staying on the path (tanka) Tibetan’s Mgur – religious poetry

Tournesol dans un jardin 2 Minutes

faith is the way
chanting mindfully
steers you on the path
distractions change the course
away from eternal bliss

© Tournesol ’16/02/19

Carpe Diem Tokubetsudesu 70 Tibetan’s Mgur, a religious form of poetry 

The mgur as a primarily religious genre, dates chiefly from the time of the greatest of all Tibetan poets, Mi la ras pa* (1040-1123). Though his hundreds of mgur were not given their definitive written form until several centuries after his death, their influence on Tibetan culture seems to have been widespread from Mi la’s time onward, through their preservation in various oral versions and written recensions, and through the importance Mi la quickly assumed as a Tibetan Buddhist culture-hero. Mi la’s greatness lay in his ability to compose songs that combined the imagery, structural parallelism and expressive directness of ancient glu with distinctively Buddhist themes and Indian-inspired metrical schemes. In particular, Mi la ras pa—and thus the classical tradition of mgur—can be seen as inheriting two major influences:

(1) the early diffusion traditions of songs of “positive personal experience,” primarily secular in orientation and distinctly Tibetan in style, and
(2) the tradition—brought to Tibet by Mi la’s guru Mar pa—of tantric songs, those often spontaneous, always richly symbolic dohās, caryāgīti or vajragīti sung by Indian mahāsiddhas to express their spiritual realizations.

The themes, moods and styles of Mi la’s mgur range widely: though the Dharma almost always is the real subject, it is expressed in verses at various times simple or complex, devout or wrathful, puritanical or ribald, humorous or stern, intensely autobiographical or impersonally didactic. An example of one of this mgur (songs) composed by Mi la ras pa

Faith is the firm foundation of my house,
Diligence forms the high walls,
Meditation makes the huge bricks,
And Wisdom is the great corner-stone.
With these four things I build my castle,
And it will last as long as the Truth eternal!
Your worldly houses are delusions,
Mere prisons for the demons,
And so I would abandon and desert them.

The success of Mi la ras pa’s songs in helping to popularize Buddhism, combined with the innate Tibetan love of poetry and song, helped assure that in the centuries after Mi la, mgur composition came to be a widely practiced art.

  • Also known as Milarepa
Unknown's avatar

Published by Tournesol

A little bit about moi: I am a mom, a nana, a sister, a woman, a friend, a human being…a youth counsellor, Family Life Educator. I have been working in the helping profession for over 25 years and volunteered in various capacities from youths to seniors. Tournesol is my nom de plume for haiku and other Japanese form poetry here at Tournesoldansunjardin https://cheryllynnroberts.wordpress.com I hope you enjoy reading through my daily waka. I also have another blog "Stop the Stigma" where I may stand on my soapbox now and then and hope it will become a place to drop in and share or comment on issues important to you. In that vein this could be a great way to learn from each other. http://stigmahursteveryone.wordpress.com

Published

12 thoughts on “staying on the path (tanka) Tibetan’s Mgur – religious poetry”

      2. For sure! and being a worry wart does not help. I remember when I was 52, lying in bed 6 hours from my children and mom worrying about my adult children. “What if a crazy driver cuts them off? What if they are struggling financially and need food? What if their partners broke their heart?” I appologized to my mom that year for feeling she was a nag for worrying all the time…now I understood, no matter what age they are, we always worry. But I was like my mom in that it was keeping me awake at night…my cell phone next to my pillow. I`m glad I got to tell my mom before she lost her memory.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. wow, I can see myself turning into a worrier if I ever have children. I called my mom last night just to check up on them and keep them from worrying too much about me.

        Like

  2. Perfect, my friend! I am working on getting my knee rehabbed enough to do the river cruise in 31 days. That means I am not doing much blogging! Take care and will visit as I can.

    Like

    Reply
  3. Pingback: Harmony of nature Tale & a Troiku ~ Haiku ~ Insight 6 Balance isn’t always necessary – Tournesol dans un Jardin

Your comments are like sunflowers beaming at me:Vos commentaires sont des sourires des Tournesols

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.