The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa
Page 51
If you know how to look with the eye of faith,
All the blessings you desire will fall like rain.
Son, if something is wondrous, then this is wondrous.
Though the wild ass show was great, they are only animals.133
Son, Rechungpa, listen again:
From above the tips of my ears
Shine the sun and the moon;
They shine in the manner of a rainbow.
They are the unobscured expansion of luminosity—
Means and wisdom in perfect union.
Son, if something is wondrous, then this is wondrous.
Though the wild ass show was great, they are only animals.
Son, Rechungpa, now listen still:
From the nostrils of my nose
Radiate light rays of the five colors—
They shine, like threads of precious jewels.
The very essence of the Secret Mantra
Is prana-control penetrating the central channel;
It’s a sign of training in the prana’s vajra recitation.
Son, if something is wondrous, then this is wondrous.
Though the wild ass show was great, they are only animals.
Son, Rechungpa, listen here:
In between my two eyebrows
Is a circlet of hair, swirling like a conch:
From that radiates a myriad of light rays.
That amrita of illumination, free of stains,
Is light to incite the buddhas’ compassion.
Son, if something is wondrous, then this is wondrous.
Though the wild ass show was great, they are only animals.
Son, Rechungpa, now listen here:
As for my voice, upon my speaking tongue,
There is a lotus flower with eight red petals.
On it are the sun and moon and all the letters.
The sound of vajra speech resounds ceaselessly
With the content of the scriptures.
If you know how to look with the eye of respect,
All dharma will dawn as your own speech.
Son, if something is wondrous, then this is wondrous.
Though the wild ass show was great, they are only animals.
Son, Rechungpa listen to me:
In the heart center of my vajra body
Is a precious knot, blazing with light.
It has the nature of the unchanging three kayas
And symbolizes emptiness-compassion inseparable.
Son, if something is wondrous, then this is wondrous.
Though the wild ass show was great, they’re only animals.
Thus he sang. Rechungpa sat there in resentment,134 with his eyes averted elsewhere. Then he said, “I didn’t knowingly do anything bad; the show of wild asses was more interesting. In showing his signs of accomplishment, the Jetsun did not engage in any negativity. Now please give back my texts.”135 He continued to sit in resentment. Then getting up he stomped around, and sitting again, he propped his chin up with his hands with elbows on his knees, and began humming a song.*1
Meanwhile, the inside and outside of the Jetsun’s body became transparent and luminous. At his secret center was Chatupitha, at his navel center was Chakrasamvara, at his heart center was Hevajra, at his throat center was Mahamaya, at his forehead center was Buddhakapala, and at his crown center was Guhyasamaja, each with their retinue deities. Everything within the rainbow tent*2 was radiant, without any essential essence. Displaying this vividly and brightly, he then sang this song of realization:
Son, Rechungpa, now listen again.
The body of this yogi here
Is the dependently arisen palace of goddesses:
Within reside the assemblies of victorious deities.
At my secret center, the chakra of sustaining bliss,
Are the deities of Chatupitha.
The mandala of undefiled bliss expands.
It is the coemergent wisdom kaya.
At my navel, the chakra of emanation,
Is the assembly of emanated deities of Chakrasamvara.
In this mandala with its sixty-two branches
Abides the essence of the vajra body.
At the heart center, the chakra of dharma,
Are the nine emanated deities of Hevajra.
They are the very essence of the three sattvas.*3
It’s the mandala of the vajra mind.
At the throat, the chakra of enjoyment,
Resides the assembly of deities of Mahamaya.
It’s the illusory play of appearances,
The mandala of vajra speech.
At the forehead center is the white conch chakra,
There resides the assembly of deities of Buddhakapala.
Endowed with the essential meaning of the wisdom class,
Here abides the vajra mandala of nonduality.
In the great bliss chakra at the crown
Is the assembly of deities of Guhyasamaja.
With nadi and bodhichitta inseparable,
Here abides the mandala of great bliss.
Son, if you know how to meditate on your body as the deity’s,
The body’s clarity, without obstruction, will manifestly shine;
Ordinary body becomes the rainbow body.
Son, if a show is great, then this is great.
Son, don’t lose your faith; give rise to pure vision.
Thus he sang. Rechungpa said, “The signs of the Jetsun’s accomplishment are wondrous indeed. But I don’t have my texts, so I’m not impressed. Please give back my texts.”
Then the Jetsun moved around the area unimpeded by rocks, boulders, or any objects at all. He zipped around riding on a boulder, and then went to the river, where he sat directly on the surface. Fire blazed from his body, and then water spouted from it. He emanated his body many times and subsumed the emanations back into one. Then he went into the sky where he sat for a while in mid-air. Performing all manner of different things, he then sang this song of realization:
Son, Rechungpa, listen again.
My being unhindered by any object
Is a sign of appearances and mind mixing as one.
Riding on the boulder and zipping around
Is a sign of my ability for “entering the deceased.”*4
This conduct of making the water like earth
Is a sign of blending the four elements into one.
Fire blazing from my body and the ripples of water
Is a sign of overpowering with the exhaustion [of the elements].*5
Dividing into many then subsuming into one
Is a sign of being able to benefit beings through emanations.
Moving about in the sky
Is a sign of prana and mind penetrating the central channel.
Son, if a show is great, then this is great.
Though the wild ass show was great, they’re only animals.
Supplicate that you not enter into wrong views.
Thus he sang. Rechungpa said, “The Jetsun’s signs of accomplishment are like children’s play. All of this haphazard behavior is not impressive at all; it’s just irritating. If you have great compassion, then please give back my texts.”
Then the Jetsun said, “Son, don’t lose your faith in your father. If you can supplicate, all phenomenal existence will dawn as your texts. Supplicate to me that your experiences will be sustained spontaneously.”
Then Milarepa went to a narrow path that the merchants of Drin had used and that had been blocked by a boulder. As though it were a mound of dough, he cut the boulder, lifted it like water, and stamped it down like mud. Then he took the boulder and, with one hand, threw it into the great river down in the valley, and after that, sang this song of realization:
Son, Rechungpa, listen once more.
At this place with a tight and narrow path
Sits an iron boulder with eight sides.
Those who wanted to go up met with its right side.
Those who wanted to go down met with its left.
A hundred blacksmiths couldn’t break it apart.
A hundred bellows couldn’t cause it to melt.
If you cut it like dough, you cut it like this.
If you lift it like water, you lift it like this.
If you pack it like mud, you pack it like this.
If you shoot an arrow, you shoot it like this.
If you know how to see your father with faith,
Even if you don’t want them, all good things fall like rain.
All you need will become a treasure-lode of wealth.
If something is wondrous, then this is wondrous.
The wild ass show was great, but it was only animals.
Son, Rechungpa, transform your outlook.
Thus he sang. Rechungpa said, “If you perform the miracle of restoring my texts, then that will make me give rise to faith. Other than that, I am unimpressed,” and still faith did not arise within him.
Then, using his garment as wings, the Jetsun took off into the sky from the cliff’s edge of Red Rock. Like a vulture, he hovered in the air; like a hawk, he set off; and like lightning he darted down. Doing all manner of things while flying, he sang this song of realization:
Son, Rechungpa, listen again.
This is Poto Red Rock Sky Fortress:
At the peak of this Sky Fortress,
When the vulture soars, he flaps his wings.
When the little bird flies, his little heart flutters.
A human has never flown before,
And still it’s not possible for a human to fly.
When an old man like me flies, he flies like this.
When I soar like a vulture, I soar like this.
When I set off like a hawk, I set off like this.
When I dart like lightning, I dart like this.
When I float like the wind, I float like this.
If you know how to bring into experience
Miracles of the interdependent body through faith,
You’ll have mastery, and samsara and nirvana will be mixed into one.
If something is wondrous, then this is wondrous.
The wild ass show was great, but they are only animals.
Son, Rechungpa, train your mind-stream.
Thus he sang. Though Milarepa showed these miracles, aside from merely watching them, Rechungpa still had no desire to rouse any faith. Then the Jetsun, again using his garment as wings, soared into the sky. While circling around, he sang this song of realization:
Son, Rechungpa, listen again.
At the Red Rock of Mönri Mountain
Came a herd of meaningless wild asses.
Within merely a single instant
In the birthless dharmadhatu of one taste,
Many forms arose unobstructedly.
Then one wild ass, turning into a wolf,
Followed after the flock and crossed over the pass.
Knowing the true nature of afflictions and hidden faults
Is the antidote for all things to be relinquished;
Perceiver and perceived will cross over the pass.
These emanations of Milarepa
Were a pointing-out of the essence
For Rechung Dorje Drakpa.
I, the old father Milarepa,
This magical body that I displayed,
This wondrous and miraculous show,
You didn’t think it was great at all.
But the emanation of the hundred wild asses and foals,
You thought that show was truly great.
This is a sign, Rechungpa, of your incorrect view.
All the various miracles I performed
Still could not make you give rise to faith.
Faithless disciples of this polluted age:
When I think of them, this yogi feels sad.
Son, Rechungpa, listen here:
Solid wood and horns that are hard
If you try to bend them, then they will be bent.
But there is no bending your hardened mind.
Bend your mind from within, Rechungpa.
Tigers of the south and wild yaks of the north
If you try to tame them, then they will be tamed.
But you won’t tame your self-clinging.
Tame your strong self-clinging, Rechungpa.
Birds of the sky and mice of the earth
If you try to seize them, they can be seized.
But you won’t seize your confused presence of mind.
Seize your confusion with mindfulness, Rechungpa.
The dharma of hearing and the dharma of contemplating
If you train in them, then intellectual understanding comes.
But there’s no way to understand intellectually your own insubstantial mind.*6
Meditate on the unborn mind itself, Rechungpa.
A loving father and kindhearted mother
If you try to leave them, then they can be left.
But you won’t leave this bad attitude and high self-regard.
Leave your bad attitude and self-regard, Rechungpa.
The home of your fatherland and the wealth therein
If you try to abandon them, they can surely be abandoned.
But you won’t abandon this desire for happiness and comfort.
Abandon striving for happiness, Rechungpa.
Elegant jewelry and beautiful women
If you try to abandon them, they can be abandoned.
But you won’t abandon nice beds that are warm and soft.
Abandon the ignorant sleep of a corpse, Rechungpa.
The rocks of the mountains both here and over there
If you try, then you can meet them face to face.
But you won’t meet your own face of wisdom.
Look at your own face, mind itself, Rechungpa.
For the command of the king and order of the queen,
If you make an appeal, then you may be excused.
But there’s no place to appeal to the Lord of Death.
Take death onto the path, Rechungpa.
Dispel your mind-stream’s negative perceptions.
Let rest your conduct’s negative airs.
Look at your mind-stream’s coarse way of thinking.
Leave behind your wrong views, this demonic obstacle.
Abandon the demon-friend of self-clinging.
At death, I’ll have no last testament other than that,
And in life, I have no heart advice but that.
Hold this within your mind-stream, Rechungpa!
Thus he sang. Then he lifted higher and higher into the sky, until he was out of sight. Then deep regret arose in Rechungpa, and uncommon faith arose within him. He thought, “Now the Jetsun has gone. Since my mind was not tamed, I wouldn’t let go of a few measly texts. And then, though the Guru Jetsun showed all of these miracles, still faith didn’t arise. Now, out of disgust with me, the Jetsun has gone away to a celestial realm. Someone with wrong views such as I cannot go to a celestial realm. What use are any texts without the guru? I will throw myself off this cliff.” Thinking this, he made the aspiration that in all of his births he might always be in the presence of the Jetsun and that his mind might mix as one with his.
Then, with all his might, he jumped off the cliff. With his body lying there, broken, on the side of the rock, the shadow of the Jetsun, who was flying in the air, fell upon him. Then wailing with a lamenting melody, he tried to fly up after the Jetsun, but he could not get his body to fly. Then on foot he ran, stepping on the shadow of Milarepa’s body as he followed after him. When he arrived at the upper side of Red Rock, from a hollow on the side of a rock cliff, Rechungpa heard a voice and could see some bodily form that inexplicably appeared there.136 There, the Jetsun had emanated three bodily forms. The form in the center then sang this song of realization, accompanied by the forms on the left and right, in response to Rechungpa’s repenting cry:
Son, Rechungpa, listen here:
From one father Jetsun come two other Jetsuns.
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br /> Now three emanations are sitting here.
If you make an offering, to whom will you make it?
If you confess your misdeeds, to whom will you do it?
If you ask after someone’s well-being, whom will you ask?
If you take any vows, from whom will you take them?
If you receive abhisheka and key instructions, from whom will you receive them?
For the pointing out of profound reality, from whom will you receive it?
For absolute refuge, to whom will you go?
For your deepest hopes, to whom will you entrust them?
Son, toward the display of these emanations,
If you’ve given rise to faith, then speak the truth in your heart.137
Your negative conduct is a prize for the Lord of Death;
If you have fear of that, then quickly abandon it.
For your obstructing demons of mistaken thoughts,
Give rise to regret and then confess.
Thus he sang. Rechungpa, weeping with tears streaming down his face, offered this song:
Father of wisdom, love, and power,
Jetsun guru, please listen to me.
Whatever appearances the Jetsun manifested,
I, Rechungpa was obscured with wrong view.
The one whom I ask of his well being with joy,
The one to whom I make offerings and prostrations with devotion,
The one from whom I receive abhishekas and instructions,
The source of refuge, the ultimate pointing out,
The Jetsun in the center, it’s with you I do these.
You cared for me with compassion, this is the truth in my heart.
From now on, bind my negative conduct.
Please protect this beggar who has had wrong views.
Thus Rechungpa sang. He approached and embraced the form of the Jetsun in the center so fervently, that he briefly fainted. Then when he came to, the father and son went to the cave.
The Jetsun said, “Rechungpa, if you wish to attain enlightenment, you must be able to meditate according to the naked key instructions. For us, debate terms and the black mantra of the tirthikas are useless. Because the Dharma Cycles of the Formless Dakinis is valuable to me, it was not burned. The other texts, however, would be practiced with the hopes of attaining buddhahood, but for fear that they would lead one astray into the lower realms, I burned them. Listen to this song.” Then Milarepa sang this song of realization: