SUTRA: 'Ten Pleasure Seekers' (AN 10.91)

How do we get to Burning Man? We need driving directions and stops on the way to the playa

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Numerical Discourses (AN 10.91) 10. "With Upāli, Ten Pleasure Seekers"

Once the Buddha was staying near the City of Sāvatthī at Jeta’s Grove, in the Millionaire (Anāthapiṇḍika)’s monastery (Jetavana).

Then the rich householder Anāthapiṇḍika [the philanthropist Sudatta, the "Giver of Alms," "Supporter of the Needy"] went to the Buddha, bowed, and sat respectfully to one side. Seated there, the Buddha said to him: “Ten pleasure seekers are found in the world. What are the ten?

We're here to have a good time, right Bri-Bri?

“One, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. One neither makes oneself happy nor pleased, neither shares it nor makes merit.

“Two, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. One makes oneself happy and pleased but neither shares it nor makes merit.

“Three, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. One makes oneself happy and pleased and shares it and makes merit.

“Four, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using means both legitimate and illegitimate, coercive and uncoercive. One neither makes oneself happy nor pleased, neither shares it nor makes merit.

“Five, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using means both legitimate and illegitimate, coercive and uncoercive. One makes oneself happy and pleased, but neither shares it nor makes merit.

“Six, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using means both legitimate and illegitimate, coercive and uncoercive. One makes oneself happy and pleased and shares it and makes merit.

“Seven, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. One neither makes oneself happy nor pleased, neither shares it nor makes merit.

“Eight, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. One makes oneself happy and pleased, but neither shares it nor makes merit.

“Nine, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. One makes oneself happy and pleased and shares it and makes merit. But one enjoys that wealth in bondage, infatuated, clinging, blind to the drawbacks, not understanding the escape.

See, Stewie? We're rich, we share, we get it...

“Ten, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. One makes oneself happy and pleased and shares it and makes merit. And one enjoys that wealth without bondage, without infatuation, without clinging, seeing the drawbacks, and understanding the escape.

The first

Why, you ask? Here's why.

“Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using illegitimate, coercive means, who neither makes oneself happy nor pleased, neither shares it nor makes merit. That person may be criticized on three grounds: One seeks for wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. This is the first ground for criticism. One does not make oneself happy nor pleased. This is the second ground for criticism. One neither shares it nor makes merit. This is the third ground for criticism. This pleasure seeker may be criticized on these three grounds.

The second

“Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using illegitimate, coercive means, who makes oneself happy and pleased, but who neither shares it nor makes merit. That person may be criticized on two grounds and praised on one. One seeks for wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. This is the first ground for criticism. One makes oneself happy and pleased. This is the one ground for praise. One neither shares it nor makes merit. This is the second ground for criticism. This pleasure seeker may be criticized on these two grounds and praised on this one.

The third

“Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using illegitimate, coercive means, who makes oneself happy and pleased, who shares it and makes merit. This person may be criticized on one ground and praised on two. One seeks for wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. This is the one ground for criticism. One makes oneself happy and pleased. This is the first ground for praise. One shares it and makes merit. This is the second ground for praise. This pleasure seeker may be criticized on this one ground and praised on these two.

The fourth

“Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using means both legitimate and illegitimate, coercive and uncoercive, who neither makes oneself happy and pleased, neither shares it nor makes merit. This person may be praised on one ground and criticized on three. One seeks for wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. This is the one ground for praise. One seeks for wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. This is the first ground for criticism. One neither makes oneself happy nor pleased. This is the second ground for criticism. One neither shares it nor makes merit. This is the third ground for criticism. This pleasure seeker may be praised on this one ground and criticized on these three.

The fifth

“Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using means both legitimate and illegitimate, coercive and uncoercive, who makes oneself happy and pleased, but who neither shares it nor makes merit. That person may be praised on two grounds and criticized on two. One seeks for wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. This is the first ground for praise. One seeks for wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. This is the first ground for criticism. One makes oneself happy and pleased. This is the second ground for praise. One neither shares it nor makes merit. This is the second ground for criticism. This pleasure seeker may be praised on these two grounds and criticized on these two.

The sixth

“Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using means both legitimate and illegitimate, coercive and uncoercive, who makes oneself happy and pleased, shares it and makes merit. One may be praised on three grounds and criticized on one. One seeks for wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. This is the first ground for praise. One seeks for wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. This is the one ground for criticism. One makes oneself happy and pleased. This is the second ground for praise. One shares it and makes merit. This is the third ground for praise. This pleasure seeker may be praised on these three grounds and criticized on this one.

The seventh

“Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means, who neither makes oneself happy nor pleased, neither shares it nor makes merit. One may be praised on one ground and criticized on two. One seeks for wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. This is the one ground for praise. One neither makes oneself happy nor pleased. This is the first ground for criticism. One neither shares it nor makes merit. This is the second ground for criticism. This pleasure seeker may be praised on this one ground and criticized on these two.

The eighth

“Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means, who makes oneself happy and pleased, but who neither shares it nor makes merit. One may be praised on two grounds and criticized on one. One seeks for wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. This is the first ground for praise. One makes oneself happy and pleased. This is the second ground for praise. One neither shares it nor makes merit. This is the one ground for criticism. This pleasure seeker may be praised on these two grounds and criticized on this one.

The ninth

“Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means, who makes oneself happy and pleased, and who shares it and makes merit. But one enjoys that wealth in bondage, infatuated, clinging, blind to the drawbacks, and not understanding the escape. One may be praised on three grounds and criticized on one. One seeks for wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. This is the first ground for praise. One makes oneself happy and pleased. This is the second ground for praise. One shares it and makes merit. This is the third ground for praise. One enjoys that wealth in bondage, infatuated, clinging, blind to the drawbacks, and not understanding the escape. This is the one ground for criticism. This pleasure seeker may be praised on these three grounds and criticized on this one.

The tenth

“Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means, who makes oneself happy and pleased, who shares it and makes merit. And one enjoys that wealth without bondage, without infatuation, without clinging, seeing the drawbacks, and understanding the escape. One may be praised on four grounds. One seeks for wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. This is the first ground for praise. One makes oneself happy and pleased. This is the second ground for praise. One shares it and makes merit. This is the third ground for praise. One enjoys that wealth without bondage, without infatuation, without clinging, seeing the drawbacks, and understanding the escape. This is the fourth ground for praise. This pleasure seeker may be praised on these four grounds.

Best of the best

Maybe redheads have the most fun.

“These are the ten pleasure seekers found in the world. The pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means, who makes oneself happy and pleased, who shares it and makes merit, who uses that wealth without bondage, without infatuation, without clinging, seeing the drawbacks, and understanding the escape is the foremost, best, chief, highest, and finest of the ten.

Why does India add lard to ghee?

“From a cow comes milk, from milk come curds, from curds come butter, from butter comes ghee [clarified butter now almost always adulterated with lard], and from ghee comes cream of ghee [crème de la crème]. And the cream of ghee is said to be the best of these.

“In the same way, the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means, who makes oneself happy and pleased, who shares it and makes merit, who uses that wealth without bondage, without infatuation, without clinging, seeing the drawbacks, and understanding the escape is the foremost, best, chief, highest, and finest of the ten.”

When life no longer gives pleasure, what then?

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• Seth MacFarlane, Family Guy; Dhr. Seven (ed.), based on Bhikkhu Sujato (trans.) suttacentral.net, Kāmabhogī Sutta (AN 10.91), Wisdom Quarterly

American dark humor (Family Guy)

Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, Fox); Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki

WARNING: Trigger warning. Ugh,sensitive subject matter, delicate issues, taboo topics! Vulgar, gross!

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Who's that on the beach? Is it Death!

Black comedy is also known as morbid humor, dark comedy, black humor, dark humor, or gallows humor.

It is a style of comedy that makes light of grave subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly serious subjects that are normally considered painful to discuss.

Implicit humor is for adults. Kids don't notice.

Writers and comedians often use it as a tool for exploring vulgar issues by provoking discomfort, serious thought, and amusement for their audience.

So, in fiction, for example, the term "black comedy" can also refer to a genre in which dark humor is a core component. Popular themes of the genre include death, violence, discrimination, disease, and human sexuality.

Senior citizens are sex-starved perverts.

Black comedy differs from both "blue comedy" — which focuses more on crude topics such as nudity, sex, flatulence, and bodily fluids — and from straightforward obscenity.

An archetypal example of black comedy in the form of self-mutilation appears in the 1759 English novel by Laurence Sterne Tristram Shandy.

Tristram, 5-years-old at the time, starts to urinate out of an open window for lack of a chamber pot. The sash falls and circumcises him. [Window pain?] His family reacts with both hysteria and philosophical acceptance. More

Vicious British masters of dark humour (Tristam)

"Family Guy" begins new season (cartoon)

Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy/FOX TV) via Ours is the Fury; Will Thorne (variety.com); Seth Auberon, Crystal Quintero, CC Liu, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Bless the Harts by Maya Rudolph et. al. (fox.com/bless-the-harts...)

WARNING: Sexual references, comedic and exaggerated violence, deep satire, and witty nonsense!

Sundays, September 29, 2019 on FOX, all new episodes of Family Guy, The Simpsons, and a new cartoon series by Maya Rudolph called Bless the Harts.

The end of BoJack Horseman

BoJack Horseman is riding off into the L.A. sunset. Netflix announced the forthcoming season of the adult animated comedy will be its last. They also revealed the season will air in two parts, Oct. 25, 2019 and Jan. 31, 2020. “BoJack,” a former ’90s sitcom star, is voiced by Will Arnett. The voices of Amy Sedaris... More

• Billie Pirate Eilish announces big 2020 arena tour
• Billie Eilish featured on Saturday Night Live (SNL)

South Park, the comedy classic on the heels of The Simpsons, in Recession

Valentine's Day: Cupid is the devil Mara (sutra)

John D. Ireland (accesstoinsight.org), Padhana Sutra: "The Great Struggle" (Sn 3.2); PRI; Cozmo El; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Dharma Meditation Initiative - Pasa Dharma - Punx - Disclosure Project - MARC UCLA

 

Cupid (Kama-deva) is a "devil"

The Buddha remembered: "When, near the Nerañjara river, I exerted myself in meditation for attaining to security from bondage (yogakkhema, a name for nirvana), there came speaking words of compassion Namuci*:

• *"He who does not let go [his hold over beings easily]" is a name for Mara, the Tempter, the Killer, the Evil One, the Dark One.

"'You are emaciated and ill-looking, near to death! A thousand parts of you belong to death, and only a fraction of you is alive. Live, good sir! It is better to live! Living you may perform many meritorious deeds (good karma).

The "real" St. Valentine was no patron of love (The Conversation, Feb. 14, 2018)

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What's better than being bad?

"From practicing celibacy and tending the sacrificial fire much merit is made. But what is obtained from striving [in meditation]? It is difficult to enter the path of exertion, it is difficult to do, difficult to maintain.'"
 
Mara spoke these words while standing in the presence of the Buddha, the "Awakened One." To Mara speaking in this way, the Buddha replied:
 
"You who are a friend of the negligent, O Evil One. For what reason have you come here? Those who still have use for merit [because they are not yet enlightened and liberated], Mara may consider worthwhile addressing.

"I have confidence and energy and wisdom. Being thus bent on striving, why do you ask me to live? This wind will wither the currents of the rivers; why should not my exertion dry up even the blood? When the blood dries up, the bile and phlegm wither.

"Lust" (Raquel Welch) in 1967's Bedazzled

"On the wasting away of the flesh, my mind becomes more and more serene. And my mindfulness, wisdom, and concentration are established more firmly.

"In me, who abides enduring such an extreme experience, the mind does not long for sensual pleasures. Behold the purity of a being!"

Who/what in the hell is Cupid?

Hey, STFU. I'm the Greek god Eros anew

CUPID comes from its verb cupere (Latin "to desire"). Three derived nouns have been passed down into English with minimal modification: Cupiditas meant "yearning" and "desire," which English borrowed as "cupidity," which originally in the 15th century was synonymous with "LUST." (Another meaning of "cupidity," now archaic, is "greed").

Latin cupido started out as a near-synonym of cupiditas, but it came to stand for the specific personification of carnal desire, the counterpart of Greek Eros (the erotic "god"); this is the source of our familiar and rather domesticated (Roman god) Cupid. A strengthened form of cupere (concupiscere, meaning "to desire ardently) yielded the noun concupiscentia in the Late Latin of the Christian church.

I'm not impressed. Get it out of my face!

English concupiscence, which means "sexual desire," comes from this form. Cupidity's origin and etymology is therefore from the Latin cupiditat-, cupiditas — more at covet, which led to Middle English cupidite and Anglo-French cupidité. (Derived from Merriam-Webster.com).

• A Buddhist View of Romantic Love: Nothing Higher to Live For If ROMANTIC LOVE is the highest thing to live for, this is a hopeless universe because...Cupid's arrows not only thrill us but make us bleed. "Man Kills Estranged Lover Then Self"! "Wife Stabs Husband in Domestic Quarrel"! "Love Triangle Leads to Shooting"! -- scream the headlines...
• The Buddha's Encounters with Mara the Tempter In the typical style of this Indian Cupid, the first weapons used are the five flower-arrows. When they fail Måra thinks: “He is not worthy of my flower-shaft, nor my arrow 'gladdener,' nor the sending of my daughter Rati (to tempt him); he deserves alarms, rebukes, and blows from these gathered armies of demons.

Mara's Armies

Lord Shiva Turns Cupid/Kama-Deva to Ashes (Madan Bhasma/metmuseum.org)

1. "Sensual desire is your first army
2. the second is called discontent
3. the third is hunger-and-thirst
4. the fourth craving
5. the fifth sluggishness-and-laziness
6. the sixth fear
7. the seventh indecision
8. and the eighth stubbornness and disparagement of others: gain, fame, honor, unmerited prestige (wrongly acquired), praise of oneself, and despising others.

"These, Namuci, are your armies, the striking forces of the Dark One.*

• Kanha, the "Dark One" (Sanskrit, Krishna), is another name for Mara. He is India's version of Cupid (Kamadeva) and personifies sensual passions. He carries a lute (vina), mentioned at the close, with which he captivates beings by his playing. His other equipment includes a bow, arrows, a noose, and a hook.

"A lazy, cowardly person cannot overcome them. But by conquering them one gains bliss. I wear muñja-grass*!

• *Indian warriors used to wear a tuft of a certain variety of grass called muñja on their head or headgear, to indicate that they were prepared to die in battle and determined not to retreat.

Representations of the Buddha Gautama

"Shame on life here in this world! It is better for me to die in battle than to live defeated.

"Some wandering ascetics and Brahmins are not seen (exerting themselves) here, so immersed are they (in sensual worldliness). They are unaware of the path those of perfect conduct walk.

"Seeing the surrounding army ready and Mara mounted (on his elephant), I am going out to fight so that he may not move me from my position.

Under the Buddha's bodhi tree, India

"This army of yours, which the world together with the devas is unable to subdue, that I will destroy with wisdom, [shatter] like an unbaked clay-bowl with a stone.

"Having mastered the mind and firmly established mindfulness, I shall wander from country to country guiding many disciples.

"And these disciples will be diligent and energetic in practicing this teaching, the teaching of one free of sensual craving. And they will reach where, having reached, one no more grieves."
 

Who's as beautiful as Barbie? Valeri-Devi

Mara responded: "For seven years I followed the Blessed One step by step but did not find an opportunity to defeat that mindful Awakened One.

"A crow flew around a stone the [whitish] color of fat thinking: 'Can we find here something tender? May it be something to eat?'
 
"Not finding anything edible the crow left that place. As with the crow and the stone, we leave Gotama [the Buddha], having approached and become disheartened."

• *Māra Devaputra is the deva of the highest world in the Sensual Sphere (Kama Loka), who considers himself the God of this sphere (which includes the human plane that is in no way limited to earth) tries to prevent the Buddha from finding the escape that is liberation from the otherwise endless cycle of rebirth during his struggle for enlightenment.

• Valentine's Day Quiz (merriam-webster.com)
  
• MARA: A Chamber Opera on Good and Evil
• What is "right effort" (samma padhana or vayamo)?
• Vangisa: A Early Buddhist Poet (John D. Ireland)
  

Family Guy's search for "God" (cartoons)

Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy); Seth Auberon, Sheldon S., Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

(Family Guy) Peter has a lot of good karma, and here he uses it to win the lottery.

(King Stewie) Peter Griffin converts to Hinduism, Judaism, and Islam on Family Guy in man's endless search for the meaning of life or at least the rationality of inescapable death. Before becoming a [blank] after living a long time as a Mexican Irish Catholic, he and the guys went on a search for "God," traveling the world to do so from the US to Greece to Israel and finally to Its real place of residence, the Holy Land India.

What happens when beautiful Jewish tradition meet American-style Nazism in old Germany?

SUTRA: Mara's power (video)

Ven. Thanissaro (trans.), Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly, Marapasa Sutra (SN 35.115)

(WLP) Viewer discretion advised. The world is sicker than we thought. Christians are piss*ed.

 

Mara's a devilish Cupid/Kamadeva

"Meditators, there are sights [forms, shapes] cognizable through the eye -- agreeable, pleasing, charming, endearing, fostering desire, enticing.

"If a meditator relishes them, welcomes them, and remains fastened to them, one is said to be a meditator fettered to sights cognizable through the eye. One has gone over to Mara's camp; one has come under Mara's power. The Evil One can do with one as he wills.

• "There are sounds cognizable through the ear...
• "There are scents cognizable through the nose...
• "There are savors cognizable through the tongue...
• "There are tactile sensations cognizable through the [skin of the] body...

Ahhh, you're no fun (Mara Stewie)

"There are things cognizable through the mind -- agreeable, pleasing, charming, endearing, fostering desire, enticing. If a meditator relishes them, welcomes them, and remains fastened to them, one is said to be a meditator fettered to things cognizable through the mind. One has gone over to Mara's camp; one has come under Mara's power. The Evil One can do with one as he wills.
 
"[On the other hand,] there are sights cognizable through the eye -- agreeable, pleasing, charming, endearing, fostering desire, enticing. If a meditator does NOT relish them, welcome them, or remain fastened to them, one is said to be a meditator freed from sights cognizable through the eye. One has not gone over to Mara's camp; one has not come under Mara's power. The Evil One cannot do with one as he wills.

• "There are sounds cognizable through the ear...
• "There are scents cognizable through the nose...
• "There are savors cognizable through the tongue...
• "There are tactile sensations cognizable through the [skin of the] body...

"There are things cognizable through the mind -- agreeable, pleasing, charming, endearing, fostering desire, enticing. If a meditator does not relish them, welcome them, or remain fastened to them, one is said to be a meditator freed from things cognizable through the mind. One has not gone over to Mara's camp; one has not come under Mara's power. The Evil One cannot do with one as he wills."

Go with the flow, go against the stream? (sutra)

Ven. Thanissaro (trans.) Anusota Sutra (AN 4.5); Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly

(QOTSA/Queens of the Stone Age/~Eagles of Death Metal dead in Paris) "Go With the Flow"

  

[Thus have I heard. The Buddha taught:] "There are four types of individuals that can be found existing in the world. What four?

1. The individual who goes with the flow,
2. the individual who goes against the stream,
3. the individual who stands fast, and
4. the one who has crossed over, gone beyond, who stands on firm ground, a superior person.

1.

Hi. Rupert and I go with thee flow, lol.

"Who is the individual who goes with the flow? In one case an individual indulges in sensual passions and does harmful deeds. This is the individual who goes with the flow.
 
2.
"Who is the individual who goes against the stream? In another case an individual does not indulge in sensual passions and does not do harmful deeds.

Meditation (AgainstTheStream.org)

"Even though it may be with pain, even though it may be with sorrow, even though one may be crying, one's face in tears, one lives the high life that is perfect and pure. This is the individual who goes against the stream (goes against the flow of the world).

3.
"Who is the individual who stands fast? In one case an individual, with the total abandoning and ending of the first five fetters, is due to be reborn [in the Pure Abodes], there to become enlightened and gain nirvana, never again to return [by rebirth to this world] from that world. This is the individual who stands fast.

• [What's needed to gain enlightenment right now?]

We go for guidance (sarana) to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha (Bugphai/flickr).

 
4.

With compassion comes wisdom.

"Who is the individual who has crossed over, gone beyond, who stands on firm ground, a superior person?

"In this case an individual, by bringing about the end of the mental effluents (outflows), enters and remains in the taint-free liberation by wisdom, having known and made them manifest for oneself here and now.

"This is the individual who has crossed over, gone beyond, who stands on firm ground, a superior person.
 
"These are the four types of individuals that can be found existing in the world."

Summary in verse
Those unrestrained in sensual passions, not yet free of passions, indulging in sensuality, they return again and again to birth and aging -- seized by craving, going with the flow.

Thus an enlightened one, with mindfulness established here and now -- not indulging in sensuality and harm, though it may be with pain [of restraint] -- would abandon sensuality. They call such a person one who goes against the stream.

Whoever, having abandoned the first five defilements, is perfect in training, not liable to fall back, skilled in consciousness, with faculties composed: Such a person is one who stands fast.

Even a person of 7-y.o. can become enlightened.

In one who, having known that qualities high and low have been eradicated, gone to their end, do not exist, such a person is called a master of knowledge, one who has fulfilled the high life, gone to the world's end, gone beyond, gone [altogether] beyond.

Cupid and the Buddha (sutra)

Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly based on Ven. Thanissaro translation ("Farmer Discourse," Kassaka Sutra about Mara Devaputra, SN 4.19)

Buddhist Māra or Mara Devaputra is Roman Cupid, Greek Eros, Hindu Kamadeva.

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Cupid (Mara) can appear so cute!

At one time the Buddha was residing in Savatthi. Now at that time the Blessed One was instructing, urging, rousing, and encouraging his disciples with a Dharma talk on nirvana (complete freedom).

The disciples were interested, attentive, enthusiastic, absorbed in their focus listening to the teaching.
 
Then the thought occurred to Cupid (Buddhist Devaputra Mara, Māra, Hindu Kamadeva, Greek Eros): "The ascetic Gautama is instructing, urging, rousing, and encouraging his disciples with a Dharma talk on nirvana. His disciples are interested, attentive, enthusiastic, absorbed in focus listening to the teaching. What if I were to go to the ascetic Gautama to obscure his vision?"

Cupid (Māra) visits the Buddha

Then Cupid, transforming at will into the shape of a farmer with a large plowshare over his shoulder, carrying a long goad stick -- his hair disheveled, wearing clothes of coarse hemp, feet splattered with mud -- went to the Blessed One and said: "Hey, ascetic, have you seen my oxen?"

 

"And what are your 'oxen,' Cupid?"

 

"Mine alone is the eye, ascetic. Mine are forms (visible objects), mine is the sphere of consciousness (vision), and eye-contact (the coming together of sense object and consciousness) at the eye. Where can you go to escape me?

• [This is an odd brag. Mara Devaputra, a Lucifer-figure, imagines himself the "god" or "lord" of the Sensual Sphere (Kama Loka). He does not imagine rulership over the two higher and more refined spheres, the Fine-Material and Immaterial, nor of nirvana, which transcends all three spheres and their 31 planes. Mara cannot stand that anyone escapes the Sensual Sphere. Yet, the Buddha not only found an escape but also taught others the path to full liberation. So why the pride, Mara/Cupid?]

God of erotic love Eros (wiki)

"Mine alone is the ear... nose... tongue... body...
 
"Mine alone is the mind, ascetic, and mine are objects of mind (thoughts, ideas, mental impressions, notions), mine is the sphere of consciousness, and mind-contact at the mind. Where can you go to escape me?"

"Yours alone is the eye, Cupid. Yours are forms, yours is the sphere of consciousness of contact at the eye. Where no eye exists, no forms (visible objects) exist, and no sphere of consciousness of contact at the eye exists: There, Cupid, you cannot go.

"Yours alone is the ear... nose... tongue... body...

"Yours alone is the mind, Cupid. Yours are objects of mind, yours is the sphere of consciousness of contact at the mind. Where no mind exists, no mental objects exist, no sphere of consciousness of contact at the mind exists: There, Cupid, you cannot go."

Mara: "Of what they say, 'This is mine'

And those who say, 'Mine,'

If your mind is here, ascetic,

You can't escape me.

 

The Buddha: "What they speak of is not mine,

And I am not one who speaks it.

Know this, Cupid,

You will not even see my tracks."

• [That is, Mara will have no way of seeing where one who experiences nirvana goes, like a flame that goes out, it cannot be sensibly asked, "Where did it go, which direction, north, south, east, west, up, down?]

Then Cupid, sad and dejected at realizing, "The Blessed One knows me, the One Well-gone knows me," vanished then and there.

• O, Science, where's my "Mr. Right"?
• O, Buddha, what is the way to nirvana?