Practices Before Surgery

Practices Before Surgery

Hernia Operation
Date of Advice:
January 2018
Date Posted:
August 2022

A student asked whether it was good to have surgery for a hernia. Rinpoche checked and advised the following.

You should wear the White Umbrella protection, plus another special protection. This protection is not only for this disease, but also to give you general protection from harm. You should always wear it on the body, however, do not put it in your trouser pocket; then it goes down and that is not good. [See the FPMT Catalogue for links to White Umbrella deity (Skt:Sitatapatra) materials.]

It doesn’t come out to do operation right now, but to delay it for one week.

You also need a puja called chagsum.

Cervical Spine Degeneration
Date of Advice:
August 2014
Date Posted:
June 2022

A student with cervical spine degeneration was going to have an operation. Rinpoche advised these pujas before the operation.

Rinpoche out of great concern automatically started doing his own observations and advised the following practices should be done prior to the operation:

  • Tendrel Nyesel [a short prayer to Padmasambhava]: Recite this seven times.
  • The Noble Sutra on Entering the Great City of Vaishali: Geshe-la to recite the sutra five times, reading it loudly so she can hear it.
  • Prajnaparamita in 8,000 verses: To be recited thirteen times by the Gelug Monastery in Boudhanath, Nepal.
  • If possible, the wrathful torma, White Umbrella Deity torma offering for dispelling harm. It’s a few days puja, to be done by Shekar Monastery in Nepal.
  • It seems the obstacles to her life are very heavy, so she needs to take a long-life initiation.
Pujas Before Back Surgery
Date of Advice:
February 2019
Date Posted:
May 2020

This advice was given to a student who asked if any pujas were needed prior to back surgery.

Che trul puja: to be done for you by Geshe-la. He should do the puja on the basis of whichever deity he has done the retreat for.

Before the operation:

Operation to Remove Colon
Date of Advice:
March 2015
Date Posted:
August 2019

A student needed an operation to remove the colon and asked Rinpoche if it was beneficial to have it done in the next three to six months or if there were obstacles. The student asked if there was a puja or practice for the operation to be successful.

My most dear, precious, kind, wish-fulfilling one,
I am sorry for the long delay. I checked and the operation doesn’t come out in my observation, even in six or ten months.

One treatment that does come out well is Tibetan medicine. You could go to Dharamsala and see a Tibetan doctor there.

Another possibility is seeing a Kopan nun who has finished studying Tibetan medicine in Dharamsala and has been working in south India near Bylakuppe and Nagarjuna’s cave for a few years. She has been very successful and is even able to cure some people with cancer. She is now travelling around Indian hospitals giving treatments. Indians now highly respect Tibetan medicine; they don’t call it Tibetan medicine but His Holiness’ medicine. So it comes out very good if you can come and see this Kopan nun, who is quite good in her treatment.

Practices and pujas to be done
  • Print Amitayus Long Life Sutra: fifty times.
  • Take the long-life initiation.
  • Chanting the Names of Manjushri (Skt: Arya manjushri nama samgi): fifty times. The Kopan Lama Gyupas can recite it, but you have to really make sure when they do it.
  • Lu zong puja: five times. Make the form with dough and then give it to the spirits on his behalf.
  • Long-life tsa tsas (the three long-life deities): have eighty of these made for you.

You should recite this mantra: OM VAJRAPANI HAYAGRIVA GARUDA HUM PHAT. [This is the Vajrapani-Hayagriva-Garuda mantra for clearing inner, outer and secret obstacles, especially spirit harm.] On Vajrapani’s head is the horse head of Hayagriva and on top of that is Garuda. Think all of these are deities, not just animals. Recite the mantra and visualize nectar beams emitted from the deity on your crown or in front of you. Nectar comes from the deity, out of compassion for you. It enters your body and totally purifies the negative karma created since beginningless rebirth. The sickness and spirit harms are totally purified. You can do that strongly. The motivation should not just be to purify the disease because that doesn’t become Dharma. If it’s done with bodhicitta it becomes not only Dharma but the cause of enlightenment.

With much love and prayers ...

Meditation Prior to Anesthesia
Date of Advice:
December 2016
Date Posted:
June 2017

Advice given to student who was about to undergo surgery and would be having full anesthesia.

Generate bodhicitta and do some tong-len. Then visualize that you are one with the deity, so your mind is in the state of dharmayaka. Everything is empty. I is empty; everything is empty. First what is appearing in space; that space is devoid of form. Space.

Then see the emptiness of the self. That is most important. The wisdom seeing emptiness experiences infinite bliss nondual with emptiness. Think, “This is my future result-time guru-deity’s holy mind dharmakaya.” Try to hold divine pride, thinking, “This is me.”

Try to continue with that, with your mind in dharmakaya experiencing infinite bliss nondual with emptiness. Just meditate on that, thinking, “This is my future result-time guru-deity’s holy mind, the actual dharmakaya.”

Just keep meditating on that until you become unconscious. So be unconscious in that state.

Operation for Very Sick Student  
Date Posted:
April 2012

A student who was very sick wrote to Rinpoche asking for advice on what practices to do before having an operation.

I checked and the following needs to be done:

  • Namgyalma long-life puja: three times.
  • Read a long-life sutra the amount of times equal to your age. It is best if you do the reading, but your family can help.
  • Chag sum puja: please ask Geshe-la to do this.
  • Gyab shi puja: please ask Geshe-la to do this.
  • Drugchuma: please request the Lama Gyupas at Kopan Monastery to do this, with the teachers.
  • Sri dok tsaktra chug sum: the thirteen wheel ritual to prevent malevolent Sri sprits from harming. Ask Geshe-la to read this for you 30 times.
  • Betraying the Dead puja: request the Lama Gyupas at Kopan Monastery to do this for you.

There are some other pujas that I need to do for you. There is quite a bit to be done and all of this needs to be done before having the operation.

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