Enlightenment

As recounted by Tom Robbins in the video 1 Giant Leap

“There was a Bodhisatva who decided he needed to see the Buddha so he set out on foot. And somewhere along his journey, he came upon a man who was seated in the lotus position, meditating, but he had made several mistakes in that he hadn’t chosen a shady spot, so he was out in the sun and he was being absolutely cooked. He was all sunburned and dehydrated and he also had made the mistake of sitting on an anthill, so the ants were crawling all over him and eating his flesh and he was absolutely miserable. And as the Bodhisatva went by, he said “when you see the Buddha, ask him how long it’s going to take for me to become enlightened.” The Bodhisatva promised to do that and continued on his way.

“A few days later, he came across a second man who was dancing and laughing and singing. Just in a state of exhilaration, just bopping around, and as the Bodhisatva went by, this man said, “When you see the Buddha, ask him how long it’ll be before I’m enlightened.” The Bodhisatva promised, so he went on, had his audience with the Buddha, and a few weeks later came back along the way and this time he came upon the first man first and by now the ants had taken most of the flesh off of his body and he was just blistered from the sun and he was practically dead, absolutely miserable and the Bodhisatva said “The Buddha says it will take six more lifetimes for you to become enlightened.” The guy says, “Oh, no, I can’t stand it.”

“The Bodhisatva goes on and come upon the other man, who is still laughing, still dancing, still singing, having his sips of wine and nice food out of the food bowl from time to time. As the Bodhisatva went by, he said, “You see that bush over there? That small tree, the one with all the leaves on it? The Buddha said, ‘for every leaf on that tree, that’s another lifetime you’re going to have to endure before you’re enlightened’” And the man said, “Is that all?” and began dancing and laughing and singing even more exuberantly.

“And at that moment, he became enlightened.”

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