Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 35-minute guided practice session, Khensur Rinpoche leads practitioners through the opening ritual of a Medicine Buddha retreat, moving sequentially through offerings and request prayers to each of the seven Medicine Buddhas visualized on clouds ahead, with Sangye Menla at centre. He sets up the visualization, explains the nature of faith — trusting that the Buddhas have full capacity to help — then guides refuge, seven-limb prayers, mandala offering, and praise recitations. For each Buddha in turn, practitioners are instructed to imagine a heavy rainfall of nectar entering the body and purifying illness. The session closes with the doctrinal background: Buddha Śākyamūni’s encouragement of the seven Buddhas to fulfil their healing aspirations for beings during the age of degeneration. Suited to practitioners following a retreat sadhana text.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 02 MBR 2000-07-22.mp3
UUID: f41e4598-1e11-459d-832d-db62d501ce96
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Medicine Buddha Retreat (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 2000-07-22
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 34.9 minutes
Words: ~665
Now, today here, by making due respect towards all the seven Buddhas, we will receive the blessings and the nectars from them. So first, we’ll visualize all the seven medicine Buddhas in the front space facing towards us, sitting on the clouds. And the center is the main medicine Buddha. And the rest six are like three at the left of the main, and three at the right. And by strong visualization, with this visualization, we develop faith and respect in them, and we start with taking refuge and making the seven-limb prayers, and then make the seven offering practices.
The prayers are on page one, verse three, and then the praise prayers, which are at page one, words one and two. So we recite those prayers with due respect and faith. And here, the faith means that one has a fondness towards the medicine Buddhas, knowing that they have a full potentiality or capability to help us.
So, by holding hands together, we recite the praise. Mandala. Page four. So, we will be making the ritual practice offering to the seven Buddhas and you should imagine the visualization that you are making offerings and the request prayers towards each medicine Buddha, and imagine that all the nectar is coming down to you.
Now first is towards the first medicine Buddha. So making offerings to him and receiving nectar. And we do request prayers and making offerings to the first medicine Buddha, Suparikirti.
Imagine that nectar coming down and cleansing one’s illnesses. And now towards the second one, the medicine Buddha called the Rinchan Dawa, the Surab Ghosh Rāja. And now we are making offerings and request prayers towards the third one, which is Suvarna Bhadra Vimala. This one? No.
Now, making request prayers towards the fourth Buddha, saying that you have attained enlightenment and have all the blessings, and requesting the Buddha to grant me the nectars and cure my disease, and the others as well. And now towards the fifth Buddha, we’re asking to bless you and give the nectar. And as we said before, imagine that the nectar comes like a very heavy rain and enters your body and cleanses the entire — and imagine that one has been relieved from one’s disease. And likewise towards the previous medicine Buddhas here.
Now I would make the same request to the sixth one, which is the Buddha who is Abhijnaraja. Yes. And now we’ll make a strong offering and the request prayers towards the main Medicine Buddha, asking him to grant you all the blessings and the nectars to cure the illnesses of self and others.
So here, the main Medicine Buddha, which is Sangye Menla, is — So we have been making request prayers towards the entire seven Buddhas and have received and been receiving all the nectars from them. And now, from the beginning, the seven medicine Buddhas — it has been clearly stated in Buddha Śākyamūni’s text, the sutras, that those seven medicine Buddhas had developed a motivation and altruistic intention to achieve enlightenment in order to be able to help those sentient beings, especially during the time of the degeneration of Buddha Śākyamūni’s teaching, when the sentient beings will undergo huge suffering of the different types of diseases and illness. And even though they have made the aspiration and developed the motivation or intention from the beginning, the Buddha Śākyamūni has also encouraged those medicine Buddhas to fulfill their wishes. So Yeah.
So this is the conversation — Buddha Śākyamūni passed on to the Buddhas saying that he encouraged them to fulfill their wishes. And now, by accomplishing their wish, the Buddha Śākyamūni congratulates them by saying very, very good.
And now you must give all the nectars and blessings towards sentient beings. And you should imagine here that now your guru and the Buddha Śākyamūni is making requests on your behalf towards the medicine Buddhas. And imagine that the medicine Buddhas are sending blessings and nectars towards us.