To achieve Enlightenment, we need devotion and confidence in
Buddhahood. Without these, it is difficult to attain to a spiritual
quality in the mind. Just as a rotten seed cannot produce a healthy
plant, so faltering devotion cannot produce virtue. Devotion and
confidence mean an understanding of cause and effect. A positive
cause creates peace and happiness, and a negative cause leads to
suffering. Afflicting emotions cause different levels of suffering
to arise, whereas Enlightenment is sacred and precious, free from
confusion and pain. To achieve this state, one must have devotion
and confidence in the Buddha as the teacher who shows the path, the
Dharma as the path itself, and in the Sangha as the community which
cultivates the Enlightenment mind and acts as a guide to
Buddhahood. Devotion and confidence are like water to a seedling;
if one is endowed with these qualities, one can meet many great
masters and receive the precious teachings. So when the precious
human body containing the Eight Freedoms and Ten Endowments and in
addition possesses devotion and confidence, the being has the basis
for achieving Enlightenment.
It is asked why, if we are born as humans many times before, and
have met spiritual masters, we did not previously achieve
Enlightenment. The reason is that we fell into conditions of error
such as attachment to this life, attachment to samsaric pleasures
and laziness, attachment to our own liberation, and not
understanding the method for achieving Buddhahood. To dispel such
errors, there are four antidotes: the contemplation of
impermanence, understanding the suffering in samsara and the truth
of karma and result, the practice of loving kindness and
compassion, and the cultivation of the Enlightenment mind.
Obtaining a life of leisure and endowments is like arriving at a
continent of jewels.
Whether we attain liberation or not is up to us.
Be sure, therefore, not to leave empty-handed.
This is my heart's advice.
(from Jewel Treasury of Advice)
http://www.purifymind.com/PreciousLife.htm
