Prostrations, Medicine Buddha Mantra Meaning, etc
Palani
Namaste(I Salute the Divinity within you) Palani!
Hi Shoba,
We missed you and Jenny last week but knew you were in a retreat to be able to help others even more. We rejoice in your good deeds.
It's the way we address our spiritual buddies..and hope you dont mind :-)
I am ok with any way you address me (but definitely sure that not much Divinity within!). The fact that you address me enables me to learn and grow - so thanks for that! :-) Now, let's see about your queries:
Some points which we'd like to clarify:
1. Regarding prostrations: It's an expression of gratitude, respect, vishuddhi and love to Lord Buddha and the Higher Powers that be, right? Let's say we come in late, like it happened couple of Saturdays ago. And the hall is full...how does one do the whole nine yards? Is mentally doing it ok...? How does it work? No so much about the technicality...but more for the respect to others with us as well. Please advise what's the best approach/etiquette.
Prostration: - Basically it's an act of humility - that you are familiar with. It is paying respect, without pride, to their achievements, gratitude for their compassion and guidance, as a purification, as seeking blessings - all that we might do for parents, teachers and those who have helped us. This page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostration_(Buddhism) might give you more information. So you are on the right track with your understanding.
As to whether you need to or should is a question best answered by you. If there is space to prostrate, you could do it. Only you will benefit (just from the physical exercise, if nothing else!). You could always find some space, if possible, or do it as a bow rather than a prostration or move to the front of the alter where there is space and then prostrate. It might be distracting to others - so you might not want to disturb them - out of your consideration. Basically, what's on your mind? That is why I encourage people to move forward to let others who come in later have space to prostrate etc.
Just note that if you are able to mentality do it because there is no space or you don't want to disturb others, that's always perfectly alright.
2. Mantras: At the 3 days purification ceremony, we were given prayer cards, and it was "recommended" that we do the prayers at the back of these cards. Perhap not all of it, but at least for a few. Taking "Refuge", is truly a commitment and it's an all encompassing compassionate shelter that Lord Buddha offers us..and we just cant treat it lightly. At the same time it must not be an affected attempt, doing the mantras by route, doing the actions by route..mechanical so to speak. The strong affinity is towards Lord Buddha Kuan Yin and Lord Medicine Buddha, perhaps out of sheer ignorance about the other avatars of The Buddha...who knows?!
Affinity to Certain Buddhas: It's natural to gravitate to some Buddhas over others. There is nothing wrong with that. People tend to gravitate to the more common Buddhas or those that have some connection with you. For example, Medicine Buddha is a natural affinity for healers like you! This is what we call karmic links - like husband/wife, mother/child, pet/owner, etc... From "One comes All" and from "All into One" - that is the Buddhas' "characteristic". Over time, your preference might change or you might chant different mantras for different activities and be connected to many Buddhas at the same time. Go with the flow for your comfort.
Question is:Having taken Refuge..and wanting to internalise it, what is the recommended "attitude" towards the mantras? You see Palani, the Virtues which a "refugee" has to follow, or rather recommended to follow is exactly the same as the ones taught to us in pranic healing and arhatic yoga...so it's not an unnatural thing for us. We are no near mastering it, but it's similar and that's comforting.
The Mantra portion, now that requires understanding, not just from a lower mental aspect but through internalising it. Can you help? We've bought CD's of Lord Medicine Buddha...and noticed how the performers cut up the words coz may be...they are not familiar with the language, or want to fit the words into the tune :-). Like saying Pa...laaa...ni instead of Palani :-). So as the mantra goes:
Tayetha Om-some versions have Tayatha
Beganze, Beganze (is it pronounced with a zzzzzz, or a jjjj)
Maha Beganze, Beganze-some versions dont have the second Beganze
Ranza Samu Gathe Soha-almost all cd's have ranza-samu...and then gathe soha. Is Samu gathe one word? And does Soha mean "so be it"/thadhaassthu? What is the meaning of Tayetha&Ranza?
Could you recommend a good CD on the Lord Medicine Buddha?
These are terribly technical questions...which will help with internalising the teachings and philosophies...we hope :-)
Internalising Mantras: The word Mantra come from the Sanskrit - "man" (From manas = mind) and "tra" = protection. So, it is basically a protection for the mind. Of course, there are also vibrations and energies associated with the mantras. You are familiar with these and it is the same. I am not sure of the mental visualisation practice that you use in your arhatic healing. In Buddhism, mental visualisation is a critical and major component. So, while saying the mantra, you need to visualise that the Medicine Buddha is actually sitting at your eye level, an arm's length away, smiling and lively - not a plastic or photo-like image. It is from his heart that the light radiates as you say the mantra and this fills you or your patient up and cleanses them of their problems. The stronger the visualisation the better the effect - it means that your mind is concentrating (shamatha) and single pointed (vipasyana). This is the same for any Buddha's mantra. Since you are sensitive to energies, try it on yourself and see how it works, if already have not.
Meaning of the Mantra: Go to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUJucA-mrgE and listen to the chant. It is quite a good Tibetan diction, at least for me!
You might have seen this page, where there is the jjj sound. I have never heard a bekajye before http://www.shantimayi.com/medicinebuddhamantra.html. It could be another variation of the dialect sound.
Let's get to the original mantra before it was translated into Tibetan:
Sanskrit: "namo bhagavate bhaisajyaguru vaidurya prabha rajaya tathagataya arthate samyaksam buddhaya tadyatha om bhaisajye bhaisajye maha bhaisajye raja samudgate svaha". You should be able to recognise the Indian words like vaiduriyam, praba, raja, svaha - even in Malayalam or Tamil.
English:"I honor the Buddha Master of Healing, the King of Lapis Lazuli Light, Tathagata, Arhat, Perfectly Enlightened Buddha, saying: To the healing, to the healing, to the supreme healing, hail!". I have seen "Healing" and "Healer" have been used interchangeably.
Tibetan:"Om namo bhagawate bhekandze, guru bendurya prabha randzaya tathagataya arhate samyaksam buddhaya tayata om bhekandze bhekandze maha bhekandze randza samungate soha".
The last part of the mantra is the short mantra version.
· Tayetha or Tayatha are the same = "Saying like this", "saying" or "say"
· Tathagata is different from above. Its an epithet for the Buddha, one who has gone far (to nirvana)
· Beganze or Bhekhandzye = Bhaisajya = Healer or Doctor
· Some versions don't have the 2nd Beganze = more of a good thing is not bad, right? Must have been added later (You can see it within brackets in the prayer attached)
· Randza or Radza is the Tibetan of the Indian Raja = Supreme, or, with Maha, Great King of Healing, in this context
· Soha is the Tibetan of Svaha in Sanskrit
· Samudgate - I am not sure of the exact meaning. Sorry. :-(
3. The breathing exercises have gone over our head...but thank God for little mercies there are breathing exercises under the Tibetan modality(turtle, bellow breathing just to name a few) which we do as part of our sadhana. Still, it would be nice to understand the particular breathing technique which was shared 2 weeks ago.
Breathing: You should be teaching me how to breathe! We can go through that again next Saturday. If there is time, I hope to share another method this week and it involves walking too!
That about sums up for now. Many, many thanks in advance for all that you do, for all the sharing!
Namaste!
Shoba
It was a pleasure answering your queries. Made my evening very meaningful as well. Just in case you are wondering how I got the answers - over time you shall get it once you open yourself up. But for now, I refer to the Medicine Buddha Sadhana that I have attached with this email and my Gurus! ;-)) Once you look through the sadhana you will get an idea of what I meant with the visualisations.
See you on Saturday and keep the queries coming!
Sarva Mangalam!