釋禪波羅蜜次第法門 4.108

4.108

Furthermore, one has never seen a case where someone sitting [in meditation] saw Māra appear as a tiger and come to devour them, leaving their bones and flesh in disarray; this is merely to terrify a person and cause their mind to be alarmed and fearful—there is no real substance to it at all, so one should know it is deceptive and empty. Knowing this, the mind is not alarmed or afraid. One further reflects: "Even if this were real, if my present body and life should die for the sake of the Way, what is there to fear? My present body may follow your discriminations, but my mind is like a vajra, unshakeable." If [the apparition] does not leave for a month, two months, or even over a year, one should also keep the mind upright, maintain firm right mindfulness, and harbor no sorrow or fear. One should recite the various Mahāyāna Vaipulya dhāraṇīs for dispelling Māra, silently reciting them while holding the Three Jewels in mind. When emerging from dhyāna absorption, one should also recite dhāraṇīs to protect oneself, repent with a sense of shame and trepidation, and recite the prātimokṣa precepts; what is perverse cannot violate what is upright, and after a long time it will naturally disappear. The methods for dispelling Māra, both in practice and in principle, are manifold and cannot all be explained in full; practitioners must recognize them well and eliminate them through expedient means. Therefore, when beginners wish to learn sitting [meditation], they must associate closely with good spiritual friends, precisely because of such difficulties as these. When this Māra enters a person's mind, he can cause the practitioner to realize various dhyānas, samādhis, wisdoms, supernormal knowledges, and dhāraṇīs—how much more so can he produce these minor realms? If one wishes to know of this, it is also analyzed to some extent in various Mahāyāna sūtras and the Sūtra on the Ninety-Six Ways. I explain this briefly here so that practitioners may deeply understand this meaning and thereby not falsely cling to these various realms. In summary: if one wishes to dispel the perverse and return to the upright, one must contemplate the true reality of all dharmas. Therefore, the Mahāyāna Treatise states: "Except for the true reality of all dharmas, everything else is the work of Māra." Thus a verse states: