50 Songs of Milarepa and the Grand Epic Story of Mila the Cotton Clad: Murder, Evil, Revenge, Redemption, Ordeals, Doing What’s Right

Feature Contents
    Buddha Weekly Malarepa Buddhism
    Milarepa

    Milarepa’s history is an epic story of grand scope — the essence and beauty of his story remain undiminished by time. With themes of evil and redemption, perseverance, and doing what’s right, Milarepa’s story grips both devout Buddhist and casual readers alike.

    Milarepa (Mi la ras pa in Wylie) was an incredibly wise Tibetan yogi, master, and poet who reached enlightenment in his lifetime. Widely considered to be the founder of the Kagyü school of Tibetan Buddhism. His life story is among the most commonly known and shared narratives in Tibetan culture, not only for its Buddhist profundity but for how interesting, moving, and glorious it is as well.

    Yet before he found Enlightenment and repute as the great Sage, his story was one of ordeal, hardship, revenge, sorcery — and ultimately redemption, Bodhichitta, and Wisdom.

    Friday, February 23, 2024 is the day we celebrate the Anniversary of Milarepa!

     

    Buddha Weekly Milarepa feature image Buddhism
    Milarepa painting, Nepal

     

     

    The history that came before Milarepa

    The dates of the birth and death of Milarepa are notoriously difficult to pinpoint. Milarepa’s most famous biographer, Tsangnyön Heruka (gtsang smyon heruka) said that Milarepa was born in a water dragon year and passed in a wood hare year so his time on Earth was from 1052-1135, but other sources push back the dates by one 12-year cycle to 1040-1123. Whenever exactly he was born or died, Milarepa definitely lived in the eleventh and early-twelfth centuries.

     

    Buddha Weekly Cave of Milarepa in Nepal dreamstime l 119062171 Buddhism
    The cave of Milarepa.

     

    In ancient as well as present times, life high up on the Tibetan plateau could never be described as easy; one had to do whatever they could to earn a living and survive. One of Milarepa’s early ancestors was a Nyingma tantric practitioner whose name was Jose (jo sras). He was famous for his exorcism rites and had a sizeable fortune and name for himself. Once, Jose encountered a particularly powerful and fierce spirit, but managed to defeat it. 
In its defeat the demon cried out, “mila, mila (mi la, mi la)!”, which is an admission of defeat and submission.

    As a badge of honor and might, Jose took this submission as his new clan title; and so all of his descendants came to be known by the name “Mila”. He went on to have children and grandchildren. One of his grandchildren, Mila Dorje Sengge (mi la rdo rje seng ge) had a penchant for gambling and ended up losing his family’s fortune.

     

    Buddha Weekly Milarepa 20926 Buddhism
    Very old painting of Milarepa (Himalayan Art.org)

     

    They were forced to find a new life elsewhere, eventually settling in Kyangatsa (skya rnga rtsa), a village close to the modern-day Nepalese border. They managed to regain some wealth through trading, and eventually Dorje Sengge married and had a son, Mila Sherab Gyeltsen (shes rab rgyal mtshan), who in turn also married (a woman named Nyangtsa Kargyen [myang rtsa dkar rgyan]) and had a son who would go on to become Milarepa.

    When Sherab Gyeltsen heard of the birth of his child, he was delighted to hear it was a boy and so named him Töpah Gah, which means literally “delightful to hear”. The boy went on to display a beautiful and pleasing voice, and so lived up to his name.

    Difficult times, difficult choices

    When Töpah Gah turned seven, his father came down with an illness that proved to be fatal. Sherab entrusted his estate including his wife, children, and all his wealth and belongings, to his brother and his brother’s wife, but only until Töpah Gah became an adult, at which time they would all go to him.

     

    Buddha Weekly Statue of Milarepa at the monastery in Kathmandu Nepal dreamstime l 117087675 Buddhism
    Statue of Milarepa in the iconic pose. Monastery in Khatmandu, Nepal.

     

    The uncle and aunt however, decided they would simply take everything for themselves and keep it, without taking care of Töpah Gah and his family. In some accounts, this wasn’t entirely wrong as local marriage customs did dictate that the estate should have rightfully stayed with the brother of the deceased.

    Whatever the case, the actions of the uncle and aunt left Sherab’s wife and children poor. With nothing to their name, Töpah Gah, his mother, and his sister were forced to work as servants for his uncle and aunt. Töpah Gah himself wrote about this part of his life as follows:

    “Our food was food for dogs, our work was work for donkeys… Forced to toil without rest, our limbs became cracked and raw. With only poor food and clothing, we became pale and emaciated.” [1]

    When Töpah Gah came of age, his mother Nyangtsa Kargyen pleaded to her dead husband’s brother and wife to honor his last wishes and give her family what was rightfully theirs. Her pleas fell on deaf ears.

    In hysterics, grief, and desperation, she sent Töpah Gah to train in the dark arts so that he might take revenge upon their greedy relatives. In some versions of the story, Töpah Gah pleaded with her not to make him go, hesitated and dissented. She remained adamant that this was the only way forward.

    Whatever the case, Töpah Gah did leave, learning black magic under Nubchung Yonten Gyatso (gnubs chung yon tan rgya mtsho), and he did kill his aunt and uncle – however, he also murdered the 35 people who were attending a wedding feast at their house.

    When the other villagers threatened to reprise him for his actions, Töpah Gah’s mother insisted he conjure up a hailstorm to destroy their crops and shut them up. He may have accomplished what he set out to do, but in doing so also destroyed much of the surrounding countryside.

    It was quiet after that. The villagers realized what a great and terrible sorcerer the once quiet, gentle, and golden-voiced boy had become.

    But as Töpah Gah beheld the place he called home and the people that he grew up with, he realized the extent of his wrongdoing and the stain that he had put upon the world. He wrote:

    “During the day I forgot to eat. If I went out, I wanted to stay in. If I stayed in, I wanted to go out. At night I was so filled with world-weariness and renunciation that I was unable to sleep.” [2]

     

    Buddha Weekly Statue of Milarepa in cave in Marshyangdi river valley Nepal dreamstime l 219048736 Buddhism
    Another statue in the cave in Marshyangdi river valley Nepal.

    The path out of darkness

    Töpah Gah came to be certain that the Buddhist path was his only way out of the deep suffering he was experiencing, so he set out to find a master to teach him. The first guru he met decided that Töpah Gah was far too complex and troubled, and so would prove too difficult a student for him. No, who this boy needed was Marpa the Translator, and so Töpah Gah set out to find Marpa.

    Marpa Chokyi Lodro (mar pa chos kyi blo gros) was a great translator who lived in Lhodrak (lho brag) in Southern Tibet, and was famous for his fierce temper.

     

    Buddha Weekly Marpa and Milarepa Buddhism
    The Great Marpa the Translator.

     

    Töpah Gah reached Lhodrak after some time and met a plowman standing in his field. This was actually Marpa, who had a vision that Töpah Gah would become his most fervent and outstanding disciple and therefore wanted to meet him in a disguise first.

    Marpa didn’t immediately teach Töpah Gah anything, instead showering him with relentless verbal and even physical abuse. Töpah Gah was subjected to a number of ordeals and trials, one of which had him construct a massive stone tower, only to tear it down and start over – three times. However, when he built the tower for a fourth time he did not have to tear it down, and that tower of stones that Töpah Gah built still stands in the center of Sekhar Gutok Monastery today.

     

    Buddha Weekly Painting of Milarepa Tibets singing yogi in Tukang Helambu Nepal dreamstime l 19224133 Buddhism
    Milarepa, the singing yogi.

     

    The training that Marpa gave Töpah Gah pushed him to his utmost emotional and physical limits. Whenever Töpah Gah asked for dharmic teachings, his teacher would berate and often even beat him.

    In time, but only when Töpah Gah’s desperation had reached its absolute peak, Marpa revealed to Töpah Gah that Marpa’s own master, the great Indian master Nāropa, had prophesied Töpah Gah’s coming to him. He also told Töpah Gah that these trials and hardships were a means of penance for Töpah Gah’s terrible actions and sins.

    Years of solitude and meditation

    After this, Marpa began teaching Töpah Gah more formally. He started with the lay and bodhisattva vows, and gave Töpah Gah the name Dorje Gyeltsen (rdo rje rgyal mtshan). Dorje Gyeltsen received many tantric instructions that Marpa himself learned in India, and was thereafter commanded to spend the rest of his life meditating in solitary mountain retreats.

    Dorje Gyeltsen wanted terribly to do so, but not before returning to his homeland for a short time. After so many years he longed to see his mother again, but when he arrived he found his house in ruins and his mother … dead.

    A translation of The Life of Milarepa (by Shambhala Publications, 1977) reads:

    “Then I walked across the doorstep and found a heap of rags caked with dirt over which many weeds had grown. When I gathered them up, a number of human bones, bleached white, slipped out. When I realized they were the bones of my mother, I was so overcome with grief that I could hardly stand it. I could not think, I could not speak, and an overwhelming sense of longing and sadness swept over me… But at that moment I remembered my lama’s oral instructions. I then blended my mother’s consciousness with my mind and the wisdom mind of the Kagyu lamas… I saw the true possibility of liberating both my mother and my father from life’s round.” [3]

    At this point, Dorje Gyeltsen realized the impermanence of life. It was a profound realization that impacted him deeply, and it served as the final push he needed to begin his mountainous retreats.

     

    Buddha Weekly Malarepa Buddhism
    Milarepa

     

    The most famous of his retreats is one called Drakar Taso (brag dkar rta so), where he stayed for many years eating nothing but wild nettles. He was there for so long that his clothes turned to tattered rags and his bones stuck out of his skin. It’s said that because he ate only wild nettles, his skin turned green. During this time, some starving hunters stumbled upon him and thought him a ghost, until he spoke to them and taught them about happiness.

    It was this period of meditation that gave Dorje Gyeltsen the name we all know him by: Milarepa, meaning Mila the cotton-clad, due to the rags he wore.

    Milarepa wrote many poems and songs that remain great treasures of Tibetan literature during his retreats and meditative periods. Milarepa mastered the Mahamudra teachings and obtained great enlightenment. He never actively sought out students; instead, students found him and he sang and taught them many great wisdoms.

    The poems and songs of Milarepa

    The sutras, a genre of ancient Indian texts found not just in Buddhism but Hinduism and Jainism as well, tell of how the disciples of the Buddha would sometimes come up with verses spontaneously during his lessons.

    A number of Buddhist traditions have emulated this but perhaps none more particularly than the Tibetan Vajrayana tradition.

    The spontaneous creation of these devotional songs is called nyams mgur in Tibetan.
    These songs are modelled after those of Indian tantric practitioners, who wrote songs in the sixth-century songs known as mahasiddhas. The nyams mgur describe both the secret practices of Vajrayana as well as realizations by means of both complex symbolism and allegories.

    Tibetan translators such as Milarepa’s master Marpa himself (hence his title, the great translator) brought this custom of composing nyams mgur back to Tibet, among other tantric teachings.

    Milarepa is well-known as The Singing Sage. A combination of factors, such as his master Marpa being one of the greatest

    Tibetan translators and inheriting the lineage of tantric practices originating in India, combined to make Milarepa a prolific composer of these nyams mgur. His talent, wisdom, golden voice, honesty and humility attracted crowds of people to listen to his musical teachings.

    Tsangnyön Heruka was the one responsible for the compilation and arrangement of Milarepa’s most well-known songs four hundred years after he had passed away.

    Garma C.C. Chang translated this book, in English called The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa, in 1999. It serves as a biography of Milarepa’s life, a collection of gripping fairy tales and Tibetan folklore, and an insight into Tibetan Buddhism.
    A newer translation of the book was published in 2017, by Christopher Stagg.

     

    Buddha Weekly Milarepa cave where the great Mahasiddha spent years in solitary meditaiton in Tsum valley near Lamagaun with Milarepa foot in the rock dreamstime l 152383516 Buddhism
    The cave where the great Mahasidda Milarepa spent years in solitary meditation.

     

    A song about the decision to live in solitude

    When Milarepa visited his homeland before his mountainous retreats, he had never thought to find his mother dead. This excerpt of one of his earliest songs shows the depth of his grief, the poignancy of the situation, and the realization that his life had changed forever.

    This was a truly pivotal moment in Milarepa’s life. We see him reconcile the life he once knew with the life he now leads as well as the life he will lead in the future. It is worded simply enough, and yet the extent of his emotions is felt astoundingly.

    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. [4]

    The end of Milarepa’s time in this world

    Milarepa’s life changed completely and forever when he left his homeland to retreat to the mountains; he achieved his goal of enlightenment and perfect realization. He went on to win not only the admiration of almost all the people in his land, but their love and faith as well.

    However, it was not to last. There were some dharma teachers who were jealous of Milarepa. They saw how people thronged to him and wanted the popularity and adoration that he received for themselves.

     

    Milarepa closeup

     

    One of these teachers, Geshe Tsakpuwa (rtsag phu ba) posed as Milarepa’s student so that he could get close enough to kill him. He conspired to give his master poisoned curds. It is believed that Milarepa knew of this plot all along, but went with it anyway as he felt that it was time for him to pass away at his age (about 84).

    There are accounts of Milarepa’s funeral which include many miracles, such as goddesses appearing to carry away his relics, leaving behind only a lump of rock sugar, a knife, some flint steel, a piece of his robe – and of course, his hundred thousand songs.

     

    Buddha Weekly Milarepa with gold leaf beautiful Buddhism

     

    The sorcerer who became one of the greatest yogins of all time

    Milarepa was a boy that grew up in relative wealth and comfort, and then lost everything at a young age. His father’s death didn’t just bring grieving for a lost parent, but it plunged his world into the kind of instability, pain, and suffering that no one should ever have to go through.

    He made bad choices and did incredibly bad things. And yet, he changed his ways. He sought out help and did whatever it took to pay for his sins and become a good person again. He went on to not only become beloved by nearly all who came across him but he became a saint as well and continues to inspire, teach, and lead long after his passing.

    Milarepa was just a human. His story teaches us that anguish and struggle can come our way, but that with resolve comes triumph. He was nothing but a man who realized his own natural, pre-existing higher self and his untapped wisdom, and who learned how to treat himself and others with compassion.

    The Singing Sage invites every ordinary person to recognize their higher selves as well. If even he, a murderer and sorcerer could become a saint by regretting, repenting and creating vast merit  – we can as well.

     

    50 (Plus) Favorite Milarepa Songs out of the 1000 Songs

    The Essential Songs of Milarepa

    CW32_No.87
    Selected, Rhymed and Classified in a Practical Order
    The Buddhist Yogi C. M. Chen [5]

    I. Songs about Impermanence

    1. Suffering of Birth

    In the Bardo state the wanderer
    Is the Alaya. It stays nowhere,
    Driven by one’s own sorrow,
    It enters a womb unknown.
    Therein it feels like a fish,
    Caught into crevice of rock,
    Sleeping in blood red and pus yellow,
    In all discharges it must pillow.
    Crammed in filth, it suffers pain,
    From bad karma one is to gain,
    Though remembering past lives,
    It cannot count four or five.
    Now scorched by heat,
    Now cold it does meet.
    For nine months it remains,
    In the womb with all pains,
    From womb by pliers as if pulled out,
    Head is squeez’d but safety is nought,
    Like being thrown into a bramble,
    When it bears all of a-tremble,
    Its body on mother’s lap with sorrow,
    It feels gripped by a hawk like a sparrow.
    When his body blood and dirt is cleansed,
    Like flayed alive its pains increas’d,
    When umbilical cord is being cut,
    It feels as if the spine does jut,
    When wrapped in the cradle,
    It feels bound by a girdle.
    He who realizes not the truth of non-born
    Never can escape from birth to be grown.

    2. Suffering of Old-Age

    When one’s body has been brought
    To be frail and all worn out,
    It dislikes old-age,
    There is of this no doubt.
    One’s straight body becomes bent,
    Steps are not firm and patent.
    Black hairs turn white, Arms have no might.
    One’s eyes grow dim, Ears are not keen.
    The head shakes, Pale are cheeks.
    Blood becomes dry, One feels to die.
    One’s nose will sink in,
    Teeth can’t chew anything.
    Losing control of tongue,
    Sweet sugar isn’t fun.
    One gathers food and wine,
    But one can’t keep them fine.
    Trying not to suffer anymore,
    One only gets suffering in store.
    When one is told the Truth,
    But one’s faith is not growth,
    Though one has some kinsmen,
    They all his foes become.
    Though he hears some teaching,
    But nothing is changing,
    Unless one realizes the Truth of non-decay,
    He has to suffer old-age and not be gay.

    3. Suffering of Sickness

    Besides sickness old man has nothing to gain.
    From three main kinds of illness one suffers pain.
    The blood pressure does so increase,
    Troubles of organs can not release,
    In a safe easy bed, day and night,
    The sick person feels no comfort nor might,
    But toss’s about & groans in lament,
    Through all the karma of defilement.
    Though of some best food he eats,
    All that he takes he vomits.
    When you lay him in a cool place,
    His heat still does not balance.
    When you wrap him in some warm clothes,
    He feels to an icy land close.
    Though friends and kinsmen gather round,
    No one sharing his pain can be found.
    Though physicians are present at home,
    No one can free him from harm.
    He who learns not the truth of the sick,
    For the holy Dharma he has to seek.

    4. Suffering of Death

    To repay the compound debts,
    One must suffer by one’s death.
    Yama’s guards catch the one,
    Whose death-time comes so soon.
    Rich cannot buy it off with gold,
    Hero cannot cut it off with sword,
    Neither can the clever woman outwit it by a strike
    Nor can learned scholar refuse it by a teaching stick.
    When all the big nerves converge,
    One is crushed when two hills merge.
    All visions become dim,
    One remains with only sin.
    Neither physician nor gurus can
    Prolong the life of the dying man.
    Gods and devas vanish into nought,
    Breath has no inhalation but out.
    One can but smell the dead flesh,
    Like a lump of coal in ash.
    When dying some still count the dates,
    Others blubber about their bad fate,
    Some think of losing their health,
    Others of their remaining wealth,
    One loves the dead no matter how long,
    He can but let the dead be alone.
    To throw him in water or in the fire to burn,
    Or buried under land, the dead will not return.
    He who realizes not the Truth of Death,
    Should prepare the Western-travel wealth.

    5. Eight Similes

    When painting fades, where is the Padma (Lotus)?
    This shows all things are like the Drama,
    It proves their transient nature.
    Think, then, you will practice Dharma.
    The blue flower vanished fast
    In the winter time of the frost.
    It proves its transient nature.
    Think, then, in Dharma you trust.
    The flood sweeps down from the vale above,
    When reaching plain it no more does rove.
    It proves its transient nature.
    Think, then, you will the Dharma love.
    Did we not see the green rice grow?
    Now their hull is in vale below.
    It proves its transient nature.
    Think, then, you will believe the Law.
    And see the elegant silk cloth,
    When a knife can cut it across,
    It proves its transient nature.
    Think, then, you learn of Bodhi-Class.
    When you cherish the most rare gem,
    Soon to others it will belong.
    It proves its transient nature.
    Think, then, to practice Dharma alone.
    See the full moon so bright and round,
    Few days later it will not be found.
    It proves its transient nature.
    Think, then to find the law profound.
    Did you not here have a son born,
    Who to final rest has long gone.
    It proves the transient nature.
    Think, then, you’ll practice very soon.

    6. Six Realizations Facing Death

    From extreme one is liberating
    Like the gallant lion is lying,
    In the snow at ease displaying.
    Without fear of any kind of falling.
    In this View I am so trusting.
    To the final goal, death is so leading.
    Joy to him who views thus, death brings
    The very mild and genial big deer .
    Horns having “many points in one taste mere”
    He sleeps the plan of blessing near
    In the practice do I trust so dear.
    Death leads to the path of liberation,
    Death brings joy to him who is practicing.
    The fish occupies virtues ten,
    With bright eyes in color golden,
    Swims in the river of active ken,
    In his action do I trust often.
    Death leads to the Path of Liberation.
    Death brings joy to him who is in action.
    The Tigress of self-mind training,
    With nice stripes she is adorning,
    The altruism is her great glory.
    In the woods she is straight walking.
    I do trust in her discipline.
    Death leads to the Path of Liberation.
    Death brings joy to him who is training.
    On the paper of forms positive and negative,
    I write a long essay with my mind meditative.
    In the state of non-duality
    I watch myself and contemplate.
    In such a Dharma do I trust.
    Death leads me to liberate,
    Death brings me the delight.
    The purified essence of moving
    Energy is like an eagle flying.
    On its wings of skill and wisdom
    To the holy cause of non-being.
    To such attainment I am trusting.
    Death leads me to the Liberation.
    Death brings joy to meditation.

    7. Yogi’s Realization against Death

    Those who practice merely with mouth,
    Talk much, seem to know more teachings,
    When times come for passing away,
    To the space are thrown their preachings.
    When the clear light naturally shines,
    It is cloaked by blindness of sin.
    The chance to see the Dharmakaya,
    At death is lost through one’s confusion.
    Even though one spends his life
    In learning holy scripture,
    It helps not at the moment
    When mind takes its departure.
    And those yogis have not sufficient meditation
    Mistake psychic light as sacred illumination,
    Cannot unify the light of mother and of son,
    They’re still in danger of rebirth in lower station.
    When your body is rightly posed,
    Mind absorbed in meditation,
    You feel that here is no more mind,
    Yet it’s only concentration.
    Like starling fly unto the vast, empty sky,
    Awareness as pure flower, bright lamp shining,
    Though, it is void, transparent & vivid,
    Yet it’s only a Dhyana feeling.
    He who is with these good foundations
    Penetrates Truth with contemplation,
    And prays earnestly to the Three Gems
    The non-ego wisdom he will win.
    With the life rope of deep concentration
    With the power of kindness & compassion,
    With altruistic vow of Bodhi-heart,
    He can directly get the clear vision,
    The Truth of the Great Enlightened Path.
    Nothing can be seen yet seen all things,
    He sees how wrong were the fears and hopes,
    All were in his own mind yet nothing.
    He reaches the pure land without arrival,
    Sees the Dharmakaya without seeing.
    Without effort naturally sees all things,
    Dear son, in your mind keep all my sayings.

    8. On Bardo to Gampopa

    The sentient beings are Samsara.
    All are Buddhas in Nirvana.
    In nature all are equal,
    It’s Bardo-View, Gampopa!
    The all manifesting red and white
    Wonderful mind essence how to write.
    All but a true non-dualistic state,
    It is bardo practice, it’s quite right.
    The myriad forms of illusion,
    The self mind has no arising,
    Both are in the innate-born-state.
    This is the right Bardo-action.
    The dream through habitual thought of last evening
    And knowledge of non-entity of this morning,
    They are the same in the light of Maya.
    This is the Bardo when you are dreaming.
    The five sorrows and the five Buddhas,
    Identify in the two Karmas,
    Glowing and perfecting in one-ness.
    This is the path of Bardo-Dharma.
    From the skill comes the Father-Tantra,
    From wisdom comes the Mother-Tantra,
    They unite in Third Initiation
    Of the nature ’tis Bardo extra.
    Self benefit is in Dharmakaya.
    While other’s are in the other two kayas.
    Primordially there is but only one
    Not three, this is the Bardo Trikaya.
    From the womb gate is born the impure body,
    From pure form is born the pure Buddha body,
    They are but one in the light of the Bardo.
    This attainment of Bardo already.

    II. Songs of Renunciation

    9. Worldly Arbitrations

    The advisor, mediator & go-between
    These three persons always cause discord & pain.
    The free man should be like mute taking no side
    And on the silent mountain he should remain.
    Property, kinsmen and native-land,
    These three make one fall into Saha-realm.
    One who would cross the river of sin,
    Should cut off the long attachment-chain.
    Self-conceit, pretense, and tricks,
    These three make one’s falling quick.
    He who would ascend upward,
    Should keep his mind straightforward.
    Scholarship, talk and discussion,
    Derive from pride-causation.
    He who would practice the Dharma
    Should be humble and next to nothing.
    Householder, work and career,
    These three disturb Samadhi.
    He who would gain the wisdom.
    Should keep only his Bodhi.
    Master, disciple, and learning,
    These three may cause the more pride.
    He who would like the Dharma
    Should be humble and kiss the Rod.
    Sorcery, magic and To Tze,
    Draw a yogi to evil deeds.
    He who would like the Dharma
    Think of the sound of Jolmo birds.

    10. Four Similes: To Rechungpa

    Like white lion living on mountain
    You should not go to the valley
    Lest your nice mane become sullied.
    To keep it in good order you should
    Remain in snowy hill as you could.
    Like great eagle flying above mountain
    It never falls into a hole
    Lest your wings be broken as a whole.
    To keep it in good order you should
    Remain in snowy mountain as you could.
    Like the tigress passes the mountain
    And stays only in deep forest
    But on plain you’d have no rest.
    To keep in good order you should
    Remain in snowy hill as you could.
    Like the nice and golden-eye’d fish
    Swims only in the central sea,
    Lest it let the fisherman to see.
    To keep it in good order you should
    Remain in snowy hill as you could.

    11. Things Should Be Renounced

    An action without meaning,
    Fearless and empty talking,
    And the profane pretention,
    These three things reject the Lore.
    I have renounced them before.
    You should have these three no more.
    The place that’s not fixed to pray,
    The group that quarrels too much,
    The status where hypocrites stay,
    These three things reject the Lore.
    I have renounced them before.
    You should have these three no more.
    The guru with tiny learning,
    The pupil with poor devotion,
    The friend who has no discipline,
    These three things reject the Lore.
    I have renounced them before.
    You should have these three no more.
    The wife who frequently complains,
    The son who needs strike and blame,
    The servant e’er needs more to explain,
    These three things reject the Lore,
    I have renounced them before.
    You should have these three no more.

    12. To Gampopa

    When you think of delicious meal,
    Eat the food of Samadhi Ideal,
    Realize that all food is only delusion,
    Hold to the Dharmakaya’s meditation.
    When you think of your native land,
    Dwell on the true home being at hand.
    Realize that all places are only delusion,
    Hold to the Dharmakaya meditation.
    When you think of jewels and corn,
    Compare them with the heavenly gems.
    Realize that money is only delusion,
    Hold to the Dharmakaya meditation.
    When you think of some companions,
    Take wisdom as your concubines.
    Realize that all loves are delusions,
    Hold to the Dharmakaya meditation.

    13. To Rechungpa: Things Should be Renounced.

    A son, a wife, and flame to extreme,
    Are three great fetters for a yogi.
    The practitioner should leave them.
    Prestige, enjoyment and goods like gems,
    Are three great hindrances to a yogi,
    The practitioner should renounce them.
    Relatives, disciples, and rich patrons,
    Are three great obstacles to a yogi.
    The practitioner should forsake them.
    Fatigue, sleep, and spirits like gin,
    Are three great robbers of a yogi.
    The practitioner should forswear them.
    To chat, to joke, to entertain,
    Are three distractions to a yogi,
    The practitioner should renounce them.

    14. Refuses to Help Home Affairs

    On the pasture of great blessing,
    Immortal sheep I am herding.
    I have no more time to watch
    Animals of just blood and flesh.
    I leave them, Lesebum, for you.
    Like mother of love and blessing,
    The wisdom child I am tending.
    So I have no other learning
    To tend the nose of your offspring.
    I leave them, Lesebum, for you!
    On the rock hill of non-moving
    Stupa of mindfulness I’m making.
    I have no time to manage
    For you to mold those clay images.
    I leave them, Lesebum, for you.
    In the prayer room of my body
    I am lighting my lamp of Bodhi.
    I have no time to get a flagstaff
    For hanging the print’d sutras thereof.
    I leave them, Lesebum, for yourself.
    In my Maya body,
    I clean my thoughts untidy,
    I have no time to give
    To clean your room and cave.
    I leave them all for you.
    Among all the worlds form and way,
    I am watching the Maya’s play.
    I have no time to wash
    Your bowl, cup, tray and dish.
    I leave them all for you.

    15. Six Deceptions

    Temples are like stations for driftwood,
    Divine life! Though priests have such mood,
    But it is deceptive to me.
    Therefore leave such companions I would.
    (To talk and debate without meditation
    Is like women’s quarrel and agitation.)
    I’m a man who cherishes peace of mind,
    Abhors all gossip and accusation.
    (The above two lines in parentheses of the second quatrain are written by me as a supplement to the next two lines which were printed in the English translation as an incomplete quatrain. )
    When Tomo is kindled within,
    Woolen clothes are of nothing,
    I have no need of the long robe,
    All house works are disheartening.
    When renunciation grows within,
    All possessions are of nothing,
    Of business I have no need,
    All wealth to me has no meaning.
    When perseverance grows within,
    Son and disciples are of nothing,
    I have no need of any meeting,
    They would reduce my devotion.
    When the pithy methods are working
    Why would one need any preaching,
    For it only incites one’s pride.
    I’ve no need of books and learning.

    16. Refuse the Offering of a Horse

    My big horse is the mind prana,
    It has a silk scarf of Dhyana.
    Its spine is the true magic stage,
    Its gem-saddle is the seat of sage.
    Its crupper is the secret teaching,
    My spurs are the three inspecting.
    Head-stall is the life prana fine,
    Forelock curl is shown as the three times,
    Quiet within is its adornment,
    Its rein shows boldly movement,
    Bridle is the flowing allurement,
    Gallops along the middle paththe spine.
    This yogic horse, this stead of mind,
    Riding it one escapes the world,
    Reaches to Buddha Land the same kind.
    I have no need of your black horse,
    Go your way with any joy you find.

    17. Refuse the Offering of a Boat

    This land of blind view and darkness
    Is part of three realms of heavens,
    Full of thorns in craving meadow,
    Full of mud is jealous morass,
    Savage is the furious hatred,
    While pride is the sloping steepness.
    I have crossed the river four,
    And reach the Buddha Pureland shore,
    I’ve used the leather of Bodhi
    And made my boat hidden no more.
    I am a craftsman of deep faith,
    Use the dye of non-lust for form
    With thread and rope of devotion
    And three bindings as the anchor.
    Your boat I have no desire for,
    Dear patron, please leave me and go.

    18. Refuse the Offering of a Wife

    The lust-free Sunyata is the woman,
    Her compassionate face is so clement,
    The deep loving kindness is in her smile,
    Her dress is of red and white elements,
    Uses non-discrimination as her girdle,
    The non-duality as her ornament.
    Her white necklace shows the many-in-one,
    And the four blisses are her adornments.
    She is such a beautiful Dakini.
    Her real cause is the true accomplishment.
    This is my lovely holy companion;
    I have no interest in your woman.

    19. Refuse the Offering of Temple

    Unborn-mind is the Temple I dwell with,
    Its top is the prana without moving.
    I create the pillars of reality,
    On the base of immutability.
    The crescent symbolizes growing yoga,
    While the great sun denotes perfect yoga,
    On the ground of my warm meditation,
    I draw an altar of observation.
    All the lovely flowers in my garden
    Are my practices of illumination.
    Encircling the pagoda of Virtues
    Is the ditch of Sunyata absorption.
    This is my great yogic monastery,
    Your worldly temple to me is of nothing.

    20. Yogic Necessity

    Because I fear the great rain,
    I seek for house to remain in,
    Sunyata is my good house,
    I find joy where I maintain.
    Because I fear the cold,
    I seek for clothes to hold,
    The inner fire is my dress,
    I find warm enough and bold.
    Because I fear being poor,
    I seek money out of doors,
    But find gems are within,
    Myself is the donor.
    Because I fear great hunger,
    I seek for some food and beg,
    Samadhi is a good food,
    I feel hungry no longer.
    Because I fear the thirst,
    I seek for something to drink.
    Mindfulness is a good wine,
    I need nothing else to think.
    Because I fear being lonesome,
    I seek for a friend handsome.
    The void-bliss is the best one,
    I need no sweet friend to come.
    Because I fear going astray,
    I seek path which will not betray.
    I find the short path is two-in-one,
    I am not afraid to lose my way.

    21. Yogic Possessions

    The Alaya is my good earth,
    The secret teaching is the seed,
    Merits of Samadhi do sprout,
    The Buddha is the fruit indeed.
    These four are my holy formings,
    Your worldly ones are deceiving.
    You are only a slave laborer,
    I discard it without thinking.
    Sunyata is the warehouse,
    Supramundane is the gem,
    Virtues are the act and service,
    From non-outflow one is to gain.
    These four gems are property,
    Your worldly ones are empty,
    By magic spell you are cheated,
    I dislike and discard it.
    Buddha and Dakini are my parents,
    The immaculate Dharma is my face,
    The Sangha assembly is my kinsmen,
    And protectors all are of the same race.
    All these four are my holy family,
    Your worldly kinsmen are not like my grace.
    They all are deceitful and delusive,
    Without hesitation I do displace.
    The blissful brightness is my background,
    The blissful passing is my father,
    The two-in-one feeling is my skin,
    The experiences are my shirt and garter.
    All these four are my holy wives.
    Your worldly companions are delusive,
    They always are inclined to quarrel,
    I leave them who are so aggressive.
    The mindfulness is my new born baby,
    Merits of Dhyana are my infants,
    Comprehension is my lovely child
    Law-keeper is my youth-like pendant,
    These four are my holy good sons.
    Your worldly offspring are of nothing,
    They are deceitful and delusive,
    Without delay I leave them as sin.
    (Some additional songs of the above two classifications, Impermanence and Renunciation, were selected and translated by me and may be found in my booklet New No. 95, “Milarepa: His Personal Teaching of Renunciation “)

    III. Songs About Precepts

    22. Some Things Should Be Forbidden

    Become a Buddha if you will,
    Crave nothing, even a pill,
    Lest you should fall into a trap,
    And wander between good and evil.
    To your Guru when you serve,
    Don’t think you are the server,
    He is the one who enjoys,
    Or wishes will be fulfilled never.
    When you observe the precept Tantric,
    Don’t unite with those persons erotic,
    Lest you should be influenced by evil,
    And break all the precepts at any risk.
    When you engage in study and learning,
    Attach not mere words with proud feeling,
    Else dormant fire of passion might blaze,
    Your good thoughts and deeds be consuming.
    When you practice with a friend,
    Don’t keep many things at hand,
    Lest your virtuous deeds will cease
    And your devotion will end.
    When you practice the path of form,
    From the tradition of our home,
    Don’t curse ghosts of any person
    Lest you should be troubled by demons.
    When you have got some experience
    Don’t use power nor prophecy,
    Lest your secret words should be lost
    And lose all merits and mercy.
    Commit not evil deeds,
    Eat not beguiling foods,
    Be not burdened by the dead,
    Utter not the sweet words,
    Always be humble and modest,
    Thus reach the goal you would.

    23. Fear Samsara and Keep Precepts

    Alas! Is not Samsara like the sea,
    Drawing as much water as one can see,
    It remains the same without decreasing.
    Are not the great Three Gems like Sumeru,
    Can’t be shaken by pupils or Guru?
    Is not Samaya like a feather?
    No one cares if its sheds further,
    Are not monks rules like lepers corpse?
    Lying by road without concourse.
    Is not badger’s skin laid over seats
    Like thorns pricking the eminent priests?
    Isn’t it true if people think of their guru
    It is meaningless to lose their rules?
    Isn’t it true that monks along the line
    All ignore their good discipline?
    Bandits intimate with yoga we have known,
    Why should a yogi live in a town?
    Most people crave for rebirth and Bardo,
    Why cling to so many pupils they do.
    Are woolen clothes in the next life so dear?
    Why then those women do make so much here?
    Do people fear the samsara being vacant?
    Why then laymen and monks want more infants?
    Are you keeping food for your next life,
    Why then men do not like to give?
    Is there any trouble in heaven above,
    Why such a goal, men do not love?
    Is that any job below in hell?
    Why so many people like it so well?
    Do you know that all suffering
    In lower realms is due to sin,
    Hence all merits you should practice,
    When death comes you will have peace.

    24. To Lesebum: How to Practice Without Mistakes.

    To serve a Lama without compassion,
    Is like worshiping one-eyed demon.
    He and patron will get a lot of sin.
    Practicing Dharma without Bodhi-heart
    Is the selfish delusion of a fool,
    It will intensify the greed and hate.
    To give alms without equality,
    Is like paying back for someone’s feast,
    It will notify more hopes and desire.
    To make offerings to the wrong person,
    Is like giving to money-imposter.
    It will bring more misery and poison.
    To give charity without compassion,
    Is like tying oneself to a pillar.
    It will bind one tighter without rising.
    Bearing a high view without practice,
    Is like a swagger bragging about,
    It will lose all one’s virtues and peace.
    To meditate without knowing the way,
    Is like conjuring a black magic horse,
    The false win will soon be spent away.
    Act in many ways without good Karma,
    Is like mad man coming from a hot spring,
    The more act the more apart from Dharma.
    Live a luxurious life with desires,
    Is like a nice silk dress but with stinking smell.
    It will be blamed but not any one admire.
    Attainment mix’d conceit and desire,
    Is like the children’s toy made of clay.
    It will soon be broken back into mire.

    25. The Six Essential Precepts

    He who though he’s mastered his semen
    And gained the power of attraction,
    If he relies on no Dakini
    Should not practice love-meditation.
    Such Karma mudra is dangerous,
    Like climbing a hill’s culmination.
    Unless he has great compassion
    And a vivid Yidam of Tantra.
    For the purpose of law and men,
    Should not use the harmful Mantra.
    Nor should he practice healing yoga,
    Lest he be born as a ghost extra.
    Even if he’s mastered the prana-mind,
    If he can’t work through bodily power,
    And has no full attainment of maya,
    He should not bring a corpse in prayer
    Lest he should provoke the bad Dakini
    And get only trouble to himself forever.
    Except to one’s own Vajra Brother
    And qualified guru as Father,
    One should not reveal one’s experience
    To devotees of other parties
    Lest he should lose all his great power
    And get no power further.
    Secret instructions you should not give
    To those whose talent you observe,
    Having or not permit from above.
    But for the sake of one’s golden calf
    To those who ask you blindly give,
    Thus you’ll fall into sinful cave.
    If one is unable to be converted,
    One should not perform a homa
    Or other tantric ritual
    In town or village as a drama.
    These should be performed only in Hermitage,
    for it is a Secret Dharma.

    26. Three Occasions for Miracles

    To convert the impious person,
    To get better meditation,
    To identify the three Siddhis,
    Except for these, there is no permission.

    27. The Ten Difficulties

    If a Buddhist be without benevolence
    How can he convert beings as Reverence?
    If spiritual longing he does not retain,
    How can merits for sentient beings he attain?
    If a great yogi has no perseverance,
    How can he get attainment and experience.
    If monks keep not the rules,
    How can they be a Guru?
    If a yogi violates Samaya,
    How can he obtain the Trikaya?
    If a Patron be lustful and mean,
    How can he get good repute and win?
    If a yogi talks nonsense,
    How can he be the great Reverence?
    If one acts with no virtue or good Karma,
    He will never know the truth of Dharma.
    If a trusted Lama becomes tired,
    He will find it hard to be admired.
    Though now you have faith to practice Dharma.
    Later you regret if not good learner.

    28. Forget Not What Should Be Done

    Before faith and yearning arise for the law,
    Begging alms for enjoyment is not allowed.
    Before you have realized Primordial Truth,
    Boast not of sublime philosophy or rules.
    Before you have mastered the awareness,
    Engaged not in the foolish acts of blindness.
    Before you can be fed with sermons,
    Be not involved in wicked occultism.
    Before you can explain the teaching profound,
    By patriarchal knowledge you shouldn’t be harmed.
    Before you can increase your repute,
    Other goodness you should not dispute.
    Before you can destroy your craving within,
    Trust not charity as if ’tis your right thing.
    Before you can stop habitual thought,
    Guess not when your prediction is sought.
    Before you have gained supreme attainment,
    Assume not you are a venerable Saint.
    Before you can master all practices and rules,
    Consider not you may now leave your Guru.

    29. How to Get Sufficient Cause for Accomplishment

    If there be neither karma nor condition held,
    In this life one would not obtain the Buddhahood.
    He who cannot put all trust in his teacher,
    Should not expect care & blessings in future.
    He who cannot satisfy his students,
    Should not expect to get good attendants.
    He who cannot master his own mind,
    No hope to lead others could he find.
    He who cannot hold the lineage tradition,
    There is no hope to get the realization.
    He who does not practice with great diligence,
    No hope to get the Buddha-like reverence.
    He who has not cut the bonds of duality,
    Can’t expect great compassion and reality.
    He who reveres not the chain of clinging,
    Should not expect an all-free-view teaching.
    He who has not seen self-mind in nakedness,
    Cannot behold the true nature in brightness.
    He who does not cleanse the evil purulence
    Should not expect the unceasing experience.
    He who destroys not the attachment, hence,
    Expects not relaxation of the six sense.
    He who is not skilled in the voidness Samadhi,
    Cannot get the real omnipresence of Bodhi.
    He whose subtle sorrows still maintain,
    Has no trikaya to obtain.
    He whose moral rules have not been observed,
    Immediate happiness will not deserve.
    He whose two Sambharas have not been held.
    Should not expect to obtain Buddhahood.
    He who obeys not the guru father,
    Shouldn’t expect to guide all the brothers.
    He whose awareness has not been mastered fine,
    Should not expect the freedom from ghost divine.
    All appearance he cannot master and win,
    Should not expect to govern those three realms.
    He who has not transcended the mundane level,
    Should not cherish the “no good & no evil.”
    The yogi who a temple is leading
    Should not neglect rules & discipline.
    Knowing not the stages of experience principle,
    Should not try to check those practice of disciple.
    Without fulfilling practice of the instruction,
    Can’t expect in Bardo to gain Liberation.
    If precepts have not been observed in perfect form,
    One’s wishes will never be easily performed.
    He whose samaya rules have not been well observed,
    Protection by Bho Wa, Bho Mo is not deserved.
    He who obtains not the essence of holy scripture,
    Should not neglect the words and the symbol nature.
    If one has no five powers so fine,
    Should not be proud of external signs.
    If real experience one’s not able to find,
    He shouldn’t neglect to control his mind.

    IV. Songs about Paramitas

    30. Six Paramitas: To Lodum.

    Wealth is but a cause of diversion.
    He who can give all his wealth away,
    A prince of Heaven will be and stay.
    Noble is he to practice such teaching
    Precepts which lead to the liberation.
    He who does keep all the disciplines
    To lower state will never be falling.
    Noble is he to follow the great teaching,
    Patience is so good a Virtue.
    Buddha cherishes it very much,
    It is like armor of a soldier.
    All merits grown, no demons touch,
    Diligence makes the great path short,
    Without it nothing can be done,
    He who, day and night keeps it on,
    He is riding a horse to start.
    Meditation is between two,
    Deep wisdom & Merit too.
    All distractions can overcome
    Without practice it is who?
    Wisdom approach to the reality
    A treasure of Buddha & deity.
    He enjoys it without exhaustion
    Fulfills all wishes in his exertion.

    V. Songs about Meditation & Mahamudra

    31. Exhortation about the Mind

    Great is the skillful Tantric path,
    And the gurus pithy Instructions,
    Constancy and resolution.
    These three are most important things.
    Keep life prana at the key point,
    Mind-essence in natural state,
    Let all thoughts under self control.
    These three are the entering gate.
    Fulfill the precepts of Guru,
    Obtain the heart wishes of achievement,
    And self sacrifice without effort.
    These three are the great accomplishment.
    Outer demons and hindrance disappear,
    Inner desires and lust are no more,
    No disorder or ill of body
    These three absences one should adore.
    The skill & renounce in speech,
    And that of my eloquence,
    Knowledge of nature and mind,
    These three are mine proficient.
    Clearly I see bliss is void of substance,
    Clearly I see things without difference,
    Clearly I see them appear beyond words.
    These three are the sights of experience.
    When there is the Dharma meeting,
    Means and joy are too gathering,
    And all Dakinis congregate.
    These three are the holy assembly.
    These twenty-one mental exhortations
    Are consequence of my meditation.
    All Dharma seekers should respect them,
    My followers should pay more attention.

    32. How to Settle Your Mind

    How to settle your own mind at rest,
    The secret lies in letting go,
    Making no strain, doing nothing,
    Like sleeping child you should do so.
    Like calm ocean without waves,
    Like a brilliant lamp without wind,
    Rest your mind in peace.
    Like corpse without pride,
    Rest it steadfastly.
    Like sea without tide,
    Free from any kind of grind.
    Do you know how thought arises?
    Like dream is without substance,
    Like the vast sunless heaven,
    Moons seen in outer distance,
    Like the rainbow of maya,
    We could not find certain source.
    When the light of wisdom shines,
    They disappear, no more trace.
    Do you know how to cope with thoughts?
    Try to see the versatile clouds,
    Yet from sky they are not apart,
    Try to see the waves of the sea,
    Yet from sea they are not apart.
    Try to see the heavy thick fog,
    Yet from air it is not apart.
    Thus the frantic runs in nature.
    Yet from nature it is not apart.
    He who can weigh the awareness,
    Will know mind is rising in breath.
    He who seeks sneaking thoughts like thieves,
    Will know to watch this subtle mischief.
    He who finds the thought running outside,
    Knows the simile of dove and boat in tide.
    Do you know how to act and comprehend?
    Like a bold lion, a drunken elephant,
    Shadow in mirror and lotus in mud?
    Thus you may act the same yet different.
    Do you know how to get the attainment,
    Dharmakaya gained in non-discernment,
    Sambhogakaya through the blissfulness,
    Nirmanakayaone ray of Enlightenment,
    Sahajakaya through the innateness.
    Of these four ones I have the achievement.

    33. Instructions of Meditation

    Realizing not the Truth of many-in-one,
    If you are meditating in the great light,
    You have only kept the cling-view on.
    Realizing not the unity of void and bliss,
    Even though you may meditate on void,
    You could only practice like the nihilist.
    If you can’t keep meditation
    At anywhere and in any time
    You are still in delusion.
    If you realize not the plain-mind,
    Your practice is not of non-duality,
    And non-effort you will not find.
    Knowing not that self mind has no existence,
    Even if you practice non-discernment,
    Your effort is still not in transcendence.
    If your renunciation could not be found,
    Your actionless-state of meditation
    By the worldly hopes & fears is still bound.
    Knowing not how to refuse & hold,
    All doing surely will enmesh
    In the toils & moils of the world.

    34. Advising Rechungpa To Train His Mind

    Hard horn & solid wood
    Can be bound if one tries,
    But the harsh mind in mood
    Hard to bind even you would.
    Tiger in south, yak in north
    Can be tamed if you tried,
    But pride of mind and mouth
    Hard to tame even non-sloth.
    Hills & ricks, here and there,
    Both may meet without care.
    But the foe of mind
    Hard to know, comes from where.
    Queens & kings, laws & cause,
    Can be avoided if you tried,
    But no one can evade
    Yama the Lord of Death.
    Mice in hole, bird in sky
    Can he catch by and by.
    Hard is to catch the mind
    And its fault e’en you try.
    The Dharma to speculate
    May be done and ne’er late,
    But the self-mind to be void,
    Must try to meditate.
    Our father & mother
    May be left if one tried,
    Evil is hard to leave,
    How change with fine feather?
    Jewels and house and ground,
    May be renounced if one tried,
    But the craving of pleasure
    Is hard to be voided.
    Even a lovely sweet-heart
    May be left if one tried
    But to leave soft warm bed,
    It is very, very hard.

    35. Somethings Should be Forbidden When One is Practicing Meditation

    When in the realm that is beyond,
    Do not let the playwords appear,
    Lest you should become very proud,
    It is good to let your mind be clear.
    When self liberation happens,
    Engage not in speculation,
    Lest meaningless acts be fallen,
    You have to keep meditation.
    When you hold to the void nature,
    Think of not many from the one,
    Lest you have to fall in future,
    Rest it at ease and keep it on.
    When mahamudra in practicing,
    You should leave the virtuous deed & speech,
    Lest your wisdom should increase nothing,
    Rest in non-act-state as our Teacher.
    When revelation is disclosed,
    Don’t be conceited or overjoyed,
    Care of the wolf in sheep’s clothing,
    Rest in non-act-state as a boy.
    When mind unites with conditions,
    Stir not worldly attachment,
    Lest you should lose meditation
    Rest in the state of non-movement.

    36. Daily Life Meditation; To Rechungpa

    Your old father sometimes sleeps
    But in sleeping he still keeps
    The sleep light in the darkness.
    May you all share the brightness.
    Your old father sometimes eats,
    Him, there is no food to cheat.
    Uses the food as the Homa,
    Practices are all in Dharma.
    Your old father sometimes walks,
    At Truth in all steps he looks,
    Thought there is only space found,
    But all Buddhas he circles round.

    37. To Dhampa Sanji, Relieving All Sorrows

    When demons come to harm you,
    Be aware, it is the time
    To apply your power prime.
    When pain & sickness harm you,
    Be aware, it is the time
    To keep your heart in good rhyme.
    Whenever delusion rises,
    Be aware, it is the time,
    Transmute it to the sublime.
    When lying in a place alone,
    Be aware, it is the good time
    To rest in your natural quiet clime.
    When mingling with many people,
    Be aware, it is the good time
    To bring all to the stage prime.
    When you come to drowsiness,
    Be aware, it is the time,
    Utter a PAI to this crime.
    When any kind thought disturbs you,
    Be aware, it is the time,
    To lead it to the sublime.
    When mind runs after anything,
    Be aware, it is the time
    To observe the suchness kind.
    This teaching of relieving sorrows
    Turns all opponents to good fellow;
    Whatever thought rises, you feel but joy,
    Whatever ill comes, you can employ.
    Whatever encounters make you feel gay,
    Whenever death comes, you go best way.
    This teaching makes all sorrows relieved,
    By Dorjechang this law is to give.
    It is Dakini’s life & heart,
    It is essence of fourth tantric part.
    It is the pith of the whispered school,
    It is the key to essential rules.

    38. Mahamudra Instruction

    I the Buddhist yogi see the essence
    By just gazing nakedly upon it.
    I see it beyond play words as the sky,
    By letting it go, I see the reality.
    I realize the voidness nature of things,
    By resting at ease in its entirety,
    I relax, relax & come to the nature,
    I let go, let go, come to purity.

    39. Four Key Points of Mahamudra

    Manifestation is the mind,
    Mind is the entity of light,
    Light is without any conception,
    These are the key-points of the view bright.
    Delusion is the Dharmakaya,
    Awareness is the bright Tathata,
    In which there is no need of acting.
    This is the main practical data.
    In nature there is no good to do,
    Nor is there any evil to forbid,
    The void entity ne’er be disturbed,
    Such action is very good indeed.
    There is no samsara to renounce,
    Nor is Nirvana to attain,
    Just know yourself as the real Truth,
    It is the consequence you will gain.

    40. Four Yogas of the Mahamudra

    To cling is the cause of Samsara,
    To realize non-clinging is Nirvana,
    Which is the stage of perfect unborn.
    This is one main point of Mahamudra.
    Talks about two-in-one but seats on non-form,
    Talks about karma but commits no good,
    He is meditating on the blindness,
    In the true one-point there is no such mood,
    Realize non-clinging of the Vidya.
    In the natural bliss without playwords
    One sees the sign as clear as the sky,
    He would never be cheated afterwards.
    Talks about non-playwords,
    He still puts words on words,
    He sits with self-clinging,
    But there is no such records.
    Form and nature have no difference,
    Samsara, nirvana are the same,
    Buddha and men are in the one-ness,
    Sign of one-taste not mere names.
    Talks about that all-in-one
    He is still in duality.
    But in the stage of one-taste
    There is no such duality.
    Thought itself is the essence of wisdom,
    Cause and effect both in the same kingdom,
    Trikaya are within one’s own body,
    This is the non-practice one should go on.
    Talks about the stage of non-practice,
    His mind is in the activity.
    He is still in the realm of darkness,
    But this stage is in bright reality.

    41. View, Practice, Action and Consequence of the Mahamudra

    Because I see the real face of the view,
    All the contrasting thoughts are dissolved,
    Hence I’ve no two kinds of ideas of old or new,
    The right view is void of others and self.
    When the practice is based on the one-point,
    There’s no nuance between evil and good.
    I have no two kinds of feeling joy or pain,
    The practice is void of feeling and mood.
    When I adhere to natural action,
    Like or dislike have no difference.
    I have neither craving nor hatred,
    The action is free from reference.
    As the consequence is of nature,
    Nirvana and Samsara are one.
    I have neither getting nor losing;
    The result has nothing to be done.

    42. Missings of View, Practice, Action and Consequence

    The view is the wisdom of voidness,
    The practice is the light of non-clinging,
    The act is the holy play without lust,
    The fruit is nude of immaculation.
    Don’t miss the view through words and thoughts,
    Words alone can never be free from ego,
    The true knowledge should be gained within,
    To strive for the true one you should go.
    Don’t miss the practice by mere Dhyana,
    Concentration can’t lead to the freedom,
    Your wisdom should shine out within yourself,
    You should work hard in the mental kingdom.
    Don’t miss the action by your idle talk,
    You should be disgusted by worldly desire,
    They differ from the Tantric method,
    Unless you make them as aid, admired.
    Don’t miss the nude fruit by ignorance,
    When your delusive thought appears,
    Hard efforts bring only little result,
    You should strive for the true experience.

    43. Errors in the View, Practice, Action and Consequence

    When you deepen the view profound,
    Be not misled by the knowledge,
    Chatter not about the voidness,
    Before you have awareness found.
    Though all things manifest as an echo,
    Yet they have their certain correspondence,
    Virtuous Karma should ne’er be neglected,
    Neither you should hold to them with ego.
    Revile not others with bigotry,
    Cling not to yourself fixed idea,
    First realize the true self nature,
    Then root up all the errors here.
    Before the great light shines forth,
    Cling not to the joy and voidness,
    Though you know all things are empty,
    Ne’er wallow in the happiness.
    Things themselves are empty,
    To which one should not grasp,
    Lest you stray in haveness,
    Which shuts the void with clasp.
    When one gets some worldly bliss,
    One’s thought will hold it and stay,
    Attached to such an ecstasy,
    He is troubled and goes astray.
    Before realization shines holy bliss,
    And five sense get their special experiences,
    Engage not in anomalous methods,
    Lest you go astray out of ordinance.
    Besides the attainment of saving beings,
    One should not seek Buddhahood elsewhere,
    Before the essence of self-mind is seen,
    Take care of falling into hope and fear.
    Should you think of your body like Buddha,
    Ne’er deem it as that of Nirvana,
    Should your thoughts vanish out in reality,
    But never treat it as well as entity.
    The great merits and Pure Land
    Are manifested by wisdom,
    Never should one regard them
    As things in the Saha kingdom.

    44. Subdue the Vinayoga

    The snow lions paws are never frozen,
    If frozen, of what is it called King.
    He who has the three perfect powers
    Among all the beasts, he is the best being.
    The eagle never falls down from the sky,
    If so, would not it be absurd and shy,
    As iron block cannot be cracked.
    If so diamond may be broken.
    Should one fear demons and evils,
    If so what is the Bodhi-wills,
    The foes of the right Dharmademons,
    I really have pleasure to welcome.
    And pray you to stay here for a night long,
    Listen my sermon you would not be gone.

    45. The Six Similes of Meditation

    If there be obstacles, it is not space,
    If there be numbers, it is not stars,
    If there is a deep mountain
    Without shake it should maintain.
    If there is the great ocean,
    No different drops should be mentioned.
    If one needs a bridge to pass,
    Not a true swimmer he is,
    If it is a rainbow,
    To grasp it, who and how?
    VI. Songs about Vajra Love

    46. Answer to Dakini Tzerima

    I have mastered energy and mind,
    May accept the mudra of your kind.
    ‘Tis true, among many offerings,
    Most fruitful is mudra we could find.
    Your face and lotus is full of bliss,
    Shell shaped nadi speeds the ecstasy,
    Protective mark is in your recess,
    Through elephant get true fantasy.
    You are the noble body of longevity,
    BHAM and E shapes are in your lotus secret,
    And in my Dorje there is a Bija HUM,
    When combined with PAD as the semen great,
    Wisdom & merit both joined together.
    The Bliss of two-in-one thus dictates
    The four blisses and four moments are
    The essence of the four Buddhakaya.
    Like the crawling of a tortoise,
    Should drop down slowly without loss,
    Then hold it in the channel central
    Like the camel with water control.
    When you spread all bliss in your body,
    The liberating mudra is ready:
    TIA is the bliss of equality,
    LE is Nirvana of reality.
    LA means the various coitus actions,
    KYI is the twist bliss meditation,
    PHYAG is the intercourse this and that,
    RGYA, Nirvana & samsara unite.
    LA is to contact this & act on that,
    KYI is do this & that & associate.
    PHYAG is the union of voidness & bliss,
    RGYA is the one beyond which nothing could pass.
    This is the most speedy path of union
    Which is blissful in both companions.
    Enable us to quickly be enlightened
    In illumination of wisdom,
    Leading to the great Dharmakaya,
    Obtaining great Sambhogakaya,
    Manifesting Nirmanakaya.
    This is a path of bliss and voidness
    Of no thought, of no duality.
    This is a path of assistance
    By the Dakini to the reality.
    Following this good inspiring way
    Four Ladies you will in freedom stay,
    And remain in the realm of non-born
    Oh! Fairies you are always welcome.

    47. To Dharma Bodhi

    When the five mothers of five wonderful nerves
    Meet the father of five pure energies,
    The five sons of pure elements are born,
    The five purities of true nature come.
    In middle nerve of palace beyond,
    The victory Buddha with great pleasure
    Shouts to the wombs of the four rainbow chakras,
    Gives the order of non-grasp non-pressure.
    By realizing all forms are the truth,
    I have held the mind as my wife’s face,
    So none of sentient beings of the world
    Are apart from embrace of true race.
    This is my companion the Bodhi-heart,
    Happy is this consort, never depart.  

     

    VII. Songs about Recapitulation

    48. Six Gatherings

    Pious people are gathered in day time,
    Lovely Dakinis come at night.
    In morning tonic foods are brought,
    Evening dress need not be sought,
    In my soul turns Bodhi wheel,
    might Outer world and my mind unite.

    49. Six Goodness

    Good is the view of Mahamudra,
    Good is the practice of six yoga,
    Good is the profound love-vajra,
    Good is the last aim of Trikaya,
    Good is the deep grace of Kagyupa,
    Good are the instructions of Marpa.

    50. Six Guides

    He dispels the dark and saves the blind,
    The accomplished guru is the guide.
    For fearing, craving, no clothes to hide,
    Free from both cold and warm is the guide.
    To grasp the darkness of Bardo of the blind,
    The yogic transformation is the great guide.
    To show the great path through all Buddhist lands,
    The master of prana-mind is the guide.
    Offering one’s body like words elide,
    The teaching of non-ego is the guide.
    The meditator who is in cave to hide,
    Leads himself to enlightenment is the guide.

    51. Good Companions

    The Dakini, Buddha & Guru
    Are the three for prayer in good rule.
    Buddha, Dharma & Sangha three
    Are the refuges like a great tree.
    The Sutra, Tantra & Sastra,
    Are the three to which you should trust.
    Prana, Bindu & all Nadis
    Are the three for tantric practice.
    Bliss, Illumination & Non-thought
    Are three for meditation should be taught.
    Piety, Pure Thought & Compassion
    Are of Bodhi-path these three things.
    Bha Wa, Bho Mo & the Guards,
    To safety these are three guides,
    (Bha Wa is protective hero, Bho Mo, heroine.)

    52. Nobilities in Similes

    Sitting on sun & moon, my gurus
    Of the succession are on my head.
    They are like a string of dear jewels.
    My mind has been blessed & so glad.
    The three great precious gems
    E’er protect me and help,
    I am like their baby
    Fed on his mother’s lap.
    On my right are the Heroes
    Who dispel all my hindrance,
    Like shades covering my head
    They are my trusted reliance.
    On my left are the Heroines
    Who bless me with great two Siddhis,
    They are mother & sister,
    Embrace me like pagoda.
    Before me are the powerful guards
    Who carry out all my orders,
    They are like obedient servants
    Often with me like my shadow.
    My view on truth is the great perfection
    With which I enlarge the Hinayana.
    It is like bold lion strutting in snow
    Fearless as I in the Vajrayana.
    My practice of wisdom and skill
    Is like the great eagle’s mighty wings
    With which I rear into heaven
    Without any fear or any falling.
    My action is full of strength & valor,
    There’s no more distraction or drowsiness.
    It is like a Tiger stalking in mood,
    Bold is he without dread or fearfulness.
    Having obtained the Trikaya,
    I save all beings with transformation,
    Like a golden fish that plays with glee
    In water he has no need of exertion.
    I am the yogi Milarepa,
    who From one retreat wanders to another,
    I am like the wild beasts who live
    In the mountains without flutter.

    53. Every Man Needs Dharma

    Superior men need Dharma,
    Without it they are like eagles,
    Even though perched on high
    They have no meaning but wriggle.
    Average men have need of Dharma,
    Without it they are like Tiger,
    Though possessing great power
    They are of the earthly eager.
    Inferior men need Dharma,
    Without it they are like asses,
    Though they can carry a big load
    But no keen wisdom they possess.
    Superior women need Dharma,
    Without it like pictures on wall,
    Though they could look so pretty
    But no use neither great nor small.
    Average women need Dharma,
    Without it they are like the mouse,
    They are clever to get good food,
    But only a little thing in mouth.
    Inferior women need Dharma,
    Without it they are like vixens,
    Though they are so deft and cunning
    They have no value to listen.
    Old men have need of Dharma,
    Without it they are like old tree,
    All youth have need of Dharma,
    Without it like bull not free.
    Young maidens need of Dharma,
    Without it like the nice cows.
    All young people need Dharma,
    Without it like shutting flowers.
    All children have need of Dharma,
    Without it they will meet Demon.
    Everyone has need of Dharma,
    Without it no fruit or blossom.
    Those who want to live with meaning
    Should practice the Buddhas teaching.

    54. How to Gain Happiness & Avoid Suffering

    He who knows his own nature imminent
    Is ever glad.
    He who knows not the truth & wrongly acts
    Is ever sad.
    He who is pure & in the nature rests
    Is ever glad.
    He who’s impulsed by objects & lust subjects
    Is ever sad.
    He who knows all things are the Dharmakaya,
    Free from fear, hope & doubts, is ever glad.
    He who is impatient, talkative & rash,
    Being cheated by worldly desire, is ever sad.
    He who knows all things are his mind,
    Meets whoever is friendly is ever glad.
    He who squanders his life away,
    Buried in remorse is ever sad,
    He who has a perfect realization,
    At ease, in self-proved truth is ever glad.
    He who is enslaved by endless desires,
    And is always longing is ever sad.
    He who is freed from all forms and effort,
    And full of experience is ever glad.
    He who merely follows symbols and words,
    And never reflects his mind is ever sad.
    He who renounces all worldly things,
    Free from worry is ever glad.
    He who stores up grain and cherishes
    The women and kinsmen is ever sad.
    He who discards all those worldly ties,
    Knowing all is magic, is ever glad.
    He who sensualizes his body and mind,
    Often diverting himself is ever sad.
    He who rides the horse of diligence
    To the freedom land is ever glad.
    He who swears to practice the Dharma
    But still has sinful deeds is ever sad.
    He who leaves all this and that behind
    Practices pure Dharma is ever glad.
    (He who gets all this and that ahead
    And practices bad karma is ever sad.)
    (The last two sentences were left out by the English translator.)

    55. The Conditions of Disciple to be Accepted

    If faith rises from your heart
    And you take no heed of worldly gain,
    If you really want to follow me,
    Cut off the hinderance of kinsmen.
    Think that they are devils,
    Quench your craving for them,
    Money and food are the devil’s envoys,
    To unite with them is pernicious.
    They are still objects to hinder you,
    You must renounce them & all other things,
    Delight in pleasure is the devil’s rope,
    Cut off all desires is my only hope.
    Your partner is the devil’s tempting net,
    Watching the delusion you should not let.
    Native land is the devil’s dungeon,
    Falling in there is no religion.
    To escape and strive for the Dharma,
    Take the instant action you try,
    then In time your body of illusion will decay.
    ‘Tis better to practice Dharma without delay.
    Darting birds of mind will fly up anyway.
    ‘Tis better to the Pure Land wing your way.
    If you believe and follow what I have said,
    A worthy Dharma vessel you are so made,
    All pithy instructions & profound teaching
    Will be imparted and benediction be laid.
    My son! This is the start
    Of course on the Bodhi-way,
    You should be glad to go,
    I’m also very gay!

    56. Guides

    Samadhi is the guide to know
    The mind nature is like the sky,
    Who realizes one’s body is the Temple
    Knows the path & will not be shy.
    The steady faith is the guide to know
    Mundane and un-mundane are one,
    And that the four Buddha bodies
    Exist in merely one’s mind own.
    Non-clinging to objects is the guide,
    Six senses turn all hindrance into helpness.
    Hence one should be free from all dualities
    And reach the other shore of happiness.
    The upright Acarya is the guide
    Who clears away your doubts and clearly.
    One should serve his Guru as Buddha,
    Happy is he holding mind freely.
    This cotton clothing is the guide
    That protects me in snowy mountain.
    Better to lie naked in snow
    Neither heat nor cold to retain.
    Identifying and transforming
    And Unities, all three are the guide
    That can crush all fears of Bardo,
    Life and death are freed from both sides.
    The path of the whispered is the guide,
    Distinguishes the legal from the illegal.
    Ones life prana goes to the central nerve
    Hence his mind and body have been settled well.
    Voidness and Compassion are the guide,
    One cuts off the jargon and play words.
    Surrounded by many enlightened beings,
    He will win more disciples afterwards.

    57. Practical Times

    When lying down in the bed,
    let Your mind unite with Avidya not.
    Recite mantra at evening,
    Pray to the holy one at night.
    At midnight meditate on Truth.
    When day breaks, prana to practice.
    Repent of evils in the moon.
    When sun rises unite mind with forms.

    58. The Most Important Things to Know

    It is most important to know
    The rainbow-like Buddha body
    Is void yet appears then & now.
    It is most important to find
    The devils have no existence,
    They are magic form of your mind.
    It is most important a rule
    Pay your respects to the one
    Who is the gracious Guru.
    It is most important to fear
    The endless & useless worldly
    Affair which should be renounced here.
    It is most important to notice
    The great Tomo & blissful hard work
    Which is in the pure prana practice.
    It is most important to unite
    Dream yoga with illusory body,
    And practice them in day time & night.
    It is most important to awake
    On the Dhyana of great symbol
    For the enlightened essence sake.
    It is most important to care
    The instruction of “cutting through”
    For the manifesting affair.
    It is very important thing
    To have the pity & voidness
    Toward the unawakened being.
    It is important to be freed
    From many of those hopes & fears.
    It is the Dharmakaya creed.

    VIII. Songs about Realization

    59. The Joys

    My body is the holy mandala
    Wherein resides the Buddhas of all times,
    I offer all need & attachment,
    Happy am I without material crime.
    All beings are latent Buddhas,
    All realms are self- created palace,
    Whate’er I do is a play
    Of this Dharmakaya race,
    Wherever I stay is Pure Land
    Which is Buddha’s holy place,
    Whomever I’m with are divines,
    I see them to interlace.
    With wisdom I am happy
    To go outside to solace.
    On the paper of red & white forces
    I use the ink of the true wisdom
    To write the words & signs of five senses
    Then become the Dharmakaya, the forms
    Happy and foolish book can’t harm.
    All sentient beings in Samsara
    Have “thatness” but realize it not,
    Set in Samadhi of Trikaya
    Happy am I who feels death is nought.

    60. To Bodhi-Dharma

    Five twisted nadis are straightened by prana practice,
    Five moving pranas are straightened in taming peace,
    Five sullied elements are burned out,
    Wind in the central nerve become nought,
    No errant thoughts, no necessity for me
    To entangle my self with whate’er may be.

    61. Merit of Milarepa Shown Rechungpa

    Sun & Moon on the tip of my ears
    Shines as radiant rainbow & reveal here,
    This union of wisdom & merit;
    This proves my steadfast right reality.
    Look, it is like watching the play goats,
    How it compares with worldly records.
    The five color rays from my nostrils
    Stream like many jeweled threads,
    They are the essence of marvel sounds,
    Show my mastery prana profound
    Through the Vajra reciting yoga;
    It proves that my life force is prolonged.
    A red lotus opens in my mouth,
    Consonant & vowels are to touch,
    They go round & shine without limit,
    They are the symbol of vajra teaching,
    Beholding them with many earnest eyes;
    Realize all Dharma is my speech.
    Look, it is like watching the play goats,
    How can it compare with worldly records
    From the center my heart streams,
    Glowing many holy bright beams,
    This shows immutable Trikaya;
    Void & mercy both are in dream.
    Look! It is like watching the play goats,
    How can it compare with worldly records!

    62. Bodily Altar

    In secret wheel dwells Dorje Dangi
    With his retinue, Favor me bliss,
    Embrace Buddhas innate wisdom
    Where joy & void unite through breath.
    In navel wheel there is Dem Chog
    With his retinue, Give me joy,
    There sixty-two gods encircle him,
    May my vajra body be like boy.
    The dharma wheel is in my heart,
    Dwells Jedor and his nine deities,
    There’s the essence of three sattvas,
    Vajra mind is the entity

    (Under the “three sattvas” in the English translation there is a question mark which may be answered by the below:
    Samaya SattvaBody,
    Prajna SattvaHeart,
    Samadhi SattvaThe Top of the Bija.)

    Between eyebrows there’s the white conch chakra,
    Dwells Buddha Yatama & some deities,
    Is the symbol of wisdom & merit,
    This is the real chakra of unity.
    The great bliss chakra is in my head,
    Dwell Sunwongduba & many gods,
    Nadis & bindus are united here,
    A chakra full of Bliss such as ne’er had.
    Son! If you can unite with these Buddhas,
    Your own Buddha body will surely appear,
    Your flesh one will become rainbow one,
    Such marvel you should have faith on and hear.

    63. Instruction to Rechungpa

    Ph! Son, one’s body suffices as temple,
    For the wisdom drop is the mandala sample.
    One’s own mind suffices as the great guru,
    All true knowledge comes from it as a rule.
    All other things suffice as the sutras,
    They are symbols of truth nothing betrays.
    Food of Samadhi suffices for living,
    In which all Buddhas come for and blessing.
    The Tomo heat suffices for clothes,
    The Dakini gives you the blissful dress.
    To cut off all ties is the best consort,
    To live alone is a friend of duty.
    To treat foes as guest is to rid hatred.
    To treat hindrance as void is not so bad.
    They all are magic like plays of the mind,
    This is the only right way you could find.

    64. Sermon to Rechungpa

    When compassion arises in my heart,
    I feel all beings in the three realms
    Where they’re enslaved in fire so hot.
    When the teachings are kept in my mind,
    As the salt dissolves in water,
    I got absorption of a good kind.
    When the wisdom shines its light within,
    I feel as awakened from a dream,
    I can free from yes or no ideation.
    When one gets the bliss from the view right,
    He feels that each thing is free itself,
    Most dissolve into act, all is white.
    When one comes to essence of being,
    He finds the wisdom of reality
    Like cloudless sky is illumining.
    When pure & impure thoughts both cleared,
    He finds it is like silver mirror,
    The imminent bright wisdom appears.
    When Alaya Dharmakaya becomes,
    I feel my flesh & soul both break forth,
    Like the crushing egg when stamped upon.
    When one cuts off the rope of clinging,
    The existence of Bardo disappears,
    like the long serpent without coiling.
    When I act without getting or losing,
    My mind is at ease I’m like a lion
    With the power of three perfections,
    Voidness, wisdom & manifestation.
    These three all are in illumination.
    They are my three inseparable dear friends,
    Like the sun shining its rays without end,
    Like dividing the horse from its yoke,
    The string of mind & sadness cutting,
    Inner & Outer distinctions are broke,
    And my attainment is completed. f

     

     

    Sources

    [1] [2] [3]

    Who Was Milarepa?


    [4]
    https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Milarepa/3178

    [5] http://www.yogichen.org/cw/cw32/bk087.html

    Other sources

    https://www.britannica.com/biography/Milarepa
    https://www.learnreligions.com/the-story-of-milarepa-450200
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_of_realization

     

    More articles by this author

    The very face of compassion, Metta personified in glorious Avalokiteshvara, the compassionate Buddha.
    Avalokitesvara compassion practices can “enhance treatment of anxiety, depression, trauma” say some scientists and clinicians. For the rest of us, his compassion brings us closer to bliss and wisdom.
    Milarepa
    50 Songs of Milarepa and the Grand Epic Story of Mila the Cotton Clad: Murder, Evil, Revenge, Redemption, Ordeals, Doing What’s Right
    Buddha-Weekly-Vajrayogini Buddha for our times-Buddhism
    Vajrayogini, enlightened wisdom queen, leads us to bliss, clear light and emptiness, despite modern obstacles
    A beautiful devotional practice is to paint your own statues. This beautiful "thanka painted" statue of Chittamani Tara started out as an unpainted bronze. Buddha Weekly's volunteer art director Kam Yu, as a devotional practice to Tara, beautifully painted and decorated a Chittamni Tara statue after filling with mantras and blessings. This is one of the most beautiful practices of devotion. He painted the flowers blue, and jewelry in gold foil. The body is matte varnished while the silk clothing with elaborate designs painted on, are glossy. As a final touch he added Turquoise and coral gems.
    “Mind Jewel” Green Tara – a Highest Yoga Tantra practice of Chittamani Tara (Cittamani), Mother of all the Buddhas
    The great Lotus Born, Guru Rinpoche, Padmasambhava, the second Buddha.
    Padmasambhava Guru Rinpoche’s condensed “all teachings into one — which is concise and easy to practice”at the time of death: as requested by Lady Tsogyal
    Buddha-Weekly-Shakbar feature image-Buddhism
    Shabkar’s Song of Practice: the entire path, from refuge to generation to completion in one song by one of the great sages of Tibet

    Please Help Support the “Spread the Dharma” Mission!

    Buddhist-worshippers_32631040-low

    Be a part of the noble mission as a supporting member or a patron, or a volunteer contributor of content.

    The power of Dharma to help sentient beings, in part, lies in ensuring access to Buddha’s precious Dharma — the mission of Buddha Weekly. We can’t do it without you!

    A non-profit association since 2007, Buddha Weekly published many feature articles, videos, and,  podcasts. Please consider supporting the mission to preserve and “Spread the Dharma." Your support as either a patron or a supporting member helps defray the high costs of producing quality Dharma content. Thank you! Learn more here, or become one of our super karma heroes on Patreon.

    Josephine Nolan

    Author | Buddha Weekly

    Josephine Nolan is an editor and contributing feature writer for several online publications, including EDI Weekly and Buddha Weekly.

    Invalid Email
    Buddha-Weekly-Latest Features on Buddha Weekly-Buddhism
    .
    Buddha-Weekly-Buddhist prayer feature on Buddha Weekly-Buddhism
    Translate »
    Scroll to Top