It happened one day that a man came to Buddha when he died. In thirty years, the Buddha passed through his city eight times, and the man never bothered to approach the Buddha. He put it off and put it off, as everyone in the world does, because he was busy—doing nothing. He ran a small store and had to support his small family. Either a guest would arrive, or just before closing an unexpected buyer would appear. And when the work ended, the sermon also ended. And this happened many times over the course of thirty years - first one thing, then another, then a third...
And that day when he heard that Buddha had died, he ran to him. He closed his shop in broad daylight and ran to where Buddha was. And there he began to cry and scream, because Buddha left, saying the last “sorry!” to people. He asked three times before: “Does anyone have anything to ask?” And they kept screaming and crying, and there was simply no one to ask. Having asked his question three times, the Buddha lay down under a tree, closed his eyes and prepared for his final journey.
And at that moment that man came running and said:
- Don't stop me, let me ask him! Let me get to him!
Ananda, the Buddha's disciple, told him:
- I recognized you. We have passed through your city eight times in all this time. Buddha spoke in your city, why didn’t you find time to come to him then? Where were you then?
And he answered:
- What could I do? Either my wife was pregnant, then the child was sick, then guests came, then customers came, and I still couldn’t come. And now that I have arrived, don't stop me!
Ananda replied:
- Now it’s late, and we are no longer able to ask him to return, for he has gone into This.
But Buddha heard everything and, returning to his body, said:
“Ananda, don’t bother him, otherwise it will remain a stain on me that, while I was still almost alive, a man knocked on my door, but I didn’t open it and didn’t want to help him.”
Buddha asked the man:
- Well, what do you want? What's your question? What are you looking for?
And the man asked him many questions, and Buddha answered him. But no one heard from this man again. He didn't become enlightened. He returned to his town - to his store, his wife, his customers.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru