Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
An authoritative new translation of the completeHundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa, the teaching songs and stories from Tibet's most beloved Buddhist yogi, poet, and saint. Milarepa (1040-1123) is perhaps the best-known and most beloved religious figure in Tibetan Buddhism, celebrated throughout the Tibetan Buddhist world with the recitation of his teaching songs by monastics and laypeople alike. The archetype of the ordinary being who overcomes nearly insurmountable obstacles on the spiritual path through the sheer force of effort, faith, and perseverance, he is remembered for having achieved enlightenment "in a single lifetime."
This volume, like its well-known companion volumeThe Life of Milarepa, was originally intended to bring the great yogin's teachings to the ordinary people of the day. Delivered in an earthy and colloquial idiom, Milarepa's teaching songs are woven into an engaging narrative that begins after he attains mastery over his own mind. The book recounts his most famous encounters with his students, including Gampopa, Rechungpa, and his sister Peta, and also includes the stories of his victories over the supernatural forces linked to the remote Himalayan mountains and caves where he meditated.
Milarepa's favored mode of teaching was in spontaneous verse, a colorful and memorable way to convey the import of the Buddhist teachings. Christopher Stagg's careful translation, prepared under the guidance of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, brilliantly brings to life the Tibetan author's original intention."
Synopsis
An authoritative new translation of the complete Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa, the teaching songs and stories from Tibet's most beloved Buddhist yogi, poet, and saint.
Powerful and deeply inspiring, there is no book more beloved by Tibetans than The Hundred Thousand Songs, and no figure more revered than Milarepa, the great eleventh-century poet and saint. An ordinary man who, through sheer force of effort, faith, and perseverance, overcame nearly insurmountable obstacles on the spiritual path to achieve enlightenment in a single lifetime, he stands as an exemplar of what it is to lead a spiritual life.
Milarepa, a cotton-clad yogi, wandered and taught the dharma, most famously through spontaneously composed songs, a colorful and down-to-earth way to convey the immediacy and depth of the Buddhist teachings. In this work, the songs are woven into a narrative that tells the stories of his most famous encounters with his students, including Gampopa and Rechungpa, and recount his victories over supernatural forces in the remote Himalayan mountains and caves where he meditated.
In this authoritative new translation, prepared under the guidance of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Christopher Stagg brilliantly brings to life the teachings of this extraordinary man. This classic of world literature is important for its narrative alone but is also a key contribution for those who seek inspiration for the spiritual path.