Thus determined, full of peace, Siddhartha passed into deep meditation, when the senses close down and concentration flows undisturbed by awareness of the outside world. Then, the chronicles say, Mara the tempter came, much as Satan came to tempt Jesus in the desert. Mara is Death and every selfish passion that ties us to a mortal body. He is “the striker,” who attacks without warning and never plays by the rules. Any kind of entrapment is fair.
