Converting Māra

Text

Upagupta is said to have tamed Māra, the embodiment of delusion, through the power of samādhi. When Māra appeared in a radiant form to seduce practitioners, Upagupta placed the rotting corpses of a dog, a snake, and a human being around Māra's neck. Māra, unable to remove them, begged for release. Upagupta said: 'Bow to the Buddha.' Māra said: 'The Buddha is long gone.' Upagupta said: 'This form I put on you—is it gone?'

license: public_domain

Attribution

• Speaker
  Upagupta

Lineage: Indian Patriarchs

By Upagupta

• The Fragrance Without a Flowerdialogue
• Counted Stonesproverb
• Lay Merchant Awakensproverb

From Jingde Chuandenglu

• On Gradual Cultivation
• Watch the Mind
• On Sudden Enlightenment
• The Debate at Huatai
• Before Thinking Arises
• The One Who Has No Rank
• The Arrow on High
• Meeting the Poet Li Ji
• Just This Is It
• Cold Ashes, Dead Tree

Sources

• contentZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation

  Zen project editorial

  Jingde Chuandenglu, Vol. 1, Upagupta chapter; Ashokavadana

  Jingde Chuandenglu: Converting Māra