我會無論如何都愛他。」
I tried to consider another answer, just for a fleeting moment, but the love I had for my nephew was too strong. “No. If I could know him as I knew him when he was born, I would love him no matter what.”
「每一個創造都像你的侄子。只有缺乏愛才會讓你以其他方式看待他們。偏見取代了愛。它就像一種醜陋的雜草，扼殺了一朵美麗的花。上帝沒有偏見。你無法在懷有偏見的同時完全回到上帝那裡。」
“Every single creation is like your nephew. It’s only a lack of love that makes you see them in some other way. Prejudice replaces love. It is like an ugly weed that chokes out a beautiful flower. God has no prejudice. You cannot fully return to God while holding on to prejudice.”
「但那些拒絕真理的人呢？」
“But what about people who reject the truth?”
德瑞克給了我一個了然的眼神。「你是指那些拒絕真理的人，還是那些拒絕你的宗教信仰的人？」
Drake gave me a knowing look. “Do you mean those who reject the truth, or those who reject your religious beliefs?”
「但它們不是同一回事嗎？」
“But they’re the same thing, aren’t they?”
我意識到我們的進展已經完全停止，現在我們漂浮在浩瀚的太空中。德瑞克把手臂搭在我肩上，並在我心中展開了一幅畫面，向我解釋。
I was aware that our progress had completely stopped now, and we floated in the vastness of space. Drake put his arm around me and unfolded an image in my mind as he explained it to me.
「想像一下，一百個人坐在一片明亮的綠色山坡上，野花盛開。這是一個剛下過雨的明亮春日。陽光從雲層中透出，伸展出它的光芒，在山谷的另一側形成了一道完美的彩虹。這一百個人每個人都拿起一張紙和一支筆，開始描述那道彩虹。會寫下多少種不同版本的彩虹呢？」
“Imagine one hundred people sitting on a bright green hillside with wildflowers in full bloom. It’s a bright spring day after a fresh rain. The sun emerges from the clouds and stretches out its rays, creating a perfect rainbow on the far side of the valley. Each of those one hundred people grabs a piece of paper and a pen and starts describing that rainbow. How many different versions of that rainbow will be written down?”
「可能接近一百種。」
“Probably close to a hundred.”
「一百種。有些會彼此非常相似，但沒有一種會完全相同。但問題是：無論描述多麼好，無論多麼詳盡，這些描述都無法讓你完全體驗到彩虹。因為你真正知道彩虹的樣子，唯一的方法就是親自去看彩虹。而做到這一點的唯一途徑就是通過上帝的愛。」
“One hundred. Some will be very similar to each other, but none of them will be exactly the same. But here’s the thing: no matter how good the description, no matter how thorough, none of the descriptions can let you fully experience the rainbow. Because the only way you can truly know what the rainbow looks like is to see the rainbow yourself. And the only way to do that is through God’s love.”
「所以，宗教就像那些人試圖描述彩虹嗎？」
“So, religion is like one of those people trying to describe the rainbow?”
「正是如此。會有一些人準確地描述彩虹，因此如果你從未見過彩虹，當你看到時，你會認出來。」
“Exactly. There will be a few of those people who are going to describe the rainbow accurately, so if you’ve never seen a rainbow before, when you do, you will recognize it.”
「但那麼那些完全錯誤的教義，甚至不屬於彩虹的描述，怎麼會進入宗教中呢？」
“But then how do teachings that are just plain wrong, descriptions that aren’t even part of the rainbow, get into religions?”
「在任何宗教中發現的偏見，絕不是來自上帝。那是凡人的工作潛入的地方。這並不意味著在那個宗教中找不到真理，只是某個不真實的教義扎根了，就像花園裡的雜草。文化和真理容易混淆；這種情況時常發生。我在自己在地球上的生活中也見過。這也可能來自那些利用自己形象創造他們認為理想世界的人們的思想。」
“Anywhere you find prejudice in a religion, it is not from God. That is where the work of mortals has crept in. That does not mean that there is no truth to be found in that religion, just that an untrue teaching has taken root, like a weed in the garden. It’s easy to confuse culture and truth; it happens all the time. I saw it during my own life on Earth. It could also be from the minds of people who are using their own image to create what they think an ideal world would be.”
「我該如何辨別差異？」
“How can I recognize the difference?”
「偏見只會從負面情緒中產生，永遠不會來自正面情緒。每當你發現負面情緒——最常見的是羞恥和恐懼——這些都不是來自上帝。每當你發現愛，那就是你會找到上帝的地方。當宗教影響並引導靈魂真誠地愛每一個上帝的創造，特別是那些受傷、不同或遭受偏見的人時，這就是宗教幫助人們提升頻率的時候。」
“Prejudice only grows from negative emotions, never from positive ones. Any time you find negative emotions—most commonly shame and fear—those are not coming from God. Whenever you find love, that is where you will find God. Where religion influences and guides a soul towards authentically loving every one of God’s creations, especially those who are hurting, or different, or suffering from prejudice, that is when religion works to help people raise their frequency.”
「然後他們就能自己看到真理。」
“And then they can see the truth themselves.”
「正是如此。無論你的宗教如何，你生活中的主要任務是向上帝的愛敞開心扉，這樣你就能分辨凡人的話語和上帝的話語。然後你就能區分文化和上帝的愛，並選擇愛。」
“Exactly. Your primary job in life, regardless of your religion, is to open your heart to God’s love, so that you can tell the difference between the words of mortals and the words of God. You can then tell the difference between culture and God’s love, and you can choose love.”
在那一刻，也許是第一次，我真的想要釋放心中所有的偏見，並用上帝對每個人的愛來取而代之。幸運的是，我的母親教導我愛每一個人，無論他們的背景或種族，這幫助我抵消了很多潛入我心中的文化影響。不過，我仍然受到社會影響的侵害，因為我根據少數人的邪惡行為來評判許多人。我也努力釋放那些偏見。
At that moment, maybe for the first time ever, I truly wanted to release all of the prejudice in my heart and replace it with God’s love for everyone. Fortunately, I had been raised by my mother to love everyone, regardless of their background or race, and that had helped to counter much of the cultural influences that had crept into my mind. Still, I had fallen prey to societal influences where I judged many people by the evil actions of a few. I worked to release those prejudices, too.
在這個過程中，當我邀請上帝的光和愛進入我時，我注意到另一種偏見，那是我所成長的文化編程進入我的。對於那些生活方式不同的人，特別是基於個人性取向的人，我曾經評判他們的價值。現在我明白了，僅僅因為某人的性取向與我不同，並不意味著他們對上帝來說就不重要。上帝同樣愛我們每一個人。他愛你頭上的每一根頭髮，愛你身體上的每一個皮膚細胞。他平等地愛著我們每一個人。他不會坐在那裡想，「這是一個壞靈魂。」他會想，「我愛這個靈魂。我想在它經歷任何考驗時幫助愛護這個靈魂。」
Through the process, as I invited the light and love of God into me, I noticed another prejudice that the culture I was raised in had programmed into me. I had judged the worthiness of those who lived a different lifestyle, particularly one based on a person’s sexuality. Now I understood that, just because someone had a different sexuality than mine, it did not make them in any way less important to God. God loves every single one of us the same. He loves every hair on your head, He loves every skin cell on your body. He loves each and every one of us equally. He doesn’t sit there and think, “This is a bad soul.” He thinks, “I love this soul. I want to help love this soul through any trial it has.”
許多組織，包括一些宗教，選擇因宗教、膚色、性取向、生活方式或信仰體系而排斥和推開人們。這當然是他們的特權，但這種選擇並不符合上帝的意志。
Many organizations, including some religions, choose to ostracize and push away people because of religion, skin color, sexuality, lifestyle, or their belief systems. That’s their prerogative, of course, but that choice is not in accordance with God’s will.
雖然花了一些時間和努力，但我最終能夠釋放住在我心中的最後一絲偏見。我放下了所有的標籤，並用愛來取而代之。我能感受到我的頻率提升，以匹配我的愛。
It took some time and effort, but I was able to release the last of the prejudice that was holding me back. I let go of all of the labels and replaced them with love. I could feel my frequency elevate to match my love.
德瑞克給了我一個擁抱，我們繼續朝著那個隨著時間推移而變得越來越大的光球前進。我開始辨別出表面上的綠色和藍色。
Drake gave me a hug, and we resumed our journey to the sphere of light in the distance that loomed larger with each passing moment. I began to discern greens and blues on the surface.
「那是一顆行星嗎？」我問。「還是，那是天堂？」
“Is that a planet?” I asked. “Or, is that heaven?”
「是的，那是一個天堂，」德瑞克說。「許多天堂中的一個。它也是一顆行星。」
“Yes, it is a heaven,” Drake said. “One of many. It is also a planet.”
「所以，天堂是一個實際的物理場所，而不僅僅是靈性的？」
“So, heaven is an actual physical place, not just spiritual?”
德瑞克微笑著說：「是的，它是一個靈性場所，當然，它也是一個物理場所。」
Drake smiled. “Yes, it is a spiritual place, and yes, of course, it is a physical place.”
「那麼，天堂究竟是什麼？」
“What exactly is heaven, then?”
「天堂是一個靈魂可以去療癒、學習和準備進一步成長的地方。」
“Heaven is a place where souls can go to heal, to learn, and to prepare for further growth.”
「而且不止一個？」
“And there’s more than one?”
「有多少就有多少，正如上帝的孩子所需的。」
“There are as many as God’s children need.”
第10章：釋放偏見
Chapter 10: Release Prejudice
當我們靠近遠處的明亮光球時，我再次感到一種阻力。某種新的東西在減緩我的進展，直到我無法前進。
As we moved closer to the bright sphere in the distance, I felt resistance again. Something new was slowing my progress until I could not move forward.
我看向德雷克。“發生了什麼？”“深入內心看看。你看到了什麼？”
I looked to Drake. “What’s happening?” “Look deep inside. What do you see?”
我搜尋自己的靈魂，發現那裡有一種黑暗。它不是強烈或深刻的黑暗，但它根深蒂固，以至於我甚至沒有意識到它的存在。它在拖累我，如果我想繼續前進，我必須放下它。
I searched my soul and found a darkness there. It wasn’t a strong or deep darkness, but it was so deeply ingrained that I didn’t even realize it was there. It was holding me back, and I had to let it go if I was to move on.
偏見。第一次，我意識到自己對其他人類的偏見有多深。雖然不足以讓我憎恨他們，但足以讓我僅僅通過看或聽就對他們進行判斷和分類。我感到沮喪。在我的一生中，我以為自己被教育成為一個包容和接受每個人的人。我一直覺得自己是我認識的人中最不帶偏見的人，然而，我卻有一根偏見的黑刺刺入我的心。我感到尷尬和羞愧。我完全不知道。
Prejudice. For the first time, I realized the depth of my prejudice against other human beings. Not enough for me to hate them, but enough to judge and categorize them by simply looking at or hearing them. I was dismayed. Throughout my life, I thought I had been raised to be tolerant and accepting of everyone. I always felt that I was the least prejudiced person I knew, yet, here I was with a dark sliver of prejudice piercing my heart. I was embarrassed, and ashamed. I’d had no idea.
“我該怎麼做才能擺脫這個？”
“What do I have to do to get rid of this?”
“你的文化、社會和家庭都在你內心深處植入了偏見的弱點，”德雷克解釋道。“唯一能擺脫這個的方法就是理解最基本的原則。”
“Your culture, society, and family have all programmed the weakness of prejudice deep inside of you,” Drake explained. “The only way to shed this is to understand the most basic principle of all.”
“那是什麼？”
“And that is?”
“上帝創造了所有生命。我們都是一體的——遠超過你的想像。當我們對上帝的任何創造物感到不喜歡、憎恨或偏見時，我們實際上是將這些能量指向我們的創造者，並回到我們自己身上。憎恨或判斷任何人就是憎恨或判斷自己。”
“God created all life. We are all one—far more than you realize. When we feel dislike, hate, or prejudice towards any of God’s creations, we are really directing those energies to our Creator and back to ourselves. To hate or judge anyone is to hate or judge yourself.”
“但是……”我仍然試圖為我的偏見辯護。我想找個藉口來不贊同那些我不同意的人，那些傷害我的人，那些讓我害怕的人，那些……然後我看到了。
“But…” I was still trying to justify my prejudice. I wanted to find some excuse to disapprove of those I didn’t agree with, those who hurt me, those who scared me, those who… and then I saw it.
“偏見是一種拒絕愛的形式，不是嗎？”
“Prejudice is a form of withholding love, isn’t it?”
德雷克微笑著點頭。“現在你明白了。當人們有錯誤的想法或做錯事時，你不必認可他們的行為。我知道讓這種不贊同蔓延到個人身上是很誘人的；去對他們、他們的價值觀，甚至他們的價值和命運做出假設。”
Drake smiled and nodded. “Now you’re getting it. When people have wrong ideas, or do wrong things, you don’t have to approve of their actions. I know it’s enticing to let that disapproval spread to the person; to make assumptions about them, their values, even their worth and their destiny.”
“我們通過專注於愛來克服偏見。”我感覺到我的答案讓他很高興。
“And we overcome prejudice by focusing on love.” I could sense that my answer pleased him.
“正是如此。當你無條件地愛某人時，你會看到他們的真實樣子。你會牢記他們是上帝的孩子。他們有神聖的本性，即使有缺陷。當你像上帝那樣看待某人時，你給他們貼的所有標籤都會消失。這就是偏見的本質：標籤。而標籤是凡人的弱點。”
“Exactly. When you love someone unconditionally, you see them as they really are. You keep foremost in your mind that they are a child of God. They have a divine nature, even with their flaws. When you see someone as God sees them, all of the labels that you put on them just fade away. That’s really all prejudice is: labels. And labels are a mortal weakness.”
我搜尋自己的心靈，努力根除我一生中做出的任何偏見判斷。2001年9月11日的恐怖事件仍然記憶猶新。我意識到自己因為那件事對整個人類群體建立了多少不信任。我曾以廣泛的方式看待數百萬個個體靈魂，並將少數人的行為歸咎於他們每一個人的意圖。
I searched my heart, striving to root out any prejudicial judgments I had made over the course of my life. The horrific events of September 11, 2001, were still fresh in my memory. I realized how much mistrust I had built up against an entire segment of humanity because of that. I had thought of millions of individual souls in broad terms and attributed the actions of a few to the intentions of each and every one of them.
德雷克看到我在掙扎，於是與我的心靈分享了一個圖像，那是我在地球上的一段珍貴回憶。我的侄子剛出生，我第一次抱著他。他是如此渺小，如此脆弱，如此完美。這是來自天堂的珍貴純真和偉大潛力。我的心充滿了喜悅，無法抑制我對這個奇蹟的愛。
Drake saw that I was struggling and shared an image with my mind, a cherished memory from my time on Earth. My nephew had just been born, and I was holding him for the very first time. He was so small, so fragile, and so perfect. Here was precious innocence and magnificent potential fresh from the realms of heaven. My heart swelled with joy and couldn’t contain the love that I felt for this miracle in my arms.
我感受到德雷克分享了這段經歷的喜悅和溫暖。他問我：“如果你的侄子是在中東而不是美國出生的，你會不會少愛他？”
I felt Drake share in the joy and warmth of that experience. He asked me, “What if your nephew had been born in the Middle East instead of the United States? Would you love him any less?”
“無論他在哪裡，我都會愛他，”我說。
“I would love him no matter where he was,” I said.
“即使他有不同的膚色？或者他被養育的信仰與你不同？”
“Even if he had a different skin color? Or was raised with a different set of beliefs from you?”
我想到當他的小手握住我的手指時我感受到的純粹的愛。“一點也不會。”
I thought of the pure love I felt for him as his little hand gripped my finger. “Not one bit.”
“如果他甚至不是你的侄子呢？這會改變他的價值嗎？”
“And what if he wasn’t even your nephew? Would that change his value?”
我試圖考慮另一個答案，只是一瞬間，但我對侄子的愛太強烈了。“不。如果我能像認識他出生時那樣認識他，我會無論如何都愛他。”
I tried to consider another answer, just for a fleeting moment, but the love I had for my nephew was too strong. “No. If I could know him as I knew him when he was born, I would love him no matter what.”
“每一個創造物都像你的侄子。只是缺乏愛讓你以其他方式看待他們。偏見取代了愛。它就像一株醜陋的雜草，扼殺了一朵美麗的花。上帝沒有偏見。當你抱著偏見時，你無法完全回到上帝身邊。”
“Every single creation is like your nephew. It’s only a lack of love that makes you see them in some other way. Prejudice replaces love. It is like an ugly weed that chokes out a beautiful flower. God has no prejudice. You cannot fully return to God while holding on to prejudice.”
“但那些拒絕真理的人呢？”
“But what about people who reject the truth?”
德雷克給了我一個知曉的眼神。“你是指那些拒絕真理的人，還是那些拒絕你的宗教信仰的人？”
Drake gave me a knowing look. “Do you mean those who reject the truth, or those who reject your religious beliefs?”
“但它們不是一樣的嗎？”
“But they’re the same thing, aren’t they?”
我意識到我們的進展已經完全停止，我們漂浮在廣闊的太空中。德雷克摟著我，並在我心中展開了一幅畫面，向我解釋。
I was aware that our progress had completely stopped now, and we floated in the vastness of space. Drake put his arm around me and unfolded an image in my mind as he explained it to me.
“想像有一百個人坐在一個開滿野花的明亮綠色山坡上。這是一個在新雨後的明亮春日。太陽從雲中露出，伸展它的光芒，在山谷的另一邊創造出一個完美的彩虹。這一百個人中的每一個都拿起一張紙和一支筆，開始描述那道彩虹。會有多少不同版本的彩虹被寫下來？”
“Imagine one hundred people sitting on a bright green hillside with wildflowers in full bloom. It’s a bright spring day after a fresh rain. The sun emerges from the clouds and stretches out its rays, creating a perfect rainbow on the far side of the valley. Each of those one hundred people grabs a piece of paper and a pen and starts describing that rainbow. How many different versions of that rainbow will be written down?”
“可能接近一百個。”
“Probably close to a hundred.”
“一百個。有些會非常相似，但沒有一個會完全相同。但重點是：無論描述多麼好，無論多麼詳盡，沒有一個描述能讓你完全體驗彩虹。因為唯一能真正知道彩虹樣子的方法就是親自看到彩虹。而唯一能做到這一點的方法是通過上帝的愛。”
“One hundred. Some will be very similar to each other, but none of them will be exactly the same. But here’s the thing: no matter how good the description, no matter how thorough, none of the descriptions can let you fully experience the rainbow. Because the only way you can truly know what the rainbow looks like is to see the rainbow yourself. And the only way to do that is through God’s love.”
“所以，宗教就像那些試圖描述彩虹的人之一？”
“So, religion is like one of those people trying to describe the rainbow?”
“正是如此。會有一些人能準確描述彩虹，所以如果你從未見過彩虹，當你見到時，你會認出它。”
“Exactly. There will be a few of those people who are going to describe the rainbow accurately, so if you’ve never seen a rainbow before, when you do, you will recognize it.”
“但那麼那些完全錯誤的教義，那些甚至不屬於彩虹的描述，怎麼會進入宗教？”
“But then how do teachings that are just plain wrong, descriptions that aren’t even part of the rainbow, get into religions?”
“任何你在宗教中發現偏見的地方，都不是來自上帝。那是凡人的工作滲透進來的地方。這並不意味著在那個宗教中找不到真理，只是有一個不真實的教義像花園裡的雜草一樣生根。文化和真理很容易混淆；這種情況經常發生。我在我自己的地球生活中也見過。它也可能來自那些用自己的形象創造他們認為理想世界的人們的思想。”
“Anywhere you find prejudice in a religion, it is not from God. That is where the work of mortals has crept in. That does not mean that there is no truth to be found in that religion, just that an untrue teaching has taken root, like a weed in the garden. It’s easy to confuse culture and truth; it happens all the time. I saw it during my own life on Earth. It could also be from the minds of people who are using their own image to create what they think an ideal world would be.”
“我怎麼能辨別這兩者的區別？”
“How can I recognize the difference?”
“偏見只會從負面情緒中滋生，絕不會從正面情緒中滋生。任何時候你發現負面情緒——最常見的是羞愧和恐懼——那些都不是來自上帝。每當你找到愛，那就是你會找到上帝的地方。當宗教影響和引導靈魂去真誠地愛上帝的每一個創造物，特別是那些受傷的、不同的或遭受偏見的人時，那就是宗教幫助人們提升他們頻率的時候。”
“Prejudice only grows from negative emotions, never from positive ones. Any time you find negative emotions—most commonly shame and fear—those are not coming from God. Whenever you find love, that is where you will find God. Where religion influences and guides a soul towards authentically loving every one of God’s creations, especially those who are hurting, or different, or suffering from prejudice, that is when religion works to help people raise their frequency.”
“然後他們可以自己看到真理。”
“And then they can see the truth themselves.”
“正是如此。無論你的宗教信仰如何，你在人生中的主要任務是敞開心扉接受上帝的愛，這樣你就能分辨出凡人的話語和上帝的話語之間的區別。然後你可以分辨出文化和上帝的愛之間的區別，你可以選擇愛。”
“Exactly. Your primary job in life, regardless of your religion, is to open your heart to God’s love, so that you can tell the difference between the words of mortals and the words of God. You can then tell the difference between culture and God’s love, and you can choose love.”
在那一刻，也許是有史以來第一次，我真正想要釋放我心中的所有偏見，用上帝對每一個人的愛來取代它。幸運的是，我的母親從小就教導我愛每一個人，無論他們的背景或種族如何，這幫助我抵消了許多滲入我心靈的文化影響。然而，我仍然因社會影響而對許多人進行了判斷，這些判斷是基於少數人的邪惡行為。我也努力釋放那些偏見。
At that moment, maybe for the first time ever, I truly wanted to release all of the prejudice in my heart and replace it with God’s love for everyone. Fortunately, I had been raised by my mother to love everyone, regardless of their background or race, and that had helped to counter much of the cultural influences that had crept into my mind. Still, I had fallen prey to societal influences where I judged many people by the evil actions of a few. I worked to release those prejudices, too.
在這個過程中，當我邀請上帝的光和愛進入我內心時，我注意到另一種偏見是我所成長的文化中植入的。我曾經根據一個人的性取向來判斷那些生活方式不同的人是否有價值。現在我明白了，僅僅因為某人的性取向與我不同，並不意味著他們在上帝眼中不重要。上帝愛我們每一個人都是一樣的。他愛你頭上的每一根頭髮，他愛你身上的每一個皮膚細胞。他平等地愛我們每一個人。他不會坐在那裡想，“這是一個壞靈魂。”他會想，“我愛這個靈魂。我想幫助愛這個靈魂，無論它有什麼考驗。”
Through the process, as I invited the light and love of God into me, I noticed another prejudice that the culture I was raised in had programmed into me. I had judged the worthiness of those who lived a different lifestyle, particularly one based on a person’s sexuality. Now I understood that, just because someone had a different sexuality than mine, it did not make them in any way less important to God. God loves every single one of us the same. He loves every hair on your head, He loves every skin cell on your body. He loves each and every one of us equally. He doesn’t sit there and think, “This is a bad soul.” He thinks, “I love this soul. I want to help love this soul through any trial it has.”
許多組織，包括一些宗教，選擇因宗教、膚色、性取向、生活方式或信仰體系而排斥和推開人們。當然，這是他們的特權，但這種選擇不符合上帝的旨意。
Many organizations, including some religions, choose to ostracize and push away people because of religion, skin color, sexuality, lifestyle, or their belief systems. That’s their prerogative, of course, but that choice is not in accordance with God’s will.
這需要一些時間和努力，但我最終能夠釋放那些拖累我的最後一點偏見。我放下了所有的標籤，用愛取而代之。我感覺到我的頻率提升以匹配我的愛。
It took some time and effort, but I was able to release the last of the prejudice that was holding me back. I let go of all of the labels and replaced them with love. I could feel my frequency elevate to match my love.
德雷克給了我一個擁抱，我們繼續前往遠處的光球，隨著每一刻的過去，它變得越來越大。我開始辨識出表面的綠色和藍色。
Drake gave me a hug, and we resumed our journey to the sphere of light in the distance that loomed larger with each passing moment. I began to discern greens and blues on the surface.
“那是一顆行星嗎？”我問。“還是，那是天堂？”
“Is that a planet?” I asked. “Or, is that heaven?”
“是的，那是一個天堂，”德雷克說。“眾多中的一個。它也是一顆行星。”
“Yes, it is a heaven,” Drake said. “One of many. It is also a planet.”
“所以，天堂是一個實際的物理地方，而不僅僅是精神上的？”
“So, heaven is an actual physical place, not just spiritual?”
德雷克微笑著說：“是的，它是一個精神上的地方，當然，它也是一個物理上的地方。”
Drake smiled. “Yes, it is a spiritual place, and yes, of course, it is a physical place.”
“那麼，天堂到底是什麼？”
“What exactly is heaven, then?”
“天堂是一個靈魂可以去療癒、學習和準備進一步成長的地方。”
“Heaven is a place where souls can go to heal, to learn, and to prepare for further growth.”
“不止一個嗎？”
“And there’s more than one?”
“有多少上帝的孩子需要，就有多少。”
“There are as many as God’s children need.”
第十章：釋放偏見
Chapter 10: Release Prejudice
當我們越來越靠近遠處的明亮光球時，我再次感到阻力。某種新的東西正在減緩我的進展，直到我無法繼續前進。
As we moved closer to the bright sphere in the distance, I felt resistance again. Something new was slowing my progress until I could not move forward.
我看向德雷克。「怎麼回事？」「深入內心看看。你看到了什麼？」
I looked to Drake. “What’s happening?” “Look deep inside. What do you see?”
我檢視自己的靈魂，發現那裡有一片黑暗。它不是很強烈或很深的黑暗，但它根深蒂固，我甚至沒意識到它的存在。它在阻礙我，如果我想繼續前進，我必須放手。
I searched my soul and found a darkness there. It wasn’t a strong or deep darkness, but it was so deeply ingrained that I didn’t even realize it was there. It was holding me back, and I had to let it go if I was to move on.
偏見。我第一次意識到自己對其他人的偏見有多深。雖然不足以讓我恨他們，但足以讓我僅僅通過看或聽就對他們進行判斷和分類。我感到震驚。在我一生中，我以為自己被教導要包容和接納每個人。我總覺得自己是我認識的最沒有偏見的人，然而，現在我心裡卻有一絲黑暗的偏見刺穿了我的心。我感到尷尬和羞恥。我完全沒想到。
Prejudice. For the first time, I realized the depth of my prejudice against other human beings. Not enough for me to hate them, but enough to judge and categorize them by simply looking at or hearing them. I was dismayed. Throughout my life, I thought I had been raised to be tolerant and accepting of everyone. I always felt that I was the least prejudiced person I knew, yet, here I was with a dark sliver of prejudice piercing my heart. I was embarrassed, and ashamed. I’d had no idea.
「我要怎麼做才能擺脫這個？」
“What do I have to do to get rid of this?”
「你的文化、社會和家庭都在你內心深處植入了偏見的弱點，」德雷克解釋說。「擺脫它的唯一方法是理解所有原則中最基本的原則。」
“Your culture, society, and family have all programmed the weakness of prejudice deep inside of you,” Drake explained. “The only way to shed this is to understand the most basic principle of all.”
「那是什麼？」
“And that is?”
「上帝創造了所有生命。我們是一體的——遠超你的想像。當我們對上帝的任何創造物感到不喜歡、仇恨或偏見時，我們實際上是在將這些能量指向我們的創造者，並反射到自己身上。恨或評判任何人，就是恨或評判自己。」
“God created all life. We are all one—far more than you realize. When we feel dislike, hate, or prejudice towards any of God’s creations, we are really directing those energies to our Creator and back to ourselves. To hate or judge anyone is to hate or judge yourself.”
「但是……」我仍在試圖為我的偏見找理由。我想找到一些藉口來不贊同那些我不認同的人，那些傷害我的人，那些讓我害怕的人，那些……然後我明白了。
“But…” I was still trying to justify my prejudice. I wanted to find some excuse to disapprove of those I didn’t agree with, those who hurt me, those who scared me, those who… and then I saw it.
「偏見是一種剋制愛的形式，對嗎？」
“Prejudice is a form of withholding love, isn’t it?”
德雷克微笑著點點頭。「現在你明白了。當人們有錯誤的想法或做錯事時，你不必贊同他們的行為。我知道讓這種不贊同擴散到個人身上很誘人；對他們、他們的價值觀，甚至他們的價值和命運做出假設。」
Drake smiled and nodded. “Now you’re getting it. When people have wrong ideas, or do wrong things, you don’t have to approve of their actions. I know it’s enticing to let that disapproval spread to the person; to make assumptions about them, their values, even their worth and their destiny.”
「我們通過專注於愛來克服偏見。」我能感覺到我的回答讓他滿意。
“And we overcome prejudice by focusing on love.” I could sense that my answer pleased him.
「正是如此。當你無條件地愛一個人時，你會看到他們的真實面貌。你會始終記住他們是上帝的孩子。他們有神聖的本質，即使有缺陷。當你像上帝一樣看待某人時，你給他們貼上的所有標籤都會消失。偏見其實就是標籤。而標籤是凡人的弱點。」
“Exactly. When you love someone unconditionally, you see them as they really are. You keep foremost in your mind that they are a child of God. They have a divine nature, even with their flaws. When you see someone as God sees them, all of the labels that you put on them just fade away. That’s really all prejudice is: labels. And labels are a mortal weakness.”
我檢視自己的心，試圖根除我一生中做出的任何偏見判斷。2001年9月11日的可怕事件仍然歷歷在目。我意識到因為那件事，我對整個人類的一部分建立了多少不信任。我以廣泛的術語思考了數百萬個個體靈魂，並將少數人的行為歸因於每個人的意圖。
I searched my heart, striving to root out any prejudicial judgments I had made over the course of my life. The horrific events of September 11, 2001, were still fresh in my memory. I realized how much mistrust I had built up against an entire segment of humanity because of that. I had thought of millions of individual souls in broad terms and attributed the actions of a few to the intentions of each and every one of them.
德雷克看到我正在掙扎，與我分享了一個我地球時期的珍貴記憶。我的侄子剛出生，我第一次抱著他。他是那麼小，那麼脆弱，那麼完美。這裡是來自天堂的珍貴純真和巨大潛能。我的心充滿喜悅，無法抑制我對這個懷中奇蹟的愛。
Drake saw that I was struggling and shared an image with my mind, a cherished memory from my time on Earth. My nephew had just been born, and I was holding him for the very first time. He was so small, so fragile, and so perfect. Here was precious innocence and magnificent potential fresh from the realms of heaven. My heart swelled with joy and couldn’t contain the love that I felt for this miracle in my arms.
我感受到德雷克分享了那份喜悅和溫暖。他問我：「如果你的侄子出生在中東而不是美國，你會不會少愛他一點？」
I felt Drake share in the joy and warmth of that experience. He asked me, “What if your nephew had been born in the Middle East instead of the United States? Would you love him any less?”
「無論他在哪裡，我都會愛他，」我說。
“I would love him no matter where he was,” I said.
「即使他的膚色不同？或者被灌輸與你不同的信仰？」
“Even if he had a different skin color? Or was raised with a different set of beliefs from you?”
我想起他小手握住我手指時我感受到的純粹愛。「一點也不會。」
I thought of the pure love I felt for him as his little hand gripped my finger. “Not one bit.”
「如果他甚至不是你的侄子，會改變他的價值嗎？」
“And what if he wasn’t even your nephew? Would that change his value?”
我試圖考慮另一個答案，哪怕只是一瞬間，但對我侄子的愛太強烈了。「不會。如果我能像他出生時那樣了解他，無論如何我都會愛他。」
I tried to consider another answer, just for a fleeting moment, but the love I had for my nephew was too strong. “No. If I could know him as I knew him when he was born, I would love him no matter what.”
「每一個創造物都像你的侄子。只有缺乏愛才會讓你以其他方式看待他們。偏見取代了愛。它就像一株醜陋的雜草，扼殺了美麗的花朵。上帝沒有偏見。只要你還抱持偏見，你就無法完全回歸上帝。」
“Every single creation is like your nephew. It’s only a lack of love that makes you see them in some other way. Prejudice replaces love. It is like an ugly weed that chokes out a beautiful flower. God has no prejudice. You cannot fully return to God while holding on to prejudice.”
「那那些拒絕真理的人呢？」
“But what about people who reject the truth?”
德雷克給了我一個會意的眼神。「你是說那些拒絕真理的人，還是那些拒絕你的宗教信仰的人？」
Drake gave me a knowing look. “Do you mean those who reject the truth, or those who reject your religious beliefs?”
「它們不是一回事嗎？」
“But they’re the same thing, aren’t they?”
我意識到我們的進展現在完全停滯了，我們漂浮在廣袤的太空中。德雷克把手臂搭在我肩上，在我腦海中展開了一個畫面，邊解釋邊說。
I was aware that our progress had completely stopped now, and we floated in the vastness of space. Drake put his arm around me and unfolded an image in my mind as he explained it to me.
「想像一百個人坐在一個鮮綠色的山坡上，野花盛開。這是一個清新的春日，剛下過雨。太陽從雲中出來，伸展出光芒，在山谷遠處形成一道完美的彩虹。這一百個人每人拿出一張紙和一支筆，開始描述那道彩虹。會有多少不同的彩虹版本被寫下來？」
“Imagine one hundred people sitting on a bright green hillside with wildflowers in full bloom. It’s a bright spring day after a fresh rain. The sun emerges from the clouds and stretches out its rays, creating a perfect rainbow on the far side of the valley. Each of those one hundred people grabs a piece of paper and a pen and starts describing that rainbow. How many different versions of that rainbow will be written down?”
「可能接近一百種。」
“Probably close to a hundred.”
「一百種。有些會非常相似，但沒有一個會完全相同。但關鍵是：無論描述得多好、多詳盡，沒有一個描述能讓你完全體驗彩虹。因為唯一能真正知道彩虹模樣的方法是親眼看到彩虹。而做到這一點的唯一方法是通過上帝的愛。」
“One hundred. Some will be very similar to each other, but none of them will be exactly the same. But here’s the thing: no matter how good the description, no matter how thorough, none of the descriptions can let you fully experience the rainbow. Because the only way you can truly know what the rainbow looks like is to see the rainbow yourself. And the only way to do that is through God’s love.”
「所以，宗教就像那些試圖描述彩虹的人之一？」
“So, religion is like one of those people trying to describe the rainbow?”
「正是如此。有些人會非常準確地描述彩虹，所以如果你從未見過彩虹，當你看到時，你會認出它。」
“Exactly. There will be a few of those people who are going to describe the rainbow accurately, so if you’ve never seen a rainbow before, when you do, you will recognize it.”
「但那些完全錯誤的教義，那些甚至不是彩虹一部分的描述，怎麼會進入宗教？」
“But then how do teachings that are just plain wrong, descriptions that aren’t even part of the rainbow, get into religions?”
「只要你在宗教中發現偏見，那就不是來自上帝。那是凡人的工作滲透進來的。這並不意味著那個宗教沒有真理，只是錯誤的教義像花園中的雜草一樣扎根。文化和真理很容易混淆；這種事經常發生。我在地球上的生活中也見過。還可能來自那些用自己的形象創造他們認為理想世界的人的頭腦。」
“Anywhere you find prejudice in a religion, it is not from God. That is where the work of mortals has crept in. That does not mean that there is no truth to be found in that religion, just that an untrue teaching has taken root, like a weed in the garden. It’s easy to confuse culture and truth; it happens all the time. I saw it during my own life on Earth. It could also be from the minds of people who are using their own image to create what they think an ideal world would be.”
「我要怎麼辨別差異？」
“How can I recognize the difference?”
「偏見只從負面情緒中滋生，永遠不會從正面情緒中產生。只要你發現負面情緒——最常見的是羞恥和恐懼——那些不是來自上帝。只要你發現愛，那就是你找到上帝的地方。當宗教影響並引導靈魂真誠地愛上帝的每一個創造物，尤其是那些受傷、不同或遭受偏見的人時，宗教就在幫助人們提升他們的頻率。」
“Prejudice only grows from negative emotions, never from positive ones. Any time you find negative emotions—most commonly shame and fear—those are not coming from God. Whenever you find love, that is where you will find God. Where religion influences and guides a soul towards authentically loving every one of God’s creations, especially those who are hurting, or different, or suffering from prejudice, that is when religion works to help people raise their frequency.”
「然後他們就能自己看到真相。」
“And then they can see the truth themselves.”
「正是如此。無論你的宗教如何，你人生中最主要的任務是向上帝的愛敞開心扉，這樣你就能分辨凡人的話語和上帝的話語。你就能分辨文化和上帝的愛，然後選擇愛。」
“Exactly. Your primary job in life, regardless of your religion, is to open your heart to God’s love, so that you can tell the difference between the words of mortals and the words of God. You can then tell the difference between culture and God’s love, and you can choose love.”
在那一刻，也許是我有生以來第一次，真正想釋放心中的所有偏見，用上帝對每個人的愛來取代它。幸運的是，我的母親教導我要愛每個人，無論他們的背景或種族，這幫助我抵消了許多潛入我內心的文化影響。然而，我仍然受到社會影響的影響，用少數人的邪惡行為來判斷許多人。我也努力釋放那些偏見。
At that moment, maybe for the first time ever, I truly wanted to release all of the prejudice in my heart and replace it with God’s love for everyone. Fortunately, I had been raised by my mother to love everyone, regardless of their background or race, and that had helped to counter much of the cultural influences that had crept into my mind. Still, I had fallen prey to societal influences where I judged many people by the evil actions of a few. I worked to release those prejudices, too.
在這個過程中，當我邀請上帝的光和愛進入我時，我注意到我成長的文化中編程給我的另一種偏見。我曾根據一個人的性取向評判那些過著不同生活方式的人的價值。現在我明白了，僅僅因為某人的性取向與我不同，並不意味著他們在上帝眼中不重要。上帝同等地愛我們每個人。祂愛你頭上的每一根頭髮，愛你身上的每一個皮膚細胞。祂平等地愛我們每一個人。祂不會坐在那裡想：「這是一個壞靈魂。」祂想的是：「我愛這個靈魂。我想通過它面臨的任何試煉來愛這個靈魂。」
Through the process, as I invited the light and love of God into me, I noticed another prejudice that the culture I was raised in had programmed into me. I had judged the worthiness of those who lived a different lifestyle, particularly one based on a person’s sexuality. Now I understood that, just because someone had a different sexuality than mine, it did not make them in any way less important to God. God loves every single one of us the same. He loves every hair on your head, He loves every skin cell on your body. He loves each and every one of us equally. He doesn’t sit there and think, “This is a bad soul.” He thinks, “I love this soul. I want to help love this soul through any trial it has.”
許多組織，包括一些宗教，選擇因為宗教、膚色、性取向、生活方式或信仰系統而排斥和推開人們。這當然是他們的特權，但這種選擇不符合上帝的旨意。
Many organizations, including some religions, choose to ostracize and push away people because of religion, skin color, sexuality, lifestyle, or their belief systems. That’s their prerogative, of course, but that choice is not in accordance with God’s will.
這花了一些時間和努力，但我終於釋放了阻礙我的最後一絲偏見。我放下了所有標籤，用愛取代它們。我能感覺到我的頻率提升到與我的愛相匹配。
It took some time and effort, but I was able to release the last of the prejudice that was holding me back. I let go of all of the labels and replaced them with love. I could feel my frequency elevate to match my love.
德雷克給了我一個擁抱，我們繼續前往遠處的光球，它每一刻都在變得更大。我開始辨認出表面上的綠色和藍色。
Drake gave me a hug, and we resumed our journey to the sphere of light in the distance that loomed larger with each passing moment. I began to discern greens and blues on the surface.
「那是行星嗎？」我問。「還是天堂？」
“Is that a planet?” I asked. “Or, is that heaven?”
「是的，它是一個天堂，」德雷克說。「眾多天堂之一。它也是一個行星。」
“Yes, it is a heaven,” Drake said. “One of many. It is also a planet.”
「所以，天堂是一個實際的物理地方，不僅僅是靈性的？」
“So, heaven is an actual physical place, not just spiritual?”
德雷克微笑著。「是的，它是一個靈性的地方，當然，也是一個物理地方。」
Drake smiled. “Yes, it is a spiritual place, and yes, of course, it is a physical place.”
「那天堂到底是什麼？」
“What exactly is heaven, then?”
「天堂是靈魂可以去癒合、學習和準備進一步成長的地方。」
“Heaven is a place where souls can go to heal, to learn, and to prepare for further growth.”
「而且不只一個？」
“And there’s more than one?”
「有多少上帝的孩子需要，就有多少。」
“There are as many as God’s children need.”