Six Illusions, Metaphors of Experience

Jetsun Milarepa

(Translated from Tibetan by Michele Martin)

Look at all the objects appearing outside,

fleeting visions like last night’s dream.

When you recall them, delusions make your mind uneasy.

Have you cut through your confusion, Rechungpa?

When I reflect on this, sublime Dharma comes to mind.

Look inward at your physical form,

transitory like a castle in the sky.

Its rise and fall make your mind uneasy.

Have you cut through birth and death, Rechungpa?

When I reflect on this, sublime Dharma comes to mind.

Look inward at your perceiving mind,

fugitive like a bird on the crest of a tree

so restless it makes your mind uneasy.

Have you found mind’s secure place, Rechungpa?

When I reflect on this, sublime Dharma comes to mind.

Look inward at your breath moving inside,

impermanent like mist in the air.

Its fading and passing make your mind uneasy.

Have you seen movement vanish on its own, Rechungpa?

When I reflect on this, sublime Dharma comes to mind.

Look at all your friends collected here,

transitory like crowds at a fair.

Their gathering and parting make your mind uneasy.

Have you set relations on a higher level, Rechungpa?

When I reflect on this, sublime Dharma comes to mind.

Look at all the wealth you’ve amassed,

precarious like the honey bees create.

Others enjoying your fortune makes your mind uneasy.

Have you opened the treasury of mind itself, Rechungpa?

When I reflect on this, sublime Dharma comes to mind.

The song comes from Mi la ras pa’i rnam mgyur. mTso sngon mi rigs dpe skrun khang: Xining, Qinghai. Second edition 1989, pp. 590–93.

Jetsun Milarepa (Tibetan: རྗེ་བཙུན་མི་ལ་རས་པ, Wylie: rje btsun mi la ras pa, 1040–1123) is considered one of Tibet’s most famous yogis and spiritual poets, whose teachings are known among many schools of Tibetan Buddhism. During his young life, familial controversy led him to murder multiple people. However, he turned to Buddhism and became a highly accomplished disciple of Marpa Lotsawa. Milarepa would become a major figure in the lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.

Michele Martin has been a Buddhist practitioner for over five decades, much of which she spent studying in Nepal and India while also traveling to translate for Tibetan lamas. Her books and articles cover Tibetan Buddhist practice and philosophy. She lives in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York.