Milarepa

Milarepa was a greatly revered Tibetan yogin, considered an early founder of the Kagyu (Bka’ brgyud) sect of Tibetan Buddhism but esteemed throughout the Tibetan cultural world as an exemplar of religious dedication, perseverance through hardship, and meditative mastery. The most famous account of his life The Life of Milarepa (Mi la ras pa’i rnam thar) and collection of spiritual songs (Mi la’i mgur ’bum, or The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa) are extremely popular throughout the Tibetan Buddhist world. In his recent translation of the life story, Andrew Quintman has described Milarepa as “perhaps the most recognizable figure in the history of Tibetan Buddhism” (Quintman 2010, xix). The themes associated with his life story—purification of past misdeeds, faith and devotion to the guru, ardor in meditation and yogic practice, and the possibility of attaining buddhahood in a single lifetime—have influenced the development of Buddhist teaching and practice in Tibet, and continue to do so.

The most famous account of Milarepa’s life story was written in Tibet some 400 years after his death by the iconoclastic tantric master Tsangnyön Heruka, the “Madman of Tsang.” This version models Milarepa’s life after traditional Tibetan narratives of the Buddha, dividing the story into twelve chapters or “acts.” The text also begins with the standard formulations of Buddhist sūtras “Thus did I hear. At one time….” For a more detailed analysis of how Milarepa’s life story follows that of the Buddha, see Quintman 2010, “Translator’s Introduction” and Quintman 2014.

“Mila” was the yogin’s clan name; repa is derived from the single cotton robe (re) worn by Tibetan anchorites, an attire Milarepa retained for most of his life. The name is therefore an appellation, perhaps translated as “The Cotton-clad Mila.” For an overview of Milarepa’s life, see Patrul Rinpoche’s Words of My Perfect Teacher (160-165).

Although Milarepa’s dates are the subject of debate within the tradition (those most frequently given are 1040-1123), biographies agree that he was born to a wealthy family in the Gungthang region of south-western Tibet. He was given the name Thöpaga (Thos pa dga’), literally “Delightful to Hear.” At an early age, after the death of his father, he and his family were dispossessed of their wealth and home by Milarepa’s paternal aunt and uncle, and thereby reduced to a life of poverty and privation. At the behest of his mother, Milarepa studied sorcery and black magic in order to exact revenge upon his relatives, and eventually murdered a great number of people. Later feeling contrition and realizing the magnitude of his actions, he sought to redeem himself from their karmic effects through the practice of Buddhism. He studied briefly under several masters before meeting his principal guru Marpa Chokyi Lodro (Mar pa Chos kyi blo gros), who had trained under numerous great Indian tantric masters. Marpa, however, did not immediately teach Milarepa, but rather subjected him to continual abuse, forcing him to undergo various ordeals such as the famous trial of constructing immense stone towers (including the final tower built for Marpa’s son called Sekhargutok, or the “nine storied son’s tower”). Driven to the brink of utter dispair, Milarepa contemplated suicide. Marpa then revealed that the trials were a means of purifying previous negative karma and that he was, from the beginning, a predestined disciple. Marpa bestowed numerous tantric initiations and instructions, especially those of Mahāmudra and the practice of tummo (gtum mo), or “inner heat,” together with the command to persevere against all hardship meditating in solitary caves and mountain retreats. He was given the initiation name Zhepa Dorje (Bzhad pa rdo rje).

Milarepa spent the rest of his life practicing meditation in seclusion and teaching small groups of yogin disciples through poetry and songs of realization. He had little interest in philosophical discourse and no tolerance for intellectual pretension. Several of his songs are directed directly against the arrogance of monastic scholars and logicians. He was active across southern Tibet and dozens of locations associated with the saint have become important pilgrimage sites and retreat centers. Foremost among these are the hermitages at Lapchi (La phyi), Drakar Taso (Brag dkar rta so), Chubar (Chu dbar), Drin (’Brin), and Kailāsa. Foremost among Milarepa’s disciples were Gampopa Sonam Rinchen (Sgam po pa Bsod rnam rin chen) and Rechungpa Dorjedrak (Ras chung pa Rdo rje grags).

Milarepa was famous for composing spontaneous poetic songs (called gur in Tibetan), believed to express profound experiences gained in meditation. A companion volume to the Life of Milarepa is believed to contain Milarepa’s collected songs: The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa (see Stagg 2016). This collection contains hundreds of songs together with narrative vignettes that describe the yogin’s meditation, his travels, and his encounters with disciples. In one early song, Milarepa describes his experience of impermanence and deep sadness at the difficulties of samsara:

Alas, alas. Ay me, ay me. How sad!
People invested in things of life’s round—
I reflect and reflect and again and again I despair.
They act and they act and stir up from their depths so much
torment.
They spin and they spin and are cast in the depths of life’s round.

The Life of Milarepa (Quintman 2010, 122)

Milarepa remains an important figure in the contemporary practice of Tibetan Buddhism. He is also famous outside of traditional Tibetan cultural areas. His life has been the subject of numerous works of English-language literature, music, and film, several graphic novels, and an operatic production. His songs of realization are now sung in English translation by Buddhist practitioners in the west.

References

Patrul Rinpoche. The Words of My Perfect Teacher. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1998. [A survey of Buddhist theory and practice written by the 19th-century Tibetan lama Patrul Rinpoche. The work includes a summary of Milarepa’s life in his section on how to follow a spiritual friend, pages 160-165.]

Quintman, Andrew., transl. The Life of Milarepa. New York: Penguin Classics, 2010. [A contemporary English translation of Milarepa’s most famous biography. An illuminating example of Tibetan life writing as a literary genre and resource for the history and social application of Buddhism in Tibet.]

Quintman, Andrew. The Yogin and the Madman: Reading the Biographical Corpus of Tibet’s Great Saint Milarepa. New York: Columbia University Press, 2014. [A literary history of Milarepa’s life story, tracing innovations in narrative and aesthetic representations across four centuries of textual production.]

van Dam, Eva. The Magic Life of Milarepa: Tibet’s Great Yogi. Boulder: Shambhala Publications. Reprint 2019. [A modern graphic version of Milarepa’s life.]

External Links

For an extended online biography, and a detailed bibliography of Tibetan sources, click this link from The Treasury of Lives.

For more information on the the Kagyu Lineage stemming from Milarepa, click this link (from the lineage page of Karma Triyana Dharmacakra Monastery in Woodstock, NY)

There are several films recounting Milarepa’s life, an Italian version produced in 1974, and another in 2006, produced by the Tibetan lama Neten Chokling Rinpoche (official website is here). The yogin’s life story has also been reproduced in comic book form, most recently by Eva van Dam as The Magic Life of Milarepa

The most comprehensive explorations of Milarepa’s iconography and visual narrative traditions are presented by Jeff Watt at Himalayan Art Resources, found here.

Further Readings

Stagg, Christopher, transl. The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2016. [A recent English translation of Milarepa’s collected songs that includes the complete works edited by Tsangnyon Heruka.]

Kunga Rinpoche, and Brian Cutillo. Drinking the Mountain Stream. Translated by Kunga Rinpoche and Brian Cutillo. Novato, CA: Lotsawa Press, 1978. [English translations of songs attributed to Milarepa not included in the standard collection.]

Kunga Rinpoche, and Brian Cutillo. Miraculous Journey. Translated by Kunga Rinpoche and Brian Cutillo. Novato, CA: Lotsawa Press, 1986. [A second volume of English translations of Milarepa’s songs not included in the standard collection.]

Quintman, Andrew. “Milarepa.” Oxford Bibliographies Online, Buddhism. Ed. Richard Payne. New York: Oxford University Press. Spring, 2012. [An extended bibliographic essay that includes a variety of Tibetan languages sources and secondary scholarship about the life and activities of Milarepa.] LINK