All things are Mara the Evil One
The familiar phrase in Buddhism: "All things are not the self" (sabbe dhammâ anattâ), which is found in verse 279 of Dhammapada, logically says, "All things are Mara the Evil One"!
Here is why. When you consider that "All things are not the self" and the Five Aggregates are always said by the Buddha to be 'not the self' or anattâ, and that these same Five Aggregates are also Mara, which is confirmed by the following passage from the Samyuttta-Nikaya:
"When there is form, Radha, there might be Mara, or the killer, or the one who is killed. Therefore, Radha, see form as Mara, see it as the killer, see it as the one who is killed. See it as a disease, as a tumor, as a dart, as misery, as really misery. Those who see it thus see rightly. When there if feeling ... When there is perception ... When there are volitional formations ... When there is consciousness, Radha, there might be Mara, or the killer, or the one who is killed" (S. iii. 189).
It certainly becomes clear, both to reason and to logic, that "All things are Mara the Evil One"! This also applies to what is impermanent (anicca) and painful (dukkha). All this is also Mara.
Presented now as a sequence of equals we have the following: All things = not the self or anattâ = Five Aggregates = Mara.
So what is the Buddha really teaching? The strong case is: avoid what is not the self or anattâ. Now we might ask ourselves, what should then be our foundation since what is not the self, including Mara, is abandoned? We find it in the beginning of the Self as Island Sutta (attadîpa-suttam).
"At Savatthi. Dwell Monks with the self as an island (attadîpâ) with the self as refuge, with no other refuge; with the Dharma as an island, with the Dharma as a refuge, with no other refuge. When you dwell with the self as an island, with the self as refuge, with no other refuge; with the Dharma as refuge and no other refuge, the origin should be investigated. From what is sorrow, lamentation, suffering, displeasure, and despair born? How are they produced?" (S. iii. 42-3).
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