One day Buddha was walking from one village to another. It was hot. Buddha walked barefoot along the river bank. The sand was damp, and there were very clear footprints on it. It happened that a great astrologer was traveling home from Kashi, the citadel of Hindu knowledge. He had just completed his training and became perfect in his predictions. The astrologer noticed footprints in the sand and could not believe his eyes. These were the traces of the great king who ruled the world.
“Either all my science is false, or these are the traces of the great king. But if this is so, then why does the king, who rules the whole world, go to such a small village on such a hot day? And why is he walking barefoot? I have to test my assumptions, he thought.
And the great astrologer followed the footprints left in the sand. The tracks led him to Buddha sitting quietly under a tree. Approaching him, the astrologer was even more puzzled. By all indications, there really was a king sitting under the tree, but he looked like a beggar.
The embarrassed astrologer turned to Buddha:
- Please dispel my doubts. I studied in Kashi for fifteen years. I devoted fifteen years of my life to the science of prediction. Are you a beggar or a great king, ruler of the whole Earth? If you say that you are a beggar, I will throw my precious books into this river, for they are useless. I will throw them away and go home, because then I wasted 15 years of my life.
Buddha opened his eyes and said:
- Your confusion is natural. You accidentally met an exceptional person.
- What is your secret? - asked the astrologer.
- I'm unpredictable! Don't worry and don't throw away your books. Your books speak the truth. It is almost impossible to meet such a person. But in life there are always exceptions to the rules. You can't predict me. By being careful, I don't make the same mistake twice. Being in a state of constant awareness, I became Alive. No one can predict the next moment of my life. He is unknown even to me. He's growing up!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru