Precious human life

Practicing the four renunciations

Precious human life

If we do not contemplate the preciousness of this human life, we will not cherish it fully and utilise it most meaningfully for the benefit of this and future lives. Precious human life is very hard to obtain. Without comparison, we will not realise how fortunate we are to have obtained this precious human life. Contemplate the following three aspects: the causes of obtaining a precious human life, the metaphors, and the numbers.

Today we received our precious human life thanks to immense merit in past lives. First of all, we should adhere to discipline. HH Achuk Lama said, “All Buddhas praise the adherence to discipline. The roots of the teachings are based on discipline, and this is how to practice according to Buddha’s teachings. Discipline is the foundation of obtaining a favourable rebirth.” Adhering to discipline is the foundation of obtaining a human rebirth. There are the five precepts of lay people, the precepts of monks and nuns, the Bodhisattva precepts and the Tantrayana samaya precepts. Once undertaken, these precepts should be strictly observed. When we review ourselves, just the precept of refraining from false speech, let alone all the precepts, may be difficult to observe perfectly. Through this way of practice one may obtain a precious human life in the future. Actually, not descending into the three lower realms is difficult to guarantee.
Secondly, we should practice the Six Paramitas of the Mahayana school. Finally, we should have the aspiration to obtain the eighteen freedoms and advantages of a human life in the future.

Contemplate on the metaphors of obtaining a precious human life

There is a metaphor in a sutra, “It is like throwing a pea against a wall and hoping that one pea will stick.” Generally the peas will not stick to the wall and they will fall to the ground. In this way we can contemplate the difficulty of obtaining a precious human life.
Here is another metaphor. Imagine the whole world becomes an ocean and in the ocean there is a floating piece of wood with a hole in the middle. The piece of wood floats on the surface of the ocean and the waves move continuously. At the bottom of the ocean there is a blind turtle, which surfaces once every hundred years. The piece of wood does not have the intention of searching for the turtle; the blind turtle cannot see the piece of wood. If the wood remains in one spot and the turtle surfaces often, it might be possible for them both to meet. However, the wood floats constantly and the blind turtle only surfaces once every hundred years, therefore it is highly improbable that the two will meet. Even if the turtle does surface near the wood, the turtle cannot see the hole in the middle of the wood, and so it will be very unlikely that its head finds its way into the hole. Nevertheless, on some very special occasion, purely by chance, the turtle might stick its head into the hole in the wood. The Buddha said it is harder to obtain a precious human life than it is for a blind turtle to stick its neck into the hole in the piece of wood.

Contemplating on the numbers

There are countless beings living on this earth. When comparing the number of humans and the number of other animals, the difference is significant. In summer in Tibet, the number of ants in a nest is more than the total number of humans living on this earth. In the Six Realms (hell, hungry ghost, animal, god, asura, and human realms), the number of beings in the three higher realms is limited, and the number of humans there is even smaller. As described in a sutra, “The number of beings in the hell realm is like the amount of dust on the ground; the number of hungry ghosts is like the amount of sand in the Ganges river; the number of animals is like the amount of grain; the number of asuras is like the amount of snowflakes; however, the number of humans and beings in the god realm is like the amount of dust on one’s fingernail.

The eighteen freedoms and advantages of a precious human life

The integrated eight freedoms and ten advantages, meaning one has free time, body and mind are perfect, without so called deformities , represent the best conditions for learning the Buddha Dharma. This precious human life is so very hard to obtain. The beings in the hell realm, beyond their pain and suffering, do not have the opportunity to study the Buddha Dharma and perform good deeds. The beings in the hungry ghost realm, although they have the opportunity to listen to the Buddha Dharma (some hungry ghosts understand the meaning of the Buddha Dharma), they do not practice meditation due to hunger and thirst. The beings in the animal realm are largely ignorant, since most of them do not understand the Buddha Dharma and hence do not perform good deeds, only a very limited number are exceptional. The beings in the heaven realm have long and luxurious lives, but they are not suited to study the Buddha Dharma. The beings in the formless realm stay in the non-dual state and waste a lot of time without hearing the Buddha Dharma or performing good deeds. The beings in the realm of sensuous desire wallow in enjoyment and do not think about performing good deeds or practicing the Buddha Dharma. Among the six realms, the human realm is the most suitable realm to practice.

We were not born in deserted places that do not have the Buddha Dharma, we do not live in families who are ignorant or have wrong views, and we do not live in places where no Buddha has appeared. We have the following positive conditions: we are born in the human realm, we have a well-formed body, we were born in places where the Buddha Dharma has been transmitted, and we do not commit the five heinous crimes. Most important of all, we have faith in the Buddha Dharma, the Buddha has already appeared and taught, and the Buddha Dharma has been propagated in the world. Finally, there are examples of successful practitioners, compassionate people providing opportunities to practice.

Think about it: in endless samsara it is very difficult to obtain a precious human life. We are now born with a human life, have encountered the Buddha Dharma, met with great teachers who can guide us. These are the precious eighteen freedoms and advantages that we have already obtained. These are very difficult to acquire and more precious than the Cintamani (Wish-fulfilling Stone). You could say this is the most perfect time in samsara. To come across this opportunity in the future will be very difficult.

This chapter is part of: Introduction Course - Part 1: Renunciation