Protection from Spirit Harm

You need some pujas to be done quickly:

• Geshe-la needs to do chag-sum for you. It’s best if you can attend this puja.
• The Kopan nuns need to do three sessions of the Lion-face Dakini practice dispelling obstacles. Three sessions altogether can be so good; also the nuns should recite the Heart Sutra  at the beginning of each session.

It seems you have some spirit harm or black magic happening right now and this is needed.

My very dear one,
Thank you for your email. I am sorry for the delay in replying. I checked for you.

• It is helpful if you can have gektor puja done (dispelling interferers).
• Hayagriva tsog offering puja needs to be done at Sera Je Monastery.
• You should recite the mantra Liberating from Bondage of Body, Speech and Mind. [Find links to the Dharani Extremely Conquering from Bondage in the FPMT Catalogue.]
• You should also recite White Umbrella mantra.
• Take ratna samphel precious pill nine times: take one pill every five days.

I am also doing prayers for you, and so are the Sangha in my house.

With much love and prayers...

My very dear one, 
I’m very, very sorry to hear about your sickness and obstacles that have happened since you left your partner, but for us that is the discovery of how samsara is in the nature of suffering. It’s a sign that we are in samsara, not nirvana, not enlightenment. That’s showing a very strong sign that we should [try to] be free as quickly as possible from samsara. If we are not free from samsara this is what happens, things such like this. There are so many heavy sufferings in the human world and this is not talking about the lower realms. Even the entire human suffering, the heaviest one, is great pleasure and peace compared to one tiny suffering of the hell realm.

You are very lucky compared to that, because you are still alive as a precious human being. You have a precious human body that you can use to change your mind from that which causes samsara’s oceans of suffering and particularly the lower realms, into a new mind, which is the cause of happiness. It is the cause of not only the happiness of this life, but also the happiness of all the future lives, and then ultimate happiness, nirvana, liberation from samsara—ultimate happiness, the greatest one, peerless happiness, the state of omniscience, enlightenment, in order to free the numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to peerless happiness, the state of omniscience. This is what you can do as a human being by meeting the Dharma. That’s why a human body is so precious, unbelievably, most unbelievably precious.

You can’t explain the Dharma to cats, dogs, mosquitoes and so on. You can’t make them understand. You can’t explain the four noble truths. How long have you been a Buddhist? How many years, months, weeks, hours, have you been a Buddhist? Death didn’t happen yet. That’s the other big problem. At death we can go to the lower realms, particularly the hells, but that didn’t happen yet. So there are many things.

Now where you should turn is to the Guru, Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Usually strong practice is not done and that’s why we don’t remember to take refuge in the Guru, Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. When problems like this happen, now you should turn your life to Medicine Buddha. The prayers you make to Medicine Buddha are so powerful for success, also [prayers] to Most Secret Hayagriva and His Holiness Dalai Lama.

Whenever something happens, turn your life to His Holiness, even when you die, which is the biggest obstacle. For some people it’s the most happiest thing to die. They go to a pure land, or have very high realizations and achieve enlightenment after that. For most people death is a huge suffering. Also many people don’t know about reincarnation and karma, so they prefer death because they are ignorant. It’s like a blind person or a hallucinating person jumping over the cliffs thinking there’s a beautiful road.

Practices 

I am sorry for the delay in replying to you. I checked immediately and I will recite the Diamond Cutter Sutra one time, dedicating it for you. I will do this right now and also the White Umbrella Deity.

You need to have the puja called she-nyin dü-dog done by Sera Je Tsawa Khangtsen. After these pujas, if you are still not better there is the possibility of Shakya Senge—one hundred meat and one hundred dough puja—being done.

You need to wear Hayagriva protection and the protection number which has the shape of steps.

You should recite the mantra Liberating from Bondage. This can be recited or worn, but it has to be blessed. Some people recite it and some wear it. [You can find links to the Dharani Extremely Conquering from Bondage in the FPMT Catalogue.]

I will recite the Thirteen Chakra Prayer mantra for you.

You also need to have Padmasambhava Incense Puja done by Kopan Lama Gyupas, not necessarily all the monks, just one or two monks.  

With much love and prayers...

My very dear one,
You should have ga-gön puja done by the senior teacher at Kopan. If you’re in Dharamsala then request ga-gön puja from Kyabje Denmo Locho Rinpoche. This puja is important to happen soon, don’t delay.

You need the puja she-nyin dü-dog, with recitation of the Heart Sutra 100 times. Not just reciting, it involves a puja dispelling Mara. Request the Lama Gyupas at Kopan Monastery to do this for you.

Request Ven. __ [a Kopan monk] to recite the Diamond Cutter Sutra four times. You can make this request to him and explain your problems, to release immediately from harm.

You should wear the White Umbrella protection. I will send this. When you get the protection, don’t lie on it, otherwise this will create negative karma, for example, when you go to bed your body might turn over and you end up lying on it. Therefore put it up in a high place and then in the morning put it on again.

With much love and prayers...

My very dear Annette,
Thank you very much for your kind email. Sorry for the long delay in replying. If you can, try to get Geshe Sopa Rinpoche’s books, Steps on the Path to Enlightenment, which are a commentary on Lama Tsongkhapa’s Lamrim Chenmo, and then discipline yourself and read them. Get a new notebook and write down whatever you don’t understand. You can ask your questions to a student who has studied the Lamrim Chenmo well and to lamas who have studied.

Reading Geshe Sopa’s books is also studying philosophy, so read them well by thinking and trying to understand the meaning, not just trying to finish them. After that you can send me your news.

You say you have nightmares, so put a picture of Buddha on the wall above your pillow where you sleep. Then go to sleep in the same position as Buddha when he was passing away, the lion’s position lying down. Put your right hand under your head and lie on your right side with the two legs stretched out, facing to the west with your head towards the north. Even that will help stop the nightmares. This is how the Buddha lay down, so remember the Buddha and recite Buddha’s name before you go to sleep. Maybe make three prostrations to Buddha before you lie down. Buddha’s name is:

LA MA TÖN PA CHOM DÄN DÄ DE ZHIN SHEG PA DRA CHOM PA YANG DAG PAR DZOG PÄI SANG GYÄ PÄL GYÄL WA SHAKYA THUB PA LA CHHAG TSHÄL LO.

If you can recite more, that is good.

In the morning when you get up, sit in the meditation position with your spine straight, your shoulders open and relaxed, your hands resting in your lap with the palms facing upwards, your chin slightly tucked in, the tip of your tongue touching your upper palate, and your eyes slightly open looking down the tip of the nose. You can sit cross-legged or upright on the edge of the bed or chair. Then do the nine-round breathing. Another short breathing meditation you can do is to imagine you are breathing out all the negative karma and defilements, and they go beyond this world and are completely destroyed. Then breathe in renunciation, right view and bodhicitta, also Buddha’s omniscient mind, perfect power and compassion. Think you receive all of this in the form of white light that completely fills your whole body. Try to feel you receive all these qualities one-by-one and meditate on that.

After that, when your mind becomes clear, generate bodhicitta:

This is just about one time that I have received a perfect human rebirth. So far, from beginingless rebirths, I have been experiencing the general sufferings of samsara and the particular sufferings of the hells, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, suras and asuras numberless times up to now. If I don’t practice Dharma, if I do not actualize the path to liberation and full enlightenment, then I will have to experience the sufferings of the upper realms and particularly of the lower realms, and the general sufferings of samsara endlessly, without end.

This perfect human rebirth that I have now is received just about one time and for just a very short time, not long. To receive such a rebirth again is extremely difficult, most difficult, because it depends on creating the perfect cause, morality, virtue, which is so very difficult. And this perfect human rebirth can be lost any time because death can come any time and any day. I can see that in this world babies die in their mother’s wombs, they are conceived and then die. People also die when they are being born, when they are young, old and middle aged. So I can never be sure when I myself will die.

Therefore, without wasting my life, I must practice Dharma and especially, I must practice not only for my own happiness, just one person, but for the happiness of numberless hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, suras, asuras and intermediate state beings. I must free them all from the oceans of samsaric suffering and cause them to receive full enlightenment, peerless happiness.

Therefore, I must achieve enlightenment. Therefore, I need to actualize the path to enlightenment, with guru devotion as the root, and renunciation, bodhicitta and right view—the three principal aspects of the path. For that I need to purify all the negative karmas and defilements collected since beginingless rebirths and accumulate merit. Therefore I am going to meditate on Guru Shakyamuni Buddha and recite his name mantra.

So then, look at Buddha’s picture. Don’t close your eyes. And Buddha is looking at you with loving kindness and compassion. Definitely, 100 per cent. Buddha sent white light to you like sunbeams purifying your negative karmas and defilements collected since beginingless time and your body is illuminated. So blissed out. While you are focused on that, also all the diseases and spirit harms that came from delusion and karma are gone. Even that. Then chant Buddha’s name:

LA MA TÖN PA CHOM DÄN DÄ DE ZHIN SHEG PA DRA CHOM PA YANG DAG PAR DZOG PÄI SANG GYÄ PÄL GYÄL WA SHAKYA THUB PA LA CHHAG TSHÄL LO.

Maybe 15 times or more. You can chant it. Recite it nicely. Then later you can recite even one mala. That’s so good, because it is said in the Kangyur that one hundred billion eons of negative karma are completely purified each time you recite it, like that hundreds and thousands of times. Reciting this also causes you to meet with the tantric teachings next life. So, it has other great benefits. Soon your life becomes like Buddha. It will lead to that. You will become a perfect guide, free from the two obscurations, gross and subtle, and having completed the path of method and wisdom. You will have perfect omniscient mind, perfect power and perfect compassion for sentient beings. Then you are a perfect guide, able to liberate numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to full enlightenment, peerless happiness.

So the essence is that you are purified and then you receive Buddha’s qualities within you. Then you can recite:

TADYATHA OM MUNÉ MUNÉ MAHAMUNAYÉ SOHA

Chant the mantra with this meditation. That’s very, very, very, very good. At the end, you can think that you become Buddha and you send light from your heart like light beams to numberless hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, suras and asuras. Then instantly their two obscurations collected since beginingless time are purified. Completely gone. They all become Buddha. Numberless hell beings, numberless hungry ghosts, numberless animals, numberless human beings, numberless suras and numberless asuras all become Buddha. Then keep your mind in that happy state. Rejoice that you have enlightened everybody, all the suffering beings. However many people in the world are being killed or are suffering, you can think that at that time they are purified and enlightened.

Then make this dedication:

Due to all the three time merits accumulated by myself and by all sentient beings, 
May the precious sublime thought of enlightenment 
Be generated in my heart and in the hearts of all sentient beings 
Without even a second’s delay.

And:

Due to all the three time merits of myself and the three time merits of all sentient beings and Buddhas, which are merely labeled by the mind, 
May the I, which is merely labeled by the mind, 
Achieve Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment, which is merely labeled by the mind, 
And lead all sentient beings, who are merely labeled by the mind, 
To Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment, which is merely labeled by the mind, 
By myself alone, who is also merely labeled by the mind.

That’s all.

Also, sometimes your bed can be in the wrong place for sleeping. So if the nightmares are still happening, you can move your bed around the room. Sometimes it might help to move it somewhere else.

Sleeping in the Buddha’s position will also protect you from spirit harm. Then before going to sleep you can also recite the Buddha’s name mantra just a few times after you lie down. 

There’s another mantra also, (from the Sorrowless Sutra, the Kha-ba), that can be recited. 

With much love and prayer. Also we might meet somewhere. Until then, thank you very much.

Lama Zopa

Note: This mantra for the spirits can be used by other people also.

There’s another mantra also that can be recited. You have to recite it loudly, not quietly, but with sound, so the spirits can hear it. Then they won’t harm you. They are so happy with you and they respect you.

From the Sorrowless Sutra, the Kha-ba:

When Ananda was attacked by the 64,000 maras, as Buddha gave this mantra to the Bodhisattva Manjugosha, this mantra was announced. When the king of the maras heard it he generated bodhicitta, the thought of enlightenment, and the king of the maras let go of Ananda.

This is the mantra Abandoning Completely the Actions of Mara taught by Buddhas equaling the number of the sand grains of the ten times Ganga water. Devas, nagas, smell-eaters, asuras, nagading floating in the sky, myemchi, Toche Chenpo, the divisions of eight worldly devas, then human beings, non-human beings, devas abiding on the mountains, trees, waters, lake and families place, the minute they hear this mantra they keep the name of that person and respect that person. [That person will] also abandon [taking a] woman’s body, remember their past life, engage in celibacy, not eat wine, meat and so forth, and like solitude. If one recites this with devotion or writes it in scriptures, it purifies 77 x 100 billion negative karmas, non-virtuous actions. This mantra is said to have those benefits:

AMA LAI, PEMA LAI, NIR MA LAI, MOOGA LAI HAI, MALA ZA GHA GAI, GHA GAI, TSAMANTRA BAR TAI, SHAWA TA SA TEN NAI, BRAMA ATA TSA RA NAI, MA NA TSAI, ASHU DAI, PILA GI, AMA LAI THE, PA LAM ME, PA LAM PHA SWA RE, PUN NAI PUN NAI, MAN NO LA DE

Anybody who has spirit harms should recite this mantra loudly so the spirits can hear. Keep this with you.