Question asked by P
Dear Pastors,
Why does Milarepa who can have the merits and wisdom to achieve enlightenment in one lifetime, don't have the simple wisdom to prevent him from murdering people? Is it he did not have any dharma knowledge when he commit the crime? Because, if he have some superficial knowledge about dharma and karma, he should be able to avoid the heavy crime of murdering people. Why is it his merits and wisdom from his previous life did not prevent him from killing?
Dear P,
It is true that Milarepa did not have any Dharma knowledge at the time he learned black magic in order to take revenge on his relatives who mistreated his family. But with all the killing, Milarepa had accumulated a lot of negative karma. His master, Lama Trogyal, advised him to learn and practice the Buddhist teachings. He became the disciple of Marpa who applied skillful means to purify his negative karma. The teaching in Milarepa’s story is not about why Milarepa did not avoid the heavy karma of murdering people but about the possibility of purifying one’s negative karma even though one had committed many serious crimes. The Buddha had said that there is no sin that cannot be purified, even the heinous crimes. Milarepa also demonstrated the possibility of becoming enlightened in one lifetime. He is a good example of a yogi who had guru devotion, practiced with determination, and showed us that enlightenment could be attained with hard work and faith. In fact it was his “merits and wisdom from his previous life” that connected him to Marpa. It is said that the moment he heard Marpa’s name, a surge of happiness and emotion came over him and the hairs on his body stood on end… He knew Marpa was to be his guru.