Lecture Notes on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamasūtra) (66)

The Demon King's Methods

Whenever a person's preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) becomes complete and the first dhyāna is about to arise, the demon king uses all kinds of means to create obstacles, striking at the weakest point within each person's mind, breaking through the vulnerable parts, causing greedy desires to arise and meditative concentration to vanish, so that one cannot escape from the demon's grasp. If one's power of concentration is firm and has not been destroyed by the demon king, then at the end of life one will ascend to the heavens of the form realm, which are higher than the demon king's realm, and thus will no longer be subject to the demon king's jurisdiction and control.

What exists in the desire realm? The desire realm contains all kinds of greedy desires—wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep—with the desire between men and women being the primary one. If one transcends this desire and eradicates it, the demon king's palace will shake. If a practitioner's resolve for the Path is not firm and his blessings are insufficient, he can easily be disturbed and his meditative concentration will disappear. This is what the demons hope for most, so they will devise every means to make sentient beings love and crave this desire-realm world, so that his subjects will not decrease. Demon kings all hope that their subjects will grow ever more numerous, and therefore they must find ways to control their subjects, making all sentient beings have greedy desires so that they do not escape his control.

Therefore the Buddha said that if a mind of craving and delight arises, that is the realm of Māra. All of us people in this world are under the demon king's control, and are also governed by Śakra Devānām Indra, who dwells in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven of the desire realm. If humans in the desire realm cultivate goodness, Śakra Devānām Indra is most delighted, because those who cultivate goodness will ascend to the desire-realm heavens at the end of life, and Śakra Devānām Indra's subjects will increase. Therefore, on the first and fifteenth days of each month, he sends heavenly protectors (devas) to patrol the human world to see whether there are more people practicing wholesome dharmas or more people practicing unwholesome dharmas. If there are more people cultivating wholesome dharmas, Śakra Devānām Indra is pleased; if there are more people practicing unwholesome dharmas, Śakra Devānām Indra is displeased. When the human world learned of this, people began making offerings to the Buddha, eating vegetarian meals, observing fasts, and doing good deeds on the first and fifteenth of each month, in order to perform more wholesome karma so that after death they could ascend to the heavens and enjoy pleasures. Sometimes what people in this world do does have a certain rationale to it.