Question asked by Sameer
Dear H.E. Tsem Rimpoche and the Pastor,
My friend's sister is suffering from mental illness Schizophrenia. We did medication but because of some reasons she left the medicine after she felt that she had a bit recovered. Now, the illness again is showing its tantrum. Shouting, accusing, blaming, showing anger are all like repeating again. She refuses to take medicine and we have to give it her without letting her know. My friend and her family live in a rent. This is really creating unhealthy social environment within the family as well as in the neighborhood. Can a prayer of Dorje Shugden help to bring the situation in control? If yes, what should we do? That will be a great relief to us. Wish my faith on Shugden works for her!
Warm Regards
Dear Sameer,
I’m sorry to hear that your friend’s sister is suffering from Schizophrenia. The best course of action here would be to try and persuade her back to taking the medications she was prescribed, and make her understand, in a loving way, that even though she thought she had felt ok for a while, it was because the medications were working, however for this recovery to continue, she needs to be taking the medication. You should consult a qualified psychologist, if you have not already done so.
From a Buddhist perspective, all situations we go through in life is due to karma created either earlier in this life or from countless previous lives. Depending on how powerful this karma is, certain pujas and practices can be beneficial, but only if we put in the effort into improving the situation ourselves.
You can certainly engage in pujas that can help, but the energies of the enlightened beings need to flow through into our lives, and this is done through our own efforts. Therefore the pujas will definitely work as long as there is active effort in improving her situation and following the advice of qualified medical professionals in her treatment.
Pujas that you can engage in and dedicate to your friend include Dorje Shugden (to remove obstacles in her treatment, you can sponsor here: http://www.vajrasecrets.com/dorje-shugden-wishfulfilling-puja-fund), Medicine Buddha puja (to help the effectiveness of treatment, available to sponsor here: http://www.vajrasecrets.com/medicine-buddha-puja-fund), alternatively you can have a Guru Puja performed (to create an immense force of merit for your friend, http://www.vajrasecrets.com/lama-chopa-puja-fund). These are all pujas you can have sponsored for your friend to help the situation.
Alternative, you yourself can engage in the daily practice of any deity and dedicate the merits from the practice to your friend. The best thing however, would be for your friend to engage in practices herself if she is willing to. This will benefit her spiritually and help to alleviate obstacles she is facing. One such practice she can engage in is Shize (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/dorje-shugden/shize-a-practice-for-healing-and-long-life.html), who is the peaceful and healing form of Dorje Shugden. The other I can recommend is Medicine Buddha (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/prayers-and-sadhanas/medicine-buddha-practice.html). I hope this helps.