The Reality of Evil

Legend has it that Shakyamuni sat in mediation beneath a tree near Buddh Gaya and, after staving off what the sutras claim was an attack by the devil, Mara, attained enlightenment. Who or what was this Mara-this first devil to appear in Buddhist tradition?

Masahiro Kitagawa, vice chief of the Soka Gakkai Study Dept:

"Ma, or devil, is considered the arch enemy of the Buddha. The word derives from the Sanskrit word Mara and is also translated into English as the Evil One who tempts people to indulge their passions. Since the word mara contains the meaning of 'to kill', it also refers to one who deprives a human being of his life.

"Since devils are described as personified figures in various Buddhist scriptures, one may think they assume certain appearances, but actually they do not. According to the sutras, they disguise themselves as all possible figures in order to prevent people from aspiring to Buddhahood. For example, various desires which are heir to the human beings are called devils and, in some cases, death is called a devil. Death works as a devil when it prevents people from believing in Buddhism.

"In this light, devils never mean any special beings. However, in order to make it easier for people to understand the function of the devil, sutras describe them as such beings.

"The workings which try to take the life aspiring for Buddhahood sometimes exist in our own lives and at other times exist outside of our lives. Whether one defeats or gives in to these various obstructions largely depends on one's mental attitude. To attain Buddhahood means to call forth a life-condition strong enough to vanquish these inner devils."

Rather than thinking of the devil in personified form, Buddhism views it as a function that operates within human life. Sometimes this is difficult for the English reader to grasp, because the English word used to denote the 'devil' carries with it a long history of non-Buddhist meaning.

What Shakyamuni Buddha realized in the depths of his life was that evil or suffering stemmed from profound ignorance of the people to their own eternal Buddha nature. Swayed by their own delusion as to the real nature of things, and instead attracted by temporal and transient realities, people tend to make negative causes. Because we are not aware of the infinite potential of our own Buddha nature, we tend to limit ourselves in response to any given situation.

Acting on the basis of a low life-condition which does not perceive the true nature of things, works against us in the long run. Ultimately, the evil karma we experience in life is a result of many actions, even lifetimes, spent in deluded reaction rather than enlightened action.

The Co-existence of Good and Evil

In addition to defining evil as a tendency rather than a being, Buddhism is also non-dualistic. That is, evil is seen as an unenlightened cause-effect relationship while good is seen as an enlightened cause-effect relationship. Cause and effect itself is a neutral, universal mechanism. In this sense, both good and evil are part of the universal whole. Neither is subordinate to the other, as the Devil might be said to be subordinate to God. Both good and evil issue totally from the nature of one's life condition-whether it is enlightened and positive or deluded and negative.

When we speak of the eventual triumph of the Buddha nature over the devilish function, this does not imply the victory of good over evil. Both gods and devils, both good and bad are subordinate to the all inclusive Buddha nature. The Buddha nature is itself an eternal and infinite universal reality. Nichiren Daishonin expounded it as Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

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This page was last modified on Sunday, August 20, 2006.