Having this precious human life is like having a well-rigged ship on which to sail across the ocean to an island of treasures. As Shantideva says in The way of the Bodhisattva:
Cross the sea of emotions
On the boat of human existence.You have not obtained this precious human existence just by chance. It is the result of having heard the buddha’s name in a past life, having taken refuge in him, accumulated virtuous actions, and of having developed some wisdom. There is no certainty that you will obtain this vessel again.
If you fail to practice the Dharma in this life, it is certain that you will not obtain a human existence in the next life. To neglect such an opportunity would therefore be very foolish. Do not waste it. Practice day and night.
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
from the book The Heart of Compassion: The Thirty-seven Verses on the Practice of a Bodhisattva
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Further quotes from the book The Heart of Compassion:
- Powerful sources of help
- The importance of relative bodhicitta
- Accepting short-term sufferings
- Phenomena adorn emptiness
- Two types of friends
- Seeing clearly how deceiving the ways of the world are
- Cutting through subtler misconceptions
- Just projections of the mind
- Protecting ourselves from future suffering
- Impermanence dawning in your mind
- A practice based on your mind
- The three aspects of diligence
- The children of the buddhas
- Opportunity
- The magnifying glass of your faith and devotion
- I like suffering
- The best opportunity to put the teachings into practice
- Meaningless activities without end
- Nothing to be grasped