The Saint 57
security, long life— these goals mean virtually nothing to him when
he pursues and embodies the warrior ideal. The vio lence that is at
the center of the heroic quest is an aff ront to Buddhist thinking, yes.
But Achilles, who refuses to stay home and live the comfortable life
of the domestic king, is also an enemy of certain sorts of striving,
the striving that will in time become the middle class’s reason to
exist.
The Buddha makes his breakthroughs, and his spiritual way is
revealed. But perhaps his greatest moment of trial is ahead of him.
Much like Jesus in the desert, the Buddha under the Bo tree under-
goes temptation. Demons spin toward him from out of the air and
they off er him their bounties. He can have temporal power, be a lord
of this world, much as his father hoped he would be. He can lead a
life of erotic bliss: no end of women and intoxicants, no end of plea-
sure. These possibilities Gautama waves aside— just as Achilles
would, just as Socrates and Jesus would. But the demon Mara, Lord
of Death, has something more appealing to off er. Why not depart
from this world? Mara asks him. Now you can enter into the sublime
State of being called Nirvana and leave all the diffi culties of earthly
life behind. Abandon this sad world affl icted by death and desire.
But the Buddha, having reached enlightenment, is determined to
spread his wisdom. He is committed to bringing his four noble
truths to other beings who need deliverance. Gautama has resolved
to reenter the world and to reveal what he has learned.
Will you? Is that truly wise? The demon Mara, whom we
might think of as the Buddha’s version of the Self hood, asks him.
Don’t you know what will happen?
Then the demon spits out the most daunting words. No one will
listen to you, he says. You will be mocked. You will be taken for a
fool. No one will understand you. People will laugh.
What a blow is public mockery to the aristocratic spirit. Shake-
speare’s Cleopatra prefers death to being ridden in a cage through