  The 3 alpha Faddeev equation using 2 alpha RGM kernel involves redundant
components whose contribution to the total wave function completely cancels
out. We propose a practical method to solve this Faddeev equation, by
eliminating the admixture of such redundant components. A complete equivalence
between the present Faddeev approach and a variational approach using the
translationally invariant harmonic-oscillator basis is numerically shown with
respect to the 3 alpha bound state corresponding to the ground state of 12C.
