The Hīnayāna tradition of Buddhism follows the Path of Renunciation. Here the ego is regarded as a poisonous tree, and the method applied is like digging up the roots of the tree one by one. From the point of view of the Mahāyāna, to cut through the roots of a tree takes a long time, and the Mahāyāna therefore strives to cut the main root and then allow the other roots to wither by themselves. This is done by developing supreme compassion in the individual as well as by striving to realize the essential emptiness of all phenomena and the ego, which is also the goal in the Hīnayāna. Emptiness here must not be understood as simple nihilism (the denial that anything exists). Rather, things are "empty" in the sense of lacking independent, persistent existence.
The various levels of Tantra are the practices of the Vajrayāna, and they work on the assumption of the emptiness of all phenomena, the principle of Śūnyatā. In Tantra the poison of the tree is transformed into a healing medicine, using visualization with the aim of reintegrating the individual's energy with that of the universe.
rDzogs chen, the Path of Self-Liberation, enables us to discover our true condition, stripped of all the self-deception and falsifications which the mind creates. It relies on the knowledge of self-liberation, the understanding of the true nature of the individual and relaxation in that state. The term self-liberation should not, however, be taken as implying that there is some Self or ego to be liberated. It is a fundamental assumption at the rDzogs chen-level that all phenomena are empty of any self-nature. Whatever arises as one's karmic vision is used as the path. When one practices in this way the seeds of the poison tree of dualistic vision never get a chance to sprout, much less to take root and grow. The very meaning of the Tibetan term rDzogs chen, "Great Perfection", refers to the primordial state of every individual.

Lopon Ugyen Rinpoche ist Praktizierender und Linienhalter der Nyingmapa-Linie ("Alte Linie") des tibetischen Buddhismus, die ohne Unterbrechung bis zu ihren Ursprüngen bei Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava zurückverfolgt werden kann, und in seiner Familie der Ngakpa-Linienhalter der fünfundzwanzigsten Generation. Rinpoches Wurzellamas in der Nyingmapa-Tradition sind Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche (ein hochrangiger Lama, Dzogchen-Meister und bedeutender Nyingma-Historiker) und S.E. Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche (Oberhaupt der Changter-Linie, d.h. der nördlichen "Schatzlinie" der Nyingmapas, und Thronhalter des Dorje Drak-Klosters).
Als versierter Gelehrter, Übersetzer und Lehrer besitzt Lopon Ugyen Rinpoche sowohl einen höheren "Acharya"-Grad (in etwa dem Dr. phil. entsprechend) in tibetischer buddhistischer Philosophie als auch einen Abschluss in chinesischer Biomedizin. Geboren und aufgewachsen in der Ngakpa-Tradition der Nyingmapas erwarb Rinpoche seinen Acharya-Grad an einer buddhistischen Klosteruniversität, deren strenge und anspruchsvolle traditionelle Ausbildung nach einem neunjährigen akademischen Programm in einer dreijährigen Meditationsklausur kulminiert. Auf der Grundlage seiner traditionellen Ausbildung möchte Lopon Ugyen Rinpoche Menschen im Westen helfen, die tiefgründigen Lehren des tibetischen Buddhismus zu verstehen und die Essenz der Vajrayāna-Lehren in ihrem eigenen kulturellen Kontext zu praktizieren.