Why Is It So Difficult to Obtain a Human Rebirth?

Sentient beings today are almost all deeply afflicted by greed, hatred, and ignorance, yet they remain unaware of it. However, these very afflictions create boundless evil karma, which will almost certainly lead them to fall into the three lower realms in the future. The hope of being reborn as a human again is exceedingly slim. It is due to ignorance that sentient beings create the karma of greed, hatred, and ignorance; and precisely because of this ignorance, they do not even recognize these actions as evil. The value of a human lies in self-awareness. Without studying the Dharma and understanding cause and effect, one remains shrouded in ignorance. Even if one studies the Dharma but still fails to grasp cause and effect, unaware that every physical, verbal, and mental action bears its fruit, one acts recklessly, utterly disregarding the consequences. Judging whether one's actions are right or wrong based on personal perception is unreliable; one must rely on the principles taught by the Buddha. Sentient beings have created vast evil karma since time without beginning, ceaselessly cycling through the six realms of rebirth. The chance of obtaining a human body is minuscule. Consequently, they generally do not know how to be human, understand the principles of human conduct, or reflect on their own afflictions of greed, hatred, and ignorance.

The Buddha used an analogy to describe the rarity of sentient beings obtaining a human body over countless kalpas: Imagine a turbulent sea where a turtle swims. Floating on the sea is a piece of wood with a single hole, just large enough for the turtle's head to fit through. The chance of that turtle, amidst the wind and waves, raising its head precisely into that hole in the wood is extremely small. The Buddha said the chance of obtaining a human body is just that small. On another occasion, the Buddha scooped up a handful of soil and then let it fall back to the ground. He asked the assembly, "Which is more: the soil on my fingernail, or the soil of the entire earth?" The disciples replied, "The soil of the earth is far greater." The Buddha then said the chance of sentient beings obtaining a human body is as scarce as the soil on his fingernail, while the chance of not obtaining a human body is as vast as the soil of the earth.

The Buddha stated in the Agama Sutras that sentient beings spend the vast majority of their time in the three lower realms. Only when a portion of the karma from these realms is exhausted, leaving a remnant of merit, do they regain a human body and become human again. Yet, during their human life, they often fail to act rightly, creating much evil karma, and after death, they fall back into the lower realms. In the three lower realms, the time spent in hell is measured in kalpas; the time spent as a hungry ghost is also measured in kalpas; and even as an animal, each type of animal existence lasts for at least five hundred lifetimes. Only after this evil karma is exhausted do they return to the human realm. Therefore, we observe that the vast majority of people do not know how to be human; their virtue is poor precisely because they have spent too long in the three lower realms, without the opportunity to engage in human affairs, so they lack the knowledge of how to conduct themselves as humans. Having obtained a human body in this life and encountered the Buddha Dharma, we truly ought to practice diligently to avoid those long kalpas of suffering. Why bother creating evil deeds merely to satisfy the afflictions of greed, hatred, and ignorance? Those with wisdom should calm their minds, reflect, compare, contemplate how to spend this life, consider how to avoid future suffering, and resolve the paramount issue of birth, death, and suffering.