My Longevity Comes From Blessings

by Thrangu Rinpoche

I personally believe that being able to live to this age is  entirely 

due to the blessings of the Sixteenth Karmapa and  White Tara. 

Although I face many difficulties in my old  age, I am still able to 

live happily without worries.

It is such a fortunate thing to be able to grow old! There is a saying from my hometown, “A person’s youth is in their fifties.”  From my own experience, I feel that this is rather true.

I did not feel old when I reached fifty. I only felt a little older when I reached sixty, and a lot more so when I got to seventy. Now that I am eighty years old, I feel more significant and rapid changes. It is as if I can feel my body’s condition differ from month to month now.

THE KARMAPA SAID, “YOU MUST PRACTICE WHITE TARA”

When I was around eleven or twelve years old, I travelled from Yushu, Qinghai, with my teacher and family to meet the  Sixteenth Karmapa at Tsurphu monastery. At that time, both the  Karmapa and I were really young. My family hoped that I could receive empowerment from the Karmapa, so we made requests and asked him which yidam deity I should practice.

The Sixteenth Karmapa told me, “In order to lead a long life, you should practice White Tara”, and gave me the White Tara empowerment. Afterwards, I went on a White Tara retreat at Tsurphu monastery for about a month.

I received this precious opportunity due to the kindness of the Six­teenth Karmapa. I remember he also told me, “Spiritual teachers, tulkus, and Rinpoches must lead long lives. They are responsible  for spreading the dharma and benefiting sentient beings, so they  need to have longevity in order to carry out their activities.”

Everyone grows old, although I do feel that I am a little too old at this point. I personally believe that being able to live to this age is entirely due to the blessings of the Sixteenth Karmapa and White  Tara. Although I face many difficulties in my old age, I am still able to live happily without worries.  

THE VARIOUS ILLNESSES IN MY LIFE

I have experienced many illnesses in this life. For example, I once had an abscess growing on my leg, and I also recently underwent knee surgery. I had a difficult time adjusting to the environment when I moved to Sikkim, India from Kham, Tibet. Exacerbated by the poor health care services, I became quite sick at that time. Gradually, I recovered after lengthy treatment with Tibetan medicine.

A few years ago, my eye pressure got really high. The condition was rather severe, and I felt that I might be dying soon.

Right now, the biggest discomfort in my body is with my knees. It is not so easy for me to walk, and they really hurt sometimes. After my knee operation, the doctor said I would need to do physical therapy and exercises for quite a long time. My attendants remind me to do these particular exercises and poses, but sometimes I get really bored with them. It is as if I have nothing else to do but walk around, back and forth, all day.

During my stay in Sikkim, there was a businessman called Dawa Tsering who also underwent knee surgery. The doctor instructed him to do physical therapy after the surgery, but he said, “I had an operation in order to heal my knees. Now that it’s over, my knees should be all good to go. There’s no need to do any therapy.” He thought like this and refused to do any rehabilitation, and eventually lost the ability to walk. He passed away soon after. When I think about him, I am reminded to heed the doctor’s instructions and stick to the exercises diligently.

ACCEPTANCE OF AGEING ITSELF IS WONDERFUL

For an older person, walking is more difficult. We tend to have aches in our bodies, our feet and so forth. Putting on or buttoning a shirt used to be such a simple task. Now that we are older, our shaky hands make fastening a button a tedious challenge. Older people have trouble sleeping too. Sometimes when I suffer from insomnia, I get up early and use the extra time for practice.

We may feel unwell and our abilities, such as walking, might deteriorate by the month, but we should not allow ourselves to feel overwhelmed or upset by our condition. Even though we experience this process of ageing, it is important to think of it as a positive thing. Even if we have only one month left to live, we should enthusiastically seize this opportunity to recite prayers,  accumulate merit, and do our practices.