I think the dialogue in the book is a little deeper:
How you live your life is your business. But remember, our hearts and our bodies are given to us only once. Most of us can't help but live as though we've got two lives to live, one is the mockup, the other the finished version, and then there are all those versions in between. But there's only one, and before you know it, your heart is worn out, and, as for your body, there comes a point when no one looks at it much less wants to come near it. Right now there's sorrow. I don't envy the pain. But I envy you the pain.
How you live is your business. But remember, our minds and bodies are unique. Many people live as if they have two lives to live, one model, one finished product, and even versions in between. But you only have one life, and before you finally realize it, your heart is weary. As for your body, there will come a day when no one will look at it, and no one will want to approach it. Now I feel very sorry. I do not envy the pain itself. But I envy your pain.
It points to two versions of life, and I think it's more of an exhortation to "live in the moment."
In order to avoid pain as soon as possible, some people choose to use inappropriate plugs to plug the gaps in their hearts, instead of letting them slowly scab on their own, instead, the wounds will never heal. But their feelings can't deceive themselves, and they can no longer make themselves feel to accept another person with a complete heart. Everyone feels that there are many versions of their life, so don't cherish the only version that they experience right now.
Similar to the word version, Borges has a deeper and more poetic metaphor for time: a garden with forked paths. If time can fork at each node like space, there will be "a network where various times are close to each other, intersect or are irrelevant for a long time". Although different from linear time, it is still the same at every node. When you choose your path at the fork, you still cannot go back out of this infinite garden of time. The original path has disappeared, and there may be countless versions of you on other paths in the garden.
Time is forever bifurcated, leading to countless futures.
We still don't know what form time is like, is it another dimension independent of space? Or, as Borges argues, is time just an attribute used to identify? The only certainty is its non-repeatability, the present is the present.
Touch, hearing, sight, smell, and taste are the main tools that people use to perceive the world at present, but they cannot perceive time, and can only feel its passage from the changes of things. How can we be sure that the present world is real? Maybe we are all mayflies playing sensory games, the whole universe is just a fairy tale world in a crystal bottle, nothing really exists.
If we just live in a virtual world, how do we deal with it? To borrow the words from "SKAM" to answer:
These words may be clichés, but you never know who will die tomorrow, whether you believe in Allah, or God or evolution or parallel universes. There is only one thing we are sure of, life is at hand.
Living in the moment is not a choice, it's how real life unfolds. You only have one state at the moment, you can only Live with it, there is no other choice. You think you can choose what kind of life you want to live, you can travel, you can play games, and you can even stay quietly, but when you consider these choices, they don't belong to you, and when you complete an activity, it is already away from you.
In addition to the garden with bifurcated paths, perhaps there is a deeper mystery in the law of time, but for each independent entity, it is linear, more like an infinitely extending straight line. It goes through an instant and never looks back. Sometimes we fantasize that we can jump from the current line to another parallel line, become wise and rich, and leave the original version aside and never meet again.
However, how life is not determined by the position of the line, nor is it determined by its direction. No position is better than another, and no direction is better than the other. They are just different forms of life, and it is only the feeling of the moment that determines whether they are good or bad. Not losing the ability to feel pain is something to be jealous of, because the pain is real enough. But pain doesn't have to be a reminder of reality, any feeling is fine, as long as it can be felt, this is a state of inaction.
The "wuwei" advocated by Laozi is not to say nothing, but to feel very comfortable and smooth inside when you do something. This is verified by anyone. This is a good moment, a moment when there is "flow". You do not deliberately perceive yourself, but you can get unusually calm and comfortable. When you can feel this moment of peace, it shows that your heart is clean and pure. Only a sufficiently clear lake bottom can form a mirror-like lake surface, and only a sufficiently calm water surface can feel the breeze.
You should try your best to bring your body and mind closer to this momentary feeling, the ripples will spread out quickly, and the breeze will not leave a trace.
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