FIRST REFLECTIONS
~ 17
One time Jetsiin Milarepa, the yogi saint of Tibet, was meditating in an isolated cave, absorbed in samadhi. Some extremely hungry hunters, who had been unsuccessful in their hunt, came to this cave. As they entered, they saw an emaciated Jetsiin Milarepa sitting there. Somewhat frightened, they inquired, "Are you a ghost or are you a man?" Jetsiin Milarepa replied quietly, "I am a man." "If you are a man, give us something to eat. We are all very hungry and our hunt is fruitless." "But I have nothing to offer you. I have nothing to eat. I am just sitting here absorbed in meditation," replied Milarepa. "Nonsense," they said, "you must be hiding some kind of food here somewhere. Give us some food!" They were extremely hungry and became very angry when Jetsiin Milarepa again replied that he had absolutely nothing to eat. The hunters decided to torment and abuse the great yogi Milarepa. Firing arrows at him, they were astounded to see that the arrows could not penetrate him. Some of the arrows were deflected straight upwards, some to the left, and some to the right. Some even deflected directly back at the hunters, who became even more infuriated. They then tried to topple him over and injure him by throwing rocks, but somehow Milarepa floated up into the air, like a very light piece of paper. When they threw water on him, the water miraculously vanished.lfrying with all their might to throw him into the river nearby, Jetsiin Milarepa foiled their efforts by floating in the space above them. No matter what they did to inflict harm, they were totally ineffectual. This illustrates Milarepa' s realization of form void. They had no success because his physical being was form void, his speech and melody were sound void. Additionally, their experience of his unperturbability during this incident demonstrated his being void of karmic fruition. If we have the diligence and the wisdom to apply the skillful means of vajrayana, then we too can realize liberation while we still have the opportunity of this precious human existence. If one has a precious human existence enabling one to understand mind's true nature, and if one's understanding is of the most excellent degree, the result will be the realization of the