THE MEDICINE BUDDHA PRACTICES

The Buddha of Medicine’s formal name is Bhaisajyaguru Vaidurya Prabharaja, which means Master of Healing, Azure Radiance or Master of Medicine and King of Lapis Lazuli Light. He is commonly called by Tibetan Buddhist as Bhaisajyaguru, which means Medicine Buddha. Medicine Buddha is a fully enlightened being that’s devoid of any form of biased against living beings. Like Avalokitesvara or Kuan Yin, the Medicine Buddha is a Buddha filled with unlimited compassion towards us.

The Medicine Buddha protects all living beings from attachment; hatred; and ignorance, which uddhists text indicates are the main cause of illness. But more than that, the Buddha of Medicine also protect us from danger and negative energies or beings. There are some slight differences in how the Medicine Buddha is depicted in Tibetan Buddhism and Chinese Buddhism, however, he is usually pictured as seated on top of a lotus wearing a traditional Buddha robe, his left hand holds a lapis lazuli colored jar of medicine nectar, while his right hand holds a stem of Arura (sometimes called Aruna – a special mystical plant that is said to bloom only once in every 3,000 years) while it’s resting on his knee.

In THE SUTRA OF THE MASTER OF HEALING or commonly called as the MEDICINE BUDDHA SUTRA He is also described as having a lapis lazuli-colored aura. It is because of this that he is also usually depicted in Tibetan Buddhism to be a blue or lapis lazuli-colored Buddha. The Sutra of the Master of Healing also states that when the Medicine Buddha became a Bodhisattva, “he made Twelve Great Vows to grant all beings with whatever they pray for.”

In essence the 12 great vows indicates that Bhaisajyaguru or Medicine Buddha is a Buddha that heals us from physical, mental, and spiritual illness. Furthermore, it also indicates that the Medicine Buddha is a Buddha of Protection and Provider. In fact, the 3rd Vow specifically indicates material wealth. Furthermore, if one is to fervently say the Medicine Buddha mantra and do the Medicine Buddha rituals, one is to be saved from the nine violent deaths. Again, in essence, the nine violent deaths refer to any form death that may bring about extreme hardship.

Medicine Buddha puja is particularly beneficial for mental and physical healing and world peace.

This puja is especially beneficial for those who are experiencing physical or mental illness or those who have recently passed away.

We are happy to do a special Medicine Buddha puja to benefit a person who has died or is very ill. In the case of a death, these are traditionally performed within 49 days, often on the 7th day (or multiple of 7 days) after passing. This is to provide the most benefit in the intermediate bardo state.

Many eons ago, seven bodhisattvas strongly prayed for the temporal and ultimate happiness of all sentient beings, that their names become wish-fulfilling in order to heal both the mental and physical sicknesses and diseases of sentient beings. They vowed that their prayers will be actualized during these degenerate times when the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha are in decline. When they became enlightened, one of the ten powers of a Buddha is the power of prayer - that means that all the prayers that have been made get fulfilled. As the Buddha's holy speech is irrevocable, you can wholly trust in their power to quickly grant blessings to help all sentient beings in these degenerate times. They are called the Seven Medicine Buddhas, the main one is `Lapis Buddha of Medicine, King of Light'. Buddha Shakyamuni taught the teachings on the Medicine Buddha, and according to one tradition, is also considered as one of the Medicine Buddhas, and hence the Eight Medicine Buddhas.

The seven Medicine Buddhas manifested in order to pacify the obstacles to the achievement of temporary happiness, liberation and the ultimate happiness of full enlightenment. They are powerful in healing diseases as well as for purification. The Medicine Buddha practice can be used to help purify those who have already died and liberate them from suffering. It is also very powerful in bringing about success, both temporary and ultimate.

The reason why the Medicine Buddha practice brings success is that in the past when the seven Medicine Buddhas 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.

I prostrate to Medicine Buddha Lapis Light.

The Medicine Buddha’s short mantra is:

TADYATHA OM BHEKANDZYE BHAKANDZYE MAHA BHEKANDZYE BHEKANDZE RADZA SAMUGATE SOHA.

Saying the Medicine Buddha Mantra is a very powerful tool to open ourselves to the blessings of the Buddha of Medicine. However, it is better if you can recite 5 full mala (108 times per full mala) in a day. It will be more ‘potent’ if you are able to say the Medicine Buddha’s long mantra.

The Medicine Buddha’s long mantra is:

OM NAMO BHAGWATE BHEKANDZYE / GURU BEDURYA PRABHA RADZAYA TATAGATAYA / ARHATE SAMYAKSAM BUDDHAYA / TADYATHA OM BHEKANDZYE BHEKANDZYE / MAHA BHEKANDZYE BHEKANDZYE / RADZA SAMUGATE SOHA.

Meaning of The Medicine Buddha's Mantra:

Medicine Buddha’s mantra is TAYATHA OM BHEKANDZYE BHAKANDZYE MAHA BHEKANDZYE BHEKANDZE RADZA SAMUGATE SOHA.

TAYATHA– means “like this”.

OM - is composed of the three pure sounds A U and MA, which signifies one’s own body, speech and mind that get transformed into the vajra holy body, speech and mind.

BHEKANDZYE BHAKANDZYE -“eliminating pain, eliminating pain”. What eliminates pain is medicine. This pain is not ordinary pain – even animals do not want to experience that. The first eliminating pain is true suffering, the second is the true cause of suffering. The medicine that eliminates pain is first the graduated path of the lower capable being, and second the graduated path of the middle capable being.

MAHA BHEKANDZYE -“the great eliminating pain” is the graduated path of the higher capable being, which eliminates the subtle defilements. So bekandze bekandze maha bekandze contains the whole path to enlightenment, the ultimate medicine.

RADZA – is king.

SAMUGATE – (ocean of goodness)

SOHA – to establish the foundation in the heart, the blessing, the devotion from which the realization comes.