Perfect Freedom:
The Great Value of Being Human
Lama Zopa Rinpoche
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Chapter Three: The Eight Freedoms
The first freedom: not being born in the hells
Of the eight freedoms, the first is having the chance to
practice Dharma because you have not been born in the hells.
Among all the six realms, hell beings have the heaviest sufferings.
Of the suffering states of hell, there are eight cold and
eight hot hells, as well as the neighboring and occasional
hells.
When meditating on the hot hell sufferings, think that
the hell beings constantly have the vision of the entire
ground
as red-hot iron, oneness with fire. It is like this in
all the hot hells. In the cold hells, the bodies of the
hell
beings are oneness with ice, with many cracks and blisters.
(You may be familiar with these explanations from lam rim
teachings, but many people have difficulty believing in
the existence of these sufferings.)
All these hell sufferings are due to the power of mind.
When the mind is peaceful and virtuous, a person looks
very peaceful
and pleasant. When the mind has the nature of compassion
or loving kindness, even the physical body looks different;
it is very pleasing. Seeing such a person gives other
people a warm feeling; it even makes them happy. On the
other
hand, a person with a very tight mind, who is very selfish
and
angry, looks very ugly. Even though a person may have
looked attractive before, he looks very ugly and terrifying
when
his mind becomes tight and angry. Other people become
upset when they look at his face; his face is so unpleasant
that
other people don't even want to see it. Even the color
of the face changes: some faces turn black, others red,
with
anger.
Thoughts of loving kindness, patience
and bodhicitta make a person look very peaceful. Because
you experience
a warm
feeling when you see such a face, you want to speak
to the person and help them. An angry mind, however,
changes
the
aspect of the whole body into a very terrifying one.
You are scared to meet or speak to an angry person.
This is
all due to the power of the mind. The mind has such
power that
it even physically changes a person. Also, the power
of the mind immediately affects the external environment.
Your own
face and body can disturb everything in the environment.
Even alone in your room, if you are angry, the whole
environment
becomes very black, and it is terrifying for another
person to come into the room. This is simply talking
about how
things can actually change now when your mind becomes
negative -
I am not talking about having a beautiful or ugly body
due to past karma.
All this comes from your mind. Whether your physical
appearance and environment are good or bad depends
on your mind. The
environment of a house depends on the minds of the
people living in it. When you approach places where
very pure
holy beings are living, you receive an incredible
blessing that
makes your mind very tranquil. Even though you may
not see the holy being, just by coming near his house,
you
become
very peaceful and happy. The peaceful environment
comes from his living in pure moral conduct.
In a crowded place such as a market or restaurant,
hundreds of different people may look at one person.
Some may
find him ugly and disturbing to their mind, while
others see
him as enchanting. There is just one object, one
person, but
different people see him in different ways and
their minds are affected differently by him. If that
ugly
person existed
from his own side, without depending on the minds
of the people looking at him, he would appear ugly
to
everybody who ever saw him.
It is the same with someone who looks attractive.
If that attractive person exists from his own
side, without
depending
on the minds of the people looking at him, he
should appear attractive to every living being. This
person
should even
appear attractive all the time. If you see someone
as very attractive the first time you meet them,
if that
attractiveness
exists from its own side, no matter how many
years you live together, he should appear that way all
the time.
In the
same way, if you live for years with someone
you
found ugly when you first met, that should never
change;
he should always
appear that way to you. However, things do change
because how things appear to you depends on how
you think.
When you don't remember the kindness
of your mother, you think your mother is harming you
when she scolds
you. You
don't think that it is kind of her to advise
you to be a good person so that you can have
a good
life. When
you don't
recognize her scolding and beating as kind,
you may see her as ugly. But as soon as you recognize
that
her scolding
you
and showing you your mistakes is a method to
help you
become a good person, you see your mother as
kind. Once you see
that what she is doing benefits your mind and
your life, even though she still does the same
actions,
because
your attitude has changed, you see how very
kind
her beating
and scolding are - and they don't hurt so much.
Even though it
may still hurt physically, it doesn't hurt
your mind as before. You get a warm feeling. The way you see your own body, the external
environment and other people depends on your
present way
of thinking. It
depends very much on the way you think now
- without need to talk of past karma. Past
karma
determines
whether you
have a pleasant or unpleasant environment,
but even now so much - even this place! - comes
from
your
mind. Some
people
see this as a good place; others see this same
place as terrible. For some the weather here
is too cold;
for others
it is fine.
Living in the same house in the same city,
some people find the weather unbearably hot,
while
others find
it comfortable. This all comes from the minds
of the different
people.
In Precious Garland, the great pandit Nagarjuna
says:
From non-virtue all suffering arises, as well as the unfortunate
realms of the evil transmigratory beings. From virtue all
happiness arises, as well as the happy transmigratory beings.
Because hell, preta and animal beings don't have the opportunity
to accumulate virtue, they accumulate non-virtue, and so
are called evil transmigratory beings. Virtue and non-virtue
simply refer to the inner factor of the different types of
mind. Gods and humans have lighter sufferings than other
beings, with more opportunity to experience happiness, so
are called happy transmigratory beings.
Nagarjuna also says: All our happiness and suffering come
from our own mind. When we meet a desirable object, a happy
feeling arises. When we meet an undesirable object, a suffering
feeling arises. When we meet an indifferent object, a feeling
of indifference arises. From morning until night our feelings
vary like this, according to the different objects we meet.
A happy feeling may come, then a suffering feeling, then
an indifferent feeling. Even in one day a variety of happy
and unhappy feelings arise in dependence upon the different
conditions - place, food, clothing, beings - we meet. There
are those you like, those you don't, and those about which
you feel indifferent. Suffering feelings arise when you
meet a person you dislike, you are in a filthy place
or you receive
undesirable food. It is the opposite when you meet a friend
or are in a good place - a happy feeling arises. These
conditions and feelings of happiness and suffering all
come from your
mind. Feelings of suffering or happiness depend very much
on your present way of thinking, whether your present thought
is suffering or happy. A practitioner of Mahayana thought-training
can change his attitude so that miserable conditions give
rise to happy feelings.
Happiness and suffering all come from your mind, from your
karma. All these conditions for happiness and suffering
are the result of karma you have accumulated in the past.
In
daily life, all happy and unhappy feelings, and the different
conditions come from the mind and karma of each individual
sentient being. In the same way, the hells - the heaviest
sufferings and undesirable conditions explained in the
sutras of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha and in the lam rim -
come from
the evil mind. This is why in A Guide to the Bodhisattva's
Way of Life Shantideva says:
Who has created the burning iron ground? From where have
the multitudes of flames come? It is said by Shakyamuni Buddha:
All this comes from the evil mind.
The conclusion is that everything depends on your mind.
You can see that the whole key is your attitude. All the
secret methods to obtain happiness and eliminate suffering
are there in your attitude. Making a decision to change your
attitude and develop your mind is extremely important. If
you change your mind from evil attitudes such as selfishness
and so forth, there is enlightenment; on this mind you will
be able to establish peerless happiness, with total cessation
of suffering. If you do not change your attitude from self-cherishing
and other disturbing thoughts, instead of the peerless happiness
of enlightenment, you then experience the heaviest suffering
of the hells.
Having fewer problems and more peace of mind depends on
your attitude in daily life, on how much you are able
to practice
the good heart each day, on how much you are able to transform
your mind into virtue. As long as you do not protect your
mind from disturbing thoughts but allow your mind to be
controlled by them, your samsara has no end, the problems
and confusion
of life have no end. By protecting your mind from disturbing
thoughts, you purify previous negative karmas and obscurations,
and stop creating new causes of suffering. In this way
your samsara has an end.
All our dreams at night also come from our own mind. Frightening
dreams of being caught in a fire, drowned, beaten or
killed by others are appearances of the hallucinated
mind. If,
before going to sleep, you talk about an enemy and get
angry, or
read stories and see pictures that cause attachment to
arise, dreams of anger or attachment will come during
the night.
If you practice much virtue in the daytime, good dreams
will come at night. Dreams come from the impressions
planted on
your mind by the way you spend the day. Depending on
these impressions, you dream of fighting, actions of
attachment,
being in beautiful or terrifying places.
We are living here now at Tushita because of good karma
from the past. The impression planted on our minds
has now actualized
as this good karma. If this house suddenly burst into
flames and we were caught with fire all around us,
as with a frightening
dream, this would be the result of impressions left
on our consciousness by previous negative karma, such
as
harming others out of anger, selfishness and so forth.
The impression
of this negative karma would be actualized in the fire.
There
are different karmas: sometimes we live in a very miserable
place, at other times in an incredibly beautiful place.
The difference with the hells is simply that the conditions
there
are much more miserable.
Some years ago somewhere in America, perhaps New York,
there was a huge plane carrying more than three hundred
people.
Normally before a plane leaves, the engines and other
parts are checked to make sure that the flight will
be safe.
Nothing faulty was found when this plane was checked.
The stewards
and stewardesses are trained well in their jobs,
which include opening the doors. However, after the plane
landed at the
airport, somehow they could not open the doors at
all.
The doors are very hard to open from the outside
and the stewardesses
could not open them at all from the inside. They
were completely stuck.
Suddenly the cockpit burst into flames and the pilot
shouted for help. Everything inside the plane was
completely burned.
The airport emergency crews tried to open the doors
but they had become too hot; the doors could not
be opened
for a long
time. When they finally opened them, they saw that
the people had all died while trying to escape.
All the bodies
were
piled up on top of each other. For forty minutes
the whole thing became the hells - even though
no one expected
such
a thing to happen. Meditate in this way: In extremely hot weather you cannot
meditate - to do even ten minutes of meditation is very difficult.
You feel so hot and lazy that you cannot even sit up. Or
when the small fire of an incense stick touches your body
it is so painful that you cannot concentrate. Think of yourself
as born now into the sufferings of one of the hot hells,
being cooked in a large pot of boiling water, standing on
the red-hot burning iron ground, or trapped in the red-hot
burning iron house with no way to escape. "If I were
born now in the hot hells, it would be unbearable. There
would be no opportunity at all to practice Dharma." Check
whether you could practice Dharma with that kind of suffering.
If you were there now, could you practice Dharma? You couldn't!
No way!
Think in a similar way about the cold hells.
In the winter time you could not sit outside
naked and meditate. Even putting
your hand in the freezer of a refrigerator for five minutes
is so unbearable that you cannot think of anything except
the pain. Think: "If I were in the cold hells now, it
would be impossible to practice Dharma. There would be no
opportunity at all." Then return to your present state
as a human being: "How fortunate I am to have the freedom
to practice Dharma through not being born in the hells!" (The
teachings say through not being born, but it does not necessarily
relate only to the birth-time; relate it to this present
time.)
Also think: "Today, through not being born in the hells
and having the freedom to practice Dharma, I can accomplish
the three great purposes. Within these twenty-four hours,
within this hour, even within this minute, I have the freedom
to obtain whichever I wish of the three great purposes. I
have the freedom to accomplish as many of the three great
purposes as I want, for as long as I want, whenever I want."
You can now see that this freedom to practice
Dharma through not being born in the hells
is unbelievably precious. Adding
to practice Dharma makes you feel that having this freedom
is more precious. "This freedom is much more precious
than having diamonds piled up to the size of my body." Comparing
the value of this freedom to material wealth gives you more
feeling for how precious it is because you can see the value
of material objects much more easily than the value of this
freedom. With this freedom you are able to obtain the first
great purpose: a good rebirth in your next life. This present
freedom to obtain a good rebirth because you have not been
born in the hells and can practice Dharma is much more precious
than diamonds piled up to the size of your body.
The second great purpose is to achieve the sorrowless
state, nirvana. "This freedom with which I can achieve the
sorrowless state is much more precious than diamonds piled
up to the size of this Dharamsala mountain. And having the
freedom to achieve enlightenment through not being born in
the hells is much more precious than diamonds equaling the
number of atoms of this earth." Even if you possess
diamonds or dollars equaling the number of atoms of this
earth, if you don't have the freedom to practice Dharma through
not being born in the hells, as a preta, or as an animal,
what is the use? Even if you have that many diamonds, with
that alone you cannot achieve enlightenment; you cannot achieve
any of the great purposes. There are many rich pretas and
rich nagas with storerooms of jewels under lakes, but they
have no opportunity to achieve enlightenment, or even the
sorrowless state. Think of these details. "With this
freedom I can accomplish any of the three great purposes
at any time." This is an incredible freedom.
We regard even one tiny diamond on a ring as
very precious and are very careful not to lose
it. But we don't have as
much feeling for the value of this precious human body -
not even five rupees worth of feeling. We feel five rupees
has some value - we can buy some chocolates or ice cream
with it - but we don't feel that this perfect human rebirth
has even that much value. Even though we have wasted so much
of our perfect human rebirth through not making it meaningful,
we don't feel any loss - not even as much loss as we would
feel if we lost five rupees. This is because we have not
realized the preciousness of this perfect human rebirth qualified
with eight freedoms and ten richnesses.
Compared to diamonds, the perfect human rebirth
is unbelievably precious. Having the freedom
to practice Dharma through not
being born in the hells is itself unbelievably precious. "If
I waste this freedom for even one day, there is no question
that it is an unbelievably great loss. If I don't practice
Dharma for one day, this is an inexpressibly great loss.
Even one hour passed without practicing Dharma, especially
bodhicitta, is an unbelievable loss - a much greater loss
than having lost diamonds equaling the number of atoms of
this earth." If you lost one diamond, you would feel
a great loss, so to lose that many diamonds would be unbelievable.
One hour of your life passed without making it meaningful
by practicing Dharma, especially bodhicitta, is a much greater
loss. Make the determination to practice bodhicitta continuously,
without wasting your life for even a minute. In this way
your life becomes the most meaningful.
Recognize that this human body with the freedom
to practice Dharma through not being born
in the hells is extremely precious.
With this precious human body with eight freedoms and ten
richnesses, by studying and understanding Dharma, one has
great opportunity to purify all the negative karmas generated
in the past, practice virtue and renounce the cause of
suffering. Instead of feeling depressed,
one should feel happiness at
having the opportunity to do all this with this precious
human body. The second freedom: not being born as a preta
The second of the eight freedoms is the freedom to practice
the holy Dharma through not being born as a preta. Think
of when your stomach is empty and you are very hungry because
you didn't get your lunch at the right time. Even though
there is food and you are going to get it, because you are
very hungry, you cannot meditate, cannot think of Dharma.
Even before the food is ready you have to eat something -
you cannot reflect on the holy Dharma. If you did not get
food for one month, with that much suffering of hunger it
would be impossible for you to practice holy Dharma. In the
same way that when you have great pain, you cannot think
of anything except the pain, you could not think of anything
except your hunger. Even when you are not in danger of starvation,
if your food is delayed a little and you are hungry, you
cannot think of anything else. You cannot meditate on lam
rim.
If with small sufferings of hunger and thirst you cannot
meditate or practice Dharma, think of being born as a preta,
a suffering being whose life is constantly filled with hunger
and thirst. Hunger and thirst are the major sufferings of
pretas. For five hundred years they are unable to find one
bowl of food - even food as small as a mustard seed. Besides
not seeing water for many years, they cannot even find the
mark of water for hundreds of years.
Think: "If I were born now as a suffering preta being,
it would be impossible to practice holy Dharma. How fortunate
I am to have the freedom to practice Dharma through not being
born in the preta realm. With this freedom, within these
twenty-four hours, within this hour, even within this minute,
I have the incredible freedom to obtain whichever of the
three great purposes I want. If I wish, I can continuously
create the cause to receive a perfect body in my next life.
During this whole hour, I have the opportunity to create
the cause to obtain the sorrowless state. And, if I wish,
I can achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient
beings. In this one hour, by practicing bodhicitta, I have
the freedom to create the cause of enlightenment."
As a result of thinking like this, you get a very strong
feeling of how precious and important this body with this
freedom is. "If I waste for one hour, even for one minute,
this freedom of having the opportunity to practice the holy
Dharma through not being born in the preta realm, it is an
unbelievable waste." Meditate on this freedom, thinking
that with it you can achieve any of the three great purposes,
and that this freedom is much more precious than diamonds
equaling the number of atoms of this earth. "Wasting
one hour, even one minute, by not practicing holy Dharma
is a much greater loss than losing diamonds equaling the
number of atoms of this earth. Therefore, without wasting
even a minute, by practicing bodhicitta, I am going to make
my life highly meaningful."
As you go over each of the freedoms, recognizing the freedoms
you have and what you can do with them, you realize that
the body with these freedoms is extremely precious. You
then determine to make your life highly meaningful by
practicing
bodhicitta. The third freedom: not being born as an animal
"If I were now one of the slugs that come out on the
road when it rains, or one of the goats that are chased down
the road to the butcher by the Indians, what would it be
like?" Visualize yourself as one of these animals and
then ask yourself whether you would have the opportunity
to practice the holy Dharma or not. It would be impossible!
A parrot can repeat mantras. However, as a human being, you
can understand if somebody explains the meaning of om
mani padme hung, whereas a parrot cannot. There is no way a parrot
can understand that mani means method and padme, wisdom.
There is no way to make a parrot understand the wisdom of
absolute truth. There is no way these pitiful goats, pigs
and sheep can understand emptiness, even if you scream in
their ears for years.
In some ways, meditating on the eight freedoms and ten richnesses
also becomes a meditation on compassion because you have
to think about the problems of the other sentient beings
who do not have the opportunity to practice holy Dharma.
When you think about the animals and humans who don't have
the opportunity to practice Dharma, you feel much compassion
for them. Your having the opportunity and incredible freedom
they do not have becomes a great cause of generating compassion.
There is no choice: compassion has to arise. "If I were
like these animals now, I would have no opportunity at all
to practice the holy Dharma. Not being born as an animal
but as a human with the freedom to practice Dharma, I am
very fortunate!" Again, think that with this freedom
you can achieve the three great purposes; and come to the
conclusion to make your life highly meaningful through practicing
bodhicitta. The fourth freedom: not being born as a barbarian
The fourth freedom is having the freedom to practice Dharma
through not being born as a barbarian. Being a barbarian
is much worse than being blind because, even if you are blind,
you can still understand and have faith in karma and in the
refuge of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Tibetan lay people who
are blind still do many practices, such as reciting prayers
and Chenrezig mantras, and are able to accumulate much merit
because they have faith in refuge and karma; they do these
practices with faith that mantras can purify negative karmas
and that making offerings to the Triple Gem results in happiness.
So, even though they may not know the entire lam rim, to
a certain extent they can make their life meaningful. This
makes a big difference. The physical eye cannot see things,
but the mind is rich, not poor. Even though they may have
perfect senses, barbarians are actually poorer because they
have no opportunity to practice Dharma.
"
If I were a barbarian now, just as a blind person cannot
tell the right road from the wrong one, I would not be able
to see." With no understanding at all of the causes
of happiness and suffering, your mind would be completely
dark. There would be no understanding of karma and refuge,
and no faith in them. Your mind would be like a completely
dark room. Everything barbarians do to try to obtain happiness
is wrong and results only in problems and suffering. Think
back to the West, to the people in the cities there - to
your own parents and relatives. Even the Indians here in
Dharamsala have no understanding of Dharma at all, no faith
in refuge and karma. "If I were like them now, what
would it be like? There would be no opportunity to practice
holy Dharma."
The great pandit Chandragomin uses a very effective example
to explain the nature of worldly beings, who work only
for this life. A small bunch of grass is growing near a
well.
Seeing the bunch of grass, a cow thinks: "If I can eat
that bunch of grass, I'll be happy." Because of attachment
to that small bunch of grass, she runs over to eat it, and
falls down the well. Attachment to the bunch of grass, rather
than leading to enjoyment, results in the cow falling down
the well. Chandragomin says that worldly beings with desire
for this life are just like this cow.
Worldly beings cling to the happiness of this life and
work for it with their body, speech and mind. Worldly dharma
and
holy Dharma are quite different. Any action of the body,
speech and mind done with worldly concern, clinging to
the happiness of this life, is worldly dharma, or non-virtue.
Mantras and prayers may be holy Dharma, but if a person
recites
these out of worldly concern, his action becomes worldly
dharma, not holy Dharma. Actions done with renunciation
of this life, without worldly concern, are pure, holy Dharma.
Dromtonpa once asked Lama Atisha: "What is the result
of actions done with ignorance, anger and attachment? And
of actions not done with ignorance, anger and attachment?" Lama
Atisha answered: "Actions done with ignorance, anger
and attachment bring rebirth in the lower realms as an evil
transmigratory being. Actions done with an attitude not possessed
by the three poisonous minds bring the result of rebirth
as a happy transmigratory being."
To understand Lama Atisha's answer, look at the human beings
who have no understanding of Dharma at all, no faith in
refuge or karma. Simply think back to the people in your
own city
in the West. Day and night they think of nothing more than
this life. They are concerned about nothing more than the
happiness of a few years of life, or a few months. All
day and night they keep themselves busy with this motive
of worldly
concern. You can see that is all non-virtue, and Lama Atisha
answered the question as to its result. All activities
of body, speech and mind done with an attitude of worldly
concern
result in rebirth in the lower realms as a suffering transmigratory
being.
Because there is no understanding of karma and also no
faith in refuge, no thought to purify arises. Such people
have
no opportunity to purify the obscurations and negative
karmas accumulated in the past, no opportunity to practice
holy
Dharma. You can see this very clearly in the example of
the cow wishing to get the grass at the edge of the well.
The
result is that she falls down the well. Like this, the
result of all work done for the happiness of this life,
since the
method is non-virtue, is to fall down into the lower realms.
Even if you show worldly people the teachings of karma
and refuge, or give them purification methods such as Vajrasattva,
they cannot understand or accept them. Therefore, they
have
no opportunity to practice Dharma. Put yourself in their
place: "If I were like this, what would it be like?
There would be no opportunity at all to practice Dharma.
How fortunate I am to have the freedom to practice the holy
Dharma through not being born as a barbarian."
Even though you do create negative karma, you have the
opportunity to purify it. Because you understand and
have faith in karma
and refuge, you have the opportunity to practice Dharma;
you know there is a solution. Understanding and faith,
which means Dharma wisdom, give you the opportunity to
practice
so that you can accomplish your wish for happiness.
Do the rest of the meditation as before. The fifth freedom: not being born as a long-life god
The fifth freedom is the freedom to practice Dharma through
not being born as a long-life, or worldly, god. "If
I were born as a form realm god, such as a long-life god,
it would be like a deep sleep. I would have recognition of
birth and death but nothing else. There would be no opportunity
to practice Dharma if I were now a worldly god." If
you don't understand the example of a long-life god, think
of someone who sleeps all day and night, with no opportunity
to practice Dharma. "How fortunate I am to have the
opportunity to practice Dharma through not being born as
a long-life god."
Then do the rest of the meditation as before. The sixth freedom: not being born as a heretic
The sixth freedom is having the freedom to practice Dharma
through not being born as a heretic. A heretic is someone
who says there are no Four Noble Truths, reincarnation, past
and future lives or liberation from the bondage of karma
and disturbing thoughts. Heretics may also believe that you
can achieve liberation through self-inflicted punishment
or that by sacrificing animals or killing people, you can
go to heaven. Heretics recognize the path shown by Buddha
as a completely wrong path and the teachings of Buddha as
evil. Their practices create only heavy negative karma, which
causes them to be reborn in the lower realms. Their completely
hallucinated beliefs as to what is the path to liberation,
or heaven, cannot even protect them from the lower realms.
Heretics take poison to be medicine, and recognize medicine
as poison. Being a heretic is like licking honey on the edge
of a sword. The heretic is completely hallucinated, just
like a person who is hallucinated due to drugs or spirit
harms. Where there is a precipice, they see a beautiful garden.
Believing completely in the beautiful garden, they run there
and actually fall down from the precipice.
"
If I were now a heretic, there would be no opportunity at
all to practice Dharma." If you explain karma, refuge
in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, or emptiness to heretics, they
cannot accept them and become angry, so they have no opportunity
to practice virtue and abandon non-virtue. "How fortunate
I am to have the freedom to practice the holy Dharma through
not being born as a heretic. I am extremely fortunate not
to be a heretic."
Then do the rest of the meditation. The seventh freedom: not being born where no Buddha has
descended
The seventh freedom is having the freedom to practice Dharma
through not being born in a place where no Buddha has descended.
Try to imagine this. In such a place there would be no teachings
at all, so no opportunity to practice Dharma. Even if you
were born as a human being, it would be useless. What could
you do? It would be the same as being born as a dog. There
would be no opportunity at all to practice holy Dharma. In
such a place there would be no particular advantage in being
born as a human. "How fortunate I am to have the opportunity
to practice Dharma through not being born in a place where
no Buddha has descended."
The eighth freedom: not being born as a fool
The eighth freedom is the freedom to practice Dharma through
not being born as a fool. Think of mentally handicapped people;
they cannot do anything - not even recite a mantra. They
have no opportunity at all to practice Dharma. They know
just enough to move their body, but that is about all. Fools
have just enough mental capacity to be living beings, but
little else. They cannot even offer service to others. "If
I were born like this, even if I lived one hundred years,
it would be completely useless. There would be no opportunity
at all to practice Dharma. How fortunate I am to have the
freedom to practice the holy Dharma through not being born
as a fool.
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