【Human Life of Leisure and Opportunity】- Dust particles

【Moreover, whether you start from a happy realm or a miserable realm, it is difficult to obtain such leisure and opportunity. For, the Buddha states in the Bases of Discipline (Vinaya-vastu)209 that those who die in the miserable realms and are reborn there are similar in number to the dust particles on the great earth, whereas those who are reborn from there into happy realms are similar in number to the dust particles on the tip of a fingernail. 】

In the sutra there was this story. Once Buddha was talking to Ananda. He used his fingers and picked up some soil from the ground and said, “Ananda! Take a look! Are there more dust particles on earth or on my fingers?” You all can tell, with the soil on earth versus the little bit on the fingers, can you even compare? There is no comparison! Below, it tells us this.

【Further, those who die in both types of happy realms [human and divine] and are reborn in the miserable realms are similar in number to the dust particles on the great earth, while those who die in the happy realms and are reborn there are similar in number to the dust particles on the tip of a fingernail. 】

It says that for most people from “happy realms,” happy realms mean human and divine. Once you die from being a human or deity, those who fall [to miserable realms] are similar in number to the dust particles on earth. Those who can continue to maintain their human bodies are as few as those particles on the fingers.Therefore we should know the chance of you attaining a human form is extremely difficult, extremely difficult!

SOURCE 来源 :

31A 23’47” Vol 4 of Master Jih-Chang’s Discourse P235 L2
English Lamrim Vol 1 P124

日常师父法语📡手抄稿第4册P235 L2

暇满 : 如爪上尘

【如是暇身如《事教》中说，[从恶趣死复生彼者，如大地土，从彼死没生善趣者，如爪上尘。】

那个经上就有这么一段公案：那个佛有一次跟阿难说，他用那个爪，在地上挑了一点土说：[阿难啊！你看哪！那个大地的土多啊？还是我手指上那个土多啊？]你们大家可以分别得出来的，这个大地像地球一样的土，比之那个手指上的一点点，能比吗？完全不能比啊！下面他真正告诉我们：

【从二善趣死生恶趣者，如大地土，从彼没已生善趣者，如爪上尘。]】

说现在我们一般的人从[善趣]，善趣当中就是指人、天，从人、天死了以后，生到堕落的人就像大地土；而能够继续不断地保持人身的，就像那个手上那么一点点。所以要晓得啊，真正再得人身的机会是难之又难，难之又难啊！