Perfect Freedom:
The Great Value of Being Human
Lama Zopa Rinpoche
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Chapter Five: The Perfect Human Body
If you check in detail
like this, you will feel more and more fortunate. You will
see that this body with these freedoms
and richnesses is unbelievably precious. Each of these freedoms
and richnesses is very difficult to receive. At this time
you have a human body qualified with eight very rare freedoms
and ten very rare richnesses. Think: "This is like a
dream." Until now, these eight freedoms and ten richnesses
have always been missing. You have been born as a human being
many times, but as a fool, a heretic, deaf and so forth,
without all eight freedoms and ten richnesses. Even if you
received some of the freedoms and richnesses, something has
always been missing. "How fortunate I am to have received
this precious human body qualified with all eight very rare
freedoms and ten very rare richnesses. With these I can accomplish
whichever I wish of the three great purposes." Meditate
on this.
"This perfect human rebirth is millions of times more
precious than diamonds equaling the number of atoms of this
earth." When
you compare, this perfect human rebirth is much more precious.
Also think how wasting this perfect human rebirth is a much
greater loss than losing that many diamonds. Make the decision: "I
will practice bodhicitta continuously, without wasting this
perfect human rebirth for an hour, or even a minute."
Then meditate on its usefulness: With this perfect human
rebirth you can achieve the three great purposes. If you
wish to receive the body of a deva or human, you can accomplish
this because you can create the cause by practicing moral
conduct with this perfect human body. If you wish to have
perfect enjoyments and comfort, you can obtain these because
with this perfect human body you can practice charity.
If you wish to have perfect helpers in your next life,
you can
achieve this because with this perfect human body you can
create the cause by practicing patience.
Each time, think how incredibly meaningful this perfect
human body is. If you wish to achieve the ultimate happiness
of
the sorrowless state, you can achieve it. Why? Because
with this perfect human body you can practice the path
of the
three higher trainings (moral conduct, concentration and
wisdom) and achieve the sorrowless state in your future
lives - or even in this life. You can even achieve enlightenment
if you wish, because with this body you can follow the
Mahayana
path by practicing bodhicitta and the six paramitas. "If
I wish, I can achieve enlightenment quickly, within sixteen
lifetimes, or even within this life."
You have met the qualified vajra guru who can reveal the
whole path, and the complete teaching that never betrays.
Many of the secret teachings of the profound quickest path
practiced by such great yogis as Milarepa and Lama Tsongkapa
in order to achieve enlightenment have already been revealed
to you. You have already received Vajrayana teachings many
times, especially those of Highest Yoga Tantra, which show
the quickest, most secret path by which many yogis were
enlightened in one brief lifetime.
If, from your side, you don't practice correctly, that
is one thing. Otherwise, you can definitely achieve enlightenment
within sixteen lifetimes, in your next life, or even in
this
life. The only question is whether from your side you practice
correctly. You have the opportunity to achieve this because,
through generating the preliminary of the three principles
of the path with this perfect human rebirth, you can train
your mind in the generation and completion stages of the
tantric path.
In The Great Lam Rim Commentary Lama Tsongkapa mentions
that it is much easier to generate bodhicitta in this particular
world, with a human body from the southern continent, and
that the bodhicitta generated is much more powerful. Human
beings from the southern continent have various karmas,
while
humans from the other continents have similar karmas. All
the human beings from the eastern continent, for example,
have great and varied enjoyments. They are similar to the
many people who say: "Oh, I have everything: many cars,
an apartment, many friends, a swimming-pool, many televisions,
a good job, a big family. I have everything, so why do I
need Dharma? Why do I need to meditate? I'm not suffering." This
way of thinking stops them from practicing Dharma, from developing
their minds and freeing themselves from samsara. I think
it is like this in the eastern, western and northern continents.
Because it is much more difficult to generate renunciation
of samsara, it is very difficult for the humans from these
continents to generate compassion for others and bodhicitta.
And even if bodhicitta is generated, it is not as powerful
as that generated by human beings in this southern continent.
As the mandala prayer says, the main enjoyment of the human
beings from the western continent is the wish-granting
cow and from the northern continent, uncultivated harvests.
In
these continents everyone is of the same class, with
no rich and poor. (It is like certain parts of America,
such
as Florida,
where all the families are rich.) Everything is fixed,
with everybody having exactly the same length of life
and so forth.
Here in the southern continent, human beings have various
karmas and various natures. Some have a very good heart
and are incredibly generous; others are so miserly that
they
think about nothing except possessions and money. Some
are so unbelievably impatient that almost everything
they see
makes them angry. While some are ignorant and unbelievably
foolish, at the same time there are many who are very
intelligent. In the southern continent there are many
kinds of human
beings.
Also, the length of life is not fixed, and there are
different styles of living, rich and poor. Humans from
the southern
continent are able to experience in later life the
result of good karma created earlier in that life. After
some
years or months, if it is powerful, one is able to
experience the
positive or negative karma one has accumulated. The
humans from the other continents do not have a variety
of characteristics
as humans here do. Therefore, since in this continent
it is much easier to see suffering, renunciation is
generated more strongly and compassion arises very easily,
and
also
bodhicitta. It is easiest to generate bodhicitta with
this present human rebirth.
During the recent teachings His Holiness the Dalai
Lama also mentioned that the requisite body to practice
tantra
is that
of a human being from the southern continent as such
a body is constituted of the six elements. Sperm,
bone and
marrow
are the three substances received from the father;
flesh, skin and blood are the three received from
the mother.
Such a body is needed for the practice of Highest
Yoga Tantra.
While it is generally possible to generate bodhicitta
in all six realms, the achievement of enlightenment
in one
lifetime through Vajrayana practice happens only
with human beings
from this southern continent, who have a body constituted
of these six elements. Therefore, we should make
highly meaningful our having such a perfect human body.
Meditating on lam rim combines very well with reciting the
Chenrezig mantra. His Holiness the Dalai Lama said that when
your mind is very bored or distracted and you cannot focus
your mind one-pointedly on yourself as the deity, you should
do lam rim meditation. This stops superstition arising. If
you simply continue reciting the mantra with a distracted
mind, various delusions such as ignorance, anger, jealousy,
pride and so forth will arise. Within that one-and-a-half-hour
session on the meditation cushion, you may have recited mantra
with your mouth while holding a mala in your hand, but in
that one-and-a-half hours you will have created many negative
karmas. Instead of purifying delusions or retreating from
them, if you do not watch your mind, you retreat from virtue.
Anger may arise when you remember someone of whom you feel
jealous, or the way some person you dislike spoke or acted
badly towards you. When you remember his hurtful words and
behavior, anger may arise for several minutes, or even half
an hour. Heresy towards holy objects might also arise, and
you then create much heavy negative karma while sitting on
your meditation cushion doing the session.
The commentary on the Chenrezig sadhana
also explains that you should meditate on lam rim while reciting
the Chenrezig
mantra. For example, you can meditate on bodhicitta. Generate
compassion by thinking of the sufferings of other sentient
beings, practice tong-len and so forth. His Holiness
the Dalai Lama said that meditating on lam rim protects the
mind from
delusions and negative karmas. It helps to control the mind
and stop disturbing thoughts arising continuously. Having
fewer disturbing thoughts arise allows you to focus longer
with stable one-pointed concentration on the deity or seed
syllable.
Recite the Chenrezig mantra while going over the eight freedoms
and ten richnesses one by one. Be aware of each freedom and
richness that allows you to practice the holy Dharma and
remember the other people who do not have the freedom to
practice Dharma. Recognize your own freedom and be aware
of the three great purposes you can accomplish with it. Be
aware of the great advantages of each of these freedoms and
richnesses. After remembering each of them, conclude: "This
human body is extremely precious. Without wasting time I
must practice bodhicitta."
After analytical meditation, do fixed meditation on the eight
freedoms and ten richnesses. Going over them one by one,
generate the feeling of how precious each is. Then do analytical
and fixed meditation on the whole eighteen. "This body
is qualified with eighteen very rare characteristics, the
eight freedoms and ten richnesses. It has been extremely
difficult to gather all eighteen. Previously some have always
been missing. Now, just this once, all these eighteen extremely
rare characteristics are gathered in this present body. It
is unbelievably precious and like a dream.
"With this body, within twenty-four hours, I can accomplish
whichever I wish of the three great purposes: the body
of a happy transmigratory being in my next life, the sorrowless
state or the peerless happiness of enlightenment. This
perfect
human body has the opportunity to accomplish whichever
of these great purposes I want, whenever I want, as often
as
I want. With this perfect human body I can accomplish the
three great purposes for the sake of all sentient beings.
How precious it is!"
Think of all the material wealth that exists on this earth
- all the dollars, jewels, silver, gold - and then compare
it to your present perfect human body. "All other possessions
on this earth, even wish-granting gems, are nothing." Remember
all the possessions in rich department stores and banks.
Compared to the preciousness of this perfect human body,
all other possessions are completely valueless, like garbage.
There is nothing more precious than this perfect human rebirth.
Worldly people may use their human rebirth as a slave to
material possessions, but a perfect human rebirth is much
more precious than diamonds equaling the number of atoms
of this earth. Wasting it by not practicing Dharma for one
hour, or even one minute, is an unbelievable loss - a greater
loss than losing that many diamonds. "Therefore I am
going to practice bodhicitta continuously and make my life
highly meaningful." One-pointedly concentrate on how
precious this perfect human rebirth is, with the awareness
that with it you can accomplish the three great purposes.
There is nothing more important than this perfect human body.
While doing this one-pointed concentration, recite the Chenrezig
mantra.
Think how extremely foolish it is, and what a great waste,
that other people are using the perfect human rebirth they
have received to create the cause of problems, in this
life and in future lives. There is nothing crazier than
wasting
even a human rebirth, but especially a perfect human rebirth. "Others
are foolish to do this. However, it is the same if I don't
practice Dharma, but use my perfect human rebirth to create
negative karma, the cause of problems in this life and in
future lives."
After doing the fixed meditation, make the determination
not to waste this opportunity, but to practice bodhicitta.
A perfect human rebirth is highly meaningful because
with it you can obtain whichever of the three great purposes
you wish. If you wish to achieve the good body of a happy
transmigratory
being, with this perfect human rebirth you can create
the
cause by practicing moral conduct and charity, and praying.
To receive a perfect human rebirth next life, you need
especially to create all the eighteen causes through
these practices.
You can make the dedication to join the perfect human
rebirth of your next life at the end of this life.
If you wish to achieve the sorrowless state, you can
accomplish this because, with this perfect human rebirth,
you can
generate the fundamental path of the three higher trainings.
If you
wish to achieve enlightenment, you can accomplish this
because, with this perfect human rebirth, you can create
the cause
by generating bodhicitta and training your mind in
the Paramitayana. If you wish, you can even achieve enlightenment
within sixteen
lifetimes, three lifetimes, or even within this life,
because with this perfect human body of the southern
continent,
composed of the six elements, you have the opportunity
to follow the
Highest Yoga Tantra path.
You can follow the three general paths of renunciation,
bodhicitta and right view, then the tantric path,
particularly the Highest
Yoga Tantra path. Unless you do not practice correctly
from your own side, there is no reason why you cannot
achieve bodhicitta, and even enlightenment, in this
very brief
lifetime.
There is a qualified vajra guru who can show you
the complete general path and the particular path of
Highest
Yoga Tantra,
which can bring enlightenment in one very brief lifetime
in such a degenerate time as this. Also, as well
as the infallible intellectual understanding, the complete
experiential
understanding
of the teaching exists.
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