Medicine Buddha empowerment ( instances and teachings, references, other events, resources, etc. for everyone )

Keywords: Medicine Buddha Empowerment; Medicine Buddha practice text and commentary ( references provided ); mantra healing; intermediate length Medicine Buddha mantra; Ayurveda; Five Element System of Medicine; Vedacarya Dr. David Frawley; Dr. Tsering Thakchoe Dungtso; HE Khenchen Thrangu Rinbochay; Buddhist medicine and acupuncture; Vajrapani and Vajrasattva; Alternative Health Care; Vancouver British Columbia; Vajrayana Buddhism; Her Eminence Jetsun Kusho Rinbochay; Sakya lineage of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism; Sakya Tsechen Thubten Ling; July 2008; Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana ( FPMT ); Gaden Shartse Tour ( Arizona & Texas April and May 2008, etc. )

"I am a physician, not a philosopher. Those who would serve the sick and suffering, come serve with me." - Guru Sakyamuni Buddha

"The gods help those who help themselves."
- Aesop


Event Reference:
sakya.thinkbig.ca/schedule.html

Her Eminence Jetsun Kusho is a Tibetan born lineage holder of the primary tantric transmissions of Sakya School Buddhist Tantra. She lives and teaches primarily in Vancouver British Columbia, and also teaches at other Sakya lineage centers in the US and Europe.

I will take this occasion to give a broadly useful introduction to Buddhist medical tantra and the Medicine Buddha, along with significant teachings and references and resources from major teachers along the way, in order to make this post useful to a diverse set of audiences among numerous different tribes, and in different locales.

I have received several major tantric empowerments from Her Eminence, and she delivers a very real and effective transmission, i.e. real spiritual energy. This transmission of Medicine Buddha is one of the most universal of all Buddhist practices, and is eminently suited for Buddhists of all kinds and schools of practice, for alternative medicine practitioners, and all those who seek inner healing. ( It is commonly given in different parts of the US and some different parts of the world, see Gaden Tour below as example. )

The Medicine Buddha transmission goes all the way back to Guru Sakyamuni Buddha ( himself a guru and deity of healing and Medicine Buddha ) and in different forms remains a mainstay of many schools of Mahayana ( Great or Universal Way ) Buddhism. It is a major practice in the Chinese Ch'an ( Zen ) and other major Chinese schools, in Korea, Japan, and the central Asian countries.

The Medicine Buddha ( "Bhaisajyaguru Vaidurya Prabha" in Sanksrit, that is "Medicine Teacher of Aquamarine Light" ) is a specific focus of pure awareness and healing power which is for purification of ALL the root karmic and energetic imbalances and disorders which manifest as mental or physical distress and sickness. The deepest goal or capability of Medicine Buddha teaching and practice is to purify the Three Poisons ( Ignorance, Grasping, and Anger ) which manifest as suffering and also prevent our developing the freedom and pure awareness that lead to final liberation.

From "rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php...sons" :
Three Poisons

"Why are there sidetracks, errors and hindrances on our path? In terms of view, it is because of the dualistic mind's clinging -- passion, aggression and delusion. These three poisons are movements of thought which are provoked by habitual patterns.

"Without exception, every thought we have is mixed with these three poisons. Just as poison causes death when ingested, the three poisonous emotions take the life of Liberation when they are given free rein. We may not even notice our minds are occupied by these three poisons, which produce negative Karma. As the master -- our mind with these three poisons -- commands, it's servants, our body and voice, carry out the command. In this way, we continue roaming around in Samsara, continuously turning our back on the three kayas, which is this very basis for all of Samsara and Nirvana. Instead, we create the causes for the three lower realms." [Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche]

The Sakya school is one of the New Translation schools of Indo Tibetan Vajrayana, but this specific transmission is very broadly used by many teachers and the transmission is held in common by both New and Old Schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Although Medicine Buddha is common to all the Great Way / Mahayana schools across Buddhist Asia, only the Indo-Tibetan Vajrayana retains the complete and most comprehensive form of this teaching, which is nothing less than a complete system of medicine.

This system of medicine is known as Ayurveda in the original Sanskrit, and is in most respects shared between the Hindus and Buddhists of ancient India. According to Dr. David Frawley, a recognized ( Vaidya ) professor of Hindu Ayurveda and Vedacarya ( teacher of Hindu scripture ), the main study of Hindu Ayurveda consists of four books, two Hindu and two Buddhist. See his books "Ayurvedic Healing: A Comprehensive Guide" and also "Ayurveda, Nature's Medicine", the latter cowritten with Dr Subhash Ranade. These are key and indispensable references for Buddhists, Hindus, and alternative health practitioners alike.

Because the three main qualities to be developed in Buddhist practice are Wisdom, Compassion and Power, the Medicine Buddha practice is of great importance in
a) manifesting the Compassion of the Buddhas and showing the way to Wisdom through purification of karma and
b) developing a "Sattvic" i.e. "spiritually pure" level of awareness.
In terms of
c) the attribute Power, this is manifest through the Medicine Buddha empowerment itself, which in full form includes the Fierce Protector Vajrapani.

Vajrapani is a wrathful guardian who reverses aggression and negativity from "outside", and also purifies the poison of anger from within. This is a psychic process of transmutation, and Vajrapani is one of the primary Buddhist protectors in all the Buddhist schools of Asia, including the Shao Lin Monastery of China, the Shingon School of Japan, and so forth. For further information, see
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajrapani

( I completed 1 million recitations of the short Vajrapani mantra "HUM VAJRA PHAT" in a few months in 1986 or so, and this provided a tremendous relief, along with some slight burn marks on the soles of my feet during the last 100,000 recitations. )

Not all Medicine Buddha transmissions are highest yoga tantra, and so not all carry a complete and direct authorization of Vajrapani. Often, Medicine Buddha empowerment is given as a basic or outer Mahayana authorization, which amounts to the conferral of Mahayana vows and a basic authorization of Medicine Buddha recitation and visualization. The basic ritual service of this healing deity is common to all the Mahayana schools, as is the scripture of the Medicine Buddha.

For basic Mahayana recitation and visualization, there is no need for a specific Medicine Buddha empowerment, just Mahayana vows in any authentic tradition, whether the Korean, Japanese, Tibetan and so forth. This is true for a number of basic, common Mahayana deity practices, such as Amitabha Buddha and Mahabodhisattva Avalokitesvara.

Nevertheless, Medicine Buddha is most commonly given in the West by Tibetan born or trained gurus, not by gurus trained in other Mahayana traditions.
Right now, for example, the Gaden Shartse monks
www.gadenshartsetour.org/Schedule.htm
are touring Arizona ( April 2008 ) and Texas ( May 2008 ), having completed a tour of California.
Tomorrow, April 6th, they will give a blessing empowerment at the Sedona Public Library. They also give other blessing empowerments, all of which are quite useful for healing.

The Gaden monks are from the Gelugpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, which has centers and teachers worldwide. You can connect with this tradition through the following website:
www.fpmt.org

Simply put, ANY Buddhist empowerment is useful for healing. The deity yoga may be peaceful or wrathful, it may be male ( focusing on method ) or female ( focusing on wisdom ), but all serve this function. What is important is to find an empowerment and do a practice that works for the individual. In the Buddhist Mahayana system, it is emphasized that one must be open-minded and flexible in approach.

Thus, it makes perfect sense in this Mahayana approach to use any well-established functional approach to gain healing, purification, psychophysical integration and balance. This can include Hindu Ayurveda and Hindu derived yogas, kundalini yoga, kung fu, tai chi / chi kung and Traditional Chinese Medicine, general western herbal medicine and so forth.

It also means that other people who identify themselves primarily as Hindus, Taoists, witches, health care practitioners and so forth can incorporate this universal Buddhist approach as a complementary method. That is the Mahayana Buddhist method : to makes things work together for the help and benefit of all people. It is for this reason I as Buddhist guru have strongly emphasized that Buddhists and others should consult the works of Hindu teacher Dr. David Frawley, as well as Taoist Chinese Medicine. The Taoist and Hindu teachings on medicine and meditation both draw from and both lend to the Buddhist traditions, especially in terms of healing practices.

How can or how do these differently sourced traditions work together? The answer is found in a key shared paradigm : the Five Element System. Hindu Medicine and Buddhist Medicine and Taoist Medicine all make use of a Five Element system of subtle energy patterns. The Buddhist and Hindu systems also share a Three Element System ( Vata, Kapha, and Pitta ). Note that the Western Pagans commonly use a five element system. The correspondences may vary, but the Buddhists, like the western pagans, use a Five Element System of Earth, Water, Fire Air and Space. These are in fact the Five Buddha Families, and the Five Psycho-physical elements discussed in outer and inner Buddhist scripture ( such as the Heart of Wisdom Sutra ).

The point of receiving a major or high empowerment such as a major Medicine Buddha, is that there is healing power ( i.e. a cleansing of karma and distress ) and a profound connection with a specific deity, which on an inner level typically includes esoteric practices and yogas such as working with points of light within the "energy body", breath practices and so forth.

In the case of tantric Medicine Buddha, this includes a Buddhist system of acupuncture, which mainly focuses on acupoints along the spinal column up through the crown. A very basic guide to "cakras" or energy centers in the Buddhist system is given in the book "Healing Power of Mantra : The Wisdom of Tibetan Healing Science" by Dr Tsering Thakchoe Dungtso ( ISBN 81-901395-6-8 ). The associated website is
www.tibetanmedical-astro.org

There are many ways and means of obtaining a Medicine Buddha authorization, not only the outer kind, but also the profound, inner kind. Not many Buddhists know this, but a Guru Padmasambhava empowerment fully carries the profound Medicine Buddha empowerment. There is in fact a specific mantra for Medicine Buddha Padmasambhava, known as "Orgyen Menla" in Tibetan. This is a most profound and useful method which many westerners have obtained without knowing it.

Furthermore, there is no specific need to rely on Medicine Buddha as a separate practice for healing, either as a primary or secondary method. In the esoteric transmission of Buddhist tantra, the primary deity of purification and release from negativity and suffering is Vajrasattva. This is true in Japan ( Shingon School ), China, and Tibet ( all schools and lineages of Nyingma and Sarma ). Among esoteric Buddhists such as Tibetan Buddhists, essentially all engage Vajrasattva practice ( 100,000 long recitations ) whether or not they do any substantial amount of Medicine Buddha practice.

See
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajrasattva ( which has key book references )
and also the Vajrasattva mantra commentary ( under the sanskrit mantra page ) on the tribe dot net listing for "k t".

In particular, the Kalacakra system is a very advanced and explicit form of Vajrasattva yoga which clearly describes and through yoga makes use of "ten energy channels" in the subtle body / energy body which everyone has ( but not everyone knows ). This is symbolized in the Kalacakra Ten of Power.
See
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalacakra

Nevertheless, Medicine Buddha is a major practice in all the Mahayana schools. It is the primary deity, guru and lineage of Buddhist Ayurveda / Buddhist Medicine and serves as an "inner teacher" or source of guidance in "Alternative healing practices". This inner teacher or source of guidance is no other than one's own Buddha Nature, which is contacted through the deity yoga. It is at the same time the inner teacher of the Medicine Buddha lineage, the power of the transcendent ( sambhogakaya ) angels Medicine Buddha, Vajrapani and so forth as stated in the scripture. It is also Guru Sakyamuni Buddha, as he is one of the Medicine Buddhas.

In other words, the transmission of Medicine Buddha always includes the transmission of Guru Sakyamuni Buddha, and is a most important and widespread avenue by which one becomes a son or daughter of the Historical Buddha. As such Medicine Buddha is of great and universal importance to all the Buddhist schools, whether outer, inner, and secret.

Some of the tantric gurus with whom I have studied and received transmission are in fact physicians ( such as HE Chagdud Tulku or HH Kalu Rinbochay ) or great healers. Healing is a great and universal need, and I have received teachings on spiritual healing practices in quite a few worldwide traditions. Many different kinds of methods do work, each in their own way, and work well together.

Please note that as with all Buddhist yogas, and all "alternative therapies", no specific claim can be made for any manifest medical condition. Realistically, the real point of receiving a major Medicine Buddha empowerment is to BEGIN a path of inner healing, not to receive a "cure" in the form of a magic bullet. The Buddhist teachings on all levels emphasize something called "faith", which in Sanskrit is "shraddha" or conviction.

In this and all other cases, "Buddhist faith" is something very different from faith in a Salvific Other i.e. a putative "creator deity". Buddhist faith actually means conviction in pure Buddha nature of all beings, which in turn means the ability to develop wisdom compassion and power from within oneself, which in turn means a commitment to a spiritual method for doing so, such as Medicine Buddha, Vajrasattva, or Padmsambhava. It further means the willingness in particular to practice and accomplish a Mahana Buddhist method not only or primarily for oneself, but also AND PRIMARILY to benefit others.

A primary way of benefiting oneself and others is to focus on the transparent image and meaning of Medicine Buddha while reciting the Medicine Buddha mantra, as follows
"om namo bhagavate bhaisajyaguru vaiduryaprabharajaya tathagataya arhate samyaksambuddhaya tadyatha: om bhaisajye bhaisajye mahabhaisajye bhaisajye raja samudgate svaha"

This specific mantra, which I confirm, is given in
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicine_Buddha
which has some other references as well.

The main point is to activate the connection through mantra and transfer healing energy through bestowal of light, the light of Buddha wisdom, which is nondual, pure, and universally healing.

I have received many Medicine Buddha empowerments and teachings in different lineages. Some have been extremely strong, such as that of HH Kalu Rinbochay ( whose primary cycle of transmissions I received in full ). I also once made a definite connection to "Buddhist Hospital Upstairs" i nthe subtle sambhogakay dimension, while I was busy dying in 1984 due to a severe and sudden onset of food poisoning.

The Buddhist folks upstairs helped. And on a basic level so did the powerful 3H0 kundalini yoga "breath modulation practice", or pranayam. Fortunately I had mastered that specific pranayam years before. Had I waited for an ambulance I probably would have died of shock. Nevertheless, for any sudden trauma or severe illness always first consult a western medical doctor : they have excellent emergency techniques and sophisticated diagnostic instrumentation. Muggle medicine is crucially important, and not to be abandoned, just supplanted.

As a Buddhist guru I received a primary requirement from the lineage holder to propagate the teachings and method of the Medicine Buddha in particular, as of 1985. That is, Medicine Buddha is one of the central methods of the school and everyone does this practice together as part of a rotating set of group mantra/ deity practices, So I'm supposed to study, practie and teach Medicine Buddha.

I often practiced Medicine Buddha at least daily at mealtimes and/ or when making herbal medicine combinations, and evidently was able to establish an inner connection when it was clearly most needed. And the associated Vajrapani practice definitely cleared away many obstacles. Perhaps these practices can benefit you as well. The only way to know is to engage the practice.

With this short teaching and set of references I honor and fulfill the formal vajrayana teaching requirement, for the benefit of as many as possible. This is dedicated to my many teachers and lines of transmission for Medicine Buddha and for Sakya lineage in particular, and further dedicated to the continuing propagation of the teachings of Medicine Buddha and Buddhist healing in a time of upheaval as many seek for peace and healing from within. May they be helped, and may they find real help from within, in their own consciousness.

All Our Relations. Sarva mangalam. Siddhi rastu.

K T, inner medical tantrika and dagger priest, Buddhist liturgical scholar, pagan teacher and so forth



Teaching References for Medicine Buddha:
dharma-haven.org/thrangu-m...buddha.htm

www.shenpen-osel.org/
see "VOLUME 4, NUMBER 1 JUNE 2000
The Medicine Buddha Sadhana (practice) in Tibetan, transliteration, word-for-word translation, and full literary translation; teachings on the Medicine Buddha Sadhana by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche. . ."

and also "VOLUME 4, NUMBER 2 SEPT. 2000
A Joyful Aspiration: Sweet Melody for Fortunate Ones by the Seventeenth Karmapa, Urgyen Trinley Dorje; A Song by the Sixteenth Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje; commentary on the Medicine Buddha Sutra by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche; The Twelve Great Aspirations of the Medicine Buddha"

See also numerous books and materials from the book catalog of Snow Lion Publications
www.snowlionpub.com/


Event Reference:
sakya.thinkbig.ca/schedule.html

Medicine Buddha Empowerment
Bestowed by: H.E. Jetsun Chimey Luding.
Translator: Thubten Jampa.
Date: July 13, 2008 (Sunday).
Time: 2:30 pm.
Place: STTL center in Richmond
Suggested Donation: $20.
Restriction: 100% vegetarian diet before receiving empowerment. No meat or fish, garlic, onion and egg.

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From the Snow Lion Publications catalog at
www.snowlionpub.com/

1) MEDICINE BUDDHA PUJA (Gaden Jantse)
by the Monks of Gaden Jangtse

60 min. CD.

# MEBUPU - $ 18.00

This is a fund-raiser for the Gaden Jangtse Monastery. Seven monks chant the prayers of the Medicine Buddha and the various forms of the Medicine Buddha which helps establish a connection with the healing Buddha. On the CD is printed the Medicine Buddha mantra in English and Sanskrit, and as the CD spins, prayers are sent into the universe.


2) MEDICINE BUDDHA PUJA (Kopan)
Monks of Kopan Monastery

62 min. music CD.

# MEBUKO - $ 15.95

Medicine Buddha is the manifestation of the healing energy of all enlightened beings. The seven Medicine Buddhas pray for the happiness of all sentient beings. Reciting the Medicine Buddha mantra purifies karmic obscurations of all sentient beings. This traditional puja contains the extensive prayers and requests to the seven Medicine Buddhas with the mantra.


3) MEDICINE BUDDHA SADHANA
trans. by Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche

18 pp.

# MEBUSA - $ 5.00

The practice was translated by Lama Zopa Rinpoche for the benefit of his students and all sentient beings wishing to be healed of their ills, mental and physical. This practice in English comes with long and short mantras and visualization, as well as explanations of the benefits of the the practice and the mantra.


4) MEDICINE BUDDHA Sadhana
by the Riwoche Tibetan Buddhist Temple

23 pp., 5.5" x 8.5".

# MEBURI - $ 15.00

Reciting the Medicine Buddha mantra--according to Shakyamuni Buddha himself--protects the practitioner from illness and epidemic, and is said to help heal all illnesses. This sadhana is designed to go with one of our top-selling CDs, Medicine Buddha: The Practices of Riwoche Temple. Designed with spiral binding to lie flat, the sadhana comes with Tibetan, transliteration, and English for each phrase.


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