The Long Āgama Sūtra 6.22

6.22

「時，有智者遠逃叢林，依倚坑坎，於七日中懷怖畏心，發慈善言：『汝不害我，我不害汝。』食草木子以存性命，過七日已，從山林出。時有存者，得共相見，歡喜慶賀言：『汝不死耶？汝不死耶？』猶如父母唯有一子，久別相見，歡喜無量。彼人如是各懷歡喜，迭相慶賀，然後推問其家，其家親屬死亡者眾，復於七日中悲泣號咷，啼哭相向。過七日已，復於七日中共相慶賀，娛樂歡喜，尋自念言：『吾等積惡彌廣，故遭此難，親族死亡，家屬覆沒，今者宜當少共修善，宜修何善？當不殺生。』

“Then, wise people fled into a forest and hid in pits, feeling terrified during those seven days. They began to say kind and good things like ‘If you don’t hurt me, I won’t hurt you.’ They ate vegetation to sustain themselves. After seven days passed, they emerged from the mountain forest.

“Those who survived looked at each other and rejoiced and celebrated. They said, ‘You didn’t die? You didn’t die?’ They were like parents who see their only child after being separated from them for a long time. Their joy was measureless. Those people thus each felt joyful and celebrated together. Afterward, they searched for their families, and there were many corpses among their families, friends, and followers. They lamented, wept, and cried aloud for another seven days.

“After the second week, the people again congratulated each other for seven days. Happy and joyous, they wondered to themselves, ‘We’ve piled up such extremely evil deeds that we’ve been beset with these troubles. The corpses of our friends, relatives, families, and followers are gone. We ought to cultivate a little good together now. What good should we cultivate? We should not kill beings.’