available that are identical in many points with the Buddha's
doctrine, and I often feel that these are the same, as though the
Buddha himself had taught them.
Buddhadharma is now establishing itself in the West and a process of integration and adaptation has begun. Similar processes of adaptation were made centuries ago in several Asian countries. While traveling, I have observed the practice of Buddhadharma in a number of countries, such as Japan, Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka, and so on. Each of these Buddhist societies has emphasized and focused on specific aspects of the Buddhadharma, aspects which have become very developed and which are widely practiced within their countries. For example, in Japan the Buddhist tradition relies heavily upon the Prajna Paramita Sutra, which teaches the nature of emptiness. The Japanese have developed their practice along that perspective of approach. In China and Taiwan, Buddhism has focused on the pure land sutras, which inspire devotion and reverence to Buddha Amitabha. Although the characters or letters of Japanese and Chinese texts appear somewhat different from Tibetan, I can see from the practice and application of their meaning that, regardless of the language used, the teachings are identical.
Time and time again, I have seen that all the different Dharmas that were preserved in Tibet have appeared in different forms throughout the world. I have observed that, in particular, the Christian and Islamic traditions [of charity) have developed one whole aspect of Buddhadharma and put this widely into practice. I see how wonderful it is that the Buddhadharma has spread throughout the world in many different ways, with various aspects of it being understood and developed through practice, whether it is called Buddhadharma or not. I have great faith in all these traditions and regard this as the flourishing of Buddhadharma.
Those of you who have a great interest and enthusiasm for learning the nature of Dharma and who are trying to understand its meaning by practicing meditation and visualization techniques are definitely doing so because of past karmic endeavors. The result of your previous lifetimes' practice of the ten virtuous actions has created a very powerful development of positive karmic xix