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We have this incredible opportunity right now to train ourselves in virtue. If we do not seize the chance, we will fail to obtain a precious human rebirth and be born in the lower realms. There will be no opportunity to practice virtue, and all we will accomplish is negativity. We can see this even in the animal realm, where most creatures fight for resources and consume other creatures just to stay alive. There is little room for even the smallest of virtues in their lives, and their negative actions drag them deeper into the lower realms. It is extremely hard for them to escape this cycle. And if we fall into these realms, we will wander in these evil states for vast periods of time. A precious human existence is very different. Its main advantageous quality is that it affords us some space and opportunity to think about and engage in doing positive things with our body, speech, and mind. In verse 20 Śāntideva stresses the rarity of a precious human rebirth using the following oft-repeated analogy: | We have this incredible opportunity right now to train ourselves in virtue. If we do not seize the chance, we will fail to obtain a precious human rebirth and be born in the lower realms. There will be no opportunity to practice virtue, and all we will accomplish is negativity. We can see this even in the animal realm, where most creatures fight for resources and consume other creatures just to stay alive. There is little room for even the smallest of virtues in their lives, and their negative actions drag them deeper into the lower realms. It is extremely hard for them to escape this cycle. And if we fall into these realms, we will wander in these evil states for vast periods of time. A precious human existence is very different. Its main advantageous quality is that it affords us some space and opportunity to think about and engage in doing positive things with our body, speech, and mind. In verse 20 Śāntideva stresses the rarity of a precious human rebirth using the following oft-repeated analogy: | ||
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This analogy comes from ''The Sūtra of Nanda's Going Forth'' (Skt. ''Nandapravrajyāsūtra''), where it states | This analogy comes from ''The Sūtra of Nanda's Going Forth'' (Skt. ''Nandapravrajyāsūtra''), where it states: | ||
{{QuoteCite | {{QuoteCite | ||
|quote-text="Suppose, Nanda, that this whole wide world comprised the waters of one great ocean in which there dwelled a single, blind turtle, and that there was also a single yoke with a hole, tossing about. Considering this, that blind turtle entertains the thought that it must put its neck through the hole of this yoke, but the yoke with its hole is buffeted by the wind and tossed about in all directions. In that case, Nanda, what are the chances that the blind turtle’s neck would ever accidentally enter the hole of that yoke, even in a hundred years? In the same way, Nanda, this human birth may not be found, nor the excellence of a favorable circumstance. | |quote-text="Suppose, Nanda, that this whole wide world comprised the waters of one great ocean in which there dwelled a single, blind turtle, and that there was also a single yoke with a hole, tossing about. Considering this, that blind turtle entertains the thought that it must put its neck through the hole of this yoke, but the yoke with its hole is buffeted by the wind and tossed about in all directions. In that case, Nanda, what are the chances that the blind turtle’s neck would ever accidentally enter the hole of that yoke, even in a hundred years? In the same way, Nanda, this human birth may not be found, nor the excellence of a favorable circumstance. | ||
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