Naropa's life
Naropa WAS BORN A PRINCE in India. From the day of his birth, he was a very exceptional being endowed with special qualities. As an infant, Naropa was so pleasant to behold that simply to gaze at him was to experience Joy and a sense of Happiness. Even in childhood, he possessed profound Wisdom and a sense of Loving-kindness and Compassion for others.
The king, queen, and all the attendants agreed that the most appropriate place for such an extraordinary son of a noble family would be a monastery. Just as precious jewels should not be kept in filthy water but placed upon an immaculate shrine, it did not seem befitting for Naropa to dwell in the midst of worldly people. His rightful place was to be among practitioners of the Dharma.
When he came of age, Naropa was most happy with the decision for him to go to a monastery, and he went off to study with many scholars and become properly educated. Naropa's Wisdom became so profound that he surpassed all of his teachers all of the time. He became one of the most famous and world-renowned scholars of his day and went to Nalanda University in India.
It was the custom at that time in India for different traditions to debate with each other, with the beliefs of the winner declared supreme. Hundreds of scholars of different traditions would come to Nalanda University to debate with Buddhist scholars. At that time, Nalanda had four gates at each of the cardinal directions. At each gate there were five hundred world-renowned scholars known as "gate keepers." Naropa became one of the scholars at the northern gate. In that capacity he debated daily with many scholars of various schools, and each day he further proved himself to be one of the most learned among them all. In this way he became very famous.
One day, as Naropa was sitting quietly in his room reading a Buddhist Sutra text, a very fearful shadow fell upon the floor. He immediately looked up to see what it was. To his great surprise he saw a very ugly, wrinkled, old woman without a single tooth in her mouth standing in front of him. She was so old that she was not able to stand without the aid of a cane. She asked Naropa, "What are you reading?" Naropa replied, "I am studying the teachings of The Buddha." The old woman then asked, "Do you understand the teachings?" Without any hesitation Naropa replied, "I understand every single word of the teachings of The Buddha." This response elicited great Joy and Happiness in the old woman, and she laughed and giggled, and danced in an ecstatic manner. She said, "It is very fortunate for this earth that such a scholar as yourself exists!"
The ugly woman next asked Naropa, "You might understand the literal meaning of the teachings of The Buddha, but do you understand the inner and ultimate meaning of the teachings?" Since the old woman had displayed such great Joy and Happiness at his merely saying that he understood the literal meaning of the sutras, Naropa thought that she would be even more joyful if he said that yes, he understood the inner, essential meaning of the Dharma. So Naropa replied, "Yes." As he replied yes, the expression of the face of the ugly old woman turned from one of Joy to one of sadness, and she fell to the floor and beat it with both her hands and cried, "To think that such a great scholar as you knows how to tell lies!" This embarrassed Naropa, who inquired," Is there anyone who really understands the inner meaning of the Dharma?" The old woman replied, "Yes, my brother, Tilopa."
The instant that she uttered the name "Tilopa," devotion arose in the mind and Heart of Naropa and tears came to his eyes. Naropa asked the old woman,"Where can I find this master? In which direction does he reside?" The old woman replied, "There is no particular direction for Tilopa or his residence. He could be anywhere. If your mind is filled with devotion and confidence, and you yearn to meet him, this is the right direction." Having spoken thus, the old woman, who was actually Vajrayogini, disappeared like a rainbow fading in the sky. Because his negative Karma was not completely purified, Naropa was only able to see her as a very ugly, old woman. His mental stains prevented him from seeing her true form.
Naropa requested leave from the Abbot of Nalanda University. He was a great favorite of the Abbot and scholars, and although they wanted very much for him to stay, he had made up his mind to leave and search for Tilopa.
With an intolerable yearning, Naropa went out in search of his master. He experienced extreme hunger and thirst and overexposure to the elements, but he did not allow any of these unbearable conditions to deter him in his search for Tilopa. The many unfavorable circumstances that he encountered have become known as the "Twelve Fearful Experiences of Naropa." Twelve times he encountered ferocious dogs, wild Animals, poisonous snakes, terrifying women, and other adverse situations that hindered him on his path to meet his teacher and frightened him almost to Death. Nevertheless, he would not turn back in his search for Tilopa. After each terrifying encounter he went forward, and each time he did this, he would hear an affirmation resounding from the sky that what he had just experienced was the manifestation of his Guru.
After Suffering the pain and hardships of passing through the "Twelve Fearful Experiences," Naropa found himself in a village. From out of the sky sounded the words, "Not far from this village is the master whom you seek. You must have Faith and confidence in him." Filled with excitement, Naropa went to the outskirts of the village and asked everyone he saw if they knew a master called Tilopa. They all replied that they did not know a master called Tilopa, but there was a fisherman down by the river drying fish who was called by that name.
Naropa was surprised to hear that Tilopa was a fisherman but he immediately remembered that all his recent experiences had actually been manifestations of his Guru, and he realized that if he had to meet his teacher in the form of a fisherman, it must be because of his impure mind. So without any Doubt or hesitation, and with devotion and trust, he went down to the river to meet Tilopa. As he got closer, he could see Tilopa was transferring the consciousness of each fish to a pure realm with a snap of his fingers. Afterwards he would pick up each fish and bite off its head, discarding the head to one side, and placing the Body to dry on the sand in preparation for taking it to market.
Naropa prostrated to Tilopa as a gesture of respect and asked to be accepted as his student. Tilopa scrutinized Naropa from head to toe three times and said, "No matter from what angle I look at you, you seem to be of a royal family. You look like royalty and speak like royalty, and yet you come here to be a student of a fisherman, one of a lowly Caste. This is not at all proper."
Tilopa was about to take his leave, but Naropa, out of desperation and devotion, clung to Tilopa without any shame or embarrassment and again requested him to be his teacher. Saying neither yes nor no to Naropa's request, Tilopa walked away. Naropa tried to follow Tilopa, but although Tilopa appeared to be walking normally, and although Naropa was running, he was unable to catch up, no matter how fast he ran. Naropa could see the form of Tilopa in front of him, but he was unable to get closer. As this area in India was particularly hot and arid, it became very difficult for Naropa to keep running after Tilopa, and although he subjected himself to thirst, hunger, and fatigue, he was not able to catch up.
Eventually, Naropa saw Tilopa sitting on a very high cliff. He went over to him and prostrated, again requesting Tilopa to be his teacher. Tilopa responded by saying, "If you were really desperate and determined to learn about the teachings, you would obey my order to jump off this cliff without any hesitation because you would be able to understand how important it is to follow the commands of your master." Naropa jumped off the high cliff and fell to the ground. All his bones and joints were broken into many, many pieces. Tilopa went down to Naropa and inquired, "Are you experiencing any pain?" Naropa replied, "The pain is killing me!" This is how Naropa got his name. ("Na" in Tibetan means "pain," "ro" means "killing" and "pa" makes the word a noun.) Tilopa gently touched Naropa's Body and all his broken bones joined together and were healed.
After undergoing so much Suffering, Naropa once again asked Tilopa to give him the profound teachings. Tilopa said, "You are not yet pure enough to be introduced to the nature of mind!" With a wrathful expression, Tilopa removed his slipper and slapped the face of Naropa so hard that Naropa fainted. When he regained consciousness, Naropa's mental state of realization was equal to that of his teacher.
Becoming very peaceful, Tilopa lovingly explained to Naropa why he had to be so very wrathful and subject him to so much Suffering. He explained, "The fact that I led you into so many painful circumstances does not mean that I am a cruel person. Your negative Karma could not be purified by your own effort alone. Only by your actually experiencing hardship could you purify the negative Karma that prevented you from realizing the ultimate nature of Buddhahood. Throughout all your experiences of hardship, you did not develop any doubts, hesitation, or wrong views, and you diligently obeyed all commands. In this way you were able finally to overcome the conflicting emotions and experience realization."
If we compare the Life stories of Milarepa and Naropa, both experienced extreme hardships. However, Naropa experienced more intense pain than Milarepa, but the duration of Milarepa's experiences was longer.
In case any of us might still be wondering if such harshness is really necessary to reach Enlightenment, let us take the example of a vessel that is encrusted with rust. The rust on the metal container is so rough that trying to remove it with a soft cloth and gentle hand, we would not be able to remove any rust at all. The more effective way to remove the rust would be to find another very rough substance even rougher than the rust. If we rub the container with this, then the rust can be removed. Similarly, the negative Karma obscuring the true nature of mind cannot be removed by softness or Gentleness, nor can the achievement of realization occur if a teacher is overly kind. Harshness is needed. If a teacher allows his students to be lazy and is too soft-hearted, the students will be unable to uncover and purify their mental stains. Harshness and roughness on the part of the teacher are essential.
After Naropa reached the stage of realization equal to his teacher, Tilopa assured him that they were inseparable. They had never been separate in the past, were not separate in the present, and would never be separate in the future.
Tilopa and Naropa became so famous throughout India that in the eyes of the people they were as familiar as the sun and the moon. Renowned for their realization, Wisdom, and profound learning, Tilopa and Naropa turned the wheel of Dharma uncountable times in all directions.
This teaching on The Life of Naropa was given by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche at KTD, Woodstock, NY, on March 25-30, 1986. It was translated by Chojor Radha and edited by Tina Armond. Part I appeared in Densal Vol. 8, No. 1, Winter 1986/87; Part II appeared in Densal Vol. 8, No. 2, Spring 1987.
