The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa
Page 17
*2 “Knife-demoness” (T: gri mo) is likely one among the vast plethora of Tibetan spirits and demons.
*3 Literally, “Eating companions for when you’re happy” (T: skyid tshe’i za grogs).
*4 Meaning, “You are not a genuine and trustworthy teacher.”
*5 T: rig rig/ tur tur/ phras phras/ yal yal ba ’di. These experiential terms “have the meaning of rapid movement in the sense of flickering, darting, and hopping” (Stories and Songs: 40).
*6 S: upāsaka. A holder of Buddhist vows for laypeople.
*7 The object of self-clinging is the five skandhas or aggregates. In traditional Buddhist teachings, the self is taught to be falsely imputed upon these five skandhas consisting of one’s body (form) and four skandhas of mind (sensations, conceptions, mental formations, and consciousness).
*8 Literally, “At death, one must put up the roof of ability” (T: ’chi bar nus pa’i thog ’gel dgos).
*9 According to the Mahayana tradition of Buddhism, one must realize the two types of selflessness to attain complete buddhahood. If one realizes the selflessness of persons (i.e., the selfless nature of the five skandhas), then one attains freedom from the mental afflictions. To attain complete buddhahood, one must realize the selflessness of all phenomena in their entirety.
*10 Calm abiding of the mind (or shamatha) alone is not sufficient to attain liberation; it is taught that one must also have insight (or vipashyana) into selflessness, the true nature of reality.
*11 Milarepa is making a play on the boy’s name, Sangye Kyap, which means “Protector Buddha.”
*12 Goldfield: “[That] is the vipashyana referred to in the previous line. [It is also] called ‘approximate vipashyana’ because at the stage of ordinary sentient beings, it is still a conceptual understanding of the true nature of reality” (Stories and Songs: 44).
13
Accepting the Teacher Shakya Guna
NAMO GURU
The Jetsun Milarepa went from Mangyul Kyidrong to Nyanang, where his old benefactors were overjoyed to see him and supplicated him to stay permanently in Nyanang. He went to a place between Tsen Döshö and Nyanang, where he stayed in a cave underneath a great rock shaped like a belly. There, the teacher Shakya Guna and some other students of Nyanang came to see Milarepa. They asked the Jetsun, “In the mountain retreats of other lands you have been to, how has your practice been enhanced and what kind of confidence have you given rise to?” In reply, Milarepa sang this song of realization:
I bow at the feet of Marpa the Translator.
Having meditated in other mountain retreats,
I’ve found confidence in birthlessness
And purified the clinging to past and future lives as two.
I’ve seen the falsity of the appearances of the six realms
And cut through the imputation of birth and death as two.
I’ve found confidence in equality
And purified clinging to happiness and pain.
I’ve seen the falsity of the experience of feelings
And cut through the imputation of things to adopt and reject.
I’ve found confidence in inseparability
And purified clinging to samsara and nirvana as two.
I’ve seen the falsity of training in the paths and grounds
And cut through the imputation of hope and fear.
After Milarepa sang this, the disciples asked, “What other kinds of practice arose for you?”
He replied, “I will tell you about how virtuous activity arose for me in a way that is easy for you students to understand.” Then he sang this song of realization:
Outside dawned the conditions of my mother and father,
And inside dawned my own all-base consciousness.
In between, I got this perfect human body
Not born in the three lower realms—that’s all I’ve got!
Outside dawned the appearances of birth and death,
And inside dawned revulsion and faith.
In between, I remember the sublime dharma.
I’ve not fallen sway to the enemy of close friends*1—that’s all I’ve got!
Outside dawned the condition of my father guru,
And inside dawned prajña that’s purified my stains.
In between, confident understanding arises.
No doubts arise toward the dharma—that’s all I’ve got!
Outside dawned the six realms’ beings,
And inside dawned unbiased compassion.
In between I remember my meditation experience.
Compassion without clinging—that’s all I’ve got!
Outside dawned the self-liberated three realms,
And inside dawned self-arisen wisdom.
In between is realization with confidence.
I have no anxiety over true reality—that’s all I’ve got!
Outside dawned the five sense pleasures,
And inside dawned the prajña of no clinging.
In between I have the conduct of equal taste.
I don’t cling to pain and pleasure as two—that’s all I’ve got!
Outside dawned produced phenomena that disintegrate,
And inside dawned freedom from hope and fear.
In between I’m free of the sickness of effort.
I don’t cling to virtue and nonvirtue as two—that’s all I’ve got!
Thus he sang. Then the teacher Shakya Guna said, “Jetsun, your practice has been excellent from the very beginning. Although I met you in the past, I didn’t have confidence or trust in the instructions you gave. Now, I ask you, please accept me, and give me the abhishekas and instructions.” The Jetsun gave him the abhishekas and instructions and then set him to practice.
When the teacher Shakya Guna gave rise to some experience, he came back and told the Jetsun. He told him, “If appearance and samsara did not exist, there would be no need to practice. If there were no mind, no one could ever become a khenpo.*2 Without the guru, there would be no way to know how to practice. Please tell me the definitions of these and point out the nature of mind.” In reply, Milarepa sang this song of realization:
What defines appearances is that they do not arise;
If they seem to arise, that’s just clinging to things as real.
What defines samsara is that it’s baseless and rootless;
If a base or root is found, that’s merely a thought.
What defines mind is union—inseparability;
If you separate its features, then you have wishful thinking.
What defines a true guru is to have a lineage;
Those who make things up themselves are deluded.
The nature of mind, which is like the sky,
Is obscured by concepts like thick southern clouds.
Let this upadesha of a qualified guru
Be like the element of wind that blows them away.
Even concepts themselves are luminosity,
And experience dawns like the sun and the moon.
That clarity, free of the three times and ten directions,
Since it cannot be identified, cannot be expressed,
And certainty shines like the stars and planets above.
When anything arises, there is great bliss.
Its nature is free of elaborations—the dharmakaya.
The conditioned appearances of the six collections are naturally empty.
This effortless spontaneity is undefiled;*3
Within this basic nature, completely relaxed,
Wisdom that’s fixation-free abides continually.
The inseparable three kayas—how incredible indeed!
Having sung this, Milarepa said to Shakya Guna, “Teacher, don’t be attached to the fame and happiness of this life. Without following after mere conventional terms, you should make practice the sole point of this life. This is how you should practice dharma. Since everyone should practice in this way, put the meaning of these words into practice.” Then he sang this song of realization:
All you noble, fortunate people:
This life is deceiving, don’t you understand?
Enjoyments are illusions, don’t you understand?
Samsara is peace, don’t you understand?
Bliss is a dream, don’t you understand?
Praise and blame are echoes, don’t you understand?
Appearances are mind’s nature, don’t you understand?
One’s own mind is buddha, don’t you understand?
Buddha is dharmakaya, don’t you understand?
Dharmakaya is dharmata, don’t you understand?
If you realize this, whatever appears is included in mind.
Throughout the day and night, look at the mind;
When you look at the mind, there’s nothing to be seen.
Rest right within that not seeing anything.
As for what I think of Mahamudra,
It’s just the basic nature and nothing more than that.
Rest within there being no knower to be found.
Since meditation and postmeditation are inseparable,
I’m without any stages in meditation.
Whatever appears, it’s empty of its own nature.
By remembering this, there is no clinging or nonclinging.
Through savoring that unborn quality,
Realization follows in meditation:
Thus, the practice of karmamudra;
The practices of nadi, prana, and bindu;
The meditation and recitations of deities;
And the meditation of the four brahmaviharas*4
Are just methods of entering the Mahayana.
If you meditate on them with fixation,
You’ll not relinquish the roots of attachment and anger.
Know that appearances are just mind’s basic nature
And that mind itself is empty.
If your experience entails this understanding,
The accumulations of virtue, like discipline and offering,
Will all be complete within that.
Thus he sang. The teacher Shakya Guna then exclusively engaged in practice. He developed extraordinary experience and realization and became one of Milarepa’s close teacher-meditator sons.
This is the cycle of how Milarepa accepted the teacher Shakya Guna at the Nyanang Belly Cave.
*1 In dharma practice, enemies are seen as friends on the path, as they cause one to develop renunciation and patience, and they lessen one’s pride. Likewise, due to the distractions they cause, friends and close ones are considered to be obstacles and enemies to one’s practice of dharma. (KTGR)
*2 “Khenpo” is a title given to learned teachers. Shakya Guna’s title (“teacher”) implies he too is learned.
*3 “Undefiled” here means undefiled by the afflictions.
*4 The four brahmaviharas (T: tshangs pa’i gnas bzhi), literally “four abodes of Brahma,” are loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity.
14
Meeting Paldarbum
NAMO GURU
The Jetsun Milarepa intended to go to Jang Tago Snow Mountain*1 to meditate. He left in the autumn, and on his way he came upon the village Gepa Lesum in Chung. When he arrived there, all the villagers were working to reap the harvest. In particular, in a large field there was a girl of about fifteen years of age who had the signs of a wisdom dakini and was leading a large group of people in the harvest.
Milarepa went over to them and said, “Benefactors, I am a yogi and I am seeking some provisions.”
The girl said, “Yogi, go to the door of my house over there. I will come and meet you.”
The Jetsun went to the door of the house and pushed it open with his walking stick. The door swung open and he entered. After a moment, an old woman wearing ragged, dirty clothes came out from within the house, carrying a fistful of ashes in her hand.
“You beggar yogis! In the summer you come begging for butter and cheese, and in the winter it’s beer and grain! You never stay put! I’ll bet you were going to try to steal my daughter and daughter-in-law’s jewelry and came over when you thought there was no one home!” Her body was quivering with rage and just as she was about to hurl the ashes at Milarepa, the Jetsun said, “Grandmother, before you throw those ashes at me, listen a little to this song of Milarepa.” Then he sang this song of realization on nine points for the grandmother:
One, above is the bliss of the higher realms’ freedom;
Two, below is the suffering of the three lower realms;
Three, in between are those without control over their birth.
When these three things convene upon you,
Grandma, you’re cruel and detest the dharma.
Take care of yourself and look at your mind!
If you do something, practice the sublime dharma.
If you follow something, follow a qualified guru.
When you first were betrothed to be in this family,
Did you think you’d become this kind of a woman?
One, in the morning you rise so early;
Two, in the evening you retire so late;
Three, your work doesn’t ever cease.
When these three things convene upon you,
Grandma, you’re a miserable unpaid slave.
Take care of yourself and look at your mind!
If you do something, practice the sublime dharma.
If you follow something, follow a qualified guru.
Then think, if you did that, would it be like this?
One, the imperious head of the family;
Two, paying taxes though you’ve nothing to give;
Three, the sons you can’t do without.
When these three things convene upon you,
Grandma, you’re undervalued and can’t make ends meet.
Take care of yourself and look at your mind!
If you do something, practice the sublime dharma.
If you follow something, follow a qualified guru.
Then think, if you did that, would it be like this?
One, are the thieves who steal what you have;
Two, are the robbers who steal with force;
Three, you fight back without concern for injury or death.
When these three things convene upon you,
Grandma, you burn with rage when you meet a foe.
Take care of yourself and look at your mind!
If you do something, practice the sublime dharma.
If you follow something, follow a qualified guru.
Then think, if you did that, would it be like this?
One, your nose is into what peoples’ daughters are doing;31
Two, you meddle in your own sons’ affairs;
Three, you gossip with all of your grandkids.
When these three things convene upon you,
Grandma, you’ve got your fingers in everything.
Take care of yourself and look at your mind!
If you do something, practice the sublime dharma.
If you follow something, follow a qualified guru.
If you did that, would it be like this?
One, when you get up, it’s like extracting a stake;
Two, you walk around like a waddling goose;
Three, when you sit, it’s like a rock hitting the ground.
When these three things convene upon you,
Grandma, you’re depressed with an old, spent body.
Take care of yourself and look at your mind!
If you do something, practice the sublime dharma.
If you follow something, follow a qualified guru.
If you did that, then think—would it be like this?
One, outside, your skin is all wrinkled;
Two, inside, your flesh and blood are used up, you’re a bag of bones;
Three, in between you’re blind, deaf, dumb, and senile.
When these three things convene upon you,
Grandma, you’re a scowling hideous thing.
Take care of yours
elf and look at your mind!
If you do something, practice the sublime dharma.
If you follow something, follow a qualified guru.
Now, think, if you did that, would it be like this?
One, your food and drink are spoiled and cold;
Two, your clothes are ragged and heavy;
Three, your bed is made of four joined hides;
When these three things convene upon you,
Grandma, you understand you’re half human and half dog.
Take care of yourself and look at your mind!
If you do something, practice the sublime dharma.
If you follow something, follow a qualified guru.
Now, think—will it be like this?
Liberation and the higher realms are as rare as a daytime star;
Samsara and the lower realms are more common than your aches and pains.
At this dreadful time when your material body and mind will soon separate,
Grandma, you’re full of regret without any confidence in death.
Take care of yourself and look at your mind!
If you do something, practice the sublime dharma.
If you follow something, follow a qualified guru.
Because of the Jetsun’s compassion and his melodious song, the old woman helplessly gave rise to faith, and the ashes in her hands fell through her fingers. She felt regret about all her previous actions, and as the old woman wept, the girl who had been out in the field and had shown the Jetsun her doorway entered.
The girl said, “Yogi, did you, a dharma practitioner, strike this old lady? What reason did you have for doing that?”
Then the old woman said, “Daughter, don’t attack him, he wasn’t rebuking me in any way. It was I who went to attack him. In return, he gave me a dharma teaching. In what he described, there was not a single thing that had not befallen me. I felt shame and despair, then having such deep regret for not being able to practice dharma, I broke out in tears. But you are not like me. You are young, wealthy, and have faith. This guru here is the one called Milarepa. Offer him respect and service, and request dharma and key instructions.”