A Buddhist perspective on human existence - the turtle

There is an story in the Buddhist scriptures that illustrates how precious human life is, which compares being born as a human to a blind turtle, living in the depths of the ocean. Floating on the ocean is a wooden cattle-yoke, thrown around by the wind and the ocean currents. The chances of achieving a human birth are smaller than that of the turtle putting its head through the yoke just as it comes to the ocean surface, only once every hundred years.

What this story is trying to teach us is that, out of the limitless number and of living beings that exist, we as humans have extraordinary capabilities, both physical, intellectual and spiritual.

We have a miraculous physical body, which gives us our five senses, and the ability to perceive the broad spectrum of sense experiences in this material world. We have a powerful mind, which we can use to analyse and transform the material world around us. All of the creations that humans have brought into being originated as a vision in the mind of their architect. We also have incredible spiritual potential, which, through focused concentration, can be used to gain insight into the transcendental nature of reality.

Most important, however, we have the capacity to choose right from wrong. A human life is a test, as so many options are open to us that we are free to take. As higher animals we are not just governed by unconscious instinct, we can take any number of paths based on our will, our motivation and our reasoning. The choice is ours and only we are responsible.

To freely choose the right path gives the potential to develop ourselves and our characters that we wouldn't have if there was only a limited scope to our existence. Because of this we have to cherish this previous human life.

This means making the choice to not abuse our bodies with alcohol, junk food, meat, coffee and other poisons, but instead eating pure, life giving raw foods, that are the image of perfection, of the divine pattern and life force of creation.

It means guarding the door to our minds, not getting caught up in distractions, gossip, news, fashion or just things that waste our time. It also means not dwelling on hatred, anger, or negativity, but rather focusing on the beauty that there is in the world and trying to share and spread that to others.

And it means applying our minds to focused concentration and meditation, to still our minds and harmonise them with the transcendental reality.

What is most important, however, are the choices we make. Applying our motivation is the most important test in this life, because it is this that leads to developing self-control, and the internal momentum that eventually leads to liberation. This drive must come from within us, it can only arise through making a conscious choice.