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心を開いて受け止めよう―幸せになりたいなら、感謝しよう(TED)

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デヴィッド・スタインドル=ラスト:幸せになりたいなら、感謝しよう

デヴィッド・スタインドル=ラスト:幸せになりたいなら、感謝しよう

「私たち全ての人間に共通することは、幸せになりたいという気持ちを持っていることだ」と、修道僧であり諸宗教の研究者であるデヴィッド・スタインドル=ラストは言います。ゆとりを持ち、自分の方向性を見極め、そして何よりも感謝の気持ちを持つことについて、彼の教えが心に響きます(14分半)。

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幸せと感謝の心にはどんな関係があるのか

人がなにかに感謝する時、それはどんな心なのでしょうか。多くの人が「人は幸せな時に感謝をする」と言います。その問いに、デヴィッド・スタインドル=ラストは疑問を投げかけます。

幸せな人が感謝しているというのは本当でしょうか?

Is it really the happy people that are grateful?

たとえば、誰かからプレゼントを貰ったり、誰かから嬉しいことをしてもらった時、たとえば宝くじに当たった時……、多くの人は『もっと欲しい』と思うのではないでしょうか。私たちは、幸せを求めるばかりに不幸になってしまう人も、不幸な境遇ながらも幸せに過ごしている人も、そのどちらも知っています。

両者の違いはなんでしょうか。じつは、後者の人には感謝の心があります。

幸せが感謝をもたらすのではなく、感謝が私たちを幸せにしてくれるのです。

So it is not happiness that makes us grateful. It’s gratefulness that makes us happy.

デヴィッド・スタインドル=ラストは、「もし、幸せが感謝をもたらすと考えているなら考え直してください」と言います。なぜなら、感謝が私たちを幸せにしてくれるからです。

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感謝とはなにか

感謝という言葉を多くの人が使いますが、感謝について知っている人はどれほどいるのでしょうか。どのような仕組みで起きるものなのでしょうか。感謝とは『経験』と『授かりもの』という2つのものが、ちょう1つに組み合わさった時に生まれるものだと、デヴィッド・スタインドル=ラストは言います。

買った訳ではなく勝ち取ったのでもない、取引や努力で得た訳でもない、あなたに授けられた物です。

You haven’t bought it. You haven’t earned it. You haven’t traded it in. You haven’t worked for it. It’s just given to you.

重要なのは、感謝は何かが起きたときに特別に感じるものではないことです。

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いま、この一瞬は授かり物

感謝して生きるということは、どういうことなのでしょうか。それは、「一瞬一瞬が授けられているのだと体感し、意識すること」だとデヴィッド・スタインドル=ラストは説明します。さらに、これらは授かりものなので、勝ち取ったものではないし、自分の力も働いていませんと付け加えます。

その瞬間が、また与えられる保証はどこにもありません。しかし、それこそが私たちに授けられた、もっとも貴重なものなのです。この一瞬に、すべての可能性が秘められているのです。

You have no way of assuring that there will be another moment given to you, and yet, that’s the most valuable thing that can ever be given to us, this moment, with all the opportunity that it contains.

もし、今、この瞬間がなかったとしたら、私たちは何の機会も与えられず、何も経験できません。つまり、この一瞬が授かり物であり、授けられた一瞬なのです。

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いつでも次の機会はある

デヴィッド・スタインドル=ラストは、この授けられた瞬間に秘められた贈り物があると言います。それは「機会」です。しかも、本当にありがたいのは与えられたもの事ではなく、どちらかというと「機会」のほうなのです。なぜなら、「機会」を得られなかったら、感謝の気持ちを持つことが出来ないからです。

ことわざに、「逃したチャンスは戻って来ない」「チャンスの神様には前髪しかない」というものがあります。これは、通り過ぎてしまってから追いかけても、チャンスをものにすることができないという意味です。ですが、デヴィッド・スタインドル=ラストは別の見解を示します。

一瞬一瞬が新しい授かり物で何度も繰り返されます。 もし、この瞬間の機会を逃しても、次の瞬間が与えられ、また次の瞬間がやってきます。

この機会を利用することもできれば、逃すこともできます。もし、その機会を生かすことができれば、それが幸せへの鍵となります。

Every moment is a new gift, over and over again, and if you miss the opportunity of this moment, another moment is given to us, and another moment.

We can avail ourselves of this opportunity, or we can miss it, and if we avail ourselves of the opportunity, it is the key to happiness.

つまり、どの一瞬にも私たちは授かったことに対して感謝することができるのです。

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まとめ:感謝の世界は喜び溢れる人々の世界

すべての出来事に感謝が出来るかというと、それは出来ません。友人の裏切りや親との死別などの個人的なことから、天災や災害などの大きな障害に至るまで、困難な出来事に対して感謝の気持ちを持てずに、希望を見失うことがあります。

そんな時は、その困難という機会に立ち向かうことが課題なのだと、デヴィッド・スタインドル=ラストは言います。痛みを伴うこともありますが、それを学ぶことによって今度は困難に立ち向かえるようになるからです。それは、忍耐を身に着けるということでもあります。

失敗しても次の機会が与えられます。いつでも次の機会があるのです。これが人生の素晴らしく豊かなところです。

And those who fail get another opportunity. We always get another opportunity. That’s the wonderful richness of life.

私たち一人ひとりが感謝して生きる方法は、どうすれば見つかるのでしょうか。たまに感謝するのではなく。一瞬一瞬に感謝する方法です。それについてデヴィッド・スタインドル=ラストは、「止まる・見る・進む」をすることにより、感謝できるようになると言います。

ですが、いまの時代の流れはとても早く、私たちはまず止まることをしません。そして、止まらないばかりに機会を逃してしまうのです。すべての人たちにいま「止まれ」が必要なのです。

そして、立ち止まったら次は見ることです。目を大きく開いてよく見るのです。耳を澄まし嗅覚も研ぎ澄ましましょう。すべての感覚を大きく開いて、与えられたこの素晴らしい豊かさを受け入れましょう。

終わりはありません。与えられた物を楽しむ、それが人生なのです。

And when you stop, then the next thing is to look. You look. You open your eyes. You open your ears. You open your nose. You open all your senses for this wonderful richness that is given to us.

There is no end to it, and that is what life is all about, to enjoy, to enjoy what is given to us.

与えられた物を楽しむようになると、心も開きます。そうして他の人を助け、幸せにする機会にも心を開きましょうとデヴィッド・スタインドル=ラストは説きます。なぜなら、私たちにとって一番の幸せは皆が幸せであることだからです。

機会に心を開くようになると、いずれ行動につながります。隣の人と手を取り合うことは時に困難なこともあります。しかし、感謝の世界が幸せな世界であるならば、様々な形で手を取り合えることは可能のはずです。そうして私たちが「止まる・見る・進む」を行うだけで、きっと世界を幸せなものに変えることができるでしょう。

英語全文

There is something you know about me, something very personal, and there is something I know about every one of you and that’s very central to your concerns.

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There is something that we know about everyone we meet anywhere in the world, on the street, that is the very mainspring of whatever they do and whatever they put up with, and that is that all of us want to be happy. In this, we are all together. How we imagine our happiness, that differs from one another, but it’s already a lot that we have all in common, that we want to be happy.

Now my topic is gratefulness. How is the connection between happiness and gratefulness? Many people would say, well, that’s very easy. When you are happy, you are grateful. But think again. Is it really the happy people that are grateful? We all know quite a number of people who have everything that it would take to be happy, and they are not happy, because they want something else or they want more of the same. And we all know people who have lots of misfortune, misfortune that we ourselves would not want to have, and they are deeply happy. They radiate happiness. You are surprised. Why? Because they are grateful. So it is not happiness that makes us grateful. It’s gratefulness that makes us happy. If you think it’s happiness that makes you grateful, think again. It’s gratefulness that makes you happy.

Now, we can ask, what really do we mean by gratefulness? And how does it work? I appeal to your own experience. We all know from experience how it goes. We experience something that’s valuable to us. Something is given to us that’s valuable to us. And it’s really given. These two things have to come together. It has to be something valuable, and it’s a real gift. You haven’t bought it. You haven’t earned it. You haven’t traded it in. You haven’t worked for it. It’s just given to you. And when these two things come together, something that’s really valuable to me and I realize it’s freely given, then gratefulness spontaneously rises in my heart, happiness spontaneously rises in my heart. That’s how gratefulness happens.

Now the key to all this is that we can not only experience this once in a while. We can not only have grateful experiences. We can be people who live gratefully. Grateful living, that is the thing. And how can we live gratefully? By experiencing, by becoming aware that every moment is a given moment, as we say. It’s a gift. You haven’t earned it. You haven’t brought it about in any way. You have no way of assuring that there will be another moment given to you, and yet, that’s the most valuable thing that can ever be given to us, this moment, with all the opportunity that it contains. If we didn’t have this present moment, we wouldn’t have any opportunity to do anything or experience anything, and this moment is a gift. It’s a given moment, as we say.

Now, we say the gift within this gift is really the opportunity. What you are really grateful for is the opportunity, not the thing that is given to you, because if that thing were somewhere else and you didn’t have the opportunity to enjoy it, to do something with it, you wouldn’t be grateful for it. Opportunity is the gift within every gift, and we have this saying, opportunity knocks only once. Well, think again. Every moment is a new gift, over and over again, and if you miss the opportunity of this moment, another moment is given to us, and another moment. We can avail ourselves of this opportunity, or we can miss it, and if we avail ourselves of the opportunity, it is the key to happiness. Behold the master key to our happiness in our own hands. Moment by moment, we can be grateful for this gift.

Does that mean that we can be grateful for everything? Certainly not. We can not be grateful for violence, for war, for oppression, for exploitation. On the personal level, we can not be grateful for the loss of a friend, for unfaithfulness, for bereavement. But I didn’t say we can be grateful for everything. I said we can be grateful in every given moment for the opportunity, and even when we are confronted with something that is terribly difficult, we can rise to this occasion and respond to the opportunity that is given to us. It isn’t as bad as it might seem. Actually, when you look at it and experience it, you find that most of the time, what is given to us is opportunity to enjoy, and we only miss it because we are rushing through life and we are not stopping to see the opportunity.

But once in a while, something very difficult is given to us, and when this difficult thing occurs to us, it’s a challenge to rise to that opportunity, and we can rise to it by learning something which is sometimes painful. Learning patience, for instance. We have been told that the road to peace is not a sprint, but is more like a marathon. That takes patience. That’s difficult. It may be to stand up for your opinion, to stand up for your conviction. That’s an opportunity that is given to us. To learn, to suffer, to stand up, all these opportunities are given to us, but they are opportunities, and those who avail themselves of those opportunities are the ones that we admire. They make something out of life. And those who fail get another opportunity. We always get another opportunity. That’s the wonderful richness of life.

So how can we find a method that will harness this? How can each one of us find a method for living gratefully, not just once in a while being grateful, but moment by moment to be grateful. How can we do it? It’s a very simple method. It’s so simple that it’s actually what we were told as children when we learned to cross the street. Stop. Look. Go. That’s all. But how often do we stop? We rush through life. We don’t stop. We miss the opportunity because we don’t stop. We have to stop. We have to get quiet. And we have to build stop signs into our lives.

When I was in Africa some years ago and then came back, I noticed water. In Africa where I was, I didn’t have drinkable water. Every time I turned on the faucet, I was overwhelmed. Every time I clicked on the light, I was so grateful. It made me so happy. But after a while, this wears off. So I put little stickers on the light switch and on the water faucet, and every time I turned it on, water. So leave it up to your own imagination. You can find whatever works best for you, but you need stop signs in your life. And when you stop, then the next thing is to look. You look. You open your eyes. You open your ears. You open your nose. You open all your senses for this wonderful richness that is given to us. There is no end to it, and that is what life is all about, to enjoy, to enjoy what is given to us.

And then we can also open our hearts, our hearts for the opportunities, for the opportunities also to help others, to make others happy, becausenothing makes us more happy than when all of us are happy. And when we open our hearts to the opportunities, the opportunities invite us to do something, and that is the third. Stop, look, and then go, and really do something. And what we can do is whatever life offers to you in that present moment. Mostly it’s the opportunity to enjoy, but sometimes it’s something more difficult.

But whatever it is, if we take this opportunity, we go with it, we are creative, those are the creative people, and that little stop, look, go, is such a potent seed that it can revolutionize our world. Because we need, we are at the present moment in the middle of a change of consciousness, and you will be surprised if you — I am always surprised when I hear how many times this word “gratefulness” and “gratitude” comes up. Everywhere you find it, a grateful airline, a restaurant gratefulness, a cafe gratefulness, a wine that is gratefulness. Yes, I have even come across a toilet paper that the brand is called Thank You. (Laughter) There is a wave of gratefulness because people are becoming aware how important this is and how this can change our world. It can change our world in immensely important ways, because if you’re grateful, you’re not fearful, and if you’re not fearful, you’re not violent. If you’re grateful, you act out of a sense of enough and not of a sense of scarcity, and you are willing to share. If you are grateful, you are enjoying the differences between people, and you are respectful to everybody, and that changes this power pyramid under which we live.

And it doesn’t make for equality, but it makes for equal respect, and that is the important thing. The future of the world will be a network, not a pyramid, not a pyramid turned upside down. The revolution of which I am speaking is a nonviolent revolution, and it’s so revolutionary that it even revolutionizes the very concept of a revolution, because a normal revolution is one where the power pyramid is turned upside down and those who were on the bottomare now on the top and are doing exactly the same thing that the ones did before. What we need is a networking of smaller groups, smaller and smaller groups who know one another, who interact with one another, and that is a grateful world.

A grateful world is a world of joyful people. Grateful people are joyful people, and joyful people, the more and more joyful people there are, the more and more we’ll have a joyful world. We have a network for grateful living, and it has mushroomed. We couldn’t understand why it mushroomed. We have an opportunity for people to light a candle when they are grateful for something. And there have been 15 million candles lit in one decade. People are becoming aware that a grateful world is a happy world, and we all have the opportunity by the simple stop, look, go, to transform the world, to make it a happy place. And that is what I hope for us, and if this has contributed a little to making you want to do the same, stop, look, go.

Thank you.

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TEDまとめ(1):エキスパートたちが贈る極上のメッセージ ライフハックとしてではなく、英語学習にも極めて有用なのが、著名人が10分程度のプレゼンを行うTEDです。 TED Talksと...