MEDICINE BUDDHA: WHY THE PRACTICE IS SO POWERFUL
We will do the meditation, the recitation of the Medicine Buddha, the granting of the blessing, the holy body, the holy speech and the holy mind of the Medicine Buddha.
The Medicine Buddha practice is not only for healing disease, not only for health. It is also very powerful for success. This experience is known doing the meditation of the Medicine Buddha, making prostrations, making offerings to the Medicine Buddha, by doing the meditation practice, the puja of the Medicine Buddha doing seven limb practice, the mandala offering, making requests and these things. There is a long version that is extremely beautiful, very inspiring, containing the purpose.
There are seven Medicine Buddhas, seven different aspects. Then, including Guru Shakyamuni Buddha that makes eight. This long version and the middle-length version both contain each of the Medicine Buddhas, with their particular main function, saving, protecting sentient beings from the different problems of life. The middle-length version, The Wish-fulfilling Jewel, is available in English, translated by an American student, called David Molk. I thought that it is very good and very important to do practices such as this more extensive prayer in places like Land of Medicine Buddha in America, places where a lot of activities are done for healing, for health, where lot of various activities are done, there is various educational courses for health besides time-to-time also lam-rim and other teachings. Reading the Medicine Buddha Sutra brings unbelievable benefits, doing, reciting or meditating on the Medicine Buddha, reciting the mantra, doing the recitation, the meditation on the Medicine Buddha. There are incredible benefits reading sutras and doing things like this, at least once a month, either the extensive or the middle-length version of the practice. The healing method, the healing activities to benefit others becomes more effective, more meaningful and it also become great purification. For anyone who participates, who does this practice, it becomes great purification and accumulates extensive merits. It helps to bring great success and to develop the mind on the path to enlightenment, and for the extensive service for the teaching of Buddha, for sentient beings, to be successful. So it is very powerful.
It’s a very powerful practice for somebody to do for a living person and also even for those who have passed away. For both, it’s extremely powerful. And for somebody who has already died or even somebody who has already been born in the lower realm, to purify those heavy negative karmas and to change, to receive the body of the happy migratory being, to receive a good rebirth.
This Medicine Buddha puja has a long version, a middle version even a very short version of the practice that is available in English, that I translated so many years ago in a small black book. The essence of the shortest Medicine Buddha meditation, the essence of that meditation comes during the initiation, the same visualization, the main body, visualizing the seven Medicine Buddhas above our own crown, then making requests to each Buddha, then nectar emitting, purifying us. Then after the purification each Buddha absorbs into the next one, and then that absorbs into the next one, and so on, like that. Using the visualization that will come during the initiation, it is very common that somebody who has very severe disease, by doing this Medicine Buddha puja that person gets quickly recovered, gets well or that somebody who is going through a lot of pain or something, that ends quickly. Or somebody who is having a very difficult death easily and quickly passes away. These things have been common experiences.
Why it is so powerful to bringing success? It’s because in the past the Medicine Buddhas made so much prayers for us sentient beings to be actualized in the degenerated time. Because of this that not only for healing but if we always do the meditation, if we recite the prayer to the Medicine Buddhas, it is also very powerful for success, for those who are living and those who are dying or dead. It is mentioned in the sutra of the Medicine Buddha, the Guru of Medicine, the Beams of Lapis Lazuli, the Buddha asked Kungawo [Ananda], the attendant, the one who serves, who always is with Buddha, “Do you believe what is expressed about the qualities of this tathagata?” Tathagata here refers to the Medicine Buddha. “Do you have faith, do you believe?” Then Kungawo replied to Guru Shakyamuni Buddha “Of the Dharma taught by Buddha, I don’t have two points of mind,” meaning he had no doubts. Why? The tathagatas means the buddhas, the conduct of the holy body, holy speech and holy mind is always pure, without mistakes. It’s always completely pure, without any mistakes, any stains.
Then the Buddha replied to Kungawo, “Any sentient being whoever hears this tathagata’s name in the ear, there is no opportunity at all to be born in the lower realm.” What’s the Buddha is saying in his explanation to Kungawo is whoever hears the Medicine Buddha’s name in the ear will never get reborn in the lower realm: in hell, the hungry ghost realm or the animal realm. Like the benefits of reciting Chenrezig’s, the Compassionate Buddha’s, mantra, the Medicine Buddha mantra has also benefits like that.
THE MEDICINE BUDDHA: THE POWER OF THE MANTRA
By reciting the Medicine Buddha mantra you blow over sand grains, the body powder. The reason I mention the body powder is that I thought it’s easier to put on. If it’s sand sprinkled over the body, maybe people don’t find it comfortable to sprinkle sand over the face, on the head. [Rinpoche laughs] To sprinkle grains of sand on the head or on the face, maybe people don’t find it comfortable. I keep some black sesame seeds and some white powder. By doing various mantras, including Medicine Buddha, Namgyalma, the very long mantra and those powerful buddhas’ mantras, by reciting them and then blowing over these substances, by reciting a number of those mantras, if somebody is dying, even if you can’t go to the home or the hospital or whatever, the material that is blessed with those powerful mantras can be send to somebody who is dying or somebody who is already dead, to put over the body for purification.
The Medicine Buddha mantra is similar to the Compassionate Buddha mantra, OM MANI PADME HUM in having unbelievable benefits. By reciting, by blowing over the water, sand grains or powder, whatever then you sprinkle over the animal body or human body, even very old bones of somebody who died a long time ago, if you recite, you sprinkle those substances blessed with this mantra, wherever the consciousness is, because there was a connection before between the consciousness and this body, it can purify the consciousness. As there was relation before, it can affect it, to purify the sentient being, to have a good rebirth.
Even without substances, reciting a mala of this mantra or whatever—of course more is better— and blowing directly on the body, whether it’s human body or animal, has incredible power to purify their negative karma, the cause of the lower realm.
Recently, I thought quite a few times that insects—flies, worms and so forth—that we happen to have crushed by stepping on, those dying or dead ones, by reciting such this powerful mantra, like the Compassionate Buddha or the Medicine Buddha like this, there is so much benefit explained, it becomes great purification for that sentient being, purifying the negative karma, the cause of the lower realms. For example, these insects or animals to receive a deva or human body, to receive a good rebirth, before taking a human or deva rebirth, in the previous life when he was dying, there has to be some good condition ripening that causes him to have good rebirth in the next life, to be able to receive a body of happy migratory being, a deva or a human being. There should be some condition in the previous life during the death time.
Since things are dependent arisings, these things depend on causes and conditions. Before the result happens it has to have causes and conditions, which are the reasons, which become the reason to reincarnate, to receive the body of the happy migratory being.
It looks like so simple. One way it looks like hard to believe, it’s so simple to find because just reciting a mantra, blowing on them and from that they are able to find good rebirth. One way it looks so simple, so easy, but if you think the power of mantra comes from the inconceivable qualities and powers of the Buddha, the power that the Buddha has, the power of compassion, how the holy mind is completely trained in compassion embracing all sentient beings without exception, without leaving even one from the numberless sentient beings. The Buddha has hundreds of thousands of times more compassion towards us and each sentient being than we have for ourselves. And similarly, the Buddha has hundreds of thousands of times more love towards us that we have for ourselves. Due to all these limitless, unimaginable qualities and powers that the Buddha has, this the mantra has such a powerful effect.
That power of the mantra also comes from the power of the person’s mind who recites the mantra. This incredible effect, this benefit, they receive comes from the power of the mantra, combined with the power of that person’s mind who recites it. Of course, if the person has more realizations, there is more power in whatever activity he does for other sentient beings, more benefit and greater purification. Whatever he does is more meaningful for other sentient beings. However, even though there may be no actual realization, the power of reciting the mantra depends on how much compassion and love that person has towards that sentient being and also how much devotion that person has, devotion in the mantra, to the Triple Gem, the Lama, the method, the instruction, the mantra given by the Lama, the spiritual master who reveals the method, who taught the method, the instruction—having devotion in all that.
How much effect the mantra can have depends on power of mantra, but it is also connected with the person who recites the mantra, that person’s mind. Whether it is healing or even praying for others, doing pujas, doing a meditation practice for others to have success or a good rebirth, even praying for others’ benefits, such as making rain or stopping danger such as floods and so forth—the various activities to do for the benefit of other sentient beings, even just praying—the best mind to have is bodhicitta. The perfectly qualified mind is having the bodhicitta realization, and also the wisdom realize emptiness. Those who have these realizations are the best; they are the best ones to serve others, to do service for other sentient beings, without confusion, without problems, by having the realizations of the three principal aspects of the path. The more realization we have, there are not only more skills but also more wisdom, so when we are engaged, when we are involved in benefiting others, we can benefit others without problems. We can benefit others without problems to them and without problems to ourselves.
When there is a limitation in the method, in the skills we have, when there is limitation in the method and in wisdom, even if we are trying to help others many problem arises along with that. Especially when compassion, loving kindness is not there, when the thought of benefiting others, the sincere attitude is not there, trying to do something for others brings a lot of problems, a lot of disharmony. Because of the selfish attitude we find we meet so problems without actually helping others.
Having these realizations, however, everything works. There is so much power, even doing those different practices, meditations, pujas, whatever, all these various activities, to benefit other sentient beings, to solve other sentient beings’ problems, healing and so forth.
Then, even if we don’t have these realizations, the other thing is if we are living in pure morality. As much as we are able to live a pure life, even if there is no realization of bodhicitta or the wisdom realize emptiness, when we attempt to benefit other beings, such as with healing, it will be successful
The last qualification is having faith in the instructions given by the Lama. That involves having faith to the Lama who reveals the method to us. The stronger the faith we have, the stronger there is in the method of healing, reciting the mantra or whatever. By having more devotion in the instructions, in the method, we receive that much power; the method becomes that much more powerful.
There is a story told by His Holiness Zong Rinpoche, one of my gurus, from whom I have received many initiations and teachings, whose knowledge and qualities are limitless, like the ancient, fully-distinguished pandits, those great yogis.
His Holiness Zong Rinpoche told the story of a Tibetan man who went to receive teachings from a lama. This person has a very big nose with lots of pockmarks, like the rough malas called raksha that the Indian sadhus wore. The beads weren’t smooth very rough, with lots of bumps, so this kind of quality is called raksha.
Maybe the lama didn’t have time to give teaching or whatever, but anyway when the man came to request the teaching, the lama told him, “Your nose is like a raksha.” The other person believed that he had received the teaching. [Rinpoche laughs] After the lama said that, he thought he had received the mantra and so he kept reciting, “Your nose is like a raksha, your nose is like a raksha’” over and over again. Then he became a great healer and he was able to cure many people. He cured many people from sicknesses by reciting this “Your nose is like a raksha” mantra. [Rinpoche laughs] So he became very famous, he became very famous healer.
After some time, I don’t know, the lama had some problem with his throat, some infection, so his attendant told him there was a great healer in the area, a great healer in the area who was able to cure many people. So the lama has him come and when he was there, he recited, “Your nose is like a raksha.” [Rinpoche laughs] Then the lama burst into laughter. He laughed and laughed. Then I think the infection or pus came out and he recovered. I think the lama remembered what he told that person in the past about his nose being like a raksha, and this is what the man recited.
Probably, according to Western science, it’s very difficult to believe that by reciting “Your nose is like a raksha” you are able to cure a disease. But here, this is not according to Western science but to the logical reasoning or reality; this is science according to reality, science according to how phenomena function, being dependent arisings, by depending on causes and conditions. According to science, the science according to reality, that power comes from the mind, not so much the words themselves. How that person was able to cure many people and become a very famous healer was through the power of his mind, his faith, having a hundred percent faith that he had received the teaching, the mantra from the lama.
There were so many benefits, so many people’s disease, sickness were healed due to that person’s faith, his devotion. This came from the power of that person’s mind. That is according to the science according to reality.
Recently, I thought that even reciting these powerful mantras to dead and dying insects and animals would definitely become conditions for them to have a good rebirth but there has to be some positive condition at the time of death for them in order to have good rebirth in the next life. The conditions that can happen are such as this. If you think that not every sentient being, every insect has the karma to have somebody recite the mantra and blow over their body so they can receive a good rebirth. For them to meet such conditions that while they are dying or after they are dead somebody prays for them and recites the mantra while blowing over their body, that is extremely rare. Think of the number of animals, worm, insects, sentient beings who die all the time and the number who have such a condition, somebody reciting a mantra for them, it is extremely rare. So you can understand from that point of view, it can definitely help them have a good rebirth, by purifying their karma.
So anyway, the Medicine Buddha meditation, at least this short meditation, which will come during the initiation, it’s very good not only to pray for our own success or healing but also to use to help others. And especially it is excellent, one of the best things, one of the most effective things to do for a sentient being who is dying or dead, whether it’s an animal or human being. One of the most effective things to do is the short meditation, where you visualize the seven Medicine Buddhas on the crown of that animal or that human being who is dying or who is dead, then you do the purification and make the request. The specific purpose [is to help] that particular sentient being who died or who is dying, and the particular request is that that being immediately reincarnates into the pure land of a buddha, such as Amitabha Buddha’s pure land, especially those pure lands where you never return to samsara, you don’t reincarnate into samsara, being under the control of karma and delusion, especially those pure lands. By directly receiving the teachings from the buddha of that pure land you actualize the complete tantra path there and become enlightened. Or to receive a perfect human body, and then from a young age to be able to meet the perfectly qualified Mahayana virtuous friend and be able to live in pure morality, and complete path. By receiving only a perfect human body, life to life, in this way, you then go on to achieve enlightenment soon.
Making this request to the Medicine Buddha, you think that he accepts the request and nectar flows from the heart of the Medicine Buddha from whom you are requesting, purifying this sentient being’s negative karma. After that it absorbs to next Medicine Buddha. And so on like that.
So, the first thing is to do this practice. It is very effective.
THE MEDICINE BUDDHA INITIATION
Then after this, if you know how to do it you can do the special method of transferring the other sentient being’s consciousness into the pure land of a buddha. If you have received the practice, if you have done the retreat and received the meditation to transfer your own consciousness into the pure land of that deity who lives there. There are different aspects of buddhas who have their own pure land to bring sentient beings quick way to achieve enlightenment. Kalachakra has Shambhala pure land; Amitabha has the pure blissful realm; then Tara has what’s called Yu lo gobi shingam and Medicine Buddha also a pure land. The Highest Yoga Tantra deities, like Vajrayogini or Heruka, have pure lands.
If you have received this meditation technique, first you need to know that you are going to die, that now is the time to die, and you can’t do anything to postpone life. There is nothing you can do; now it’s time to die. You have tried everything to prolong the life but the signs of death constantly happen, which means now it’s time to die, to leave, to prepare for death, rather than preparing for living.
If that’s so there is a practice called po-wa, transferring the consciousness to pure land. If you have done a retreat of the practice received from a lama, and you are already well trained in this, with the signs of achievement then you use this at the right time where it does not become dangerous; you don’t receive the negative karma of killing the deity.
At the right time you can uses this to guide yourself, even if there are no other people, there is no lama to guide you, to do po-wa for you, or other people to do po-wa for you, to transfer, to guide your consciousness to the pure land. Even if there are no other Dharma friends to help you at that time, you are able to guide yourself at the time of death to reincarnate in that particular deity’s pure land where you can practice tantra. Some of those pure lands there is the opportunity to practice tantra.
There are many other ordinary pure lands where there are unbelievable sense enjoyments. Then after being there an incredible length of time, when that karma is finished, you reincarnate in a place like the deva realm. From that you can again reincarnate, even in the lower realms. There are ordinary pure lands like that.
However, this method of transferring the consciousness to the pure land, by having done the retreat well, with the signs of achievement, you can use this method to do service for other sentient beings, those dead people, dead animals, not only to protect from the lower realms but by guiding the consciousness into the special pure lands where there is opportunity to practice tantra and in this way they become enlightened quickly.
With this practice, you can first pray to the Medicine Buddha, doing the meditation, then after that you can do po-wa and any other prayers and it becomes very powerful. It makes it very powerful; there is more success with the po-wa or whatever prayer you are doing, after having done the Medicine Buddha practice, the prayer to Medicine Buddha.
This method, this practice is extremely needed by people who want to do service for others, who want to help dying people, who want to do hospice work. It is needed to help yourself and especially to help others, to successfully do the work during those times when others are dying.
To do this Medicine Buddha practice, you must keep granting the blessing of this Medicine Buddha, the permission to practice, to meditate. There are graduated activities to be done by the lama and there are graduated activities to be done by the disciple. Doing the sadhana, then doing the self-generation, those parts of the practice, then the front generation and so forth. Then there are graduated activities to be done from the side of the disciple, washing—cleaning the mouth—then prostration and distributing the flowers. There are preliminaries like this to be done from the side of the disciple.
Then giving torma cake to the interferers who interfere to grant to receive this Medicine Buddha initiation or this blessing. You can meditate that generating strong compassion towards other sentient beings is the purpose of taking the initiation or meditating on emptiness.
[Rinpoche Chants]
From the part of the graduated activity to do from the side of the disciple, the next one is here. Since this is practice is Mahayana secret mantra, Vajrayana, it involves visualizing the lama who grants the initiation, not only the essence but also in the aspect of the Medicine Buddha. Then offer mandala, your own body, speech and mind, all the merits, everything, by transforming them into various offerings filling the whole sky, then decorating the whole entire universe. Then make offering and start cleaning.
[Rinpoche Chants]
WITH THE PERFECT HUMAN REBIRTH WE CAN ACHIEVE THE THREE GREAT MEANINGS
At this time, we have received the three extremely rare qualities: we have the perfect human body, this precious human body qualified with eight freedom and ten richnesses; we have met the virtuous friend who reveals the unmistaken path to liberation and full enlightenment; and we have met the Buddhadharma.
This perfect human body, qualified with the eighteen qualities, is so unbelievably precious. With this we can achieve the three great meanings. We can attain any happiness in future lives and even temporal happiness. We can attain the body of happy migratory being, a deva or a human body, and even be born in a pure land of a buddha. In the next life, we can achieve the perfect human body, the precious human body, again, having the eight ripened aspect qualities to be able to complete the Dharma practice, to be able to complete the path, to be able to do extensive benefit for sentient beings. We can even achieve these things and also the perfect body having the four wheels of the supreme vehicle, the Mahayana. If we wish to achieve this, we can even achieve this in next life.
We can achieve whatever happiness we wish in the future life. Then ultimate happiness, liberation, full enlightenment, we can achieve these. We can achieve these things even in each second, with this perfect human body. Whatever we wish we can achieve, we can create the cause. We can achieve these things by creating the cause, even in each second, in our daily life with this perfect human body. Even without talking about a day, we can achieve these things by creating the cause each hour, each minute, even each second.
With this perfect human body, we can achieve the three great meanings, therefore we must practice the Dharma. Since what we wish is happiness and what we don’t wish is suffering, since that is the desire, and since no happiness comes from nonvirtue—only suffering comes from nonvirtue—and since happiness only comes from virtue, from good karma, the positive virtuous intention, therefore we must create the inner cause, which is our own mind, which is Dharma. Therefore, we must practice Dharma.
This perfect human body, which is highly meaningful, we cannot find again and again, since it depends on the cause, practicing morality, and even that is pure morality, and charity, and then creating the merit, which makes us join the result, the good rebirth. Especially practicing morality, the main cause of the rebirth of the happy migratory being, since this is extremely difficult even to accept, beside practicing it, living in it, even to accept it is difficult, so therefore there are so many obstacles to practice this purely. Because there are many obstacles in the mind, from the inside and from outside, therefore it is so difficult to be able to practice purely. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to find such a precious human body again. We have this now just this one time. This is just the once. Therefore think, “I must practice Dharma in this life. I must practice Dharma in this life, in this body; I must achieve these things in this body. What is called liberation and enlightenment must be achieved in this body.”
Not only that, death will definitely happen but the actual time when it will happen is uncertain. It can happen at any time. Death can come at any time; it can occur to me at any time. In any minute it can happen. Therefore think, “I must practice Dharma, and not just that I must practice Dharma in this body, in this life but I must start it right now, without delaying even a second. Without delaying even a second.”
At the time of death, everything has to be left: our possessions, the surrounding people, friends, family and so forth, including this body that we cherished so much, that we cherished most among sentient beings, even this has to be left. Everything leaves us; we leave them. We have to be separated from all these; we have to leave all these things. Only the bare consciousness goes to the next life. Like when we pull a hair from butter, the butter doesn’t come with it, only the hair comes.
The only thing that benefits at the time of death is the holy Dharma. It is only the holy Dharma, nothing else. Therefore think, “I must only practice the holy Dharma. Therefore, I must only practice the holy Dharma.”
DOING EVERYTHING WITH RENUNCIATION AND BODHICITTA
As I mentioned yesterday night, for example, even when we go for shopping, without lam-rim, renunciation, bodhicitta, emptiness, without any of these, it becomes only suffering, it becomes only negative karma. We accumulate so much negative karma from ten nonvirtuous actions, as I mentioned the other night; so much covertness is accumulated from the home to the shop and from the shop to the home. Every action, every activity—walking or driving—from home to shop and from shop to home, everything becomes negative karma. We accumulate so much negative karma during those hours. In reality, everything becomes suffering. If we look at the reality of life, without the lam-rim it becomes only suffering.
For example, while we are doing the shopping, if we do the shopping with renunciation even with a mindfulness of impermanence and death, there is no danger to accumulate nonvirtue, covertness. By the worldly mind of attachment arising, all the actions become negative karma. Remembering impermanence and death cuts that; it gives no space in the mind for attachment, the thought of worldly dharma, to arise. Therefore the actions don’t become nonvirtue, they become holy Dharma.
I think that maybe living our life with renunciation and the thought of impermanence and death, maybe with this mind when we reach the shop there is nothing to buy. Maybe there is nothing to buy; we don’t see any reason to buy anything. So, renunciation can help us save money! [Rinpoche laughs] To not only save money but also to take the essence from this essenceless material such as money and so forth. Remembering renunciation, remembering impermanence and death, it helps us take essence out of the essenceless material such as money and so we not only don’t waste our money but we also only use it for Dharma practice. We only use it for what is meaningful; we only use it for Dharma practice. This is not becoming stingy, not just keeping our money out of stinginess; it’s not that. But with the mind of renunciation we only spend our money for what is meaningful, only for the Dharma. So, spending it for the Dharma helps us to save it, to not waste it.
Yesterday I got distracted from that. I was talking about emptiness, meditating on emptiness when we go shopping, how to apply the meditation on emptiness, and then I got distracted, like a wave of the water, taken away. So, with this again, there is no reason, no space, for desire, for attachment to arise. When we apply the meditation on emptiness, the practice of mindfulness and the hallucination, this is the most powerful one, seeing things as hallucinations. It becomes the remedy even to cut the root of samsara, ignorance.
While we are shopping we should apply the right view and especially bodhicitta, thinking our own purpose in life is to free all sentient beings from all the sufferings, to help them reach enlightenment and to bring them to happiness. This is the purpose of my life, to do service. So therefore we need a long life, we need to be healthy. In other words, we regard ourselves as a servant; we are a servant to all sentient beings, serving to bring happiness to all sentient beings. In order to serve them, we have to take care of ourselves, we have to take of ourselves, not for our own happiness but for the happiness of all sentient beings, for the benefit of all sentient beings.
When we have this attitude when we are doing the shopping, that means actually in our heart we are doing the shopping only for the sentient beings, only for the benefit of sentient beings. That way, we are protected, we are saved from so much covertness, from collecting so much negative karma, from the ten nonvirtues. Instead of collecting so much negative karma going from home and coming back again, where all our actions become negative karma, by apply bodhicitta even shopping becomes the cause of enlightenment, the cause to benefit all sentient beings.
With the bodhicitta motivation, everything becomes like this, from morning until night, for twenty-four hours a day. Before we get dressed, we remember the meaning of life, how our life is to free all sentient beings from suffering, to obtain happiness for all sentient beings, and to do this service we need to be healthy and have a long life. Then we get dressed. This is the same thing as I explained during a shopping trip, the attitude of seeing ourselves as servant, taking care of ourselves as a servant for the sentient beings.
In the same way, before we have breakfast, we can think like this. Then before going to work, the same, again we remember the meaning of life, thinking, “I am responsible for all sentient beings’ happiness. We should remember the meaning and also feel the responsibility, that we are responsible, we do have the responsibility of all sentient beings’ happiness. If we have compassion then no sentient being receives harm, but only peace and also they all receive help, they all get so much peace and happiness from us, from our compassion. If we don’t have compassion, then all sentient beings from life to life, either directly or indirectly, receive harm from us. With ego, without compassion, they only receive harm from us, directly or indirectly. From this one person, this me, numberless sentient beings receive harm directly or indirectly from life to life. Therefore, their happiness is in our hands. We have the responsibility whether they receive happiness of harm from us.
Remembering that we have the responsibility for all sentient beings’ happiness, we think that with this attitude we are going to do this service, the job what we want to do, for sentient beings. In that way, we complete change our attitude. Instead of thinking we are doing our job for our happiness, for our survival, for money, for our comfort and enjoyment—rather than thinking that way, we are doing it for the happiness of other sentient beings. We are doing service for the happiness of other sentient beings. That completely changes our attitude. Then, however many hours we do the job becomes Dharma, becomes pure Dharma unstained by ego, the self-centered mind. We also remember that the job we are doing brings so many comfort and enjoyment to others, to many hundreds of thousands of sentient beings. They receive so much comfort and enjoyment from this job. Our work becomes a contribution to them; it is offered to all the enjoyment and comfort of all these sentient beings. The enjoyment and comfort of all the thousands, the hundreds of thousands of sentient beings come from our work; this is dependent on our effort, it comes from us. Even though there are many other people working together, it’s collected, therefore we are also part of that offering that causes the comfort and enjoyment to other sentient beings. This is something we can think of, offering the happiness and comfort to others.
In particular, we can also remember that we are fulfilling the wishes of others for happiness. We should try to remember this from time to time, while we are working so that again and again the motivation can be the direct motivation and we can develop it into Dharma. And the most pure motivation is bodhicitta, by remember the meaning of life is the responsibility of working for other sentient beings’ happiness. We ourselves are a servant. From time to time we should try to remember this because we still don’t have the realization bodhicitta. Even if we are able to generate a positive motivation it doesn’t last, it doesn’t continue.
Then, in the same way, before going to bed our motivation should be to be able to offer service to sentient beings, and so we need a long and healthy life and therefore we are going to sleep.
And the same thing when we are going to have a bath, when we wash. In this way, all our activities are done as much as possible with a bodhicitta motivation. Therefore, because this is the motivation for working, for acting, to benefit all sentient beings, the many activities we do become pure Dharma, the cause of enlightenment, cause of happiness of all sentient beings. With this bodhicitta motivation, all the activities in our daily life, in one day of life, become the cause of the greatest success, to achieve peerless, full enlightenment, and even that is only for other sentient beings.
Then, as I mentioned last night, by living in the attitude, by leaving the mind in lam-rim, either renunciation or right view, and especially bodhicitta, then no matter how much wealth we have, with bodhicitta, with the thought of benefiting other sentient beings, everything becomes meaningful. With bodhicitta, having wealth has a purpose; it has meaning, it becomes meaningful. If we live our life in the lam-rim, with bodhicitta, then being a millionaire has meaning, because it’s all to benefit others; the attitude we have in everything we do is to benefit other sentient beings, to free other sentient beings from suffering, to obtain happiness for other sentient beings. In this way, being wealthy has meaning; it is given meaning by this bodhicitta attitude. The bodhicitta attitude gives meaning to life.
THE DHARMA SAVES US FROM THE LOWER REALMS
At the time of death nothing benefits except the holy Dharma. Therefore think, “I must only practice nothing else but the holy Dharma.” And especially from the three principal aspects of the path we should practice bodhicitta, which makes our life most meaningful.
After death not being reborn in the lower realms and receive a human or deva body, even that is not sufficient because only those arya beings who realize the renunciation of samsara are free from all suffering. With the realization of the renunciation of samsara, they see all samsara, even the deva or human body, like the hell realm, only in the nature of suffering, like being in the center of a fire. They don’t find the slightest attraction in samsara for even one second. As I mentioned before, not even in dreams, they don’t find attraction for the deva or human body even for one second. For those arya being especially, those who have the renunciation of samsara, this is how they see samsara, even the deva and human realms with all these perfections, all these samsaric enjoyments and comfort. Everything including the body is only in the nature of suffering, like being in the center of a fire. This is what those who have realized the mind, the renunciation of samsara, have seen.
But we don’t have such realizations. Our mind is completely occupied by delusion, hallucinated possessed by delusion, like having taken drugs and experiencing many hallucinations. Because the mind is possessed by delusion, by desire, the three poisons—ignorance, anger and attachment—and so forth, this is like having taken drugs. Even though the deva or human body and all the wealth, perfection, enjoyment and so forth are totally in the nature of suffering, because our mind is possessed by delusion, like having taken drug, there is a complete hallucination, as if nothing is wrong with it. As the Guru Puja says, we see the unbearable prison as beautiful garden. The deva and human body, all these perfections, all of samsara, all of this is only in the nature of suffering, like being in a prison or in the center of the fire, but because our mind is possessed by delusion, ignorance, desire, attachment and so forth, that obscures us from seeing reality, seeing that which is suffering as suffering. Like this, we look at samsara, which is only in the nature of suffering. as like a beautiful garden, we project it is like a beautiful garden, as happiness, as clean, as permanent. We see thinks as pure happiness, as inherently existent, as beautiful, all these things, by the mind being possessed by delusion and then projecting all these hallucinations.
With a mind possessed by delusion, we look at samsara this way, as permanent, inherently existent, clean, as pure happiness. And because of this we cling on it, and by clinging on it we continuously tie ourselves to the samsara. That’s why from beginningless rebirths until now we have still not been liberated from samsara, from the oceans of suffering.
At this time for us to achieving liberation from this whole entire suffering of samsara for ourselves, that is not sufficient. Even doing the work for the self does not finish the qualities of cessation and realization.
MEDICINE BUDDHA INITIATION MOTIVATION: THE KINDNESS OF THE MOTHER
As I mentioned before, the purpose of life is to free all sentient beings from all the sufferings and to lead them in happiness to full enlightenment. This is the ultimate goal of our own life. This is the purpose of living or the ultimate goal of our own life. The need to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings not sufficient to achieve liberation from samsara for ourselves. This life’s mother has been our own mother numberless times, numberless times, and numberless times she has been kind, giving her body to practice Dharma, giving us the opportunity to practice Dharma. This is not the first time; this is not the first time. She gave this precious human body to us and she gave opportunity to purify the cause of the suffering, to purify the negative karma already accumulated and to stop creating the cause of suffering again, and to achieve happiness, by accumulating merit, then to achieve the happiness of future lives, liberation and enlightenment. She has done this for us numberless times from beginningless rebirths.
Even the omniscient mind cannot see the beginning of this kindness, cannot see the beginning of this mother’s kindness. She gave me this body to practice Dharma. Even the omniscient mind cannot the beginning. In order to repay her kindness just for this to my present life’s mother, even I sacrifice my life for eons equaling number of atoms of this earth, or drops of the ocean, this is nothing, I still can’t repay the kindness of mother. Besides this, this present life’s mother gave hundreds of lives each day, when I was in my mother’s womb, and even after I was born from my mother’s womb, during childhood, each day my mother gave hundreds of lives to me, which means she saved me from hundreds of life’s dangers, the many obstacles of life. Each day, she saved me from hundreds of life’s danger.
If our own mother had had an abortion when we were in our mother’s womb, then we wouldn’t have this precious human body and have the incredible opportunity to practice Dharma and to help numberless sentient beings, to bring them to enlightenment. During our time as a baby and a child, if our mother didn’t look after us or ask somebody to look us, hiring somebody else to look after us, even for five minutes if there wasn’t somebody looking after us, our life would have been in danger from falling down or putting dangerous things in our mouth and swallow them. Being injured, being eaten by animals, being killed by vehicles or however, if a baby is not looked after for even five minutes, immediately there is great danger.
Even if we can’t recognize how the mother has been kind to us, if we look at other parents we can see how other mothers look after, take care of their child, constantly have to look after them. Even if she has a short break, not looking for a moment, suddenly there is danger, within one minute, within five minutes, within a short time. As we see it happen to others, as we see with our own children, we see how the mother completely sacrifices her life, giving her whole energy, her time, her material things, everything, everything to that child. Like other mothers do to their children, our own mother did to us when we were young.
She saved us from hundreds of life’s dangers each day. So, this life’s mother has unbelievably kind and this isn’t the first time she has been kind like this to us, but from beginningless rebirths. Even the omniscient mind cannot see the beginning of this kindness, how she saved me from hundreds of life’s dangers each day. [Rinpoche laughs] Even the Buddha’s omniscient mind cannot see the beginning of this kindness. To repay the kindness, even if we sacrifice our life for the many eons equaling the number of atoms of the earth, I cannot finish repaying the kindness; it is not enough, it is nothing.
Then, this life’s mother led us in the path of the world, giving us an education, teaching us how to walk, how to speak, making us a human being, put us in the line of the human beings. She gave us an education by us sending college and university, all these things. Because of that, we have the opportunity to read Dharma books, to write. By having this education, we also are able to have comfort and enjoyment by doing a job. This help was given us by the mother. Even survival, by doing the job due to that education, that originally came from the parents’ help. We think we have helped ourselves but in fact it has been our mother’s help. This is not the first time. This not the first time that she has been kind, leading us on the path of the world. She has been kind to us numberless times from beginningless rebirths. Even the Buddha’s omniscient mind cannot see this. We can’t finish repaying the kindness, even if we sacrifice our lives for the number eons equaling the number of the atoms of the earth.
This life’s mother is so precious, so kind. This life’s mother bore so many hardships to obtain happiness for me. Starting from the womb, for those nine months in our mother’s womb, whatever trouble there was, whatever pain, she bore so many hardships. Even after we were born from of mother’s womb, she endured all that tiredness looking after us, working so many hours, doing jobs and then spending all this money collected to take care of me.
She was so patient with us, no matter how many problems we created, always making our clothes dirty with kaka and pipi and so forth. No matter how much we disturbed our mother, how often we left doors open, disturbing her, screaming, crying and so forth, not letting her even have a good sleep at night time, even in daytime not letting her rest, always bothering her, even with all that she still only thought of taking care of us.
In order to take care of us, she created so much negative karma, telling lies to other sentient beings, giving harm other sentient beings, collecting material things, earning a means of living for in order to take care of us. In order to collect money and so forth, our mother killed, told lies, stole and so forth. She created so much negative karma; she gave so much harm to others. And not only that, we caused our mother to get angry, to have delusion arise and create negative karma. We caused our mother to create so much negative karma.
This is not the first time that this life’s mother has borne so many hardships for us. This is not the first time. This is not the first time she did this; she has done this numberless times from beginningless rebirths. And numberless times she has created so much negative karma for our happiness, to take care of us, by harming others. And we have caused her to create negative karma, to have delusions rise, numberless times. Numberless times we have done this to her. Because of this she has suffered so much, she has experienced so much the result of negative karma, in the lower realms. She has suffered so much in the lower realms from beginningless rebirths and also in the human realm, she has experience problems. She has suffered so much all due to us.
That unbelievable kindness is so precious. Even if we sacrificed our life for eons equaling the number of atoms of the earth we couldn’t finish repaying the kindness of the mother, just for this kindness bearing hardship for us, how much she suffered for us, for our happiness.
We can see this if we look at how other parents look after their children, how the mother has to bear so many hardships and suffer so much, taking so much responsibility. Even the Buddha’s omniscient mind cannot see the beginning of this kindness, the hardships she has borne for us. We can never finish repaying the kindness, even if we sacrifice our life for eons equaling the number of atoms of the earth.
She took care of us like her heart was outside of her. She took care of us like her heart was outside her body in her hand, like holding her heart in her hand. Like this, she cherished us the most. If there were a choice between us, he child, being healthier and her own life, she would rather die and allow her child to survive
This has happened so often, where a mother has given her life for her child. Even if we never knew our mother because she did this, besides that great kindness, we have been brought up by other people and their kindness, their sacrifice, the education that gave, came from this great kindness of our birth mother.
MEDICINE BUDDHA INITIATION MOTIVATION: ALL BEINGS HAVE BEEN KIND TO US IN FOUR WAYS
The main goal is to feel the kindness of all sentient beings, by realizing how all people have saved us and helped us all the time, whether this life’s mother or other people who took care of us, who saved us from the many hundreds of life’s danger each day, or led us in path of the world or bore hardships—by recognizing how unbelievably kind this is and this not the first time they have done this, they have done this numberless times from beginningless rebirths.
By thinking in this way, we realize how this life’s mother and these people have been so precious, so kind. We have this feeling in our heart. They have been so precious, so precious, so unbelievably precious, more precious to us than we ourselves. We then use this as an example to realize how all sentient beings have been our own mother and have been always kind, numberless times and how all of them, every one of them is so precious, so kind.
On the basis of this, we develop compassion, loving kindness and bodhicitta, the door of the Mahayana path to enlightenment. This is the main goal, the main reason why we meditate in this way. We have to understand this point.
Or if our mother passed away after giving us her body, we only had our father to take care of us, after our mother died or something the rest of the kindness was done only by our father.
Every sentient being has been our own mother and has been kind, giving us a human body to practice Dharma numberless times. Every sentient being has saved us from hundreds of life’s dangers each day numberless times and led us on path of the world numberless times. Then each sentient being has borne so many hardships for us, giving us food when we were hungry, drink when we were thirsty, protecting us from heat and cold, giving us clothing and so forth. When we were sick, they gave us medicine. Like this, they protected us, saving us from many life’s dangers. Every sentient being has been kind to us in these four ways numberless times.
So everyone is so precious and so kind, and therefore we must now repay their kindness. What they want is happiness, what they do not want is suffering, so we must liberate them from suffering and its causes and cause them to have them have happiness and causes of happiness. In order to do this, we ourselves must develop our own mind on the path to enlightenment by practicing Dharma. This is the best way to repay their kindness. We must repay their kindness and the best way to repay their kindness is to practice Dharma.
To make it short, we must cause all sentient beings to have happiness. All sentient beings who are currently devoid of temporary or ultimate happiness, we must cause them to have happiness. We must generate loving kindness, seeing the kind mother sentient beings with warmth, with love or beauty
Therefore we must think, “I must free all sentient beings from all their suffering. To cause happiness for their desire and to free them from suffering I must generate great love or beauty, the feeling of seeing all mother sentient beings as warm and kind, warm. Then I must generate compassion to free all sentient beings from all their suffering by myself.”
Next think, “To work to free all sentient beings from all suffering, to lead them to happiness, especially to lead them to peerless happiness, full enlightenment, I will do this by myself. I will take the responsibility of doing this work for other sentient beings by myself. I will carry this responsibility by myself alone. I will do this work for other sentient beings by myself alone. To be able to do this perfectly, first I myself should achieve full enlightenment, the state of the omniscient mind. For that I must actualize the steps on path to enlightenment. For the success of this, to be able to do great benefit for sentient beings and for the teaching of the Buddha, I am going to take the Medicine Buddha initiation.
MEDICINE BUDDHA INITIATION
Now, make the request.
[Rinpoche leads the students in making the request]
Then visualize the guru inseparable from Medicine Buddha, and visualize the Medicine Buddha above the guru with the entourage of all the buddhas and bodhisattvas around. In their presence you are taking the bodhisattva vows, beginning with the refuge, confession, rejoicing, with these preliminaries.
In regards to taking the bodhisattva vows, for those who have taken them before there is no question. By taking them again, what has been degenerated becomes revived, pure, and what has not been degenerated gets increased. So take the bodhisattva vows, the entering vows, the wishing vows like this.
The entering vows have eighteen root falls and forty-six vices that you have to abstain from. The wishing vows involve avoiding the four black dharmas and practicing the four white dharmas: opening the heart towards sentient beings, to being cunning towards a virtuous friend, not hiding mistakes and then not feeling regret when you see other sentient beings practicing Dharma or accumulating merit. These are the basic practices.
If you cannot take the entering vows, you can take the bodhisattva wishing vows. If you can’t do even that then at least you can generate the wish or make the decision: “I am going to practice more compassion, I am going to practice more compassion towards other sentient beings. I am going to attempt to benefit other sentient beings and not harm other sentient beings.” Make the determination to attempt at least this. At least you can think, you can make decision like this, “I am going to practice bodhicitta by attempting to benefit others and attempt to not harm others.” Even if you can’t take the entering vows, and those who have not taken bodhisattva vows before, if you cannot take either, at least you can generate this thought.
[Making the request: Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
So, you rely on the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, taking refuge.
[Making the request: Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
The next one: “I am confessing all negative karma, then everything is purified.” Vow to abstain from committing again the ones which you can and the ones which are too difficult vow to abstain for even a few minutes, a day or one hour, even for a few minutes or a few seconds. Making the vow to not commit the negative karmas for even few seconds, that doesn’t become telling a lie.
[Making the request: Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
The next one is rejoicing. You rejoice, you feel great happiness within your mind for your own three times’ merits and three times’ merits accumulated by the buddhas, bodhisattvas and sentient beings. You feel great happiness in the heart.
[Making the request: Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
Then, the next one. “In order to achieve enlightenment for sake of sentient beings, I am going to take the bodhisattva vows.” Those who are taking the vows, whichever vow you are taking, think this. And those who cannot, those who are unable to take bodhisattva vows, at least generate the thought as I explained.
[Making the request: Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
At the end of the third repetition, without a wandering mind, think, “I must generate thought,” and those who are taking the bodhisattva vows, think, “In the presence of the Medicine Buddha and all the lineage lamas of this initiation and all the bodhisattvas, I have received the pure bodhisattva vows.
[Making the request: Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
Then, the particular request.
[Making the request: Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
Now, the preliminaries of the permission to practice is finished. Now, in order to receive the blessing that is the actual body, you must visualize this.
Yourself as an ordinary being. Above your crown on a lotus and moon disc, there is the Medicine Buddha, seated on your crown. Above are the other Medicine Buddhas. The main one is King of Lapis Light (Skt: Bhaisajyaguru; Tib: Sangye Men-la). The holy body is in the nature of light, lapis lazuli in color, one face, two arms, the left hand a begging bowl filled with nectar and the right hand holding the healing fruit arura. He is seated in the vajra posture.
Above him, on a lotus and moon disc, there is Delightful King of Clear Knowing (Skt: Abhiyaraja; Tib: Ngon-kyen Gyal-Po) a white one.1 I’m not going to describe all the mudras. Above that on a lotus and moon disc there is Melodious Ocean of Proclaimed Dharma (Skt: Dharmakirtisagara; Tib: Cho-drag Gya-tso) pink in color. Above this on a lotus and moon disc is Supreme Glory Free from Sorrow (Skt: Asohottamasriraja; Tib: Nya-ngam Mi-cho) light red in color. Above this on a lotus and moon is Stainless Excellent Gold (Skt: Suvarnabhadravimala; Tib: Da-wa shen-pa Tse-shan) gold in color. Above this on a lotus and moon disc there is King of Melodious Sound (Skt: Svaragosaraja; Tib: Da-yang Gyal-po) yellow in color. Above this there is King of Excellent Signs (Skt: Suparikirti-tanamasruraja; Tib: Tsän-leg[??]) gold in color.
[Visualizing each Medicine Buddha above your head, you make offering and take refuge in each, one by one.] This is the main meditation. If you are doing the shortest Medicine Buddha practice, this is the very essence. Therefore, even if your whole body is not doing the prostration, you should put your palms together, and that is a prostration. You can visualize your own body, numberless your own bodies covering the whole ground and doing prostrations. You can do that also when you recite the word “prostrating.”
Then next one is offering. When you recite the word “offering,” at that time, each time then you remember offerings you have performed in your meditation room or in your house, whatever offering you have made, and from there remember at this time to make offerings to the Medicine Buddha. In this way, you accumulate unbelievable, inconceivable merits. The same thing can be done, you can do it now here.
[Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
Keep your palms together in the mudra of prostration, like this, when you recite the word “prostration” but also physically when you do the prostrations, besides the prostration of speech and mind.
[Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
Then make the offering.
[Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
Taking refuge.
Then the next one: “As you have promised, as you have done the prayers in the past, may it be ripened, may it be received by myself and all sentient beings in this second. I requesting you to bless this to happen.” Usually when you do the practice here you remember whatever success you want to achieve for yourself and others, particular projects, somebody to recover from a disease or to have a good rebirth or whatever. You remember that in the heart and make the request for it to happen immediately.
[Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
Think he has accepted your request. Now Tsän.Leg melts in the light, absorbs into the next buddha Da-yang Gyal-po. Now make requests to Da-yang Gyal-po.
[Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
The next one is offering, taking refuge.
[Making the request: Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
So again whatever offerings performed here—your lights, all the lights, all the offerings—immediately make offerings to the Da-yang Gyal-po.
[Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
Think he has accepted your request. Now Da-yang Gyal-po melts in the light, absorbs into the next buddha Da-wa shen-pa Tse-shan. Now make requests to Da-wa shen-pa Tse-shan.
[Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
The next one is offering.
[Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
Now making the request
[Making the request: Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
Think he has accepted your request. Now Da-wa shen-pa Tse-shan melts in the light, absorbs into the next buddha Nya-ngam Mi-cho. Now make requests to Nya-ngam Mi-cho.
[Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
The next one is making offering.
[Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
Now making the request
[Making the request: Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
Think he has accepted your request. Now Nya-ngam Mi-cho melts in the light, absorbs into the next buddha Cho-drag Gya-tso. Now make requests to Cho-drag Gya-tso.
[Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
The next one is making offering.
[Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
Now making the request
[Making the request: Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
Think he has accepted your request. Now Cho-drag Gya-tso melts in the light, absorbs into the next buddha Ngon-kyen Gyal-Po. Now make requests to Ngon-kyen Gyal-Po.
[Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
The next one is making offering.
[Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
Now making the request
[Making the request: Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
Think he has accepted your request. Now Ngon-kyen Gyal-Po melts in the light, absorbs into the next buddha Sangye Men-la, the main Medicine Buddha. Now make requests to Sangye Men-la.
[Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
The next one is making offering.
[Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
Now making the request
[Making the request: Rinpoche says and the students repeat after him]
Even though there is no particular prayer, the most important thing to actualize in your own mind is to actualize the whole path to enlightenment, the whole lam-rim in this life as quickly as possible. That is the most important request, so you can think that in the heart.
Then the Medicine Buddha melts into light and enters through your crown channel, the channel that starts from your crown. Then all the disease, spirit harm, negative karma, obscuration, are all are pushed down, all are cleaned down, pushed down and they come out, in the form of dirty liquid, like liquid coal or smoke, coming out the anus and from the lower doors, under the feet, the heels. Then, strongly concentrate on your body, everything, being purified. Everything comes out in the form of dirty liquid.
Then, those who have received a great initiation in the past, either Kriya Tantra, like the Chenrezig Great initiation or Highest Yoga Tantra, like Kalachakra or the other Highest Yoga Tantra deity initiation, Yamantaka, Chakrasambhrava, Guyasamaja, Gyalwa Gyatso and so forth—any of the Highest Yoga Tantra deity great initiations, you can visualize yourself as the Medicine Buddha, otherwise it is not permitted to visualize like this.
Those who have received an initiation, you instantly manifest into Medicine Buddha. Yourself as Medicine Buddha then on the right side is the bodhisattva Nyi-ma Tag-nam Che, the holy body red in color, one face, two arms. Then the right hand mudra of granting sublime realizations, the left one holding the stem of a lotus, and at the heart, on the lotus there is a sun.
On the left side there is the bodhisattva Da-wa Dam Nam-tse, the holy body white in color, one face, two arms. The right hand is in the mudra of giving sublime realizations, stretched down. The left one holds the stem of a lotus at the heart. Above the lotus there is a moon disc. Adorned with the scarves and jewel ornaments, standing respectfully towards the main Medicine Buddha. Then visualize OM AH HUM.
Beams are emitted from the guru’s heart, and the seven Medicine Buddhas and the innumerable numbers of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, invoked, absorb through your crown. Again from the guru’s heart and front generation where the mandala was generated during preparation time, the front-generation Medicine Buddha, from the heart then Medicine Buddha, very huge like mountains, smallest like atoms, an uncountable number absorb through your crown and through your pores, your body and bless your mental continuum.
[Rinpoche Chants]
Now, the permission of the blessing; the permission to recite the mantra.
Now at the guru’s heart you visualize a moon disc, in the center a HUM, with the mantra around. Also, those who have visualized Medicine Buddha, at your heart there is also a moon disc and syllable HUM surrounded by the mantra. Due to strong devotion, by thinking the guru is actual Medicine Buddha a replica mantra comes out through the guru’s holy mouth. Here, in the text it says the mantra comes from the HUM. The mantra comes from the HUM; it doesn’t say to visualize around, it says the mantra comes from the HUM, through the guru’s holy mouth, enters in your mouth and decorates around the heart, around the HUM on the moon disc, clockwise.
So please repeat the mantra with this visualization.
TAD YA THA / OM BEKANZAY BEKANZAY MAHA BEKANZAY / RADZA SAMUDGATAY SOHA
By this we have receive the blessing of the mantra in the heart.
TAD YA THA / OM BEKANZAY BEKANZAY MAHA BEKANZAY / RADZA SAMUDGATAY SOHA
The blessing of the mantra that you have received in your heart becomes inseparable with your mental continuum
TAD YA THA / OM BEKANZAY BEKANZAY MAHA BEKANZAY / RADZA SAMUDGATAY SOHA
By the third repetition the blessing of the mantra which you have received in your heart becomes one, becomes inseparable with your mental continuum, becomes stabilized.
Now this is near heart mantra. There is another mantra, maybe this heart mantra but it doesn’t specify it here.
The first one, near heart mantra, so maybe this last one is root mantra but it’s not specified here. So according to first one, then maybe this should be heart mantra.
OM NAMO BAGAWATAY BEKANZAY / GURU BAIDURYA / PRABA RADZA YA / TATAGATAYA / ARHATAY SAMYAKSAM BUDDHAYA / TA YA TA / OM BEKANZAY BEKANZAY MAHA BEKANZAY / RADZA SAMUDGATAY SOHA 3X
Then, offering the flower to the guru.
[Rinpoche Chants]
The flower you have offered is blessed with Garland’s mantra, placed on your crown.
[Rinpoche Chants]
So now repeat . In order to take the pledge, repeat this three times, saying “I, such and such, until I achieve enlightenment, am going to practice Medicine Buddha as the yidam,” which means the mind seal, which means to be one with your own mind.
And you are also going to recite the mantra each day. Whatever number you are going to recite think, “That much I am going to recite,” or whatever number you have been reciting before. You can make that vow whatever number you have been reciting in the past. However, decide to recite five or ten or however number of times each day. Make that commitment. The more you recite the more powerful it becomes. When you do healing or some service benefiting others, it becomes more powerful, the more you recite the mantra.
[Students repeat after Rinpoche]
[Rinpoche Chants]
Please mention your name.
[Rinpoche Chants]
So the initiation is finished.
DEDICATION: THERE IS NO BETTER HEALING THAN THE LAM-RIM
The conclusion is this. Meditating on the lam-rim, practicing the lam-rim, developing the mind in the lam-rim, that itself is the preparation for death. That itself is how to live life, living and dying, living and dying, that’s how to live life, living the lam-rim—especially bodhicitta—and how to die, how to make preparation for death. There is nothing, there is no other thing, that is better. There is no other instruction, there is no other something that is better than practicing the lam-rim. How to die, making preparation for death, even the answer to that question, there is no other answer. There is no other answer. The best answer is the lam-rim.
There is also no better healing service, for healing others, there is no better healing than teaching the lam-rim to others, causing others to understand the lam-rim, causing others to practice the lam-rim, because it is the lam-rim that purifies other sentient beings’ past negative karma, which is cause of cancer, of AIDS, of comas, of arthritis, of all the diseases. Causing others to practice the lam-rim, they purify all the negative karmas of those actions already done, and it helps them to stop creating them again. So there is no better healing than teaching the lam-rim to others, helping others to practice the lam-rim. Even if we don’t teach the lam-rim we can help create the facilities, creating the place, developing the facilities, bringing the teacher and the translator then that causes other sentient beings to practice the Dharma, the lam-rim, so that becomes ultimate healing.
And only by practicing and actualizing the lam-rim can we remove the cause of suffering, all the disturbing thoughts, the gross and subtle obscurations. All the mistakes of mind can be removed, can be ceased. Therefore, it becomes ultimate healing. It becomes the ultimate service to heal not only physical disease but all suffering, by healing all the causes, the obscurations.
Whether we directly teach the lam-rim to other sentient beings or inspire them by being an example or we create the condition, the facilities, only by teaching the lam-rim can they change their minds from the cause of the suffering into cause of happiness, liberation and enlightenment. Only by changing their minds can they change their actions and stop the cause of the suffering. They stop the negative karma that is the cause of suffering and they only create positive actions, the cause of happiness, liberation and enlightenment. So the benefit we are offering sentient beings becomes much more extensive than even ultimate healing, for them to never experience disease again. Not only this, the benefit we give sentient beings is like sky.
Therefore every day, on the basis of guru yoga we should recite the fundamental practice, one of the lam-rim prayers, whichever one we wish recite. And reciting this mindfully every day leaves an imprint of the whole path to enlightenment every day. That means every day we become closer to the realization of the path to enlightenment, and that means every day you become closer to enlightenment. That means every day we become closer to freeing all sentient beings from all the suffering and leading them to enlightenment. So every day we come closer to this ultimate goal of our life. Every day we become closer to free all sentient beings from all the sufferings and leading them to enlightenment.
Besides doing the mind training in the lam-rim meditation, doing analytical or fixed meditation, the very fundamental one to mindfully do is the direct meditation by reciting a prayer of lam-rim, which has all essence of path. On top of this, we can then practice the special deity we have a karmic connection to, the prayer of that deity’s graduated path, which is tantra, the graduated tantric path.
In this way, even if we don’t get to meditate on the actual path extensively and to have realizations, if we don’t get to meditate extensively on the tantra path of the deity, at least by reciting this prayer, which contains the graduated path of the deity, every day it leaves an imprint of tantric path, and that means that each day we become closer to the realization of tantric path. That means every day we become closer to the enlightenment of the deity. And in the same way, every day we become closer to bringing all sentient beings to enlightenment.
Reciting one lam-rim prayer mindfully becomes the direct meditation on the whole path. This is regarded as much more precious than reciting many hundreds millions of mantras, doing extensive preliminary practices. Reading one lam-rim prayer mindfully that becomes the direct meditation, this is regarded as much more precious than even one actually meeting the Buddha, because even if we actually met the Buddha, still we would have to actualize the whole path to enlightenment in order to achieve enlightenment. We don’t become enlightened just by seeing the Buddha.
Therefore, Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo says that reciting one lam-rim prayer is much more precious than even seeing the Buddha, than having clairvoyance and those common siddhis—not the omniscient mind [which is the uncommon siddhi] but the five types of clairvoyance, psychic power to able to fly, to show miracles and all those, having those psychic powers, then having one-pointed concentration that can last for eons. It is said in the lam-rim teaching, by a Kadampa Geshe that even just questioning how valuable the lam-rim is, this is much more worthwhile than having the achievement of all these siddhis. And it is said that we have achieved these common siddhis numberless times in the past; they are nothing new, but actualizing the three principal aspects of the path is a new experience.
This is some emphasis on how the lam-rim practice, the mind training in the lam-rim path, is so essential, how it is the whole answer for life.
Now we dedicate merits.
The lineage of this initiation, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha and Manjushri.
[Rinpoche Chants]
So from these lineage lamas up to root guru of this initiation, I firstly received from His Holiness Tsenshap Serkong Rinpoche who is His Holiness Dalai Lama’s guru, then secondly from Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche, and also I think from His Holiness Ling Rinpoche.
[Rinpoche Chants]
Due to all the past, present and future merits accumulated by me, by the buddhas, bodhisattvas and sentient beings, may the bodhicitta that is the source of all happiness and success be generated within my own mind, in the mind of all sentient beings, and those who haven’t, may it be developed.
[Rinpoche Chants]
Due to all the three times’ merits accumulated by me, by the buddhas, bodhisattvas and sentient beings, may all the father, mother sentient beings have happiness. May the three lower realms be empty forever. May all the bodhisattvas’ prayers succeed immediately. May I be able to cause all this by myself alone.
[Rinpoche Chants]
As three times’ buddhas and bodhisattva have dedicated their merits, I will dedicate all my merits all quickly enlighten all sentient beings, as Bodhisattva Manjughosha, Samantabhadra actually realized.
[Rinpoche Chants]
Due all these merits, may I be able to benefit extensively all sentient beings, like the Medicine Buddha, by having all the qualities from now on, in all the lifetimes. Any sentient being who touches me, who remembers me, who thinks about me, who talks about me, may everything become meaningful and since this time never be reborn in the lower realms and may they be immediately liberated from all disease, spirit harm, negative karma and obscuration. May they quickly become enlightened.
Due to all the past, present and future merits accumulated by myself, by the buddhas and bodhisattvas, and by the sentient beings, due to all these merits that are merely labeled by mind, may the I, who is merely labeled by mind, achieve the Medicine Buddha’s enlightenment, which is merely labeled by mind, and lead all sentient beings, who are merely labeled by mind, to that enlightenment as quickly as possible by myself alone.
1 In the sadhana the color is coral. [Return to text]
