Song Of Milarepa

Milarepa - A Tibetan Buddhist yogi and poet, gives this simple but comprehensive picture of human life.

"Youth is like a summer flower - 

Suddenly it fades away.

Old age is like a fire spreading

Through the Fields - suddenly, it's at your heels.

The Buddha once said, "Birth and death

Are like sunrise and sunset

Now come, now go."

Sickness is like a little bird

Wounded by a sling.

Know you not, health and strength

Will in time desert you?

Death is like a dry oil lamp

(After its last flicker)

This world is impermanent;

Nothing, I assure you

Can remain unchanging.

Evil karma is like a waterfall

Which I have never seen flow upward,

A sinful man is like a poisonous tree -

If you lean on it, you will injured be.

Transgressors are like frost-bitten peas - 

Like spoilt fat, they ruin everything.

Dharma practisers are like peasants cultivating in the fields.

The Law of Karma is like Samsara'a wheel - 

Whoever breaks it will suffer a great loss.

Samsara is like a poisonous thorn

In the flesh - if not pulled out,

The poison will increase and spread.

The coming of death is like the shadow

Of a tree at sunset - 

It runs fast and none can halt it.

When that time comes.

What else can help but the Holy Dharma?

Though Dharma is the fount of Victory,

Those who aspire to it are rare.

Scores of men are tangled in

The miseries of Samsara

Into this misfortune born,

They strive by plunder and theft for gain.

When you are strong and healthy

You never think of sickness coming,

But it descends with sudden force

Like a stroke of lightening.

Sickness, old age and death

Ever meet each other

As do hands and mouth

Do you not fear the miseries

You experienced in the past?

Surely you will feel much pain

If misfortunes attack you?

The woes of life succeed one another

Like the sea's incessant waves - 

One has barely passed, before

The next one takes its place.

Until you are liberated, pain

And pleasure come and go at random

Like passers-by encountered in the street.

Pleasures are precarious,

Like bathing in the sun;

Transient, too, as the snow storms

Which come without warning.

Remembering these things,

Why not practise the Dharma?"

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Buddha's Eigthfold Path of Even-Mindedness

 

To have aspirations and ambitions is normal. To realise their ambitions, people toil hard and put in all efforts, even sacrificing family and personal lives. Yet, often this goal remains a mirage.

For instance, when your boss praises you for good work done, everything goes just right, and when you return home you begin to dream of all the things you can do with the support of your boss and the heights you can reach. Perhaps, the next time you meet him he is very busy in attending to some urgent work and is rude with you. Then you feel hurt and all your plans go out of the window. 

Suffering and frustration in life are inescapable. The root causes for this being uncontrolled desire and ambition. The cause of frustration can be removed through overcoming desires and drawing a line to craving for more. This can be attained by being mindfull of the way you think things should be. And out of mindfulness you begin to develop awareness of the things the way they really are.

To attain this even-mindedness in all situations, Buddha has laid down the Eightfold Path.

First, view the world in right perspective. Instead of imposing your expectations onto things, see things simple as they are.

Second, do not try to manipulate situations in line with preconcieved notions of how they should be. Just, work with what is.

Third, do not hesitate about what you say.

Fourth, give up the tendency to complicate the issues that could usually cloud relationships. Be simple and straightforward.

Fifth, it is only normal that you should earn your living. Many are disgruntled with their jobs. The truth is you should perform your responsibilities properly and be happy with what you do.

Sixth, make the right effort to see things as they are and work with what it is without aggression.

Seventh, be precise, clear and mindful of what you speak, perform and behave.

And lastly, be absorbed in things as they are, instead of being absent-minded and captivated by distractions.

The wisdom attained by this, provides a deep understanding of life in the right perspective.

The Buddha says that he who is wise & virtuous, gentle & humble, energetic & not indolent, remains unshaken in misfortune, is hospitable & friendly, unselfish & generous, impartial and liberal. He attains the true honor as a Human Being.

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The Cherokee Story

There is an old Cherokee story, that of the white and black wolf, that has become popular in the white world, but is only half told.

In it, the grandfather is talking to his grandson about how inside of each of us lives a white wolf and a black wolf. The white wolf is all that is good about us, and the black wolf is all that is bad. The white wolf thrives on justice and peace and the black wolf thrives on anger, fear and hatred.

What the white world has adopted of this tale is this:

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.

"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

In the white world, the story ends like this:The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

In the Cherokee world, the story ends this way:The old Cherokee simply replied, "They both win."

and the story goes on,

"You see, if I only choose to feed the white wolf, the black one will be hiding around every corner waiting for me to become distracted or weak and jump to get the attention he craves. He will always be angry and always fighting the white wolf.But if I acknowledge him, he is happy and the white wolf is happy and we all win. For the black wolf has many qualities - tenacity, courage, fearlessness, strong-willed and great strategic thinking - that I have need of at times and that the white wolf lacks. But the white wolf has compassion, caring, strength and the ability to recognize what is in the best interest of all. You see son, the white wolf needs the black wolf at his side. To feed only one would starve the other and they will become uncontrollable. To feed and care for both means they will serve you well and do nothing that is not a part of something greater, something good, something of life. Feed them both and there will be no more internal struggle for your attention. And when there is no battle inside, you can listen to the voices of deeper knowing that will guide you in choosing what is right in every circumstance.Peace, my son, is the Cherokee mission is life. A man who has peace inside has everything. A man who is pulled apart by the war inside him has nothing. How you choose to interact with the opposing forces within you will determine your life. Starve one or the other or guide them both."

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