Visible from all sides from the top of this precious rock,
I consider the parable of transitory appearance.
I think of those desired gifts as a mirage in the water.
I see this life as a dream of illusion.
I contemplate the unknowing ones with compassion."
It seems as if the poet who loves and understands nature gives way to the philosopher. His contemplating mental eyes see deeper than the recording physical ones.
Mila wrote not only to teach others but as is evident from Chapter IV, Song 6, also in order to gain merit:
"On the summit of the glacier, I make verses.
I hope to attain the rewards of the fruit."
"Fruit" in this context alludes to the Tibetan philosophical metaphor; that is, the sowing of the seed, the growth, the ripening, and the fruition. The fruition may also be said to be liberation from the Wheel of Life and the attainment of Buddhahood.
The pursuits of art, painting, sculpture, and poetry are not contrary to Buddhist philosophy. The painting monks of Tibet follow careful meditation before and during the painting of religious subjects. In the mandalas (geometrical diagrams for meditation practices, consisting of a sacred circle and square: the dwelling place of deities), symbolism, magic, and art are perfectly welded into one inseparable unit. Similarly, the writing and copying of the sacred books of Tibet are accompanied by chanting and are considered meritorious acts.
The poems of Mila, insofar as they express yogic practices and moral concepts, are as much religious acts as they are artistic creations. In their quality as religious poems they help others and gain merit for those who follow their precepts, as well as for the poet who created them.
Mila's poems abound in strong poetic images but, far from being mere collections of felicitous phrases, they are powerful expressions of one of the most disciplined and profound minds in the history of Tibet—the mind of a man who found peace and truth in the pursuit of Buddhism.
YOGA AND ITS APPLICATIONS: Mila was a yogin, one of the greatest that Tibet has produced. His poems are full of allusions to his yogic powers. In Chapter II, Song 3, for example, he says:
"In me, the Yogin Mila, in six months
The experience of meditation arose."
Mila was highly trained in yogic practices before he returned to the various hermitages among the glaciers. The above quotation indicates that in the short period of six months he had reached the power of meditation. In other words, he achieved the highest degree of meditation, which is complete absorption or samadhi; that is, complete identification of the meditator with the object of his meditation. In Chapter IV, Song 6, he states unequivocally:
"I am the Yogin, completed in the three aspects of the bodhi heart."
Tibetan yoga has its roots in Hindu religious speculations. Yoga practice is an ancient Indian system of seeking "union with the divine." The term yoga itself derives from the Sanskrit root yuk or yug, meaning "to join," whence come our words "yoke," "join," etc. This method or system of "union" seems to be extremely ancient, antedating even the Indo-Aryan conquest of India between 1800 and 1200 B.C. Yoga, as we know it today, is considered one of the six darshanas or philosophical systems based on the Upanishads, which represent the highest philosophical attainment of the genius of the Indian peoples. The Katha Upanishad, VI: 10-11, states:
"When cease the five (Sense) knowledges, together with the mind (manas)
And the intellect (buddhi) stirs not—
That, they say, is the highest course.
This they consider as Yoga—
The firm holding back of the senses.
Then one becomes undistracted.
Yoga, truly, is the origin and the end."1
There is certain evidence that yoga is pre-Aryan in origin. However that may be, it is as old as India and has been closely identified with its whole religious tradition. Buddha himself practiced the austerities of yoga before his illumination, and practically all sects of Hinduism have absorbed elements of the system.
It is practiced by countless people and has separated into various schools. These schools are differentiated according to their special ritual and methods. The best known Indian schools of yoga are: Hatha Yoga, which employs the method of developing the physical body by means of postures and mudras (symbolic hand gestures signifying charity, teaching, preaching, etc.); Raja Yoga, the supreme school, which uses basic postures with emphasis on mental realizations; Mantra Yoga, which relies on magic formulas—that is, the power of mantric spells and charms; Jnana Yoga, which stresses the method of pure knowledge; Kundalini Yoga, which emphasizes the awakening of the kundalini power at the base of the spine and of the various psycho-physical centers2 throughout the body. Karma Yoga, which calls for action and deeds, and Bhakti Yoga, which centers on love and devotion, are later developments and do not stress the arduous disciplines and controls required by the earlier schools.
The practicing yogin conquers himself physically and mentally. Even though the successful application of the discipline is supposed to lead to siddhis or supernormal attainments, the ultimate aim of all yoga is identification and complete absorption into the Absolute. This is reached when the yogin has entered the highest stage, samadhi. Not all yogins, however, are able to attain, or are interested in attaining, the ultimate perfection and union with the Absolute. Some strive for the attainment of supernatural powers alone.
The yoga system was codified by the great scholar Patanjali in four small books which are known as The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali.3 The authorship of Patanjali, however, is still disputed. Actually, there were two Patanjalis, one the author of the yoga aphorisms or sutras, the other the author of a commentary upon the grammatical work of the famous Panini. Traditionally, the aphorisms are assigned to about the second century B.C., but Professor James H. Woods, on sound historical inference, dates them about the fourth to the fifth century of our era.4 There is, however, considerable evidence that yoga may be much older as a technique. Here we do not intend to prove or disprove the theories of yoga. Buddhist yoga differs from Hindu yoga in its philosophical and religious applications, although their techniques of disciplining the body and mind are often similar. But because of their different philosophical tenets, the aims and results are not the same. For example, the Buddhist view of Shunyata, the Void, is an important point of Buddhist doctrine and plays an important role in the Buddhist type of meditation.
In Tibet, yoga has been a time-honored practice since the country became Buddhist in the seventh century A.D. Tibetan tradition knows of many lamas who practiced it successfully. There are also available several accounts by Western travelers and soldiers who have witnessed Tibetan yoga practices and even undertaken to study them.
The form of yoga now known as Tibetan was introduced there by the famous teacher Padmasambhava. It is based upon the idealistic Yogachara school founded by Asanga about the third century A.D. This form of yoga teaches that the absolute truth or bodhi manifested in the Buddhas is attainable only by those who practice yoga. Tibetan yoga is a yoga of knowledge, in practice similar to that of the Hindu Jnana school. Yogachara asserts that all outward things—objects, stars, etc.—are really mental experiences and that we read into external nature what exists in our own minds (vijnana),5 This concept, incidentally, we encounter in many of Mila's poems.
Yoga disciplines are stressed in Tibet because they help in the acquisition of intuitive insight. Some Tibetan yogins believe that they can create form by thought. In other words, by projecting a mental image they create a magic appearance which they can summon up or dissolve at will.6 This is based, of course, on the assumption that all appearances in reality are mind, as formulated by the Yogachara