Villa Vergano

Percorso ad anello da Vergano-Villa passando per:
- Consonno
- Dozio
- Santuario della Madonna di Czestochowa
- Monte Crocione (8.6 km)
- Figina




THE HUNDRED THOUSAND SONGS OF MILAREPA
Should I praise your story or disparage it?
If I praise it, you will be proud;
If I disparage it, you will be angry;
If I tell the truth, it will expose your
hidden faults.
Now, listen to the song of an old man:
If you sincerely wish to practice Dharma,
Wash the dirt from off your face,
And sweep away the filth from your heart.
Sincerity and earnestness are good,
But humility and modesty are better.
Even though you may give away your son and husband,
It is better to rely on a qualified Guru.
Though you may abandon worldly life,
To strive for future EnlightenmenF is better.
Though one may renounce parsimony and avarice,
It is better still to give without sparing.
It is wise to know these things.
With high spirits,
You play and sport as shrewdly as a rat.
You may be very eloquent,
But have no Dharma in your heart.
Like a wild peahen you play-
Of coquetry you know too much,
But too little of devotion.
My dear, you are full of cunning and deceit
Like a merchant in the market-place.
It is hard for you to practice Dharma.
If you want to practice Buddha's teaching rightly,
You should follow me and my Path,
Meditating without distraction in a remote
mountain.
Bardarbom then sang:
You are the Jetsun, the precious Yogi!
One surely will gain benefits by associating with you.
In the daytime I am busy working;
Drowsy, I go to bed at night.
A slave of household work am I.
Where can I find the time to practice Dharma?
Milarepa replied, "If you seriously want to practice the Dharma,
you must learn that worldly affairs are your enemies and renounce
them." And he sang a song called "The Four Renunciations":
Listen, you fortunate girl,
You who have wealth and faith!
Future lives last longer than this life-
Do you know how to make provision?
Giving with a niggardly heart
As if feeding a strange watchdog,
Only brings more harm than good-
Bringing nothing in return but a vicious bite.
Renounce parsimony, now that you know its evil.
Listen, you fortunate girl!
We know less of this life than the next one.
Have you prepared and lit your lamp?
Should it not be ready,
Meditate on the "Great Light."
If you choose to help an ungrateful foe,
You will gain not a friend, but damage.
Beware of acting blindly;
Beware of this evil and discard it.
Listen, you fortunate girl.
Future lives are worse than this life-
Have you a guide or escort for your journey?
If you have not the right companion,
Rely on the holy Dharma.
Beware of relatives and kinsmen;
They hinder and oppose [the Dharma].
They never help, but only harm one.
Did you know that your kinsmen are your foes?
If this be true, surely you should leave them.
Listen, you fortunate girl.
The journey in the future life is more
hazardous than this one