Milarepa: An Ordinary Man And His Poetry Of Life

Milarepa was a great yogi, and his words provide profound inspiration to all followers of the dharma.
Milarepa achieved Buddhahood in a single lifetime by spending years in mountain caves across southern Tibet, he practiced the stage of generation utpattikrama visualizing himself as a Buddha and his own body as a mandala.

Milarepa and his songs are the most poetic source of spiritual inspiration, a symbol of Tibetan Buddhist culture and appreciated by many for the beauty of his enlightened verses. Here our favorites:

Milarepa on mind

He who avoids misunderstandings,
Amused at the play of his own mind,
Is ever joyful.

fear and doubts have vanished like mist into the distance, never to disturb me again.

Oh, this self-realizing awareness
is beyond words and description!
The mind is not the world of children,
nor is it that of logicians.

Most poetic verses

River, ripples, and waves, these three,
When emerging, arise from the ocean itself.
When disappearing, they disappear into the ocean itself.

The voice of the cuckoo is so moving,
And so tuneful is the lark’s sweet singing,
That when I hear them I cannot help but listen —
When I listen to them,
I cannot help but shed tears.

Milarepa on Money

Because of the fear of poverty, I sought for riches;
The riches I found are the inexhaustible Seven Holy Jewels.
Now I have no fear of poverty.

Milarepa on songs

However beautiful a song may be,
it is just a tune to those
who do not understand its meaning.

Milarepa on Meditation

When meditation is clear light river flow
There is no need to confine it to sessions and breaks
Meditator and object refined until they’re gone
This heart bone of meditation, it beats quite well.

Rest like a small child.
Rest like an ocean without waves.
Rest like does the candle flame.
Rest without concerns.
Rest still like a mountain.

Milarepa was a poet and a saint but most of all an ordinary man who explored with his verses his spiritual path of redemption through discipline and perseverance, and achieved enlightenment. These beautiful verses are taken from the following books:

The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa Kindle Version

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

The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa: The Life-Story and Teaching of the Greatest Poet-Saint Ever to Appear in the History of Buddhism