Milarepa the most famous poet of Tibet & the founder of the Kagyü school of Tibetan Buddhism went begging for food, family members & neighbors attacked him & he barely escaped – did he have problems to make a living from what he did?

Last Updated on May 6, 2024 by pg@petergamma.org

Milarepa (1052-1135) who was famously known as a murderer when he was a young man, before turning to Buddhism:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milarepa

Milarepa meditated in mountain retreat and nettles turned his skin green:

“The stunning lesson in impermanence gave Milarepa the final push he needed to follow Marpa’s command to meditate in mountain retreat. He stayed there for many years, until his clothes turned to rags, his bones protruded, and the nettles he ate turned his skin green. Hunters and thieves who came upon him thought he was a ghost. When he went begging for food, his uncle, aunt, and neighbors attacked him, and he barely escaped. His sister, who had also become a beggar, wept in misery at his apparently even sorrier state.”

https://www.lionsroar.com/the-life-of-milarepa