Lama Zopa Rinpoche

We also have the ten richnesses, the first of which is being human. In Tibetan, the normal
definition of a human being is one who is able to communicate and understand. Having this
richness means we have an incredible opportunity to practice Dharma. As I have already
explained, nonhuman beings such as spirits or gods and demigods, as well as other lower
realm beings whose suffering is unbelievable, have no freedom to practice Dharma. Even in
the god realms, their lives are full of unbelievable distractions caused by attachment. Always
chasing pleasure, they have no interest in the Dharma. Our life is not like that. Being born
human, we have the richness to practice Dharma, and that is unbelievably precious.
We have the richness of being born in a religious country. That has two meanings. One is by
place, which means in a religious center, such as where the Buddha achieved enlightenment.
But I think the main thing is where there is the lineage of the vows of fully ordained monks
and nuns. There are also the novice monk and nun lineages of thirty-six vows. Even if the
gelongma lineage no longer exists, the other three lineages do. 22
If we live where the lineage of the vows exists we can consider ourselves to be in the center
of a religious country because those vow holders help us achieve liberation from samsaric
suffering and achieve the blissful state of peace ourselves. It also means that there are the
right conditions and freedom from obstacles that make it easier to attain enlightenment.
The next richness is having perfect organs, which also makes it much easier to practice
Dharma. Then there is the richness of not falling into any of the five extreme actions: killing
one’s father, mother or an arhat, causing disunity among the Sangha or maliciously causing
blood to flow from a buddha. We have not engaged in these heavy negative karmas, which
result in having to experience rebirth in the hottest hell right after death. If we had done any
of these actions we’d be disqualified from taking vows, but not having done them gives us
the opportunity to practice Dharma.
We live in a place where there are the teachings. Traditional texts say Vinaya teachings, but it
is more than that. In particular, it means where there are lam-rim teachings, the graduated
path to enlightenment. The way that Lama Atisha presented the lam-rim is that all the
teachings are set up to subdue the mind because, as I often mention, all our happiness and
suffering come from our mind. Therefore, to attain happiness we have to subdue the
negative mind, our disturbing thoughts. That is what the lam-rim helps us do, leading us
from the wrong thinking that causes suffering to the right thinking that causes happiness—
every happiness up to enlightenment.
The next richness is having devotion to the lam-rim. This gives us an incredible opportunity
to practice Dharma. The next is being alive at a time the Buddha has descended on earth.
Because the Buddha descended we now have the teachings, the Dharma, that he left for us.
Once, the Buddha was an ordinary person like us, with just as many problems, but then he
was able to transform his mind, generating bodhicitta, letting go of the I and cherishing
others. In that way he attained the complete Mahayana path and achieved enlightenment.
We have this opportunity because the Buddha generated great compassion for all sentient
beings including us. For three countless great eons he collected the merits of wisdom—the
cause of the dharmakaya, the holy mind of a buddha—and the merits of virtue—the cause
of the rupakaya, the holy body of a buddha. He gave his cherished limbs and his life to
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