Dharma Wheel

Feeling very strong affinity for Medicine Buddha & his mantra practice.
Wondering if it'd be a nice, middle-ground practice while I can attend a TianTai/PureLand temple locally & attempting to move more into Vajrayana-Gelug with study of the Lam Rim (no guru yet).

I felt the same affinity and even took the first empowerment. The practice has been full of surprises for me. I wasn't expecting it to affect my mind so much. After practice, everything seems so much calmer. I wasn't expecting the practice to be a gateway to understanding emptiness, but it is that also. There's a great deal more to it than praying for healing of Uncle Bob's hernia.

I haven't received any official empowerment to practice it, thought I did recently order some stuff on the Medicine Buddha practice from the FPMT.
I was recommended Medicine Buddha practice by a lady at my Lam Rim group because some very painful infections (possibly spider bites) that I've been living with since June.
She and her husband were both very sick: him with Addison's disease (Addisonian crisis), her with cancer.
She recited Medicine Buddha mantra night and day.
They were both hospitalized and received western medical treatment, him for his condition, her for her surgery; she continued to chant.
Both have made recoveries termed "miraculous" by their doctors - he seems very happy-go-lucky and she doesn't even have any scars.
Just want to say that I am mentioning this story because I know the 2 people involved as well as witnesses who were around at that time.
This is not the story of a miracle to convince any body else, only relating the first-hand accounts that helped open my eyes to the practice.

I've been using it to help heal what I hope was my last infection and have noticed tangible results even before I went to the doctor for antibiotics.
I continue to use it to help heal the illnesses of my mind that prevent me from understanding, experiencing, and practicing the Dharma.
Try to sneak in at least a mala-a-day of the short chant and if I have time, I do a mala of the long mantra over a blue Nalgene bottle of water & drink it.
I also loaded an image of a Medicine Buddha thangka as the desktop background on my Macbook, so I can look at it and focus on it while I chant.
The lapis lazuli light emanating off the screen helps me visualize the light pouring through me and purifying me.
I'm not sure I'm doing everything right; but like you said, the benefits extend far beyond any physical illness.

If Medicine Buddha can help me bridge the gap between the Lam Rim group I study with every couple weeks and the TienTai/PureLand/Thien Temple I go to every Sunday, then to me that's pretty miraculous.

err just took the 8 Medicine Buddhas empowerment today.
Came up kinda unexpectedly.
Happy I got the chance to do it.

Funny how that worked out, hm?

catmoon wrote:Funny how that worked out, hm?

Yeah, it was actually kind of crazy.
I was supposed to go up to Austin to see this Geshe the weekend before; but I was too lazy & stupid to go check it out.
In fact; I was lamenting the fact that I would ever get the opportunity to get up there on a regular basis - Austin's about an hour and a half drive.
Funny enough, it turned out he wasn't even in the country at that time.

So last weekend, I go to Lam Rim class on Saturday and find out this Medicine Buddha empowerment is going on with that monk (who had just come back from Mexico) on Sunday in Austin.
Didn't think I could go, or at least be on time, because my wife was working and I had the kid.
Wife ended up getting off work early Sunday, which allowed me to go.

It was an amazing experience.
My mind was blown.
Realizing more and more that it's the Gelugpa/FPMT stuff that really gets me going.

Hey im going to take refuge and receive this empowerment in the same day by gyetrul jime rimpoche.

Im very happy!! =)

Im very happy!! =)

Keep up the good work.
Empowerments are a great inspiration. Making a genuine connection to a sadhana is always empowering and enabling.

I am happy to practice some Medicine Buddha today and send you guys and all devotees of Medicine Buddha. Peace, Joy and Well Being

Much appreciated

Btw have you noticed that the Buddha colors are different between sadhanas? To me, normal is

Blue, red, pale red, pale red, gold, yellow, yellow

But I have also seen

Blue, red, pale red, coral, gold, pale yellow, pale yellow

Is there a definitive color set or is it normal for them to vary?

They vary. People will tell you the correct way according to how it has been transmitted. That changes or varies according to various criteria. The important thing is connection and confident practice.
Does the practice improve well being? Most medicinally

i guess they vary?
i thought it was in this order (high to low):
Gold
Yellow
Yellow-White
White
White-Red
Red
Blue

This is pure speculation, but I would have assumed that Gold would always go with Stainless Excellent Gold. You never know though. Would you be using the version Lama Zopa uses?

catmoon wrote:This is pure speculation, but I would have assumed that Gold would always go with Stainless Excellent Gold. You never know though. Would you be using the version Lama Zopa uses?

Geshe Thubten Soepa gave the empowerment that I attended.
He's associated with the FPMT.
That's all I know for sure.

PorkChop wrote:

catmoon wrote:This is pure speculation, but I would have assumed that Gold would always go with Stainless Excellent Gold. You never know though. Would you be using the version Lama Zopa uses?

Geshe Thubten Soepa gave the empowerment that I attended.
He's associated with the FPMT.
That's all I know for sure.

Do you have a printed sadhana, or better yet can you link to it? I' curious to see if it is the same version I downloaded a while back.

catmoon wrote:Do you have a printed sadhana, or better yet can you link to it? I' curious to see if it is the same version I downloaded a while back.

Ah, you're in luck. I don't know why I didn't think to check before. I have 2 - the hardcopy from the FPMT shop and the one from the empowerment, which was produced by Geshe Soepa.

Both list the same names.
The one from the empowerment does not list the colors, however - so I only have my notes to go by.
I may have misunderstood what he said, but my notes are consistent with what I wrote.

The FPMT one seems to be more consistent with what you wrote.
The FPMT one lists from high to low:
Gold
Yellow
Gold
Light Pink
Dark Pink
Red
Blue

Hey! whats up?..

Wesley1982 wrote:From reading a book called Medicine Buddha Teachings by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche.

Good source.

plwk wrote:

I thought Bhaisajyaguru belonged to the eastern Buddha Land Abhirati, traditionally.

Abhirati is the Pure Land of Akshobya Buddha, who is one of the 5 Dhyani Buddhas & used to be popular in East Asian Mahayana until the fame of Bhaisajyaguru Buddha and His Pure Lapis Lazuli Land took over but still highly regarded.
One example of mention on Akshobya Buddha and Abhirati is the Vimalakirtinirdesa Sutra.
In each direction, there are Pure Lands of various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, so Akshobya Buddha's Abhirati is not the sole one.

I've been reading Hsuan Hua's commentary on Medicine Master Sutra and he says explicitly that Akshobya's another name for Medicine Buddha (Bhaisajyaguru).
I was a little shocked because it was the first time I'd heard that.
Asked Ven Hui Feng a while back if he'd ever heard the same thing and he hadn't.
Not finished with the book yet, but so far I haven't seen a follow-up to that statement.
Has anybody else here heard that before?
I guess from an Avatamsaka or Lotus Sutra standpoint it doesn't so much matter...