ABSTRACT
Compared with the early Franciscan sources, in which each text presents a substantially distinct reading of the Saint and of his life, the Tibetan namthars on Milarepa seem to reflect a rather consistent and intrinsically quiet (if effectively non-existent) hagiographical debate around the interpretation of the Repa’s life, deeds, and legacy that remains fundamentally unvaried over the period of roughly 300 years. The namthars examined, in fact, appear to offer a surprisingly constant understanding of the Repa as a being who, after having endured various forms of hardship in his youth, would eventually engage in the practice of the Dharma, unsuccessfully at first, and then, under Marpa’s guidance, to the ultimate realization of complete enlightenment.
