Milarepa

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

 

I was reading Govinda's chapter on "Psycho-Physical Processes In The Yoga

Of The Inner Fire" and came across this example of one who did achieve

through this yoga.

>The most outstanding example of a life filled with the fire of gTum-mo, is

>that of the greatest Tibetan poet and saint, Milarepa (Mi-la ras-pa;

>1052-1135 A.D.), the fourth patriarch of the Kargyutpa (bkah-rgyud-pa)

>School. His biography (rje-btsun rnam-thar; rje-btsun-bkah-hbum) is not

>only one of the most beautiful literary monuments that ever was created in

>remembrance of a great saint, but also a historical document of the first

>rank, on account of which all that we know about the processes of the Yoga

>of the Inner Fire, is raised into the realm of living reality.

> When contemplating the systems of meditation and the spiritual

>practices here described, the reader may sometimes wonder whether we are

>dealing merely with clever speculations or with facts of actual

>experience, and whether the results justify the expectations built upon

>them. The life of Milarepa (as also the lives of many of his numerous,

>mostly unknown, followers) is the greatest justification and the most

>convincing proof of the feasibility, the practical value and the spiritual

>effectiveness of the gTum-mo exercises. Without them Milarepa would hardly

>have been able to realize his exalted aim under the most difficult

>conditions, and to leave a spiritual testament which bears rich fruit up

>to the present day.

> Only one - who like the present writer, had the good luck of visiting

>the places of Milarepa's activities, of feeling his ineffable presence in

>far-off mountain-caves, where he spent years in solitary meditation and

>divine rapture, and of getting a glimpse of his spiritual path at the feet

>of masters who even now live and practise it - only one who has

>experienced this can get a correct idea of the tremendous possibilities of

>these methods of meditation, which show a practical way towards a

>spiritual (and physical) renovation of man.

> As we may see from Milarepa's biography, he received from his guru

>Marpa, who was a disciple of Naropa, the initiation into the esoteric

>teachings and practices of the Demchog-Tantra (Skt.: Sri (., kra Samvara

>[Mahasukha]; Tib.: dPal hkhor-lo bde-mchog, the 'Mandala of Highest

>Bliss') and into the 'Six Doctrines' (Tib.: chos-drug) of Naropa; namely:

>

> I. The Doctrine of the Inner Fire (gtum-mo);

> 2. The Doctrine of the Illusory Body (sgyu-lus);

> 3. The Doctrine of the Dream State (rmi-lam);

> 4. The Doctrine of the Clear Light (hod-gsal);

> 5. The Doctrine of the Intermediate State (bar-do);

> 6. The Doctrine of the Transference of Consciousness (hpho-ba).

>

> The common basis of these teachings, which are more or less identical

>with those of the Bardo Thodol (as can be seen from this enumeration) is

>the 'Yoga of the Inner Fire', the main subject of Milarepa's spiritual

>practice. According to Milarepa's own words, Marpa gave him as a parting

>gift a manuscript on gTum-mo (together with Naropa's mantle, as a symbol

>of spiritual authority), since he was convinced that Milarepa would attain

>to highest perfection by way of this particular yoga.

> That this was the case, has been confirmed by his disciple and

>biographer Rechung, who says of Milarepa, that 'his whole body was filled

>with bliss (dgah) descending even to the toes (mthe-ba-yan) and ascending

>to the crown of the head (spyi gtsug-tu), where, due to the merging of

>both, the knots of the main nadis and of the four psychic Centres (rtsa

>gtso-mo gsum dan hkhor-lo bzihi mdud-pa) were untied until everything had

>been transformed into the nature of the middle-nadi (dbu-mahi no-bor

>gyur-pa).

> The 'unloosening of the knots' is a very ancient and profound simile

>which, according to the Surangama Sutra, was used by the Buddha, when

>explaining that the process of liberation consists merely in the untying

>of the knots of our own being, through which we have fettered ourselves

>and have become slaves of our confused illusions.

>snip<