Tashi Delek - Amitabha Buddhist Centre

In the past when he was a bodhisattva, Medicine Buddha made many prayers anddedications with strong compassion for his name to be wish-fulfilling and to bringhappiness. On 3 and 4 October, we will be having a Medicine Buddha Celebration withKhen Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup presiding over the events. Do join us for this specialcelebration (see back cover for details).The Medicine Buddhasmade many prayers inthe past. Those whohave done the MedicineBuddha puja will have seen in thetext that each one of the MedicineBuddhas made different prayers tosolve various problems of sentientbeings and to bring them happinessand success. They made these prayersto be able to benefit sentient beings inthe future. They all then becameenlightened. A Buddha has skiesof qualities, one of which is theten powers, and one of the tenpowers is the power of prayer.In the past the MedicineBuddhas prayed, “Whenanybody recites my nameand mantra, may suchand such problems besolved and may they havesuch and such success.”Because of that, whenthey became enlightened andachieved the power of prayer,their names and mantras haveall this power. When we recite theMedicine Buddhas’ names andmantras, we receive the results of theprayers they made in the past. Andif we recite the Medicine Buddhas’names and mantras, whatever prayerswe do are actualised. Therefore,doing Medicine Buddha practiceis very powerful for success. Peoplethink Medicine Buddha is only forhealing. It’s not only for healing butfor everything.After explaining all the inconceivablebenefits of practising, praying toand reciting the name and mantraof Medicine Buddha, Buddha thenasked Ananda, his attendant, “Doyou believe this?” Anandareplied, “Yes, I believe it. Ibelieve what Buddha has said aboutthese benefits because Buddha hasinconceivable qualities, includingomniscient mind, which can seeeverything.”Buddha then explained thateven animals who hear MedicineBuddha’s name will never getreborn in the lower realms. To savethem from reincarnating in thelower realms forever is unbelievablycompassionate. For each heavynegative karma you commit, you haveto experience suffering in the lowerrealms for many eons. However, bysimply hearing the name-mantraof Medicine Buddha, a being issaved forever from being rebornin the lower realms. That isunbelievable! It is simple tochant the name-mantra in theear of an animal, but it hasincredible power becauseof Medicine Buddha’sbodhicitta.As those who have doneMedicine Buddha pujawill know, MedicineBuddha practice is alsovery powerful in purifyingdegenerations of lay vowsand vows of ordination. That isanother way this practice saves usfrom the lower realms. Since in thelower realms we have no opportunityto practise Dharma, being savedfrom the lower realms enables us toquickly be liberated from samsaraand achieve enlightenment.It is said that Medicine Buddha’sDoing MedicineBuddhapractice is verypowerful forsuccess. Peoplethink MedicineBuddha is onlyfor healing. It’snot only forhealing but foreverything.mantra has inconceivable benefits.In the presence of the eight MedicineBuddhas (there are eight MedicineBuddhas when you includeShakyamuni Buddha), Manjushrirequested them, “When there’s anexplosion of the five degenerationsand sentient beings have very littlemerit, they will mostly engage innegative karma, and positive actionswill be very rare. When sentientbeings are totally possessed byvarious sicknesses and spirit harms,may whatever prayers the MedicineBuddhas made in the past quickly beactualised. May sentient beings beable to see the Medicine Buddhas,and may you actualise all the wishesof sentient beings. Please teach usthis special mantra.” In one voice,Shakyamuni Buddha and the sevenMedicine Buddhas, then granted theMedicine Buddha mantra.If you recite this mantra as adaily practise, all the Buddhasand bodhisattvas will always payattention to you and always guideyou. Vajrapani, Owner of theSecrets, and the four guardians willalso always protect you.As mentioned in the MedicineBuddha sutra, if you practiceMedicine Buddha or simply makean offering to Medicine Buddha, alltwelve leaders of the groups of theentourage, who are like protectorsand each of whom has an entourageof seven hundred thousand, willprotect you. Through that all yourwishes are then fulfilled.Also, all your negative karma ispurified. All sicknesses and spiritharms are quickly pacified. Whensomeone is in a lot of pain that isdifficult to control, if a MedicineBuddha puja is done in a monasteryor somewhere else, the person willeither recover or peacefully passaway, so that they don’t have tocontinue with all that pain. Also, allyour wishes are fulfilled.Some years ago in Taiwan, George,a man I met when I went to Taiwanfor the first time, gave me a MedicineBuddha statue to fill. He was theonly person that I talked to aboutDharma on that first visit. I talkedto him at the airport, when I wasleaving. Because of laziness I didn’tget to fill the statue, but I asked VenThubten Gyatso from Australia todo it.Anyway, George had the MedicineBuddha statue filled. He then gave itto someone who was very sick withcancer. One day this person waslying in bed. He needed his medicinebut it was in the bathroom, and hecouldn’t move. He slowly turned hishead to the Medicine Buddha statue,which had been left on a table besidehis pillow. He saw that the MedicineBuddha statue was holding themedicine in its hand. He then tookthat medicine.When he later passed away, he slowlyturned and put his palms togetherat his heart, then very peacefullypassed away. He wasn’t a Buddhistor of any particular religion, butbecause of what happened to him,with Medicine Buddha guiding him,I think he must have rememberedMedicine Buddha. So he put hispalms together at his heart as he waslying there and then very peacefullypassed away.Also, it is very, very powerful to recitethe name of each Medicine Buddhaseven times. It quickly purifies allthe heavy negative karmas collectedduring beginningless rebirths. Onecollects much merit and has a longlife free from sickness. One is savedfrom the lower realms and is quicklyable to achieve enlightenment.The physician of the devas, KyeguDakpo, requested Buddha toexplain everything about theMedicine Buddha, including thebenefits of the practice. This sutrais Buddha’s explanation. Buddhasaid, “Physician Kyegu Dakpo, listento me. One hundred phagtses to theeast from here is the Bedurya, or LapisLazuli, pure land. There abides theBuddha, Medicinal King, who hasaccomplished extensive prayers. Dueto having generated the good heart,this Buddha is very compassionate andextremely powerful.”Buddha then explains to KyeguDakpo, the physician:“If, to this Buddha, you prostrate, makeoffering, confess negative karmas, rejoicein merits, request to turn the Dharmawheel, request to have stable life andnot pass into the sorrowless state, anddedicate the merits for enlightenment,through this seven-limb practice youwill have collected the same virtue ashaving done the seven-limb practicein relation to all the Buddhas andbodhisattvas.”Buddha then says:“You have offered respect and service toall the Buddhas and bodhisattvas.”Also, another text, Men Gyu RinchenBumpa, says:“Reciting Medicine Buddha’s nameand mantra one time becomes havingrecited the names and mantras of allthe Tathagatas of the past, present andfuture.Remembering, seeing, hearing,touching or meditating on MedicineBuddha includes remembering, seeing,hearing, touching or meditating onall the Buddhas and bodhisattvas,all the Triple Gem. Therefore, theMedicine Buddha’s holy name is “All-Encompassing of Those Gone to Bliss.”