(Minghui.org) After recently rereading “The Cultivation Story of Buddha Milarepa,” published on Minghui.org, I now have a better understanding of the seriousness of cultivation and karma elimination. In this article, the text in italics is taken from Part 10 and Part 11 of the serialized story; at the end of each paragraph, I share my understanding of the story.
After the achievements of benefiting countless beings, the Venerable met geshe Tsakpuwa at Drin [geshe is a Tibetan Buddhist academic degree]. Tsakpuwa was very greedy for money, but residents in Drin respected him because he was a scholar. He was always invited to feasts as the guest of honor. After meeting the Venerable, Tsakpuwa was courteous and faithful on the surface but jealous at heart. He asked difficult questions in public numerous times, attempting to embarrass the Venerable, but he never succeeded.
Milarepa’s Compassion Toward the Woman Who Poisoned Him
The geshe Tsakpuwa had a mistress. He asked this woman to put poison in some cheese and take it to the Venerable to kill him. He promised to give her a large piece of jade after this was done. The woman believed him and took some poisoned cheese to the Venerable as an offering.[Out of his wish for fame and material interest, Tsakpuwa instructed his mistress to poison Milarepa.]
The Venerable was already fully aware of this. By visualizing the karmic relations, he knew that those with predestined affinity had been saved. Although the poison could not harm him, his nirvana was coming, so he decided to accept the poison as an offering. The Venerable also knew that if the woman did not get the jade before giving him the poisoned cheese, she would not get it later because Tsakpuwa would never give it to her afterward. So the Venerable said to the woman, “I won't accept it now. If you come back later, I will probably take it then.” [Despite the woman’s greed and shortsightedness, Milarepa wanted to save her by using this ruse.]
Hearing these words from the Venerable, the woman was puzzled and afraid. She suspected the Venerable might already know the cheese was poisoned. Nervous and unsettled, she left. [The woman’s conscience had awakened, so she knew that her actions were wrong.]
After seeing Tsakpuwa, the woman told him what had happened and said that the Venerable must have supernatural powers, which was why he did not accept the cheese.
Tsakpuwa replied, “Humph! If he has supernatural power, he would not ask you to take it to him later. Or he would tell you to eat it. Instead, he asked you to bring it to him later. It clearly shows that he does not have supernatural powers. Now take this jade and take the cheese to him. This time, make sure he eats it!” He then gave her the jade.[Out of ignorance and a strong desire to succeed, Tsakpuwa continued with his plan.]
The woman said, “Everyone believes he must have supernatural power. Because he does, he did not eat it yesterday. If I bring it to him today, he absolutely will not eat it. I am so scared and dare not go. I don't want the jade now. Please forgive me. I cannot do this for you.” [The woman’s conscience would not let her do the bad deed.]
Tsakpuwa said, “Only fools would believe that he has supernatural power. They don't read sutras, lack rationality, and are deceived by his lies. In the sutras I read, people who have supernatural powers are not like him. I guarantee he does not have supernatural powers. Now go take the poisoned cheese for him to eat. If we succeed, I will not let you down. We have been in love for such a long time, and I don't think we need to worry about the gossip any longer. If you can get this done, I will go ahead and marry you. Not only will this jade be yours, but you will also be in charge of my assets inside and outside the house. Whether we are rich or poor, we will stay together until we die. Do you agree?”[Tsakpuwa continued to entice the woman using reasoning, lust, and her desire for material gain.]
The woman believed him. Again she put the poison in some cheese and took it to the Venerable as an offering. The Venerable broke into a smile and accepted it. The woman thought, “The geshe is right. He truly has no supernatural power!” [To fulfill her desires, the woman believed what he said and carried out the evil deed.]
The Venerable smiled at her and said, “The price for doing this—the jade, did you get it?”
Hearing these words, the woman was so frightened her jaw dropped open and she was speechless. Guilty and scared, her entire body shook, and her face turned pale. She kowtowed and said in a trembling voice, “I have the jade. But please do not eat the cheese. Give it to me.” [The woman regretted her actions after Milarepa revealed that he knew what she was doing.]
The Venerable asked, “Why do you want it?”
She cried, “Let me, the one who has committed sins, eat it.” [The woman knew what was good and what was bad but still chose to do wrong.]
The Venerable replied, “First, I cannot bear to let you eat it, since you are only to be pitied. Second, if I refuse your offering, I would violate Bodhisattva rules with this fundamental infraction. Moreover, I have completed the undertakings for myself, and others, and offered salvation, and it is time for me to go to another world. In fact, your offering cannot harm me, and there is no difference whether I eat it or not. Had I eaten the cheese from you last time, you probably would not have gotten the jade. So I did not do that. Now that you have the jade in hand, I can eat it without concern, and he would be satisfied. Another thing is that he offered you this or that after this is done. But his words are not reliable. As to his remarks about me, none of them are true. The two of you will later be full of regret. By then, the best way is for you to truly repent and seriously learn dharma. Or, at least remember that regarding issues related to life and death, do not commit such sins in the future! Now you can sincerely pray to me and my lineage heritage.” [Milarepa explained the situation to the woman and reminded her to remember her fundamental humanity, demonstrating his immense kindness.]
“You two often abandon happiness and seek suffering. This time, I will vow to clear the sins committed by you on your behalf. Sooner or later, people will know what you did at this time. But for your safety, please don't tell anyone before my death. I am now an old man, and you folks didn't see if what I said in the past was true or not. So you may not believe my words. This time you see it with your own eyes. You will know that what I said is true.” With that, the Venerable ate the cheese. [Milarepa was very considerate and offered the woman salvation out of compassion and wisdom and didn’t worry about the consequences for himself—enormous suffering.]
Saving Tsakpuwa with Compassion
After some time, the Venerable appeared to be severely ill. Geshe Tsakpuwa came with fine wine and meat, pretending to give an offering. He went up to the Venerable and ridiculed, “Ugh! With the ability to achieve such great things like Master has, such a severe illness should not have happened. How did you get sick? If the illness could be shared with others, you could split it among major disciples. Or if the illness could be transferred, please give it to me. Now there is nothing you can do. How can we end this?” [Tsakpuwa taunted the Venerable because he still felt jealous and vicious.]
The Venerable smiled peacefully and said to him, “I could have avoided this illness. As to why it came anyway, you should be clear on it. The illness of an ordinary person is different from that of a yogi, in both its nature and karmic relationships. The illness I have now is essentially a solemn manifestation of Buddha dharma.” [The enlightened being revealed the truth to the transgressor while peacefully forbearing great pain.]
Tsakpuwa thought the Venerable might be suspecting him, but he was not sure. The Venerable said illness could be transferred, which is totally groundless. How could illness be transferred to others in this world? So he said, “I am not clear on the cause of master's illness. If the illness is caused by ghosts, a ritual that drives off demons is needed; if it is because the four Great Elements are out of coordination, one should tone the body and take medicine. If the illness could actually be transferred to others, master, please transfer it to me.” [Tsakpuwa continued to demonstrate his ego and arrogance.]
The Venerable said, “There is a person with great sins. The demon in his mind came out to harm me, putting my four Great Elements out of coordination and causing my illness. You do not have the power to eradicate this illness. Although I could transfer it to you, I am afraid you could not bear it for even a moment. So it’s better not to do it.” [Out of kindness, Milarepa continued to speak the truth.]
Tsakpuwa thought, “This person cannot transfer illness to others at all. So he said these sarcastic words. I have to embarrass him.” He then begged the Venerable again and again to transfer the illness to him. [Tsakpuwa’s words showed that he was foolish, arrogant, and stubborn.]
The Venerable replied, “Since you insist on doing so, I will temporarily transfer the illness to the door I am facing. If I transfer it to you, you could not bear it. Now, look closely.” With his divine power, the Venerable moved the pain to the door he was facing. The door gave a creaking sound at first, as if it would be torn apart. After a while, it really broke into small pieces. The Venerable, on the other hand, appeared as if he had no illness. [An enlightened being used his divine powers to save people while using a door to demonstrate the huge pain Tsakpuwa and the woman had caused.]
Tsakpuwa thought, “This is magic to cover it up. You cannot fool me.” So he said, “Ah! This is really astonishing! But, Master, please just transfer the illness to me.” [Tsakpuwa remained recklessly foolish because he could not accept the truth.]
The Venerable said, “Since you are begging so badly, I will give half of the illness to you. If I transfer all of it to you, you absolutely could not bear it.” He then transferred half of the pain. Tsakpuwa was immediately in great pain. He could hardly shiver or breathe. When he nearly died, the Venerable took back the majority of the illness he transferred and asked, “I just gave you a small portion of the illness. How was it? Could you withstand it?” [An enlightened being offered salvation with compassion and consideration. He also explained that people often could not endure the karma they had committed; otherwise, they would be ruined and could even die as a consequence.]
After experiencing the severe pain himself, a strong repentance arose in Tsakpuwa's mind. He knelt down, prostrated in front of The Venerable, and said with tears running down his face, “Master! Master! I sincerely repent now. Please forgive me. I will give all my assets to Master as offerings. Please help with the consequences of my sins.” He cried very sadly. [Tsakpuwa finally awakened and repented after admitting his sins.]
Seeing him truly repenting, the Venerable was very happy and took back the remaining small amount of illness. He said, “I did not want land and assets during my lifetime. Now I am dying, and they are even more useless to me. You can keep them. Please do not commit bad deeds later, even if you die. I agree to help you resolve the consequences of your sins this time.” [Milerepa demonstrated that the compassion of an enlightened being is boundless when saving people.]
Tsakpuwa said to the Venerable, “I did bad deeds in the past mostly for money. I don't need it now. Although Master does not want to accept it, the disciples always need aid for practice. Please accept it on their behalf.” Although he begged like this, the Venerable did not take it. The disciples accepted it later and used the assets to hold assemblies. Even in the present day, these assemblies still take place in Chubar.
From then on, Tsakpuwa surprisingly forsook the greediness he had nursed throughout his lifetime and became a very good practitioner. [He worked on improving his character.]
The Venerable said to his disciples, “The reason I stayed here was to help this person with great sins to truly repent and be liberated from suffering.”
My Understanding
The story about Milarepa was published on the Chinese Minghui website in December 2000 (the English version became available in October 2018). Many years have passed, and by rereading it, I have a deeper understanding of the seriousness of our cultivation practice. Furthermore, I cannot imagine how much Master Li, founder of Falun Dafa, has suffered for us.
Milarepa was clearly aware that the poisoned cheese would cause him severe pain. But he ignored the peril because he intended to enlighten Tsakpuwa and the woman and offer them salvation, thereby demonstrating great compassion.
Although he witnessed the door breaking into pieces, Tsakpuwa remained stubborn out of ignorance and ego. However, Milarepa was unmoved by this and continued offering salvation with compassion as well as wisdom.
Even when transferring the illness to Tsakpuwa, Milarepa only moved part of it so that Tsakpuwa could feel what was going on without harming him. I was very touched by his kind actions.
As Falun Dafa practitioners, we know cultivation practice involves karma elimination. That is why we experience those unfavorable things in our lives. Master uses those opportunities for us to improve xinxing. But we need to be clear Master has also been eliminating karma for us as well as sentient beings all along; otherwise, we would not be able to bear the full force of the suffering.
With this thought, I know I will no longer complain about my hardships because resentment comes from human notions. Instead, I will be grateful for everything I have and strive to be more diligent in cultivation practice to fulfill my mission.
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Category: Traditional Culture
