Saturday, May 30

1:00 - 4:00 pm EST

Online

Basic Admission: $35 | Benefactor: $108 | Scholarship: $15

-

The Medicine Buddha (Bhaiṣajyaguru in Sanskrit, Sangye Menla in Tibetan, Yakushi in Japanese) is a meditational deity of the Mahāyāna tradition, representing our deepest potential for healing and wellbeing. Often accompanied by six (or seven) other buddhas associated with healing, he is the patron for Tibetan Medicine doctors and serves as a key figure in many mediation practices regularly performed by monastics and lay people alike.

Medicine Buddha’s origins lie in the Mahāyāna sutras and oral instructions, some of which are said to have entered Tibet with the great philosopher Shantarakshita. Over time, they have evolved to include many different levels of sutric and tantric practice, becoming an elegant container for multiple aspects of contemplative training. 

At the root of it all lie two sutras that play a major role in both the Himalayan and East Asian branches of Mahāyāna: “The Detailed Account of the Vows of the Medicine Buddha” and “The Detailed Account of the Vows of the Seven Tathagatas”. 

These two sutras, together with a number of subsidiary texts, form the foundation for the Medicine Buddha meditations—and have a lot to teach us about the bodhisattva path of compassion and wisdom. Recalling the aspirations, or vows, of the seven Medicine Buddhas and letting them inspire our mind is a major part of this tradition of practice, and the best way to explore them is through the study of the original sutras themselves.

In this introductory session, Tibetan Buddhist translator Michael Lobsang Tenpa will provide an overview of the roots and main principles of Medicine Buddha practice, paying special attention to the two main Medicine Buddha sutras and their valuable lessons that can be integrated into our practices of loving kindness, compassion, and wisdom. 

He will also guide the participants in a basic form of Medicine Buddha meditation and provide resources for further study and practice related to this beautiful method for connecting to our basic goodness.

-

BIO

Michael Lobsang Tenpa (he/they) is a Tibetan Buddhist translator, meditation instructor, Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB) teacher and student of EcoDharma. Born in Siberia, he earned BA and MA degrees in South Asian studies, worked in social media and eventually received ordination in Nepal, spending nine years as a Tibetan Buddhist monastic before switching to the path of a lay teacher/practitioner. In addition to years of Buddhist studies and translator work, he also trained as a secular ethics and mindfulness instructor in the Netherlands, the UK and the US. To learn more, visit https://lobsangtenpa.com.

“My passion in this work is helping people find a deep yet accessible level of contemplative practice that comes out of the profound Buddhist methods & helps them establish a meaningful and deeply satisfying lifestyle imbued with a sense of compassionate responsibility.”