Dear Santosree Rath,

I'm very sorry to read about the health problems that your son has been facing. From a Buddhist perspective in these instances we should always do two things. The first is to seek professional medical help, as the illness can be treatable with modern medication if it is diagnosed. This will lead to your son being able to live a normal healthy lifestyle.

From the spiritual side, the psychical illness is caused by negative karma from previous lives. This negative karma manifests in this life as an illness. So, with Buddhism there are many methods of purifying this negative karma so that it no longer affects your son.

One of the best ways to purify this karma is for your son to engage in the practice of Shize Dorje Shugden. This form of Dorje Shugden is specifically for the healing of illnesses and for long life. You can read more about this practice and learn how to engage in it here: http://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/dorje-shugden/shize-a-practice-for-healing-and-long-life.html.

If your son is old enough, you can teach him the prayers and mantras and he can engage in the practice himself. Otherwise if he is young, you should try to teach him the mantra which he can recite for healing. The key to this practice is consistency. It should be done every day with great faith and trust is Shize and you will see that he helps you. He is a Buddha so only wants the best for people, when we make a connection with him through prayer and mantra recitation, he is able to help us.

This practice also helps to create the karmic causes for any medical treatment done to be as effective as possible. That is why you should visit your local medical healthcare professional to get the best treatment for your son as well. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Geri,

Thank you for your question. Yes, you can recite the mantra to Dorje Shugden at any time of the day, as long as you are in a respectful place (for example, not in the washroom). Usually mantras are recited in front of one's altar as part of a daily practice. However, if you do not have enough time to do this, you can of course recite the mantra whenever convenient.

Mantras are usually recited together with visualisation as part of a daily practice. This would be most beneficial but due to time constraints of a modern lifestyle, this can be hard to do. So of course, you can recite mantras whenever you can.

As Dorje Shugden is an enlightened being, he will not be angered if you don't recite his mantra in front of the altar. In fact, Dorje Shugden acts out of compassion for all sentient beings, therefore whenever you recite his mantra, you are making a divine connection with his energies. This is something that is very beneficial and can be done any time. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Rohit Sinha,

Thank you for your question. There are many lamas throughout India that can help you with this. You can contact Serpom Monastic University in Karnataka State as they are one of the biggest monasteries in India that practises Dorje Shugden. They should be able to provide you with current and up=to-date information about which lamas can help you in this regard, follow this link to their website for their contact details: http://serpommonastery.org/uncategorized/contact/

I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Hello Neeks,

Thank you for your question. In Buddhism we believe that we all have such emotional tendencies and that we react in different ways to different people in various situations. This is mirrored in secular psychology. However in Buddhism we have very effective methods to overcome these tendencies so that we can get along with people and have a better control over our own emotions. When people tell us we need to control our tendencies, this is easier said than done and most of the time we think that we cannot because it is just too hard. But stopping these tendencies takes time and practice, because they are so ingrained into our minds.

In Buddhism, this is achieved through meditation of which there are many forms. But luckily, the practice of Dorje Shugden not only calls upon his energies to transforms our lives but is itself a form of meditation. As for what karma you are dealing with, actually you shouldn't view it as what kind of karma that you are dealing with, but that you are in fact just dealing with karma. According to Buddhist philosophy we have all had countless previous rebirths and the actions we took in those lives affects us now because they have become tendencies. So these tendencies are a manifestation of our karma. That is why Buddhism places strong emphasis on controlling our body, speech and mind, so that we can overcome these tendencies and not let them affect our future.

Dorje Shugden's practice is perfect for this. You can begin the practice by reciting the short prayer here: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/starting-on-dorje-shugdens-practice. And then recite as many mantras as possible. There is an explanation of the meaning of the mantra and the visualization here: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/dorje-shugdens-mantra. You use the recitation of the mantra and the visualization as the object of your meditation. You may find this hard to do at first, but over time with consistent practice, you will see that your mind will start to become calmer and you are able to handle whatever life throws at you in a more balanced way. What's more, creating a connection with Dorje Shugden will help to make your life obstacle free as that is one of the benefits of his practice.

When most people engage in his practice, they want something or ask for something, like the clearing of obstacles, etc. But what you are after is something more higher, it is the ability to control your mind from negative emotions so that your life can improve, which is a very good intention to have. You can just say to yourself "through this practice may I be able to control my thoughts and disturbing emotions be lessened" before you begin the practice. This will be a very good way to set the intention or motivation when engaging in the practice. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Yong,

Yes, it is acceptable to recite the prayers and mantras without being in front of the altar. Dorje Shugden is an enlightened being and will hear your prayers no matter where you are. However, it is advisable to recite your prayers in front of your altar, because you altar acts as a physical connection with the enlightened beings. At the same time, you can make physical offerings before you engage in the practice, generating more merit which is something we all need, both in our every day life and our spiritual path. That being said, sometimes it may not be conducive to recite in front of an altar, therefore you can recite wherever you are.

As for the visualisation when reciting, it is ok if you cannot visualise at first. You can just recite for now, but as you get used to the practice, you can start by learning the visualisation part by part. That would be extremely beneficial. It is said to make the most of out any practice you should engage your body, speech and mind. You engage your body by sitting down to recite, not engaging in any other activity, you engage your speech by reciting the prayers, and you engage your mind when you do the visualisations. This is the best, but even if you cannot visualise, you are still engaging you body and speech, which is also very beneficial and will generate the spiritual merit and remove obstacles that are part of the practice. I hope this helps.

Thank you.