Dakini in art

Milarepa is considered to be one of the most famous yogis and poets of Tibet.  Around c.1052, Milarepa was born in Gungthang, in western Tibet. When he was very young he lost his father, so his family's estate passed into the hands of his father's brother, who with his wife virtually enslaved Milarepa's mother and family, making them work in the field. He, along with his mother and sister, went through tremendous suffering because of the ill treatment of his uncle and aunt. At his mother's request, when Milarepa grew up, he studied magic from two different teachers in order to take revenge through the use of magical powers. Through a spell, he killed thirty-seven people, including his uncle's family, and destroyed most of the crops of the village. After this was done, Milarepa felt great remorse for the heavy karmic consequences he had caused himself, and his mind turned towards the sacred dharma.  

Milarepa first went to the Tsang region to study with the great master Rongton Lhaga, who eventually advised him to go study with Marpa. At the age of 38, he went to Lhodrak to find Marpa.  Mila spent over six years studying with Marpa. At the end this vajrayogini practice, he received the abhisheka of Chakrasamvar from Marpa during which he received the secret name, Shepa Dorje, which means "Laughing Vajra".  Marpa also conferred on Milarepa the full transmissions, instructions, and abhishekas (rites/rituals) of Tantra, as well as the lineage of Mahamudra-all that Marpa had received from Indian mahasiddhas Naropa and Maitripa. 

After practicing for 12 yrs. under Lord Marpa, Milarepa attained the inseparable state of vajradhara (the complete state of enlightenment) in this very lifetime. He then became known as Milarepa which means the "Mila, the cotton clad one" ("Repa" is given to many tantric yogins since they wear a white robe.) Milarepa found a mountain cave and dwelt there alone in meditation for 12 yrs.                                                                                                                                                                   His methodology was mahamudra, an equivalent of Chan or Zen in its emphasis on practice and No-Mind.   Rejecting the formalism of religious position and the endless squabbles of theological discourse, he adopted the life of a mendicant, traveling from village to village, speaking directly with the people he met, singing spontaneous songs in which he expresses the profundity of his realization of the dharma with extraordinary clarity and beauty. Milarepa had countless disciples such as Rechung Dorje Drakpa, Gampopa or Dhakpo Lhaje, the eight-heart-sons, and many others. Among them, his spiritual successor who continued his lineage and became ond of the main lineage masters in Milarepa's tradition was Gampopa.

Thanks for this information goes to Claudio Tecchio - journalist, expert on Tibetan history and culture.

 Response to a Logician