14. RECOGNIZING THE HUMAN POTENTIAL
THE FIRST OF the practices based on a proper reliance on a spiritual master is the persuading of oneself to take the essence of having obtained a human life of leisure and opportunity.
First it is important to recognize the human form as rare and precious. It is not enough just to obtain this precious human form which has great potential; rather, you should use that potential to its fullest extent by taking its essence. For example, if a person’s ascent to high office is not followed by good work for the community and people, it is not very beneficial and worthwhile. If, on the basis of full use of the potential, one is able to accomplish great feats, that would truly be a great success. Therefore, it is important initially to recognize all the significance and great potential of this human existence.
What is the meaning of human existence endowed with leisure1 and fortune? Leisure refers to having time, just as the word is ordinarily used when one asks whether or not people have the time to do such and such. Therefore, this term refers to a human existence that has the time to undertake the practice.
Other forms of existence, such as animals, do not have the chance to think about dharma because they are under the strong influence of ignorance. Compared to them, we human beings are amply endowed with the leisure and capacity to practice dharma.
So, just as the masters said, if you were to take rebirth right now in the lower realms, then the doctrine of the buddhas and the teachings of tantra, although they might exist in this world, would not be of much benefit to you. Although you might take favorable forms of existence in deva realms and so forth, since the practice of dharma has to be undertaken on the basis of enhancing one’s mind, and since in such realms one’s mind is under strong influences, you would not have the opportunity that you have right now. But this is not the case with you.
Furthermore, you have not taken rebirth at a time when the Buddha’s doctrine has totally lived out its duration of benefit. Rather, it is still active and very much relevant. But even though you have taken rebirth at such a time, if you were born in a country where dharma was totally inaccessible, then you would not benefit from your human existence. This is not the case with you either.
Even though you have taken rebirth in a country or community where dharma is available, if you were to lack physical and mental capabilities, you would not be able to benefit from its availability. This is not the case, nor is it the case that you are under the influence of wrong views, such as the total negation of the possibility of rebirth or the authenticity of dharma. Whether or not you have cultivated a deep conviction derived from valid cognition, you do have a certain understanding of dharma that is powerful enough to persuade you to take an interest in it.
Therefore, at this juncture, if you probe you will find that you are free of most of the obvious adverse conditions for the practice of dharma and that you are equipped with favorable conditions. You are free from lack of leisure, and on top of that you possess what are called the ten endowments,2 personal and circumstantial. You have been born at a time when, although the Buddha is not still alive, his doctrine is still alive and you can meet a living spiritual master. Also, you can emulate certain exemplary personalities who have gained high realizations by engaging in such a practice. So, if you think in such terms, you will be really able to admire and rejoice in the present opportunity.
After you reflect along these lines, it is very important that you finally make a conclusion and decide on the basis of this human existence to explore its potential to its fullest extent by engaging in a serious practice of dharma. So, request the spiritual master at your crown to grant you the inspiration to overcome the obstacles to your realizations. On the basis of this precious human form, you will be able to accomplish great feats—not only the assurance of well-being in future lifetimes, but also the fulfillment of the final aspiration.
Chandrakirti, in his Guide to the Middle Way, chapter two, said:
If one doesn’t restrain oneself (from one’s downfalls)
When one is free and lives agreeably,
How can one raise oneself in the future,
When one falls into an abyss and is at others’ mercy?
RARITY OF HUMAN EXISTENCE
Having reflected upon the great significance and potential of human existence, you should reflect upon its rarity. Although something might be rare, if it does not have any potential to bring about great benefit, it is not very precious. Present human existence is not like that. Not only is it rare to find, it also has great potential; on its basis one will not only be able to attain a higher rebirth, but can also obtain the omniscient state.
Since the beginning of life on this planet, for more than five billion years, many forms of life have existed and have gone through a process of evolution. Of all these forms, one finds that the human form is the most sophisticated, in terms of having not only a positive capacity but also a destructive one. Humans possess a very sophisticated brain, which has great power and capability, and are endowed with a faculty that enables them to plan things and judge between right and wrong. So, among all the forms of life, one finds no history that can compare with that of human beings.
Besides the category of phenomena that are obvious to one, phenomena that are hidden to one at present, such as the momentary nature of things, the emptiness of inherent existence, and so forth, can also eventually be understood on the basis of a human body employing the human faculties. Furthermore, on this basis one will be able to cultivate the very strong force of the altruistic attitude as well as receive very profound vows—tantric, bodhicitta, or monastic—with which one will be able to accumulate great stores of merit. Therefore, from all these points of view—those of ultimate and temporary aims—the human body is equipped with a great capacity.
You should rejoice that you have obtained such a body and should decide never to waste its potential. If the effort is made on your part, you will be able to attain great achievements. Many masters of the past, Indian and Tibetan masters of all the great traditions, achieved their high realizations on the basis of the human form. Regarded as a basis, the human body that you possess, and the bodies of the great beings, have no difference between them. Think that, like the great masters who achieved high realizations on the basis of this precious human body and achieved the completely enlightened state, you also will work for the achievement of the omniscient state on the basis of this present human existence. You have obtained this great opportunity; if you do not take the initiative right now, when will you? It is now or never. That is how you should reflect.
By emulating the examples of great personalities of the past, by pondering upon scriptural quotations and anecdotes taught by teachers, by employing all sorts of means, you should be able to develop a deep conviction that this present human body has great potential and that you shall never waste even a single minute of its use. On the other hand, not taking any essence of this precious human existence, but just wasting it, is almost like taking poison while being fully aware of the consequences of doing so. It is very wrong for people to feel deeply sad when they lose some money, while when they waste the precious moments of their lives they do not have the slightest feeling of regret. Such an indifference comes as a result of not realizing the value and rarity of the precious human existence. Therefore, you should determine that on the basis of this precious human existence you have the capability and capacity to undertake the practice of dharma.
DIFFICULTY OF ATTAINING HUMAN EXISTENCE
In the next phase, you should reflect upon the difficulty of obtaining a human existence in the future. You should reflect upon the rarity of obtaining a human form from the point of view of its causes: how only through the aggregation of many factors can one achieve it. Compared to other forms of existence and life, human existence and life are very rare and difficult to find.
When you reflect upon the rarity of the precious human form, you might have the feeling that although this human existence has great potential, since you are already quite old it might be better to hope to obtain a better human existence in a future life and embark then upon the path when you are much younger. But it is very difficult to say whether or not you will succeed in obtaining a precious human existence in the future. Such an attitude is almost like that of a person who, when having money with him, spends it without any consideration and purpose, just hoping that he will get more in the future and be able to do business with it. Such a person is stupid. By comparison, a person who, even though he might have a very small amount of money, preserves it and builds on it and does whatever business he wants to with it is a more intelligent person. Similarly, you should use the present potential of the human body already at hand, rather than hope for the future.
Unlike other forms of life, such as elephants, however old we might be we are able to recite at least a mantra and are able to ponder upon questions of karma and its results and our future lives and so forth. There is still potential within us to make progress.
Now, how do we reflect on the rarity of attaining a human existence? First of all, I think it is very important to have some understanding of the Buddhist view of dependent origination. How do we determine whether or not something exists? This is done on the basis of whether or not a phenomenon is established by a certifying consciousness, a valid cognizer. Within the category of existent phenomena, there are some that exist occasionally. The occasional nature of their existence is a sign that they depend upon other factors, causes, and conditions for their arisal; therefore, they are other-powered. The other type is that of permanent phenomena which do not depend on causes and conditions for their existence.
The first category of phenomena consists of dependent phenomena, and within this category there are external phenomena like matter, and others that are only in the nature of clarity and knowing, which are known as consciousnesses. Then there are others such as time, which are abstract phenomena—although they exist, they are not tangible like material phenomena. So, we find that there are three categories of dependent phenomena.
Since we are concerned with the phenomena that directly relate to our experience of pain and pleasure, we are here concerned with the phenomena that are related to consciousness. One can never talk about pain and pleasure as isolated from consciousness. Here it is important to reflect on the causality of phenomena that are related to our inner faculty, mind and consciousness. It is very obvious to us that the body, which is the basis for our experience of pain and pleasure, is in the nature of suffering and is dependent upon causes and conditions. Then, we possess the faculty called consciousness; it exists, it is the agent through which we experience pain and pleasure, but it does not possess any form, color, or anything. Yet this mysterious force is there.
Just as the external body has causes and conditions, the inner faculty, consciousness, also has causes and conditions. When we reflect in such terms, we will be able to see that within the causes there are two types: substantial causes that eventually turn into their fruits, and cooperative causes that contribute to the production of particular fruits. Phenomena possess certain essential qualities—for example, the wetness of water and the heat of fire—which are their natural defining characteristics. These characteristics cannot be said to be produced by a specific cause. I do not know if the karmic forces of sentient beings can affect these natural characteristics.
We find that within phenomena there are certain laws: natural laws, the laws of dependence, functional laws, and the laws of logical evidence. The first one, the law of nature, is very important as a basis; first of all, it is very important to recognize the basic nature of a phenomenon. For example, the basic nature of a consciousness is clarity and knowing. After having perceived the basic nature of a consciousness on the basis of such knowledge, one will be able to understand it better. Understanding that the basic element of matter is atoms will be likewise helpful.
I think that there are some parallels between the disciplines of modern science—physics, chemistry, etc.—and some of the Buddhist concepts. Matter possesses certain natural characteristics, and consciousness possesses certain characteristics as well. The Kalachakra Tantra speaks of space particles as the source of all matter, from which later evolves this entire universe; eventually, all matter will be dissolved back into the space particles. I do not know whether or not one can posit a beginning or an end to these subtle particles. But in Chatu-shataka Shastra (The Four Hundred Verses), Aryadeva does say that although lacking a beginning, matter does possess an end. So, if we trace the matter that we see on this earth to its source, we will find that it is originally in the form of potential in these space particles.
When we reflect in such terms, we will be able to see a basic law of inter-dependence within all these phenomena. Nevertheless, it is very difficult to speak fully about all the subtle aspects of these laws. Buddhist philosophy speaks of the extremely subtle aspect of karmic law, the law of causality, as an object of knowledge only for the omniscient mind, and perceptible only by the wisdom of a fully enlightened being.
All the phenomena that are directly related to our experience of pain and pleasure—of the body, environment, and so forth—due to their causal conditions increase and decrease and go through the process of change. Among these phenomena there are certain ones that go through the process of change naturally, and others, such as the experiences of happiness and suffering, that go through certain changes when the being interacts with external conditions.
In order to achieve a human existence in the future with a precious body, the causes and conditions that bring about such a result should also be precious, because there should be a concordance between causes and their effects. Just as the result is very rare, similarly the causes themselves are very rare. So the appropriate cause for obtaining a human existence in the future, as the text here discusses, is to have a very proper foundation of a practice of morality—at minimum an abstaining from the ten negative actions.3 In addition to this basis, the practice of generosity, patience, and so on are also required, which will contribute to the positive qualities of human existence such as having a better intelligence, and so forth. These complementing factors should themselves be complemented by aspirational prayers dedicated to the obtaining of such a human form conducive to the practice of dharma. So, you need these three factors: the foundation, the complementing practices, and a strong force of aspiration to obtain such a body.
If we were to examine whether or not we possess within us these causes that have the potential and power to bring about a human existence in the future, we would find that achieving such an existence is very difficult, very rare, for us. Most of us are so habituated to negative actions and emotions that virtuous thoughts come about only accidentally or through great effort. We are not as accustomed to them as we are to negative actions, which flow like a stream of water running downhill. Because of the habit of our minds, the arisal of negative emotions is effortless for us, whereas the arisal of virtuous thoughts is very difficult—we really have to work to generate them, as though we were driving a donkey up hill. If we consider matters in such terms, we will find that our own minds are always tormented by negative thoughts and that these impulses lead us to negative actions. If this is what happens when we are born as human beings and are equipped with the knowledge to discriminate between right and wrong, what would it be like if we were born in the lower realms, as animals for example, and were not equipped with such knowledge or intelligence?
If we think in such terms, we will be able to infer that we must have accumulated great stores of non-virtues and negativities in past lives. If we were to recollect our own past actions even in this lifetime, we would find that we have indulged in more negative actions than positive. If such is the case with this present life, there is no need to say what kind of actions we must have committed in past lives.
Furthermore, the negative actions in which we have indulged are really very complete from all points of view. For example, when we kill a mosquito or a bug, we have the intention to kill it, we use the most severe means to kill it, and then at the end we rejoice that we have killed it. So, even one negative action has a very strong motivation, an action, and also a sense of satisfaction at the end. This is not the case with positive actions. Besides, negative actions have the potential to increase, whereas positive actions can be destroyed by many adverse circumstances. For example, although we may have accumulated great stores of merit by making prostrations and so forth, if we generate strong anger, this anger—even though it might be momentary—will just blow away a large part of the merit that we might have accumulated yesterday. We will then have to start all over again.
We find that it is very rare that we engage in positive actions. Even those that are accumulated are very weak and also very vulnerable to the effects of negative actions. In view of this, it is important to study the texts that speak of the great advantage of reflecting upon emptiness; even a slight understanding of emptiness, be it just a wavering thought, can destroy great stores of negative karma. This is very true, and reflection on it will give us encouragement to accumulate merit.
Judge whether or not you possess these causes within you for obtaining a precious human life in the future. If you develop a certainty that you possess these factors within you, then there is no need to request or seek others’ help, because you possess all the necessary conditions within you. But if you lack these basic factors, then, even though you might invoke the power and inspiration of other forces, it is very doubtful that you will be helped.
When you do the meditation, reflect upon the rarity of the precious human existence first by using all kinds of analogies (though it is very difficult to find an analogy that can totally illustrate the great potential of human existence), and then by considering it in terms of its own nature, and finally by thinking about the rarity of its causes. This order of reflection on the rarity of the precious human existence of leisure and fortune is said to have great significance and has been recommended by many great masters of the past.
If you think in such terms, you will be able to convince yourself that you should make the effort and take the initiative right now when you have obtained a human life. So, make whatever effort you can, now that you have a human body. Make the decision to undertake dharma practice right now in this very life. With that, the reflection on the great significance and rarity of human life is over, and you should affirm this by again visualizing nectar descending and so forth.
These reflections help persuade us from within to engage in the practice of dharma, and thus are preliminary factors. Next follows the actual path. This is divided into three: training the mind in the stages of the path common to the practitioners of initial capacity, training the mind in the stages of the path common to the middling capacity, and training the mind in the stages of the path of the great capacity.