Zen Master Bassui's One-Mind Sermon

 

    Soh Wei Yu

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     Jantt0uSair77y0 3n7s iatu7 4i:12o e1PiM 
    Someone shared this on buddhism group. Nice self enquiry pointers.
    拔隊得勝 Bassui Tokushō (1327–1387)
    One-Mind Sermon
    If you would free yourself of the sufferings of Samsara, you must learn the direct way to become a Buddha. This way is no other than the realization of your own Mind. Now what is this Mind? It is the true nature of all sentient beings, that which existed before our parents were born and hence before our own birth, and which presently exists, unchangeable and eternal. So it is called one's Face before one's parents were born. This Mind is intrinsically pure. When we are born it is not newly created, and when we die it does not perish. It has no distinction of male or female, nor has it any coloration of good or bad. It cannot be compared with anything, so it is called Buddha-nature. Yet countless thoughts issue from this Self-nature as waves arise in the ocean or as images are reflected in a mirror.
    If you want to realize your own Mind, you must first of all look into the source from which thoughts flow. Sleeping and working, standing and sitting, profoundly ask yourself, "What is my own Mind?“ with an intense yearning to resolve this question. This is called "training" or "practice" or "desire for truth" or "thirst for realization."
    Imagine a child sleeping next to its parents and dreaming it is being beaten or is painfully sick. The parents cannot help the child no matter how much it suffers, for no one can enter the dreaming mind of another. If the child could awaken itself, it could be freed of this suffering automatically. In the same way, one who realizes that his own Mind is Buddha frees himself instantly from the sufferings arising from (ignorance of the law of) ceaseless change of birth-and-death. If a Buddha could prevent it, do you think he would allow even one sentient being to fall into hell? Without Self-realization one cannot understand such things as these.
    What kind of master is it that this very moment sees colors with the eyes and hears voices with the ears, that now rises the hands and moves the feet? We know these are functions of our own mind, but no one knows precisely how they are performed, It may be asserted that behind these actions there is no entity, yet it is obvious they are being performed spontaneously. Conversely, it may be maintained that these are the acts of some entity; still the entity is invisible. If one regards this question as unfathornable, all attempts to reason (out an answer) will cease and one will be at a loss to know what to do. In this propitious state deepen and deepen the yearning, tirelessly, to the extreme. When the profound questioning penetrates to the very bottom, and that bottom is broken open, not the slightest doubt will remain that your own Mind is itself Buddha, the Void-universe. There will then be no anxiety about life or death, no truth to search for.
    Upon such realization question yourself even more intensely in this way: "My body is like a phantom, like bubbles on a stream. My mind, looking into itself, is as formless as empty-space, yet somewhere within sounds are perceived. Who is hearing?" Should you question yourself in this way with profound absorption, never slackening the intensity of your effort, your rational mind eventually will exhaust itself and only questioning at the deepest level will remain. Finally you will lose awareness of your own body. Your long-held conceptions and notions will perish, after absolute questioning, in the way that every drop of water vanishes from a tub broken open at the bottom, and perfect enlightenment will follow like flowers suddenly blooming on withered trees.
    While you are doing zazen neither despise nor cherish the thoughts that arise; only search your own mind, the very source of these thoughts. You must understand that anything appearing in your consciousness or seen by your eyes is an illusion, of no enduring reality. Hence you should neither fear nor be fascinated by such phenomena. If you keep your mind at empty as space, unstained by extraneous matters, no evil spirits can disturb you even on your deathbed. While engaged in zazen, however, keep none of this counsel in mind. You must only become the question "What is this Mind?" or "'What is it that hears these sounds?" When you realize this Mind you will know that it is the very source of all Buddhas and sentient beings. The Bodhisattva Kannon is so called because he attained enlightenment by perceiving (i.e., grasping the source of) the sounds of the world about him.
    At work, at rest, never stop trying to realize who it is that hears. Even though your questioning becomes almost unconscious, you won't find the one who hears, and all your efforts will come to naught. Yet sounds can be heard, so question yourself to an even profounder level. At last every vestige of self-awareness will disappear and you will feel like a cloudless sky. Within yourself you will find no "I," nor will you discover anyone who hears. This Mind is like the void, yet it hasn't a single spot that can be called empty. This state is often mistaken for Self-realization. But continue to ask yourself even more intensely, "Now who is it that hears?" If you bore and bore into this question, oblivious to anything else, even this feeling of voidness will vanish and you will be unaware of anything - total darkness will prevail. (Don't stop here, but) keep asking with all your strength, "What is it that hears?" Only when you have completely exhausted the questioning will the question burst; now you will feel like a man come back from the dead. This is true realization. You will see the Buddhas of all the universes face to face and the Patriarchs past and present. Test yourself with this koan: "A monk asked Joshu: 'What is the meaning of Bodhidharma's coming to China?' Joshu replied: 'The oak tree in the garden.´" Should this koan leave you with the slightest doubt, you need to resume questioning, "What is it that hears?"
    If you don't come to realization in this present life, when will you? Once you have died you won't be able to avoid a long period of suffering in the Three Evil Paths. What is obstructing realization? Nothing but your own half-hearted desire for truth. Think of this and exert yourself to the utmost.

    20 Comments


    • Lewis Stevens
    I like everything except the last part of 3 evil paths in the after life ? Why evil? Are not these astral realms not also empty? And is no wisdom gained in this incarnation carried over ?

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    Soh Wei Yu
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    The actual Pali word is this:
    apaya-bhumi [apaaya-bhuumi]: State of deprivation; the four lower levels of existence into which one might be reborn as a result of past unskillful actions (see kamma): rebirth in hell, as a hungry ghost (see peta), as an angry demon (see Asura), or as a common animal. None of these states is permanent.

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    • Soh Wei Yu
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    Lewis Stevens A being in the lower realm faces a lot of suffering and is cut off from the chances of awakening, because there is just too much suffering to really practice and awaken.

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    • Soh Wei Yu
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    Lewis Stevens Likewise the celestial realms are very blissful, more blissful than human realm, but they are also not so good from the dharma perspective because one gets distracted by pleasure and generally do not want to practice. But there are exceptions, there are devas who practice and awaken, they are just more rare and more hindered by their pleasant environment than we are. Less impetus to practice.
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    • Soh Wei Yu
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    Daniel M. Ingram wrote about his past lives:
    “
    As to world-cycles or the like, my past life experiences line up along the following lines, if you believe in such experiences having validity:
    1) This life human.
    2) Last life some sort of moderately powerful, clearly somewhat debauched male jealous god/sorcerer of some kind that was stabbed in the back with a dagger by a woman who he had wronged in some way, I think.
    3) Some sort of mother skunk-like animal that was eaten by a large black dog or wolf.
    4) Some sort of mother bat that was killed when the rock it was clinging to at the top of the cave fell to the floor.
    5) Some sort of grim, gigantic, armored skeletal titan-like thing that ran tirelessly through space swinging a gigantic sword and doing battle nearly continuously without sleep for hundreds of thousands of years that was killed by something like a dragon.
    6) Some gigantic, gelatinous, multi-tentacled, very alien being living in a very dark place for a very long time, probably under water, I think.
    Other than some sense that the skunk-thing and the bat-thing were virtuous mothers, I have no sense that there was any profound previous dharmic development at least back that far, and, in fact, have the distinct sense that the previous one was a bit of a cad and not very ethical. Take that all for what you will.”
    Daniel
    4

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    John Hoag
    Ridiculous
    But
    Entertaining....!!!!

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    • Lewis Stevens
    These are issues of (Buddhist) cosmology. My theology prof. (now at BU, Robert Neville) said that the essence of (mystical) religions like Buddhism is ontological. All the cosmological stuff are stories for the masses. The essence of Buddhism is ontological......the discovery of pure Being (in which the self like phenomenal reality itself is empty). Cosmology may be interesting but isn't "true."

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    Soh Wei Yu
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    There are evidence of other realms
    Will be good to keep an open mind at least
    Evidence for the Afterlife
    On "Supernatural Powers" or Siddhis, and Past Lives
    AWAKENINGTOREALITY.COM
    On "Supernatural Powers" or Siddhis, and Past Lives
    On "Supernatural Powers" or Siddhis, and Past Lives

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    • Soh Wei Yu
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    Buddhism goes beyond “pure being” which is the I AM realization of the thusness 7 stages
    Among Buddha’s discoveries:
    The Section of the Threes
    99. The Threefold Knowledge
    This was said by the Lord…
    “Bhikkhus, I declare that it is through the Dhamma that one becomes a brahmin possessing the threefold knowledge: (I do not say this) of another merely because he can talk persuasively and recite. And how do I declare that it is through the Dhamma that one becomes a brahmin possessing the threefold knowledge?
    “Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu recollects a variety of former lives, that is, one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births, ten births, twenty births, thirty births, forty births, fifty births, a hundred births, a thousand births, a hundred thousand births; many aeons of world-contraction, many aeons of world-expansion, many aeons of both world-contraction and expansion. He recollects in a particular life being such a one by name, of such a clan, of such an appearance, having this kind of nutriment, experiencing these kinds of pleasure and pain, having this lifespan; and deceasing from there he arose here. Thus with all their details and particulars he recollects a variety of former lives. This is the first knowledge attained by him. Ignorance is dispelled, knowledge has arisen; darkness is dispelled, light has arisen, as happens in one who lives diligent, ardent, and resolute.
    “Then again, bhikkhus, with the divine eye, purified and surpassing the human, a bhikkhu sees beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and he understands how beings pass on according to their deeds thus: ‘Those worthy beings practising misconduct by body, speech, and mind, insulters of the noble ones, of wrong view and undertaking deeds in consequence of wrong view, when the body perishes have been reborn after death in a state of misery, a bad bourn, a state of ruin, hell. But those worthy beings practising good conduct by body, speech, and mind, not insulters of the noble ones, of right view and undertaking deeds in consequence of right view, when the body perishes, have been reborn after death in a good bourn, a heavenly world.’ Thus he sees this with the divine eye and he understands how beings pass on according to their deeds. This is the second knowledge attained by him. Ignorance is dispelled, knowledge has arisen; darkness is dispelled, light has arisen, as happens in one who lives diligent, ardent, and resolute.
    “Then again, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu, through realization by his own direct knowledge, here and now enters and abides in the mind-release and wisdom-release that is taintless by the destruction of the taints. This is the third knowledge attained by him. Ignorance is dispelled, knowledge has arisen; darkness is dispelled, light has arisen, as happens in one who lives diligent, ardent, and resolute.
    “Thus, bhikkhus, do I declare that it is through the Dhamma that one becomes a brahmin possessing the threefold knowledge; (I do not say this) of another merely because he can talk persuasively and recite.”
    He who knows his former lives,
    Who sees heaven and states of woe,
    Who reaches the end of birth,
    A sage and master of direct knowledge—
    By these three ways of knowing one becomes
    A brahmin having the threefold knowledge.
    That is what I call the threefold knowledge,
    Not another’s babbling and reciting.
    This too is the meaning of what was said by the Lord, so I heard.

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    • SuttaCentral
    SUTTACENTRAL.NET
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    • Soh Wei Yu
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    And it is not only Buddha. Countless practitioners since him have recalled their past lives. About 5 people in the AtR group had vivid recollections of their past lives in addition to anatta realisation. It is possible to recall through deep samadhi and the Buddha taught how.

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    • Lewis Stevens
    Soh Wei Yu but whose past life is it? Especially if the notion of an enduring soul is heretical to Buddhism?

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    • Soh Wei Yu
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    "Continuing consciousness after death is, in most religions, a matter of revealed truth. In Buddhism, the evidence comes from the contemplative experience of people who are certainly not ordinary but who are sufficiently numerous that what they say about it is worth taking seriously into account. Indeed, such testimonies begin with those of the Buddha himself.
    Nevertheless, it’s important to understand that what’s called reincarnation in Buddhism has nothing to do with the transmigration of some ‘entity’ or other. It’s not a process of metempsychosis because there is no ‘soul’. As long as one thinks in terms of entities rather than function and continuity, it’s impossible to understand the Buddhist concept of rebirth. As it’s said, ‘There is no thread passing through the beads of the necklace of rebirths.’ Over successive rebirths, what is maintained is not the identity of a ‘person’, but the conditioning of a stream of consciousness.
    Additionally, Buddhism speaks of successive states of existence; in other words, everything isn’t limited to just one lifetime. We’ve experienced other states of existence before our birth in this lifetime, and we’ll experience others after death. This, of course, leads to a fundamental question: is there a nonmaterial consciousness distinct from the body? It would be virtually impossible to talk about reincarnation without first examining the relationship between body and mind. Moreover, since Buddhism denies the existence of any self that could be seen as a separate entity capable of transmigrating from one existence to another by passing from one body to another, one might well wonder what it could be that links those successive states of existence together.
    One could possibly understand it better by considering it as a continuum, a stream of consciousness that continues to flow without there being any fixed or autonomous entity running through it… Rather it could be likened to a river without a boat, or to a lamp flame that lights a second lamp, which in-turn lights a third lamp, and so on and so forth; the flame at the end of the process is neither the same flame as at the outset, nor a completely different one…" - Rizenfenix
    Rebirth Without Soul
    AWAKENINGTOREALITY.COM
    Rebirth Without Soul
    Rebirth Without Soul

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    • Soh Wei Yu
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    "
    In verse 6, he says,
    "Then, as for extremely subtle entities,
    Those who regard them with nihilism,
    Lacking precise and thorough knowledge,
    Will not see the actuality of conditioned arising."
    Can anyone explain this a bit? What is being referred to as extremely subtle entities that may be regarded with nihilism, lacking precise and thorough knowledge?
    Thank you for input.
    Malcolm wrote:
    The extremely subtle existents are particles, paramanus.
    A more precise translation would be:
    Although the aggregates are serially connected,
    the wise are to comprehend nothing transfers.
    Someone, having conceived of annihilation,
    even in extremely subtle existents,
    is not wise,
    and will never see the meaning of ‘arisen from conditions’.
    The auto commentary states with respect to this:
    Therein, the aggregates are the aggregates of matter, sensation, perception, formations and consciousness. Those, called ‘serially joined’, not having ceased, produce another produced from that cause; although not even the subtle particle of an existent has transmigrated from this world to the next.
    The purpose of this is to point out that even though nothing transfers from this life to the next, the assertion that even a subtle particle is annihilated is false. Why? Because in Madhyamaka causes and effects are neither the same nor different."

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    • Soh Wei Yu
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    On hell:
    krodha commented on Im getting a little sick of Christians trying to scare me out of buddhism and into Christianity
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    •Posted byu/manwithnoego
    krodha
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    1 day ago
    Party Train
    There are six lōkas, meaning realms or destinations, in samsara. The narāka or “hell” realm is one of them.
    Somewhat different than the Christian hell though. Buddhist hell is not actually a literal place, it appears like a literal place to those who experience it, but it is something like an extremely long and negative mental state which involves the projection of a hell environment.

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    • Soh Wei Yu
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    (Malcolm and a famous Buddhist master, not sure is it Vasubandhu or Asangha made similar statements)

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    • Soh Wei Yu
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    Malcolm: " There is and only ever has been one model of rebirth in Buddhadharma. You keep conflating cosmology with the principle of punarbhāva, rebirth. The former is not necessary to the latter.
    One, in Mahāyāna it is maintained that the three realms are mind only. This includes the six lokas, features such as Mt. Meru and so on, including the perception you have of your own sense organs, body and so on. According to Mahāyāna, all of these perceptions and experiences arise from traces activated in the all-basis consciousness.
    Now that we have removed physicality and cosmology from the equation, we can understand that the apparent death of our physical body is not a death of a physical body, rather it is the cessation of the perception of a physical body we have now and in this life time. But given that we accept, as Mahāyānists, that all phenomena are only mind, the exhaustion of this life's appearances do not preclude the arising of the appearance of a new series of aggregates to our consciousness, whether or not we have any memory of a past life.
    Descarte had it wrong, there is no demon in the mix; but there are afflictions in the mix, and for as long as the traces of those afflictions contaminate our minds streams, then for us there is no end to birth and death."

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    • Distressing Near-Death Experiences: The Basics
      NCBI.NLM.NIH.GOV
      Distressing Near-Death Experiences: The Basics
      Distressing Near-Death Experiences: The Basics
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    • Soh Wei Yu
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      "Hellish NDE
      Overtly hellish experiences may be the least common type of distressing NDE. A man in heart failure felt himself falling into the depths of the Earth. At the bottom was a set of high, rusty gates, which he perceived as the gates of hell. Panic-stricken, he managed to scramble back up to daylight.
      A woman was being escorted through a frighteningly desolate landscape and saw a group of wandering spirits. They looked lost and in pain, but her guide indicated she was not allowed to help them.
      An atheistic university professor with an intestinal rupture experienced being maliciously pinched, then torn apart by malevolent beings.3
      A woman who hemorrhaged from a ruptured Fallopian tube reported an NDE involving “horrific beings with gray gelatinous appendages grasping and clawing at me. The sounds of their guttural moaning and the indescribable stench still remain 41 years later. There was no benign Being of Light, no life video, nothing beautiful or pleasant.”
      A woman who attempted suicide felt her body sliding downward in a cold, dark, watery environment: “When I reached the bottom, it resembled the entrance to a cave, with what looked like webs hanging…. I heard cries, wails, moans, and the gnashing of teeth. I saw these beings that resembled humans, with the shape of a head and body, but they were ugly and grotesque…. They were frightening and sounded like they were tormented, in agony.”"
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    • Soh Wei Yu
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      Those sounds like how some of the scriptures would describe these realms too.
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    • Michael Hernandez
    Is a steam the shape of the gully it cuts through or the water?
    The water is shaped by the phenomena it passes and the force by which it cuts through.
    It isn't good nor bad but flows through the habit it chanced to encounter.
    It comes from the same source and runs to it.
    This is consciousness.

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Mara (Evil One)

 

“[To attain Buddhahood], you must free [yourself] from 2 obscurations and 4 mara.” – John Tan, 2020

“According to Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna there are two obscurations that prevent us from fully knowing the nature of phenomena. The first is called the afflictive obscuration, which is the fetter of an internal subjective reference point that the self is attributed to, and the second is called the cognitive obscuration, which is everything else that stands apart from our deluded sense of self, so all objects; persons, places, things.

For some reason these obscurations can be uprooted at different times.” – Kyle Dixon, 2021

*https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php...
Two obscurations (Tib. སྒྲིབ་པ་གཉིས་, dribpa nyi; Wyl. sgrib pa gnyis) — emotional and cognitive obscurations.
● Emotional obscurations are defined according to their essence, cause and function.
In essence, they are the opposite of the six paramitas, as described in the Gyü Lama:
"Thoughts such as avarice and so on,
These are the emotional obscurations."
Their cause is grasping at a personal ego, or the “self of the individual”.
They function to prevent liberation from samsara.
● Cognitive obscurations are also defined according to their essence, cause and function.
In essence, they are thoughts that involve the three conceptual ‘spheres’ of subject, object and action. The Gyü Lama says:
"Thoughts that involve the three spheres,
These are the cognitive obscurations."
Their cause is grasping at phenomena as truly existent, or, in other words, the “self of phenomena”.
Their function is to prevent complete enlightenment.”

 

On the four maras,

 

“According to Sutrayana

  1. the mara of the aggregates (Skt. skandhamāra; Tib. ཕུང་པོའི་བདུད་, Wyl. phung po'i bdud), which symbolizes our clinging to forms, perceptions, and mental states as ‘real’;
  2. the mara of the destructive emotions (Skt. kleśamāra; Tib. ཉོན་མོངས་ཀྱི་བདུད་, Wyl. nyon mongs kyi bdud), which symbolizes our addiction to habitual patterns of negative emotion;
  3. the mara of the Lord of Death (Skt. mṛtyumāra; Tib. འཆི་བདག་གི་བདུད་, Wyl. 'chi bdag gi bdud), which symbolizes both death itself, which cuts short our precious human birth, and also our fear of change, impermanence, and death; and
  4. the mara of the sons of the gods (Skt. devaputramāra; Tib. ལྷའི་བུའི་བདུད་, Wyl. lha'i bu'i bdud), which symbolizes our craving for pleasure, convenience, and ‘peace’.

The Great Tibetan Dictionary gives the following descriptions:

  1. The mara of the aggregates prevents one from accomplishing virtue, since if one possesses the aggregates (created by karma and destructive emotions), then one falls under the sway of sickness, aging and decay; the conditions preventing one from accomplishing virtue.
  2. The mara of the destructive emotions prevents one from accomplishing virtue, since one is under the power of destructive emotions such as desire and anger. The coarse mara of the destructive emotions are the root and subsidiary destructive emotions. The subtle mara of the destructive emotions are for example the emotional habitual tendencies in the mind of an arhat.
  3. The mara of the Lord of Death causes one to be powerless regarding the ceasing of the life-force faculty.
  4. The mara of the sons of the gods prevent one from accomplishing virtue through the jealousy of the desire realm's sons of the gods. The coarse mara of the sons of the gods is Garab Wangchuk (kāmadeva), the lord of the realm Controlling Others' Emanations. The subtle mara of the sons of the gods is for example distraction which makes one unable to overcome any of the first three maras.” - https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Four_maras 

 

 

 

.....

 

krodha commented on Question about Mara

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•Posted byu/jogyesakr

krodha

3 points ·

2 days ago

Yeah it’s a complicated topic with much nuance. I don’t say anything I can’t back up in this subreddit. I can’t help that people don’t understand and downvote, that is their limitation.

Khenpo Ngachung:

The tangible demon represents external dangers: fires, floods, precipices, lightning, savage beings, enemies, robbers and thieves, vipers and carnivorous beasts, flesh-eating spirits, and any other frightening things that can harm our bodies and minds.

The intangible demon refers to inner attachment, aversion, bewilderment, and the other eighty-four thousand negative emotions, which give rise to all the sufferings of samsara.

The demon of exultation is the exultation that comes when one is wandering in haunted places, in the mountains, and so on, and one thinks, "My teacher is not like other teachers, his teachings are not like other teachings, there are no practices quite like mine, my vajra brothers and sisters are much better than anyone else's." In short, the demon of exultation is the attachment and infatuation one feels when one achieves the slightest inner warmth or power in one's concentration.

The demon of conceit is the root of the preceding three demons. It is the conceited belief in "I" and "me" that makes one think that the five aggregates are "me" or "mine". If one eradicates this inner demon, all outer demons will automatically be destroyed. For example, when one cuts a tree at the root, all the branches and leaves are brought down in the process. Similarly, since the root of the demons described here is contained in this inner demon of self-centered conceit, it is this that we have to destroy.

And Padmasambhava:

There are as many Dharma practitioners as stars in the sky, but few are without the obstacles of māra, like the sun and moon. If one is without the obstacles of māra, it would be easy to attain liberation in a single year. Therefore, necessary to recognize māra and overthrow him.

In the beginning, when one is staying in the city of samsara’s suffering, also one’s faith in Dharma is slight; carried away by the “māra of laziness”, one is angry at enemies, loving to friends, one thinks of mutual satisfaction, one is distracted by mundane activities, one is not mindful of death. Because of the activities of deluded appearances one remains in procrastination. That is called “māra”. The method of overpowering that māra is to seek out a qualified Guru, the cause of unimpaired faith. Meditate on death and impermanence, the cause of unimpaired diligence. Having established one’s priorities, flee towards the Dharma.

At that time, māras turning one’s thinking in the wrong direction will arise. Some will manifest as one’s kin and companions, “Don’t practice Dharma” they will say and will cause obstacles by various means. Some will manifest as terrifying enemies or manifest as competitors and property. Since the human life of deceptions is exposed, slipping away day after day, and in the end one sinks deeper into the mire of samsara. To subdue it, having entrusted one’s mind to the jewel of the Guru, it is necessary to have the resolve not to seek advice from secular counselors. [8/a]

When one arrives in the presence of the Guru, the mārawho accompanies doubts arises. The sign of his entry is to not perceive the qualities of the Guru. Even subtle faults are perceived. Incorrect views regarding his practice of interpretable deeds arise.

Thinking it is necessary to go to hell after giving whatever donations were received to the Dharma is a māra. To subdue it, develop the thought of the Guru as a Buddha.

At that time, the māra of turning away from Dharma arises. One will think of women, wealth, business, be deceitful and hoard. The sign of the entry of that māra is one will give up one’s Dharma clothes, companions, and Dharma practice. One will not wish to listen to Dharma. One’s behavior will be mundane and one will have attachments and aversions. One will be greatly attached to evil alcohol. One will turn one’s back on the teachings of the Buddha. To subdue it, develop perseverance towards the Dharma, sublime of the sublime. One should be diligent whatever profound Dharma to which one is inclined. Remain very far away from women and irreligious activities. It is important to think about the liberation accounts of one’s predecessors.

At that time, the māra of being jaded about hearing different Dharmas will arise necessarily. The sign of his entry is one speaks proudly “I made this request for this Dharma.” There isn’t an intellectual understanding because one has not understood the meaning. Because one understands empty words alone, one explains secret words in public. Despite whatever profound meaning is explained, one thinks “I have heard it before” and certain knowledge does not arise. One does not reach perfection in Dharma, that is a called a māra. To subdue it, one must engage in hearing and contemplation as before again and again, and truly integrate the meaning of Dharma.

At that time, māra of seeking many qualities enters. Since one understands qualities, māra is disguised as benefactors and students. On their arrival, one doesn’t engage in practice. One becomes conceited about one’s learning, and one sees oneself as important. One becomes attached to wealth. Obstacles preventing one from traveling the path of Dharma are created. The method of subduing it is, stay in mountain retreat for a long time, and change all other activities which will not realize the Dharma.

At that time, the māra of tenets will arrive. Having arrived as a Dharma of five poisons with the biases of oneself and others, give up the jealousies of tenets, train in unbiased pure vision.

At that time, when meditating on the deity, the māra of having doubts about the deity enters. Concepts about taking and putting down the deity, and is it good or bad arise. [9/a] Wishing to subdue demons with power, with completing the approach, hurrying the activities, practicing subjugation and evil mantras, to tame the māra of animosity with the wisdom deity, whatever deity one meditates, do not meditate with or without characteristics, but develop only the inner radiance of awareness and be steady in one’s commitments of the three doors.

If one is freed from that māra, once again when one is meditating the channels and winds, the māra of introducing obstacles to practice arises, creating obstacles to spiritual practice, even slight suffering is unbearable. One stops that practice and later one is apprehensive of doing it. For that, meditate on the faults of samsara and one will be free from obstacles.

If one is free from that, again, enhancing great bliss, the dākinī māra arrives. Having accepted mantra, the woman bears children. Since one cannot care for them, various non-virtues occur. Cut the snares of attachment to her, what one does not have one needn’t protect.

If one is free from that, when meditating emptiness, the māra of emptiness arising as an enemy occurs. “Nothing is accomplished” and one confuses good deeds and misdeeds. One will have not faith in the Three Jewels. One will not arouse compassion for sentient beings. For that, one should increase virtue and purify misdeeds. One should train in pure vision, devoted faith, dependent origination and inseparable emptiness and compassion.

Further, the māra of compassion arising as an enemy is that without oneself being liberated one rushes to help migrating beings, and delay in accomplishment, etc., occurs. So to avoid that, develop aspirational bodhicitta and be relaxed about engaged bodhicitta.

If one is free from that, the māra of predictions arising as an enemy occurs. Impersonating one’s deity or Guru, when such predictions occur in one’s experience or in dreams as “Help migrating beings!” and “One will become accomplished if one has helped migrating beings”, etc., for that dissolve the wisdom being, if it remains clearly, it is the deity or Guru. But if it does not remain clearly, it is a māra and an obstacle. One should determine that with certainty.

If free from that, because the māra of ascetic conduct arises as an enemy, one wanders continually in towns, some are drunks, others show crazy behavior, others are lewd, behavior which is not correspond with the sublime Dharma occurs. To counter act that, [10/a] stay in one place, meditate on candali, be impartial towards the eight dharmas.

Otherwise, the obstacles of māra while one has not obtained perfect Buddhahood are endless, and also the explanations which follow. Having given up material things, if one practices one pointedly, no kind of obstacle or māra will affect one.

krodha commented on What are your thoughts on moving your altar out of prominence in the living room if a guest comes to your house?

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•r/Buddhism

•Posted byu/StompingCaterpillar

Australia

krodha

2 points ·

2 days ago

If you practice Vajrayāna for example, you’d most likely keep your altar concealed anyway, if not, then its up to your own discretion.

krodha commented on What do you think most people misunderstand about Buddhism?

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•r/Buddhism

•Posted byu/Kytzer

krodha

3 points ·

2 days ago

Well, devas, which are a class of sentient being.

krodha commented on Question about Mara

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•r/Buddhism

•Posted byu/jogyesakr

krodha

4 points ·

2 days ago

· edited 2 days ago

Hi all, quick question. Do most Buddhists understand Mara as a literal, existing in space and time being similar to how most Christians understand Satan to be a literal being, or do most see Mara as a metaphor for our desires and untamed mind?

A mara is any obstacle to buddhahood. Not a literal being. If māra is something physical, then it is physical obstructions and dangers, etc.

Maras are classified as (i) tangible māras, (ii) intangible māras, (iii) the māra of exultation, and (iv) the māra of conceit. The fourth is the root of the other three, which if severed will eliminate all other māras.

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