If, having obtained freedoms such as these,
I do not practice virtuous actions
There could be no greater self-deception.
There could be no greater foolishness.

This human life with its freedoms and endowments
Is very difficult to obtain
If I have a meaningful life,
But do not put it to good use,
How will I ever receive this perfect gift again?

The Lam Rim

i. What does this mean to me?

I went to college at a huge public university. When I got there, and unpacked and all that good stuff, my mind kind of went blank. I was eighteen and I literally had nothing to do and nowhere to be. I’d never felt such freedom. We enjoy many freedoms in our our daily lives.

It’s so easy to simply go about our lives from day to day, going to work, eating, watching entertainment, going to sleep then getting up and doing it all again the next day. But is that all there really is? We have many advantages living the kind of lives we lead. We have the freedom to choose what we do with our time.

Although it may not feel that way, we have tremendous freedoms in our lives. We have the freedom of being born into a society where education is free for the first twelve years. This gives us an excellent advantage to study the Dharma. If we have the great good fortune to encounter the Dharma, and a teacher who is willing to share the Dharma with us, that is indeed a fortunate birth.

But having obtained this fortunate birth, what are we do to? Death is the ultimate equalizer that will one day lay us low. Between the time we are born and the time we leave these bodies, we must take advantage of every fortunate event we encounter.

Having once encountered the Dharma, we now have the duty to study and practice. The writer says if we don’t take advantage of this great fortune, “…there could be no greater self-deception. There could be no greater foolishness.”

Why self-deception? We are not going to live forever. This should give us a sense of urgency to practice, study and share the Dharma. There is no “greater foolishness” because not only do we have the good fortune to be born into human bodies, we have the great fortune of encountering the Dharma in this precious life. The great foolishness would be not taking advantage of these two extraordinary fortunes.

ii. How would I explain this to someone else?

If you were born into great wealth, wouldn’t it be your responsibility to help others with whatever resources you have? The great fortune of being born into a human body and encountering the Dharma is no different than being born into great wealth.

With all the suffering around us in samsara, isn’t it our duty to use the wealth and resources that is the Dharma to alleviate the suffering of others? Samsara is afire with the flames of cyclic rebirth.  Aging, disease, death and rebirth is not our birthright. Rather, it is the unfortunate situation in which we find ourselves.

Imagine being in a burning house and the flames are only inches away. If someone came to not only give you the relief of guiding you out, but also to show you a path where you’d never have to burn again, wouldn’t you accept their guidance? Just so in samsara. The Dharma is the way out of the burning house. The path is the way to the cessation of suffering.

If we encounter the Dharma and the path, we must not only study, but use what we learn to decrease the suffering of others.

iii. How do I bring this into my life?

As I study and practice the Dharma, I am grateful for the great good fortune I have had in this lifetime. Not only did I encounter the Dharma, I found a teacher who is always more than willing to share the Dharma.

What the writer says here is true at a very basic level. If we have the great fortune of encountering the Dharma after a precious human birth, it can only be called great foolishness to remain in the burning house. Not only that, once we have made our way out of the burning house, it is our duty to help others who wish to be free find their way out.

I bring this into my life by practicing generosity on a very practical level. At work, I practice being generous with my time when I help our customers. This may seem like a small thing, but the way work is run, you always feel like you don’t have enough time. I work with this by practicing generosity by helping others as much as I can.

Encountering the Dharma and having a precious human birth is more good fortune than anyone could ask. Having attained both things, our duty lies in relieving the suffering of all sentient beings and leading them to great benefit.