Categories: Teachings on Mara
May the blessings of the Triple Gem be with you all!
Many of you who follow our spiritual explorations have often asked for a teaching on the topic of “Don’t Meditate! A Message from Mara.” You’ve expressed a desire to understand who, or what, Mara is. While I have touched upon Mara’s actions in other discussions, I felt it was important to dedicate a full article to this topic, specifically focusing on how Mara’s influence creates spiritual obstacles for your meditation practice. Understanding this is crucial for your spiritual journey.
If you are facing hindrances from Māra, this knowledge will empower you to remove them and continue your path with clarity and strength. So, let’s first seek to understand the nature of this figure we call Mara.
The Two Faces of Mara: Internal Turmoil and External Force
When you begin to meditate and walk the spiritual path, it’s essential to understand a teaching from the Buddha about five different types of Māra. Interestingly, four of these are not external beings but forces within our own minds.
These internal spiritual obstacles are:
- Klesa Māra: The Māra of mental defilements, like greed, hatred, and delusion. These are the toxic thoughts and emotions that cloud our minds.
- Maccu Māra: The Māra of death, representing the fear of ending and the ultimate impermanence of life.
- Skandha Māra: The Māra of the aggregates. This refers to the five components of our existence (form, feeling, perception, mental formations, consciousness) which we mistake for a permanent, solid ‘self‘.
- Abhisaṅkhāra Māra: This Māra refers to wholesome and unwholesome actions (kamma). If there is no birth, there is no death. Death exists because of birth. The kamma that causes birth is also considered the cause of death, and thus it is called Māra.”
These four are essentially the fabric of our inner turmoil, the constant stream of thoughts and mental states we must learn to observe and understand.
However, there is a fifth type: an external, unseen force that obstructs our spiritual life. This is known as Devaputta Māra, or ‘Māra the divine son‘.
According to the Tripitaka (the Buddhist scriptures) and its commentaries, this being resides in the highest of the celestial realms of desire, Paranimmita Vasavatti, a world of immense power and long life. Through spiritual insight, we have seen the truth of this. This being was born into that realm due to past good deeds, or karma.
However, once there, he adopted a wrong view, a distorted perspective, and now holds the position of actively opposing spiritual liberation. You don’t have to look far to see parallels in our own world. Think of powerful people who, despite having great wealth and comfort, engage in corruption, deceit, and harm.
They may belong to any race or religion, enjoying the fruits of past good actions while simultaneously creating negative karma. Similarly, there are both benevolent deities (Samma-ditthika) and malevolent ones with wrong views (Miccha-ditthika). Mara falls into the latter category. He enjoys a divine birth due to past merit but uses his position to create spiritual obstacles for others.
A Message from Māra: A Subtle War Against Goodness
The role of this external Māra is something we’ve witnessed through spiritual practice, beyond what is written in books. If you wish to read the scriptures, the Māra Samyutta in the Samyutta Nikaya (a collection of the Buddha’s discourses) contains short but powerful suttas describing how Māra tried to obstruct the meditation of monks and nuns who were on the verge of attaining enlightenment.
Reading these can give you a foundational understanding. You have surely heard how Mara and his ten-fold army, the Dasabimbarak Mara Senna, attempted to stop Prince Siddhartha from attaining Buddhahood under the Bodhi tree. He even obstructed the Buddha Himself.
But beyond these scriptural accounts, my spiritual experiences have revealed more. Mara’s force is not a single entity but a vast army. There is the chief Mara, and under him are his daughters, his commanders, and countless divisions of his army, known by various names.
It is an immeasurable force. Only someone who has reached the pinnacle of spiritual development can truly perceive the full extent of this. This army constantly strives to bring ruin to the world. Some might think Mara only interferes with meditation. This is not true.
He creates spiritual obstacles for anyone trying to attain Nibbana, to become a Buddha, to practice insight (Vipassanā) or tranquility (Samatha) meditation, to uphold morality (Sīla), or to simply live a good life. He works tirelessly to prevent goodness from flourishing, distorting society and amplifying defilements with a subtlety that is almost impossible to grasp. This is the nature of Māra.
What I am sharing now comes from direct, personal spiritual experience, building upon the foundation of the scriptures.
Agents of Chaos: Mara’s Deceptions in the World
Mara’s primary function is to sow chaos in the world and prevent people from following a wholesome path, like observing the Five Precepts. One of his key strategies is to distort the Buddha’s teachings, the Dhamma.
As I’ve mentioned before, he can even use monks to carry out these distortions. Periodically, he sends his agents to be born into the human world. The late, venerable Balangoda Ananda Maitreyan Nayaka Thero, a highly respected monk, also taught that members of Mara’s legion have been born in this world and have even infiltrated the monastic order (the Sangha).
This is a truthful statement. These individuals, born as agents of Mara, behave in terrible ways,driven by money, craving, sensual lusts, and a desire to oppress others. And the unseen forces of Mara’s army in the celestial realm support them, recognizing them as their own and helping them create more spiritual obstacles for humanity.
You might ask, ‘What does Mara look like? Does he have a demonic appearance?‘ The truth is, Mara can take any form. His army can too. Their power levels vary; the chief Mara is immensely powerful, while his subordinates are less so. But the leader can impersonate anyone. The Tripitaka mentions instances where Mara appeared in the form of the Buddha himself to deceive others.
He can fool people who have developed psychic abilities, like the ‘third eye’, and can even shut down a ‘third eye’. Essentially, he can attempt to deceive anyone who has not reached the high spiritual attainments of an Anāgāmi (Non-Returner), an Arahant (a fully enlightened one), a Pacceka Buddha (a silent Buddha), or a Samma Sam buddha (a perfect Buddha).
However, he cannot deceive those who possess true wisdom, or panna. This includes Bodhisattvas who are cultivating profound wisdom. It’s critical to understand that panna is not intelligence or knowledge. It is a transcendent faculty that sees reality as it is. It is a topic for another day, but for now, understand that this deep wisdom is the ultimate shield against Mara’s deceptions. Those with panna cannot be harmed or tricked, no matter how hard Mara tries.
“You’ll Go Crazy!”: How Mara Uses Your Loved Ones to Stop You
Now we come to the main theme: Māra’s direct message to you, ‘Do not meditate.‘ As soon as you begin your meditation practice, Māra will work to stop you. He won’t appear with a sign; he will use the people closest to you.
- He will deliver his message through your husband or wife, who might say, ‘Stop meditating, you’ll go crazy.‘
- He will use your children or, very often, your parents. Many people have told me, ‘My parents won’t let me meditate. My mother says it’s forbidden in our house.‘
If your own family is preventing you from meditating, you must recognize that it is Māra working through them. He doesn’t necessarily need to possess them. His power is so subtle that he can simply plant thoughts in their minds, altering their perceptions to turn them against your practice. He can change the thoughts of your spouse, your parents, and your friends to create a wall of resistance.
Why?
Because Māra sees that you are about to escape his grasp. He thinks, ‘This person is slipping away from my control. They are starting to follow the way of that Buddha. They are seeking a higher, happier state.‘ This enrages his followers, and they will do everything in their power to stop you. They will take on forms that you fear. If you are afraid of ghosts, they will appear as a terrifying spirit to scare you away from meditation.
If that fear fades over time, they will find something else you are afraid of. If fear tactics don’t work, they will create external problems: financial crises, troubles at home, and social pressure from your friends. They will create a situation where your own parents might threaten you or scold you for meditating. These are all common spiritual obstacles orchestrated by Māra.
The Subtle Game: Recognizing and Overcoming Mara’s Tactics
This interference can even come from those you’d least expect. As I’ve said before, some monks might tell you, ‘Don’t meditate, you’ll go mad.‘ If a monk says this, you should use your wisdom to understand their nature. Are they a true follower of the Buddha’s path, or are they, perhaps unknowingly, an agent sent by Mara wearing a robe?
Remember, the Buddha did not attend a university to become enlightened. He perfected his virtues over countless lifetimes. Enlightenment doesn’t come from a worldly degree. You must understand this point. These warnings are part of Mara’s game to make you give up.
Mara’s subject is creating mental suffering. He never gives up. He will do his utmost to pull us away from meditation, from morality, from concentration, and from any spiritual aspiration. He creates spiritual obstacles for anyone aspiring to Buddhahood, preventing Great Bodhisattvas from fulfilling their perfections (pāramīta). He obstructs those aspiring to become chief disciples, a Pacceka Buddha, or even the mother, father, wife, or son of a future Buddha.
He will use every trick, even appearing in the guise of the Dhamma itself, to change your thoughts and divert you from your path. This is a highly complex subject. As you read these words, reflect on your own life and consider how Mara might be creating spiritual obstacles for you.
This very act of reflection will make your wisdom (panna) grow. By observing this practically, you will start to see his influence clearly. And once you understand the obstacle, you can overcome it.
Skillful Means: Practical Ways to Navigate a Hostile Environment
So, how do you become skillful in navigating these spiritual obstacles?
If your parents shout at you when you meditate, then simply lock your bedroom door and meditate in private. You must be strategic. A common weakness I see is people announcing their practice in an unsupportive environment. Why talk about your meditation to those who are hostile to it? Be silent. Practice without showing off. Close your doors and windows. If it’s hot, turn on a fan or air conditioner if you have one. Find a way.
Especially for young people, particularly young women, parents can exert immense pressure to stop. This is because, as I’ve taught before, Māra has systematically dismantled the spiritual foundations of our culture.
Foreign invaders and modern systems have replaced the mind-centric way of life our ancestors in Sri Lanka lived. Their education, agriculture, and entire civilization were based on understanding the mind.
Mara has destroyed this, which is a cause for great sadness. This is why your parents may not understand; their knowledge is shaped by Mara’s modern, materialistic education system, which does not value the inner life. So, of course, they will not approve of your spiritual path. Mara controls them by planting thoughts, influencing them to create a narrative that ‘meditation will ruin your life,‘ and he will even create circumstances that seem to prove it.
This is how he breaks your spirit.
He did the same with traditional Hela medicine (Ayurveda), which was deeply connected to the mind. Our ancient physicians could perform incredible feats because they worked with the mind. This history is well-documented by archaeologists, but it has been replaced. I am not condemning Western medicine.it has great value and has saved many lives. But do not become an extremist and believe it is the only truth. Always maintain a middle path.
If doctors, influenced by this limited view, tell you that meditation leads to insanity, do not simply accept it. You will not go mad from meditation.
In fact, many Western medical professionals and psychologists now prescribe meditation. If you search online, you’ll find numerous studies showing that meditation can heal conditions caused by mental stress, like migraines. They recognize its power.
The point is to see the bigger picture. The mind-based spiritual culture, which once made this island of Sri Lanka so unique, has been systematically eroded. This is Mara’s subtle, long-term game. And he is not satisfied. He wants to continue this destruction for hundreds of more years until nothing is left. This is the nature of Vasavatti Mara, the chief of spiritual obstacles.
He even works to create division among monks, trapping them in conflicting views. We must understand this.
Beyond Ritual: The True Heart of the Practice
One final point comes to mind. Do not get stuck solely in ritual and offerings, what we call āmisa pūjā. Offering flowers and lamps can sometimes become a spiritual obstacle if it prevents you from going deeper. I am not saying you should stop these practices! They are important. You should offer flowers, chant, and do the practices we teach.
However, if you perform one act of offering, you should meditate ten times as much.
If you make one food offering to the Buddha, you should meditate ten times. If you observe the precepts for one day, you should strive to meditate ten times more. This is the balance we are seeking. If you do this, you will quickly progress. You will be able to escape the cycle of rebirth (samsara), attain stages of enlightenment (magga-phala), develop meditative absorptions (jhana), cultivate spiritual powers (Abhijñā), or, at the very least, live with a mind that is peaceful and light.
Please trust and understand this point and integrate it into your practice. If you do, your spiritual development is assured.
I believe these points are sufficient to give you a clear understanding of Mara’s message, ‘Do not meditate,‘ and the spiritual obstacles he presents. Reflect on these teachings. Consider your own experiences and feel free to share them in a way that helps others understand. By doing so, you will deepen your own insight.
Do not fall for Mara’s announcements. Instead, learn to ‘slip past his ear‘ and courageously, persistently, and energetically develop your spiritual life. Use your wisdom to see through his subtle games.
With these words, I conclude today’s teaching. May the power and blessings of the Triple Gem, the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha,grant everyone, of any age, race, or background, the wisdom to understand Mara’s subtle game. May you all be able to develop your spiritual lives.
We invite you to walk this path with us. Read our teachings, and most importantly, apply them practically in your own life. as you practice, questions will naturally arise. Please feel free to share your experiences and questions in the comments below, via email or contact form. I will do my best to offer guidance in future talks based on your progress. For now, begin this practice with an open heart and a mind free from expectation. Cultivate it correctly, and may you find the clarity and peace you seek.
Thank you for joining us. We hope this blog will be of great benefit to your spiritual journey.
May you all be well and happy.
May the blessings of the Triple Gem be with you all!
