Continuing with this month’s selections about Māra, the Evil One...

Saṁyutta Nikāya
SN 4.16 Pattasutta:
Almsbowls

At Savatthi. Now on that occasion the Blessed One was instructing, exhorting, inspiring, and gladdening the bhikkhus with a Dhamma talk concerning the five aggregates subject to clinging. And those bhikkhus were listening to the Dhamma with eager ears, attending to it as a matter of vital concern, applying their whole minds to it.

Then it occurred to Mara the Evil One: “This ascetic Gotama is instructing, exhorting, inspiring, and gladdening the bhikkhus … who are applying their whole minds to it. Let me approach the ascetic Gotama in order to confound them.”

Now on that occasion a number of almsbowls had been put out in the open. Then Mara the Evil One manifested himself in the form of an ox and approached those almsbowls. Then one bhikkhu said to another: “Bhikkhu, bhikkhu! That ox may break the almsbowls.” When this was said, the Blessed One said to that bhikkhu: “That is not an ox, bhikkhu. That is Mara the Evil One, who has come here in order to confound you.”

Then the Blessed One, having understood, “This is Mara the Evil One,” addressed Mara the Evil One in verses:

“Form, feeling, and perception,
Consciousness, and formations—
‘I am not this, this isn’t mine,’
Thus one is detached from it.

“Though they seek him everywhere,
Mara and his army do not find him:
The one thus detached, secure,
Who has gone beyond all ’fetters.”

Then Mara the Evil One … disappeared right there.

https://suttacentral.net/sn4.16/en/bodhi?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false

"You cannot manage your last thought moment. You cannot just click it like a switch”

Question: "What is the last thought moment before someone dies? Can the person be mindful?"

Than Ajahn: "No, you misunderstand it. You cannot manage your last thought moment. You cannot just click it like a switch. Your last thought is the summation of all the kammas you’ve done from the time you were born to the present moment. The last thought will be automatic. You cannot click it to turn it on or turn it off. It’s because you cannot control your mind.

“You can only control the mind by gradually training it. You teach the mind to think in a certain way. If you don’t teach it, the mind will automatically think the way it’s used to think. Your last moment of life is the summation of your good and bad kamma. The stronger kamma will then lead the mind. If your good kamma is stronger, it will be the one that leads the mind. If your bad kamma is the stronger one, then it will be the one to lead your mind.

“So, this is why the Buddha said that we should stop doing bad kamma. Try to keep doing good kamma. Because at the end of our life, we are left with good kamma to lead our life if we stop doing bad kamma and keep doing good kamma.

“The best of all good kamma is to be mindful. That’s why I told you to do it now. You cannot wait until your last moment to do it. You have to do it every day from the time you get up to the time you go to sleep. Keep stopping your thought. If you can do it, then at your last moment, you can stop your thoughts. If you cannot do it now, at your last moment you will not be able to stop your thoughts.

“Most people misunderstand this. People want to take it easy. They think that they’ll just wait until their last moment. They think at the last moment, they can just tell the mind to be peaceful and calm. They can’t.

“When you are sick, you cannot be peaceful and calm. When you know you’re going to die, you cannot be peaceful and calm. You have to learn how to be peaceful and calm now, before you die. Then, if you know how to do it, when you are going to die, you can be peaceful and calm."
~Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

Life is short. You want to make sure you put the time you have to the best use. And the best use is training your own mind.

Everything else you do comes out of the mind. Whether it’s things you do with the body, words you say with your speech, it all has to come from the mind. Your interactions with other people are going to be skillful or unskillful based on how well your mind is trained. So this should be the prime focus, your first priority when you’re looking at your life to decide what’s important, what needs to be done.

From: A Rare Gift by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

GOOD ROLE MODELS

For two months in 1967 a course on "Basic Persuasion" at Oregon State University was attended by a mysterious figure. The person was draped entirely in a black bag, with only his bare feet visible. He sat quietly at the back of the class, his identity known only to the professor teaching the course. The students referred to the person as "Black Bag". They guessed that perhaps some kind of experiment might be in progress, but they had no idea what it might be. In fact, the subject of the experiment was the student;s changing reactions to Black Bag. Over two months the professor noted how these reactions changed from hostility to curiosity to friendship. Although the mysterious person had done nothing and said not a word from the day he had arrived, the students feelings had changed. The only explanation for this change was familiarity. The discovery that people will come to like things solely on the basis of familiarity has been utilized to great effect over the years by advertisers, marketers and confidence tricksters.

The power of familiarity is a fruitful object of contemplation for Dhamma practitioners. Here are just two reflections: How many defilements do we hold onto with affection, simply because they are so familiar to us that they now seem to be part of who we are? On the other hand, how does familiarity with good role models enable to us to make positive changes in our life that we would be unable to achieve alone?

Ajahn Jayasāro
9/7/24

Saṁyutta Nikāya
SN 5.2 Somāsutta:
Soma

At Savatthi. Then, in the morning, the bhikkhuni Soma dressed and, taking bowl and robe, entered Savatthi for alms. When she had walked for alms in Savatthi and had returned from her alms round, after her meal she went to the Blind Men’s Grove for the day’s abiding. Having plunged into the Blind Men’s Grove, she sat down at the foot of a tree for the day’s abiding.

Then Mara the Evil One, desiring to arouse fear, trepidation, and terror in the bhikkhuni Soma, desiring to make her fall away from concentration, approached her and addressed her in verse:

“That state so hard to achieve
Which is to be attained by the seers,
Can’t be attained by a woman
With her two-fingered wisdom.”

Then it occurred to the bhikkhuni Soma: “Now who is this that recited the verse—a human being or a nonhuman being?” Then it occurred to her: “This is Mara the Evil One, who has recited the verse desiring to arouse fear, trepidation, and terror in me, desiring to make me fall away from concentration.”

Then the bhikkhuni Soma, having understood, “This is Mara the Evil One,” replied to him in verses:

“What does womanhood matter at all
When the mind is concentrated well,
When knowledge flows on steadily
As one sees correctly into Dhamma.

“One to whom it might occur,
‘I’m a woman’ or ‘I’m a man’
Or ‘I’m anything at all’—
Is fit for Mara to address.”

Then Mara the Evil One, realizing, “The bhikkhuni Soma knows me,” sad and disappointed, disappeared right there.

https://suttacentral.net/sn5.2/en/bodhi?lang=en

Dhammapada
Dhp 7 From… Yamaka Vagga:
Pairs

1. Whoever lives focused on pleasant things, with their sense faculties unguarded, immoderate in eating, lazy and sluggish, will be overpowered by Māra, just as a storm throws down a weak tree.

The Wisdom of the Buddha

On one occasion, Ven.Sāriputta proclaimed that there was no other teacher in the past, the present or the future whose wisdom could exceed that of the Buddha. The Buddha responded by asking Ven.Sāriputta for the basis on which he was making such a "grand and dramatic statement". Did he comprehend the minds of the Buddhas of the past and future ? Did he comprehend the mind of the Buddha sitting in front of him ? Ven.Sāriputta conceded that he could not comprehend the minds of Buddhas. Nevertheless, he stood by his statement, and offered an analogy to explain why the Buddha's wisdom might be equalled, but never surpassed.

"Suppose there were a king's capital city with a strong wall built around it, with a patrol path and a single gate. It also has a gatekeeper who is wise, experienced and clever. He keeps strangers out and lets known people in. As he walks around the patrol path, he doesn't see a single hole or crack in the wall, not even one big enough for a cat to slip in. He'd think, "Whatever sizeable creatures enter or leave the city, all of them do so through this gate."

In same way, Lord, i understand by inference from the Dhamma: All the fully enlightened Buddhas - whether of the past, present or future:
abandoned the five hindrances, corruptions of the mind that weaken wisdom.
Their mind is firmly established in the four foundations of mindfulness. They correctly develop the seven awakening factors. As a result they attain to the supreme enlightenment."

Ajahn Jayasāro
29/6/24

Ajahn Brahm will be teaching this weekend.

??????, ?? ??? ???? | ?:?? ?? Perth/SG/KL (GMT+8) | Dhamma talk by Ajahn Brahm | YouTube Live: https://www.youtube.com/live/bMRRn0qzCLw

????????, ?? ??? ???? | ? ?? Perth/SG/KL (GMT+8) | Guided Meditation by Ajahn Brahm | YouTube Live: https://www.youtube.com/live/Vvjwy_Oyzyg

Nibbida {Disenchantment)

Sometimes we look back on a former belief that we used to hold onto strongly in a person perhaps, or a relationship or an institution. Now, in retrospect we wonder at how unquestioning that belief used to be. It almost seems as if we were under some kind of spell.

Similarly, as our understanding of the three characteristics of existence deepens we wonder at how much we used to believe in permanence, sukha and self. It seems like some kind of enchantment. And an emotions arises dependent on this clearer vision - nibbida, a corresponding disenchantment. In Thai, the most common translation of nibbida is not the normal kind of boredom, which is always prompted by some degree of aversion. It is the lack of interest in watching a magic show once you know it is done. You were enchanted and now you are not. Disenchantment might not seem like a milestone on the spiritual path to look forward to. But a life without enchantment is not a life without joy. It is a life with a different kind of joy. A better kind.

Ajahn Jayasāro
22/6/24