The Enlightenment

It is difficult to explain the Buddha's experiences of Enlightenment. Traditionally these experiences are related symbolically. Symbols are the language of dreams, which have to be experienced and interpreted.

Mara

As soon as he started meditating, Siddhartha was confronted with the figure of Mara, the lord of darkness. Mara tried to tempt Siddhartha into despair and into giving up.

Mara represents all the parts of us that don't want to change, that are threatened by change, and want to deny it. Mara is that part of you that opposes the good that you want to do and tries to stop you acting upon what you know is right.

Mucalinda

As he meditated, the great snake, Mucalinda, came out and sheltered the meditating prince from the rain, he wound his body seven times round the prince and sheltered the prince with his head.

Mucalinda is the serpent. In Buddhist mythology the serpent or Naga represents the forces of the depths, of the unconscious. The serpent also represents the yogic idea of Kundalini - the coiled serpent energy at the base of the spine, which is liberated by yogic practice and rises up through the seven chakras or psychic centres. So through Meditation the Buddha liberated his blocked and dormant energies.

Mara's Hordes

Mara became angry and sent his armies, the hordes of Mara, they represented fear, and sum up all our deepest fears. The armies lined up before Siddhartha and fired their arrows and spears at him. Siddhartha was unmoved, and looked full square into his fears. The flying arrows and spears turned to flowers in the air, their petals raining down on the prince.

Siddhartha faced his fears, he realised how we are all driven and dictated by our fears, how they dissolve our ability to act and take control. The Buddha let go of his fear and anger, and what he feared turned into flowers.

The Buddha's Ego

Then Mara faced the Buddha himself, taking on the guise of the Buddha himself. The Buddha faced Mara, and told him that this false self, this ego, did not exist.

Mara here represents the Buddha's ego, his false self. The self is the object, the thing that one sees in the mirror. This is the idea of a you that says, "I can do this", or "I can't do that", or "I am like x", or "I am not like Y", as if the self is a thing that can be fully described and fixed. But the Buddha realised that this idea, this ego, is pure illusion.

Earth Goddess

Mara demanded to know what right Siddhartha has to claim to be a Buddha. Siddhartha then touched the earth, and called the earth, in the shape of the Earth Goddess to witness his efforts over many lives. The Earth Goddess testified to his right to occupy the "throne" or the Vajrasana, the Diamond Seat. This episode represented the natural forces in harmony with the Buddha's path.

As the morning star arose, the Buddha experienced full awareness or Bodh. He saw the ultimate reality of all things, that all things are impermanent, they change, and that all movement in the universe is an effect brought by a cause, he saw too that there is no wisdom without compassion. From that moment he was called the Buddha the awakened one.