Short Story – Maulungaputta meets Buddha

The Short Story – Maulungaputta meets Buddha is a reminder that no matter how many books we read, how many videos we see, or how many seminars, and satsangs we attend, nothing satisfies our thirst for hunger more than silence.

Once a great philosopher came to Buddha. His name was Maulungaputta. He was a well-known philosopher. He had brought a mass of questions. Buddha listened to his questions and said, ”Maulungaputta, do you want the answer? If you want it, can you pay the price?”

Maulungaputta said, ”The end of my life is coming near. My whole life I have been asking these questions. I received many answers but no answer has proved to be an answer. From every answer, new questions have arisen. The solution was not in any answer. What price do you ask? I am ready to pay the full price. I want only to solve these questions. I want to leave this earth with these questions solved.”

Then Buddha said, ”Good. People also ask questions but are not ready to pay the price. This is why I asked you. Sit in silence for two years, this is the price. Sit near me in silence for two years without saying anything. When two years have passed, I will tell you, ’Maulungaputta, now ask your questions.’ Then you can ask what you need to ask. And I promise that I will answer everything, I will dispel all doubts. But two years completely still and silent. Don’t bring it up for two years.”

Maulungaputta was thinking about whether to say yes or no. Two years is a long time and who knows if this man can be trusted, will he answer even after two years or not? He asked, ”Do you give full assurance that you will answer after two years?

Buddha said, ”I give complete assurance, if you ask I will answer. But if you do not ask, who will I answer?”

At that time there was a disciple, a bhikshu, sitting in meditation under a tree nearby. He began laughing uproariously.

Maulungaputta asked, ”Why is this bhikshu laughing?”

Buddha said, ”You ask him.”

The bhikshu said, ”If you want to ask then ask now. I was deceived in the same way. He made a fool of me too. But he is telling the truth that if you ask after two years he will answer, but who asks after two years? I have sat silently for two years. Now he goes on prodding me, saying ask brother. But after two years of remaining silent nothing remains to be asked, the answer is received. If you want to ask, ask now, otherwise, after two years nothing will be left to ask.”

And this is exactly what happened, Maulungaputta stayed two years. When two years were over, Buddha did not forget, he remembered the exact date.

Maulungaputta had forgotten when two years would be over because one whose thoughts have become slow, quite loses awareness of time. How to keep track of time, what day it is, what year it is! All was gone, all had flowed away. And what was the need? He would sit every day with the Buddha so Friday or Saturday, Sunday or Monday all were the same. June or July, hot or cold all were the same. Inside him, there was only one vibe – of peace, of silence.

Two years were over. Buddha said, ”Maulungaputta, stand up.”

Maulungaputta stood up. Buddha said, ”Now you can ask because I don’t go back on my promise. Do you have something to ask?”

Maulungaputta started laughing and said, ”That bikshu was right. Now I have nothing to ask. The answer has come. Through your grace, the answer has come.”

The answer has not been given but it is received. The answer does not come from outside, the answer comes from within. Think of it like digging a well. First rocks and gravel are removed, rubbish is removed, dry earth is removed then wet earth, then mud, then flowing water… The flowing water has been suppressed. The layers and layers of your questions have collected, the flowing stream is repressed beneath all this. Dig, and push these questions aside. And there is only one way to push them aside: as a witness alertly watch this stream of questions. Just go on watching this stream, don’t do anything. Sit every day for an hour or two, and let the stream flow. Don’t be in a hurry to stop it today.

This is why Buddha said two years. After some three months, the first rustling of stillness begins. And as two years are over the experience ripens. Only if one has enough patience to sit two hours every day, not doing anything…

The whole art is hidden in this not doing anything.

The time in the Short Story – Maulungaputta meets Buddha shouldn’t be taken literally. It can differ from person to person and in today’s fast-paced world, stillness can also mean cutting from society and its toxicity and focusing on your goals while practising meditation in your work.

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P.S. – We have not written the Short Story – Maulungaputta meets Buddha. All the credits of the story are to the rightful owner. Another aim to put up such short stories is to inspire students from ESL (English as Second Language) countries to develop reading habits and improve their worldviews. Voxcel is an educational platform, thus we make efforts so they can change lives. We aim to not only teach IELTS and English language courses or help the students/clients to travel the world or secure their visas, but we ensure that we impart wisdom to them and in this way, we grow with them together.