Long ago, in an age when people lived for thousands of years, the Enlightenment Being was born as Prince Makhadeva. He lived 84,000 years as a child and crown prince, and had been a young king for another 84,000 years.
One day, the king instructed his royal barber: "If you see any gray hair on my head, tell me at once." The barber agreed.
Years later, while cutting the king's hair, the barber spotted a single gray strand. "My lord, I see one gray hair," he said. The king ordered, "Then pull it out and place it in my hand." Using golden tweezers, the barber plucked the hair and handed it to the king.
Holding the hair, the king was seized by a profound fear of death. He felt as if trapped in a burning house, sweat rolling down his back as he shuddered. He reflected, "Oh foolish king, you have wasted this long life. You have done nothing to conquer greed, hatred, or ignorance."
Burning with this realization, he decided, "It is time to renounce the throne, be ordained as a monk, and practice meditation!" He rewarded the barber with the annual income of an entire town.
The king then summoned his eldest son. "My son, I have seen a gray hair. I have grown old after enjoying worldly pleasures. I wish to be reborn in a heavenly realm. Therefore, I will become a monk. You must now rule the kingdom."
When his ministers asked why he wished to be ordained, the king held up the gray hair. "This hair is a messenger from death," he declared. "It signals the end of life's stages. Gray hairs are like angels sent by the god of death. Today is the day for my ordination."
Amidst the people's tears, King Makhadeva relinquished his royal life, entered the forest, and was ordained. There, he diligently practiced the 'Four Heavenly States of Mind': loving-kindness for all; compassion for the suffering; sympathetic joy for the joyful; and equanimity in the face of difficulty.
After 84,000 years of humble meditation in the forest, the Bodhisatta passed away and was reborn in a high heaven, to live a life a million years long.
The moral is: Even the longest life is too short to waste.