Practice Advice for Cancer

Rinpoche's First letter, July 2006

Dear Elizabeth,
I checked this morning for your mother and what is best to do at this time. I advise the following:

• Arrange 11 Medicine Buddha pujas to be performed for her.
• Recite the Thirty-five Buddhas’ names. Visualize the Thirty-five Buddhas with nectar coming out from them and entering your mother’s body and mind. Think that she is totally purified. This is best to be done in front of her, so she can also hear the Buddhas’ names. Also, she can try to do the meditation. This came out the best practice for her.
• Make the three types of buddhas (Manjrushri, Chenrezig, Vajrapani) tsa-tsas. Make the same number as her age.
• Make 100 Vajrasattva tsa-tsas.
• Recite Vajrasattva mantra with her (or from a distance) 100 times.

I am making prayers for her, as well as the Sangha in my house.

With much love and prayers...

Student's letter, August 2006

Dear Rinpoche,
My mum had the kidney with the cancer taken out. She's now taking an injection of a drug every two days to deal with the cancer that has spread to her lungs. She's experiencing some side effects from the drug, like long hours of sweating, tiredness, and sometimes loss of appetite. Otherwise, she's still functional.

All the pujas and tsa-tsas you advised earlier for her have already been done at Kopan Monastery. She's reciting the names of the Thirty-five Buddhas herself every day. I would like to ask if there are any additional pujas or practices that can be done for her.

Thank you.
Elizabeth

Rinpoche's second letter, September 2006

My very dear Elizabeth,
Thank you very much for your email. I am very sorry about your mother’s sickness.

1. Please recite the attached text three times a day for one month. This text will benefit the sick and people who are old and are dying. This text is extremely good for anyone who is sick or to prolong life.
2. She should take three inner offering pills for four months.
3. You should burn these blessed pills from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, which he blessed during retreat, twice a day for three days near her.
4. She should take Precious Pill Moon Crystal, three a week for three weeks (have a two-day break between pills).

Then, she should take a few drops of blessed water each day. The blessed water is from:

• Mount Kailash
• Maratika (holy place of Padmasambhava)
• Lake Manasarovar in Tibet. From tasting this you will be reborn in the pure land of Vajrayogini.
• Pabongka Rinpoche’s cave in Tibet. This is where Pabongka Rinpoche had a vision of Heruka and the water dripping in this cave is in the sound of Vajrayogini mantra.
• Lawudo Lama’s cave
• Potala Palace in Tibet
• Wu-Tai Shan Mountain in China—extremely precious water
• Reting in Tibet

I am also making prayers for her. Also, I have asked the Sangha in my house to dedicate a few months of animal liberations for her (they do three a month). Also, they are dedicating long life tsa-tsas to her.

With much love and prayers...

My very dear one,
It would be very good if you can do five good quality nyung näs.

So, you have been seeking the best meditation and best meditation place for the last few years. I am sure the best place is booked for you in Tushita pure land, but the check-in and registration may not be up there, so you will have to look for those somewhere in this world.

This year it seems your life is OK, but it seems negative next year, the year after that (the next two years), and also the year after that (the next three years). Probably, you will need to build another stupa again for your long life, bigger than the one you built before. I don’t want to tell you the size yet, until it is nearer the time. You might feel disappointed or even dissolve if I mention the size now.

With much love and prayers... 

I checked quite a lot and am advising the following:

1.  The puja “Liberating from the harm of the naga and landlord” (lü-dang-sadag-gi-don-drol) needs to be performed by the lama who you know, and you must be present.
2.  Liberate 3,000 animals.
3.  I will send you blessed pills and water. It will take several days for me to bless the water and then I will send it by courier.
4.  Namgyal tong-chö [1,000 offerings to Namgyal] needs to be performed three times by Bati Khamtsen.

This is everything that needs to be done. 
 

Dear one,
Please do the following practices and then we will see if there is any change.

• Recite the name mantra of the Naga King, Lu wang gyi gyäl po: 7,000 times. People at the Dharma center can also do this, with strong prayers and concentration.
• Tara puja: do this at the Dharma center with Dharma brothers and sisters. Also, friends can do it at their home, wherever they are.
• La küg tse küg [hooking the life puja]: Please request the geshe to do this. Please send a moderate offering for him to do it.

I will do some puja for you now.

Let me know how you are after all of this has been done.

My very dear Jack,
Thank you very much for your kind letter. Thank you also for your help at the retreat center recently.

Regarding your prognosis of cancer—it looks very likely that it won’t return but there are a few things you need to do:

1. Practice Black Manjrushri—recite half a mala every day.
2. Practice Amitayus every day and recite the long mantra as much as you can, also read about the benefits.
3. Practice Medicine Buddha and Chenrezig every day. These are very important daily practices for purification. Maybe you are already practicing Medicine Buddha? If not, please start.

Perform all the practices with a strong bodhicitta motivation in your heart, with the wish for all sentient beings to achieve enlightenment. End the practice, also, with a strong dedication, and seal that with emptiness. Also, you can dedicate the merits to peace and happiness in the world, that there be no famine, war, torture, and poverty, also for mainland China to change its mind and give freedom to Tibet and offer Tibet back to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

I will also make prayers for you and hope to see you soon.

With much love and prayers...

Dear Lorna,
It is also important to drink mantra water and take the following Tibetan medicines:

• First week: one manjor
• Second week: one moon crystal
• Third week: one ratna-samphel

Repeat the same cycle once more. Then I will check again to see how your health is.