#Milarepa: Lessons from the Life & Songs of Tibet's Great yogi | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

vajranam · 3 years

Text

Elimination OF Desires

Milarepa

Elimination of Desires

“One day while Jetson was staying in Medicine Valley of Chu Bar teaching Dharma to several disciples, the Yogi Orton Gendun approached him and asked, "Precious lama, in the teachings of several geshes you are renowned as a buddha. They say you've totally eliminated desire. Is this true?"

Jetsun replied, "So they say. But there are many ways of eliminating desires. None of them are certain to yield buddhahood. You can understand the meaning of the term 'buddha' by listening to this old man's song."

I bow to the feet of great Marpa,

Lotsawa who spoke two tongues,

Who with vision of the three times

Realized the reality of the many as one.

Specifically, one who's cleansed

and totally removed

The mass of negative preconceptions

and imprints

And the obscurations of affiiction and action

Produced by the power of ignorance;

Who's cleared the dark deluded aberration Obscuring knowledge of the objective world And obtained strengths,

confidences, and unique properties

Through gnostic realization of the natural state To such a one who's developed

All the qualities of total omniscience

The term "buddha" is applied.

Such a perfect buddha

Is perfectly free from all desires.

To say that even bugs in trees

And infants lacking clear conception

Are buddhas is the talk of fools.

Though lacking sophisticated concepts

Like possessions and friends,

They're still tormented by reactions

To heat and cold, hunger and thirst.

These root associations gradually develop

Into full-blown concepts of desire.

Outsiders, sages, and the heterodox

Have numerous attainments

Like soaring flight through the sky, Unobstructed clairvoyant knowledge,

Various magical transformations,

And freedom from cravings

for the objects of desire.

But they'll revolve in samsara again and again Through the fault of incorrect refuge-source And lack of the vision

Of analytic wisdom and skill in methods.

Likewise, with Buddhist meditators

Though they've traveled the four absorptions And four formless media

To samsara's peak where desire is gone-

If they're not imbued with wisdom and method, They'll revolve in samsara as before.

Therefore, buddhahood will never be won

By merely stopping desires without integration Of method and wisdom through skill in method. So how is it done?

Study the paths of the three personality types, The six transcendences of giving and so on, The four social means and four infinitudes,

The three vehicles and three bases of practice, And the integration of compassion

and voidness.

Then strive to compile a great store of merit

By transcendence of giving,

morality, and patience.

Build up the store of gnosis

By practicing the transcendences of absorption and wisdom. Vigor assists both

By intensifying mental effort.

Though everything is actually void,

Insistence on mere nominal "voidness"

Without actual voidness realization

Leads to denial of action and result,

The great cause of hell and loss of freedom. Therefore, of good and bad actions and results Avoid the sinful in the slightest degree,

And cultivate virtue to its greatest extent.

Strive also to cultivate inseparable union

Of both wisdom and absorption,

For by absorption the mind is stabilized,

And by wisdom strayings are detected.

Likewise, with voidness and compassion, Cultivate the integration

of wisdom and method,

For by that sublime method

of great compassion

The welfare of beings in samsara is achieved, And by wisdom's view of voidness Dharma-body for one's own sake is realized From planted seed of supplication

Imbued with the sublime method

of compassion

The resultant twofold form-body arises.

And by form-body's inconceivable emanations

The hopes, wants, and needs of beings

Are fulfilled in ways

concordant with their welfare,

Like a gem that grants all wishes,

Or a wish-granting tree,

or a divine tree of worship.

And omniscience also,

free from preconception,

Fulfills the hopes of all trainees

As inconceivable, streaming rays of sun Dissolve the fog of all the world.

The stages of such cultivation

Overflowing the mind of Marpa,

That king of all translators,

Are the range of Mila's realization.

I've explained to you, son Ortiin,

This beggar-yogi's understanding

Bear it in heart, 0 nobly born.

Till the natural state's been confronted

Through union of Dharma

and your essential mind,

Don't disregard cause and effect.

Till you're free from fears of birth and death

By realizing appearances lack true reality,

Don't make empty, senseless talk.

Till you've attained skill

In all sutras, tantras, and sastras,

Don't teach Dharma pointlessly.

Till body, speech, and mind

toward others' welfare are directed

By slashing entanglement

with your own desires,

Don't behave with pretension and deceit.

Till you've slashed entanglement

with your own desires

And can sacrifice life to benefit others,

Don't say, "I'm a bodhisattva."

Till engaged in others' welfare

with four social means

Through inception of four infinitudes in mind, Don't say, "I work for others' welfare."

Till your heart is one with your lama

And you pray to him four sessions each day, Don't say, "I have admiration and respect."

Till beings and world shine as divine,

without attachment,

And illusory-body's purified into clear light, Don't say, "I'm a practitioner

of the mantra vehicle."

Till dakinis gather at your feast

And holy offerings change to nectar

Don't say, "I perform religious feasts."·

Till mastery of white element,

currents, and channels,

And the element can be emitted or held,

Don't perform karmamudra.

Till the force of clear awareness

rises In brilliant, thought-free quiescence,

Don't say, "I meditate the absorptions."

Till essential reality is borne on brow

Through examination

by analytic, gnostic wisdom,

Don't say, "Realization has dawned."

Do you understand my meaning, yogi?

Moved by strong faith, the yogi sang:

Eh ma! Great yogi-repa! Eh ma!

Protector of the three realms' beings! Eh ma! Buddha with human form! I bow to your feet, great Jetsiin father.

Clouds of love and compassion

Gather in the infinite sky of your mind,

And with the resonant thunder of your speech A rain of explicit Dharma falls.

You planted the seed of profound precepts

In the hard, untilled soil of my mind,

Irrigated with dear revelations,

Warded off the ruinous hail

of mistaken thought,

And cultivated with timely,

compassionate skill in method.

Though omniscient fruit hasn't ripened yet

By fault of my own inferior nature,

No one surpasses you in method.

From now till enlightenment's attained

May I accompany you, lord of yogis, Inseparable always like body and shadow.

In your company

may I realize the essence of natural state,

and win enlightenment unexcelled

May I then work for others' welfare

And thereby liberate all beings.”

~ Drinking the Mountain Stream: Songs of Tibet's Beloved Saint, Milarepa Translated by Lama Kunga Rinpoche & Brian Cutillo

"Jetsun Milarepa, Tibet's renowned and beloved saint, is known for his penetrating insights, wry sense of humor, and ability to render any lesson into spontaneous song. His songs and poems exhibit the bold, inspirational leader as he guided followers along the Buddhist path.

More than any other collection of his stories and songs, Drinking the Mountain Stream reveals Milarepa's humor and wisdom. Faithfully translated by Lama Kunga Rinpoche and Brian Cutillo, this rare collection - never before available in any Western language - cuts across the centuries to bring Milarepa's most inspiring verses, in all their potency, to today's reader."

#spirituality #wisdom #mindfulness #meditation #religion #buddhism #self care #visualization #zen #tibet

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manjushriwisdom · 3 years

Text

Elimination OF Desires

Milarepa

Elimination of Desires

I bow to the feet of great Marpa,

Lotsawa who spoke two tongues,

Who with vision of the three times

Realized the reality of the many as one.

Specifically, one who's cleansed

and totally removed

The mass of negative preconceptions

and imprints

And the obscurations of affiiction and action

Produced by the power of ignorance;

Who's cleared the dark deluded aberration Obscuring knowledge of the objective world And obtained strengths,

confidences, and unique properties

Through gnostic realization of the natural state To such a one who's developed

All the qualities of total omniscience

The term "buddha" is applied.

Such a perfect buddha

Is perfectly free from all desires.

To say that even bugs in trees

And infants lacking clear conception

Are buddhas is the talk of fools.

Though lacking sophisticated concepts

Like possessions and friends,

They're still tormented by reactions

To heat and cold, hunger and thirst.

These root associations gradually develop

Into full-blown concepts of desire.

Outsiders, sages, and the heterodox

Have numerous attainments

Like soaring flight through the sky, Unobstructed clairvoyant knowledge,

Various magical transformations,

And freedom from cravings

for the objects of desire.

But they'll revolve in samsara again and again Through the fault of incorrect refuge-source And lack of the vision

Of analytic wisdom and skill in methods.

Likewise, with Buddhist meditators

Though they've traveled the four absorptions And four formless media

To samsara's peak where desire is gone-

If they're not imbued with wisdom and method, They'll revolve in samsara as before.

Therefore, buddhahood will never be won

By merely stopping desires without integration Of method and wisdom through skill in method. So how is it done?

Study the paths of the three personality types, The six transcendences of giving and so on, The four social means and four infinitudes,

The three vehicles and three bases of practice, And the integration of compassion

and voidness.

Then strive to compile a great store of merit

By transcendence of giving,

morality, and patience.

Build up the store of gnosis

By practicing the transcendences of absorption and wisdom. Vigor assists both

By intensifying mental effort.

Though everything is actually void,

Insistence on mere nominal "voidness"

Without actual voidness realization

Leads to denial of action and result,

The great cause of hell and loss of freedom. Therefore, of good and bad actions and results Avoid the sinful in the slightest degree,

And cultivate virtue to its greatest extent.

Strive also to cultivate inseparable union

Of both wisdom and absorption,

For by absorption the mind is stabilized,

And by wisdom strayings are detected.

Likewise, with voidness and compassion, Cultivate the integration

of wisdom and method,

For by that sublime method

of great compassion

The welfare of beings in samsara is achieved, And by wisdom's view of voidness Dharma-body for one's own sake is realized From planted seed of supplication

Imbued with the sublime method

of compassion

The resultant twofold form-body arises.

And by form-body's inconceivable emanations

The hopes, wants, and needs of beings

Are fulfilled in ways

concordant with their welfare,

Like a gem that grants all wishes,

Or a wish-granting tree,

or a divine tree of worship.

And omniscience also,

free from preconception,

Fulfills the hopes of all trainees

As inconceivable, streaming rays of sun Dissolve the fog of all the world.

The stages of such cultivation

Overflowing the mind of Marpa,

That king of all translators,

Are the range of Mila's realization.

I've explained to you, son Ortiin,

This beggar-yogi's understanding

Bear it in heart, 0 nobly born.

Till the natural state's been confronted

Through union of Dharma

and your essential mind,

Don't disregard cause and effect.

Till you're free from fears of birth and death

By realizing appearances lack true reality,

Don't make empty, senseless talk.

Till you've attained skill

In all sutras, tantras, and sastras,

Don't teach Dharma pointlessly.

Till body, speech, and mind

toward others' welfare are directed

By slashing entanglement

with your own desires,

Don't behave with pretension and deceit.

Till you've slashed entanglement

with your own desires

And can sacrifice life to benefit others,

Don't say, "I'm a bodhisattva."

Till engaged in others' welfare

with four social means

Through inception of four infinitudes in mind, Don't say, "I work for others' welfare."

Till your heart is one with your lama

And you pray to him four sessions each day, Don't say, "I have admiration and respect."

Till beings and world shine as divine,

without attachment,

And illusory-body's purified into clear light, Don't say, "I'm a practitioner

of the mantra vehicle."

Till dakinis gather at your feast

And holy offerings change to nectar

Don't say, "I perform religious feasts."·

Till mastery of white element,

currents, and channels,

And the element can be emitted or held,

Don't perform karmamudra.

Till the force of clear awareness

rises In brilliant, thought-free quiescence,

Don't say, "I meditate the absorptions."

Till essential reality is borne on brow

Through examination

by analytic, gnostic wisdom,

Don't say, "Realization has dawned."

Do you understand my meaning, yogi?

Moved by strong faith, the yogi sang:

Eh ma! Great yogi-repa! Eh ma!

Protector of the three realms' beings! Eh ma! Buddha with human form! I bow to your feet, great Jetsiin father.

Clouds of love and compassion

Gather in the infinite sky of your mind,

And with the resonant thunder of your speech A rain of explicit Dharma falls.

You planted the seed of profound precepts

In the hard, untilled soil of my mind,

Irrigated with dear revelations,

Warded off the ruinous hail

of mistaken thought,

And cultivated with timely,

compassionate skill in method.

Though omniscient fruit hasn't ripened yet

By fault of my own inferior nature,

No one surpasses you in method.

From now till enlightenment's attained

May I accompany you, lord of yogis, Inseparable always like body and shadow.

In your company

may I realize the essence of natural state,

and win enlightenment unexcelled

May I then work for others' welfare

And thereby liberate all beings.”

~ Drinking the Mountain Stream: Songs of Tibet's Beloved Saint, Milarepa Translated by Lama Kunga Rinpoche & Brian Cutillo

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iammaster1449 · 5 years

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“Maitreya Milarepa & Melchedizek” (Milarepa, the famous Tibetan yogi, lives on through his joyous, instructional songs and poetry. Both the new translation of The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa, from Christopher Stagg, and Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s exploration of his life in Milarepa: Lessons from the Life & Songs of Tibet's Great Yogi bring new light to the resonance Milarepa’s story still carries centuries later. Milarepa is remembered for his remarkable determination and personal growth. His inspiring story traces the very familiar, human progression from confusion to clarity. Early in his life, Milarepa came to understand tenants of both privilege and oppression. Though born to a wealthy family, the death of Milarepa’s father left him and his mother at the mercy of his aunt and uncle, who put them to work as servants for their own family. At his mother’s request, Milarepa studied the craft of black magic to be better able to retaliate against their cruelty. Not only was he successful in mastering these magical abilities, he promptly used his skills to take the lives of his aunt and uncle’s entire family. In this way, Milarepa had invited an immense amount of negative karma into his life as a young adult. Soon after committing these crimes, Milarepa’s joy at having aided his mother began to fade, making way for inescapable remorse. This transformation led Milarepa to seek out a master teacher. “Milarepa’s life story shows how one can progress from being caught in the cycle of confusion, known as samsara, to becoming a student entering and practicing the path of dharma, to eventually becoming a teacher oneself and taking on the responsibility of training others.” ) https://www.shambhala.com/who-is-milarepa/ (at Tasmania) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrHHtHQH7i5/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1w0w7xpp0kkla

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