Story of Milarepa
Jeffrey
Veteran
The whole story is here: http://www.kagyu.org/kagyulineage/lineage/kag05.php
It's good to read about the training and life of teachers.
Famous and revered among all four lineages in Tibet, Jetsun Milarepa belongs in particular to the Kagyu lineage, which is especially known for faith and devotion. It is often through faith and devotion that the true nature of the mind is discussed. Milarepa's lineage comes down through Vajradhara (Dorje Chang) to Tilopa, the Indian Siddha who met Vajradhara directly face to face. Tilopa passed his lineage on to Naropa, and these three figures belong to the Indian history of the lineage. Vajradhara, of course, is the symbol or the visualized form of the dharmakaya which has no form, so when we speak of meeting the lama face to face as Tilopa met Vajradhara, it is not as if two people are meeting on a street comer. It means that Tilopa realized the dharmakaya, and it is out of this realization that the lineage flows.
The Tibetan part of the lineage starts with Marpa the translator (Marpa Lotsawa), who went to India many times to obtain teachings from Naropa. Marpa passed on this lineage to his disciple Milarepa, who then transmitted it to Gampopa. These three are often called in Tibetan "Mamiga sum": "ma" refers to Marpa, "mi" to Milarepa, "ga" to Gampopa, and "sum" means three. These three are considered the fathers of the Kagyu lineage within Tibet.
:::SNIP:::
The mother, however, had managed to find a little bit of funds, and when Milarepa was fifteen years old, she bought a lot of beer, and invited the people from the village, including the aunt and the uncle. She said to them, "Thopa Ga, Good News, is now 15 years old, and it is time for him to get married to Zessay, his fiance, and to begin his own life. Now please give us back what has been entrusted to you for all these years."
The aunt and uncle replied, "We don't have anything to give you. We have been taking care of you for so long that you have used up all your resources. There is nothing here for you, not even a needle or a thread left to give you." They spoke at length like this, denying that there was anything left. In addition, they beat Milarepa's mother.
The parents of Milarepa's fiance, Zessay, were kind to him, giving him new boots and clothing. They comforted him, saying, "Wealth is nothing permanent, but something that is made by people through their work. In the beginning your ancestors had no money, but they made it through working. For lack of money, don't be disappointed or discouraged. You must study and develop capabilities, and while you are doing this, whatever you need we will provide for you." In this way, they inspired and comforted him.
Comments
I have a book about his life, there was also a movie made several years ago that was about the early years of his life, his family's struggles and his use of black magic, up until he renounced the world and went looking for a teacher. They were supposed to make a part 2 but I'm not sure if they have yet.
Nope, no sequel. Not sure why but if was to guess, I'd say that the first film didn't make enough money to attract investors for the second. Kinda sad, because I thought the first movie was pretty good.
I love the story of Milarepa. Too bad the movie ended just when the story starts to get really interesting.
@person @chaz could someone please provide me with the title of the movie? am very very interested in checking it out!
There are lots of moving moments in Mila's life..one that stands out for me is when his pupil
Gampopa asks how much meditation it took to reach Mila's level of realisation and Mila
( Milarepa means Mila the Cotton Clad ) who is then an old man, answers by showing
Gampopa his buttocks which are covered in callouses....
Gampopa in turn becomes the founder of the Karma Kagyu school, and becomes the teacher of
the first Karmapa.
"Milarepa"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milarepa_(2006_film)
Yep, he didn't get there by arguing the finer points of dharma, that's for sure.
@sova: the movie name was Milarepa - it was a film in 2006. i had watched this movie - it was a nice movie. its second part would have been more interesting, as it would have in it Milarepa's path to enlightenment - @Chaz has said above that its second part did not come - this is sad.
As an underinformed person, I always like Milarepa because, before he went off for some serious study, he got pissed off as a hornet. I always felt that in this (black magic, raining down hail, etc), he was a kindred spirit who would be a worthy mentor.
Or maybe I just liked bad boys.
Nothing wrong with liking bad boys...or bad girls.
Aversion to good boys and girls...now that could be a problem.