Where is this Medicine Buddha mantra from?

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Constructelf
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2021 8:01 pm

Where is this Medicine Buddha mantra from?

Post by Constructelf »

In the Drikung Kagyu's Medicine Buddha sadhana The Drop of Ambrosia, the following mantra is given as the long mantra for recitation:

ТADYATHA / GHUME GHUME / I MINI MINI / MATI MATI / SAPTA TATHAGATA / SAMADHYA / DHISH THATE / A TE MATE PALE / PAPAM SHODHANI / SARVA PAPAM NASHAYA / MAMA BUDDHA / BUDDHOT TAME / UME KUME / BUDDHA KSHETRA / PARI SHODHANI / DHAMENI DHAME / MERU MERU / MERU SHIKHARE / SARWA ANKALA / MRITYU NAWA RENI / BUDDHE SU BUDDHE BUDDHA DHISH THITE NARA KSHAN TUME / SARVA DEWA / SAME A SAME / SAMANVA HARAN TUME / SARWA BUDDHA BODHISATWA / SHAME SHAME / PRASHAMAN TUME / SARWA ITYUPA / DRAWA BHYA DHAYA / PURANI PURANI / PURA YAME / SARWA AHSHAYA / BEDURYA PRATI BHASE / SARWA PAPAM KSHYAYAM KARI SWAHA/

That specific sadhana is the only place I've seen this mantra used. I've never seen it referenced anywhere else, not in an article or teaching, nor in a practice text from outside the Drikung Kagyu school. In all other Medicine Buddha practices I've seen, the long mantra is this, or some variation of it:

OM NAMO BHAGAVATE BHAISHAJYE / GURU BAIDURYA / PRABHA RADJAYA / TATHAGATAYA / ARHATE SAMYAKSAM BUDDHAYA / TADYATHA / OM BHAISHAJYE BHAISHAJYE MAHA BHAISHAJYE [BHAISHAJYE ] / RAJA SAMUDGATE SVAHA

Does anybody know where the first mantra is from, and if it's specific to the Drikung Kagyu or if other traditions use it as well? Every other source I've seen so far uses the second mantra.
Malcolm
Posts: 42974
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 2:19 am

Re: Where is this Medicine Buddha mantra from?

Post by Malcolm »

Constructelf wrote: Sat Oct 02, 2021 6:53 am In the Drikung Kagyu's Medicine Buddha sadhana The Drop of Ambrosia, the following mantra is given as the long mantra for recitation:

ТADYATHA / GHUME GHUME / I MINI MINI / MATI MATI / SAPTA TATHAGATA / SAMADHYA / DHISH THATE / A TE MATE PALE / PAPAM SHODHANI / SARVA PAPAM NASHAYA / MAMA BUDDHA / BUDDHOT TAME / UME KUME / BUDDHA KSHETRA / PARI SHODHANI / DHAMENI DHAME / MERU MERU / MERU SHIKHARE / SARWA ANKALA / MRITYU NAWA RENI / BUDDHE SU BUDDHE BUDDHA DHISH THITE NARA KSHAN TUME / SARVA DEWA / SAME A SAME / SAMANVA HARAN TUME / SARWA BUDDHA BODHISATWA / SHAME SHAME / PRASHAMAN TUME / SARWA ITYUPA / DRAWA BHYA DHAYA / PURANI PURANI / PURA YAME / SARWA AHSHAYA / BEDURYA PRATI BHASE / SARWA PAPAM KSHYAYAM KARI SWAHA/

That specific sadhana is the only place I've seen this mantra used. I've never seen it referenced anywhere else, not in an article or teaching, nor in a practice text from outside the Drikung Kagyu school. In all other Medicine Buddha practices I've seen, the long mantra is this, or some variation of it:

OM NAMO BHAGAVATE BHAISHAJYE / GURU BAIDURYA / PRABHA RADJAYA / TATHAGATAYA / ARHATE SAMYAKSAM BUDDHAYA / TADYATHA / OM BHAISHAJYE BHAISHAJYE MAHA BHAISHAJYE [BHAISHAJYE ] / RAJA SAMUDGATE SVAHA

Does anybody know where the first mantra is from, and if it's specific to the Drikung Kagyu or if other traditions use it as well? Every other source I've seen so far uses the second mantra.
It’s the long dharani from the sutra.
jmlee369
Posts: 694
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2011 1:22 am

Re: Where is this Medicine Buddha mantra from?

Post by jmlee369 »

Constructelf wrote: Sat Oct 02, 2021 6:53 am In the Drikung Kagyu's Medicine Buddha sadhana The Drop of Ambrosia, the following mantra is given as the long mantra for recitation:

ТADYATHA / GHUME GHUME / I MINI MINI / MATI MATI / SAPTA TATHAGATA / SAMADHYA / DHISH THATE / A TE MATE PALE / PAPAM SHODHANI / SARVA PAPAM NASHAYA / MAMA BUDDHA / BUDDHOT TAME / UME KUME / BUDDHA KSHETRA / PARI SHODHANI / DHAMENI DHAME / MERU MERU / MERU SHIKHARE / SARWA ANKALA / MRITYU NAWA RENI / BUDDHE SU BUDDHE BUDDHA DHISH THITE NARA KSHAN TUME / SARVA DEWA / SAME A SAME / SAMANVA HARAN TUME / SARWA BUDDHA BODHISATWA / SHAME SHAME / PRASHAMAN TUME / SARWA ITYUPA / DRAWA BHYA DHAYA / PURANI PURANI / PURA YAME / SARWA AHSHAYA / BEDURYA PRATI BHASE / SARWA PAPAM KSHYAYAM KARI SWAHA/

That specific sadhana is the only place I've seen this mantra used. I've never seen it referenced anywhere else, not in an article or teaching, nor in a practice text from outside the Drikung Kagyu school. In all other Medicine Buddha practices I've seen, the long mantra is this, or some variation of it:

OM NAMO BHAGAVATE BHAISHAJYE / GURU BAIDURYA / PRABHA RADJAYA / TATHAGATAYA / ARHATE SAMYAKSAM BUDDHAYA / TADYATHA / OM BHAISHAJYE BHAISHAJYE MAHA BHAISHAJYE [BHAISHAJYE ] / RAJA SAMUDGATE SVAHA

Does anybody know where the first mantra is from, and if it's specific to the Drikung Kagyu or if other traditions use it as well? Every other source I've seen so far uses the second mantra.
As Malcolm said, it is from the same sutra as the shorter dharani, the Sutra on the Merits of the Fundamental Vows of the Seven Buddhas of Lapis Lazuli Radiance, the Masters of Healing. The longer dharani is called "Tathagatas' Concentration Power Lapis Lazuli Light" and is spoken by all seven Medicine Buddhas. It is found in the extensive versions of various Medicine Buddha practices, such as that composed by the Fifth Dalai Lama that is used in Gelug monasteries, and also the jangwa practice.
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