Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 46-minute teaching, Venerable Lobsang Namgyel addresses a common frustration: students overwhelmed by the complexity of the full seven-Buddha Medicine Buddha practice. He teaches a flexible, scalable approach—offering a short form (single Medicine Buddha visualization), a medium form (with guru invocation), and the full practice—so practitioners can progress according to their capacity and schedule. Working through the liturgy step by step, he guides a detailed visualization of the lapis-blue Medicine Buddha seated above the crown, then walks through the three-fold light purification (black smoke, upward wave, and crystalline clarity), the dissolution of nectar into the six realms to benefit all sentient beings, and the recitation of the long and short mantras. Throughout, he emphasizes patience, familiarization, and the intention to liberate all beings, not just oneself. Suitable for practitioners new to the practice or returning to deepen their approach.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2011 10 15 MBP.mp3
UUID: 306e3d79-f5b3-4f69-ad4d-176e01bb2aea
Teacher: Ven Lobsang Namgyel
Collection: Medicine Buddha Practrice (Ven Lobsang Namgyel)
Date: 2011-10-15
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 46.3 minutes
Words: ~2,831
Practice of doing these type of visualizations. I think often people feel frustrated when they do the Medicine Buddha practice because it’s seven. They feel really you know, it’s beyond me. It’s too much. How can I possibly do this if I can’t even see one?
And in the beginning, it’s like that. It’s like I said, you’ve got to be patient, and you keep going with it, and you keep familiarizing yourself with it. And gradually, you’ll be able to develop your mind into doing this. But we need a sense of concentration. So I’ll teach you how to do the single Medicine Buddha, which is page one is the same, which is your page two, and page two, page three of yours is the same.
And then if you want to do the single Medicine Buddha, don’t do page three. Go to page ten, which is page eleven of yours. So you do the prayers, the visualization, the prayers, seven-line prayer, mandala offering, and prayer of request. Then skip to page eleven. You’re still missing.
No. It’s you have you she’s missing because it it’s it’s this one. It’s the last it’s the Medicine Buddha. So we have a few more of them. So you should have just the Medicine Buddha like this.
It’s your page ten, isn’t it? Or twelve or eleven or thirteen or eleven ish. Eleven ish. Eleven a. So it’s this one.
Alright? So this is the Medicine Buddha, and it says at the top, Guru Medicine Buddha, king of lapis light. So if you have a little bit more time, you can include this one and say this seven times. If you don’t have so much time, you would miss that one out, and you would go straight to the visualization on the next page. So longer would be the whole thing.
You’d start at the beginning. You go to the end. That’s the longest, the seven Medicine Buddhas. Next long would be including this one, and then continuing from there with just the Medicine Buddha above the crown, saying his name seven times, and then going to the visualization, and then saying the mantra. If you don’t have so much time, take out page eleven, go straight to page twelve, which is the visualization.
Okay? Yeah. You have the seven above the crown like this on this page, page four of yours. You have to visualize all of that above the crown of your head. And each time you recite one Medicine Buddha’s name, you start at the very top.
That top one dissolves into the next one, and then that one dissolves into the next one. And you’re dissolving downwards so that you end up with the last one at the bottom, which is the Medicine Buddha. Okay? So, next time, we’ll do that. So what we’re going to do is we’ll do page for you, page two and three, and then we’ll go to page eleven.
We’ll do the sort of medium one. We’ll go to page eleven, and then we’ll do twelve, and then we’ll do the dedication. So that’ll take about, I think, about an hour. Yeah. And then the next time, I’ll give you the benefits of the Medicine Buddha, and we’ll do the full practice.
Did you get a dedication list? What happened to your husband? How many names in that book? Oh, does it? Okay.
Okay. Since time is of the essence. Which is go to her husband. Yeah? Okay.
So I’ll read the visualization to you. You can do the visualization. Turn the space above the crown of your head, appears a lotus flower. In the center of the lotus is a white moon disc. And seated on the moon disk is your root guru.
The dharmakaya essence of all the Buddhas in the form of the Medicine Buddha. The Medicine Buddha is blue in color, radiating light from his body. In the gesture of giving the highest boon, his right hand rests on his right knee. Holding a stem of the arura plant between his thumb and first finger. In the mudra of concentration, his left hand is holding a lapis lazuli bowl filled with nectar.
Each drop of nectar is a Medicine Buddha. He’s seated in the full lotus posture. Wearing the three red colored robes of a monk. He has all the signs and qualities of a Buddha. The visualization is made of light.
And that light radiates in every direction. Remembering Guru Buddha above the crown of our heads, we recite the Tibetan refuge twice and once in English. Sokki, Choknam, La, Janjo, Badu, Dagni, Kapsuchi, Dagi, Jin, Sokki, Pei, Sonam, Ki, To the Buddha, the Dharma, and the sublime community, I go for refuge until I’m enlightened From the virtuous merits I collect by practicing giving and other perfections, may I quickly attain Buddhahood in order to lead each and every sentient being into that unsurpassable state. And for the four immeasurables, if you have somebody difficult in your life, somebody irritating, you visualize them in front of you, and you particularly offer the four immeasurables to that person. May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness.
May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. May all sentient beings never be separated from the happiness which is without suffering. May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free from both attachment and hatred, holding some close and others distant. And then special bodhicitta. Especially for the benefit of all sentient beings, I will quickly, very quickly attain the precious state of perfect and complete buddhahood.
For this reason, I will practice the yoga method of the Guru Medicine Buddha. The seventh in prayer. I prostrate to Guru Medicine Buddha. Each and every offering, including those actually performed and those mentally transformed, I present to you. I confess all nonvirtuous actions accumulated since beginningless time.
I rejoice in the virtues of both ordinary and noble beings. As our guide, I request you, o Buddha, to turn the wheel of Dharma until saṃsāra ends. All virtues, both my own and those of others, I dedicate to the ripening of the two Bodhicittas and the attainment of buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings. Mandala offering we do in Tibetan and then English, visualizing countless offerings, particularly to the Medicine Buddha, but also to other Buddhas. Sa zhi, Metog, tram shing, This ground, anointed with perfume, strewn with flowers, adorned with Mount Meru, four continents, the sun, and the moon.
I imagine this as a Buddha field and offer it. May all living beings enjoy this pure land. Idam guru ratna mandala kam niryatayami. So we make three prayers of requests. After each request, then we pause, and then there’s the purification, the transformation of body, speech, and mind.
I beseech you, Bhagawan Medicine Guru, whose sky colored holy body of lapis lazuli signifies omniscient wisdom and compassion as vast as limitless space, please grant me your blessings. And from the Medicine Buddha’s crown, white light comes to your crown. Filling up your body with white light, transforming your body into light. Purifying and removing all negativities created by the body or with the body, and transforming the body into a body of light. Then we make the second request.
I beseech you, compassionate medicine guru, holding in your right hand the king of medicines, symbolizing your vow to help all the pitiful sentient beings plagued by the four hundred and twenty four diseases, please grant me your blessings. From Medicine Buddha’s throat, red light comes to your throat, purifying your speech, removing all the harm that you’ve done with your words and transforming your speech into mantra. And the third request, I beseech you, compassionate Medicine Guru, holding in your left hand a bowl of nectar symbolizing your vow to give the glorious undying nectar of the Dharma, which eliminates the degenerations of sickness, old age, and death. Please grant me your blessings. From Medicine Buddha’s heart, blue light comes to your heart.
Purifying your mind, removing all the negativities from beginningless time that you’ve created with your mind. Your mind becomes like the sky, like the ocean. And then you turn to page eleven, your page eleven. Remembering that you have Medicine Buddha above the crown of your head, blue in color with the arura plant, the begging bowl, radiating light in every direction. You’re surrounded by all sentient beings.
You can think your mother’s on your left, your father’s on your right, Friends and family sitting behind you. Anybody you’re having difficulties with or problems with sitting in front of you facing towards you. Also, if there’s anybody that you know who’s sick or experiencing problems, you can visualize them sitting near you. And as far as the I can see, countless sentient beings. Now we’re going to recite the name mantra of Guru Medicine Buddha five times in English and twice in Tibetan.
The fully realized destroyer of all defilements, fully completed Buddha, having fully realized the absolute truth of all phenomena, Guru Medicine Buddha, king of lapis light, to you I prostrate and go for refuge, to you I make offerings. The fully realized destroyer of all defilements, fully completed Buddha, having fully realized the absolute truth of all phenomena, Guru Medicine Buddha, king of lapis light. To you, I prostrate and go for refuge. To you, I make offerings. The fully realized destroyer of all defilements, fully completed Buddha, having fully realized the absolute truth of all phenomena, Guru Metsam Buddha, king of lapis light.
To you, I prostrate and go for refuge. To you, I make offerings. The fully realized destroyer of all defilements, fully complete a Buddha, having fully realized the absolute truth of all phenomena. Guru Metsam Buddha, king of lapis light. To you, I prostrate and go for refuge.
To you, I make offerings. The fully realized destroyer of all defilements, fully complete of Buddha. Having fully realized the absolute truth of all phenomena, Guru Metsam Buddha, king of lapis light. To you, I prostrate and go for refuge. To you, I make offerings.
May your vow to benefit all sentient beings now ripen for myself and others. And you visualize white nectar flowing from the begging bowl to yourself as well as to all other beings of the six realms. Each drop of nectar is a Medicine Buddha, and it comes down through the crown of your head. You do the three visualizations. First, the nectar is pushing all the negativities out through the lower part of your body.
In the form of black smoke or black liquid, the negativities leave through the lower part of your body. So your body is full of nectar, full of positive Medicine Buddha energy. The second time the nectar comes down through the crown of your head, it goes all the way down into your toes. And then like a wave of water, it comes back upwards, and riding on the top of the nectar is any remaining negativities. They’re pushed out through the crown of the head.
So, again, you feel your body is completely saturated with nectar. And the third time the nectar comes down, it’s like a light being switched on in a dark room. Whatever negativities are left over completely vanish as if they never existed. You need the feeling of being totally purified, only having positive energy, the medicine, Buddha energy. Every pore, every organ, everything is saturated with Medicine Buddha energy.
Granting your request from the heart and the holy body of the king of medicine, Infinite rays of white light pour down completely filling your body from head to toe. This light purifies all your diseases and afflictions due to spirits and their causes. All your negative karma and mental obscurations are purified. In the nature of light, your body becomes as clean and clear as crystal. The light rays pour down twice more, each time filling your body with blissful, clean, clear light, which you absorb.
Your body is complete with light. Your mind is full of light. Above your crown is Guru Medicine Buddha, and in his heart appears a lotus and a moon disc. Standing in the center of the moon disc is the blue seed syllable surrounded by the syllables of the mantra. As you recite the mantra, you visualize rays of light radiating in all directions from the syllable in Medicine Buddha’s heart.
The light rays pervade the sentient beings of all six realms. Through your great love wishing them to have happiness and through your great compassion, wishing them to be free from all sufferings, they are purified of all diseases and afflictions due to spirits and their causes, All their negative karma and mental obstructions are purified and removed. So all the suffering of all sentient beings is removed, and you offer every one of them happiness, especially the happiness of enlightenment. And then we recite the mantra, Seven times the long mantra and seven times the short one. Namo Bhagavate Bekandze Guru Baidurya Prabha Rajaya Tathagataya Arhate Samyaksam Bodh Gaya Tadyatha Om Bekandze Bekandze Maha Bekandze Bekandze Radza Samugate Svāhā.
Om Namo Bhagavate Bekandze Guru Baidurya Prabha Rajaya Tathagataya Arhate Samyaksam Bodh Gaya Tadyatha Om Bekandze Bekandze Maha Bekandze Bekandze Radza Samugate Svāhā.
Namo Bhagavate Bekandze Guru Baidurya Prabha Rajaya Tathagataya Arhate Samyaksam Buddhaya Tadyatha Om Bekandze Bekandze Maha Bekandze Bekandze Radza Samugate Svāhā So So we have fifteen minutes to recite mantra. You can recite the long one or the short one. Feeling great joy in thinking that all sentient beings are transformed into the aspect of Guru Medicine Buddha. How wonderful that I’m now able to lead all sentient beings into the Medicine Buddha’s enlightenment. And so you rejoice.
And having done the practice, recited the mantras, and every sentient being is transformed into Medicine Buddha. And then we dedicate with the dedication on the bottom of page twelve. Due to these merits, may I complete the ocean like actions of the sons and daughters of the victorious ones? May I become the holy savior, refuge, and helper for sentient beings who have repeatedly been kind to me in past lives? By the virtues received from attempting this practice, may all living beings who see, hear, touch, or remember me, even those who say my name, at that moment be released from their miseries and experience happiness forever, As all the sentient beings, infinite as space, are encompassed by the Guru Medicine Buddha’s compassion, may I also become the guide of all sentient beings existing throughout all ten directions of the universe.
Because of these virtues, may I quickly become Guru Medicine Buddha and lead each and every sentient being into his enlightened realm. Who’s going to read the dedication list? Kathy, you want to read? Thanks for thanks for volunteering. Oh.
Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. That’s it.
That’s all. It’s not so much. Then the next page, shunted over. May all beings everywhere, plagued by sufferings of body and mind, obtain the ocean of happiness and joy by virtue of my merits. May no living creature suffer, commit evil, or ever fall ill.
May no one be afraid or belittled with a mind weighed down by depression. May the blind see forms and deaf hear sounds. May those whose bodies are worn with toil on finding repose. May the naked find clothing, the hungry find food. May the thirsty find water and delicious drinks.
May the poor find wealth, those weak with sorrow find joy. May the forlorn find hope, constant happiness, and prosperity. May there be timely rains and bountiful harvests. May all medicines be effective and wholesome prayers bear fruit. May all who are sick and ill quickly be freed from their ailments.
Whatever diseases there are in the world, may they never occur again. May the frightened cease to be afraid, and those bound be freed. May the powerless find power, and may people think of benefiting each other for as long as space remains, for as long as sentient beings remain, until then, may I too remain to dispel the miseries of the world. Then his holiness is long lived prayer in Tibetan. Over the page, Lama Zopa’s long life prayer in Tibetan.
And then go back to page thirteen and the bodhicitta prayer. May the supreme bodhicitta that has not yet arisen arise and grow, and may that arisen not diminish but increase more and more. Thank