Mara (Demon) - Revision history

TeraS: TeraS moved page Mara (demon) to Mara (Demon): Capitalization

2014-10-28T19:31:25Z

TeraS moved page Mara (demon) to Mara (Demon): Capitalization

← Older revision	Revision as of 12:31, 28 October 2014
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TeraS at 17:35, 20 October 2014

2014-10-20T17:35:23Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:35, 20 October 2014
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	[[Category:~~Definitions~~]]		[[Category:Deities, Spirits, and Mythic Beings]]
	[[File:MaraAssault.jpg\|thumb\|Mara's assault on the Buddha (an iconic representation: the Buddha is only symbolized by his throne), 2nd century, Amaravati, India]]		[[File:MaraAssault.jpg\|thumb\|Mara's assault on the Buddha (an iconic representation: the Buddha is only symbolized by his throne), 2nd century, Amaravati, India]]
	'''Mara''' (Sanskrit: ''māra''; Tibetan Wylie: ''bdud''), in Buddhism, is the [[demon]] that tempted Gautama Buddha by trying to seduce him with the vision of beautiful women who, in various legends, are often said to be Mara's daughters.<ref>See, for instance, Samyutta Nikaya 4.25, entitled, "Māra's Daughters" (Bodhi, 2000, pp. 217-20), as well as Suttanipata 835 (Saddhatissa, 1998, page 98). In each of these texts, Mara's daughters (''Māradhītā'') are personified by sensual Craving (''taṇhā''), Aversion (''arati'') and Passion (''rāga'').</ref> In Buddhist cosmology, Mara personifies unwholesome impulses, unskillfulness, the "death"<ref>http://www.nirvanadhamma.com/en/articles/hidden-danger-of-existence!/higher-realms/mara-the-god-of-death/</ref> of the spiritual life. He is a tempter, distracting humans from practicing the spiritual life by making mundane things alluring, or the negative seem positive.		'''Mara''' (Sanskrit: ''māra''; Tibetan Wylie: ''bdud''), in Buddhism, is the [[demon]] that tempted Gautama Buddha by trying to seduce him with the vision of beautiful women who, in various legends, are often said to be Mara's daughters.<ref>See, for instance, Samyutta Nikaya 4.25, entitled, "Māra's Daughters" (Bodhi, 2000, pp. 217-20), as well as Suttanipata 835 (Saddhatissa, 1998, page 98). In each of these texts, Mara's daughters (''Māradhītā'') are personified by sensual Craving (''taṇhā''), Aversion (''arati'') and Passion (''rāga'').</ref> In Buddhist cosmology, Mara personifies unwholesome impulses, unskillfulness, the "death"<ref>http://www.nirvanadhamma.com/en/articles/hidden-danger-of-existence!/higher-realms/mara-the-god-of-death/</ref> of the spiritual life. He is a tempter, distracting humans from practicing the spiritual life by making mundane things alluring, or the negative seem positive.

TeraS at 14:58, 17 July 2014

2014-07-17T14:58:05Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:58, 17 July 2014
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	~~[[Category:Demon Names]]~~
	[[Category:Definitions]]		[[Category:Definitions]]
			[[File:MaraAssault.jpg\|thumb\|Mara's assault on the Buddha (an iconic representation: the Buddha is only symbolized by his throne), 2nd century, Amaravati, India]]
			'''Mara''' (Sanskrit: ''māra''; Tibetan Wylie: ''bdud''), in Buddhism, is the [[demon]] that tempted Gautama Buddha by trying to seduce him with the vision of beautiful women who, in various legends, are often said to be Mara's daughters.<ref>See, for instance, Samyutta Nikaya 4.25, entitled, "Māra's Daughters" (Bodhi, 2000, pp. 217-20), as well as Suttanipata 835 (Saddhatissa, 1998, page 98). In each of these texts, Mara's daughters (''Māradhītā'') are personified by sensual Craving (''taṇhā''), Aversion (''arati'') and Passion (''rāga'').</ref> In Buddhist cosmology, Mara personifies unwholesome impulses, unskillfulness, the "death"<ref>http://www.nirvanadhamma.com/en/articles/hidden-danger-of-existence!/higher-realms/mara-the-god-of-death/</ref> of the spiritual life. He is a tempter, distracting humans from practicing the spiritual life by making mundane things alluring, or the negative seem positive.

	''~~For other uses~~ of ~~the word [~~[~~Succubus]~~], ~~see [[Succubus~~ (~~disambiguation~~)]].''		==Etymology==
			The word "Mara" comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *mer meaning to die, and so it is related to the European Mara, the Slavic Marzanna and the Latvian Māra. Mara in Latvian mythology means the Mother of Earth and has positive meaning; she is wise and generous.
			<ref>
			{{cite book
			\|last=Turner
			\|first=Sir Ralph Lilley
			\|author2=Dorothy Rivers Turner
			\|title=A comparative dictionary of the Indo-Aryan languages.
			\|url=http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/contextualize.pl?p.4.soas.198140
			\|accessdate=20 Apr 2011
			\|edition=Accompanied by three supplementary volumes: ''indexes'', compiled by Dorothy Rivers Turner: 1970. – ''Phonetic analysis'': 1971. – ''Addenda et corrigenda'': 1985.
			\|origyear=1962
			\|date=January 2006
			\|publisher= Oxford University Press,
			\|location=London
			\|page= 567
			quote=mará 9867 mará m. ' *death ' (' world of death ' AitUp.), maraka- m. ' epidemic '. [√mr̥]
			Pk. mara — m. ' death ', Ash. mə́rə, Wg. mara (as ' god of death ' < māra — ), Kt. m&eacutedotdot;rë; Kho. (Lor.) mor ' a disease of small cattle '; K. mara — mar f. ' great mortality '; S. marī f. ' epidemic, cholera '; P. WPah.jaun. marī f. ' plague '; N. maro ' death '; A. mor ' diarrhoea '; B. marā ' death '; Mth. marī ' disease in which the whole plant is burnt up '; H. marī, marrī (< *marṛī?) f. ' plague, pestilence '; G. marɔ m. ' death '; M. mar f. n. ' blasted crop, dead portion (of crop, wood, &c.) ', f. ' dying or sickly state ', marī f. ' epidemic ', marā — mar f. great mortality '; Si. mara ' death '; — ext. — kk — : N. marki ' plague ', H. marak m., G. markī f. (cf. parallel formation from MIA. maḍa — < mr̥tá — : P. maṛak m. ' plague ', Or. maṛaka, H. maṛak m.).
			}}</ref>

			In traditional Hinduism Mara meaning "He who wounds" is one of the several names for the Vedic God of love and desire Kamadeva.

			==Overview==
			In traditional Buddhism four senses of the word "mara" are given.
			* ''Klesa-mara'', or Mara as the embodiment of all unskillful emotions.
			* ''Mrtyu-mara'', or Mara as death, in the sense of the ceaseless round of birth and death.
			* ''Skandha-mara'', or Mara as metaphor for the entirety of conditioned existence.
			* ''Devaputra-mara'', or Mara the son of a deva (god), that is, Mara as an objectively existent being rather than as a metaphor.

	~~[[Image:MaraAssault.jpg\|thumb\|200px\|Mara's assault on the Buddha (aniconic representation: the Buddha is only symbolized by his throne), 2nd century CE, Amaravati (India).]]~~

	In Buddhism~~, '''Māra'''~~ is ~~the [[demon]] who tempted Gautama Buddha by trying to seduce him with the vision of beautiful women who,~~ in ~~various legends, are often said to be his daughters.<ref>See, for instance, Samyutta Nikaya 4.25, entitled, "Māra's Daughters" (Bodhi, 2000, pp. 217-20)~~, as ~~well as Suttanipata 835 (Saddhatissa, 1998, p. 98).~~ ~~In each of these texts, Mara's daughters (''Māradhītā'')~~ are ~~personified by Craving (''taṇhā'')~~, ~~Aversion (''arati'')~~ and ~~Passion (''rāga'').</ref> In Buddhist cosmology, Mara personifies unskillfulness,~~ the ~~"death"~~ of ~~the spiritual life. He is~~ a ~~tempter~~, ~~distracting humans from practicing the spiritual life by making the mundane alluring or the negative seem positive~~.		==Overseer==
			Early Buddhism acknowledged both a literal and psychological interpretation of Mara. Specially Mara is described both as an entity having a existence in Kāmadhātu, just as are shown existing around the Buddha, and also is described in paṭiccasamuppāda as a primarily the guardian of passion a catalyst for lust, hesitation and fear that obstruct Meditation among Buddhists .

	~~The early Buddhists, however, rather than seeing~~ Mara as a ~~demonic~~, ~~virtually all-powerful Lord~~ of ~~Evil~~, ~~regarded him~~ as ~~more of a nuisance~~. ~~Many episodes concerning his interactions with~~ the ~~Buddha have a decidedly humorous air to them~~.		"Buddha defying Mara" is a common pose of Buddha sculptures. The Buddha is shown with his left hand in his lap, palm facing upwards and his right hand on his right knee. The fingers of his right hand touch the earth, to call the earth as his witness for defying Mara and achieving enlightenment. This posture is also referred to as the 'earth-touching' mudra.

	~~In traditional Buddhism four senses of the word "mara" are given.~~
	* ''Klesa-mara'', or Mara as the embodiment of all unskillful emotions.
	* ''Mrtyu-mara'', or Mara as death, in the sense of the ceaseless round of birth and death.
	* ''Skandha-mara'', or Mara as metaphor for the entirety of conditioned existence.
	* ''Devaputra-mara'', or Mara the son of a deva (god), that is, Mara as an objectively existent being rather than as a metaphor.

	~~Early Buddhism acknowledged both a literal and "psychological" interpretation~~ of Mara. Mara is ~~described both~~ as ~~an entity having a literal existence~~, ~~just as~~ the ~~various deities~~ of ~~the Vedic pantheon are shown existing around~~ the Buddha, and ~~also is described as~~ a ~~primarily psychological force - a metaphor for various processes of doubt and temptation that obstruct religious practice~~.		==Three Daughters==
			In some accounts of the Buddha's enlightenment, it is said that the demon Māra didn't send his three daughters to tempt but came willingly after Māra's set back to eliminate his quest enlightenment. Mara's three daughters are identified as Taṇhā (Craving), Arati (Boredom), and Raga (Passion).<ref>[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/guruge/wheel419.html#fn-26 The Buddha's Encounters with Mara the Tempter]</ref><ref>See, e.g., Samyutta Nikaya 4.25 (Bodhi, 2000, pp. 217-20), and Suttanipata 835 (Saddhatissa, 1998, p. 98). In a similar fashion, in Sn 436 (Saddhatissa, 1998, p. 48), ''taṇhā '' is personified as one of Death's four armies (''senā'') along with desire (''kāmā''), aversion (''arati'') and hunger-thirst (''khuppipāsā'').</ref> For example, in the Samyutta Nikaya's ''Māra-sayutta'', Mara's three daughters were stripping in front of Buddha; but failed to entice the Buddha:
			:They had come to him glittering with beauty —
			:Tahā, Arati, and Rāga —
			:But the Teacher swept them away right there
			:As the wind, a fallen cotton tuft.<ref>Samyutta Nikaya 4.25, v. 518 (Bodhi, 2000, p. 220).</ref>

	~~"Buddha defying Mara" is a common pose~~ of ~~Buddha sculptures. The Buddha is shown with his left hand in his lap~~, ~~palm facing upwards~~ and ~~his right hand on his right knee. The fingers of his right hand touch the earth~~, ~~to call the earth as his witness for defying Mara~~ and ~~achieving enlightenment. This posture is also referred to as the 'earth-touching' mudra~~.		Some stories refer to the existence of Five Daughters, who represent the Three Poisons, Attraction, Aversion and Delusion, accompanied additionally by Pride and Fear.

	~~==Mara in Popular Culture==~~
	* Mara appears in several of Atlus' Shin Megami Tensei series as a persona of the Tower Arcana and a demon of the Tyrant Clan. This demon is portrayed as a giant anthromorphic penis fused with a horseless golden chariot. In Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, he is shown as an optional boss, but as a slightly phallic slime due to a rushed summoning ritual caused by [[Baphomet]].

	* Mara is also one of the ~~sixteen daedric princes~~ in ~~The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion~~, ~~where she is commonly~~ associated with the ~~dead~~.		==Skandha-maras==
			Maras as manifestations of the five skandhas are described in the ''Śūraṅgama Sūtra''. In its section on the fifty skandha-maras, each of the five skandhas has ten skandha-maras associated with it, and each skandha-mara is described in detail as a deviation from correct samādhi. These skandha-maras are also known as the "fifty skandha demons" in some English-language publications.


	==Notes==		==Notes==
	<references/>		<references/>


	==Sources==		==Sources==
	* Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.) (2000). ''The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya''. Boston: Wisdom Pubs. ISBN 0-86171-331-1.		* Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.) (2000). ''The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya''. Boston: Wisdom Pubs. ISBN 0-86171-331-1.
	* Saddhatissa, H. (~~trans.~~) (1998). ''The Sutta-Nipāta''. London: RoutledgeCurzon Press. ISBN 0-7007-0181-8.		* Saddhatissa, H. (translator) (1998). ''The Sutta-Nipāta''. London: RoutledgeCurzon Press. ISBN 0-7007-0181-8.

	~~==External links==~~
	*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mara_(demon) The original source of this page at Wikipedia]


	*http://~~www~~.~~accesstoinsight~~.org/~~lib/authors~~/~~guruge/wheel419.html~~		==External Links==
	*[http://~~dhamma~~.~~damith~~.org/~~forum~~/~~topic~~.~~asp?TOPIC_ID=115 Taming~~ the ~~Mara~~]		*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mara_%28demon%29 The original source of this article at Wikipedia]
			* [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/guruge/wheel419.html The Buddha's Encounters with Mara the Tempter: Their Representation in Literature and Art]

TeraS at 13:56, 9 October 2008

2008-10-09T13:56:33Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:56, 9 October 2008
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	In traditional Buddhism four senses of the word "mara" are given.		In traditional Buddhism four senses of the word "mara" are given.
	* ''Klesa-mara'', or Mara as the embodiment of all unskillful emotions.		* ''Klesa-mara'', or Mara as the embodiment of all unskillful emotions.
	* ''Mrtyu-mara'', or Mara as death, in the sense of the ceaseless round of ~~[[childbirth\|~~birth]] and [[death]].		* ''Mrtyu-mara'', or Mara as death, in the sense of the ceaseless round of birth and death.
	* ''Skandha-mara'', or Mara as metaphor for the entirety of conditioned existence.		* ''Skandha-mara'', or Mara as metaphor for the entirety of conditioned existence.
	* ''Devaputra-mara'', or Mara the son of a deva (god), that is, Mara as an objectively existent being rather than as a metaphor.		* ''Devaputra-mara'', or Mara the son of a deva (god), that is, Mara as an objectively existent being rather than as a metaphor.

TeraS: New page: Category:Demon Names Category:Definitions ''For other uses of the word Succubus, see Succubus (disambiguation).'' [[Image:MaraAssault.jpg|thumb|200px|Mara's assault on ...

2008-10-09T13:49:57Z

New page: Category:Demon Names Category:Definitions ''For other uses of the word Succubus, see Succubus (disambiguation).'' [[Image:MaraAssault.jpg|thumb|200px|Mara's assault on ...

New page

[[Category:Demon Names]]
[[Category:Definitions]]

''For other uses of the word [[Succubus]], see [[Succubus (disambiguation)]].''

[[Image:MaraAssault.jpg|thumb|200px|Mara's assault on the Buddha (aniconic representation: the Buddha is only symbolized by his throne), 2nd century CE, Amaravati (India).]]

In Buddhism, '''Māra''' is the [[demon]] who tempted Gautama Buddha by trying to seduce him with the vision of beautiful women who, in various legends, are often said to be his daughters.<ref>See, for instance, Samyutta Nikaya 4.25, entitled, "Māra's Daughters" (Bodhi, 2000, pp. 217-20), as well as Suttanipata 835 (Saddhatissa, 1998, p. 98). In each of these texts, Mara's daughters (''Māradhītā'') are personified by Craving (''taṇhā''), Aversion (''arati'') and Passion (''rāga'').</ref> In Buddhist cosmology, Mara personifies unskillfulness, the "death" of the spiritual life. He is a tempter, distracting humans from practicing the spiritual life by making the mundane alluring or the negative seem positive.

The early Buddhists, however, rather than seeing Mara as a demonic, virtually all-powerful Lord of Evil, regarded him as more of a nuisance. Many episodes concerning his interactions with the Buddha have a decidedly humorous air to them.

In traditional Buddhism four senses of the word "mara" are given.
* ''Klesa-mara'', or Mara as the embodiment of all unskillful emotions.
* ''Mrtyu-mara'', or Mara as death, in the sense of the ceaseless round of [[childbirth|birth]] and [[death]].
* ''Skandha-mara'', or Mara as metaphor for the entirety of conditioned existence.
* ''Devaputra-mara'', or Mara the son of a deva (god), that is, Mara as an objectively existent being rather than as a metaphor.

Early Buddhism acknowledged both a literal and "psychological" interpretation of Mara. Mara is described both as an entity having a literal existence, just as the various deities of the Vedic pantheon are shown existing around the Buddha, and also is described as a primarily psychological force - a metaphor for various processes of doubt and temptation that obstruct religious practice.

"Buddha defying Mara" is a common pose of Buddha sculptures. The Buddha is shown with his left hand in his lap, palm facing upwards and his right hand on his right knee. The fingers of his right hand touch the earth, to call the earth as his witness for defying Mara and achieving enlightenment. This posture is also referred to as the 'earth-touching' mudra.

==Mara in Popular Culture==
* Mara appears in several of Atlus' Shin Megami Tensei series as a persona of the Tower Arcana and a demon of the Tyrant Clan. This demon is portrayed as a giant anthromorphic penis fused with a horseless golden chariot. In Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, he is shown as an optional boss, but as a slightly phallic slime due to a rushed summoning ritual caused by [[Baphomet]].

* Mara is also one of the sixteen daedric princes in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, where she is commonly associated with the dead.

==Notes==
<references/>

==Sources==
* Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.) (2000). ''The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya''. Boston: Wisdom Pubs. ISBN 0-86171-331-1.
* Saddhatissa, H. (trans.) (1998). ''The Sutta-Nipāta''. London: RoutledgeCurzon Press. ISBN 0-7007-0181-8.

==External links==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mara_(demon) The original source of this page at Wikipedia]

*http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/guruge/wheel419.html
*[http://dhamma.damith.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=115 Taming the Mara]