My most kind, most precious, most dear, wish-fulfilling one,
How are you? How is Bodhgaya? You have to experience the heat of Bodhgaya, so that purifies your past negative karma. You are practicing Dharma, working for other sentient beings, in order to bring them temporary happiness and, while there is samsara, so they will have a higher rebirth and eventually become free from the oceans of samsaric suffering and attain enlightenment.

You are practicing Dharma and working very hard for sentient beings, therefore experiencing the hot [weather] helps to purify your past negative karma collected from beginningless rebirths; the negative karma that would otherwise be the cause of rebirth in the hot hells.

The Kadampa Geshe Kharag Gomchung advised:

Experiencing even this small suffering now
Finishes past negative karma and there will be happiness in the future.
Therefore, rejoice in the suffering.

Please give my regards to your parents.

With much love and prayers...  

Practice Advice

Burning Offering to Dorje Khadro: Try to do what you can. There is no particular number; do this practice when you have time.

Water Bowl Offerings: Ten x 100,000 [one million]: This came out as your main preliminary practice. You can use the water bowls upstairs; there are quite a few. There is a Tibetan boy doing water bowls around the Nagarjuna [statue], and if he is not doing that then you can do, as part of your preliminary practice. You can also do this with other students, by offering all the water bowls, including what the others do. You don’t have to worry; you can do them slowly, slowly. Don’t worry about how long it takes to finish them.

Sutra of Golden Light: Read part of this sutra every day. You don’t have to finish the text in one day, but if you do, that is good. Whatever is not finished you can do the next day. This is the plan for your whole life.

Tsa tsas: 11,000. Divide between the three deities, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, Vajrayogini and Vajrapani. Contact a place where we have a tsa tsa factory to get the mold and learn how to make them. It would be very good to have a tsa tsa factory, to have a copy of all the molds. That would be so good, so beneficial for many people,

Lamrim Study and Practice

Your main lamrim text is Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand. Read this five times from beginning to end. Reading the text through becomes study if you read slowly and think about it.

• Guru devotion : two months
• The graduated path of the lower capable being: one month
• The graduated path of the intermediate capable being: two months
• The graduated path of the highest capable being:
  
  • Bodhicitta: one month
  • Emptiness: one month

Complete this cycle three times, meditating on each topic for the number of months indicated above.