The eight fundamental right views are not a theoretical preparation to be quickly gotten over with. They are the indispensable foundation of practice. Without this basis, even decades of Dharma practice can remain ineffective.
An Impressive Example from the Discourse
In the Dharma discourse What is Cultivation?, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III speaks of two practitioners. One was a rinpoche who had cultivated himself for more than thirty years and had received more than one thousand esoteric dharma initiations. The other was a dharma master who had served as the abbot of a famous temple for twenty years. Both were considered learned, and both were able to expound the Buddha-dharma very well. However, neither of them possessed any actual dharma powers.
When H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III instructed them to put all esoteric practices on hold and instead sincerely cultivate themselves for eight months, the situation changed. Only then did actual realization manifest.
The Internal Logic of the Path
The eight fundamentals are not a collection of topics that can be dealt with at the same time or picked at random. H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III describes them as successive steps that support one another. Each step requires the one before it.
You cannot jump ahead to what comes later. A common error is wanting to immediately perform the highest practices or cultivate bodhicitta without having laid the foundation. H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III explicitly warns against this:
“For example, if you want to practice bodhicitta first, you will not be successful. It will result in an empty and illusory bodhicitta, a deluded and false state of mind.”
At the same time, each of these steps remains a lasting foundation that runs through the rest of the path.
The Foundation of Refuge: The Three Prerequisites
True refuge is built on these three fundamentals.
- A Mind of Impermanence: Recognizing that everything passes: the body, relationships, certainties. In the discourse, this is the beginning of all cultivation, because only from this awareness can the sincere desire for change arise.
- A Mind with Firm Belief in the Sufferings of Reincarnation: The insight that ordinary existence is filled with unrest, loss, and disappointment. Without this belief, the desire for liberation remains abstract.
- A Mind of Renunciation: The determination to step out of the cycle of reincarnation. It does not arise by forcing it, but is the natural consequence of the first two fundamentals.
The Rest of the Path: From True Vows to Bodhicitta
Five more steps build upon these three prerequisites:
- A Mind with True Vows: Taking refuge in the Three Jewels and making a true commitment to practice. Supported by the first three steps, it becomes the cause of action.
- A Mind of Diligence: Consistent effort, which, according to H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, forms the cause of persistent advancement.
- The Precepts: Strictly abiding by the rules. In the words of the discourse, the precepts give cultivation its correct direction. Without them, the practice loses its foundation.
- Dhyana and Samadhi (Concentration): Out of the steadfastness of right practice, concentration arises. It forms the cause of true wisdom.
- Bodhicitta: The mind of enlightenment for the benefit of all living beings is the eighth and final fundamental. It is the goal of the foundation, not its beginning, and the cause leading to becoming a Bodhisattva.
For Study
The complete explanation of the eight fundamentals, all their details, and the fruits that each fundamental bears can be found in the Dharma discourse What is Cultivation?. Links to the English text can be found on our website.
Once these fundamentals are understood, the task is to integrate them into everyday life. The following page provides a clear guide for this.