Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 28-minute guided meditation, Ven Sanghy Khandro teaches a complete Medicine Buddha practice—for yourself or on behalf of someone sick or suffering. She covers foundational steps: settling the mind, generating positive motivation, and visualizing the Medicine Buddha in radiant blue light above your head, seated on a lotus, holding a medicinal plant and bowl of healing nectar. She emphasizes that genuine presence matters more than perfect clarity. The practice continues with refuge prayers, the four immeasurable thoughts, and seven recitations of the Medicine Buddha prayer. She then guides visualization of white light flowing from the Buddha, purifying disease and negative karma, followed by receiving the realizations of all Buddhas. The session closes with the Buddha dissolving into your heart, resting in clear peaceful mind, and dedicating the merit to all beings’ enlightenment.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 5.13 Meditation 10_Medicine Buddha.mp3
UUID: 77837620-b109-45fc-a755-288ee3a07e32
Teacher: Ven Sanghy Khandro aka Kathleen McDonald
Collection: Heart advice (Ven Sanghy Khandro aka Kathleen McDonald)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 28.6 minutes
Words: ~1,496
So this practice or meditation on the Medicine Buddha can be done for yourself, in which case you imagine the Medicine Buddha above your own head. But if you are doing the practice on behalf of someone else, someone who is sick, or dying, or going through some difficulties, then you can do the practice imagining the Medicine Buddha above that person’s head. Begin the practice by sitting comfortably, with your back straight if possible, but letting the other parts of your body be relaxed, as free of tension as possible. Settle your mind in the present moment, the here and now, by letting go of or putting aside any thoughts in your mind of the past or future, other places, and so on. Just let your mind be right here, right now.
You might want to watch your breathing for a few moments. Just being aware of the breath coming in and going out and letting your mind settle down in the present. Then generate a positive motivation for doing the practice. You can remember the motivation we had at the beginning of this session. Remind yourself of that motivation.
Or simply think, I’m doing this practice in order to create the causes for peace, happiness, well-being and ultimately enlightenment for myself and for all other beings. Now visualize the Medicine Buddha in the space above your head, a few inches from the top of your head. The whole image is made of light, every aspect transparent and radiant, pure not solid, like a rainbow. It appears, but not something solid that we could hang on to. The Medicine Buddha is seated on a lotus and moon.
First there is a lotus with the petals spread out flat and on top of that a flat disc made of light representing the moon. His legs are crossed in the vajra or full lotus position. And he is sitting facing the same way that you are facing. His body is made of bright royal blue light, the color of lapis lazuli. His right hand rests on his right knee in the gesture of granting sublime realizations.
That is, the palm of the hand is facing outwards and he holds between his thumb and first finger the stem of a medicinal plant called the arura plant. His left hand is in his lap in the gesture of concentration, with the palm of the hand facing upwards. Resting in the palm of the hand is a bowl made of lapis lazuli and filled with medicinal healing nectar. He is wearing the saffron robes of a monk and he has all the signs and marks of a fully enlightened Buddha. His face is peaceful and smiling, looking at all living beings throughout space with pure unconditional compassion and loving kindness.
Spend some time contemplating the visualization of the Medicine Buddha. And just do the best you can to visualize. If you are unable to get a perfect, clear, complete visualization, don’t worry about that. Don’t be stressed about that. Just do the best you can.
Visualize as well as you can. Even if it’s just partial or unclear. Even if it’s just a blob of light. The most important thing when visualizing Buddha images is to feel that they are there. To feel that you are in the presence of one who’s fully enlightened, who has all the qualities and realizations of an enlightened being.
And if you can feel that the Medicine Buddha above your head is the embodiment of all Buddhas, all enlightened beings and all their qualities. See if you can feel love, compassion and peace emanating from him. It is traditional when doing practices such as this to recite prayers, so if you are comfortable to do so, you can recite and contemplate the following prayers which involve generating devotion to the Medicine Buddha and the wish to become a Buddha yourself to benefit all other beings. I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly By my practice of giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Supreme Assembly.
By my practice of giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By my practice of giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. Then there is a prayer of the four immeasurable thoughts which are Love, Compassion, Joy and Equanimity. 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 be inseparable from the happiness that is free of suffering. May all sentient beings abide in equanimity free from attachment and anger that hold some close and others distant. A prayer to the Medicine Buddha is traditionally recited seven times. To the Bhagawan, Tathāgata, Arhat, fully enlightened Buddha, medicine guru, king of lapis light, I prostrate, go for refuge and make offerings.
May your vow to benefit sentient beings now ripen for myself and others. To the Bhagawan, Tathāgata, Arhat, fully enlightened Buddha, medicine guru, king of lapis light, I prostrate, go for refuge and make offerings. May your vow to benefit sentient beings now ripen for myself and others. To the Bhagawan, Tathāgata, Arhat, fully enlightened Buddha, medicine guru, king of lapis light, I prostrate, go for refuge and make offerings. May your vow to benefit sentient beings now ripen for myself and others.
To the Bhagawan, Tathāgata, Arhat, Fully Enlightened Buddha, Medicine Guru, King of Lapis Light, I prostrate, go for refuge and make offerings. May your vow to benefit sentient beings now ripen for myself and others. To the Bhagawan, Tathāgata, Arhat, fully enlightened Buddha, medicine guru, king of lapis light, I prostrate, go for refuge and make offerings. May your vow to benefit sentient beings now ripen for myself and others. To the Bhagawan, Tathāgata, Arhat, fully enlightened Buddha, medicine guru, king of lapis light, I prostrate, go for refuge and make offerings.
May your vow to benefit sentient beings now ripen for myself and others. To the Bhagavan, Tathāgata, Arhat, Fully Enlightened Buddha, Medicine Guru, King of Lapis Light, I prostrate, go for refuge and make offerings. May your vow to benefit sentient beings now ripen for myself and others. Now visualize infinite rays of radiant white light flowing down from the heart and body of the Medicine Buddha. This light fills your body and purifies all disease, afflictions due to spirits or black magic, as well as the cause of these problems your negative karma, delusions and mental obscurations.
All these negativities leave your body in the form of thick black liquid like black oil. Your body becomes as clean and clear as crystal. You can imagine that all other beings are being purified in the same way. Do this visualization while reciting the mantra of the Medicine Buddha. So again, feel or imagine that your body, your mind have been completely purified and become as clean and clear as crystal.
And then recite the mantra again as many times as you wish and visualize that the light flowing from the Medicine Buddha fills your body again. This time it brings all the realizations of the path to enlightenment and all the qualities of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. And if you wish you can imagine that the same happens to all other beings. Feel that you and all other beings have actually received all these excellent qualities. That you have received the blessings and inspiration of the Medicine Buddha, that your mind has become transformed, free of all negative thoughts and attitudes, and full of only positive thoughts and attitudes, all the realizations up to enlightenment.
And finally, visualize that the Medicine Buddha above your head melts into light. And then this light absorbs into you into your heart chakra in the centre of your chest. Imagine that your mind becomes one with the enlightened mind of all the Buddhas. Let your mind rest for a while in a state that is completely clear, peaceful and free from its usual busy thoughts and conceptions. Completely vast, clear, spacious, pure state of mind, like a sky completely free of clouds and pollutions.
Feel that this is your true nature. If any distracting thoughts or experiences arise while you are doing this, just let them go like clouds passing through the sky. And return your awareness to this clear, pure, spacious nature of your mind. And then to conclude, dedicate the positive energy, the merit of this meditation, that it will bring true physical and mental health and happiness to all living beings, and it will be the cause for their eventual attainment of enlightenment.