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The
early Kagyu Patriarchs in India and Tibet |
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The following are extracts
from Ken Holmes' book "Karmapa",
published by Altea 1996
"one instant with the guru is worth aeons of perfection-stage
meditation"
Naropa
![](images/naro.gif)
Mahasiddha Naropa
Naropa's life is very reminiscent of the twelve stages of the
life of the Buddha. A bodhisattva of the highest, i.e. tenth,
level, the future Naropa realised that the time had come to
enter the human life that would bring him to full enlightenment.
In the clarity of his meditation, he could see his future father,
the Buddhist king Santivarman, who longed for a son and who
himself had some physical signs of an enlightened being. His
future mother dreamt of voidness and bliss inseparable and of
light filling the entire country. Some time later, Naropa was
born, his body bearing the marks of a future Buddha. The earth
shook, many rainbows appeared and thunder rumbled. It was approximately
the year 1016, in Bengal.
At the age of eight, disgusted by worldliness, he went to study
dharma in Kashmir. By eleven, he had become a brilliant scholar.
Returning to his country, the erudite prince taught Buddhist
ethics to his people. His desireless mind was devoted to Buddhism
and quite content. However, at the age of seventeen, he was
virtually forced into marriage by his parents, who were anxious
for an heir. His wife became his disciple and at the age of
twenty-five he definitively renounced the world and became a
novice monk and, at twenty-one, a bhikkhu. The former royal
child prodigy studied at Pullahari monastery and eventually
his renown led to his becoming abbot of the great Nalanda monastery.
His personal radiance inspired many people onto the path. He
was the ideal abbot.
However, after some eight years he had a vision of a leprous
old hag "with 37 ugly features" who informed him that she was
saddened because he only understood the teachings intellectually,
not really. He realised that he was seeing the reflection of
his own 37 worldly impurities, and declared:
"Samsara is to see fault in others"
He knew it was time to leave all and set out to find his guru,
to complete his enlightenment. Despite the long entreaties of
everyone he left Nalanda at the age of 42. There followed a
long series of trials, in which he constantly met strange phenomena,
symbolic of his own remaining blockages due to preconceived
ideas about ultimate reality. These were often vivid and painful
learning processes, representing the untying of karmic knots.
In each of these episodes, he glimpsed brief visions of his
guru, pointing out his mistakes. In fact, in one form or another,
his guru Tilopa had been with him ever since he had seen the
old leper woman, and at the end of these first trials, they
met properly. The first real teaching that Naropa received from
Tilopa consisted of the latter saying nothing but, in a powerful
dialogue of minds, showing twelve symbolic acts, each of which
Naropa interpreted correctly. Then Tilopa gave him empowerments
and personal teachings, including one special instruction, preparing
the ground for what was to follow:
"Don't look for bliss, or its opposite".
Then followed the twelve main teachings. Each of these shows
a profound contact between Naropa and Tilopa, which means, in
reality, between Naropa and the purity of his own mind. Each
starts with a painful trial, instigated by Tilopa, which reveals
a defect in Naropa and for which a teaching is given and then
practised for about a year. For instance, in the first trial,
Tilopa instructs Naropa to climb up onto a temple roof and jump
off it. Faithful Naropa does just this. His guru then heals
his shattered body with his blessing and gives him the teachings
known as the "Wish-fulling Gem". The twelve teachings, most
of which have since become the core of the inner Kagyu transmission,
were:
... 1. The "wish-fulfilling
gem": a very complete form of purification,
... 2. "Same-taste", showing the presence
of the enlightened essence with all and everything,
... 3. Commitment: maintaining a pure
relationship (samaya) with one's guru, everything and everyone,
... 4. Tummo: purification of the subtle
inner body of chakra and nadi,
... 5. Illusory body
yoga: bringing wisdom into one's perception of reality,
... 6. Dream yoga:
how to understand and master dreams, using them to purify karma
and develop enlightened action,
... 7. Radiant light
yoga,
... 8. Transference
of consciousness, particularly at the time of death (powa),
... 9. Resurrection,
... 10. Great bliss yoga: control of
sexual energy and realisation of the common essence of samsara
and nirvana, of pain and happiness. It is on mastering this
teaching that he received the name Naropa.
... 11. Mahamudra
and
... 12. "Transitory
Phase" yoga (bar.do): teaching how to be enlightened in
every phase of existence—life, death, after-death, etc.
Through mastering these twelve Naropa's mind became almost totally
identical with the enlightened mind of his guru Tilopa, who
then sent him away to meditate further and help all beings.
Naropa did this for some time, performing many miracles, and
eventually returned to Tilopa, who removed the last remaining
traces of impurity in Naropa's mind—in particular the latter's
feeling of a need to meditate—by revealing to him, in all its
fullness, mind's innate purity since beginningless time. Naropa
then declared:
"One need ask no more when the true nature is seen".
Fully enlightened, he became known as a "second Buddha" and
wrought great benefit for many beings. In particular, Tilopa
instructed him to bring Marpa, the Tibetan, to enlightenment.
Through Naropa and Marpa, the father tantra, the Guhyasamaja,
went to Tibet, as well as exceedingly pure transmissions of
other tantras, such as that of Chakrasamvara.
Naropa passed away, literally, at Pullahari, his enlightened
body fading back into voidness amid myriad rainbows and beautiful
celestial music. His life was an intense example of the power
of faith, faith being an essential quality for the swiftest
path of mahamudra within Kagyu Buddhism. By perfectly following
his guru's advice and maintaining his dedicated commtiment,
he finished his journey to enlightenment.
Marpa
![](images/marpa.gif)
Marpa the Translator
Marpa, born in 1012 in south central Tibet, was the first Tibetan
patriarch of the Kagyu tradition—which is often called the Marpa
Kagyu in his honour. He was also the first Patriarch who would
reappear again and again in the lineage. Marpa is believed to
have been the mahasiddhas Dombipa, Sri Simha and
Darikapa in previous lives in India. In eighth century
Tibet, he was the astrologer who chose the site of Samye monastery.
Later he was reborn as Dharma Semang, one of Guru Rinpoche's
secretaries, writer of terma and expert in wrathful practices.
Then he became Marpa, at the 11th century period of restoration
of dharma, and subsequently other masters, including the famous
Taranatha. In the Kagyu tradition, besides being Marpa
he was also to become Drogon Rechen, to whom the first
Karmapa handed his prediction letter, Yeshe Ö, the second
Karmapa's disciple who found the hidden land of Sari, the golden
lineage holder Ratnabhadra, guru of the fourth Karmapa
and Choji Gyaltsen, who was given the title "Tai Situ"
by the Chinese Emperor Yung Lo (Ch'eng Tsu) in the early fifteenth
century. The incarnations have been known as Tai Situ
ever since.
Marpa's determination was strong, even as a child. In order
to acquire Buddhist teachings for his country, he made three
journeys to India. This was no mean feat at the time, as the
dangers and health risks of travel were great. To acquire for
Tibet the good karma assuring that those teachings would be
long-lasting, he put much energy into collecting offerings to
take to Indian masters, on behalf of his people. In order to
properly accomplish his task of acquiring and translating teachings,
he spent three years in Nepal, acclimatising to humidity and
heat as well as the lower altitude. While there, he learnt more
than thirty Indian dialects.
His main teacher in India was Naropa. He spent sixteen years
and seven months studying under his guidance, during which time
he received the full transmission of all that Naropa had received
from Tilopa. Furthermore, Naropa sent him to other gurus, especially
Maitripa, Jnanagarbha, Kukuripa, and the wisdom dakini of Sosarling.
He received each of their special dharma transmissions: the
complete mind teachings of mahamudra, Guhyasamaja, Mahamaya
and Dorje Denshi. Although he could have received all
of those lineages from Naropa himself, Naropa wanted him to
go to the best specialists of the day in each practice, so that
the teachings Marpa carried to Tibet would be as charged as
possible with lineage blessing.
From Naropa himself he received the Hevajra tantra and
Naropa's special techniques—the essence of vajrayana taught
him by Tilopa—and above all the full transmission of the Chakrasamvara
tantra. Marpa not only learnt but practised and gained results
in these and many other vajrayana teachings. In particular,
Naropa helped Marpa to break through the conceptual blockages
preventing his complete liberation and thereby brought him to
total enlightenment. In their oneness of enlightenment, he shared
the vast treasury of his mind with Marpa.
Naropa made Marpa his dharma regent for Tibet and entrusted
him with the task of bringing a very exceptional being, Milarepa,
to enlightenment . It is said that Naropa himself prostrated
towards Tibet when Marpa told him of his disciple Milarepa.
Marpa had always hoped that his own son, Dharma Doday,
would become his spiritual heir but Naropa informed him that
this was not to be. The Kagyu tradition is not a spiritual succession
based upon family dynasties, as other lineages in Tibet were
in the past and, in part, still are. In fact, one of the reasons
(besides that of his immense spiritual presence) why the second
Karmapa was given prominence by the Chinese Emperor was because
the Karmapa was self-recognised and could be born into any family.
The Chinese empire of the time was tired of sending endless
gifts to religious dynastic families, which were also too powerful
for their liking.
After his three journeys and twenty-one years in India, Marpa
spent the last years of his life firmly establishing in Tibet
the teachings he had secured. He had four highly gifted disciples,
each specialised in different domains. His main heir, who received
everything from him, just as he himself from Naropa, was Jetsun
Milarepa.
Milarepa
![](images/mila.gif)
The Great Yogin, Milarepa
Milarepa's moving and inspiring life story is the most accessible
of all the Tibetan biographies published to date. It stands
as a gripping story in its own right and the reader is highly
commended to it. He was born in 1052 into comfortable circumstances
but, while still a child, saw the life of his immediate family
shattered by the death of his father and subsequent takeover
of the family assets by an avaricious uncle and aunt, who thereafter
used Milarepa, his sister and his mother as slaves. Milarepa's
mother patiently awaited his coming of age to reclaim the family
land, house and wealth, but when the time came, this proved
unsuccessful. The only way she could imagine the injustice being
righted was for her son to learn magic and curse the relatives.
She threatened suicide if Milarepa did not do as she asked.
Milarepa went away and fulfilled his mother's wishes. Magical
demons conjured up by him destroyed his uncle's house during
a feast, killing 25 members of his family. Milarepa let it be
known that the nightmarish wrecking of their home was his work
and threatened to do worse if his family's house and land were
not restored. Despite the fear he had inspired, it was dangerous
for Milarepa to remain in the area and so he returned to his
teacher.
The latter was ageing and starting to regret the darker deeds
that he and his disciples had wrought. He placed his hope in
Milarepa, feeling that this determined and good-hearted young
man might achieve both their salvation. He sent him to dharma
teachers to learn virtue and, above all, purification of misdeeds.
This eventually led Milarepa to meet Marpa.
Marpa gave the repentant mass murderer a rough time, insisting
that he build a tower for him. Once built, he made him tear
it down. This was repeated several time, with towers of different
shapes. In the end, Marpa insisted on a great castle tower,
eight stories high, before he would give Milarepa any formal
teachings. This seemingly cruel exploitation was, in fact, his
way of helping Milarepa purify the bad karma. Using one or two
simple tools and his bare hands, Milarepa slaved until he was
all but broken, physically and morally. At one point, he even
ran away in desperation, but never losing faith. In the end,
after the hardest of all spiritual apprenticeships and with
the tower almost completed, he was admitted among Marpa's students.
He was given ordination and teachings and entered solitary retreat,
where he meditated with a butter-lamp on his head, not being
allowed to move until the lamp burnt out. He gained good results
and Marpa eventually sent him to meditate in isolated caves
and mountain fastnesses for many years.
Milarepa's diligence and faith were second to none. Through
them, he achieved something exceedingly rare, almost unique:
he achieved enlightenment in a single lifetime. Famous for his
mastery of Naropa's six yogas, he performed many miracles such
as flying through space, passing through rocks and living for
months in the snows at some 5,000 metres sustained only by life-breath
while wearing nought but a thin cotton cloth, hence his name.
Mila was his family name and repa means someone clad
in cotton. An itinerant hermit, he was the perfect example of
the Buddhist mendicant yogi. His enlightened songs, one of the
greatest treasuries of Kagyu teaching, have been an inspiration
for many people since their publication in English. He had one
disciple (Gampopa) like the sun, one (Rechungpa) like the moon,
twenty-five like stars and many thousand others.
![](images/gampopa.gif)
Gampopa, father of the various Kagyu traditions
We have seen something of Gampopa in the samadhirajasutra chapter.
This tenth-level bodhisattva was born, in central Tibet in 1079,
as the son of a very wise doctor. As a teenager he completed
his own medical training and gained proficiency in several meditation
practices of the Nyingma tradition. In his early twenties he
married and fathered a son and a daughter. However, his wife
and both children died, having all caught an incurable disease
sweeping the area. His wife made him promise to become a monk
after her death and this he did.
He became the monk Precious Virtue and spent an intensive period
of time travelling and studying under excellent teachers of
mahayana Buddhist philosophy and vajrayana technique. In particular,
he benefitted from the Khadampa teachings
brought to Tibet by Atisa Dipankara. He could meditate comfortably
for many days without moving or needing food or drink and his
presence was one of great peace and finesse. However, he then
started to have visions of a ragged yogi; visions which uplifted
him to states he had never before experienced. The increasing
intensity of these visions caused him to leave everything behind
and set off in search of the yogi, who by now he knew to be
Milarepa. In a strange world where meditation experience intermingled
indistinguishably with his perception of reality, he made his
way through a series of highly-meaningful symbolic experiences
until he eventually encountered his guru.
Milarepa had inner knowledge that Gampopa would be his future
spiritual heir long before the latter's arrival and realised
what a magnificent and virtuous being he was. Over the next
years, in a relatively short period of time, Milarepa passed
on all his teachings to him and supervised his progress with
great love and care. He even gave him the ultimate initiation,
into diligence, by showing him the hard skin and callouses on
his bottom where he had sat meditating for months and years
on end on rocks in wild mountainsides until realisation was
attained. When he had taught Precious Virtue all he could, he
sent him to Mount Gampo, with instruction on how to meditate
there. He told him the signs of achievement by which he would
know that it was time to teach others and predicted that a great
number of people would eventually gather there as his disciples.
The man of Mt Gampo - Gampopa - achieved his enlightenment there
and soon many people came to seek his advice. He established
the very first Tibetan Kagyu monastery there and taught dharma
on all its levels, from the very basics through to vajrayana.
By bringing the monastic training and the erudition of the Khadampas
into the Kagyu transmission, he had fortified and broadened
it, fulfilling in part Naropa's prophecy that it would go from
strength to strength in its next generations. Gampopa had many
eminent scholars and yogis among his disciples. The most renowned
was His Holiness the First Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa.
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