Please recite the following:
- Praises to the Twenty-One Taras: Sixteen times
- The Heart Sutra: Five times
- Lion-Faced Dakini: Seven times
Your father should pray to Buddha.
[You can find links to these practices in the FPMT Catalogue.]
Overcoming Obstacles
Overcoming Obstacles
Date of Advice:
March 2017
Date Posted:
August 2022
Rinpoche advised a student and their father to do these practices in order to remove obstacles.
Date of Advice:
March 2017
Date Posted:
August 2022
Rinpoche advised that this puja should be done for a young girl, so that obstacles she was experiencing could be overcome. Drugchuma puja is performed in relation to Kalarupa/Dharmaraja, a Dharma protector.
Drugchuma: Four times.
Date of Advice:
January 2021
Date Posted:
April 2022
A student had been practicing Dharma for many years, studying, reading books, going to teachings, reflecting and meditating; however, he was experiencing many obstacles at the Dharma center, at home and at work.
My most dear, most kind, most precious, wish-fulfilling one,
I am sorry for the long delay in replying. I checked regarding the obstacles and you should do Padmasambhava incense puja [Nolsang Incense Ritual]. It might be hard to get incense, so you can also use scented plants such as juniper, pine or sandalwood. These can be used as an alternative to incense, or you can get incense powder sent from Kopan Monastery or maybe even buy it from the shop at your center or from another Tibetan shop or online. If you can only get incense sticks, you can crush them and make powder to offer. You should do the puja from time to time, not just one time.
Also if you can, do a tea offering to the protectors, the protectors of samsara and beyond, the eight worldly devas [Tea Offering to the Eight Classes (Degyä)]. You can also do the other tea offering. Again, do this from time to time; it does not mean just one time.
There is one puja you need done, called mamo trü kang. It needs to be done by Kopan Lama Gyupas. You can contact Kopan Monastery by email and say that I advised this puja for you. Then they can let you know the cost and arrange the puja for you.
You should recite the Padmasambhava prayer, Barche Lamsel, and also the Verses for the Eight Noble Auspicious Ones. Recite these regularly.
I checked for a lamrim text; what is best for you and your wife, and how long to meditate on the lamrim. [See Rinpoche’s advice on effortful lamrim meditation.]
Billions, zillions and trillions of thanks for doing Chenrezig practice. That is very kind. It helps every sentient being—every single ant, every mosquito, all the tiniest insects and all the animals as big as mountains.
Your wife should meditate on impermanence (for example, by following the text The Heart’s Utmost Need by Pabongkha Dechen Nyingpo) along with reciting OM MANI PADME HUM. Of course she should recite the mantra with bodhicitta, then each mantra benefits every sentient being, each hell being, each preta, each animal, each human being, each sura and each asura. It also benefits our parents and our enemies, each being. So for your wife, her main practice is lamrim and Chenrezig practice, which grants the blessings to generate compassion.
If there is compassion, we go toward enlightenment. If there is no compassion, then no enlightenment. The stronger the compassion, the quicker to enlightenment. This is preceded by first generating renunciation as the base.
With much love and prayers ...
Date of Advice:
November 2013
Date Posted:
April 2022
A student had health problems, including severe pain passing urine, but doctors were not able to help his condition. The student was also depressed after Lama Lhundrup passed away and was experiencing many obstacles, including unemployment, having to move, etc.
My most dear, most kind, most precious one,
I am very sorry it took so long to reply to your message.
First, the most important thing is Dharma. Don’t worry that Gen Lama Lhundrup has passed away. That just means you don’t see the same body, but the mind still exists. Their mind is always with you, and when you have pure karma to see, then you will see them. That is the same as Buddha; the numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas are always with you, you are not alone. You are not alone, they are always with you. Lama Lhundrup can take different bodies each time or at the same time; numberless different bodies for the benefit of sentient beings.
So you don’t have to stop Dharma, that is ridiculous. That is worse than if you stopped eating food. Stopping Dharma is worse than death. Death is not bad, because even if you die you can go to the pure land or receive a perfect human rebirth. Death is not bad for people who practice Dharma. For those who have realizations, death doesn’t matter. Even for the person who wants to get reborn in lower realms, purposely for sentient beings, then death isn’t bad.
There are some practitioners who want to be born in hell for sentient beings and suffer for sentient beings. This is what bodhisattvas think and dedicate for. This is what Kadampa Geshe Chekawa prayed for, but he didn’t succeed. Even though he prayed for that, when the time of death came, it didn’t happen, and he saw the pure land. He told his student, who was living in the thirty-six vows, to make offerings at the altar with prayers that he would be reborn in the hell realms, but then he had a vision of the pure land, even though he had been praying to be born in hell for sentient beings.
I checked regarding your health and what comes out is pujas and mantra water. It comes out very good is for you to drink mantra water. This is water I have blessed with mantras. I will recite the White Umbrella prayer for you. There is another puja called Sel Chen. I will do this for you.
You should also have the extensive Medicine Buddha puja done by the Kopan nuns or monks. There is a cost for the puja, so if you don’t have enough money you can discuss with Kopan joining with somebody else and having the same puja done for both of you. The main thing is that your name has to be clearly mentioned to the monks, so that they can think about and dedicate for you. If you can cover the expense then you can do it yourself, otherwise try to join with others.
For your job and money situation, what comes out is for you to read the Arya Sanghata Sutra. It’s important to read the sutra with bodhicitta motivation, to free the numberless sentient beings from the oceans of suffering and bring them to enlightenment. Then the next dedication can be for your job and so forth, whatever you want for success.
So please try like this, and as much as possible live your life with the thought of bodhicitta night and day.
With much love and prayers ...
Date of Advice:
April 2017
Date Posted:
July 2021
A student who was experiencing a lot of obstacles asked Rinpoche if there would be many obstacles in the coming year and what to do.
Rinpoche checked and said this year looks not too bad for you, however, it’s important to do the following:
- Mamo trükang
- Namgyal tsechog (long life puja): four times
- If you can manage it, take long-life initiation from one of your teachers.
Date of Advice:
July 2018
Date Posted:
May 2021
A student was experiencing many problems with relationships and said that people had been abusive, dishonest and manipulative. There were also problems with employment and involvement in accidents. The student asked Rinpoche for advice about their practice and yidam.
My most dear, most kind, most precious, wish-fulfilling one,
Thank you very much for your kind emails and updates. I was very happy to receive them.
You asked which deity you have the strongest connection with. The purpose of practicing Highest Yoga Tantra is to achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible in order to liberate sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to enlightenment in the shortest possible time. When your mind is ready, you can take the initiations when available and train your mind in the practice of the generation stage.
The reason for taking Highest Yoga Tantra initiations and doing the practice is that this is the quickest way to achieve enlightenment in this life for yourself and then to be able to free the numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to enlightenment quickest.
According to my observation your main deities are Tara Cittamani and Most Secret Hayagriva.
Whichever deity you have the strongest feeling toward is your main deity, but you can take both initiations and do both retreats if you want to. Choose one deity to be in oneness with day and night in order to quickly achieve enlightenment, to enlighten sentient beings, to free the numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to buddhahood.
Regarding the obstacles you have been experiencing, one thing I am wondering is whether your bed is facing the toilet door. If it is facing like that, then you can change it; you shouldn’t stretch out toward it. There was one student whose bed was stretched toward the toilet, his legs stretched toward the bathroom door, then he had a lot of obstacles and lost everything, his whole business.
It seems feng shui is quite proven, so at least it should be considered. It seems to me there is a little bit to do with your house, the situation, so if you know someone who can do correct feng shui, they can check it. But not just anyone, someone good. This is just a suggestion.
It comes out very good if you can read the Golden Light Sutra with bodhicitta motivation for the benefit of all beings and then by the way it benefits you. Whatever you can do, you should do that. You can read a little each day and just continue going through the text in that way.
You need to wear the protection amulet called Liberation from Bondage of Body, Speech and Mind. I can send this to you.
There is one practice you should do called Eliminating Vices [or Removing All Defilements] or in Tibetan Nyepa Kunsel. Do that as much as you can.
You need two pujas to be done:
- She nyin dü dog
- Mamo trü kang
These two pujas need to be done by the monastery in Boudha that has the special Milarepa statue in it. The statue was made by Rechungpa and the monastery .is called Chokor Milarepa temple. Request this monastery to do both pujas for you.
If you can, contact Kopan Monastery and explain that I am advising these two pujas and for them to be done specifically at that monastery. You need to give your name so they can dedicate for you—for the obstacles to be removed and for you to quickly actualize bodhicitta and become enlightened as quickly as possible for all sentient beings.
This is very, very, very important: are you doing the daily motivation I put together? [The Method to Transform a Suffering Life into Happiness (Including Enlightenment)] If not, please start now.
As much as possible try to use the sufferings, obstacles and difficulties on the path to enlightenment. Any problem that we have, we can think like this, as Kadampa Geshe Khamlungpa, one ancient meditator, said:
This present experience of suffering
(You can relate this to the obstacles you are experiencing)
Finishes our past negative karma.
This is the advantage and in the future there will be great happiness.
Therefore, meditate and rejoice in this suffering.
This is using our suffering in the path to enlightenment, with bodhicitta, so then our life will be like the sun shining in the world. From the sun shining, human beings enjoy, animals enjoy, insects enjoy, plants grow, etc. So like that, we have more and more happiness, greater and greater, then we go to enlightenment.
The great yogi Gotsangpa said:
By my experiencing this sickness
(He said sickness, but it can be any problem)
May all the sentient beings be free from sickness collected from beginningless rebirths
(Or you can say sickness, pain, spirit possession, negative karma and all the defilements)
And may they achieve enlightenment immediately.
You can recite this verse in the same way that you recite OM MANI PADME HUM, like on a mala. You can recite this over and over, like this. That means whatever problems you are experiencing you use for the benefit of all sentient beings, for all sentient beings to cease their suffering quickly and achieve enlightenment.
Then it is fantastic. This much you can do, then you collect skies of merit each time you think this. It is unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable.
Please try this as much as you can. I am also making prayers. As much as possible live your life with the thought of benefiting all sentient beings in every action you do—walking, eating, sitting, sleeping, etc. This makes your life most meaningful.
With much love and prayers ...
