Chronic Fatigue

Chronic Fatigue

Past Karma Ripening
Date Posted:
October 2011

Rinpoche gave the following advice to a nun who had been sick for a long time with an illness similar to chronic fatigue.

My dearest one,
Thank you for your kind letter. I think you have been sick for a long time and I am very sorry about that. I think your life has been very positive, even when you were a layperson, and when you became a nun, of course, no question. It is so great that you were able to do the Master’s Program. You were very lucky to have such a great teacher. I think it is a very positive thing.

In one way, because you are practicing correct devotion to the virtuous friend and you studied well, maybe some very heavy, past negative karma is ripening now, in this life. You have had such a stable life, studying and practicing. All along everything has been very stable, unlike many people who are very excited in the beginning and practice strongly for a few months, then give up.

Experiencing some past negative karma now means that we don’t have to be reborn in the lower realms and experience that very heavy, unbelievable suffering for so many eons. It may be manifesting in this life in the form of sickness, but compared to being reborn in the lower realms, experiencing it now is a very positive thing. If we have to experience this karma in the lower realms, we can’t help ourselves or others. If we are born there, the length of time we have to stay even in the very first hot hell according to human years is two great tre bums. One tre bum equals one hundred million years, and one great tre bum equals ten times one hundred million years. So, two great tre bums equal two times ten times one hundred million years. That is how long we have to spend in just the very first hot hell. The suffering we would experience there is inconceivable, so we do not want to be born in the hell realms even for one second; it is so unbelievable.

Therefore, your sickness is an extremely positive thing and you should feel great happiness. You should feel a billion, zillion times happier than people who win soccer, football or the Olympics, when people get so excited and shout (which sometimes looks like anger to me). You can rejoice in what is happening.

I did an observation, and you need to do the following:

1.Chag sum puja needs to be done; I will do this for you.

2. Do the practice Liberation from Bondage of Body, Speech and Mind. [Find links to the Dharani Extremely Conquering from Bondage in the FPMT Catalogue.]

3. Have the naga landlord puja done for you. If you can, ask the geshe in Madrid, but you need to be there when he does it; that is very important .

4. The Most Secret Hayagriva puja needs to be done at Sera Je Monastery. This puja will not be done by the whole of Sera Je; it will just be done by the Hayagriva monks. I will sponsor the puja for you because you are unbelievably kind, offering service to the FPMT, to me, and to the teachings of the Buddhadharma. Actually, offering this small puja for you is nothing in comparison to your kindness.

5. If you can, do the Most Secret Hayagriva torma offering and praise to Hayagriva. This is in the protector prayers section in the FPMT prayer book. Then, if you can, recite four to five malas of Most Secret Hayagriva every day until you are better. When you are chanting the mantra, visualize according to the sadhana. There are a few different visualizations you can do.

6. It also came out very beneficial for you to make offerings to the pretas. This is available as a small booklet called Offering Water Charity to the Pretas.

7. Several Drugchuma pujas are needed; I will do these for you.

8. Recite the Padmasambhava prayer, Eliminating Obstacles. There is a long and a short version.

9. Recite the names of the Thirty-Five Buddhas every day, with your hands in the mudra of prostrations. Visualize that you are covering the whole ground while you prostrate to all the buddhas—not just to the Thirty-Five Buddhas, but to Chenrezig, etc, as well.

I chanted mantras over two bottles of water and have now sent them to you. Please drink a few spoonfuls at the following times—early in the morning when you first wake up, before lunch, in the afternoon and before bed. Thank you very, very much. I hope to see you soon.

With much love and prayers...

Practices for Chronic Fatigue and Other Conditions
Date Posted:
August 2009

A nun had chronic fatigue, auto-immune disease, Sjogren syndrome, drowsiness, and foggy-headedness. Rinpoche sent the following advice.

My very dear one,
I checked regarding your health and this is what came out as very good for you to do:

1) White Umbrella mantra and short prayer.

2) Have fifty Drugchuma pujas done at Sera Mey Monastery. This may be hard for you to organize. If it’s hard, let me know, and I can try to arrange it for you. You will need to make an offering for the pujas.

3) Logyönma pills: take three logyönma pills a day for the first two weeks, then two a day for the next two weeks after that, and then one a day for the last two weeks. If you send me your postal address, I can see if we have them here and send them to you.

4) Take Most Secret Hayagriva initiation and possibly do the retreat.

5) Do eleven malas of Most Secret Hayagriva mantra every day, with meditation. Do this even if you haven’t taken the initiation, but don't visualize yourself as the deity; visualize the deity in front of you.

6) Precious pills: take five Moon Crystal pills in one week and twenty-five rinchen yu nying pills: take three a day for four weeks. Space out taking these and have a few days break between each pill. Do you have a way to get these precious pills? If not I can send them from here.

7) Do the Nölsang Incense Ritual. This is to purify pollution. This is very important for you to do, if possible every day or every week. At this stage, as it’s not translated, if you are able to ask a lama or geshe to do the puja for you to begin with, that is a start. [Note: this puja has now been translated and is available from FPMT.] 

I am also doing prayers for you, and I have asked the Sangha in my house to dedicate animal liberations and the making of long life tsa tsas for you.

With much love and prayers...

Exhausted by Chronic Fatigue
Date Posted:
August 2009

A student who was in retreat for one and a half years had become very ill with serious chronic fatigue. She left the retreat feeling exhausted, sick and finding it hard to do anything. Rinpoche sent her this advice.

My very dear one,
It’s important to think that this is past negative karma coming out. It’s very good if you can go to the beach, take long walks and relax.

1. It comes out very, very good for you to recite Entering the Great City of Vaishali, a sutra for pain. You can try to do this.

2. It also comes out very important for you to do the confession prayer from the Thirty-five Buddhas.

3. Read the Diamond Cutter Sutra.

4. There are two pujas that you need: lu zong and ga gön. I will do the lu zong puja, but you need to be present for the ga gön puja.

5. Have a peaceful fire puja done for you.

6. Do the incense puja called nöl sang. This is to purify pollution. This hasn’t yet been translated, but it is very important for you to do it, if possible every week. At this stage, as it’s not translated, if you are able, ask a lama or geshe to do the puja for you to begin with; that is a start.

This is the story regarding the incense puja: There was a Dharma king whose wife had an affair with a servant. She became pregnant and was so scared that when she had the baby she killed it and buried it. After that she got very sick, the king got very sick, and many other people in the region also got sick. The king checked with many oracles what the cause of the sickness was and they said it was caused by pollution, but they didn’t know what the cause was. Then Padmasambhava was asked and said what the cause was, that his wife had killed a baby and buried it, but he said it in a way that the King would not get angry at his wife. Padmasambhava made the king promise that he would not punish his wife.

Padmasambhava explained that the king needed to collect special plants and different roots, then invite all the guests of the puja, the nagas, etc, and in the very early morning go to a mountain and do the incense puja. After this was done everyone was healed. The king recovered, his wife recovered, and also the other people. This puja has incredible power to purify and also heal.

It is difficult to get all the particular herbs needed for this puja, as they are very specific, but you can get them from Nepal. One way is to use sweet-smelling herbs such as sage, juniper, etc.

With much love and prayers ...