*1 Rhinoceroses are traditionally considered solitary animals that do not stay in herds.
*2 In Tibetan, Tsangwa Drak (T: gtsang ba brag).
*3 Footnote to Jim Scott’s translation “Song to a Pigeon Goddess Girl”: “The point here is not that appearance and emptiness are newly joined, but that they have been inseparable from the outset. The same applies to the other factors described [as “merging”] in the following stanzas” (Songs of Realization: 363).
*4 Goddesses; the female form of deva.
Cycle Two
THE RIPENING AND LIBERATION OF THE FORTUNATE HEART-SONS AND DAUGHTERS
9
The Prior Visit to Drakya Vajra Fortress
NAMO GURU
The Jetsun Milarepa traveled to Drakya Vajra Fortress, where his practice flourished in the Horse Saddle Rock Cave.*1 At that time, there was a mantrika from Kutang*2 who met the Jetsun in person, and he developed great faith.
“Lama, although I have engaged in some semblance of meditation practice, it seems that there is some essential point that I do not understand. Please give me some instruction as to why my practice has not developed and good qualities have not arisen for me at all.”
In reply Milarepa said, “For this you need to understand all of these essential points.” Then he sang this song of realization on the six questions:
These manifestations of mind are even more than there are dust motes in the sun’s rays.
Is there a noble yogi who knows the appearance of things in their own place?
The abiding nature of things, the base, is not produced by any cause or condition.
Is there a noble yogi who knows how to cut this single root?
This impulsive arising of mind cannot be stopped by a hundred spearmen.
Is there a noble yogi who knows that attachment reverses on its own?
The movement of mind cannot be forced into an iron box.
Is there a noble yogi who knows that discursive thinking is empty in itself?
The wisdom deities do not abandon the enjoyment of sense pleasures.
Is there a noble yogi who knows that the sixfold collection of consciousnesses are relaxed at ease?
These appearances of the objects of the sixfold collection cannot even be stopped by the Victorious One’s hand.
Is there a noble yogi who knows there is no object within those appearances?
Then again the man asked, “Is such a practice something that develops gradually, or is it something that arises suddenly?”
The Jetsun answered, “For a person with superior capacity, it arises suddenly. For those of middling and lesser capacities, it develops in accord with the four yogic stages.*3 The way to tell if the signs have arisen or not is like this.” Then he sang this song of realization on distinguishing what the four yogic stages are and what they are not:
I bow at the feet of the supreme lord guru.
Fixating on mind as real is the cause of samsara.
The self-awareness that’s clear and free of fixation,
If you recognize it to be spontaneous presence,
You have perfected one-pointedness.
Saying “union” while meditating with characteristics,
Or saying “cause and effect” with wrong livelihood:
One who cultivates ignorance, the source of all,*4
Will not have the yoga of one-pointedness.
One’s own mind that is clear and fixation-free
Has the heart of bliss that’s free of elaboration.
When its essence, like space, is luminous,
One has perfected being free of elaborations.
Saying “elaboration-free” with many elaborations,
Or saying “ineffable” while using many terms:
One who cultivates ignorance, this clinging to an “I,”
Will have no yoga free of elaborations.
Within dharmakaya, which is appearance-emptiness nondual,
One experiences samsara and nirvana as one.
When sentient beings and buddhas merge,
One has perfected one-taste.20
If one says “one-taste” but propounds many things,
Or if one says “only one” but breaks it into sessions,
With delusion itself getting more deluded,
One will not have the yoga of one-taste.
Conceptual thinking is the essence of wisdom.
In its spontaneous presence there are no causes and results.
When the three kayas are all present within,
One has perfected nonmeditation.
If one says “nonmeditation” with mental engagement,
Or says “luminosity” while cultivating stupidity,
Simply babbling with delusion,
One will not have the yoga of nonmeditation.
When Milarepa had sung this, again the man said, “These practices are truly wondrous! If we worldly people were to practice the six paramitas, how should we practice them?” Then Milarepa sang this song of realization in reply:
I bow at the feet of the qualified lord guru.
Wealth is like a dewdrop on grass
You should give generously free of attachment.
While making the freedoms and resources meaningful,*5
You should keep discipline as you would protect your eye.
Anger is the root of the lower realms,
You should practice patience at the risk of your life.
Lazy ones don’t accomplish benefit for self and other.
Have diligence in practicing virtuous action.
With confusion one can’t realize the Mahayana’s teachings.
One-pointedly familiarize with their meaning.
Buddhahood is not something found by searching.
Look at the nature of your own mind.
Faith is like the mist of autumn.
When it vanishes, you must persevere.
When Milarepa had sung this, the man developed faith and awe, and then went back to his home.
Several days later, that mantrika brought many students who came to Milarepa with offerings. They offered them with respect and the man from before said, “The students gathered here have faith in the Jetsun’s life story; we have come to meet him in person. Please teach us dharma about how the Jetsun gained confidence in practice as a result of great hardship.” In response, the Jetsun sang this song of realization, the “Six Measures of Confidence.”
Having revulsion toward the things of samsara,
I made a connection through vigorous faith:
To give up attachment to one’s home is hard;
But I abandoned my homeland, and pacified aggression.
To cease having affection toward loved ones is hard;
But I let go of my relatives and became free of attachment.
Since I had no contentment toward material wealth,
I wore a single cloth, and put a stop to my clinging.
To relinquish worldly distractions is hard;
Maintaining humility, I broke through my pride.
To let go of the conceit of self-clinging is hard;
So like an animal, I roam in mountain retreats.
You faithful ones’ accumulation of merit is meaningful;
This is the measure of confidence in perseverance.
The dharmakaya, which is like the sky,
Although it pervades every wandering being,
Through age-old ignorance, beings wander in samsara.
Though one may realize it partially, making it stable is hard.
Without the stability of that understanding,
Sometimes the five poisons arise in the mind.
Through that, one wanders aimlessly among the immature.
If one gains stability in that understanding,
The six collections will continually dawn free of attachment,
And one will continually abide inseparable from the three kayas.
This is the measure of confidence in realization.
Medi
tation and postmeditation,
These two appear for beginners on the path.
For the stable mind, these don’t appear as two.
For a yogi who is free of any distraction,
The six collections dawn continually free of attachment,
And they continually abide inseparable from the three kayas.
The prana that moves free of any attachment
Is the source of all attractive qualities.
Learned ones meditate like the sky.
This is the measure of confidence in meditation.21
Without attachment to the four modes of conduct,*6
Beautiful forms and the wealth of attachment—
Whatever appears—I know they’re like mist.
So, the way I think of guiding beings
Is that they’re ordinary bodies, like illusions
And water-moons*7: I have no fixation.
I am not tainted by the fetters of objects.
Its example is a lotus growing out of the mud.
This is the measure of confidence in conduct.
Mind pervades all, just like the sky.
Appearing conditions are pure; they’re the dharmakaya’s clarity.
The very teacher who is omniscient toward every aspect
Is like a crystal ball in the palm of one’s hand.*8
First, it doesn’t come from anything.
In the middle, it doesn’t abide in any place.
In the end, it doesn’t go anywhere.
Through abiding in equality of the three times,
Mind is without cause for birth or death.
In primordial purity that is like the sky,
Red and white clouds disappear in their own place;
No trace of the four elements remains.
In the sky-like mind that pervades everything,
By being inseparable from the continuity of birthlessness,
The stream of samsara’s three realms is cut.
This is the measure of confidence in fruition.
For the yogi who has realization in this way,
When this illusory body is left behind,
In the bardo where all good qualities are complete
Through pointing out with the profound oral instructions,
The mother and child of mind will meet.
If at that point they do not meet,
The impure perpetuated illusory body,
Through the cooperating condition of the key instructions,
Will dawn as the pure illusory body, the sambhogakaya.*9
By knowing the sambhogakaya to be like a reflection,
There will be no worry about mistaking the path.
This is the measure of confidence in having no confusion in the bardo.
When Milarepa had sung this, the students of Kutang developed great devotion. Later on they made the most excellent offerings of service.
Early one morning, within the state of luminosity, Vajrayogini*10 appeared to the Jetsun and said, “You will have one sun-like disciple, one moon-like disciple, and twenty-three disciples who are like stars; there will be twenty-five siddhas among your students. There will be one hundred disciples who attain irreversible realization, one hundred and eight great beings who attain ‘heat’ on the path, and one thousand and one male and female yogis who take hold of the path. Having made a connection with the dharma, those who will cut the rebirths of the lower realms will be countless.
“Your moon-like disciple, one with karmic potential, is at the Pura Pass of Gungtang. Therefore, you should go there.” Hearing this prophecy, Milarepa then resolved to go there.
This is the cycle of the prior visit to Drakya Vajra Fortress.
*1 In Tibetan, Drak Tagé Puk (T: brag rta sge’i phug).
*2 This high mountain region is in current-day Nepal and is known as “Manaslu” in Nepali.
*3 The four yogic stages in the context of Mahamudra are one-pointedness, free from elaborations, one taste, and nonmeditation. They are described in the song below. See also Wangchuk Dorje: 212.
*4 As in the second of the four noble truths, this (T: kun ’byung) means the source of all afflictions, karma, and suffering.
*5 While making this human birth with its freedoms and resources meaningful.
*6 Walking, moving, lying down, and sitting.
*7 Water-moons (T: chu zla) refers to the reflection of the moon in water; it is a common simile for all phenomena, which appear yet are empty in essence.
*8 The crystal ball symbolizes the clear, all-seeing aspect of the true nature of mind; being in the palm of the hand means that it is always present and accessible.
*9 “Enjoyment body”; in this context, sambhogakaya refers to one’s form that arises in the intermediate state (bardo) between death and the next rebirth.
*10 Vajrayogini is a yidam deity who is particularly important in the Kagyu lineage.
10
Meeting Rechungpa
NAMO GURU
The Jetsun Milarepa, in accord with prophecy, traveled to upper Gungtang. He arrived at a house in Gungtang where there were many masons working. Milarepa said to them, “I should make a connection with you by requesting food and provisions.”
They replied, “We are all busy doing this stonework, so we don’t have any spare time. Since you are free, why don’t you come and work in our place. If you do, then we will bring you something to eat.”
“Yes, since I have finished doing my own kind of stonework, I am free. Even if you don’t give me any food, you should give up doing that mundane worldly stonework.”
Then they asked, “What kind of stonework have you done? Why is it we should give up doing our stonework here?” In answer to that, he sang this song of realization:
First is the stable foundation of faith.
Second is the high wall of diligence.
Third is the wide wall of meditative concentration.
Fourth is the excellent roof22 of prajña.
These four make up the house23 I’ve built.
It’s a house that will forever stand.
Your worldly house will only deceive.
You should give up this prison of demons right now!
When he had sung this, they said, “What you have said is very helpful for our minds. Please tell us, with your way of life, what do you have in place of what we have in terms of our outer fields, wealth, relatives, wife, and children that she gave birth to? Our way of life here, you would probably give that up too. Please teach us the reason for taking on your way of life and letting go of ours.” In reply, he sang this song:
First is the excellent field of the all-base mind.
Second is the seed of instructions planted.
Third, the sprout of practice has grown.
Fourth, the fruition of the three kayas has ripened.
The crop with these four things combined
Is the crop that will last forever.
Your worldly crop will only deceive.
You should give up the burden of food and clothing.
First is the excellent treasure of emptiness.
Second is the wealth of the seven noble riches.
Third is being happy with the ten virtues’ conduct.24
Fourth is the undefiled great bliss.
The food and wealth with these four things combined
Is the food and wealth that will last forever.
Your worldly food and wealth will only deceive.
You should give up the trickery of illusions.
First are the excellent forefathers, the buddhas.
Second is my own mouth25 with the genuine dharma.
Third are the uncles and cousins of the sangha.
Fourth are the supporters, the dharmapalas.
The relatives who have these four combined
Are the relatives that will last forever.
Your worldly relatives will only deceive.
You should give up these temporary friends.
First
are her excellent ancestors gone to bliss.
Second, she’s expert in cooking up bliss-clarity.
Third, she has the glowing complexion of union.
Fourth, she has the clothing of experience and realization.
The wife who has these four things combined
Is a wife that will last forever.
Your worldly companions will only deceive.
You should give up your temporary adversaries.
First is the child of awareness’ birth.
Second is the infant of the signs of accomplishment.
Third, the speech of experience and realization flows easily.
Fourth come the progeny that are fully enlightened.
This son who has all of these four things combined
Is the son that will last forever.
Your worldly sons will only deceive.
You should give up the tethers of samsara.
You Gungtang worker women and men
And I, the yogi Milarepa,
Through the imprint that was made by conversing here,
May we meet in the land of glorious Uddiyana.
When Milarepa had sung this, they all gave rise to great faith, made prostrations to him, and served him provisions. Thereafter they were very devoted.
Then the Jetsun went to stay at the Silk Cave at the upper part of Goat Pass*1 There at Goat Pass was a handsome and very intelligent boy who had lost his father at an early age. After his father’s death, his uncle and mother jointly supported him. The boy, from a young age, was able to read very well and received many gifts from people who listened when he recited the scriptures.
One day, as this boy was riding a donkey while tending a herd of cattle in the upper part of his own valley, he came to a cave where the Jetsun was practicing. Hearing the Jetsun singing a song of realization, his outlook changed. He got off his donkey and, leaving behind his cows, went near the Jetsun. As soon as the boy saw Milarepa’s face, an indescribable samadhi arose in his mind-stream. He just stood there for a while, straight and still. This boy was Rechungpa Dorje Drakpa, one of the heart-sons of Milarepa.
The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa Page 14
