The Story of the Buddha by John Tarrant

Author:John Tarrant [Tarrant, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shambhala
Published: 2024-12-03T00:00:00+00:00

After the heat of the day had passed, Siddhartha went back to his tree. On the way, he met a grass cutter, Sottiya, who gave him a bundle of soft, fragrant grass to sit on. Siddhartha went to the south side of the tree, but it was as if he stood at the hub of a great wheel and someone was treading on the rim—the earth sank to hell in front of him and rose up to heaven behind him. He moved to the west and the same thing happened, and it happened again in the north. But in the east, facing the direction of sunrise, he found the spot that did not move. He sat down on the immovable seat, vowing not to get up again until he had awakened. The light departed, trees and shapes became indistinct, the night came on, full of promise and danger.

Out of the twilight appeared Deva Putra Mara, the Chief of Demons, Seducer of Souls, Lord of Death, Dark King of the World of Form. When Siddhartha drank the rice milk, Mara had become fascinated by him and now attacked with all his horde.

Spears, fire arrows, and rocks fell from the air. The fire arrows turned into flowers and the stones into many colored lights. Fear itself became something to wonder at, something with its own beauty. Mara tried to seduce Siddhartha by offering lovely women to him. There were women who smiled and promised delight, women who needed him to rescue them, women who understood him so deeply that he was reminded of the mother he never knew, and he saw that they were all aspects of himself. Like his fear, desire and sorrow became freeing in themselves. Then a wild wind rose, and floods came; there was a shower of rocks, a shower of burning coals, and a shower of mud. But after fear and desire, these assaults were an afterthought.

Spears, fire arrows, and

rocks fell from the air.

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