In the beginning, all things are hopeful. We prepare ourselves to start anew. Though we may be intent on the magnificent journey ahead, all things are contained in the first moment: our optimism, our faith, our resolution, our innocence.

在起点，所有的一切都充满希望。我们准备从头开始。尽管我们把注意力放在前方奇妙的旅途上，但开始那一刻的信心、观念、决心及率真已经决定了我们前方旅途的一切。

In order to start, we must make a decision. The decision is a commitment to daily self-cultivation. We must make a strong connection to our inner selves. Outside matters are superfluous. Alone and naked, we negotiate all of life’s travails. Therefore, we alone must make something of ourselves, transforming ourselves into the instruments for experiencing the deepest spiritual essence of life.

为了这一时刻，我们必须先做一个决定。这个决定在我们日常的自我修养中早已形成。我们必须把它和自己内心深处建立一种紧密的联系。外部的一切都是多余的。我们劳其一生，最终依然是孤身赤裸裸归于尘土。因此，我们必须做点什么，引导我们自己去经历生活最深层的精神实质。

Once we make our decision, all things will come too us. Auspicious signs are not a superstition, but a confirmation. They are a response. It is said that if one chooses to pray to a rock with enough devotion, even that rock will come alive. In the same way, once we choose to commit ourselves to spiritual practice, even the mountains and valleys will reverberate to the sound of our decision.

一旦我们下定决心，一切都接踵而来了。吉兆的出现不是迷信，而是肯定。他们是对决心的回应。据说如果有人选择矢志不移的对岩石祈祷，那么岩石也会变得有生命。同样，如果我们选择坚定自己的精神旅途，即使高山和峡谷也会对我们的决心做出回应。