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The Joyful Path of Good Fortune: Our Precious Human Life

This is an outline summarizing the condensed meaning of the chapter "Our Precious Human Life" in the Lam Rim book "The Joyful Path of Good Fortune" by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso (Tharpa Publications, 2nd rev. ed., 1995). It is a restructuring of a portion of the book's appendix "The Condensed Meaning of the Text."

The square brackets enclose the outline key (e.g. "[4.1.2]" means "the second part, of the first part, of the fourth part"). This page is available as a PDF document.

How to take the essence of our human life. [4.2] p.121

  1. How to develop the determination to take the essence of our precious human life. [4.2.1]
    1. Recognizing that we now possess a precious human life. [4.2.1.1] p.121
      1. The eight freedoms. [4.2.1.1.1] p.122
        1. Freedom from being born as a hell being. [4.2.1.1.1.1] p.124
        2. Freedom from being born as a hungry ghost. [4.2.1.1.1.2]
        3. Freedom from being born as an animal. [4.2.1.1.1.3]
        4. Freedom from being born as an ordinary god. [4.2.1.1.1.4] p.125
        5. Freedom from being born and remaining in a country where there is no religion. [4.2.1.1.1.5] p.126
        6. Freedom from being born and remaining in a country where there is no Buddhadharma. [4.2.1.1.1.6]
        7. Freedom from being born and remaining with mental or physical disabilities. [4.2.1.1.1.7] p.127
        8. Freedom from holding wrong views denying Dharma. [4.2.1.1.1.8]
      2. The ten endowments. [4.2.1.1.2] p.128
        1. Being born human. [4.2.1.1.2.1]
        2. Being born and remaining in a country where Dharma is flourishing. [4.2.1.1.2.2]
        3. Being born and remaining with complete powers, free from mental and physical disabilities. [4.2.1.1.2.3]
        4. Not having committed any of the five actions of immediate retribution. [4.2.1.1.2.4]
        5. Having faith in the three sets of Buddha's teachings. [4.2.1.1.2.5]
        6. Taking human rebirth in a world where Buddha has appeared. [4.2.1.1.2.6]
        7. Taking human rebirth in a world where Buddha has taught Dharma. [4.2.1.1.2.7]
        8. Taking human rebirth in a world where pure Dharma is still being taught. [4.2.1.1.2.8]
        9. Taking human rebirth in a world where there are people practising pure Dharma. [4.2.1.1.2.9]
        10. Taking human rebirth in a world where there are benefactors and sponsors for Dharma practitioners. [4.2.1.1.2.10]
    2. Meditating on the great value of our precious human life. [4.2.1.2] p.130
      1. The great value of our precious human life from the point of view of our temporary goal. [4.2.1.2.1] p.130
      2. The great value of our precious human life from the point of view of our ultimate goal. [4.2.1.2.2] p.131
      3. The great value of every moment of our precious human life. [4.2.1.2.3] p.132
    3. Meditating on the great rarity of our precious human life. [4.2.1.3] p.134
      1. Recognizing the rarity of our precious human life in terms of its cause. [4.2.1.3.1] p.134
      2. Recognizing the rarity of our precious human life by analogy. [4.2.1.3.2] p.135
      3. Recognizing the rarity of our precious human life in terms of numbers (I need to practice Dharma. I can practice Dharma. I must practice Dharma in this life. I must practice Dharma now. p.137). [4.2.1.3.3] p.136
  2. Training the mind in the actual methods for taking the essence of our precious human life. [4.2.2] p.139

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Context

  1. Explanation of the pre-eminent qualities of the author, showing that the instructions of Lamrim are authentic. [1] p.5
  2. Explanation of the pre-eminent qualities of Lamrim to inspire faith and respect for the Lamrim instructions. [2] p.17
  3. Explanation of how to listen to and teach Dharma. [3] p.25
  4. Explanation of the actual instructions of the stages of the path to enlightenment. [4] p.39
    1. How to rely upon a Spiritual Guide, the root of spiritual paths. [4.1] p.39
    2. How to take the essence of our human life. [4.2] p.121