After all, isn't materialism just plain bad always?

「良い物質主義」が存在するなど

It can seem as if we're faced with a stark choice:

物質主義など根本的に悪では無いか？

either you can be materialistic, and that means obsessed with money and possessions, shallow and selfish

難しい選択肢の様に感じる

or you can reject materialism, be good and focus on more important matters of the spirit.

浅はかで利己的な、名誉や金に溺れる物質主義者になるか、

But in truth, most of us are, in our hearts, stuck somewhere between these two choices,

物質主義を拒否し、健全な心を育む為大切な事に従事する良い人になるか。

which is pretty uncomfortable.

現実は、ほとんどの人が両端の間をさまよう

We're still enmeshed in the desire to possess but we're encouraged to feel rather bad about it.

あまり良い気持ちはしない

Yet, crucially, it's not actually materialism,

物欲を持つ事を勧められながら、罪悪感も植え付けられる

the pure fact of buying things and getting excited by possessions

だが実は、物質主義、つまり

that's ever really the problem.

商品の購入や、手に入れる楽しみそのものは問題では無い。

We're failing to make a clear distinction between good and bad versions of materialism.

良い物質主義と悪い物質主義の違いが分かっていないのだ。

Let's try to understand good materialism through a slightly unusual route: religion.

少し変わった目線で良い物質主義の理解を深めよう。

Because we see them as focused exclusively on spiritual things,

宗教を通して。

it can be surprising to note how much use religions have made of material things.

スピリチュアルである宗教がモノを活用しているという印象は薄いが、

They've spent a lot of time making and thinking about scrolls to hang in your house,

宗教は創作に対する試行錯誤に沢山の時間を費やした

shrines, temples, monasteries, artworks, clothes, ceremonies...

家に飾る掛け軸や、聖堂、寺院、修道院、美術品、衣服、式典、

However, they've cared about these things for one reason only:

そんな事をした理由はたった一つ

because they wanted material things to serve the hightest and noblest purpose,

物質を使って、より崇高な目的を達成する為だ。

the development of our souls.

つまり、魂の成長だ。

It's just that they recognize the we are incarnate, sensory, bodily beings

私たちは肉体を持つ、感覚的な生き物だ

and that the way to get through to our souls has to be, at least in part, through our bodies

魂に訴えかける為には、体を通す必要がどうしても出てくる。

rather than merely through the intellect.

知性のみではダメだ

The importance of material things was for centuries at the core of christianity,

物質の大切さは、何世紀にも渡りキリスト教の中心にあった。

which proposed that Jesus was both the highest spiritual being and a flesh and blood person.

ジーザスは崇高でスピリチュアルでありながら、肉体も持つ存在だと。

He was the spirit encarnated, holiness embodied.

彼は人間に埋め込まれた神聖さであると。

In the Catholic Mass great significance is accorded to the bread and the wine,

カトリックの集いでは、パンとワインに重要な意義を与えた

which are believed to be transubstantiations of Christ,

キリストの「化身」であると信じて

that is, material objects which simultaneously have a spiritual identity,

つまり、物質であると同時に魂の自己を持つもの、

just as Jesus himself combined the spiritual and the bodily while on Earth.

まさに、この世で肉体と神聖さを同時に持つジーザスと同様に。

This can all sound like a very weird and arcane point entirely removed from the local shopping mall,

なんだかおかしな、難しい見解にも聞こえるだろう

but exactly the same concept actually apllies outside of religions.

近所のショッピングモールなどと一切かけ離れた話だ

Many good material possessions can be set to involve a kind of transubstantiation

しかし、実は全く同じ見解が宗教以外にも当てはまる

whereby they are both practical and physical, and also embody or allude to a positive personality or spirit.

良い商品とは、ある意味「化身」だと言える

Take this watch by the designer Dieter Rams.

利便性がある「モノ」であり、

To the outer eye it's an ordinary time piece,

そして「健全な性格」や「魂」も象徴する。

but at a psychological level it's also a kind of transubstantiation.

Dieter Rams の腕時計を見てみよう

It tells the time but it also hints at a more psychological, even spiritual side,

一見ごく普通の腕時計に見える

with ideals of purity, simplicity and harmony floating around it.

しかし、心理学的に見ると、ある意味で「化身」だ

It tell us how long there is to lunch, but it also trying to nudge us towards being a certain sort of person

時間を教えると同時に、心理的、スピリチュアルな面も持つ

Or take this chair, it too transubstantiates a set of important values:

「純粋」「シンプル」「調和」という発想をまとう。

straightforwardness, strenght, honesty and elegance.

お昼まであとどれ位か伝えると同時に、どんな人であるべきか思い出させる様だ。

by getting closer to the chair we stand to become a little more like it,

この椅子もそうだ。

which is an important piece of inner evolution.

重要な価値観を形を変えて表現している。

Material objects can therefore be said to play a positive psychological or spiritual role in our lives,

「率直さ」「強さ」「正直さ」「エレガンス」

when higher, more positive ideals are materialized in them,

この椅子に近づくと、なんとなく少し自分も同じ様になる。

and so, when buying and using them daily gives us a chance to get closer to our better selves.

とても重要な、内なる進化だ。

When they're contained in physical things, valuable psychological qualities, that are otherwise often intermittent in our thoughs and conduct,

そういうわけで、「もの」は心理的にもスピリチュアル的にも私たちの生活に大切な役割を持つと言える。

can become more stable and resilient.

より崇高で前向きな理想的価値を物質化したものとして。

This isn't to say that all consumerism just conveniently turns out to be great,

それらを日常的に購入し利用する事は自分を高めるチャンスだ

it depends on what a given material object stands for.

物質的な事に埋め込む事で、私たちの思考や行動の中で途切れてしまいがちな、

An object can transubstantiate the very worse side of human nature:

重要な心理的価値を保つ事ができる

greed, callousness, the desire to triumph,

これで物質主義全てがコロっと前向きに変わった訳ではない

as much as it can the best sides.

その「もの」がどんな意味を持つかによる

So we must be careful no to decry or celebrate all material consumption just like that.

「もの」が人間のよからぬ性質を持ち合わせる事もある

We have to ensure that the objects we invest and tire ourselves in the planet by making

「貪欲」「無情さ」「勝利への異常な執念」良い価値観を持つのと同様だ。

are those that land most incouragement to our higher, better natures.

全ての消費をまとめて非難したり賞讃したりしない様気を付けなければいけない