Suggested Ways of Offering
the Medicine Buddha Mantra

 

There are many ways to offer the grace of Medicine Buddha. You may choose one or more of the suggestions below or create your own offering.

1. Sit in meditation and gently concentrate on your intention as you chant the Medicine Buddha Mantra in multiples of seven. Seven is the Medicine Buddha’s number.

2. Dedicate your first mantra to the UNIVERSE or all sentient beings, before focusing on a particular group or person.

3. Create a Medicine Buddha Altar. Print the receive list or write the names down of those you are requesting the blessings for. Lay the names on your alter in front of the Medicine Buddha image and light a votive candle. Chant the Mantra onto the altar and into the flame. Let the candle continue to burn until it goes out by itself. Keep the written names and at the end of the lunar month or longer gather them and burn them or bury them in a garden. You might also save them and bring them to India (or to your local group) for burning in a Medicine Buddha Sacred Fire Ceremony.

4. You might want to form a group of people to chant the Medicine Buddha mantra for healing blessings. Even a small group of two or three would be wonderful.

Remember that healing happens in many ways. Some are very obvious and some are not at all obvious. Therefore in chanting this mantra “svaha” is a very important utterance and relinquishes the outcome to the Divine.

 

The Medicine Buddha Mantra

Guidelines for Prayer

A prayer is empowered by meaning what you pray for,
and praying for what you mean by Heart.

The expression of prayer may come in countless ways.
Dare to listen to your intuition and be creative.
Never doubt your Heart of Hearts (inner voice).

It is significantly important to keep your prayer free of selfish demand.

Preliminary to any way of prayer: Make a strong focus of what you wish to direct your prayer to. Visualize your intention, and do not bother with the outcome of your prayer. Your prayer will be heard by the Universe (God-Consciousness) in Great Wisdom. Set yourself comfortably and really take a sacred moment.

Some suggestions for prayer:
1. You may use a prewritten prayer, mantra, song or poem that you love very much.
Speaking or singing spontaneously, in your own way, can be very surprising too.
Speak or sing outwardly, in a whisper or inwardly.
Put your hands together in prayer, or on your heart.
2. Lit a candle with your sacred intention. You may wish to use some incense and make a little altar with items that are precious for you and/or the person or situation that you pray for.
3. Go outside at Full Moon…. breathe your prayer into infinite space. Feel your heartbeat and connect it to the universal heartbeat. Intend that your prayer may be showering like the moonlight shines over all beings.
4. Ask for a sign: your attention may be attracted by a passing bird… a sound… a colour… a Sun-ray… and let your prayer be transported by that.
5. Use a drum as a vehicle to your prayer’s route. Let the drumbeat speak without manipulating its rhythm. The rhythm will “speak its own language” from your heart.
6. Write your prayer on a piece of paper. Make a fire and burn it. The smoke will carry your prayer to its rightful destination.
7. Imagine yourself sitting on a lotus flower seat…. imagine the seat on top of a mountain. Now bring the target of your prayer into the image. Breathe in deeply the negativity – and breathe out pure and positive energy towards your focus of prayer. This is a way of praying that is especially powerful when you have a hard time with someone. Make that person the focus of the alchemy that is occurring by breathing in this way.
8. Gratitude is a powerful quality for opening the heart in prayer. Make a list of what you are grateful for, and feel the compassion for our mistakes and the mistakes of others… and smile. A smile in compassion is very healing for all and invokes a natural forgiveness.
9. Make any ritual/ceremony of any kind as long as the intention is an intention in love. You may want to make group-prayers, like a circle of people that bring their prayers in a central fire.
Sing and Dance…. and your prayer will be heard by all.

May we all live in Peace, Peace, Peace.