Siddhartha approached towards the tree. On his way to the tree, he passed a man carrying freshly cut grass and asked him for a small bundle. This was to be his eat.
As he made his way, the air became very still. The branches of the tree bent down. Siddhartha arranged the grass into a small cushion and sat down, facing the east. He crossed his legs to meditate and rested his hands in his lap. Then he made a bold and determined vow: “I shall not arise from this position until I have reached my goal, even if I die sitting here!”
Hearing this all the spirits of the air were overjoyed. It was the full moon day of the fourth month, and the sun was about to set. But the ancient stories tell us that not everyone rejoiced at this moment. There was one force, called Mara, who was terrified and angry. For Mara, she is the name the ancient Indian people gave to the evil forces that disturb our minds. Mara is our greed, hatred, ignorance, jealousy, doubt and all the other positions that bring unhappiness and grief.
Thus, when Mara saw Siddhartha sit under the tree of enlightenment, he was infuriated. He summoned his sons and daughters and shouted, “Look, all of you. Siddhartha is seated in meditation. If he is successful and discovers the way to end all suffering, what will happen to us? We cannot harm people if he teaches tell them the truth. We must disturb his meditation, or else we be doomed! ” So Mara and his evil forces tried everything to disturb Siddhartha. They created a fierce storm and threw lightning bolts all around him. They stirred up a terrible wind. But beneath the branches of the tree everything remained calm, protected by the force of Siddhartha’ s meditation.
Every attach of Mara failed to mar Siddhartha’ s meditation so he turned to his troop and shouted., “Attack!” The whole army of evil spirits, demons and nightmare shapes turned against Siddhartha. They shot poisoned arrows flew towards the Siddhartha, they turned into lotus petals and fell harmlessly at his feet. Nothing could disturb the peace of his meditation. “If these weapons and fearful shapes do not distract him,” Mara thought, “perhaps s vision of beauty will disturb his mind.” All at once the frightful demons turned into the most beautiful and alluring of women. These bewitching creatures danced in front of Siddhartha, but even they could not affect his concentration. His meditation was as firm as a stone and nothing could disturb him at that moment.
Mara was defeated miserably. But he had one last plan. Dismissing his attendants, he appeared alone in front of Siddhartha. Addressing him in a mocking voice he said, “So you are the great Prince Siddhartha. So many holy people have failed to find the truth, but you think you will succeed! How foolish you are! Don’t you know that it takes a lot of preparation to find the truth you are looking for.You have just wasted your life and now you sit here thinking that wisdom will just come to you. How foolish! Get rid of his meditation, or at least show me a witness who will swear that you are worthy of succeeding where all others have failed.”
These words did not deter Siddhartha. Silently he lifted his right hand from his lap, reached in front of him and touched the earth. The earth itself was Siddhartha’s witness! For countless lifetimes he had appeared on this earth in various forms. He had practiced generosity and patience, he had acted lovingly and had avoided harming others, and he had meditated on the truth. He had done all these things-sometimes as a man, sometimes as a woman; sometime rich, sometime poor. He had done this all, just for the sake of discovering the end to all suffering. And the earth was his witness. Mara was now truly defeated. Realizing his defeat, he went away. Siddhartha was now all alone to carry his meditation.
The Luminous Life of Buddha ( မဟာလူသား မြတ်ဗုဒ္ဓ ) Edited by SHYAM DUA TINYTOT Publication
