An excerpt from

A Short Teaching on
the Medicine Buddha
by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

Medicine Buddha
More about Medicine Buddha

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Medicine Buddha, Healer of Outer and Inner Sickness

Medicine Buddha is a fully enlightened being. To
understand who he is, what his nature is, what his
function is, and so on, we first need to understand
what an enlightened being is. Generally, 'being'
means any being who experiences feelings
pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. Thus we are beings,
and animals are beings; but houses and plants are not
beings because they do not experience any feelings. There are two
types of being: sentient beings and enlightened beings. A sentient
being, or living being, is a being whose mind is afflicted by the
darkness of ignorance. An enlightened being is a being who is
completely free from the darkness of ignorance.
Just as sentient beings have many different aspects, so do enlightened
beings. Enlightened beings emanate countless different forms for the
benefit of living beings. Sometimes they appear as Deities, sometimes
as humans, sometimes as non-humans. Sometimes they appear as
Buddhist Teachers, sometimes non-Buddhist Teachers, sometimes as
crazy people or evil people, and sometimes even as inanimate objects.
Emanations of enlightened beings pervade the whole world, but
because our mind is covered by ignorance we do not recognize them.
We cannot say who or what is an emanation of a Buddha.

Medicine Buddha is an enlightened being who has unbiased

compassion for all living beings. He protects living beings from
physical and mental sickness and other dangers and obstacles, and
helps them to eradicate the three poisons attachment, hatred, and
ignorance which are the source of all sickness and danger. He is a
Buddha Doctor.
At one time Buddha Shakyamuni was staying at a place called Vaishali
with thirty-six thousand Bodhisattva disciples. At that time, Manjushri
was appearing as a Bodhisattva disciple. Through his compassion,
Manjushri realized that in the future the Buddhadharma would
degenerate, and the beings of this world would find it very difficult to
practise pure Dharma and gain pure realizations. He understood that it
would be very difficult for those beings to control their minds, and so
they would naturally engage in negative actions such as killing,
stealing, and holding wrong views. As a result they would experience
horrific illnesses and unbearable mental pain. The world would be full
of problems, dangers, and adversity. Finding the thought of all this
suffering impossible to bear, Manjushri asked Buddha:
In the future when your Dharma and general spiritual
practice are in decline, when the human beings in this world
are spiritually impoverished, when their attachment, anger,
and ignorance are so strong and difficult to control that they
experience continual physical suffering, mental pain, fears,
and dangers, and especially many incurable diseases, who
will release them from this suffering and protect them from
danger? Who will help them to overcome the three mental
poisons?
In response to Bodhisattva Manjushri's question, Buddha expounded
the Sutra of Eight Thousand Verses Principally Revealing the
Instructions on Medicine Buddha. Many beings heard this teaching. In
addition to the thirty-six thousand human Bodhisattva disciples,
millions of other Bodhisattva disciples came from many Pure Lands,
together with beings from other realms such as nagas and givers-ofharm, or yakshas. To this vast assembly of disciples Buddha explained
all about Medicine Buddha - his special qualities, his Pure Land, and
how in the future by relying upon this Buddha and just hearing his
name, living beings could be cured of heavy mental and physical
sickness, especially the sickness of delusions. He also explained how to
make a connection with this Buddha, the benefits of relying upon him,

and how to practise the Medicine Buddha instructions.

While Buddha was giving this teaching, Manjushri realized with his
clairvoyance of knowing others' minds that some of the humans and
gods in the audience were developing doubts, finding it difficult to
believe the Buddha's explanation about the existence of Medicine
Buddha. Therefore, again he rose from his seat, respectfully
circumambulated Buddha three times, made three prostrations, and
then with his left knee on the ground according to tradition, requested
Buddha:
To remove doubts from the minds of disciples, please show clearly how
this Buddha exists, where he exists, and what his good qualities are.
Buddha immediately entered into an absorption of concentration, and
from his heart emanated light rays inviting the seven Medicine
Buddhas to Vaishali so that everyone could see them. Medicine Buddha
came with his two main disciples, Radiance of the Sun and Radiance of
the Moon, as well as a vast retinue of thousands of other disciples. The
other six Medicine Buddhas also came with their retinues. Everyone
could see the seven Medicine Buddhas with their retinues directly, and
their doubts were immediately dispelled. Buddha introduced each of
the Buddhas, saying for example "This Buddha is Medicine Buddha.
He comes from the eastern Pure Land called Lapis Jewel Land. This
Buddha Land is the nature of wisdom with the aspect of lapis lazuli.
The entire ground of that Pure Land is illuminated by this Buddha's
light," and so on.
Buddha then gave instructions on how to recite the mantra for oneself
and for others, for sick and dying people, and so forth, and how to
perform many different healing rituals. Everyone rejoiced and
developed deep, unchangeable faith. It is said that through hearing
these instructions seven million non-human givers of harm gained a
direct realization of ultimate truth and promised to help future
followers who sincerely relied upon the practice of Medicine Buddha.
Twelve chief givers-of-harm who were present later attained
enlightenment, and are included within the fifty-one Deities of
Medicine Buddhas mandala.
The practice of Medicine Buddha is a very powerful method for
healing ourself and others, and for overcoming the inner sickness of
attachment, hatred, and ignorance. If we rely upon Medicine Buddha
with pure faith we shall definitely receive the blessings of these

attainments.
Geshe Kelsang gave the initiation of Medicine Buddha in Santa
Barbara on Sunday, February 4th 1996. More information about him
and his teachings is available at the Kadampa Buddhism Website.
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Medicine Buddha and Tibetan Medicine

Medicine Buddha Resources
Tibetan Medicine Resources
Sadhana of the Medicine Buddha

Medicine Buddha Meditation

Teachings on the Medicine Buddha

Teachings on the Medicine Buddha Sadhana and Sutra

given by the Very Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche
Schedule of Medicine Buddha Empowerments
Thangka Paintings of the Medicine Buddha
Mandala of the Medicine Buddha
Spiritual Healing in Buddhist Tibet
The Art of Healing: A Tibetan Buddhist Perspective

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Revised on April 29, 2003
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