aesthetic pleasure. That is the reason he exclaims:"If you will listen to me, the Old One, then the doctrine will spread to your descendants." (Chapter II, Song 1)
"If this song is not repeated again and again, its sense does not enter the heart." (Chapter II, Song 3)
"I, the Yogin, give advice whatever arises." (Chapter IV, Song 6)
His poems are of a didactic order, teaching and telling of his experiences or chanting the basic tenets of Tibetan Buddhism. Occasionally he will sing of the beauty of nature which he watches from his solitary hermitage:
"On the shores of the ponds and pools,
The water birds turn their necks to see.
On the wide branches of the wish-granting trees,
Assemblages of beauteous birds are singing.
The cool breezes carry fragrances,
And dancing gestures are made by the branches of the trees." (Chapter IV, Song 1)
In contrast to his feeling of aesthetic pleasure, he quickly returns in the same poem to a philosophical consideration of these natural beauties:
"When I, the Yogin, look at all this,
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
