Cardiovascular Disease

My most dear most precious, kindest, wish-fulfilling one Anita,
How are you ? I am sorry about your mother, so I want to say you can pray for her while you are eating and while you are in the toilet. Of course I am joking, but you can pray for her any time, no problem.

I checked and these two pujas should be done for your mum:

• she-nyin dü-dog, by Dagri Rinpoche
• mamo-trü-kang, by Kopan elder monks

I will also make prayers for her.

Please tell your mother to read more Dharma books. She can read books by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Yeshe and also my books. This is the most important help, not only for this life, but it will bring more peace, happiness and satisfaction in this life, so even this life will become more happy.

Soon we will experience the nature of life—as you know after birth there is death, so even though the body disintegrates, the consciousness continues to the next life, which is not one but numberless. This continues until we are able to actualize the true path, direct perception of emptiness, then we achieve the true cessation of suffering, the blissful state of peace for oneself. Not only that, then there is ultimate happiness, full enlightenment, the peerless happiness, the state of omniscient mind, so that we can do perfect works for sentient beings and we can liberate numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to full enlightenment.

So we should practice Dharma, doing meditation, to achieve this goal. This is the biggest goal, the most happy thing to do in the life. This is the most beneficial thing to do for others, for numberless sentient beings.

When your mother experienced this problem of the arm injury and so on, this is telling us to think of the reality of life, to make the life most beneficial for sentient beings and for ourselves. So it means to pay attention to this, to think deeply about life.

When are you going to translate or give teachings? I thought maybe to do a big celebration on the day when you start to translate or give teachings. Maybe I should inaugurate you by putting you on a throne.

With much love and prayers. I hope to see you soon...

Rinpoche checked and said at this time it came out good to leave it there (ie not to have the operation) but this can be checked again in the future. Rinpoche wanted to pass this message to you:

My very dear one,
So sorry to hear that, but since we are in samsara, something like this has to happen. The only solution is to be out of samsara and that is possible only by practicing Dharma and actualizing the path; actualizing the four noble truths—the true path and true cessation—and that is without talking about full enlightenment.

It is good to make your life most meaningful and to recite OM MANI PADME HUM. Live your life with bodhicitta motivation or meditate on bodhicitta and, of course, lamrim meditation and study of lamrim, which is the very essence of Dharma. Thank you very much, most welcome, my prayers to you.

With much love and prayers... 

I have checked and said this is what needs to be done:

1. Gyab-shi
2. Mamo-trü-kang 
3. Dü-kar: 10 times, by the monks at Kopan Monastery

My most dear one,
According to my divination, these are some things you should try to get done:

1) Zang cho chi lu (Zang cho is the King of Prayers and Chi Lu is a puja called Betraying Death). The latter needs to be done by a geshe. It is the Betraying Death puja based on the King of Prayers.

2) Liberate animals: The number should be according to how old you are, but it would be beneficial if you can do more than that. Liberate them according to my method: reciting mantras and taking them around holy objects.

3) It is very important to do Medicine Buddha puja three times.

4) Mamo trü kang puja: three times. I will do this puja.

5) Mitukpa practice: Four malas a day.

After having done these pujas, then it would be good to have the triple bypass operation.

It is very good to do Mitukpa practice – four malas a day – for strong purification. While you recite the mantra, think that you are purifying all sickness and spirit harm. It is most important to focus on feeling that all negative karma, delusions, and obscurations are purified.

Anyway, even if this treatment is successful, still there are other conditions causing death. We have very little time to live anyway, so we must practice Dharma, lamrim, and the heart practice – bodhicitta.

It is very good if you can take the eight Mahayana precepts as many times as possible. This is very important for having a good rebirth in a pure land, for meeting the Dharma, to practice Dharma, etc.

There is not much time to live one’s life. Because of distractions, one’s life can become meaningless.

Thank you very much sweetheart.

With big love and prayers,

Lama Zopa

Student (two months later): After my initial catastrophic heart test results, my angiogram last week only established "very minor problems" for which I can continue to take medication. There is no longer any need for any operations. In fact, I don't need to see my cardiologist until next year. This is a complete surprise and no one can quite explain it.

My very dear ones,
Sorry for the many eons of delay in replying to your email.

Regarding your mother, it comes out very beneficial for her to recite the Long Life Sutra (I think there is a Chinese translation now). Please tell her that it is very important that she recites this to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. Also, she can recite it for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, all holy beings, all the Sanghas, all the supporters of the Sangha (because the Sangha pass on the teachings of Buddha, so this helps the Buddha’s teachings to exist in the world for a long time), also anyone who does good in the world, anyone who lives according to morality, and anyone who does not harm others, so they all can have a long life. Then, at the end, if she can dedicate the merits to the Maitreya Project, all the projects of the FPMT, also for all the family members to have the most meaningful life, to attain the path of enlightenment as quickly as possible, to have a long life, and for all wishes to succeed according to the holy Dharma.

Also, it comes out very, very good for her to do the extensive light offering practice. This is the booklet I put together many years ago. [Go to the FPMT Catalogue to find links to Extensive Offering Practice, the latest version of this booklet.] This doesn’t mean only to offer light offerings; she can offer anything: water bowls, fruit, etc. Set up the offerings and then bless them with mantras—recite the clouds of offering mantra and then do the practice.

If possible she can do this every day. Then, whoever is helping her can help her set up and do the practice with her. You can offer electric Christmas lights, one packet has 100 lights in it, so you can offer a few, or candles.

If you can email back your postal address I have some photos of buddhas that I want to send to your mother, so that she can place them on the altar where she makes the offerings.

Also, I am making prayers for her every day and the Sangha in my house are too.

With much love and prayers...

1. You need to have five Drugchuma pujas performed. There is a lama in the United States who can do this.
2. She nyin dü dog puja: To be performed by the Lama Gyupa monks at Kopan Monastery. You can send an email Kopan to organize this.
3. Ga gön puja: You need to be present during this puja, and a lama, geshe, or monk should perform it. Do you know anyone? Maybe there is someone connected with the Dharma center?
4. You also need White Umbrella protection. This protection needs to be folded and then kept with you at all times on the upper part of your body, like in your pocket.

I am also making prayers for you.