Person · Tibetan poet-yogi · India
Jetsun Milarepa
Also known as Milarepa, rJe btsun mi la ras pa
Jetsun Milarepa (c. 1052-1135), the greatest of the Tibetan poet-yogis and the most beloved saint of Tibetan Buddhism. The autobiographical Life of Milarepa and the Hundred Thousand Songs (Mila Gurbum) tell the story of his youthful black magic to avenge his family, his catastrophic trials under Marpa Lotsawa to purify that karma, and his years of solitary meditation on wild rations in caves at Lapchi, Chuwar and Nyanam on the Nepal-Tibet frontier. He attained Buddhahood in a single lifetime through Mahāmudrā and the Six Yogas of Nāropā and composed the Dohās (spiritual songs) that are the foundational poetry of Tibetan Buddhism. His disciple Gampopa fused Milarepa's yogic lineage with the Kadam monastic curriculum, founding the Kagyu school proper.
- Periods
- Regional Flourishing, Islamic Age and Bhakti Traditions
- Function
- Religious institution & practice
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
Connections (2)
- Teacher ofMarpa Lotsawa
Marpa took Milarepa through years of ferocious trials — building and demolishing stone towers, suffering beatings and refusals — to purify the karma of the black magic Milarepa had used to kill his family. Only after that purification did he transmit the Mahāmudrā and the Six Yogas of Nāropā. The relationship became the paradigm of Tibetan guru-disciple pedagogy.
- Founder ofKagyu — the Oral Lineage
Milarepa's yogic transmission to Gampopa founded the Kagyu school proper.
On these journeys
Sources
Standard reference.
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