Cheer Up!

The Kali Yuga is not so bad

There is a lot of doom and gloom these days. This morning I am working on revising a a short translation of a text composed by a contemporary Tibetan author that has a rather grim assessment of the present time. While working on it, I reminded myself that despite the daily onslaught of negativity in the news concerning politics, wars, the environment, and so on, we should not forget that we Dharma practitioners have a so-called “precious human birth.”

Some people think all human births are precious, and they are right, in so far as all creatures, humans included, hold their lives to be precious and dear. However, not all human beings are born with the eight freedoms and ten endowments. These eight freedoms and ten endowments are what make it possible for us to practice the Dharma, and this is what we followers of Buddhadharma call “a precious human birth.”

Unlike some other religions which depend upon allegiance to some external creator/savior, such as Jesus, Allah, or Krishna, we Buddhists are not guaranteed salvation through some external agency or allegiance to an external agency. Unlike materialist philosophies, which suggest happiness emerges from creating the correct material conditions, we Buddhists understand that relying on impermanent material conditions will never lead to enduring happiness, wellbeing, and contentment.

Liberation, as we conceive it, is made possible for Buddhists through the following eighteen conditions. So just to review, what are they? Nāgārjuna writes:

      Birth as one holding wrong views, as animals, pretas, and hell beings, 
      as one without the teaching of the victor, or in a border country,
      birth as a barbarian, as one stupid and dumb,
      or birth as any of the long-lived gods
      are the eight faults of lacking freedom. 
     Having acquired the freedom that is liberated from those states.
     one must make effort in order to avoid them.  

As Dharma practitioners, we have escaped these eight births that lack freedom through our positive roots of virtue accumulated in past lives. The three particularly relevant to being born a human beings, among the five realms mentioned here, are the three kinds of unfavorable human births. We were not born in a place where the name Buddha cannot even be heard, this is what is mean by “barbarian.” We were not born into or did not remain part of those religious traditions which promulgate wrong views—Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism, and so on—nor did we remain in or adopt materialist or physicalist views of reality. We were not born when the Buddha’s teaching did not exist at all. And we were born with full possession of our faculties. How do we avoid falling into these states? That is what we study and practice the Dharma for. Trust me, being a Buddhist at this time on this globe, as heartbreaking as it seems, is much better than being someone in a pristine environment prior to the advent of the Buddha.

Of the ten endowments, five are personal. Nāgārjuna again:

     A human born in the central country, complete sense organs, 
     not engaging in wrong livelihood, faith in the object 

Conventionally speaking, a central country is one where the Buddhist renunciate sangha exists, meaning that it is possible for people to receive Buddhist vows and embark in a renunciate life. However, this is not certain. There have been Buddhas in the past who did not have renunciate Sanghas, so in fact, a central country could only mean a country where people follow and practice the Dharma, at least five of them. Possessing full set of faculties is necessary, a proper livelihood which is not harmful to living beings in general. Finally there must be faith or confidence in the object, which is the Dharma itself, both in the realization of Dharma and the teachings of the Dharma.

The five external endowments are, as Nāgārjuna writes:

     The Buddha has arrived, he has taught the Dharma, 
     the doctrine exists, there are followers of that, 
     and there is kindheartedness towards others. 

This is very straightforward, for the most part, though the last one requires a bit of unpacking. It refers to supporting those who are devoted to upholding the Dharma through conduct, practice, and teaching. This is normally considered to be supporting the renunciate sangha, but as the renunciate sangha is in severe decline around the world, the meaning should be extended to include all who sincerely devote themselves to the study and practice of the Dharma.

Therefore, if we have these eighteen conditions of freedom and endowment we should feel very fortunate. We should not feel depressed at all by the bad news there is in the world. There has always been bad news and there will always be bad news. We can and ought to feel sorrow and compassion for the suffering of beings caused by the wars, environmental degradation, the lack of moral character of political and religious leaders, but we should not let that make us feel depressed.

Cheer up! The Kali Yuga isn’t so bad after all. Śakyamūni Buddha is the buddha for this eon. We Dharma practitioners hold liberation in the palm of our hands, thanks to him.