Milarepa & yoga

General discussion, particularly exploring the Dharma in the modern world.
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goldenlotus
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Milarepa & yoga

Post by goldenlotus »

What type of yoga, where yogis like Milarepa and the siddhas using?
are there still yogis who practice this type of yoga?
can vajrayan be intensively practiced in this modern age?

thanks
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conebeckham
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Re: Milarepa & yoga

Post by conebeckham »

"yoga" really means "joining," and there are many different methods Milarepa used, including some physical practices.
These are still ver much alive, but are not freely given. Expect years of preparation, and lots of meditation first....
དམ་པའི་དོན་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ཆེ་བ་དང་།
རྟོག་གེའི་ཡུལ་མིན་བླ་མའི་བྱིན་རླབས་དང་།
སྐལ་ལྡན་ལས་འཕྲོ་ཅན་གྱིས་རྟོགས་པ་སྟེ།
དེ་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ལ་ནི་ལོ་རྟོག་སེལ།།


"Absolute Truth is not an object of analytical discourse or great discriminating wisdom,
It is realized through the blessing grace of the Guru and fortunate Karmic potential.
Like this, mistaken ideas of discriminating wisdom are clarified."
- (Kyabje Bokar Rinpoche, from his summary of "The Ocean of Definitive Meaning")
goldenlotus
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Re: Milarepa & yoga

Post by goldenlotus »

conebeckham wrote:"yoga" really means "joining," and there are many different methods Milarepa used, including some physical practices.
These are still ver much alive, but are not freely given. Expect years of preparation, and lots of meditation first....
1)what is it these yogis "realize"?

im guessing the emptiness of everything....

2)How does a person prepare ?

I have been reading Shantidevas book, and trying to understand the correct view of understanding mahayana.
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Virgo
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Re: Milarepa & yoga

Post by Virgo »

goldenlotus wrote:
conebeckham wrote:"yoga" really means "joining," and there are many different methods Milarepa used, including some physical practices.
These are still ver much alive, but are not freely given. Expect years of preparation, and lots of meditation first....
1)what is it these yogis "realize"?
Everything
goldenlotus wrote: 2)How does a person prepare ?
You will get a hundred different answers from 100 different people, and most of them will probably be right. However, what I would personally suggest is praying to Padmasambhava and saying his mantra: OM AH HUNG VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUNG.

Kevin
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Aemilius
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Re: Milarepa & yoga

Post by Aemilius »

There is a guy called Ryan who has considerable knowledge and experience in this field, i.e. the physical yoga practices in kagyu & gelug schools, he used to write in an other forum that existed before, at present you can find him here:
http://people.tribe.net/sahajananda
svaha
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Sarvē mānavāḥ svatantrāḥ samutpannāḥ vartantē api ca, gauravadr̥śā adhikāradr̥śā ca samānāḥ ēva vartantē. Ētē sarvē cētanā-tarka-śaktibhyāṁ susampannāḥ santi. Api ca, sarvē’pi bandhutva-bhāvanayā parasparaṁ vyavaharantu."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1. (in english and sanskrit)
Jinzang
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Re: Milarepa & yoga

Post by Jinzang »

1)what is it these yogis "realize"?
Primordial purity
2)How does a person prepare ?
By practicing the common and extraordinary preliminaries (ngondro)
"It's as plain as the nose on your face!" Dottie Primrose
goldenlotus
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Re: Milarepa & yoga

Post by goldenlotus »

Okay thanks everybody for taking the time to respond.

So essentialy, i'll have to be initiated into a Vajrayana school; i watched a interview with Daniel Brown: The Great Way. And it got me extremely interested in meditation practices from the indo tibet tradition.

1)What are the essential texts to get a clear foundation of indo-tibetan buddhism ( i know there are many schools)
2)I have been reading about lam-rim; is initiation necessary to begin lam rim practice?
3)So basically whats the first step into indo-tibetan buddhism? ( besides finding my Guru; which i consider a very important step)
meiji1
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Re: Milarepa & yoga

Post by meiji1 »

You can start shamatha right away, provided you can find good written instructions or a practice group, neither of which is hard to do. You're generally expected to have a good foundation in shamatha before beginning anything like ngondro anyway, so it's good to start as soon as you can. Also, when I first started, I balked at the idea of doing foundational practices for a few years or more because I wanted to get immediately to teh sexy Vajrayana stuff, a big fault in attitude on my part. Please recognize that "finding your guru" may take quite a while.
goldenlotus
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Re: Milarepa & yoga

Post by goldenlotus »

is there a way to make sure that if i do not become accomplished in yoga/tantra to continue in a next birth?

:meditate:
meiji1
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Re: Milarepa & yoga

Post by meiji1 »

I don't know. You could practice phowa, try for rebirth in a Buddha realm.. of course, the very fact you're able to meet the Dharma means you had a connection to it in a previous life, which ought to continue, down the line..
meiji1
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Re: Milarepa & yoga

Post by meiji1 »

Here's a good reading list, by the way: http://musingsbyken.blogspot.com/2010/0 ... -list.html

I failed to mention it before, but "Mindfulness in Plain English" is great for starting shamatha. It's pretty widely available.
goldenlotus
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Re: Milarepa & yoga

Post by goldenlotus »

im going with Mindfulness in plain english
Im already reading Shantidevas text online.

For lamrim i might go with WMPT or JOL

I really want to develop good concentration but also proper concentration by using the breath
Tarpa
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Re: Milarepa & yoga

Post by Tarpa »

A couple good books on meditation -

Diamond Mind - Rob Nairn

Breath By Breath - Larry Rosenberg - highly recommended, this is a commentary / meditation manual on the Anapanasati sutra, the buddhas first meditation teaching, it's a very holistic method that starts with shamata and very naturally leads into vipassana.

A good meditation teaching by Thrangu Rinpoche online here - http://www.rinpoche.com/shamatha.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and here - http://www.rinpoche.com/reason.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Twelve Links of Interdependent Origination - http://www.rinpoche.com/teachings/12links.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

happy trails ! :smile:
The nonexistence of the transcendence of suffering
is what the protector of the world has taught as the transcendence
of suffering.
Knots tied on space
are untied by space itself.

May I never be seperated from perfect masters in all lives,
and delightfully experiencing the magnificent dharma,
completing all qualities of the stages of the paths
may I quickly attain the state of Vajradhara
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Karma Dondrup Tashi
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Re: Milarepa & yoga

Post by Karma Dondrup Tashi »

goldenlotus wrote:is there a way to make sure that if i do not become accomplished in yoga/tantra to continue in a next birth?

:meditate:
Find your heart teacher.
It has been the misfortune (not, as these gentlemen think it, the glory) of this age that everything is to be discussed. Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France.
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Paul
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Re: Milarepa & yoga

Post by Paul »

Tarpa wrote: Diamond Mind - Rob Nairn
This is very good indeed. :reading:
goldenlotus wrote: 1)What are the essential texts to get a clear foundation of indo-tibetan buddhism ( i know there are many schools)
"Secret of the Vajra World: The Tantric Buddhism of Tibet" & "Indestructible Truth: The Living Spirituality of Tibetan Buddhism" by Reginald Ray are an excellent guide to Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. The books are meant to be read one after the other.
Look at the unfathomable spinelessness of man: all the means he's been given to stay alert he uses, in the end, to ornament his sleep. – Rene Daumal
the modern mind has become so limited and single-visioned that it has lost touch with normal perception - John Michell
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Karma Dondrup Tashi
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Re: Milarepa & yoga

Post by Karma Dondrup Tashi »

Hayagriva wrote: "Secret of the Vajra World: The Tantric Buddhism of Tibet" & "Indestructible Truth: The Living Spirituality of Tibetan Buddhism" by Reginald Ray are an excellent guide to Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. The books are meant to be read one after the other.
Second one you mention first, no?
It has been the misfortune (not, as these gentlemen think it, the glory) of this age that everything is to be discussed. Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France.
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