The Bodhisattva Path by Thich Nhat Hanh

Author:Thich Nhat Hanh [Nhat Hanh, Thich]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781952692345

Bodhisattva Jagatīṃdhara

One day the bodhisattva was in his meditation hut when Māra the Villain* brought twelve thousand very beautiful goddesses, accompanied by music, to pay respect to the bodhisattva. Because the bodhisattva’s vision was not yet unobstructed, he mistook Māra for Indra, the king of the gods. He stood up and said: “Welcome Indra, I am glad you have come. Even though your merit has made it possible to enjoy the five pleasures of life, you should look on them as impermanent. You should see that your lifespan, possessions, and merit are all impermanent, so that you can realize a deeper kind of happiness.”

Māra said: “Venerable sir, I have brought you these twelve thousand goddesses to be your housemaids. Since you are unmarried, you have no one to help you in the house.”

Māra had just finished speaking and Vimalakīrti appeared and said: “Bodhisattva, be careful! This is not King Indra, this is Māra. Be careful.”

Māra said: “How come you are always coming along and putting a spoke in the wheel?”

Vimalakīrti said: “Māra, do not offer all these goddesses to the bodhisattva. Offer them to me. I really need their help.”

At that, Māra thought Vimalakīrti had come along to make trouble so he decided to become invisible. However he could not disappear because the spiritual power of Vimalakīrti was so great.

We should remember that in the sutras, especially those of the Southern School, Māra the Villain often appears with the intention of disturbing the Buddha. Sometimes he appears as a snake in order to instill fear in the Buddha. Sometimes he appears as a politician to tempt the Buddha into politics. Every time Māra appears, Buddha recognizes him and says: “Māra, I know it is you,” and Māra disappears. This is something very real, because Māra is within our own mind and can appear many times during the day in different guises. The day before the Buddha realized enlightenment, Māra appeared and said: “What makes you so sure you will be enlightened tomorrow?” Buddha smiled, placed his fingers on the earth and established mindfulness. When he was fully mindful, he lifted up his eyes and Māra disappeared immediately.

Often when wrong thinking arises in our mind, Māra shows himself. When we know that our thinking is wrong thinking, it automatically ceases. When we look with the eyes of mindfulness, wrong thinking disappears straightaway. This is a wonderful method of Buddhism called “Acknowledge wrong, and wrong ceases.” If we are not mindful, how are we to know if Māra is teasing us or it is a serious threat? All of us have been confronted by Māra many times during the day. If we are not mindful, it is difficult to protect our own body and mind and that of other people.

To return to the tale told by bodhisattva Jagatīṃdhara:

Since Māra was not able to disappear, he reluctantly resigned himself to give the twelve thousand goddesses to Vimalakīrti. At that point, Vimalakīrti had official authority over them all. He said: “Sisters, you should give rise to the mind of highest enlightenment.

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