Flowers at Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, Washington, US, 2015. Photo by Chris Majors.
Student Linda McDonald from Langri Tangpa Centre in Brisbane, Australia, shares her story of meeting the Dharma and healing from very serious illness:
As a pre-Buddhist, I assumed that everything was permanent until one Saturday morning I woke up and I could not see properly. I got out of bed and fell against the wall. I tried to call out to my family, but no words came out.
The medical center my husband took me to panicked and called an ambulance. After days in the hospital and many tests, the professor of neurology there diagnosed me with multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disorder that affects the nervous system.
It was 2003. I was 41 with two small children and with a fear so great I worried it may paralyze me before MS would.
Well-meaning friends and family sent me articles about MS (very depressing!). The professor told me there is no cure, they do not understand what causes it, and its progression is completely unpredictable (great!). I was prescribed self-injections every two days for life. I spent the next six weeks on sick leave hoping that my sight would return. I had gone from independent, active, working and energetic to unable to see out of one eye, unable to drive and unable to spend more than an hour out of bed. At this time, I also realized that I had had many other illnesses recently: asthma, bronchitis, chest infections, the odd bout of pneumonia, frequent migraines, depression and back pain.
Linda (in green)
But, the existence of my small children would not allow me to wallow in self-pity. I decided that I would do everything I was told may help – then at least I could stop worrying. What else could I do?
Because the progression of MS is unpredictable (and paralysis and the eventual need for a wheelchair are possible!), I decided to start traveling with my family. In 2007, on a family adventure in Thailand, we visited the Chang Mai Buddhist temple. We received a blessing from a monk there and I picked up a small book called “Karma for Travelers.” When we returned, I read this unassuming and modest book. It changed my life.
For the first time I had a very simple understanding about karma. If I was sick, the only person to blame was me. It was a huge relief to know that this was not some random event that happened to me. I know it can be hard for some people to accept responsibility for the rotten stuff in their lives, but for me, it seemed like a moment of great potential: If I created this, could I also fix it?
After this epiphany, I went in search of Buddhist centers in Brisbane, Australia. I started studying in 2008 at Langri Tangpa Centre (LTC) under the skilled and compassionate tuition of Miffi Maximillion and Eddie Peet. Their teaching and guidance showed me that, in fact, I could purify the negative karma that I had created over my past lives. It was possible over time to transform my present and future lives.
In 2008, I began a daily Guru Shakyamuni Buddha practice and the Discovering Buddhism course. At the end of that year, I took refuge with Geshe Tashi Tsering. In 2009, I began a 35 Buddhas purification practice. In 2010, only after the great encouragement from my Dharma buddy Carolyn Mason, I took part in a Great Chenrezig initiation from Geshe Tashi Tsering and completed three nyung näs at Chenrezig Institute. And in 2011, we completed a second set of three nyung näs at Chenrezig. Throughout all this time, I continued to inject medication for MS.
Thousand-Arm Chenrezig, Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, 2015. Photo by Chris Majors.
Amazingly, in 2012, my neurologist discontinued my medication and declared me cured of MS, telling me that he couldn’t remember anyone being cured of MS in his 25-year career. (Many people go in to remission for unknown reasons, but not for this many years. Also, when they are in remission, they are still required to be medicated and have regular check-ups with the specialist. This is not my case.) He did not ask me what I thought had led to my cure from MS, but I knew that the only thing that had changed in my life was the study and practice of Buddhism, in particular, the deeply purifying nyung näs.
As of 2015 I have completed 19 nyung näs and also led some nyung nä sessions. I intend to make the nyung näs a yearly practice as the process of purification needs to be continuous and I have much to purify. I have also completed half the 100,000 prostrations to the 35 Buddhas. I continue to study at LTC – my home away from home – and my daily practice includes the sadhanas of Thousand-Arm Chenrezig and Manjushri.
There has been no relapse of my MS, even after the medication was stopped, and all my other previous illnesses have also ceased, apart from the occasional mild migraine.
I remember my life pre-Buddhism as filled with illness and fear. When everyone else was making New Year’s resolutions, I remember wondering if I would cope with what life would throw at me that year. But on New Year’s Day 2012 I woke up smiling and relaxed for the first time thinking, “It doesn’t matter what life throws at me this year, I have the teachings of the Buddha and the support of LTC. It will be OK.”
Linda and friends at Langri Tangpa Centre, Brisbane, Australia
Anything that I may have accomplished is completely due to the support and encouragement of Langri Tangpa Centre, Miffi, Eddie and my Dharma buddies (you know who you are). Without incredible gurus such as Khensur Rinpoche Geshe Tashi Tsering, Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the FPMT organization, a clear path to study and practice would not be available to a housewife in the Australian suburbs. My heartfelt thanks to you all.
For more on FPMT, visit FPMT.org. To find an FPMT center near you, see the FPMT Center Directory.
