Milarepa - Život a osvícení – Héruka Cang Ňön (2016)

The great yogi and poet Milarepa (1040–1123) is one of the most famous teachers of Tibetan Buddhism and one of the founding fathers of the Tibetan Buddhist Kagyu tradition. He is also an important figure for all Tibetan lineages and schools. As a child, he suffered hardship and poverty after his uncle and aunt deprived him, his mother and his sister of their entire inheritance. Too young to seek justice with a sword, Milarepa learned black magic at his mother’s request and used it to kill 35 people. When he realised that the impressions created by these actions would mature in his mind as profound suffering, he developed a deep desire to follow a path of spiritual development. His perseverance, determination and devotion to his teacher Marpa remain an example for all Diamond Way practitioners. After attaining enlightenment, he taught through unique songs filled with depth, humour and natural beauty. His entire life is summed up in the words, “My only religion is to live and die without regret.” This timeless yet thoroughly modern approach has inspired Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike for a thousand years. This biography was compiled in the fifteenth century by Cang Ňön Héruka, the mad yogi of Tsang, who also wrote a biography of Marpa, Milarepa’s teacher.