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previously unpublished article that was prepared in 1978 as a text to accompany a calendar of reproductions of Tibetan thangkas, or scroll paintings, that depicted scenes from Milarepa’s life. The calendar was never published, so the article was filed away. It was one of the first articles that I worked on with Rinpoche. I uncovered it tucked away in some files in the Shambhala Archives while I was in the process of searching for material for inclusion in The Collected Works. It presents the basic events in Milarepa’s life story, with commentary on their significance, making the other two articles easier to follow for readers unfamiliar with the story. The careful reader will notice that each of the three articles differs in some small respects in presenting the details of Milarepa’s life. There are a number of versions of his namthar , or spiritual biography, and quite probably Chögyam Trungpa consulted different texts at different times. In working with me on “Milarepa: A Warrior’s Life,” Rinpoche suggested that I consult Lobsang Lhalungpa’s translation of The Life of Milarepa.
    The second article is simply called “Milarepa: A Synopsis.” It too emerged from the files when I was searching for material for The Collected Works and has never been published before. It presents a series of scenes from Milarepa’s life, with little commentary on their significance. The writing is quite vivid, however. Excerpts from a number of Milarepa’s songs are included, based on the translation of The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa by Garma C. C. Chang. Although it was impossible to definitively confirm this, it is likely that this article is actually an early treatment prepared by Chögyam Trungpa for a movie on the life of Milarepa, which he began filming in the early 1970s. He and several of his students, including two filmmakers from Los Angeles—Johanna Demetrakas and Baird Bryant—traveled to Sweden to film some exquisite thangkas of the life of Milarepa, which were to be featured in the movie. More information about the film itself—which was also to be an exploration of the qualities of the five buddha families—appears in the introduction to Volume Seven, which presents Rinpoche’s teachings on art and the artistic process.
    Volume Five closes with “The Art of Milarepa,” which originally appeared in Garuda II. The title is somewhat misleading in that the article has little to do with Milarepa’s artistic expression—his songs—in and of themselves and more to do with his art of life. The opening part of the article is a discussion of how the secret practice of Buddhist yoga evolved in India, especially in the ninth century in the great universities of Nalanda and Vikramashila. The connection that Marpa (Milarepa’s main teacher) had to this tradition is also discussed. In this article, one sees Trungpa Rinpoche’s brilliant insight into Milarepa’s journey through life, the obstacles he encountered, and his final attainment. Throughout, Rinpoche brings together immense appreciation for Milarepa as a highly developed person on the one hand, with a down-to-earth insight into the humanness and ordinary quality of his practice on the other.
    After he met his guru, Milarepa lived an austere, ascetic life and spent many years in solitary retreat in caves in the wilderness of Tibet. His lifestyle might seem distant from that of most people, especially in this modern age. Yet Trungpa Rinpoche makes Milarepa’s experience accessible by demystifying it, while maintaining his tremendous appreciation for the attainment of his forefather. He tells us that Milarepa remained an ascetic simply because “that physical situation had become part of his makeup. Since he was true to himself, he had no relative concept of other living styles and did not compare himself to others. Although he taught people with many different lifestyles, he had no desire to convert them.” Milarepa’s asceticism is treated here as