“Practicing jhāna in the forest— are you overcome with grief? Have you lost, or do you desire, wealth? Have you done something blameworthy in the village? Is it because you become intimate with people, but intimacy doesn’t prosper for you with anyone at all?”
The Buddha:
“Having dug up all the root of grief, blameless, I practice jhāna not grieving. Defeating all greed, all yearning for becoming, I, without effluent, practice jhāna— you, Kinsman of the Heedless.”
Māra:
“Of whatever they say, ‘This is mine,’ and whoever says, ‘mine,’ if your heart is here, contemplative, you’re not free from me.”
The Buddha:
“Of whatever they speak, it’s not mine. And whoever speaks they are not me. Know that, Evil One. You can’t even see my tracks.”
Māra:
“If the path has been awakened to— secure, leading to the deathless— then go away! Go alone! What’s the use of instructing others?”
The Buddha:
“People seeking the far side ask about the deathless realm. Asked by them, I explain the truth that’s acquisition-free.”
Māra:
“A crow circled a stone the color of fat— ‘Perhaps I’ll find something tender here, Maybe there’s something tasty’ —but not getting anything tasty there, the crow went away. Like a crow attacking the rock, I weary myself with Gotama.”
Origin URL: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/SN/SN4_24.html