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A Spiritual Biography of Marpa,
the Translator
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| The Life
of Marpa
There are three Tibetan forefathers
of the Kagyu lineage:
Marpa, Milarepa, and Gampopa. |
Marpa (1012-1097 C.E.)
was seminal to the lineage because he actually
brought the teachings from India to Tibet. Marpa
had tremendous courage and determination; he
didn’t consider the risks or difficulties
involved in going to India to obtain the Buddhist
teachings. He didn’t do it to become rich
or famous or to achieve happiness. He did it
to establish the pure Buddhist teachings in
Tibet.
There were two great waves of transmissions
of the dharma into Tibet: the “early period
of translations” (Tib. tan pa nga dar),
in which a few great sponsors supported these
works of translation; and the later wave, called
“the later period of translation”
(Tib. tan pa phyi dar), in which there weren’t
any sponsors. Being part of this second wave,
Marpa had to rely entirely on his own motivation
and determination to bring the teachings to
Tibet. It was through his work that the teachings
took root in Tibet and enabled many people to
practice the teachings and thereby attain liberation.
The subject of this book is the life of Marpa
the Translator. It is very important to understand
Marpa’s life because he is a special example
within the tradition of the Kagyu lineage. A
complete account of Marpa’s life can be
found in The Life of Marpa the Translator by
Tsang Nyön Heruka.
This present book constitutes a different kind
of biography and is based on another account
of Marpa’s life called, The Life of Marpa
the Translator: Seeing Accomplishes All.
Here I would like to make a few observations.
In Tibet, this type of biography is called a
“namtar,” which literally means
“full liberation.” The reason a
biography is called a namtar is that it depicts
the obstacles and impediments that lamas encountered
at the beginning of their path, and how, in
practicing the dharma and relying on their guru,
the obstacles were overcome. These religious
biographies describe how lamas were able to
achieve complete liberation and how in doing
so they were able to greatly benefit others
through their teaching. These biographies were
not written simply to promote the reputation
of the lineage lamas. Rather, they describe
the circumstances in which these teachers began,
and how, within the limitations of their beginning,
they were able to practice and attain liberation.
The special function of a namtar is as a “spiritual”
biography. It is written to encourage us by
showing us how these practitioners dealt with
their particular situations.
Marpa did not become a monk like Shariputra,
for example. He was also quite angry and arrogant,
and was, in the early part of his life, an extremely
selfish person. Yet at the same time he had
the tremendous courage to achieve enlightenment
himself and to help others. He was extremely
intelligent and very diligent, and he had a
great deal of faith and confidence in –
and devotion to – the dharma. He also
developed genuine love and compassion for other
beings.
The process that Marpa underwent during his
training transformed his defects, such as arrogance,
into good qualities such as courage that could
benefit others. By this process, the qualities
themselves expanded so that by the end of his
training they actually became his experience
and realization of completeness. He had become
a supreme siddha (i.e. an enlightened being).
This expansion of Marpa’s example and
teaching continue in the extraordinary instructions
that we practice to this very day in and through
the unbroken Kagyu lineage.
Marpa developed an extraordinary compassion
that was not idiot compassion or partial compassion.
It was intelligent compassion, meaning that
it was not limited by sentiment or scope. He
did not focus his compassion only towards his
family or the people living in his neighborhood,
but extended it to all those who would practice
the Vajrayana in the future. To make the practice
possible for future generations, he engaged
in acts of great hardship. Specifically, he
went to India three times to receive teachings
and bring them back so that people could practice
these teachings in the future.
A Prayer to
Marpa
The life of the great master Marpa in a very
condensed form can be described in three stages.
These can be found in the prayer, The
All-Accomplishing Melody, composed by
Khyentse Rinpoche. The prayer describes the
life story of Marpa in three verses.
The first line says:
Through his great determination and courage,
he traveled many times to the holy land.
The Holy Land refers to India. It was through
Marpa’s great courage and determination,
his profound devotion and his incredible compassion
for all disciples (present and future) that
he was able to overcome the difficulties and
hardships of three journeys to India. The
first verse focuses us on these qualities.
The second line tells us:
With great intelligence he saw the essential
nature of all things.
This verse refers to the quality of the
very sharp intelligence of Marpa. It identifies
intelligence as proceeding from the courage,
devotion and compassion of the first verse,
and then generating insight. Since Marpa clearly
saw the teachings of the Buddha, particularly
the Vajrayana teachings, he was able to secure
even the essence of the very deep tantras
to bring with him to Tibet. Among the tantras,
he particularly concentrated on bringing the
highest tantra, the Anuttarayoga, to Tibet.
He realized the meaning of these tantras and
assimilated them completely. Not only did
he understand them, but he used them all the
time, tasting the flavor of the teachings
completely. These teachings became a source
of constant and direct experience for him,
and that is why it is said that it was with
great intelligence that he could see the true
nature of phenomena.
The third line says:
Through great realization, he manifested
many kinds of miracles.
What is meant by doing miracles? There are
miracles that can be done physically, verbally,
and mentally. Physical miracles are used to
arouse faith in the minds of people who do
not have faith. Miracles of speech occur when
teachings and instructions automatically generate
realization in the disciple, without skillful
means. Through the lama’s words, disciples
may achieve as high a level of realization
as the lama. Through the miraculous power
of the lama’s speech, ordinary people
are able to immediately assimilate the instructions
so that they can accomplish the purification
of impurities, in particular the disturbing
emotions (Skt. kleshas). When this occurs
in the disciple as a fully developed realization
and understanding, it is a miracle of mind.
How can a lama transmit this power of realization
to others through speech? It is because the
lama possesses very great qualities him or
herself. The lama has the qualities of great
compassion, diligence, courage, and determination.
It is these qualities that give the lama the
miraculous power to transfer realization to
others. The third line refers to Marpa’s
capacity to perform miracles of body, speech,
and mind. These manifestations referred to
in the prayer are described in more detail
in the biography of Marpa.
This biography of Marpa, The Life of Marpa
the Translator: Seeing Accomplishes All,
has five chapters. The first describes the
events from Marpa’s birth to when he
encounters the dharma. The next three chapters
describe his dharma activity, which corresponds
to the three lines just given. The last chapter
of the biography describes his passing away.
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