The Enlightenment of the Buddha - Page 3

Then said Mara to the Great Being, --     "Siddhattha, who is witness to your having given donations?"

"Your witnesses," replied the Great Being, "are animate beings, and I have no animate witnesses present. However, not to mention the donations which I gave in other existences, the great seven-hundred-fold donation which I gave in my Vessantara existence shall now be testified to by the solid earth, inanimate though she be." And drawing forth his right hand from beneath his priestly robe, he stretched it out towards the mighty earth, and said, "Are you witness, or are you not, to my having given a great seven-hundred fold donation in my Vessantara existence?"

And the mighty earth thundered, "I bear you witness!" with a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand roars, as if to overwhelm the army of Mara."

Now while the Great Being was thus calling to mind the donation he gave in his Vessantara existence, and saying to himself, "Siddhattha, that was a great and excellent donation which you gave," the hundred-and-fifty-league-high elephant "Girded-with-mountains" fell upon his knees before the Great Being. And the followers of Mara fled away in all directions. No two went the same way, but leaving their head-ornaments and their cloaks behind, they fled straight before them.

Then the hosts of gods, when they saw the army of Mara flee, cried out, "Mara is defeated! Prince Siddhattha has conquered! Let us go celebrate the victory!" And the snakes egging on the snakes, the birds the birds, the deities the deities, and the Brahma-angels the Brahma-angels, they came with perfumes, garlands, and other offerings in their hands to the Great Being on the throne of wisdom.

The Interpretation

In every way this wonderful story resembles a lucid dream. In a lucid dream the dreamer knows that he is dreaming and that the dangers that threaten him are illusory. Secure in the clear awareness that any and all fearful images are entirely the product of his own imagination, the lucid dreamer can perceive and reflect upon the events of the dream while remaining emotionally detached. The good feelings that he has about his own understanding and conduct (brought to the dream from waking life) transform the negative images into positive ones. Mara is no more than the dreamer's shadow, trying to control his thoughts and behavior, using every weapon imaginable; but the True Self triumphs by remaining steadfast in its virtue and wisdom.

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