1. Death is certain. No one in history has escaped it. The body is fragile and life cannot be extended once it is over.
2. The time of death is uncertain. There is no fixed lifespan, there are many causes of death and few of life, and the body is delicate. Young people die before old ones every day.
3. At death, only the Dharma helps. Wealth, family and even this body stay behind. The habits of mind and the merit we carry are what cross over.
Precious Human Life and Impermanence
Teachings · Lamrim basics
Precious Human Life and Impermanence
暂满人身 · 无常
The first two meditations of the lamrim. Together they answer one question: why practise now, and not later?
A human life with the freedom and the chance to meet the Dharma is rarer than a star in daytime. And it will not last.
Why this life is precious
Tap each one.
🪷
It is rare
难得
The Buddha compared it to a blind turtle, surfacing once a century, putting its head through a single ring floating on the ocean. Count the insects in one garden against the humans in one city.
🔑
It is useful
有大意义
With this body and mind we can gather merit, purify karma, and even reach enlightenment. No other kind of life can do all of that.
🌬️
It is easily lost
易失
Death is certain. Its time is uncertain. At death only the Dharma we practised, the merit and the karma, comes with us.
The three roots of impermanence
What changes when we remember this
Not fear, but clarity. Arguments feel smaller. Kindness feels urgent. Practice stops being “someday” and becomes today. Je Tsongkhapa said that remembering death is the beginning of the path and also its end: beginners use it to start, and great meditators use it to finish.
Try it this week
- Each morning, say once: I may not be here tonight. What matters today?
- Do one thing that would still matter if it were your last day: a kind word, an offering, a prayer for someone.
- At night, rejoice that you used the day well.