Gyalwang Karmapa resumes his transmission of The Songs of Milarepa

January 04, 2009, report by Jo Gibson, photos taken by Karma Lekcho, Karma Norbu

During the second session of the first day of the 26th Kagyu Monlam, Gyalwang Karmapa resumed his transmission of The Songs of Milarepa. He began by reading the third chapter which tells how, after years of difficulties and hardships, Marpa finally accepted Milarepa as his student. Milarepa prostrated and wept with joy. Marpa gave him the Refuge Vows, cut his hair, gave him the Bodhisattva Vow, and promised to instruct him.

His Holiness drew on this story to talk about the lama-student relationship. The first lesson from the story was that through all those hardships imposed on him by Marpa, Milarepa had never given up on his teacher. As followers of the Kagyu lineage, we should follow the example of the great lineage masters.

Pointing out the six great tormas to his left and right, His Holiness explained that this year there was a break with tradition. The tormas on his right were representations of the great Kagyu lineage masters Marpa, Milarepa and Gampopa, but the ones on his left represented the other great lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, Nyingmapa, Sakyapa, and the Gadenpa (founders of the Gelukpa tradition). His Holiness gave a potted history of the development of the different lineages in Tibetan Buddhism and then reminded everybody that although there were differences between these traditions, with slight differences in instructions and emphasis, we should remember that basically they were interlinked, and often mixed up together. The tormas were a reminder of the width of the Buddhist lineage, not just decorations.

Referring back again to the story, he said that Marpa had no personal motive in giving Mila such a hard time. His actions could be misunderstood, but were in fact buddha activities, not something wrong or unskilfull. As to our own lamas, apart from our own teacher we had many different lamas – our root lama, lineage lamas, and so forth, therefore, even if guru yoga was part of our practice, we should also recite the lineage prayer because it referred to many lamas from different schools with whom we had a connection. Remembering this would prevent disunity and fragmentation. We enter into the Buddhist path to work for the benefit of beings without partisanship.

The first requirement of a student was devotion and confidence in their root lama and the lineage lamas. The second requirement was study and practice. The life of Milarepa was more than a story. We needed to study it, understand it, and then put the lessons from it into action. We read the story in order to understand how the dharma was actualized in Milarepa’s life.

His Holiness then moved on to other special features of this year’s Monlam. The mandala containing stones from all over the world was very appropriate when the purpose of the Monlam was to pray for world peace and the welfare of the peoples of the world.

The Mandala containing Stones

The red entrance gate and the banners on the stone palisade contained aspiration prayers on different topics in different languages, illustrating the different hopes, concerns and aspirations people have in different parts of the world. There were even some prayers which had recently arrived from Tibet. His Holiness commented that these days many Tibetans were living in great difficulties and in a state of fear so they needed our special prayers, and we should pray for them as much as possible.

The red entrance gate and the banners on the stone palisade contained aspiration prayers

“My wish is that this Kagyu Monlam becomes a mandala of love and compassion.”

Everyone gathered at the Monlam, ordained and lay, should remember the suffering in the world. The modern news media meant that we were aware now of problems in all parts of the world. These should be the objects for our prayers and the dedication of our merit. When we watched the news we should not do so as if it were a movie or regard other people’s suffering dispassionately - “That one is dying”, ”That one is sick..”. Rather we needed to reflect on the suffering that we saw and use it to generate unbearable compassion.

The teaching session ended with five minutes meditation led by His Holiness. Parakeets squabbled in the bodhi tree. On the outer circuit hundreds of pilgrims continued to circumambulate. Beyond, on the road outside, cars and motorbikes honked their horns and there was a general babble of sound from the streets beyond, but inside the Monlam enclosure everyone sat in silence.

His Holiness had made his final point: the Kagyu are the practice lineage, the people who meditate.