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One day the Tibetan yogi Milarepa returned to his cave after gathering firewood, finding it had been completely taken over by demons while he was gone. They were everywhere! Eating his food, reading his books, sleeping in his bed. “I have got to get rid of them!” he thought, lunging toward them, chasing after them, trying forcefully to get them out of his cave. But the demons were entirely unfazed. In fact, the more he chased them, the more comfortable and settled they seemed to be.
Realizing his efforts to run them out had failed miserably, Milarepa opted for a new approach and decided he would try teaching them the dharma. If chasing them out didn’t work, then maybe hearing such teachings would change their minds and get them to go. So, he took his seat and began speaking about existence and nonexistence, compassion and kindness, the nature of impermanence, and other essential matters of the Way. After speaking for a while he paused and looked around, only to see that all the demons were still there, simply staring at him with their huge, bulging eyes. Not a single one had gone away. A long, heavy sigh came out of Milarepa as he realized these demons could not be forced or manipulated into leaving, and it suddenly occurred to him: perhaps he could learn something from them.
Milarepa stood up and walked slowly around the room, looking deeply into the eyes of each demon and bowing. He eventually made his way back to his seat and said, with all sincerity, “It looks like we’re going to be here together for a while. I open myself to whatever you have to teach me.” At that moment, all of the demons disappeared.
Well, almost all.
One huge and especially fierce demon remained, eyes aflame, nostrils flaring, fangs dripping. They gazed at one another for a time, then Milarepa walked over to this demon and offered himself completely, holding nothing back, placing his head in the demon’s mouth and saying, “Eat me if you wish.” At this, the fierce demon stood up and made a deep bow, vanishing into the air.
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The night before his enlightenment, the Buddha engaged in the utmost struggle with the Demon God Mara, who attacked Siddhartha with everything he had: lust, greed, anger, doubt, and more.. But Siddhartha did not succumb, and Mara was defeated. Having failed, on the morning of the Buddha’s enlightenment, Mara left, distraught and in disarray.
Yet, it seems Mara was only temporarily discouraged, and he continued to show up in the Buddha’s life as time went on, always keeping a safe distance, near enough to be noticed but not apprehended.
One day, however, he came upon a cave in which the Buddha was meditating and headed directly toward it, only to be stopped by Ananda, the Buddha’s attendant. Ananda had made a vow to protect the Buddha, so he was quite fierce as he engaged with Mara, stomping and yelling and demanding that he leave and never return.
Hearing all the commotion, the Buddha called out, “Ananda, what’s going on out there?”
“It’s Mara, the Evil One. He has returned and is intent on causing you harm, so I am driving him away.”
The Buddha walked to the opening of the cave, smiling, and said, “Mara, my old friend, so good to see you. Please, come have some tea.”
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