Tara Brach Ph.D. tells it brilliantly
here.
As the story goes, on the morning of Buddha’s enlightenment, He fought a great battle against the Demon God Mara, the representation of negative qualities in the human ego. Buddha’s loyal attendant, Ananda, was always on the high watch for any harm that could come to his teacher. On this special day, Ananda became aware that Mara was lurking on the periphery and alerted Buddha to his presence. Instead of shooing Mara away, the Buddha invited him to tea and treated him like royalty, an honored guest.
We all have a Mara lurking in our outer and inner worlds. It’s the habit we’re trying to corral. It’s the emotion that goes unchecked. It’s the limiting self-talk that doesn’t serve us or others. It’s the relationship that most challenges us. For me, it’s a feeling of terror that is residual from past events. I know the trigger well, and it equally knows me, too. It’s the one fear in which I can’t quite get away from or get a complete grip on. There is no hiding, only fighting or inviting.
Mara recently came for a visit and stayed longer than I anticipated. I had done a lot of work and gotten myself to a place of leaning into the discomfort, but this one unhinged me in an exceptionally good way. It took me five weeks of fighting until I succumbed to the invitation – inviting Mara to tea. First, I allowed the friendship with Mara welcoming him in, and then I became the student. Everything shifted at that point. New insights flooded in, the fear and miasma cleared, and my energy was transformed.
My want - next time, and there will be a next time, I will remember to extend my heart in gentle gratitude and sit with Mara and have tea.
