Medicine Buddha festival: the week in review
Owing mostly to our Tibetan guests, the Pagoda experienced a colorful and rich week of Dharma talks, ceremonies and rituals, which culminated in the Medicine Buddha Festival during the weekend. In the context of its fundraising trip through Europe, The Gajang Medical Society, from India, were hosted by Pagoda Phat Hue. The group consisted of Tibetan monks and translators, and enriched not only this year’s Medicine Buddha Festival, but also the entire week before it.
On Monday evening, in his Dharma talk on meditation practice, Geshe Lobsang Soeba stressed the importance of an open attitude of mind, which is based not on egotrips and egocentrism, but on sincere sympathy. He also mentioned that, similar to other Buddhist traditions, in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, a meditation practice begins with calming the mind, with the help of the samatha method. For further mental development, he said, it is important to connect samatha with analytic meditation. Geshe Lobsang Soeba said, if we can deeply understand that each sentient being, who is in the process of their journey, because of rebirths, was once our loving mother, we can experience the feelings of gratitude and love in us. Thus, we can recognize that we are connected independent of faith and nationality, beyond preferences, dislikes, and all else. In this way, we produce Bodhicitta, the illuminated mind, within us, which is the entry door for the Bodhisattva path in the Mahayana tradition. From that point, the deep heart wish to free all sentient beings from the cycle of suffering, Samsara, naturally develops our life task.
On Tuesday morning, the creation of the Medicine Buddha sand mandala began. During the opening ceremony, the Dharma Protector was called upon and the Medicine Buddha was asked for permission to create the sand mandala. After the Medicine Buddha had given its benediction for the sand mandala, the monks began their devoted, aesthetically-oriented work. Many visitors to the Pagoda used the unique opportunity during the week to observe the creation of the work of art in the Buddha Hall. Millimeter by millimeter, the multicolored sand was arranged, using traditional instruments, into a representation of the developing universe of the healing Buddhas. Each individual grain of sand is considered a carrier of the healing energy of the Medicine Buddhas, and thus is treated with respect and care.
Wednesday evening was fully concentrated on Tibetan medicine. Tibetan medicine ranks among the oldest in Asia. In the Tibetan tradition of medicine, health is based on the harmony of three elements: wind (Lung), bile (Tripa) and mucous (Péken). When these three elements are in harmony, we feel energized and healthy, said Namgyal Phuntsok, the evening’s speaker. He said that external influences, like extreme climates or environments, can bring us out of equilibrium. Also, he said, if one of the elements is lacking or overabundant, we experience discord, which can sooner or later bring on symptoms and mental state disturbances on both the physical and mental levels. Thus, the goal of each therapeutic intervention is clear: to retain or re-establish the harmony of the elements. Mental hygiene, that is, reflection and meditation, belong to the same therapeutic repertoire as changes in diet and lifestyle. Only if these therapeutic interventions are not successful will the physician prescribe medicine, which have the task of repairing the discord “from the inside”.
On Thursday evening, Geshe Lobsang Soeba spoke on the development of sympathy in everyday life. There are, he said, three kinds of sympathy: natural sympathy, which is innate and we have for people close to us, like our close relatives; the second form is boundless sympathy, which we can only develop if we realize that we are connected with all sentient beings as family relations from past lives, which means that we can have indiscriminate sympathy, true sympathy, for all living creatures; and the third kind of sympathy is the great sympathy of the Bodhisattvas, those who dedicate themselves to freeing all sentient beings from the cycle of rebirth, Samsara.
Friday morning the Medicine Buddha sand mandala was completed - bright red, blue, yellow, green, and even white colored sand grains created and enriched ornamental flowers, jugs, scrolls, and traditional symbols. However, many visitors asked: where were the Medicine Buddhas? There are different levels to the mandala representation. With respect to the Buddhist practice of differentiating between physical, verbal and mental actions, sand mandalas are created. In this case, the representation of the Medicine Buddhas was on the mental level, so anyone looking for the lapis lazuli blue of the Medicine Buddha’s physical body searched in vain. There were, however, representations of the mental transmission of the Medicine Buddhas, for example the scrolls as the symbol for the Medicine Buddha Sutra, which conveys the healing wisdom of the Buddhas.
The creation of the Medicine Buddha sand mandala, as well as the lectures and teachings during the week, were the ideal preparation for the weekend celebration that followed - the Medicine Buddha Festival.
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