Soon after the vow, Naropa
left behind his work at Nalanda University and went off in search
of Tilopa. After many months and years of search, still he could
not locate Tilopa even though traces and words of Tilopa were seen
and widely heard along the way. Finally he met up with
Tilopa from whom he received the complete Oral
Transmission.
After receiving all the pith
instruction, Naropa practiced with pure diligence and attained
realization. Tilopa through his clairvoyance predicted that
the future proper vessel who would uphold the lineage would be one
by the name of Marpa Chokyi Lodoe, a future disciple of
Naropa. Therefore he instructed Naropa that he should
transmit all his teachings to Marpa. Tilopa also predicted
that under Marpa, the Kagyu Lineage would flourish tenfold.
As predicted by Tilopa, Marpa soon found Naropa and requested
teachings from him. Marpa received the complete Oral Transmission
and also the responsibility of lineage holder from Naropa.
 |
The great scholar
Marpa Chokyi Lodoe was from Tibet. At that time back
in Tibet, there were few teachers from whom he could study
and receive teachings. From deep within his heart he
felt that it was not sufficient. He therefore
decided to travel to India to obtain more precious
teachings. |
In ancient times, it was not easy to
travel to India. One had to walk a distance that took months
and sometimes years to cover. Not to mention the Himalayan
Mountainous range which one had to cross. Also in India the
climate was hot and humid. One must have great strength and
courage to undertake this challenge. Unlike nowadays, one
can fly into Lhasa from India in just 45 minutes.
One could also read from the Lineage
Prayers which say Marpa had the three great qualities for the
successful quest of the Dharma, namely:
1. Great Heart
2. Great Wisdom
3. Great Practice / Realization
The quality of ‘Great Heart’ refers
to the courage, bravery and determination to cross the freezing
cold Himalayan Mountains, to cross gigantic rivers, and to endure
the effect of temperature difference while in India as well as
many other hardship throughout the mission.
Marpa went to India no once but three
times in all. His fearless state of mind to search for
Naropa was undiminished. For this tenacity he is praised in
the Lineage Prayers.
Marpa studied the Dharma with utmost
diligence. For this he is praised for having ‘Great
Wisdom’
Finally he found Naropa and received
precious teachings from him, and with great diligence in his
practice he achieved great realization. For this he is
praised for ‘Great Practice’.
Marpa had also to carry all the
Dharma Texts from India back to Tibet and later he and many others
translated them into Tibetan for the benefit of future generations
of Buddhist practitioners.
This may also be related back to
Benefits of performing merits’ which states that the benefits and
merits reaped are immeasurable for generations to come. The
importance of having a Buddhist University and Dharma Library will
help tremendously future students at the Vajra-Vidya Varanasi
Shreda.
Going to India during that time was
not an easy task especially when one was in search of a
teacher. It was a common practice to bring along gold as
offering to great Mahasiddhas in return for precious
teachings. Being born into a poor family, Marpa did not have
the ability to raise any gold for his trip to India.
Therefore he sought out friends for help and finally he approached
Nyür Lotsawa. He told Marpa that if he did not have any
gold, he might not be able to receive teachings from Mahasiddhas
or Panditas in India. This Nyür was not a good guy
either. He then told Marpa that he could share some gold
with Marpa provided that Marpa became his attendant and
servant. Marpa agreed and they both proceed as
planned. When they arrived in Nepal, they looked around for
teachers before proceeding into India.
Finally Marpa met a disciple of
Naropa who told him the location where Naropa was residing.
Upon hearing the name Naropa, Marpa was filled with great joy, a
good sign (of a root lama) to any Vajrayana Buddhist
practitioners. Marpa then told Nyür Lotsawa the good news
with the hope that Nyür Lotsawa could go along with him. But
Nyür Lotsawa did not agree with Marpa. He claimed that in
India there were many other Great Mahasiddhas and Great Panditas
and this Naropa was not any better. He said that Marpa could
go to Naropa alone, but without any gold pieces from him.
Then Nyür Lotsawa and Marpa went on
separate ways from Nepal into India. Marpa finally found
Naropa and received the Yidam Kyepa Dorje practice from him.
Marpa practiced for 3 years in strict retreat with Naropa.
After the retreat, Marpa met Nyür Lotsawa. These two old
friends discussed the teachers they met and the teachings they
received. Marpa told Nyür Lotsawa that he had received the
Kyepa Dorje Yidam practice from Naropa. Detailed discussion
on their practice revealed that Marpa had attained higher
realization that Nyür Lotsawa. This caused Nyür Lotsawa to
become jealous of Marpa. He then said that there was no big
deal in the Kyepa Dorje Yidam practice. He continued by
saying that Sangwa Dupa (of Father Tantra group) was more profound
than the Kyepa Dorje.
Marpa who had not received the Sangwa
Dupa teachings went back to Naropa and told him about his
encounter with his friend. He then requested for the
teaching from Naropa.
Again Marpa went into another 3 years
retreat on the Sangwa Dupa Yidam practice. After 3 years had
passed, Marpa again met Nyür Lotsawa and both discussed their
practice and level of attainment. Again Marpa came out
victorous. Nyür Lotsawa then claimed that he had another
better teaching from the Union Lineage, the Kalachakra
Tantra. This practice Marpa still had not aquired. He
requested the teaching from Naropa and meditated for 3
years. Again after 3 years, he met Nyür Lotsawa and
discussed the Kalachakra Yidam practice. Again Marpa came
out victorous. Then Nyür Lotsawa said that both of them had
already been in India for nine years and it was time for them to
go back to Tibet.
Both of them departed together for
Tibet. On the way Nyür Lotsawa, out of jealousy, bribed an
Indian Sadhu, responsible to ferry them across the Ganges River,
to throw all the Dharma Texts of Marpa into the river when they
reached the centre. Nyür Lotsawa was jealous of Marpa
because when they were coming to India, Marpa was only an
attendant to him; but when leaving for home, Marpa was more
learned. The Indian Sadhu did what he had been instructed to
do and his act made Marpa furious. Marpa then decided to
take the Sadhu to court to settle that matter in front of the
King. The Sadhu begged for forgiveness and told Marpa he
should not be held responsible as he was only doing his job paid
for by Nyür Lotsawa.
Then Marpa out of compassion realized
that it was a sign that he had to stay in India, even though he
had stored the teachings in his heart, the texts wre important to
him. Marpa thought the Indian Sadhu was indeed a good friend
who encouraged him to go to India again to collect the
texts.
All in all, Marpa Lotsawa went to
India three times and his stay in India totaled 16 years. He
brought back to Tibet many Buddha’s teachings and later translated
them into Tibetan. Marpa had many disciples and among them
were 4 main disciples as indicated in one of his dreams.
They were described as the 4 main pillars as they were the 4 great
disciples who later propagated his teachings which flourished into
the future. Amongst the four was Milarepa who acquired the
complete lineage transmission from the master, Marpa
Lotsawa.
 |
There were 3 special
qualities in Milarepa. He was born into a very rich
family, but his father passed away when he and his sister
were still young. Before passing away, Milarepa’s
father requested his brother to look after his assets and
his family on his behalf and Milarepa’s uncle
agreed. There was also a will by Milarepa’s father
stating that all his assets and belongings were to be
returned to his family when his children grew up into
adulthood. |
Not long after the passing away of Milarepa’s
father, the uncle out of greed took over all the assets and
returned none to the family of Milarepa. The uncle also
treated them like servants. When Milarepa and his sister turn
adults and requested his uncle to return all their father’s
properties, the uncle lied that all those properties were his and
Milarepa’s father merely borrowed them from him. Therefore
it was only appropriate that Milarepa’s father returned all of
them to him when he died. Then Milarepa’s uncle said that if
they wanted the properties back, they had to arrange a large
number of men to grab them back from him. If they were
unable to gather the men, then they would have to learn black
magic to curse him and his family. This further angered
Milarepa’s mother who sent Milarepa to learn and practice black
magic to revenge his father loss.
After many years of black magic
studies, Milarepa was successful in his practice and ready to
return for his revenge. His vengeful action caused many
deaths. On top of it, he created hailstorms to destroy
villages and hurt many more villagers he did not like. After
all that had happen, Milarepa realized that he had committed great
sins and regretted all his negative deeds. In order to
cleanse his negative Karma he had committed, Milarepa sought for
Buddha Dharma. Someone recommended to Milarepa that he
should seek teachings from a great master named Lhontun
Haga. Milarepa then found the great master and told him all
the misdeeds he had done that reaped him tons of negative
Karma. He also told the master that he wanted to achieve
realization to set him free from suffering resulting from his
negative Karmas. The Great Master then said that he had this
profound teaching called the Dzogpa Chenpo (Great Perfection or
normally called Dzogchen). This practice was so profound that if
one practiced it in the morning, one would achieve enlightenment
in the morning; and if one practiced it in the evening, one would
likewise achieve enlightenment in the evening. Some people with
pure Karma would achieve enlightenment even without the need to
practice it at all.
Milarepa was so happy upon hearing
what the master had said. He immediately went to a cave and
started to meditate. While doing that, he thought to himself
that he was a fortunate person to have met this great master and
received from him this profound teaching. He also thought
that since learning black magic was of no difficulty to him,
likewise this Dzogchen practice would not pose him any problem
either. Since he thought that was the case, he went to sleep
without practicing at all. After a few days, the master
visited Milarepa to check on his progress. He inquired if
Milarepa had had any sign of accomplishment. Milarepa
responded, ‘No’. The master then realized because of the
heavy negative Karma, the Dzogchen teachings were of no use to
Milarepa. Because of this the master could no longer take
Milarepa as his disciple as he had not the ability to liberate
him. The master then recommended to Milarepa another master
by the name of Marpa Lotsawa. Upon hearing the name of Marpa
who was the disciple of Siddha Naropa, Milarepa was filled with
great devotion and faith.
Milarepa then set out in search of
Marpa Lotsawa and finally he found Marpa’s residence. After
putting Milarepa through many tests and hard work, Marpa
transmitted to Milarepa the complete lineage teachings.
Milarepa practiced diligently and attained
realization.
Because of Milarepa’s great
achievement in attaining realization, his disciples thought that
he was an emanation of a Bodhisattva or a Buddha and wanted a
confirmation from Milarepa. They thought that if it were not
the case, Milarepa could not have attained enlightenment in a
single lifetime. On the one hand, Milarepa’s disciples were
worthy of praise for they held their Lama in the greatest regard
and respect. On the other hand, they held a wrong Buddhist
view. They had doubted the Buddhas and their teachings by
thinking that Milarepa could manage to attain enlightenment in a
single lifetime because he was some sort of emanation or
reincarnation.
In order to correct the thinking of
his disciples, Milarepa told them all the negative deeds he had
done. Some disciples still did not believe him and kept
thinking that he was an emanation of some great Bodhisattvas or
Buddhas. Milarepa then continued by telling them that he was
not any emanation of any kind. He was only an ordinary being
who had created much negative Karma in killing and hailing storms
that wiped out many villages. To prove that he was worse
than an ordinary human being, he recounted again the details of
the negative deeds he had done to prove once more that he was not
of any emanation or reincarnation of great Bodhisattva and
Buddha. Milarepa stressed that if one practiced diligently
what one had learned from one’s Lama and had great faith and
devotion in all the Lineage Lamas, then one should be able to
achieve enlightenment like him. This applied to all
beings. If one were to think that only human beings of such
and such emanation could attain enlightenment, then one held the
wrong perverted view, which contradicted the Buddha’s teachings.
Therefore if any of his disciples practiced with pure diligence,
then he would attain enlightenment one day. For that,
there was no doubt.
Why did the name Milarepa end with
the word ‘repa’? In fact, Milarepa’s original name was
Mila. After he received the teaching of the Six Yoga of
Naropa from Marpa, Mila concentrated on one of the practices
called the Yoga of Inner Heat (Tunmo). From this practice
Mila attained realization. Also this Yoga practice enabled
one to generate body heat warm enough to counter the cold blazing
winds of Tibet. When he meditated between the snowy edges of
the mountains which were extremely chilling, Mila had no need for
warm clothing to protect him from the extreme cold. Mila was
also known for not requiring any mattress or blanket when he slept
in such harsh weather. He merely wore a thin white cotton
cloth throughout. A piece of thin white cloth is called
‘repa’ in Tibetan. That was how Mila became widely known as
Milarepa. He had many disciples who also bore the Repa
title. For example, Rechungpa and many others.
After Milarepa, the Karma Kagyu
Lineage was carried on by Dakpo Rinpoche (Gampopa Dakpo
Lharje).
