There is a story in the life of Gautam Buddha. He is entering Shravasti, one of the most beautiful and rich cities of his days, but the king of Shravasti, although recognizing Buddha as an enlightened being, refuses to allow his prime minister to go to the gate of the city to receive him.
He says to the prime minister, ”He is enlightened – I recognize the fact – but still he is just a beggar. And I am a great king: why should I go to receive a beggar? If he wants to see me he can come to the palace and ask for an audience.”
The prime minister is as old as the king’s father. He was his father’s prime minister too – the father is dead. The prime minister has tears in his eyes, and he says, ”My son, you don’t know the way of the East; you don’t understand at all what you are saying. If you recognize him as the enlightened one, the question does not arise that he is a beggar, that he has to ask for an audience and come to the palace.
”These things show that you don’t know at all what enlightenment is. This is absolutely ugly. And I cannot serve a man like you – this is my resignation. Either you come to welcome Gautam Buddha at the gate, or accept my resignation. I cannot serve an idiot. ”This always has been so, that when an enlightened person comes – and you recognize him – then you have to go to receive him; otherwise withdraw your words that you recognize him. That is simply your ego – you want to prove that you have such understanding, such wisdom that you can see that the man is enlightened. You have no such understanding, no such wisdom. ”And my tears are for your dead father, because Buddha used to come here in the time of your father, and I remember those beautiful days when your father would go to the gate – not on the chariot but walking barefoot, because Gautam Buddha is coming. Barefoot – how can he wear shoes? How can he go in a golden chariot? And he would go and fall at the feet of the beggar.”
The majority of people who say that they recognize me are, deep down, simply putting themselves higher by their recognition. But there is a minority also which says, ”We recognize not that we know exactly what he is, but one thing is certain: he is something far above us.”
This is a totally different kind of recognition. They are not putting themselves above, they are putting themselves where they are. They recognize the person’s height, depth, wisdom, in a humble way They can see that something has happened to him. They cannot make a clear-cut statement about what has happened, but something has happened and the man is totally different. He is no longer the same man as he used to be.
