Feeling that it was time to leave, Bokuju - one of the most famous Zen Masters - gathered his students and announced his intention to them. And after that he said:
- You all know me well. And you know that all my life I have never repeated anything after anyone. Now I need your advice. Do you know any unusual way of dying?
One student suggested:
- Master, maybe you will die in the lotus position?
But then the other students grumbled:
— Many sages died in the lotus position, this is not new and not at all original.
Another student said:
- Well, you can die standing.
They discussed it as if it were a game. And someone objected again:
- No, there were those who died standing. This will also be a repetition.
Then someone suggested:
“Then there’s only one thing left to do: die standing on your head.” I don't think anyone has done this before.
Then Bokuju smiled and said:
- This suits me. Farewell, my friends!
After that, he stood on his head and died.
The students were dumbfounded. Everything happened so unexpectedly, so quickly. They thought: “What to do with a body that stands on its head? Our Master is such an eccentric... He could have told us what to do now.” So they sat in confusion until someone found a way out.
- Listen, his older sister, a nun, lives in a convent nearby. Let's better call her, otherwise we might do something wrong. And it will be very bad if we do something wrong with our Master.
The two students rushed headlong after Sister Bokuju. It was his older sister. She came in great anger, shouting from the very threshold:
“He was a bully all his life and never behaved like a normal person.” But I never thought that he would die like a hooligan. This is too much. Where is he?
The disciples made way for her, and, approaching the body standing on its head, the nun said:
- Bokuju, you idiot! You became enlightened, but you didn’t give up your antics. Get down, lie down on the bed, and die like all normal people.
Bokuju had to obey: after all, you need to obey your older sister. The students couldn't believe their eyes! They checked - he was not breathing, and his heart was not beating! Bokuju sank down, lay down on the bed and said to his sister:
- Well, okay, you can go, don’t worry. I will die as expected.
The sister left, and he died immediately, as expected. The students checked again. Everything was as before - no breathing, no pulse.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru