Editor’s Note: Perhaps it is time for all to realize the truely healing capacity that is actually within us. In the allopathic (system of medicine that aims to combat disease by using remedies (such as drugs or surgery) used by the majority of the world today, pills/drugs are used to prevent symptoms…but not without the presentation of even more harmful symptoms. (Just watch any prescription ad on TV!).

So where can we turn for healing instead? Please read through the Eastern method for healing, which ultimately focuses on the human mind and it’s healing capacity. Learn how to better focus your own mind for self-healing, allowing you to hold and BE in…

Quantum Joy!

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It is no coincidence that the words “medication” and “meditation” are only one letter different. They both come from the same Latin root word, medeor, meaning “to heal or to make whole.”

In the West, our medical focus is on the external—on the curing of physical symptoms—while Eastern traditions focus more on the internal, that is, addressing the mental causes of illness. It is our good fortune to be living at a time when we can access the best of both worlds.

Medicine Buddha meditation is a healing practice treasured by many in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. We can practice it for ourselves, or for someone we care about who is ill. The oldest Medicine Buddha sutra we know about dates from the seventh century. In that sutra, we are told the story of a bodhisattva, Medicine Buddha, who made twelve vows about how he would help living beings after attaining enlightenment. The holistic healing of mind and body was an important focus of his vows: he promised to help eradicate pain, disease, and disabilities of all kinds, as well as promote good health and optimal flourishing.

When we practice Medicine Buddha meditation, we do not do so to replace mainstream medical treatment, but to complement it. The practice purifies and removes the underlying, karmic causes of disease and cultivates the causes for holistic well-being. Such may be the power of our practice that we experience significant improvements in the symptoms, too. But we need to be clear about what we are doing.

Medicine Buddha is as much about mind as it is body. Empirical evidence shows that when we meditate, it triggers a self-repair mechanism in our own bodies. We stop producing cortisol and adrenalin, and instead enhance the production of immune-boosting endorphins and seratonin, arming our body against invasive bacteria, viruses, and other imbalances. These changes also promote positive mental states.

An element of confidence in the practice is helpful. The placebo effect is said to account for more than a third of all healing. Medicine Buddha meditation has been practiced for thousands of years. If we have confidence that it can work for us, then we’re off to a very good start.

Resonance may also account for the powerful impact of Medicine Buddha practice. On one level, we may be sitting alone in a room meditating, but in a different way we are resonating with the many hundreds of thousands of people who have done exactly the same thing before us. We’re benefiting from their experience and contributing to the experience of those who follow.

When doing this practice, it’s important to retain an awareness that you are not an inherently existent person asking an inherently existent buddha to get rid of an inherently existent illness. This would be little different from a theistic or shamanistic approach. It is precisely because nothing has any true, separate, or independent existence—including illness—that practices like this have power.

We invoke Medicine Buddha through the use of specific imagery and sound, reaching out to the consciousness of those numberless beings who have already attained enlightenment and who have chosen to manifest Medicine Buddha’s qualities.

The minds of buddhas are understood to be all-seeing and all-knowing. Buddhas react to their mantra in the same way we react when we hear our name mentioned, so we pretty much have a buddha on speed dial when we use their mantra. To borrow a metaphor from the late Tibetan teacher Gelek Rinpoche, when we recite a buddha’s mantra we are providing a hoop through which they can hook us into their energetic influence.

Note that Medicine Buddha is a Kriya tantra practice. As such, it is helpful that you first have some familiarity with the sutra tradition, as well as receive proper initiations and teachings from a properly qualified teacher, if you wish to fully embody the precious Medicine Buddha lineage.

How to Practice Medicine Buddha Meditation

GETTING STARTED

Find a quiet place to meditate and assume the optimal meditation posture for you. Take refuge in the Buddha, dharma, and sangha, and then spend a short time establishing your motivation in a heartfelt way. You may think or say: “By this practice of Medicine Buddha, may I (or the being for whom I am practicing) be purified of all disease, pain, and suffering, and enjoy robust good health, and attain complete and perfect enlightenment to lead all other beings to this same state.”

INVITE MEDICINE BUDDHA TO YOUR PRESENCE

Visualize Medicine Buddha sitting, looking at you. He is depicted as having a dark blue (lapis lazuli) body, this being an archetypal color of healing. With his left hand he holds a bowl of healing nectars, and with his right a medicine plant. In your visualization, he is at about the height of your forehead, a few feet in front of you, gazing at you with as much love as a mother for her only child. He is everything beautiful gathered into one.

I recommend having an image of Medicine Buddha in a place where you’ll see it frequently throughout the day. That will make it easier for you to “see” Medicine Buddha when your eyes are shut. After all, the more familiar you are with anything, the easier it is for you to picture it in your mind. (You can easily picture your front door, right?) Even if your visualization is not great initially, just picturing a blob of blue light is sufficient.

What’s really important is to have a very real sense that Medicine Buddha is actually there. That if you looked up, or opened your eyes, you would see him. Try and cultivate the feeling that you are in the presence of a truly amazing being. If you’ve ever had the privilege of being in an audience with someone such as the Dalai Lama, you will know that there is a palpable sensation to his being there. Try to imagine this same energetic presence with Medicine Buddha.

MAKE YOUR REQUEST

Ask Medicine Buddha to eliminate pain, purify disease, and/or rebalance or restore your health (or that of the being for whom you are practicing). You don’t need precise knowledge of the anatomical changes required. What matters here is intention.

Visualize that Medicine Buddha willingly responds to your request. Instantly, healing blue lights and nectars emanate from the bowl in his lap, come to the crown of your head, and flow down, filling your body, or that of the being for whom you are practicing. You can direct the lights and nectars to specific parts of the body, but there is such an abundance of them, that they will fill your whole being anyway.

Imagine that this process instantly, completely, and permanently eliminates and purifies all disease, pain, and suffering and—importantly—the causes of disease, pain, and suffering. In addition, the causes of holistic well-being of mind and body stream in with limitless abundance.

While visualizing this process, recite Medicine Buddha’s mantra. There are a few variants of the mantra, depending on lineage. This is one version of the mantra, which is in Sanskrit:

TAYATA, OM BEKADZE BEKADZE
MAHA BEKADZE BEKADZE,
RADZA SAMUNGATE
SOHA

This is pronounced:

Tie-ya-tar, om beck-and-zay beck-and-zay
ma-ha beck-and-zay beck-and-zay
run-zuh sum-oon-gut-eh
so-ha.

Continue the visualization and mantra recitation for at least ten minutes if you are new to the practice. If you are a seasoned meditator, you will probably wish to go on for longer.

DEDICATION

Conclude your session with a dedication, such as, “By this practice of Medicine Buddha, may I (or the being for whom I am practicing), and all beings, be free from pain, disease, and suffering, and quickly achieve complete and perfect enlightenment.”

source: https://www.lionsroar.com/how-to-invoke-the-medicine-buddha/

Bhaisajyaguru (Medicine Buddha) Mantra

The Medicine Buddha, or Bhaiśajyaguru, is as his name suggests connected with healing. His mantra exists in both long and short forms. In its long form it is:

namo bhagavate bhaiśajyaguru vaidūryaprabharājāya tathāgatāya arhate samyaksambuddhāya tadyathā: oṃ bhaiśajye bhaiśajye bhaiśajya-samudgate svāhā.

The short form is:

(tadyathā:) oṃ bhaiśajye bhaiśajye mahābhaiśajye bhaiśajyarāje samudgate svāhā.

“Bhaisajya” means “curativeness” or “healing efficacy,” while “guru” means “teacher” or “master.” Thus he’s the “master of healing.” He’s also known as Bhaisajyaraja, “raja” meaning “king.”

The short form of the mantra could roughly be translated as “Hail! Appear, O Healer, O Healer, O Great Healer, O King of Healing!” The optional “tadyathā” at the beginning means “thus,” and it’s not really part of the mantra, but more of an introduction.

The long version could be rendered as, “Homage to the Blessed One, The Master of Healing, The King of Lapis Lazuli Radiance, The One Thus-Come, The Worthy One, The Fully and Perfectly Awakened One, thus: ‘Hail! Appear, O Healer, O Healer, O Great Healer, O King of Healing!’ ”

In Tibetan pronunciation, the mantra comes out as:

(Tad-ya-ta) Om Be-kan-dze Be-kan-dze Ma-ha Be-kan-dze Ra-dza Sa-mung-ga-te So-ha

(Tibetan is from an entirely different language group from Sanskrit, and so it’s even harder for Tibetans to approximate Sanskrit pronunciations than it is for English speakers).

Bhaiśajyaguru is one of a set of eight healing Buddhas, which includes Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha. Bhaiśajyaguru is the head Buddha of the group.

He is Lapis Lazuli blue in color, although sometimes he’s depicted as golden-skinned. He is dressed in the robes of a bhikśu (monk). His left hand rests in his lap in the mudra (hand gesture) of meditation, while in his right hand, held palm upwards at the right knee, he holds a branch of the healing myrobalan plant.

In his left hand, which rests in his lap in the dhyana (meditation) mudra, he holds a bowl of amrita — the nectar of immortality.

The idea of the Buddha as healer goes back — as a metaphor — to the days of the historical Buddha. It’s said, in fact, that the formula of the Four Noble Truths is based on a medical model of diagnosis, etiology, prognosis, and therapy. The Buddha demonstrates in the historical teachings a good knowledge of anatomy and physiology, at least by the standards of his time, and although he almost certainly wasn’t trained in the medical arts he seems to have had some knowledge of them.

Later texts, like Santideva’s “Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life,” take up the notion of the Enlightened ones being healers, referring to the Buddha as “the Omniscient Physician who removes every pain.” He also expresses the aspiration, “May I be the medicine and the physician for the sick. May I be their nurse until their illness never recurs.”

Click below to hear an MP3 version:

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Pronunciation notes:

• The h in “bh” is lightly aspirated, similar to the English “abhor”
• ā is like a in father
• e is ay in lay
• v is pronounced halfway between English v and w. If in doubt, then a w sound will do
• ś represents the “sh” sound in the English word “shine”
• In Tibetan pronunciation “svāhā” becomes “soha.” This is technically incorrect from a Sanskrit point of view, but it also has many centuries of tradition behind it, and in any event few Westerners pronounce Sanskrit correctly either! Still, outside of the Tibetan tradition it’s probably best to revert to the best approximation possible of the Sanskrit, where both a’s are long (as in father), and the v comes close to being an English “w” sound.

The following essay, written by Srivandana, was originally published in Dharma Life magazine, and is reprinted here by generous permission of the author.

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The Healing Buddha, by Srivandana

My connection with Bhaiśajyaguru, the Medicine Buddha, goes back many years. Sometimes it feels as though he has been there all my life, waiting for my emergence as a Buddhist, but there was also a natural evolution of the connection. From an early age my life has been marked by ill health, and this seems to have increased as time has gone on. The challenge has been to make sense of this, without being overwhelmed by the sensations of physical and mental pain; to live with the adversity but not to be consumed by it.

In the course of my working life I moved from the superficiality of the “rag trade” (the fashion industry) into the caring professions, and ultimately trained as an art therapist. Working in art therapy meant I could use both my love of art and my desire to help people make sense of the huge range of emotional experiences and responses that characterize life. I wondered, though, where the “spiritual” fitted in with the analytical approach I took in my work.

Then I discovered a book called The Healing Buddha by Raoul Birnbaum, which introduced me to a Buddha of whom I had never heard. My response was immediate: an enormous sense of excitement and relief that this Buddha existed within the vast pantheon of Buddhist deities. My teacher, Sangharakshita, told me he had a painting of the Medicine Buddha that had been given to him when he lived in India. He kindly had it photographed, and a copy was sent to me — the first of many images I was to collect. I fostered this feeling for Bhaisajyaguru as I wanted to be physically and spiritually healed and, more importantly, I wanted to heal others.

In 1989 I wrote to Dhardo Rimpoche, one of Sangharakshita’s Tibetan teachers, and told him about my interest in and feeling for the Medicine Buddha. I see now that I was looking for “lineage.” I wanted to hear about the Buddha I had come to love from one of my teacher’s teachers.

Dhardo Rimpoche replied, saying he appreciated my work as an art therapist, and that healing people in this way would be a great service if I could do it with an open heart. He believed the Medicine Buddha practice would be a great help to me in my work, and said that Tibetan doctors focus on devotion to the Medicine Buddha as well as prescribing medicines.

Perhaps a month after I received this letter, I awoke with a start. Something seemed to propel me from my bed and on to my meditation chair. I closed my eyes and immediately saw in my mind’s eye a dazzlingly clear image of Dhardo Rimpoche, clad in everyday robes. He was smiling, his gaze clear, direct and compassionate. Slowly behind him an image formed of a blue Buddha, the form of Bhaiśajyaguru. Dhardo Rimpoche continued to look towards me with his gentle yet strong face. Gradually the body of Bhaiśajyaguru merged with that of his, as he faded or perhaps became Bhaiśajyaguru. It was an overwhelmingly beautiful experience, which reduced me to tears. I heard a short time later that Dhardo Rimpoche had died on that very day.

I was ordained into the Western Buddhist Order in 1993, and leaped into a new phase of my relationship with Bhaiśajyaguru through taking up his sadhana, a meditation practice focusing upon him. This took our relationship into the realm of visualization, symbol and imagination.

Homage to Bhaiśajyaguru, Master of Healing. Lapis Lazuli Radiance Tathagata!

Clear blue space, blue as the sky on a summer’s day, the bright azure blue where white cliff meets sky. Clear blue space above, below, in front, behind, sweeping round. The space that contains all things and to which all things are reducible; the space that transcends time, the space in which all is stripped away, all is still, all is silent. It is a space that is empty yet full of potential, in which all things are possible; a space that is neither hot nor cold; a space of refinement in which only the beautiful can appear. This is the space in which Bhaiśajyaguru, Master of Healing, will appear if the request is made, if our devotion is absolute, our motive pure and our desire wholehearted.

Homage to Bhaiśajyaguru, Master of Healing. Lapis Lazuli Radiance Tathagata!

White. A shimmering, sun-dazzling white lotus appears, perfectly poised, as if suspended in clear blue space. White-heat, petals strong and upright, embodying an integrated male awareness. White so bright that eyes cannot remain fully open, cannot truly see its glory.

Homage to Bhaiśajyaguru, Master of Healing. Lapis Lazuli Radiance Tathagata!

Soft, quietly glowing, a moon-white mat rests in the calyx of the lotus. The moon is fully integrated femininity, standing by herself, aloof, fearless, noble. She forms a round, whole mat to receive him, ever open to him. There is the unity of the lotus and moon mat, the masculine, the feminine, that prepare to meet him.

Homage to Bhaiśajyaguru, Master of Healing. Lapis Lazuli Radiance Tathagata!

A perfectly formed hand appears, a strong foot, a figure seated in meditation. An overwhelming sense of compassion that brings tears to my eyes. Royal blue eyes set in a beautiful, blue beneficent face. He appears through the blue that transcends space and time. He is deep blue, the color of the finest lapis lazuli. He has a mature male form possessing all the major and minor marks of a Buddha: his deep indigo hair, the indigo curl between his eyebrows, the top-knot surmounting his head, his finely formed limbs — each mark a sign of perfection.

He wears saffron robes, this perfect one, this dweller in the sublime abodes. He holds his left hand as if in meditation, the fingers gently supporting a begging bowl formed from gold-traced lapis lazuli. It contains something mysterious that has the taste of freedom: amrita, sacred nectar.

His right arm stretches downwards, the hand turned outwards in the gesture of giving. In his palm he holds the healing yet bitter-tasting myrobalan fruit, attached to leaves and twigs from its mother tree.

Circling his head is the green halo that marks one who has gone beyond, marks the precious state of Enlightenment. Around his body is a blue aura, for he is the King of Lapis Lazuli Radiance. His mantra resounds:

Om Bhaiśajya Bhaiśajya Mahabhaiśajya Bhaiśajyaraja Samudgate Svaha

Om Bhaiśajya Bhaiśajya Mahabhaiśajya Bhaiśajyaraja Samudgate Svaha

Om Bhaiśajya Bhaiśajya Mahabhaiśajya Bhaiśajyaraja Samudgate Svaha

I wonder how many hours I have spent lying on my bed contemplating the significance of Bhaiśajyaguru. How many hours have I spent gazing at his form – that strong, expansive blue chest – pondering the significance of the myrobalan and the begging bowl with its amrita, the nectar of immortality? Myrobalan is used widely in both Indian and Tibetan medicine. But what exactly is he offering, and why does there appear to be such strength in his right arm, which holds something so mundane?

My quest for healing is slow, taken step by step, but each step produces further clarity and refinement of my views. I have raged against the certain knowledge that there is no physical healing for me in this lifetime. My body is marked by the characteristics of existence — it is impermanent and unsatisfactory and insubstantial. But “mind” is another matter. Mind has potential. I can change how I view and respond to both inner and outer worlds. I do not have to be bound in future lifetimes by the limitations I have brought with me or have created in this life. So what does Bhaiśajyaguru want me to do? The answer is so simple, so obvious, yet so unpalatable. “Take the medicine, Srivandana!” He would like all of us to take the medicine – if we dare!

Medicine tastes nasty and the myrobalan tastes bitter. But if we want to be healed we have to take action, even if that action is difficult and the results are even more so. Imagine being confronted with a bottle labeled “Medicine — Drink Me.” The appearance of the liquid inside the bottle produces a strong feeling of aversion.

But if you know that it is the essence of the great beauty and compassion of Bhaiśajyaguru , if you can see it with the right eyes, the liquid shimmers a lustrous blue. As you remove the cork, a putrid smell assails your nostrils. Perhaps you retch. Yet is there not also the scent of jasmine on a hot summer’s night? Summoning up your courage, you dip a finger into the liquid and taste a drop. Your face screws up in protest. It tastes of everything you do not want to taste. Your stomach recoils, your system rebels. But after a while there comes a sense of ease, release, excitement, joy and — greatest of all — understanding.

The law of impermanence is the most beautiful thing I can possibly imagine. I have made a practice of contemplating impermanence and recognizing that everything is insubstantial and therefore painful and unsatisfactory. Reflecting on impermanence, allowing it to permeate every pore, every particle of my consciousness, rocks me to the core of my being. I feel as though I have been turned inside-out. Yet the law of impermanence is full of potential and is permeated by the beauty of change. The knowledge that this change lies in my hands, and that I can take responsibility for its coming into being, is hugely empowering.

The medicine of the Dharma has to be drunk by the gallon, bathed in, fully absorbed. The vast sea of Dharma stretches into the distance, but a single drop can go a long way. Bhaiśajyaguru also points out the danger of finding oneself in a void of impermanence, without beauty and without sustenance. I need the beauty that I touch through making art and listening to music, through communicating with spiritual friends; as well as the sustenance gained from meditation, in particular meditation on the sublime abodes of positive emotion, or brahmaviharas.

In the Sutra on the Merits of the Fundamental Vows of the Master of Healing Tathagata, Manjusri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, recites the 12 great vows which the Bodhisattva Medicine King made before he attained Buddhahood. One section of the sutra is entitled The Importance of Faith. Faith comes into being at the point where knowledge meets experience. If we choose to accept the gift that Bhaiśajyaguru offers, we naturally experience a genuine desire to acknowledge his compassion and generosity, and in doing so we deepen our faith.

This gratitude can be expressed through the earnest practice of meditation, through recitation of his mantra, and through ritual worship dedicated to the healing of all living beings. In such a ceremony seven images of Bhaiśajyaguru adorn a seven-tiered mandala, and 49 butter lamps are placed before them. A sand mandala is created alongside the three-dimensional mandala. Imagine the colors and sounds of sutra reading and chanting, the depth of practice, this immersion in devotion, which continues for seven days.

An important part of my own devotion to Bhaiśajyaguru takes place at the end of the sadhana when I perform a “healing mala.” Each bead on my mala is dedicated to someone whom I know is experiencing difficulties, and I ask Bhaiśajyaguru to make them all whole.

Some years ago there was a phase when I felt I had entered a bleak state of aloneness, in which I was haunted by dark images of beings sent to annihilate me, twin harpies wishing to devour my being. When this phase reached a peak of intensity, I was faced with a long night, which seemed pitch-black on many levels. I struggled with the desire to flee, and the fear of truly taking the medicine that was held out to me. I offered light to Bhaiśajyaguru. I wanted to survive this experience of suffering, but also to understand it. In this void of psychological suffering, the sustaining force was faith.

At dawn I recognized I had passed through a metaphysical gateway, and formed a strong bond with Bhaiśajyaguru, my friend, my most passionate and skilled lover, my spiritual guide, my link with the transcendental. A deeper devotion emerged, an absolute conviction in the “rightness” of our liaison. I was learning to dive deep into the dangerous areas of the psyche, to investigate with mindfulness the mental states I found there and to offer them to Bhaiśajyaguru.

I began to see that truly to revere Bhaiśajyaguru is to have cleared away the dark veils of spiritual ignorance and to see with the eye of wisdom. I feel such tremendous gratitude to him that I only aim to worship him more and more, and thereby become him more and more; I want to wrap myself in a cloak of blue and, donning winged boots, kick off into his blue sky, scattering traces of gold, which gently fall as Dharma rain.

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Srivandana was ordained into the Western Buddhist Order in 1993 and is devoted to ever deepening her relationship with Bhaiśajyaguru, the Medicine Buddha.

She has experienced this relationship both from a position of relative good health to one of poor health and recognizes that the only true medicine to be found comes from a bottle labeled “The Dharma.” Srivandana lives alone save for 3 feline campanions.

source: https://www.wildmind.org/mantras/figures/bhaishajyaguru-medicine-buddha-mantra

The Power of the Medicine Buddha

a teaching by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

The yoga method of the Medicine Buddha was taught by Guru Padmasambhava in the collection of teachings called Jewel Treasure. It was taught to enable those who practiced it to diagnose and treat their patients perfectly, particularly in times when the five degenerations were flourishing.

Because the pure wisdom of the omniscient mind, the dharmakaya, is bound by infinite compassion for living beings, it manifested in various aspects to eliminate different obstacles of living beings.

Such deities as the seven Medicine Buddhas manifested in order to pacify the obstacles to the achievement of even temporary happiness, and especially the ultimate happiness of full enlightenment.

The seven Medicine Buddhas are not only very powerful in healing disease, but in purification, for both the living and the dead. The Medicine Buddha practice can purify even those who have already died and liberate them from suffering. It is also powerful in bringing success, both temporary and ultimate.

The reason they also bring success is that in the past when they were bodhisattvas practicing the path to enlightenment, they promised and made extensive prayers to actualize all the prayers of living beings of the degenerate time, when the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha are in decline. They generated a very strong intention to become enlightened for this reason; this was their motivation for meditating on and actualizing the path. This is why it is important to pray every day to Medicine Buddha, not only for the healing of disease, but also for the success of our Dharma practice and other activities.

As the Buddha’s holy speech is irrevocable, we can trust the power of the Medicine Buddhas to quickly grant blessings to sentient beings in these degenerate times. If we pray to the Medicine Buddhas we will quickly be able to accomplish everything that we wish. Merely hearing the name of the Medicine Buddha or the Medicine Buddha mantra closes the door to rebirth in the lower realms. We should not have any doubt in regard to these benefits.

Guru Shakyamuni Buddha said in the sutra Medicine Buddha, Beams of Lapis Lazuli: “Ananda, do you believe my explanation of the qualities of this Tathagata?” Kungawo replied, “I do not doubt the teachings of you, the Bhagawan. Why not? Because the actions of a Tathagata’s holy body, speech, and mind are always pure and faultless.” Guru Shakyamuni Buddha then advised, “Ananda, whoever hears the holy name of this Tathagata will not fall into the evil realms of the suffering transmigratory beings.”

When someone is seriously ill, elaborate meditation practices containing the dedicated purposes of each of the Medicine Buddhas are done. It is commonly found that this puja decides whether the person lives or dies. They either recover immediately or die within one or two days with a peaceful mind rather than living with a lot of pain.

Medicine Buddha practice is very powerful. While the Medicine Buddha puja is very effective in cases of serious illness, it is also performed to bring success generally.

It is good to do a Medicine Buddha retreat for one or two months. By practicing these methods, we can gain clairvoyance. A sign of attainment is that patients come to you in your dreams and you diagnose their illness; the next day they actually do come to see you and you can prescribe the exact treatment they need. Another sign is that when you concentrate on the patient’s pulse, you can immediately recognize the disease and prescribe the correct treatment. Also, as you are examining the pulse, many goddesses may appear in space around you and tell you the nature of the disease and its treatment.

Because of the flourishing of the five degenerations, the diagnosis of sickness has changed and new disease patterns have emerged. Doctors have difficulty in recognizing the new diseases and do not know the treatment. These patterns are just as Padmasambhava predicted.

In the presence of the eight Medicine Buddhas – when we refer to eight, we are including Shakyamuni Buddha – Manjushri requested, “As you have promised in the past, please grant a special mantra to bring success quickly to sentient beings of the degenerate time, who have little merit and who are overwhelmed by many sufferings, including diseases and spirit harms. May these sentient beings see all the Buddhas and accomplish all their wishes.” Together in one voice the eight Medicine Buddhas granted the mantra in response to Manjushri’s request.

If we recite the Medicine Buddha mantra as a daily practice, all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas pay attention to us, just as a mother pays attention to her beloved child, and always guide us. Vajrapani, the embodiment of all the Buddhas’ power, the four guardians, and other protectors always protect us and guide us. It also purifies all our negative karmas and quickly pacifies diseases and spirit harms. It also brings success; everything succeeds exactly according to our wishes. ♦

source: https://landofmedicinebuddha.org/about-medicine-buddha/power-of-medicine-buddha-by-lama-zopa-rinpoche/

#MeditativeMind #Mantras

MEDICINE BUDDHA CHANTS @285Hz 🧘‍♂️ Best Healing Mantra Meditation (3 Hours)

135,731 views •May 3, 2019

Meditative Mind

MEDICINE BUDDHA MANTRA CHANTS @285Hz
🧘‍♂️ Best Healing Mantra Meditation

Chanting this mantra helps in eliminating the pain of true suffering. This mantra not only helps in reducing physical pain but also the suffering and pain caused by negative thoughts and emotions.

Complete MEDICINE BUDDHA MANTRA & ITS MEANING

Tayatha Om Bekandze Bekandze Maha Bekandze Rajya Samudgate Soha.

The Mantra is in Sanskrit. and word by word meaning goes like this.

Tayatha – like this
Om – Om or AUM represents our mind, body and soul.One’s own whole body
Bekandze Bekandze – Eliminating Pain, Eliminating Pain
Maha Bekandze – Eliminating the great pain.
Rajya – the King
Samudgate – Ocean of Goodness
Soha – The Blessings

Understanding Medicine Buddha Mantra
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Medicine Buddha mantra is known to be very powerful for purification and for healing sickness. Normally people think that Medicine Buddha is for healing but it’s not only that, it’s also very powerful for purifying negative thoughts and emotions and very powerful for removing problems and bad karma. Thats why Medicine Buddha Mantra practice is so precious.

285Hz Music
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285Hz background music is based on ancient solfeggio frequency, which is known for its healing and tissue repair benefits. We felt that combining these powerful healing tools will amplify the healing effects and will be more beneficials. We can also release the background music without this mantra, if that will help. Do let us know in comments. We hope this mantra and music will help you in positive ways. Many Blessings and peace all the way!!

Copyright ⓒ 2019 Meditative Mind™. All Rights Reserved.

Healing Music for Meditation & Sleep

#MeditativeMind #Mantras “According to the “Fair Use” clause of International Copyright Law, the authors declare that the use of the photos, videos and information in this academic research are analyzed for purposes of “criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research” according to Section 107 of Title 17 of the US Code.”

The First Doctor: Medicine Buddha Bhaisajyaguru — Empowering You to Heal

In times of pain, sickness, or stress, my first thought of “remedy” is quiet meditation with the most sacred Medicine Buddha mantra. Inevitably, arthritis pains subsides in my case, and I’ve avoided most of the colds and flus that go around my business meetings— knock on wood. I give Medicine Buddha, exercise and good nutrition the credit. Chronic, advanced arthritis is mostly kept in check with Medicine Buddha practice — and some occasional check-ins with the doctor.

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Visualize a beautiful Lapis Lazuli blue-coloured Medicine Buddha.

Nor am I alone. Tibetan doctors rely on Medicine Buddha for their healings. Regular practice with the Medicine Buddha also empowers one to heal others. In China and Japan, Medicine Buddha is a refuge in times of illness. Around the world, literally millions call out the name or mantra of Bhaisajyaguru (भैषज्यगुरु). It is even written in the sutras that if you speak the name of the Medicine Buddha in the ears of a dying animal or human they will be ensured good rebirth regardless of their past karma. No wonder the Medicine Buddha is so popular.

A full 10 minute guided visualization as guided by Venerable Zasep Rinpoche followed by the most beautiful mantra chanting of Yoko Dharma:

Medicine Buddha is renowned not just for healing, but for His ability to neutralize past bad karma, His ability to bring good fortune to those in need, His ability to help us on the path to enlightenment, even His vows to release repentant prisoners. His Dharani in Sanskrit is:

Namo bhagavate bhaisajyaguru-vaidurya prabha-rajaya tathagataya arhate samyak- sambuddhaya tadyatha. Om bhaisajye bhaisajye bhaisajya-samudgate svaha!

A lovely chanted Medicine Buddha mantra sung in Sanskrit (versus Tibetan in video below) by the great Yoko Dharma:

This can be translated as: “I honour the Lord Master of Healing, the King of Lapis Lazuli Radiance, Tathagata, Arhat, Perfect Enlightened One, saying: To the healing, to the healing, to the supreme healing hail!” The last line of the Dharani is, of course, the short mantra.

The Mantra of the Great Medicine Buddha

My first choice for medicine — short of obvious medical conditions requiring doctor interventions — is a peaceful meditation on my visualization of Bhaishajyaguru—or just Bhaishajya—the Medicine Buddha, and a few malas round of the very powerful mantra (spelling is phonetic):

TADYATHA  AUM BHAISHAJYE  BHAISHAJYE MAHA BHAISHAJYE BHAISHAJYE SAMUDGATE SVAHA

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This is the sanskrit version (where Om is really Aum) of one version of the Medicine Buddha mantra as taught to me by my teacher. As found in the original sutra, the Bhaiṣajyaguruvaiḍūryaprabhārāja Sūtra (भैषज्यगुरुवैडूर्यप्रभाराज सूत्र) this is most often given as:

 TADYATHA  AUM BHAISHAJYE  BHAISHAJYE MAHA BHAISHAJYA SAMUDGATE SVAHA

I chant in Sanskrit, as found in the sutra, but many use the Tibetan pronunciation — and either is effective in my experience. I prefer Sanskrit by virtue of lineage to Shakyamuni Buddha via Sutra and by virtue of centuries of unbroken lineage from Tibetan teachers reaching back to Buddha.The Tibetan pronunciation is equally empowered:

Tayata Om Bhekandze Bekhandze Maha Bhekandze Bhekandze Randza Sumungate Soha

Visualizing the Medicine Buddha Mantra and rays of healing Lapis Lazuli light emanating from the Buddha, and absorbed into the patient (or self) assists in healing. Surrounding the Buddha is the Medicine Buddha Mantra in Tibetan script. In advanced practice, this is also visualized.

Visualizing the Buddha of Lapis Lazuli Light

Mantras are effective regardless of other practices, but visualizing the Medicine Buddha while chanting is very effective. Part of the visualization likely will include seeing the mantra emanating from Buddha. If you have empowerment with a guru, you can generally find this even more powerful if you self-generate as the Medicine Buddha. (Note: Without empowerment, you should generally visualize Medicine Buddha in front of you, with rays of healing light or nectar projecting into the crown of your head and filling your body with healing energy.)

Om Ah Hung in Tibetan script. We visualize these glowing syllables radiating from the crown (Om), Throat (Ah), and Heart (Hum) in white, red and blue.

Om Ah Hum in Sanskrit script.

In my tradition, we visualize the seven Medicine Buddhas (see the top tangkha), but the simplest visualization is to envision a shining Lapis Lazuli blue Buddha, beautiful in radiance, perfect in all His features, in a monk’s robe in full lotus on the Lotus and moon throne. His face is serene and compassionate, and he has the features of a great Buddha. In his left hand is the Lapis-colored jar of medicine nectar, a medicine that not only cures all ills, but also negative karma, tensions, suffering, poverty and any other sufferings. In his right hand is the stem of the Myrobalan, with Aruna fruit, held between thumb and forefinger. He is surrounded by a glowing nimbus and aura of Lazuli-colored light and as you chant, his crown, throat and heart glow with powerful seed syllables: Om (crown chakra) Ah (throat chakra) and Hum (heart chakra). My teacher normally encourages us to visualize with Tibetan script as it is very beautiful. (See Tibetan Script Visualization to the right). You can visualize in Sanskrit characters (left). Or even Roman alphabet if that is difficult: Om Ah Hum.

Then, healing light radiates from the Medicine Buddha’s heart, penetrating either your crown or heart, filling you with healing light, and driving out bad karma and sickness as visible black sludge and smoke. Some experienced visualizers envision white light from the Buddha’s glowing Om flowing into their own crown; and red healing light from the Buddha’s red Ah syllable flowing into their own throat; and blue healing light from the Buddha’s blue Hum flowing into their own heart chakra.

Often He is visualized with his two attendants Suryaprabha and Candraprabha, who are the sun and moon Bodhisattvas. In Soto and other Mahayana practices, you might also visualize the Twelve Warriors of Bhaisajyaguru, who relate directly to the twelve great vows of the Medicine Buddha (see below.) In my practice, we visualize the Seven Medicine Gurus plus Shakyamuni as the Eighth Medicine Buddha.

In China and Japan, Bhaisajyaguru is part of the most important trinity of Buddhas, here shown in traditional form with Shakyamuni in the centre, Medicine Buddha on the right (of Shakyamuni, left to the viewer) and Amitabha Buddha on the opposite side.

Healing Practices

[For a full guided visualization from Venerable Zasep Rinpoche see embedded video at the top of this story. The video ends with incredible mantra chanting from Yoko Dharma.]

Aside from visualizing and mantra recitation, a common healing practice is to chant 108 of Medicine Buddha’s mantras over a glass of water. The chanter, preferably one who has chanted the mantra in regular practice, then blows on the water and offers it to a sick person. The empowered water has healing powers. The patient can also be requested to speak the name of the Buddha 108 times, or chant the mantra, or read the sutras, or just to gaze upon a loving picture of the Medicine Buddha. Many miraculous cures have been attributed to the Medicine Buddha. From my own experience, when two Tylenol do not work, the mantra certainly does.

Tibetan doctors tend to begin each day with Medicine Buddha practice, and when making herbal medicines chant the Mantras while working to further empower their medicinal benefits.

His Eminence Zasep Tulku Rinpoche giving teachings on Medicine Guru to a large audience. He returns to Toronto Sunday November 13, 2016 at 3pm to give Medicine Buddha initiations. Information at Gaden Choling, or the end of this feature.

Dedicating the Merit is Important

Most important to any healing, for a practicing Buddhist, is to dedicate the merit of any mantra chant or visualization or healing to the benefit of others, not to oneself. There is great healing power in Bodhichitta and dedicating the merit to others selflessly — as the Medicine Buddha himself did in the twelve great vows before he became a Buddha (see below.)

Faith plays a role in healing, in that having absolute faith empowers practice, yet I have seen from past experience, as have many others, that chanting the Medicine  Buddha Dharani or mantra for non-Buddhists — who might have no faith —is equally effective. The power is not all about faith.

The Lapis Lazuli serenity of Medicine Buddha is healing.

Dharani of the Lord of Healing

In the sutras, Shakyamuni Buddha, the living Buddha of our age, taught the Dharani of the Medicine Buddha to benefit all beings, from gods to hell beings.

The Eight Medicine Buddhas. In the centre is Bhaisajyaguru Vaduraprabha, the Lapis Lazuli Medicine Guru, surrounded by the other healing Buddhas. Shakyamuni is the eighth Medicine Buddha.

Lazuli Pure Land East

Medicine Buddha meditation and mantra is a sutra practice, as taught by Shakyamuni Buddha. The Medicine Buddha Sutra is known as Bhaiṣajyaguruvaiḍūryaprabhārāja Sūtra (भैषज्यगुरुवैडूर्यप्रभाराज सूत्र). His Lapis Lazuli Pure Land is in the east, but, in fact, he resides in your heart, always ready to help. Medicine Buddha has seven brothers, each with different praises and functions, or they can be thought of as manifestations of the same Medicine Buddha. He goes by many names, including:

• formal title: Bhaiṣajyaguruvaiḍūryaprabhārāja (भैषज्यगुरुवैडूर्यप्रभाराज, “Medicine Master and King of Lapis Lazuli Light”)

• Bhaisajyaguru — Medicine Guru in Sanskrit

• Bhaisajyaraja — Medicine King in Sanskrit

• Bhaisajya Samudgate — Supreme Healer in Sanskrit

• Sangye Menla  — Supreme Healer in Tibetan

The Lapis Lazuli Medicine Guru is revered in many countries by different names: Sanye Menla (Tibetan སངས་རྒྱས་སྨན་བླ།, or just Menla), Medicine King, Medicine Guru, Yaoshifo (藥師佛 Chinese name), Nyorai or Yakushi (in Japan 薬師, 薬師如来), Yaksabul or Yaksayeorae (약사불, 약사여래 in Korea)or Lapis Luzuli Buddha.

The Twelve Vows

The twelve vows taken by Baishajyaguru, while he was a Bodhisattva, before he became a Buddha, are the key to understanding the unrestrained and growing popularity of the Lapus Lazuli Buddha. Just remembering his name and his vows brings healing. Reading the twelve vows is also a healing experience. Reciting the Medicine Guru sutra is also very powerful. He selflessly swore:

1. I vow that my body shall shine as beams of brilliant light on this infinite and boundless world, showering on all beings, getting rid of their ignorance and worries with my teachings. May all beings be like me, with a perfect status and character, upright mind and soul, and finally attaining enlightenment like the Buddha.

2. I vow that my body be like crystal, pure and flawless, radiating rays of splendid light to every corner, brightening up and enlightening all beings with wisdom. With the blessings of compassion, may all beings strengthen their spiritual power and physical energy, so that they could fulfil their dreams in the right track.

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3. I vow that I shall grant by means of boundless wisdom, all beings with the inexhaustible things that they require, and relieving them from all pains and guilt resulting from materialistic desires. Although clothing, food, accommodation and transport are essentials, it should be utilised wisely as well. Besides self-consumption, the remaining should be generously shared with the community so that all could live harmoniously together.

4. I vow to lead those who have gone astray back to the path of righteousness. Let them be corrected and returned to the Buddha way for enlightenment.

5. I vow that I shall enable all sentient beings to observe precepts for spiritual purity and moral conduct. Should there be any relapse or violation, they shall be guided for repentance. Provided they truly regret their wrong-doings, and vow for a change with constant prayers and strong faith in the Buddha, they could receive the rays of forgiveness, recover their lost moral and purity.

6. I vow that all beings who are physically disabled or sick in all aspects be blessed with good health, both physically and mentally. All who pays homage to Buddha faithfully will be blessed.

7. I vow to relieve all pain and poverty of the very sick and poor. The sick be cured, the helpless be helped, the poor be assisted.

8. I vow to help women who are undergoing sufferings and tortures and seeking for transformation into men. By hearing my name, paying homage and praying, their wishes would be granted and ultimately attain Buddhahood.

9. I vow to free all beings from evil thoughts and its control. I shall lead them onto the path of light through inculcating them with righteousness and honour so that they will walk the Buddha way.

10. I vow to save prisoners who have genuinely repented and victims of natural disasters. Those who are sincere will be blessed by my supreme powers and be freed from sufferings.

Visualize a beautiful Lapis Lazuli blue-coloured Medicine Buddha.

11. I vow to save those who suffer from starvation and those who committed crime to obtain food. If they hear my name and faithfully cherish it, I shall lead them to the advantages of Dharma and favour them with best food and eventually lead a tranquil and happy life.

12. I vow to save those who suffer from poverty, tormented by mosquitoes and wasps day and night. If they come across my name, cherish it with sincerity and practise dharma to strengthen their merits, they will be able to achieve their wishes.

Who couldn’t feel drawn to a Buddha willing to help us with such powerful vows, simply by virtue of calling his name?

Medicine Buddha’s mantra in Tibetan Script. Transliterated, it is pronounced: Tayata Om Bhekandze Bhekandze Maha Bhekandze Raja Samudgate Soha.

Other Names of Medicine Buddha

There are several “Medicine Buddhas”—seven, plus Shakyamuni Himself as the eighth, each separately honoured and named, but where one Medicine Buddha is practiced as a solitary meditation, normally this is Bhaisajyaguru Vaiduryaprabharaja (भैषज्यगुरुवैडूर्यप्रभाराज)—the Medicine Guru of Lapis Lazuli Light. His pure land is in the east, and is called Vaiduryanirbhasa, or pure Lapis Lazuli Land. He might also be known as Sanye Menla (Tibetan སངས་རྒྱས་སྨན་བླ།, or just Menla), Medicine King, Medicine Guru, Yaoshifo (藥師佛 Chinese name), Nyorai or Yakushi (in Japan 薬師, 薬師如来), Yaksabul or Yaksayeorae (약사불, 약사여래 in Korea)or Lapis Luzuli Buddha. In many practices, seven or eight Medicine Gurus are honoured.

Lapis Lazuli Medicine Buddha, is a beloved healing Buddha. Bhaisajyaguru made 12 vows when he was still a Bodhisattva. Simply calling his name brings healing.

The Seven or Eight Medicine Buddhas

The Seven Medicine Buddhas names in English are a powerful and lovely poetic expression in and of themselves.:

• Bhaisajyaguru: Tathagatha Medicine Guru Lapis Lazuli King
• Abhiyaraja: Tathagatha King of Clear Knowing
• Dharmakirtisagara: Tathagatha Melodious Ocean of Dharma Proclaimed
• Asokottamasriraja: Tathagatha Supreme Glory Free From Sorrow
• Suvarnabhadradravimala: Tathagatha Stainless Excellent Gold
• Svaragosaraja: Tathagatha King of Melodious Sound
• Suparikirti-tanamasriraja: Tathagatha Glorious Renown of Excellent Signs

The eighth is Shakyamuni Buddha, the historical Buddha of our era—who taught us the Dharma. When chanting the praises, I prefer the poetic Enlish names to the Sankrit, just because of the beautiful descriptions. In a full practice session or a puja, each of the Buddhas would receive His own praise. As you visualize each of the Buddhas you prostrate and make envisioned offerings.

 An important Medicine Buddha healing event with H.E. Zasep Rinpoche

Lee Kane

Author | Buddha Weekly

Lee Kane is the editor of Buddha Weekly, since 2007. His main focuses as a writer are mindfulness techniques, meditation, Dharma and Sutra commentaries, Buddhist practices, international perspectives and traditions, Vajrayana, Mahayana, Zen. He also covers various events.
Lee also contributes as a writer to various other online magazines and blogs.

source: https://buddhaweekly.com/the-first-doctor-medicine-buddha-bhaisajyaguru/

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