Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org

any of us know how we became human beings. If you have
that sort of special knowledge, then maybe you know what
you did; mostly we don’t have a clue – we are just happy to
be here. We should be happy to be here, anyway. We’ve
met with Buddhism, and we’ve met with Buddhism as a
human being.
These two things are very difficult to find. As the Buddha
said, “kiccho buddhānamuppādo – the arising of a Buddha is
a difficult thing to find. (Dhp 182)” “Kiccho
manussapaṭilābho – a human life is a difficult thing to find.”
Further, we have been born as a human being with arms,
legs and body parts – including brains, in fairly good working
order; good enough to be able to walk and sit, anyway.
Good enough to be able to think, read, and study, and good
enough to practice. Our bodies work, we are still alive and
well – how long have we managed to avoid death,
dismemberment, sickness and disability?
After everything we have been through in this life, we are
still alive and well and able to practice the Buddha’s
teaching. We have managed to make it through school, to
find a job and make enough money to live our lives in ways
that allowed us to find our way to a monastery and dedicate
ourselves to the Buddha’s teaching. This too is a part of the
difficulty that we have faced and conquered: “kicchaṃ
maccāna jīvitaṃ – difficult is the life of humans.” Difficult to
find is a life that is free from illness, difficulty, and obstacle –
a life that allows us to come together from all parts of the
world to find the Buddha’s teaching. Very few people have
this opportunity.
The third thing that makes us lucky is that we actually
desired to take the opportunity. Compared to all the people
in the world that don’t have the opportunity, very few are the
people who have the opportunity to ordain and undertake
the spiritual life in earnest, but among those people who
have the opportunity, even fewer are those people who
actually have an earnest wish to take the opportunity.
How many people, when you told them you were going to
practice meditation, got a confused look on their face or
even ridiculed you? When you decided you decided to
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