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The Song on Reaching the Mountain Peak
![Milarepa, Milarepa poetry, Buddhist, Buddhist poetry, Tibetan poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry, poetry](images/Milarepa_sm.jpg) |
by Milarepa
(1052 - 1135) Timeline
English version by Garma C. C. Chang
Original Language Tibetan
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Hearken, my sons! If you want To climb the mountain peak You should hold the Self-mind's light, Tie it with a great "Knot," And catch it with a firm "Hook." If you practice thus You can climb the mountain peak To enjoy the view.
Come, you gifted men and women, Drink the brew of Experience! Come "inside" to enjoy the scene -- See it and enjoy it to the full! The Incapable remain outside; Those who cannot drink pure Beer may quaff small beer. He who cannot strive for Bodhi, Should strive for superior birth.
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger
The comparison between pure beer and lesser beer can be read as a comparison between the Mahayana (greater vehicle) philosophy which gives personal Buddhahood as a goal, and the Hinayana (lesser vehicle) path which suggests self-refinement and personal enlightenment are possible, leading to superior birth, but not necessarily full Buddhahood.
But the beer works on a more immediate and esoteric level, too. Milarepa's small beer can refer to lesser, worldly experiences, such as mundane alcohol, which give only mundane intoxication, while pure beer is associated with the bliss of Bodhi, or awakened awareness.
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2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
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