A person's life is full of thoughts. But there are not many problems that really make people think for a lifetime. Sometimes they are thrilling, and sometimes they are still worried without thinking. To put it bluntly, people only want one question all their lives, and this question is inevitably placed in front of everyone without discrimination, which is confusing enough and may not be clear if they think about it all their lives.
In retrospect, the motivation that has haunted me for many years has never changed. It urges me to study and think, inspires me to struggle and pursue, and advises me to retreat in time and take it lightly. If we want to express this hidden and obvious motive in words, it is a very simple proposition: there is only one life.
If people can live forever, or live countless times, then the landscape of life problems will be completely changed, or even there will be no life problems at all. Life is a problem because it is one-off and short-lived. However, from the premise that life is only once, different people, no, the same person can draw different conclusions. Perhaps the confusion is that these contradictory conclusions seem to make sense. Perhaps wisdom is also trying to make these contradictory conclusions reach a dialectical reconciliation.
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No matter who he is, when he first realizes the sad fact that life is only once, he is bound to have a sense of disillusionment. The temptation of life has just appeared on the horizon, but it has come to an end at a glance. One life is too little! Such desires and dreams are surging in my heart. How can a life be enough? Why are there many empires and dynasties in history, countless stars in the universe, and I only have one life? Isn't my little life equal to zero in the long history of the rise and fall of empires and the change of dynasties, and in the operation of stars? Really equal to zero. Once it's over, there is no trace. What's the difference between it and never having existed?
A hero written by Czech writer Kundera often repeats a German proverb to the effect that "to live once is to never live." This proverb very succinctly equates only one life with nothingness in life.
After reading Jin Shengtan's criticism of The West Chamber, this unique critic vividly described his helplessness and despair because of his short life. He wrote in the preface: "Since ancient times, hundreds of millions of years have passed like water, clouds, wind and electricity. As for this year and this month, I am temporarily." I've been here for a while, but I haven't forgotten that the clouds are rolling and the clouds are comfortable, and the wind is urgent and the electricity is urgent. "I also want to do something, but what I do will be fleeting and fast, so I don't want to do anything, just want to entertain myself. Criticizing the West Chamber is a pastime. However, "I sincerely have nothing to do. Why not make a sudden death, a cloud roll, a rush, and a lightning bolt?" Thought of here, even the mind of recreation is gone, really helpless.
Throughout the ages, poets and philosophers have lamented the nothingness of life, so there is no need to give more examples here. Of course, the epitome of pessimism is Buddhism, which comes down to the three basic principles of Buddhism (three dharma seals) in one word. It is nothing more than asking us to see through the illusion of life from the shortness of life ("impermanence of all behaviors"), so as to consciously give up life ("nirvana silence").
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However, just like blindly persistent and blindly pessimistic, it is far from wisdom. The danger of pessimism is an attitude of refusing to live, and the danger of persistence is an attitude of possession.
The so-called possessiveness of life does not necessarily mean mercenary and insatiable behavior. Fromm analyzed the attitude of possession in detail in his book Possession or Existence, which is reflected in all daily life experiences such as study, reading, conversation, memory, faith and love. As far as I know, anyone who pays too much attention to the success or failure of life and regards success and happiness as the first essence and highest goal of life can fall into this category. Because this is essentially a possession of life, you must get the greatest benefit from it, and then quickly.
But life cannot be possessed. More precisely, it is a temporary gift that fell into our hands by luck, and we will return it sooner or later. We would rather ponder it with a leisurely mood than let the eager pursuit and gains and losses occupy us, so that we no longer have the mood of pondering. There is something more important in life than success and happiness, that is, an open-minded attitude above all success or failure. In the ultimate sense, success and failure, happiness and disaster in the world are just fleeting, and there is no substantive difference between them. When we think like this, we keep a distance from the external experience, but we are closer to our real life. This kind of real life is a rich life experience, which is both inclusive and beyond the external experience.
We might as well cling to life, but at the same time, as Montaigne said, we should pack our bags and be ready to bid farewell to life at any time. No matter how deep China's entry into WTO is, it will never forget its own limits. If such persistence is pessimistic, it will not lead to greed. The persistence of pessimism at the bottom is actually a kind of detachment.
A person's life is full of thoughts. But there are not many problems that really make people think for a lifetime. Sometimes they are thrilling, and sometimes they are still worried without thinking. To put it bluntly, people only want one question all their lives, and this question is inevitably placed in front of everyone without discrimination, which is confusing enough and may not be clear if they think about it all their lives.
In retrospect, the motivation that has haunted me for many years has never changed. It urges me to study and think, inspires me to struggle and pursue, and advises me to retreat in time and take it lightly. If we want to express this hidden and obvious motive in words, it is a very simple proposition: there is only one life.
If people can live forever, or live countless times, then the landscape of life problems will be completely changed, or even there will be no life problems at all. Life is a problem because it is one-off and short-lived. However, from the premise that life is only once, different people, no, the same person can draw different conclusions. Perhaps the confusion is that these contradictory conclusions seem to make sense. Perhaps wisdom is also trying to make these contradictory conclusions reach a dialectical reconciliation.