Five personal advantages

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:

1. being a human being
2. born in a central land
3. with faculties intact
4. lifestyle not harmful or wrong
5. 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).

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.

Alternative Translations

• Five individual advantages (Padmakara Translation Group)

Further Reading

• The Words of My Perfect Teacher by Patrul Rinpoche. Revised edition, Chapter 1 pages 33-37.

Internal Links

• Eight unfree states due to an unfortunate frame of mind
• Eight unfree states due to temporary conditions
• Eight freedoms
• Five circumstantial advantages