Message of Milarepa
Chogyam Trungpa
Tail of the Tiger, July 1973
Talk 1: Lineage, 3 yanas, teacher in 3 yanas, the guru principal
Talk 2: First part of Milarepa's life: the trap of one-upmanship
Talk 3: Revulsion with samsara
Talk 4: Shopping for a teacher. Relationship with Marpa: cutting through spiritual and psychological materialism
Talk 5: Returning home and entering retreat: loneliness and depression as a starting point for retreat practice
Talk 6: On the way to mahamudra
Talk 7: Milarepa working with others, expansive compassion as expression of mahamudra
Talk 1: An introduction to lineage and devotion
This first talk of the message of Milarepa seminar, July 17, 1973, introduces Milarepa as a lineage holder of the Kagyupa lineage, a "lineage which belongs to the devotional tradition." Devotion, here, is connected to developing "a basic understanding of the nature of ego," and, having realized that, developing renunciation. In the Kagyu Buddhist teachings, a basic understanding of the complete Buddhist path is emphasized, working with all the subtleties of life, not vajrayana alone.
Talk 2: First part of Milarepa's life: the trap of one-upmanship
In this second talk of the Message of Milarepa seminar, Trungpa Rinpoche discusses the first part of Milarepa's life, the family chaos, aggression, and his own retaliation, murdering many family members. It is "the confused and wretched ego manifesting itself" which "destroys Milarepa's life." The second part of his life, "trying to thin out the confusion, chaos, and neurosis" and the third part, when "the whole thing opens into the mahamudra state of mind..." are discussed in subsequent talks.
Talk 3: Revulsion with samsara
This third talk of the Message of Milarepa seminar could be entitled "Revulsion with Samsara." Later in the 1970s, Trungpa Rinpoche changed the translation of the Tibetan word Zhen-lok, as found in the Kagyu lineage supplication, from "renunciation" to "revulsion," as in "Revulsion is the foot of meditation." Such revulsion, nausea with samsara, could lead to renunciation, turning away from samsara, the inspiration to "step out and breathe fresh air." Those two movements: from nausea to stepping out, seem to be the basic logic of this talk.
Talk 4: Shopping for a teacher. Relationship with Marpa: cutting through spiritual and psychological materialism
In this talk, Trungpa Rinpoche discusses Milarepa's initial spiritual shopping for a teacher — the extraordinary promises, the fascination — and his inability, initially, to discover "a real person who could communicate with him." The talk also describes how Marpa became that real person for Milarepa. We could share that problem in our own spiritual search — the tendency to be fascinated, haunted by our own fascination, and ultimately our inability to relate with teachers and teachings. We also could philosophize and romanticize our shifting view of the teacher, and therefore of ourselves, the versions of ego that we keep developing and protecting.
Talk 5: Returning home and entering retreat: loneliness and depression as a starting point for retreat practice
Trungpa Rinpoche begins by recapping the failure of the psychological and spiritual materialistic "tactics and methods" as applied by Milarepa, as well as students nowadays, all the things we may do to idealize and attempt to "win over the guru." The "credential of one's ego and one's existence" is not accepted by the guru, to the point of the student feeling unworthy. At this point, some "breakthrough" could take place, understanding that one cannot hold onto such ego-credentials. At that point, as in Milarepa's case, the guru could become very "friendly, inviting, and kind, unexpectedly."
Talk 6: On the way to mahamudra
This talk tracks the evolution of Milarepa's poetry, the tone of his poetry, from loneliness and the romanticism of loneliness — feeling the entrapment of samsara and mocking samsara — towards a more appreciation-based poetics. A greater appreciation of the natural and unnatural things of this world develops. Out of that, there is further evolution towards the manifestation of "madness," carelessness, transcending moralism. A further change of tone in his poetry, more akin to mahamudra, will be addressed in the next talk, in the context of his teaching relationships with Rechungpa and Gampopa.
Talk 7: Milarepa working with others, expansive compassion as expression of mahamudra
In this final talk of the Message of Milarepa seminar, the theme, from the last talk, of true mahamudra experience having to do with appreciating the world, entering the world, working with the world, is continued. On the whole, a continuing thread through all three yanas of Tibetan Buddhism — hinayana, mahayana, vajrayana — is sympathy and kindness, warmth and compassion. In the vajrayana, this is characterized by Trungpa Rinpoche as "expansive compassion... joy, or pleasure, rather than [just] compassion."
Chogyam Trungpa (1940–1987)—meditation master, teacher, and artist—founded Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, the first Buddhist-inspired university in North America; the Shambhala Training program; and an international association of meditation centers known as Shambhala International. He is the author of numerous books including Shambhala: Sacred Path of the Warrior, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, and The Myth of Freedom. MsSVig
Chogyam Trungpa
Tail of the Tiger, July 1973
Talk 1: Lineage, 3 yanas, teacher in 3 yanas, the guru principal
Talk 2: First part of Milarepa's life: the trap of one-upmanship
Talk 3: Revulsion with samsara
Talk 4: Shopping for a teacher. Relationship with Marpa: cutting through spiritual and psychological materialism
Talk 5: Returning home and entering retreat: loneliness and depression as a starting point for retreat practice
Talk 6: On the way to mahamudra
Talk 7: Milarepa working with others, expansive compassion as expression of mahamudra
Talk 1: An introduction to lineage and devotion
This first talk of the message of Milarepa seminar, July 17, 1973, introduces Milarepa as a lineage holder of the Kagyupa lineage, a "lineage which belongs to the devotional tradition." Devotion, here, is connected to developing "a basic understanding of the nature of ego," and, having realized that, developing renunciation. In the Kagyu Buddhist teachings, a basic understanding of the complete Buddhist path is emphasized, working with all the subtleties of life, not vajrayana alone.
Talk 2: First part of Milarepa's life: the trap of one-upmanship
In this second talk of the Message of Milarepa seminar, Trungpa Rinpoche discusses the first part of Milarepa's life, the family chaos, aggression, and his own retaliation, murdering many family members. It is "the confused and wretched ego manifesting itself" which "destroys Milarepa's life." The second part of his life, "trying to thin out the confusion, chaos, and neurosis" and the third part, when "the whole thing opens into the mahamudra state of mind..." are discussed in subsequent talks.
Talk 3: Revulsion with samsara
This third talk of the Message of Milarepa seminar could be entitled "Revulsion with Samsara." Later in the 1970s, Trungpa Rinpoche changed the translation of the Tibetan word Zhen-lok, as found in the Kagyu lineage supplication, from "renunciation" to "revulsion," as in "Revulsion is the foot of meditation." Such revulsion, nausea with samsara, could lead to renunciation, turning away from samsara, the inspiration to "step out and breathe fresh air." Those two movements: from nausea to stepping out, seem to be the basic logic of this talk.
Talk 4: Shopping for a teacher. Relationship with Marpa: cutting through spiritual and psychological materialism
In this talk, Trungpa Rinpoche discusses Milarepa's initial spiritual shopping for a teacher — the extraordinary promises, the fascination — and his inability, initially, to discover "a real person who could communicate with him." The talk also describes how Marpa became that real person for Milarepa. We could share that problem in our own spiritual search — the tendency to be fascinated, haunted by our own fascination, and ultimately our inability to relate with teachers and teachings. We also could philosophize and romanticize our shifting view of the teacher, and therefore of ourselves, the versions of ego that we keep developing and protecting.
Talk 5: Returning home and entering retreat: loneliness and depression as a starting point for retreat practice
Trungpa Rinpoche begins by recapping the failure of the psychological and spiritual materialistic "tactics and methods" as applied by Milarepa, as well as students nowadays, all the things we may do to idealize and attempt to "win over the guru." The "credential of one's ego and one's existence" is not accepted by the guru, to the point of the student feeling unworthy. At this point, some "breakthrough" could take place, understanding that one cannot hold onto such ego-credentials. At that point, as in Milarepa's case, the guru could become very "friendly, inviting, and kind, unexpectedly."
Talk 6: On the way to mahamudra
This talk tracks the evolution of Milarepa's poetry, the tone of his poetry, from loneliness and the romanticism of loneliness — feeling the entrapment of samsara and mocking samsara — towards a more appreciation-based poetics. A greater appreciation of the natural and unnatural things of this world develops. Out of that, there is further evolution towards the manifestation of "madness," carelessness, transcending moralism. A further change of tone in his poetry, more akin to mahamudra, will be addressed in the next talk, in the context of his teaching relationships with Rechungpa and Gampopa.
Talk 7: Milarepa working with others, expansive compassion as expression of mahamudra
In this final talk of the Message of Milarepa seminar, the theme, from the last talk, of true mahamudra experience having to do with appreciating the world, entering the world, working with the world, is continued. On the whole, a continuing thread through all three yanas of Tibetan Buddhism — hinayana, mahayana, vajrayana — is sympathy and kindness, warmth and compassion. In the vajrayana, this is characterized by Trungpa Rinpoche as "expansive compassion... joy, or pleasure, rather than [just] compassion."
Chogyam Trungpa (1940–1987)—meditation master, teacher, and artist—founded Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, the first Buddhist-inspired university in North America; the Shambhala Training program; and an international association of meditation centers known as Shambhala International. He is the author of numerous books including Shambhala: Sacred Path of the Warrior, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, and The Myth of Freedom. MsSVig