Milarepa, A Short Bio...

 



Milarepa (mi la ras pa) is one of the most famous individuals in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, but very little of his life is known with any historical certainty. Even the dates of his birth and death have been notoriously difficult to calculate. Tsangnyon Heruka (gtsang smyon heruka, 1452-1507) – Milarepa's most famous biographer – records that the boy was born in a water-dragon year (1052) and passed away in a wood-hare year (1135), dates also found in biographical works from a century earlier. Numerous other sources, including the important mid-fifteenth-century Religious History of Lhorong (lho rong chos 'byung) push back the dates one twelve-year cycle to 1040-1123, a life span widely accepted by modern scholars. A number of prominent Tibetan historians, including Katok Tsewang Norbu (kaH thog tshe dbang nor bu, 1698-1755), Situ Paṇchen Chokyi Jungne (si tu paN chen chos kyi 'byung gnas, 1700-1774), and Drakar Chokyi Wangchuk (brag dkar chos kyi dbang phyug, 1775-1837), however, place Milarepa's birth in 1028. Still other sources place his birth as early as 1026 or 1024. He is usually said to have lived until his eighty-forth year, although sources again record variant life spans of 73, 82, or 88 years. In any case, it is clear that he lived during the eleventh and early-twelfth centuries, at the advent of the latter dissemination (phyi dar) of Buddhism in Tibet.


  From The 100,000 Thousand Songs of Milarepa

I bow down at the feet of most excellent Marpa.
Bless this beggar to turn from clinging to things.

Alas. Alas. Ay me. Ay me. How sad.
People invested in things of life's round—
I reflect and reflect and again and again I despair.
They engage and engage and stir up from their depths so much torment.
They whirl and they whirl and are cast in the depths of life's round.

Those dragged on by karma, afflicted with anguish like this—
What to do? What to do? There's no cure but the dharma.
Lord Akṣobhya in essence, Vajradhara,
Bless this beggar to stay in mountain retreat.

In the town of impermanence and illusion
A restless visitor to these ruins is afflicted with anguish.
In the environs of Gungtang, a wondrous landscape,
Grasslands that fed yaks, sheep, cattle, and goats
Are nowadays taken over by harmful spirits.
These too are examples of impermanence and illusion,
Examples that call me, a yogin, to practice.

This home of four pillars and eight beams
Nowadays resembles a lion's upper jaw.
The manor of four corners, four walls, and a roof, making nine
These too are examples of impermanence and illusion,
Examples that call me, a yogin, to practice.




This fertile field Orma Triangle
Nowadays is a tangle of weeds.
My cousins and family relations
Nowadays rise up as an army of foes.
These too are examples of impermanence and illusion,
Examples that call me, a yogin, to practice.
My good father Mila Shergyal
Nowadays, of him no trace remains.
My mother Nyangtsa Kargyen
Nowadays is a pile of bare bones.
These too are examples of impermanence and illusion,
Examples that call me, a yogin, to practice.

My family priest Konchok Lhabüm
Nowadays works as a servant.
The sacred text Ratnakūṭa
Nowadays serves as a nest for vermin and birds.
These too are examples of impermanence and illusion,
Examples that call me, a yogin, to practice.

My neighboring uncle Yungyal
Nowadays lives among hostile enemies.
My sister Peta Gonkyi
Has vanished without leaving a trace.
These too are examples of impermanence and illusion,
Examples that call me, a yogin, to practice.

Lord Akṣobhya in essence, compassionate one,
Bless this beggar to stay in mountain retreat.

While staying at Drakar Taso, Milarepa later reaffirms his commitment to meditation practice in a stirring song about his the aim of dying in solitary retreat:

I address my prayers to the lord lama's body.
Bless this beggar to stay in mountain retreat.

My happiness unknown to loved ones
And misery unknown to foes—
If thus I can die in this mountain retreat
The aims of this yogin will be complete.

My aging unknown to companions
And sickness unknown to my sister—
If thus I can die in this mountain retreat
The aims of this yogin will be complete.

My death unknown among people
And rotting corpse unseen by vultures—
If thus I can die in this mountain retreat
The aims of this yogin will be complete.

Flies sucking on my putrid flesh
And insects gnawing my bones—
If thus I can die in this mountain retreat
The aims of this yogin will be complete.

No footprints upon my doorstep
And no sign of blood inside—
If thus I can die in this mountain retreat
The aims of this yogin will be complete.

No one to stand round my corpse
And no one to mourn for my death—
If thus I can die in this mountain retreat
The aims of this yogin will be complete.

No one to ask where I've gone to
And no one to say I have come—
If thus I can die in this mountain retreat
The aims of this yogin will be complete.

May the prayer of this beggar to die
In a cave of some lonesome locale
Be cast for the benefit of beings.
When cast, my aims are fulfilled.

To finish the short bio of Jetsun Milarepa please click HERE

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