#Linked Discourses 4

Depressed, Māra laments to his three daughters of his failure to distract the Buddha. So they take on the task themselves, and assume a variety of sensuous forms to tempt him. But they fail too, and Māra castigates them for being so presumptuousAnd then Māra the Wicked, after reciting these verses of disillusionment in the Buddha’s presence, left that place. He sat cross-legged on the ground not far from the Buddha, silent, embarrassed, shoulders drooping, downcast, depressed, with nothing to say, scratching the ground with a stick. [Read More]

Māra has tried to distract the Buddha for seven years without success. He laments his failure with the similes of a crab whose limbs are smashed by a group of children, and a crow who tried to eat a stone.So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Uruvelā at the goatherd’s banyan tree on the bank of the Nerañjarā River. Now at that time Māra the Wicked had been following the Buddha for seven years hoping to find a vulnerability without success. [Read More]

Venerable Godhika finds himself repeatedly falling away from his meditation attainments due to severe illness. Eventually he considers suicide, and Māra tries to get the Buddha to deter him. But the Buddha says Godhika has already attained awakening and has died blamelessly.So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha, in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels’ feeding ground. Now at that time Venerable Godhika was staying on the slopes of Isigili at the Black Rock. [Read More]

Māra repeatedly pesters the monk Samiddhi when he is on retreat. The Buddha encourages him, until eventually Samiddhi is able to recognize Māra for himself.At one time the Buddha was staying in the land of the Sakyans near Silāvatī. Now at that time Venerable Samiddhi was meditating not far from the Buddha, diligent, keen, and resolute. Then as Venerable Samiddhi was in private retreat this thought came to his mind, “I’m so fortunate, so very fortunate, to have a teacher who is a perfected one, a fully awakened Buddha! [Read More]

Māra approaches some young mendicants as an old brahmin, and tries to tempt them with talk of the pleasures of youth.So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying in the land of the Sakyans near Silāvatī. Now at that time several mendicants were meditating not far from the Buddha, diligent, keen, and resolute. Then Māra the Wicked manifested in the form of a brahmin with a large matted dreadlock, wearing an antelope hide. [Read More]

The Buddha wonders whether it is possible to rule justly, without violence. Māra appears and encourages the Buddha to purse such a path.At one time the Buddha was staying in the land of the Kosalans, in a wilderness hut on the slopes of the Himalayas. Then as he was in private retreat this thought came to his mind, “I wonder if it’s possible to rule legitimately, without killing or having someone kill for you; without conquering or having someone conquer for you; without sorrowing or causing sorrow? [Read More]

While the mendicants are listening to the teachings, Māra takes the form of a farmer looking for lost oxen and addresses the Buddha.At Sāvatthī. Now at that time the Buddha was educating, encouraging, firing up, and inspiring the mendicants with a Dhamma talk about extinguishment. And those mendicants were paying heed, paying attention, engaging wholeheartedly, and lending an ear. Then Māra thought, “The ascetic Gotama is giving a Dhamma talk about extinguishment … and the mendicants are listening well. [Read More]

Māra ensures that the Buddha fails to get alms, but the Buddha is happy to feed on joy.At one time the Buddha was staying in the land of the Magadhans near the brahmin village of Pañcasālā. Now at that time in Pañcasālā the young women were taking care of guests. Then the Buddha robed up in the morning and, taking his bowl and robe, entered Pañcasālā for alms. Now at that time Māra had possessed the brahmins and householders of Pañcasālā, so that they thought, “Don’t let the ascetic Gotama get any alms! [Read More]

While the mendicants are listening to the teachings, Māra makes an awful roar to distract them.At one time the Buddha was staying near Vesālī, at the Great Wood, in the hall with the peaked roof. Now at that time the Buddha was educating, encouraging, firing up, and inspiring the mendicants with a Dhamma talk on the topic of the six fields of contact. And those mendicants were paying heed, paying attention, engaging wholeheartedly, and lending an ear. [Read More]

While the mendicants are listening to the teachings, Māra takes the form of an ox and looks as if he will break their almsbowls.At Sāvatthī. Now at that time the Buddha was educating, encouraging, firing up, and inspiring the mendicants with a Dhamma talk on the topic of the five grasping aggregates. And those mendicants were paying heed, paying attention, engaging wholeheartedly, and lending an ear. Then Māra thought, “This ascetic Gotama is educating, encouraging, firing up, and inspiring the mendicants with a Dhamma talk on the topic of the five grasping aggregates. [Read More]