Bodhisattva and the Box

A Clip from "The Little Buddha"

Mara, a jealous demon, senses that Siddhartha is about to attain enlightenment and sends his daughters to distract him. Failing to do so, he attempts to shatter Siddhartha’s resolve and thus begins an onslaught of threats, intimidation and temptation. Mara summons a terrifying horde of monsters of every conceivable description but even something as horrific as this still leaves Siddhartha unmoved, unperturbed. Instead he transforms the weapons which these hosts throw at him into lotus petals which exude a lovely fragrance as they gently floated down to earth. Mara decides that Siddhartha will not deny himself and turns into his image in a reflection on a pool of water. Instead Siddhartha reaches and pulls the image out of the water. The classic Buddhist dialogue between Mara and Siddhartha takes place:

Mara: "You who go where others dare not; Will you be my God? The architect of my house?"
Siddhartha: "Finally I meet the illusion of self; Your evil house will not be built again."
Mara: "But you live in me; I am your house."
Siddhartha: "O, trickster; phantom of my own ego, you are pure illusion. You, self, do not exist. The earth is my witness."

Born in Lumbini, Nepal, Siddhartha was destined to a luxurious life as a prince, had three palaces especially built for him. Siddhartha escaped his palace, accompanied by Channa aboard his horse Kanthaka, leaving behind this royal life to become a mendicant. Sitting under a banyan tree, now known as the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya (Bihar, India), he vowed never to arise until he had found the Truth. After 49 days meditating, at the age of 35, he attained Enlightenment (Nirvana). Gautama, from then on, was known as the Buddha or "Awakened One." Buddha is also sometimes translated as "The Enlightened One." Often, he is referred to in Buddhism as Shakyamuni Buddha or "The Awakened One of the Shakya Clan."

Gautama Buddha is mentioned as an Avatar of Vishnu in the Puranic texts of Hinduism. In the Bhagavata Purana he is twenty fourth of twenty five avatars, prefiguring a forthcoming final incarnation. A number of Hindu traditions portray Buddha as the most recent of ten principal avatars, known as the "Dasavatara" (Ten Incarnations of God). The Buddhist Dasharatha Jataka (Jataka Atthakatha) represents Rama as a previous incarnation of the Buddha as a Bodhisattva and Supreme Dharma King of great wisdom.



I found this video very impressive and this simple truth can actually affect every individual life tremendously. By just thinking out of the box, you can conquer your emotions and decisions made in harmony with nature.