Video 5. Meditate on the Precious Human Body and Death to Complete the Realizations
(duration: 9 minutes)
(You can read the transcript of the video below. Alternatively, you can read the same transcript alongside the video by clicking here to download it or view it in a separate window.)
Just to mention in brief to get the idea; train step-by-step in the meditation to have realization. By training the mind as it is mentioned in the teachings, you realize the eight freedoms and ten richnesses that this body has. It is so precious, not only [more precious than] gold, diamonds, and sapphires, but even wish-granting jewels, even than a billion, zillion, trillion dollars. This human body is so much more precious than a billion, zillion, trillion dollars. That is nothing. For example, [something] more precious than a diamond is a wish-granting jewel, with which whatever you pray for, all the temporary needs of this life, you get everything. But, from that, with that, you cannot purify the causes of the lower realms and get a higher rebirth. With that alone, to practice the three higher trainings and achieve the realizations of the path to nirvana can’t happen. You can’t achieve ultimate happiness. With that alone, you can’t do that. It doesn’t have mind, so it doesn’t have suffering. It doesn’t have mind and it doesn’t have suffering, so there is no way for it to generate compassion, bodhichitta, then enter the path and then achieve enlightenment. But by having this precious human body, it gives you the opportunity to purify past negative karma, the cause of the lower realms, and to achieve a higher rebirth; and to practice taking refuge and protect karma, so you get a higher rebirth; to practice morality and get a higher rebirth. Then with the three higher trainings, you get liberation. Then with this [body], it gives you the opportunity to practice compassion and bodhichitta, and that gives you enlightenment. You are able to achieve enlightenment from this [body], even if you don’t have any wish-granting jewels or any diamonds, gold, sapphires, or any jewels, any rupees, dollars, like Milarepa who didn’t have any rupees and dollars, no dollars or rupees.
The thieves came to look for money in his cave but couldn’t find anything. He made soup with nettles and then they asked for chili and salt, and Milarepa said, “This is the chili,” then he put nettles in. Then, “This is is salt,” and he put nettles in. He didn’t have one single rupee but he achieved enlightenment. He used his precious human body, which has eight freedoms and ten richnesses, to achieve enlightenment, the state of Vajradhara, in this brief lifetime of degenerate times. He achieved that, although he didn’t have even one rupee or one dollar. So the human body is so…. This human body that you have, which has eight freedoms and ten richnesses, is most unbelievably, unbelievably, unbelievably, unbelievably, unbelievably, unbelievably precious, so much more precious than a wish-granting jewel, than even the sky filled with wish-granting jewels. This is more precious than the sky filled with wish-granting jewels.
How precious it is. (Rinpoche cites in Tibetan) “If you see the great meaning of life,” that life is so meaningful, “then you don’t waste your life.” “You give up the meaningless works.” “The meaningless works you give up.” “Those which waste your life, you give up, if you see that it is so meaningful.” (Rinpoche cites in Tibetan) “If you think that this is so difficult to find again…” If you have found this, which is so difficult to find again, then without practicing Dharma, without making life meaningful, worthwhile, without practicing Dharma, then you can’t relax. You can’t just waste time by following attachment, just wasting time in meaningless activities, just wasting your life. You are unable to do that if you have found that which is so difficult to find again. By practicing Dharma you try to make this meaningful.
By thinking of death, you don’t…. The appearances of this life [are such that] we always think, “Oh I’m going to live for a long time,” always, even on the same day when you are going to have an accident, the same day you are going to have an accident or going to get sick with a heart attack or whatever. Suddenly you are going to have a heart attack, but that same day from the morning when you get up, “Oh, I’m going to live for many years,” you think like that. Even five minutes before a car accident in which you die, “Oh, I’m going to live for many years.” It is cheating you, the concept of permanence. If you meditate on the impermanence of life, then you stop thinking you will live long and following the concept of permanence, then you see life is very short. Because of that, that makes you able to practice Dharma and complete the realizations.