In the eyes of Buddha...
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Are there such things as 'Devils'.... Also defined as the 'Eternal Evil'....?
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There is a personification of Evil in Buddhism, called "Mara", meaning the Evil One. The Mara king sent three of his daughters in a bid to stop Buddha from attaining the Anuttarasamyaksambodhi*, but have failed to tempt Buddha back into worldly life.
* Anuttarasamyaksambodhi - perfect and universal enlightenment of a Buddha -
http://www.khandro.net/doctrine_four_maras.htm
Maras According to Thrangu Rinpoche
Mara is most commonly presented in the Buddhist tradition as four different types of maras called: Devaputramara, the mara that is the child of the gods; Kleshamara, the mara that is the mental afflictions; Skandhamara, the mara that is the aggregates; and finally Mrtyamara, the mara that is the lord of death. These are primarily internal.
The first of these, Devaputramara, the mara that is the child of the gods, refers not to some kind of external demonic force but primarily to your own great attachment and great craving. Therefore, it is given the name of child of the gods, because when this mara is depicted iconographically — because it is craving or wanting something so much —it is not depicted as something ugly and threatening, but as something attractive, because that is the feeling-tone of attachment. It is liking things so much that it interferes with your dharma practice and your attainment of awakening.
The second mara, Kleshamara, the mara that is mental afflictions, is your mental afflictions themselves. These become a mara because, due to the beginning-less habit of maintaining and cultivating them, they keep on popping up again and again. They are very hard to abandon or even to suppress, and when they are momentarily absent, they come up again, and in that way they interfere with your practice of dharma.
The third mara is Skandamara, the mara of the aggregates. The aggregates here refer to the five aggregates that make up samsaric existence — forms, sensations, perceptions, thoughts, and consciousness. Now, these aggregates are themselves mara, because being aggregates or composite, they are impermanent. Being impermanent they are constantly changing, and therefore they are always a cause, directly or indirectly, of suffering. In order to attain permanent happiness, in order to transcend the suffering of samsara, we must transcend the five aggregates. There is simply no way to attain a state of permanent happiness within the bondage of these aggregates.
The fourth of the four maras is death itself, which is depicted iconographic[al]ly as wrathful or unpleasant. Death, of course, is what we are most afraid of. Death is what comes with great agony and fear and pain.
~ issue 10 of Shenpen Osel news. -
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
Thanks... INDEED VERY ENLIGHTENING....
http://www.khandro.net/doctrine_four_maras.htm
[b]Maras According to Thrangu Rinpoche
Mara is most commonly presented in the Buddhist tradition as four different types of maras called: Devaputramara, the mara that is the child of the gods; Kleshamara, the mara that is the mental afflictions; Skandhamara, the mara that is the aggregates; and finally Mrtyamara, the mara that is the lord of death. These are primarily internal.
The first of these, Devaputramara, the mara that is the child of the gods, refers not to some kind of external demonic force but primarily to your own great attachment and great craving. Therefore, it is given the name of child of the gods, because when this mara is depicted iconographically — because it is craving or wanting something so much —it is not depicted as something ugly and threatening, but as something attractive, because that is the feeling-tone of attachment. It is liking things so much that it interferes with your dharma practice and your attainment of awakening.
The second mara, Kleshamara, the mara that is mental afflictions, is your mental afflictions themselves. These become a mara because, due to the beginning-less habit of maintaining and cultivating them, they keep on popping up again and again. They are very hard to abandon or even to suppress, and when they are momentarily absent, they come up again, and in that way they interfere with your practice of dharma.
The third mara is Skandamara, the mara of the aggregates. The aggregates here refer to the five aggregates that make up samsaric existence — forms, sensations, perceptions, thoughts, and consciousness. Now, these aggregates are themselves mara, because being aggregates or composite, they are impermanent. Being impermanent they are constantly changing, and therefore they are always a cause, directly or indirectly, of suffering. In order to attain permanent happiness, in order to transcend the suffering of samsara, we must transcend the five aggregates. There is simply no way to attain a state of permanent happiness within the bondage of these aggregates.
The fourth of the four maras is death itself, which is depicted iconographic[al]ly as wrathful or unpleasant. Death, of course, is what we are most afraid of. Death is what comes with great agony and fear and pain.
~ issue 10 of Shenpen Osel news.
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I would also like to know... What's the difference between the second mara, Kleshamara. Also known as mental afflictions... As opposed to the thoughts and consciousness aggregates mentioned in the third mara, Skandamara? -
First we need to find out what is Skhandas.
The Buddhist view is that every individual is an entity composed of five categories of phenomena or qualities that may be thought of as aggregates, skandhas in Sanskrit; sometimes translated as heaps or accumulations.
So from this we know that the 5 Skhandas are the basis (conditions) for the illusion of a Self. An ignorant mind reacts to the 5 Skhandas and the illusion of "Self" arise. The persistant illusion of an independant self seems to inherent all of us.
The Five Skandhas, also called Formations are:
1. form (rupa)
2. apperception or sensibility
3. perception
4. volition, will
5. consciousness
1. Form is composed of matter made up of four elements: earth, water, fire, wind.
2. Apperception or sensibility is derived from the sense organs:
1. eye enables sight
2. ear enables sound
3. nose enables odour
4. tongue enables taste
5. "body" enables touch
6. mind enables the experiences of the five organs above, but also of its own objects called, like the word for the Teachings, dharma s ('facts').
This set of pairs, ie. organ + function, is known as the Twelve (12) Bases of Consciousness.
3. Perception is a product of the six externals above: sight, sound, etc. It is the individual's processing of the 12 bases to 'feel' the environment. [This skandha is sometimes referred to as 'feeling' though that word could be used in an vague way for any of the skandhas from 2 through 4.]
4. Volition [samskara] is the reaction of the will to the objects and may produce aversion, attraction, etc. In other words, the feeling as basis for emotion.
5. Consciousness [vijnana] grasps the qualities of the six objects. It creates a third member of the sets in 2 above. These are designated Visual consciousness, Auditory consciousness, and so on, ending with Mental consciousness. The eighteen now, are called the Eighteen (1
Elements [dhatu].
These five aggregates or formations, the skandas, are not ultimate and eternal in nature but are conditioned. They arise from causes and circumstances. Like all phenomena, they come and go; endure and change and disappear.
Since we are composed of these, we are impermanent. There is no part of us that is eternal. We cannot logically say, "That is mine; I am that; that is my Self"
For example, we often say "I can see you", but who and what is this "I"? Your eyes? And sometimes we may say things like, "I can hear you", but what is this "I" again? The ears? Not only are the eyes and ears not the "I", even if they are, what about the nose, mouth, tongue, limbs, body, head or hair? So what happens if you are blind and deaf? Where does this "I" go to? They are not the "I" too. Not only are all these not "I", neither are all the 5 Skhandas stated above. Since we cannot locate it, it does not seem meaningful to attach to this ego. Therefore, a Buddhism practitioner should comprehend this non-ego-form and maintain non-ego at all times. One will then realise that all forms are false (an illusion), including the ego-form. The "I" is false.
There is an instance which Buddha debated with someone who held that the 5 Skhandas are our "Selves":In the sutras, we find a story of a very famous ascetic-scholar named Saccaka. One day he heard that Buddha taught the anatta doctrine. Since he was a very sharp debater he decided that he would go to the Buddha and convince Him that the anatta doctrine was wrong. He was very confident; he claimed that if he were to debate with a stone pillar, that pillar would sweat from fear. He claimed that, just as a strong man takes a goat and flings it around his shoulders, so he would take hold of Gotama and fling Him around in debate.
When this "I" arise, mental afflictions follows. The 3 primary mental afflictions are as follows: attachment/passion, hatred/aggresion, ignorance/delusion.
Saccaka and his followers went to the Buddha and there exchanged greetings. He asked Buddha to explain the doctrines He taught. Buddha replied that He taught anatta. Saccaka countered, “No. There is atta. The five aggregates are atta.” Buddha replied, “Do you really think that rupa (corporeality) is atta?” As it happened, Saccaka was very ugly, and if he said that corporeality was atta, then Buddha could counter, “Then why don't you make yourself more handsome!”
Thus Saccaka was forced to say that rupa is not atta. Here we can see Buddha striking down several characteristics that are attributed to the atta. If Saccaka had an atta, he could call upon it to exercise authority and power in order to change his appearance. After all, atta is identical to Brahman, the supreme ruler the infinite, omnipotent creator and source of all things, as explained in the Bhagavad Gita.
But, according to Buddha, there exist only the five aggregates, the five khandhas, and these are not atta because they are subject to the laws of impermanence, suffering, and no-soul. Rupa (material form) is not atta; it is not master and ruler of itself, and it is subject to affliction. The other khandhas - feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness - are also subject to the same laws. Saccaka was therefore defeated.
Enlightenment is only possible if we get rid of "I"-thinking and realising that the true reality of existence being impermanent, interdependant with no inherent existences of anything (nothing is seperated in the oneness of the universe), conditioned arisings. -
* anatta: Non-Self, one of the 3 Dharma Seals of Buddhism
* atta: Self [illusioned thinking] -
Can you explain more on 'anatta'?Originally posted by An Eternal Now:* anatta: Non-Self, one of the 3 Dharma Seals of Buddhism
* atta: Self [illusioned thinking] -
A good question. Anatta is important in Buddhism. In order to experience Nirvana Bliss of the Buddha, leave no trace of a 'Self'. I have gave a simple explanation above. There are many articles about Non-Self, Anatta all over the internet. Here is a good one.
There are also a few good quotes that I have posted somewhere in this forum:"To study the Buddha Way is to study the self, to study the self is to forget the self, and to forget the self is to be enlightened by the ten thousand things."
- Master Dogen
"A human being is a part of a whole, called by us 'universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
- Albert Einstein -
The Demon King Attempts to Discourage Shakyamuni
From Nagarjuna's Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom
(Dharmamitra Translation)
This is as told of the Buddha when he was cultivating ascetic practices for a period of six years. The demon king came and said, "Noble man of ksatriyan lineage. Of a thousand parts of your life, you have only a single part left to live. Hurry, get up and return to your country, perform acts of giving and cultivate blessings. You will be able to gain the way of bliss among men and in the heavens in the present life and in later lives. It is unacceptable that you uselessly subject yourself to intense suffering. If you don't yield to these gentle words, but instead continue this confusion and fail to get up I will lead forth a great mass of troops which will come and strike and break you."
The Bodhisattva said, "I am now going to break [even] your extremely powerful internal army, how much the more so your external army."
The demon said, "What is it that makes up my internal army?"
He replied:
Desire is the first among your armies,
Worry is the second.
Hunger and thirst are the third army.
Craving is the fourth.
Drowsiness is the fifth of the armies.
Fearfulness is number six.
Doubt and regret are the seventh army.
Hatred and anger are the eighth.
Beneficial support and an empty reputation are the ninth.
Elevating oneself and belittling others is the tenth.
Such a company of armies as these
Vanquish those people who have left the home life.
I employ the power of dhyaana and wisdom
To break these armies of yours and,
After perfecting the Buddha Way,
Deliver everyone to liberation. -
A passage states that Mara will also protect Buddhists:
Chapter Thirteen, "Protecting Stupas," of the Sun-matrix Sutra, fascicle ten, states:
Then the mara Papiyas, surrounded in front and behind by eighty billion kinsmen, went to the place of the Buddha. On reaching it, he touched his head to the Buddha's feet and paid homage to the World-honored one. Then he stated in verse....
All Buddhas of the past, present, and future, with great compassion,
Accept my homage! I repent all my evil acts.
In the two treasures of dharma and sangha, in the same way.
I sincerely take refuge without any other thought.
May I, this day, make offerings to, revere,
And venerate the guiding master of all the world.
All evils I extinguish forever and will never commit;
To the end of my life, I will take refuge in the Tathagata's dharma.
The mara Papiyas, when he had finished stating this verse, said to the Buddha, 'O World-honored one! The Tathagata, possessing a mind of equality and nondiscrimination with regard to me and all sentient beings, is always filled with joy and with compassion and forbearance."
The Buddha said, "So it is."
Then the mara Papiyas greatly rejoined and awakened the mind of purity. Again, before the Buddha, he touched his head to the Buddha's feet in homage. He then circumambulated the Buddha three times to the right, reverently placed his palms together, and withdrew to one side, where he stood gazing at the Buddha without wearying.
From the "Great Collection Sutra (Da Ji Jing)", copied from www.shinranworks.com -
Ahah! I know my master has mentioned this (about the mara) before but I just wonder where is the source? Now I know
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In the eyes of Buddha, all beings are equal, because all beings have the seed to attain enlighhtenment. So no matter if you have good or bad intentions, you are the same as far as Buddha is concerned because intentions are consiciousness that spring from what our senses come into contact with. It is a form of ignorance.
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From the expanded non-judging state of consciousness, good and evil are but tiny streams of intentions and thoughts in an ocean of consciousness.
Whether, they be good or evil it is only of significances at the relative individual self (egoic) state. These thoughts are intentions crying out for action. -
Evil Buddhist...
Such..Such..Devil1976!!!
Be Blessed..
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Enlightening... Thanks...Originally posted by longchen:From the expanded non-judging state of consciousness, good and evil are but tiny streams of intentions and thoughts in an ocean of consciousness.
Whether, they be good or evil it is only of significances at the relative individual self (egoic) state. These thoughts are intentions crying out for action.