Appreciating a Precious Human Life

[icy]

We have now attained a precious human life with freedom and fortune which is already excpetional.  We have met Lord Buddha's teaching and have been taken under the protection of a qualified spiritual masters who teach us the Dharma.  We also have good friends with whom we share the same faith: Dharma companions.  It is extremely rare that all these very favourable circumstances should come together and it would be very difficult to meet them again and again.  For this reason, while we still have them, we must put them to good use and make the attainment of them worthwhile without yielding to the kind of laziness that is procrastination, always putting off what we have to do a later day.

[fruven]

There are 7 billions human beings on this planet. The number is not decreasing but increasing more in the foreseeable future. The human life is nothing compare to the vastness of space itself. Planet earth is nothing compare to the vastness of space itself. How could I think so highly of myself working, getting money, enjoying my life, while at the same time think lowly of the preciousness of human life, not worrying of death on the next moment? Maybe, just maybe, I am used to life(=samsara)? There is nothing more than what I can see now.

[dondrup]

While we may have almost all the eight freedoms and endowments of a precious human life, if we do not appreciate and take the essence of these, we will definitely regret at the time of death.  The causes and conditions for the precious human rebirth are difficult to gather.  Opportunity like this does not come easy.  But why is it that we do not appreciate the preciousness of our human rebirths?  It is because we have not realised death and impermanence.  Realising death and impermanence causes us not to waste time or to procrastinate but to use our limited time, freedoms and endowments wisely to accomplish liberation and enlightenment.

[yontenjamyang]

Appreciating the precious human life must be taken holistically with reliance on the Guru, death, sufferings and karma. This is part of the small scope of the Lamrim. While it is said that the Lamrim is expounded in a "cause and effect" sequence, ie, the previous chapter acting as a cause for the next chapter, I feel at least for full understanding of the "Precious Human Life", we must have understanding and internalization of sufferings and karma. For anyone who do not see this life as suffering or who do not believe in karma, then it is very hard to appreciate the Precious Human Life.
No use talking about the 8 freedoms and 10 endowments if one does not even acknowledge sufferings and karma.
Hence, appreciating the Precious Human Life is for Dharma practitioners, and it acts as a meditational topic to propel us to not waste anymore time but practice the Dharma diligently.

[buddhalovely]

Appreciating Life is knowing the negative and positive side of life. Appreciate and thankful every morning that you have another blessed day ahead of you. Just be thankful for what you have each day and you will find that each day, there is more to be thankful for.

After all it is easier to appreciate life than to grieve and rant over it and remember that "it takes 60 muscles to frown and 15 to smile'.

Life has its ups and down and highs and lows,sadness and joy,success and failure.
No person in this world has one sided experience of life. All we can do is be thankful we are alive and given the opportunity to live. Live it to the fullest for life is short to waste it.

[pgdharma]

To be born a human being is said by Buddhists to be more difficult than for a turtle to surface accidentally with its head poking through the wooden ring.

And even among those who have a human birth, it is said, those who have the great good fortune to make a connection with the  Buddha’s Teachings are rare, and those who really take them to heart and embody them in their actions even rarer—as rare, in fact, “as stars in broad daylight.”

Thus knowing how difficult it is for us to achieve this human form we should not let go of this precious opportunity. We should contemplate daily of how fortunate we are and generate good motivation so that we can use this precious body to benefit others. His Holiness the Dalai Lama quoted this as a good practice for generating bodhicitta:-

Every day, think as you wake up

Today I am fortunate to have woken up

I am alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it

I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others

To achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings

I am going to have kind thoughts toward others

I am not going to get angry or think badly about others

I am going to benefit others as much as I can.

[bambi]

I am sure we were connected in the previous lives. Maybe we were Tibetans too.   

Yes, life is so short. Everyday we should wake up and meditate on impermanence and death. Once we do that we will know how precious our live can be and do Dharma all the way. I know a lot of my family and friends do not talk about death because of their superstitions but do you think you'll live till 60? 70? 80? Isn't it the same as buying insurance? People are scared to buy insurance because it will indicate that they will have sickness and die from it. Dharma is also like insurance BUT it is long term and it can be carried forward. Isn't it cool? 


· Now, all my family and friends are laughing, smiling and enjoying my company; soon the time will come when they’ll be weeping at the news of my death.
· Now, I keep my body nicely covered with clothes; soon the time will come when it will be dead, like stone, feeling nothing.
· Now, my body can’t bear being touched by even a tiny stick of burning incense; soon it will be burnt in a fire.
· This body, which has always been well preserved, will soon be ash.
· This body, which is always going everywhere, unable to stay still in one place, will soon be nailed into a box and buried under ground.
· This body, which cannot bear to be bitten by even a little flea, will soon be full of worms eating it.
· This body, which is always talking about everything, will soon be dead, unable to talk about anything.
· This body, which at present has the ability to express all its desires, will soon be unable to see properly or even explain my will.
· This body, which I have always tried to keep attractive, will soon become a frightening corpse. Even people who are presently attached to my body will soon be terrified, afraid to even look at it let alone touch it.
· This body, which has always enjoyed the best of food and drink, will soon be unable to swallow anything at all, even drops of medicine put into my mouth. At that time I’ll be completely unable to move my body or open my mouth; all I’ll be able to do will be with great difficulty to open an eye. Even if my relatives or friends try to encourage me, all I’ll be able to do will be to open an eye. Soon after that I won’t even be able to hear anything they say.
· Soon this body will be called a corpse. Soon nobody will want to touch me. All they’ll want to do will be to drag me away by the farthest corner of my clothes that they can reach.
· Soon, this body that I always dressed so well will be completely naked, lying on a slab.

It’s uncertain when all these things will happen, but it won’t be long. It could be tonight; this month; this year. Whenever it is going to happen, I am constantly getting closer to that time, approaching it day by day.

So, this is the way to start meditating on death. First do the meditation on how life is finishing quickly and then the meditation on the circumstances of death. Don’t just think about the circumstances of death intellectually; meditate as above. Meditate on the changes that your body will undergo in the future, on what is definitely going to happen, but visualize as if it is happening right now, as if you’re in that situation right now. This is very useful; it’s a special technique for realizing impermanence and death. Meditate on what would be happening to your body if you were dying right now—how your body changes; how it looks.

If you do this meditation properly, if you generate a strong feeling that you are dying right now, you’ll notice your heartbeat and breathing quicken. This is a sign that you have gained a level of experience of the meditation on impermanence and death. You need to keep practicing this meditation until such signs appear.


“You’re driven by karmic seeds, by the force of your own accumulated actions, and still you think you have freedom of choice! But how do you know what kind of life you’ll have tomorrow? You think you can choose your life? What an ego-trip!” - Lama Thubten Yeshe

http://www.lamayeshe.com/index.php?sect=article&id=446

[ratanasutra]

Thus knowing how difficult it is for us to achieve this human form we should not let go of this precious opportunity. We should contemplate daily of how fortunate we are and generate good motivation so that we can use this precious body to benefit others. His Holiness the Dalai Lama quoted this as a good practice for generating bodhicitta:-

Every day, think as you wake up

Today I am fortunate to have woken up

I am alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it

I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others

To achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings

I am going to have kind thoughts toward others

I am not going to get angry or think badly about others

I am going to benefit others as much as I can.

Thanks pgdharma for the quote, i like it very much as it make life meaningful and remind of goals in our life daily, what a skilful way to think and follow this every day. When we practice compassion in order to have bodhicitta mind we are reduce selfish actions without we are knowing as we could not have compassion and selfish at the same time. I feel that many things in life is just simple but we just overlook it and look out to find it as we are lack of wisdom to understand it.
   

[vajrastorm]

Not only have I obtained a human rebirth with all the eighteen opportune conditions, but I have also met my precious Spiritual Guide as well as the King of Protectors in this lifetime! How much more fortunate can I be? This must be the fruit of tremendous accumulations of merits. In comparison, I have done little to assure me that I will be born human again. In the Lamrim(in the Chapter on The Optimum Human Rebirth), it is stated that ,once, we are reborn in Hell, it will be more difficult to regain a Human rebirth than to attain Enlightenment in this lifetime!

Our minds are so obscured that we cannot see this and appreciate our precious human rebirth. We need to do a huge amount of purification and accumulate a humongous amount of merits, for these obscurations to be removed and for us to see this clearly and seize the opportunity to practice Guru Devotion and transform quickly, less it be too late and we are on our way to flaming hell!.

[biggyboy]

Many times when you look around, when death looms right in front of us, we see a deceased/dead body in a coffin...What really runs in your mind?  Feeling sad for others? Feeling "compassion" for others? Feeling empathy? Honestly, look straight into the mirror and ask yourself that?  Are you truly think and feel that you will die soon?  Well, many would think "I would not die that fast" or just do not want to know nor contemplate about the preciousness of human life which is so rare.  Death is definite to everyone.  No one is immortal.  Be they young or old.  And it is unknown to us when our death would be nor can we predict the timing.  Not even the Buddha!

“When  we contemplate death and the impermanence of life, our minds automatically begin to take an interest in spiritual achievements, just as an ordinary person becomes apprehensive upon seeing the corpse of a friend. Meditation upon impermanence and death is very useful, for it cuts off attraction toward transient and meaningless activities, and causes the mind to turn towards the Dharma.”

“It is not difficult to recognize the certainty of death. The world is very old, but there is no sentient being we can point to who is immortal. The very nature of the body is vulnerability and impermanence. Beautiful or ugly, fat or thin, we all steadily approach death, and nothing can avert it. Physical power, flattery, bribery, and all things of this world cannot persuade it turn away.

On hearing we have a fatal disease we run frantically from one doctor to another, and when that fails we come to the lamas and ask them to do divinations to help us. Eventually we find ourselves eating our last meal, wearing clothes for the last time, and sitting on our last seat. Then our body falls to the ground like a log.

Meditation upon death gives us a restlessness, an uneasiness, as though somebody dangerous were watching us. This feeling is very real and useful, for, in truth, the certainty of death looms before us.
The time that death will strike is unknown to us. We do not know which will come first, tomorrow or the hereafter. None of us is able to guarantee that he or she will be alive tonight. The slightest condition could cause us to have to suddenly part this world. Even conditions that support life, such as food  and medicine, can act as poisons and destroy one’s life.

When we die, our body and all its powers are lost. Possessions, power, fame, and friends are all unable to accompany us. Take me, for example. Many Tibetans place a great deal of faith in me and would do anything I ask; but when I die I must die alone, and not one of them will be able to accompany me. All that one takes with one are knowledge of spiritual methods and karmic imprints of one’s life’s deeds.”

Now that as humans we have met with spiritual teachings and have met a teacher, we should not be like a beggar doing nothing meaningful year after year, ending up empty handed at death. I, an ordinary monk in the lineage of Buddha Shakyamuni, humbly urge you to make efforts in spiritual practice. Examine the nature of your mind and cultivate its development. Take into account your welfare in this and future existences, and develop competence in the methods that produce happiness here and hereafter.”

-His Holiness, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama

[Manjushri]

If everyone appreciated their precious human life, the world would be a better, much more different place than now. IF only.

Many people take life as if it's going to last forever. Many people think that after this life, that's it, therefore you have to enjoy everyday like there's no tomorrow. But what many still cannot grasp is the theory and concept of reincarnation and the workings of Karma. If we knew and truly understood, we would not waste a single moment in this life, but strive to live for the benefit of our future lives. Yes I know, the small scope we are talking about here. Put aside our strive towards Boddhisattvahood for now.

Reading this post brought my feelings back to the first chapter of the lamrim, and I did not realise how precious it is to obtain a human life, and how even more precious it is to come across Dharma and Dorje Shugden (THANK YOU TO THE WEBSITE ADMINS!!), in this life alone. 

But the highlight of our lives is that understanding is one thing..putting it into practise is another.

[Tenzin K]

Realizing the preciousness of human life alone can almost lead us to realization. At least it can lead us to the doorway of realization. If we look at somebody and we can see that person's face clearly, without obscurations, it is clear that we will be able to appreciate we being alive and that person's life. Then we wouldn't find anything to disagree about. . . . Whenever there is a contradiction of views, and whenever there are disputes and disagreements with people, it is a sign of not being able to appreciate the preciousness of human life. The realization of the preciousness of human life will free us from having to prove that our point of view is greater than others. Seeing the preciousness of human life is such a great joy that we wouldn't have any time whatsoever to take anything as more important than enjoying and seeing the preciousness of our human life. . . . When we see the preciousness of human life, we wouldn't have a hard time being compassionate. Whenever we are not compassionate we lack in appreciation of our human life. Whenever we realize the preciousness of human life, it would not be hard for us to love and be kind to all beings. Whenever we are unable to love and be kind to all sentient beings, we must realize we are failing in appreciating our precious human life. . . . [When] we are not capable of appreciating the preciousness of our human life, we tend to think we must try to be content by doing something else. . . ."

There are countless ways to contemplate this one point, but for the point to become profoundly meaningful and alive in each one of us personally, we must meditate creatively on it again and again, as much as we can throughout the day.

[RedLantern]

Why is human life so precious and what do we really mean by that?
from Buddhist perspective human life is precious because it presents a unique opportunity.Neither non human, animal nor supernatural creatures(not even gods) can do what humans do,that is to reach enlightenment.
To reach enlightenment,it is necessary to give up our conceits of selfhood.Enlightenment comes precisely from learning to sustain awareness of the fact that all lives -human and non human are precious and equally necessary to the development of the universe.It takes effort to train oneself to understand the truth.
That work turns out to be an exceptionally rewarding pursuit. Our precious moments do indeed seems to make life precious.The quality of our time ,others' time make them precious

[brian]

i think on a very general scale, one should always think of helping others the very least if not pursuing spiritual attainment. By focusing on helping others who is in need of help is the very basic mindset one should have, always. For example, people such as Mother Theresa or any kind volunteers who brave themselves helping others in war zones or destitute areas in the world is a way of not wasting our human rebirth. I myself help in many charitable organisations and one time with Red Cross, felt that my life was at least not wasted by just hanging out with friends or self pleasures. I have a lot of respects to all the compassionate beings in the world that focusing on just helping others.

[dsiluvu]

I think for the non-spiritual they would probably say enjoy as much as they can before their precious life ends and do all those things that they love and passionate about. But I guess if we truly truly understand that this precious human life has been the collection of our good karma, then we would probably want to collect more good karma and merits to ensure you get another one. Hence it is always best to do good deeds and this would be focusing out on others... helping others. Whether supporting a good cause of being kind and giving someone a smile, a hand, or taking care of the weaker ones.

When you truly appreciate your precious human life... you will be able to appreciate all lives and realise the existence of a human which is suppose to be the most superior and most intelligent form on this planet should be the protectors of all precious life on this planet. Yes that means they should be the one helping everyone... and everything as much as they can isn't it?

The word Human is part of the word Humanity... x