Gomchen Lamrim review: Precious human life
Gomchen Lamrim review: Precious human life
Venerable Thubten Samten 
Gomchen Lamrim 
Apr 15, 2016 Part of a series of teachings on the Gomchen Lamrim by Gomchen Ngawang Drakpa. Visit Gomchen Lamrim Study Guide for a full list of contemplation points for the series.
- The purpose of meditating on precious human life
- The eight freedoms
- The ten fortunes
- Guided meditation on precious human life
Gomchen Lamrim 37 Review: Precious human life (download)
Contemplation points
- Take your time to go through each of the freedoms and fortunes one by one, and imagine being born without it. What would you life be like? What would it mean for spiritual practice?
- Come back to the present and feel the appreciation for having each freedom and fortune; feel how they allow you to practice the Dharma; feel how each and every one of them must be present for the precious human life you now have.
- What can you do to ensure that you don’t lose these freedoms and fortunes in this life? What can you do to ensure that you create the causes to have these freedoms and fortunes in the next life?
- Make a determination to not waste this precious opportunity to practice the Dharma; determine to use every moment, every experience, to create virtue, abandon negativity, purify and transform your mind.
Venerable Thubten Samten
Venerable Samten met Venerable Chodron in 1996 when the future Venerable Chonyi took the future Ven. Samten to a Dharma talk at Dharma Friendship Foundation. The talk on the kindness of others and the way it was presented is deeply etched in her mind. Four Cloud Mountain retreats with Ven. Chodron, eight months in India and Nepal studying the Dharma, one month of offering service at Sravasti Abbey, and a two month retreat at Sravasti Abbey in 2008, fueled the fire to ordain. This took place August 26, 2010 (see photos). This was followed by full ordination in Taiwan in March, 2012 (see photos), becoming Sravasti Abbey's sixth bhikshuni. Right after finishing a Bachelor of Music degree, Ven. Samten moved to Edmonton to pursue training as a corporeal mime artist. Five years later, a return to university to obtain Bachelor of Education degree opened the door to teaching for the Edmonton Public School board as a music teacher. Concurrently, Ven. Samten became a founding member and performer with Kita No Taiko, Alberta's first Japanese drum group. Ven. Samten is responsible for thanking donors who make offerings online; assisting Venerable Tarpa with developing and facilitating the SAFE online learning courses; assisting with the forest thinning project; tracking down knapweed; maintaining the Abbey database and answering email questions; and photographing the amazing moments that are constantly happening at the Abbey.
