In the first chapter of Milarepa, dreams recur often, as does the act of awakening from those dreams. While I would like to analyze this narratologically, I have to reflect upon the ethical considerations that come with using a Western medium to understand a narrative from Nepal. That being said, the dialogue of the dreams is fascinating, as it is religiously marked as significant. Whether or not it is appropriate to analyze the story as a cultural narrative, I can observe the passages and note religious symbolism that pervades it.
Tsangnyön Heruka lived and wrote during the latter half of the fifteenth century, which was a period of religious reinvigoration (Heruka i, xxxi). This begs the questions whether or not this constitutes a religious text or a literary work with heavy religious symbolism and which calls into question the appropriateness of analyzing this work. If it qualifies as a religious text, then it would be inappropriate to implement Western methods to analyze a Tibetan Buddhist religious text, since it would impose the intellectual practices of a culture steeped in monotheism on the religious manifestations of Tibetan culture.
Heruka however did renounce his religious ties at the age of twenty-one and rejected traditional religiously institutions (xxxii). As someone who did not represent the hegemony of Tibetan Buddhism, Heruka could be seen as a poet who incorporated the religious social structure of his community into the representation of his poetry. In that way, it would be more a literary work than a religious text, and it is possible to analyze narratologically this work.
Now, as the dream connects to the Tibetan Buddhist thought on nirvana being translated as “awakening,” it is important to note the narrative technique of dreaming and waking up from dreams. There are two dreams recounted in the first chapter of The Life of Milarepa. The first recounts Rechungpa’s entry into the city of the Garden of Dākinīs where he encounters the Buddha who proclaims that he will teach the lesson of the life of Milarepa the next day (11-2). It’s an interesting dream to have at the beginning of the novel, since the overall goal of the novel is to recount the life of Milarepa. Rechungpa awakens from this dream at dawn, which means that the telling of the life of Milarepa will begin on this day, which is connected with the religious imagery of awakening and attaining nirvana. There is a meaning there that a Tibetan Buddhist might infer from this juxtaposition that the life of Milarepa is integral to the process of seeking nirvana. Heruka may have been lauding his own storytelling ability by implying that this story would bring enlightenment, or, more plausibly, despite Heruka’s ideological differences with the majority of the doctrine, the story of Milarepa had spiritual merit enough that many should study it in pursuit of nirvana.
The next dream Rechungpa has is of the “five sisters of Long Life,” who foretell again that the life story of Milarepa will be told the next day, saying the “senior heart-disciples will request it” (14). This motivates Rechungpa to request the life story himself and begins the major narrative of the novel. It essentially means that only those who are senior heart-disciples, persons serious about their religious education, would request the life story of Milarepa. Essentially, these two uses of dream imagery support the reading of the story, implementing religious imagery to validate the narrative. It is a meta-imagery instance that reinforces the opening of the story.
