II. Early trends and hermitic role models in the Tibetan practice lineages practice lineages
II.3. Mi la ras pa and his impact on the development of hermitic lore
Marpa Lo tsā ba (1012-1097) had several disciples who passed on his scholarly lineage (bshad brgyud), however, it was his radically shamanic pupil who, thanks to his biographical tradition, would become probably the most renowned Tibetan historical figure around the world as well as the pan-Tibetan hermitic prototype.61
60 Samuel 1993: 472.
61 See Davidson 2005: 261 or E. G. Smith 2001: 60.
Although Mar pa was described as a householder, most of his teachings were higher Tantric arts to be practiced in retreat, so it is only natural that what later developed of his transmission and became known as the bKa’ brgyud, was also synonymous with a lineage of hermits and meditators. According to the traditional explanation, the school’s yogic inclination is expressed through one of its designations, the dKar brgyud (“White Lineage”), believed by some Tibetan authors to be the only correct term to describe the Tibetan successors of the Indian sage Nā ro pa. Leaving aside the linguistic and historical skepticisms, it is clear that the label “bKa’/dKar brgyud” by its definition emphasizes the shamanic aspect of Buddhist practice. Consequently, white became the color of the most advanced Tantric yogins, especially in connection with the proficiency of Inner Heat (gtum mo) practice, one of the Nā ro chos drug, which aside from Mahāmudrā, form the core of the bKa’ brgyud pa heritage.62 The single, white cotton robe as a potent symbol of shamanic authority is again utilized by Tibetan hermits today and the complexity of its influence will be discussed extensively in the case study sections below.
The figure of Mi la ras pa the poet-hermit has been the foremost inspiration for Tibetan meditators for centuries. In the context of the living Buddhist tradition, Mi la ras pa (1052-1135) should actually be seen as a far more complex figure than a mere historical personality.
Mi la ras pa of Gung thang, or rJe btsun Mi la ras pa, “The Cotton-Clad Lord Mi la,” also known as Mi la bzhad pa rdo rje, was an eleventh-century heir of Mar pa’s Indian lineages.
His influence on the later formation the bKa’ brgyud schools has been accounted for in several Tibetan sources.63 Nevertheless, he expresses much more than a historical presence.
Due to the impact that the highly popular written and oral versions of his life and teachings have had on generations of practitioners until this very day, Mi la ras pa transcends the role of a lineage patriarch, and becomes the ultimate archetype of the assiduous practitioner, whose efforts are met with an absolute success “within one body and life.”64
62 See E. G. Smith 2001: 40 and Karma stobs rgyal 1999: 4. It is possible that whiteness symbolized the simplicity of the meditator’s mind, but later it also came to denote the power of practice lineages. Compare Tarungpa (sic!) Tulku 2009.
63 The most widespread text authored by gTsang smyon He ru ka (1452-1507) accounting for his life and teachings cannot be considered a source of historical information, since, as is often the case with the rnam thar genre, the plot itself along with the didactic material dominates over biographical details. See Vostrikov 1994:189. Mi la ras pa’s life and work are documented as early as in the 13th century (see rDo rje mdzes ’od 1985). Moreover, we find mentions of Mi la ras pa in the sDeb ther sngon po or in chos ’byung and gser phreng literature which discuss the lives of the masters of the bKa’ brgyud schools. Huber (2006) and Quintman (2008) report on the diverse lam yig and gnas yig scriptures that extol the sites from Mi la’s biographic tradition. Also see Roberts 2007.
64 For the figure of Mi la ras pa as a Tantric Buddhist saint, see Tiso 1989. Compare Davidson’s mention of Mi la ras pa’s archetypal role (Davidson 2005: 256).
What is more, one could perceive this historical personality from a more abstract perspective, if one accounts for the transformative role of the transmission lineage in the continuation of Vajrayāna Buddhism. Within this concept, the past is recurrently reanimated as a dynamic force that possesses the power to convert the practitioner’s self into the perfection of buddhahood.
Consequently, to a Tantric practitioner, Mi la ras pa is considered to be a beyond-personal embodiment of absolute victory over the suffering of saṃsāra, as well as a manifestation of the enlightened principle, whose blessing power (byin rlabs) can be evoked regardless of time and place.65 Due to this power of omnipresence, he can manifestwithin charismatic individuals who pass his spiritual legacy on to others.Contemporary Tibetans believe that Mi la ras pa even has the power to take rebirth in the post-Mao reality of Khams. One of such doyens is particularly responsible for the revival of hermitic training in the area of sKyo brag in Eastern Tibet, as the case study chapters will show.
The most popular version of the life story of Mi la ras pa authored by gTsang sMyon He ru ka (1452-1507) draws on the “sinner-becomes-saint” scheme.66 The reader learns about the Mi la ras pa’s mistreatment in his childhood, his mother’s craving for vengeance against their abusive relatives, as well as the misdeeds the young Mi la ras pa carries out in order to punish his malevolent kin and satisfy his mother’s obsession with revenge. As he realizes the karmic consequences of his behavior, the terrified delinquent sets off to find means that would purge the negative imprints of the transgressions in his mind, the seeds of future suffering. His quest for a suitable instructor leads him to Mar pa, whose harsh treatment of Mi la ras pa so heavily burdened by negativities is meant to cleanse the disciple’s karma. When Mi la ras pa finally begins his proper Tantric training and is granted the necessary dbang, lung and khrid, he is sent off to practice the teachings in mountain solitude.67
From then on, the account of his life would set a powerful paradigm for so many other generations of Tibetan hermits to follow. Seen from the perspective of the concluding section of the narrative, which accounts for Mi la ras pa’s complete liberation and enlightenment “in that very body and life” and in spite of his severe karmic obscurations, the history becomes the model for the highest accomplishment in Tantric practice not only for the bKa’ brgyud pa, but in a
65 Even if virtually all founders and early codifiers of schools are invoked as autonomous Tantric deities, complete with maṇḍala, mantra and sādhanā, Mi la ras pa remains one of the central inspirations for the practice lineages. For the rituals focusing on Mi la ras pa: see later in this chapter.
66 Before gTsang smyon’s time, Mi la ras pa’s life and songs had existed in oral form as well as in many written versions (compare E. G. Smith 1969: 137). Perhaps the most popular edition of the mgur before gTsang smyon was penned by the 3rd Karma pa Rang byung rdo rje. For a reprint of this work see Rang byung rdo rje 2008.
67 Lhalungpa, et al. 1985.
general sense, for all schools of Tibetan Buddhism.68 Yet the power of Mi la ras pa’s example lies precisely in the prospect of identification with his personal path. It is an invitation open to anyone, since what precedes the account of his great victory of supreme awakening are the detailed descriptions of his human weaknesses, transgressions and struggles. For these reasons, even if the sprul sku institution was invented much later, Tibetan Buddhist tradition sees Mi la ras pa as the epitome of the shamanic “self-made” master, whose ascent in social and religious hierarchy was due to his own effort on the path of meditation practice in austerity.
Mi la ras pa’s example certainly inspired other hermits, and his biographical tradition also became accessible to common people through oral accounts, popularizing the yogic lifestyle and helping to create a link between the most advanced Tantric practices trained in strict isolation from society and between that society itself. In this way, the manifestation of Mi la ras pa’s life as archetypal illustrates many significant developments within Tibetan hermitism, especially about the dynamics of the relationship between the hermit and society. It seems that in spite of the isolation, various important levels of exchange have been occurring within this relationship and the perception of the figure of Mi la ras pa among lay society is an excellent example that illustrates the nature of this connection.
Geoffrey Samuel developed Melford Spiro’s69 threefold model of social expectations towards Buddhism and projected it onto the Tantric practices of the Tibetans. Samuel’s model is also divided into three types: “the karma orientation,” “the pragmatic orientation” and “the bodhi orientation.” The first category includes individuals who are concerned with obtaining a better rebirth through avoiding negative actions (sdig pa) and collecting merit (bsod nams);
the second includes individuals who seek the help of an expert practitioner in order to achieve specific goals, important for health, longevity and prosperity. The “bodhi orientation” lies at the heart of every Tantric ritual, animating the practitioner to strive for supreme enlightenment for the good of all.70 It is according to these different expectations that one could investigate the role of Mi la ras pa as an exemplary renunciate who has played a vital role in promoting meditation retreat among the Tibetan practitioners of Tantra.
Descriptions of Mi la ras pa’s success have certainly encouraged those of the idealistic motivation mentioned above to follow in his footsteps. After all, complete enlightenment along with its impressive by-products, such as supernatural powers, were portrayed as available within one lifetime to anyone who engages in the advanced practices of Tantric
68 Lhalungpa, et al. 1985: vii-xxxii. This statement is also proven by my own experience in the field, as I have seen copies of the Mi la’i rnam mgur in the huts of hermits of very different sectarian background all across Khams.
69 Spiro 1982.
70 Samuel 1993: 199-222, 223-244, and 258-269.
yoga. Mi la ras pa’s story suggests that anybody who understood the basic Buddhist truths about impermanence or the importance of liberation from suffering could seek out these highly transformative teachings. The urgency of this quest and the encouragement to renounce saṃsāra and tread the spiritual path to liberation and enlightenment was to become paradigmatic for describing the breakthrough of conversion in the later rnam thar narratives.
With time, Mi la ras pa’s life story also became instrumental to further literary appropriations, composed in the hermitages of La phyi, one of the sites extolled as his favorite venue for retreat. The versions of his biography helped spread the influence of bKa’ brgyud schools over other sites mentioned in the rnam thar, where the bKa’ brgyud pas constructed their hermitages.71 The case study chapters explore the Eastern Tibetan meditation school named after La phyi, which develops the biographical tradition of Mi la ras pa through the adoption of his ascetic lifestyle in the contemporary landscape of post-Mao Khams.
gTsang sMyon’s Mi la’i rnam mgur could also serve as a functional means. It could be used as a handbook of how to lead a solitary lifestyle dedicated to meditation or as a practice manual for meditation rituals performed during retreat, since it contains a summary of esoteric instructions and relates the details of their application along with an explanation of experiences arising from them.72 Excerpts from the Mi la’i rnam mgur could literally be applied as liturgical techniques for use in retreat – for instance, the text of some of the songs has been used as a chant to venerate one’s own guru.73
The rnam thar as such has developed into one of the hermit’s greatest aids on his path of austere practice; the biographical tradition of Mi la ras pa is only one of the many instances, if not one of the most popular ones, of this influential genre. Gene Smith notes on the role of this particular hagiography in maintaining the hermitic practices:
These were works that would continue to inspire the entire Tibetan cultural world down to the present day. [gTsang smyon’s] example fostered a whole school of Bka’ brgyud pa biographical works. These writings glorified the great Bka’ brgyud pa ascetics and yogis who lived and practiced in wilderness retreats and called for an emulation of this way of religious life.74
Considering the idealism of “the bodhi orientation” and the availability of Tantric instructions, with Mi la ras pa, yogic training undeniably became less costly. According to his biographies, the renunciate did not require material offerings in exchange for precepts as his
71 Huber 1997 a: 243-4, Quintman 2008.
72 For the biographies of Mi la ras pa as sacred scriptures, see Tiso 1989: 221-228.
73 E. G. Smith 2001: 9.
74 E. G. Smith 2001: 61.
own guru Mar pa and other teachers of the same period did, after the fashion of Indian gurus.
A mendicant yogin, Mi la ras pa did not found religious institutions, which would call for regular donations. Free contributions were possibly not frowned upon, although they were no longer necessary in order to obtain instructions.75 Mi la ras pa’s disregard for possessions became the hallmark of a yogin free of attachment to wealth or worldly things.
The ideal of high-mindedness, complete detachment and strict yogic self-discipline was to be pursued. The lives of so many subsequent renunciates, such as Lo ras pa dbang phyug brtson ’grus (1187-1250), Zhabs dkar ba tshogs drug rang grol (1781-1851) and more recently Dil mgo76 mKhyen brtse bkra shis dpal ’byor (1910-1991) or Karma rang byung kun khyab, better known as Kar lu Rin po che (1905-1989) to name but a few out of a multitude, have demonstrated that Mi la ras pa’s spirit continues to inspire Tibetan practitioners.77 Also today, as detailed in the case study, the revivalists of the hermitic movement in Khams strongly rely on the figure of Mi la ras pa. However, since hermits themselves have always been few in number, it appears that it is not “the bodhi orientation” that has been decisive for the perpetuation of the hermitic lifestyle among Tibetan societies.
Ideally, the hermit should be independent of the realm of the mundane. Practically, for most of their training, hermits are still reliant on their access to resources, so their existence is influenced by their link to the lay community involved in agricultural or pastoral production.
Since the religious needs of the non-specialists are mostly driven by the accumulation of merit and the fulfillment of personal goals through tapping sources for magical power stemming mostly from Tantric rituals, it becomes important to examine in what ways the story of Mi la ras pa appeals to those groups, since this will disclose one of the most significant factors behind the continuation of the hermitic practices.78
Individuals who operate according to the “karma orientation” would be drawn to Mi la ras pa’s life story for counsel on how to avoid collecting sdig pa and direct oneself toward the accumulation of bsod nams, which immediately leads to a meaningful life and better rebirth.
This guidance is evident in view of the fact that the account of Mi la ras pa’s life does not merely contain sophistications of the rnam thar genre, comprehensible only to an educated individual, nor it is to be read solely by religious professionals. It is also a powerful folk tale with a decidedly didactic flavor, meant for everyone. Indeed, the lines of the Mi la’i rnam
75 Mi la ras pa, et al. 1997: 198.
76 More spelling variants are possible for this name.
77 See Bradburn 1995, Zhabs dkar, et al. 2001, Rab gsal zla ba, et al. 2008, Karma rang byung kun khyab, et al.
1985.
78 Samuel 1993: 199-223, 258-269.
mgur have been chanted and sung by wandering story-tellers all across the plateau to remind the people of bad deeds that lead to a reincarnation in one of the lower realms of existence and of the good or “white” (dkar) ones, which lead to a rebirth in higher existences, or at least, to favorable conditions in the human realm.79
The message becomes more pronounced if its articulation reflects the conditioning of the recipient. The language of the narrative in Mi la ras pa’i rnam mgur is a skillful mode of expression, by means of which the figure of Mi la ras pa powerfully re-connects the obscure world of the hermit with the pragmatism of lay society. The phrasing of the text is straightforward and conversational, depicting not only the hermit’s special powers and spiritual victories, but also the ordeals of his quest to receive religious instruction and the austerities he experienced while practicing them. Furthermore, the text even reports on everyday tasks expressed with an appreciation of various colloquialisms.80
As to the presentation of the figure of Mi la ras pa himself, his power of persuasion, attracting new disciples, convincing donors or taming foes lay in his voice and in the aptness of his teachings, communicated according to the needs of his audience. Mi la ras pa came to be known for his great poetic gift. The vocabulary of the mgur, or spiritual songs attributed to him, is often conveniently simple, close to vernacular speech. Their sincerity, spontaneity and vivid imagery makes them appealing to the common person, even if they articulate very precise meditation technologies, placed contextually in one of Tibet’s most sophisticated mystical lineages. For instance, this particular song skillfully conceals the specialist jargon of meditation training in the Mahāmudra tradition by means of natural imagery:
Listen, [my] happy girl-disciple dPal dar ’bum, [Not only] wealthy, [but also] endowed with trust!
If meditating on the sky makes you happy,
[Why feel disturbed by] southern clouds – they are [mere] apparitions of the sky.
Rest in the natural essence of the sky.
If meditating on the sun and moon makes you happy,
[Why feel disturbed by] planets and stars – they are [mere] apparitions of the sun and moon.
Rest in the natural essence of the sun and moon.
79 Lhalungpa, et al. 1985: vii.
80 See for instance a passage on daily chores: Lhalungpa, et al. 1985: 47 and Rus pa’i rgyan can 2008: 59.
If meditating on the mountain makes you happy,
[Why feel disturbed by] trees – they are [mere] apparitions of the mountain.
Rest in the natural essence of the mountain.
If meditating on the ocean makes you happy,
[Why feel disturbed by] waves – they are [mere] apparitions of the ocean.
Rest in the natural essence of the ocean.
If meditating on [your] own mind makes you happy,
[Why feel disturbed by] discursive thoughts – they are [mere] apparitions of the mind.
Rest in the natural essence of mind itself.81
Simplicity of expression as well as the evocative similes of nature present in the mgur unite the opposing lifestyles of the ordinary folk and the yogin, connecting the untamed mind with the discipline of the highly trained Tantric specialist and bringing together the pragmatic or merit-driven lay society with the practitioner striving to attain buddhahood.82 That ability to mediate between different worlds and reconcile extremes assisted in coining the archetype of the
Simplicity of expression as well as the evocative similes of nature present in the mgur unite the opposing lifestyles of the ordinary folk and the yogin, connecting the untamed mind with the discipline of the highly trained Tantric specialist and bringing together the pragmatic or merit-driven lay society with the practitioner striving to attain buddhahood.82 That ability to mediate between different worlds and reconcile extremes assisted in coining the archetype of the