Hmmm...., no one gave any comment. Perhaps Tilopa was realy a madman that his views doesn't even make any sense. And if I give my comment, then I'd be just as mad as he was.....
Anyway, promise is promise, so here's mine:
I remember a story from John 8:1-11. I'll put the quotation here--I took it from
http://www.sacred-texts.com & I hope I'm not violating the copyright.
1 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.
2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.
3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Some said the woman is Maria Magdalena(Mary Magdalene). The question is, why did that mass of people dismiss themselves? On another occasion, Jesus was discussing the law "Thou shalt not killeth". And he once also said, "Even those who hate their fellow human being or said to other fellow human: "Profane!", should also be taken to the court law."
When discussing the law "Thou shalt not commiteth adultery", he said, "But anyone who sees a woman & wanting her, has already commited adultery with her."
For me, the point is as this: The Law of the Supreme Mind(God or whatever name you called It), cannot be described literally only; and the Jews--especially the religious leaders--in the first story realized it.
The Pardes method is something common among them. Its origins is from Qabalah, but there's a deep relationship between Kaballah & Judaism. It is said that when Moshe(Moses) was receiving Torah(The Ten Commandments) & Judaism along with it, God also gave him the secret teachings of Qabalah. While Judaism is meant for the common people, The Holy Kaballah was strictly confined for the spiritual elders, including the prophets. Now, for those who doesn't know about Pardes, I'll give a short explanation.
Pardes is an abbreviation of Persha, Remez, Derash, Sod, representing 4 levels of interpretation. Actually, it is some kind of advance science. See it this way: When you see, say, a flower, what you see is the physical manifestation, the Persha. But the flower composed of substances that exist in dimension called Remez in Kaballah--in today's science, perhaps it is the dimension of molecules. The Remez contains of Derash within it; and finally, the originating substance of everything, the Sod--the Atoms(The Undivided)--is what has made Derash--& everything.
I'll set the easiest example here, that is from Shiva, The Lord/God of Destruction. Those who doesn't understand will think that it is strange, as so did I long, long time ago, how such a terrible character, The Destructor, being worshipped as a God.
That's for those who sees only on Persha level: Destruction.
Try to see deeper. A Sculptor, when he is making a statue, isn't he doing destruction to the stone? The house that we have, it got it's wood from 'destructed' trees. No creating without destructing. So, destruction in the level of Remez is: Creating.
Creating & destructing is the continous process in the whole universe. We call it(the Derash level): Transformation(Change).
For the last level, the core of everything, you will see that everything is none else than transformation, inter-exchange of energy. But--I'll give a little hint here--for the purpose of Magickal act--for manipulating energy, you have to find out where or what is peculiarly showing the energy of transformation.
Take for instance the body. Among all part of the body, the hair represents perfection, & perfection means wholeness. In wholeness nothing is static, there will always be eternal change. So, the hair, the top of the head, the 7th chakra, represents transformation, the seat of Shiva. For Magickal ritual, one can use hair, staring at a picture of the Crown(Sahasrara) Chakra, or by using accupressure technique on specific spot on feet or palms that connected to the Pineal Gland(the gland that is connected to Baihui(Pai Hui), the topmost point of the head).
NB: Because hair is connected to perfection, no wonder there are religious rules about it. One rule states that the hair of women must be covered, another states it is the man's, yet another one says the hair must be grown long, while other says it has to be cut thoroughly. That's the physical level, for in the deeper levels, there are no difference between those rules. The main point is, do not let one's self keep damanding for perfection, for there would be no perfection in physical dimension.
My translation for the rules: Woman's hair must be covered - We don't need perfection. Man's hair must be covered - We don't strive for perfection. The hair is cut thoroughly - We realize nothing is perfect in physical reality. The hair is grown long - We see everything around us as perfect.
So speaking of stealing, stealing that we know is only in physical level. We must going deeper. What does the word stealing means? It means taking something that doesn't belong to you. So, not only robber or stealer, but everyone of us steals everyday. Say I'm walking in a shopping centre & see a car being sold--a car that I still cannot afford of, but I want it: doesn't it mean I'm stealing already? That car is not mine, but I already have owned it in my mind.
No wonder Jesus said that anyone who fall in love is comiting adultery, because when someone is falling in love he/she already feel united to the one that he/she loves, but who still has not became hers/his.
In the case of Naropa, he was different. He stole the cake for Tilopa's sake. Tilopa didn't ask him to get the cake, he volunteered. When he felt ashamed to ask for another cake, he could make excuses. "The party is over", or "They didn't bake the cake anymore", or anything he could thought of. But no, he didn't do that. Naropa just did what he intended to do, like a soldier following order. There was no feeling or emotion involved--like in military said : No thinking. Can you make what other people want turns into what you want? It is common to hear someone committed crime for the sake for the loved ones--but actually, in turn, that person did that only for him/her-self. But how many times did you hear someone committing crime for the sake of an unknown stranger?
Anyone who has comprehended Pardes would see that in Sod there's no difference between the law of killing, stealing, the need to respect your parents, all ten of them; for if only we can see Atoms, then there are no things, no shapes in all the universe, only Atoms.
So that's all from me. There might be those who disagree with my point of view. But please don't get angry, 'cause I'm just a madman who is as mad as Tilopa, remember?