Milarepa the Yogi

In the rugged mountains of 11th-century Tibet, a young man named Milarepa sought a dark path. After his father's death, his greedy aunt and uncle stole his family’s inheritance, leaving Milarepa and his mother in poverty. At his mother's urging, Milarepa mastered black magic and summoned a hailstorm that destroyed his relatives' house, killing thirty-five people. However, the weight of his sins soon crushed his spirit. Desperate for redemption, he sought the wisdom of the great master Marpa the Translator. Marpa, seeing Milarepa’s potential and his heavy karma, treated him with extreme harshness. He commanded Milarepa to build massive stone towers with his bare hands, only to order him to tear them down and return the stones to their original spots. Milarepa’s body was covered in sores, yet he never wavered in his devotion. Finally, after years of grueling labor and purification, Marpa initiated him into the secret teachings. Milarepa retreated to the high caves of the Himalayas, where he meditated for decades, surviving only on nettle soup until his skin turned green. Through profound discipline and the songs of his realization, he achieved enlightenment, becoming Tibet's most beloved yogi and proof that even the greatest sinner can become a saint.