Precious Human Body

From the moment of your birth until now—with all these conditions that so many millions of sentient beings do not have—what have you actually squeezed out as the essence of so many years of life?

If you were to die at this moment, what would be the fruition of having had this healthy body and mind and all this potential? What would be left behind, if not for others’ benefit then for your own?

Endowed with all these qualities, have you ended up just learning and talking about them—as you go about doing the millions of other things you do?

Or have you actually planted and nurtured them in your life so they blossom?

If this hasn’t happened, contemplate the immense waste of mind still unwilling to put this into practice and come to fruition.

Bring awareness to the preciousness of each moment so it can truly arise as the ground of enlightenment. This is the essential meaning of the first reminder, which reminds us why we need to exert effort to generate awareness at all times.

Source: Rinpoche, Khandro. This Precious Life. Shambhala. Kindle Edition.