Explanations, Details and Procedures About the Finished Medicine Factory
ཕེབས་པར་དགའ་བསུ་ཞུ། (good fortune),
I am immensely pleased to announce that after all of the struggle and hard work from the amchi, traders, farmers and builders in our village, the building of our very own medicine factory is complete and ready to be used for the benefit of all. However, like the many life-changing events in our village, we cannot entirely get rid of the negative karma that follows suit. Before I provide an explanation to the community about these unfortunate occurrences and negative karmic effects, I would like to explain the process of completion of the factory and its details. As the members of this village and I came together to accomplish this goal, we stressed to each other just how vital it is for this factory and the medicine it produces to be accessible to all. It is for this reason that I want to take the time to provide all the required information to the entire village.
As previously mentioned to the village in my last correspondence, a starting point for our group was to determine the structural and building aspect of the factory. The builders finally went on their expedition to the vacant building on the east side of our village. They found that the architecture and layout of the building was optimal for a factory setting. They pursued a project of their own to restore it to a prime condition that is safe and efficient for our medicine factory. After this was finished, they built large tables made out of nut trees for all herbs to dry before they are prepared in pill form. At last, the factory needed the enormous and infamous Tibetan vats found in Lhasa’s factory, in order to turn the powdered herbs into pill form. They used copper in order to construct these structurally sound vats.
After the structural and building aspect of the factory was resolved, the amchi and I were responsible for researching and deciding what medication the factory should produce for the public and the ingredients required for these medications. We came to a unanimous decision that the 22 different traditional herbs known to produce the medicine called PADMA 28 was essential to the health and vitality of the village. These 22 traditional herbs include anything from bamboo, grapes saffron, hippophae and crateus to gentian, aconite, berberis, piper, terminalia, aquilegia, rhodiola, nettles, dandelion and calendula. The other amchi and I are hopeful that these traditional herbs and specifically the production of PADMA 28 will aid in the unrelenting and widespread circulatory disorders found in our village. I would like to emphasize that the amchi and I have decided to abstain from using animal products in our ingredients. We believe that in order to abide by our goal of accessibility I mentioned above, it is crucial to not include killed animal parts for our medication. If this was a concern of yours when hearing about the construction of a medicine factory in our village, be rest assured that we have thought of this issue.
Once the amchi and I had come up with this list of essential herbs, we provided it to the farmers to ensure timely growth. The farmers were able to grow all of the herbs within our village and on their own land making the work of traders significantly easier. As for the traders, they have coordinated with the farmers a daily system that will provide the factory with a daily supply of required materials.
As you can see, the construction of the medicine factory was a lengthy process but the amchi, builders, farmers, traders and I believe that we have generated something to be proud of. Nonetheless, now that I have discussed the details of the medicine factory and its success, I must warn my fellow villagers of the destructive events that occurred along the way. Unfortunately, one of the farmers, Junyeon Kim brought back poisonous ginseng to the factory from his expedition to find ginseng, among other herbs. Unknowingly to the factory workers, they used this poisonous ginseng to create some Tibetan medicine that was given to the villager Tashi Delek. As of right now, and with the assistance of some of the amchi’s and I, we were able to restore her back to health. BUT, this was not the only destructive event to occur along the lengthy process. After a few days of the factory being in fully functioning status, the workers brought to our attention that the building is haunted. All of the villagers and I who have worked on this venture together are not quite sure what may have caused this haunting. I am starting to believe that this building was vacant for a reason. Possibly, when the builders went on their expedition to restore this vacant building, they upset some wrathful deities. Most specifically, I believe that this haunting may be the work of the protector of the region deity known as ksetrapalas. As of right now, we are contacting the ritualists in our village to help us remove the presence and wrath of this deity through specific ritual practices. Hopefully, many of their protective amulets and talismans will become of use.
Even though, after this correspondence many will be wondering what the villagers could have done to receive such negative karmic effects, it is important to remember that karma causality is flexible and not rigid. Essentially, a Buddhist practitioner can receive the effects of negative karma from earlier lives- lives that we can no longer remember in our current state. That being said, please do not let these negative events take away from the amazing things our village has accomplished to date. As long as we are all trying to abide by the four noble truths and the noble eightfold path, liberating ourselves from ignorance and attempting to reach nirvana, we should continue to do so without hestitation.
Words of gratitude from a pleased amchi,
Dainin Daeshim
