In the biblical story, Jesus is tempted for forty days and nights by the most evil being in existence; doing its damnedest to convince Jesus to renounce his throne and bow down to Satan and all the world will be his. Juxtaposed to the Buddha story we have Siddhartha – a prince himself like Jesus – sitting under a tree meditating, with Mara – a 'demon' (not the monster Hellraiser kind) who guards the proverbial door to the wheel of existence – doing its damnedest to tempt, scare and just overall distract the Buddha.

Satan – a real entity in the story – is trying to tempt Jesus in order to rule over the cosmos and finally become higher than Jehovah / Yahweh / God / Whatever. And with each temptation Jesus counters him with scriptural wisdom; eventually overcoming the Devil; having gone into the desert Jesus of Nazareth and leaving it Jesus the Christ.

In Gautama's story, Mara throws everything at him: women, wine, a demon army with fiery arrows, etc. (I highly recommend reading it if you get a chance). But in this story, the demon Mara is revealed to be just what he is: imagination. This particular depiction of the Buddha has him in the lotus position with one of his hands touching the earth so as to ground himself in reality. After all of his temptation and fear tactics, Gautama looks at Mara, touches the earth, and says something to this effect: "Lord Mara, you have no power over me, for you are not even real."

It says things such as: I'm such an idiot! I am way too fat. What kind of coffee table defines me? I need to make more money! That person's car is way better than mine. I can't wear Adidas shoes with a Nike shirt! and on and on and on....none of it real. None of it.

Of course there are real things to fear and justifiably so. If you're being chased by a pack of wild dogs for example, your primitive fear can help to enable you to run; but it can also disable you into freezing. 

Why? Because fear is not something outside of us, but something that comes from us.

It doesn't matter. It's the story and the lessons within it that do. 

Some scholars claim or theorize Socrates wasn't real but instead a character created to convey ideas. However, it doesn't make one difference if it's true or not because it is the ideas that matter.

So, the next time you find yourself upset, scared, or perhaps smack dab in the midst of some sort of 'temptation', take a moment to ground yourself in reality and realize the truth: There is no ego inside of you. There is ONLY you. 

Escape the suffering that is inherent to dualism by looking your ego in the eyes and telling it to fuck off, that it has no power over you, because it's not even real. 

Touch the ground in front of you. 

That is now. 

That is real.