The devotee seeking Liberation and the Omniscience of
Buddhahood should first meditate upon these ten things which
are causes of regret:
(1) Having obtained the difficult-to-obtain, free, and endowed
human body, it would be a cause of regret to fritter
life away.
(2) Having obtained this pure and difficult-to-obtain, free,
and endowed human body, it would be a cause of regret to
die an irreligious and worldly man.
(3) This human life in the
Kali-Yuga [Age of Darkness]
being so brief and uncertain, it would be a cause of regret to
spend it in worldly aims and pursuits.
(4) One's own mind being of the nature of the
Dharma-Kaya,
uncreated, it would be a cause of regret to let it be
swallowed up in the morass of the world's illusions.
(5) The holy guru being the guide on the Path, it would
be a cause of regret to be separated from him before attaining
Enlightenment.
(6) Religious faith and vows being the vessel which conveys
one to Emancipation, it would be a cause of regret
if it were to be shattered by the force of uncontrolled passions.
(7) The perfect Wisdom having been found within oneself
in virtue of the guru's grace, it would be a cause of regret to
dissipate it amidst the jungle of worldliness.
(8) To sell like so much merchandise the Sublime Doctrine
of the Sages would be a cause of regret.
(9) Inasmuch as all beings are our kindly parents, [1] it would
be a cause of regret to have aversion for and then disown or
abandon any of them.
[1] In the Buddhist, as in the Hindu view, so interminably during
inconceivable aeons have evolution and transition and rebirth been
going on that all sentient beings have been our parents. Reference
should here be made to a parallel passage and its commentary in
"Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa", p. 203.
(10) The prime of youth being the period of development
of the body, speech, and mind, it would be a cause of regret
to waste it in vulgar indifference.
These are The Ten Causes of Regret.
