Chapter 10: Benefitting sentient beings

The deed of benefitting sentient beings

Eight. Jetsun spoke extensively about the names of his retreat places. This was the eighth [supreme deed], the deed of benefiting the teachings and sentient beings through the results of his practice.

Nine. At the place of a great wedding ceremony, having prostrated to Jetsun he hoped that the prostration would be returned in front of the gathering of many people. But the except for his prior lama, the Jetsun didn’t prostrate to anyone, and following this custom, he didn’t return the prostration. He [the Geshe] thought, “A scholar as talented as me, prostrating to a know-nothing fool like him, and not receiving prostrations in return! I will humiliate him!” He took out a text on logic and said, “In order to clear up my doubts about this, give an account of the supplementary points and the close reading.” Jetsun said, “You know how to do a close reading of the words of the treatises. A close reading of the meaning requires overcoming grasping to the self of persons through equanimity and renouncing the eight worldly concerns, and overcoming grasping to the self of phenomena by recognizing the taste of samsara. This is [acquired] only by meditating in the mountains. Other than that, saying this as a response to these words which do not involve practice, and after that there is this - I have no need for that, so although I have studied, I have not studied, and although I know, I don’t know; it follows that although its suitable to know, I’ve forgotten.” His [the Geshe’s] anger grew, and I thought that I should find a skillful method [to address] that.

Jetsun knew that he had finished settling those fortunate ones which whom he had a karmic connection into the path of ripening, and that the time had come for his lifespan. He knew that if she didn’t get the turquoise first, she would not get it later. He said, “I won’t eat that food of yours now. Bring it later and I’ll eat it.” Thinking that Jetsun thought [the food was poisoned], she returned, feeling scared and ashamed.

He said, Hoping that what he said would be true and would happen, she again mixed the poisoned food into the yogurt, and took them to Jetsun.

“What will you do with it?” he said. She replied, “I myself, a terrible person, will drink it.” Jetsun said, “In general, I could not bear to give this to you to drink out of compassion; it would violate my training in the aspiration to enlightenment and constitute a root infraction of my vows. In particular, the karmic connection to my disciples and my lifespan have both come to an end, and the time has arrived to go to another realm. This food of yours will not harm me, and so it doesn’t matter if I drink it or not. If I had drunk it earlier, you would not have gotten that turquoise as payment for your crime, and so I didn’t drink it. Now the turquoise is in your hands, and so to fulfill his intentions and Although experienced people will not see with their eyes nor hear with their ears that stories that the stories I have told previously are true, now the time will come to believe that they are true. Keep it in your ears and see if it’s true!” Saying that, he drank.

Then, when Jetsun demonstrated how he was increasingly ill, Jetsun smiled and sang a song. He thought, “He suspects poison in the food I [gave him], but he’s not certain. Although he has reason to transfer the illness, I am sure he has no way to transfer it” and then he said, “If you’re able to transfer the illness, please transfer it to me.” Jetsun said, “If I transferred this illness of mine to you, you could not bear for even a moment, so I won’t transfer it.” He thought, “He is acting to deceive by not being able to transfer the illness,” and he insisted, “Transfer it to me anyway.” He said, “So, I will not transfer it to you but to that door over there. Watch!”, and he transferred it to the door of the retreat cell. The door made a cracking sound, and at that moment Jetsun rested without illness. Again he [i.e., the Geshe] wondered if it was a magic trick, and he said, “Really amazing! Transfer it to me!” [Milarepa] said, “So, I will show Geshe a bit.” He withdrew the illness from the door and transferred it again to Tsakpuwa. He collapsed in pain, and was unconscious, unable to move and not drawing a breath, on the verge of death. At that time, Jetsun took back most of the illness, and said, “I transferred about half the illness to you. Can you not bear it?”

Due to the power of experiencing that suffering, he generated an unbearable, strong regret. He put the Jetsun’s feet on his head and wept intense tears of heartfelt emotion. With tearful words he offered an apology, and Again Jetsun reached the age of 84, and in the last month of winter in the wood-hare year, under the constellation of Ashlesha, at sunrise on the fourteenth day, he displayed the act of dissolving his physical body into the sphere of reality.