My most dear, most precious most kind, most wish-fulfilling one,
Thank you very much for your letter, your information and requests.

You need to read the Amitayus Long Life Sutra twenty times. This is the most urgent thing you need to do. Normally this sutra is for long life, but it is also for purification.

Recite the sutra not only for your own sickness and health, but also for the next life—to have a good rebirth, to be free from samsara and also for the numberless sentient beings to be free from the oceans of suffering of cyclic existence and for them to reach enlightenment. In order to do that, you need to be enlightened. Do the recitation with this motivation to become enlightened.

In the book How to Face Death Without Fear there is a section on integrating the five powers. It’s very good if you read this. You can also read about the five powers of life in Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand. It’s very good for you to read about the five powers of death and also the five powers of life. This is a very important practice; it’s most important for your mind and to make your life meaningful.

I was wondering how you are now, with all the treatments you are having. Are you feeling the same, or better or worse?

I will send you some recorded mantras that you can recite. When reciting these mantras, the motivation is to liberate all sentient beings and bring them to enlightenment. You can recite whatever you like of those mantras—one mala, half a mala, twenty-one times or even ten times.

It’s also very, very good if you can recite the mantra from the Sutra of Great Liberation.

There is also long mantra from a text called Dorje Namjong [Skt: Vajravidarana]. I need to get the mantra put into phonetics so you can recite it. I will arrange this and send it to you soon. It is very good if you can recite this mantra. It’s very long, and you should recite it with strong devotion.

Every day if you can, read The Foundation of All Good Qualities and Three Principal Aspects of the Path. These texts are most important to leave positive imprints and they are the foundation for tantra, which is the quickest path to enlightenment, and within that, Highest Yoga Tantra is the quickest.

For the mind to become closer to enlightenment, these prayers should be read as the foundation for tantra. You can also read A Hymn of Experience. Recite at least one of these three prayers each day and when you read the prayer, read it mindfully.

Then there is the lamrim, the graduated path to enlightenment. From the different lamrim texts, it’s best if you can read Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand. Read it from the beginning and slowly, slowly read some each day. It is so good. You can also read a shorter text, Essence of Refined Gold. That is also very good.

In the evening, do Vajrasattva practice with the four powers. If you can, recite the long mantra twenty-one times or the short mantra twenty-eight times with the four powers. Then the negativities of that day will not increase tomorrow. This is important to do as it purifies the negativities of that day, of the life and of past lives, which are beginningless. Otherwise, the negativities of one day become like a mountain if they are not purified. This is just talking about one negativity, but there are so many negativities that we create.

Dedicate with bodhicitta, reciting the dedication prayers. [Go to the FPMT Catalogue to find links to recommended Dedication Prayers.] And seal with emptiness:

“Due to all the past, present, and future merits collected by me, the numberless buddhas, and the numberless sentient beings, which are completely empty of existing from their own side, may I, who am completely empty of existing from my own side, achieve the state of full enlightenment, which is completely empty of existing from its own side, and lead all sentient beings, who are completely empty of existing from their own side, to that state, which is completely empty of existing from its own side, by myself alone, who am completely empty of existing from my own side.”

Do this as much as possible, because life is very short. It’s like lightning and then it’s gone. However, for you, with this sickness and being able to practice, it makes your life so meaningful compared with being completely distracted by attachment.

Not only is your life made meaningful, without these conditions so much negativity would be created. Therefore this makes your life meaningful and best of all, you can free all sentient beings from suffering, not just giving them temporary happiness but also the ultimate happiness of enlightenment.

With much love and prayers ...