Monte Marenzo

Percorso ad anello da Monte Marenzo passando per
- parco Penne Nere
- chiesa di San Gregorio






HE Jetsun Milarepa went for alms to Ngogang from the Belly Cave
of Nya Non. He stayed at La Shin for half a day, and then pro-
ceeded to Nagchar. On his way there he met a pretty young girl
about sixteen years of age, with dark eyebrows and gleaming hair,
well-dressed and well adorned. She was on her way home from fetch-
ing water. The Jetsun said, "Dear lady, will you offer me a meal this
evening?" The girl replied, "If we who live by the road gave food to
every alms-beggar we would be preparing meals for them all the time."
Saying this she entered the house and left Milarepa outside.
That night the girl had an auspicious dream. The next morning, re-
calling her dream, she thought, "Generally, sentient beings are veiled
by blindness. They cannot recognize the Buddha nor the Jetsun Mil-
arepa, who is the Buddha too. Without his grace and blessing, I would
not have had that dream last night. Can that yogi be Milarepa him-
self? I will go and find out."
She then prepared some food and took it to the Jetsun. "My dear
Yogi, who are you?", she asked.
"I am an alms-beggar who lives in your neighborhood."
"Are you not the Jetsun Milarepa from the Belly Cave of Nya Non?"
"Yes, you may say so."
Hearing this, a faith that was strong enough to dissolve her entire
body at once arose within her, and her hair stood on -end. She bowed
down before Milarepa and cried, "Yes, yes- now I understand!
This is why I had such a wonderful dream last night!" The Jetsun
then asked her, "What was the dream?''
"I dreamed that a sun and a moon were in my house, but they
did not shine. Then another sun and moon appeared in the Ea
bright and radiant. They lit up the dark sun and moon in my house,
and made them shining bright. Then they (the dark ones) rose up
and united with the sun and the moon in the East. The whole uni-
verse was thus illuminated. Will you please accept me as your servant,
so that I can develop myself in the Dharma?"
The Jetsun replied, "I believe you can." Then he blessed her with
his Samadhi power and returned to the Belly Cave.
Soon after, the girl visited the Jetsun, bringing a friend with her.
She gave Milarepa a nugget of gold, and sang:
Please listen to me,
Great Repa Yogi, the accomplished One.
When I look at human lives
They remind me of dew on grass.
Thinking thus, my heart is full of grief.
When I see my friends and relatives,
They are as merchants passing in the street.
Thinking thus, my heart is grieved and sad.
When I see goods hard to earn
They remind me of the honey
Of hard-working bees.
Thinking thus, my heart is filled with grief.
When I see my native land,
It suggests a den of vice.
Thinking thus, my heart is sad.
By day, I contemplate this truth,
At night, I think about it without sleep.
Because of my good deeds in former lives,
I was born this time a human being.
My past life drives me from behind,
Cooking and household duties pull me on.
I draw closer to death every minute.
This decaying body
At any time may fall.
My breath, like morning-fog,
At any time may disappear.
Thinking thus, I cannot sleep.
Thinking thus, my heart is sad.