This Precious Human Birth

This was a phrase that I learned from Tibetan Buddhism. It is a very powerful statement of the true state of human being. No other living being we are aware of has this opportunity. We have the possibility of waking up, of truly being in the moment and sitting at the edge of infinity. We are beyond fortunate to be here. It is our job to realize it. It is not just in becoming clear about this awakening. We have to make it real. But how?

Surrender is the path to realizing this good fortune. This is not a surrender in capitulation, not a disassociation where we numb ourselves to what is happening. It is quite this opposite. This surrender is a statement of self honesty, that what is, is. In realizing it we can make appropriate plans as to how to change. Surrendering to what is, we take responsibility for what is. 

Response-ability. The ability to respond. We can not take response-ability without taking responsibility. We have to take responsibility for how we see the world. If you let those that hate convince you to hate you will add more hatred to the world, increasing this horrific global warming we are experiencing. We then make things worse while in the attempt to force them to get better. 

Taking responsibility means connecting to tranquility. Tran, meaning in all ways, quil, which is the writing utensil, the suffix ity, which means to be in the state of, which originally came from the polis, or city. Tranquility means to take ownership and authorship of your own life.

This is why this life is so precious. It is not in getting lost in all that is happening. It is in realizing that if we change our relationship to our emotions we change our relationship to the world. When flying we are told if the oxygen mask drops to put it on before we attempt to do anything else. If you change your relationship to the world you change the world. You create a world with less hate, and may even be the single drop that changes everything. That is why you are precious.