Seized by Māra, Seized by the Buddha
Ten kinds of being seized by māra include failures that might otherwise sound like accomplishments — permanently cutting off birth-and-death, feeling satisfied with only a little practice. Ten kinds of being seized by the buddha answer directly, closing on a bodhisattva who realizes all-knowing wisdom and yet still gives rise to bodhisattva practice, never letting the bodhisattva's own seed be cut off.
When Cutting Off Birth-and-Death Is Māra's Grip
The seventh entry of being seized by māra is the most counterintuitive: permanently cutting off birth-and-death, a goal that sounds like liberation itself, is named as māra's own grip. Its counterpart among the buddha's own seizures answers precisely this: reaching the place of no-arising and yet still manifesting the taking of rebirth.
佛子！菩薩摩訶薩有十種魔所攝持。何等為十？所謂：懈怠心，魔所攝持；志樂狹劣，魔所攝持；於少行生足，魔所攝持；受一非餘，魔所攝持；不發大願，魔所攝持；樂處寂滅，斷除煩惱，魔所攝持；永斷生死，魔所攝持；捨菩薩行，魔所攝持；不化眾生，魔所攝持；疑謗正法，魔所攝持。是為十。
"Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of being seized by māra. What are these ten? Namely: an indolent mind — this is being seized by māra. A narrow and inferior aspiration — this is being seized by māra. Feeling satisfied with only a small amount of practice — this is being seized by māra. Accepting only one thing while rejecting all else — this is being seized by māra. Failing to arouse the great vow — this is being seized by māra. Delighting in dwelling in stillness and extinction, cutting off and removing affliction — this is being seized by māra. Permanently cutting off birth-and-death — this is being seized by māra. Abandoning bodhisattva practice — this is being seized by māra. Failing to transform sentient beings — this is being seized by māra. Doubting and slandering the true dharma — this is being seized by māra. These are the ten.
「若諸菩薩能棄捨此魔所攝持，則得十種佛所攝持。何等為十？所謂：初始能發菩提之心，佛所攝持；於生生中持菩提心不令忘失，佛所攝持；覺諸魔事，悉能遠離，佛所攝持；聞諸波羅蜜，如說修行，佛所攝持；知生死苦而不厭惡，佛所攝持；觀甚深法，得無量果，佛所攝持；為諸眾生說二乘法，而不證取彼乘解脫，佛所攝持；樂觀無為法而不住其中，於有為、無為不生二想，佛所攝持；至無生處而現受生，佛所攝持；雖證得一切智，而起菩薩行，不斷菩薩種，佛所攝持。是為十。若諸菩薩安住其中，則得諸佛無上攝持力。
If bodhisattvas are able to cast aside this being seized by māra, they attain ten kinds of being seized by the buddha. What are these ten? Namely: being able, at the very outset, to give rise to the mind of awakening — this is being seized by the buddha. Upholding the mind of awakening through birth after birth, never letting it be forgotten — this is being seized by the buddha. Awakening to every affair of māra, being entirely able to stay far from it — this is being seized by the buddha. Hearing the pāramitās spoken of and practicing exactly as they are spoken — this is being seized by the buddha. Knowing the suffering of birth-and-death and yet not despising it — this is being seized by the buddha. Observing the profound dharma, attaining measureless fruit — this is being seized by the buddha. Teaching the dharma of the two lesser vehicles for the sake of sentient beings, and yet not realizing or taking hold of the liberation of those vehicles — this is being seized by the buddha. Delighting in observing the unconditioned dharma and yet not abiding within it, giving rise to no dualistic notion between the conditioned and the unconditioned — this is being seized by the buddha. Reaching the place of no-arising and yet manifesting the taking of rebirth — this is being seized by the buddha. And though realizing all-knowing wisdom, still giving rise to bodhisattva practice, never cutting off the seed of the bodhisattva — this is being seized by the buddha. These are the ten. If bodhisattvas abide within these, they attain every buddha's own unsurpassed power of being seized and upheld.
永斷生死，魔所攝持 — permanently cutting off birth-and-death is being seized by māra — set directly against 至無生處而現受生，佛所攝持 — reaching the place of no-arising and yet manifesting the taking of rebirth is being seized by the buddha. The two lists share a structure but not a value system: what looks like the śrāvaka's own goal, an end to rebirth, is named māra's grip, while its bodhisattva counterpart keeps returning to birth precisely because it has already gone beyond needing to.
Part 787 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-eight, 離世間品, in fascicle fifty-eight. Part 788 opens ten kinds of being seized by the dharma, beginning with knowing that every conditioned formation is impermanent.