Story 13: The Song of Realization
Obeisance to all Gurus
The Jetsun Milarepa returned to Nya Non from the Happy Town of Mang Yul. His former patrons were all delighted [to see him again] and begged him to stay in Nya Non permanently. At the foot of a huge tree stood a belly-shaped rock, beneath which there was a cave, and Milarepa took up his abode there. Then the Venerable Shaja Guna and a number of patrons of Nya Non came and asked him what progress and Realization he had attained during his sojourn in other places. In answer he sang:
I make obeisance to Marpa, the Translator.
During my stay elsewhere
I realized that nothing is;
I freed myself from the duality of past and future;
I apprehended that the Six Realms do not exist.
I was delivered once and for all from life and death,
And understood that all things are equal.
I shall cling no more to happiness or sorrow.
I realized as illusion all that I perceive,
And was freed from taking and from leaving.
I realized the truth of Non-difference,
And was freed from both Samsara and Nirvana.
I also realized as illusions the Practice, Steps, and Stages.
My mind is thus devoid of hope and fear.
The patrons again asked Milarepa, "What else did you understand?" Milarepa replied, "Well, to please you, I will sing an appropriate, helpful song":
One's parents provide the outer cause and conditions;
One's Universal Seed Consciousness is within;
The acquired pure human body is between these two.
With these three endowments one stands apart
From the Three Miserable Realms.
By observing the wearisome process of birth in the outer world,
The longing for renunciation and the faith for Dharma will grow from within.
In addition, one should e'er remember the teaching of Buddha;
Thus will one be freed from worldly kinsmen and enemies.
The Father-Guru provides help from without;
Self-discrimination arises from the effort within;
Between these two grows confidence and conviction.
Thus is one freed from all doubt and confusion.
One thinks of sentient beings in the Six Realms without,
While unbounded love shines from the mind within.
Between the two come the experiences of meditation.
Thus one is freed from all partial compassion.
Outwardly, the Three Kingdoms are self-liberated;
Inwardly, self-present Wisdom brightly shines;
Between the two, faith in Realization stands firm.
Thus fade anxiety and fear.
The Five Desires manifest without;
Non-clinging Wisdom shines within;
A feeling of [the two] tasting as one
Is experienced in between.
Thus one is freed from the distinction of weal and woe.
The absence of act and deed appears without,
The departure of fear and hope is seen within;
Between the two, and from you apart,
Is the sickness that comes from effort.
Thus one is freed from choosing between good and evil.
The Venerable Shaja Guna said to Milarepa, "My dear Jetsun, your mind has long been absorbed in Purity, yet though I was with you before, I never received a definitive and convincing teaching from you. Now, please give me the Initiations and instructions." The Jetsun complied with his request, and made him start practicing.
After some time, Shaja Guna had an experience, and came to Milarepa, saying, "If Samsara and manifestations do not exist, there is no need to practice Dharma; if the mind is non-existent, there is no need for the Guru; but if there is no Guru, how can one learn the practice? Please explain the nature of these things and enlighten me upon the Essence of Mind."
Milarepa then sang:
Manifestation is not [something] coming into being;
If one sees something happen, it is merely clinging.
The nature of Samsara is the absence of substance;
If one sees substance therein, it is merely an illusion.
The nature of mind is two-in-one;
If one discriminates or sees opposites,
It is one's attachment and affection.
The qualified Guru is the Lineage-possessor;
It is then folly to create one's own Guru.
The Essence of Mind is like the sky;
Sometimes it is shadowed by the clouds of Thought-flow.
Then the wind of the Guru's inner teaching
Blows away the drifting clouds;
Yet the Thought-flow itself is the illumination.
The Experience is as natural as sun- and moon-light;
Yet it is beyond both space and time.
It is beyond all words and description.
But assurance grows in one's heart, like many stars a'shining;
Whenever it so shines, great ecstasy arises.
Beyond all playwords lies the nature of the Dharmakaya;
Of the action of the Six Groups, it is utterly devoid.
It is transcendant, effortless, and natural,
Beyond the grasp of self and non-self.
Dwelling forever in it is the Wisdom of Non-clinging.
Wondrous is the Trikaya, Three in One.
He then told Shaja Guna not to become attached to pleasure, fame, and the world, but to devote himself to the practice of the Dharma all his life and urge others to do likewise.
Then Milarepa sang:
Hear me, you well-gifted man!
Is not this life uncertain and delusive?
Are not its pleasures and enjoyments like a mirage?
Is there any peace here in Samsara?
Is not its false felicity as unreal as a dream?
Are not both praise and blame empty as an echo?
Are not all forms the same as the Mind-nature?
Are not Self-mind and the Buddha identical?
Is not the Buddha the same as the Dharmakaya?
Is not the Dharmakaya identical with Truth?
The enlightened one knows that all things are mental;
Therefore one should observe one's mind by day and night.
If you watch it, you can still see nothing.
Fix then your mind in this non-seeing state.
There is no self-entity in Milarepa's mind;
I, myself, am the Mahamudra;
Because there is no difference between Static and Active Meditation,
I have no need for the different stages in the Path.
Whatever they may manifest, their essence is Voidness;
There is neither mindfulness nor nonmindfulness in my contemplation.
I have tasted the flavor of Non-existence;
Compared to other teachings, this is the highest.
The Yoga practice of the Nadis, Prana, and Bindu,
The teaching of Karma Mudra and of Mantra Yoga,
The practice of visualizing Buddha and the Four Pure Positions,
These are only the first steps in Mahayana.
To practice them uproots not lust and hate.
Bear what I now sing firmly in your minds;
All things are of the Self-mind, which is void.
He who ne'er departs from the Experience and Realization [of the Void],
Without effort has accomplished all practices of worship and discipline.
In this are found all merits and marvels!
Thus Milarepa sang, and the teacher, Shaja Guna, devoted himself to practicing meditation. He attained an extraordinary understanding and became one of the intimate Son-Disciples of the Jetsun.
This is the story of Milarepa's ripening the priest, Shaja Guna of Nya Non, in the Belly Cave.
