Letters from Mara: part 3
Venerable Punnadhammo
Your first squadron is Sense-Desires,
Your second is called Boredom,
Then Hunger and Thirst compose the third,
And Craving is the fourth in rank,
The fifth is Sloth and Accidy,
While Cowardice lines up as sixth,
Uncertainty is seventh,
The eighth is Malice paired with Obstinacy;
Gain, Honor and Renown, besides,
And ill-won Notoriety,
These are your squadrons, Namuci;
These are the Black One's fighting squadrons;
None but the brave will conquer them
To gain bliss by the victory.
(Sutta Nipata III, 2)
From: His Supreme Excellency the Mara Namuci
To: All Squadron Leaders
Re: Status of Current Projects
Dated: 26th Century of Current Buddha-period
Operational Area: Human Realm, Planet Earth
Greetings to all my hard-working minions! As you are all well
aware, our overall strategy seems to be working smoothly, as
usual. The vast multitude of beings who wander in our little
playground, the Great Samsara, are by and large oblivious to the
true nature of their predicament. We must continue our unceasing
efforts to maintain them in our powers, You, my loyal squadron
leaders, are doing a fine job. Let us continue to review your
departments, moving on to the fifth.
FIFTH ARMY
The Host of Sloth and Accidy
The secretary consults her notes; "The next army is 'Sloth and
Accidy'. Mara, what's 'accidy'?" "You could look it up." She
sighs, "Why bother?" "Let's continue: To the dull, gray, heavy
hordes of sloth and accidy! (That's 'a-c-c-i-d-y,' an old
spelling of 'acedia', a pathological mental or spiritual
torpor). Keep up the good work! It may seem like your power is
slipping -- people have been working longer and longer hours
ever since the industrial revolution -- but we know that
spiritual laziness is more prevalent than ever before. The quick
fix, the instant salvation -- that's all they're interested in.
"That Teacher of theirs, the one who sadly escaped my grasp,
often praised effort and diligence. Fortunately for us, this
emphasis has done much over the centuries to undercut the
popularity of his teachings. I seem to recall one of his very
own monks who broke with the order and declared that the
teachings were no good because they worked only if you followed
them. We would do well to endorse the reasonableness of this
view. "Nature makes our job simpler; the fundamental cosmic law
of entropy is our greatest ally. The spark of consciousness is
always engaged in a struggle to keep from sinking back into the
darkness of unknowing. With our simple and inviting temptations,
if they merely relax their efforts, the level of mind will
inevitably decline. Everyone in our organization is aware of the
great complexity of the maze we've built for our 'clients'.
Layer upon layer of delusion has carefully and methodically been
constructed. It's not an easy task for the worldling to cut
through this timeless tangle -- not easy by any means, but
regretfully still just possible. So, redouble your efforts and
take the wind out of theirs! They will not cut through our
tangled web with a dull blade.
"Let us review the techniques that have worked well in the past.
Remember, the qualities we want to foster are dullness,
heaviness, lethargy, idleness, and mindlessness. The oldest and
still very profitable method is sleep -- lots of it, in big,
soft, comfy beds. Not hard to persuade them to roll over in the
morning! Let them lie in bed more than six hours, and they're
ours!
"Another wonderful tool is the magical pharmacopoeia of dulling
and befuddling agents that so may of them pop into their mouths,
lungs, and veins. You can't beat the perennial standard, ethyl
alcohol, for reducing them to a sub-human level. But these days
we have a much wider range of intelligence-reducing agents
readily available -- both natural and synthetic. Better living
through chemistry! Many of them are so eager to drown their wits
that they will even inhale toxic byproducts of the industrial
revolution. (Now that was a great idea with all sorts of
unexpected benefits!)
"Speaking of technology, I cannot praise the efficacy of
television highly enough. It requires no thought or effort of
any kind yet completely stultifies the brain with a panorama of
sensually enticing images. Some of you were skeptical when I
began Project Vidiot, even citing potentially counterproductive
educational and cultural side-effects. But now that we have
whole generations weaned on 'the tube', we can all see that the
results have more than vindicated my enthusiasm."
"That's why you make the big bucks, Mara!" giggles the
secretary. "Don't interrupt when I'm bragging. Now where was I?
Ah, yes. Let's not forget the simpler dodges either.
Procrastination is a wonderful vice. Our victims can diddle away
several lifetimes if properly guided. Over-eating is another
effective measure; the full belly makes for a dull mind. Bad
posture, soft furniture, and lack of exercise are all to be
encouraged.
"But perhaps most fundamental of all is the fostering of an
attitude of hopelessness. Let them think that the spiritual life
is too hard for the ordinary person -- the goal too distant, the
effort too daunting. A sense of dull, gray ennui is a miasma
that chokes the spirit of contemporary humanity and keeps them
in our sway. When economic times are good, they are befuddled
with empty luxuries; when times are bad, they descend into the
pit of despair and turn on each other with petty nastiness.
Underlying all the cycles is the spirit of hollowness and
futility that is our greatest contribution to the modern age."
There is a timid knock on the polished mahogany door. Silently
it swings open on the oiled hinges. With his head bowed and his
hands shaking, a young demon scurries into the room clutching a
sheaf of papers. He holds them out to Mara and stands quaking
before the desk. With a brusque gesture, Mara snatches the
papers and ruffles through them. A glint of awful fire appears
in his eyes.
"You miserable worm! You call this a status report!" He flings
the papers at the junior officer who, paralyzed with fear, fails
to catch them, letting them scatter around the floor. "PICK THEM
UP AND GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!!" Mara's terrible voice booms
like a thunderstorm. The demon whimpers as he frantically
gathers the papers and bolts from the room. The secretary is
shocked. "Mara, you're horrible." He calmly sips his coffee.
"When I want to be, my dear, when I want to be."
SIXTH ARMY
The Host of Cowardice
"My Sixth Army, you have a special role in our efforts to keep
beings in a state of bondage. You weaken and render them
vulnerable to my terrible aspect. I prefer to charm and delight,
but those few who fail to be seduced must be terrorized into
submission!
"Physical cowardice is useful in its place, but the spiritual
and moral varieties are most suitable for our purposes. Beings
must be cajoled into clutching at a sense of security; this is
the trick we must play. Of course, you and I know that there is
no security in my realm. All beings are subject to the awful
realities of birth, sickness, old-age, and death. Their goods
and chattels, their relations, friends, and mates are all as
ephemeral as chaff in the wind. No matter. The dream of security
may be a hopeless one, but it is our powerful ally. Through your
efforts, beings everywhere are afraid to risk what they have and
are reduced to spiritual impotence by that fear.
"Their folk wisdom has it that a coward dies many times, a brave
man but once. Few indeed realize the deeper truth hidden in that
trite proverb. This is, after all, the golden age of cowardice.
No one wants to take a chance. This manifests in a host of
symptoms. As their numbers increase and the pressure on the
earth's resources mounts, those who have a generous portion grow
mean and afraid of those who have nothing. Their culture is one
based on delightful lies of our devising, and the ugly realities
are hidden away. The sick and the old are hidden from view and
the dead are never seen. Insurance companies grow fat on
people's futile attempts to deny the inevitable.
"Encourage them often not to take risks. Teach them to cling to
the flimsy raft of their seemingly secure life until it is
washed over the cataract. Keep them afraid to leave the pathetic
ruts of their little lives -- to think, to love, to give, to
dare the unknown. Make a virtue of their cowardice. Call it
prudence. Call it responsibility. 'Be sensible. Why ask for
trouble? Leave well enough alone.' They will get up every
morning, put on their hats, take the subway to their dull grind
of a job, and carefully plan for their retirement. By that time,
they will be so beaten down that they will slide easily and
thoughtlessly the rest of the way to the grave, continuing in
this state of fear and cowardice for countless cycles of
birth-and-death.
"Their cowardice will keep them from seeing the reality of
existence, afraid even to think about it. It's the beginning of
the end for us if they find the courage to question. They may
grow, and if they grow, they may awaken. We have to watch the
ones who still have a little gumption left. They may start
thinking of going on a pilgrimage or worse, to a meditation
retreat or a monastery. Whisper about the dangers. 'Why throw
away your job in these tough economic times? Be sensible, hang
in there, only twenty more years to your pension!' Remind them
that examining reality in a methodical way is just too much to
bear. If they manage to get past the petty anxieties of their
day-to-day dramas, they will only encounter the real primal
fears. It takes great courage to plunge into the Voidness. Few
will have the courage to finally break through the veil, and
those we must undermine."
Mara pauses in his work and strolls thoughtfully towards the
picture window, his hands clasped behind his back. He watches an
image of a huge city. The walls of the buildings form gigantic,
twisty caverns. At street level they are covered in lurid
posters and glaring neon slogans. Noise and smoky fumes fill the
air. Gaunt figures scurry aimlessly hither and thither through
the maze like witless ants. "Mara, is that on Earth or in one of
your dreary hells?" "Six of one, half dozen of the other."
SEVENTH ARMY
The Host of Uncertainty
"The role of my Seventh is to paralyze with doubt. You are to
work closely with my Forces of Fear; with your attacks
consolidated, we can keep beings in the wretched state of a deer
mesmerized by oncoming headlights. This is a generation of
doubters. Whereas at one time your resources were limited, and
we made more use of the opposite vice of credulity, now we have
whole masses of people with no sure beliefs at all. The old
certainties in religion, society, politics and even that
johnny-come-lately science have all been kicked away. Our poor
victims rejoice in what they call "freedom" and are unable to
advance in any direction. If we maintain them in this state of
confusion, they will never escape our grip.
"Doubt has been compared to wandering in the desert without a
map or guide. A very apt comparison, although I am loath to
admit it, considering the source. When beings have no faith,
there is no basis for morality, and they fall into all manner of
delicious and loathsome vices. We can see this in the present
day, just as it was in late Roman antiquity, a period I greatly
enjoyed -- the old religion was openly scoffed at, virtue
considered a weakness, and the only object in life the selfish
pursuit of personal gratification. Indeed, a marvelous party.
True, the destruction of beings was frightful, but it was a
sacrifice I was willing to make.
"Today we've got them believing that a thoughtless skepticism is
clever and chic, resulting in the same inevitable destruction of
morality. They have no restraint upon their appetites (which
your fellow departments are so admirably stirring up!) It's
especially easy for us to undermine any teaching that puts a
restraint upon their greed or lust. They don't understand that
actions have results; they forget the Law of Karma. The really
useful detail, from our point-of-view, is that their foolish
disbelief has no effect at all upon the operative effectiveness
of that law. Let's keep it our secret, and they'll proceed
happily along with their debaucheries and violence. And after
death, they'll continue in our service, albeit in a somewhat
less salutary capacity.
"Even if some begin to question the facts of their existence, as
regrettably many of them do, they won't be able to find an
effective way out or to stick with it if they do. This is
another fortunate result of the widespread skepticism we are
spreading. As in all the skeptical ages, we see a proliferation
of their sects and cults. The poor wretches seeking to find
their way out of the maze stumble from priest to guru to psychic
and back again, without ever exploring any path long enough to
gain real insight into their predicaments. Many abandon the
whole enterprise as a hopeless fraud and lose themselves in
sense pleasures, which at least offer a momentary diversion from
the grim facts.
"Encourage in them this cynical and dissolute frame of mind.
Teach them to scoff at ancient wisdom and to place their
reliance on the new and fashionable whimsies of the day. If we
manage them properly, they can manifest the most amusing
contradictions -- scoffing at religion but believing implicitly
in the daily horoscope; pretending that the Law of Karma is
superstition even as they avoid stepping on cracks in the
pavement; justifying an abortion by claiming the unborn human
organism is simply a mass of cells and electric impulses but
consulting a channeler and trafficking with the hungry ghosts
when they want a winning lottery number.
"Although they are proud of their modern 'rationality,' most of
them are quite ridiculous in their superstitions. The
scientifically trained ones are often the worst of the lot --
quite dogmatically attached to the materialist delusion even in
the face of evidence to the contrary. (Although I must admit we
have been having some difficulties with the physicists lately.
I'm beginning to suspect a leak...) The doubt that keeps them
lost they may call rationality, but don't make the same mistake
they do. Real rationality is very dangerous for our interests. A
truly critical examination of the phenomena of existence is
precisely the method by which a bothersome few have penetrated
our web of deceit. Make sure their 'critical thought' is guided
by desire; don't let them ask the real questions.
"To sum up, keep them guessing! Confuse them with a multitude of
options, and let them wander about life aimlessly. Call morality
'regimentation' and restraint 'repression'. Praise a shallow,
scoffing attitude as penetrating intelligence. Belittle the
timeless verities and praise only the fashionable. Let them be
too clever by half. By the time they begin to clear the muddle,
it will be too late, and we'll have them for another ride on the
carousel!"
As Mara pauses to review some data on his desktop monitor, there
is a soft knock on the office door. Another young, ravishing
goddess enters with a platter full of sweetmeats. "Snack time!"
As Mara eyes her appreciatively, his secretary's eyes narrow.
She snaps her fingers as the younger goddess leaves, causing her
to grow a pair of donkey's ears. Mara raises an elegant eyebrow.
"My dear! I'm shocked and appalled." "I hate the bitch," she
hisses. "Mmmm. Have one of these dainties, they're literally
divine!"
End of part... 3
Venerable Punnadhammo is the abbot of Arrow River Meditation
Center in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Following ten years at
the center as a lay student of Khema Ananda, he was ordained a
bhikkhu at Wat Pah Nanachat in 1991. For more information about
the center---> Arrow River Meditation Center
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