H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III makes it clear that liberation from the cycle of reincarnation requires two things. On the one hand, we need sincere cultivation to increase good karma and avoid bad karma. On the other hand, we must learn specific Dharma practice. Cultivation forms the indispensable foundation, but without the specific practice methods of the Dharma, we cannot generate actual powers of realization.
Form and Function: Why Cultivation Alone is Not Enough
In His Dharma discourse Learning from Buddha, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III uses the analogy of a computer. Someone who learns the Dharma and recites mantras, but does not cultivate their behavior in everyday life, is like an operating system that lacks the actual computer. Without cultivation, there is no form in which the Dharma can take effect. Impure karma blocks any real development.
However, this principle also applies in reverse. Someone who only cultivates themselves in everyday life and does not practice authentic Buddha-dharma is like a fully assembled computer that lacks an operating system. They have form, but no real function. Cultivation continuously increases our good karma, pushes back the negative, and forms the indispensable foundation. But to generate power of realization and actively break the cycle of reincarnation, we need a complete Dharma practice with preliminary practice, main practice, and concluding practice.
Yidam Practice: Generating Dharma Power
If cultivation is our foundation, what then is the method? In daily self-examination, we constantly practice sincere self-cultivation. A formal Dharma practice like Yidam practice takes this foundation and combines it with specific methods to generate transforming power.
In our cultivation, we inevitably encounter deep-rooted karmic hindrances that cannot be dissolved by willpower alone. This is exactly where the practice of a Yidam comes in. It provides the specific methods to connect with the power of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Through this sincere connection, we gradually generate the realization powers that actually eliminate our karmic hindrances.
H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III clarifies in Learning from Buddha that pure cultivation, without learning the Dharma, does not produce true powers of realization. If any powers should appear through cultivation alone, they are at best psychological effects or illusory phenomena. However, true Dharma practice on a pure foundation goes far beyond this: it generates actual power that not only clears our inner attitude but also transforms our karma and noticeably changes the external circumstances and obstacles of our lives for the better.
The Practice of Green Tara
There are many authentic Dharmas that can be practiced on this path. One of the main practices in our center is the practice of Green Tara. It is a particularly direct method for dissolving precisely those inner and outer obstacles that we inevitably encounter in our daily self-examination.
Green Tara represents the active side of compassion and the immediate readiness to act. She embodies the wisdom that eliminates dangers and protects the practitioner. For many, she is an accessible and deeply powerful way to connect the foundation of cultivation with authentic Buddha-dharma practice. We invite you to learn more about this aspect of the practice.