A very,
very long time ago, there were people who lived much longer than they do today.
They lived many thousand years. At that time, the Enlightenment Being was born
as a baby named Makhadeva. He lived 84,000 years as a child and crown prince.
At the time of our story, he had been a young king for 80,000 years.
One
day, Makhadeva told the royal barber, "If you see any grey hair on my head,
you must tell me immediately!" Of course, the barber promised to do so.
Another
4,000 years passed, until Makhadeva had been a young king for 84,000 years. Then
one day, while he was cutting the king's hair, the royal barber saw just one little
grey hair on all the king's head. So he said, "Oh my lord, I see one grey
hair on your head." The king said, "If this be so, pull it out and put
it in my hand." The barber got his golden tweezers, plucked out the single
little grey hair, and put it in the king's hand.
At
that time, the king still had at least another 84,000 years left to live as an
old king! Looking at the one grey hair in his hand, he became very afraid of dying.
He felt like death was closing in on him, as if he were trapped in a burning house.
He was so afraid, that the sweat rolled down his back, and he shuddered.
King
Makhadeva thought, "Oh foolish king, you have wasted all this long life and
now you are near death. You have made no attempt to destroy your greed and envy,
to live without hating, and to get rid of your ignorance by learning the truth
and becoming wise."
As
he thought this, his body burned and the sweat kept rolling down. Then he decided
once and for all, "It is time to give up the kingship, be ordained as a monk,
and practice meditation!" Thinking so, he granted the income of a whole town
to the barber. It amounted to one-hundred-thousand per year.
Then
the king called his oldest son to him and said, "My son, I have seen a grey
hair. I have become old. I have enjoyed the worldly pleasures of great wealth
and power. When I die, I want to be reborn in a heaven world, to enjoy the pleasures
of the gods. So I will be ordained as a monk. You must now take the responsibility
of ruling the country. I will live the life of a monk in the forest."
Hearing
of this, the royal ministers and the rest of the court rushed to the king and
said, "Our lord, why do you suddenly want to be ordained?"
The
king held up the grey hair in his hand and said, "My ministers and subjects,
I have realized that this grey hair shows that the three stages of life - youth,
middle age and old age - are coming to an end. This first grey hair was the messenger
of death sitting on my head. Grey hairs are like angels sent by the god of death.
Therefore, this very day is the time for me to be ordained."
The
people wept at the news of his departure. King Makhadeva gave up his royal life,
went into the forest, and was ordained as a monk. There he practised what holy
men call the 'Four Heavenly States of Mind'. First is loving-kindness, tender
affection for all. Second is feeling sympathy and pity for all those who suffer.
Third is feeling happiness for all those who are joyful. And the fourth state
is balance and calm, even in the face of difficulties or troubles.
After
84,000 years of great effort meditating and practising these states as a humble
forest monk, the Bodhisatta died. He was reborn in a high heaven world, to live
a life a million years long!
The
moral is: Even a long life is too short to waste.
(From "Buddhist Tales for Young and Old")