Marpa Lotsawa
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When Marpa, the great Tibetan meditation master and teacher of Milarepa, lost his son he wept bitterly. One of his pupils came up to him and asked: “Master, why are you weeping? You teach us that death is an illusion.” And Marpa said: “Death is an illusion. And the death of a child is an even
greater illusion.”
Marpa was weeping. A student asked him why.
“My child has died and I am sad.”
‘But Marpa,” the student respectfully said, “you have taught us that all in this world is an illusion.”
“Yes,” said Marpa, “but some illusions are more important then others.”
Someone asked Marpa, "Marpa, how are you now?" Marpa said, "As
miserable as before."
The man was bewildered. He said, "As miserable as before?"
But Marpa laughed. He said, "Yes, but with a difference, and the
difference is that now the misery is voluntary. Sometimes, just for
a taste of the world, I move outwards, but now I am the master. Any
moment I can go inwards, and it is good to move in the polarities.
Then one remains alive. I can move!" Marpa said, "I can move now.
Sometimes I move in the miseries, but now the miseries are not
something which happen to me. I happen to them and I remain
untouched."
I love Marpa's teaching.
Om Mani Padme Hum -
I dun get it.
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Life of Marpa
Marpa, the first Tibetan founder in the Kagyü lineage, was born in 1012 in southern Tibet of relatively prosperous parents. A young man with a violent temper, he was sent by his parents to study the Dharma. However, he became frustrated by his experiences with various teachers, and decided to go to India.
After an arduous trek through the Himalayas, in the forest of what is now Nepal he found the siddha, Naropa. For twelve years, he studied with him and also with others, such as Maitripa, from whom he also received instruction on Mahamudra. He learned the local languages and so, was able to translate essential texts into Tibetan.
He then returned to Tibet where he married Dagmema, and they prospered as farmers. After some years, he went south again to study for a further six years with Naropa. Before leaving to go home again, he promised his guru he would return to complete his training.
Back in Tibet, he attracted a group of students including Milarepa. Finally, well into middle age and against the objections of his family, he set out for a third and final journey to India.
Marpa's last stay in India was full of difficulty. He learned that Naropa had disappeared into the jungle and that his whereabouts were unknown. Just as he was feeling frustration and despair, and ready to give up, his guru appeared. Then Marpa ccompleted a further three years of training, and taking a large number of texts with him, he returned home to Tibet to stay.
Later Years
Now, Marpa and Dagmema had had seven sons, but only one, Darma Dode, was particularly gifted. He was mortally injured while riding on his way to a festival. As he lay dying in his parents' house, he performed phowa, the ejection of consciousness. His consciousness entered the body of a pigeon, that flew to India just in time to enter and revivify the body of Tipupa, a brahmin boy who had died.
After Darma Dode's death, Milarepa became Marpa's primary dharma heir. The 9-storey tower he constructed at Marpa's request was dedicated to Darma Dode.
Marpa died at age 84 amidst many auspicious signs. People reported seeing a rainbow and showers of flowers. They experienced the sound of music, and delightful scents on the air.
It is said that Naropa escorted him to a celestial realm accompanied by hosts of dakas and dakinis, just as he had promised.
Marpa brought to Tibet the lineage of Tilopa and Naropa. He translated many important Indian texts, and he also is credited with the tradition of dohas, songs of realization later made famous by Milarepa. (Khenpo Tsultrim continues that doha tradition, today.) -
For his more complete biography:
http://www.kagyu.org/kagyulineage/lineage/kag04.php -
I get it.