Tibet's 'Saint' Milarepa, demons, murder

[Crazy] Milarepa: The mass murderer who became enlightened in Tibetan Buddhism

(Asangoham) July 27, 2024: Milarepa, the Lord of Yogis, is today recognized as one of Tibet’s great masters and an accomplished meditation teacher and practitioner, admired for his tenacity, courage, and discipline. [This is odd given his crimes, which no one disputes, like those of reformed Angulimala.]

He is celebrated as “the most renowned figure in Tibetan culture, the quintessential Tibetan folk hero.”

However, his life began with considerable hardship. Like this metaphor, his path was a journey of facing and integrating his own demons, transitioning from confusion to awakening.

Initially caught in samsara, the cycle of mundane existence, like we are, he committed to the practice of the Dharma, the way of wisdom.

His story is not that of a saint; on the contrary, it is a deeply human story. It shows us that even a great master has to deal with immense challenges such as loss and revenge.

"Every saint has a past,

every sinner a future."

It narrates the transition from a murderer to one of Tibet’s most famous yogis. Today's video is about the extraordinary life and teachings of Jetsun Milarepa, Tibet's most revered yogi and poet.

This inspiring story explores the remarkable life of Milarepa, from his tumultuous childhood to his attainment of enlightenment through intense meditation and devotion.

Learn about Milarepa's profound teachings on the nature of reality, the importance of compassion, and the path to achieving spiritual liberation. Delve into his remarkable songs of realization, which have inspired generations of Tibetan Buddhist practitioners.

This video is a must-watch for anyone interested in Tibetan Buddhism, yoga, and Himalayan spirituality. Whether one is a seasoned practitioner or just starting a spiritual journey, Milarepa's life and teachings offer valuable insight and inspiration for living a more meaningful and fulfilling life.

Milarepa bad, says Chinese Mahayana nun

An Aghori Yogi or Bon priest?

As a young American Buddhist, not knowing that there was more than one Buddhism, I would a converted church building near the Sino-American Center on 6th Street near Chinatown in Downtown LA. It was a Chinese Mahayana church/temple run by nuns, but I didn't know. There were Japanese Soto Zen temples nearby. (This way the state of Buddhism back the Eighties). It was as creepy as a Catholic mass, but nicer things were being said. Eventually, I attended similar services in Maywood (a tiny city in LA County) which bought land and built the massive Hacienda Heights temple (arcgis.com). Through years of struggle, one temple morphed into the other as Maywood realized its dream of building Hsi Lai Temple ("Going West" Monastery and Nunnery). Back in those early days, there was a great master (Ven. Hsing Yun) of which they spoke. He was in Taiwan, touring the world, or at Master Hsuan Hua's City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, which kindly donated some of its rural land for the setting up of a Thai Theravada Buddhist Abbey (wat or vihara) called Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in Redwood Valley, where Americans train to be monks in the Thai Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah and other Buddhist meditation masters. In one such Buddhist service, I remember a Chinese nun presenting what might have been her thesis or research as a nun. It was a pamphlet all about Milarepa's crimes, showing that he could not have been a Buddhist monk or anyone to look up to given his biography. (This means his misdeeds after ordination disqualified him and meant he was not attained to sainthood/enlightenment, regardless of his popularity among average Tibetans). But that's mainstream Mahayana thinking (which was in line with Theravada monasticism), and Milarepa belongs to Bon-heavy Esoteric Himalayan Buddhism from Tibet, which is a school known as Vajrayana. It aligns itself with the massive Mahayana Buddhist school, but it is distinct in many ways. The indigenous Bon tradition is all about black magic, shamanism, necromancy, and vengeance.

#milerepa #yogi #tibetanbuddhism #buddhism. Script: Talia Jimenez. Voiceover: Abhinav Banerjee. Editor: Aakash. Score: @asangvani.

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