What Is The Essential Meaning Of Human Life?

To encourage ourselves to train in the stages of the path to enlightenment, we should continually recall the three special characteristics of our human life: its freedom and endowment, its rarity, and its great meaning.

Due to the limitations of their body and mind, those who have taken rebirth as animals, for example, have no opportunity to understand or practice the path to liberation. Only humans are free from such hindrances and have all the necessary conditions, known as “endowments”, to engage in spiritual paths, which alone lead to everlasting happiness. This freedom and endowment is the first special characteristic that makes human life so precious.

The second special characteristic of our human life is rarity. Although there are many human in this world each one of us has only 1 life. One person may own many cars and houses, but even riches person in the world cannot possess more than 1 life, and when that is drawing to an end, he or she cannot buy or borrow or manufacture another. When we lose this life, it will be very difficult to find another similarly qualified life in the future. Our human life is therefore very rare.

The third special characteristic of our human life is its great meaning. If we use our human life to accomplish spiritual realizations, our life is immensely meaningful. By using it in this way, we actualize our full potential and progress from the state of an ordinary, deluded being to that of a fully enlightened being, the highest of all beings, and when we have done this we shall have power to benefit all living beings without exception. Thus, by using our human life for spiritual development. We can solve all our problems and fulfill all our own and others wishes. What could be more meaningful than this?

Through contemplating these three characteristics we arrive at the determination:

I will not waste my human life because it is so precious, so rare, and so meaningful. Instead, I will use it in the most beneficial way.

We hold this determination as our object of meditation without forgetting it, and meditate on it single-pointedly for as long as possible.

Having developed this deep desire to make our life meaningful, we then ask ourself, ‘What is the essential meaning of a human life?’ Finding good external conditions cannot be its essential meaning, for even animals can do this. Many animals are very skilled at finding food, protecting their family, destroying their enemies, and so forth, these abilities are not exclusively human.

However, it is only humans who have the opportunity to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all living beings. This is the real meaning of our human life. With this understanding, we can extract the full meaning of our human life by receiving the empowerment and then putting the instructions into practice.

In general, Vajrayana is the actual quick path to enlightenment, but whether or not we attain enlightenment quickly through Vajrayana practice depends upon our faith, motivation, and understanding. However, it is only human who have the opportunity to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all living beings. This is the real meaning of our human life by receiving the empowerment and then putting the instructions into practice.

In general, Vajrayana is the actual quick path to enlightenment, but whether or not we attain enlightenment quickly through Vajrayana practice depends on our faith, motivation and understanding.

By Dr Arthur Tjandra (a diciple of True Buddha School)

KURUKULLA Mantra (咕嚕咕列佛母心咒)

Kurukulle - Deity of Magnetism
(The Dakini of Magic and Enchantments)

Kurukulla is one of the Buddhist goddesses originating from the country of Oddiyana. Kurukulla is translated in Tibetan as Rigiyedma (rig-byed-ma) meaning “ She who is the cause of Knowledge”. She is associated with King Indrabhuti.

She is also sometimes called Red Tara(sgrol-ma dmar-po) or Tarodbhava Kurukulla, ‘The Kurukulla who arises from Tara’.

She is very popular among Tibetans for her magical function of enchantment (dbang gi ‘phrin-las) and bewitching of the people in order to bring them under one’s power (dbang du bsdud). She is pre-eminently the Buddhist goddess of witchcraft and enchantment but in real sense, she represents empowerment of the feminine in a patriarchal milieu.

As Green Tara be invoked for the protection from various dangers and threats, generally the eight great terrors and fears; Kurukulle may be called upon to exercise her powers of enchantment and bewitchment to bring under her power those evil spirits, demon and humans working against the welfare of humanity and spiritual evolution. In Tibet, she also is called upon when commencing the building of new monastery, undertaking new business or enterprise e.t.c. to subdue and subjugate all demonic and human forces that stands in ones’ path.

In Sadhanamala, there occurs list of eight great siddhis or magical powers acquired through her practice:

Khadga-siddhi; power to be invincible in battle with a sword.

Anjana-siddhi; power to remove ordinary lack of sight using a magical ointment

Padalepa-siddhi; power to be swift of foot using magical ointment

Antardhana-siddhi; power to become invisible

Rasayana-siddhi; power to rejuvenation and long-life through obtaining the exilir of life by way of an alchemical process

Khechara-siddhi; power to levitate or to fly through sky

Bhucara-siddhi; power to move through earth, mountains and solid walls

Patala-siddhi; power to have command over the spirit of the underworld

According to the texts, Kurukulla is sixteen years old because sixteen is ideal number signifying perfection. She has beautiful face with voluptuous body and alluring. She is red in color for her magical function of enchantment and magnetism. She is single faced because she embodies non-dual wisdom beyond conventional distinctions of good and evil. She is naked is because she is unconditioned by discursive thoughts.

She has four arms because of four immeasurable states of mind, namely, love, compassion, joy and equanimity. She holds bow and arrow entwined with flowers because she can give rise to thoughts of desire in others minds. On her other hands, she holds hook that attracts and summons them into her presence and noose to bind them to he will. She wears human bone ornaments signifying the five perfections and she herself embodies the sixth perfection of wisdom. She wears a necklace of fifty freshly served human heads as she vanquishes fifty negative emotions. She is seen dancing as she is very energetic and active. Her compassionate activity manifests in both Samsara and Nirvana. She dances treading upon a male human corpse as she enchants and subjugates demon of ego. She stands on red sun disc because her nature is hot and enflamed with passion and she stands upon red lotus blossom because she is pure vision of enlightened awareness.