The Medicine Buddha

Up to now I’ve tended not to write a lot about the more devotional aspect of Buddhism, however here I go! The custom within our religious Order is to celebrate, in the form of a ceremony, a number of Bodhisattvas. Today is the turn of Bhaisajya-guru Tathagata, commonly referred to as the Medicine Buddha.

This is in honour of Bhaisajyaguru, the Buddha of Healing
who sits radiantly in the pure land of this moment.
Whenever we give ourselves in trust
to the mind of meditation we call upon Him
and receive the medicine that ends all suffering.
This medicine He offers is the acceptance
of all causes and conditions
that make our lives what they are.

Such acceptance releases us from grasping
and brings serenity in the face of death.
His teaching removes frustration,
despair and the need for
dreams and unreal hopes.
All activity and purpose is within
the stillness of His heart.
His vows to heal all beings is His true body
and it appears whenever we respond
with compassion to the needs that surround us.

When we give ourselves in trust
our lives are fulfilled.
We cannot judge the worth of our offering,
it is enough that it is made with a pure heart.
For those who give themselves, all questions vanish
and there is nothing to ask for that is not already given.
The body of the Buddha is constantly emerging
and yet it is never moving.

We bow in gratitude for the great compassion of all the Buddhas and for their limitless teaching.

See also this post, The Healing Buddha

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5 thoughts on “The Medicine Buddha”

  1. I read this with bows. It has been a difficult year on the health front and while the Medicine Buddha may not necessarily reverse conditions, just simply contemplating on this teaching can show a way to cope.

    This post is very timely.
    ___/\___
    Norman.

    1. Dear Norman, yes it has been a year of it. More than a year of course. I’ll post some words from the invocation that Rev. Master Chushin wrote. We sang it today. Do you remember the BBC radio program called ‘Lift up your heart’? Singing does that for me, lifts my heart or spirit or what ever.

  2. I can’t quite put into words how much Bhaisajya-guru Tathagata means to me. I feel that I have been moving, inch by stubborn inch, towards a deeper understanding of Him, for years. I’m so pleased The Medicine Buddha is the theme of our retreat.

    1. Ah yes. You commented on my original post on the Healing Buddha back in 2017. I’ll continue on this theme tomorrow, hopefully. As always I am so grateful to you and to Dave for being there all these long years. I will always remember what you said as we walked down from Glastenbury Tor in 1992, I think it was.

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