Reading Notes: The stories of Buddhism and Buddha Week 13

These notes are over the Stories of Buddhism and Buddha edited by Brian Brown. I thought the description of an offshoot of the Bodhi Tree was incredibly interesting. Apparently, there is an offshoot of the Bodhi Tree still flourishing near the temple of Buddha-Gaya, and is apparently, the oldest historical tree in the world. (got to take a field trip to see this one day). Under this tree, the Buddha had an inward struggle against Mara, the manifestation of his inner-desires and illusions. Again, Mara's struggle is illustrated with nature as a violent storm with strong winds and thunder crashing all around the Buddha, who, like a rock, is solidly sitting calmly and continuing his meditation. This is his form of a "battle." He is daring to be calm. Even when Mara tries to distract the Buddha with beautiful women, he does not budge (not enjoying the objectification of women in this part). I do think it is interesting that being able to turn away from the desire of women was the last straw for the Buddha. It makes me think this retelling was written by a man. What I think this retelling is missing, is the gradual nature of achieving enlightenment. I could be wrong, but in my experience, this is something that you achieve piece by piece. This Buddha had many years of meditation and searching and contemplating under the bodhi tree before he achieved enlightenment, which is important to remember.

Bodhi Tree on Max Pixel