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are coming. And according to your teachings, I should be spontaneous and authentic. Even if you say, `Don't weep,' I am not going to listen. Tears are coming, what can I do? I cannot be a hypocrite, smiling though the eyes are full of tears."
It is said that Sariputta, wherever he was, in the morning would look at the map, to find exactly where Buddha was, and in that direction he would bow down and touch the feet of Buddha. He came to have thousands of disciples of his own and they said, "It does not look right. You need not do such a gesture. You are a buddha yourself."
He said, "It is true, I am a buddha myself, but I would not have been a buddha if I had not met Gautam the Buddha. It is the meeting with this man that triggered something in me, burned all that was false and brought all that was true in its pristine purity and clarity. I owe so much to this man that there is no way to pay him. All that I can do is touch his feet from miles away."
He continued to his very last breath. Before he died -- he died before Gautam Buddha -- the last thing he said to his disciples was, "Forgive me because you cannot see those invisible feet. Let me touch the feet of my master for the last time." And he bowed down, tears flowing from his eyes, and he died in that posture. He did not get up again. This is true humanity -- humbleness, devotion, love, trust.
Ma Tzu, visiting his old master, burned incense in front of him as you burn incense before a buddha statue and made bows to Nangaku. Nangaku gave him this gatha, this verse:
"I ADVISE YOU NOT TO GO HOME.
IF YOU DO, THE TAO IS IMMOVABLE.
AND AN OLD WOMAN NEXT DOOR TO YOU
WILL TALK OF YOUR INFANT NAME."
MA TZU RESPECTFULLY ACCEPTED IT AND SWORE TO HIMSELF NEVER TO GO HOME, HOWEVER OFTEN HE MIGHT BE REBORN. STAYING ONLY IN CHIANG-SI, HE HAD DISCIPLES COME TO HIM FROM ALL PARTS OF CHINA.
Very strange but meaningful advice. Nangaku told him not to go home. It implies many things. It implies that now you are homeless. The moment you become enlightened you don't have a home, not even your body is your home. Now the whole existence is your home, so stop this
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