Bhikshu Dharmamitra Has New Life

[Will]

As some of you know DM Heng Shou (aka Dharmamitra) is the translator of the excellent Dharma texts from Kalavinka Press. His health has been getting worse for several years. A couple of days ago he was taken into the hospital for a much-needed liver transplant, but at the last moment the head surgeon said the chosen liver was not going to help.

So please call on the Healing Buddha and any other healing forces to keep him well until a good liver can be found. The Buddhadharma still needs his wise & compassionate presence & translation skills!

[kirtu]

As some of you know DM Heng Shou (aka Dharmamitra) is the translator of the excellent Dharma texts from Kalavinka Press. His health has been getting worse for several years. A couple of days ago he was taken into the hospital for a much-needed liver transplant, but at the last moment the head surgeon said the chosen liver was not going to help.

So please call on the Healing Buddha and any other healing forces to keep him well until a good liver can be found. The Buddhadharma still needs his wise & compassionate presence & translation skills!

May Bhikshu Dharmamitra be quickly healed. May he receive all the necessary medical treatment and may that treatment be successful so that he can continue his Bodhisattvic activity.

THADYATA OM BEYKANZE BEYKANZE MAHABEYKANZE RAJA SAMUGATE SOHA

[Indrajala]

May he have a swift recovery.

His translations and skills are so very much required.

[Huifeng]

As some of you know DM Heng Shou (aka Dharmamitra) is the translator of the excellent Dharma texts from Kalavinka Press. His health has been getting worse for several years. A couple of days ago he was taken into the hospital for a much-needed liver transplant, but at the last moment the head surgeon said the chosen liver was not going to help.

So please call on the Healing Buddha and any other healing forces to keep him well until a good liver can be found. The Buddhadharma still needs his wise & compassionate presence & translation skills!

Thanks, Will. I also recently heard this from a few good friends of his, too.

May Ven Heng Shou Dharmamitra be well,
May he be free from illness and pain!!

[Will]

Dharma Master Heng Shou (Dharmamitra) thanks all who prayed or did sadhanas for his good health - keep it up. He hopes to get a new liver soon.

He writes:

Prognosis for transplant relatively soon is still very good and I'm so grateful for the purifications done on my behalf and by so many very recently when, after the cancer surgery, I was hanging by a karmic thread. It obviously made a huge difference!

[Will]

An update from his sister, sent today 4 June:

Currently, he is waiting in ICU to (we hope!) receive his second liver transplant in the space of a week. He has been struggling with end stage liver disease from Hepatitis C for a number of years now. In the past weeks it has progressed to the point that, at last, and most fortunately, and amazingly, he is now listed as Status 1 for the whole Northwest Region. Meaning he is first on the list for a compatible liver from Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, etc.
Anyway, his first transplant last Thursday, was not successful, probably due to the age of the donor. Now, after an excruciating and very painful five day wait, he is due to receive a liver from a young person, if all pans out. It's a very up and down affair, always shifting in what are the current conditions. So, he may not end up getting this one if, in the final hour the surgeon deems it not of appropriate quality. This has happened before. Even today he was scheduled for surgery at 8 am, 9am and now it's tentatively at 5 this afternoon.

Continue to send blessings & healing thoughts to Bhikshu Dharmamitra (Mitra for short).

[Huifeng]

Thanks Will, I just received the same email, passed over by another friend in Washington.

I really think that his good karma is coming on in now, and hope that this operation will be the one to turn around the situation, and bring him back to good health.

[Will]

Another liver rejected for transplant; but at least Mitra's Doctor is getting some to choose from.

He is very exhausted and in great discomfort, but at least was able to eat the yogurt, and vegee dish I brought. Poor guy was on an IV since last night. He will rest and is determined to persevere, summon all his strength and make it to the next offer of a liver. Which will now be met with guarded optimism. As in, We'll believe it when it's in him!

[Indrajala]

Another liver rejected for transplant; but at least Mitra's Doctor is getting some to choose from.

He is very exhausted and in great discomfort, but at least was able to eat the yogurt, and vegee dish I brought. Poor guy was on an IV since last night. He will rest and is determined to persevere, summon all his strength and make it to the next offer of a liver. Which will now be met with guarded optimism. As in, We'll believe it when it's in him!

May a suitable liver come to him swiftly.

I really hope he recovers soon.

[Ngawang Drolma]

[Will]

Latest update:

At last, (though it may seem and is, totally out of left field given my last communique!) , Mitra was just wheeled down to OR at 8:20 for a second chance at a healthy young liver!
Amazing. What a wild journey. He will be in surgery for about 8 hours. I don't know if they will also tackle the hernia. At anyrate, things are moving in the right direction, finally.

May the surgery be successful and may Bhikshu Dharmamitra soon return to good health and live many more years for the Dharma.

[Indrajala]

Thank you for the updates Will.

I have never met the Venerable in person, but his translations are exceptional and useful. His work is very much needed in the world.

May he recover swiftly!

[Will]

Looks very good now!

Mitra just called, and is happy, strong, all systems go! All of the tests on liver function were great this morning, and he says he feels like a human being with a mind again, hurray!
They feel he'll be up for the hernia surgery in 4-5 days. Then, it will be healing, healing.
All for now, but wanted you all to know he's in fantastic spirits.

[Indrajala]

Now when can we see his next translation?

[Will]

To all whom it may concern:

Thought I'd go ahead and pen myself what I hope will be the final installment of the Dharmamitra / Heng Shou updates heretofore so graciously authored by my dear sister.

I was for the first time able only yesterday (6/20) to get up and walk around in monks robes. By coincidence, this day happened to correspond to the 15th memorial ceremony commemorating and celebrating the marvelous bodhisattvic life of my dear late guru, the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua.

Many thanks to all those many people who supported my rescue from a deep chasm of black karma and supported my recovery in so many ways. I am so deeply grateful for all your efforts on my behalf.

Should still take another 6 months to recover completely, but as it stands now, all signs point to the likelihood of genuinely restored health and the ability to continue my life's work of translating sacred Buddhist texts.

With best wishes for the happiness of all, I am ever your friend in Dharma,
Bhikshu Dharmamitra / a.k.a Heng Shou

[Indrajala]

Thank you for the update Will.

I am so glad to hear he is feeling better.

[kirtu]

Excellent news!



May Bhikshu Dharmamitra quickly recover and remain long in the magical realm of samsara in order to teach, translate and beautify this world.

THADYATA OM BEYKANZE BEYKANZE MAHABEYKANZE RAJA SAMUGATE SOHA

[Will]

Samsara goes up & down. Bhikshu Dharmamitra is having a bit of a down now.

Mitra was hauled out by 4 firemen and 3 EMTs last night at 2am. Today they are running tests trying to figure out why he suddenly went in to a high fever and rapid pulse.

It is not the liver causing the fever though.

[kirtu]

TADYATA OM BEYKANZE BEYKANZE MAHABEYKANZE BEYKANZE RAJA SAMUGADTE SOHA

May Ven. Dharmamitra quickly recover. May his life and activities flourish.

[Will]

The latest from Bhikshu Dharmamitra:

As for rumors of my demise, they're still somewhat premature. They finally let me out of the hospital again Thursday... Still feel like merde, principally because I've got some mystery infection they still haven't figured out, even after dozens of tests and exotic diagnostic procedures.

Still aspiring to pull off some phoenix act, get out a few dozen more translations, and maybe even start giving Dharma talks again, this with the intention of clarifying numerous misperceptions western Buddhists cherish about the Path. So, even as horribly painful as this whole process has been (and continues to be), I'm not giving up, period.