My most dear, most precious, most kind, wish-fulfilling one,
Thank you for your kind email.
I checked and your daughter should do the practice of Black Garuda herself. If she can, she should recite the mantra three times a day, if possible—in the morning, in the afternoon and at night.
On the basis that she hasn’t received the initiation, she should visualize the deity in front of her. She should have a painting in order to be able visualize the deity. This is not Garuda the animal, but a buddha, manifesting as white, red, yellow, blue, yellow, green and black Garuda. The Buddha manifested like that as different-colored garudas mainly to stop the different diseases that are caused by nagas.
It could also be black magic, but for your daughter, this is caused by naga harm. She hasn’t received a great initiation or even a lower tantra initiation, so she can’t arise as the deity and she needs to visualize the deity in front of her.
Think that the deity is a buddha manifesting for us, for her, for sentient beings. Numberless buddhas manifest to purify things such as this disease, and many other diseases, spirit harm, naga harm and so forth. Where these diseases, sickness, naga and spirit harm came from is our negative karma and delusions collected from beginningless rebirths, so we need purify that. It’s very important to purify by reciting this mantra.
If she recites one mala or whatever number of mantras is half of the total that she will recite, she can think that for the first half she is purifying all the defilements and for the second half she is receiving all the qualities for herself and all sentient beings. When she stops reciting the mantra then Buddha Black Garuda absorbs into her.
At the end she can do this dedication:
“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me and all the merits of the three times collected by numberless buddhas and numberless sentient beings, may bodhicitta, the source of all happiness and success for all sentient beings, be generated in the hearts of all the sentient beings of the six realms (that means every single hell being, hungry ghost, animal, human being, sura, asura and intermediate state being). May this be generated in my own heart and especially in the hearts of everybody in this world. May the bodhicitta that has already been generated increase.
“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me and all the merits of the three times collected by the numberless buddhas and numberless sentient beings, who exist in mere name, may I, who exists in mere name, achieve the state of full enlightenment, which exists in mere name, and lead all sentient beings, who exist in mere name, to that state, which exists in mere name, by myself alone, who exists in mere name.”
She can also say, “May I achieve the state of Buddha Black Garuda,” so you can change to that also.
I have heard of similar things like what is happening to your daughter. There was one Indian lady with a similar problem and I did the puja called ga gön (giving protection) for her at the airport. Since then I didn’t hear that she got sick again.
Sometimes it is not so easy. Normal hospitals and doctors often can’t properly heal it, but some Chinese doctors can. It usually needs some practice to be done or a puja.
There was another person I knew who was healed by a Chinese doctor—at least they were healed for over one year.
Then also there was one geshe who had been sick for many years. When he went to India he got better but every time he went back to Holland he got worse, so he met some healer, a black man, who helped him for one year. I don’t know the full story, but now he is completely recovered and it seems the healer helped him a lot. I will try to get more details of how he was healed.
Anyway, regardless, all these things are caused by naga harm.
The other practice that came out very beneficial for your daughter is water charity for the nagas. That practice came out very beneficial for her to do. It is a very simple practice, Offering Water Charity to the Pretas. The offering water is in a container and then you pour the water onto the ground. Visualize Mitukpa (the Immovable Buddha) above the water and think that nectar comes out from Mitukpa and purifies all the nagas, so you are making charity to all the nagas in the world. Visualize nectar coming from Mitukpa's heart and continuously recite Mitukpa mantra. While you are reciting one mala of Mitukpa mantra, at the same time you are pouring the water. Think that all the nagas are being purified. Then at the end do the dedication prayers.
Of course, at the beginning of both practices, your daughter must first generate refuge and bodhicitta. She should do that in English.
Regarding refuge:
The Buddha has overcome all the gross and subtle obscurations and has actualized all the realizations. Dharma is the actual path, the direct realization of the ultimate nature, emptiness. This direct realization ceases the seeds of delusion and karma, which are the cause of suffering.
The ultimate Sangha is an ordained or lay person who has that realization, who we can totally rely upon, who follows the scriptures, the Buddha’s teachings that explain the base, the two truths, and the path, method and wisdom. The Buddha’s holy body and holy mind, the rupakaya and dharmakaya, can be achieved for sentient beings. The conventional Sangha are four fully ordained monks and nuns who are living in full ordination. They are the ordinary Sangha who don’t have the realization of ultimate truth, but who are living in full ordination. So four members of the Sangha, by relying on them, that is also conventional Sangha.
Mahayana refuge is relying on Buddha, Dharma and Sangha in order for all sentient beings—numberless hell beings, numberless hungry ghosts, numberless animals, numberless human beings, numberless suras, numberless asuras and numberless intermediate state beings—to be liberated from the oceans of samsaric suffering, besides ourselves. Based on the Lesser Vehicle path—refuge for us to be free from samsara—then we go for refuge to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
Then generate bodhicitta.
“Due to all the past, present, and future merits collected by me and all the merits of the three times collected by numberless buddhas and numberless sentient beings, may I achieve buddhahood in order to liberate sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to buddhahood by myself alone, therefore I am going to recite Black Garuda mantra.”
Also you need to have the same motivation when you do the practice Offering Water Charity to the Pretas.
There is a whole Black Garuda practice, but your daughter can just recite the mantra with refuge and bodhicitta and the dedication, as mentioned.
So please try this.
With much love and prayers,
Lama Zopa
[You can find these prayers and practices in the FPMT Catalogue. See also Rinpoche's advice Black Garuda Mantra and Visualization.]
