Brain Disorders

Dear one,

• Recite Chanting the Names of Noble Manjushri [Skt: Arya-mañjushri-nama-samgiti].
• Recite the Lama Tsongkhapa mantra every day.
• Read the Diamond Cutter Sutra.

My most dear, most kind, most precious, wish-fulfilling one,
Thank you for your letter.

According to my observation for your son, the following should be done:

• Three Drugchuma pujas, to be done by three Kopan monks.
• Rinpoche’s attendant should recite a few mantras of the Lankavatara Sutra for three days. This is for your son’s health.

My advice is that you should have a talk with him using logic and proof to show what he thinks is wrong, and not just saying blah, blah, blah. This is to show the logic, to prove what is wrong in his thinking. Tell him the purpose of his life is to benefit others, to not harm and to benefit others. His life is to not harm and to benefit others, that is the essence of Dharma.

For that, the Buddha has taught the Lesser Vehicle teachings of Hinayana, and the Mahayana Vehicle teachings of sutra and the Mahayana Vehicle teachings of tantra. There are sentient beings who have different levels of mind, so just one teaching doesn’t fit everybody. They have different levels of mind and then they can slowly go better and better, like that. This is very important.

In the world, people suffer, having no food, no means of living, no house, no medicine. There is so much suffering. Also, being in a place where there is so much war, contagious diseases, so much danger to the life, sicknesses, viruses, all those things. This comes about because we have harmed others in the past.

As it says in The Wheel of Sharp Weapons, karma turned against us, hence we suffer. So that’s how it is. By harming others there’s a shortage of means of living and there are so many people dying with no food, no water, like that, because in the past they created the cause to experience the result of miserliness now. They had things in the past, but were unable to make charity to others, to make good karma; they were unable to do that due to miserliness, even though they couldn’t use [the material things] by themselves.

So we must abandon those actions. All those people are suffering in the world due to their miserliness and attachment in the past.

All those people who have plenty, it’s the result of charity in the past. Without miserliness they have the thought of giving to others, charity to others, of helping others, so as a result their good karma is plenty of food, plenty of harvest, everything. There is plenty of medicine, plenty of everything. There are people in the world like that, you must know that.

Lama Atisha, who went to Indonesia to receive teachings for twelve years, completed Buddhism and bodhicitta from his guru Lama Serlingpa, then he went back to India. He was already a famous pandit in his knowledge of Dharma and so he left India and was invited in Tibet. When the Buddhadharma had degenerated in Tibet, he was invited there to revive it.

So he was invited to Tibet and wrote the Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, and after he wrote this, all the wrong concepts of sutra and tantra—for example if you practice sutra you can’t practice tantra or if you practice tantra you can’t practice sutra—so a lot of wrong concepts about tantra were all eliminated by writing the Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment. Within just some number of pages were all the teachings of the Buddha, the different levels for one person to achieve enlightenment, the gradual practice, so nothing was there that was not needed.

Lama Atisha had 157 gurus, and there was one called Dharmarakshita, who said that when we feel unbearable pain in the body, this is due to having given harm to the transmigrating beings, the other sentient beings, to their bodies. So the wheel of sharp weapons of karma turned on us, so that is what happens.

Now the solution, what to do, is to take every single suffering on ourselves and on our self-cherishing thought, that which gave harm from beginningless rebirth, also now and in the future; that’s who gave harm to all the sentient beings, numberless sentient beings in the past, also in the present and the future, and made them suffer.

This is the greatest enemy, so we take it on that self-cherishing and eliminate that, destroying that completely. This is an incredible practice. We utilize the problem, utilize the suffering, the problem, the obstacle, the sickness, on the path to enlightenment, to actualize bodhicitta, and to achieve enlightenment, also we use it for all sentient beings to achieve enlightenment. This is incredible, incredible.

We can even use the suffering of death on the path to enlightenment; even when we’re dying we can do a similar thing. We can use this similar thing for sickness, for old age, death, any problem we can do like this. Wow, wow, wow, wow. It’s like the sky is dark with no stars, no moon, foggy, then the sun shines and eliminates all the darkness, like that.

So please explain this with logic, not just with blah, blah, but proving that your son’s concepts are totally wrong.

Thank you very much. Thank you very much for helping the people at death time transform their minds into positive. So similarly, you can do as I explained here also for those near death. Thank you very, very much. If you have other questions, please write. And thank you so much for being a student for twenty years.

I want to add this advice for your son.

With a good heart, if we think to give happiness to others and stop their suffering, bringing them happiness, if we think like this, then even if we don’t think about karma, by using the example of ourselves, how we don’t need or want suffering, we need happiness, it’s so important, and as it is for ourselves, we can use that as an example for others. 

So when someone helps us, of course we are so happy, of course, that’s good karma. Helping someone just one time, bringing them happiness, has so much benefit in this life and all our wishes succeed, and especially, even more in the next life and the next life, then more and more, and we reach enlightenment at the end.

In so many lifetimes our wishes get fulfilled and other people help us, like that, more and more. So in the future, [we become] like Indra and Brahma, the gods that the Hindus worship who have incredible power and wealth, then ultimately we achieve enlightenment.

If we help others it brings true success, it naturally brings happiness to ourselves and others. Without doing that, our actions that bring happiness to others also naturally give happiness to oneself. So it’s incredible.

So concerning cherishing oneself, the great bodhisattva Shantideva said, and this is similar to what the Buddha taught, if we don’t exchange oneself for others, then enlightenment, buddhahood, cannot be achieved. There’s no happiness even in samsara, leave aside happiness in future lives, and even the works of this life cannot succeed.

For example, the servant doesn’t do work for us, what we like, doesn’t do what we say, then the leaders, the bosses don’t give us money. They give us a job, but they don’t give us money, like that, so even the works of this life cannot succeed. So our self-cherishing thought becomes the obstacle. If we study, if we check, this is what we’ll find.

Please, you should tell your son that I said this, and that he was just ten years old when he met me and now I’m sending him this message. So, please tell him what I have said.

With much love and prayers ...

My most dear, most kind, most precious wish-fulfilling one,

Thank you for your email. I am sorry for the long delay in replying.

For your head numbness and what you expressed, you need to request Geshe-la to do lü dang sadag gi don drol puja [Liberating from the harm of naga and landlord].

You need to recite Chanting the Names of Manjushri twice, with bodhicitta motivation.

Also recite the mantra taught by Buddha Droden Gyälwa Chö twenty-one times a day. You can find this mantra in the daily motivation The Method to Transform a Suffering Life into Happiness (Including Enlightenment).

OM HRIYADHE SARWA TATHAGATA HRIDAYA GARBHE / DZOLA DHARMADHATU GARBHE / SANG HARANA AYUH SANGSHODHAYA / PAPAM SARWA TATHAGATA SAMENDRA USHNIKHA BIMALE BISHUDDHE SWAHA

This is my advice for you at this time. Please make your life most meaningful with the thought of bodhicitta day and night and in every action you do.

With much love and prayers ...

My very dear one,
I checked and you need to have the puja called chab trü done by a senior geshe or lama who you have much devotion to. This puja needs to be done at least six times for you, by a geshe or lama or anybody, but not by yaks or yetis.

Then also, when you do washing, first bless the water with Dorje Namjompa (Skt: Vajravidarana) by reciting the mantra. Think Dorje Namjompa is above the water, blessing it. Then when you wash, use the purified water. Think while you are washing that all the pollution, impurities, ignorance, delusion, negative karma, sicknesses and spirit harm are purified, completely gone. So strongly believe that.

It is very good that you are learning philosophy and debate. That is very good. If you can enjoy debating then your study develops, it gets better and better, but if you are not enjoying it, then it is difficult and afterwards you are disappointed.

Overall for it to become Dharma, you have to try to make it Dharma. That means with your motivation, not being attached to this life and especially having renunciation from samsara and bodhicitta. You must have bodhicitta so that your study becomes the cause of enlightenment; this is the most important thing in the life.

And then the other thing—whether you are eating, walking, sleeping, studying, doing your job, etc—whatever you do, do it with bodhicitta as much as possible. That is the most important thing, otherwise it’s the same as people in the West playing football and basketball. They work so hard to become good players and enjoy it, but it’s just to achieve happiness of this life, with attachment to the eight worldly dharmas.

I want to tell you something. Being in the monastery and learning the great teachings of Buddha and Buddhist philosophy in so much detail—yes, you are studying Dharma, but whether it becomes Dharma or not, that is something else, that is due to the motivation for your study. If your motivation is just to become a geshe, just this life to become a geshe, for this life happiness, then it is just like the footballers. If it’s just the same motivation—just for happiness for oneself—then even if you are studying Dharma, it does not become the cause of enlightenment, because it comes from the self-cherishing thought, especially if it’s for the happiness of this life, it does not even become Dharma. So even if your whole life is spent studying in a monastery, it does not become Dharma and then does it not become the cause of happiness in this life nor the cause of future lives’ happiness or even enlightenment.

As Padmasambhava mentioned (I don’t remember the exact words): Even if the form is that of a religious person, still it’s possible to do non-religious activity, non-Dharma activity.

So being in the monastery and studying Dharma, nothing becomes Dharma if one’s motivation is just for the happiness of this life, just for this life’s reputation, trying to achieve that and so forth. Then it does not become Dharma study—even receiving teachings and debate, as well as other things, prayers etc —everything that we do, does not become Dharma.

Eating, walking, sleeping, doing our job and so forth, that also does not become Dharma, so then everything becomes worldly activity, non-virtue. So to practice Dharma really means our motivation, at least renunciation to this life.

Then it comes out very good for you to read the Diamond Cutter Sutra; that will help you. Recite this mantra before reciting sutras, to multiple the merit created by one million times:

TADYATHA DHARE DHARE BENDHARE SVAHA

Somebody from Sera who had studied for 15 years parchen and maybe surget (sorry about spelling) —the monk studied for a long time, but didn’t realize what it means to practice Dharma. Only when he came to Bodhgaya and received teachings; only at that time did he come to know what it meant and he was extremely surprised.

As you know, Dromtönpa was walking around in the forest and one old man was meditating. Dromtönpa asked, “What are you doing?” The man said, “Meditating,” and Dromtönpa said, “It is good that you are meditating, but even better if you can practice Dharma”.

Then another day, the man was reading a text, as he thought maybe that was what Dromtönpa meant, so then Dromtönpa asked, “What are you doing?” The man said, “I am reading a Dharma text,” and Dromtönpa said, “That is good you are reading a Dharma text, but it’s even better if you can practice Dharma.”

Then the old man circumambulated a temple and he thought maybe this is what Dromtönpa meant is Dharma. Then Dromtönpa asked, “What are you doing?” and the man said, “I am circumambulating the temple,” and Dromtönpa said, “That is good that you are circumambulating the temple, but it’s even better if you can practice Dharma.”

Then the old man asked, “What do you mean by practice Dharma?” and Dromtönpa said, “Renounce this life”.

With much love and prayers...

I checked and you have some life obstacles this year. It is important to do these things:

• Recite the Amitayus Long Life Sutra: 63 times
• Do White Tara long-life meditation. If you can, recite the White Tara mantra 40,000 times; but if you can do more, it is better.
• Liberate 200 animals. This can be done at the center with others; you need to follow my instructions on how to do this. I will also liberate animals for you, as well.
• I will post you five long-life pills from Khadro-la, which are very, very precious.
• Gyab-shi puja: by the Kopan Lama Gyupas.
• Mamo-trü-kang puja: by the Kopan Lama Gyupas.
• Vajra Cutter Sutra: 100 recitations. This can be done by you and others at the center. I will also recite some for you.

With much love and prayers and please let me know how things are...

My very dear one,
Thank you for your email and very nice to hear from you.

According to my observation it would be very good if you take Tibetan precious pills— Moon Crystal. Take four Moon Crystals. Take one pill, then have a few days break and then take another pill etc. Then you should go and check.

Then also take chung nga three times each week for two weeks. It can be one today, then a few days’ break, then again take one, then again a few days’ break, then again take one.

First take the Moon Crystal, then the chung nga. Also, take four nang cho pills each day for four weeks. So, first take Moon Crystal, then chung nga, then nang cho. Holly will send you these medicines.

Please continue to make your life most beneficial for the sentient beings with bodhicitta as much as you can.

With much love and prayers ...