Gautam Buddha's past life story - osho

In Gautam Buddha’s life, he liked to tell stories from his old lives.

 

 In one of his lives, when he was

not enlightened, he heard about an enlightened man and went to see him. He was a man of great

charisma. Buddha had come with all kinds of questions and doubts and skepticism, but as he came

close to him he forgot everything. He went down, touched his feet with tremendous respect. But as

he stood up, he was surprised and shocked that the awakened man touched his feet. Buddha said

to him, ”What are you doing? You are awakened, you have arrived. Your journey is finished; I have

not even taken the first step. It looks so embarrassing that before this whole crowd you touched my

feet.”

 

The man laughed and he said, ”Don’t be worried. I have not touched your feet, I have touched your

future. Yesterday I was not awakened; tomorrow you will be awakened. So what is the difference? –

just a question of time. And it is absolutely necessary that I touch your feet, because I can see that

you are going to become a great master. Millions of people will pay respect to you.

 

”Don’t forget that one enlightened man has touched your feet while you were not enlightened –

remember it. Be respectful to those people – because they may be asleep, but what is the difference

between the asleep man and the awakened man? So little.... The asleep will become awakened,

will have to become awakened – how long can he sleep?”

 

-OSHO(OSHO Upanishad)