UPDATE about Ven. Lama Kunga Rinpoche’s travels

Ven. Lama Kunga Rinpoche is currently home in residence at Ewam Choden.  Come join him in the Sunday Chenrezi compassion meditation!

  Lama Kunga Rinpoche attended the teachings of H.H. Sakya Trizin in Walden, New York from the end of March through April. and then in Vancouver, B.C., Canada,  in early May.   Prior to attending the New York teachings, Lama Kunga Rinpoche gave empowerments and teachings to a group of students in New Jersey.  In June and early July, he was in Europe.

Please click on the CALENDAR on the right side of this page for information about Lama Kunga Rinpoche’s travels and the events at Ewam Choden.

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Lama Kunga Rinpoche’s Status

July 16, 2009 by  
Filed under LAMA KUNGA RINPOCHE UPDATES

It is July 16, four days since Rinpoche was admitted for stomach ulcer, and the day after his release!

We will endeavor to post updates on his increasing strength here on the website. Check back often, and we ask for a ittle patience  -we are new with this blogging thing!! You can add you comments to this Posting by Clicking on its specific Comment icon immediately to the right of the Post’s title. (it looks like a cartoon voice bubble!)

I will start the post by including a recent email to EC membership, from our Treasurer and dear friend to Rinpoche, Robin Tickner.

Also, Medicine Buddha is one of several sadhanas that we have on the website for download. CLICK HERE and a separate window will open with that page.

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Dear Friends:

Thank for all for your prayers for our precious Lama Kunga.  I am pleased to report that he is much better and may be allowed to go home today, but tomorrow for sure.

I was at the hospital this morning when the GI doctor came in.  He confirmed that the stomach ulcer was small and should heal without further risk now that the blood thinning medication has been stopped.  He did take a biopsy of the ulcer yesterday.  The test result will take 7-10 days.  They are looking for evidence of the bacterium called h – phylori, which is known to cause stomach ulcers.  This would be a good finding because it can be easily treated with a course of antibiotics.

Even though Rinpoche has passed this crisis, he still has serious health issues which will need careful management, including diabetes and an irregular heartbeat.  The blood thinning medication was used to prevent the formation of blood clots, a common side effect of an irregular heart beat.  A blood clot which gets loose and travels to the heart muscle or to the brain can cause a life threatening event, such as a heart attack or a stroke.  Rinpoche’s doctors have taken him off this drug for 6-8 weeks while the ulcer heals.  They will then evaluate what medication (if any) to start.  So please continue to keep Rinpoche in your prayers.

Once Rinpoche gets home, he will need to have lots of rest and time to recover.  We will be setting up a visiting schedule so he can still see visitors but not become overtired or over stressed.  I know you will all want to cooperate in allowing him uninterrupted periods of rest.

Several of you have asked what you can do for Rinpoche at this time.  The best thing is to continue your prayers.  If you feel you would like to do something special, Rinpoche would appreciate a contribution towards the support of the retreat center, Tharpa Cho Ling, which is so close to his heart.  Some of you have already done this, or made a pledge and we are most grateful.  Thank you very much.

Also many of you know that Rinpoche’s birthday is July 25.  At this time we do not know if we will be going ahead with plans for a party. It be just too much right now. I will try and keep you all posted when I know more.  Birthday cards are welcome, but Rinpoche would prefer contributions for Tharpa Cho Ling in lieu of presents.  Again, thank you.

Personally, this has been a real whack on the side of the head for me.   It scared me half to death thinking how close we came to losing him.   They had to give him 4 pints of plasma and 2 pints of whole blood before the bleeding stopped.   Terrifying. It made me realize how important this precious human life is, both Rinpoche’s and my own, and that I should not take this opportunity to practice Dharma for granted.   Whack!

Thankfully our precious teacher is still with us,  and we with him.  I know all the prayers for him were seriously beneficial.  I’m proud to be part of this sangha, this amazing group of students and friends dedicated to Rinpoche’s health and happiness, and to his life’s work serving the Dharma.  May we all be blessed to remain here with him for many years to come.

Love to you all,

Robin

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