1. Is it necessary for me to practice the four foundations from the Karma Kagyu lineage in order to be able to subscribe to the four-foundation teachings in this website? Why?
Yes.
Although the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism have the four uncommon preliminaries from their own lineages with similar practices and goals, the sadhana, refuge tree, visualized deities, and visualization are different. So if you are practicing the four uncommon preliminaries from another lineage, the refuge tree, deities and visualization that are taught here may not apply to your practice or be relevant to the previous instructions that you received.
2. I have been doing the short sadhana of the four uncommon preliminaries given by His Holiness the 17th Karmapa or other Kagyu linage masters. Am I eligible to register to subscribe to the four-foundation teachings in this website?
Yes, you can.
But we would recommend you switch to practice the long sadhana i.e. The Chariot that Carries Us Along the Noble Way for your long-term benefits.
3. How should I count my practice?
You will count the number of four uncommon preliminaries that you have completed, i.e.
- • the number of big prostrations you have made;
- the number of Vajrasattva (hundred-syllable) mantras you have chanted;
- the number of mandalas you have offered; and,
- the number of guru yogas that you have practiced.
You do not need to record and count the practice of your four common preliminaries.
4. What are the objectives of reporting the practice progress? How will those figures be used?
In order to make Buddhadharma to become part of you and bring positive changes to your mindstream, it is important to practice Buddhadharma every day after listening and contemplating the teachings.
To ensure Dharma friends who are receiving the four-foundation teachings are really practicing those preliminaries, having them to report their practice progress will be an effective means for us to support their practice and growth. It will also help Khenpo to devise his teaching plans.
5. When I report my progress after every three months of successful registration, do I need to reach any practice goals, such as in terms of the number of practices?
No. You will just need to report the number of daily practices that you have accumulated in every three months upon successful registration in addition to the original number of practices that you have accumulated. The daily practice should be in at least half an hour.
6. If I can only practice the four foundations on-and-off but I can still report my practice progress continuously, will I still be able to be a subscriber? What can I do?
No. The four foundations practice must be performed at least for half an hour every day. This is one of the prerequisites to remain as a subscriber of The Treasury of Preliminaries.
Once you have stopped the practice, you will need to start to count the uncommon practices from the beginning and continue the practice every day.
7. Do I need to report the practice progress exactly on the first day after every three months of the successful registration and so forth? What if I become too busy to report that and can only submit the progress a few days later? Will this be regarded as ‘failure in reporting the practice progress’?
No. We understand many of our Dharma friends are busy with their daily lives and it would not be possible for everyone to report their practice progress on the first day of every three months after a successful registration. As such, those who have registered would be given a grace period of seven days to report their progress.
For example, if the reporting date is on the 1st of every three months, they will have the period from 1st to 7th of every three months to report their progress.
8. What if I submit my progress after the seven-day grace period, will that be regarded as ‘failure in reporting the practice progress’?
Yes, since you have been given a seven-day grace period.
9. If my subscription is terminated due to failure in reporting my practice progress for three consecutive times, is there any cooling-off period which allows me to register to re-subscribe later?
Yes, you can re-subscribe one month after having your subscription terminated.
10. use to record my practice by number of hours due to another requirement. But I very much like to join this program. May I still be eligible to register to subscribe to the teachings?
You will need to contact the website administrator who will be in touch with Khenpo to address this.
11. How do you define as ‘completion’ of the practice of four foundations?
One will need to finish:
- Practicing 100,000 big prostrations;
- Chanting 100,000 Vajrasattva (hundred-syllable) mantras;
- Offering 100,000 mandalas; and,
- Practicing 100,000 guru yogas.
12. If I have completed the practice of the four foundations but I still wish to subscribe to these teachings, do I still need to report the practice progress every three months?
You will need to contact the website administrator who will be in touch with Khenpo to address this.