Journey Through Cancer – Chapter 74 – Precious Human Life

The last time that I got to our Wednesday meditation group at Katsel Dharma Center our subject for consideration and object of contemplation was “precious human life.” We were instructed to realize that it was not simply a human life, but rather one that included exposure to the Dharma, that provided the time for the study and application of the Dharma, and that gave us the mental capacity and disposition to study the Dharma. Furthermore, although we may have the beginning of such a life, we need for it to be long enough to truly benefit from the opportunity that is provided.
In this present rebirth I have reached the point of having both the opportunity and the disposition to study and apply the Dharma very late in life. Nevertheless, the karmic seeds bearing fruit throughout this life have been the sort to provide life experiences to teach me Dharma lessons such as the impermanence of all things and the inevitability of death. Furthermore, they have also served to teach me precisely the preciousness of “precious human life” through the full awareness of how easily it may be lost.
From my infancy there have been conditions which have existed and events which have occurred which should have proved fatal and yet I have survived. Sometimes the threat was subtle and the survival was equally subtle. At other times the threat of death was very dramatic and my survival was equally dramatic. Whether subtle or dramatic, they have combined to predispose me not only to receive this teaching but also to value it. Furthermore, this has motivated me to seek monastic ordination rather than waste the rest of my life in pursuits which are not of lasting value. Nevertheless this is not for myself alone but for the benefit of all sentient beings.
As I prepare for my eventual ordination, the very process of divesting myself of the encumbrance of possessions becomes the opportunity to teach others about the nature of attachment and to examine its nature more intimately myself. As I deflect undeserved praise for these activities, I have the opportunity to teach others about Karma as well as dependent origination and also to examine these more intimately for myself.
With regard to the preciousness of “precious human life,” I am also fortunate that I have memories from previous human rebirths including one, centuries ago, when I was born in India but became a Tibetan Buddhist monk. Even with that, it took several centuries and many rebirths, some as a human being and perhaps others as other sentient beings, for me to get back to the study and practice of the Dharma. I am so fortunate to have another “precious human life” after such a short interval, considering that there may be others who have not yet had a “precious human life.” Bearing this in mind how can I consider wasting it on useless pursuits which neither benefit me nor any other sentient being.
As a monk the rules of the Vinaya reduce the conditions for accumulating negative Karma. They also focus our efforts toward constructive pursuits such as study and sadhana practice. Furthermore, so many nonessentials are removed from our lives that we have the opportunity to see what is truly important and apply ourselves to it. Considering the rarity and brevity of a “precious human life,” these are valuable among the many benefits of Vinaya for ourselves and others.