Lesson 26 from A Comprehensive Commentary on the Words of My Perfect Teacher covers the fourth reflection on the preciousness of human life — numerical comparisons — and closes with five analogies measuring what a precious human life truly outweighs.
On numerical comparisons, the lesson draws on canonical sources to show that beings in the lower realms outnumber those in higher realms as stars in the night sky outnumber stars visible in daylight, and that even among humans, those with all eighteen freedoms and advantages are vanishingly rare. This is grounded in present-day observation: the ratio of practitioners to non-practitioners in any major city makes the point as vividly as any sutra analogy.
The lesson then presents five paired comparisons from Longchenpa: a precious human life outweighs a wish-fulfilling jewel, meeting a qualified teacher outweighs a kingdom, the bodhisattva vows outweigh any official rank, a tantric empowerment outweighs universal rulership, and seeing the nature of mind outweighs catching sight of the buddhas themselves. Each is paired with a sharp warning — those without renunciation, devotion, compassion, samaya, or diligence will fritter away each of these treasures in turn.
