法王首先觀察到，雖然身為佛教徒，但沒有真正瞭解到其精義的話，就難以自稱為佛法的修行者、或佛教徒：「有時最重要的是做一個好人、一個善良的人。」法王舉自身為例：「就拿我自己來說，因為生於一個佛教家庭，在寺院的佛教環境內成長，我就會以為自己是個真正的佛教徒。但仔細想想，我們可能會發現：『喔，我可能是個佛教徒，但不確定是不是個好人。』那麼這就有點可笑了。」
The Gyalwang Karmapa began his teaching by observing that it’s difficult if we merely call ourselves dharma practitioners or Buddhist followers in name, without really understanding the essence of being a true Buddhist. “Sometimes the most important thing is to be a good person, a good human being. This is very important,” he began. Turning to himself as an example, the Gyalwang Karmapa continued, “For example, in terms of me myself, sometimes I think I’m a real Buddhist follower or a real Buddhist student, because I was born in a Buddhist family and raised in a Buddhist environment, in a monastery. I think I’m the real sort of Buddhist practitioner or follower. But if you really think carefully about it and discover, ‘Oh, maybe I’m a Buddhist practitioner or follower, but I’m not sure if I’m a good human being or not,’ then that is a little bit funny.”

在敦促學員們直趨身為一個真正佛教徒的核心時，法王提示：「可能重點是要自問：我真的是個好人、善良的人嗎？因為這才是真正佛教徒的特點。」
Urging the students to cut to the core of being an authentic Buddhist, he continued, “So maybe the point is to confront ourselves with the question: am I really a good person, a good human being? Because that is what characterizes being an authentic Buddhist.”

回到給予學員們由衷建議的這個主題上，法王表示宗教的精髓應該是內在的，並且清楚區分僅僅遵循外在的宗教儀式，非常不同於內心的轉化：「我們或多或少都追隨著某些傳統，而多數的傳統就僅僅是些儀式。這是否代表我們應該投注於外在的儀式與傳統上呢？宗教是來自於外界，還是應該由內在喚起、在自身中培養呢？」
The Gyalwang Karmapa then returned to a key theme of his heart advice, that the essence of religion should be internal. He drew a clear distinction between merely following the external customs or traditions of religions, rather than the inner transformation of the mind. “We are involved in religious traditions with whatever degree of religiosity, and that means following certain traditions, or maybe more often they’re just customs. But does it mean that we should be steeped in the external customs and traditions? Should religion come from outside us? Or should it be something we invoke within ourselves and cultivate within ourselves?”