13 Apr 2006 @ 16:13, by Shreepal Singh
The great Rishi Gautam, having firmly resolved by oath to achieve the Truth of seeming existence or perish in the attempt, sat in meditation beneath a tree (later on called the Boddhi Tree). Such firm and unflinching determination of resolve by the seeker of Divine Truth is the first and foremost pre-requisite for entering spiritual path and obtaining success in the endeavor. In his meditation he had in ascending order of consciousness many in number and varied in significance, spiritual experiences. At the outset he was assailed by the evil forces of doubt, fear, enticement and mental insanity.
An ordinary person takes these feelings of doubt, fear etc. a product of his own mind but a Divine seeker recognizes them, more and more clearly as he proceeds further on the path, concrete forces acting from outside on him. Once again one is reminded of the ancient teaching that these things cannot be mentally analyzed to find the truth of the matter but have to be lived and experienced to know the worth of the teaching.
Hostile Forces
As he gradually concentrated and withdrew himself from out side world in his meditation and became increasingly conscious of the inner world of subtle beings, the great Rishi (who was not yet Buddha) was confronted by the evil force called Mara - such names being mere symbols to facilitate our comprehending of things spiritual and beyond human mind - and received threats of all sorts thus:
Seeing the Muni quiet and still and preparing to cross the sea of the three worlds, that is, engaged in concentration and bent upon to know the Divine secret, Mara addressed him:
'Kshatriya! Rise up quickly! For you may well fear! Your death is at hand; you may practice a system of religion for yourself, but let go this effort after the law of deliverance (of others); instead you may well pursue the path of almsgiving whereby the religious merit will be earned and the tumultuous suffering world will be appeased and so in the end you will reap your reward in heaven; in such renowned and well established way (of charity) former Rishis, kings and men of eminence have walked; but the path (leading to penury and alms-begging) which you are pursuing is unworthy of you.'
'Now then if you do not rise, you had best consider with yourself, that if you give not up your vow, and tempt me to let fly an arrow (or attack you with non- human bewildering arsenals), how that Alia, grandchild of Soma, by a mere touch of such arrow, had lost his reason and became a madman;
Then he was made aware the fate of Rishi Vimala who, by pursuing a similar path of Divine knowledge, had become bewildered and lost his true nature; he was also warned to consider how inferior he was to those great Rishis of the bygone ages and urged to quickly abandon his pursuit.
Doubts, allurements etc.:
Attacks by Hostile Forces
One who treads the path of spiritual enlightenment encounters, in the early stages of his Sadhana, such seemingly sane and reasonable urgings of mind and as he progressively becomes intense in his endeavor these urgings no longer seem his own mental product but assume concrete, foreign and menacing form.
However the Boddhisattva (Gautam) did not hesitate in his firm resolve.
Then Mara assembled its army- host having peculiar and dreadful forms around him and this wicked goblin troop encircled on its four sides the Boddhi tree. Some were bent on tearing his body to pieces and others were on to devour him whole. However Boddhisattva remained calm and undisturbed by this commotion of these lower beings and not a hair of his was moved or harmed by them.
|
|
