Like a criminal gaining his freedom from a dungeon hole
The yogi who gives up his native country knows bliss

Like a spirited horse that's freed of hobbling chains
The yogi who slips from perceived and perceiver knows bliss

Like a deer that has been wounded will lie low
The yogi who lives on his own all alone knows bliss

Like the king of birds that wings his way on high
The yogi who gains command over view knows bliss

Like the wild wind that's roaming through the sky
The yogi not blocked by any obstruction knows bliss

Like a shepherd tending his flock of white-fleeced sheep
The yogi tending his luminous, empty experience knows bliss

Like the massive bulk of the central king of mountains
The yogi unfazed by transition and change knows bliss

Like the constant flow of a great and mighty river
The unbroken-flow-of-experience-yogi knows bliss

Like a human corpse as it lies in a cemetery
The yogi who shuts all activity down knows bliss

Like a stone that's thrown into the deep blue sea
The yogi who never turns back again knows bliss

Like the sun that rises and lights up the whole sky
The yogi who lights up everything knows bliss

Like a palm tree when you strip it of its leaves
The yogi not needing to be reborn knows bliss

This melody on these twelve kinds of yogic happiness
Is a Dharma gift to all of you, may it answer your question well

Milarepa's response to concerned students' question about his health.
Under the guidance of Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, translated and arranged by Jim Scott, Karma Tengyal Ling, Ludwigshorst, Germany, Summer, 1994. From the Tibetan text at page 388. Translation copyright 2012, Jim Scott