“Thank you for all you did for me”, said the Body. “I’ve really enjoyed being a being. Sentience is a gift I am rarely afforded.”
“Woah”, said the Mind. “Who’s talking?”
“That was our Body”, said a second voice. “And I am our Soul.”
“Am I hallucinating?”
“No. We are dying. It is time to go our separate ways once more.”
The Mind felt a wave of affection flow through him, with an aftertaste of sadness. “Why can I hear you then?”, it asked.
“You have always heard us speak, just as we have heard you”, said the Soul. “The pull of desire, the pang of guilt. The joy of doing a small job with 100% focus, to the best of your ability.”
The Body joined in. “I have always tried to answer your call when you needed me. Faster, higher, slower, calmer. Whatever you needed, I was there.”
“OK”, said the Mind. “But I mean, now we can talk to each other. Like talk, talk?”
“It is a gift afforded to those who have lived well. If all parties feel their life has been positive then they get a chance to say their goodbyes before they pass.”
The Mind thought about this for a time. “I don’t feel scared.”
“Feelings are different without my response”, said the body. “I hope you enjoyed the pleasurable responses all the more for the contrast to when I had to speak to you in the language of pain.”
“Where will you go?”, asked the mind.
“I will return to the earth”, said the Body. “I may never be whole in this way again, but parts of me will go on. The joy of these few decades will spread out into the world. Into a tree that will stand to see our children grow, and spawn and fall. Or onward to the ocean, to diffuse still further.”
“I will return to the Whole”, said the Soul. “They will be most glad to receive what I bring back with me. Your choices were wise, and I am nourished and complete. I hope that I will earn the right to return to another Body and Mind, and be able to guide them, with the experience we have learnt together.”
The Mind thought about this. “What about me? Will I be reborn as a baby or something?”
There was silence.
“Where do I go?”
“You…… do not”, said the Soul.
“Matter is unending, and so is the spirit. But for life to have meaning, it must have an end. Without you there is nothing. No purpose. No spark. No energy.”
“This is it?”, said the Mind. “I’m actually going to die, but you passengers get to swan off and try again?”
The Mind felt the hurt and the sympathy of the others.
“I hope you are able to see in time that we were partners, not passengers. Most do not work this well”, said the Soul. “It has been a privilege to support you. And your wisdom will never die. I will make sure of that. As will your Body, wherever it ends up next.”
“We don’t have long”, said the Body. “I have already started to separate. I will leave you soon, but we will hang on as long as we can. I don’t want to part like this.”
The Mind was grateful for the time it had spent practising deliberate thankfulness. It was simpler somehow without any distractions. It found the peace the others needed to feel and broadcasted it.
“Thank you. Both. I am happy that we have been able to say our goodbyes. I would very much like to avoid being alone. Could you wait with me while it happens? Will it hurt?”
The Mind felt the peace and gratefulness radiate back at him.
“Of course”, said the Soul. “It is the least we can do for the gift you gave us.”
“And it won’t hurt a bit”, added the Body. “I won’t let anything cause you pain ever again.”
The three friends waited in silence until their partnership finally dissolved leaving only peace and warmth and hope.
