Are there demons or devils?
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are there demons and devils living in forests, mountaints, sea, rivers, sky or on earth?
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Erm, there are evil spirits, but they are not called 'demons' or 'devils'. Mara (the evil one) is also different, as they reside in the 6th heaven and also in your mind (inner mara) which obstructs your path to enlightenment.
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the mara residing in 6 heaven, how do they come abt? are they devas or demi-god?Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Erm, there are evil spirits, but they are not called 'demons' or 'devils'. Mara (the evil one) is also different, as they reside in the 6th heaven and also in your mind (inner mara) which obstructs your path to enlightenment.
if they are evil, how come they are reborn in heaven, not hell? -
They are devas. They are not asuras, asuras belong to another realm.Originally posted by marcteng:the mara residing in 6 heaven, how do they come abt? are they devas or demi-god?
if they are evil, how come they are reborn in heaven, not hell?
They want to obstruct people's liberation because they have no control over people who have transcended all desires and ended rebirth. They also wanted to take revenge against Shakyamuni Buddha who had a bad relationship with some of the maras in a previous lifetime, and after Buddha passed away, they promised to continue harrassing his students.
Whether they will reborn to hell is their own karma and we won't know.
But what is most important is obliterate the mara in your mind, to close the 6 sense doors that invites maras into you, then you need not fear outer maras. -
asuras is a considered a demi-god or deva eh?
y they always fight with devas one?
do they fight with humans lol -
Asuras is a different realm, it is not deva. But they do have some good karma so they do have celestial kind of enjoyment. Demi-god = asura.Originally posted by marcteng:asuras is a considered a demi-god or deva eh?
y they always fight with devas one?
do they fight with humans lol
Asura always fight with the 4-heavenly-king heaven but they never win. It is their nature: they love to fight and are always jealous. You can see rebirth of asuras even in the human realm
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evil spirits? how can we avoid them and seek protection from?Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Erm, there are evil spirits, but they are not called 'demons' or 'devils'. Mara (the evil one) is also different, as they reside in the 6th heaven and also in your mind (inner mara) which obstructs your path to enlightenment.
chant the name of the Buddha? -
Humans usually have a natural radiance that deters spirits from harming people. We do not need to worry at all, to become fearful of spirits is to fall into the superstition trap. Which some spirits really love humans to fall into, and lead them into the ghost realm. Some people have less of this radiance and are more receptive to 'spirit intrusions' and usually chanting Buddha would be advisable.Originally posted by marcteng:evil spirits? how can we avoid them and seek protection from?
chant the name of the Buddha?
But some spirits harm people out of revenge, that is his karma and very little can be done, for such case the person must sincerely repent his misdeeds in previous life and dedicate merits to such vengeful spirits. There are a lot of true cases of vengeful spirits taking away people's life and causing incurable illnesses. -
if the human is killed by the spirit, wont the human come back to haunt or take revenge against the spirit? its a vicious cycle of revenges.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Humans usually have a natural radiance that deters spirits from harming people. We do not need to worry at all, to become fearful of spirits is to fall into the superstition trap. Which some spirits really love humans to fall into, and lead them into the ghost realm. Some people have less of this radiance and are more receptive to 'spirit intrusions' and usually chanting Buddha would be advisable.
But some spirits harm people out of revenge, that is his karma and very little can be done, for such case the person must sincerely repent his misdeeds in previous life and dedicate merits to such vengeful spirits. There are a lot of true cases of vengeful spirits taking away people's life and causing incurable illnesses. -
Yes thats right! It's a neverending cycle, so unless you are a practitioner who recognises such folly and is detached from anger, there is endless cycle of samsaric suffering.Originally posted by marcteng:if the human is killed by the spirit, wont the human come back to haunt or take revenge against the spirit? its a vicious cycle of revenges.
Now in Chinese we always say 'Yuan1 Qing1', that is not refering only to spirits. It's refering basically to 'love and hate' relationships, 'yuan' means hate, while 'qing' means very close - they fluctuate from one state to another. The one you are closest to is often the one you are most angry with (at times). This is because the ego is functioning very strong. This is the viscious cycle.
But once that cycle reaches a glimpse of truth (seen the dharma), it stops. You see the truth, you see the way to end all these nonsense and the nightmare ends. When you stop, the opposite party also stops.
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Originally posted by marcteng:
i think they are good guys and had cultivated great amount of good deeds/merits during their previous life. they are not "evil", just that they are overly protective of their so called "children"/sentient beings under their command. they can't be bothered with lazy cultivators who won't escape the six realms or desire realm.
the mara residing in 6 heaven, how do they come abt? are they devas or demi-god?
if they are evil, how come they are reborn in heaven, not hell?
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i think this statement of can be bothered with lazy cultivator shouldnt be worded ..Originally posted by sinweiy:i think they are good guys and had cultivated great amount of good deeds/merits during their previous life. they are not "evil", just that they are overly protective of their so called "children"/sentient beings under their command. they can't be bothered with lazy cultivators who won't escape the six realms or desire realm.
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we are all trying our best , no one wants to be labelled as "lazy" cultivator
the Mahayana Spirit(essence) of Giving , Benefit others,Goodwill Speech and
and Camaradarie should be a yardstick when when we try to compare us with others
In Singapore Society many still work and struggled for a living ,not becos they
give up on Buddhism ,but they will still practise but night or graveyard shift
they practise moderately
The forum is a nice place for moderate people ,not fundamentalist
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All is in the mind
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I read alot of Master Chin Kung Works
What he have been trying to tell us is not to judge others
but be critical of ourself
Just read his commentary of Larger Amitabha Sutra you will know what i am talking about
actually regarding Marc teng question .. my answer is only one
there isnt so serious a demons that dwell in saha world
but the only demon is still our ignorant mind
only if we break free fm ignorant ,then we are liberated fm all "mind" demons -
When we talk abt the demon as in those that lives in
haunted house or castle in europe for centuries
in fact they are only spirits and dwell on empty spaces in the haunted house
They are also pitiful ,becos they cant see the broad daylight
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Anyway just for sharing, celestial maras really do disturb Buddhist practitioners. There are many stories about this. For example, maras confronted my taiwanese teacher before. I cant remember the exact story already, but it is a real heavenly mara who tried to disturb my taiwanese teacher's meditation. Paperflower was there at that time beside me and laughed when listening to this part.
The mara came as a very very beautiful female form, it is more beautiful than any other woman we have ever seen, and if I can remember correctly the deva was wearing silk clothes - and very transparent kind
Then the mara came to my teacher, and then touched him in a very undecent way. But he is not disturbed at all, and even scolded the mara.. then later everything just disappeared - maras disappeared, everything becomes non existent... even the house and the place he is in, has become non existent, and there is only infinite emptiness. He has attained the Way. He later confirmed with my master that what he encountered is celestial 'demons'.
But it is not very common for us lah.. we are hopelessly in samsara and the maras would not pay attention to us What we need to destroy is inner mara, then whatever outer maras will never disturb us. This is called "unmoved by the 8 winds". -
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Anyway just for sharing, celestial maras really do disturb Buddhist practitioners. There are many stories about this. For example, maras confronted my taiwanese teacher before. I cant remember the exact story already, but it is a real heavenly mara who tried to disturb my taiwanese teacher's meditation. Paperflower was there at that time beside me and laughed when listening to this part.
The mara came as a very very beautiful female form, it is more beautiful than any other woman we have ever seen, and if I can remember correctly the deva was wearing silk clothes - and very transparent kind Then the mara came to my teacher, and then touched him in a very undecent way. But he is not disturbed at all, and even scolded the mara.. then later everything just disappeared - maras disappeared, everything becomes non existent... even the house and the place he is in, has become non existent, and there is only infinite emptiness. He has attained the Way. He later confirmed with my master that what he encountered is celestial 'demons'.
But it is not very common for us lah.. we are hopelessly in samsara and the maras would not pay attention to us What we need to destroy is inner mara, then whatever outer maras will never disturb us. This is called "unmoved by the 8 winds". 
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Yup. But humans are much more fearful than the worst demons.........
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Originally posted by marcteng:
to wat i know, asuras can occuppied all the 4 other realms, except the hell realm. becos we don't have a name for the heavenly level they dwell in(?). its a representation of jealousy and attachment to merits. if u dont get it, u can also contemplate on animal realms. they oso occuplies all the 6 realms. ie some animal have a meat/physical body while some in transformation bodies(hua sheng), like in the ghost/hell/heaven realms.
asuras is a considered a demi-god or deva eh?
y they always fight with devas one?
do they fight with humans lol[/b]
there's the analogy, of asuras planting a tree at their compound and heavenly beings are their neighbors, seperated by a fence. the tree and the fruits went over to the neighbors(ie the heavenly beings), while they have nothing. so they become very jealous of the heavenly beings.
u can sort of see asuras behavior in practitioners, even for myself sometimes, when ppl seek for merits for themselves and when u see other practitioners are better then u, u get jealous.
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