Meditations for Cancer
A student had pancreatic cancer which was inoperable and metastatic. The cancer was successfully treated with chemotherapy and a radiofrequency operation, but later developed on the student’s right lung. She decided to fight the cancer and asked Rinpoche for practices and meditation techniques. Update: In 2019 Rinpoche met the student, who reported that the cancer had completely disappeared after practicing the recommended meditations.
My most dear, most kind, most precious, wish-fulfilling one,
Please read as quickly as possible the Buddha’s teaching which reveals the truth, shunyata, which means emptiness in English.
This means the emptiness of the hallucination, the way it appears to our hallucinated mind and we believe that. The way everything is appearing to our hallucinated mind, as a hallucination, but we believe it is true. We believe that concept [that things truly exist] is one hundred percent true. This is the cause of all the sufferings—the suffering of the hell realm, the suffering of the hungry ghost realm, the suffering of the animal realm, the suffering of the human realm, the suffering of the sura realm, the suffering of the asura realm and the suffering of the intermediate stage.
Please try to read and think about this to the best of your ability. This is the best medicine, the ultimate medicine.
The other thing you can do is lojong (thought transformation) and of course Medicine Buddha practice.
I am also making prayers for you.
With much love and prayers ...
Note: Rinpoche spoke very clearly on emptiness and lojong at the Bendigo retreat, on April 16, 2018, in the 4pm session. You can find this teaching here. Rinpoche taught on tonglen in the last two teachings of the 2017 Kopan meditation course. There is also a video teaching on the seven-point mind training.