Dhamma Talks - Four Difficulties :: Buddhapadipa Thai Temple

The Buddha’s words; there are four difficulties, 1 human rebirth, 2 living a life, 3 hearing dhamma (the truth), and 4 the Buddha’s birth.

The explanation is as follows;

1.) To be born as a human being is very difficult because it can only be born if it has good kamma. And the Human World is a good realm set above four other realms; lower realm, departed being realm, demon realm, and animal realm. The Human World is a good start for human being to accumulate good kamma in order to develop the self to be the awakened one, or the Buddha as he possess the ability and freedom to do more things. Other beings, such as cows, buffalos, elephant etc. are governed by higher beings, and therefore have less ability or power. In comparison with other beings, Humans has a higher status and should therefore, try to maintain such status and persevere in applying continuous self development.

2.) Living a life is difficult, in the aspect of living a righteous life because one must struggle to make a living. Working for a living, can sometimes make mankind miss the points of life. He forgets to prioritise in terms of judging that which is really beneficial to life. He sometimes is overwhelmed by greed, hatred, and delusion; so he will repeatedly commit wrong doings until he can realise the truth of life.

3.) Hearing dhamma (the truth) is associated with the birth of the Buddha, because there is one Buddha. However he was not the only one who had taught dhamma. Some Dhamma did exist before the Buddha’s time, but many were distorted with wrong views and did not reflect the way out off suffering. When the Buddha became enlightened, he directly taught the path leading to the cessation of suffering. When the Buddha was alive, he taught people, but some chose to ignore such teachings, some failed to be its importance, and some simply could not allocated their time to such teachings due to responsibilities of family life. When the Buddha passed away, his disciples took on his duty to convey his teachings to the world and such practise is carried on to this day. In Papancasudani, dhamma is divided into three; pariyatidhamma, patipattidhamma, and pativedadhamma.

Pariyatidhamma consist of all the teachings of the Buddha and his enlightened disciples made available for people to learn from. Patipattidhamm is about practising dhamma, especially the three basic trainings; morality, concentration, and wisdom which was taught by the Buddha. Pativedadhamma is the fruit of learning and practice according one’s own effort or ability. It is compared to a tree, where the root represents learning the Buddha’s teaching, the truck is the practice, the branches, the leaves, and the fruit are the growth resulting from learning and practising. So when the root of a tree is rotten or dead, the tree will also be dead.

Therefore, learning and listening is important and Smantappasadika explains this in three ways as follows;
(1) Learning is like a poisonous snake because it can be used for debate, which may lead to argument between people or for one to look down on others. There is no use in this kind of learning, it is like being paid to look after a heard of cows, but he does not have a right to drink its milk. This kind of learning only result in disadvantage for the learner. Just like a man who has caught a poisonous snake which will inevitably bite him and cause his death.
(2) Learning for liberation means to know the reality as it really is, which is to eradicate all defilements.
(3) Learning is like a bank which is like an Arahat, the fully enlightened one who has completed his learning, but he still give to others just like a Bank which looks after peoples assets.
Therefore, one must be careful in their progress to learn and study, and to avoid learning like a poisonous snake.

4.) The Buddha’s birth is hardest to take place. It must take a long time to accumulate the steady perfection to become the Buddha-to-be, but it does not mean that it is impossible. It is possible but it is very difficult, and this can be illustrated by a story of when the Buddha taught a serpent (Naga) named Erakapatta;

In Kassapa Buddha’s time, one young monk took a boat to across the Ganges River. There he tore the water weeds and did not concerned with doing as he thought that it was only a very small action. When he died, such kamma had caused him to be reborn as a serpent which lived in that exact river. He lived a hard life but still tried to do good when he could. He had one daughter and so decreed that he would give away his daughter and all of his assets to anyone who could answer his questions as follows; 1. Who deserves to be a king? 2. Why does a king have soil on his head? 3. How can he clean it? 4. Who deserves to be a fool? The news of his decree spread far and wide, but no one could provide the answers.

When Gotamo Buddha became enlightened and taught the world, he knew the answers to those questions and knew of a young man, named Uttara, who he had chosen to teach the answers so that he may do the duty in his stead. So the Buddha sat under a tree and waited for Uttara. When he arrived, the Buddha invited him in and began to teach him the answers as follows;
1. Who deserves to be a great king? The answer is those who overcome the six sense doors deserve to be a great king.
2. Why does a king have soil on his head? The answer being, he is overwhelmed by desire.
3. How can he clean it? The answer, he has to eradicate all desire.
4. Who deserves to be a fool? The answer, those who do not develop themselves by learning and practising through the experience of the truth and therefore, remain foolish.
When the serpent heard that, he knew that the Buddha existed in the world. He was overjoyed and asked Uttara where the Buddha was. When he found out that the Buddha was under the tree, he rushed there with Uttara.

There he proclaimed himself to the Buddha that he had been a disciple of Kassapa Buddha and said, “I have been waiting so long for your coming, so that I can listen to your dhamma and practise it for my liberation.” The Buddha said to him, “In reality, there are four difficult things, 1 human rebirth, 2 living a life, 3 hearing the dhamma (truth), and 4 the Buddha’s birth.” Following this, the serpent asked the Buddha to teach him dhamma, and after putting it into action, he carried out good kamma and was able to liberate himself from the animal world.

Following the Buddha’s words, we are very lucky to have the opportunity to learn and practise the Buddha’s dhamma so we should do it with confidence and apply the effort that is necessary. At the very least, it will enable us to lead a better life, living righteously by helping ourselves and others.