（10）Buddha attains enlightenment after winning a confrontation with Mara (the devil). What does he have in common with Jesus Christ?

The life of Buddha (Shakyamuni Buddha) as seen through local photographs] ⑽
　Buddha attains enlightenment after winning a confrontation with Mara (the devil). What does he have in common with Jesus Christ?

Buddha's six years of asceticism were conducted with unimaginable stoicism. A look at the famous fasting Buddha of Gandhara will give you an idea of the grandeur of his life.

Buddha's strength is restored by Sujata's milk porridge, and he is finally on his way to enlightenment. In this article, we will look at Buddha's enlightenment.

Buddha and Mara (the Devil) vs.

Buddha regains his strength thanks to Sujata's milk porridge.

However, upon seeing him, Buddha's five fellow practitioners were outraged and left him, saying that Buddha had abandoned his ascetic practice and become corrupt.

Buddha was left alone, but he was full of life and energy.

From this point on, Buddha finally pushes all the way to the completion of his practice.

Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree and went into deep meditation. It is something different from the old meditation that aimed at the cessation of sensory functions, such as "nothingness" or fasting Buddha. It was still the right decision to stop suffering. It was neither indulgence in ease nor immersion in suffering, but a true departure from the two extremes.middle way.The "way of being" is what was necessary for enlightenment.

Buddha was clearly feeling formidable. Enlightenment was near. But just at that moment, Mara (the devil) appeared to obstruct Buddha's enlightenment.

I am the ruler of this world of pleasure. Buddha is the man who threatens my world. I must prevent him at all costs from realizing the truth of the world. If this man overcomes me and leads people to the path of happiness, my country will be empty. If I am to move, it must be now, before he is enlightened."

Mara stood before the Buddha and asked him the following question.

"Arise now, you kshatriyas (* meaning "royalty") who are terrified of death. Fulfill your original duty as royalty. This kind of training is meaningless. Go home, take over your father's work, and protect your country. A man of your stature can rule this world. This is the path that kings have taken in the past. It is honorable to follow this path. Why then do you abandon the path and live the life of a mendicant? Isn't this reprehensible? I will not say anything bad. Stop practicing.

However, Buddha is completely unmoved by these sweet words.

If you are determined, if you will not stop meditating and stand up, so be it. But be prepared."

Mara holds up five arrows to Buddha.

If one is penetrated by this, any human being will be disturbed and drown in the world of lust. This is especially true for those with weak hearts. Therefore, stand up now, or I will release this arrow at any moment. Or I will release this arrow at any moment."

But Buddha is unmoved by this as well.

Mara, exasperated, shot an arrow at Buddha. The five arrows were shot sharply, but mysteriously, just as they were about to hit Buddha, they stopped moving and fell to the ground.

Mara is disappointed by this.

This man...is no ordinary man! The lure of pleasure and domination will not work on this man! This is not the way to sway him! ...Then, there's another way!

Mara summons the demon hordes. If you don't give in to temptation, this time I will rule you with fear until I do! Prepare yourself!

In an instant, the Buddha is surrounded by demons of hideous appearance!

And then, the deformed demons, armed with clubs, swords, bows and arrows, all attacked Buddha, who refused to yield to their final threat.

But this is also strange. Whenever he tried to approach the Buddha, some mysterious force prevented him from attacking, and when he fired his bow and arrow, the arrow turned into a flower and fell to the ground. The demons attacked and threatened Buddha in every possible way, but he remained unmoved, never leaving his meditative state. Finally, Buddha opens his mouth.

Mara. Don't waste your efforts. Give up. You cannot shake me. My resolve will never waver. Set your mind at ease, O Mara. Do not boast of your strength.

Mara finally gave up the attack, as Buddha's words never wavered in the face of any temptation or attack. In this way, Buddha overcame his confrontation with the devil.conquering the devil...mixed equality (e.g. of the sexes).

In this way, the Buddha progressed to the final stage of enlightenment.

And this confrontation with the devil, in fact, that Jesus Christ had a similar confrontation.

Similarities between Buddha and Jesus Christ

It is recorded in the "New Testament" that Jesus Christ also received three temptations from the devil during his 40-day fasting practice and successfully repelled them. I also visited the place called Jericho in Israel in 2019, which is believed to be the site of that battle.

This is the rocky mountain called Mount Temptation. It has a somewhat similar atmosphere to the rocky mountain where Buddha practiced and Mt.

In the photo, you can see a hole in the mountain surface. It is said that Jesus practiced fasting and prayed to God in this cave.

And it was there that he was tempted by the devil.

The three temptations are as follows

If you are the Son of God, why don't you command that those stones become bread?"

If you are the Son of God, why don't you jump down from here? If you're a child of God, you won't die because the angels will support you.

If you bow down and worship me, I will give you all the nations."

But Jesus dismisses all three temptations. The famous words, "Man shall not live by bread alone." These are the famous words he spoke here.

I cannot discuss the details here, but it is very interesting to note that both Buddha and Jesus faced the same confrontation with the devil after their severe ascetic practices. Incidentally, this "confrontation between Jesus and the devil" was the subject of Dostoevsky'sThe Brothers Karamazov.The "Grand Inquisitor's Chapter" is told in the

Called the greatest in the history of world literature.The Brothers Karamazov.and "Jesus and his confrontation with the devil" are connected. Furthermore, since Jesus and Buddha are connected by this confrontation with the devil, Buddha and "The Brothers Karamazov" are also connected.

The reason I have updated many articles on this blog on the subject of "Shinran and Dostoevsky" is because in these areas, I am actually connected to Buddha himself. This is a very important issue in the study of religion, not only Buddhism. If you are interested, you should definitely read "The Brothers Karamazov".

Enlightenment (attainment) in Bodhgaya

Thus victorious in his battle with the devil, the Buddha entered a deeper state of meditation.

Finally, the time came.

Buddha used his magical powers of divine insight to see past lives and all worlds, and to arrive at the truth of this world.

It is said that what the Buddha realized here is the "principle of karma. To put it succinctly, "Because of this, that arises, and without this, there is no such thing. Everything has cause and effect. If you cut off the causes of wandering (vexations), you will be liberated from the world of wandering.

However, there are many theories about the content of this Buddha's enlightenment, and I will not go into the details here. If we were to go into the philosophical issues, it would be a very thick book. In this "Life of Buddha (Shakyamuni Buddha) as Seen from Local Photographs," we will not go into the details of the Buddha's ideology, but will instead give an overview of the Buddha's life itself.

If you want to know more about Buddha's thought in detail, please refer to the book by Sasaki Shiduka.The Birth of Buddhism.is the best introductory book on the subject, and we encourage you to refer to it.

And in commemoration of this Buddha's enlightenment, the place came to be called Bodh Gaya.

Today, Bodh Gaya is a sacred place where Buddhists from all over the world make pilgrimages, but in fact, until the 19th century, this place was also buried in the ground and forgotten.

The present-day Bodh Gaya was reconstructed mainly through the cooperation of the Indian state government and various Buddhist countries, including Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, and Japan, since the 1950s.

I visited during the peak pilgrimage season in February, the dry season, so the temple grounds were filled with pilgrims from all over the world. Pilgrims can also be seen in the lower left of the photo.

There are many interesting episodes about this Buddhagaya, but that is all for this article. I would like to talk more about Buddha Gaya in another article, so please stay tuned.

The following article will introduce the event that led Buddha to open the Buddhist Order, called "Brahma's Buddhist Recommendation".

Next Article.

Click here to read the previous article.

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