Concept
Reincarnation
Related concepts (42)
Mara (demon)
Mara (मार, ; මාරයා; or ; Mara; also マーラ, Māra or 天魔, Tenma; Cheonma; Thiên Ma; Tibetan Wylie: bdud; មារ; မာရ်နတ်; มาร; Mara), in Buddhism, is a malignant celestial king who tried to stop Prince Siddhartha from achieving Enlightenment by trying to seduce him with his celestial Army and the vision of beautiful women who, in various legends, are often said to be Mara's daughters. In Buddhist cosmology, Mara is associated with death, rebirth and desire. Nyanaponika Thera has described Mara as "the personification of the forces antagonistic to enlightenment.
Neoplatonism and Gnosticism
Gnosticism refers to a collection of religious groups originating in Jewish religiosity in Alexandria in the first few centuries AD. Neoplatonism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century, based on the teachings of Plato and some of his early followers. While Gnosticism was influenced by Middle Platonism, neoplatonists from the third century onward rejected Gnosticism. Nevertheless, Alexander J.