Editing Demonology (section)

===Buddhism===
Traditionally, [[Buddhism]] affirms the existence of [[Hell#Buddhism|hells]]<ref>Boeree, Dr. C. George (2000), [http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/buddhacosmo.html Chapter: "Buddhist Cosmology"], ''An Introduction to Buddhism'', Shippensburg University</ref> populated by demons who torment sinners and tempt mortals to sin, or who seek to thwart their [[Bodhi|enlightenment]], with a demon named [[Mara (demon)|Mara]] as chief tempter, "prince of darkness", or "Evil One" in Sanskrit sources.<ref>[http://kadampa.org/en/reference/glossary-of-buddhist-terms-a-e#Demon "Demon"] and [http://kadampa.org/en/reference/glossary-of-buddhist-terms-k-o#Mara "Mara"] in the ''Glossary of Buddhist Terms'' at [http://www.kadampa.org/ kadampa.org]</ref><ref name="strickman">Strickmann, Michel. ''Chinese Magical Medicine'',(2002) Stanford: Stanford University Press. {{ISBN|0-8047-3449-6}}</ref>

The followers of Mara were also called ''mara'', the devils, and are frequently cited as a cause of disease or representations of mental obstructions.<ref name="strickman"/>
The ''mara'' became fully assimilated into the Chinese worldview, and were called ''mo''.

The idea of the imminent decline and collapse of the Buddhist religion amid a "great cacophony of demonic influences" was already a significant component of Buddhism when it reached China in the first century A.D., according to Michel Strickmann.<ref name="strickman"/> Demonic forces had attained enormous power in the world. For some writers of the time, this state of affairs had been ordained to serve the higher purpose of effecting a "preliminary cleansing" that would purge and purify humanity in preparation for an ultimate, messianic renewal.<ref name="strickman"/>

Medieval Chinese Buddhist demonology was heavily influenced by Indian Buddhism. Indian demonology is also fully and systematically described in written sources, though during Buddhism's centuries of direct influence in China, "Chinese demonology was whipped into respectable shape," with a number of Indian demons finding permanent niches even in [[Taoist]] ritual texts.<ref name="strickman"/>  In the [[Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva Pūrvapraṇidhāna Sūtra|Kṣitigarbha Sūtra]] it states that heaven and hell change as the world changes and that many new hells with different demons can be created to fit the different ways that the human realm changes.

Chinese Buddhism also influenced Taoism with [[Diyu|beliefs of hell]] and the Taoists eventually came up with their own demonology lore which in turn created [[Chinese folk religion|folk beliefs]] about spirits in hell which was a combination of beliefs from the two religions. However, the demons in hell are viewed differently than [[Abrahamic religions|Abrahamic faiths]] who instead of being pure evil are more of guards of hell although they are still viewed as malicious beings. They are ruled over by Yama which came from Buddhism's Hindu influences but certain scriptures and beliefs also state that there are 18 different Yamas in hell which have an army of demons and undead at their side.

Also, the [[Śūraṅgama Sūtra]], a major Mahayana Buddhist text, describes fifty demonic states: the so-called fifty skandha maras, which are "negative" mirror-like reflections of or deviations from correct samādhi (meditative absorption) states. In this context demons are considered by Buddhists to be beings possessing some supernatural powers, who, in the past, might have practiced [[Dharma]], the Buddha's teaching, but due to practicing it incorrectly failed to develop [[Prajñā (Buddhism)|true wisdom]] and [[Karuṇā|true compassion]], which are inseparable attributes of an enlightened being such as a [[Buddha]] or a [[Bodhisattva]]. In his autobiography, The Blazing Splendor, [[Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche]], a prominent Tibetan Buddhist master of the 20th century describes encounters with such beings. Therefore, depending on the context, in Buddhism demons may refer to both disturbed mind states and actual beings.