"A modern Angulima story...." - steambunz, 2018
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| Source : JustRunLah, 2016 |
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A marathon runner was training at the park one day.
It was 5pm on a sunny hot afternoon, and there was barely any other people at the park except for him.
He knew it was the worst decision to train at this point of time, but he has no other choice after skipping morning practice that very same day.
Every minute went by as he struggles to cope with the heat and thirst in his body.
Even with the subsequent drinks he had after each 2km, he still felt the fatigue and dehydration kicking in quicker than his usual training days.
The heat was so intolerable! At many times, he felt that he was hallucinating!
During his 15km mark, he suddenly notices someone, out of the ordinary, walking in the park.
It was the Buddha, calmly and mindfully doing his walking meditation.
Not wanting to ruin his run timing, the runner continue to run on without stopping to pay his respects.
"Good day Buddha!" the runner waved as he ran past the Buddha.
The Buddha smiled and continue on with his mindful walk.
Feeling motivated and excited after seeing the Buddha, the runner ran on, feeling very determine to finish his training once and for all.
But, in a few minutes later into his run...
Again, he saw the Buddha!
This time the Buddha was ahead of him!
How can the Buddha be quicker than me? The runner thought.
Is it really true that He has such supernatural powers like every person in town said?
"Yo Buddha, this time you're quicker than me!" said the runner.
The Buddha smiled, but paid no attention in giving a certain reply.
Again, he ran past the Buddha, but this time, the runner slowly started to increased his pace, trying to match up with the speed of the Buddha.
But again, even before he could finish his 1km lap, he saw the Buddha, ahead of him again!
The walking Buddha, show no signs of fatigue or tiredness.
Even with His bare footed feet, His feet show no signs of bleeding or bruising!
Eh, is this some kind of Angulimala joke? I'm not the 2nd Angulimala, am I? The runner thought.
I swear he was right behind me all this while.
"Last lap! See you at the finishing line Buddha!" said the runner.
The runner immediately sprinted off, giving 100% of his maximum effort, reaching 70%-80% of his heart rate to finish his last final lap.
But upon reaching the finishing line...
The Buddha was already there! Standing and mindfully sipping onto his cup of water!
What on earth!! The runner screamed inside his head.
After the runner ran past the finish line and clocked his finish time, he immediately fell into his knees to pay his respects to the Buddha.
He maintain his bowing position, trying to catch his breath before standing up.
"Oh Buddha!" he panted in exhaustion. "How could you run so fast?! You're really incredible! Please teach me to be a better runner!"
The Buddha looked at him weirdly.
"Young man. I wasn't running at all. I did far fewer laps than you did!"
"But still, you were way more faster and ahead of me!"
The Buddha rolled his eyes and said :
"That's because you were running in the same loop 21 times, while I took the shortcut!"
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