It happened once upon a time that the Mullah Nasruddin met a very old man, sitting and warming himself in the sun of the village square.
“How are you, uncle?” asked the Mullah in a kindly way.
“Not very well,” said the old man. “I don’t think I will see another spring. Tell me, Nasruddin–you are a mullah. You must know about these things. How should I prepare for death?”
Nasruddin stroked his beard and thought for a moment. “No preparation is necessary,” he said.
The old man looked surprised. “It isn’t?” he said. “How can that be?”
“Well, said Nasruddin, “it’s very simple. Death comes by itself. When it is time to die, you just die.”
When you die you just die. Perhaps the preparation living ones life well is paramount. One’s own death is less painful then the death of those, of one you love.
Thank you, Josephine, and well said – living one’s life well is the only ‘preparation.’