Various Infections

The student should take the rinchen ratna samphel pill. He should take five pills in total; one pill every three days. I have given you the five pills.

The way to take the pill is like this: First take some erma (Sherpa spice), not much, just one to three small pieces of it. Put the erma in warm water at night and let it soak. Then, first thing in the morning, drink the erma water. This opens the vessels in your body. After that, open the precious pill, ratna samphal, in the dark. [Rinpoche opens it under his zen so no light hits it.] Crush the pill, swallow and drink with warm water. Do this every three days until the five pills are finished

When the pain is very bad, he should listen to and recite the Sutra for Entering the City of Vaishali until the pain goes. If he can’t recite the sutra, the geshe at Nalanda can do for him, but he has to be able to hear it.

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

Thank you very much for your letter.

According to my observation, you should read the Sutra of Great Liberation three times. It’s been translated by one of the Sera Je Western monks, Gyalten Lekden. That is finished and it’s now being revised. You can also listen to it and get the actual oral transmission. [Note: The translation of the Sutra of Great Liberation is now complete. Find links to the PDF and audio file in the FPMT Catalogue.]

Also, you should stop the medicine you are on.

One practice for you is the White Umbrella Deity prayer, which includes its mantra. If you can recite that for your whole life, this is best, so recite that each day. It has unbelievable benefits. By reciting the White Umbrella Deity prayer, it purifies the five heavy negative karmas, those heavy negative karmas without break: killing one's father, killing one’s mother, killing an arhat, drawing blood from the Buddha and causing disunity among the Sangha.

Then for someone who likes to receive a child, a son, they’re then able to get one, and so forth. Also, when we die we will get reborn in Amitabha’s pure land, then after that, of course we will become enlightened. If we put the White Umbrella Deity prayer on top of a banner and do puja, then we’re able to purify war. In the family, if there’s harm received or contagious disease, fighting or wars from outside, these are all pacified, and we collect merit by reciting the prayer.

The Buddha, the destroyer, gone beyond—unimaginable, numberless, according to the number of sand grains of the Pacific Ocean, we’ll have that much merit. And we’ll be protected by the buddhas and bodhisattvas, according to the sand grains of the Pacific Ocean. They will protect us and guide us, so it goes to the heart and pleases all the holy beings.

The first preparation is the motivation, bodhicitta, and then you can recite this White Umbrella Deity prayer, not only for yourself but for all the numberless sentient beings who need this. Those who have obstacles, who need help, who have disease and so forth, you can recite it for them.

Before you do the recitation, recite this mantra to increase the power of recitation:

TAYATHA OM DHARE DHARE BHENDHARE SWAHA (7x)

Reciting this mantra before the sutra recitation multiples the merit created by one million times.

Recite the mantra a few times, then [the merit of] the White Umbrella prayer that you recite increases by 100,000 times, so it’s unbelievably powerful. That’s it.

It’s very good in the future, if there’s the opportunity, to take the White Umbrella Deity initiation, the full initiation, even though there’s also the short one, the jenang.

There’s also the practice of the Torma Gyatsa, the One Hundred Torma Offering Ritual. This should be done one thousand times.

So the gyatsa, in the torma there are one hundred times pills, so it’s a very special practice. We make offering to the Guru, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, the protectors, and after that to the six-realm sentient beings, and especially to the pretas. So you need to do this. It’s extremely powerful and creates incredible merits. You will need to receive the lung and commentary of that practice.

If you’re unable to read Tibetan, you will need the translation, and then with Geshe-la’s help, study the Torma Gyatsa with Geshe-la. If he has the lung there, this will be easier. So then you need to study the essence of the teachings with him.

So like that, you need to do it 100,000 times, which means doing the practice one thousand times and within that, it’s times one hundred. So it’s very, very important to do this. Due to the past harm given to sentient beings, that has created the difficulties. It’s the result of that.

Also, for two months, once each week, do the Riwo Sangcho incense puja. An English translation is coming. I don’t know if you read Tibetan or not, otherwise the translation is necessary so that you can do the visualizations. You also need the substances, so try to collect what is needed, the incense, etc.

If you can read Tibetan, then the monks here at Kopan do the puja with cymbals and things, so if you read Tibetan you can also join in and play, along with recitation of the Tibetan, with the English translation underneath so you know what it’s saying.

Also, for you, do the Heruka Body Mandala incense puja. You need to practice this and try to recite this.

I’m sending my regards also to Geshe-la, to the translator and to your husband.

The whole set that is needed for the incense pujas—the stand, the cymbals, etc—let me know if it’s too expensive in your country, and I will buy these things here and send them to you.

Regarding your question about moving forward in order to be of some use to others, whatever action you are doing, please dedicate it to the numberless hell beings, the numberless hungry ghosts, the numberless animals, the numberless humans, the numberless suras, the numberless asuras, and the numberless intermediate state beings, that’s it.

As you develop your mind from life-to-life on the path to enlightenment, you’re able to benefit others deeper and greater. So the greatest, of course, is when you achieve enlightenment.

With love and prayers ...

• Recite Dükkar prayer (White Umbrella deity prayer) 100 times. You can do some recitations yourself.
• The Kopan monks can recite the White Umbrella prayer 100 times. They will be the main ones to recite for you.
• Gyetongpa (Prajnaparamita in 8,000 verses): To be recited once by the Kopan monks.
• Drugchuma: To be recited once by the Kopan monks, and nine times by monks at Serkong Dorje Chang’s monastery in Swayambhunath.

On behalf of Kopan Monastery (Pal Ogmin Jangchub Choling) and Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery, I, Thubten Zopa, would like to express my deepest gratitude to all the members of the different monasteries and nunneries who showed great concern and offered their prayers when they learned that several of the monks at Kopan and the nuns at Khachoe Ghakyil Ling had tested positive for COVID-19. These well-wishers belong to institutions that uphold the precious and sacred teachings of the Buddha and are a source of happiness in the past, present, and future for us weary beings who have been drowning in the great ocean of samsaric suffering since beginningless time.

One hundred and seventy of the 460 monks at Kopan and ninety of the 370 nuns at Khachoe Ghakyil Ling tested positive for the virus. Geshe Lobsang Jinpa, who has been a philosophy teacher at Khachoe Ghakyil Ling for many years, fell ill. Suffering from breathing problems, he was hospitalized. The nuns recited prayers such as the White Umbrella for him, and for one month many captive animals were released once a week in the United States to aid in his speedy recovery. His symptoms eventually subsided, and he was able to return to the nunnery.

Former Kopan disciplinarian, Geshe Tsering Tashi, who completed the great approximation retreat of Yamantaka, also became ill. He had trouble breathing, was taken to the hospital, and has since recovered. A monk from Mongolia and a child monk who similarly suffered from breathing problems had to spend time in hospital but are now back at the monastery.

Animals were freed for the former disciplinarian, for our spiritual teachers, especially His Holiness the Dalai Lama, for all Indians, and so on. In total, six goats were liberated for the monks and nuns at Kopan and Khachoe Ghakyil Ling. The liberation of these animals benefited both the goats and the people who were sick, and just the thought that had the goats not been freed they would have been killed is unbearable.

The monks and nuns who tested positive remained in quarantine for eighteen days. One person who had first tested negative was later found to have contracted the virus.

As soon as people started to get ill, Kopan and Khachoe Ghakyil Ling tightened their rules and restricted the movement of their inhabitants. However, many caught COVID without ever leaving the monastic premises, while others did not become infected, although they had to spend time outside the premises to be of service to the two institutions. For instance, the manager of Kopan, Geshe Jangchub, took the monks and nuns who tested positive to the hospital, ran errands, etc.; the caretaker, Sonam Zangpo, regularly went shopping for food supplies; the doctor, Gen Sangye Tenzin, and his two monk assistants often attended to outside medical matters; Gen Tenpa Choden who is responsible for the advancement of Kopan, Khachoe Ghakyil Ling and their associated organizations, had to travel between the different institutions, and so forth—but none of them contracted the virus.

Unfortunately, Geshe Thubten Sherab, who teaches at the FPMT center in New Mexico, USA, and in several other FPMT centers around the world, fell ill with COVID. But he has now left the hospital and is recovering.

Gen Sangye Tenzin, who is in charge of the medical clinic that belongs to the monastery and the nunnery, and his two monk assistants have been taking care of everyone very well. Kyabje Sengdrag Rinpoche kindly donated his precious khyung nga pills that he had consecrated during a one-year retreat. He gave nine pills to each monk who was hospitalized and five to everyone who was not.

I myself, as well as Ven. Roger Kunsang, the chief executive officer (CEO) of FPMT, and my attendants Ngarampa Tendar, Topgye, and Sherab, who does the computer work, are all well. None of us have become infected.

However, although I have not become ill, I am not sure whether this is desirable or not. For example, the owner of a five-star hotel who is healthy, lives a long life, has numerous customers and earns a lot of money is likely to accumulate the karma of killing every day. If he owns a hotel by the sea, he is responsible for killing thousands of fish and other sea animals when he orders them to be caught to provide seafood for his guests. It is terrifying to think that after he breathes his last breath, he may be born into hellish existences for many eons to come. He similarly accumulates a lot of negative karma with regard to the other nonvirtues.

There are pure monks, on the other hand, who have no attachment to this life and pass away with a peaceful and joyous mind, even if they were sick their entire life, suffering from one illness after the other. They had accumulated negative karma in a previous existence that ripened in the present life in the form of diseases and other obstacles. This means that after their death, they might not be born in the lower realms but take rebirth in a pure realm and quickly attain the enlightened state of a buddha. The Kadampa Geshe Kharag Gomchung said:

Even by experiencing this small suffering now,
Through finishing past negative karma,
There will be happiness in the future.

So, we should rejoice when we suffer. Since we have accumulated the karma to experience disease, although we may not fall ill right now, this does not rule out getting sick in the future. Therefore, the Buddha said:

Do not commit any unwholesome actions.
Engage in perfect, wholesome actions.
Subdue one’s own mind.
This is the teaching of the Buddha.

Whether we study the scriptures extensively or not, we will definitely benefit from subduing our mind. I think this is an extremely comprehensive and profound advice. It is also what the glorious and unequaled Jowo Atisha taught.

In the Excellent Nectar Vase of the Essential Instructions of the Kadampa Volumes it says:

If we ourselves do not recognize it as our refuge,
Not even the strength of the buddhas and bodhisattvas
Will be able to save us from the abyss of the lower realms.
In the meantime, we should not deceive ourselves.
Whatever happiness and suffering exists in this samsaric place
Has all arisen from our karma.
So, we should examine our body, speech and mind at all times
And make an effort to abandon wrongdoing and practice virtue.

These words indicate that although there are countless buddhas and bodhisattvas, there are also countless sentient beings who have been drowning in the great ocean of samsaric suffering from beginningless time. But now we have encountered the teachings of the Mahayana as part of the Buddha’s precious teachings, which is as if the impossible had become possible.

These days, the monks at Kopan and the nuns at Khachoe Ghakyil Ling are reading the Golden Light Sutra and the Arya Dharani Sutra five times and reciting the Great Dharani and others from the Kangyur. They are all cheerful. May the monks and nuns in all the other monastic institutions also be cheerful.

In order to be of some benefit to others in accordance with the teachings of our lord of refuge and bright light, the Buddha, I focus on the entire world in general and on Dharamsala, Nepal, and so forth and perform the following rites: Incense Ritual by the Great Master Padmasambhava, (Nölsang; Wylie: mnol bsang), Purification Rite of the Four Directions (Sangsöl Chog Zhi; Wylie: bsang gsol phyogs bzhi), Cleansing Rite of the Four Directions (Thrü Söl Chog Zhi; Wylie: khrus gsol phyogs bzhi), Cleansing Rite of the Body (Ten Thrü; Wylie: rtren khrus), Cleansing Rite of the Place (Yul Thrü; Wylie: yul khrus), and Burning Food Ritual (Sur; Wylie: gsur).

Written by Thubten Zopa on behalf of Kopan Monastery and Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery on May 18, 2021.

Dear one,
When you have cancer or other problems, you can sincerely take other sentient beings’ cancer or problems and experience it for them, thinking that then they don’t have the problem. Normally when you do that, the problem goes away and you recover from your own cancer. It has happened many times.

Recently in China, one person who had cancer read my books and did tonglen, taking other sentient beings’ suffering, and he recovered from cancer. In Singapore, a student’s wife had suddenly died and he became a monk. I asked him to become a monk. Somebody got cancer and he asked that person to sincerely practice tonglen, taking the sentient beings’ suffering, nonvirtue and causes of suffering, and giving them happiness. That person did the practice and recovered from cancer. There are more examples.

The next example is a little bit different. Someone who had a heart attack recovered by turning a prayer wheel and reciting OM MANI PADME HUM. There are quite a lot of stories like that. These things happened in recent times and they also happened in the past, thousands of years ago. I would just like to let you know these are by the power of bodhicitta. For example, when I have eye pain or stomach pain, my pain is not really cancer but sometimes I think it is. The minute I think to do tonglen—even if I’m not actually doing tonglen, but just having the thought to do tonglen—then the pain stops. That is the power of bodhicitta. It is not that I have bodhicitta, but just the thought of it. I am not telling a lie.

It’s very good you didn’t get the virus and that you didn’t die yet. And also, the nuns who went [to help people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic] a few times, that’s very, very good. I really want the Buddhist monks and nuns to go there, to give charity of food, so then it leaves a positive imprint in the minds of those very poor people who have so much suffering. That positive imprint generates for them the aspiration to be a monk or nun, to renounce the householder’s life and to take vows.

It leaves an imprint on their mind to achieve enlightenment—to be free from samsara and to achieve enlightenment. It helps not only in this life, but from life to life. From that positive imprint, from life to life it helps them to become monk or nun and to meet Dharma. Wow, wow, wow. And then, from life to life—wow, wow, wow—for hundreds, thousands and millions of lives it brings them to enlightenment. That is why I asked the Buddhist monks and nuns to go there. I was very happy that the nuns went, and you went at least one time after I explained this. At least you did something. I was very, very happy about that.

With love and prayers ...

Note: Rinpoche continued with advice about resolving conflict at the Dharma center. Read this advice here.

My most dear, most kind, most precious, wish-fulfilling gems,
The government wants those who come back from the West, from outside the country, to stay at hotels and monasteries, and wants to check how many rooms you have.

I think it is a good opportunity to serve sentient beings, the mother sentient beings, the kind mothers, who have been kind to us since beginningless rebirths. Not only that, from beginningless rebirths we have received every single happiness from every hell being, every preta, every animal, every human being, every sura being and every asura being. We receive all our past, present and future happiness, temporary and ultimate happiness, up to the peerless happiness of enlightenment, from them. We receive that future happiness from every sentient being who comes here to stay. Of course, (and this is extra), Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, who we take refuge in, come from sentient beings. So, they are most precious, most dear, most kind and wish-fulfilling for us.

It is said by the great Shantideva of Nalanda in the Bodhicaryavatara [Ch. 1, v. 112], “The sentient beings and the victorious ones, the buddhas, are similar because we can accomplish Buddhadharma from them.” As it comes from the kindness of the buddhas, in exactly the same way, it comes from sentient beings. And as I mentioned before, the Buddha comes from sentient beings. As we respect the Buddha, why not the sentient beings who have been most kind and wish-fulfilling to us? This time we have the opportunity to serve them.

Here is just one example. When we are born to a bird, however many eggs are laid, every day that bird looks for worms and insects, and even if they are not completely dead, she feeds them to her chicks. She feeds her chicks so many times each day. If the mother bird kills one worm or insect, then, by killing that one, for five hundred lifetimes the mother bird will get killed five hundred times. This is besides the karmic result of rebirth in a suffering realm. And even when it is reborn as a human being and receives a human body, there will be so much suffering. The results of that action are unbelievable, just from killing one worm. From that example, we can understand that since the mother bird kills so many worms and other forms of life for us, it is unbelievable karma. And it is not just experienced for one day, but for an unbelievable number of lifetimes.

Also, other sentient beings have been our mother numberless times in numberless life forms. Wow, wow, so many sentient beings have been our mother. Even just as a human being, they had so much suffering and created so much negative karma, like rainfall, to look after us. They suffered from beginningless rebirths and also in the future. They experience unbelievable suffering for us.

Normally we should think this way, and also in this coronavirus situation. As I mentioned before, it is good to recite Vajra Armor mantra and the long-life Buddha’s mantra. And besides that, His Holiness advised us to recite Tara’s mantra and, by doing so, we receive the blessings of His Holiness. It is also good to recite Thangtong Gyalpo’s prayer for blessings against disease, [The Vajra Speech of Mahasiddha Thangtong Gyalpo: The Blessed Prayer Known as “Liberating Sakya from Disease”] with refuge and to recite OM MANI PADME HUM for all sentient beings, and also Thangtong Gyalpo’s prayer to stop famine [The Speech of Mahasiddha Thangtong Gyalpo: A Request to Pacify the Fear of Famine.] You should also follow the other advices that have been given.

Do your best at the beginning to protect yourselves from the virus, but if you do get it, think, “If something can be fixed, what is the benefit of disliking it?” That means fixing it. “If you can’t fix it, what need is there to dislike it?” There is no need and no benefit in doing that, which means you should accept it. [See Bodhicaryavatara, Ch. 6, v. 10.]

Here, since we have been born under the control of karma and delusions, we are in samsara. If we are able to actualize true paths and true cessations—to realize emptiness and the cessation of suffering and achieve the state of an arya bodhisattva, in which there is no old age, sickness, and death—everything will be OK. If we can’t achieve that, we have to die. We can’t live in this world without going through death. There is no one in this world who won’t die. In our world even Buddha showed the aspect of passing away. Since even aryas don’t have to die, of course, Buddha didn’t have to die, but he showed us this aspect in order to show us the need to practice and how to practice in order to become enlightened.

Therefore, rather than experiencing death with anger and big delusions and then being reborn in the lower realms for eons and eons, which can happen, the best thing is to die for the numberless sentient beings, for every sentient being. So, take all the sentient beings’ viruses, sicknesses, defilements, negative karmas, obscurations, the suffering of death and its cause, negative karma and defilements, all those collected from beginningless rebirths, into your heart and destroy the enemy, the self-cherishing thought and grasping at the I as real, and let sentient beings become enlightened. So, you should do that.

To die for sentient beings is the best death. His Holiness says that dying for sentient beings is the best death. Only dying of the virus and not dying otherwise is foolish thinking; you are deceiving yourself. Dying with full awareness and thinking in the most positive way is the happiest death. We collect skies of merit every time we do this and it is the quickest way to achieve enlightenment. Like a warrior who runs toward the bullets however many guns there are, we are a warrior of bodhicitta, which destroys the self-cherishing thought, our enemy. This is the quickest way for us to achieve enlightenment, so we can quickly free all sentient beings from suffering and bring them to enlightenment.

So, letting go of I and cherishing others is an unbelievably fortunate practice. By letting go of the I, all happiness comes. By cherishing others, however much we have to suffer, however much pain we experience for sentient beings, it becomes the quickest way to free sentient beings from samsara and bring them to enlightenment.

Thank you very much. So here you can enjoy the virus, since you are going to use it in the best way.

With much love and prayers ...