Life and Health Obstacles
A student experienced a mini-stroke influenced by several factors, including low potassium and high cortisol levels, which often indicate an adrenal or pituitary tumor. Further investigation would be required if cortisol levels continued to rise.
My very dear one,
I received an update on your health and did some checking. The next year doesn’t look so good for your health.
For your main practice, you should do bodhicitta, tonglen meditation, as much as possible. Next year looks not so good, it seems dangerous, so this year you must do tonglen practice as much as possible. Tonglen practice is the main thing.
Also read Practicing the Five Powers Near the Time of Death; this is main one. [Find links to the PDF in the FPMT Catalogue.]
There is another book from me, edited by Robina Courtin, with my teachings on how to help before or during the death time. [See How to Face Death Without Fear.]
According to my observation, the only way for you to have long life is by offering to stupas. I do this on special days when the merit is multiplied one hundred million times. Later, I started to do it every month, as well as on the special Buddha days. This offering is the whitewash and saffron to the stupa, along with prayer flags, the offering umbrella and canopies around the Boudha Stupa. That is very important for you to do for your long life.
Also offer a long-life puja to the guru. I will have a long-life puja done at Chenrezig Institute, so your practice can combine with that. Every day when you do the seven-limb practice, there is a request for [the guru’s] long life, so when you do that, you visualize a golden throne, well-decorated with jewels, with a double vajra in front and offer to the gurus. You can do that, then the long-life puja at Chenrezig Institute that was arranged for you, so you can be there and be part of that.
Otherwise, the normal practices for long life, the many practices to do, they didn’t come out for you.
You should take the inner offering pill nine times each day for five days.
With much love and prayers ...