Milarepa (1974) - full transcript

A film by Liliana Cavani
freely based on Tibet's great yogi Milarepa

The notion of nothingness generates mercy.

Mercy overrules the difference
between us and others.

Confusing oneself with others puts
into practice the communal cause.

The one who puts into practice
the communal cause will find me.

And the one who will find me is Buddha.

That's the proper translation.

I made a mistake.

Hi! Can you make me a coffee?

Before diner?
- Yes.

Before diner, because otherwise
I will fall asleep.



You're late this evening.

Did you get overtime?
- Yes.

Yes. This week I had
to earn a little more.

Where is Paola?

She's in her room.

She didn't let me work.

This window is a nuisance.

It needs to get exchanged.

And the translation of the book?

Didn't you give it to your professor?

How did it go?
- Hm.

I may be ignorant, but you can
at least give me an answer.

Yes, I gave it to the professor.

He read it and wants to re-read it.



But there are a couple of things
I want to revise. Pleased?

And you? What did you do?
- I made an elephant and painted it.

I see. Let's go wash the hands.

The notion of nothingness.

Wash the hands yourself.

Have you been pestering your brother?
- No.

Well, you always say that you don't.

There you go. All clean.

Well done.

You didn't tell me if the
professor liked your translation.

Yes, he wants to publish it in a book.

Paola! Be good!
- Stop it.

In folio size? - Yes.

Make a nice drawing for me.

Be a good girl. With your name?
- Of course.

As the translator. You remember the story?

Yes, I remember. I don't
forget anything you tell me.

The farewell story made me cry.
- Right.

Listen: "The notion of
nothingness generates mercy.

Mercy annulates the difference
between us and others.

Confusing oneself with others puts
into practice the communal cause."

How do you evaluate that idea of nothingness?

The idea of nothingness...

The idea of nothing

means that one is just like the others.
Nothing special.

You're intelligent.
- Don't make fun of me.

In the factory we're two thousand people.
All of us equal.

It isn't difficult for me to feel
like one among many.

And that idea of nothing

provokes mercy for others?

Well, we have the same problem.
How to understand each other?

To be nothing.

The necessary point of partition.

Absolute liberty.

What did you say?
- Oh, nothing. I was just thinking.

Hello!

Hello!

Hello!

Leo! At last! Come in!

Why couldn't I meet you?
- I had a lot to do.

Are you leaving?
- No need to be surprised.

You know about the journey.

You could have come. Why did you disappear?

I was busy with the translation of the book.

There's still time to travel with us.

You remembered the departure
being tomorrow morning, right?

I could help you packing the suitcase.
- Who is it, Karin?

Me. I didn't come at the right time.

I haven't seen you in ages.
And we had to talk at length.

Hi offered to lend us a hand.

Good. With your help we should
be able to take the boat.

The boat?

Captain Ahab chasing the white whale.

Can I embark as a cabin boy?

You promised to lend me hand.
Then we'll see.

A long voyage?

I won't answer. It's a secret.

Take a guess.

Let's see. Judging from the things you
packed, it's going to be far way.

Or we're going to be away for a long while.

Sweaters... a land of ice beyond
the ocean. The Antarctic.

You dissapoint me.
You didn't come here anymore.

I helped you with the translation, didn't I?

You also disappeared from the university.

And the journey? We talked about it
while translating the book.

The places, the route, the sections.

Then you disappeared. Did you get scared?

I don't understand you.

- Could you come for a moment?

I'm coming.

Mother!

Mother!

What's it?

You're late. What time is it?

I went to see the professor.

What did he tell you
regarding the translation?

He likes it. I already
told you, didn't I?

They're going to leave. To the Orient.

That's far away.
- Very far.

Would you like to make a journey like that?

Come on. Of course I would like it.

Hey, don't wake her up.

Tell me the truth!

Did you work so hard
to pay for my studies

thinking that I might become important
and make a lot of money?

Didn't we suffer greatly?

I wanted you to have a better life.

Tomorrow... Please don't smoke! Sleep!

What happens tomorrow?
- Nothing. Get to sleep, mother.

You got something on your mind. Speak!

What are you doing tomorrow?
- Why? Is it a special day? A party?

And now? To get up at seven o'clock!

Come on, go to bed!

Listen, Leo.

We've been in the car
together for half an hour.

And you didn't ask where we're going.
Don't you want to know?

Come on. Accompany us!

Now what?
- I don't know.

I bet you got your passport in the pocket.

Yes, I always carry it with me.

Strange. Always carrying the passport
in his pocket. Like an international spy.

No, he can't come.
- Why not?

Because he hasn't notified anyone.
And he has no luggage. He has nothing.

I won't change.
- I will lend you a shirt.

And I lend you some shoes.
- And I lend you underwear.

And I can give you... Attention!!!

Alberto!

I can't move.

Milarepa.

Milarepa.

"Since you invoked me with such insistence,

I'm going to tell you from the beginning.

Now, first I tell you that
my name is Milarepa.

I come from the Tsangpo highland.

I tell you that my father died,
when I was a young boy.

And my relatives stripped me of everything.

And thus I knew nothing
but misery and pain.

Finally my mother incited me,

and I destroyed my enemies
by the use of magic.

Mila!

Mila! Your mother prepared a big lunch
for all your relatives and neighbors.

Once upon a time, in Lhozhag County,

there lived the great Lama Mapa

who had no equal on earth
in terms of wisdom.

Marpa and the young Milarepa
had a spiritual relationship

since all the way back
to their previous lives.

As I was saying, the Lama Marpa

and the young Milarepa
were related spiritually

since their previous lives.

And that's the key to everything.

It explains why waking up
one morning Marpa...

I had a beautiful dream.
- Recount it.

Because I also had a very strange dream.

Imagine a vulture with stretched wings.

They are not coming. I'll see
if I can find someone.

No... No...

I've got to say two words to you uncles,

relatives and neighbours.
Lunches are there to talk.

This is the last will
of my husbands.

I've realized that I'm going to die
because of my illness

and seeing that my son is still small,

I entrust to his uncle and aunt

my property in the mountains, that of

the valley and the house, for as long
as my son hasn't yet grown up.

That's it. Until today you uncles
were the masters of the house

but now my son has reached
the age of marriage,

so I ask you to return the
possessions of his father.

Do you possess goods? Where are they?

When my brother was still
alive, it was me lent him

house and fields, horses,
animals and gear.

When he died I just took back
what belonged to me.

That's not true! That's not true!

Mila! Say something!

As long as the false master is the master,

the true master stands in the
doorway like a wachdog.

What is that supposed to mean.

We were foolish to have been lenient

towards you because of your misfortune.

You wretches! - We are wretches because

you took everything from us
and treated us like servants.

We were lucky enough
not to have died of hunger.

Look at us, we're wrapped in rags,
while you were living like a wealhy man.

You must know that this
house also belongs to me!

I'm throwing you out!

Where did you get the money
to make this lunch?

Are you rich now? I f you are,

make a war, if you're not, raise a curse.

Nothing left!

And him? What future lies ahead of him?

I understood that I would never
be able to leave misery behind.

I saw my mother being forever
destined to live like a rat.

I wandered around and tried
to arrange something.

You people! Come out!

Have a drink! Come!

- I'll pull your pigtail!

Gheza! A garland for you!

Come out! Please!

Get a move on!

Come and drink! Come with me!

Mila!

Mila!

Don't shout! Shut up!

Mila!

Get down! You scoundrel!

That's the outcome of us
working day and night.

Get inside the house! A shame!

Get inside!

Today is a feast day! You don't have to work!

Where do you think we'll find
money if we just carry on?

How long can you endure working like this?

I'll be a day laborer
on the relatives' farm.

No. Never!

Mila, we don't need to borrow from them.

There are magicians capable of anything.

With a gesture they destroy
a harvest or a house.

If you could be a magician...

To have me learn magic, my mother
sold the last piece of land we owned.

She bought me a horse called Leone.

She gave me two pieces of gold
to pay for a wizard.

I prepared myself to leave
for a journey with

my comrades who went
to seek their fortunes.

Learn well! A gesture needs to suffice.

If you return home as a disgrace,
I'll kill myself in front of your eyes.

I'll walk you for a while.

I'm paying my debt. Devour me!

Come here, you famished demons.
In this banquet

my flesh will become the
object of your desires.

Mila! Mila!

These fertile fields, these green woods,

these blooming gardens,
these undiluted foods,

or ensanguined dresses. Medicine.

Take it! To eat!

Take it! To eat!

Hey, you! Who are they?

We're running away
from the tree of death.

They were bandits. They killed
them to punish them.

It sounds like screaming and crying.
- Talk to them.

To the dead ones?
- Talk to them and they will answer.

We're looking for a Lama.

They told us about a man
from the Nyag.

Do you know where we can find him?

If you're looking for a Lama
I will tell you a better one.

Does he do sorcery and bewitching?

No, but other things.

You're giving me good information.
Where can I find him?

The faces without bodies and their
guardians point the way.

Mila! Mila!

Can we pass?

Look at the horse. I will give it to you
if you let us enter.

And if we need to escape?

Maybe the dream has been
a false announcement.

Please don't send me away! I offer you
my body, my heart and my speech.

Be careful what you say! Being the most
servile means being the most stupid.

There are three of us: My mother,
my sister and me.

When we became orphans,
our relatives threw us into misery

and used us as slaves.

I didn't have the power or
means to defend myself.

I've come to learn magic.

In order to avenge my mother.

Mila!

I think a bit of gold will be enough.
Which is your demon?

Conjure up the silence!

Suppress every thought, every image

that comes to your mind with a clean blow.

Like cutting off a reed! Be immobile!
Be impossible!

Be immobile. Try not
to see with the eyes.

And not to hear with the ears.

Be immobile. Achieve to see without eyes.

To touch without hands.
To arrive without walking.

Rare are the words that have power.

You're full of power yourself.

Even if you don't know it.

Ignorance is the dam that
holds the world together.

Beyond this dam there is neither
past nor present.

Neither evil nor good.

Conjure up the silence!

Conjure up the void!

Within the small cavity of the mind,
there is the entire universe.

For the ignorant man,
nature remains a dead thing.

I'm talking through the wind.

He who says that I'm a Brahmin,
himself becomes a Brahmin.

But he who adores a deity and declares:

"That deity is up there and I'm down here.",

himself doesn't know anything.

It's ridiculous to think that I could
create Brahmins.

Many of you will never be Brahmins.

They better run off!

Poor fools and ignorants who
dared to disturb the man from Nyag.

Nyag is a malicious demon.

Better run off!

Mila! Mila Mila!

You won't run away?

I can't. If I return to the village
without a spell against the enemies,

my mother will kill herself
in front of my eyes.

I remain here. Because
I don't want her to die.

Stop!

You no longer need to engage
in these things.

Do you want water?
- I have water for your thirst.

What are you telling me?
- Your son is ready.

How do you know that?

Listen to me! If you can,
warn my son that in 18 days

his uncle will host a big wedding feast.

For seven days we'll not see anyone.

Come on the seventh day!

Thanks to the divine power!
I'm happy! I'm happy!

My son is a magician! He avenged me!

Once you uncles told me that if we were
poor, then we should cast an evil spell.

There you see! We did with magic
what others achieve through warfare.

Mila! Your mother is really spiteful!

Many people just died and she calls
out that you destroy the village.

Feel pity for my mother.
She had to suffer a lot.

She sends you a gift which
I kindly ask you to accept.

If she is a poor as you told me, she
must have made many sacrifices

to make me such a rare gift.

You have other powers. But
you're acting by yourself.

Now return to your village to see
the marvel you have done.

Mila! Finally justice has been done!

They didn't believe me.
Now you can have whatever you like.

And they all respect you.

Let me be!
- Get inside the house. Get inside!

If anyone of you dares to lay a finger
on my mother or me,

I will cast an evil spell on you.

If your not a vulture, you
should leave this place.

Do you know the resurrection spell?

Then leave them as a meal for the birds.

It's done!

From my youth till today
I have done nothing

but harm by means of magic.

These crimes caused by magic
fall back on my head.

They are also your crimes.

Here you won't get any further.

There is a master. He
teaches the pure doctrine.

I don't know who you are.
But those fishes...

How could I take their lives without
knowing how to resurrect them?

Stop! You left behind death.

Do you know me? Why do you talk
like that? What do you know?

It suffices to know how to read the water.

The stream flows and tells me

that you come from a great sludge.

It's true.

Where are you going?
- I don't know.

The person announced by the signs
is on the road.

I'll go and plow down the alley.
- Why today? You never do that.

Prepare some beer for him and me. I'll
go plowing to see if I run across him.

Do you have something to drink?
- No.

Can you tell me where I can find the
wise Marpa they told me about?

I know of someone named Marpa
living in the valley over there.

Beyond these mountains.

You don't know if he has another name?
- Some call him Lama.

Hey, you!

I'm looking for... I was told the
wise Marpa lives in this valley.

Who are you?
- I am...

I come from the Tsang-Po highland.

You didn't say who you are. Anyway,
I'll go and notify Marpa.

In the meantime, you can plow the field.

Hey! Will you come to the
house of the Lama?

Yes! I finish with the field
and will come soon.

Welcome, Milarepa!

You know my full name!

Your arrival has been announced.

Great and valuable Lama,

I offer you my body, my
speech and my heart.

I'm a great sinner. I can tell you...

- Don't come to apologize to me.
I'm not interested.

I killed men and animals
by the use of magic.

I ask you to give me hospitality

and teach me the perfect doctrine.

If you want that, you'll have to look
elsewhere for your daily food.

I only want the doctrine from you.
I will work to to pay for food.

With that chapter the first itinerary
of Milarepa basically ends,

as well as the chapter of black magic.

I went to beg in the entire region
for more than a year.

I collected 21 measures of barley.

I thought that with that I should
be able to provide for myself.

And thus stay at the master's
side for a long time.

You're very vigorous. Do you want to
smash with your magic?

You're spiteful. Take away your barley.

Go! Leave!

I beg you, teach me the doctrine.

The disciple you see has
brought me precious objects.

Go away!

Leave! Leave!

Stop! Listen!

Beyond the valley there's a village.

A village of thieves. Cover it with a
hailstorm by the use of your magic.

Then I will teach you the doctrine.

Don't ask me that! Don't ask me!

If you're a magician,
you should prove it.

If not, leave!

Not even a cornstalk remains in Utsang.
It has all been destroyed.

Now return the destroyed harvest.

I don't know how to do it.

What kind of power is that you have?

You're an amateur magician. Leave!

And don't sneak off to my tent again.

You're the mother.

Help him with the first
part of the doctrine!

Master! Master!

What are you doing?

You're very strong. You
could do other work.

I need a house. You'll build it.

Then I'll teach you the doctrine.

You've promised me so
many times. But then?

Don't you trust me?
- I don't know.

That work will take a long time.
What if I die in the meanwhile?

Don't worry! You won't
die in the meanwhile.

Make me this tower.
With a round base.

There are all the measures.

No! No!

The other day I was certainly distracted.

Demolish the tower!
The place isn't right.

Build it over there! In the north!

Master! Think carefully!

If you don't like my idea, then leave!

All things considered I'd
prefer a square base.

You wanted a round base!
You can't deny that!

Boy! With that noise you disturb
our reading. Be quiet!

Mila...

If you're a great magician,

why don't you transport them
from one place to another

with a magical spell?

I stay here and keep watch. Come in.

Boy! Making progress
this way is difficult!

Can I still help you?

Thank you! I can do it without you.

I thought only the poor donkeys had
to endure a such a torture.

He has fever.

His back is so sore that the contact
with his robe makes him suffer.

The great magician works like a donkey.

Fine. I've seen that
he works like a donkey.

Tell him to put on this rag for the wound.

The wound can remain isolated
because of the holes in this rag.

Hey! Come out!

Who helped you putting the stone there?

Rechung.

The stones of this house shall
only be carried by your hands.

Remove it!

Master! Look outside!
The tower is fnished!

Why have you disturbed?

The tower is finished!

Come and see it!

It's not worth the doctrine that I
painstakingly brought over from India.

If you can pay the price for that
doctrine, then I will teach you.

Otherwise don't stay here!

You promised me!

Everyone can testify to your words.
- Leave!

Master!

You promised!

Go out!

Rest a bit! He'll give in, you'll see!

Will you look for another master?
- No.

Bring this to anyone who
will teach you the doctrine!

Our son has left!

He has left!

Who has left?
- He.

To which side?

How is he?

He never mentions your name.

And when he hears it, he
turns his head away.

Can I see him?

You can't.

What does he say?
- He doesn't talk about you.

Have you told him that I
will teach him the doctrine?

And what did he say?
- He said that he doesn't believe it.

Talk to him again.

Won't you come and eat something?

Let me do this!

You've treated him like an enemy.
- That's not true.

And you know that it's not true.

Buddha says that liberation
can't come from outside.

It's a spontaneous bursting of the mind.

I can't help you anymore.

Welcome, Milarepa!

Buddha smiled at you
and me in another life.

It was a sign that reminded me.

The master brought a mandala
with 62 images.

It was used for my consecration.

With his finger he showed
me that dust figure.

These, he said, are just
images of the mandala.

The interpretation is deep inside.

Marpa, holy mother.

Help me on the way to liberation.

Everything is illusion.
Everything passes.

Animals and humans pass away.

Help me to be impossible
in view of the mind.

Help me, Marpa! Unchanging master!

I'll sum up what the hermit learned:

the notion of absolute
nothingness of the things.

That their generic names are empty.

That things don't differ between
each other. And thus...

the notion of unity among all things.

I stayed in the cave for a number
of years, months and days,

which only the others
were able to estimate.

Master! I have meditated

about the formula
you wanted to teach me.

I know the formula you
wanted to teach me.

I learned the formula you
wanted to teach me.

The vital heat,

the illusory body,

the dreams, the clear light,

the state in between,

the transition from one body to another.

But I don't know the formula
that makes it happen.

Now I said to myself:

I'll run and mask my master.

The formula of resurrection

is a formula that I don't know.

I can't teach you.

You should go to the North of Tibet.
- I'll go there.

Mila,

you'll leave in the morning.

With this chapter the second
itinerary of Milarepa basically ends,

as well as the so-called
chapter of white magic.

The third itinerary begins
with thes words:

May I embrace the entire space
as it embraces the earth,

the water, the fire and the wind,

so that all living beings, all insects,
without leaving out a single one,

are all saved by me.

Oh my Lama, Sir with passion,

send me to my land as a beggar.

To my land of Tsangpo.

I haven't seen my mother and
sister for such a long time.

And my love for them can't wait.

Allow me to see them just once.

And soon after that I will go.

The Central Tsang is full of brigands.

I should accompany you.
- I have to go alone.

Don't stay in your land for
more than seven days.

Then get to the mountains.

For the first time

I go to my land as a pure man.

It's thanks to you, father Lama.

And thanks to you, mother
born from a Buddha.

Milarepa will never forget you.

Our union of mother and
son finishes here.

I pray that we'll find each other
again in the blessed land.

In the desert you'll find
what you're looking for.

That's how the prophecy gets fulfilled.

There isn't anyone left.

Only the bones of the magician's
mother remain here.

Do you know the magician?
- No, I don't know him.

In this land they're
still afraid of him.

Did he only have a mother?
- No, he also had a sister.

They say she's always searching
for her brother.

When I had a house, the
house didn't have a master.

Now the master of the house has
come, but the house is a ruin.

When I had a mother, she
didn't have me as a son.

Now that I have come,
my old mother is dead.

And our encounter has been an illusion.

When I had a sister,
she didn't have a brother.

Now that the brother
has come, she has left.

And our encounter has been an illusion.

I'll make a memorial for you, mother.

Tell me where she strays.
Tell me where my sister strays.

I'll go to mountain of white light
and excercise the law of reality.

What are you doing?
- Can't you see?

I'm building a funeral stone.

I see that. Who is it for?

For my mother.

Don't be afraid.

The last stream has dispersed.

Now there only remains my body.

Now I abondon my body
and give it to others,

because that way they can
do what they want.

They're not pure. They
don't play, they prank.

Mila!

Mila!

Marpa is dying.

He wants you.

You're dead. It's good
I didn't arrive later.

I arrived in the right moment

at that mysterious double.

I won't abandon you. Rest calmly.

I'll stay at your side
for all these days.

I'll help you to traverse
the in-between realm.

You can pass, if you want to.

Fly away gently.

You're looking at time

without the rotations of
the sun and the moon.

There are neither thunders
nor unnecessary words.

Everything is silence.

Or anything that now keeps you unfree.

You have the impression that
you're falling into an abyss.

Let yourself go.

Stop being afraid.

I feel that it's fear you're having.

The state in which you're in
creates images of horror.

These are impure images.

Look better.

Evoke other images.

Search! Search!

Remember the secret name

whch you said in the
moment of the initiation.

The name of your master.

That name is different.

You're afraid.

And yet you know that death
is the result of an illusion.

Of a deception.

Free yourself!

Fear obstructs your way,

it constrains you.

Free yourself! Be a Buddha!

A free spirit!

For that reason you may smile.

Don't turn around! Don?t
distract your mind!

Everything you think of is
what you have already known.

Don't turn around! Don't turn around!