Five personal advantages: Difference between revisions
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# lifestyle not harmful or wrong | # lifestyle not harmful or wrong | ||
# with faith in the [[three pitakas]]<noinclude> | # with faith in the [[three pitakas]]<noinclude> | ||
*1. There are two analogies that the [[Shakyamuni Buddha|Buddha]] gives to illustrate the difficulty of obtaining a human birth, and they are the improbability of a blind turtle putting its head through a yoke tossed about on the waves of a vast ocean, and the improbability of a mustard seed passing through the eye of an upright-standing needle when a handful of seeds are tossed at it. Both analogies are widely known as illustrations of the rarity of obtaining a human birth and are mentioned in [[The Sutra of Nanda’s Going Forth]] ([[Toh]] 328).<ref>84000 Translating the Words of the Buddha.</ref> | |||
==Commentary== | ==Commentary== | ||
[[Chökyi Drakpa]] says: | [[Chökyi Drakpa]] says: | ||
:Being born as a human being means that you have a proper physical support for practising the Dharma. Having all five faculties intact means you can study the teachings and contemplate them. In a central land means to be born in a place where the teachings are available. A lifestyle that is not harmful or wrong means that your body, speech and mind are in harmony with the Dharma. Having faith in Buddha’s teachings means recognizing that they provide a special path leading to freedom from [[samsara]], and a state which surpasses the situation of the worldly gods. When you possess these five endowments, 'the five personal advantages' are said to be complete. | :Being born as a human being means that you have a proper physical support for practising the Dharma. Having all five faculties intact means you can study the teachings and contemplate them. In a central land means to be born in a place where the teachings are available. A lifestyle that is not harmful or wrong means that your body, speech and mind are in harmony with the Dharma. Having faith in Buddha’s teachings means recognizing that they provide a special path leading to freedom from [[samsara]], and a state which surpasses the situation of the worldly gods. When you possess these five endowments, 'the five personal advantages' are said to be complete. | ||
==References== | |||
<small><references/></small> | |||
==Alternative Translations== | ==Alternative Translations== |
Revision as of 11:03, 25 July 2022
The five personal advantages (Tib. རང་འབྱོར་ལྔ་, rang jor nga, Wyl. rang 'byor lnga), half of the ten advantages of a precious human birth, are:
- being a human being
- born in a central land
- with faculties intact
- lifestyle not harmful or wrong
- with faith in the three pitakas
- 1. There are two analogies that the Buddha gives to illustrate the difficulty of obtaining a human birth, and they are the improbability of a blind turtle putting its head through a yoke tossed about on the waves of a vast ocean, and the improbability of a mustard seed passing through the eye of an upright-standing needle when a handful of seeds are tossed at it. Both analogies are widely known as illustrations of the rarity of obtaining a human birth and are mentioned in The Sutra of Nanda’s Going Forth (Toh 328).[1]
Commentary
Chökyi Drakpa says:
- Being born as a human being means that you have a proper physical support for practising the Dharma. Having all five faculties intact means you can study the teachings and contemplate them. In a central land means to be born in a place where the teachings are available. A lifestyle that is not harmful or wrong means that your body, speech and mind are in harmony with the Dharma. Having faith in Buddha’s teachings means recognizing that they provide a special path leading to freedom from samsara, and a state which surpasses the situation of the worldly gods. When you possess these five endowments, 'the five personal advantages' are said to be complete.
References
- ↑ 84000 Translating the Words of the Buddha.
Alternative Translations
- Five individual advantages (Padmakara Translation Group)