Milarepa’s Cave
A few days ago I came across these 4 photos of Milarepa’s cave. This cave, also known as Namkading, is part of a monastery called Nyelam Pelgye Ling. This monastery was destroyed in the 1960s and then recently restored again.
Before the monastery was destroyed there were over 70 monks who lived there. The monastery is actually built around the cave where Milarepa (1052-1135) spent most of his life in and attracted many students who came to seek the great Tibetan Buddhist philosopher for teachings. These students later founded important lineages themselves.
Today only seven monks live in the same monastery. Out of these 7 monks, 2 guard the cave where a Milarepa statue is kept enclosed in a glass case.
The cave over looks Lapchi Gang. It is a hidden valley and if you do a google search you’ll see how rich it is with healthy vegetables, flowers and crops growing and flourishing in that area. The colours are beautiful and spectacular to look at, especially when the surrounding lands are quite harsh.
The cave is really simple..The structure is of an overhanging rock that provided good shelter for Milarepa. If you had the good fortune to look inside, there is an impression on the inner side of the cave of Milarepa’s handprint and his sitting meditation posture.
The Vajrayana mahasiddha, Milarepa, was not an ordinary Tibetan saint. He killed many people in the younger part of his life through sorcery. This was out of revenge on behalf of his mother for the injustice towards his family he had growing up. Under Marpa of Lhobrag (or Marpa the Translator), he realized that revenge was wrong and studied under him for the rest of Marpa’s life.
Milarepa is said to be the first to achieve the state of Vajradhara in one lifetime.
He is famous for his songs and poems, which he composed himself. If you take a look at posture, he is cupping his ear with his right hand. This “listening” posture symbolizes his way of teaching the dharma through songs.
Tsem Tulku
This photo depicts Milarepa in the cave listening to someone who needs help and advice.. his skin is green in colour because for many years he lived eating nettle soup which made his skin appear greenish (Photo extracted from: http://danzanravjaa.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/04/paintings_of_th.html)
A thangka painting of Milarepa
Dear Rinpoche, thank you for posting this. Dear Rinpoche, I have a question why after killing so many people, Milarepa can still gain realization in just one life time?
Because Milarepa decided to do 100% Dharma with Marpa as his teacher. Milarepa already had phenomenal abilities before entering Dharma, and Marpa knew if he could break Milarepa’s stubborn, ego-centric mind, he would be a fantastic Dharma practitioner.
Marpa never gave up on Milarepa, and Milarepa had to build 13 houses with his bare hands, collecting all the materials. This activity broke his ego completely and he was able to practice tantra after this, which he went into his cave and completed.
Thank you very much Josh Akers for your answer on the question I post, I have a better understanding now. Thanks.
Thank you very, very much Rinpochela!
I love Milarepa’s life story very much. It is immensely inspiring!
Yes, even a murderer can gain Enlightenment in one lifetime if he/she truly devoted himself/herself to the path completely.
Marpa, Milarepa’s Guru, gave him many chores and tasks to do. I especially remember the part about Milarepa having to build the tower over and over again. Imagine building it and then demolishing it and starting all over again. However Marpa had Mliarepa perform many of these very challenging tasks in order to purify his intense bad karma. I.e. Milarepa’s killing of so many people.
Not everyone would be able to endure what Milarepa had gone through. But if anyone could, then he or she will receive real attainments just like Milarepa.
Milarepa’s life-story is filled with perseverance, Guru Devotion and pure determination. Marpa truly pushed him beyond his own limits, until he broke his own limits and set himself free.
Thank you for sharing all these beautiful pictures. It’s so true how all the vegetation and flowers in that area are particularly lush and green, even though the entire area is very un-conducive to plants. Not to mention the weather itself.
I guess, the area is truly and greatly blessed. And it shows!
I agree with Shirley, I love Milarepa’s story!
I like how in his life story (I cheated…I read his comic book
) it portrays how he was like anyone else. He was just another human being, who grew up with a normal lifestyle…filled with hardship.
Since it’s easy to relate to Milarepa, his story really inspires people – how he did evil, studied evil..but did it without knowing that it was evil. Just like a lot of people in samsara, we do things or are brought up in a way where what’s right and what’s wrong predominantly falls in grey areas.
It’s almost like his life story has the message that: ‘It’s never too late to do dharma’. I feel that some people might feel scared stepping into dharma because if they know that they did many bad things in life, they’re probably not ready to face it in case all that will happen after will be that their life will go downhill. It’s hard to face the facts and reality.
Milarepa shows otherwise.
He’s so mystical…I love it!
Milarepa shows us that we all have the Buddha eed in us amd we like him have a choice whether to cultivate the land, plant and nuture the “Seed”.
Thank you for this very inspiring blog!
The story of Milarepa is outstanding and left a deep impression from the very first time I heard of him in Tsem Tulku Rinpoche’s teachings “Gurus for Hire, Enlightenment for Sale” which provides a wide array of Dharma information and inspiring stories. The comic book as mentioned by Jean Mei “The Magic Life of Milarepa, Tibet’s Great Yogi” also clearly illustrates the story of Milarepa concisely and comprehensively.
Milarepa’s example shows us the compassion and hope Dharma gives to all sentient beings. Therefore, regardless of how devastated we perceive our situation to be, we always stand a chance for true freedom in the Dharma. It is all in the choices we make and the action we take following those choices.
Therefore our destiny, like Milarepa’s, is more in our own hands than many of us imagine. This is very liberating because, with this, we are the masters of our karma and our life
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing Milarepa’s Cave with us and for imparting the teaching of His life story so generously.