Detailed Lam-rim Meditation on the Precious Human Life

Pabongka has explained:

Even though the hearth rocks used to contain an outdoor campfire might be of solid gold, yet if a poor man does not recognize what they actually are, he will ignore them and leave them behind when he breaks camp. Thus, he will remain poor.

Likewise, if we do not recognize the true value of our precious human lives, we will take it for granted and not take full advantage of the rich opportunities it presents.

The Eight Respites

Except for our unawareness and naivety, nothing is preventing us from pursuing the Dharma to the best of our ability. This is because we enjoy a respite from eight restricting situations in which we would have no chance at all for such pursuit (mi-khom-pa’i gnas-brgyad). If we can recognize that we are free from these limitations, we will appreciate the leeway and freedom we have to take the essence of life.

Nagarjuna has listed these eight situations in A Letter to a Friend (bShes-spring, Skt. Suhṛllekha), 63–64:

Rebirth as someone holding a distorted, antagonistic outlook, as a creeping creature, a clutching ghost, or in a joyless realm, or rebirth where the words of the Triumphant are absent, or as a barbarian in a savage border region, or stupid and dumb,

Or as a long-lived god – rebirths as any (of these) are the eight faulty states that have no leisure. Having found leisure, being parted from them, make effort for the sake of turning away from (further) rebirth.

[A similar listing is found in Prajnakaramati’s (Shes-rab ’byung-gnas blo-gros) “Commentary on the Difficult Points of (Shantideva’s) ‘Engaging in Bodhisattva Behavior’” (sPyod-’jug dka’-’grel, Skt. Bodhicaryāvatāra-pañjikā), I.4.]

The Four Non-Human Situations with No Chance to Pursue the Dharma

[1] The trapped beings of the joyless realms are so overwhelmed by the intense sufferings of heat or cold they experience that they have no opportunity whatsoever for spiritual pursuits. If someone placed a red-hot coal on our head and asked us to sit up straight and meditate properly, it would be impossible. Our entire mind and all our reflexes would be concerned with but one aim – to remove the coal immediately. We should consider how fortunate we are to be free from such a tortured state.

[2] Similarly, clutching ghosts are totally preoccupied with devastating hunger and thirst. If we were in a famine region and had had nothing to eat or drink for days on end, even if the holiest teacher came and encouraged us to do spiritual practices, we would be incapable and most unreceptive. Our first and only concern would be to fill our stomach.

[3] Creeping creatures, such as animals, are completely handicapped by their limited mental capacities. We might be able to teach a dog some amusing tricks, but if we tried to instruct it or a donkey in something more beneficial for itself, such as reciting a simple mantra or developing a spiritual motivation, it would be beyond its ability. Therefore, do not look upon pets as a source of amusement, but rather consider how much more fortunate we are than they and how much more freedom and liberty we have to shape and improve our life. If we had blinders on, a sharp bit in our mouth, were harnessed to a heavy load and had only enough intelligence and communicative abilities to learn to tap our foot if we wanted something, how much progress could we make in that state?

[4] As for being born as a long-lived divine being (lha, Skt. deva, god), some of them are only aware of their status the moment they are born and regain consciousness when they are about to die. The rest of their lives, they are unconscious (dran-med), absorbed into extremely deep, divine trances as if totally asleep. If we were to pass our life in a coma, what chance would we have to do anything?

Other divine beings are completely engrossed in indulging themselves in trivial pleasures. Once, Shariputra had a close disciple called Kumarajivaka (’Tsho-byed gzhon-nu), a king of physicians, who was so wholeheartedly committed to him that even if he were riding an elephant, he would jump down to the ground at once to bow and make offerings if he met his teacher. When he died, he was reborn in one of the divine realms filled with divine sensory delights. One day Shariputra went to this realm to visit and give him further teachings. However, when the former disciple saw this master, all he did was wave a finger in greeting while he continued to play and amuse himself in mindless games with his beautiful divine friends.

The Four Human Situations Likewise with No Chance

[1] If we were born as a barbarian (kla-klo, Skt. mleccha) among uncivilized savages or in a country where religion was outlawed, we would not even know of the existence of the Buddha Dharma, let alone have the freedom to practice it.

Furthermore, even if we were born in a civilized country with religious freedom and other philosophical and spiritual beliefs present and tolerated, yet [2] if Dharma teachings were unavailable, how could we practice them? And even if we tried, how could we possibly follow them correctly?

Suppose the Buddha’s teachings were available, and we were born in its heartland, still if [3] we were severely mentally retarded or were deaf and dumb, our learning disability would drastically curb our chances to study and practice them fully [specifically before the teachings were written down and to learn them, you needed to hear them being spoken].

The worst handicap, however, is [4] instinctively thinking with a distorted antagonistic outlook (log-lta, Skt. mithyā-dṛṣṭi, holding wrong views), such as cynically disrespecting spiritual matters or being completely naive about the correct teachings on the laws of behavioral cause and effect, rebirth, altruism and so forth. Since such mental blocks are the worst obstacles preventing our becoming spiritually involved, Nagarjuna has listed them first in the above quotation concerning these eight situations with no chance for practice.

Some people think it is difficult to collect eight trivial items in a game, and if they succeed, consider themselves clever. However, if we have succeeded in amassing all eight respites (dal-ba brgyad, Skt. aṣṭa-kṣaṇa, eight freedoms) from these limitations, how much stronger a position are we in to benefit ourselves and others! 

The Ten Enrichments

Not only is there nothing preventing us from trying our best to develop spiritually, but there are also many factors in our life providing rich opportunities for study and practice. In Shravaka (Listener) Stages of Mind (Nyan-sa, Skt. Śrāvakabhūmi), Asanga has listed ten such enrichments (’byor-ba bcu, Skt. daśa-saṃpad, ten endowments): 

Being human, born in the central (land), with complete senses, not having transgresses the right bounds of behavior, with confident belief in what it should be placed, a Buddha has come and the Dharma has been spoken by him, the teachings are abiding, and with those who follow them, those with compassion for others kindly (supporting them). 

The Five Enrichments That Are Personal Situations

There are five factors from our own side which concern our birth and make our life rich with possibilities (rang-’byor lnga, Skt. pañca-ātmasaṃpad, five personal endowments). The most prominent is [1] we have been born as a human being. As such, our most important assets are our human intelligence and judgment. These put us in a far more favorable position to benefit our future than in any other rebirth state.

Not only are we human, but we have also [2] been born in the right place – a central Buddhist region. Such a locality can be specified in two ways. The geographically defined central Buddhist region (sa-tshigs-kyi yul-dbus) is that area of a Rose-Apple Island (’dzam-bu gling, Skt. Jambudvīpa, Southern Continent) that has as its center a Vajra Seat, such as we have at present at modern Bodh Gaya in Bihar, India. The lands beyond, as delineated by four ranges of mountains, have been traditionally called the savage border regions with no chance to pursue the Dharma.

A religiously defined central Buddhist region (chos-tshigs-kyi yul-dbus) is any place in which there are found the four groups essential for a complete monastic community (’khor-rnam bzhi, fourfold assembly). These are fully ordained monks and nuns who observe 253 and 364 vows respectively, and laymen and laywomen who each observe 5 vows.

We may not have been born in the geographically central region, but at least we have taken birth in a world in which the monastic Sangha for the most part still exists. Thus, we all have the rich opportunity to come in contact with the full, living tradition of those intent on practicing the Dharma.

[3] If we had been born in such a world, however, having both male and female organs or no sexual organs at all, we would be hampered from the fullest practice. This is because we would be unable to receive the pratimoksha vows as either a monk or a nun, since we would fit in neither category. Other major birth defects, such as cretinism, could also make our life poor in possibilities for spiritual study and practice. There are so many extra problems to overcome if we are deformed or handicapped that we should consider ourselves very fortunate indeed if we have complete physical and mental faculties.

[4] We should further rejoice that we are not still experiencing disastrous repercussions from having committed the most extreme destructive actions, namely the five heinous crimes (mtshams-med lnga, Skt. pañcānantarīyāṇi). If we had committed any of them or caused others to do so, we would have fallen in our directly subsequent rebirth to one of the joyless realms, and this could not have been deferred by another interceding rebirth in between. Once that hellish lifetime had ended, then until the negative karmic force built up from our heinous crime had been completely exhausted, we would continue to experience grave repercussions, even if reborn as a human. These would be in the form of mental blocks, hindrances, obstacles and obscurations (sgrib-pa, Skt. āvaraṇa), all of which come from our past karma and prevent us from achieving any spiritual goal.

The five heinous crimes are: 

• Murdering our mother
• Murdering our father
• Murdering an arhat
• Causing a schism in the Sangha
• With the harmful intention of murder, drawing blood from the enlightening body of a Buddha.

They are explained in Vasubandhu’s (dByigs-gnyen) Treasure-House of Special Topics of Knowledge, IV.96–107, and The First Dalai Lama’s (rGyal-ba dGe-’dun grub) Clarifying the Path to Liberation: A Commentary to (Vasubandhu’s) Treasure-House (of Special Topics of Knowledge) (mDzod-tik thar-lam gsal-byed), 257–266. 

The heinous crime of causing a schism in the Sangha must form two rival factions with at least four monks or nuns on each side. It is the most serious heinous crime, and the one who perpetrates it falls in his or her immediate next rebirth to the lowest of the hot joyless realms, that of unrelenting pain (mnar-med, Skt. Avīci, Avici Hell). Other heinous crimes do not necessarily cause a fall to this lowest realm. 

There are five parallel heinous crimes (nye-ba’i mtshams-med lnga) corresponding to the major five and also with the consequence of a rebirth in a joyless realm that cannot be deferred: 

• Committing incest with our mother when she happens to be an arhat
• Murdering a bodhisattva
• Murdering an arya who is training in the Hinayana pathway minds for attaining liberation
• Stealing the provisions or funds of the monastic Sangha
• With hatred, destroying a monastery or a stupa.

[5] Lastly, if we instinctively believe in what is true, namely the Buddha’s scriptural pronouncements, ethical living and the pathways of mind leading to a purified state, our life is the richest. We will naturally seek out every possibility to pursue the Dharma. 

The Five Enrichments That Are Social Situations

There are five further factors enriching our life. These concern the time and place we were born, but pertain to the side of society (gzhan-’byor lnga, Skt. pañca-parasaṃpad, five circumstantial endowments):

[6] A Buddha, such as Shakyamuni, has graciously come and is present in this transitory world. Otherwise, there would be no possibility for the Dharma teachings to have appeared. 

[7] Furthermore, he has and is still continuing to impart these teachings. Some Buddhas manifest birth in the morning, and because no one has sufficient positive karmic force to study with them, they pass away in the evening. They make their advent to benefit others by simply appearing and leaving a deep impression on their mental continuums.

We are especially fortunate because Buddha Shakyamuni has graciously come to our Rose-Apple Island and not only delivered sutras, but also tantras on the hidden measures to protect the mind. This is extremely rare. Of the thousand Buddhas prophesied to appear during this fortunate eon, this will be done only by the first, that is Buddha Kakutsunda (’Khor-ba ’jig), the fourth, namely Buddha Shakyamuni, the eleventh, who will be a future incarnation of Tsongkhapa, and the thousandth, who will summarize everything his 999 predecessors have taught.

Although these first two conditions are not strictly fulfilled at the moment – the Buddha in the form of a Supreme Nirmanakaya (mchog-gi sprul-sku, Supreme Emanation Body) is no longer present as Buddha Shakyamuni – still there are spiritual masters who act in his stead as representatives imparting his teachings. Thus, our life is complete with the essential points of these first two enrichments.

[8] In addition, to meet with the Dharma, there must be both its scriptural and realized teachings available without degeneration. 

There must be a living tradition of masters who can impart the teachings both orally and through their very way of being. For their teachings to be authentic, these living masters must have a lineage that is traceable, without any break, all the way back to the Buddha himself. If in each generation there have been masters who have gained actual attainments by practicing the Dharma, we can be confident when we hear or see the scriptural and realized teachings of this that we ourselves can do the same. However, if the lineage from successive master to ensuing generations of disciples has been broken or the teachings have become incomplete, we can never be sure that we are meeting with the authentic teachings.

Our life, however, is especially rich because both the sutras and all four classes of tantra – kriya tantra, charya tantra, yoga tantra and anuttarayoga tantra – are still preserved in their totality and available as a living tradition, both on a scriptural and a realized level, amongst the masters of the Tibetan lineages. This indeed provides a unique opportunity.

[9] Suppose we have met with the pure and complete teachings. Still there are many adverse conditions that can hamper our practice. For instance, being a lone practitioner in an irreligious environment, we can fall prey to many negative influences. Therefore, we are very fortunate to have the presence of those who follow the Buddha’s example, namely the monastic Sangha. Even if they are not yet realized beings and have no actual attainments, still they provide much inspiration that the teachings are a living tradition. Seeing their example of striving in the correct direction, we will not become slack or forlorn in our practice.

[10] In addition, there are patrons with compassion who deeply cherish others and who provide favorable conditions by supporting the monastic community and the lay practitioners. If everyone were hostile and antagonistic to the Dharma, it would be extremely difficult to succeed on our own. 

We should look realistically at our own situation in life. When we recognize the eight respites we enjoy, so that nothing is stopping us from pursuing the Dharma, and how, in addition, there are ten factors making our life rich with opportunities for study and practice, we can no longer justify making excuses. Rather than self-pity and thoughts of inadequacy, we will feel overjoyed at our freedom and opportunities to develop ourselves to the best of our ability. In having obtained a precious human life like this, we should think that our prayers have been fulfilled.

Merely to feel happy at achieving a precious human life is not enough. Out of miserly greed we can rejoice in finding anything precious. We must not only realize its value, but also think to use it meaningfully. If, having gained such a working basis (rten, Skt. āśraya, support), we use it only to look after the welfare of this life, we are no better than some creature that creeps all about. In fact, some animals are far better equipped to fend for themselves than we are. A leopard can run much faster, a lion is stronger, an eagle sees farther and so on. However, as human beings, we should try to do better than a beast of the field. Merely to look after trivial concerns of this perishable life is like the silly cow that, running after a mouthful of grass, fell right off the side of a mountain. 

Chandragomin (bTsun-pa zla-ba) has said in Letter to a Disciple (Slob-springs, Skt. Śiṣyalekha), 76:

Just as an elephant calf craves a few mouthfuls of grass that grows at the edge of a deep pit and falls into the chasm without obtaining any, so it is with those who desire the joys of this world.

What is the importance or significance of a precious human life and what can we accomplish with it? To appreciate this, let us look at the various types of human lives there are. According to the abhidharma teachings, each world-system has a core mountain with a large island-world in each cardinal direction and, beyond each island, two smaller isles. The island and isles of each direction taken together have their own particular species of humans. Thus, each world-system contains four basic types of humanoid beings (gling-bzhi’i mi, Skt. cātur-dvīpika-manuṣya).

The humanoids on the islands of the south, east, west and north are progressively twice the size of each other and those on the isles are half the size of those on the adjacent island. Thus, the humanoids of the northern islands called Islands of the Voice of Doom (sGra mi-snyan, Skt. Kuru, Northern Continent) are sixteen times our size. The throwing karma (’phen-byed-kyi las) that caused their rebirth on this northern island-world also results in their being reborn as divine beings on the plane of sensory desires (’dod-lha, Skt. kāmadeva, gods of the desire realm) in their immediately following life. 

While these humanoids have a completely fixed lifespan and an assured better rebirth, this is not the case with those on eastern or western island-worlds. Most, but not all of them, live out their full lifespan and rebirth can be into any life form.

Although Buddhas do not grace eastern, western or northern island-worlds by manifesting birth there as a Supreme Emanation, nevertheless Dharma teachings may arrive there through visits by highly realized beings such as Shariputra, Maudgalyayana, Nagarjuna and so on. Because of the presence of these teachings, some humanoids on eastern and western island-worlds may take certain limited preventive measures of Dharma, although they cannot achieve enlightenment in their lifetime. Humanoids of northern island-worlds, however, have even less of an incentive than those on eastern and western islands and will not take even the slightest preventive measure.

Human life as we know it flourishes on Rose-Apple Islands, which are to the south of any core mountain. The three other species of humanoids are known as those who live in the lands of luxury (longs-spyod-kyi sa-pa). Their lives are much more affluent than ours, and within each group there is not much variety in lifestyle or experience. Humanoids on Islands of the Voice of Doom in the northern quadrant of any world-system have fixed lifespans of 1,000 years. Everyone is extremely comfortable, food comes from their treasure, a constant harvest of wild crops that require no cultivation, the so-called “unploughed harvest” (ma-rmos-pa’i lo-tog), and there is no private ownership. One week before a person’s death, a voice from the sky announces the imminent end of his or her life. Once, when Nagarjuna traveled through his extraphysical powers to a northern island, he undressed to bathe in a pond. Upon emerging refreshed, he was most embarrassed to discover that his clothing had been carried off by someone. However, as anything anyone found there was in the public domain and right for the taking, there was nothing he could do.

The humanoids on western Islands of Wealth from Cows (Ba-glang spyod, Skt. Godānīya, Western Continent) enjoy an endless supply of gold that drops as dung from their treasured livestock, wish-granting cows (‘dod-‘jo’i ba). Although the lifespan is not fixed, the vast majority live to be 500. The people of eastern Islands of Giants (Lus-’phags-po, Skt. Videha, Eastern Continent) have bodies twice the size of ours, abundant wealth from their treasure, a jewel mountain (rin-po-che’i ri-bo), and the majority live to the age of 250.

Since everyone on these three types of island-worlds has such a life of ease and comfort, their minds are dulled. They do not have to strive for anything. Regardless of what they might do, their present life remains much the same. Everything comes to them freely because of constructive actions in previous lives. As a result, they do not know how to set about accomplishing something they might want or eliminating anything undesirable. They are likewise poor in mental ability and are unable to retain the meaning of any teaching on the Dharma or discern specific points from within it. Although humanoid, they do not have a precious human life because they lack ambition and are mentally too weak to pursue intense spiritual training.

We, on the other hand, as humans of southern Rose-Apple Islands, are known as those who live in the land of actions (las-kyi sa-pa). We all differ greatly in our circumstances and abilities, and we can see and enjoy the results of our actions in our very life. Therefore, we have a great incentive to work, and our wits are much sharper than those humanoids whose actions will only bear results in future lives [as cited by Tsongkhapa, “An Explanation of (Nagabodhi’s) Stages of Presentation (of The Guhyasamaja Tantra)” (rNam-bzhag rim-pa’i rnam-bshad), 14b–16a]. 

Therefore, if in addition to merely being born in a land of action, we also enjoy a respite from conditions with no chance for study or practice and have the various enrichments to allow us ample opportunities for spiritual development, we can accomplish anything on this excellent working basis. Therefore, in our ceremonies to honor our spiritual teachers, we imagine them seating on a jeweled throne atop our treasure of the south, the wish-fulfilling tree (dpag-bsam-gyi shing).

A precious human life is important from three points of view:

• With it we can accomplish either our provisional goals
• Or we can accomplish our ultimate goals
• Each moment we can come closer to achieving either of these two.

There are two desirable spiritual aims (‘dod-don gnyis), namely the good fortune of a higher rebirth (mngon-mtho, Skt. abhyudaya) or the definite goodness (nges-legs, Skt. niḥśreyasa) of either liberation or enlightenment. The former is a temporary goal since no rebirth lasts forever. The latter is an ultimate goal since with either liberation or enlightenment we are free forever from samsara with all its uncontrollably recurring problems or situations. Released from troubles, in nirvana, the happiness of definite goodness is everlasting.

A precious human life, then, is important because first of all we can build up with it the positive karmic force to be reborn in any superior state as a human or some divine being. This is the aim of the initial scope of spiritual motivation. By being generous, we can be reborn affluent; by developing deep states of concentration, we can become a divine being absorbed in the dimension of ethereal forms (gzugs-khams, Skt. rūpadhātu, form realm), and so on. In addition, we can also achieve on this working basis either liberation or enlightenment, the aims of the intermediate and advanced scopes of spiritual motivation respectively. Both these latter are accomplished by training ourselves in higher ethical discipline, higher absorbed concentration and higher discriminating awareness.

The foundation of the first and most fundamental of these trainings is safeguarding vows. As humans of a land of action, we have both the ability to discern what is beneficial as well as the incentive to achieve our goals on the basis of confidence in the laws of behavioral cause and effect. Therefore, we are in the best position to safeguard all three sets of vows: the pratimoksha vows, the bodhisattva vows and the tantric vows. And especially since we are the only type of human that can experience the result of our actions within our lifetime, we are the only ones who can actualize our fullest potential in this very life through the practice of anuttarayoga tantra.

Moreover, each moment of our precious human lives is important because each positive and constructive action we do, each prostration, each repetition of a mantra brings us closer to achieving our provisional and ultimate goals. Therefore, we take the essence of life by trying our best to accomplish these spiritual aims. We must never waste our time. If we go to a treasure island that is laden with jewels and return empty-handed or with only some worthless trinkets, it would be pathetic. Likewise, when we have such a golden opportunity in life, we must use every precious moment. 

Aryashura has said in A Talk Which Is like a Jeweled Receptacle of Good Explanations (Legs-par bshad-pa rin-po-che za-ma-tog lta-bu’i gtam, Skt. Subhāṣita-ratna-karaṇḍaka-kathā), 16–18b:

Those who have obtained a human life rich in virtues through a network of positive force built up over innumerable eons, and who then, due to unawareness in this life, fail to accumulate even the slightest treasury of positive karmic force, will in future lifetimes enter the house of unbearable sorrow. Like the traders who go to a land of jewels and return home empty-handed, without the karmic paths of the ten constructive actions, you will not obtain a human life again. 

How can there be happiness without a human life? Without happiness, there is only suffering. Therefore, you have only deceived yourself before going to the next life. There is nothing more confused than this.

Shantideva has also said in Engaging in Bodhisattva Behavior (I.4, IV.23): 

Having gained this (body with) respites and enrichments, so hard to find, which can fulfill the wishes of (every) being, if, in this (lifetime), I don’t actualize its benefits, when later will a perfect endowment with one come?

So, if, having found a respite such as this, I don’t make being constructive a habit, there’s nothing more self-deceptive than this; there’s nothing more stupid than this.

However, we are all mad since we waste what we have. And, as the Kadampa geshes used to say:

Our madness is much worse than conventional insanity. That can pass in a few years, but our madness lasts from birth until death!

If we appreciate, however, the rarity of a precious human life and how difficult it will be to obtain one again, we will think twice about using it for trivial purposes.

The Difficulty of Obtaining One from the Point of View of Its Causes

There are three causes prerequisite for gaining a precious human life. The basic one is observing pure ethical self-discipline. In conjunction, we must offer stainless prayers for such a birth and cultivate the other far-reaching attitudes.

It is important to make our prayers explicit and complete. In Tibet, at a special temple within Ganden Monastery (dGa’-ldan dgon-pa), there stood the throne of the great Tsongkhapa. The holder of this Ganden throne (dGa’-ldan khri-pa, Ganden Tripa) is the spiritual head of the Gelug tradition. Once, a calf walked into this temple and sat upon the Ganden throne. Everyone was horrified. One great master with the clairvoyant powers of advanced awareness, however, told the monks there was nothing surprising about it. Recently there had been an old woman who, in front of the Buddha statue at the main temple of Lhasa, had prayed to be able to sit on the Ganden throne. Since the object before whom she had offered her prayer was so precious, her wish had come true. Unfortunately, she had not been more explicit!

The far-reaching attitudes are needed for providing conducive circumstances for our life. If we do not complement our ethical self-discipline and prayer with generosity, we will be born in the future as a poor person. Conversely, if at present we are impoverished, this is because in previous lives we might have been ethical, but we were certainly not generous. Lacking patience, we will be reborn ugly; without joyful perseverance, as someone lazy, unworthy of respect. If we have no mental stability, our minds will always wander; and neglecting discriminating awareness, we will be reborn a dullard. Therefore, if we wish a fully rich life in the future, we must develop all these far-reaching attitudes.

A pure ethical attitude, the main cause of a precious human life, is something very rare in this degenerate age. Geshe Potowa has said:

Our sense of what is ethical is like a sheep let loose in a field: it just eats anywhere and anything.

If, because of our strong proclivities for negativity and laziness, we lack self-control in matters of conscience, how can we ever gain another human rebirth? Being generous, patient or enthusiastic, for instance, but without being ethical, can lead to a rebirth as a pack-rat with a nest full of gems, a beautiful furry animal hunted for its pelt or an industrious bee or ant. 

Therefore, Shantideva has said in Engaging in Bodhisattva Behavior (IV.21): 

If, by the negative force of committing (a heinous act) for an instant, I must spend an eon in a joyless realm of unrelenting pain, what need to mention not going to one of the better rebirth states because of the negative force I’ve built up over beginningless samsara?

Aware of this situation, Geshe Chenngawa always practiced intensely. He never slept or took breaks. Even when he went to the toilet, he ran. His teacher told him this was detrimental for his practice and health and that occasionally he should relax. However, Chenngawa said, “How can I? Every moment is crucial when I think of the preciousness of my human life.”

This is a very inspiring example, but we should not become spiritual fanatics. Chenngawa was very advanced and knew what he was doing. He could handle constant intensive practice, but we cannot. If we push ourselves too hard, we will only end up with a nervous breakdown. The point is to work our hardest, but know the measure of our own capability. 

In general, we should not act like weak-minded people who can be led in any direction like a puddle of water. When they are with someone laughing, they giggle uncontrollably, and when with someone crying, they break into tears. We have a precious human life: we must try to develop judgment and discrimination ourselves. To do this, it is imperative to tame our minds. If we have no control over our mental and emotional states, if we cannot gain a certain modicum of independence and strength, but are always dependent on others for our moods, we can never gain ultimate happiness. We become like slaves bound to their master’s whims. Therefore, we must study the measures to take for developing our minds, then ponder them until we understand and finally build them up as habits. If we never study, our minds will become even duller, and we will never learn how to improve our condition. Our precious human lives will have become a complete waste.

Thus, Sakya Pandita has advised in A Precious Treasury of Elegant Sayings (Legs-bshad rin-po-che’i gter), IX.42:

Those who did not study in previous lives have been (born) as idiots in this life. Seeing this, then fearing being reborn as a fool in the future, you should make all effort to study in this life, even if it is difficult.

He has also said (I.9):

Even if you are going to die tomorrow, a sensible person will study (today). Even if you cannot become learned in this lifetime, you will be able in future lives to reclaim (your studies) like invested wealth.

The Sakya master Bodong Chogle Namgyel (Bo-dong Pan-chen Phyogs-las rnam-rgyal), founder of one of the three minor lineages rooted in this tradition, the Lineage of Bodong, has similarly said:

We do not have time to eat or drink well or to sleep soundly. We must study and work hard day and night, especially when young. Acting like this, we will be able later to reap the results.

Tsongkhapa was able to learn everything by merely hearing a hint of the subject, and when Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche was three years old, he learned the entire alphabet in a day by just being shown the letters once. This is a clear indication of their great training and familiarity from previous lives. Therefore, if we study well now and keep a strict sense of ethics, we can gain a human rebirth once more, and then we will see how quickly we are able to learn. If we have laid no karmic latencies (bag-chags, Skt. vāsanā, propensities), we will have no talents. One of the monks in my monastery took three months to remember one line of A Concert of Names of Manjushri (’Jam-dpal mtshan-brjod, Skt. Mañjuśrī-nāma-saṃgīti), whereas my teacher memorized it all in one study session. This shows the kind of previous lives they have had!

Therefore, we should always be reading and learning more. We can see this from the inspiring example of Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche. Up until his passing away at the age of eighty-one, no matter when we went to visit, he always had a book open before him and was reading. Also, like these sublime masters, we must be impeccably pure in our conduct and ethics. Otherwise, learning by itself will not even bring us a human rebirth. There are plenty of clutching ghosts with scholarly abilities. 

Dharmarakshita has described us well in The Wheel of Sharp Weapons (Theg-pa chen-po’i blo-sbyong mtshon-cha ’khor-lo), 66: 

Our philosophical view is the highest, yet our conduct is worse than that of a dog. Our good qualities are abundant, yet we cast to the wind their (ethical) base.

Thus, looking at our actions and considering them in the light of the causes for attaining once more a precious human life, we should try to realize how rare an opportunity we have and take full advantage. There is no guarantee we will have another chance as golden as this.

The Difficulty of Obtaining One From the Point of View of Analogies 

A precious human life is as rare and difficult to attain as it would be for mustard seeds poured on a needle to stick to its point or peas thrown at a standing mirror to adhere to its surface. 

Or as Shantideva has said in Engaging in Bodhisattva Behavior (IV.20): 

Because of just this, the Vanquishing Master has said rebirth as a human is so difficult to attain, just as it is for a turtle to stick its neck through the hole in a yoke adrift on the vast sea.

Nagarjuna has also said in A Letter to a Friend (59):

Since even more difficult than the meeting of a turtle and the hole in a solitary yoke located on the ocean is the attainment of a human state from that of a creeping creature, make that (attainment) with human faculties be fruitful through practicing the hallowed Dharma.

This latter analogy is of a blind tortoise living on the bottom of the ocean who, coming up for air only once every hundred years, happens to surface at precisely that spot on the ocean at which it pokes its neck through a golden yoke floating on the waves. The turtle represents embodied, limited beings. Being blind is not knowing the Dharma. The ocean is samsara. The tortoise when on the bottom of the ocean is like limited beings in the three worse rebirth states. Its coming to the surface only once every hundred years is as rare as the chance for limited beings to rise to one of the three better rebirths. The golden yoke is the Buddha Dharma. Its wandering on the ocean is the spreading of the Dharma in all directions, and the poking of the tortoise’s neck through the hole in it is the attainment of a mother’s womb from which to be born with a precious human life. 

Having obtained such a rare life, we are like someone who has rolled a boulder half-way up a steep hill. It is difficult to push it further up, but very easy for it to fall back down. We must be very careful and persevere.

In his Teachings by Example (Po-to-ba’i dpe-chos), Geshe Potowa has told us about Loding’s son (Lo-lding bu). Once, in Penpo (’Phan-po) there was a rich family by the name of Loding which owned many gold mines. They had a son who took no interest in the family enterprise, but who went off instead as a traveling merchant. He went far and wide, and although no one recognized him as Loding’s son, many had heard of him. Wherever he traveled, he would hear people say, “If only I were Loding’s son, I would mine a mountain of gold.” Finally, he realized how fortunate he was and went home to reclaim his birthright. Like his example, we should try to appreciate the rich opportunities we have with a precious human life and not squander them on trivial matters.

Potowa has given us further analogies for thought in his Teachings by Example. Once a man from Tsang province (gTsang) came to Lhasa. He had never before eaten fish, so he gorged himself on this rare treat. However, he ate so much that he made himself sick. He was just about to regurgitate his meal, when he tied his neck with a rope. Similarly, we should be as unwilling as he to lose the essence or waste the opportunity of a precious human life. 

Once, a man with no legs was resting on the edge of a short drop. He lost his balance and, slipping off, fell right on the back of a wild ass beneath. The startled beast ran off at a terrific pace, and the man hung on for dear life, whooping and shouting with glee, “If I do not live it up now, when will a cripple like me ever get to ride a wild ass again?” Likewise, it is extremely rare for someone like us, just coming up from the worse rebirth states, to turn up as a human and do something positive and spiritually beneficial.

Therefore, when we have the freedom, ability and opportunities to practice, for us to postpone is like what happened during a famine when a mother managed to gather some food and give a little to each of her children. One clever lad took his share and put it behind his back to hoard. However, the dog only came and immediately gobbled it. Thus, we should take the preventive measures as soon as we receive them and never just collect more and more. 

The Difficulty From the Point of View of Its Nature

This point refers to the rarity of a precious human life in terms of numbers. The Buddha once picked up a pinch of sand from the banks of the Ganges and said this was equal to the number of wandering beings who either rise from one of the three worse to one of the three better rebirth states, or who are reborn once more in a better state after having left a similarly fortunate rebirth. All the rest of the sand was equal to the number of those who fall from one of the better to one of the worse rebirths or who remain life after life in the worse states of samsara.

The number of trapped beings in the joyless realms greatly exceeds that of the clutching ghosts, and they, in turn, far outnumber the creeping creatures. We can see for ourselves how many more animals there are than human beings by just considering the number of tiny creatures in a small pond during the summer. 

Among humans it is rare to be born during an illuminated eon (sgron-bskal) when Buddhas manifest as Complete Spiritual Leaders (rnam-’dren). There are far more dark eons (mun-bskal) in between when they never appear in that super-cluster of worlds-systems. Even within an illuminated eon, it is rare to be born during the eons of endurance. A great eon is divided into eighty intermediate ones: twenty when a super-cluster is forming and life first appears, twenty when it endures, twenty when everything disintegrates and life becomes extinct and twenty when it is bare and empty. Buddhas only manifest during the eons of endurance.

It is not rare to be born when the human lifespan is decreasing and people are becoming adults ever younger. Buddhas only manifest when the human lifespan is decreasing. When life is getting longer and conditions are improving, people are not sufficiently disgusted with their uncontrollably recurring existence in samsara to be motivated for spiritual pursuits. Since everything seems to be getting better, they have no determination to do anything constructive in order to free themselves from their suffering. When the lifespan is less than a hundred, the five degenerations abound and no one is a properly receptive vessel. Buddhas never come as teachers when the times are so bad that no one would listen to them. 

Furthermore, even when the lifespan is decreasing, it is rare to be born as a human of a Rose-Apple Island. The Buddhas do not manifest in the form of a Supreme Emanation on the other three island-worlds where humanoids are found, since people there lack the incentive and intelligence to follow any preventive measures. They only grace Rose-Apple Islands with their advent, and furthermore, during the present illuminated eon, called the fortunate eon, only 1,000 will manifest as Buddhas who will found world religions. 

Even among the humans of the Rose-Apple Islands, it is extremely rare to have the full respites and all enrichments (dal-’byor, freedoms and endowments) available to pursue the Buddha Dharma. Once a Mongolian master was discoursing on the topic of the rarity of a precious human life. A Chinese gentleman in the audience snidely remarked, “I bet this teacher has never been to China!” Although there are billions of humans on this earth, if we check to see how many of them actually have the freedom and opportunities for spiritual study and practice, there are precious few. We must be careful to distinguish merely being human from having a precious human life.

To attain such a precious life is like being one of thousands of candidates for a high position and actually obtaining it. The chances for such success are far less than if only three people were vying for the place. If we do not use our precious human lives now, but aspire for one in the future, it is like having a million dollars, throwing it away and then praying for another million. 

As Padampa Sanggye (Pha-dam-pa sangs-rgyas) has said:

It is easier for us with precious human lives to achieve enlightenment than it is for a trapped being in a joyless realm to attain such a human rebirth.

Therefore, we should not take our present status for granted and feel we have always been and will always remain human. It is more productive and undoubtedly more accurate to regard ourselves as merely visitors to the human realm, on a brief leave of absence from the worse rebirth states.

Geshe Potowa has said:

Once we appreciate the difficulty of finding a human life filled with respites and rich opportunities, how can we stay with our minds at ease and continue ruining ourselves?

Shantideva has likewise said in Engaging in Bodhisattva Behavior (VII.14): 

Seated in a boat (now) of a human rebirth, cross over the mighty river of suffering! With this boat being so hard to catch again, idiot, it's not time for going to sleep!

Once Gungthang Rinpoche was asked by a disciple to relate his enlightening autobiography. He replied:

My first twenty years passed without even being mindful of doing any practice. The (next) twenty passed in a state of thinking, “Sometime, I’ll do it, I’ll do it.” And now more than ten years have gone by moaning in regret that I didn’t get to do anything (earlier). This is my story of how I have passed away an empty human existence.

The method for realizing the need and value of a precious human life is to consider three points. 

[1] We must think about the need for spiritual development. We all wish to be free from suffering and never to be parted from a state of happiness. The way to achieve this is by working on our minds and changing our attitudes; and the only way to develop positive and constructive attitudes is through the spiritual training of taking preventive measures.

[2] We must analyze to see if we have the ability to engage in this. Two factors are necessary: the external condition of a guiding spiritual mentor and the internal condition of a precious human life with respite from all situations with no chance to study or practice and rich with opportunities. If we have both, there is no question that we have the ability to make progress.

As humans we have the intelligence to discriminate between right and wrong, beneficial and harmful. We are not like creeping animals that could not recognize the Buddha even if he were right in their midst. There is no difference between our precious human lives and that of Milarepa or Luipa. Our bodies are healthy, fat and well-fed, while Milarepa lived only on nettles and Luipa on the guts of fish thrown away by the fishermen. They both were completely deficient in vitamins, yet on the basis of their human form attained their fullest potential during their very lifetime. If they could do that, there is no reason why we cannot do the same with our vitamin-filled bodies!

[3] We must think to take the preventive measures right now in this lifetime. We cannot afford to put it off. With various excuses we shy away from spiritual involvement, yet we can always justify our compulsive pursuits for mundane joys. We try to squeeze ourselves into an entertaining show or a party even if there is no room, yet instantly we withdraw if a spiritual event is even slightly crowded or inconvenient. However, we never know which will come first, our practice tomorrow or our deaths today. Therefore, if we have at least begun our spiritual journey today and pursue it to the level of our ability, this will be the most beneficial. When we have this feeling that we must take the preventive measures now and we actually do so, then our practice becomes effortless, wholesome and enjoyable.