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"Namo Guru bhe !!  Namo Buddha ya !!  Namo Dharma ya !!  Namo Sangha ya !!"     We take refuge in the Teacher, embodiment of the Three Jewels; We take refuge in the Buddhas, the fully Enlightened Ones; We take refuge in the Dharma, the way to pacification of all sufferings; We take refuge in the Sangha, the noble assembly of Disciples;   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________     The Great Enlightenment of the Buddha:   At this very moment the rebel deity Mara -the Evil One- raised exclaiming: "Prince Siddhattha will pass beyond my power, but I will never allow it!" and sounding the Mara's war shout, he prepared his army & went out for battle.   The sound of it was like the rumbling roar of an earthquake.             Mara mounted his enormous Elephant carrying many different weapons.             Not two in his army carried the same weapon & this immense mass of              warriors swept forward as a flood to overwhelm the Blessed Bhagava.             There Deities of the 10 thousands worlds of this galaxy were singing the praises of the Great Being. Maha-Brahma was holding a white umbrella.             But when Mara's army came close, no one dared stay put. They all fled             trembling like a caught rabbit. The black Naga King dived into the earth &            reaching his hidden home, he covered his face with both hands & lay down.            Sakka threw the conch right over his shoulder & took up a safe position            at the rim of the world. Maha-Brahma left the white umbrella at the end             of this world & fled into his fine-material plane. Not a single deity was             able to stand his ground, so they all left the Great Being sitting calmly            all alone only protected by the consummation of his perfections.   Then Mara said to his militia: "This Siddhattha, son of king Suddhodana, is far greater than any other man, so we will never succeed to fight him up front. We will therefore attack him from behind."   Looking towards the North the Kinsman of the sun perceived that Mara's Army was approaching like a great flood and noted: "Here come this mighty gang putting up all their forceful power against me alone. Neither my parents, family nor friends are here. But I have these great accumulated perfections at my side. These will be my shield and the force that will crush this mighty evil & armed gathering. And so he remained all still inwardly focusing on the 10 great perfections.   Wanting to drive away the Future Buddha Mara then whirled up a great storm, which could tear away mountain peaks, uproot trees and pulverize entire cities into scattered powder. Yet when this immense energy reached the Future Buddha it could not even make the corner of his robe flutter.   Such was the power of the Great Being's long accumulated merit.            Intending then to drown this Bull among Seers Mara caused a great rain to            pour down until the wild torrents of water flooded even the treetops.            But on reaching the Future Buddha this immense flood could not even wet            his robe to the extent of a dewdrop.   Infuriated, Mara, yielding power over even the creation of others, then             caused a showering bombardment of flaming rocks & smoking boulders.             Yet these turned into celestial flowers reaching the Great Being. So also             did a veritable assault by a cascade of burning spears, swords, arrows             & axes hurling through the air. Enraged, Mara then whirled forth an attack             of burning red coals. These also however feel gently as flowers at the              feet of the Foremost of all humans.   Seething mad, Mara then tried white  ashes & sand glowing like fire but this fell as sandal wood powder at  the feet of the Caravan leader. A shower of boiling mud became a delighting balm.    Feverishly attempting to frighten the Great Seer,              Mara then caused a dense fourfold darkness to spread out, but reaching              the Dispeller of darkness it disappeared like darkness is lighted up in              the radiance of the sun. Frustrated, being unable even to touch the Wielder              of power with these nine mighty hurricanes of wind, rain, rocks, weapons,              red coals, hot ashes, sand, mud, & darkness Mara somewhat in panic              commanded his army: "Why do you stand still? Seize, kill & drive away this prince".   Armed with a discus he drew near the Future Buddha on his elephant & yelled: "Siddhattha, leave this seat. It is not yours but mine!"   Hearing this the Well-gone One replied: "Mara, neither have you fulfilled the 10 perfections to the third degree nor have you given the 5 great donations*. Neither has you striven for insight, for the welfare of the world, nor for enlightenment!  Therefore does this seat not belong to you, but indeed to me."   Unable to control his fury the enraged Mara hurled his discus which              could cut stone pillars like bamboo shoots. But as the Great Being              reflected on the perfections, it changed into a canopy of flowers,              which remained suspended over his head.   Mara's army then threw enormous mountain like boulders saying: "This will make him get up & flee!" but they also fell to the ground as flowers.   Meanwhile the gods were standing on the rim of the world &             craning their necks to see, they mumbled: "Oohh what a day.             This handsome prince will certainly be smashed! What will he do to save himself?"             The Conqueror then confidently continued: "Mara, who is your witness to have             given the great donations ?"             Mara responded: "As many as you see here!" and instantly all in his army roared             "I am his witness, I am his witness" as with one voice.   Mara then asked the Great Being: "Siddhattha, who is your witness to have given the great donations ?"   The Future Buddha answered: "You have alive witnesses at your side             while I have none. However the great seven-hundred-fold donation,             which I gave at my existence as Vessantara, shall now be testified             by this great earth how inanimate she may be.               And at the exact moment he touched the earth with his hand, it erupted             into a tremulous earthquake.             When he gladdened remembered his prior great donation, Mara's elephant             crouched down before him on its knees.   Suddenly overpowered by fear Mara's followers fled helter-skelter in all directions. Not two went the same way, but leaving their weapons in a chaos all behind, they fled terrified by panic.   Seeing them flee, the great assembly of deities triumphantly shouted: "Mara is defeated. Prince Siddhattha has Won!  Let us celebrate the Victory!"   The snakes then urged the snakes, the birds urged the birds,             the deities urged the deities, the Brahmas urged the brahmas and             they all approached the great wisdom seat of the Supreme Teacher             carrying perfumes, flowers, garlands, and offerings, while they sang:               "The Victory has this illustrious Buddha Won.             The Evil One, The End-maker is defeated & done.              Thus they jubilantly circled the wisdom throne,             the band of snakes singing their praises of the Seer,             the flocks of birds singing their praises of the Sage,             the assembly of Deities singing their praises of the Conqueror,             the group of Brahmas singing their praises of the Worthy One."               At this very moment of attainment of Omniscience, the 10 thousand worlds quaked 12 times & became gloriously adorned. Throughout this galaxy flowering trees bloomed, lotuses blossomed, and wines & trees bore fruit, the dark spaces of the hells and between the worlds became illuminated             by a flood of radiance surpassing even that of 7 suns.   _____________________________________________________________________________________________________               CAS web site: http://www.geocities.com/cas_sg

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