1. when one grasps and clings to body, wealth, possessions.

2. when one's understanding is crude and consequently one's actions lack compassion.

3. when one cannot understand that the miseries of unfavourable birth will ripen in the future unless samsara is transformed.

4. when one cannot grasp the truth of liberation.

5. when one takes pleasure in unwholesome activity.

6. when one lacks motive to practice dharma.

7. when the roots of the Bodhisattva vow are broken. (The two roots are broken by (a) abandoning others even in thought through being caught up by the five poisons and not feeling remorse within a few hours, and (b) thinking that even if one wishes to help others, the task is so enormous that one's small effort is useless, so one's thoughts are only for personal well-being.)

8. when one breaks commitments to teachers, spiritual friends, and deities by not respectfully carrying out as much as one is able of the practice.

Being subject to these sixteen unfavourable conditions makes it unlikely that Buddha-dharma will influence the continuum of one's being. It would be wise to prevent the arising of these conditions however possible, and to quickly confess any infringements, now and in the future, in order to ensure future arisings of free and well-favoured human births.

This human birth is called "well-favoured" due to the presence of ten conditions necessary for the practice of Buddha-dharma. The first five, derived from one's own existence, are:

1. one has obtained a human body.

2. one was born in a region where Buddha-dharma is present.

3. one has all one's faculties and can therefore understand what is taught.

4. since this teaching is being received, one has not been swept away on the tide of effects ripening from past unwholesome actions.

5. one has confidence in dharma.

The second five, received from others, are:

1. the Buddha Sakyamuni appeared in this fortunate kalpa.

2. the Buddha Sakyamuni taught the profound and extensive dharma.

3. the dharma taught by the Buddha has endured.

4. many have followed, and continue to follow the noble dharma.

5. many sentient beings rejoice in and support the practice of dharma so those who practice are not destitute.

This precious human birth is difficult to obtain, as can be understood by contemplating the previously listed conditions. Most sentient beings are habituated to unwholesome activity: very few can hold non-clinging compassionate awareness even some of the time, due to the powerful nature of ignorance. Ignorance gives rise to the two veils of conflicting emotions and primitive or partial views, which bind one to the wheel of rebirth. Therefore the importance of cultivating the wholesome in order to establish future resultant of precious human births is of primary importance.

To appear in the three times (past, present and future) and the three world systems (sensual, form, and formless) as a free and well-favoured human is rare. The number of sentient beings taking birth in other forms vastly overshadows those few who have the excellent opportunities of this birth. Understanding this makes it clear that one now has the best circumstances for developing spiritual realization. Practising dharma as one endowed with a precious human birth is as rare an occurrence as the appearance of stars in the daytime sky.

A free and well-favoured human birth is easily lost. Few conditions favour survival, while many conditions threaten it. Fire, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, accidents, poison, weapons, malevolent planetary influences (disasters), and disease are all around. It is unknown when they will arise. One breath is the difference between life and death.. It could be this breath. One's body is as easily destroyed as a bubble.

Do not meaninglessly waste it. Through habituation and ignorance of the preciousness of this moment, many humans use their life's energies to accumulate possessions and positions which cannot follow them after death. With the break-down of the body, the actions and motives that fueled daily activity will continue to bear fruit. Practice the good and good results will form the stream that carries through the process of death-birth.

Use the free and well-favoured human birth to attain ultimate realization. This life is the only condition needed. If the aspiration to see things as they are is strong, there is no need for special circumstances in order to do one's practice. Rather than feeling as though one were somehow more deserving than others, see that Bodhicitta resides everywhere. Unfavourable outer conditions and obstacles provide the opportunity to practice generosity, patience, equanimity. By condemning one's daily circumstance and companions, the seeds are sown for losing a cherished possession -- the present moment.

Since one has not yet attained omniscience, it is impossible to know who is an Arahant and who a Bodhisattva. Only a Buddha or Bodhisattva fully knows the means to use in order to help sentient beings. Rather than attempting to judge the worthiness of the actions of others, or the fairness of present supporting circumstances, use what is to gather the two accumulations. (The two accumulations: accumulation of merit or spiritual power, which is developed by practice of the paramis, and accumulation of awareness, developed by letting go of attachment to subject and object in order to see things as they are.)

"This precious human birth is difficult to obtain, and once having been attained it can easily be lost. Do not meaninglessly waste it; use it to attain the ultimate liberation."

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