Conquering Ego’s Deceptions: The Fiction of “I” and the Four Maras
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“The question of attaining enlightenment, freedom from maras, is not that you have to reform or change yourself into someone else, you have to become something else, particularly. In this case, you are returning back to your normal good state as you are, as you were.”
Chögyam Trungpa, Conquering the Four Maras I, Talk 9
The Four Maras
When Shakyamuni Buddha was sitting under the Bodhi Tree, on the precipice of achieving enlightenment, a demon known as “Mara” appeared, determined to stop Buddha’s monumental realization. Mara tried all kinds of creative tactics of seduction, provocation, and confusion, but the Buddha was not swayed in his search for the truth. He conquered Mara and became a fully awakened being whose teachings have inspired others for 2,600 years and counting.
As modern-day meditators, we too experience the attacks of Mara — symbolically, that is. We encounter temptation, extreme emotion, death, and confusion that can blow us off course or take us off the path completely. These demonic attacks are subdivided into four types, each with their unique battle strategies and energy:
- devaputra-mara (“son of gods”): A Biblical-style temptation of sensual pleasures, the self-gratification of the god realm.
- klesha-mara (poisonous emotions): The negative emotions of passion, aggression, and ignorance — literally, “that which brings pain.”
- skandha-mara (contaminated heaps): The heaps of sense perceptions that create a separation between “I” and “other”.
- yama-mara (death): Literal and symbolic death, which interrupts or halts one’s progress on the spiritual path.
Once we recognize these maras in our mind, how do we confront these attackers like Buddha once did? Between 1980 and 1981, Chögyam Trungpa gave instructions on how to do just that: how to conquer ego’s deceptions. He gave three seminars: Conquering the Four Maras I (1980), Conquering the Four Maras II (1981), and Conquering Ego’s Deception (1981), which are all now available in the Library and are included in a playlist below! These seminars investigate ego and its problematic struggle to prove its existence. Trungpa Rinpoche also explores how to realize our basic goodness, which allows us to enter the path and makes us a worthy opponent.
Conquering the Four Maras
(Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, 1980)
On a narrow outcrop of rock in rural Cape Breton, in the stormy and bone-chilling November of 1980, about 200 students of Chögyam Trungpa gathered for his first major teaching event in Nova Scotia. A grand, if somewhat outdated, hotel was transformed into a bustling dharmic mandala. Against this backdrop, participants dressed in their finest for the entire two-week program, which brought an other-worldly quality to the whole occasion.
In the Keltic Lodge poised on the edge of an ocean cliff, participants meditated, studied, and attended talks late into the evening. This “Intensive Training Session” (meant for students with a basis of meditation practice and study) was co-taught with the Vajra Regent Ösel Tendzin, Trungpa Rinpoche’s closest student and dharma heir. The two teachers gave a total of nine talks that explored the four maras, as well as basic goodness, meditation, and the birth of ego and how it operates.
The Birth of Ego
Chögyam Trungpa explained that the creation of ego begins with the false perception of an “other” that is separate from ourselves. This confusion spawns the poisonous emotions of passion, aggression, and ignorance, which causes us to reject our own inherent gentleness and, instead, attempt to manipulate others. In order to overcome this “egomaniac” existence, one needs to realize the egolessness of both oneself and others.
Skandha-Mara: Layers of Ego
During this seminar, Trungpa Rinpoche described the skandha-mara as a fundamental problem of relating to our environment. The skandha-mara solidifies the belief in the components of ego. And our perceptions of our environment lead us to constantly designate experiences as good or bad.
He taught that in order to overcome skandha-mara we need to hold mindfulness and awareness together. We must cut through habitual patterns and preconceptions. He also pointed out that tidying oneself doesn’t hurt — it shoos out potential maras that might be hiding in the creases of our clothes.
Devaputra-Mara: Seductive Comfort
With ego comes a survival instinct to prove its existence. This causes an all-pervasive, constant fear of exposure. And because we can’t get much confirmation of our existence when we are alone and silent, meditation practice is extra threatening to ego. Chögyam Trungpa often described meditation practice as “boycotting ego.” On top of that fear of exposure, if we are superficially, physically comfortable, it can be easier to let our meditation discipline slip. Trungpa Rinpoche explains that this is giving into devaputra-mara, the indulgence in personal gratification. He describes this mara as “looking for a scapegoat substitute for discipline.” He asserted that Nova Scotia, with its often harsh weather, was an ideal place to cut through the devaputra-mara (and indeed all the maras).
Teachings Charged by the Elements
“Not even barely a glimpse of sunshine to dry our hair, dry our pores. Nonetheless, in such difficult situations like that, we can actually bring out tremendous goodness and a sense of basic goodness out of it. And in fact, we might be able to bring out the notion of fearlessness. It’s possible! It’s feasible! And it’s more than feasible in fact, ladies and gentlemen.”
Chögyam Trungpa, Conquering The Four Maras Talk 5
During the seminar, a string of nor’easter storms raged outside with crashing waves showering the paths of the Lodge. During the crescendos of the elements, saplings were snapped in half and the power flickered. Participants hunched over as they ran from building to building. Almost half a century later, students recall clearly how the tumultuous weather brought the mara teachings alive.
A personal attendant at the program, Steve Seely, remembers accompanying Trungpa Rinpoche on a walk on a particularly stormy day, and witnessing his sheer delight leaning into the sideways rain while others dutifully stood by shivering.
Valerie Lorig, a participant and close student, recalls witnessing one of these walks from the window: “One of these cold rainy days, I remember seeing him out there in this little yellow rain slicker. And I thought, who would want to go out in this?” She pauses and smiles, “Of course, he would.” Rinpoche later described one of these experiences during his talk on the comfort-seeking devaputra-mara:
“I went out today and appreciated the frozen rain dropping on my face and watching fantastic waves hitting the shore. That’s the only appreciation you have. There’s no pretty women with good bodies surfing. [laughter] There’s no nothing, anything! But there’s just basic reality, which might be an interesting way to cut through this particular devaputra-mara principle. And I hope I’m making some sense to that point. And this particular place here, loneliness, turn out to be the central place to present the notion of the four maras. And devaputra-mara could be overcome by simply being here.”
Conquering Ego’s Deception
(Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, 1981)
In November 1981, almost exactly a year after Conquering the Four Maras I, students gathered on the same rugged cliffs for another intensive program. These teachings were a continuation entitled: “Conquering Ego’s Deception.” This time, Chögyam Trungpa and the Vajra Regent were tackling the subject through a mahayana lens. The advertising for the program read:
“In the ordinary course of our lives, we are confronted by confusion that builds upon itself, from the flickering first false notion of ego to actions that attempt to remake the world in our own image. By fixating on ego’s deceptions, we maintain them. By the practice of meditation as taught by the Buddha over 2,500 years ago, we can experience and confirm the reality of life without confusion.”
The Heart of the Buddha
In this second seminar at the Lodge, Chögyam Trungpa explained that uncovering our bodhichitta, or heart of the Buddha, is key to overcoming ego’s deceptions. When we awaken our innate enlightened heart, we discover that it is inquisitive and tender. This discovery is the source of our inspiration to benefit others. Trungpa Rinpoche describes how practicing the six paramitas of generosity, discipline, patience, exertion, and prajna (transcendental knowledge), exposes the falsity of ego. By accomplishing the paramitas, “we are well-equipped to work with others, because we have fully been able to understand others’ pain and we are willing to give our pleasure to others, literally. And the willingness to do that exposes our secret holdings, or secret way of trying to exist as ‘I am.'”
As Chögyam Trungpa intended (by insisting that his talks always be recorded), these teachings are now available to modern-day practitioners. These seminars on conquering ego’s deception can help us understand our own mind, and overcome the fundamental false notion of “I” and “other.” Ultimately, it is possible to transform ego’s neurotic games into wisdom. So, may these teachings strengthen our meditation discipline, provide insight into our mind’s workings, and help us regain our balance on the path to awakening.
Conquering Playlist (Audio)
Conquering the Four Maras I (Cape Breton, NS, 1980)
- Talk 1: Basic Goodness and Buddha Nature
- Talk 2: The Birth of Ego
- Talk 5: Devaputra-mara
- Talk 7: Skandha-mara
- Talk 9: Conclusion and Review
- Seminar Playlist
Conquering the Four Maras II (Rocky Mountain Dharma Center, CO, 1981)
Conquering Ego’s Deception (Cape Breton, NS, 1981)
- Talk 1: The Language of Ego
- Talk 4: What is the Heart of the Buddha?
- Talk 5: The Six Paramitas
- Seminar Playlist
Public Talks (Halifax, NS, 1980-1981)
- The Way of the Buddha in Contemporary Life I (1980)
- The Way of the Buddha in Contemporary Life II (1981)
Canadian Dharmadhatu Conferences (Cape Breton, NS, 1980-1981)
In connection with the seminars on conquering ego, Trungpa Rinpoche also conducted ceremonies and brought together students from meditation centers, called “Dharmadhatus”, from across Canada to discuss how to present meditation and build the community:
- 1980 Canadian Dharmadhatu Conference: Opening Address
- 1980 Canadian Dharmadhatu Conference: Closing Address
- 1981 Canadian Dharmadhatu Conference: Closing Address
- Halifax Dharmadhatu Shrine Blessing (1980)
Sources:
- Buchanan, Judith. “Conquering Ego’s Deceptions.” The Best of The Vajradhatu Sun. From the October November, 1981 issue.
- Leon, John, phone interview with author, October 17th, 2024.
- Lorig, Valerie, interview with author, September 25th, 2024, Boulder, Colorado.
- Morin, Susan, interview with author, October 18th, 2024, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
- Sacamano, James. “Canada Becomes Buddhadharma’s Second North American Home.” The Best of The Vajradhatu Sun. From the February March, 1981 issue.
- Seely, Steve, phone interview with author, October 1st, 2024.
- Szpakowski, Mark, interview with author, October 18th, 2024, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
- Szostak, Joe.”Vajradhatu of Canada Established.” The Best of The Vajradhatu Sun. From the February March, 1981 issue.
- Trungpa, Chögyam. “What is the Heart of the Buddha?” The Best of The Vajradhatu Sun. From the February March, 1982 issue.