My very dear Nina,
Thank you very much for your email. Please put effort into doing Medicine Buddha practice. If you recite Medicine Buddha’s name mantra every day, you won’t be reborn in the lower realms. In this way, you don’t have to be afraid of death—this practice takes care of this life. As Buddha told Ananda, even an animal hearing Medicine Buddha’s name won’t be reborn in the lower realms. It is also very powerful when reciting prayers to remember Medicine Buddha. You must remember Medicine Buddha. By reciting Medicine Buddha’s name, you receive the benefit of all the prayers that Medicine Buddha made in the past, and all your prayers will succeed.

If you want a very peaceful death and you want to have a happy rebirth in your next life—without mentioning liberation or enlightenment for sentient beings—you must do Medicine Buddha practice. Besides that, this practice is also extremely important if you want to be successful. Recite all seven names if possible. If not, recite at least one name. If possible, recite one mala.

I will send you a picture of Medicine Buddha. Look at Medicine Buddha and see nectar coming out from his heart, purifying your body, speech, and mind. Think that it purifies mainly you, then your family members, and then all sentient beings. If there is someone you want to pray for, who is sick or has died, concentrate specifically on that person, and then all sentient beings. This is very good. This way you don’t have to worry about having a clear visualization. You just look at the picture and imagine that it is real.

Do the same with the Thirty-five Buddhas. Don’t worry, the main thing is to have faith.

Before going to bed, you can recite long or short Vajrasattva mantras, 28 times, to purify negative karma. If we create one negative karma today and don’t purify it, it doubles tomorrow, then triples the next day, and so on. After a year, one negative karma grows to the size of the earth. Therefore, if you recite Vajrasattva mantras, you stop the negative karma from multiplying. Not only do you purify all the negative karma created today, this week, this month, this life, but all your negative karma created since beginningless rebirths is purified. We have negative karmas from beginningless rebirths. This means we will experience so much suffering again and again without end. You should think that your situation is like an emergency and it is urgent that you do Vajrasattva purification. It is a billion times greater an emergency and more urgent to purify negative karma than it is to rush to hospital if you have a heart attack or an injury.

These are my comments for your practice. Because we spend so much time eating, drinking and doing other things, not making time for practice means you don’t love yourself. Doing practice is the best for everything—for your health, long life, good rebirth, liberation from samsara, enlightenment—everything. To be able to offer perfect happiness to other sentient beings is what will really help others. If you don’t do that, it is due to your anger and attachment, ego, and working just for yourself. That only harms you. That is not the way to benefit yourself. That is the way to harm others and to block your ability to liberate others and bring them to enlightenment. This attitude even interferes with communication with others.

If you really love yourself, then you should cherish others. Let go of the ego, because the ego is a great obstacle to happiness. Renunciation of samsara is also a way to love yourself, and so are bodhicitta and emptiness, and practicing morality. Living according to lay vows is a good way to take care of yourself and love yourself.

You should also do the following practices:

• Complete three nyung-näs for your health.
• If you are asked to have an operation, do not have it.
• Have a Puja Betraying the Death [Tib: chi-lu] performed for you. Ask Geshe Lama Konchok to do it for you. Next year, you should also do this puja again.
• Pray very strongly to Medicine Buddha and recite more Medicine Buddha mantras every day for your health.
• Take at least two long-life initiations
• Make 3,000 long life tsa-tsas to pacify obstacles to your life, dedicating them to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and to all the holy beings who are in this world to benefit others.