英文原文
When I worked for Outward Bound, one of the most rewarding aspects was how it acted as a rite of passage for many of our students. You may have heard of rites of passage from other cultures (Native American vision quests, once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimages in Buddhist, Hindu or Muslin traditions, for example). They’re ceremonies or practices that mark an individual’s progression from one stage of life to another. There are generally three phases in a rite of passage: Separation: the individual changes from their current status and prepares to enter a new stage. Liminality: the person is often temporarily removed from their normal surroundings and community to experience tasks or rituals that prepare them for the next stage of life. Incorporation: The person return and is welcomed back into their community with their newly-attained status and responsibilities. It’s important to note that a rite of passage in and of itself doesn’t make the transformation happen. It doesn’t mean you have a rite of passage then, “Yay, you did it, now go forth!” True inner growth and taking on new levels of responsibility are an essential part of rites of passage – and what they’re designed to mark, not create. While it’s well-researched that there is a lack of meaningful rites of passage in modern industrialized societies for life stages like transition into adulthood, the absence of a ritual to mark those stages still isn’t the most significant problem in terms of obstacles to Soul development. Really the rites of passage are meant to confirm a life transition that has already been reached, often through a long steady process of doing this work. So what’s more significant is what happens between the life stages than the rites of passage themselves. The primary work of maturing takes place gradually and on a daily basis as we apply ourselves to the developmental tasks of our current life stage. Children and adolescents need help with these tasks — and who is supposed to help them? Grown-ass, mature adults. Not adults working out their childhood baggage with their own children or, say, having tantrums while they’re the President of the United States of America. For example;) So yes, help from mature adults. And that’s where I think we’re failing right now. So we need to let go of the idea that the transition from childhood to adulthood takes place in one fell swoop. Between these two life stages is the adventure of adolescence. And it’s a real adventure. And we miss out on utilizing it as such. Getting older in and of itself doesn’t lead to emotional adulthood or psychological maturity. If you asked most people what adulthood means, they’ll say things like: when we fulfill certain responsibilities like establishing a career or steady job, moving out of the home, raising a family... But is this...meaningful? In the sense of what being an adult really means when we look at what our society needs? And what kind of responsibility is that? As Bill Plotkin says, an adult is someone who understands why they are here on Earth, why they were born, and are offering their unique contribution to the broader sense of the world – not just to humans, but to the planet and all its beings. That kind of responsibility that comes with that kind of Soul development. But don’t be discouraged – while it’s rare – for most in the modern industrialized world, at least – to reach true adulthood in their teen years, or even twenties, it’s totally possible to do so in midlife. In his book, Nature and the Human Soul, Bill Plotkin states there are two really distinct stages of adolescence – and remember, think of this not just as age, but psychological development – and a major life passage between them. The adventure starts with puberty, and I think we can all agree the change our body goes through, the hormones, the social shifts that happen around puberty, embodying our sexuality... is a wild ride. This continues through the years of early adolescence then transits through the passage Bill calls Confirmation and then goes into late adolescence, which he calls the “Wanderer in the Cocoon.” In the first half of adolescence, the task is to create a personality — a way of belonging to the human community — one that’s ideally authentic and socially “acceptable.” This is hard AF, especially if you’re a rebellious one like I am (and like many of you are) and if you’re being asked to gain acceptance into a society that is toxic. This is obviously easier said than done, especially in toxic cultures that are extremely foused on the individual and that are materialistic. However, doing this is essential because it lays the foundation for the rest of our Soul development. So authenticity – and ziji – means to know who you really are — to know where you stand, what you value, what you desire, what you tolerate and what you don’t — and to be able and willing to act accordingly, most of the time, despite the social risks. This takes a minute. The second half of the task in this stage: attaining social acceptability. This is where we can get screwed in the head about all this because to be a healthy adolescent, we need to belong to a healthy community. But when we are part of a toxic community that doesn’t honor the process of the human soul, if we are going to “fit in” then we are at high risk of ending up compromising a lot of our Soul qualities. So if – and when – we connect with an authentic personality that is “acceptable” enough, then our focus shifts from our peer group to the bigger mysteries of exploring our psyche and our place in nature and the world. This shift is the passage of Confirmation. This is when a rite of passage can be really powerful – it publicly confirms the fact that you’ve succeeded at creating a social presence that works ... well enough for your human community. And it then carries you into late adolescence (the Cocoon), which is the stage when we begin to asking the big, existential and spiritual questions of life: What do I think differentiates survival and living? A social scene and true community? Academic achievement and deep learning? A “job” and Soul Purpose? Then – after many years of, as Rilke says, “living these questions,” after many expeditions of sorts, exploring our psyche and how we relate to nature, we discover our truth. As David Whyte says, “the truth at the center of the image you were born with.” In many traditional cultures and spiritual paths, a glimpse like this is called a soul purpose or calling, a vision, a soul purpose or calling, or the intuition of our destiny — which usually doesn’t show up in more traditional cultural ways, like a job or social role like parenthood, but in a more mysterious way, unique to us. Then, when you commit to manifesting this vision in a kind of delivery system to the world for the benefit of all beings – and I also believe the planet – then and only then do you pass into Soul Initiation (with or without a rite or passage) and into true adulthood. So let’s take a moment to reflect on where we are at with this ourselves – and not to shame ourselves, but to be curious so we can open up to what’s possible. The world today needs authentically mature mentors to help others in this process. And tht doesn’t mean you need to go get another damn training, so stop googling that right now. What is means is to engage in your own process and go through this yourself so you can say yes, it’s scary, and often challening, and I’ve been there. You’ll be OK. This is a big part of how I believe we can heal our society and the planet.
中文翻译
当我在Outward Bound工作时，最有意义的方面之一是它如何成为许多学生的过渡仪式。你可能听说过其他文化中的过渡仪式（例如，美洲原住民的愿景追寻，佛教、印度教或穆斯林传统中一生一次的朝圣）。这些是标志个人从一个生命阶段过渡到另一个阶段的仪式或实践。过渡仪式通常有三个阶段：分离：个人从当前状态改变，准备进入新阶段。阈限期：个人通常暂时离开正常环境和社区，体验为下一生命阶段做准备的任务或仪式。融合：个人回归，并以新获得的状态和责任被欢迎回社区。重要的是要注意，过渡仪式本身并不会促成转变。它不意味着你有了一个过渡仪式，然后“耶，你做到了，现在前进吧！”真正的内在成长和承担新层次的责任是过渡仪式的重要组成部分——它们旨在标志，而非创造。尽管研究表明，在现代工业化社会中，对于像过渡到成年这样的生命阶段缺乏有意义的过渡仪式，但缺乏标志这些阶段的仪式仍然不是灵魂发展障碍中最重要的问题。实际上，过渡仪式旨在确认已经达到的生命过渡，通常是通过长期稳定的工作过程。因此，更重要的是生命阶段之间发生的事情，而不是过渡仪式本身。成熟的主要工作是在我们致力于当前生命阶段的发展任务时，逐渐且日常地发生。儿童和青少年需要帮助来完成这些任务——而谁应该帮助他们呢？成熟的成年人。而不是那些用自己的孩子解决童年包袱的成年人，或者，比如说，在担任美国总统时发脾气的人。例如；）所以是的，来自成熟成年人的帮助。而我认为这正是我们现在失败的地方。所以我们需要放弃从童年到成年的过渡是一蹴而就的想法。在这两个生命阶段之间是青春期的冒险。这是一个真正的冒险。而我们错过了将其作为冒险来利用。年龄增长本身并不会导致情感成年或心理成熟。如果你问大多数人成年意味着什么，他们会说：当我们履行某些责任时，比如建立事业或稳定工作，搬出家庭，抚养家庭……但这……有意义吗？从我们社会需要的角度来看，成年真正意味着什么？那是什么样的责任？正如比尔·普洛特金所说，成年人是一个理解他们为什么在地球上，为什么出生，并为更广泛的世界——不仅仅是人类，而且是地球及其所有生命——提供独特贡献的人。那种责任伴随着那种灵魂发展。但不要气馁——虽然罕见——对于现代工业化世界的大多数人来说，至少在青少年时期或甚至二十多岁时达到真正的成年是罕见的，但在中年完全可能做到。在他的书《自然与人类灵魂》中，比尔·普洛特金指出，青春期有两个非常不同的阶段——记住，不要仅仅将其视为年龄，而是心理发展——以及它们之间的一个主要生命通道。冒险从青春期开始，我想我们都同意我们的身体经历的变化，荷尔蒙，围绕青春期发生的社会转变，体现我们的性……是一场疯狂的旅程。这持续到早期青春期的岁月，然后通过比尔称为确认的通道过渡，然后进入晚期青春期，他称之为“茧中的流浪者”。在青春期的前半部分，任务是创造个性——一种属于人类社区的方式——理想上是真实且社会“可接受的”。这很难，尤其是如果你是像我一样叛逆的人（以及像你们许多人一样），并且如果你被要求获得一个有毒社会的接受。这显然说起来容易做起来难，尤其是在极度关注个人和物质主义的有毒文化中。然而，这样做是必要的，因为它为我们灵魂发展的其余部分奠定了基础。所以真实性——和ziji——意味着知道你是谁——知道你的立场，你重视什么，你渴望什么，你容忍什么和不容忍什么——并且能够并愿意相应地行动，大多数时候，尽管有社会风险。这需要时间。这个阶段任务的后半部分：获得社会可接受性。这是我们可能在这方面搞砸的地方，因为要成为一个健康的青少年，我们需要属于一个健康的社区。但当我们是一个不尊重人类灵魂过程的有毒社区的一部分时，如果我们打算“适应”，那么我们最终妥协许多灵魂品质的风险很高。所以如果——以及当——我们连接到一个足够“可接受”的真实个性时，那么我们的焦点从同龄群体转移到探索我们心灵以及我们在自然和世界中的位置的更大奥秘。这种转变是确认的通道。这时过渡仪式可以非常强大——它公开确认你已经成功创造了一个社会存在……足够好地为你的人类社区服务。然后它带你进入晚期青春期（茧），这是当我们开始问生命的大存在和精神问题的阶段：我认为什么区分生存和生活？社交场景和真正的社区？学术成就和深度学习？“工作”和灵魂目的？然后——经过多年，正如里尔克所说，“活出这些问题”，经过多次探险，探索我们的心灵以及我们如何与自然相关，我们发现我们的真理。正如大卫·怀特所说，“你出生时图像中心的真理”。在许多传统文化和精神路径中，这样的瞥见被称为灵魂目的或召唤，愿景，灵魂目的或召唤，或我们命运的直觉——通常不会以更传统的文化方式出现，比如工作或社会角色如父母身份，而是以一种更神秘的方式，独特于我们。然后，当你致力于将这一愿景以某种传递系统呈现给世界，为所有生命的利益——我也相信地球——那么并且只有那时，你才进入灵魂启蒙（有或没有仪式或通道）并进入真正的成年。所以让我们花点时间反思我们自己在这方面处于什么位置——而不是羞辱自己，而是好奇，这样我们可以开放到可能的事情。今天的世界需要真正成熟的导师来帮助他人完成这个过程。这并不意味着你需要去接受另一个该死的培训，所以现在停止谷歌搜索。这意味着参与你自己的过程并自己经历这个，这样你可以说，是的，这很可怕，常常具有挑战性，我去过那里。你会没事的。这是我如何相信我们可以治愈我们的社会和地球的重要组成部分。
文章概要
本文探讨了过渡仪式在生命阶段转换中的重要性，特别关注中年时期的灵魂发展。文章指出，过渡仪式通常包括分离、阈限和融合三个阶段，但其核心在于确认已经发生的内在成长，而非创造转变。作者强调，现代工业化社会缺乏有意义的过渡仪式，但更关键的是生命阶段之间的日常成熟过程。文章引用比尔·普洛特金的观点，将青春期分为早期和晚期，强调真实性、社会可接受性和灵魂目的的探索。最终，真正的成年涉及理解个人在地球上的目的并为世界做出贡献，而佛教等传统仪式可以作为中年过渡的有力工具，帮助个体实现灵魂启蒙。
高德明老师的评价
用12岁初中生可以听懂的语音来重复翻译的内容：这篇文章讲的是，当我们从一个小孩子变成大人，或者从中年进入新阶段时，有时候会有一些特别的仪式，就像过生日派对一样，来庆祝这个变化。这些仪式有三个步骤：先离开熟悉的环境，然后在一个特别的地方学习新东西，最后带着新本领回到大家身边。但最重要的是，这些仪式不是让我们突然变厉害，而是告诉我们，我们已经通过平时努力变得更好啦！文章说，真正的长大不只是年龄变大，而是明白自己为什么活着，并帮助世界变得更好。佛教里也有一些这样的仪式，可以帮助人们在中年时找到自己的方向。
佛学的各个宗派视角评价，突出《显密圆通成佛心要集》的视角：从佛学视角看，过渡仪式与修行中的次第相应，体现了从凡夫到圣者的转化过程。显宗如禅宗强调顿悟，但亦重视渐修，仪式可作为助缘，帮助行者积累资粮、净除业障。密宗如准提法，则通过仪轨、咒语和观想，迅速与佛菩萨相应，加速成就。在《显密圆通成佛心要集》的视角下，过渡仪式可视为显密圆融的实践：显教部分，通过仪式培养出离心、菩提心，为生命过渡奠定基础；密教部分，如准提法，以其简便易行、普摄众生的特点，能为中年行者提供强大的加持，帮助他们在阈限期中突破无明，证悟自性。准提法的优点在于，它不分根器、不拘形式，行者可在日常生活中持咒修持，正好对应现代人忙碌的生活，为中年过渡提供了一条即身成佛的捷径。
在修行实践上可以应用的和可以解决人们的十个问题：1. 身份迷茫问题：通过仪式感，帮助行者确认修行身份，增强信心。2. 业障深重问题：准提咒的修持可快速消业，为过渡扫清障碍。3. 时间不足问题：准提法简便，适合碎片化时间修持，融入日常生活。4. 心理压力问题：仪式提供神圣空间，缓解焦虑，促进心灵平静。5. 人际关系问题：培养菩提心，改善与家人、同事的互动，提升社会和谐。6. 生命意义问题：引导行者思考灵魂目的，找到人生方向。7. 成长停滞问题：通过阶段性仪式，激励持续精进，避免修行懈怠。8. 社区归属问题：参与佛教仪式，增强团体支持感，减少孤独。9. 健康问题：准提法修持可调节身心，促进整体健康。10. 死亡恐惧问题：仪式帮助行者正视生命无常，为临终过渡做好准备。