Before you think about death, think about this
A foundational Tibetan practice asks us to contemplate this “precious human birth.”
Before meditating on death, Buddhists often begin with something else: contemplating being born.
Specifically, they reflect on what’s known as a “precious human birth”: the rare, fortunate, fleeting opportunity to be alive as a human being.
After all, you being here is a wild improbability, if not an outright miracle. (Scientists estimate the probability of your birth being around one in 400 trillion.) As Neil Degrasse Tyson says, those of who are alive are “the lucky ones.”
In the Tibetan tradition, this is the first of The Four Thoughts That Turn the Mind Toward Dharma, a foundational contemplative practice. First: recognize the immense gift of being here and the unique opportunities that are available to us. Second: remember that it will end.
As one translation captures the First Thought:
Joyful to have
Such a human birth,
Difficult to find,
Free and well-favored.
To be born as a human, Buddhists say, is to have the ideal conditions for waking up. We are conscious. We’ve been gifted with freedom of choice. We can reflect, learn, and grow wiser from our experiences. We can transform our suffering. We can create.
I remember how struck I was when I first heard this phrase from one of my teachers, Ethan Nichtern, before a meditation session. With that one simple moment of contemplation, my mind opened up to a sudden appreciation for simply being here, for having the opportunity to simply sit and meditate with other people.
This contemplation is also meant to be a wake-up to choose our thoughts and actions wisely, and to be intentional with the life we’ve been given.
“The contemplation of a precious human birth isn’t meant to make you feel special,” Nichtern says. “It’s meant to make you feel responsible.”
Tibetan Buddhist teacher Khandro Rinpoche offers a beautiful perspective on the unique human potential that make this life so precious:
“That ability to make things happen—making happiness happen, making kindness happen, making goodness happen, making this moment really happy and joyful and constructive—is a potential that we all have as human beings. You have that potential, but you also have the extra benefit of having an intelligence that recognizes it. That makes it the most incredibly precious of all existence…
All causes and conditions are there that equip you to be the creator, the director, the painter, the sculptor of a moment. And who enjoys such a moment—such freedom and ability—other than a human being?”
Even if “waking up” in the Buddhist sense isn’t your goal, it’s worth asking: What makes life precious? What freedoms do you have? What opportunities are available to you? What is it that you wish to do with this rare opportunity of human life that you’ve been given?
What comes to mind for me is death: the fact that it all ends, or changes.
I'm going to butcher this but I like the Buddhist story about the blind turtle, in the ocean, searching for a floating ring. The turtle dives down and pops up and tries to put its head through the ring. The odds of that are nearly impossible and that's the odds of you being here right now.