Milarepa is one of the most widely known Tibetan yogis and poets. He rose above the dark deeds of his younger life and with the help of his Guru, Marpa the Translator, took to a solitary life of meditation until he achieved the pinnacle of the enlightened state. Out of compassion for humanity, he undertook the most rigid asceticism to reach the state of enlightenment and to pass his accomplishments on to the rest of the world.