Demons: Deviant views and the three ‘poisons’ are the demon king
If one loses the resolve to cultivate all good roots, one is still engaging in demonic deeds. (FAS )
Deviant views and the three ‘poisons’ are the demon king. (PS 307)
When one’s inner fire departs, a demon takes possession. (Chinese saying)
In Buddhism the word translated as ‘demon’ is the Sanskrit , which means ‘bringer of death’. The Chinese translation is often explained as meaning , another character with the same sound which means to rub or polish. Therefore, it has been said:
Demons come to polish the Way,
Those on the True Way have to endure demons.
The more you get polished, the brighter you get;
You’ll be polished until you’re like the autumn moon,
Which illumines all the demon hordes in empty space.
When the demon hordes are scattered,
Then the original Buddha manifests. (TT 66)
There are Four Kinds of Demons: 1) demons which are afflictions, 2) demons which are illnesses, 3) the demon of death, and 4) heavenly demons. The first three can be said to be internal demons and the fourth, external demons.
The head of the heavenly demons is Mara the Evil One, who rules over the Sixth Desire Heaven (see Six Desire Heavens). The demons of that heaven derive their bliss from preying on the energies of other beings. They are particularly threatened by those who practice on the spiritual pathways that reach beyond their realms and finally lead to genuine enlightenment.
Mara, the king of demons, is the principal enemy of the Buddha and his Dharma. Buddha Shakyamuni himself related:
On one occasion Ananda, I was resting under the goat herd’s Nigrodha tree on the bank of the river Neranjara immediately after having reached the great enlightenment. Then Mara, the Evil One, came, Ananda, to the place were I was, and standing beside me he addressed me in the words: ‘Pass away now, Lord, from existence! Let the Exalted One now die! Now is the time for the Exalted One to pass away!’
And when he had thus spoken, Ananda, I addressed Mara, the Evil One, and said: ‘ I shall not pass away, O Evil One! until not only the brethren and sisters of the Order, but also the lay disciples of either sex shall have become true hearers, wise and well-trained, ready and learned, carrying the doctrinal books in their memory, masters of the lesser corollaries that follow from the larger doctrine, correct in life, walking according to the precepts–until they, having thus themselves learned the doctrine, shall be able to tell others of it, preach it, make it known, establish it, open it, minutely explain it and make it clear–until they, when others start vain doctrine, easy to be refuted by the truth, shall be able in refuting it to spread the wonder working truth abroad! I shall not die until this pure Dharma of mine shall have become successful, prosperous, wide-spread, and popular in all its full extent–until in a word, it shall have been well proclaimed among men!’ ( II, 120-121)
At another time, this encounter took place:
And Mara the wicked One went to the place where the Blessed One was; having approached him, he addressed the Blessed One in the following stanza: ‘Thou art bound by all fetters, human and divine. Thou art bound by strong fetters. Thou wilt not be delivered from me, O Samana.’
Buddha replied: `I am delivered from all fetters, human and divine. I am delivered from the strong fetters. Thou art struck down, O Death.’
(Mara said): ‘The fetter which pervades the sky, with which mind is bound, with that fetter I will bind thee. Thou wilt not be delivered from me, O Samana.’
(Buddha replied): ‘Whatever forms, sounds, odours, flavours, or contacts there are which please the senses, in me desire for them has ceased. Thou art struck down, O Death.’
Then Mara the wicked one understood: ‘The Blessed One knows me, the perfect One knows me,’ and, sad and afflicted, he vanished away. ( I, 11, 2)
This gives a detailed explanation of the relation between failure to follow the fundamental Buddhist moral precepts and entrance into the realms of demonic experience and, subsequently, rebirth in those realms. The Sutra also indicates that the following are fundamental ways people become susceptible to demonic influence: 1) by mistaking that which is not enlightenment for enlightenment; 2) by mistaking one who is not enlightened for one who is enlightened; 3) by being overcome by one’s own ‘demonic’ habits of mind; and 4) by being overcome by external demonic forces that are attracted to one’s own demonic tendencies.
Spiritual powers only become demonic when one becomes attached to them or when one takes them for a sign of enlightenment. They occur naturally on the meditational path as a by-product of cultivation. However, they also can occur as a sign of demonic possession. In the latter case the power is that of a demon and not that generated by the person’s own mind.
The also contains a most powerful mantra (see Shurangama Mantra) for subduing all types of demonic forces.
Taken from: http://www.drba.org/dharma/btts/9xxentrydetail.asp?wid=79
