All the hair upon Bold’s back rose. He looked curiously at Mikhail as if to see if he was fooling around.
“How? How do you know that? You’re joking right? There is no way to-“
“Bold…Through meditation I know I’m different from my body…you think I’m playing this video game right now?”.
Mikhail formed an innocent smile on his face. It definitely did not fit with the topic he was talking about.
“Arhmm…what?” said Diego with an obvious puzzlement on his face.
Mikhail looked at the screen.
“Existence is playing this video game through this body. I am simply a witness to it”
Bold jumped up to his feet.
“Y-you’re insane!”
At last Mikhail couldn’t handle it and laughed.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry Bold. It was just a joke okay? Sit down”
Bold looked at him with suspicion and sat back.
“But what’s your opinion on it Bold? Do you think we pick another character upon death? Or do you think everything ends with one shot?”
Bold looked at his childlike curious expression and answered.
“I honestly wish to not think about it. But…if reincarnation is a thing…it’s terribly cruel”.
“Haha. Way to be edgy Bold” said Mikhail with a laugh.
“I’m not edgy. it’s the truth. Being born in this world over and over again just to suffer…it’s torture isn’t it?”
“Ahh, I know what character to pick” said Mikhail and picked. But he immediately turned his gaze back to him and spoke:
“You know, Bold. You’re more similar to Gautam Buddha than me”
“Just so you know, I have no idea who that guy is” said Diego.
“Look, Bold can convey the story I told to him to you later” said Mikhail.
“Why? Why the hell am I similar to him? You’re the one who keep mentioning him” said Bold angrily.
“Gautam Buddha used to say that life is suffering. And he would say that when you achieve enlightenment, when you achieve Nirvana…there would be no pain”
“No pain? That almost sounds like death” said Bold reluctantly.
“Yes, in a way enlightenment is similar to death. You will be transformed so totally that the same person would be no more. And that new person will not feel pain. Really, its not that he lost all his senses. He can touch taste and do whatever we do. He just knows that when pleasure comes the body is having pleasure and when pain comes he knows that the body is in pain. He himself remains…untouched”.
Mikhail eloquently finished speaking and looked at Bold. Even if Bold did not say anything it was clear that his words had touched him.
“But Bold, I am against Gautam when it comes to worldviews like that. Life is not suffering, neither is it full of pleasures. Life is just life. And suffering happens when you don’t accept the many faces of life”.
“Like pain?”
“Yes, pain. Even pain can be fun if you accept it. But most people will not understand that. It is too creepy and unorthodox way of seeing things. So Gautama just says life is suffering. Its not that it is suffering. Its just that when you suffer you remember his words and think about how he was right. And there are different types of suffering too. Poor people suffer from diseases, hunger and pain. So Gautama appeals to them. But Gautama also appeals to rich people too because these people have a different kind of suffering. A deeper kind at that. They have everything they ever wanted at their disposal but still this boredom, this feeling of meaninglessness persists. And even that is painful, in fact, it might be even more painful than any disease since you cannot handle that problem with money”.
Mikhail gave a confident smile towards him.
“But I am against Gautama when it comes to that topic. Life is not so bad if you have eyes to see its beauty. And really only those who have the courage to see life as it is will be able to know the ultimate truth. If you escape into your religious fantasies, projections, imaginations and desires in order to erase this painful life, how can you know the truth?”
Bold simply shook his head and sat down in front of the monitor. He chose the short yellow haired fat character who is known for his fast moves despite his…fattiness.
