Customer Reviews

The Life of Milarepa: A New Translation from the Tibetan (Compass)

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This life story of Milarepa has long been one of the most popular books among Tibetans of all backgrounds and lineages, and Lhalungpa's clear translation brings the story to life in English. Milarepa's life would be an inspiration to spiritual aspirants of any religion, and especially to anyone interested in the teachings and practices of Tibetan Buddhism.

This book is about the tale of Tibet's most beloved saint, Milarepa translated from a Tibetan source. It tells of how he embarked on the journey of revenge, and then realizing the grave mistake of taking many lives, seek the Vajrayana path through his guru, Marpa, to attain enlightenment in a single lifetime. Milarepa encountered many hardships but finally achieved his goal.

Anybody who has not heard or read about the life of Milarepa but on the Vajrayana path should read this book as Milarepa is an excellent role model.

The story of Milarepa is a classic in Tibet. He is their Robin Hood and their Shakespere, and universally loved. This is the most well known of the recent translations and provides a readable and fun story, if not something that is somehow going to provide enlightment.

Milarepa starts out as an orphaned child who learns magic to defeat an uncle who slaughtered his family. Later in life, he renounces those powers and becomes a monk.

I highly recommend this book!

As Milarepa tells his story, one of his disciples interrupts him and says that compared to Milarepa's effort, all of our spiritual practice and effort seems like a banal pretension.

I tend to agree. The story will rekindle your dedication. A great book to get if you are feeling down or if it seems like your spiritual quest is too hard or going nowhere.

It will rekindle your Inner Fire if you give it a chance.

This book is a very great book that one can not read it fast. One needs to digest the information. I am very happy to have been told by my teachers to read this book. I am so surprised that libraries don't carry such a great book. After I finish my book I donate it to the library so other people can benefit from it. If you are an spritual person and you are interested in growing your soul read this book.

This is a treasure of a book and is very sacred in nature. If I could have only one book this would be it.

The introduction reveals the history of the text and its translations, and the fascinating history that surrounds the text. See the book "The Life of Marpa the Translator: Seeing Accomplishes All", by Chogyam Trungpa, for further information regarding this book's history (both these texts were written by the same man). I am recalling most of this from memory, so my apologies go out to those who find my data incorrect.

I highly recommend "The Life of Milarepa" to anyone, especially those devoted toward liberation.

I have the 100,000 songs of milarepa (which is an amazing book), but this one cuts to the heart of who this great saint was and why he is soo revered in Tibet.. buy and read

If you keep hearing about Milarepa in other Tibetan Buddhist literature and want to know who he was and why he is famous this is a good introduction. Most of the book is a lively tale. Size of book is small for easy transport to read on plane etc. Historical background of why Milarepa became a great meditator is covered -- not so much on actual content of his songs and wisdom saying -- other works might be a better choice if that is what you are looking for.

I think Milarepa was one of the highest levels of enlightened beings ever existed on the planet. Considering the Miracles he did. He is one of the recent enlighten masters, and all this happened a few hundred years ago. He has received little Attention compared to Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed and Khrishna. There is defenately a lot to learn from this book, and what he did is worth reading about.

The book quality - new, but not excellent material. Prompt delivery. Thought as a gift, so I had hoped for more. If bought for personal usage, would have been OK.