The text entitled The Life of Milarepa could
be termed a biography, but biographies in Buddhism
are not quite the same as those by modern historians.
A modern biographer looks for factual information,
such as the exact date somebody was born and
the historical dates of the various things they
did. In Buddhism a spiritual biography or a
hagiography is not concerned with the details
of a person’s life: whether Milarepa was
born in this or that year makes no difference.
What does it matter if he was born on the sixth
instead of the seventh day of the month? Rather,
Buddhist biographies are based on the essential
elements of the individual’s life: What
motivation did they have? What practices did
he do? How much diligence did they have? What
results did they achieve? Finally, how were
they able to help other beings? This kind of
biography inspires faith, devotion, and diligence
for spiritual practice and that is why spiritual
practice is so very important.
Some recent Tibetan scholars have denounced
the Tibetan tradition of biographies as uncritical,
arguing that they contain only the good qualities
of their subject and omit all the bad qualities.
It is true that there are few details in these
biographies; we are not told what kind of food
Milarepa ate, or what kind of bed he slept on.
These are not just historical accounts of someone’s
life. A spiritual biography is called namtar
in Tibetan, which literally means “complete
liberation.” These biographies describe
individuals who have rejected samsara, and through
faith, devotion, diligence, and wisdom have
attained complete liberation from the sufferings
of samsara. These biographies therefore describe
the process of liberation beginning with why
the individual first choose to practice the
dharma, how they met their teacher, what instructions
were received, how that individual practiced
them, and what results were achieved. These
biographies have the purpose of inspiring the
readers to become drawn to the dharma and be
diligent in their practice.
The Characteristics of
a Spiritual Biography
A spiritual biography can be said to have
nine characteristics. These characteristics
can be grouped into three sets, each containing
two faults to be avoided and one good quality
to be acquired.
The first set of three characteristics is
comprised of being meaninglessness, being
in error, and being meaningful. For example,
it would be pointless to describe how tall
Milarepa was; the information that he was
five feet or four feet tall would be meaningless.
The second characteristic of being in error
would be something contrary to the facts,
for example, to say that Milarepa was a very
aggressive or lustful person. Obviously those
two faults should be avoided in a namtar and
rather the text should be meaningful. For
example, the text should describe how Milarepa’s
experiences of suffering and impermanence
caused him to turn to the dharma, meet his
guru, and practice his guru’s instructions
correctly so that those reading the biography
will understand how they themselves should
also follow the dharma, practice the instructions,
and accomplish the end result of enlightenment.
The next group of three characteristics is
dedication to learning, debate, and practice.
The first, dedication to learning, means that
one feels one has to know and explain everything
in detail, which is not that important. The
second is dedication to debate. Dedication
to debate means being engaged in the refutation
of certain statements, answering objections
to one’s own views, and so on which
is not of any importance. What is important
for a text is the third characteristic of
dedication to practice. One does not just
hear and contemplate the teachings, or just
debate it, but one actually gains control
of one’s own mind, eliminating faults,
increasing positive qualities, and accomplishing
benefit for oneself and for others.
The last group of three characteristics is
deceit, propagation of violence, and eliminating
suffering. The first, deceit, means the treatise
is written in order to mislead people. The
second is a propagation of violence. The advocating
of violence occurs when texts engender an
increase of cruelty and violence towards others,
instead of compassion and altruism. Texts
with those two characteristics should be avoided.
The kind of text that should be studied is
one that has the characteristic of providing
a method to eliminate suffering.
Therefore a namtar should not have any of
the characteristics of: (1) being meaningless,
(2) being in error, (3) dedicated to study,
(4) dedicated to debate, (5) one of deception,
or (6) advocating the propagation of violence.
Texts containing these characteristics should
not be written; one that has been written
should not be taught, and its teachings should
not be practiced.
The kind of text that should be written, taught,
and put into practice is one that has the
three characteristics of being: (1) meaningful,
(2) dedicated to practice, and (3) is a means
to eliminate suffering.
The Hundred Thousand
Songs of Milarepa
The biography of Milarepa (Tib. mila namtar)
is clearly written and easily understood,
as is its translation into English, so it
does not require much additional explanation.
However, there is also the collection of the
spiritual songs of Milarepa entitled The Hundred
Thousand Songs of Milarepa (Tib. Mila Grubum)
and in this book I shall explain a selection
of songs from ten of its chapters.
The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa were
compiled by Tsang Nyön Heruka an emanation
of Milarepa, who also wrote The Life of Milarepa.
Tsang Nyön was a siddha who had gained
the appellation “Nyönpa”
which means “crazy.” He was one
of three famous contemporary “crazy
siddhas”: Druk Nyön who was “the
crazy man from Bhutan,” U Nyön
who was “the crazy man from U”
and Tsang Nyön who was “the crazy
man from Tsang.”
The life-story and songs of Milarepa inspire
people to practice his lineage of instructions.
This lineage consists of the path of means
using the Six Yogas of Naropa and the path
of liberation, which is Mahamudra meditation.
In the Karma Kagyu transmission of his lineage,
the ninth Karmapa taught the realization of
Mahamudra in three texts. He explained Mahamudra
in the long The Ocean of Definitive Meaning,
the middle length in The Mahamudra which Eliminates
the Darkness of Ignorance, and the short Pointing
Out the Dharmakaya. These three texts provide
us with a progressive path of meditation beginning
with the four ways of changing the mind and
progressing to the stages of tranquillity
or Shamatha meditation and insight or Vipashyana
meditation by explaining the methods of practice
that lead to the ultimate experience.
A Prayer to Marpa, Milarepa,
and Gampopa
First, I shall give a brief description of
Milarepa, so that we may have faith in him.
Milarepa was an exceptional master, because
he had an exceptional guru, Marpa, and an
exceptional pupil, Gampopa. Jamyang Khyentse
Wangpo concisely described these three masters
in a short prayer that is regularly recited
in the Karma Kagyu school. In this prayer
one verse is dedicated to each of these masters
with each verse describing three special qualities
that the master possessed. The first four
lines is a prayer to Marpa:
Great courage took you to India many times.
With great wisdom, you saw the true nature
of all phenomena.
With great accomplishment, you performed miracles.
I supplicate the great translator Marpa.
Marpa underwent considerable hardships to
go to India three times. He did not do this
for his own benefit, but he did this so that
he could meet great gurus such as Naropa and
Maitripa and receive the teachings from them
and put them into practice. Not only did Marpa
have the great confidence that he could receive
these teachings, but he also had the confidence
that he could introduce these teachings into
Tibet and teach many pupils who would practice
and embody them correctly and completely,
and then transmit them on to their own pupils.
He did this so that their lineages would grow
and prosper throughout the future.
When Marpa went to India, met his gurus, and
received their instructions, he didn’t
just learn these instructions but he also
practiced the instructions and attained full
realization. Through the power of his wisdom
Marpa saw the true nature of all phenomena
and attained the supreme accomplishment (enlightenment)
within that very lifetime.
Marpa not only saw the true nature of phenomena,
but as a sign of his attainment of the dharmakaya
he was able to display a variety of miraculous
powers to his pupils who were worthy, so as
to engender faith, and have them follow the
dharma.
The second verse is a prayer to Milarepa:
With great power, you destroyed your enemies.
With great hardship, you pleased your guru.
With great diligence, you raised the victory
banner of practice.
I supplicate the great yogi Milarepa.
Milarepa began by studying under a master
of black magic and using his powers he destroyed
and killed his uncles who had treated him,
his mother and sister poorly. This, of course,
created great negative karma that Milarepa
would have carried into future lifetimes had
he not regretted these actions and searched
out a true lama, Marpa.
Marpa commanded Milarepa to build a succession
of stone houses only to tell him to pull them
down again. Despite the hardship involved,
Milarepa’s faith in Marpa never wavered,
and he fulfilled Marpa’s commands. This
purified him of his negative karma, which
pleased Marpa, his guru.
Milarepa, having received the instructions
from Marpa, knew that the practice of these
instructions was more important than any worldly
activities. So Milarepa lived in various caves
even if it meant that he had to go without
food or clothes and practiced with diligence
until he accomplished enlightenment. He then
passed on his dharma teachings to many pupils
thus raising the victory banner of practice.
The next verse is a prayer to Gampopa:
The Great Vehicle awakened your heritage.
Due to the Mahamudra your realization manifested
itself.
Your great activity extended as far as space
extends,
I supplicate the great meditator Gampopa.
Milarepa had many disciples, but there were
two main ones: Gampopa, who was said to be
like the sun, and Rechungpa, who was said
to be like the moon. Gampopa was an exceptional
pupil who had been prophesied by Buddha Shakyamuni.
Gampopa was a physician who when he lost his
family to a disease that he could not cure
began seeking the dharma. He began by first
studying under a Kadampa teacher and took
ordination learning and practicing the Mahayana
doctrine. Later when he heard some beggars
discussing Milarepa he developed great faith
in Milarepa, so he sought him out, became
his student and received teachings from him.
Gampopa practiced the Mahamudra instructions
he received from Milarepa and attained the
ultimate result, the manifestation of the
realization of Mahamudra, so that the special
qualities of the Mahamudra experience and
realization arose in his mind.
Gampopa accomplished the ultimate realization
of Mahamudra and passed on the transmission
of his teachings through four great pupils:
Dusum Khyenpa (the first Karmapa), Tsultrim
Nyingpo, Baram Dharma Wangchuk, and Pagmo
Drupa, from whom the four primary and eight
secondary Kagyu lineages subsequently formed.10
These teachings on Mahamudra meditation and
other Vajrayana practices have literally spread
around the world, so the instructions of Marpa,
Milarepa, and Gampopa have thus continued
uninterrupted due to the extensive activity
of Gampopa.
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