Ivan M. Granger March 24th, 2008
The Song of Perfect Assurance (to the Demons)
by Milarepa
English version by Garma C. C. Chang
Obeisance to the perfect Marpa.
I am the Yogi who perceives the Ultimate Truth.
In the Origin of the Unborn, I first gain assurance;
On the Path of Non-extinction, slowly
I perfect my power;
With meaningful symbols and words
Flowing from my great compassion,
I now sing this song
From the absolute realm of Dharma Essence.
Because your sinful Karma has created
Dense blindness and impenetrable obstruction,
You cannot understand the meaning
Of Ultimate Truth.
Listen, therefore, to the Expedient Truth.
In their spotless, ancient Sutras,
All the Buddhas in the past, repeatedly
Admonished with the eternal Truth of Karma –
That every sentient being is one’s kinsman.
This is eternal Truth which never fails.
Listen closely to the teaching of Compassion.
I, the Yogi who developed by his practices,
Know that outer hindrances are but a shadow-show,
And the phantasmal world
A magic play of mind unborn.
By looking inward into the mind is seen
Mind-nature — without substance, intrinsically void.
Through meditation in solitude, the grace
Of the Succession Gurus and the teaching
Of the great Naropa are attained.
The inner truth of the Buddha
Should be the object of meditation.
By the gracious instruction of my Guru,
Is the abstruse inner meaning of Tantra understood.
Through the practice of Arising and
Perfecting Yoga,
Is the Vital Power engendered
And the inner reason for the microcosm realized.
Thus in the outer world I do not fear
The illusory obstacles.
To the Great Divine Lineage I belong,
With innumerable yogis great as all Space.
When in one’s own mind one ponders
On the original state of Mind,
Illusory thoughts of themselves dissolve
Into the Realm of Dharmadhatu.
Neither afflicter nor afflicted can be seen.
Exhaustive study of the Sutras
Teaches us no more than this.
— from The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa: The Life-Story and Teachings of the Greatest Poet-Saint Ever to Appear in the History of Buddhism, Translated by Garma C. C. Chang
/ Photo by mckaysavage /
To honor the Tibetan struggle to be free from occupation, I thought we should have a song of enlightenment from the great Tibetan yogi, Milarepa.
There is so much we can contemplate in this poem, but there is one area I want to focus on.
For those of us who were raised in the Christian or Jewish traditions, recall Cain’s question to God: Am I my brother’s keeper? Every wisdom tradition answers firmly, Yes!
Milarepa puts it this way–
every sentient being is one’s kinsman. Continue Reading »
— from The Essential Mystics: Selections from the World’s Great Wisdom Traditions, Edited by Andrew Harvey
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