When he said this, Venerable Ānanda said to the Buddha, “Sir, may the Blessed One please remain for the eon! May the Holy One please remain for the eon! That would be for the welfare and happiness of the people, for the benefit, welfare, and happiness of gods and humans.”

“Enough now, Ānanda. Do not beg the Realized One. Now is not the time to beg the Realized One.”

For a second time … For a third time, Ānanda said to the Buddha, “Sir, may the Blessed One please remain for the eon! May the Holy One please remain for the eon! That would be for the welfare and happiness of the people, for the benefit, welfare, and happiness of gods and humans.”

“Ānanda, do you have faith in the Realized One’s awakening?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then why do you keep pressing me up to the third time?”

“Sir, I have heard and learned this in the presence of the Buddha: ‘Whoever has developed and cultivated the four bases of psychic power—made them a vehicle and a basis, kept them up, consolidated them, and properly implemented them—may, if they wish, live on for the eon or what’s left of the eon. The Realized One has developed and cultivated the four bases of psychic power, made them a vehicle and a basis, kept them up, consolidated them, and properly implemented them. If he wished, the Realized One could live on for the eon or what’s left of the eon.’”

“Do you have faith, Ānanda?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Therefore, Ānanda, the misdeed is yours alone, the mistake is yours alone. For even though the Realized One dropped such an obvious hint, such a clear sign, you didn’t beg me to remain for the eon, or what’s left of it. If you had begged me, I would have refused you twice, but consented on the third time. Therefore, Ānanda, the misdeed is yours alone, the mistake is yours alone.

Ānanda, this one time I was staying near Rājagaha, on the Vulture’s Peak Mountain. There I said to you: ‘Ānanda, Rājagaha is lovely, and so is the Vulture’s Peak. Whoever has developed and cultivated the four bases of psychic power—made them a vehicle and a basis, kept them up, consolidated them, and properly implemented them—may, if they wish, live on for the eon or what’s left of the eon. The Realized One has developed and cultivated the four bases of psychic power, made them a vehicle and a basis, kept them up, consolidated them, and properly implemented them. If he wished, the Realized One could live on for the eon or what’s left of the eon.’ But you didn’t get it, even though I dropped such an obvious hint, such a clear sign. You didn’t beg me to remain for the eon, or what’s left of it. If you had begged me, I would have refused you twice, but consented on the third time. Therefore, Ānanda, the misdeed is yours alone, the mistake is yours alone.

Ānanda, this one time I was staying right there near Rājagaha, at the Gotama banyan tree … at Bandit’s Cliff … in the Sattapaṇṇi cave on the slopes of Vebhara … at the Black rock on the slopes of Isigili … in the Cool Wood, under the Snake’s Hood Grotto … in the Hot Springs Monastery … in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels’ feeding ground … in Jīvaka’s mango grove … in the Maddakucchi deer park …

And in each place I said to you: ‘Ānanda, Rājagaha is lovely, and so are all these places. … If he wished, the Realized One could live on for the eon or what’s left of the eon.’ But you didn’t get it, even though I dropped such an obvious hint, such a clear sign. You didn’t beg me to remain for the eon, or what’s left of it.

Ānanda, this one time I was staying right here near Vesālī, at the Udena shrine … at the Gotamaka shrine … at the Sattamba shrine … at the Many Sons shrine … at the Sārandada shrine … and just now, today at the Cāpāla shrine. There I said to you: ‘Ānanda, Vesālī is lovely. And the Udena, Gotamaka, Sattamba, Bahuputta, Sārandada, and Cāpāla shrines are all lovely. Whoever has developed and cultivated the four bases of psychic power—made them a vehicle and a basis, kept them up, consolidated them, and properly implemented them—may, if they wish, live on for the eon or what’s left of the eon. The Realized One has developed and cultivated the four bases of psychic power, made them a vehicle and a basis, kept them up, consolidated them, and properly implemented them. If he wished, the Realized One could live on for the eon or what’s left of the eon.’ But you didn’t get it, even though I dropped such an obvious hint, such a clear sign. You didn’t beg me to remain for the eon, or what’s left of it, saying: ‘Sir, may the Blessed One please remain for the eon! May the Holy One please remain for the eon! That would be for the welfare and happiness of the people, for the benefit, welfare, and happiness of gods and humans.’

If you had begged me, I would have refused you twice, but consented on the third time. Therefore, Ānanda, the misdeed is yours alone, the mistake is yours alone.

Did I not prepare for this when I explained that we must be parted and separated from all we hold dear and beloved? How could it possibly be so that what is born, created, conditioned, and liable to fall apart should not fall apart? The Realized One has discarded, eliminated, released, given up, relinquished, and surrendered the life force. He has definitively stated: ‘The final extinguishment of the Realized One will be soon. Three months from now the Realized One will finally be extinguished.’ It’s not possible for the Realized One, for the sake of life, to take back the life force once it has been given up like that.

Come, Ānanda, let’s go to the Great Wood, the hall with the peaked roof.”

“Yes, sir,” Ānanda replied.

So the Buddha went with Ānanda to the hall with the peaked roof, and said to him, “Go, Ānanda, gather all the mendicants staying in the vicinity of Vesālī together in the assembly hall.”

“Yes, sir,” replied Ānanda. He did what the Buddha asked, went up to him, bowed, stood to one side, and said to him, “Sir, the mendicant Saṅgha has assembled. Please, sir, go at your convenience.”

Then the Buddha went to the assembly hall, where he sat on the seat spread out and addressed the mendicants:

“So, mendicants, having carefully memorized those things I have taught you from my direct knowledge, you should cultivate, develop, and make much of them so that this spiritual practice may last for a long time. That would be for the welfare and happiness of the people, for the benefit, welfare, and happiness of gods and humans. And what are those things I have taught from my direct knowledge? They are: the four kinds of mindfulness meditation, the four right efforts, the four bases of psychic power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven awakening factors, and the noble eightfold path.

These are the things I have taught from my direct knowledge. Having carefully memorized them, you should cultivate, develop, and make much of them so that this spiritual practice may last for a long time. That would be for the welfare and happiness of the people, for the benefit, welfare, and happiness of gods and humans.”

Then the Buddha said to the mendicants:

“Come now, mendicants, I say to you all: ‘Conditions fall apart. Persist with diligence.’ The final extinguishment of the Realized One will be soon. Three months from now the Realized One will finally be extinguished.”

That is what the Buddha said. Then the Holy One, the Teacher, went on to say:

“I’ve reached a ripe old age,
and little of my life is left.
Having given it up, I’ll depart;
I’ve made a refuge for myself.

Diligent and mindful,
be of good virtues, mendicants!
With well-settled thoughts,
take good care of your minds.

Whoever meditates diligently
in this teaching and training,
giving up transmigration through rebirths,
will make an end to suffering.”