Chapter 37 of 58

Book 3: The Secret Door to Success - And Five of Them Were Wise

第三巻：成功への秘密の扉 — そのうちの五人は賢かった

# * !&!+, My subject is the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. "And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps." The parable teaches that true prayer means preparation.

私の話題は、賢いおとめと愚かなおとめのたとえ話です。「そのうちの五人は賢く、五人は愚かであった。愚かなおとめたちはともしびを持っていたが、油を用意していなかった。」

Jesus Christ said, "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive" (Math. 21:22). "Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark 11:24). In this parable he shows that only those who have prepared for their good (thereby showing active faith) will bring the manifestation to pass. We might paraphrase the scriptures and say: When ye pray believe ye have it. When ye pray ACT as if you have already received. Armchair faith or rocking chair faith, will never move mountains. In the armchair, in the silence, or meditation, you are filled with the wonder of this Truth, and feel that your faith will never waver. You know that The Lord is your Shepherd, you shall never want. You feel that your God of Plenty will wipe out all burdens of debt or limitations. Then you leave your armchair and step out into the arena of Life. It is only what you do in the arena that counts. I will you give you an illustration showing how the law works; for faith without action is dead.

イエス・キリストは言われました。「祈りの中で信じて求めるものは何でも受けるであろう」（マタイ21:22）。「だからあなたがたに言う。祈って求めるものは何でも、すでに受けたと信じよ。そうすればそのとおりになるであろう。」

A man, one of my students, had a great desire to go abroad. He took the statement: I give thanks for my divinely designed trip, divinely financed, under grace, in a perfect way. He had very little money, but knowing the law of preparation, he bought a trunk. It was a very gay and happy trunk with a big red band around its waist. Whenever he looked at it, it gave him a realization of a trip. One day he seemed to feel his room moving. He felt the motion of a ship. He went to the window to breathe the fresh air, and it smelt like the aroma of the docks. With his inner ear he heard the shriek of a sea-gull and the creaking of the gangplank. The trunk had commenced to work. It had put him in the vibration of his trip. Soon after that, a large sum of money came to him and he took the trip. He said afterwards that it was perfect in every detail. In the arena of Life we must keep ourselves tuned-up to concert pitch.

私の生徒の一人である男性が、海外に行きたいという大きな望みを持っていました。彼はこう宣言しました。「神の計画に基づく旅に感謝します。神の御手により資金が与えられ、恵みのもとに。」

Are we acting from motives of fear or faith? Watch your motives with all diligence, for out of them are the issues of life.

私たちは恐れから行動しているのでしょうか、それとも信仰から行動しているのでしょうか？動機を十分に見張りなさい。そこから人生の問題が生じるのですから。

If your problem is a financial one (and it usually is) you must know how to wind yourself up financially, and keep wound up by always acting your faith. The material attitude towards money is to trust in your salary, your income and investments, which can shrink over night.

もしあなたの問題が経済的なものであるなら（大抵はそうですが）、経済的にゼンマイを巻き直す方法を知り、常に信仰を行動で示すことで巻き上げ続けなければなりません。

The spiritual attitude toward money is to trust in God for your supply. To keep your possessions, always realize that they are God in manifestation. "What Allah has given cannot be diminished," then if one door shuts another door, immediately opens.

お金に対する霊的態度は、供給を神に信頼することです。所有物を保つために、それらが神の顕現であることを常に認識しなさい。

Never voice lack or limitation for "by your words your are condemned." You combine with what you notice, and if you are always noticing failure and hard times, you will combine with failure and hard times.

欠乏や制限を口にしてはなりません。「あなたの言葉によって裁かれる」のですから。あなたは自分が注目するものと結びつきます。常に失敗や不幸ばかりに気づいていると――

You must form the habit of living in the fourth dimension, "The World of the Wondrous." It is the world where you do not judge by appearances.

あなたは四次元、「驚異の世界」に住む習慣を身につけなければなりません。それは外見で判断しない世界です。

You have trained your inner eye to see through failure into success, to see through sickness into health to see through limitation into plenty. I will give thee the land which thou seest."

あなたは内なる目を訓練して、失敗の向こうに成功を見、病気の向こうに健康を見、制限の向こうに豊かさを見るようにしたのです。例を挙げましょう。

The man who achieves success has the fixed idea of success. If it is founded on a rock of truth and rightness it will stand. If not, it is built upon sand and washed into the sea, returning to its native nothingness.

成功を達成する人は、成功という固定観念を持っています。それが真理と正義の岩の上に築かれていれば立ち続けます。そうでなければ砂の上に建てられたものです。

Only divine ideas can endure. Evil destroys itself, for it is a cross current against universal order, and the way of the transgressor is hard.

神の考えだけが永続します。悪は自滅します。なぜなら宇宙の秩序に逆らう逆流だからであり、罪を犯す者の道は険しいのです。

"They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps." The lamp symbolizes man's consciousness. The oil is what brings Light or understanding.

「愚かなおとめたちはともしびを持っていたが、油を用意していなかった。しかし賢いおとめたちはともしびと一緒に器に油を用意していた。」ともしびは人間の意識を象徴します。

"While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made. Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us your oil; for our lamps are gone out."

「花婿が来るのが遅れたので、みな眠りに落ちた。真夜中に叫び声があった。見よ、花婿が来る。迎えに出よ。」

The foolish virgins were without wisdom or understanding, which is oil for the consciousness, and when they were confronted with a serious situation, they had no way of handling it.

愚かなおとめたちには知恵も理解もありませんでした。それは意識のための油です。深刻な状況に直面したとき、彼女たちには備えがありませんでした。

And when they said to the wise "give us of your oil," the wise answered saying, "Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves." That means that the foolish virgins could not receive more than was in their consciousness, or what they were vibrating to.

賢いおとめたちに「油を分けてください」と言ったとき、賢いおとめたちは「私たちの分も足りなくなるかもしれません。店に行って自分たちで買いなさい」と答えました。

The man received the trip because it was in his consciousness, as a reality. He believed that he had already received. As he prepared for the trip he was taking oil for his lamps. With realization comes manifestation.

その男性は旅行を実現しました。なぜならそれが彼の意識の中で現実になっていたからです。彼はすでに受けたと信じていたのです。旅の準備をしている間に――

The law of preparation works both ways. If you prepare for what you fear or don't want, you begin to attract it. David said, "The thing I feared has come upon me." We hear people say, "I must put away money in case of illness." They are deliberately preparing to be ill. Or, "I'm saving for a rainy day." The rainy day is sure to come, at a most inconvenient time.

準備の法則は両方向に働きます。もし恐れるものや望まないものに備えるなら、それを引き寄せ始めます。ダビデは言いました。「私が恐れたことが私に降りかかった。」

The divine idea for every man is plenty. Your barns should be full, and your cup should flow over, but we must learn to ask aright. For example take this statement: I call on the law of accumulation. My supply comes from God, and now pours in and piles up, under grace.

神の考えはすべての人にとって豊かさです。あなたの倉は満ち、杯はあふれるはずです。しかし正しく求めることを学ばなければなりません。例えば次の宣言を取りましょう。

This statement does not give any picture of stint or saving or sickness. It gives a fourth dimensional feeling of abundance, leaving the channels to Infinite Intelligence.

この宣言には、切り詰めや節約や病気のイメージはありません。四次元的な豊かさの感覚を与え、経路は無限の知性に委ねています。

Every day you must make a choice, will you be wise or foolish? Will you prepare for your good? Will you take the giant swing into faith? Or serve doubt and fear and bring no oil for your lamps? "And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not."

毎日あなたは選択しなければなりません。賢くなるか、愚かになるか？善に備えるか？信仰への大きな飛躍をするか？それとも疑いと恐れに仕えるか？

You may feel that the foolish virgins paid very dearly for neglecting to bring oil for their lamps, but we are dealing with the law of Karma (or the law of come back). It has been called the "judgment day," which people usually associate with the end of the world.

愚かなおとめたちがともしびの油を持ってこなかったことの代償は大きすぎると感じるかもしれません。しかし私たちはカルマの法則を扱っているのです。

Your judgment day comes, they say, in sevens - seven hours, seven days, seven weeks, seven months, or seven years. It might even come in seven minutes. Then you pay some Karmic debt; the price for having violated spiritual law. You failed to trust God, you took no oil for your lamps.

あなたの裁きの日は七の数で来ると言われています。七時間、七日、七週間、七ヶ月、あるいは七年。七分で来ることさえあるかもしれません。

Every day examine your consciousness and see just what your are preparing for. You are fearful of lack and hang on to every cent, thereby attracting more lack. Use what you have with wisdom and it opens the way for more to come to you.

毎日自分の意識を点検し、何に備えているかを確認しなさい。欠乏を恐れて一銭一銭にしがみつけば、さらなる欠乏を引き寄せます。

In my book, "Your Word Is Your Wand," I tell about the Magic Purse. In the Arabian Nights they tell the story of a man who had a Magic Purse. As money went out, immediately money appeared in it again.

私の著書「あなたの言葉は魔法の杖」の中で、魔法の財布について語っています。アラビアンナイトには魔法の財布を持つ男の話があります。お金を使っても――

So I made the Statement: My supply comes from God - I have the magic purse of the spirit. It can never be depleted. As money goes out, immediately money comes in. It is always crammed, jammed with abundance, under grace, in perfect ways. This brings a vivid picture to mind: You are drawing on the bank of the imagination. A woman who did not have much money was afraid to pay any bills and see her bank account dwindle. It came to her with great conviction: "I have the magic purse of the spirit. It can never be depleted. As money goes out, immediately, money comes in." She fearlessly paid her bills, and several large cheques came to her that she did not expect.

そこで私はこう宣言しました。「私の供給は神から来る。私は霊の魔法の財布を持っている。それは決して枯れることがない。お金が出て行けば、すぐにお金が入ってくる。」

"Watch and pray lest ye enter into the temptation" of preparing for something destructive instead of something constructive.

「見張りをして祈れ。建設的なものの代わりに破壊的なものに備える誘惑に陥らないように。」

I knew a woman who told me she always kept a long crepe veil handy in case of funerals. I said to her, "You are a menace to your relatives, and are preparing to hurry them all off, so that you can wear the veil." She destroyed it.

喪服のベールを葬式に備えて常に手元に置いている女性を知っていました。私は彼女に言いました。「あなたは親族にとって脅威です。葬式の準備をしているのですから。」

Another woman who had no money decided to send her two daughters to college. Her husband scorned the idea and said, "Who will pay their tuition? I have no money for it." She replied, "I know some unforeseen good will come to us." She kept on preparing her daughters for college. Her husband laughed heartily and told all their friends that his wife was sending the girls to college on "some unforeseen good." A rich relative suddenly sent her a large sum of money. "Some unforeseen good" did arrive, for she had shown active faith. I asked what she had said to her husband when the cheque arrived. She replied, "Oh, I never antagonize George by telling him I am in the right."

お金がないにもかかわらず、二人の娘を大学に行かせることを決めた女性がいました。夫はその考えを馬鹿にして言いました。「誰が学費を払うんだ？私には余裕がない。」

So prepare for your "unforeseen good." Let every thought and every act express your unwavering faith. Every event in your life is a crystallized idea. Something you have invited through either fear or faith. Something you have prepared for.

「予期せぬ善」に備えましょう。すべての思考とすべての行動が、揺るぎない信仰を表現するようにしましょう。人生のすべての出来事は結晶化された観念です。

So let us be wise and bring oil for our lamps - and when we least expect it, we shall reap the fruits of our faith.

賢くあって、ともしびのための油を持ちましょう。そうすれば、最も予期しないときに、信仰の実りを刈り取ることができるでしょう。

My lamps are now filled with the oil of faith and fulfillment.

私のともしびは今、信仰と成就の油で満たされています。