Milarepa: Lessons from the Life and Songs of Tibet's Great Yogi

by Chögyam Trungpa, Judith L. Lief (Editor)

A renowned meditation master retells the stories and realization songs of Tibet's best-known and most-beloved religious figure—and reveals how they relate to our everyday lives

He went from being the worst kind of malevolent sorcerer to a devoted and ascetic Buddhist practitioner to a completely enlightened being all in a single lifetime . . . The story of Milarepa (1040–1123) is a tale of such extreme and powerful transformation that it might be thought not to have much direct application to our own less dramatic lives—but Chögyam Trungpa shows otherwise. 

This collection of his teachings on the life and songs of the great Tibetan Buddhist poet-saint reveals how Milarepa’s difficulties can be a source of guidance and inspiration for anyone. His struggles, his awakening, and the teachings from his remarkable songs provide precious wisdom for all us practitioners and show what devoted and diligent practice can achieve.

Genres: Buddhism, Religion, Spirituality

304 pages, Paperback

Published March 28, 2017

About the author

Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (Tibetan: ཆོས་ རྒྱམ་ དྲུང་པ་ Wylie: Chos rgyam Drung pa; also known as Dorje Dradul of Mukpo, Surmang Trungpa, after his monastery, or Chökyi Gyatso, of which Chögyam is an abbreviation) was a Buddhist meditation master, scholar, teacher, poet, and artist. He was the 11th descendent in the line of Trungpa tulkus of the Kagyü school of Tibetan Buddhism. He was also trained in the Nyingma tradition, the oldest of the four schools, and was an adherent of the rimay or "non-sectarian" movement within Tibetan Buddhism, which aspired to bring together and make available all the valuable teachings of the different schools, free of sectarian rivalry.

Trungpa was a significant figure in the dissemination of Tibetan Buddhism to the West, founding Naropa University and establishing the Shambhala Training method, a presentation of the Buddhadharma largely devoid of ethnic trappings. In 1963, he moved to England to study comparative religion, philosophy, and fine arts at Oxford University. During this time, he also studied Japanese flower arranging and received an instructors degree from the Sogetsu school of ikebana. In 1967, he moved to Scotland, where he founded the Samye Ling meditation centre.

Shortly thereafter, a variety of experiences—including a car accident that left him partially paralyzed on the left side of his body—led him to give up his monastic vows and work as a lay teacher. In 1969, he published Meditation in Action , the first of fourteen books on the spiritual path published during his lifetime. The following year he married Diana Pybus and moved to the United States, where he established his first North American meditation centre, Tail of the Tiger (now known as Karmê-Chöling) in Barnet, Vermont.

In 1986, he moved to Nova Scotia, Canada, where hundreds of his students had settled. That Autumn, after years of heavy alcohol use, he had a cardiac arrest, and he died of heart failure the following Spring. His legacy is carried on by his son, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, under the banner of Shambhala International and the Nalanda Translation Committee.

Reviews

[Mark Bourdon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Milarepa Mahamudra lessons

Like most of Trungpa Rinpoche’s books, this book is based on oral teachings given in the context of meditation retreats called ITS’s or Intensive Training Seminars. Trungpa Rinpoche takes the reader through the importance of Hinayana, Mahayana, Vajrayana
, and the experience of Mahamudra meditation.

[Bodhidasa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This commentary on some songs of the great yogi Milarepa has flashes of insight amidst rambling, unfocused retellings of the tales. The original source material is of greater value. The fact that it took me this long to read it indicate what a struggle I've had with Trungpa's methods.

[Fluencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the second half of the book better than the first half. I really liked the commentary on Milarepa's songs. I was really enthralled by this author when I first read his book, Shambhala. I picked up this book in the hope that I would once again get a chance to experience the brilliance of this author.

Then I looked up the wikipedia page and realized that he was a controversial figure who ran a spiritual cult in Nova Scotia, Canada. And my reading of the book changed completely after that. What I found especially hard to read in the first part was the way Trungpa perceives the relationship with the guru when he delves into the relationship between Milarepa and Marpa, Milarepa's teacher. In many places, he writes (or says, this are compilations from many seminars), that sometimes the teacher has to give difficult assignments to the student in order to jolt them out of their ego. I think that's fine, but it seems to be that Chogyam Trungpa himself did many things, not for the benefit of enlightenment of his students, but to satisfy his own ego trips and delusions of grandeur, probably justifying to himself that this was for their own good. It seems as though he viewed himself akin to the early pioneers of his lineage, of which Milarepa is one, who brought Vajrayana Buddhism from India to Tibet, he would bring his lineage's teachings to the West in a similar manner. There is really no excuse for his actions, and I may not pick up another book written by him.

This is still a good book for beginners to Vajrayana Buddhism.

[Joel Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

IF THERE IS ANY DOUBT IN YOUR MIND, THERE IS NO POSSIBILITY OF DEVELOPING REALISTATION OR UNDERSTANDING. DOUBT MEANS THAT YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO SURRENDER YOUR EGO COMPLETELY. THERE IS A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF HOLDING BACK, OF HOLDING ON TO YOUR SECURITY OR EGO CONEPT.

There is the honesty and purity of relating to every minute with directness.

In ordinary life we have learned extraordinary ways to kill boredom. But boredom is an extraordinary way to desecrate the pride of passion, aggression, and ignorance and our own little ego trips.

Patience is a giving-in process, rather than a suppressing.

The development of simplicity is the basic meaning of renouncing the world.

[Sezen Yasar · Rating 5 out of 5]

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