Week 13 Story: Mara

He sits, calm
And unafraid
How?
The pain hit Mara
Not all at once, for
That would be too kind
But slowly,
A dull stoning
That slowly wore him away each day
And turned into mountains
He carried in his chest
This is why
The contentment of the Buddha
Was a foreign language,
Noise to Mara's ears
His soft smile
Was an unfamiliar gesture,
Which could mean
Anything to Mara
But, for some reason, Mara
Felt his power slipping
Away from him into nothingness
Because of this simple gesture.
And, then, the pain hit all at once
A deep gash
In everything Mara had known
The power of desire had always
Been his
And this being before him shook the foundation
of his existence.
Mara knew how to break a man,
For desire had broken him so long ago.
So, he threw vanity, greed, anger, and violence
At that soft smile
Shards of lust and ego
Flew from Mara's fingers
And landed, lifeless under
That soft smile
Fear
This is how Mara would break the Buddha.
Mara morphed and contorted,
Threatened and tormented
Until he became breathless
Blowing hot air on
That soft smile,
Which kept
Eroding away the mountains in his chest
Buddha touched the ground,
And Mara fell from
The clouds where he
Hid from the mountains in his chest.
"Teach me"
And Mara took refuge in
That soft smile
"Practice and you can teach yourself"
So Mara and the Buddha sat
Together
And listened to the silence
Until the mountains in Mara's chest
Became
Into hills
"You know, I would not be here without you,"
Said the Buddha.
"How did you defeat me?"
For, Mara did not see
That there could be no contentment
Without desire
No love without hate
No good without evil.
"Mara, you are the compost,
From which goodness sprouts
And grows.
The suffering you cause
nourishes the garden
Of peace."
And so the hills in Mara's chest
Became gardens of peace.

Vegetable Garden on Pixabay

Author's Note: This is a retelling of the story of Buddha's enlightenment from Mara's perspective. It is based on the Stories of Buddhism and Buddha edited by Brian Brown. Mara is the personification of all the vices of humanity, and he "battled" with Buddha during his enlightenment to try and tempt him with desires. The Buddha was calm in the face of these temptations, which eventually destroyed Mara. For me, this did not mean that the vices were no longer there, but that they had taken refuge in the Buddha nature, or better nature of humanity. They were looking for this side of humanity for guidance, care, and compassion. Mara deserves peace too!