Meeting Mara

That which stops you becomes your god - Gurdjieff

For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all -- Romans 11:32

Very often one of the things that one learns... is that the labyrinth, which blocks, is at the same time the way to eternal life. This is the final secret of myth - to teach you how to penetrate the labyrinth of life in such a way that its spiritual values come through -- Joseph Campbell

In Buddhist cosmology, Mara is the figure that mirrors the character of Satan in the West. He is the metaphor for all that blocks and serves to confuse the Buddha. Unknown to most of us, Mara not only confronts the Buddha on the night of Gotama's enlightenment, but continually arises throughout the life of the Buddha and is even in attendance at the Buddha's death. Each time Gotama met Mara, a basic refrain was used. "I know you Mara." From the perspective of the Paschal Mystery, the cruciform pattern is the same. We each meet and know Mara, hanging between the good and the bad, and we each are redeemed as we redeem.