The King With One Grey Hair

Ordination

Eons ago, the people had much longer lives than those today. They lived many hundreds of thousands of years. At that time, the Bodhisattva was born as a baby named Makhadeva.

For 84,000 years, he had lived as a child and crown prince. At the time of our story, he had been a young king for 80,000 years.

One day, Makhadeva told his royal barber: "If you see any grey hair on my head, promise you will tell me immediately!" Of course, the barber gave his word to do so.

4,000 years later, on a certain fateful day, the royal barber spotted one single grey hair on the king's head whole he was cutting his raven locks. "Oh my lord, I see one grey hair on your head," he said. "Pull it out and put it in my hand," instructed the king. The barber got his golden tweezers, plucked out the one grey hair, and placed it in the king's hand.

At that time when the incident happened, the king still had at least another 84,000 years to live before his time was up! But at that moment when he was looking at the one grey hair in his hand, he was terrified of dying. He felt like death was closing in on him, as if he was trapped in a burning house. He was so fearful and worried that sweat rolled down his back, and he shuddered.

:Oh foolish king, you have wasted your long life. You have made no attempt to rid yourself of your mental defilements like greed, envy, hatred, and ignorance. And now you have aged and death is closing in on you," thought King Makhadeva.

The more he thought, the more his body sweated and burned. Until finally, he decided once and for all to give up his kingship, be ordained as a monk, and to practise meditation. He also granted the income of a whole town to the barber, This amounted to 100,000 per year.

Then the king called his eldest son to him and said: "My son, I have just found a grey hair on my head. I have aged. As I have enjoyed the worldly pleasures of great wealth and power, when I die, I want to be reborn in a heavenly world and enjoy the pleasures of the gods. I have decided to live the life of a forest monk from today onwards. You must now take over the responsibility of ruling the country."

Hearing that the king wanted to become a monk, the royal ministers and the rest of the court rushed to see him. "Our lord, why do you suddenly want to be ordained?" They asked.

The king held up the single strand of grey hair in his hair and spoke: "My ministers and subjects, I learned a lesson from this strand of grey hair. I realised the three stages of life - youth, middle age and old age - are coming to an end. This first grey hair signifies the messenger of death sitting on my head, Grey hairs are like angels sent by the god of death. Therefore, it's time for me to be ordained."

The people wept at the news of his departure. On that very day, King Makhadeva gave up his royal life, went into the forest and was ordained as a monk. There, he practised what holy men call the 'Four Heavenly States of Mind'. The first is loving-kindness, or tender affection for all. The second is compassion, or having sympathy and pity for all those who suffer. The third is appreciative joy, or being happy when others are joyful and happy. Last is equanimity or experiencing a state of calmness at all times, even in the face of difficulties and troubles.

After 84,000 years of diligent practice and meditation as a monk, the Bodhisattva finally passed away. In his next life, he was reborn as a bring in a high heavenly world with lifespan of a million years!

The moral is: Even a long life is too short to waste.
The Bodhisattva: The king with one grey hair