I practice the Dharma in the hopes that my life will get better, because of blessings and karma from previous lives. Do I need to do more than that?

The understanding of karma teaches us that we have a great responsibility to improve our own intentions and aspirations and way of life.

It is important that we are not always expecting something to come from outside ourselves, that Buddha and Bodhisattvas will bless us, rescue us, will make good things happen. It is also important that we not wait for the teacher or lama – “please bestow on me your blessing”.  Sometimes we believe that we did good things in the past – so we are expecting good things will happen now.

It is very important, not simply expecting external Buddhas, teachers – we need to understand that we have inner Buddha and inner teacher. We need to produce good energy. We cannot wait for this to come from outside. It is very important to produce this in yourself.

HH, 17^th Karmapa
Ogyen Trinley Dorje

From Kamashila
Short-Ngon-dro teaching
Germany, 2014