it only once. You show up every day for a number of years, get filled up with knowledge

你只學一次。數年來，你每天出席，腦袋填滿知識，

and then, once you’re twenty-one or so, you stop – and begin the rest of your life.

然後到二十一歲左右便停止這個過程，開始你的人生。

Before modern education took off, the mightiest educational systems in the world were religions.

在現代教育盛行以前，世界上最重要的教育系統是：信仰。

It was religions that taught us about ethics, purpose and the meaning of life. And one of

信仰教導了我們道德、意志和人生的意義。

the interesting aspects of their pedagogy was that they were obsessed with repetition.

信仰的教育學中一個有趣的地方是，他們深深的為「重複」所著迷。

For them, it was absurd to imagine ever learning anything if you went through it only once.

對他們來說，任何事情想要只歷經過一次就學會是非常荒謬可笑的。

The whole basis of religious education rested upon repetition. Five times a day, as a Muslim

信仰教育中最基礎、最根本的就是不斷的重複。

one was to rehearse the central tenets of Islam; seven times a day as a Christian Benedictine

穆斯林教徒一天要禮拜五次；

monk, one was to revisit the lessons of scripture. As an orthodox Jew, 300 days a year were marked

基督教聖本篤的修士一天七次複習聖經內容；

out for commemoration and ritual repetition of ideas in the Torah, while as a Zen priest,

而傳統的猶太教徒一年中便有三百多天要行紀念儀式和複習摩西五經。

one would be inducted to sit cross-legged and meditate up to twelve times between daybreak

禪宗的和尚也會被傳授盤腿而坐，凝神冥想，從早到晚一天十二次。

and nightfall. Religions had what one might term a sieve view of the mind: that anything

信仰將大腦視為一個篩子：

one pours in will quickly be lost in our perforated memories. By contrast, modern education adheres

任何事物流進篩子，又快速的從空隙中流失。

to an implicitly bucket-like theory of the mind: one pours in the contents and, bar accidents,

相較之下，現代教育堅信大腦像是水桶：

they’ll stay there pretty much across a life-time. That’s why we’ll think nothing

將內容倒進去後，它們幾乎就可以保存相當於人一生的時間。

of earnestly declaring a book a favourite – and deigning to read it only once. Far

這就是為什麼有些人可以聲稱自己喜愛某本書，

less naively and far more generously, religions prefer to imagine that anything you tell someone

卻只願意看過一次。

in the morning will, by two in the afternoon, be well on the way to evaporation and will

至於信仰，則毫不天真與更大方地認為，人們早上說過的話，到了下午兩點就會開始慢慢忘記，

be pretty much gone by nightfall. Repetition is the only way of ensuring that something

到晚上的時候，大概就忘得差不多了。

will stick. Once you’ve finished reading a favourite holy text, the story of Moses

「重複」是確保事物被牢牢記住的唯一方法。

for example, you head straight back to the beginning and start again, with the bull rushes

例如當你看完喜愛的摩西聖經章節，你會直接再從頭開始看聖嬰和蘆葦草的故事。

and the baby infant. We pay a heavy price for our lack of interest in rehearsing lessons

我們付了相當大的代價在排練毫無興趣的功課和想法，

and ideas. There are all kinds of things we badly need to keep in our minds: the better

然而還有各式各樣更重要的事情我們必須牢牢記住：

parts of our nature that speak to us of being patient, of remaining gentle, of striving

人性中的良善會告訴我們，要有耐心、保持溫和、

for forgiveness, of pausing to appreciate, of straining to understand what at first seems

堅持寬恕、記得感恩，

unbearably foreign… We’ve been taught these things once, of course. But it was a

或使勁的理解第一眼看似無法忍受的異象。

while ago now. Possibly when we were seven. And so, naturally, they’re not at the front

當然，這些我們都學過一次，只不過距離現在都有一段時間了，也許是在七歲的時候。

of our minds as we career through our lives, smashing into things and people, raging and

想當然爾，當人生失控時，這些美德就不會自動出現在我們的想法中。

blaming, slandering and hating. There’s equal, and possibly far greater wisdom to

憤怒、責備、誹謗、憎恨會將周遭的人事物撞個粉碎。

be found in the secular as opposed to the religious sphere, but those who dispense it

世俗社會與宗教圈相比，可能擁有相同，或更甚之的智慧在裡面，

are far too hopeful about the functioning of our minds. They choose to tell us just

但是教育家們卻對我們的腦袋期待太多了，他們選擇只告訴我們一次，

once, possibly in quite a low voice, about all the things that matter; maybe in a beautiful

或許是透過低沉的嗓音訴說那些非常重要的事情，或許是將道理隱藏在美麗卻又充滿多義性的詩中，

but very dense poem or in quite a slow moving novel we once read fitfully over a summer

也或許是在二十年前的暑假裡，讓我們斷斷續續看完的，那節奏緩慢的小說當中，

two decades ago. And then they expect us to keep it all in mind our whole lives long – and

然後他們就期待我們一輩子記住所有經典的意義。

we’re surprised that the march of human craziness goes on unabated. We should not

人們這種瘋狂的想法竟持續不斷的延續著，我們覺得很意外。

abandon our most precious insights to the lax guardians of our memories. We need to

我們不應該將最珍貴的洞見拱手讓給一點也不給力的記憶力，

steal the idea of repetition from religions – and create our own catechisms, our own

我們必須從信仰中借鏡「重複」的妙用，創造自己的思路問答、

midnight prayers, our own cycles of rehearsed knowledge. We need to make the most important

自己的午夜禱告、自己的知識複習週期，

ideas vivid in our minds on a constant basis. We should never be done with school. We should

我們必須讓心中最重要的想法作為基礎，並持續不斷待在腦海當中。

daily be re-immersed in the great truths: that we will die, that we must understand

我們不應該只靠學校教育完整自己，我們應該每天重新沉浸在美好的真理當中：

ourselves, that we must love, that others are sad rather than mean… Many of us are

我們終將迎接死亡、我們必須了解自己、我們必須愛人、他人只因悲傷而顯得刻薄

done with religion; but we shouldn’t be done with what religions knew so well of our

...許多人透過信仰完成這個過程，但我們不應該被信仰對人性的聊若指掌所掌控：

minds: that nothing stays active in them, unless we rehearse and repeat with every new

沒有任何事物可以永遠保持活躍，

dawn. We need to keep coming back – Not least: here.

除非我們每天清晨重複不斷的演練。

At The School Of Life we believe in developing emotional intelligence.

我們必須不斷的回來、再回來，

To that end we have also created a whole range of products to support that growth.

尤其是…這個頻道。

Find out more at the link on the screen now.