Joyful Path of Good Fortune. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

later felt regret, purified and in dependence upon the instructions of Buddha became a Stream Enterer. However, in general, if we commit any of these five actions there is no way to attain liberation in this life.

      The remaining five endowments are favourable characteristics of the world in which we take our human rebirth:

      6 Taking human rebirth in a world where Buddha has appeared

      7 Taking human rebirth in a world where Buddha has taught Dharma

      8 Taking human rebirth in a world where pure Dharma is still being taught

      9 Taking human rebirth in a world where there are people practising pure Dharma

      10 Taking human rebirth in a world where there are benefactors and sponsors for Dharma practitioners

      If Buddha had not appeared in this world and turned the Wheel of Dharma, and if pure Dharma had not remained in this world, it would have been impossible for us to receive Dharma instructions and put them into practice. If we are to practise purely and correctly we also need the help of a Spiritual Guide and spiritual friends, and we need the support of benefactors and sponsors. Therefore, all of these endowments are necessary if our spiritual practice is to succeed. We should realize how fortunate we are to have been born into such a world.

      When we meditate on these eight special freedoms and ten special endowments we are doing the analytical meditation that causes us to develop joy and deep appreciation for our present human life, seeing that it is perfectly endowed with all the conditions necessary for training the mind in the stages of the path to enlightenment. What is the purpose of deliberately generating joy? It is so that we will take full advantage of our present opportunity. If a person discovers a piece of gold but does not recognize its value he may throw it away; but if he understands how precious it is he will be delighted with his discovery and he will keep the gold safely and use it meaningfully. In the same way, if we understand that our human life is now perfectly endowed we will take delight in it and use it meaningfully. This precious human life is impermanent. It may be lost tomorrow. No one can predict how long this opportunity will last. Therefore we need to appreciate our life right now.

      When our meditation causes us to generate a special feeling of joy we do placement meditation, acquainting ourself with this feeling more and more closely so that we never lose it.

      meditating on the great value of our precious human life

      This has three parts:

      1 The great value of our precious human life from the point of view of our temporary goal

      2 The great value of our precious human life from the point of view of our ultimate goal

      3 The great value of every moment of our precious human life

      the great value of our precious human life from the point of view of our temporary goal

      The goal or aspiration of every living being is to experience happiness. There are two kinds of happiness and hence two kinds of goal – temporary and ultimate. Temporary happiness is the happiness that can be experienced by humans and gods; it is the limited happiness that can be experienced while beings remain bound within samsara. Ultimate happiness is the pure, eternal happiness of liberation and full enlightenment.

      If we had not been born human we would not have been able to experience all the joys and pleasures of human life. Other beings such as animals cannot enjoy the happiness we enjoy because they do not possess the appropriate bodily basis. Therefore, just to have this human body is very important from the point of view of experiencing human happiness in this lifetime. Moreover, we can use this perfectly endowed human life to create the causes for temporary happiness in future lives. We can create all the causes for many future human rebirths with all the necessary freedoms and endowments and with seven extra advantages that provide the greatest opportunity to experience the pleasures and happiness that human life can offer. These seven attributes of higher lineage are: nobility, great beauty, great resources, great power, great wisdom, good health and long life. Of these, great wisdom is the most precious because it enables us to discriminate what is to be practised and what is to be abandoned, and thus to follow correct spiritual paths.

      Moral discipline and stainless prayer to gain a human rebirth are the main causes of being born human. Having respect for our parents, our Spiritual Guides, the Three Jewels and other beings is the main cause of gaining nobility. Patience is the main cause of great beauty. Generosity is the main cause of great resources. Offering protection to others is the main cause of great power. Studying and rejoicing in Dharma is the main cause of great wisdom. Healing and looking after those who are ill is the main cause of good health. Saving the lives of others is the main cause of long life. With our precious human life we can create all of these good causes. If we do so we will be sure to experience the results, just as when we strike a match and put it on a dry haystack we are sure to have a fire. With this precious human life we can create the cause to have whatever kind of human life we wish. We can be a millionaire, or we can be a wise politician, or we can be an ordained person who keeps pure moral discipline.

      the great value of our precious human life from the point of view of our ultimate goal

      Our ultimate goal is to attain the pure, eternal happiness of liberation and full enlightenment. Now that we possess a precious human life we can practise and complete the three higher trainings that lead to liberation. The human form is said to be like a boat in which we can cross the ocean of samsara and reach the shore of liberation.

      As Shantideva says in Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life:

      By depending upon this boat-like human form,

      We can cross the great ocean of suffering.

      Since such a vessel will be hard to find again,

      This is no time to sleep, you fool!

      Furthermore, with this precious human life we can train in all five main causes of full enlightenment: renunciation, bodhichitta, the correct view of emptiness, and the generation and completion stages of Secret Mantra. Since the human body possesses the six elements that are necessary for the practice of Secret Mantra (skin, flesh, bone, channels, winds and drops), with this human form we can attain all the experiences of Secret Mantra, including the ultimate realization of full enlightenment, in just one lifetime. If we are reborn as a god of the form or formless realms we will not have such an opportunity. Even the higher Bodhisattvas born in Pure Lands such as Sukhavati do not have such an opportunity.

      We meditate:

      Since beginningless time without interruption I have taken samsaric rebirths without freedom or control, in sorrow and in fear. Samsara is the most terrifying prison. Now for the first time I have all the conditions I need to break the bonds of my imprisonment. Therefore, I must not waste this precious opportunity to attain liberation and full enlightenment.

      the great value of every moment of our precious human life

      With this human life, each day, each hour, each minute, can be completely worthwhile. Every single moment of our precious human life has great meaning. In just one hour human beings can create the same amount of merit that a god creates in one aeon. If we meditate on love for just five minutes, or if we make just one prostration to our Spiritual Guide regarding him or her as an emanation of all the Buddhas, we will create immeasurable merit.

      In a very short time we can purify all the negative karma that we have created in the past. The potentialities that we have created in our mind by our past negative actions are formless. Since we cannot see them it is easy to forget that they exist, but if our negative karma were to possess form it would fill the entire universe. All this negativity can be quickly consumed if we use this human life to do strong purification, just as a haystack is quickly consumed by a strong fire.

      Je Tsongkhapa said:

      If we contemplate the great value of these freedoms and endowments we will feel strong regret for having wasted our human body and our time.

      Someone who is very miserly but who has to spend a lot of money travelling around will develop a strong sense of loss because he or she greatly values every single