In his directorial debut, Buddhist lama Neten Chokling vividly presents the captivating story of Milarepa, the man who would become Tibet s greatest yogi and saint.
Milarepa
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A famous statue of Milarepa brought from Nyanang Phelgyeling Monastery, Tibet
UJetsun Milarepa (
Tibetan:
རྗེ་བཙུན་མི་ལ་རས་པ,
Wylie:
rje btsun mi la ras pa) (c. 1052 – c. 1135
CE) is generally considered one of
Tibet's most famous
yogis and poets. He was a student of
Marpa Lotsawa, and a major figure in the history of the
Kagyu school of
Tibetan Buddhism.
[citation needed]
Early life
Born in the village of Kya Ngatsa – also known as Tsa – in
Gungthang, a province of western Tibet, to a prosperous family, he was named
Mila Thöpaga (Thos-pa-dga'), which means "A joy to hear." His family name, Josay, indicates noble descent, a
sept of the
Khyungpo or eagle clan.
[1]
Sorcery
When
his father died, Milarepa's uncle and aunt took all of the family's
wealth. At his mother's request, Milarepa left home and studied
sorcery.
While his aunt and uncle were having a party to celebrate the impending
marriage of their son, he took his revenge by summoning a giant
hailstorm to demolish their house, killing 35 people, although the uncle
and aunt are supposed to have survived. The villagers were angry and
set off to look for Milarepa, but his mother got word to him, and he
sent a hailstorm to destroy their crops.
[citation needed]
Many of Milarepa's deeds took place in the homeland of Chö kyi Drönma, the
Samding Dorje Phagmo, and his life and songs were compiled by
Tsangnyön Heruka, sponsored by her brother, the Gungthang king Thri Namgyal De.
[2]
Milarepa later lamented his evil ways in his older years in
conversation with Rechungpa: "In my youth I committed black deeds. In
maturity I practised innocence. Now, released from both good and evil, I
have destroyed the root of
karmic action
and shall have no reason for action in the future. To say more than
this would only cause weeping and laughter. What good would it do to
tell you? I am an old man. Leave me in peace."
[3]
Supernatural running
The nine storey tower that Milarepa single-handedly built, Sekhar Gutok, Lhodrag, Tibet.
According to the book
Magic and Mystery in Tibet by French explorer
Alexandra David-Néel, Milarepa boasted of having "crossed in a few days, a distance which, before his training in
black magic,
had taken him more than a month. He ascribes his gift to the clever
control of 'internal air'." David-Néel comments "that at the house of
the lama who taught him black magic there lived a trapa [monk] who was
fleeter than a horse" using the same skill.
[4] After witnessing such a monk David-Néel described how:
He seemed to lift himself from the ground.. His steps had the
regularity of a pendulum ... the traveller seemed to be in a trance.[5]
This esoteric skill, which is known as
Lung-gom-pa[6]
in Tibet, is said to allow a practitioner to run at an extraordinary
speed for days without stopping. This technique could be compared to
that practised by the
Kaihōgyō monks of
Mount Hiei and by practitioners of
Shugendō,
Japan.
[7]
Tutelage under Marpa
Knowing that his revenge was wrong, Milarepa (then known by his boyhood name 'Fortuitous') set out to find a
lama and was led to
Marpa the Translator.
Marpa proved a hard taskmaster. Before Marpa would teach Milarepa he
had him build and then demolish three towers in turn. Milarepa was asked
to build one final multi-story tower by Marpa at Lhodrag: this 11th
century tower still stands.
[8]
When Marpa still refused to teach Milarepa, he went to Marpa's wife,
who took pity on him. She forged a letter of introduction to another
teacher,
Lama Ngogdun Chudor, under whose tutelage he practiced
meditation.
However, when he was making no progress, he confessed the forgery and
Ngogdun Chudor said that it was vain to hope for spiritual growth
without the guru Marpa's approval.
[citation needed]
Milarepa returned to Marpa, and was finally shown the spiritual
teachings. Milarepa then left on his own, and after protracted diligence
for 12 years he attained the state of
Vajradhara
(complete enlightenment). He then became known as Milarepa. 'Mila' is
Tibetan for; 'great man', and 'repa' means; 'cotton clad one.' At the
age of 45, he started to practice at
Drakar Taso (White Rock Horse Tooth) cave – "
Milarepa's Cave", as well as becoming a wandering teacher. Here, he subsisted on
nettle
tea, leading his skin to turn green with a waxy covering, hence the
greenish color he is often depicted as having, in paintings and
sculpture.
[citation needed]
Monastery
Nyanang Phelgyeling Monastery, also known as Sonam Gompa later in Nepal, which later became very famous in Nepal, is a
Tibetan Buddhist monastery in a tiny village called Nyanang in
Tibet
near the border of Nepal. Fortunately Nyanang Phelgyeling Monastery has
the rare statue of Milerapa which was created by his own disciple (Bhu
Rechung Pa ). The statue was created in the life time of Milarepa. The
cave is consecrated to Milarepa. It is built around the
cave
where he once lived. "It was destroyed but has now been rebuilt and
decorated by Nepali artisans. This is one of many caves associated with
Milarepa between
Langtang and
Jomolungma."
[9]
Lineage
Milarepa statue, Pango Chorten,
Gyantse, Tibet.
Milarepa's lama was Marpa Lotsāwa, whose guru was
Naropa, whose guru in turn was
Tilopa. Milarepa is famous for many of his songs and poems, in which he expresses the profundity of his realization of the
dharma.
His songs were impulsive, not contrived or written down, and came about
while he was immersed in enlightened states of consciousness.
[citation needed]
Milarepa's life represented the ideal
bodhisattva, and is a testament to the unity and interdependency of all Buddhist teachings –
Theravada,
Mahayana and
Vajrayana.
He showed that poverty is not a deprivation, but rather a component of
emancipating oneself from the constrictions of material possessions;
that Tantric practice entails discipline and steadfast perseverance;
that without resolute renunciation and uncompromising discipline, as
Gautama Buddha
Himself stressed, all the sublime ideas and dazzling images depicted in
Mahayana and Tantric Buddhism are no better than magnificent illusions.
[10] He also had many disciples, male and female,
[11][12] including
Rechung Dorje Drakpa and
Gampopa His female disciples include Rechungma, Padarbum, Sahle Aui and Tsheringma.
[13]
It was Gampopa who became Milarepa's spiritual successor, continued his
lineage, and became one of the main lineage masters in Milarepa's
tradition.
[citation needed]
Gallery
-
Bhutanese painted thanka of Milarepa (1052-1135), Late 19th-early 20th century, Dhodeydrag Gonpa, Thimphu, Bhutan
-
-
Tibetan or Nepalese painted thanka of Milarepa, 19th century, mineral pigments and gold on cotton clothes of Nepal.
See also
References
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A famous statue of Milarepa brought from Nyanang Phelgyeling Monastery, Tibet
Overlooking Pelgyeling Gompa at Milarepa's Cave, Tibet.
According to the book Magic and Mystery in Tibet by French explorer Alexandra David-Néel, Milarepa boasted of having "crossed in a few days, a distance which, before his training in black magic, had taken him more than a month. He ascribes his gift to the clever control of 'internal air'." David-Néel comments "that at the house of the lama who taught him black magic there lived a trapa [monk] who was fleeter than a horse" using the same skill.[4] After witnessing such a monk David-Néel described how:The nine storey tower that Milarepa single-handedly built, Sekhar Gutok, Lhodrag, Tibet.
Milarepa's lama was Marpa Lotsāwa, whose guru was Naropa, whose guru in turn was Tilopa. Milarepa is famous for many of his songs and poems, in which he expresses the profundity of his realization of the dharma. His songs were impulsive, not contrived or written down, and came about while he was immersed in enlightened states of consciousness.[citation needed]Milarepa statue, Pango Chorten, Gyantse, Tibet.
Bhutanese painted thanka of Milarepa (1052-1135), Late 19th-early 20th century, Dhodeydrag Gonpa, Thimphu, Bhutan
Milarepa, Tempera on cotton, 21x30 cm, 2008 Otgonbayar Ershuu
Tibetan or Nepalese painted thanka of Milarepa, 19th century, mineral pigments and gold on cotton clothes of Nepal.
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