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Mara
Answer
10/16/13 6:14 PM
Mara is psychological in origin right? Is it the ego-process, sensing its demise, and trying to cling on for dear life?

In my confusing middle-path daily life (sensory experience pretty wonderful; life in the toilet), when my ego-thought process pipes up with it's repetitive status-seeking horseshit, ('thought' is probably too generous) I've taken to just noting it as 'mara'. Is this a valid insight technique?

RE: Mara
Answer
10/16/13 11:24 PM as a reply to Robin Woods.
Just try and remember what thoughts happened before stress occurs. It's thinking about likes and dislikes (dislikes mostly) and even more a rating of self-worth. If you like or dislike a self-image you'll have a chemical experience every time you self-reference just like you would objects outside of yourself. Perception of what to like and dislike is huge in rigid thinking. People can just tell you that you should like or dislike something and it can affect you before you even experience something and make up your own mind. If you're trying to investigate what thoughts happened before the stress happened then you've stopped clinging/ruminating. It interrupts the stories before the stress builds too high.

Mara is just the addictive part of the brain wanting to release enjoyable chemicals on endless repeat, and punish you with stress chemicals like a carrot and a stick. It's also habitual thinking in that it will take a while for the habits to die down as you prevent feeding them.

RE: Mara
Answer
10/17/13 4:58 AM as a reply to Robin Woods.
have you seen visualization of Mara?
have you looked in it's eyes or eye closely?

Mara is very real but it is different than you think. Mara is shield made out of pain to separate you from far greater pain you could do yo yourself. Before you are ready to see what is beyond Mara it will haunt you and when you are ready it will disappear, no need to fight it or do anything with it.

My best advice is to have this at heart:

[quote='Metta Sutta']This is what should be done
By one who is skilled in goodness,
And who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech.
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied.
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm, and wise and skillful,
Not proud and demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove.
Wishing: In gladness and in saftey,
May all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be;
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to-be-born,
May all beings be at ease!

Let none deceive another,
Or despise any being in any state.
Let none through anger or ill-will
Wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life
Her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings:
Radiating kindness over the entire world
Spreading upwards to the skies,
And downwards to the depths;
Outwards and unbounded,
Freed from hatred and ill-will.
Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down
Free from drowsiness,
One should sustain this recollection.
This is said to be the sublime abiding.
By not holding to fixed views,
The pure-hearted one, having clarity of vision,
Being freed from all sense desires,
Is not born again into this world.

yes, metta toward Mara, metta toward your so called 'ego'
if you wish mara would just disappear because you note it then rather than noting 'mara' note 'aversion'

RE: Mara
Answer
10/17/13 5:41 PM as a reply to Robin Woods.
True story: I went to a strip club once and asked her name:

Her: "My name is Mara"
Me: "...That's your name...???"
Me: "Mara is the trickster Buddhist deity of desire, ego and delusion"
Her: "That's me!"