In many Mahayana traditions, for the full month of January in the Lunar calendar, the Medicine Buddha Sutra is chanted. The sutra is chanted and meditated on for purification and “healing.” Meditation and medication are only different by one letter, but they both come from the same Latin root word medeor, meaning “to make whole or heal.”
Medicine Buddha (Sanskrit: Bhaiṣajya-guru-vaiḍūrya-prabhā-rāja, “Medicine Master and King of Lapis Lazuli Light”) and the Medicine Buddha Sutra (Bhaiṣajya-guru-vaiḍūrya-prabhā-rāja Sūtra) are important in almost every Mahayana tradition. The Medicine Buddha is a dharma physician; curing illnesses (suffering; dhukka) with his dharma medicine. In the Medicine Buddha Sutra, it describes the Medicine Buddhas as a bodhisattva making twelve great vows to heal all sentient beings from various illnesses, pain, disease, and disabilities. He had a big focus on the holistic healing of mind and body.
When we are meditating on the Medicine Buddha, we are purifying our negative minds, eradicating negative karma, and replacing it with right thoughts, speech, and actions. Empirical evidence shows that when we meditate, it triggers a self-repair mechanism in our own bodies. We stop producing cortisol and adrenalin, and instead enhance the production of immune-boosting endorphins and serotonin, arming our body against invasive bacteria, viruses, and other imbalances. These changes also promote positive mental states.
Imagery of Medicine Buddha often depict him as having blue lapis lazuli colored skin, an archetypal color of healing. With his left hand he holds a bowl of healing nectars, and with his right a medicine plant. He is also sometimes seen with his two bodhisattva attendants: Sūryaprabha and Candraprabha. In some Chinese temples, the Medicine Buddha is part of a trinity, with Shakyamuni Buddha and Amitabha Buddha.
We can meditate and visualize the Medicine Buddha cleansing our mental and physical illnesses. An element of confidence in the practice is helpful. The placebo effect is said to account for more than a third of all healing. Medicine Buddha meditation has been practiced for thousands of years. If we have confidence that it can work for us, then we’re off to a very good start. While meditating on the visualization of Medicine Buddha, visualize his brilliant blue light shining on you, purifying your mind and body.
In companion with the meditation, practitioners also chant the Medicine Buddha Dharani. The dharani was spoken by Medicine Buddha when he entered a samadhi called “Eliminating all the suffering and afflictions of sentient beings.”
Namo bhagavate bhaiṣajyaguru vaiḍūryaprabharājāya
tathāgatāya arahate samyaksambuddhāya tadyathā:
oṃ bhaiṣajye bhaiṣajye mahābhaiṣajya-samudgate svāhā.
The last line is the “heart” of the dharani, the short form of the mantra.