Thank you so much for coming.

And you are all so beautiful, adorable... [laughs].

Really we are so happy because

you bring us our memory back when we were a child

So we are very happy that you come here

and express your childhood.

Really it brings a tramendous amount of feeling.

Because I was one of you guys, a small child. I grew up in Tibet.

And so today we talk about Precious Human Birth.

What is "Precious Human Birth"?

It's commonly understood that your life is very precious

because you are loved by your parents.

Everyday your mother and father are always concerned about you

and take care of you, giving you the best:

your favorite clothes and your favorite foods

Not too much candy but...[laugher]...

because if you eat too much candy then you'll loose your precious teeth.

So they care because their love is boundless.

So as children you recognize how precious your parents are.

And also, parents, same thing.

They also see the precious moment of your life.

And they really love you deep down in their heart.

You see, they are so busy, everyday they have to do a lot of things but they take thier time

and read a story to you before you go to bed.

When you wake up, they support from the beginning of the day all the way to the end.

So, it's wonderful that you have precious parents and you have your precious life.

And so that kind of love you have to relate to other children.

Like here, we have about 20 or 30 children and you don't know each other but you can treasure them.

They are also very precious. They are all looking for that happiness, that love that all of you do.

And then also your pets, like your dog...

How many people here have dogs?

How many people have cats?

Ah, you see! They are also your family, you know?

And so you also treat them with love and respect.

And also in you class there are many other children.

Maybe they are not...maybe sometimes you look down on other children....

You never want to do that because everyone wants to have that precious moment of love.

You want to love all of them.

Because if you have love then your precious human birth is really meaningful.

And then you can relate that to other animals. Maybe you see, when you go to school, little bugs or ants?

You see, "Oh, this is also precious."

Because they love their life, they want to have love.

So you don't kill or and don't harm them.

Just move without stepping on them, always aware.

And that is a very common importance of using the precious human birth in a love way,

In a very sacred way or loving way.

And with parents, whether you are Buddhist or not,

it is common that we are all seeking for that happiness.

We want to be happy and we want to succeed etc.

The success of our life or quality of our life is actually spending our life....

We don' know how long we stay, but spending our life with quality, that is actually a treasure.

Every moment of your life is a treasure.

You know, because life is passing.

You might live like 100 years but if your life is spent with non-appreciation then that is not so good.

So basically you should treasure every moment of your life.

Because a human being's love is so vast

With this love we are able to help so many beings.

There are so many great figures.

They become very famous and become very popular due to

that love to all beings, no matter who they are.

So this kind of love is never departed from our mind.

Always we have love with our mind.

But we have to treasure that.

It is a matter of really treasuring that love that we have.

So we shouldn't think, "Oh, I am lacking in life quality,"

because the love that we have is always within us.

So expand that love, extending it to all sentient beings

who seek love and freedom from suffering.

So also I'm very happy that you are releasing some worms today.

And Lama Tendrup is also blessing them and doing some prayers.

This is so wonderful and I'll tell you a story related to that.

Recently, I released a Yak.

It's a big cow, a big bull.

And so it was a very interesting situation...

because when we visited that Yak camp

and the owner said, "Ah, he's very nice..."

"Very big, but he will be hamburger soon."

So that is a simple sentence: "He will be hamburger."

Well that's very easy but we are talking about someone in the prime of their life.

An animal with such dignity, so majestic and such a precious life.

So we, some of our supporters, together, we did a life release.

It was quite expensive to buy him but when it comes to that kind of situation

money is nothing, you will feel very happy.

So today you'll go to the fish pond and you do life release.

You will do some prayers and release them so they are not killed.

So that is how we use human life in a precious way.

Of course, The Precious Human Birth is explained with a lot of details in a Buddhist way.

But the common way basically says that we use our precious human birth

with such love and really treasure that moment of your family, the moment with your children.

And you appreciate the positive part of your life.

Because normally we all feel when we get, up we normally think,

"Oh, what do I have to do, what are all the things I need to worry about?"

rather than really appreciating what we already have.

So I think that is really important.

Because you are discovering that your life is so rich.

With what you have and your family

And if you appreciate every moment of your life

Then your life serves its purpose.

Otherwise, life is passing with a lot of stress or a lot of worry.

And you might stay a long time, but maybe not serving the purpose of life.

So I thought that is important because when you have that kind of love and care

of other beings and other species

then we are serving the purpose of a human being

which is one human being of 7 billion people on the planet.

So, there is hope that we can make this planet better

due to increasing our love.

So that is the first thing, the second is

what you guys did. Thank you so much. [laughs]

This is a turtle. This is from ... I can't pronounce it very well but this for me.

All of you also made one and gave to other people.

And thank you so much and this is so wonderful

because this is children's day and this turtle

(well this is a plate but it also represents a turtle)

it also represents long life.

So thank you so much for giving me this

and I also have hope that you have a wonderful life

a long life and a joyful life.

And finally, we are scheduled for 20 minutes

and if you have any questions you can ask any questions.

Any questions?

You can ask any questions.

Yes?

Is all this made out of gold?

It is gold painting. Copper then painted with gold.

So why we do this: in Tibetan Buddhism we talk about offering and generosity.

Normally, when we have money we want to keep it with us. So you are letting go of money.

You also built a turtle called Jinpa, right?

Jinpa in Tibetan means generosity.

So you're letting go money to help others.

Or also building statues is considered very special.

Or also a lot of merit.

Yes?

"Um, who is the guy in the picture up there?"

His name is... "that guy" is...[laughter]

He is who we call Karmapa.

"Karmapa" is a Sanskrit word which means "activity"

which means he always benefits all sentient beings,

whatever activity he does.

So, he is always talks about animal rights,

women rights, environmental protection

and so that is called Karmapa, he is the 17th reincarnation.

Yes?

Why is the Buddha statue so big?

Why is the Buddha statue so big?

Um... that's a good question. [laughs] You know, sometimes even bigger than that.

Lets put it this way. Generally, if you have more love in your family, you become happier, right?

Likewise, if you build a bigger Buddha statue you gain more merit.

How about that? [laughs]

I was going to ask if the Buddha was real gold, right behind you?

It's...[laughs] It's an image of Buddha it's precious [laughs]. It's a painting, gold painting.

Yes?

I want to hear a story of Milarepa.

Story of?

Milarepa.

Milarepa. Oh yeah, okay!

Milarepa always sing his songs, sings a lot of songs

out of joy and love for all beings.

So I will sing one.

So this a supplication to Milarepa himself, his name.

[laughter]

OOOOHHHHH!!! Did everybody see that?

That is a precious human birth!

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