The need for a religion
宗教的需求：
To understand the real purpose of life, it is advisable for a person to choose and follow an ethical-moral system that restrains a person from evil deeds, encourages him to do good, and enables him to purify his mind. For simplicity, we shall call this system ”religion”.
要了解生命的真正意義，必須鼓勵他追隨一種倫理道德的系統，讓他從邪惡變成善良，使他淨化自己的思想。這個系統就是──宗教。
Religion is the expression of the striving man: it is his greatest power, leading him onwards to self-realization. It has the power to transform one with negative characteristics into someone with positive qualities. It turns the ignoble, noble; the selfish, unselfish; the proud, humble; the haughty, forbearing; the greedy, benevolent; the cruel, kind; the subjective, objective. Every religion, represents, however imperfectly, a reaching upwards to a higher level of being. From the earliest times, religion has been the source of man”s artistic and cultural inspiration. Although many forms of religion had come into being in the course of history, only to pass away and be forgotten, each one in its time had contributed something towards the sum of human progress. Christianity helped to civilize the West, and the weakening of its influence has marked a downward trend of the Occidental spirit. Buddhism, which civilized the greater part of the East long before, is still a vital force, and in this age of scientific knowledge is likely to extend and to strengthen its influence. It does not, at any point, come into conflict with modern knowledge, but embraces and transcends all of it in a way that no other system of thought has ever done before or is ever likely to do. Western man seeks to conquer the universe for material ends. Buddhism and Eastern philosophy strive to attain harmony with nature or spiritual satisfaction.
宗教是奮鬥者的表現，宗教是人類最偉大的力量，宗教引導人類逐漸的去了解自我。宗教可以化卑賤爲崇高、化自私爲慷慨、化傲慢爲謙虛、化揮霍爲節約、化貪婪爲布施、化殘暴爲善良、化主觀爲客觀。每一個宗教都希望能將人性提升到一個較高的水平，雖然無法盡善盡美。從早期的宗教可以看到，宗教是人類藝術和文化靈感的泉源。雖然很多宗教已經在人類曆史中被遺忘了，但是，每一個宗教對人類的曆史都曾經做出貢獻。基督教帶給西方文明，但是，在東方卻發揮不了影響力。東方從古至今都一直在受佛教的影響，甚至科學昌明的今日，佛教還是繼續發揮它的影響力。佛教並無一點與現代科學發生抵觸，不但如此，佛教還包容和超越了現代科學知識，沒有任何一種思想體系能做到或曾經做到。西方人征服宇宙是爲了物質的目的，而佛教及東方哲學，則努力與大自然協調，以尋求精神的解脫。
Religion teaches a person how to calm down the senses and make the heart and mind peaceful. The secret of calming down the senses is to eliminate desire which is the root of our disturbances. It is very important for us to have contentment. The more people crave for their property, the more they have to suffer. Property does not give happiness to man. Most of the rich people in the world today are suffering from numerous physical and mental problems. With all the money they have, they cannot buy a solution to their problems. Yet, the poorest men who have learnt to have contentment may enjoy their lives far more than the richest people do. As one rhyme goes:
宗教教導人類如何冷靜的使自己的心識獲得平靜。使我們獲得平靜的秘密就在于如何使煩惱消除。如何獲得滿足，對人類來說是一件非常重要的事。追求物質的同時，帶來了更多的煩惱，物質並不能使人快樂。今天，生活在世的許多大富豪，同樣必須面對更多生理或心理問題所帶來的困擾，金錢，解決不了人類的問題。反而，一些貧窮的人，他們懂得如何滿足自己，他們生活得更快樂。著名作家瑞伊敏這麼說道：
”Some have too much and yet do crave I have little and seek no more; They are but poor though much more they have And I am rich with little store. They poor, I rich, they beg, I give; They lack, I have; they pine, I live.” Searching for a purpose in life The aim in life varies among inpiduals. An artist may aim to paint masterpieces that will live long after he is gone. A scientist may want to discover some laws, formulate a new theory, or invent a new machine. A politician may wish to become a prime minister or a president. A young executive may aim to be a managing director of multinational company. However, when you ask the artist, scientist, politician and the young executive why they aim such, they will reply that these achievements will give them a purpose in life and make them happy. Everyone aims for happiness in life, yet experience shows time and again that its attainment is so elusive.
擁有太多的人，還在不停的追求，我只要求一點，不求多，擁有太多的人依然貧窮，擁有一點的我，卻很富裕，他們貧窮，我富裕，他們索求，我付出，他們缺乏，我有余，他們憔悴，我精猛。
尋找生活的目的：
生活的目的因人而異，畫家的生活目的，可能只是創作傳世作品，希望在他死後，仍然能永垂不朽。科學家的目的，可能是開發新的定律、公式或理論。政治家冀求成爲總統或總理。年輕的行政人員、向往成爲跨國公司的經理或總裁。但是，當你問及畫家、科學家、政治家或年輕的行政人員，爲什麼他們會有這種理想時，他們會毫無猶豫的回答你，他們是爲了使生活過得更美好更幸福。每個人都向往美好幸福的生活，但是，經驗告訴我們，要達到這些理想是不容易的。
《宗教的需求 The need for a religion》全文閱讀結束。