Marpa Lotsawa

Marpa - the translator ( Tib: mar pa lo tsa ba; Lhodrag * 1012, † 1097 ) was an important Lama of Tibetan Buddhism. He was one of the translators, who founded the traditions of the New Translation in Tibet in the 11th century. He was also the first Tibetan Kagyu lineage holder of the.

Biography

Marpa was born into a peasant family, but he decided at an early age to dedicate his life to the translation of Buddhist texts from Sanskrit. The translator of the Sakya school Drogmi he learned Sanskrit. Marpa met during one of his trips to India Atisha (982-1054) and studied with him the lessons that were the earlier Kadampa school based a little later. He traveled three times to India to translate Buddhist teachings from Sanskrit into Tibetan.

In India, he eventually met near Nalanda his master Naropa (1016-1100), the Mahamudra transmission Marpa realized and further led. In addition, Marpa studied at the Indian Masters Maitripa and Kukuripa ( Jnanagarbha ) and the champion Niguma who entrusted him with the teachings of the Six Yogas of Naropa. From his travels to India, where he was a total of 17 years, he brought many Buddhist scriptures and translated them into Tibetan.

Student

Marpa's most famous pupil was widely known in Tibet because of its privation apprenticeship and his spiritual songs Yogi Milarepa ( 1042-1123 ). Marpa recognized already at his first meeting with Milarepa that he brought the conditions to realize the tantric transmission Marpa full. Nevertheless, Milarepa was, due to his previous black magic activities by which he caused great suffering, introduced only after a long period of extremely tough tests by Marpa in tantric practice. The lineage of Marpa transmitted by Milarepa to Gampopa on. From Gampopa from the so-called four major Kagyu schools and by a student of Gampopa further eight minor Kagyu schools developed.

Legends

In the writings of the Kagyu tradition it is said that, although Marpa wife and children had, one could not compare to the life of an ordinary householder or an ordinary samsaric being his life. He had such a high spiritual development, that he could live by spiritual poisons unsullied as housekeeper. Even Milarepa dared such a life as a housekeeper and not responded to the proposal, but as to marry his teacher: " Marpa is like a lion, and I 'm like a fox. If the fox is trying to jump as high as the lion, he will only break his neck. "

According to tradition, Marpa had exercised all mental phenomena due to its high spiritual realization of the pure visual as a Buddha - land, all sentient beings as enlightened deities and all the sounds as Dharma teachings.