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0一月二十一日 领导者与追随者都会被权威腐化
自我觉察是非常艰难的事，因为大部分的人都偏好虚构出来的简便方法。因此我们总是任由权威来模塑我们的生命。这里所谓的权威可能是国家领袖，也可能是个人精神上的救主、上师或指导灵。任何一种权威都会使我们变得盲目，并助长轻忽的态度。大部分的人都认为审慎的思考是很痛苦的事，所以就把自己托付给权威。权威会助长权力，权力一集中就会造成腐化。不只是权力的行使者，连追随者也会变得迂腐。臣服于某个指导灵或是他的代言人往往会使你走上邪路。最重要的是你自己的人生和那些永无止境的内在冲突，而不是去强调那个指导你的人或是他所行使的方法。强调指导灵或传教者的重要，只会使你偏离主题，忽略掉内心的冲突。
January 21
Authority corrupts both leader and follower
Self-awareness is arduous, and since most of us prefer an easy, illusory way, we bring into being the authority that gives shape and pattern to our life. This authority may be the collective, the State; or it may be the personal, the Master, the savior, the guru. Authority of any kind is blinding, it breeds thoughtlessness; and as most of us find that to be thoughtful is to have pain, we give ourselves over to authority. Authority engenders power, and power always becomes centralized and therefore utterly corrupting; it corrupts not only the wielder of power, but also him who follows it. The authority of knowledge and experience is perverting, whether it be vested in the Master, his representative or the priest. It is your own life, this seemingly endless conflict, that is significant, and not the pattern or the leader. The authority of the Master and the priest takes you away from the central issue, which is the conflict within yourself.
