Māra

Presentation

It is the antithesis of Buddha.

Māra trying to allure the Buddha

Whereas Gautama remained sitted under the tree of Bodhi until reaching the illumination, Māra, the malignant one, the tempter, sent his daughters to allure it while dancing - but Gautama hardly opened the eyes; the girls disappeared.

Then Māra denied the awakening of Gautama, which made the gesture known under the name of will bhumisparsa-mudra, “the earth electrode with witness”. The ground trembled, proving the awakening of Gautama and Māra disappeared.

In Theravada

In the Buddhism theravâda, Māra is not so much a demon external with the beings which sail in the Samsara, but rather “ personification of passions and the objects of the desire ”.

Māra corresponds primarily to the Three characteristics. A distinction takes place however between four Māra:

Demon of the aggregates of attachment, that which dies, will skandhamāra .
: The components of any individual, Skandha, being afflicted with these characteristics, are Māra: “The body is Māra; with regard to Māra you should control your insatiable desires. The feeling is Māra; with regard to Māra you should control your insatiable desires. The perception is Māra; with regard to Māra you should control your insatiable desires. The mental formations is Māra; with regard to Māra you should control your insatiable desires. The conscience is Māra; with regard to Māra you should control your insatiable desires. ”
Demon of passions, that which makes die, will kleśmāra .
: They all are passions which push to maintain the acts, the words or the bad thoughts, producing of Karma. The life will be curtailed. Here, will māra is opposed to the virtuous actions.
Demon of the lord of death, will mṛtyumāra .
: It is impermanency, anicca : any life lasts, actually, one and in short moment of conscience. In this context, Māra is thus a principle applied to any phenomenon.
the demon of divine wire, will devaputramāra
: It is here about anything else; the distraction, the fact of not concentrating on the only task which is to be achieved, to put a term at the Samsara.

In Vajrayana

In the Vajrayana, the four demons are:

the demon of the bonds;
the demon without bond;
the demon of the pleasure;
the demon of the orgeuil.

In the adaptation of Osamu Tezuka

In the manga Buddha of Osamu Tezuka, Māra east represents under the aspect of a female contortionist has four arms. Instead of trying Buddha under the tree of Bodhi, it returns invincible Ananda so that it will kill Bouddha.

References

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