This post is challenging to present as an article. Therefore, we try to answer some common questions about Mara. This mystical character tried his best to dissuade Buddha from seeking enlightenment, teaching, extending his human lifespan, etc.

The epic moment in Buddha’s path toward enlightenment recounted a tale of Mara’s full-scale psychic attack against Buddha. Aiding Mara was his personal Mara army and the celestial gods that were next to Bodhisattva Siddhartha fled in horror. What? The god fled when confronted by Mara?

In the traditional religious context, this narrative seems ridiculous. How can the Gods fear Evil? How can Gods be afraid of demons? If you have similar questions but were too shy to ask during the Dharma lessons, here are the details.

Question: In Ep21, a deva named Vassavatti Mara appeared to Prince Siddhartha and attempted to dissuade him from renouncing. Why is this deity discouraging Siddhartha instead of encouraging him?

Answer:

1. Vassavatti Mara upholds himself to be the god of desires and therefore, the boss of Kamaloka (Aka, the realm of desires)
2. Siddhatha was trying to be freed from the endless cycle of birth and death. That also means being freed from Kamaloka. Vassavatti Mara perceives this as a direct challenge to his power and reign.
3. Vassavatti Mara is like that mafia boss who peddles drugs and does not like anyone being freed from their addiction. In this case, the drug is a metaphor for desires. Mara does not like anyone who attempts to be free of desires because he upholds himself to be the god of desires.

Q: Mafia boss? Does that mean Vassavatti Mara is the same as Satan or demons?

1. Unlike other religions, Vassavatti Mara is not a condemned spirit locked up in hell. Vassavatti Mara is just another misguided being who upholds a misguided personal agenda that is caused by ignorance. 
2. Vassavatti Mara is a deity in the highest heaven of Kamaloka. He does not personify evil.
3. The ignorance that beguiled Vasavatti Mara is as follows:
   • KamaLoka is permanent whereas all compound existence is impermanent
   • The existence of KamaLoka is not based on desire but due to group Karma. Therefore, keeping beings under the influence of desire will not help stabilise Kamaloka nor help Kamaloka become eternal.
   • Vasavatti Heaven is the epitome of existence. Therefore, the beings in Vasavatti heaven are the highest and mightiest. In reality, there are higher heavens beyond Vasavatti.

Q: What is KamaLoka?

The word Kama means desire काम (as in Kama Sutra) This is not to be confused with the word Karma  कर्मन् (cause and effect) Loka means the world. Kama Loka means the world of desires. Some people also refer to it as Kamadhatu. Dhatu means realms. So Kamadhatu means realms of existence. Beings here are entrapped by their sensory attachments.

Within Kamaloka, there are various states of existence.

1. The lowest is the hell realm Naraka. This existence has the most intense suffering
2. Above that is the hungry ghost realm. This consists of various spirit entities that are constantly suffering from craving.
3. Next up is the realm of animals, including insects, fishes, and various other mystical creatures. These 3 realms of existence are known as the lower realms because the sufferings are more intense there. Hell, hungry ghost, animal
4. Human realms refer to our humanoid worlds
5. Followed by the Asura world or the realm of the fallen gods.
6. Followed by 6 heavenly realms in Kamaloka. These 3 are known as the higher realms because there are less sufferings compared to the lower realms.

The 5 non-heaven realms plus 6 heavenly realms = 11 states of existences in Kamaloka.

1. There are 28 heavens altogether and the remaining 22 heavens are higher and beyond the Kamaloka. Some sramanas during the Buddha’s time managed to go beyond Kamaloka and mistakenly thought that they had achieved Nirvana. Siddhartha’s 2 meditation teachers were among those who were mistaken

Q: Where is Vassavatti Mara located?

Vassavatt Mara resides in Parinirmita-vaśavarti heaven (Chines: 他化自在天) which is the highest heaven within Kamaloka. The beings in this heaven are being pampered and served by lower celestial beings. This also explains the power of Mara and why other gods like Sakka had to flee when Vasavatti Mara was confronting Ascetic Siddhartha.

Q: Is Vassavatti Mara the most powerful one in Parinirmita-vaśavarti heaven, 他化自在天?

The King of Parinirmita-vaśavarti heaven is Vaśavartin and not Vassavatti Mara.

Q: Why doesn’t Vaśavartin, who is a king of that heaven, stop Mara from disturbing Siddhartha or other practitioners?

Mara had his own heavenly troops and ruled over his personal territory in Parinirmita-vaśavarti heaven. He mistakenly believes that he is responsible for all the cravings and desires in Kamaloka. Since desires cause beings to be trapped in Kamaloka, Mara believes that it is his job to safeguard Kamaloka by keeping everybody entranced by the desires of the senses. Therefore, he opposes anybody who is promoting freedom from Kamaloka.

As for Vasavartin, it is our (human) mistaken belief that heavenly beings are concerned about what is happening in the human realm. In reality, the devas are having such a good time that they couldn’t care less about what is happening in other realms, just like how we couldn’t care less about the earthworms in the garden when we (humans) are having a party.

Moreover, Vasavatti Mara only bothers top ace practitioners like Siddhartha. He can’t be bothered with most of us.

Q: Is Vassavatti Mara the spiritual enemy of Buddhists?

To regard someone as our enemy means having animosity toward others. Buddhists aspire to free themself from hatred and aversion. Therefore, the word enemy is inappropriate. If we regard any beings with hatred, then we will be entrapped.

Instead, we view Mara as someone misguided by ignorance and we try to have compassion towards them. 

That is why some Buddhist prayers include the dedication of merits to Mara so that he will have the wisdom to realize his mistaken beliefs.

Q： Does Vassavatti Mara possess people to do evil like the demons in horror movies?

A： As a Deva, he would probably perceive the human body to be filthy and disgusting. Therefore, it is unlikely for a Deva to possess a human body.

However, other higher spirits might do that. They are terrestrial spirits or earth-bound spirits. For example, the Yaksha, Kumbhandas, Gandhabbas, nagas, etc. When such spirits possess a person to turn them away from practicing Buddha’s teachings or create obstacles for practitioners, we also classify them as Mara. In this situation, they are known as Ghost Mara.

The Atanatiya Sutta mentioned how to deal with such disturbances. To petition the four heavenly kings, it is best to have clarity of mind and a certain degree of concentration. Therefore, we can petition the four heavenly Kings on behalf of others. It is important to state the name of the person being troubled by spirits, their address, etc. In the Atanatiya Sutta, the four heavenly Kings commit themselves to protect Buddhists.

Other methods found in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism can also help resolve spiritual disturbances.

Q: Are there any other types of Mara? 

Mara is also another name for death in Buddhism. This is because death creates an obstacle to our spiritual practice. When we die, we cannot continue with our spiritual practice.

Kleśa-māra: In this instance, Māra is the embodiment of all unskillful emotions, such as greed, hate, lust, sloth, delusion, etc. When we try not to succumb to the influence of negative mental states, it is akin to a battle with our inner mara.

Skandha-māra – Māra is a metaphor for the delusion of a self or personality. Our sensory experience and mental states together created an illusion that there is a self. That illusion created a sense of being or personality that we call a soul. It is a very strong attachment that prevents us from breaking free from our identified role.

Q: Does Vassavatti Mara really exist?

Just because we cannot perceive something with our senses doesn’t mean they don’t exist. For example, we cannot perceive x-ray or hear certain frequencies but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist

On the other hand, it is also unhealthy to imagine things and create delusions in our minds. If we were to imagine every challenge in life to be caused by an imaginary being, we may end up becoming completely delusional. 

Therefore, many Buddhists prefer to regard Mara as a metaphorical representation of unskillful emotions and mental factors. For example, being lazy and slothful, being lustful, being greedy. In this manner, we refer to Mara as inner Mara.

Q: One last question, have you heard the saying， “Your thought makes you a Buddha or a Mara”？ Is this saying Buddhist? What does it mean?

A: This saying originated from a Zen Buddhist story in Japan. A samurai visited a Zen master and said he would believe in Buddhism if the Zen monk could prove the existence of heaven and hell. The Zen master retorted “What a load of idiotic words from a fool!” The samurai felt immensely insulted and pulled out his sword to cut the monk. Without a flinch, the Zen master said “ The door to hell is now opened. Can you see?” The samurai was shocked and lowered his sword, to which the Zen monk said, “The door to heaven is now opened”

This story illustrates how our thoughts and emotions can propel us toward a hellish mental state or a peaceful one. Unfortunately, people misunderstood this story and misconceived heaven to mean good and hell to mean evil. This evolved into replacing the word good with Buddha and the word evil with Mara. This is because people misunderstood that Buddha personifies good while Mara personifies evil.

This understanding is wrong because becoming a Buddha or becoming enlightened is not achievable by thought or through thinking.

When someone put Buddha and Mara together, they meant to imply that Mara is the nemesis of Buddha or Mara is the opposite of Buddha. Again that is a wrong understanding because there is no equivalent or opposite of Buddha.

Points for discussions

Mara as a Symbol of Ignorance:

• Examine the concept of Mara as a misguided sentient being driven by ignorance rather than a condemned spirit. His attempt to discourage, dissuade, and sabotage Siddhartha’s plan. It sounds like a very negative personality, right?
• Have we somehow unwittingly behaved like Mara towards other people based on our personal convictions?

Is the idea or concept of Mara still relevant today?

Discuss the relevance of Mara in today’s context. Is such a belief still relevant? Is it still necessary? Is it even healthy?

May all be well and happy.