story of milarepa

Milarepa was born to Mila-Dorje-Senge in 1052 AD. His father was a trader in wool and became quite wealthy. During childhood Milarepa was named Thopaga, (which means delightful to hear) and his voice was so delightful that his companions were charmed by his singing. Milarepa had a sister named Peta who was four years younger. The family was generous and was loved by all relatives and neighbours in the area.
However fate turned the fortune of the family.Milarepa's father became gravely ill and sensing his impending death called the extended family and put the care of his estate in the hands of his brother and sister till Milarepa (then Thopaga) had grown and married Zesay, one of the neighboring girls who had been betrothed to Milarepa in childhood.

After the death of the father, the greedy uncle and aunt dispossessed Milarepa, his mother and sister from their property. They were forced to live with minimum subsistence and even made to work in the fields. The once prosperous family now lived on course food, tattered clothes and became objects of derision and abuse by all.

When Milarepa was fifteen his mother put together all her resources and arranged for a feast to make the neighbours and relatives know how they were dispossessed of their property by the uncle and aunt. However the greedy uncle and aunt took the upper hand and declared that it was their property and drove out Milarepa, his mother and sister to fend for themselves. After that they lived meagerly, supported by the relatives of Milarepa's mother and charity from Zesay's family. The three were forced to work hard, exchanging their labor for a bit of food or a scrap of clothing.

To take vengeance of the cruel acts of the uncle and aunt, Milarepa's mother forced Milarepa to learn black magic, selling half of her plot to finance him and even telling that she would commit suicide if her son returned without learning the art. Milarepa found a teacher, worked diligently and learned a lesson of black magic. With that he raised hail storms and utterly ruined the entire barley crop of that year and also killed some lives. Milarepa's mother in utter happiness made it public that it was her son, now an expert sorcerer, has wrecked this havoc. Through an intelligent ploy she also warned that whoever opposes her son will have to meet with similar predicament. Everyone was both afraid and angry. Milarepa's life was in danger and he escaped narrowly.

However Milarepa became deeply repentant for his evil acts and he longed for the Truth and a way of deliverance from the karmic effects of his acts. His search for teacher led him to Marpa (Marpa the Translator) who was widely known for his trips to India to procure sacred teachings which he brought back to Tibet in large bundles of scrolls. Marpa was initiated by Naropa, a powerful Saint who had fully transferred his exalted state of enlightenment to his disciple Marpa.

Marpa came to know beforehand about the coming of Milarepa. To expiate the sins of Milarepa, Marpa put Milarepa in considerable hardships without Milarepa knowing the purpose. Marpa kept Milarepa busy at strenuous physical labours building various stone buildings, asking him to demolish them as if in whim and again rebuild them differently. His treatment was harsh and cruel to say the least. When Milarepa sometimes asked for the teaching, Marpa drove him out. So instead of teaching, Milarepa only got orders for strenous works, abuses and beatings. He developed deep sores in his back by constantly carrying stones and his state of mind was a deep despair. His only consolation was Damema, the kind wife of Marpa. She consoled Milarepa when he wept and tried various ways of getting Milarepa initiated by her husband, but of no avail. Often she became the object of anger and beating by her husband. Milarepa obeyed Marpa with dogged determination for initation, but eventually he lost hope. Damema came out with a plan to get Milarepa initiated from Ngogpa, a disciple of Marpa posing as if it was the order of his Master. The plan succeeded and Milarepa got initiated from Ngogpa. However during meditation he was not able to get the expected results. Upon enquiry when Ngogpa came to know about the plan hatched to get initiation, he said that since Milarepa has taken the initiation without the permission of his Guru Marpa, the results were not coming.

The period of expiation came to an end and Marpa made it known that his harsh treatement towards Milarepa was purposeful. He also praised Milarepa for his dogged determination, sincerity and faith in his Guru. Milarepa finally got the initiation from Marpa. Milarepa began his meditation training shut in a cave with provisions. Everyday he meditated putting a lighted lamp on his head and would continue meditation till the lamp went out. This continued for eleven months after which Marpa called Milarepa and asked him to tell about his experiences. Milarepa said:



I have understood this body of mine to be the product of ignorance, composed of flesh and blood and lit up by the perceptive power of consciousness. To those fortunate ones who long for emancipation it may be the great vessel by which they may procure Freedom. But to the unfortunates who only sin, it may be the guide to lower and miserable states of existence. This our life is the boundary mark whence one may take an upward or downward path. Our present time is a most precious time, wherein each of us must decide, in one way or other, for lasting good or lasting ill.

One who aims only at his own individual peace and happiness adopts the lower path (Hinayana), but he who devotes the merits of his love and compassion to the cause of others belongs to the higher path (Mahayana).

In meditating on the Final Goal, one has to discover the non-existence of the personal Ego, and therefore the fallacy that it exists (i.e. because everything in the universe with name and form is basically illusory in nature)

To realize the state of non-existence of the personal ego, the mind must be kept in quiescence. In that state, thoughts, ideas, and cognition cease and the mind (awareness) passes into a state of perfect tranquility so that days, months, and years may pass without the person perceiving it; thus the passage of time has to be marked for him by others.

The visions of the forms of the Deities which appear in meditation are merely signs attending the perseverance in meditation. They have no intrinsic worth or value in themselves.

All the efforts put forth during this path must be made in a spirit of compassion with the aim of dedicating the merit of one's efforts to the Universal Good. There is a need of mentally praying and wishing for blessings on others so earnestly that one's mind processes also transcend thought.

Just as the mere name of food does not satisfy the appetite of a hungry person but he must eat food, so also a man who would learn about the Voidness (i.e. Universal Awareness) must meditate so as to realize it, not just learn of its definition.



Marpa was very pleased and said that Milarepa's realizations have exceeded his expectations. He sent Milarepa back for more meditation.

By now Marpa was getting on in years. Since he began teaching Milarepa, he had made two more trips to India to visit his Guru Naropa and receive the final texts he had not brought back in his earlier trips. Marpa now called together all his chief Lamas and disciples, including Milarepa, and gave to each those mystics texts that would be most valuable according to each person's line of development. Each also received some relic that had belonged to Naropa. To Milarepa was given the teaching of Tum-mo in which the ascending and descending flows along the spinal column are united to produce the vital heat so necessary for meditation in the cold and solitary caves of the Himalayas. Then all returned to their own province except Milarepa who continued for several more years of meditation in a cave under the direction of Marpa.

Once Milarepa fell asleep in the cave and had a dream wherein he saw the house he had lived in as a child all in ruins. He saw his sacred books within the fallen house being wasted by rain water, his old mother had died, and his sister was roving about the countryside with no attachments and no friends. He felt nostalgic, came out of the cave, went to his guru and asked for permission to go home. Marpa gave permission but listening to his dream predicted that Milarepa's mother is dead and this will be their (Milarepa and Marpa's) last meeting. With a heavy heart the guru and disciple parted and Milarepa left for his native place.

When Milarepa reached his house, he found it in ruins, he came to know that his mother has died and no one knows about the whereabouts of his sister.

Milarepa begged some foodgrains and settled in the spacious comfortable cave, not even sleeping, but meditating continuously except for a single break once a day to prepare a meal of flour and water mixed with whatever root or edible he might find. At about this time Milarepa gained proficiency in the yogic power of Tum-mo, the generation of the Ecstatic Internal Warmth, in which the body generates a great deal of heat. This allowed him to stay relatively warm through the cold Tibetan winters with nothing but a thin cotton covering whereas most people had to wear thick wool and leather hides. For this reason he came to be called Mila - repa or Mila the cotton clad.

His daily routine of meditation continued for four years until his supply of flour ran out. This caused him great concern because he had vowed to himself not to return to the world for any reason - but with no food, he was afraid he might die without having attained liberation. He decided to walk about outside the cave in search of some kind of food. Not far from the cave he found a sunny spot with springs of fresh water, an expansive view of the area, with a large quantity of nettles growing all about. He continued his meditation and ate only nettle soup. His body became emaciated and the hair on his body began to take on a greenish tinge from the nettles. Some hunters and local people who occasionally came near the cave thought that he was a spirit and he had to assure them that he was a human being. Some people made fun of his austerities but Milarepa was undeterred.

Several more years passed in this way and Milarepa's sister Peta and his betrothed Zesay found him out. They tried to get him back but Milarepa instead instructed them on the real purpose of life. They often supplied food to Milarepa.

His meditation attained new heights. The knot of the central spinal column along which the psychic energy flows was now cleared at the plexus (i.e. chakra center) below the naval and the psychic energy current rose up his spine in its fullness. He now experienced a supersensuous calmness and clearness that far exceeded in its ecstatic intensity any of the states he had previously reached. He attained to new heights of realization in which he saw that the highest state of Nirvana and the ordinary state of Samsaric consciousness were but opposite and inseparable states resting on the base of the Voidness of Universal or Supra mundane Mind (ie Ultimate Awareness). In his new realization he could clearly see that the samsaric or phenomenal existence results when the Universal Mind is directed along the path of self centered and self oriented awareness, and that the Nirvanic state of transcendence results when it is directed on the path of selfless or altruistic awareness.

Later Milarepa moved to Lapchi-Kang (Everest) and continued his meditation amidst the snows and isolation there. Altogether he meditated in and made holy twenty caves covering the region from Mount Kailas and Lapchi-Kang in Tibet to far off Nepal. It is said that besides his many human converts he also brought to enlightenment some superhuman (ie non-embodied) beings as well, including the Goddess Tseringma (one of the twelve guardian deities of Tibet who reside at Mt. Kailas). The Goddess came to tempt him with her powers during his meditations and instead was herself liberated.

During his travels over the 84 years of his life he met many worthy disciples that were destined to come under his tutelage. Highest among the disciples was Dvagpo Rimpoche (Gambopa). The most well known among them was Rechung who entreated him to tell in detail the story of his life which was recorded for the benefit of all sentient beings, even into the far future. These two disciples were respectively like the sun and the moon. The most exalted of beings met by Milarepa was a Maha-Purusha (Great Being) he had the excellent fortune of meeting - an Exalted Being mentioned by the Buddha himself as one of the guardians and protectors of the human race who live on through the centuries far from human habitation.

Besides his two chief disciples, Milarepa had 25 additional highly accomplished disciples, both men and women, who became saints. Another hundred made such progress that they did not take rebirth. Another hundred and eight Great Ones obtained excellent experience and knowledge from meditation. A thousand sadhus and yogis, both men and women, renounced worldly life and lived lives of exemplary piety. Innumerable lay disciples formed a religious relationship with Milarepa so that the gateway to lower states of existence was closed to them forever.

Thus did Milarepa radiate spiritual light like a beacon, drawing vast numbers of sentient beings forward toward the light of deliverance and dispelling in all directions the darkness of selfishness and ignorance.



"The Guru, being like the Dharma-Kaya (aggregate of all enlightened beings) is like the expanse of the sky.

Upon the face of the sky, the Clouds of Good Wishes of the Sambhoga-Kaya (aggregate of overseeing deities in heaven worlds) gather.

From the Clouds in the expanse of sky, descend the flowery showers of the Nirmana-Kaya (Great Teachers incarnated on Earth)

These falling on the Earth unceasingly, nourish and ripen the harvest of Saved Beings.

Milarepa