Je Tsong Khapa
Lobsang Drakpa
(1357-1419)
“‘Consequently, why would I act in such a way that an excellent base [precious human rebirth] like the one that I have gained does not have a result? If I do not make it meaningful, could there be a greater self-betrayal and a bigger stupidity? Having passed through many perilous places of unfreedom such as the lower realms, again and again, if I were to go back to those places, forsaking this one-off liberation as meaningless, it would be like turning mindless as though stupefied by a magic spell.’ By way of thoughts like these you should meditate again and again.”
From The Medium Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment by Je Tsong Khapa. As translated in: Middle Length Lam-Rim with Trijang Rinpoche’s Additional Outlines by Lama Tsongkhapa (and Trijang Rinpoche). Translated by Philip Quarcoo. Unpublished DRAFT translation (May 2012) by FPMT, Inc. Download the PDF here.