Marpa - His Life

Marpa

Twelth Chapter : The practice of the oral instructions is born in Marpa's heart. 

In general, Marpa practiced according to the oral instructions that he received, and excellent experiences and realizations were born in his heart. He then sang various songs of realization. In particular, Marpa attained confidence through practicing the transference of consciousness.

ONCE some disciples, headed by Gyang-ro Shangton, and many benefactors were offering an excellent thanksgiving ganacakra. At that time, a young pigeon from a nest near the house was flying behind its mother pursued by a hawk. Though the young pigeon escaped to its nest, it died from being out of breath.

Seeing this corpse, Marpa said, "Should I show you a demonstration of the transference of consciousness today?" Everyone offered prostrations and supplicated for this. Marpa tied a string to the pigeon's leg and then transferred his consciousness. The pigeon arose, staggered, and as it was about to fly up, it reunited affectionately with its mother.

Gyang-ro Shangton looked at the guru's body. It had the appearance of a corpse and he became terrified. Weeping before the body, he requested, "Precious guru, please do not do this. ' ' As this had no effect, he became even more frightened. Then he went before the young pigeon and supplicated.
The young pigeon fell over; immediately the guru arose and said:

Having abandoned my body like an empty house,
I entered another body, a young pigeon.
Extending its wings and about to fly in the sky,
The mother and son birds met affectionately.
Everyone witnessed this; what a great wonder!

Thus Marpa said and he laughed. All of those assembled there acquired great confidence in the transference of consciousness and were struck with wonder.

When Marpa's older brother, Chowo, heard the story of this transference of consciousness, he said, "Is this just a rumor or is it true? If it is true, there is no greater wonder than this." He thought over and over, "I must see for myself whether the transference of consciousness is true or false."
One day while Chowo's weaver-lady was working, a white lamb died from being overfed with milk. Chowo said to Lord Marpa, "Perform the transference of consciousness here as you did with the pigeon."
Marpa replied, "From India I received the rasayana of the consort Vajravarahl, the oral instructions that are a remedy for death, the only medicinal compound of wisdom; therefore I will perform the transference." Lord Marpa said to Chowo, the sondisciples, and the many benefactors assembled there, "I will stay here and transfer my consciousness to the lamb. Watch what the lamb will do."

Accordingly, Chowo and all the others started walking over to the lamb's corpse. When the guru entered into samadhi, the lamb suddenly got up and leaped about.

The weaver-lady was astonished and trembled, saying, "Look at this! It was completely dead; but now it gets up and jumps about."

She was about to hit the lamb with a broom when the witnesses finally arrived there and said, "Don't hit it! This is guru Marpa who is performing the transference of consciousness."

The weaver-lady said, "I have heard of this before, but today I see this with my own eyes. How wondrous!" She loosened the tension in her loom and then prostrated to the lamb and in the direction of Lord Marpa.

Chowo said to his employees, "Bring the revived lamb to the place where the guru is." Chowo himself went near the guru, who appeared to be dead.
The disciples supplicated the lamb, "Please go to where your body is." The lamb walked over to the guru's body, and again jumped about, and then fell over.

Marpa got up and said:

The deathless wisdom,
The rasayana of the mother of the buddhas of the three times,
The medicinal compound of the amrta of the transference of consciousness,
Revives the dead Iamb and so he dances.

An overflowing faith arose in Chowo. He requested teachings and abhiseka and became Marpa's disciple and attendant.

At that time Marpa Cha-se, a relative of Lord Marpa who really disliked and even hated him, said, "Chowo is very gullible. Marpa talked a lot about his travels to India. He learned some magical tricks and deceived Chowo with one of them. On the other hand, if the so-called transference or whatever is genuine, Marpa will claim that he has arrived at buddhahood splendidly without breaking or damaging even a corner of his klesas, but keeping them intact. His breath has a rotten stench. His crotch stinks. He lives by devouring gifts from his devotees. Now that he has attained buddhahood, we will never see any dharma from him." Thus he slandered Marpa.

When Lord Marpa heard about this, he said, "The transference of consciousness is genuine. Therefore I have actually done it. If you do not abandon sense pleasures or do not bring them to the path, the vast and profound buddhahood attained through the many methods and fewer hardships of the secret mantra will not come about. According to the profound knowledge of the secret mantra, if you do not bring sense pleasures to the path, but instead abandon them, it is a disservice to oneself.

Then Marpa sang this song of the greatness of the secret mantra path:

I, Marpa Lotsawa,
Know the king of tantras, the Hevajra.
I have the oral instructions of Mahapandita Naropa.
If I do not remain in solitude, it is a disservice to myself.
I know the king of tantras, the Catuhpitha.
I have the oral instructions of the ejection and transference of consciousness.
If I die in the ordinary way, it is a disservice to myself.

I know how to mix dhyana and sleep.
I have the oral instructions of the luminosity of dreams.
If I sleep in the ordinary way, it is a disservice to myself.
I know the candall, the regal way of holding the mind.
I have the oral instructions that pierce to the pith of mind.
If I do not practice their meaning, it is a disservice to myself.

I know the seventy qualities of prana.
I have the oral instructions of utilizing illness.
If I summon a doctor, it is a disservice to myself.

I know my body to be the mandala of the victorious ones.
If I do not expand nadi, prana, and bindu
Through enjoying meat and liquor, it is a disservice to myself.

In order to bring another person on the path,
I have the oral instructions of karmamudra.
If I do not enjoy the mudra, it is a disservice to myself.

Thus Marpa sang.

All the son-disciples attained conviction in the wisdom of the profound orders of tamra and felt great devotion.

Marpa Cha-se said, "He has to bring up dharmic words in order to justify his actions." Hearing this, others believed in what Marpa Cha-se said. Some disciples were displeased.

Guru Ngokpa and many other son-disciples were gathered at a feast offering when one disciple told guru Marpa what Marpa Cha-se had said. The guru replied, "Ngokpa and others who understand the dharma should not be afraid of this. Beings with perverted thoughts have committed innumerable actions that accumulate evil. Among them, those who are extremely partial to their own opinion and beings who profane sacred outlook are extremely slanderous, even toward the Buddha himself. Many of these even curse their own shadow. Not following their conceptualizations, let go naturally in the state of compassion and illusion. When you arrive at self-purity, you will not accumulate evil. That is how it is."

Then Marpa sang this song:
Bhagavat, great Vajradhara,
In this dark age of five thousand years,
When you ripen and free those of good karma
You appear in the form of the great Lord Naropa.
This unresourceful Marpa the Translator—
Do you hear, see, or think of him?
O father nirmanakaya, please accept me with kindness.
In the avadhuti, the main path of enlightenment,
Prana and mind, bliss and warmth are united,
Becoming unconditioned great bliss.
The wisdom ofunobscured insight dawns.
"This is unsurpassable," the guru has said.

The darkness of ignorance is purified in space.
One is free from the two obscurations of grasping and fixation.
Therefore bliss and luminosity dawn in simplicity.

This appearance of collective coincidence
Is a reflection without self-nature.
All appearances are realized like that,
And just like appearances in a dream,
All dharmas arise as illusions.
Gods, asuras, humans,
Hell beings, pretas, animals—
These various ways of fixating on appearance
Are realized as nonexistent, like an illusion.

When conceptions of the world and its inhabitants
And the gate through which these arise are controlled by the technique of prana,
There appears whatever is desired.
Therefore the mixing and ejecting of consciousness arise free from stain.

When thoughts arise, rest naturally.
When dreaming, be mindful without corrupting it.
When in the pardo, don't control, but be aware.
When there is fruition, let it arise without obscuration.

You followers of Naropa,
Practice the profound oral instructions.
As you have insight, certainty will arise.
Narrow-minded people with perverse realization
Slander even the Buddha.
Cursing even their own shadow,
They chase after deception
And cannot distinguish truth from falsity.
When the fool runs and cries out,
The wise do not follow.

The dharma is empty of sophistry.
This body is a mandala of deities.
This speech is the nature of dharma.
This mind is the essence of wisdom.
Sons, practice free from boredom.
Undoubtedly, you will attain enlightenment.

Thus Marpa sang and everyone gained certainty.
Another time, Marpa and his attendants went to take a walk along the river bank. Some hunters' dogs appeared chasing a deer, and the deer ran into the river and drowned.

Marpa said, "I will perform the transference of consciousness. Some of you go after the deer and protect it from the dogs. Some of you stay here by my body. '' Marpa then transferred his consciousness into the deer and brought the corpse of the deer up to the courtyard outside his house, leaving a trail of wet prints. Then the guru stood up and went there.

While the guru, some disciples, relatives, and many others were looking at the corpse of the deer, the hunters arrived and prepared to butcher it. The guru said jokingly, "I found the corpse of this deer in the river. I don't want you to take it." The disciples and many people told the story of how the guru performed the transference of consciousness.

Some of the hunters said, ''Well then, we ask you to perform the transference of consciousness where we can see it and then we will offer you the body of the deer." Some others said, "If you do this and we see it, we will offer other things in addition to the deer."

So Lord Marpa transferred his consciousness into the deer and brought it through the gate into the courtyard. Then the guru stood up and said:

Through the transference of consciousness kindly given by the guru, A requisite for the feast, a samaya substance
That fulfills all needs and desires,
Is found in this wish-fulfilling gem, the deer.

And he said, "While my consciousness inhabited the body of an animal, my mind appeared to be dull."
After Marpa had done this, everyone there was filled with wonder and amazement. The hunters rejoiced and offered the corpse of the deer as well as other gifts. Many others entered the gate of dharma. In particular, Marpa Cha-se was present there and faith was born in him. He regretted his previous perverted views and deeds and made confession. He requested, ''You said that if one does not enjoy meat, liquor, and women, it is a disservice to onese, if it appears to us that this is no different than what we do. Now, since you seem to possess some confidence, please tell us how this is."

Marpa replied, "You do not understand. Therefore, even if you were to see deities in union, you would say this is the same as what you do. Though I enjoy sense pleasures, I have these confidences that I am not fettered by them.

Then Marpa sang this song of fathoming realization and of the confidence that has totally mastered the dharma:

I prostrate to the father gums.
By the kindness of the lord forefathers,
When in solitude and at leisure, I meditate on nadi and prana.
Exerting body and mind again and again, I meditate.
Even when my elements are in turmoil, I have no anxiety.
I have confidence in knowing this will heighten my practice.
While asleep, I meditate on luminosity.
Focusing appearances again and again, I meditate.
Even when experiencing delusion, I have no anxiety.
I have confidence in knowing this as unity.

At the time of dream, I meditate on the illusory body.
Expanding on appearances again and again, I meditate.
Even when the dreams become discursive, I have no anxiety.
I have confidence in knowing them as illusory.

While enjoying sense pleasures, I meditate on the deity.
Experiencing their taste again and again, I meditate.
Even when seeing ordinary food and drink, I have no anxiety.
I have confidence in knowing these as a feast offering.

On the occasion of upayamarga, I meditate on another's body.
Arousing bliss again and again, I meditate.
Even when it appears to be mundane, I have no anxiety.
I have confidence in knowing this as coemergent.

At the time of death, I meditate on the ejection of consciousness.
Practicing the ejection of consciousness again and again, I meditate.
I Even when the signs of death appear, I have no anxiety.
I have confidence in knowing them as sampannakrama.

At the time of death, I enter the pardo.
The pardo is like a cloud or mist.
Even when passion and aggression arise, I have no anxiety.
I have confidence in knowing them as self-liberated.

Thus Marpa sang.

Unwavering faith was born in Marpa Cha-se and he requested teachings and abhiseka. Later he became a patron who rendered perfect service.
At another time, a yak had died near the site of a feast where many people had gathered. When the workers were preparing to take the corpse away, Marpa said, "My share of the work will be to carry away the corpse of the yak. “ He then transferred his consciousness into the yak and brought the yak's corpse up to the courtyard. Then Marpa stood up and said:

The essence of the dakini's body, speech, and mind
Is the horse of nadi, prana, and bodhicitta.
Urged by the whip of equal taste,
The old yak crosses the dangerous passage.

Because he achieved certainty in the transference of consciousness, Marpa became completely renowned as a siddha, undisputed by anyone. In the same way, he gave the supreme single transmission lineage of the profound instructions on the transference of consciousness to his son Tarma Dode.

go to Thirteenth Chapter: Life of Marpa