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Soon after, the king summoned the crown He then said, "Birth, aging, illness, and
prince and said, "Look, my hair is turning gray! death are all part of the natural process. Once
So now, I want to seek my path in life. I am we are born, we will age, and because we age, we
turning the country over to you. Follow the will certainly die. Ordinary people are happy at
policies I have established and focus on benefiting birth, then become afflicted throughout life, and
the citizens. Maintain the prosperity and peace of as they approach old age, they grow terrified of
the country." death. In fact, this cycle is the natural course of
life; it should not cause us to feel joy, afflictions,
Thereafter, the king abdicated the throne
or fear. Once we thoroughly understand the
and left the palace. He built a small hut to live in
truths of life, what in the material world is worth
and practiced in solitude. He worked extremely
chasing after?"
hard and was very diligent, so he soon eliminated
all his afflictions and attained realizations. His Though we may be very familiar with these
mind became liberated, thus nothing bothered principles, in reality, when we encounter these
him. Then he made a vow: "I vow to engage in inevitable stages in our lives, we often become
spiritual practice as a monastic, life after life. I ensnared in our suffering and afflictions, lost in
want to share my realizations and spread the state our confusion.
of mind of being liberated with everyone in the
As we study the Buddha's teachings, we must
world."
learn to accept the nature of life. Instead of being
At this point, the Buddha told His disciples, troubled or worrying about where we will go in
"Dear bhiksus, in my past life, I was that king. our next life, we should seize the present moment
Ordinary people are lost and confused, with to always be mindful. We must always ask
desires as boundless as the sea. They continuously ourselves, do we crave recognition and wealth?
seek material comfort, so they are always in Do we crave the enjoyment of pleasures? Are
conflict with each other, causing much suffering we afflicted by interpersonal conflicts? As long
in this world. Ordinary people do not usually as our minds are calm, no matter what happens,
ponder the important questions of life: Where we will be at peace. Furthermore, we need to live
were we before we were born? Where will we with others in harmony. Then, in every moment,
go after we die? What is our ultimate purpose we will feel liberated and at ease.
in life? What happens after we attain that
purpose? Therefore, they do not realize that 1 Sangha: the community of the Buddha’s followers
things are impermanent and do not strive to 2 Bhiksu: a male monastic practitioner
3 Kalpa: an extremely long period of time
engage in spiritual practice."

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