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Jetsun Milarepa (Tibetan: རྗེ་བཙུན་མི་ལ་རས་པ, Wylie: rje btsun mi la ras pa) (1028/40–1111/23 CE) was a Tibetan siddha, who famously became a murderer as a young man, and then turned to Buddhism to become an accomplished Tibetan Buddha, despite his murderous past. He is generally considered as one of Tibet's most famous yogis and poets, serving as an example for the Buddhist life. He was a student of Marpa Lotsawa, and a major figure in the history of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Biography
The Life of Milarepa
Milarepa's life-story is famous in the Tibetan culture, and retold many times. The best-known biography, The Life of Milarepa, written by Tsangnyön Heruka (1452-1507) in the fifteenth century and drawing from older biographies, is still very popular. Most of the present-day stories on Milarepa come from this single source.
According to The Life of Milarepa, Milarepa was born in western Tibet to a prosperous family. When his father died, his family was bereft of their wealth by his aunt and uncle. At his mother's request, Milarepa left home and studied sorcery to take revenge, killing many people. Later he felt sorrow about his deeds, and became student of Marpa the Translator. Before Marpa would teach Milarepa, he had him undergo abuse and trials, such as letting him build and then demolish three towers in turn. Milarepa was asked to build one final multi-story tower by Marpa at Lhodrag, which still stands. Eventually, Marpa accepted him, explaining that the trials were a means to purify Milarepa's negative karma. Marpa transmitted tantric Tantric initiations and instructions to Milarepa, including tummo ("yogic heat"), the "aural transmissions" (snyan rgyud), and mahamudra. Marpa told Milarepa to practice solitary meditation in caves and mountain retreats, which, according to the biography, after many years of practice resulted in "a deep experiential realization about the true nature of reality." Therafter he lived as a fully realized yogin, and eventually even forgave his aunt, who caused the misfortune of his family.
According to Lopez, The Life of Milarepa represents "Buddhism as it was understood and practiced in Tibet in the fifteenth century, projected back in time," and contains "many of the key terms and doctrines of Buddhism." Tsangnyön Heruka did his best to establish a lineage of teachers which connects the Kagyu tradition with the Indian siddha tradition, portraying Marpa as a student of Naropa, though Naropa had already died when Marpa went to India.
Lopez notes that Tsangnyön Heruka used stylistic elements from the biography of the Buddha, to portray Milarepa effectively as a Tibetan Buddha, "born and enlightened in Tibet, without going to India or receiving the direct instructions of an Indian master." The lifestory of Milarepa portrays "the rapid method of the Tantric path,"in which liberation is gained in one lifetime. It describes how Milarepa practiced the generation stage and completion stage, to achive mahamudra, "spontaneous realization of the most profound nature of mind." Yet, in his instructions to his Tibetan audiences, Milarepa refers to the basic Buddhist teachings of "impermanence, the sufferings of samsara, the certainty of death and the uncertainty of its arrival, the frightful rebirth that is the direct result of our benighted deeds." But, his own life also is an example that even a murderer can transform into a Buddha. Lopez further notes that the The Life of Milarepa portrays two parallel worlds, a profane world and a sacred world, which are ultimately one, showing that the world itself is sacred.
The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa
Previous biographies of Milarepa were enlarged with religious poetry and song cycles, which doubled the volume of biographical information. Tsangnyön Heruka published these songs in a separate volume as The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa, summarizing the various song cycles in chapter eleven of The Life of Milarepa.
Historical context
Milarepa lived during the socalled second dissemination of Buddhism in Tibet (10th-12th century), when Buddhism was re-introduced. Three pivotal figures in this Tibetan Renaissance were Rinchen Zangpo (958-1055), who translated sutras, tantras and commentaries; Atiśa (982-1054), whose student Dromtonpa founded the Kadampa school of Tibetan Buddhism; and Marpa Lotsawa, the teacher of Milarepa, and himself regarded as student of Naropa. Marpa introduced tantric texts and oral instructions from the Bengali siddha tradition into Tibet.
Gallery
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Bhutanese painted thanka of Milarepa (1052-1135), Late 19th-early 20th century, Dhodeydrag Gonpa, Thimphu, Bhutan
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Milarepa, Tempera on cotton, 21x30 cm, 2008 Otgonbayar Ershuu
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Tibetan or Nepalese painted thanka of Milarepa, 19th century, mineral pigments and gold on cotton clothes of Nepal.
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See also
- Machig Labdron
- Milarepa's Cave
- Detachment (philosophy)
- Mount Hiei Marathon monks
- Kaihōgyō
- Shugendō
- Éliane Radigue
References
- ^ Quintman, p. 536. sfn error: no target: CITEREFQuintman (help)
- ^ Quintman 2004, p. 536.
- ^ Lopez 2010. sfn error: no target: CITEREFLopez2010 (help)
- ^ Quintman 2010.
- prm.ox.ac.uk: Sekhar Gutog monastery in Lhodrag near Bhutan
Sources
- Lopez Jr., Donald S. (2010), "Introduction", Tsangnyön Heruka. The Life of Milarepa, Penguin Books
- Quintman, Andrew (2004), "MI LA RAS PA (MILAREPA)", in Buswell, Robert E. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Buddhism, MacMillan
- Quintman, Andrew (2010), "Translator's Introduction", Tsangnyön Heruka. The Life of Milarepa, Penguin Books
Further reading
- Biography
- The Life of Milarepa, translated by Lobsang P. Lhalungpa, Book Faith India, 1997, ISBN 81-7303-046-4
- The Life of Milarepa, translated by Andrew Quintman, Penguin Classics, 2010, ISBN 978-0-14-310622-7
- The Yogin and the Madman: Reading the Biographical Corpus of Tibet's Great Saint Milarepa, by Andrew Quintman. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013. ISBN 978-0-231-16415-3
- Songs of Milarepa
- The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa: A New Translation,Tsangnyön Heruka; under the guidance of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, translated by Christopher Stagg of the Nitartha Translation Network. Boulder, Shambhala, 2017. ISBN 9781559394482 OCLC 946987421
- Milarepa, The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa, translated by Garma C.C. Chang, City Lights Books, 1999, ISBN 1-57062-476-3
External links
Template:Contains Tibetan text
- Biography on Kagyu website
- The sixty songs of Milarepa
- Text, The Essential Songs of Milarepa in English
- Inviting the demon. (Milarepa, Tibetan Buddhism)(The Shadowissue) Judith Simmer-Brown, Parabola Vol.22 No.2 (Summer 1997) pp. 12–18
- Gallery of Milarepa Thangkas by Dharmapala Thangka Centre
| Preceded byMarpa Lotsawa | Kagyu school | Succeeded byGampopa |
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