Morning Sutta: this caught my attention

Carlita

At Savatthi. Then, early in the morning, Upacala the nun put on her robes and, taking her bowl & outer robe, went into Savatthi for alms. When she had gone for alms in Savatthi and had returned from her alms round, after her meal she went to the Grove of the Blind to spend the day. Having gone deep into the Grove of the Blind, she sat down at the foot of a tree for the day's abiding.

Then Mara the Evil One, wanting to arouse fear, horripilation, & terror in her, wanting to make her fall away from concentration, approached her & said, "Where do you want to reappear,[1] nun?"

"I don't want to reappear anywhere, my friend."

[Mara:]
The devas of the Thirty-three,
the Hours, the Contented,
those who delight in creation,
& those in control:
direct your mind there
and it will enjoy
delight.

[Sister Upacala:]
The devas of the Thirty-three,
the Hours, the Contented,
those who delight in creation,
& those in control:
they are bound
with the bonds of sensuality;
they come again
under Mara's sway.
The whole world is burning.
The whole world is aflame.
The whole world is blazing.
The whole world is provoked.
The Unprovoked, Unblazing
— that people run-of-the-mill
don't partake,
where Mara's
never been —
that's where my heart
truly delights.
Then Mara the Evil One — sad & dejected at realizing, "Upacala the nun knows me" — vanished right there.

Upacala Sutta: Sister Upacala
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn05/sn05.007.than.html

federica

Women can read men too well....

Snakeskin

@federica, women may be able to read men well, but the sutta doesn’t specify Mara’s gender.

Here, he personifies the pull of sensual desire; the nun, disenchantment with it. The sutta list the devas of the sensuous world. Mara is said to reside in the highest of those. He tries to tempt her with these realms, but she knows sensuality tethers (“kāmabandhanabaddhā”) to samsara, so she’s unmoved.

It reminds me of the Pink Floyd song, “Wish You Were Here”:

Did they get you to trade
Your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
Did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?

federica

@Snakeskin said:
@federica, women may be able to read men well, but the sutta doesn’t specify Mara’s gender.

Here, he personifies the pull of sensual desire; the nun, disenchantment with it. The sutta list the devas of the sensuous world. Mara is said to reside in the highest of those. He tries to tempt her with these realms, but she knows sensuality tethers (“kāmabandhanabaddhā”) to samsara, so she’s unmoved.

It reminds me of the Pink Floyd song, “Wish You Were Here”:

Did they get you to trade
Your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
Did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?

I quite agree, it doesn't.... As your quotation shows, however, it refers to Mara in the Masculine; and this Wiki article points out the source of his name, in the "popular Culture" section, which I think pretty much nails the gender...

Let us not forget, lest we think this is some kind of gender thing - The Buddha was male, too.

Snakeskin

@federica said:
... it refers to Mara in the Masculine;

"Māro"

Touche.

federica

Foisted by your own petard....

lobster

@Carlita quotheth:
"I don't want to reappear anywhere, my friend."

Seems like a plan.

Interact to our 'mind devils' as fiends friends rather than trying to oppose/fight or otherwise exercise or exorcise them ...

“Mara, Mara quite contrary
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells,
And cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row"- Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme
https://whatdoeshistorysay.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/dark-history-behind-nursery-rhyme-mary.html