Milarepa Quotes

Milarepa (Jetsun Milarepa, 1052-1135), the most famous Tibetan yogi and poet, transformed from a black magician to an enlightened master under the guidance of Marpa the Translator. His life story and songs of realization continue to inspire practitioners in the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.

The most profound meditation is to think nothing at all.
Milarepa
The six realms of existence are like a dream, why build a prison for yourself?
Milarepa
In the beginning, nothing comes, in the middle nothing stays, in the end nothing goes.
Milarepa
Maintain the state of undistractedness and distractions will fly away.
Milarepa
When you run after your thoughts, you are like a dog chasing a stick. Every time a stick is thrown, you run after it. Instead, be like a lion who, rather than chasing after the stick, turns to face the thrower.
Milarepa
The snow lion stays in the mountains, and the snow lion's ways are the snow lion's ways.
Milarepa
The yogi's joy is in the solitude of mountains, where all distractions naturally dissolve into emptiness.
Milarepa
The experience of emptiness engenders compassion.
Milarepa
The teaching is simple: act with kindness and compassion. If you cannot do this, at least try not to harm others.
Milarepa
The only things that are truly mine are my actions and their results.
Milarepa
The mind itself is the maker of all happiness and misery; yet beings do not understand this and blame external conditions.
Milarepa
If you want to know your past life, look into your present condition; if you want to know your future life, look into your present actions.
Milarepa
The practitioner and practice are like fire and wood. The more you practice, the more you burn.
Milarepa
External seeking only leads to exhaustion. When you imitate others, you lose your own authenticity.
Milarepa
The practice of Dharma is a constant battle within oneself.
Milarepa
The signs of practice are not in extraordinary experiences but in extraordinary awareness of ordinary experiences.
Milarepa
All worldly pursuits have but one unavoidable and inevitable end, which is sorrow; acquisitions end in dispersion; buildings in destruction; meetings in separation; births in death.
Milarepa
In the gap between thoughts, nonconceptual wisdom shines continuously.
Milarepa
To be attached to a thing means that mind and the thing meet and grow into each other.
Milarepa
In my youth I studied, in my prime I practiced, now all my doubts are cleared.
Milarepa