Operation for Brain Infection

Operation for Brain Infection

Date Posted:
August 2009

A student was in hospital with a brain infection and was about to have an operation. Rinpoche sent the following advice.

My dear one,
I remember a long time ago, the first time Lama Yeshe had to go to hospital. I am not sure what it was for, but it was some kind of operation on the heart, where you had to sign your consent in order to have the operation. What Lama did was, he lit one stick of incense and did Guru Puja very sincerely, with devotion, in a very peaceful way. I am not sure whether he did short Lama Chöpa or Heruka Lama Chöpa, maybe it was short Lama Chöpa (Guru Puja). Then he went to hospital. He said that after he did Lama Chöpa, his mind was very happy, very peaceful, and he had no regrets (which also includes no fear). He had no regrets at all in his mind.

My suggestion for you, even though the treatment came out well in the observation, is it is better, anyway, to prepare for death. Even when we are not sick, we still have to prepare to die. That's the way to practice Dharma, to prepare to die every day, every hour, every minute. This is the way to practice pure Dharma, real Dharma. In this way, it is not just looking like one is practicing Dharma, but in reality it is not Dharma.

My advice is, if you can, to recite the Thirty-five Buddhas’ names a few times, including the eight Medicine Buddhas’ names. If you are not able to actually prostrate, then you can put your palms together at your heart in the mudra of prostration. By doing this, you still get the same amount of merit. Also, make yourself tall like a mountain and visualize yourself lying down in all directions, prostrating to the merit field or the holy objects on the altar or in the room. Even if it is just a visualization, you get the same amount of merit as having done the prostrations with that many actual bodies.

Also, you can do Medicine Buddha practice (not the booklet called "Healing Buddha" but the actual Medicine Buddha practice/sadhana). This is the short Medicine Buddha practice that I translated years ago, which is very good for daily practice.

At the end, make strong prayers to Medicine Buddha that the treatment be most beneficial and successful. In any case, as death has to happen, pray to be born in a pure land, whichever one wishes – Amitabha, Vajrayogini, or any one where one can become enlightened in that life and be able to liberate all sentient beings from suffering samsara quickly and bring them to enlightenment, or pray to receive a precious human rebirth and to achieve enlightenment by meeting the perfect Mahayana guru and actualize the common path and uncommon Vajrayana path.

If possible, if you have done a highest tantra retreat (or even if you haven't), then do a short self-initiation within the Guru Puja, with the deity that you did the retreat on. This is to purify all degenerated samaya vows, any negative karmas, the ten nonvirtuous actions, and heavy negative karmas collected against the guru. That is negative karma collected in this and past lives. By doing the short self-initiation, think that everything is purified, generate strong faith, and think that you are now very clear and pure, with no regrets. By doing the short self-initiation, the samaya vows become pure, by taking them again within the practice.

Then, generate a bodhicitta motivation for the operation. In your case, think the guru and Vajrayogini are oneness – totally rely on that with a one-pointed mind. With this in your mind, you can begin the operation, thinking like this until you are unconscious, keeping this awareness.

Another way is you can do the operation with tonglen, taking suffering and its causes onto oneself, and giving one’s merit and happiness to others. This way, we take the essence of the operation, and it becomes a very wise, skilful way of having the operation. Make your life meaningful, whether one is alive or whether one passes away.

With much love, and I will pray to the Guru Triple Gem ...