The Power of Negative Thinking

負面思考的力量              Kiki 翻譯

Positive thinking is all the rage in America these days, especially in alternative spiritual circles. As Atul Gawande states in a recent New York Times article, "the prevailing wisdom is that thinking positive is the key—The Secret, even—to success." Gawande goes on, however, to say that at least at some times and in some areas of life, "Negative thinking may be exactly what we need." I think A Course in Miracles would agree.

全美國上下現今充斥著所謂樂觀積極思想，特別是在心靈成長團體裡。Atul Gawande在紐約時報文中提到 “現在流行的思想，積極思考 --- 亦即「秘密」這本書提到的---乃是邁向成功的關鍵。” Gawande 接著說，然而，至少在人生的某些時刻和領域裡， “負面思考也許正是我們所需要的。” 我認為《奇蹟課程》會同意這論點。

The topic of Gawande's article is the recent patient-care scandal at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center . He poses the question: How could a hospital that is so excellent at saving the lives of wounded soldiers be so terrible at providing care for them afterward? Gawande's answer is that when it comes to saving lives, medical staff members at Walter Reed are "encouraged by leaders to think negative": to look for mistakes and problems and face them squarely so they can be corrected. They have carefully examined problems such as soldiers not wearing their Kevlar and protective goggles, miscommunication, transport issues, unexpected infections and the like, and made changes to solve these problems. As a result, their success rate at saving wounded soldiers is the highest in history.

Gawande文中的標題，就是關於最近發生在Walter Reed 的軍人醫療中心的病患看護事件。他提出了一個問題：何以一所如此精於拯救傷兵性命的醫院，卻是如此拙於提供療後的照顧？Gawande 認為，在拯救人命上，Walter Reed的醫護人員是 “因上層領導鼓勵他們作負面思考”，也就是：去發現錯誤與問題，坦然的面對，進而改正。這些醫護人員能仔細的檢測諸如士兵為何不配戴Kevlar 和護目鏡、溝通不良、心神恍惚、出乎意料的感染等等問題，並且有效地改善解決這些問題。結果，他們擁有史上最高的拯救受傷士兵成功率。

But the military's recent independent review of conditions at Walter Reed indicated that when it came to aftercare for recovering soldiers, things were appallingly different. There were moldy and rodent-infested rooms, staff shortages, soldiers in wheelchairs stranded without food, brain-injured soldiers left to haplessly navigate the military bureaucracy on their own-the list goes on and on. The difference, Gawande says, is that on the aftercare side of things, the leadership at Walter Reed was not thinking negative, not actively looking for problems. In fact, there was no effort whatsoever to track how soldiers were doing in their rehabilitation. And sadly, even when the problems were exposed, Army medical chief Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley tried to put a positive spin on the situation: "It was a one-sided representation. While we have some issues here, this is not a horrific, catastrophic failure." Gawande concludes that while negative thinking may not be appropriate for every aspect of life-for instance, you wouldn't want to constantly point out your children's faults-when it comes to something like caring for recovering soldiers, a healthy dose of negative thinking is just what the doctor ordered.

然而在軍方最近對Walter Reed事件的獨立檢查報告中顯示，一旦事關士兵的療後照護，情況可就非常不同了。腐臭、害蟲滿佈的房間、人員短缺、仰賴輪椅的士兵沒有足夠食物、頭部受傷的士兵也只能無助地被軍方的官僚體系放任不顧，還有一長串問題可列等等。所謂的不同，Gawande 說，對於士兵的療後照護，Walter Reed的領導階層並沒有以負面的方式思考，也就是沒有積極地去尋找問題。事實上，去追蹤士兵的復原狀況並沒有多大的用處，更令人難過的是，當問題出現的時候，軍方醫療主管 Gen. Kevin Kiley少校竟對整個情勢上樂觀的評論說： “這些只是片面不實的報導而已，並不是什麼可怕、悲慘的失敗。”  Gawande結論道，負面思考也許並非適合每一個人生面向，就有如你不會一直指出自己孩子錯誤的地方，但是當面對處理像是照護士兵這類的問題時，負面思考的這一帖藥方， 卻是 醫師應該開立的。

As I said, I think A Course in Miracles would agree that negative thinking in the sense of facing problems squarely is essential. True, the Course does have a major component of positive thinking as well: It wants us to focus on the good efforts of others, acknowledge our genuine progress with the Course, see attacks as calls for love, see trials as opportunities to forgive, etc. But while the Course encourages positive thinking that is an affirmation of the truth, it warns us against putting a positive spin on truly negative things-what I've heard colorfully referred to as "putting lipstick on a pig."

有如我剛才所說，《奇蹟課程》定會同意，在坦然面對問題時，採取負面思考是極其重要的。是的，課程也有很多積極思考的部份，諸如它要我們致力於造福他人，認可我們自己學習課程與日俱增的進步，看待攻擊有如對愛的呼求，視磨難即是寬恕的機會，等等。然而，當課程鼓勵我們積極思考其實是對真理的一種肯定時，它同時也警示我們，不可在非常負面的事務上，投注正面的思維，也就是那句生動的“幫豬擦口紅”的俚語寫照。

Indeed, dressing up its ugliness and hatred in "pleasant" disguises is one of the ego's primary ways of staying in business. For instance, we try to make our bodies look good, which the Course calls painting "rosy lips upon a skeleton" (T-23.II.18:8). (Come to think of it, that sounds a lot like putting lipstick on a pig.) We put on a face of innocence to cover our attacks. We engage in special love relationships that hide the hatred underneath. This is a major obstacle to our progress, because as long as we keep putting a positive spin on the negative, we'll do nothing to correct it.

事實是，以「愉悅之情」掩飾其醜陋與瞋恨，可是小我保持原狀的主要手段之一。舉例來說，我們總是費盡心力將自己裝扮的光鮮亮麗，而課程稱這是在 “骷髏上畫上玫瑰般的紅唇” (T-23.II.18:8)(怎麼聽起來極像是剛剛說的幫豬擦口紅？)。我們以純真般的臉孔來掩飾我們的攻擊，我們進入特殊之愛的關係卻是將瞋恨隱藏於表相下。這就是使我們進步的最大的障礙，因為只要我們繼續以正面思想覆蓋負面思想，我們就對小我束手無策了。

Therefore, the Course material gives us a strong dose of "negative thinking"; again and again, it asks us to "look upon the problem as it is" (T-27.VII.2:2) instead of sugarcoating it. Here are just a few examples:

所以，課程給我們一劑 “負面思考” 強效藥，一次又一次的，它要我們去 “正視問題的真相” (T-27.VII.2:2 CVT.581)，而非將之包上糖衣。以下是幾個例子：

You cannot dismiss [the ego] lightly, and must realize how much of your thinking is ego-directed. (T-4.VI.1:4)

不可以再對它(小我)掉以輕心，你必須意識到你的思想是如何受到小我的左右。(T-4.VI.1:4 CVT.61)

We have repeatedly emphasized the need to recognize fear and face it without disguise as a crucial step in the undoing of the ego. (T-12.I.8:5)

我們仍須不斷強調認清恐懼以及正視恐懼的必要，不再遮遮掩掩的，這是化解小我的關鍵。  (T-12.I.8:5 CVT.203)

It is so crucial that you look upon your hatred and realize its full extent. (T-13.III.1:1)

正視自己的瞋恨心，且明白它的全面影響是如此的重要。

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all of the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. (T-16.IV.6:1)

你的任務不是去尋找愛，只需找出你為了抵制愛而在自身內建造的一切障礙物。

What is important is only the recognition of a mistake as a mistake. (M-7.5:8)

重要的是認清，錯誤就是錯誤。

Conflict must be resolved. It cannot be evaded, set aside, denied, disguised, seen somewhere else, called by another name, or hidden by deceit of any kind, if it would be escaped. It must be seen exactly as it is, where it is thought to be, in the reality which has been given it, and with the purpose that the mind accorded it. For only then are its defenses lifted, and the truth can shine upon it as it disappears. (W-pII.333.1:1-4)

衝突必須加以解決。不論你用逃避、擱置、否定、假冒、更名、轉移視線，或想用欺騙的伎倆加以隱藏，都擺脫不了它。你必須正視它的真面目，找出它可能的藏身處，細察你賦予它的現實，以及心靈寄託於它的目的。唯有如此，才能揭去它的防衛措施，真理才會在它消失之處大放光明。

A great example of both the need to look squarely at the ego's negativity and our tendency to dress it up in pleasant disguises is in the Urtext, the original typescript of the Course. Notice how Jesus both praises Sigmund Freud's "clear-sighted" negative thinking about the ego and disagrees with the "confused" positive thinking of Freud's successors, who tried to make it look spiritual:

在奇蹟課程的原始版本（Urtext，即未經修訂的打字原稿版）提過，我們不只應該正視小我的陰暗面，還應特別小心它有意將它裝扮得賞心悅目的企圖。耶穌稱讚佛洛伊德的對小我負面思考的 “洞察”，卻不同意佛洛伊德的後輩門生想使小我看起來充滿靈性而提出的“模糊焦點的”正面思考模式：

The ego is as frail as Freud perceived it. The later theorists have tried to introduce a less pessimistic view, but have looked in the wrong direction for their hope. Any attempt to endow the ego with the attributes of the Soul, is merely confused thinking. Freud was more clear-sighted about this, because he knew a bad thing when he perceived it. (Urtext).

小我就如佛洛伊德所領會的那般不堪一擊。爾後的理論家們雖然力圖提出一個較不悲觀的見解，卻尋錯了方向。任何想要賦予小我具有靈性特質的企圖，都只是種模糊焦點的見解。佛洛伊德對這一點便洞察多了，因為當他一看見小我，就知道那是壞東西了。

The Course wants us to engage in this kind of negative thinking for the same reason it wants us to engage in its form of positive thinking: because (according to the Course) it is the truth. We need to pull off the pretty masks and see the true nature of our illusions, for "how else can one dispel illusions except by looking at them directly, without protecting them?" (T-11.V.2:2). Only when we stop obscuring our illusions in a "positive" cloud of denial can the light of truth shine them away.

課程要我們採用這種負面的思考，與我們採用積極思考，都是基於同樣的理由：因為(根據課程所說的)，真相就是如此。我們必須卸下美麗的面具，並看穿幻相的本質，因為 “我們若不敢直接面對障礙，還一味袒護，怎麼驅除得了這些幻相？” 只有當我們停止再用 “積極樂觀”的否定煙幕彈時，真理之光才能驅除幻相。

Therefore, let's recognize that the right kind of negative thinking is a good thing—let's think positively about thinking negatively. Just as the Walter Reed medical staff looking honestly at the problems of wounded soldiers has led to a great deal of healing, so looking honestly at the ego's illusions leads to our healing. That's the power of negative thinking.

因此，讓我們認清正確的負面思考是件益事，也就是積極地去看待負面思考這件事。就像是Walter Reed 的醫療人員誠實地去面對傷兵的問題進而成功地提高傷兵的痊癒率一般，誠實地去面對小我的幻相就會導向我們的治癒。這就是負面思考的力量。