{"id":208633,"date":"2025-09-21T16:37:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T16:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/?p=208633"},"modified":"2025-09-21T16:47:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T16:47:03","slug":"the-life-of-milarepa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/the-life-of-milarepa\/","title":{"rendered":"The Life of Milarepa"},"content":{"rendered":"

The<\/em> Life of Milarepa<\/em> is a book that reads like a poem and lifts the spirit at the turn of every page, a biography decorated with songs that seem to spring from the soul of Milarepa, where words alone seem not enough to express the intensity of his messages.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Milarepa (thangka painting), 2008, Author: Otgo Otgonbayar Ershuu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is the story of Mila Zhepa Dorj\u00e9, also known as Milarepa, through the framework of twelve marvellous deeds: three ordinary worldly deeds and nine supreme deeds of peace and transcendence.<\/p>\n

From a tormented first half of his life, where he succumbs to the lower aspects of reality by killing 35 people through his powers of black magic, Milarepa rises from the ashes with fervent, unbroken determination to purify his misdeeds, and finally attains liberation within one lifetime. His life is an example of an ardent pursuit to realise the true nature of reality through the path of yoga.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough devotion to the teacher and the practice of the path, transform oneself into a perfect buddha, where the dharma is present everywhere one turns, where everything in the outer world appears as scriptures, where the profane is sacred.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Finding his master is Milarepa\u2019s first supreme deed and the start of his spiritual journey. A Spiritual Guide – aspirant relationship is always full of tests and this one was no exception. Marpa the Translator puts Milarepa through insufferable and exhausting hardships even before accepting him as his disciple. As occurs with many other Tibetan masters (such as Tilopa with his disciple Naropa), an untrained eye may find it difficult to understand Marpa\u2019s nuanced love towards his disciple and may not realise at first that all the hardships are hidden teachings on Milarepa\u2019s path to enlightenment.<\/p>\n

For a long time, Marpa did not grant him empowerments or instructions, but Milarepa never lost faith and trusted his Guru.<\/p>\n

Reading about Milarepa\u2019s aspiration and his unshakeable devotion and trust in his Spiritual Guide opens the reader\u2019s heart and triggers a deep aspiration within. In the following song, Milarepa highlights the role of a master for an effective spiritual journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen he sang this song:
\nI bow at the feet of Lord Marpa the Translator.
\nThose who wish to practise dharma:
\nWithout relying on a qualified lama,
\nThough you have devotion, blessings are meagre.
\nWithout requesting profound initiation,
\nThe very words of tantra will trap you.
\nWithout using the tantras as an authority,
\nEvery deed you do leads you astray.
\nWithout meditating on profound heart-instructions,
\nSaying you\u2019ll renounce only harms yourself.
\nWithout applying remedies for consciousness afflictions,
\nYour talk is dried-up empty sound.
\nWithout knowing the profound path of means,
\nAlthough you make effort, little is done.
\nWithout knowing the profound essential points,
\nAlthough you endure, the path becomes long.
\nWithout garnering vast stores of merit,
\nLiving for oneself alone is the cause of life\u2019s round.
\nWithout giving up what you have earned for the dharma,
\nAlthough you meditate, good qualities will not appear<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Milarepa\u2019s life is a constant call to listen to our inner compass and follow our dharma, a reminder of the importance of spiritual practice over the mere accumulation of knowledge. As it is said in the Mahabharata<\/em>, \u201cBooks are but a burden as long as we do not realise the truth beyond the words<\/em>\u201d. Yoga and meditation allow us to realise the truths of the teachings. Through them Milarepa was able to transcend the mind and attain spiritual realization. \u201cAgain and again I practised with no concern for words and forgot about literal meanings. Let scholars give literal readings of texts.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The following song gives us an idea of his teachings:<\/p>\n

\u201cThen he sang this song:
\nTo the compassionate one I address my prayer.
\nContemplating the lives of past masters endowed with compassion
\nIs itself the very oral instructions.
\nHoping to accumulate many is cause for distraction.
\nKeep in your heart the essential instructions.
\nMuch this and that without the essential
\nIs like many trees but no fruit.
\nThey may have their merits but they are not the ultimate.
\nStudying them is not seeing the truth.
\nThey have much to explain but have nothing of profit.
\nTake to heart that which profits \u2013 a treasure sublime.
\nIf it\u2019s wealth you desire, concentrate upon this.
\nDharma is the path of means for taming afflictions.
\nIf a safe path you\u2019d keep, concentrate upon this.
\nA resolute consciousness is a master of contentment.
\nIf it\u2019s a fine master you wish for, concentrate upon this.
\nGive up the whining and sloth of life\u2019s round.
\nA rock crag with no one around is your father\u2019s house;
\nA friendless and lonely abode, the deity\u2019s home.
\nConsciousness riding mind is a tireless steed;
\nYour body, a wilderness hermitage, a temple.
\nUnwavering virtue is the best of all medicines<\/em>.\u201c<\/p>\n

\"\"
The nine story tower that Milarepa single-handedly built, Sekhar Gutok, Lhodrag, Tibet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All the hardship was not in vain. Milarepa at last received tantric instructions and departed from his Spiritual Guide. From realising the emptiness of worldly matters, he vowed to practise. \u201cThose beings who want aspects with no essence can have them. A yogi, I go to achieve liberation.<\/em>\u201d This was his sixth supreme deed, where he detached from this world. \u201cEven if I were a master of the entire world, I would still need to leave them aside at the time of death. So if I renounce these aspects now, I shall find happiness in this and all future lives. Doing so, my conduct is contrary to that of all other men, so you can say I am no longer a man<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Milarepa realises that the man, as Gurdjieff later put it, is asleep. Unless the inner eyes open, unless your inside becomes full of light, we are not awake. From the words of Gurdjieff, \u201cMan is a machine. All his deeds, actions, words, thoughts, feelings, convictions, opinions, and habits are the results of external influences, external impressions. Out of himself a man cannot produce a single thought, a single action. Everything he says, does, thinks, feels \u2013 all these occur. Man cannot discover anything, invent anything. It all occurs<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his intense practice in caves, Milarepa starts his awakening, attaining spiritual insights on the nature of reality. He would practise without eating, without moving his body even if that meant starvation, sickness or exposure. His thirst for realisation was greater than his fear of death. Here we see for the first time Milarepa as a master. He removed his fear of death and understood that all the phenomena of this world and transcendence are interdependent, and that only spiritual insight would lead him to transcendence. The following song illustrates poetically one of his intuitions on the essence of interdependence<\/em> of all beings:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe nourishing essence of solid earth
\nAnd the light rain falling from azure skies \u2013 these two
\nForm the interdependence that benefits beings.
\nThe essence of interdependence is Godly dharma.
\nAn illusory body nurtured by parents
\nAnd instructions of an authentic lama \u2013 these two
\nForm the interdependence for doing Godly dharma.
\nThe essence of interdependence is perseverance.
\nA rocky cave in a deserted land
\nAnd sincere virtuous practice \u2013 these two
\nForm the interdependence for achieving whatever you wish.
\nThe essence of interdependence is void.
\nMilarepa\u2019s exertion in meditation
\nAnd the faith of beings in the three realms \u2013 these two
\nForm the interdependence for fulfilling the aims of beings.
\nThe essence of interdependence is compassion.
\nThe meditator practising in rocky caves
\nAnd the patrons who bring him supplies \u2013 these two
\nForm the interdependence for reaching spiritual realization together.
\nThe essence of interdependence is dedication of merit.
\nThe compassion of an excellent lama
\nAnd the enduring meditation of an excellent student \u2013 these two
\nForm the interdependence for upholding the teachings.
\nThe essence of interdependence is the sacred commitments.
\nInitiations that swiftly bring blessings
\nAnd prayers of fierce faith and devotion \u2013 these two
\nForm the interdependence for quickly meeting.
\nThe essence of interdependence is auspicious fortune<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Milarepa renounced worldly happiness and achieved spiritual realization by taming and mastering the mind. \u201cThe stallion of mind rides like the wind. To catch him, what lasso will catch him?\u2026\u2026. To catch him, catch with the lasso of non-duality. To tether him, tether with the stake of meditative absorption. If hungry, feed him the lama\u2019s oral instructions<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

He internalised the value of persevering in our practice, of tapas<\/em> in our spiritual journey, and he exemplified the state of self-discipline, passion and courage of a perfect practitioner. He reminds us of the role that the law of cause and effect, karma, plays in our path towards liberation. \u201cBecause you have no conviction about the law of cause and effect, you have little perseverance in practice.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Practice for Milarepa was never confined to sitting in meditation. It meant practising virtue at the cost of one\u2019s life. \u201cI have understood that, in order to realise insight, one needs to strive without distraction to accumulate merit and purify misdeeds in the periods between meditation sessions.<\/em>\u201d His practical teachings are universal and highlight the Truth that lies in our inner compass. \u201cAct in such a way that you will not be ashamed of yourself. Do this and even if your actions contradict the letter of some texts they will not contradict the intentions of the previous Victors.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

In the last part of his life, Milarepa took the task of benefitting sentient beings through the result of his practice. This is his eighth supreme deed. Finding life precious, he did not dare to waste an hour of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoing deeds that are of no use
\nWill harm you, so set yourself straight.
\nThe yogin whose work is complete
\nHas no need for a pile of busywork<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: <\/em>tarayogacentre.co.uk<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

yogaesoteric
\nSeptember 21, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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