The Principle of 

“Human body is Rare” 

Now I will briefly explain the method of practicing Five Advanced Cultivation styles. Before explaining, everyone should visualize and generate Bodhicitta, and listen to the Dharma with the support of Bodhicitta. 

From the source of the dharma collection, there are two types of cultivation: one cultivation is Complete Enlightenment. The other is the Recitation of Buddha with Three Supremes (Supreme Motivation, Supreme Deeds, and Supreme Dedication of Merits). These are the most important types of cultivation, and secret success advice passed down by Kyabje Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok. It's like a ship with two rudders. It can ensure to the greatest extent everyone’s liberation. 

The ritual of Four Preliminary Cultivation is followed by <<Chanting before cultivation: Opening the path to liberation>> which was written by Omniscience Mipham Rinpoche. This ritual is very special and powerful. It is neither too short nor too long. The contents are very clear and the principles are complete. This forward inheritance comes from the great compassionate benefactor master, the Dharma King Kyabje Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok, and he has personally passed it on many times. 

Generally speaking, before we practice the Four Preliminary Cultivation, we need to cultivate our actions, mind, and speech first.

Body cultivation is using Vajrasattva sitting. When you wake up, recite "Namo fundamental Mentor Shakyamuni Buddha" and kowtow three times. Recite "Namo Guru, Triple Gems (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha), and Triple Essential Roots (Guru, Guided Buddha, Dharma Protectors) and kowtow three times. Recite "Namomanzesi Riye Namisesi Riye Namagedamasi Riye Soha" and kowtow three times. Then relax, sit on the cushion, and practice the Nine Sections of Breathing the Wind. This is the body cultivation. The second one is speech cultivation, which is the blessing of the language wheel. The third step is to practice mindfulness, that is, the three-character Vajra chanting of Om Ah Hum. Finally, we visualize and generate Bodhicitta.

We all know that all sentient beings have been our parents in the past, and their current situations now are very difficult. So when we carefully contemplate the suffering of sentient beings, we will naturally develop compassion: "Our current abilities to liberate so many sentient beings are insufficient. So we need to make an essential effort to practice Four Preliminary Cultivation and Five Advanced Cultivation. Once we successfully complete these cultivations and reach the Buddhahood, then we are fully capable to save and liberate sentient beings." Thoughts like this are vows of aspirational Bodhicitta, and practicing the Dharma with such thoughts is called practicing Bodhicitta. Then we pray carefully to the lineage masters, especially the root guru "Kyabje Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok", he is the collection of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and he is the spiritual incarnation of Padmasambhava in the world. After praying, start practicing <Opening the Path to Liberation>.

At the beginning of <Opening the Path to Liberation>, you must first recite Lama Qin (Let Guru know) three times. This is praying to the guru. The first "Let Guru know" is to pray for blessings from Guru. Bless us to do good deeds and not fall into the three evil paths again. The second "Let Guru know" is to bless that we must be liberated from rebirth circling. The third "Let Guru know" is that he is blessing us to quickly become a Buddha and save all sentient beings.

Then start practicing two types of cultivation. The first one is the common Four Preliminary Cultivation: The human body is rare, life span is impermanent, cause and effect is true, and rebirth is a disaster.

When meditating on the "Human body is rare", everyone should visualize it slowly and think about the true meaning inside. Chanting can help us visualize. If there is no visualization in our mind, just chanting is useless. Therefore, the meaning of the human body is rare, so we should carefully contemplate it in our minds - the human body is very rare. Only a human body that is away from Eight Flawless and has Ten Perfections (total of eighteen) can be called a precious human body. This is a condition that we must meet for cultivation. If one of the eighteen conditions above is not met, there is no way to enter the path of liberation. Just like cooking, there are many factors involved. If you lack one, you can't complete the meal. In the same way, it is impossible to be on the path of liberation if the conditions for cultivation are not met. We have now obtained a human body with eighteen perfections, which is extremely rare and valuable.

From the perspective of causes, a human with eighteen perfections is not snatched from somewhere without reason, nor falls from the sky, nor grows in the ground. It is the result of practicing ten good deeds, compassion and generosity, holding precepts, practicing tolerance and patience, and so on over a long period of time.

From a metaphorical point of view, it is like a bean standing on the tip of a needle, but the bean will not stay on the tip of the needle for a moment. A human with eighteen perfections is even rarer than this. Therefore, the metaphor of a human with eighteen perfections is like an epiphyllum, a precious flower that only blooms when the Buddha comes into the world.

From a quantitative point of view, the number of humans with eighteen perfections on the earth is not as large as an ant nest, so it is extremely rare and meaningful for us to obtain the eighteen perfections.

However, such a human with eighteen perfections is not always available for us, maybe only in this life. So the opportunity to be liberated and become a Buddha may never have again. Everyone must not forget that the self is a human with eighteen perfections, not waste time on other things, and try to focus all one’s time on practicing the Dharma. If we fail to cherish this extremely precious opportunity and are reborn as ant-like beings due to the pull of karma, we will fully lose the opportunity to practice the Dharma.

Many people hope that they have perfect wealth and a wonderful life. If their expectations are not realized, then they will be in affliction and become more persistent. As a matter of fact, being a human with eighteen perfections is very rare, and having a comfortable life is actually an obstacle to practicing Dharma. If we do not have eighteen perfection, then no matter how pleasant the external environment is, there is nothing to be gratifying.

In the past, when the guru met with his disciples, he often asked: "Do you still remember that you have obtained eighteen perfections? How much time did you practice the Dharma?" So each of us should think about it. If we don’t realize the importance of human life today, today will be over. If we don’t realize tomorrow, tomorrow will be gone. If we don’t realize it for a month, a month will be wasted. If we don’t realize for a year, a year will be finished. If a lifetime is spent without realizing it, then we will spend our whole life in confusion. An entire lifetime in ignorance is very pitiful!

So, if we haven't been practicing the fruit of cultivation, still wasting time, and being difficult to determine cultivating the Dharma. Who can help us? The blessing of Triple Gems. How can we get it? That is to pray with devout faith to our Great Master, who is the collection of the Triple Gems. So that our human life can be meaningful and used to obtain complete enlightenment.

This is represented by prayer, but also implies the three other types of the four attributes: wish, vow, and oath. The standard for cultivating the Dharma here is that we can develop a firm understanding of the rarity of the human body, and use all our time to practice the Dharma. We will no longer waste time on worldly knowledge, just like Jingewagsi, who becomes immersed in the thought of the rarity of the human body. He had no time to rest, so he stayed up all night practicing good deeds.