Practising for learning
is just as important as
learning for practising.
After years of solitary meditation in a cave, interspersed with visits to Milarepa, Gampopa finally completed his training and was ready to leave his master… Gampopa asked him for final instructions. Milarepa, however, simply said, “What is needed is more effort, not more teachings.” And he would say no more.
Gampopa set off and had already crossed a narrow stream when Milarepa shouted to attract his attention one last time. The guru knew that he would not see Gampopa again during this lifetime. “I have one very profound instruction,” Milarepa said…
Gampopa looked back.Milarepa suddenly turned around, bent over, and pulled up his ragged robe, displaying buttocks as calloused and pockmarked as a horse’s hoof, hardened from so many years of seated meditation on bare rock. “That’s my final instruction, heart-son!” he shouted. “Do it!”
The Snow Lion’s Turquoise Mane: Wisdom Tales From Tibet
