The Māra is a skilled hunter and likes to keep his prey in his domain, always within reach. Staying out of reach is intelligent behavior. To let yourself be captured by it is its tar traps, the more you want to free yourself the more it catches you, it is not. It’s up to you to behave like a stupid monkey.
Also, you should know that Māra, even though he is the most powerful being in Samsara, blinds and does not see you when you are and remain in Jhāna. Like a cloak of invisibility the jhānas protect you. It is not possible, it is unthinkable that you have contact with Māra being in jhāna.
Collection of Thematically Grouped Speeches Connected Discourses on Full Care Establishments SN 47.7 The monkey
«Bhikkhus, in the Himalayas, the king of mountains, there are rugged and irregular areas where neither monkeys nor humans can go; There are rugged and uneven areas where monkeys can go, but not humans; there are nice and pleasant regions where both monkeys and humans can go.There, along hunter trails, hunters set pitch traps to catch monkeys.
«Those monkeys that are not foolish and frivolous, when they see the field, avoid it from afar». But a monkey that is silly and frivolous approaches the tone and grabs it with his hand; He is trapped there. Thinking: «I’m going to free my hand», take it with the other hand; He is trapped there.Thinking, ‘I will release both hands’, take it with your foot; He is trapped there. Thinking, ‘I will release both hands and my foot’, grab him with his other foot; they catch him there. Thinking, ‘I will release my hands and feet’, apply his nose to him; He is trapped there.
«Therefore, bhikkhus, that monkey, trapped in five places, lies there shrieking. He has encountered calamities and disasters and the hunter can do whatever he wants with him. The hunter locks it in the same block of wood and goes where he wants. It is, bhikkhus, when one deviates from the resort itself into the domain of others.
«Therefore, bhikkhus, do not deviate from your own resort to the dominion of others. Mara will have access to those who deviate outside their own resort to the domain of others; Mara will catch you.
«And what is not the resource of a bhikkhu but that of others? They are the five threads of sensual pleasure … as above … This is what is not the resource of a bhikkhu but the domain of others.
«Move to your own complex, bhikkhus, in your own ancestral domain.Mara will not have access to those who move in their own complex, in their own ancestral domain; Mara will not catch you.
«And what is the complex of a bhikkhu, his own ancestral domain? They are the four facilities of mindfulness. What four? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu dwells contemplating the body in the body, ardent, clearly understanding, attentive, having eliminated greed and displeasure with respect to the world. He dwells contemplating feelings in feelings … mind in mind … phenomena in phenomena, ardent, clearly understanding, attentive, having eliminated greed and dislike of the world. This is a complex of bhikkhu, its own ancestral domain. «
Collection of Medium Length Discourses Majjhima Nikāya 26 The noble search
«Bhikkhus, there are these five strings of sensual pleasure. What are the five? Forms recognizable by the eye that are desired, desired, pleasant and pleasant, connected with the sensual desire and provocative of lust. It sounds recognizable by the ear … Smells recognizable by the nose … Flavors recognizable by the tongue … Tangibles recognizable by the body that are desired, desired, pleasant and pleasant, connected with sensual desire and provocateurs of lust. These are the five strings of sensual pleasure.
«As for the inmates and brahmins who are tied to these five strings of sensual pleasure, infatuated with them and completely committed to them, and who use them without seeing the danger in them or understanding their escape, you can understand them : ‘They met with calamities, they met with disasters, the Evil One can do with them what he wants’. Let us suppose that a deer of the forest that is tied lay down on a pile of traps; it could be understood of him: «He has met with calamities, he has met with a disaster, the hunter can do with him what he wants, and when the hunter arrives, he can not go where he wants». So also, as for the inmates and brahmins who are tied to these five cords of sensual pleasure … you can understand them: ‘They have met the calamity, they have met with disaster, the Evil One can do with them what want’.
«As for the inmates and brahmins who are not tied to these five strings of sensual pleasure, who are not infatuated with them or totally committed to them, and who use them seeing the danger in them and understanding the escape from them, they can understand them: «They have not met the calamity, they have not met with disaster, the Evil One can not do with them what he wants». Suppose a deer in the forest that is unbound leans on a pile of traps; it could be understood of him: «He has not met with a calamity, he has not had a disaster, the hunter can not do with him what he wants, and when the hunter arrives, he can go wherever he wants». So also, as for the inmates and brahmins who are not tied to these five threads of sensual pleasure … you can understand them: «They have not met with calamity, they have not met with disaster, the Evil One can not do with they like him likes. ‘
«Suppose a deer roams the jungle: walk with confidence, stand with confidence, feel confident, lie down with confidence. Why is that? Because he is out of reach of the hunter. In the same way, quite apart from sensual pleasures, isolated from unhealthy states, a bhikkhu enters and remains in the first jhāna, which is accompanied by an applied and sustained thought, with ecstasy and pleasure born of seclusion. It is said that this bhikkhu is blindfolded to Māra, who has become invisible to the Evil One by depriving Māra of his opportunity.
«Again, with the daze of applied and sustained thinking, a bhikkhu enters and remains in the second jhāna, who has confidence in himself and mental singleness without an applied and sustained thought, with ecstasy and pleasure born of concentration. It is said that this bhikkhu is blindfolded to Māra …
«Again, with the fading also of ecstasy, a bhikkhu remains in equanimity, and consciously and completely conscious, feeling pleasure with the body, enters and remains in the third jhāna, on account of which the nobles announce: ‘He has an attitude nice that he has equanimity and is conscious. ‘ It is said that this bhikkhu is blindfolded to Māra …
«Again, with the abandonment of pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and pain, a bhikkhu enters and remains in the jhāna room, which has neither pain nor pleasure nor purity of attention due to equanimity. It is said that this bhikkhu is blindfolded to Māra …
«Once again, with the complete overcoming of the perceptions of the form, with the disappearance of the perceptions of the sensory impact, without attention to the perceptions of diversity, aware that» space is infinite «, a bhikkhu enters and remains at the base of infinite space. It is said that this bhikkhu is blindfolded to Māra …
«Once again, by completely overcoming the base of infinite space, aware that ‘consciousness is infinite’, a bhikkhu enters and remains at the base of the infinite consciousness. It is said that this bhikkhu is blindfolded to Māra …
«Again, by completely overcoming the base of infinite consciousness, aware that» there is nothing, «a bhikkhu enters and remains at the base of nothingness. It is said that this bhikkhu is blindfolded to Māra …
«Once again, by completely overcoming the base of nothingness, a bhikkhu enters and remains at the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception.It is said that this bhikkhu is blindfolded to Māra, who has become invisible to the Evil One by depriving Māra of his opportunity.
«Once again, by completely overcoming the basis of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, a bhikkhu enters and remains in the cessation of perception and feeling. And their spots are destroyed by their vision with wisdom. It is said that this bhikkhu covered his eyes blindfolded to Māra, who became invisible to the Evil One by depriving Māra’s eye of his opportunity, and that he crossed beyond attachment to the world. Walk with confidence, stand with confidence, feel confident, lie with confidence.Why is that? Because he is outside the range of the Evil One. «
That’s what the Blessed One said. The bhikkhus were satisfied and delighted with the words of the Blessed One.
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