Tibetian

Milarepa is a follower of Buddha, and his withdrawal, too, is a quest for freedom from the material and for total knowledge of the “unknown.”

When named I am the man apart;

I am the sage of Tibet;

I am Milarepa.

5 I hear little but counsel much;

I reflect little but persevere much;

I sleep little but endure in meditation much.

My narrow bed gives me ease to stretch & bend; my thin clothing makes my body warm;

10 my scanty fare satisfies my belly.

Knowing one thing I have experience of all things; knowing all things I comprehend them to be one.

I am the goal of every great meditator;

I am the meeting place of the faithful;

15 I am the coil of birth & death Sc decay.

I have no preference for any country;

I have no home in any place;

I have no store of provisions for my livelihood.

I have no fondness for material things;

20 I make no distinction between clean Sc unclean in food; I have little torment of suffering.

I have little desire for self-esteem;

I have little attachment or bias;

I have found the freedom of Nirvana.

25 I am the comforter of the aged;

I am the madman who counts death happiness;

I am the playmate of children.

30 When the tiger-year was ending Sc the hare-year beginning

On the sixth day of the month of the barking of the fox,

I grew weary of the things of this world;

Sc in my yearning for solitude 35 I came to the sanctuary wilderness, Mount Everest.

Then heaven Sc earth took counsel together Sc sent forth the whirlwind as messenger.

The elements of wind Sc water seethed

Sc the dark clouds of the south rolled up in concert;

40 the sun Sc the moon were made prisoner

Sc the twenty-eight constellations of the moon were fastened together;

The eight planets in their courses were cast into chains

&C the faint milky way was delivered into bondage;

The little stars were altogether shrouded in mist

& when all things were covered in the complexion of mist

For nine days & nine nights the snow fell,

Steadily throughout the eighteen times of day & night it fell.

When it fell heavily the flakes were as big as the flock of wool,

& fell floating like leathered birds.

When the snow fell lightly the flakes were small as spindles,

& fell circling like bees.

Again, they were as small as peas or mustard-seed,

& fell turning like distaffs.

Moreover the snow surpassed measure in depth, the peak of white snow above reached to the heavens &C the trees of the forest below were bowed down.

The dark hills were clad in white,

Ice formed upon the billowing lakes

&C the blue Tsangpo was constrained in its depths.

The earth became like a plain without hill or valley,

&; in natural consequence of such a great fall

The lay folk were mewed up;

Famine overtook the four-footed cattle,

& the small deer especially found no food; the leathered birds above lacked nourishment,

& the marmots & field-mice below hid in their burrows; the jaws of beasts of prey were stiffened together.

In such fearsome circumstances this strange fate befell me, Milarepa. There were these three: the snowstorm driving down from on high, the icy blast of mid-winter,

& the cotton cloth which I, the sage Mila, wore;

& between them rose a contest on that white snow peak.

The falling snow melted into goodly water;

The wind, though rushing mightily, abated of itself,

& the cotton cloth blazed like fire.

Life &c death wrestled there after the fashion of champions,

& swords crossed victorious blades.

That I won there the heroic fight

Will be an example to all the faithful

&C a true example to all great contemplatives;

More especially will it prove the greater excellence

Of the single cotton cloth & the inner heat.

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That the white ice-peak of Tise, great in fame, is just a mountain covered with snow, proves the whiteness of Buddha’s teaching.

That the turquoise lake of Mapang, great in fame.

Is water through which water flows, proves the dissolution of all created things.

That I, Milarepa, great in fame, am an old & naked man,

Proves that I have forsaken & set at nought self-interest.

That I am a singer of little songs,

Proves that I have learned to read the world as a book.

(Jerome Rothenberg, ed., Technicians of the Sacred, pp. 251-254.)

JESUS

Christian

Jesus, in keeping with the Oriental tradition, withdraws for a period of fasting and self-examination. Like the Buddha, he is tempted by the illusory values of the world. His inner strength prevails.

In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying. Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying,

5 The voice of one crying in the wilderness.

Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle 10 about his loins, and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to 15 flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: and think not to say within yourselves. We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn 20 down, and east into the fire.

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the gar-35 ner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and

Comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward ahungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said. If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said. It is written.

Man shall not live by bread alone,

But by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

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Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him. If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written.

He shall give his angels charge concerning thee:

And in their hands they shall bear thee up,

Lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Jesus said unto him. It is written again. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him. All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him. Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written.

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Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. 35

(Matthew 3, 4.)