Book 2: The Second Great Discovery

But if finding where on earth the former brother of the Bodhissatva had been stashed was difficult and long, what was more arduous was actually challenging Mara the Evil One directly on this matter. Mara the Evil One refused to acknowledge this subject and the Bodhissatva by and large anymore, remaining a mysterious figure increasingly among the pantheon of devas and celestial kings.

What the Bodhissatva intended to do then was extremely difficult. He intended to break through all the blanket of vicious and selfish heavenly protections the Powerful King of Death had used to shield the existence of the hell world being under his power undetected. He intended to breakthrough the material form of the hell world being unscratched, uninjured and penetrate into the warped reality, the distorted forested landscape still in place the Nimmanarati Deva had originally created out of himself and now his present state of extreme, gross pain and despair.

This was no ordinary feat, and it was virtually unheard of that any deva, king, Brahma, or Mara would make such a sacrifice on behalf of anyone. No one, except one other deva, has repeated such a feat with the same problematic hell world being at some later time. So the preparation for this was arduous and it was uncertain to those who knew what the Bodhissatva was now involved in, whether he would survive.

* * *

There was a large chunk of vegetation, much like overgrown grass that grew disproportionately thicker than the surrounding green grass. The large growth differed quite from what around it which was shorter and level, as though it had been recently trimmed. It was a very small clearing that had hardly any exposure to the sky. Behind and all around this area was a large forest of trees, many of which looked deciduous. This part of the forest was completely deserted at this late hour, and it would have been totally pitch black throughout had it not been for some vague dull brightness from an orb of light very far away. Mara the Powerful King of Death was using this aura, a manifestation of his power, to keep some watch on everything that was going on here.

The large chunk of vegetation quivered and trembled for a moment in the deathly silence. It stopped for a moment, perhaps quite a long moment, and then quivered again, shaking violently. This happened from time to time, over the course of several human and deva months, deva months as they would pass in the Nimmanarati Deva world. There was no wind anymore, so this occurrence didn't quite pass unnoticed in the eyes of some the celestial beings who now came here from time to time.

They had to receive Namuci's explicit permission to do this. They were beings from his host, and his following among devas and asuras who came here, or brought here by the sheer might of his will, power and strength to revel and delight in the might of his glory and power. Some of them brought humans they had kidnapped for their own pleasure making. The presence of such devas, among the wider pantheon of devas was often cloaked, and thoroughly masked, under the Ender's power and within his shield of strength and deception.

These visitors derided the being in hell they trod and floated upon, mocking his current and past existence, calling him a deranged fool, a coward. Yet some of these dark and unusual celestial beings, lamented his downfall, even falling on their knees and engaging in worship and prayer. Mara the Evil One always took note of those who did this, and was ready to set traps for them later on at some opportune time, lest they try to bring about his own fall from power and grace.

Perhaps they would do so by revealing his scheme against the Bodhissatvas which involved inducting some of his own followers, in other distant times and realms of existence, particularly the human world, as worshipers to a new ideology, belief system, and religion that Mara the Powerful King of Death had yet to establish. This belief system was meant to rival and subvert the teachings of the Buddhas. It would initially be based on some semblance and exaggerated retelling of the events and concepts illustrated through events that had occurred here and Mara the Evil One had brought about.

These misguided celestial beings were too honest and too good to their own heart about what had happened. So in the twilight of their deranged fantasies, mockery and play, in the dusk of passion, hatred and delusion some of them would disappear, carted off by other members of Mara's horde to experience a fate similar to the one the Nimmanarati Deva had experienced.

Vasavatti Mara had experienced the bliss of his might and power here. Not long after his initial meeting with the two human figurines he returned to them. After indicating the female figure should isolate herself from her male counterpart, he approached her in the form of an enormous maroon colored centipede. It was about as tall and wide as her when retracted, but otherwise about twice her length. He entered into sexual relations with this form. He managed to extract it out beyond the outer perimeter of what had been the realm the Nimmanarati Deva had made from his own body. Then in the confines of a bluish gray cloud taking the form of a deva he fulfilled a very extended and amorous affair with this form, for an extended period of time. It was around this time, that the piece of vegetation in the forest below first began trembling.

The large overgrowth of vegetation shook and shivered yet again one night. There was a long extended pause that same night, more longer than usual. Then the ground beneath it split open and incredibly it was torn asunder. The Bodhissatva appeared from the opening in the ground immediately, in the form of a tall magnificent Paranimmita Vasavatti Devata. For an instance he appeared slightly strained and struggling from his effort, to separate himself from the ground, and looked if he might not be able to. But he did, and he stepped forward!

A bright silver white light, so shining that it was blinding to any ordinary eyes that would have seen it, emanated from around his head and shone in all directions throughout the pitch black forest. A circle of sheen of light that was ultra-bright, so powerful that it could melt solid objects, radiated around the near vicinity of his head. An aura, of similar color and strength of light, radiated from his garments and body.

This Paranimmita Vasavatti Devata who I had said earlier in this story was named Sawan (which also happens to be my name as well) had experienced more than 1,000 consecutive lives as a Paranimmita Vasavatti Devata, and in each of those existences had carried that same name, an unusual feat! It is no common thing to see such a deva, who in previous existences had dwelled as the Great Brahman, the Unconquered Conqueror, All-seeing and Wielder of Power! It was uncommon to see a deity who in previous existences had achieved birth as Brahma Harita, Chief and King of all Brahmas, Lord of the Brahma worlds, Master and chief of the Ten Chiefs of Maha Brahmas, Master of the Maha Brahmas, the Great Brahma himself and Ruler of Divine and human beings!

It was extremely uncommon to see a Paranimmita Vasavatti Devata who in previous existences had achieved birth as a commoner or prince who would became a Wheel Turning Emperor, a righteous King of Dhamma, Conqueror of the Four Corners of the Earth, maintaining sovereign power over the sixteen great countries and endowed with the seven treasures for more than 1,000,000 consecutive births! Sawan the Bodhissatva (don't confuse him with the narrator), would make this effort to help and understand his former brother, and strove to not meet with defeat! Sawan, this great and utterly powerful Paranimmita Vasavatti Devata, with a clear mind saw with his divine sight as he looked around that all the gross matter and space throughout the area was indeed his former brother, entrenched in a mire of extreme pain. He had already confirmed this through his extremely difficult passage to arrive here. Thereupon he set out on foot, his radiant bright white glow, illumining the shrubbery and trees both nearby and throughout the forest.

He immediately found a large broad open grass corridor. He paused for a moment. Taking stock of any changes in the environment and what direction he was heading in, he found that there was no significant change to the state of pain the hell world being was experiencing, and that he was heading in the direction of a dark forested clearing. He sensed that this clearing was the center of oblivion and confusion, near to what had been close to the center of the landscape. Proceeding then, tersely, experiencing some consternation & mild irritation, somewhat alarmed that Mara the Evil One was keeping one of his past relatives this way, still, he made his way down the corridor. Nothing stood in his way, or confronted him, as the wall of light he put forth penetrated the gloom.

However as a prolonged brief period past that night there was a noticeable change in the corridor. The leaves, bark, plant and foliage put forward a menacing appearance. The corridor began to resemble a tunnel due to the circular curve of the overhanging foliage and also cast its own brightness in the distance.

From this brightness at the end of the tunnel the Bodhisattva could detect the perception of harsh searching womanly passion that was strong, sexual & greedy, full of desire and the promise of extremely alluring sensual delights, and greed associated with detections, investigations and explanations. In the strange illuminating nature of the further end of the forested tunnel the perception of obsessions. Specifically, these were obsessions with seeking information, riddles, puzzles, mysteries, and solving them. This is what Mara the Evil One had put in place, to replicate some of the character traits carried by this rival of the Bodhissatva and his other enemies in their better, higher existences. Perhaps it was meant to try to bring about fear and horripilation in any intruders.

This obsessiveness the Bodhisattva could detect in the area ahead was maddeningly inquisitive, intrusive, obnoxious and demanding in nature, frustrating and tiring as a result, resulting in anger. He began to see with his divine sight a myriad of small orange octagons emerging from the environment, a remnant of the bitter Nimmanarati Devata's eyes. He recognized all these phenomena as distractions, meant to bring about madness and discomfort in this dangerous environment where greater than death like pain was everywhere, and continued forward with care.

He eventually reached the end of the circular tunnel of trees, which gave way to a substantially larger open field of grass. If one were to look up, there a starry sky would be visible here, but there nothing to suggest that it was there otherwise. All in all it was ominous and gloomy in nature and otherwise totally dark. Getting a sense of what was to happen, with his power of divine foresight, he understood that his life would be in some danger soon and that there were some objects of interest in ahead, to one side of the field.

He could eventually see the tall tree towering above a continuation of the forest there, as well as two persons standing next to it in the murky gloom. Prepared, fully prepared to deal with and accept the consequences of his actions, he moved gradually in that direction. His aura, which had dimmed to a circular sheen of dark yellow light around his head, again, brightened, a brilliant white radiance throwing relief onto the depiction of an extremely ghastly obese old man, and a young maiden with red hair.

Both, appearing to be celestial marionettes, seemed horrifying real in appearance. Though they stood completely still as to seem lifeless, they stood firmly on the ground gazing off into the distance, like sentinels, in the nude. The Bodhissatva could see that though Mara the Evil One had concealed his presence well, he could nonetheless see, that he had substantial direct control over the marionettes even at this moment. Also he had made great effort to conceal the great amount of enormous pain encase within these two forms from others celestial devas, the Bodhissatva was very well aware of what he was looking at. Mara, the Powerful King of Death, himself, was nowhere to be see, and the Bodhissatva had some understanding that while he was quite nearby, he was nonetheless not in the area. Instead he was partaking in some celestial carousing & revelry, the birthday of one his celestial friends, in some other celestial domain, experiencing sensual pleasures, and celestial, heavenly bliss.

The Bodhissatva approached these two figures, looking at them carefully, taking note of their blank expressions. Understanding the sad condition of his rival, and former brethren as irreparable, he decided to humor himself for a moment and spring the trap in front of him. This way, he could both warn Vasavvatti Mara, and make his escape with his information that this atrocious circumstance was still in existence, and why to Sakka, Lord of the Devas.

Suddenly, the Bodhissatva spoke to the Blessed One, his teacher, to make check something. The Blessed One responded to the Bodhissatva and fulfilled his request. At that time, it was not long after the time Kassapa Buddha had taught the Dhamma to Gods and Humans. Kassapa Buddha then told the Bodhissatva that he was to not attack Mara the Evil One in this instance. I will not relate in depth what special power the Bodhissatva had developed to communicate directly this way with the Tathagatha, Perfect One of Vast Wisdom. It can only be said that the Bodhissatva had it.

After doing so, the Bodhissatva launched merrily into a dialogue with Mara the Evil One's captive. "So how are you holding up?" The Bodhissatva asked.

"I am in pain, miserable, in a wretched state, and in hell. I have no savior, no god to save me. I am doomed to eternal hell, forever," the tormented hell world being spoke.

The Bodhissatva then said, "Let's revert back to talking to you as if I didn't know you then, and we'll see what happens. Because this is a play isn't it? Am I supposed to talk to the fat man first? Or the girl?"

The hell world being said, "The girl. The girl is fair, and enamoring and seeks to strike misery into my heart. She is meant to represent that she is greater and more powerful than I, for-"

"Let's not talk about that. I'm very sorry to hear that. But you should have known better. Actually I'm done talking to you. That's all," The Bodhissatva said. He then walked away, and retraced his steps back to the center of the field and then turned around. He counted to 10 and then walked back to the figures.

The Powerful God who has Power over the Creations of Others, the Bodhissatva then asked, "Actually I would like to speak with you after all. Who are you?"

The nude girl then gave two separate responses at the same time, one secretly, the other somewhat vaguely. This was to figure out who the intruder was, if there was to ever be one. Was this person smart, or stupid? Her secret response was, "I am DEATH!"

"Her more easily heard response was, "I am here. That's all you need to know. I am stuck here."

The Bodhissatva then asked dryly, "Well why are you stuck? Are you a girl?" He looked about then said, "You don't seem to be telling me everything. How do I get you out? Tell me now!!!"

"You can't do anything, you are a fool. You are a foolish person. You have fallen into our trap. Don't leave," the girl replied smugly, turning into various women suddenly that the Bodhissatva knew in past existences, trying to disrupt his attention. She did this cleverly, because only a very clever or intelligent person could fall into this trap, only such an individual would be able to see it.

"I'm actually a married person, and you seem ugly, stupid, vile and treacherous. I am here to help my... former brother," the Bodhissatva stated, and indicated the male figure, who tried interrupting and distracting him.

"Yes, don't leave, you've fallen into our trap," the fat man sounded, repeating similar comments several times.

"... So what is this all about?" The Bodhissatva asked, knowing very well what it was all about. "Are you trying to hurt me? I came all this way for nothing, but to be trapped by the very person, the brother whom I loved and cherished, a long time ago back in a far back distant time, who I sought to rescue?!"

"This is about... YOU!" The girl said exuberantly. This is, all about you! Tonight is about you! And I have you! You're MINE!!!!"

"And the King of Death approaches," she intoned, "T-minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4..."

"Alright then," the heroic Bodhissatva said.

The girl cheerily replied, "3... 2..." The Bodhissatva sprang a trap then, and avoided an attempt by the Hell of Laughter to seize him!

"Thanks for everything. Good bye," the Bodhissatva then said, and he vanished rapidly into thin air. Not but an instant that he was gone that the Mara the Powerful King of Death suddenly approached quickly from the sky. A series of clouds hurriedly emerged from that direction and he appeared behind the two marionettes.

"There! Seize him! Where is he?" Mara bellowed, even though he had come quite alone. His daughters Greed, Hatred loomed angrily with their arms crossed in the higher parts of the cloud staircase, Delusion, far off, waving in the distance, a bright orb of light sheening forth into the area from far behind her. Somewhat uncertainly he walked around the two figures and made an attempt to instill guilt into the Bodhissatva's heart. Harrumphing a bit, he started an interrogation style discourse of conversation. "And where are you? What are you doing here? Just exactly who is this, and who has intruded upon my home? These two are mere body guards, standing guard, my villa, my celestial palace, my celestial mansion, are right up, over there!" And he pointed dramatically to beautiful, fragrant, opulent dwellings that suddenly appeared in the night sky, turned light purple and pink, in that corner, like the dusk and dawn.

The Bodhisattva himself had not really left. Instead he had protected himself, by means of strong and powerful invisibility. He was calm, with a tranquil mind, able to see an aura of Kassapa Buddha, while reciting Ratana Sutta, the Jewels Discourse. He safe, and he would not be harmed, not in the least sort of way, at all. He had safeguarded himself this way well. He serenely protected himself, and steadily also watched on, full of bliss.

It was definitely a bad spectacle, or an affronting one. Now after Mara the Evil One, saw that the Bodhissatva wouldn't appear, much to his annoyance and anger, even though he had some mild understanding that he was indeed probably in front of him, then, infuriated, he left. The Bodhissatva, that Powerful Paranimmita Vassavatti Devata at that time, reported his witnessed findings to King Sakka, Lord of the Devas. Lord Sakka congratulated him heartily and told him about that another piece of the mystery concerning the rise of Great Being was solved for the time being. King Sakka, then approved of the Bodhissatva marrying Mara the Evil One's daughters, as a means of appeasing him over this matter.

They then went to Mara the Evil One, hastily in due time and telling him that the Bodhissatva had proved that Mara the Evil One was indeed torturing one of his former disciples. They were in this room, the size of a living room or office, with a very, very, tall, tall ceiling that served as a private throne room, similar to the room that they had met King Sakka in. There was yellow lighting, reflecting on yellow, yellow white, or white walls walls, with that sort of lighting, you couldn't really tell. There was also a table, like a desk in front of Mara the Evil One, he had an ornate chair he was seated in, a light but hefty throne, not much different than other devas would use, but of course with the unique symbols that denoted it was indeed his chair, and not others.

His eyes filmed over now, when he heard the accusations against him, after he had offered a jovial greeting to both of them. At this meeting he was dwelling in the bodily state in which he would get the attention of Sri Lankans, and the high caste exiled inhabitants of North India and their descendants which was a monstrously huge Yakkha, with an extremely bulking and muscular figure, and protruding facial features, including engorged lips and sharp fanged teeth. For a moment he seemed unresponsive, and then he ominously indicated that the subject was closed and anything else that they would want to say on this matter should remain unsaid.

The Bodhissatva acquiesced on this occasion, but for a moment indicated he wanted to speak. Mara the Evil One made a dangerous move, and indicated that he was feeling dangerous. Mara the Evil One then lambasted them both, and told them, that he was mad, and filled with regret. Sakka was bemused, for a moment, and saw that the Bodhissatva might have a chance to fulfill his great expectations, subdue the Evil One, and vanquish his former brother, by sending him to a proper hell. But the Evil One was cunning. He decided to postpone his son in law's formal weddings to his daughter, on the condition, that he had other matters to attend to.

After these ceremonies were finished, then, sometime later the Bodhissatva requested that Mara the Evil One release that person from his imprisonment, to which Mara the Evil One suddenly totally flat out rejected his request. This of course, was surprising, and no good, considering the amount of regret Mara the Evil One had expressed in the past. The Bodhissatva saw then, that Mara the Evil One, in control of this hell world being forcibly maintained as enormous landscape scheme, was in fact controlled by a higher, Mara, and was possessed by him.

That Mara would have to suffer for his evil action, of making his present father in law suffer in this manner. He saw that there were many Maras controlling other Maras, the way water follows after a stream, going back, and back and back, especially over issues of this nature. The only Mara immune from this treatment, usually, was a Lord Mara, called Mara. He was the Mara of the world. It was not possible to confront this kind of Mara over these issues, usually only Brahma could talk to him. Unfortunately and in such an affronting manner, the fate of former celestial being who had eaten so many celestial nymphs, became a closed subject, for that time.

So then a lot of time passed. In the meantime, Mara the Evil One further developed his theory of religion, and surpassed other divine beings in might and glory. This was because he had several celestial nymphs under his control whom he used as slaves. They oft would breed conspiracies with his offspring, of the future and what was to come. He would use these ideas sneakily to try to thwart his enemies beforehand, before that they had arisen into his presence, or his life. This was the advice that was even pressed on him by good devas, to prevent problems like the obnoxious deva he had supplanted in the past from stirring his ire.

Mara the Evil One did several things after the confrontation in his trap for Bodhissatvas. He knew he could not really keep someone in that condition under his control after they had been discovered, so he sought to publicize his prisoner quite much in heaven, after the controversy was over. He even brought the Devas of the Thirty Three for a tour of the place. He would bring devas there for vacations, usually couples, and use them as vain and conceited nude models in a different landscape he had created, more free from unethical standards. Not a commercialization, but instead a happy relationship existence was portrayed here.

The hell world being he had under his control, was shrouded in mystery again, so as to trap more Bodhissatvas, and intelligent ones, typically experiencing superb bliss and euphoria. But that hell world being's time in hell was ending, and soon he would sink into abyss of unknown and strange, low existences for a while. It happened one morning according to the Paranimmita Vasavatti Devata calendar, that when Mara the Evil One, came to check on the pair, probably to goad them or bully them, or the new pair, for he had gotten rid of the old pair by then, that they were missing. Of course he usually knew where they were, and how they looked like, much different looking than the beings the Bodhissatva in this story had come across.

If they did not look distinctly Asian, or Chinese, then the girl probably had blonde hair. But on this occasion he was expecting the original two he had put through the golden gate he put in place on one of the far extremities of the landscape to be there. But no one was there, nor were they, so Mara the Evil One grieved, a little. He then noticed something strange, which was that the landmass far beneath him was sinking, vanishing into black space, and the grass was turning into real grass. Suddenly he was stung with immense pain, as the tree he had put in place, suddenly began keeling in one direction. Here, the Reese's peanut butter cup shaped fruit had hardly been eaten, except on one occasion when the male figurine did, after gripping and panting in pain suddenly one day. Even on that occasion he suffered even more as the Powerful King of Death had imposed.

All around Mara the Evil One shining crystal octagons, and pentagons began emerging from thin air, shining brightly and splitting like shrapnel armaments. He noted briefly then that hell world being he thought he had been standing on had vanished completely and he was standing on normal earth. His pride being stung in a variety of ways, he suddenly sought escape. Whenever the specific series of events described in this story happened to Mara the Evil One, he would rarely escape, and usually vanish into hell, and suffer horribly for his previous cruel actions. Now, on one occasion and several others Mara the Evil One escaped, taking flight that very moment when the air began splitting, twenty to forty times faster than Superman would, unless he was skyrocketing out of his telephone booth. In another instance he would dash comically around collapsing land masses in the clearing to a vehicle of clouds nearby, and attempt to vanish in them upward, looking down upon the territory.

From afar the Bodhisattva, saw these events on this occasion, and on others, when it would happen. Sakka, with retinue, and banners in outer space, the location of the bad being fully discovered, lauded and praised the outcome of the hell world being's death and his passing into distant, lower realms, and enthused of the triumph of good over evil.