When will I become enlightened? (sutra)

O, how we cling to form, finding it pretty

Thus have I heard. At one time the Blessed One (the Buddha) was dwelling in Savatthi and said: "Meditators, I declare [this Teaching/Dhamma] is for one who knows and sees that there is a way to the end of the defilements (asavas).

"For one who knows what and sees what is there an end to the defilements? [The Five Aggregates clung to as self:]

1. 'This is form, this its origination, this its passing away.
2. This is feeling...
3. This is perception...
4. These are mental formations (impulses, volitions, fabrications)...
5. This is consciousness, this its origination, this its passing away.'

"It is for one who knows and sees in this way that there is an end to the defilements.

"Even though a meditator not dwelling devoted to cultivation (bhavana, meditation, development, bringing into being) may wish, 'O, that my mind/heart might be released from the defilements through the end of clinging (craving)!' — still one's heart/mind will not be released from the defilements through not clinging. Why?

"'From lack of development,' it should be said. The lack of developing what? [The 37 Requisites of Enlightenment:]

1. the Four Foundations of Mindfulness,
2. the Four Right Efforts,
3. the Four Bases of Power,
4. the Five Faculties,
5. the Five Strengths,
6. the Seven Factors of Enlightenment,
7. the Noble Eightfold Path.

Will we just trip and fall into self-realization?

"Suppose a hen lays eight, ten, or 12 eggs. If she fails to cover them rightly, warm them rightly, or incubate them rightly, then even though she wishes, 'O, may my chicks break through the shell with beak and claw and hatch safely!' still it is impossible that her chicks will break through and hatch safely.'

"Why is that? It is because the hen has neither covered them rightly, warmed them rightly, nor incubated them rightly.

"In the same way, even though a meditator dwells not devoted to development may wish, 'O, that my mind/heart might be released from the defilements through not clinging!' still one's mind/heart remains unreleased from the defilements. Why is that? 'It is from the lack of development,' it should be said. The lack of developing what?

• The Four Foundations of Mindfulness,
• the Four Right Efforts,
• the Four Bases of Power,
• the Five Faculties,
• the Five Strengths,
• the Seven Factors of Enlightenment,
• the Noble Eightfold Path.

I should've done yoga (Dave/ACZC)

"Even though a meditator who dwells without devoting oneself to development may wish, 'O, that my heart/mind might be released from the defilements through not clinging!' still one's mind/heart remains unreleased from the defilements. Why is that? 'It is from the lack of development,' it should be said. Developing what?

1. The Four Foundations of Mindfulness,
2. the Four Right Efforts,
3. the Four Bases of Power,
4. the Five Faculties,
5. the Five Strengths,
6. the Seven Factors of Enlightenment,
7. the Noble Eightfold Path.

"Suppose a hen lays eight, ten, or 12 eggs which she DOES cover rightly, warms rightly, and incubates rightly: Even though she may not wish, 'O, that my chicks might break through the egg shells with their beaks and claws or and hatch safely!' still it is possible that the chicks will break through their shells and hatch safely. Why is that? It is because the hen has covered them, warmed them, and incubated them rightly.

"In the same way, even though a meditator who dwells devoted to development may not wish, 'O, that my heart/mind might be released from defilements through not clinging!' still one's mind/heart is released from the defilements through not clinging. Why is that? 'It is from development,' it should be said. The development of what?

1. The Four Foundations of Mindfulness,
2. the Four Right Efforts,
3. the Four Bases of Power,
4. the Five Faculties,
5. the Five Strengths,
6. the Seven Factors of Enlightenment,
7. the Noble Eightfold Path.

We made a resolution to regularly sit no matter what, and hard as it was, we stuck to it.

"Just as when a carpenter or apprentice sees fingermarks on the handle of an axe but does not know, 'Today my axe handle wore down this much, or yesterday it wore down that much, or the day before yesterday it wore down that much,' still the carpenter or apprentice knows it is worn away when it is worn away.

"In the same way, when a meditator dwells devoted to development, that meditator does not know, 'Today my defilements wore down this much, or yesterday they wore down that much, or the day before yesterday they wore down that much.' Nevertheless, one knows they are worn away when they are worn away.

"When an ocean-going ship that is rigged with masts and stays, after six months on the water, is left on shore for the winter, its stays -- weathered by heat and wind, moistened by clouds of the rainy season -- easily wither and rot away.

"In the same way, when a meditator dwells devoted to development, the fetters (bonds, samyojanas) easily wither and rot away." Source

• Dhr. Seven (ed.), Nava Sutta: "The Ship Discourse" (SN 22.101 PTS: S iii 152 CDB i 959) based on translation by Ven. Thanissaro (accesstoinsight.org, 1997), Wisdom Quarterly

Knowing and Seeing Nirvana

X. Knowledge and Vision of Release

Wow, look at all those fish and gravel!

§ 75. "It is just as if there were a pool of water in a mountain glen — clear, limpid, and unsullied — where a person with good eyesight standing on the bank could see shells, gravel, and pebbles as well as shoals of fish swimming about and resting.

"It might occur to that person, 'This pool of water is clear, limpid, and unsullied. Here are these shells, gravel, and pebbles as well as shoals of fish swimming about and resting.'

"In the same way — with mind stilled [calmed and concentrated], purified, and bright, unblemished, free of defects, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability — the meditator directs and inclines it to the knowledge of the ending of the mental defilements (asavas).

There is much to know and see with clarity

"One discerns as it is, 'This is suffering (dukkha)... This is the origination of suffering... This is the cessation of suffering... This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering... 

"These are mental defilements... This is the origination of the defilements... This is the cessation of the defilements... This is the way leading to the cessation of the defilements.'

"One's heart, thus knowing and seeing, is released from the defilement of sensuality, the defilement of becoming, the defilement of ignorance. With liberation, there is the knowledge, 'Liberated.' One discerns that, 'Rebirth is ended, the high life has been fulfilled, the task is done. There is nothing further for this world'" (DN 2).

What is there to know and see?

Enlightenment=awakening (bodhi)

§ 76. "Vision arose, clear-seeing arose, wisdom arose, knowledge arose, illumination (enlightenment) arose within me with regard to things never heard before:

"'This is the noble [enlightened] truth of suffering [understanding what is and is not disappointment]... This noble truth of suffering is to be comprehended... This noble truth of suffering has been comprehended...

"This is the noble truth of the origination of suffering... This noble truth of the origination of suffering is to be abandoned... This noble truth of the origination of suffering has been abandoned...

"This is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering... This noble truth of the cessation of suffering is to be realized... This noble truth of the cessation of suffering has been realized...

"This is the noble truth of the path of practice leading to the cessation of suffering... This noble truth of the path of practice leading to the cessation of suffering is to be developed... This noble truth of the path of practice leading to the cessation of suffering has been developed.'

"Meditators, as long as my knowing and seeing (knowledge and vision) — with its three rounds and 12 permutations concerning these Four Noble Truths as they actually are — was not pure, I did not claim to have directly awakened (become enlightened) to the unexcelled right awakening...

"But as soon as my knowing and seeing — with its three rounds and 12 permutations concerning these Four Noble Truths as they actually are — was truly pure, only then did I claim to have directly awakened to the unexcelled right awakening...

"Knowing and seeing arose in me: 'Unshakable is my liberation. This is my last rebirth. There is now no more further becoming'" (SN 56.11).

What does one see when awakening?

§ 77. "What a Wayfarer [Tathagata, successful practitioner, arahant] sees is this: 'Such is form, such its origin, such its disappearance; such is feeling, such its origin, such its disappearance; such is perception...such are mental formations (fabrications)...such is consciousness, such its origin, such its disappearance.' [These are the Five Aggregates clung to as self.]

"Because of this, I say, a Wayfarer — with the ending, fading out, cessation, letting go, and relinquishment of all speculation and thinking, all I-making and mine-making and obsessions with conceit [the habit of seeing everything in terms of an I or self or soul] — is, through lack of clinging (that sustains it), liberated."

"But, Master Gotama [the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama], the meditator whose mind/heart is thus liberated, where does that person reappear [where is that being reborn]?"

"'The designation 'reappear,' Vaccha, does not apply."

"In that case, Master Gotama, that person does not reappear."

"The designation 'does not reappear,' Vaccha, does not apply."

"In that case, Master Gotama, that person both does and does not reappear."

"Vaccha... [that designation] does not apply."

"In that case, Master Gotama, that person 'neither does nor does not reappear."

"Vaccha... [that designation] does not apply."

"How is it, Master Gotama, when Master Gotama is asked if the meditator reappears [is reborn]... does not reappear... both does and does not reappear... neither does nor does not reappear [which exhausts the four logical possibilities], he says, 'that designation does not apply' in each case?

"At this point, Master Gotama, I am befuddled. At this point, I am confused. The small amount of clarity coming to me from your earlier conversation is now obscured."

"Of course you are befuddled, Vaccha, of course you are confused. Deep, Vaccha, is this dhamma [reality, teaching, ultimate truth], hard to see, hard to realize, tranquil, refined, beyond the scope of conjecture, subtle, to-be-experienced by the wise.

"For those holding other views [other doctrines or dhammas], other practices, other goals that would satisfy them, other aims, other teachers, it is difficult to know [and see]. That being the case, I will now put some questions to you. Answer as you see fit.

"What do you think, Vaccha, if a fire were burning in front of you, would you know, 'This fire is burning in front of me'?"

"Yes..."

"And, Vaccha, suppose someone were to ask you, 'This fire burning in front of you, dependent on what is it burning?' Thus asked, how would you reply?"

"...I would reply, 'This fire burning in front of me is burning dependent on grass and timber as its fuel (sustenance).'"

"If the fire burning in front of you were to go out, would you know, 'This fire burning in front of me has gone out'?"

"Yes..."

"And, Vaccha, suppose someone were to ask you, 'This fire that has gone out in front of you, in which direction has it gone? East? West? North? South?' Thus asked, how would you reply?"

"That does not apply, Master Gotama. Any fire burning dependent on fuel fed by grass and timber, being unnourished — from having consumed that fuel and not being offered any other — is classified simply as 'out' [extinguished, unbound, no longer clinging to fuel]."

"Just so, Vaccha, any physical form by which one describing the Wayfarer would describe him, that the Wayfarer has abandoned, its root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump [that does not grow back once it is cut down], deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future rearising.

"Freed from the classification of form, Vaccha, the Wayfarer is deep, boundless (unbound), hard to fathom, like the sea. 'Reappears [is reborn]' does not apply. 'Does not reappear' does not apply. 'Both does and does not reappear' does not apply. 'Neither reappears nor does not reappear' does not apply.

Wow, who knew there was so much to see!

"Any feeling... Any perception... Any mental formation (fabrication)... "Any consciousness by which one describing the Wayfarer would describe him, that the Wayfarer has abandoned, its root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future rearising.

"Freed from the classification of consciousness, Vaccha, the Tathagata is deep, boundless, hard to fathom, like the sea [of space]" (MN 72).

• Ven. Thanissaro (American Geoffrey DeGraff) Noble Conversation: A Study Guide altered (restored to customary rather than idiosyncratic translation of terms where possible) and edited by Wisdom Quarterly 

(British Monk) Who needs more than the sutras?

Dharma versus Defilements

Ajahn Maha Boowa via Ven. Sujato, Ellie Askew; BDict; Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Everything may seem fine, but it isn't.

Without Dharma, there can be no genuine progress in the world or in Buddhism [the Buddha's path-of-practice]. When there is Dharma, there will be peace and happiness because Dharma is selflessness.

• [Dharma = "Truth, natural law, what the Buddha taught, regularity on a cosmic scale, true nature of things/existence; that which bears its own nature (as opposed to a conditional thing); the opposite of the defilements."]

With Dharma, we’ll see that all human beings are the same, and we’ll have loving-kindness, compassion, and unselfish concern for the welfare of others.

Without Dharma, we’ll put ourselves above others. Although we’re bad, we’ll be deluded into thinking that we’re good. That’s why Dharma is indispensable.

When a person, a society, or a country has Dharma, there’ll be peace. When there is no Dharma, there’ll be strife. When our hearts are ruled by the defilements (kilesas), it will be engulfed by fire.

The Buddha and all the sages of the present and past never praised the defilements, craving (attachment), and the taints (kilesas, tanha, and asavas) — greed, hatred, and delusion — because they agitate and torment the heart.

Who can be wiser than a buddha, a perfectly-enlightened teacher? All buddhas realize and make known the same essential teaching. They praise the things that are worthy of praise and censure the things that are worthy of censure.

They teach us to let go of the things that should be let go of [if we wish make an end of suffering] and to develop the things that should be developed [if we wish to gain enlightenment] for the sake of establishing peace and happiness within our heart and living a peaceful existence.

If we can let go of some of these things, we’ll be more peaceful and have fewer defilements [manifesting themselves in our lives].

If we can totally let go of everything, we’ll be completely free from the defilements and become a noble [i.e., enlightened] and superior being.

What can afflict the heart if not the defilements that have ignorance (avijja) as their root? Any behavior directed by the defilements can only produce trouble and affliction.

The defilements are troublesome, whereas Dharma is cool, peaceful, and pleasing to the eyes and ears.

• There are other impurities, corruptions, imperfections
• The "fetters" that bind beings to rebirth in samsara

What are the "defilements"?

Ven. Nyanatiloka (a.k.a. Anton W. F. Gueth), Buddhist Dictionary: A Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines via the German website palikanon.com, edited by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

The defilements or kilesas are mind/heart-defiling, unwholesome qualities. According to The Path of Purification (Vis.M. XXII, 49, 65):

  

"There are ten defilements, so called because they are themselves defiled and because they defile the mental factors associated with them. They are:

(1) greed (lobha) 

(2) aversion (dosa)

(3) delusion (moha) 

(4) conceit (māna)

(5) speculative views (ditthi) 

(6) skeptical doubt (vicikicchā) 

(7) mental torpor (thīna)

(8) restlessness (uddhacca)

(9) shamelessness (ahirika)

(10) lack of conscience or moral dread (anottappa)." 

For 1-3, see "roots" or mūla; for 6-8, see "hindrances" or nīvarana; for 9 and 10, see ahirika-anottappa. These ten are explained in Dhs. 1229f and enumerated in Vibh. XII. No classification of the defilements is found in the sutras ("discourses"), though the term occurs quite often in them. For the related term, upakkilesa ("impurities"), different lists are given. - (Appendix)

The "Treasures" (sutra)

Ven. Thanissaro (trans.) Ratana Sutra (Sn 2.1); edited and expanded by Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; alternate translation: Ven. Piyadassi (sutra also appears at Khp 6)

The ancient Vedic swastika is still a mark of enlightenment in Asian iconography.

.

Whatever devas have gathered here -- upon the earth or in the sky -- may you all be happy and listen intently to what I say. Devas, be attentive. Show kindness toward human beings. Day and night they give offerings so, being heedful, protect them.

Whatever wealth -- here or beyond -- whatever marvelous treasure there may be in celestial spheres does not, for us, equal the Welcome One (the Buddha, the Tathagata, the Wayfarer). This, too, is a marvelous treasure in the Buddha. By this truth may there be well-being.

The marvelous Deathless -- ending, dispassion (nirvana) -- discovered by the Shakyan Sage in meditation, there is nothing to equal that Dharma. This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Dharma. By this truth may there be well-being.
 

Treasured relics are stored away in stupas, ancient burial mounds from the Ukraine.

 
What the excellent Enlightened One extolled as pure and called the meditation [insight, coherence, samadhi] of unmediated knowing [direct realization] no equal to that meditation can be found. This, too, is a marvelous treasure in the Dharma. By this truth may there be well-being.

The eight persons -- the four pairs [males and females] -- praised by those at peace [the fully enlightened], they are true disciples of the Well-Gone One and are worthy of offerings. What is given to them bears great karmic fruit. This, too, is an marvelous treasure in the Sangha. By this truth may there be well-being.

Those who -- devoted, firm-minded -- apply themselves to Gautama's instruction, on attaining the goal [of enlightenment and nirvana] plunge into the Deathless, freely enjoying the unequaled liberation they have gained. This, too, is an marvelous treasure in the Sangha. By this truth may there be well-being.

An Indra pillar (tall hardwood post at the entrance of a village) planted in the earth that even the four winds cannot shake, that, I tell you, is like the noble [arya, enlightened] person, who -- having thoroughly comprehended the Four Noble Truths -- directly sees. This, too, is a marvelous treasure in the Sangha. By this truth may there be well-being.

Those who have seen clearly the noble truths well-taught by the one of deep wisdom -- regardless of what [later] might make them heedless -- will come to no eighth state of rebirth.

• A stream-enterer is a person who has reached the first stage of enlightenment, who will be reborn at most seven more times with none of those birth occurring falling below the human plane.

This, too, is a marvelous treasure in the Sangha. By this truth may there be well-being.

At the moment of attaining liberating insight, one abandons three things:

1. identity-view [belief in an eternal self or identity]
2. uncertainty [skeptical doubt]
3. any attachment to [the view that rites and rituals or precepts and practices can themselves lead to enlightenment].

• These three are the fetters (samyojanas) abandoned when one gains the first glimpse of nirvana at stream-entry (the moment when one enters the stream to full enlightenment).

One is completely released from the four states of deprivation [which are unfortunate states of rebirth that result from unskillful karma*].

• *The Downfall (niraya) refers collectively to four states of deprivation: rebirth as an animal, hungry ghost, angry demon, or denizen of various hells/purgatories (naraka). In the Buddhist cosmology, none of these states is eternal but may last aeons (kalpas, which also has the meaning of "normal lifespan" rather than a literal aeon).

And such persons are now incapable of committing the six great wrongs.

• Six great wrongs: matricide, patricide, murdering an arhat (a fully enlightened individual), wounding a buddha, causing a schism in the Monastic Community (Sangha), or taking anyone other than a buddha as one's foremost teacher.

This, too, is a marvelous treasure in the Sangha. By this truth may there be well-being.

Whatever unskillful deed one may do -- by body, speech, or mind -- one cannot conceal it: an incapability ascribed to one who has seen the Path. This, too, is a marvelous treasure in the Sangha. By this truth may there be well-being.

Like a forest grove with flowering tops during the first month in the heat of the summer, so is the foremost Dharma he taught, for the highest benefit, leading to nirvana [complete freedom, liberation from all further rebirth and suffering]. This, too, is a marvelous treasure in the Buddha. By this truth may there be well-being.

Foremost, foremost-knowing, foremost-giving, foremost-bringing, unexcelled, he taught the foremost Dharma. This, too, is a marvelous treasure in the Buddha. By this truth may there be well-being.

Ending the old, there is no new taking rebirth. Grown dispassionate toward any further becoming [rebirth, continued wandering on through the Wheel of Life and Death], minds/hearts, they -- freed of seed and desire for growth -- the wise now free go out like this flame. This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Sangha. By this truth may there be well-being.

Whatever devas have gathered here -- upon the earth or in the sky -- let us honor the Buddha, the Tathagata esteemed by humans and devas. May there be well-being.

Whatever devas have gathered here -- upon the earth or in the sky -- let us honor the Dharma and the Tathagata [Wayfarer, Welcome One, Well-Gone One] esteemed by humans and devas. May there be well-being.

Whatever devas have gathered here -- upon the earth or in the sky -- let us honor the Sangha and the Tathagata esteemed by humans and devas. May there be well-being.

Purifying the Mind/Heart (Bhikkhu Bodhi)

Bhikkhu Bodhi, "Purification of Mind" (BPS/ATI); Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Buddha at Battambang, Cambodia (Kim Seng/CaptainKino.com/flickr)

Mind matters: materiality and mentality, kalapas and cittas (wellhappypeaceful.com)

  

Free your mind; the rest will follow.

An ancient maxim found in the Dhammapada sums up the practice of the Buddha's teaching in three simple guidelines to training: to abstain from all harm, to cultivate good, and to purify one's mind.

 

These three principles form a graded sequence of steps progressing from the outward and preparatory to the inward and essential. Each step leads naturally into the one that follows it, and the culmination of the three in purification of mind makes it plain that the heart of Buddhist practice is to be found here.

 

Purification of mind as understood in the Buddha's teaching is the sustained endeavor to cleanse the mind (citta, heart) of defilements, those unwholesome mental forces that run beneath the surface stream of consciousness vitiating our intentions, thinking, values, attitudes, and actions.

 

(Inquiring Mind)

The chief among the defilements are the three that the Buddha has termed the "roots of [all] harm" -- greed, hatred, and delusion -- from which emerge their numerous offshoots and variants: anger and cruelty, avarice and envy, conceit and arrogance, hypocrisy and vanity [pride, personality view, wrong view regarding ego], the multitude of erroneous views.

The "defilements" are heart-defiling, unwholesome qualities of mind: "There are ten defilements, so called because they are themselves defiled and because they defile the mental factors associated with them:
(1) greed, (2) hate, (3) delusion, (4) conceit, (5) speculative views, (6) skeptical doubt, (7) mental torpor, (8) restlessness, (9) shamelessness,(10) lack of moral dread or unconscientiousness (Vis.M. XXII, 49, 65)." (For further information on 1-3, see mūla; 4, see māna; 5, see ditthi; 6-8, see nīvarana; 9 and 10, see ahirika-anottappa.

   These ten are explained in the Commentaries, but no classification of them is found in the sutras even though the term occurs frequently. The "impurities" (upakkilesa) are: 16 moral impurities of the mind mentioned and explained in MN 7 and MN 8 (The Wheel #61/62): (1) covetousness and harmful greed, (2) ill will, (3) anger, (4) hostility, (5) denigration, (6) domineering, (7) envy, (8) stinginess, (9) hypocrisy, (10) fraud, (11) obstinacy, (12) presumption, (13) conceit, (14) arrogance, (15) vanity, and (16) negligence.

 

Contemporary attitudes look unfavorably on such notions as "defilement" and "purity." On first encounter they may strike us as throwbacks to an outdated morality, valid perhaps when prudes and taboos were dominant, but having no place now. Not all of us wallow in the mire of gross materialism; many among us seek our enlightenments and spiritual highs, but we want them on our own terms. And as heirs of the new freedom we believe they are to be won through a hungry quest for experience without any need for introspection, personal change, or self-control.

 

However in the Buddha's teaching, genuine enlightenment lies precisely in purity of mind. The purpose of all insight and enlightened understanding is to liberate the mind from the defilements (taints, fetters, distortions). Nirvana itself, the goal of the teaching, is defined quite clearly as freedom from greed, hatred, and delusion.

 

From the perspective of the Dharma, defilement and purity are not postulates of authoritarian moralism but real and solid facts essential to an objective understanding of the human situation in the world.

 

As facts of lived experience, defilement and purity pose a vital distinction with crucial significance for those who seek liberation from suffering. They represent the two points between which the path to liberation unfolds -- the starting point of the problem and its resolution in the end. The defilements, the Buddha declares, reside beneath all human suffering. Burning within as lust and craving, as rage and resentment, delusion and wrong views, they lay to waste hearts, minds, lives, hopes, and civilizations. They drive us blind and thirsty over and over again through the round of birth and death.

Cultivate constant mindfulness.

The Buddha describes the defilements as bonds, fetters, hindrances, and knots. So the path to liberation, unbonding, release, to untying the knots is a discipline aimed at inward cleansing.

 

The work of purification is undertaken where the defilements arise, in the mind, and the main method the Dharma offers for purifying the mind is meditation.

What is meditation not? Meditation in Buddhist training is neither a quest for ecstasies (forms of bliss derived from concentration and absorption) nor a technique of DIY psychotherapy, stress reduction, or relaxation. What is it? Meditation is a systematic method of mental development -- precise, practical, and efficiently leading to an objective -- to attain inner purity and complete freedom.

 

The principal tools of Buddhist meditation are the core skillful mental factors: energy, mindfulness, concentration, and understanding. In the systematic practice of meditation, these are strengthened and brought together in a program of self-purification that aims at rooting out the defilements so that not even the subtlest unwholesome stirrings remain.

 

All defiled states of consciousness are born of ignorance. The most deeply embedded defilement is undone, with the final and ultimate purification of mind being accomplished through wisdom -- the knowledge and vision of things as they really are.

 

Wisdom, however, does not spontaneously arise through chance or random good intentions. It only arises in a purified mind. In order for wisdom to come forth and accomplish the ultimate purification of eradicating the defilements, we first have to create a space for it.

Big Buddha, Tian Tan (discoverhongkong.com)

This is done by developing a provisional purification of mind -- a purification which, although temporary and vulnerable, is still indispensable as a foundation for the emergence of all liberating-insight.

 

The achievement of this preparatory purification of mind begins with the challenge of self-understanding. To eliminate defilements we must first learn to recognize them, to detect them at work infiltrating and dominating our everyday thoughts and lives.

For countless aeons we have acted on the spur of greed, hatred, and delusion. So the work of self-purification cannot be executed hastily with our demand for quick results. The task requires care, patience, and persistence -- and the Buddha's clear instructions.

For every defilement the Buddha out of compassion gave an antidote, a method to emerge from it and vanquish it. By learning these principles and applying them properly, we gradually cleanse the most stubborn inner stains and reach the end of suffering, the "taintless liberation of the mind."

Mara and the "Day of the Dead" (sutra)

Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells, Xochitl, Irma Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly based Ven. Thanissaro (trans.),  Marapasa Sutta, "Death's Influence" (SN 35.115)

Sugar candy skulls (calaveras) characteristic of Day of the Dead celebrations (ALC)

Mara, the personification of death and defilements (Dia de los Muertos, Los Angeles 2007)

 

Drama Queen Gaga (latestwallpapers.net)

"Meditators, there are forms cognizable by the eye -- enticing, agreeable, pleasing, charming, endearing, giving rise to desire. If one relishes them, welcomes them, and remains clinging to them, one is said to be fettered by forms cognizable by the eye.

"One has gone over to Mara's camp [the place of death and defilements; one has fallen under Mara's [the Killer's] influence. The 'Evil One' [Namuci] can do with one as he wills.

 

Demon in Taoism (asiaobcura.com)

"There are sounds cognizable by the ear... There are fragrances cognizable by the nose... There are flavors cognizable by the tongue... There are tactile sensations cognizable by the body...

 

"There are ideas cognizable by the mind -- enticing, agreeable, pleasing, charming, endearing, giving rise to desire. If one relishes them, welcomes them, and remains clinging to them, one is said to be fettered by ideas cognizable by the mind. One has gone over to Mara's camp; one has fallen under Mara's influence. The 'Evil One' can do with one as he wills.
 

We really die. Deceased Nazi soldier in advanced stage of decomposition (Jesse Davis)

 
Escaping death

Buddha, Likir Gompa (Fulvio/Ifphotos/flickr)

"Now [as has just been said], there are forms cognizable by the eye -- enticing, agreeable, pleasing, charming, endearing, giving rise to desire.

"But if one abandons relishing them, welcoming them, or clinging to them, one is said to be freed from forms cognizable by the eye.

"One has avoided Mara's camp; one has avoided falling under Mara's influence.
 
 "The 'Evil One' is helpless to do with one as he wills.
 

"There are sounds cognizable by the ear... fragrances cognizable by the nose... flavors cognizable by the tongue... tactile sensations cognizable by the body... There are ideas cognizable by the mind -- enticing, agreeable, pleasing, charming, endearing, giving rise to desire.

 

"If one abandons relishing them, welcoming them, or clinging to them, one is said to be freed of ideas cognizable by the mind. One has avoided Mara's camp; one has avoided falling under Mara's influence.

"The 'Evil One' is helpless to do with one as he wills."

10 Defilements
Kilesas from Abhidharma and Path of Purification

1. Greed
2. Hate
3. Delusion
4. Conceit
5. Wrong views
6. Doubt
7. Torpor 
8. Restlessness
9. Shamelessness 
10. Recklessness

Mara's Army

Ven. Nyanamoli (trans), Life of the Buddha, p. 20 (Sutta Nipata III, 2).

Yama: Lord of Death

Mara, your first squadron is Sensual-Desires, your second is called Boredom, then Hunger and Thirst compose the third, and Craving is the fourth in rank, the fifth is Sloth and Torpor, while Cowardice lines up as sixth, Uncertainty is seventh, the eighth is Malice paired with Obstinacy; Gain, Honor, and Renown, besides, and ill-won Notoriety, Self-Praise and Denigrating Others -- these are your squadrons, Namuci; these are the Evil One's fighting squadrons; none but the brave will conquer them to gain bliss by the victory [nirvana].

• The Many Maras, literal and figurative (Prof. Guruge)

What is "Mara"?
Prof. Ananda W.P. Guruge, The Buddha's Encounters with Mara the Tempter: Their Representation in Literature and Art (edited by Wisdom Quarterly)

Mexico: skulls celebrating the festival Day of the Dead (diarioelamanecer.com)

 
In the Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, G.P. Malalasekera explains: Mara in the commentarial literature becomes much more than a living individual:

1. "Mention is made of five maras: Khandha-mara [Five Aggregates], Kilesa-mara [defilements], Abhisankhara-mara [karmic constructions], Maccu-mara [Death], and Devaputta-mara [a young deity]. Elsewhere Mara is spoken of as one, three, or four."
2. "The term Mara, in the older books, is applied to the whole of worldly existence, the Five Aggregates, or the realm of rebirth, as opposed to nirvana."
3. Commentaries speaking of three maras specify them as Devaputta-mara, Maccu-mara, and Kilesa-mara. When four maras are referred to, they appear to be the five maras mentioned in (i) above minus Devaputta Mara.

Malalasekera proceeds to attempt "a theory of Mara in Buddhism," which he formulates in the following manner:
 

"The commonest use of the word was evidently in the sense of Death. From this it was extended to mean 'the world under the sway of death' (also called Maradheyya, e.g. AN IV 228) and the beings therein. Then, the defilements (kilesas) also came to be called Mara in that they were instruments of Death, the causes enabling Death to hold sway over the world. All temptations brought about by the defilements were likewise regarded as the work of Death. There was also evidently a legend of a deva [devaputta, literally "son or offspring of the devas"] of the Vasavatti World called Mara, who considered himself the head of the Kama-vacara world [the Sensual Sphere] and who recognized any attempt to curb the enjoyment of sensual pleasures as a direct challenge to himself and to his authority. As time went on these different conceptions of the word became confused one with the other, but this confusion is not always difficult to unravel." More

"Day of the Dead"

Skull face (festivalearth.com)

DEFINITION: The Day of the Dead is a holiday is a time of family gatherings with friends to remember and pray for friends and family members who have passed. It is celebrated in Mexico and elsewhere. The celebration takes place on October 31st and November 1st and 2nd in connection with the Christian triduum of Hallowmas: All Hallows' Eve, All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. Activities include building private altars called "offerings" (ofrendas) honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts. Celebrants also leave possessions of the deceased. Scholars trace the origins of the modern Mexican holiday to indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years and to an Aztec festival dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl. More

El Dia de los Muertos

Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells, Xochitl, Irma Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly

Dia de Los Muertos skull sugar candy for the dead (paintersoflouisville.com)

 

Tutorial (fromdahliastodoxies)

The USA is eagerly embracing a second Mexican holiday tradition in addition to Cinco de Mayo -- the Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos.
 
This is an ancient practice predating Spanish invasion and conquest, European hegemony, and Catholic domination. The practice, in fact, exists around the world.
 
Everywhere people remember those who have passed and attempt to help them along in the afterlife. This was the main focus of Egyptian religion and even prehistoric practices, judging by funereal evidence at archeological sites. Why else are the dearly departed dressed, prepared, and buried with valuable object of use only to living beings? Belief in rebirth is the norm -- even if one merely believes in one more life in only one of two planes as is promulgated by Christians.
 

(individualreisen-mexiko.de)

Somehow everyone seems to know that "the veil is thin" between the worlds. Ghosts (a catchall for all the shapeshifting oddities of the unfortunate spirit world, the apaya or downfall) are easier to perceive. Hellions (narakas) may get out for a day, not from the lowest worlds of torment perhaps but from the less oppressive levels of "hell."
 
Creatures, ghouls, goblins, poltergeists, banshees, phantoms, spectres, shadows, ghosts (petas) are all about under ordinary circumstances, their world not being so far off but just a frequency away. The worlds intermingle, laying atop one another, at differing vibrational rates. Mexico is not alone in celebrating and honoring "the ancestors" (los muertos, "the dead" central to the holiday).
 
Pagan or Catholic?

We rule countries after invasion!

But in Catholic and Mayan/Aztec-influenced Mexico as well as adjacent Southern California, large communities go en masse to cemeteries to refresh flowers, bring supplies (candy, alcohol, tobacco, etc.), and remember or reestablish connections with departed loved ones.

Catholicism (and other forms of Christianity like Protestantism, Eastern Orthodox, etc.), with its replacement observances, often usurped ancient holidays and co-oped them to its own ends. Christianity was a Roman psychological operation, one of the most successful propaganda campaigns the world has ever seen. But not all people neglect the indigenous origins of the appropriated celebrations in spite of the imperial killers.

When Roman psy-ops rule the world

As for the dead, there are the "grateful dead," who appreciate a favor or a last wish being fulfilled for them. These are ghosts who do not linger but move on to be reborn in proper (rather than intermediary) planes of existence.
 
A few troublesome or restless spirits are laid to rest and encouraged to move along according to their karma. Who are our "ancestors," our departed "relatives"? The Buddha said that they consist of those extended family members going back seven generations, quite a coincidence since Native American peoples believe the same thing.